Changing Seasons

Lately, we have been having un-seasonably warm days. It has been above freezing and pushing 40 degrees most of this past week. Now, I love the changing of the seasons just as much as anyone else, it's just that I don't like getting my hopes up when it is still February. Remember last year? Yeah.

Seeing all the snow melt, made me remember how much I hate this part of "spring." A few days ago, it got to the point where all the snow was brown and crusty and the melting snow revealed mud along with the dead plants. Truly, it is depressing to look at such a muddy, filthy spectacle. And, as with everything else, it got me thinking.

In our lives, we tend to get caught up in the ways of life and habitual sins. We try to make things look good outside, but underneath, no life exists. White snow covers everything. We lose focus on the things that matter and things get colder and colder. This to me is kind of like winter about a month after New Years. The snow and cold is still there, but there isn't much to look forward to. It's dead and no rhythm to life.

Then, something happens and we pray to God to bring us back to a new life with him. Yet, at this point, it seems like things get worse and worse, like the nice white snow, melting and showing the true death underneath it. Now, the "badness" is out and we are confronted by the filth that has infiltrated our lives: a stinking, brown mess that looks impossible to clean up. This seems to be a breaking point of whether to press on or whether to fall back into "winter." In the movie, "The Dark Knight," there is a line that states, "The night is always darkest before the dawn." The context is that someone said things were worse at that point than ever before and they wanted to quit. Well, the leader stepped up and said the above line, pushing people to press on because the dawn is coming. To me, this "early spring" is that point.

If we press on, God continues to call and pull us though and as refreshing rains come, slowly, the filth is washed away and the dead plants underneath come to life. Out of the garbage, green plants begin to sprout, trees bud and flowers form. A new life is in the air and creatures come out of their slumber. A resurrection occurs.

I haven't thought about how fall fits in with this. I think this is where the comparisons stop. :)

wedding and flight

My flight training began a few weeks ago and the above airplane is the same model as the one I am training in. It is a Cessna 150. Flying is something I absolutely love! This past Friday morning, I was able to go and fly for about an hour. We took off and flew around doing different turns, climbs, decents and even stalls. It was a great time and really made me want to get flying even more often!

In other, and much more exciting news, my sister got married this weekend! It was a great time setting up, taking pictures and seeing the service. We, as a family, had a great time together; at time that was greatly blessed.

Communion

Today we partook of communion in our church. When I was younger, I always thought of communion as a solemn act of reflection about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It seemed dark and gloomy; not many people smiled or even looked up from the bread and "wine" (grape juice). The focus seemed to be on the first "Lord's Supper" on the night of Jesus betrayal and death. That night was very solemn and dark. It does need to be reflected on because we need to remember what agony Jesus went through for us on that night, but I don't think we can stay there.

A couple years ago, I read a book by Henri Nouwen, which the title escapes me at this point. I think it was, "Can you drink the cup I drink?" Anyway, at one point in the book, he talks about the cup, symbolizing Jesus' blood, as the cup of victory. Ater that night, Jesus blood was shed for the salvation of all of creation and it is a solemn, sobering act. Yet, look to his last breath. It is one of victory, "It is finished!" In this act, Jesus had won the war with Satan. In a few days, he would conquer death as the last enemy. The victory of Christ was so complete that it's sound has repercussions that blast through all time and all space: a shock wave the covers all of creation, now and forevermore, in a chance of sanctification. THAT Victory is what we celebrate at the Lord's Supper.

Today, as the Pastor said the words, "Take. Drink. Remember and believe that the precious blood of Christ was shed for the complete forgiveness of all our sins," I did as Nouwen suggested and lifted my glass a little higher in a toast and said, "Here is to Christ, the victorious Lamb, bottom's up!" A toast of humiliation, of confession, of forgiveness and of victory!

Some day, I picture the great banquet. When all the followers of Jesus Christ are gathered in the city of God at a great banquet. Food will line the tables and bread and wine will be present. The Lamb that was Slain will walk in and every voice will shout with a roar and every glass will be held at arms length, high, "to the Lamb that was Slain! Victory!"

Victory.

Porches

Tonight was a beautiful night. It was about 25 degrees and no wind. Now, that is an extremely uncommon thing in Minnesota and I thought I would take advantage and go for a walk. At college, I went for a lot of walks, praying and thinking, but for whatever reason, I don't do that here.

Anyway, as I was walking, many thoughts and many prayers passed through my lips and I started looking at houses. Almost all the houses were dark except for a glow from the t.v. No lights on outside and not many on inside. I also looked at how houses were made. In about a mile and half of walking, there were two houses with front porches on them.

You say, "So what?" and I would too, except for that fact that I have talked about this with a few people. It used to be that people had front porches and would sit out in the evening, greeting people as they walked past. Now, I know, this isn't logical in winter, but bear with me. There was a sense of community. Guitars being played, conversations had and people laughing with each other.

Now, front porches have retreated to back patios, inviting lights have morphed to dull, dark windows. Only a slight glow from the t.v. shines through. Why? Because it's easy. It is easy to sit down in the recliner, push the power button and not have to worry about entertaining people.

Is t.v. in it of itself, bad? No. Can T.V. and movies be social times? Absolutely. But, honestly, why do most people sit in front of the tv on a week night?

Just a few thoughts and some things I am asking myself.

Return

This weekend, a group of us went ice fishing. It is a trip that I look forward to all year and it always goes way too fast: this year was no different. We leave on a Wednesday evening and fish all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday; driving home on Sunday. The evenings are filled with relaxation, joking around and sleep.

This year, the weather was somewhat better than other years. Thursday held a high temp of about -11 and Friday morning was -38, but warmed up to 9 and Saturday was warmer, but it blew really hard.

A few more pictures. Sorry, no fish pictures, even though we did very well fishing.

Ice Fishing

Some call me crazy, others say only one person does it and others say, "You do what?!" Wednesday, I embark on a journey to the northern confines of Minnesota, aka, "The Holy Land." Here, the water is clear, trees roam free and darkness reveals the true majesty of a crystal layer of snow and starry night combination. In this wonderland, ice fishing will commence.

This is a trip that I look forward to every year. Truly, I wish every one of you had the opportunity to ice fish and really partake in the beautiful aspects of it. A lot of times, (depending on who you are with) catching fish isn't necessarily the point. Great conversations can flow freely or authentic prayer times where the only sound around is the light flapping of the tarp on the ice house. If a person stays until after dark on a clear night, some of the best starry sky's can be seen from the ice, arising a moment of awe.

I hope all of you get an opportunity to go sometime and if you want to go, feel free to get a hold of me.

Local Poverty

I did a young people's lesson this week and for part of a it, I looked up some stats on poverty in this area...

Poverty line for the United States of America, which basically means that if a person makes this much or less per year, they are considered impoverished...
single person- $10,787
Family of 4- $21,027

Poverty rate in Edgerton- 5% or 49 people
Luverne- 8.8% or 392 people
Pipestone- 9.7% or 397 people
Sioux Falls- 10.4% or 15,757 people

Also, numbers on people living on less than half the poverty line in our area...

Luverne- 3.3% or 147 people
Pipestone- 2.2% or 90 people
Sioux Falls- 4.2% or 6,363 people

That means that in Sioux Falls, there are over 6,000 people living on less than $5,000 a year.

Food for thought. Motivation for action. Because thought without action is pointless.