Meet Emily

What a gift to be a part of a group of women united through the privileged vocations of our husbands! I'm Emily Olson, wife of Jon and mommy to Paul and Samuel. We live in southwest Minnesota, where I'm learning every year that I actually (mostly!) like snow and cold!

I was raised by lifelong Lutheran parents in some not-so-Lutheran places. In retrospect, my fraternal twin sister, younger brother, and I probably benefitted from our Lutheran isolation by having to actually learn why we believed what we did and why, then, we attended the church we did. After babyhood in Illinois around a zillion Lutherans, my earliest memories of church were at a mission start in eastern Kentucky. We then attended a Baptist church, a Presbyterian church, and an ELCA church waaaaaay over the mountain pass into Virginia before moving north and finally living within close proximity to an LCMS congregation, which was such a blessing! Then we moved to central Ohio, where we grew in faith at a wonderful Lutheran church in Lancaster.

I went to Valpo (insert theological joke here) and graduated in 2004 with BAs in Music and English (insert lucrative job joke here). The best part about college was learning why Lutheranism encompasses the Gospel so clearly. The worst part was learning why Lutheranism encompasses the Gospel so clearly--by seeing how Christians, however well-intentioned, can horribly muck it up. But back to the best part--this included meeting Jon while I studied abroad in Cambridge for a semester and he was there studying for a year through CTS/the ELCE and Fitzwilliam College. People say never to talk about theology and politics on dates, but that's all we did on our first date, which lasted four hours. And I managed to pass the theological interview!

We were married in August 2004 and spent our first year on vicarage in Connecticut. It was fantastic! And we realized we would rather live in a small, Midwestern town than an hour from New York City. We then spent our last year at the Fort before Jon received the call to Our Saviour's in Pipestone in 2006. We are so blessed to be here! I graduated from South Dakota State in 2009 with an MA in English, teaching for a few years there and one at Southwest Minnesota State before our sons arrived. Paul was born in 2008 and Sam in 2010, and they are awesome! I love taking care of them, teaching them, singing to them (yes, even cleaning up the messes)! Yet I still struggle sometimes with feelings of inadequacy-- I'm not out in the world, using my collegiately-honed skills to better humanity (or to contribute to our income). I don't pray enough or read the Bible enough, especially for a PASTOR'S WIFE! But I take great comfort in knowing that God forgives my inadequacy and makes no mistakes. He puts us where He does, when He does, with whom and what we have, all to show us Himself.

From 2 Corinthians 12: "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

May God bless us all through Christ with contentment and strength--yes, even thankfulness for our weaknesses! I can't wait to meet more of you!