whitney dziurawiec

Spring is sneaking up, melting the gray snow, making our days golden once again, sunlight dancing around the living room. We await eagerly but soberly because this is not our first rodeo and we know there will be at least one more snow as winter continues to grasp at its last straws. The wind whirls around as the branches shake with the anticipation of new life. Yes, new life is on its way, but there are no traces of it yet under the wet, dirty snow. Perhaps underground the seeds are taking root, the buds are beginning to awake, but I forgot that spring isn't all flowers and green grass. Spring begins with the mess and the mud of melting snow. It begins with the days we are too optimistic to wear a coat and end up shivering all day. The beginning of spring can be more frustrating than the whole winter, as it teases us, ruins our shoes, surprises us with snow. As the miracle of life that grows from death begins, here we all are: frustrated, muddy, shivering, impatient. Sloshing we...

I'm a little disappointed by the lack of representation of blogs by people like me. Almost all the blogs that exist are ones either written by single women or moms. And don't get me wrong--both of these groups of women are people I admire, but I do wonder where are all the married women who don't have kids? I know these blissfully wedded, childless years are often so short that there are indeed less of us in number, I understand that. But it seems like once we get married, we distance ourselves from social media in general, only to emerge 2-3 years later with daily pictures of our baby. Why does this happen? Where does everyone go for these few years? Where is everyone like me? I am quite enjoying this phase of life and am in no hurry to rush into the sleepless, exhausting, yoga pant, stretch mark, droopy-boob phase. I know it will probably come with its stickiness and snot, I know I likely can't dodge the phase entirely. I have accepted that. But th...

I suppose it's time to mull over my year in sentimentality and nostalgia, time to plan and dream of the adventures that await. In past years I have anticipated the coming year with either hope and optimism or let the midnight bring darkness and fear. This year should have been the most adventurous. We went on our honeymoon to Boston, we hiked up a mountain, we started over and moved to my favorite state, we began the ministry we feel God has called us to do, we shared the Gospel more than ever, we watched Him provide for us and lead us into what our next steps of faith are. And all of that felt like a adventure, yes. But I'm not sure true adventures really feel like adventures while we're in them. The world tells us that adventuring is visiting a new city or starting a new job or a new hobby or a new relationship, but it doesn't tell us the angst that is inevitably laced throughout every true adventure. And what's up with this word? Why does everything have to b...

I feel old, you guys. It hits me like a snowfall, one tiny flake at a time. I feel it lurking in my back, snapping in my wrists, grinding in my knee. Not all at once, of course. I'm not 80. But just enough. Enough that I'm starting to see these senile snowflakes accumulate on the ground and it's getting slippery and I might fall down. Sometimes pain traps us in our bodies, but this pain oddly separates myself from it. What is this thing that surrounds me, moves around when I want it? Why does it hurt? I feel oddly separated from my body when my knee flares up; I find myself staring it at as I would a flat tire or a check engine light. This home of mine for 25 years that has stretched as I have grown, shook as I laughed, wiped its own tears away, seems foreign and  other  as it begins to wear down, which is disconcerting, but couldn't we all use a smack of eternal perspective every now and again? I even feel old as we sit in church and I fi...

We can officially call it Christmas now: whatever's been whirring around and nestling in our hearts. We have eaten the feast and set up the trees and as I sit here watching it glow and reflect, there is a relief in reading Advent words and listening to the songs of yearning; the world finally allows me to dance in the glitter of this time of year that normally hides away in my heart (I am a year-round lover of Christmas). The forecast says "snow" and I'm all giddy with the shades still open at 10 pm, on the lookout for any hint of it, because snow is the ultimate accompaniment to Advent. Weathermen predict snow while our baby Savior proclaims purity and forgiveness, promises stains to be blotted out; forecasts the fullness of salvation. Christmas aside, this time of year has always been one of celebration, and the reasons for cake continue to multiply. What started as the birthdays of two brothers, a cousin, and I, has added three more birthdays from my husband'...

October has flown by, along with most of the leaves, but the geese still waddle around the pond close to our home. November settles around us, not radiating like brightness of last month, but subtly, softly glowing. November has a darker backdrop, less leaves; it gives us a beautiful picture of the remnant; November provides us one of the few times that death is visibly stunning, only when it precedes new life. Perhaps if these were the last leaves to ever grow, their brilliant colors would fill us with certain dread and doom. If each tree that joined the ranks of barrenness would never see leaves again, our autumn would fill us with panic. But we know, we have seen the seasons change for decades, reliable as time itself, that life will follow this death. And this is the only factor that allows us to celebrate Autumn in its glory. Oh that I would see the death in my own life with such faith! Each time my plans crumble, or my pride shattered. Ea...

Summer has lost the battle, as it always does when October nestles itself into our trees, and this morning our sun room is gray from this rather sun-less Friday. Socks have become a necessity, blankets are pulled tighter, the windows must be closed at night. We feel normal now, our lives that were once cooped-up, packed up, are beginning to ooze gracefully out of our bodies, even out of our home; we are leaving our messes everywhere as students' hearts let us in and we let theirs in, as we pour out our selves to a church, spill out our hearts in prayer for new things, greater vision, changed lives.   We have done more than unpacked our boxes. We feel our hearts unloading, our guards diminishing, and calling anywhere else "home" grows more and more foreign. We drove back from our Fall Retreat on Sunday and as we found ourselves between the two Mankato bluffs, crossing the river, I realized that home, a once far-off dream is now a reality, and autumn makes any hom...