Monday Musing - Sharing Mom's Banana Bread

A couple of days ago I made a batch of zucchini banana bread in hopes of not letting ripe bananas and zucchini go to waste. This morning I sat down with a cup of coffee to savor every bite. I enjoyed the texture, smell, and taste... with a sip of hot coffee between every mouthful.(Message me for the recipe!)

As I was eating I had a flashback memory to the kitchen counter of my childhood home in Nebraska. My mom was pulling, what I would call, "the world's best banana bread" out of the oven. You see, when my mom made banana bread, the smells traveled to every inch of our house, inviting the whole family to the table. It was always best right out of the oven and made for a great gathering moment for us all to savor. My mom had a way of making bread that was firm and crispy on the outside and soft, butter melting on the inside. I have not come across a piece of banana bread that remotely compares.

Flash forward. I looked up from the table to see my baby Lily, nawing on her grapes and tapping her foot from the bumbo. Warm tears were a welcomed old friend as I have often pondered what it would be like for Lily to have the chance to meet, be held by, and experience my mom's banana bread in her kitchen. Another moment of gratitude and loss was so thick I was breathing in wet tears.

I thanked God for the glimpse of hospitality and adventure my mom showed me. These moments are always best shared with others and especially those of your family. As I learn more about friendship and being a mom/wife, one conclusion that I have come to is that our family is a unite. We will share in life's "messy" together.

I look forward to sharing coffee, toys, and banana bread with the community we find ourselves in now and in Bulgaria. Together we walk in the saving grace of our humble King Jesus.

Together. United. One mind in Christ. Sharing this belief-

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.(Philippians 2:1-2;5-8)

- Britney Sue Hagsten

Summer Camp Highs

The late 90's were an excellent time to be a Christian teenager. There was a huge surge of Christian subculture including music, movies, clothing, and accessories (heavily featuring crosses and W.W.J.D.? embroidery). If you lived it, you know what I'm talking about. Another huge part of that era of life was summer camp.

Summer camp was the highlight of the Christian youth's calendar. From dawn to dusk and well into the night, youth like me would do little else but eat, sleep, pray, play, and worship. It was awesome, and we'd commonly come back from the week super-hyped about whatever the speaker had challenged us to do.

As time wore on, I began to notice a pattern with these weeklong summer camps. The first night was always about getting saved. Night two was God's plan for our lives. Night three was the big picture of how to fulfill that plan. Night four was what we needed to do once we got back to "real life".

Night four was always the worst. While each of the other nights were a glorious escape from reality, night four reminded us only that reality was right around the corner. Most of these sermons centered around two main ideas: that we were about to go back to our normal lives, and that it was probably going to be hard and painful.

Fast forward about fifteen years to March of 2015. I'm on my fourth Key West Bike Ride--a 300 mile journey by bicycle from Fort Myers, Florida to Key West. One afternoon, my dear friend Sean McIntosh and I are running together. We were discussing the "high" of the KWBR and the subsequent "crash" after we returned home. I'm not quite sure how the idea originated, but we realized the formula that makes the KWBR so powerful is: 

Mission and togetherness.

When combined, these two things make for seriously incredible community--unlike anything else I've ever experienced. Maybe you've experienced it too. Like on a short term mission trip, for example. Or a Habitat for Humanity day. Or even in the military. Something happens when people come together to accomplish a cause bigger than any one individual. And it's indescribably powerful.

Mission.

Togetherness.

Back to camp and that fourth night. So much of night four was how difficult and different life would be after we returned home, and how we needed to brace ourselves for the inevitable spiritual crash. It was almost as if the past three days of spiritual ecstasy were looked at with scorn. Anyone can get excited about Jesus at camp... Let's see how you do at home. Or at school. All by yourself. With nobody alongside you.

To be fair, I get the point. Jesus is still enough and we're never truly alone. But maybe we had things backwards. Maybe real life isn't the isolated desperation many of us have grown accustomed to. Maybe camp was amazing precisely because for one week we came together on a mission and believed we could change the world. And we believed it because we saw how we ourselves were changed and empowered by the community around us and the God we worshiped.

Mission together.

If you've been feeling aimless or isolated, ask yourself: Do I belong to a community whose purpose exists outside of itself? Many of us belong to organizations. Many of us feel passionate about a cause or our life's goals. Yet precious few have experienced mission together. Where these two intersect, behold, the kingdom is there in the midst. 

One reason we go to Bulgaria, then, is how few local youth know Jesus. While these students have a strong and clear mission--to reach their classmates--they often miss the critical component of togetherness outside of camp gatherings. There is simply, to few of them and their lives don't intersect on a day to day basis. So, while we go to make disciples, we intend to do so by helping to start youth ministries where students can find these two vital components of kingdom life. Jesus said it was not good for us to be alone. And he also taught that we have a mission to make disciples of the whole world. The two go hand in hand. And where you find them together, there you find the purpose behind Jesus and the church.

Thoughts on Grandpas

When you're eight years old, your grandpa is your hero.

I know not all of you have or had a grandfather worthy of that title, and for that I'm sorry. Fatherlessness (and grand-fatherlessness) is a huge problem, in part because it clouds our view of our heavenly Father. But for those of us who have been blessed with healthy families, a grandfather in the eyes of a grandson is a legend.

His legendary status was solidified for me one fateful summer afternoon that he took me fishing. Our family owns a cabin on a secluded Canadian lake, and it was a perfect day for some lake trout. That said, I--being eight--was not particularly interested in catching fish but rather jumping from rock to rock.

I don't remember how I slipped, only that I did. I was standing on a small rock ledge next to the water. I probably wasn't paying attention and walked right off the edge, because I didn't hit my head or scrape my back. It was one second on dry land and the next... swallowed up.

The interesting thing is that as quickly as it happened, it also UNhappened. Before I even realized how I fell or that I fell, I was standing on dry ground--dripping and spluttering. My grandpa had somehow teleported (in my eyes) the 30 or 40 feet distance separating us to pull me out of the ice cold water and set me back to standing on the rock. I couldn't have weighed more than 100 pounds at the time, but it made a huge impression on me: my grandpa is a legend.

A few weeks ago, my grandpa, Walt Hagsten, passed away at the age of 94. At that age it's not really about a cause of death anymore, but he had choked on a piece of food, developed pneumonia, and died. All this only a week or two before I was scheduled to leave Florida and visit Minnesota, his home. 

Even though you come to expect these things when a person is nearing their triple digit birthday, death is still a shock. A friend who happens to be more familiar with death than I described it as an absence. The person who died is no longer here, and they aren't coming back. You learn to live life without them.

Somewhat morbidly, I've thought more about death since becoming a parent than any other time in my life put together. I will not always be here to take care of this little human whom my wife brought into the world. Neither will this human always be here for me to enjoy, play with, watch grow up, walk down the aisle, have children of her own. It's distressing and feels broken, somehow. My grandpa was supposed to see another great-grandbaby. I am supposed to have grandchildren to enjoy, someday. (But what if!?) Death is not supposed to happen. It's like an unexpected inconvenience that somehow teleports you into another dimension, away from everyone you love, and you from them. "Surprise! Your vehicle, your body, has broken down. Now say goodbye to everything and everyone you've ever known."

But it really isn't. 

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." - 1 Corinthians 15

God's promise to us is that he will swallow up death forever, that he will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth (Isaiah 25:8).

Death is not the end.

My grandpa, who pulled me out of a lake 20-some years ago, also has a heavenly Father who has and will pull HIM up out of the grave. One handed. Without breaking a sweat. And this heavenly Father will then swallow up the swallower--death itself. And there'll be no more mourning or crying or pain. Somehow God wipes it all away. Death isn't the end. I'm not saying that it doesn't or shouldn't hurt anymore. But knowing that even death is not exempt from "this too shall pass" kind of makes it a little easier to swallow.

The fact that not everyone will get to experience this resurrection is deeply troubling to me, and part of the reason we're going to Bulgaria. There are people there who don't know Jesus. There are also people who have heard of Jesus but don't know him--they think he came to die in order to help them be a better person (not so, by the way). They need to hear this good news, too. They need to know that death needn't be the end for them either. 

So we go, because we have work to do while we are here. And someday, we too will pass. 

But death is not the end.

The Heart of Thanksgiving

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

The New Testament is full of letters written by a man chosen by God named Paul. He wrote these letters to encourage Jesus's church. It was recently brought to my attention that Paul ALWAYS wrote a prayer for these churches while he NEVER asked for a change in their circumstances. Paul actually says to give thanks in these circumstances instead of changing them. There is something different that happens in us when we thank God in the midst of trials and triumph. We recognize His goodness, comfort and sovereignty.

The past few weeks since our vision trip to Europe have been incredibly difficult. Tears have been poured out before God asking Him for wisdom, direction and a plan for our family and what we are to do with the needs that have been presented before us. The deep sense of change has hit my heart like a ton of bricks--knowing that this calling is not easy, nor is it right to walk away from it because of the difficulty. I know that since the moment Christ took hold of me and I realized the truth of the Gospel, I have yearned for this truth to be shared with all people... all people of all nations!

Three years ago, Matt and I went on the Key West Bike Ride. We rode 300 miles to raise funds and pray for the youth and youth workers of Bulgaria. We prayed that God would send people to that region as missionaries. That summer I served in Bulgaria for 2 months... here exert from a blog I wrote upon return--

This summer we climbed mountains… physically and spiritually. This may sound cliché… but God used these mountains to give me a glimpse of what it looks like to lay your life out for your friends. My sweat, blood and tears were left there on that mountain. In the same way my prayers, heart and life were poured out for our team and for the young people of Bulgaria, all in hope that one seed would take root in good soil. I would not say that I had ONE BIG choice this summer, but rather many small choices… to trust in God for strength when I had nothing left to give. I know that we did not labor in vain in the darkness of a country that has hardened its heart toward God, for I see His love in the eyes of each person He has made in His own image.

The people I met in Bulgaria had become my friends and the difficulties they faced were now ones that would not leave my mind. The difficulty of climbing the mountain was a part of the circumstance that God used for His glory to know His hope in the midst of these circumstances!



God was also opening our eyes to the purpose of global youth ministry. Here is a bit from the blog Matt wrote after we road in the Key West Bike Ride in 2013 for the youth of Zambia. (Alfa is a child that Matt sponsors through Compassion International.)

When I agreed in 2012 to ride my bike 300 miles it seemed like a onetime adventure. But somewhere along the way I caught the vision that there’s this whole great big world out there where people like Alfa have real problems like hunger, lack of clean water, and—worst of all—no idea who Jesus is. Not “problems” like gum or a sore backside from riding a bike for six hours. So I got over myself and rode again. I plan to in 2014 also. Never would I have guessed one of the lives changed through the KWBR would be my own. It happened as a bunch of people who love Jesus got together and decided to do something about the brokenness in the world. Some might call it social gospel or mobilization. I think Jesus calls it his church.


This year, instead of cycling, Matt and I ran to Key West for the youth of Thailand and got married the next day. We knew that God brought us together for the purpose of His kingdom work together.

I look back at the events that have lead us to this point in our lives, and this decision... God has been working on our hearts for years, and He has prepared us for such a time as this. So we embrace our circumstances and give thanks in them... for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us!

All this is to give you a glimpse of the transformation work of Jesus through small choices... through bold prayers. We believe that we are to be a part of answering the prayers that we prayed three years ago, to mobilize more youth workers to Bulgaria.

We are excited to be a part of the church there, and as Matt said in his blog, "[life change] happened as a bunch of people who love Jesus got together and decided to do something about the brokenness in the world. Some might call it a social gospel or mobilization. I think Jesus calls it his church."

You are the church and you are making an impact on the lives of youth in Bulgaria alongside us. You are a part of that bunch of people that got together to do something about the brokenness in the world. :) Your prayers and support is God's hand of provision on our lives.

If the Lord wills, Matt and I hope to visit you, that you might also share in the joy of what the Holy Spirit is doing. And we love and miss our friends! Here is our tentative schedule:

November- December: Britney will continue to work at the Center for Global Outreach in Florida training leaders and training people to take over her role as Student Mobilization Coordinator
End of December: Lily is born
January- February: Remain Florida to transition to life as parents and support raise
March-May: Support raise and visit friends and family in Minnesota
June- August: Support raise and visit friends and family in Nebraska

*we will tentatively plan to be sent to the church in Bulgaria late 2015 or early 2016

Enjoy your holiday turkey and the fellowship of great family and friends. I personally will be missing my Aunt Jean's stuffing but I know I can have a little taste of home through making my great grandma's sugar cookies. May Christ be the center of your hearts through faith, that you may continue to grasp the height and depth of His love for you... in every circumstance!

Love,

Matt, Britney Sue, 

and Baby Lily