June 17, 2009

Praise God for the gentle, beautiful and much needed 1.3 inches of rain the past couple of days. Yesterday morning the poppies in the flower bed next to our driveway were hanging their heads in thanksgiving for the rain. Today they were standing straight and tall, showing their colorful faces.

Last Friday we celebrated the 90th birthday for Sister Helen Ann. Some of her family and friends along with all the Sisters enjoyed a cake and ice cream treat.

Then on Saturday we had the Reception into the Novitiate ceremony for Sister Isa…a great day of rejoicing. Now we have two novices. In the picture Sister Isa is on the right and Sister Aurora is to the left of the Our Lady of Guadalupe picture taken in the Chapel of the Motherhouse.

Then on Sunday we celebrated the 60th Jubilees for 5 of our Sisters. That is a lot of years of service when one adds them all together. God bless each one of them.

This week we have Community Days…a kind of family reunion when all the Sisters get together. It is always good to have everyone home and to be together. We have several extra guests at our house this week. That is good, too. Last night for entertainment we had a talent show. It was GREAT. The Sisters have a wide range of talents. It’s been a while since we laughed so hard. Thank you, Sisters, who organized and took part in the various “acts.” Tomorrow night we have an operetta on Saint Francis. I heard one of the songs today and it is really cute.

Then is coming Sunday we will celebrate two 75-year anniversaries and two 25-year anniversaries. Combined that is 200 years of service. That’s a lot, too.

A week ago, I checked out the Community Gardens to the south of the Motherhouse. They are growing very nicely…and are so well cared for—no or very few weeds. Always one can see cars and pickups parked nearby as gardeners are busy working in their plot. I called Jim Waldvogel this morning to get some more information about the gardens. He told me that there are about 50 plots in use at the present time. Some are larger and some of smaller size. All the plots are taken. BUT recently a new area was dug up and tilled a few times so it is ready for use. Gardeners do pay a fee for the use of the land and the water that is available for watering the garden plots. The fee depends on the size of the plot. Anyone wishing to reserve a plot can call Jim at 320-632-8522. Some foods could still be planted and ready for harvest before it freezes again.

There is another Community Garden near the Food Shelf on the property of Bethel Lutheran Church. Volunteers take care of this garden and the produce goes to the Food Shelf. What a generous idea to help those in need.

May we be protected from severe storms and may needed rain continue at the right times.

God bless you.
Sister Mary Lou

PS:
I forgot to write about rhubarb. Last week 7 or 8 guys from the Sentence to Serve Program at the jail came to our BIG rhubarb patch and pulled rhubarb. What a wonderful help. Then came washing and cutting up all those stalks. Next was the cutting into little pieces, done by many Sisters and others. The final result was we now have in the freezer 34 5-gallon buckets of rhubarb for use through the year…rhubarb crisp, rhubarb sauce, rhubarb cake. Yummmmm.