Tesch talks faith journey at luncheon

The ladies at First Lutheran Church in Waldorf provided a fantastic assortment of salads and desserts at one of its luncheons Tuesday, May 9 at noon. Along with the luncheon was Waldorf native Julie Tesch.

Tesch was invited to speak about her time in Washington D.C. and other parts of the country and how her faith had traveled with her along the way.

Growing up in Waldorf, Tesch remembered her time at First Lutheran Church, including throwing bits of jello up on the ceiling with her friend. “Many people never knew it, but before renovations were made, there were still red spots on the ceiling where we threw the jello,” she joked.

After spending most of her time at Waldorf-Pemberton, she ended up being one of the first graduating classes of the newly-formed Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in 1993. At first, she considered going to a private college in a small town because of her roots in Waldorf. “I never thought that I would attend the University of Minnesota,” she said.

But she did go there to study agriculture.

After spending a few years at a townhouse in Indiana, her adventures brought her to D.C. “I felt like God was calling me to D.C.,” she explained.

Tesch said she experienced some culture shock when moving to Washington D.C. “I wasn’t as shocked when visiting foreign countries because I expected things to be different. However, when I went into D.C., everything was different. Their shopping carts are smaller…everything is smaller.”

But another difference was her church experience.

She went into detail about how one of her friends in her work circle invited her to a church that took place in a movie theater. “We grabbed a coffee the morning of service at Starbucks. Then I asked her how we were going to finish our coffee before going to church. She said that we could bring the coffee in with us. And we’d be in this movie theater that was showing a film the night before.

“Growing up in the Missouri Synod Lutheran faith, you did so much as look behind you at the piano player and you got smacked,” she said. “But in D.C., I couldn’t believe it. Everyone was smiling and getting into the service.”

Growing up in small-town Waldorf, she was also not used to shaking hands when offering a sign of peace to her fellow congregants during the service. Not only were people shaking hands, but while singing hymnals, they had their hands in their air. “When we got to that part of the service, that’s when my friend said that the cup of coffee came in handy,” Tesch quipped.

While things looked up for her during her time in D.C., it soon came crashing down. Tesch was let go from her job, and she suddenly had no idea where to go. “I suddenly went through a lot of depression and anxiety,” she shared.

Before she knew it, she was back where she grew up, in rural Waldorf living with her parents in around 2017. She felt like she failed in life.

“I always liked awards,” she said. “And I guess I always felt like the more awards I got for doing great things, the less likely it was for bad things to happen to you. But the Bible says no matter what, bad things will happen.” She shared some verses that proved her point.

When she came home, she realized that while she had friends, she only had friends in her work circle. “I was missing a real sense of community,” she admitted.

Being back in Waldorf brought her closer to God, too. And now her focus is to show everyone the goodness of rural Minnesota.

“If you talk to someone in the Twin Cities, good luck finding someone that can point out Waseca or even Mankato on a map,” she said. “In Washington D.C., there are some people that might not be able to point out Minnesota on a map. To them, we’re just flyover country.”

Her passion in agriculture or in her faith has not wavered at all. In fact, since being back in Waldorf, she’s been more involved in her community than ever, spending a few years mentoring kids in the Waseca County 4-H and sharing her message that rural areas do matter.

“I always ask people what their rural is like,” Tesch said. “Some people have different versions of what rural means to them.”

And at the same time, she’s gotten back to the place that made her: First Lutheran Church. She admitted when her dad passed away and the funeral service was held there, she didn’t cry at all. “I didn’t know why at first, but then I realized that he got to where he wanted to be,” she said. “And I also realized, I got to be with him in his last minutes.”

And it hit her. Sharing a metaphor, she said, “My house crumbled apart, but I had a solid foundation. In the end, everything works out and is good because of that foundation.

“I know most of you in this room,” she concluded. “We all have solid foundations here. And sometimes, we lose control of everything. But we just have to trust in God and realize we are exactly where we need to be.”