Recently, my husband and I took advantage of a coupon we had for a company called Urban Adventure Quest and went on a scavenger hunt on the Capitol grounds in St. Paul. Now, I've been to the Capitol grounds more times than I can count; I worked in the Capitol complex for almost a decade. But Urban Adventure Quest taught us a lot about the history honored there that we hadn't known, or noticed, before.

Of everything we learned and saw that day, one area continues to find space in my heart: "Story Stones". Story Stones is located within the Minnesota Military Families Tribute and is a garden made of large stones, on which was etched a sentence or two from a letters between soldier from Minnesota and their families back home. The letters encompass time periods from WWI, WWII, and Vietnam, and the messages back and forth were beautiful and heartbreaking:

"I'll have lots to talk about when I get home. I wish I knew when that was."

"Grandma, can you please send some candy and fruit? All we get are C-rations."

"I know Grandma and the rest of you were terribly worried when you received the "Missing in Action" notice, but I'm alright."

"Mom, don't cry, I'm coming home!"

_____

Loved ones. Small comforts. Longing for home. Longing to know our people are safe. We all just want the same things, across generations, across political lines, across race, religion, creed. It's all God dreams for us as well: peace, comfort, and safety for all. It baffles me that it continues to be so elusive. 

It also baffles me that I'd been on the Capitol grounds many times since the installation of this exhibit in 2015, and had never seen it before. It took a coupon for a game to point me in the right direction. Go figure. But I am grateful to have seen it, and I will be back many times. I invite you to go as well. It is free, always open, and powerful.

My prayer for you this week is for time to appreciate the gifts right in front of you, whether that be the small comforts of home, the ability to hug a loved one, or the surprise of something beautiful that you hadn't known was there all along. My prayer for all of us this Memorial Day weekend is that we continue the work God has put in front of all of us: to work for a world of peace and safety for all, and that it may one day come to be.

Blessings,
Jennifer