I Think I will Tour the Alps Tomorrow...

I feel a little bit like we have jumped into the water with both feet. Last night we went with a couple of our parishioners to a hymn sing that the Oak Grove church is a part of. To be honest I have no idea how we got there, but we went a long way down one road, turned onto another road, drove to a small country church out in the middle of nowhere, and lo and behold there were dozens of cars already there. How do people find these places? LOL It was such a great experience and one of my Oak Grove members played his guitar and sang a song, which was really quite excellent. I talked to him right away about doing special music one Sunday real soon.

Tonight we went to a meatloaf dinner at Heidelberg UMC, which is a church nearby and also a part of our cluster of churches. We had a great time, once again seeing some folks that we had already met and adding a new group of people to my long list of names to work on. I am amazed at the connections and relationships between the multitudes of churches in this area. I am afraid that it is going to take me a long time to begin to put together all of the relationships between the people.

Today was also Day 2 of our visits to the YMCA. I was able to see an immediate improvement. Instead of about dying after 1 lap in the pool, I about died after 2 laps. So far, so good. There was also this very cool bike that was connected to a video screen and I rode the bike on a trail through the Redwood forest. Maybe tomorrow I will take a tour of the Alps??? Naaaaaaaa that might have to wait until Friday:)

I'm Sore Already!

This morning I fulfilled a promise that I made to myself when we found out that we were moving to this area. Yesterday afternoon, Karen and I went down to the YMCA and signed up to become members. It was a fairly painless process and we left feeling satisfied that we had accomplished at least that much. This morning, however, at 6:30 AM when the alarm went off, that was a different story. The last thing that I wanted to do at that moment was to get up and drive down to the Y, but regardless of what I was thinking, we got up and headed that direction anyway.

I started off by spending 25 minutes on the treadmill. I must say that this treadmill looks more like the control panel of a space ship than a piece of workout equipment. It had a built in fan which was nice for an old fat boy, and it also had a built in TV. Wow, now you can exercise and get caught up on your favorite shows at the same time. When I had finished it told me that I had gone somewhere around 1 ½ miles (is that all?) and burned about 5 calories:( (Maybe it was more than that, but it sure didn’t seem like much for all that work)

Then we stopped by the gym and went in and shot some baskets. I was surprised at how much of a workout that was (it’s been a long time) and then went into the pool.

It was my plan to swim a few laps and start building some endurance. I know that swimming is one of the best exercises that you can do. Unfortunately, I only managed to swim one lap, up and back, and I thought I was going to die. I was breathing hard, my arms were sore and I was glad I was ending in the shallow end so that I didn’t drown. (That would have been an exciting way for the life guard to have started his day)

We ended up then going into the “Therapy Pool.” Oh, now that was nice, the water was over 90 degrees and it felt good just to relax.

All in all we spent a little over an hour at the Y this morning and tomorrow Karen and I are both scheduled to meet with a trainer for our initial orientation. That should be interesting:)

My plan is to try to go Monday through Friday and take Saturday and Sunday off. We will have to wait and see how strong the resolve and will power are. But at least we passed the test of Day 1, I’ll let you know how day 2 goes:)

Blessings

Returning to a "New" Normal...

The word blessed just doesn’t seem to do justice for the way that I am feeling this morning. First of all, let me say that the first Sunday in my new churches went wonderfully. The people were so kind and welcoming, even when I didn’t do things quite the way that they have always been done. (or even as I had planned them) They didn’t even point out the obvious mistake when I missed the “greeting one another” part in the service (Karen let me know after the service). We always did the greeting at Crothersville at the beginning of the worship service and I skiped right past it in the service at Oak Grove, but I remembered at Fountain. I will try to do better next week:)

After the second service we went to a pitch-in dinner at a large beautiful cabin along the Blue River with the Fountain church. Karen said that she thought that there might have been more people at the dinner than there were in church and there was an excellent crowd at church.

Then, we came back to the house and talked with Ben and Crystal a little more before they headed for home. It was so nice to have them come down and spend the night Saturday night and go with us to church on Sunday. For dinner Saturday night we fixed a prime rib that my sister sent to us from the Kansas Steak Co. Oh my, that was about the best piece of meat that I have ever had in my life, and the best news is that we have one more just like it out in the freezer:) Life is good!

This morning I was up at 5:00AM to drive into Jeffersonville to be with a parishioner who was having surgery. As I was heading west on I-64, I got to see an awesome sunrise through the fog, it was really quite beautiful. I also learned that the shortest way to Terri’s house is to go on I-64 through Louisville, go figure!

This has been a wonderful couple of days and I am looking forward to getting life back to normal and seeing what God has in store for me the rest of the week!
Blessings

"America, God mend thine every flaw..."

"America, God mend thine every flaw." Ok that was the comment on Facebook this morning that started all of this so, you will just have to bear with me, especially since there isn’t a “dislike” option on Facebook.

Out of all the things that one could say on this day, out of the countless expressions of gratitude that should be articulated for those who have given up everything so that we could have the freedom to say what ever pops into our minds, this is not exactly the expression that comes to mind. Now believe me, I understand exactly where this world view comes from, I have spent four years of my life being bombarded by this mind-set with no ability to speak out against it.

I have very much grown to understand the position of those who really do think that the United States is the bad guy in the world and that everything that is wrong in the world can be placed directly at our door step. The problem is that I believe this world view is TOTALLY UNFAIR, INACCURATE, AND DEMONSTRATES A PROFOUND LACK OF BASIC HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING AND CONTEXT.

You know something; I get really tired of hearing from those who seem to have nothing positive to say about our nation. First of all, let me agree that as a nation, we have done some pretty horrific things: slavery, racism, the treatment of Native Americans, the treatment of Japanese citizens during WWII, lack of ecology and care of the planet and the list goes on. There are many things that, as a nation, we can look back upon and know that we could have and should have done better or differently. I am also aware that we have a plethora of issues that we face today, and that 100 years from now, historians and people living in 2109 will be wondering what the heck were we thinking back in 2009.

But with that being said, the answer that none of these people (some of them I consider friends) who seem to think that America basically stinks, those who think that Rev. Jeremiah Wright was fundamentally correct in his assessment of The United States and in his sermons denouncing America, and trust me, I know many of these people personally, none of these people can tell me a place on earth that does it significantly better.

I have traveled in other countries although admittedly not as extensively as some, but I didn’t hear anyone in my group that went to El Salvador wish that they could stay there permanently amidst the violence, corruption and razor wire. (Admittedly, some, like myself, would like to return in the capacity of mission work someday but that is different) I didn’t hear anyone who just returned from South Korea say that they would rather stay there. (Many of the Korean students I have known, although not all of them, desired to stay in the United States)

I didn’t hear anyone return from Israel, Afghanistan, or Iraq say that they would rather live in those nations. I don’t hear any of my friends and colleagues begging for the opportunity to move down to Havana and live under the Castro regime, although I have heard from Michael Moore how much better their health care system is in Cuba (Oh Please! let me run to Cuba next time I need serious medical attention) You don’t hear that very often despite what a world class expert like Michael Moore thinks.

In addition, I haven’t noticed a flock of people leaving the United States moving to other parts of the world. I don’t see a mass exodus from the United States to Europe or Central America, or Africa, or Canada, or Australia, or China, or Russia, or Cuba.

NO, instead we are a nation that essentially throws open our doors for others to come.

I for one am grateful to live in the United States. I have family members that have served in every major war and conflict in this past century. Freedom comes at a very high price and on this day of celebration, I choose to express my gratitude for this great nation and those who have served in our military and pray that God continue to bless this nation. Today, this Day of Independence, my thought is not "America, God mend thine every flaw." But instead “America, God shed thy grace on thee.” Perhaps the criticisms could wait until July 5th?

Blessings

How Many is Enough?

Tonight is one of those times that I have so many thoughts going through my mind that it is difficult to just pick one and share with you. One thought that I have is, How many Bibles does one person need? I have 11 Bibles sitting on my desk, 2 more within arms reach, and then the “Bible Works” program on my computer that has more different translations, including Greek and Hebrew, than I could ever use.

The funny thing is that I actually use all of these Bibles in one way or another. I have my “Life Application Study Bible” in the “New Living Translation” that I use because it is so easy to read and I don’t really have to think very hard while reading it. I have my “New Interpreter's Study Bible,” which is my primary research Bible, I have my new “Scofield Study Bible” in the “New King James Version” which was a gift from the local pastors in Crothersville, which I really enjoy reading. I use “The Message,” when I want to get a new perspective on the scriptures… Well, you get the idea. The funny thing is that one of my friends on Facebook the other day was talking about her Wesley Study Bible and I had just been wondering if I should invest in one of those as well. I’m sure Karen’s answer would be, “Another Bible! Are you crazy?” So maybe I just won’t tell her that I have been thinking about it. (My secret is safe with you, isn't it?)

And, while I am on the subject of books, I have been spending some time this afternoon unpacking boxes of books, which begs the question, “How many books does one person need?” I think that I have more books in my personal library than some of the public libraries that we saw in El Salvador. I actually felt sorry for those poor moving guys as they hauled box after box of those heavy books out of the old house and then into the new one. So, in solidarity with their pain, I thought (very briefly) about which ones I would get rid of. Unfortunately, they are all a bit like children to me, and I sure would never have entertained the thought of giving my kids away... selling them to the circus maybe, but definitely not giving them away. (he says with a big smile on his face) So, I will just have to consider never buying any more books… Actually, that thought about selling the kids to the circus reminds me of O Henry's story, "The Ransom of Red Chief" Maybe I should go buy the book and read to the Grand kids :)

Another thing that I did today was completely violate one of my own common sense, prime directives, “Never go into a new church and make immediate changes!” Well, I just couldn’t resist, I started working on the bulletins for Sunday’s worship and thought “oh let’s do this song here,” and “let’s move the offering over there,” and when I was done, I realized that I had completely switched around the order of worship. This will either be good or bad; I will let you know how it turns out on Sunday.

Actually, I have talked to several of the members of both congregations and they seem as excited about Sunday as I am. We are really looking forward to meeting everyone and getting to know them all. The people that I have talked to have shared with me many of their ideas about church and worship and I have shared mine with them and I just feel like, here initially, we all seem to be on the same page, so I am trusting that the Holy Spirit won’t lead me astray in the initial changes that I have made. Of course, there is the possibility that it isn’t the Holy Spirit prodding these changes, it could just be my ego, and if that is the case, I could be in trouble:)

So anyway, those are a few of the multitude of thoughts rolling around in my head tonight. Karen is already in bed, the dog is fast asleep at my feet, and I am beginning to grow a little weary myself, so I think that I will just turn these things over to God tonight and perhaps by morning, God will have figured them all out for me:)
Blessings

I Am Very Blessed!

As I sit here in my new office surrounded by enormous stacks of boxes, I am reminded of how very blessed I am. These past few days have gone about as seamlessly as I could have possibly hoped for. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, everyone has been so kind to us, everything that I have put together has worked, and that is saying a lot when you are trying to get your stereo surround sound to work:)

I have had the opportunity to talk with several of my new parishioners who have stopped by to introduce themselves, some even bringing gifts of food and gift certificates with recommendations to local restaurants.

I have been surrounded by my family over the past couple of days, I know that I have overworked them, but I am so grateful for their hard work, love and support, and I am very thankful to each one of them:)

Tomorrow begins the work of sermon preparation (although I pretty much know what I am going to talk about Sunday) bulletins, and a host of a thousand unknown things that God has planned, or at the very least God will see me through.

These past few days have been challenging, we have moved from one house, been homeless for one night, moved into our new house and are now preparing to serve the community of Corydon. God has been very good to me and I am feeling very blessed right now (and maybe a little bit tired)

Blessings
PS: A special Thank-you to Ben for getting my computer up and going, although I think that he had ulterior motives, I think that he wanted to play a game or something:)

Homeless...well at least for tonight

Well, step one is complete. The Mayflower Truck came early this morning and then the fun began. It was actually rather funny, I was sitting on the front porch waiting for the movers to arrive and I saw a small Mayflower Truck pull up in front of the house. As I assessed the situation, all I could think was that there would be no way that all of our junk was going to fit on that truck. But no sooner than that thought entered my mind a humongous Mayflower Semi coasted to a stop in front of our house and I knew that the work was about to begin, well at least for the movers.

I was so impressed by these guys, they had everything loaded and were on their way by 2:00 PM That was totally amazing to me. I do have one thing that was rather embarrassing. We managed to almost completely fill a 52 foot Semi. We have way too much junk and we will never move that much junk again. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I know those of you who know me have heard that before, but this time I really mean it (Really I do)

We are now safely tucked into Terri's house and will meet the movers tomorrow morning at 8:30 in Corydon. If today is any example, they will be done and on their way back home by noon. (well, that may be a bit optimistic)

So, for tonight, we are just relaxing, enjoying a little pizza, watching some TV and recuperating from our long day of moving and preparing for what will be a busy day tomorrow. I am very thankful for Ben and Crystal and Terri for all of their work today! Plus, I am extremly thankful to Terri for the use of her Internet. (It is so good to be back in touch with the world)

This time tomorrow we will be in our new home, and Ben doesn't get to go home until the Internet is up and going:)

Blessings!