I'm on my way...

Today I officially resumed my quest to “Swim the Ohio.” After a 2 week hiatus because of the maintenance work being done on the YMCA pool, this morning I resumed my journey. I can’t believe what a difference two weeks made in my conditioning, or should I say lack of conditioning. Two weeks ago when I walked out of the pool, I actually felt pretty good. This morning, it was more like, when I dragged myself out of the pool, I thought I was going to die:(

As I was doing a little bit of math on this quest, it breaks down this way: To complete 31 miles I will have to swim 1023 Total Laps, 2046 Total Lengths, 51,150 Total Yards.

So far I have completed 81 Laps, 162 lengths, 4050 Yards. So far, so good:)

If all goes well, I will complete my swim sometime around the first week in December!

Blessings!

The Chubb Chubbs are coming...

Ok, on a much brighter note from yesterday, I was at a friend's house this evening and they shared this video with me. I thought it was really funny and I hope that you can take the time to watch it. For my Star Wars/Sci-Fi fans, count and see how many references to your favorite Sci-Fi movies you can find.

This is definitely a departure from some of my more recent posts! Enjoy!

Blessings

PS: Don't miss the end of the film after the credits:)

Parting: Remembering 9/11

Today is indeed an important day to remember. I will never forget, I was just waking up, listening to the morning news on the radio, perhaps beginning to think about motivating and deciding what this new day would bring, when I heard the words over the radio that there had been a small plane crash into the side of the World Trade Center. My only thought at that time was, how stupid could a pilot be, and then I thought that surely if I turned on the "Today Show," they would be covering this event right in their own back yard.

Just moments after tuning into the "Today Show," I watched with horror as the second plane flew right through the frame shot, into the side of the second tower. Once again, in my naivety, my only thought was how could a professional pilot be so stupid to make such a terrible mistake. My mind simply could not grasp the idea that this could ever be intentional.

That was truly one of the worst days and one of the best for humanity. People from all over the world grew together, if only for a brief time, giving us perhaps a glimpse of what we as a world are capable of, while at the same time in all of its horror, showing at its worse what we are indeed capable of. I will never forget going to a community worship service that night in a large church, packed with people who in their darkest hour, indeed turned to God.

For me, what was sad to see was that over the next few years, as we gathered as a community to remember this day, we watched as the numbers of people attending the worship service slowly drifted away until the services were terminated completely after only a few years. How quickly we forget!

The picture at the top is the cover of a song that our HandBell Choir played in remembrance of 9/11. To this day, it is one of the most beautiful, haunting pieces I have ever heard. I only wish that I had a recording that I could play for you. It was composed by Barbara Werner and is simply titled “Parting.” On the cover is the haunting picture of the two beams of light emanating from Ground Zero.

The words on the front read:

“In memory of my father, Kermit Anderson, who was killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

His office was in the impact zone on the 97th floor, North side of North Tower, One World Trade Center.

2400 miles west we slept, not realizing a parting was upon us…”

Today we remember Kermit Anderson and all who lost their lives on that tragic day and in the subsequent wars which were the result of the events of that day.

Today as we mourn our loss and remember, let us also remember to praise God for the strength we have received and the healing that has taken place since that time.

God Bless the victims and their families, God bless our nations leaders as they continue to deal with the fallout of this event, God bless our young men and women who serve in our military and God bless our nation.

Amen

Mama said there'll be days like this...

For some reason I just haven’t had much to talk about recently. Or, perhaps it is just the fact that this has been a difficult, long, emotional week. Saturday night at 11:10 the call came that my parishioner that I had been to see so many times down at Jewish Hospital had passed away. Breaking the news to the congregation was especially hard on Sunday morning. The visitation was held on Monday and it began at Noon and ended at 9:00PM (which is a very long visitation from my experience, but it is apparently very common in this area)

Tuesday was the funeral and I have to admit that I was very nervous on multiple levels. Terry was a beloved member of the church and this was to be my first funeral in my new appointment and I really wanted to do a good job. It seemed to go well, so I give God all the credit:)

This morning I was up by 5:00 AM for a trip to Jeffersonville (which is near Louisville) to be with a family for a surgery, and then back home to prepare for Bible Study and Choir practice tonight.

I do want to share a special blessing with you. We had 25 people at Bible Study tonight. I have never in all my put togethers had that many people for a Bible Study. Last week we had 22 and I thought that was way above even my greatest expectation. I know that the members of the church seem thrilled to see that many people coming for a Bible study, and I am simply humbled by it.

These past few days have been fun, challenging, difficult, humbling, tiring, emotional and rewarding. I think that I would be happy to settle for a day or two of relaxing:) Naaaaa probably not going to happen!

Blessings!

Lucky thing that I only have to work one day a week:)

I don’t think I have been doing such a great job lately in keeping up with my blog posts. Of course, some of that could have to do with little details like not getting home until after 1:30 this morning because of a parishioner fighting for his life at Jewish Hospital. So far he is still hanging in there, but now it is in his hands and God’s, so we continue to pray.

I will also mention that we started two Bible studies this week, one at Oak Grove and one at Fountain. We also began choir practice at each church. Oh and there was that pesky things called Charge Conference that I finally downloaded the forms for and began to look at what needs to be done for that.

We also had the hymn sing on Tuesday and the meeting with the pastors in my cluster and the other hospital visits and the preparations for Sunday and the… well you get the picture.

I am really beginning to wonder how I ever found any time for seminary at all. Good thing that pastors only have to work one day a week, and then only for a couple hours:)

Blessings

God Lives at the Post Office

Ok, I know that I am a real sap for a dog story, and I usually resist the temptation to subject you to my dog obsession, but this one was just too good not to pass on, especially with the thought of Mimi so fresh in our hearts.

Enjoy:)

This is one of the kindest things, there's no way to know who sent it, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.

Our 14 year old dog , Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith

_________________________________

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, "To Meredith " in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called "When a Pet Dies". Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope.. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

_____________________________________

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart.. Abbey loved being your dog.. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by..

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love.

Love,

God

Paddle-To-The-Sea

I think by now you know how much I enjoy being out on the water, especially when I get a chance to go kayaking. I think I discovered one of the sources of that love a few days ago. Do you remember, or did you ever read the book or see the movie called "Paddle-To-The-Sea?” I have no doubt that the movie and the book had a tremendous impact on me as a young person. I was probably 9 or 10 when I first saw the movie in school. I even remember participating in a mini version of the book one day when I put a stick down in the rain gutter of the street outside my house and followed it all the way to school. (I was almost late, don’t tell Mom:)

If you aren’t familiar with the story, it is about a young boy living in the heart of Canada that knows that he will never be able to visit the sea. So, he carves a boat and puts it on a snow covered mountain top and waits for the Spring thaw. The story describes the odyssey of “Paddle-to-the-Sea” as he makes his way through Lake Superior and ultimately to the Atlantic Ocean. It was a great story and one that has stayed with me for many years.

The link below will take you to a web site where you can read the original book online, and see the beautiful artwork or you can watch the movie that I saw as a young boy, it is about 30 minutes long and well worth the time spent. Take a little time today to experience “Paddle-To-The-Sea,” I know you won’t regret it:)

http://www.nighttrainfilms.net/NTFWEB/NTFPages/PaddleToTheSea/index.htm


Blessings