THIS MESSAGE GRABBED my attention recently at Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church, Faribault, Minnesota.
Definitely words to ponder as 2013 draws to a close and we look ahead, with hopefulness and resolution, to the new year.
What opportunities will you seize in 2014?
Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
EVEN WHEN PASTURES are not green, the Lord stands steadfast as our shepherd.
Pastures currently are not green, in the literal sense, here in Minnesota, although on Saturday we enjoyed a balmy 46 degrees.
Today we’ve been thrust back into winter’s hold, with an Arctic air mass gripping the state. Air temps are hovering around zero degrees Fahrenheit with the windchill at minus 25 – minus 34 degrees F.
Consider that yesterday I didn’t wear a coat; my long-sleeved flannel shirt proved sufficient to keep me warm while outdoors.
This morning I pulled a sweater over my shirt and bundled into my wool coat, scarf and gloves to head out for church services.
What a difference between yesterday and today.
Just like our lives. One day brings comfortable walking through green and sunny pastures. The next day brings challenges along a cold and snowy path.
No matter the route, I am assured that the Lord is my shepherd, there to guide me on this journey through life.
He gives me the tools—prayer, loving family and friends, His promises and love, and more—to help me clear and navigate the path when the going gets rough.
What a blessing to have the assurance of His presence.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Photo taken at Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church, Faribault, Minnesota
Photographed this past summer in Rossville, an unincorporated village in Allamakee County in northeastern Iowa.
THROUGH THE FILTER OF MY MEMORY, I picture her seated at the kitchen table, booklets spread before her on the stiff floral oilcloth.
She’s licking strips of Gold Bond Stamps, carefully placing them within a paper grid.
Fill the booklet and she can redeem the coveted stamps for merchandise. Except I cannot remember anything my mom ever got with those stamps.
Rather, I recall the stockpiling of stamps, watching her and, occasionally, myself, running my tongue along the glue then meticulously positioning those precious golden rectangles upon paper.
Oh, the memories of Gold Bond Stamps.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
A snippet of Division Street in downtown Northfield shortly before Christmas.
NORTHFIELD, IN MY OPINION, rates as one of southern Minnesota’s most visually appealing and charming river towns.
Nestled along the banks of the Cannon River, this college community of some 20,000 is historically-known as the place where the James-Younger Gang met its defeat during a failed bank robbery.
Merchandise displayed outside of an antique store.
The draw for many to Northfield, though, are the one-of-a-kind artsy shops and eateries dotting Division Street, the main downtown route bordered by primarily historic buildings.
Santa wasn’t in when I stopped at Bridge Square. But kids can meet with the Jolly Old Man in his very own holiday shack.
On a recent Sunday afternoon before Christmas, I strolled along a portion of one block over to the town center, Bridge Square, to capture the holiday scene.
Detailed holiday signage draws shoppers into businesses.
Northfield merchants know how to do Christmas right. It’s in the details—the words and colors and designs and ambiance—creating an aesthetically-pleasing set that draws you into the scene.
A scene in the bakery window.
Another view of that bakery window with historic buildings reflected.
The front window and door of the Eclectic Goat and Glass Garden Beaads.
Back to the antique store…
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
ATTENDING CHURCH SERVICES has always been a part of my Christmas time celebration for it is Christ’s birth I focus on today.
I recently photographed these scenes at Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church, an historic Faribault, Minnesota, church:
While the sanctuary stood empty, I imagined the pews packed with worshipers,
the baby Jesus already laid in the manger,
the anticipation of children restless with excitement.
What a joyful time.
May the blessings of peace, happiness and joy be yours today and in the year ahead, for unto us a Saviour is born, Christ the Lord.
Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
WHEN SANTA SHOWED UP for my extended family Christmas celebration this past weekend in rural Lamberton, my 18-month-old great nephew wanted nothing to do with the Jolly Old Man.
Terrified at the sight of Santa, Hank screamed and cried and clung to his mom while the rest of us were highly entertained by his reaction.
Despite his fear, Hank still wanted candy from Santa’s bag.
So Santa, being Santa, handed the bag over to Hank’s grandpa and turned his back while Hank and his mama peered inside for a treat.
I captured the moment. And, if I didn’t know Santa’s reputation for being a happy, cheerful man, I’d say he appears a bit miffed, standing with his arms clamped across his chest and no apparent twinkle in his eyes.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
FOR MANY A HOLIDAY SEASON, this unpretentious Christmas tree lot has operated at the intersection of busy Second Avenue Northwest and Minnesota Highway 3 near the edge of Faribault.
I’ve never shopped for a tree here. But, one of these holiday seasons, instead of passing by, I need to stop and ask a few questions, take a few photos, learn the history of this place and perhaps pick out a tree.
Our family Christmas tree always sat on the end of the kitchen table, as shown in this Christmas 1964 photo. That’s me in the red jumper with four of my five siblings.
The lot reminds me of childhood Christmases, when my family would choose a short-in-stature, short-needled Christmas tree at the local grocery store.
To this day, I prefer a Charlie Brown type tree to one that’s tall, full and perfectly-branched.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Sun dogs photographed this morning through the dirty passenger side van window east of Lamberton along U.S. Highway 14 in southwestern Minnesota.
YOU KNOW IT’S COLD when sun dogs emerge, the wind whips flags straight out and a bank sign temperature reads five degrees Fahrenheit.
Strong winds drift snow across U.S. Highway 14 east of Lamberton this morning.
That would be southwestern Minnesota this morning as my family left my brother and sister-in-law’s rural Lamberton home after a family Christmas and began the 2 1/2-hour drive east back to Faribault.
After an hour on the road, we entered New Ulm where I photographed this scene at the intersection of Brown County Road 29 and U.S. Highway 14:
The biker, to the left, caught my eye in New Ulm because of his attire.
Tell me, how could this bicyclist tolerate biking in shorts or without a cap on his head? I sincerely hope he didn’t have far to pedal on this official second day of winter. Exposed skin can freeze quickly in such brutal temps.
He was, at least, wearing gloves.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
THREE MONTHS HAVE PASSED since these shoes rested on this rug in my kitchen.
Late Wednesday evening my 19-year-old son arrived home from Boston for the holidays and a month-long break from college.
I am one happy mama.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
I REALLY DIDN’T THINK I would be personally impacted by all of the problems plaguing MNSure, Minnesota’s online health insurance exchange. But, oh, how wrong I was about that.
First, a little background: Since completing a MNSure application on November 25, I’ve been waiting to see if I qualify for a subsidy. I got a response in 2 ½ weeks, which is a positive. I expected the process would take longer. I’d delayed applying in hopes that the bugs would be worked out of the system.
Friday I learned that I don’t qualify for assistance, although trained assisters guiding me through the application process said I should qualify based on income guidelines.
The MNSure mailing stated that I would receive a second mailing explaining why I do not qualify. That’s efficiency.
Then, on Monday, a MNSure rep called. Due to “technical errors, calculations were incorrect” and I may, indeed, qualify for assistance or a credit, she said. Good news for me, I thought.
But then she dropped the bombshell: I would need to resubmit my application.
Are you kidding? According to one news report, I am among about 1,000 Minnesotans who will need to resubmit.
She assured me, “It’s not your fault.” The rep sounded sincerely apologetic, extremely stressed and deeply frustrated.
A screen shot of the MNsure website.
Her frustration did not match mine when I later went onto the MNSure website to once again begin the long, tedious process of completing my application. The first time I worked with a trained assister for 1 1/2 hours to complete the app.
Not to my great surprise, I got this message: “the mnsure system experienced an unexpected exception and cannot fulfill your request (500 http error).”
OK, then. This is the same message I’d gotten many times previously while on the website. And, yes, I am using one of the recommended browsers.
I tried again later and was able to begin working on my application. As I plowed through the questions, unsure how to respond to some (because even the MNSure rep was wishy washy when I asked for clarification), I reached a point where I needed info from my husband’s employer. So I decided to save my app and resume work the next day. Major mistake. The information I’d worked an hour to input, and then saved, simply vanished. Yup. Not there.
I phoned the MNSure rep who’d called me earlier and this time I told her I was p__d. It is not a word I use often.
Her frustration nearly matched mine. “I don’t know how people have stuck with it this long,” she said, along with a few other things I won’t share.
Well, for now, I’m not sticking with it. I’ve already invested hours and hours of my time working on the app and gathering and reading info on the health insurance options available to me. I have no clue what to do. I’m stressed to the max by this process and do not want to think about it anymore until after Christmas.
So I’ve paid my $1,627 premium for 2 1/2 months of coverage under my existing grandfathered-in $3,000 deductible individual health insurance plan until I figure out this mess.
My premium increased $108 from $454/month to $562/month with no change in benefits, including no free preventative coverage.
I attribute the major increase in my health insurance premium to the Affordable Care Act. Yet, I was one of the lucky ones. My plan wasn’t dropped like that of others with individual policies. But I am being forced out of my policy because I can no longer afford the premium.
Despite all of this, the Affordable Care Act brings one positive for me personally. Up until now, because of a pre-existing condition, I was stuck with my existing health insurance plan. Now I can shop. But I don’t like shopping, especially for insurance.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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