Tragedy -- John Robert Dobbs
I have been away from blogging for several weeks and I am working on a post that explains my absence but I wanted make this brief post to express my sympathies and ask for prayers for my dear friend John Dobbs, his wife Maggy and their extended family and friends.
His 18 year old son John Robert was killed in a traffic accident yesterday day 3 days before his high school graduation.
I met John in 2006 when we were in Pascagoula Mississippi doing Katrina relief. We became friends quickly and he helped me to get started with my blogging.
We also met Maggy and came to love her. We met his son John Robert a couple of times and observed him leading singing in the services but we didn't really get to know him very well.
John (JD to many) is a prolific and insightful writer and his words of encouragement and exhortation have meant so much to me in the time I have known him.
Our friendship has deepened as we kept in touch through blogs, discussion lists and email. I know he was proud of John Robert and loved him deeply.
My hart is broken for John & Maggy -- When I read about it on the Berean spirit list and went to tell Linda both of us were in tears.
John & Maggy - we love you with the love of the Lord and we pray that through this time of pain and darkness God's light and God's peace will lift you up and you will feel the comfort of his love.
A mutual "internet friend" Wendy Cayliss from Australia expressed much of what I would want to have written so I'll just point you there if you want to read more about how I feel.
http://wjcsydney.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/john-robert-dobbs/John in his Hope Remains blog gives the basic information about John Robert's death.
http://johndobbs.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/john-robert-dobbs-october-23-1990-may-21-2008/What more can I say -- May God be with you and keep you my friends
God Bless
Charlie
Westing
Well we have arrived and are settled in for a while – actually we have our RV parked on the street outside Kevin’s house. It works well but we will be moving to an RV park for at least a few days later in the week.
So in the words of Elmer Fudd we are "westing" in the west after 2200 miles (3400km) of living like a turtle with our home travelling with us.
After a warm day of rest in Miles City we traveled on through Montana – had snow overnight in Bozeman (Walmart)
Wednesday we pushed through into Idaho
– getting through the Lookout and 4th of July Passes.
(The picture was taken just west Lookout pass looking back up towards the summit ).
There was lots of snow on the side of the roads through the mountains but we got through it all without any serious rain or snow -- and that was a blessing.
We spent the night in a campground on the side of a mountain about 25 miles east of Coeur D'Alene looking at snow out of our window.
The campground was set back into a north facing ravine and just a few hundred feet up the slope the snow was still quite deep.
Out in the open in front of the campground looking over Lake Coeur D'Alene was quite pleasant (although a little chilly) Thursday morning)
The highlight of the climbing is the 10 mile long hill climbing up out of the Columbia River valley. We chugged along at 30 miles per hour the whole way up -- I guess it was good that it wasn’t in the heat of summer this time. We did climb that hill in July 2004 but then were weren’t towing anything – and that makes all the difference.
I almost broke an ankle getting out of the RV to take this picture at the overlook on the east side of the Columbia River valley. I was part way out the steps when I realized I had not changed into my “outside” shoes – I tried to stop - lost my
sandal - fell off the bottom step and was hopping down a slope in my sock feet getting pricked with thistles – yelling :OW, ow, ow!!” – my loving wife expressed her concern by laughing her head off – I guess you had to see it to see the humor – I sure wasn’t laughing but then again I wasn’t hurt either.
We arrived in Seattle Thursday evening and had dessert with my nephew Evan and his wife Angie. They had just returned from a 1st anniversary delayed honeymoon in Ireland and filled us with stories of their adventures in the emerald isle.
Friday we finished the journey to Coquitlam and have been enjoying our time especially with Will – he hardly missed a beat and took to us right away even though it had been six months since we saw them last at Melissa’s wedding.
It has been (relatively) cold since we got here – it even snowed on Friday night. To-day is the first day in the “double digits” 12-13C (low-50’sF). We enjoyed Sunday morning services at South Burnaby and spent Sunday afternoon at the Greater Vancouver Zoo. Yesterday we enjoyed Will while his parents worked.
To-day I have had some time to get caught up on a few things – although there is a mountain of email sitting in the inbox that needs to be processed – mostly reading material and some” junk” but it all adds up.
I am fairly current with my discussion lists and I’ve also been dabbling with Facebook and I’m still wondering if I can keep it in balance. So far I’ve had to pick and choose who to interact with and how much. I find it is more like meeting
people in the mall – sometimes you just nod and go by – sometimes you stop and say “hello” and sometimes you have a longer visit – maybe even sit down for coffee. Blogs generally are more like dropping in for coffee and a chat.
Speaking of blogs I did make a quick stop at a number of my more favorite blog sites – This report only scratches the surface of those I would like to spend some time with --
For you popcorn lovers Dee Andrews gives the definitive answers.
Neva is back blogging after her recent surgery and asks “Are Christians hungry for God’s food the way newly hatched baby birds are “born hungry”? Or do we let our appetites become distorted by the things that Satan and the world have to offer?
Bobby Cohoon challenges us to speak with our actions in a post that includes this admonitions
Sure we are to preach and teach, but we are also to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Always preach the gospel— if necessary, use words.” What is your most powerful preaching your words or your actions?
My niece Lene tagged me back in February – but I think she forgot to tell me (or else I missed her tag) – I just was at her “Snuggles ‘n Squishes” blog
Here are the Rules: Post the rules on your blog, and then give your answers. List one fact about yourself for each letter in your middle name. Each fact must begin with a letter from your middle name. If you do not have a middle name, use your maiden name(or create a middle name).Once you are tagged, update your blog with your middle name and your answers. At the end of your post, tag one person for each letter of you middle name. Leave them a comment on their blog telling them that they have been tagged, and that they need to come read your blog for details.
This could be difficult for me because I have 2 “middle” Clifford Franklin (for a total of 16 letters) so I guess I’ll cheat and use the short form Cliff from the first one (As an aside my full name is Charles Clifford Franklin – my mother used to say I was named after 3 of my uncles – but I’ve also heard (and suspected) that there was a connection to my grandfather’s political views – if you are unfamiliar with the CCF party in Canadian politics you could research it)
C – Well that’s the first letter of my “main” name - I also answer to Charles but please don’t call me “Chuck” or “Chas” (not sure why but those nicknames don’t appeal to me)
L – That’s easy L is for Linda the love of my life.
I – well maybe is for IT (Information Technology) which is what I did for 30 years plus in my business career
F- OK now it’s getting tougher – I’m NOT fair – although I have blue eyes and my hair (what little is left)can become quite light at the end of a summer in the sun. Facts might be a good one – I’m analytical by nature and always want to have the facts before I make decisions – although I tend to err on 2 sides – ‘paralysis by analysis’ – missing the boat because I wait too long or “jump to conclusions” without looking at all the facts that are available.
F – (again) – Fortunate – I had the fortune of being born to Godly parents who instilled in me a strong sense of love for God and I have been fortunate to have a great wife – great kids and good health in most of my immediate family – God is gracious and I know his love is there even when things aren’t so good but I am grateful for the fortune I have in the world and the great fortune that waits in eternity.
Who to tag? I don’t think I’ll tag anyone in particular. If you are inclined to be “tagged” please do so—I’d appreciate you leaving a comment telling me that you did so.
God Bless
Charlie
Warm at last
As I write I’m sitting in a KOA in Miles City MT where the temperaturehas soared above 80F (26C) to-day. Quite a change from a week ago when we were still dealing with freezing temperatures overnight. And there is NO snow—I suspect that there is still some snow on the ground at home.
But it has been a bit of a challenge getting to this point. We spent 3 days last week organizing, cleaning up on personal business, loading up the “BBB”, instructing our house sitter and all the things needed for the trip.
Tuesday night we went to Thessalon to have dinner with Linda’s Mom at her sister Arliss’ place. Wednesday night we attended services and said “farewells” to our church friends.
Thursday morning I did the car hookup and we were on the road – we had to stop in Sault Michigan for gas and to take on provisions – didn’t do that before we crossed the border because of all the restrictions on meats and fruits. So it was after noon before we were really on the road.
We kept hearing of serious winter storm warnings to the west and we hoped to get clear of Duluth before it hit. We almost made it but in hindsight we would have been better to “go to ground” in Superior.
We had just climbed the bluff going south out of Duluth on I-35 when the storm hit and it came with a vengeance-- by the time we traveled the 20 miles to Rte 210 it was very bad – fortunately there was a Casino at the exit and we were able to get off into the parking lot.
On top of that – for some reason somewhere after Superior, my car braking system had triggered and stayed on (and the warning light - wireless transmitter didn't turn on). So I had dragged the car with the brakes on for a while –the hubs were really hot when I stopped– so in a way the storm at that time was a Godsend because if I had kept going might well have done serious damage or even caused a fire. It doesn’t appear to have done any permanent damage although I think the rotors are warped and will need to be replaced.
It was a wild night – windy – and the plows in the parking lot clunking and “beeping” as they backed –plus furnace kicking on & off at a steady pace so we didn’t get a lot of sleep. (I forgot to take any pictures Friday morning with all the activity checking the car brakes and digging out of the snow banks but this one taken in Brainerd late Friday gives some idea of the amount of snow).
However, we survived and around noon on Friday it had cleared enough that we ventured on to Brainerd MN – for a WALMART night.
Saturday we drove in sunshine heading west across Minnesota to North Dakota. (210/10)
The snow extended as far west as FARGO and people were still digging out as shown in this picture at the Frazee Rest stop.
At Jamestown , the snow was gone and we hiked around the WALMART parking lot before pressing on to Bismarck where we stayed at a KOA— electricity, showers and INTERNET !!!
(Another lesson learned here – the instructions are to pull the accessories power relay fuse on the car when I’m towing because I have to leave the key on in the accessory position to avoid locking the steering. I thought maybe if I had the radio & heater turned off it would be OK to leave the fuse in – well I guess I was wrong because I arrived in Bismarck with a dead battery – and discovered I had left my battery charger at home.
I got a boost from the campground owner and borrowed a charger to charge overnight – yesterday I pulled the fuse and last night I ran the car for 15-20 minutes just to be on the safe side. There’s just too much mechanical equipment involved in this rig to avoid having some problems – or maybe I’m just to dumb and not careful enough to do things right – whatever the reason Linda was a little discouraged about these mishaps – hopefully we will get them out of oursystem and things will be smoother from here on out.)
Last night I flushed the antifreeze out of the BBB’s water lines and filled the hot water tank, and put some water in the fresh water tank – so we are now completely operational – and self-contained for showers and other such mundane things.
With the down day and INTERNET I decided to visit some friends in “blogland”
DeeAndrews asks ”What’s your favorite food” (April 14), gives a wise quote from Thomas Carlyle about sticking to the job at hand (April 11) and provides a lovely story (from 28 years ago) about her son when he was 10 called “Close to an Angel” (April 9) .
I was startled to find that my friend Neva –
Dancing in the Light had surgery last week for a spinal cyst – that thankfully was benign and removed successfully – Praise God!!
I dropped by John Dobb’s Out here Hope Remains – I hadn’t been there for a long time and he is such a prolific (and excellent) writer that I need to go back and spend several hours to even begin to mine some of the morsels of wisdom he leaves there to “chew on”. One post that caught my attention was an “
Open Letter to Miley Cyrus” encouraging her to remain true to her values as she moves into young adulthood as a star. There might be some wisdom found there for any father who is bringing a young daughter through the early teens.
Well – a closing thought
Yesterday we enjoyed great sunshine and a hike in the Painted Canyon of the North Dakota Bad Lands.
We had planned to attend services somewhere on Sunday but circumstances didn’t work out -- however – we did feel a strong sense of praise to God and wonder at his majesty as we meditated in the great cathedral of His creation.
What we missed was the encouragement of sharing our worship with other Christians.
I was reminded as we sat and looked out over the ruggedness of the canyon and the "burning hills" (lightening starts underground fires in the lignite) of the 8th Psalm
Psalm 8
1O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise
because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
We hiked to the bottom of the canyon about a mile round trip -- it was easy going down but it took a few rest stops on the way back up .
At the top we were treated with a herd of buffalograzing in the parking lot .
God is good
God Bless
Charlie
Spring has Sprung
The past few days I've been reminded of this little ditty.
Spring has sprung .. the grass has ris ..I wonder were the birdies is .. Oh look there's one flying in the sky ..Oh what is that in my eye ...I'm sure glad that cows don't fly.
(Well no grass yet!! and so far I've avoided flying objects!!! )
It has melted enough and gotten warm enough that I've removed the "rhode house" in the back (this is the small mansion that I built to protect Linda's rhododendrum's from the winter snow.
As noted in the following excerpt from the Sault Star, we have had the 2nd highest amount of snow in 47 years including a serious winter storm (4 inches of snow) on April 1 ( some April Fool’s day - who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor )-. (For those not quite converted to metric 450 cm is about 177 inches or 14 feet of snowfall)
THE SAULT STAR (Byline Dan Bellerose)
We’ve tirelessly shoveled and snow blown our way onto the medal podium Sault Ste. Marie.
Tuesday’s 10.7-centimetre snowfall brought our winter of 2007-2008 accumulation to 450.8 cm, according to Environment Canada, the second-snowiest of the past 47 winters, since 1961-1962, as far back as such data is readily available.
With the snow-accumulation silver securely around our necks we are an improbable 60 cm short of gold, the monster 511-cm winter of 1995-1996, with a little over three weeks remaining in our seven-month winter weather watch.
This marks the seventh time in 47 winters that snowfall at Environment Canada’s Sault Airport climate station has exceeded 400 cm, including three of the past seven.
Finally, the past 4 days have had the scent of spring. The snow has disappeared at a tremendous rate—our roof is almost free of snow and the lawn has bare patches and we have heard our first robins. There is new hope that this long winter is behind us.
But the banks still have a ways to go before we’ll be snow free and the dirt that accumulates as the snow melts will be cleaned up) .
Life has continued to be hectic for past 3 weeks.
We took a break and made a trip to visit Chris, Tammye, Hunter and Camdyn over the Easter weekend and for the last week of March.
It was Hunter & Camdyn’s March break so we were able to have the pleasure of being there with the kids while Chris & Tammye were at work. I did a little bit of work around the house - helping CHris put down some interlocking "tile" flooring in his basement.
We did our annual “Birthday lunch with Grandma & Grandpa”.
For Hunter, it was late since his birthday is February 10
For Camdyn it was early since her birthday is May 3 and,in addition to the lunch she got a visit to "ToysRus" to select her present. (Hunter had already received a cheque by mail)
We also took them to see “Horton hears a Who” – It was interesting to see the animated version of this Dr. Seuss classic that I had read countless times to our children as they were growing up.
Last week we spent 2 more days sorting and organizing at Martha’s house and Saturday afternoon 9 of the 10 children were there and all of the items in the house were either allocated to one of the children or marked for recycle. (Silly me - I neglected to take my camera so none of was captured on "film" for posterity which is sad but can't be changed)
It was a bittersweet time – lots of laughter as some item triggered a memory of the younger years growing up together but also the sadness of marking the end of an era. Linda had prepared a chili dinner and it was a goodtime together but as one of her brother’s remarked “This is the last time we will be able to come to Mom’s house” for a family gathering” so there was nostalgia and even a few tears as well..
In a way, the family breaks into 3 parts for Linda (& I because I have been close to this family for 46 years and they seem more like my own brothers & sisters than “just in-laws”).
Anyhow the 5 oldest Linda, Terry, Frank, Carol & Dan - 2 girls, 3 boys – 10 year spread) are really the core family of brothers & sisters that Linda grew up with.
The next 3 (Joe, Theresa,& Arliss) are more like “next generation” – Linda always referred to Joe as “her boy” because, when he was born, she was old enough to be expected to help her mother look after the house and the other kids. The next oldest had some health problems and with 5 children already “underfoot” her mother was very busy so Linda took Joe under her wing and spent a lot of time with him. The next 2 girls were born during the time we were dating and – as Linda sometimes reminds them – we often babysat them and were there feeding them, changing diapers, setting up the presents at Christmas time -- etc.
The 2 youngest (Erin & Stephanie) were born after we were married and away from home so we weren’t around for their early years. Linda’s Mom was 8 months pregnant with Erin when we got married and Stephanie was born 6 months after our oldest son Chris (When he was a teenager he once was asked at a social event about the lovely young lady he was with -- and he said this is my aunt - which really floored the person who thought he had brought a date)
The good news is that we are done with the house closing project and have started thinking (again) about heading west.
In addition to, the “housecleaning” Linda & I continued to be involved in the counseling situation that I mentioned last post. Hopefully, our advise and support has been helpful – time will tell.
The time has been very stressful for Linda and she has had to watch her BP – she has been monitoring it constantly because it has a tendency to “spike”. She has to back off and take time some time in her “quiet place” to get it back down.
However, we are finally packing up the “beast” and Lord willing we will be on the road tomorrow morning. The past 2 days I have been out running errands to finialize our preparations while Linda has been washing, cleaning and packing. All that remains is to load – which is no small job but we know it can be done in a matter of hours.
Of course there are no certainties- yesterday morning I had a call from my Dad and had to go over to be with him. He was experiencing some pain but eventually we (after phone consultation with my sister who is a nurse) concluded it was the result of too much activity – At 91 he had been on the go steady for 5 days with no breaks – on a schedule that would have wiped me out so mostly he needed to rest.
To my friends in “bitland” – I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come by and the few times I have it has been mostly “hit & run”. I miss our visits and hopefully as we travel I will find hot spots in the evening and will be able to catch up with “y’all”
I’ll close with this thought that I posted to our church family list yesterday.
This week I am concentrating on Hebrews 6:13-20 (The Message)
13-18When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, "I promise that I'll bless you with everything I have—bless and bless and bless!" Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they'll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.
18-20We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.
The main point that I want to make more real to myself this week is that Jesus gives us hope - no matter what circumstances we are in -- and because God promised it, I can count on Him as an "unbreakable spiritual lifeline"
When I feel challenged - when I begin to wonder "Where is God and Why is this happening?" I can have the assurance that he is there and all I have to do is reach out and "hold on" -- I want people to see that confidence in everything I say & do this week.
God Bless
Charlie
Tempus Fugit
I don't really know any Latin but I thought maybe a fancy title would make up for my lack of posting. It has been almost a month. Spring is here? (Well you'd never know it looking our our window. The snow is still 2 feet deep on our lawn and it was -20C (-2F) last night.
Why has it been so long? My biggest excuse has been that I was hoping to post a "before & after" picture showing the BBB in the driveway and then somewhere without snow. Poor baby has been shivering in the cold in our driveway since February 25.
However our plans to leave shifted from March 14 to March 19 to 'I don't know when".
Linda's Mom was hospitalized on March 7 and we wanted to wait until she was fully recovered before leaving. She is now back in Thessalon hospital and will be moving into the Algoma Manor - rest home next week. This means we have to empty out and close down her house and as the oldest(of 10) Linda is organizing that effort.
We spent 2 days there this week organizing and sifting through papers and pictures determining what to keep and what to toss.
Lots of memories - it was tough for Linda at times but I guess it may be better to be doing it now while she can share some of those memories with her Mom.
We are taking a break to drive (car) to Aurora to spend next week with Chris, Tammye, Hunter & Camdyn -- it is the kid's March break so we are looking forward to spending time with them.
The big push on Martha's house will come during the 1st 2 weeks of April. Linda has asked her siblings to meet on the 1st Saturday to decide who will take what (of the furniture and larger item) and to organize moving things -- she hopes to pack up & store most of the smaller things at her brother's house until summer when it can be sorted through-- families can take more time to pick out things they would like -- we can have a garage sale, etc, -- which she doesn't want to take time to do right now .
Anyhow we are still hoping to head west to see Kevin, Sarah and Will leaving mid-April.
One of the good things this year is we don't have to worry about leaving the house empty since we have live-in caretakers.
We were disappointed at the fact that we couldn't go south -- we had hoped to visit my brother, go to the TulsaSoul winning workshop (and seeing our friend Joh Dobbs while there) and then spend sometime camping in the desert enroute to California.
But now we'll stick to the Northern route and hope that we don't get caught in any late Spring storms.
Our time has been full - Linda has been advising a young mother who had a baby early in March. I have been working at a number of administrative & planning issues for the church -- things that had backlogged while I was teaching -- as well as making an effort to catch up on email andall our household affairs. I also started a email (group) list for the Pinehill family -- to share news and thoughts among those who have email.
We received word that Clyde Lansdell's mother passed away March 8 in Alabama. Our condolences to him and his family. Clyde is a long time friend -- he baptized Linda and he performed our wedding ceremony. (and, of course he is married to my cousin Wilma who is one of my favorite email correspondents. She has many insightful comments on what a particular Bible passage means to her and she has been sharing those with a circle of ladies using a group email list)
I haven't done much visiting to other blogs recently -- I did do a roundof visits in late February -- maybe reporting on them is OK (better late than never?)
From Monday February 25, 2008
-
JD (
Out Here Hope Remains) has been providing updates and on the blessings and challenges of his recent move to Forsyth LA. He also has been posting some pictures of “antique” cars—antique as in late50’s Chevies – cars that seem as new to me as this morning’s dawn. Amazing how the brand new cars you admired when you were a 12-15 year old pumping gas are now ”antiques” – What does that say about me?
JD links to a Youtube song
calling us to worship in his post for Sunday February 24. And for any LOST fans – JD is OBSESSED with it -- Linda & I have started watching the new season – but “flash forwards” are a rather confusing way to follow a story line. (if there is one – sometimes it seems they are dreaming it up as they go)
Neva (
Dancing in the light) asks “Are our children and youth singing less today that when we were growing up?”. (CLICK
HERE)
Also any one who has visited Bobby Valentine's blog in the past mught want to check him out. He has a new look and as usual many thought provoking studies of Biblical topics.
So it has been a busy time -- and somewhat frustrating because we didn't really know whether to make preparations to travel or not.
One of the things that our trips have made very real to me is that we are not in control. Someone asked me last week "When are you leaving?" -- My response "I don't know. Ony God knows and He hasn't told us yet".
James 13-15
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." God BlessCharlie
Snow Fun (February 23) **Updated**
I wrote this on Monday and (silly me) I thought I had posted it. My friend Dee left a comment about my last post "chiding" (mildly- thanks Dee)me for not having posted anything new. So I looked and sure enough - I had it all written up but hadn't sent it out. I now realize what happened -- I wanted to put in some pictures so I uploaded them and did some other things and then got distracted -- etc. etc.
My sister has been visiting all week -- she and I are the "middle kids" and are the "bridge" or the "anchor" (interpret that as you may) in our family of 8 - (there are 3 older than me and 3 younger than her) --and we are also the closest in age with a scant 14 months between us.
She is staying at my Dad's place and along with my other 2 sisters has done a pretty thorough clean-up and "clean out"of his apartment. He is 91 now (the picture is at the family gathering we had for his 91st - my brother-in-law Morris is in the background). We (2 brothers and 3 sisters who were here) also spent a lot of time in conversation looking for how we could best support Dad in living a safe, health, happy life.
So the week has been very busy and perhaps that explains the "mind gap" that lead to me thinking I had posted this when I hadn't.
I originally published this without pictures but I have now added them and did some minor editting.
** Written Monday February 18 2008
We have made trips south for the past 3 winters. For 2 years we left in February and, while we had a taste of winter, 2005 & 2006 were quite mild and had very little snow – especially during December & January. Last year winter was pretty well over when we left April 1 – but 2007 was a very mild winter with very little snow.
The winter of 2008 has – despite the sputtering start (we had 2 major starts of snow & cold – one in December and once in January that we followed by a complete meltdown. But since mid-January it has just been cold or snowing – we had the winter storm of a century about 2 weeks ago. (The picture looking out our driveway taken after ourlastbigstorm will give you an idea of what I'm talking about. The bank at the road tops 7 feet (2 metres) We haven't seen snowbanks like this for at least 10 years.)
Now this is a winter playground – snowmobiling, sking, snowshoeing, skating, sledding – you name it – this is the place to be – except when it is mild and there is no snow. So this year those who enjoy
snow fun are in their glory.
Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons Linda & I aren’t into snow sports anymore. (and as you can see in the picture she finds it a bit chilly at times). Clearing the snow from the driveway nearly everyday gets a little “old” pretty fast. So for us “it’s no fun” in the snow .
I have finished my course and we had thought we’d be headed south soon. But it seems God has had some other plans. Both Linda & I have been involved in some local ministry (service) activities that we just couldn’t see ourselves walking away from.
In addition to the counseling and teaching related to specific situations, Linda is using her nursing skills to help Barb who has just had a knee replacement. My Dad has required extra attention and care this winter. Linda’s mother was hospitalized with congestive heart failure last week – although it appears to have been treated and she should be home today. I spent a day last week helping with some drywalling at the church building (and my back is still telling me about that).
I have just completed a series of lessons on the nature and purpose of our church assemblies. Mainly trying to “re-calibrate” away from the emphasis that we seem to drift into where we stress “going to church” rather than seeing that “being the church” means that we will assemble for various reasons, at various times for various purposes. As I see it, -- for Christians -- all of those assemblies are a part of our “life worship” and are necessary to meet the “one another” “encouraging, building up and equipping” that is so frequently mentioned in various New Testament scriptures. I don’t think we do it deliberately but it is clear to me at least that we have often equated “attending church services” with proving that we are Christians -- whereas (and I agree this is maybe a subtle distinction) , I believe we assemble because we are Christians. To make a it clear I’ll express it the way I saw a fellow blogger express it a couple of months ago.
“An apple tree doesn’t produce apples to prove it is an apple tree – it produces apples because it is an apple tree”
Trying to express this shift in emphasis to someone who is ingrained in “going to church to worship God” thinking is difficult. I’m not pointing fingers at others when I say this because I I know this is true for myself. I have intellectually understood for a long time that “going to church” wasn’t what “church” was all about”, however, this emphasis on “going to church” was the reality of my behavior and speech for many, many years. And I’m not sure I’ve completed overcome the reality of that ingrained “habit” (similar to what I mentioned last time about overcoming bad habits – it’s a long way from knowing to changing – or so it seems with me).
In a lot of ways – what ‘ve expressed in this posting seems to be similar to what on the surface might seem to be contradictory statements made by the apostle Paul in writing to the Phillipians --
On the one hand, he says
“I’ve learned to be content whatever the circumstance”
Phil 4: 11-13
:“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
On the other hand he says (paraphrasing)
“I’m never satisfied – I keep pressing forward”Phil 3:10-12:
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Of course these aren’t contradictory because he is speaking of different things.
In the first case – he’s telling me to be content rather complaining that is
“s’no fun”. God has placed me here for now and I should be content in those circumstances—even if we do decide to head south in a bit so we can be content in other circumstances – where we are we can be content if we are in God’s family.
In the second case he is saying that we will never achieve a perfect understanding or perfect behavior but we need to forget whatever level we have come to in the past and keep forging on looking to Jesus to continue transforming us towards the perfection that will be ours in eternity.
God Bless
Charlie
January thaw (Again) - It's getting to be a Habit
Well it’s actually February -- the remainder of January has flown by.
Our trip to see Kevin was great –despite a few incidents –not the least of which was a 2 hour detour on the trip down due to the highway being flooded. –as I said before rain and major thaws in January wreak havoc in an area that is geared up for snow this time of year.
We had a good visit with Kevin as well as with my sister Ruby and her husband Art – who graciously opened the “inn” to give us a place to stay. My brother Lawrence dropped by for a couple of hours one evening and we also saw my niece Trish – again—She was here over Christmas so it had only been a week since we had seen her. Linda visited with her friend Arlene one morning and we spent Friday evening at with Kevin and his in-laws Bill & Trish at their home –great dinner and nice visit including a viewing of some digital pictures and video clips that Kevin had brought. It was heartwarming to watch Will opening his Christmas presents. Of course it would have been a 1000 times better to have been there!!
When we returned I dived right into teaching the 3rd round of a course on Fridays. It has taken less time to prepare than previously but still has been an extra load that meant something else has to go. Mostly that has been the time I would have spent in ”blogland” both visiting and posting –
A week ago we had another one of the thaw cycles and over the weekend it was mild, the snow was melting, the roads were bare and it looked like spring. Tuesday was drizzling a bit and had started to rain when a major winter storm swept in. We had high winds, lots of snow and the city was completely shutdown for the day. The most snow I’d seen at one time since 1995-96 when we had record snowfalls – but the wind was the most severe I can ever recall. Gusts up to120kph (70 mph) - knocked down trees, damaged (and broke off) traffic signals, a number of major power outages and highways in all directions closed. I was glad to be able to just sit inside and watch it all unfold.
Tuesday we had helped Paul & Michelle move to a new apartment and we were saying prayers of thanksgiving that the storm didn’t arrive that day--
We have had another thawing trend this week— but it snowed last night unlike the rain that was being forecast just south of us.
I was saying to a friend last week that I rather missed the days when we had winter – once!! – even if it lasted 4 or 5 months it was easier to deal with than instead of 5 or six winters which is what it seems like with these freeze – thaw cycles.
But one thing that seems clear about weather in Sault Ste. Marie is that there is no normal weather – it is different every year -- It is unusually cold or unusually mild or we have unusually heavy show or an unusual absence of snow. This year we have had unusual extremes setting records on the warm side and on the winter storm side.
The weather this year has me thinking that these cycles are a metaphor for life.
(As hard as it will be for some of you to believe :) :) ) I have some bad habits – character issues that I struggle with – perhaps by the world’s standard’s they might be seen as minor but to me they have always been a source of frustration.
One of those is my tendency to get overly preoccupied with a specific task and ignore everything that is going on around me. And even if I am interrupted and start to do something else, I easily drift back to thinking about that “one thing” (Now I’ve said it is a “bad habit” even though in many situations this ability to focus can be a good thing – but it is bad when it goes to the extreme of shutting out important things that need attention – for example if it happens when I’m driving – and it has!!).
The area where this has the most impact is when it drifts into my communications with Linda. It is very hurtful to her if she is trying to communicate with me and I seem oblivious to her or if I have started listening and then “drifted away” – I suspect that there are other wives out there who can relate to this.
Over the years I have applied a number of “strategies” to avoid having this tendency cause a (temporary)breakdown in our communications. For example, when I was working, if Linda called I had to either stand up or turn my chair in the opposite direction so I wouldn’t try to keep on working while talking to her.
One thing is certain is that ultimately love does "conquer all" because we always work our way through these things – but knowing that doesn’t make the pain any less real when it happens. I guess it’s (somewhat) like knowing that you will get past this storm but you still have to shovel the snow!!
Working at home has created new challenges in this area of "listening" but we have worked out some things that generally keep me “present” when we are talking.
So what does this have to do with the cycles in the weather? Well despite knowing that this can happen and despite having proven ways of preventing it – it always seems to go in cycles.
I suppose in some small way I can understand the problem of addiction. You find a way to stop – to break the habit and things re going fine but you get overconfident or lazy or whatever and start to ”push the limit” – and all of a sudden it happens again as it did this past weekend.
As I was praying about this (again) it occurred to me that this was a small reflection of the general situation of the human condition in our relationship with God that Paul wrote about in Romans 7:17-25 (The message)
"But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different."
This “cycle of failure” to do what I know needs to be done is, of course the reason why I need Jesus to act as a mediator in my relationship with God.
However, if this principle of "doing what we don't want to do" applies in our relationship with God , it also seems to apply to our relationships with each other. I am blessed with a loving partner who always (eventually) foregives and in the long haul our relationship is likely made stronger .
BUT as Paul also said earlier in Romans 6:1 we can’t use God’s grace as a rationalization for not caring about our failures – (
So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not!) (The Message).
God still holds us accountable and expects repentance and I thank God that he also gave me a partner who extend grace in our relationship but also loves me enough to hold me accountable and to expect change.
So I can’t rationalize it and just say that’s the way it is – I need one more time to seek away to break the cycle.
I sometimes wonder why God doesn’t just “take this away” – but I wonder if this may be one of those ”thorns in the flesh” that are needed to continually remind me not only of God’s grace which is sufficient but also of the grace extended daily by a loving partner.
Well - moving on; Only one thing to share about my “virtual reality” visits – My friend John Dobbs and his lovely wife Maggie have said goodbye to the church n Pascagoula and headed to Forsythe (Monroe) Louisiana. I wish him God’s richest blessings in thisnew work. You can read all abut it on his “Out here hope remains” blog (
http://johndobbs.wordpress.com/).
Thanks to Dee and Wilma who have recently commented about the gaps in my posts. I hope that there will be more time in the next month for”surfing the net” andbeing moreregualr with my posts. -- time will tell.
Linda is getting cabin fever and with my course wrapping up in 2 weeks we are looking to “hit the road”. But we have n’t really figured out where we want to go – so far there hasn’t been any “Macedonian call” –similar to 2 years ago when we felt compelled to make our “Katrina” trip.
God Bless
Charlie
