Whitfield's journey:

Still trying ... once in a while

2010-06-22T11:53:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update to say I'm still here. We have spent the past 5 weeks commuting between our camper and home -- the time at "camp" is very relaxing and has also allowed us to do some needed repairs there. We have been doing the basics at home and trying to finish off the painting, flooring and trim for "our part" of the building extension. I have been reading a book called the "Brain that changes itself" -- recommended by Linda's chiropractor and also by my son. My interest in reading these discoveries of what can be done to overcome damage to our brain is too see how that connects to my theology. One thing I am certain of by faith is that nothing science discover about humans will be unrelated to what God has told us about humans -- although it may not have been revealed in any clear way. I'm a long way from doing any serious research on this connection so I can't say if I'll ever get tot he point of posting something coherent on the topic.

We will be unavailable most of July involved in fammily things so it may well be fall before I get into any serious discussion. I actually take this as a sign of progress as I am being more realistic about concentrating my energy on the 3 most important projects I have identified -- and allowing the rest to remain in the background. For now caring for my Dad, fulfilling my role as an elder and keeping up with other family matters fills my days -- well almost -- I also am taking more time for R&R and meditation --

God Bless
Charlie

I'm afraid to say I'm starting again

2010-05-05T11:46:00.003-04:00

My desire to start a weekly posting on "breaking the cognitive egg" remains just that -- an unfulfilled desire. I'm beginning to think it just isn't meant to be and yet fatalism and passive acceptance of things that could be changed aren't very healthy -- So for now I'm seeking "the wisdom to know the difference"

The last six weeks have been interesting to say the least. We made a trip to visit our son Chris (and I had the satisfaction of installing a suspended ceiling in his basement). When we arrived Linda began experiencing severe shoulder and arm pain that as best we can tell is a chronic pain with no specific cause. She was essentially beridden for 3 weeks and between running to doctor's appointments and house work my days were fairly full -- and then as she began to recuperate I foolishly burned my little finger and that along with continuing other responsibilities for my Dad and worki at the church has left me with little energy for this project -- so the beat goes on -- I haven't given up -- and I've given up being driven to accomplish something that for whatever reason hasn't made it to the "must do" list.

Perhaps this is a lesson in patience or perhaps it's an exercise in rationalization -- I'm not sure and I'm not going to worry about it -- God knows and I trust in his grace in all these things.

God Bless
Charlie

So far it isn't getting any easier

2010-03-15T11:13:00.015-04:00

Last post on January 24 I said I was going to be talking about “making the complex more simple and the hard easier”.

For reasons noted below I haven’t made much progress

One thing for sure is trying to do even a weekly blog about changing the way this 65 year old brain operates isn't going to be either "easy" or "simple".

Since the last post my time for "cracking the cognitive egg" has been consumed by life happenings.

From January 24 through February 7 I was almost full-time working on the project of relocating my Dad from an apartment to a retirement home. If I'm experiencing difficulty in making real changes to the habits I've developed over the years -- try getting a 93 year old man to learn new routines! However, it was a successful transitions.

We then took a week to travel to visit with Sarah and Will who had come east for a visit with her parents and friends. We spent a great afternoon with them in Niagara Falls -- amazed at how much he had grown and changed in the 8 months since we had last seen him . We also visited with friends in the area and spent the weekend with Melissa and Alex in Toronto.

No sooner back from that trip with plans to take a longer time of R&R for 4 weeks in mid-March to mid-April when my brother -- in addition to ongoing heart problems had a minor stroke --

So I suppose I can't feel too guilty for failing to meet my weekly commitment to posting.

I did want to do something this week -- before we head off on our trip.

So far my efforts at “cracking the cognitive egg” have been more like fruitless efforts to unravel a ball of string. I see a little end here and there but I soon find it is entangled in the ball and I start again looking for a piece that will come off completely before moving to the next one.

I am looking for some type of framework to shape my thinking and ultimately influence my behavior. Last time I mentioned the need to examine pre-suppositions – and I have been thinking about that. One of my strongest presuppositions is my “assumption” that God exists – this I accept as an “article of faith” or as an “axiom” of life. Of course other start with different pre-suppositions but for me this one is foundational” self-evident” place that I start. Knowing God (Theology) then becomes a very central theme in my life and any changes I make need to be shaped by my theology.

For today I am posting portions of a sermon I presented describing God’s gifts of enable (us to lie as his children), equipping (us with gifts that allow us to do His good works of service) and encouraging (us through the presence of others who also seek to serve).

I have made some editorial changes to remove specific local references.

God Bless
Charlie

Reading Matt. 25:14-30
My goal this morning is to provide some thoughts on how we can individually and collectively be “the best we can be” in our walk with Jesus.
(being the best we can be is based on Phil 4:16 which says in part
--- “let live up to what we have already attained.”

Is there anyone here who doesn’t know who these people are and why they are celebrating? I doubt it!!! ( Clockwise from top left - Alex Bilodeau, Joannie Rogette, Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue , Sidney Crosby)

I am still excited by the many memorable events of these games and I know that is true for most Canadians and for many more around the world – the Paralympics will add to this story

--- a story that illustrates “the joy of victory and the agony of defeat”
--- and also illustrates the human capacity to achieve “impossible dreams”.

The Olympics was a huge undertaking. It didn’t happen by accident. It started with a dream by a few people and came about through the determination of many people to pursue the dream by setting goals and pursuing them.

It wasn’t enough for the organizing committee to commit to this dream and set goals –it took many different people -- engineers, construction workers to build the facilities and all kinds of people to run the events – for example security people

.. and it took individual athletes with their own dreams and goals to put in the time and effort to qualify and then compete, it took coaches, parents and other supporters -

Setting goals, having the commitment to make them happen, perseverance and hard work led to a record breaking 14 gold medals

Jesus has a dream that all “may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). And He gave his life so that we might have this gift.

Do we share that dream as a church family? What purpose or goal are we determined to achieve? How do you and I as individuals within that family give of ourselves each day to allow Jesus dream to be a reality that we experience??

To accomplish great things, it is important for a group to have a common goal, purpose or mission

In the lead-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics (and Paralympics) several of the Canadian sports organizations supported by government and other partners joined together to create the “ Own the Podium” initiative

Their mission (for the Olympic Games) was to be #1 in medals.

Now we can question whether this was a realistic mission and we can debate whether it was accomplished or even give the reasons why Canada failed to accomplish the mission

Or we can believe that setting a “big hairy audacious goal” spurred the athletes in their efforts to achieve and we can celebrate what was accomplished

One way of stating our mission as follower's of Jesus is ...
.. Going .. Growing … Gving

Of course our mission is set by God and at its simplest our mission is to “follow Jesus” (Mark 8:34)—

There is ONE important difference between our mission and the Olympics. In Jesus, because of God’s grace, IF we are in the race, we are all “gold medalists” –

As followers of Jesus we are called to “make every effort” to live this mission – to be “in the race” each & every day –whether at home, at work or at play.

What prevents us from getting “on board” with this mission?
And make no mistake, being “on board” means much more than having “put on Christ in baptism” – as important as that is-- and it means much more than attending services and bible studies -- even though these things too are important.
No .. committing to “going, growing and giving” as your mission means so much more than these. It means surrendering your life 24/7 - every day - each day.

You may think this mission is too big? or I don’t know what I am able to do? Or I don’t have the knowledge or ability to do anything that will help? Or I’ve tried and it didn’t work or I’m tired and discouraged – I can’t keep going?

One of the ways to do what may seem as impossible is to break the mission into more tangible and specific goals

For example, Canada’s Olympic dream began way back before 1998 when Vancouver was picked (instead of Quebec City or Calgary) to be the city to submit the Canadian bid. Then after a lot more work was done the IOC selected Canada (Vancouver’s) bid in July 2003.

And then the real work began – there were all kinds of building projects, athletes vying to be selected for the games, etc. etc. It cost over $6 billion dollars and took countless thousands of people – and in the end we celebrated Sydney Crosby ‘s overtime goal and claimed Canada’s 14th Gold medal. (I should acknowledge for our US neighbors that even though Canada beat the US in hockey -- and a few other sports -- the US "owned the podium" with 37 medals overall)

I’m sure there were many back in 1998 that said this was crazy – impossible – but it was accomplished.

So let’s believe that following Jesus is possible – and let’s also understand that it requires effort –
When we try to follow in someone’s footsteps, we may wonder how our footprint measures up?
One thing for sure our footprints aren’t going to be the same as Jesus - his footprints are simply too big us to fill. (Notice "my" little foot in Jesus "big foot")

However, we can be following and we can be growing as we follow. (Eph 2:10-11, I Pet 1 3-11, Gal 5:23-25)

We may not be able to fill His “shoes” but we can grow “triple E” feet – This means we are
1)enabled – we are able to take on some task
2) equipped with knowledge, tools and skills to do our task.
3) encouraged and encouragers – to help us persevere in spite of the adversities and trails we experience in this life.

And we are promised these things in ever-increasing measure (unless we do as the one-talent servant and bury our feet instead of growing them.
(If needed I can give the biblical evidence that we are promised these abilities (gifts))

(Note: feet can grow in 2 ways - length and breadth -- in this metaphor length represents adding additional gifts and abilities as we grow -- breadth -- "triple E" is growth that let's us be the best we can be with whatever gifts and abilities we already have).

Putting on the Olympics required places to compete and places for the athletes and fans to stay and ways to feed them and move them around. It also needed competent (enabled), equipped athletes who were encouraged as they pursued their dreams of gold.

But it took more - It took many different kinds of “talents” (planners, builders, organizers, marketers, fundraisers, coaches, trainers, supporters, and volunteers ),

In the same way followers of Jesus are not identical “clones” who all do everything the same and are all equally capable of doing all things. No we are (to switch metaphors) a body that has hands, feet, mouths, eyes – each with a specific job and to function well each one needs to do its part (Ephesians 4:15-16)

Not only does it require different abilities but each one has different levels of capability.
There may be some who are more visible and who stand up and take the “medals” when God grants a good result from our efforts but the reality is nothing good happens without each one doing their part – even if it is just “being a fan” by praying and encouraging others who are more visibly involved.

There’s no shame in being a “1 talent worker”. The shame is NOT stepping up and being the best we can be for Jesus –

And don’t let anyone make you think that “one size fits all” when it comes to what need to be doing to “follow Jesus”. – each one is uniquely created to serve God.

So let’s be sure we are using whatever our talents are by growing triple E feet.

We have a mission as a family – each one can do something as part of that mission – sometimes as a part of organized ministry efforts
-- and always and most importantly as we go about our daily lives .. at work, at home, at play.

Prayer: Father help each of us use the gifts you have given us to grow and use our “Triple E” feet so that we will receive “Heaven’s gold medal” – and that by our walk in faith, hope and love we will bring others with us. And especially Father help us to “follow Jesus” each day so that we can experience the joy, peace and love that is promised in this life

If it were easy ....

2010-01-24T09:03:00.002-05:00

Again a busy full week. A couple of days related to my Dad’s care; a day working on the building; time at the dentist having a crown installed. and preparing for and being part of a great afternoon (visiting and a pot luck supper) with Linda’s family on Saturday. We had 8 (of 9) of her brothers and sisters (and many of the “in-laws” along with several nieces, & nephews, a “grand” niece and the first “great-grand” nephew (hard to believe but Linda’s younger sister became a great-grandmother last April). There were for a total of 24 here for at least part of the afternoon.

As I was preparing to write about my efforts to “Get cracking”, I was considering (again) exactly what it was I was trying to accomplish in this “Breaking the cognitive egg” exercise.

There are actually 2 parts to this.

One has to do with “preventative measures” to offset the normal and natural decline in our reasoning and thinking powers as we age – and yes -- while I don’t think of myself that way I am now an official “card carrying” member of those that the Government of Canada considers old!!) (Actually I still believe in my definition of old – it’s someone who is at least 20 years older than I am :):) )

This idea of "keeping the brain sharp" is really the point of the article I referred to in Cracking the cognitive egg which I posted January 2 as the start of this series.

The second part has to do with the things mentioned in my last post – breaking bad habits such as "An (obsessive) need for approval - habits that limit and in some cases are destructive to my relationships.

For now I’m pursuing the idea that the same techniques that help with retaining cognitive skills may be helpful in breaking these habits – in the sense that changing habits requires breaking “well-trodden paths in our synapses” (see the goal outlined in the “Cracking the cognitive egg” article. )

As a starting point in this process, I had decided to identify the hypotheses that I am undertaking to prove (or disprove). And as I was starting to think about that I realized that it was important to be clear about the foundational “world views” that I have – "What are the things that I take as given's?"

Rene Descartes the famous French philospher and mathematician summarized his basic presuppositions in the statement "Cogito ergo sum" (translated into English as 'I think, therefore I am' ; or 'I am thinking, therefore I exist').

My presuppositions will both shape and limit my thinking— and they need to be understood both by myself and my readers before there can really be an understanding of what I am saying.

This leads me to remember one of my favorite sayings

“There are things that are easy (or hard) to do and there are things that are simple (or complex) to understand”

This leads to 4 possibilities – things that are simple to understand and easy to do; things that are simple to understand and hard to do; things that are complex but easy to do and things that are both complex and hard to do”

And this lead me to thinking that the answer to my question from last week about “Why is it so hard to get started?” is “If it was easy, I’d already be done”

And that lead to looking up some “easy quotes” which I’ve listed below.

Next time - I’ll begin the process of making the complex more simple and the hard easier. For now do you have any favorites from these quotes?

There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult. Warren Buffett

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think. Martin Luther King, Jr.

There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Ronald Reagan

Don't just read the easy stuff. You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it. Jim Rohn

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. John F. Kennedy

If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottage princes' palaces. William Shakespeare

There is always an easy solution to every problem - neat, plausible, and wrong. H. L. Mencken

Thinking is easy, action is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Good questions outrank easy answers. Paul Samuelson

All things are difficult before they are easy. Thomas Fuller

All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small. …. Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy …. Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step Lao Tzu

Faith makes all things possible... love makes all things easy. Dwight L. Moody

It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get. Confucius

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires. Nelson Mandela

Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy. Aristotle

Evil is easy, and has infinite forms. Blaise Pascal

Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times. W. C. Fields

To swear off making mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is swear off having ideas. Leo Burnett

Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. Marianne Williamson

It's easy to fool the eye but it's hard to fool the heart. Al Pacino

To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult. Plutarch

There are three musts that hold us back: I must do well. You must treat me well. And the world must be easy. Albert Ellis

To disbelieve is easy; to scoff is simple; to have faith is harder. Louis L'Amour

It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy. Marie Curie

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei

There is nothing so easy to learn as experience and nothing so hard to apply. ….Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give but dreadful uneasy to take. Josh Billings

Falsehood is easy, truth so difficult. George Eliot

What is easy is seldom excellent. Samuel Johnson

Only entropy comes easy. Anton Chekhov

Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. Edgar Degas

Philosophy finds it an easy matter to vanquish past and future evils, but the present are commonly too hard for it. Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy. Saadi

Castles in the air - they are so easy to take refuge in. And so easy to build too. Henrik Ibsen

It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't know." W. Somerset Maugham

A wise man thinks what is easy is difficult. A fool often fails because he thinks what is difficult is easy John Churton Collins

So am I making the easy – hard – am I making the simple complex? -- -- Time will tell.

God Bless
Charlie

Why is it so hard to get started?

2010-01-18T08:51:00.002-05:00

Another full week and a bit and I didn’t get a post done on Saturday -- The good news is that I’ve already posted as many times in 2010 as I did for the entire year last year. (In looking at my archive bar I see this pattern of posts (2006 – 103; 2007 – 34; 2008 – 15 ; 2009 – 2) so I suppose it wasn’t much of a challenge to exceed my 2009 output – we’ll see were it ends up)

Back in July 2006 I posted a blog Living by the Nike Creed where I talked about my tendency to put off starting projects and challenged myself to follow the Nike slogan “Just do it?”.

I’m finding that my commitment to “breaking the cognitive egg” seems to be keep getting sidetracked by life and I ask myself ‘why is it so difficult to get started?’ (which I would measure by being able to point to concrete specific actions I have taken beyond just “thinking about it” and writing weird posts about techniques of cracking eggs :)

So ‘Why is it so difficult to get started (make visible progress)?

One answer is that last week was a very full week. Monday I spent trying to get organized. Making lists (and lists of lists) about what needed to be done and picking up materials for the Tuesday work day at the church building. Wednesday through Friday was fully occupied with family events related to my Dad’s 93rd birthday. We had family here for lunch & supper both Wednesday & Thursday and lunch Friday and then a big family dinner at the North 82 restaurant on Friday night.

Saturday a.m. was tied up in a church planning meeting and the p.m. was a little quieter. I spent most of Saturday afternoon working through and cleaning up a years worth of backlog in my email inbox (well I cleared out January and February 2009 and worked back through December) and took care of a few long standing small projects. Saturday evening we attended an 85th birthday celebration for one of our neighbors. With all that activity, I didn’t spend much time on my journal thinking about the “big question”.

Another answer is that it is tough getting started on something new when there are several important things that need to be cleaned up before I add something else to the list.

One of the disciplines (habits) that I have been focused on developing in my living for several years is based on the asking these 2 questions

“What would you be doing today if it was your last day?

And what would you be doing today if it was your first day?”

and then doing (at least 1) thing from each of the answers during the day. (Interestingly I heard Ravi Zacharias state this principle in a slightly different way in a radio sermon last evening – He said “Treat your body as if it will be here forever and treat your soul as if this will be your last day).

Those daily choices have been shaped by a fairly consistent process of starting each month and then each week by listing the 3 most important things I need to get done that week (over and above the routines of daily living) and last week the 3 important things didn’t include a specific goal for my “egg cracking project”.

A 3rd possible answer is that I’m doing OK with getting this project started – after all this is a pretty huge ball of string to unravel and just because I haven’t found the a long piece to unwind and the pile of unraveled pieces is quite small doesn’t mean that I haven’t been making reasonable progress.

Maybe it’s just a rationalization and denial of my inability to figure out how to jumpstart this project but I choose to accept this answer.

I did identify what I think are 4 key “success factors” (things I need to overcome – or to push the metaphor parts of the egg I have to crack) to improve the health and strength of my relationships.

1. I have an (obsessive) need for approval. When others disagree I often feel disliked and unworthy.

Rather than dealing with the discomfort of disagreement and sticking with the discussion, I can become angry or I may just concede and bury the frustration(which can erupt like a volcano later unexpectedly and at someone else on a completely different topic)

2 I want to be right – to be the one that has all the answers.
This leads to all types of dysfunctional behavior when I’m asked a question that I really don’t want to deal with or which seems to challenge my “authoritative” status.

3. I feel ashamed, and inadequate when I make a mistake.

This leads to anger and denial.
4. I feel responsible for what others do – I want to "fix" them.

This leads to efforts to control others, disrespect for their boundaries and anger when they don’t conform.

These limitations and my reactions to them are toxic (like a cancer) that can, at worst, eat away at and destroy a relationship and at best, limit the number of mature, healthy and fulfilling close relationships that I can sustain.

While these are only words, they do provide a framework for the egg cracking exercise – and for this week my “slogan” is (taken again from an advertisement) “Let’s get cracking”

God Bless
Charlie

Thoughts about cracking eggs

2010-01-09T22:54:00.002-05:00

Wow – a whole week of 2010 gone already. It’s been a busy week – in addition to the normal things around the house, at least daily visits with my Dad tending to his needs, getting back into the church building project (filling in while the project manager is out of commission dealing with medical problems, visit to the ortho clinic Monday (last time for the elbow until he does surgery in a few months to remove the plate & screws he put in in July) , Wednesday visit to dentist to do the prep work and get a temporary crown, preparing (Tuesday) and then restoring curtains etc for new windows which were installed Wednesday, organizing family supper next Friday to celebrate my Dad’s 93rd and a couple of visits with some folks who were needing someone to listen to them as they wrestled with some tough things in their lives and capped off last evening with a nachos and movie night with some friends from our church family – AVATAR – even in 2D -- it’s a cliffhanger (literally at times)

I am thankful to be blessed with the health and energy that let’s me enjoy this pace and for the ability to make jokes about the similarities between lists and rabbits. (you’ll have to get to my FACEBOOK page for full details on that one)

Last week I included an excerpt from “The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain” by Barbara Strauch and then I asked

“How can I ‘crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up’ so as to create positive changes in my relationship behaviors” (or is this even possible)?

As I have been journaling this week, I started thinking about this idea and it generated these random thoughts

1. It’s easy to crack an egg – but not as easy to do it right. Have you seen a child the first time trying to crack the egg and get the contents into the bowel without also included the shell or observed with wonder an expert doing 2 eggs one handed with ease and flair (You can watch the Youtube training video to develop this skill for one egg))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfHqdc4pbbs&feature=player_embedded
>
2. There are different reasons for cracking an egg – one is to get at the contents to cook them – another is to allow the hatchling inside to emerge. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCdbRR8FbX0)

While the metaphor of the cognitive egg seems to refer to the breaking to let the contents out and change into a new shape, perhaps there is some merit in pursuing the hatchling idea .

3. Sometimes the contents of the egg are scrambled, sometimes they are fried and sometimes they are hardboiled. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv8vsuNWhWQ
I wonder I really want to do any of these things with my brain (thought processes) and I also think that any of these might at times be an aptdescription of my current situation.

4. There’s the Humpty Dumpty syndrome to consider. We can crack the egg and scramble up the contents – but how will we put it back together again?

5. Isn’t there something a little unsettling about this metaphor – If the egg is my skull – do I really want to crack it open and start scrambling the grey stuff inside?I think not.

6. It doesn’t matter how much thinking we do about cracking the egg if we never get on with the work of changing. And this blog is evidence of that fact – it is a way of posting something despite not having done much "real work" on this question this week.

However, if I’m going to pursue this I know it will take discipline and consistent effort. And part of that is a commitment to a weekly blogging exercise to share things that may be of help to others – so for this week we’ll be a little silly and just think about cracking eggs. Any thoughts about that that I’ve missed?

Maybe by next Saturday I’ll have something more on this – or maybe not--
I'm thinking the this may be a tough egg to crack(pun intended)

God Bless
Charlie

Cracking the cognitive egg

2010-01-02T10:15:00.003-05:00

Well it’s the 2nd day of 2010. Hard to believe that we are entering the 2nd decade of the 21st century. I well remember the angst with which we entered the year 2000 (Y2K) – maybe a distant memory for many of you but not for those of us with direct responsibility for computer systems and all the concerns regarding wide spread disasters due to the 2 digit dates and the change in century.

As an aside much of that was hype and much of it was real. What amazed me most was the fact the IT people who had in a sense created the problem with a failure to think ahead far enough about the consequences of choices in selecting 2 digit year formats responded with tenacity and ingenuity and resolved most of the real problems –

Unfortunately corporate boards listened to the auditors and with a lack of understanding of the real issues believed a lot of the hype and over-reacted. Most senior IT people went along and spent a lot more time and money than was really warranted by the level of risk to things like power systems and airplane controls.

It was a bit like what I heard on the radio2 days ago as we were leaving to come home the morning of New Year’s Eve. The announcer said “the best thing to do tonight if you need to drive even if you are stone cold sober, is to treat everyone else on the road as if they are drunken idiots. Nobody wanted to take the chance that the rest of the world hadn’t done the due diligence in dealing with their Y2K issues and so they spent a lot of time in contingency planning and actions “just in case” something went wrong “out there”.

Well back to my main point for today. Most people at this time of year are either doing (belated) year end reviews or plans for the New Year.

In the past I have done both – and they take a lot of time --with uncertain value because I like many often lose sight of the lessons learned from the past and the focus on the goals I set in my plans.

So rather than set myself up for public failure by exposing those flaws to the “reading public” (Thanks Noel for letting me know that at least 1 person is still watching for my posts) I’m going to post the following item that I came across in a Bible discussion group that I’m involved with.

This is part of a post by "Dan Smith" on Berean Spirit where he provides an excerpt from a long paper "How to Train the Aging Brain" by Barbara Strauch .

“Educators say that, for adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should “jiggle their synapses a bit” by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own, says Dr. Taylor, who is 66.Teaching new facts should not be the focus of adult education, she says. Instead, continued brain development and a richer form of learning may require that you “bump up against people and ideas” that are different. In a history class, that might mean reading multiple viewpoints, and then prying open brain networks by reflecting on how what was learned has changed your view of the world.“There’s a place for information,” Dr. Taylor says. “We need to know stuff. But we need to move beyond that and challenge our perception of the world. If you always hang around with those you agree with and read things that agree with what you already know, you’re not going to wrestle with your established brain connections”Such stretching is exactly what scientists say best keeps a brain in tune: get out of the comfort zone to push and nourish your brain. Do anything from learning a foreign language to taking a different route to work.“As adults we have these well-trodden paths in our synapses” Dr. Taylor says. “We have to crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up. And if you learn something this way, when you think of it again you’ll have an overlay of complexity you didn’t have before and help your brain keep developing as well.”Jack Mezirow, a professor emeritus at Columbia Teachers College, has proposed that adults learn best if presented with what he calls a “disorienting dilemma” or something that “helps you critically reflect on the assumptions you’ve acquired.”

Barbara Strauch is The Times’s health editor; her book “The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain” will be published in April.

I was moved to post this here – not because it is a new idea to me. Actually, my son who is working on his Ph. D. in neuropsychology had told me something similar almost 2 years ago and the “new route to work” and other such things have often been preached as ways to break free of habitual patterns and as a source of creative thinking.

I mention it because I have been pursuing new ways of looking at things related to God and the Bible (even if it doesn’t change my beliefs or behaviors although sometimes it has) for several years now.

In 2009, I have become aware of a need to do a similar re-examination of how I operate in relationships. I have ingrained behaviors that limit (or even are destructive) in relationships and I would like to break those “habits”.

My question to my self for 2010 is “how can I ‘crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up’ so as to create positive changes in my relationship behaviors” (or is this even possible)?

Any ideas out there?

Season's Greetings

2009-12-18T11:43:00.004-05:00

Well -- another record of NOT blogging -- It's been since April. I don't make New Year's resolutions however I am intending in 2010 to make a renewed effort to integrate blogging with my daily routine of email, facebook and ocassionally Twitter.

We'll see how that goes when January rolls around.

For now -- if anyone happens to see this I want to extend my best wishes for the Season to each of you.

God blessed us richly through the gift of His son and I pray that we are moved to accept that gift as we give & receive gifts -- and that we choose each day in 2010 to (continue to) follow him.

God Bless
Charlie

p.s. I have had some recent & repeated problems with SPAM comments (after 3 years I guess one of those "web crawler thingys has found me) so I have now turned on word verification for comments.

What I did for my Easter vacation

2009-04-19T16:50:00.007-04:00

Wow –Almost 5 months since I last ventured on to the keyboard for a blog entry –lot’s of reasons -- mostly due to teaching a full-time course load over the winter at Algoma University. In addition, my laptop had gone over the edge in performance—too much software – too little memory. Won’t bore you with the details but it is the equivalent of having along list of things to do and spending all your time going around in circles starting one thing and then thinking Oh – I need to do this other thing and ending up spending all your time going from one thing to another and not getting anything done!!! The end result was it just took too long to do the bare minimum of things like some email and Facebook which is a “hit & run” type of application anyhow.

Anyhow – I’ve finished the course (well almost – still need to do some marking) and I just added some memory to the laptop so its whizzing along now -- I got through the basics this morning in about 30 minutes whereas I’d been taking more like 2 hours to do the same thing (while playing a lot of Freecell while waiting for the larger applications to load).

So I’ve decided to do a post.

We went to visit Chris, Tammye, Hunter & Camdyn for the Easter weekend. We left Thursday morning and came home Wednesday.

The trip down was uneventful – sunny and clear – although I made a bad choice by going west of the lake and getting caught in construction traffic in Milwaukee and northern end of I-294 so it took us almost 11 hours.

Friday the kids were off school and C&T were working so we decided to do our annual birthday lunch with the 2 of them. For past 2 years we have taken them out separately – mostly “belated” for Hunter whose birthday is in February and “be-earlied” for Camdyn whose birthday comes in May. This year they said it would be OK if we did it to-gether.

So it was Shake & Steak – a concern for Linda who has been on a strict diet for past month (As an aside she has met her target weight loss and is pleased about that). So she stuck with a chicken salad and looked longingly at our steakburgers and shakes.

Saturday was cool but clear. In the morning we went to the park with the kids and played a game called “grounders” (No not with a ball – it is a form of tag and blindman’s buff). The person who is “it” has to keep their eyes closed and try to “tag” the other players who are moving around on the playground equipment. If you can catch someone and “tag” them or force them onto the ground and call “grounders” then they are it.

Later, Linda & I went out shopping looking for light fixtures and ceiling fan for the building addition. Saturday evening we went to the Easer service at Community Christian with Chris & family. Excellent message on the hope we have in the risen Christ and we had the privilege of observing several baptisms. More about the Easter story later.

Afterwards we had a great roast beef dinner and then later we played the “Mexican train” with Chris and Tammye.

Sunday was quite nice and Linda & I went for a long walk in the Springbrook Forest preserve. Chris came home at noon and the kids had to wait until then to do the Easter egg hunt. They had however scouted them all out so the actual hunt took about 5 minutes!!!
We went back to the park in the p.m. and I enjoyed tossing football with Chris & Hunter.
We had a second “feast” of ham that evening. (Linda was still sticking pretty well to her diet – just having the meat and salad with it) – although she did have some of the cherry rhubarb pie!!

Sunday afternoon we also went to Menard’s and picked up materials for the “project” which was to install a suspended ceiling in the downstairs bathroom. This is an ongoing project that I’ve described in a couple of earlier blogs. I had never done this before so it was a learning experience – however it worked out well –

Monday the kids were back at school and Chris was on his days off so we I spent most of Monday and Tuesday morning doing this project.

Wednesday we headed home in sunshine most of the way and 60 deg (17C) weather)
A good trip.

I mentioned that I wanted to say some more about Easter. I enjoy the special emphasis on remembering the hope we have from the Easter story and appreciate the focus that occurs at this time of year to tell the good news of God’s love. Having said that, I also need to say that, for me, Easter and Christmas are about affirming a relationship that exists and is important all of the time. It is similar in a way to birthday’s and anniversaries. Different people approach these special days in different ways. To me as a relationship grows and matures there is less need to make a really big deal out of one or 2 days a year and more need to seek ways to renew and strengthen relationship more or less “continually”. That is why I like the practice of a weekly remembrance of “Easter” through the taking of the Lord’s Table.

Well that’s my thoughts for now

God Bless

Charlie

Happiness isn't... Blogging

2008-11-30T16:14:00.002-05:00

My last 2 posts – (the latest one over 6 weeks ago!!) dwelt on the theme “Happiness is ..”

The title for this is intended to be a little “ironic” (if that is the right word) because I will start by saying

Happiness isn’t having time to keep up with my blog posts because if it was I’d be prettymiserable and I’m not.

Most of October and all of November have been a blur.

First I am teaching a course at the university which consumes 12-16 hours/week. Then there are the fall cleanup things – leaves to rake, winterizing, etc. that need to be squeezed in.

My Dad had a cold and then some problems with pain in his side that resulted in 2 consecutive weekends at the ER.

At the same time Linda was experiencing a recurring dry cough that eventually required (the 3rd weekend in a row) a visit to the ER to be diagnosed with atypical (“walking”) pneumonia.

I spent 2 weeks –more or less full-time doing wiring for our addition at the church building(it was a big celebration for me when we got the “rough-in” successfully inspected on November 18.

In all that there were many good things to celebrate and be happy about most notably

Our trip last weekend to Kingston to attend the Fall convocation at RMC where ”Dr.” Melissa was granted the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Sciences. (I hope sometime to devote a post to this event along with pictures - also see my Wednesday, September 17, 2008 post)

And this weekend we are in the process of doing something a bit unusual.

For many years there have been 2 relatively small congregations of similar beliefs meeting separately here in our city. At the initiation of the smaller group we agreed to merge the "2 into 1.We met with them this mornng as they said farewell to their meeting and tonight “we” meet the first time at the Pinehill building as a new combined group. We pray God’s blessing on this work that as one larger group we can better serve Him and the community here.

Well that’s all I can squeeze in for now – I wanted you (if there is still anyone checking) to know that I’m still alive and indeed Happiness is ..NOT having enough time to blog or do FACEBOOK (although if it goes on for too long withdrawl symptoms may catch up to me)

God Bless
Charlie

Happiness is ..part 2

2008-10-09T10:53:00.009-04:00

Happiness is having many things to choose from each minute of the day … and making the right choices!!.

Last post I talked about finding happiness and peace –no matter what our circumstances are. This is something God promises to Christians as they turn control over to Him and become centered not on the things of this world but on His gifts of love, hope and relationship.

We were visiting Chris and family in the Chicago area last weekend and I saw an article in the Chicago Tribune about Dr. Martin Seligman who is promoting a (relatively) new concept of positive psychology and has a website titled “Authentic Happiness”.

An excerpt from his website states “His research has demonstrated that it is possible to be happier — to feel more satisfied, to be more engaged with life, find more meaning, have higher hopes, and probably even laugh and smile more, regardless of one’s circumstances”.

This should not be news to Christians because it is uncannily similar to the promises we find in the New Testament about what we can experience when we place our hope in Jesus. It appears that, through studies, he has shown that Jesus was right when he said “having food & raiment” we can be content and that happiness doesn’t come from possessions. (treasures on earth).

Now we could debate whether there is a conflict between my claim that this ability to experience authentic happiness is part of God’s gift to Christians and Dr. Seligman’s assertion that it is something psychologists can teach to anyone (through a process called “positive psychology intervention”) and perhaps I will come back to this another time. Suffice it to say that for me these type of study results strengthen my faith that God was behind what Jesus taught.

However, no matter the foundation upon which you build your conviction that “Be Light hearted and happy” is a fundamental principle to living meaningful, peace filled lives – I think we all realize it is not always easy to experience this on a day-to-day basis.

And that one of the things that continually fights against my ability to live in the “peace that passes understanding” is my tendency to become over committed.

I’m there again (overcommitted that is)—

Last week, a long time friend of the family and Christian lady Phyliss Wright passed away and we attended the visitation and funeral. She was the daughter of Nelson and Annie Bailey. Her grandmother Edith Bailey (nee Cann) was my grandmother’s sister – let’s see I guess that makes us 2nd cousins. Annie (her mother) was a Hotchkiss and one of 3 Hotchkiss siblings that married 3 Bailey siblings. These were large families so there were many nephews, nieces and cousins at the funeral many of whom are part of the church families that grew out of our grandparents roots in North Livingston (now Thessalon) church of Christ.

During the week, Linda was also recovering from 2 weeks of having a bad cough (cold) and my Dad became ill with a cold (we hope these weren't connected but it is possible). Anyhow, we needed to spend extra time with him. As a result I was unable to get back to help with the building project and I won’t be there again this week. However, work has been progressing and the shingling is now complete.

In addition, as mentioned, we took the last weekend off to go visit Chris, Tammye , Hunter & Camdyn. Putting everything else aside to make that visit was part of living by the rule of not letting urgent things crowd out important things and what, in this world, could be more important than sharing life with your children and grandchildren.

Chris usually has a project lined up for us to do and this time I helped him replace the storm door going out to the deck. It is good working with him —I have become better at doing things together – although I still get a little “bossy” and "impatient" with others– just ask Linda about that.

We also had some great time sharing at the kitchen table, time at the park tossing a football and a special time with Hunter doing the same thing in the back yard, a special time with Camdyn Saturday evening with Hunter was at a sleepover and Chris & Tammye were out to a wedding reception.

We also had a family visit to Catigny on Sunday afternoon. (this is a real great place within 20 minutes of Chris’ place) and is where the pictures were taken)

Following is an excerpt from their website:

Cantigny: Robert R. McCormick's Gift to the People of Illinois

Located in Wheaton, Ill., this sprawling, 500-acre park is where families wander through nature, get lost in history, play golf at an award-winning course, attend a big band concert, tag monarch butterflies, make a snow globe, take classes, introduce children to the age-old custom of afternoon tea, attend a wide variety of special programs and events --in short, spend quality time together. In addition to vast formal gardens and picnic and camping grounds, Cantigny offers two history-rich museums: the Robert R. McCormick Museum and the Cantigny First Division Museum, fascinating for children and researchers alike.

Bottom line is that after the unexpected things that cropped up last week and then taking 4 days off means that I am backlogged on some of the other projects and commitments I mentioned in the last post. This means I have had to “re-prioritize” and some of the things that are important have had to take aback seat while I focus on the most urgent items -- and other less important things(like blogging and facebook need to be set aside – well reduced anyhow – complete withdrawal can be dangerous to my sense of peace and well-being :) :)

I keep saying that I want to do a review of "The Shack". That seems to be more distant now than it was before. John Mark Hicks has written a series of posts giving his views on the Shack which I have skimmed and will need to put into the background until I have do my own review – if you are interested you can find the first of the series by clicking HERE

Well I need to get at the important things that are waiting for me (It was rainy yesterday when I started this – it is a bright, crisp, sunny fall day today --- and it is my birthday. Just another day in the 23375 (give or take a day or 2) that I have lived so far. Today I have lived (if I did the math correctly) .004% more days than yesterday – that surely is something to celebrate!!)

God Bless

Charlie

Happiness is …

2008-09-26T11:08:00.006-04:00

I have been trying to get back to posting at least once a week and so far it isn’t happening.

I have at least 4 major projects that are consuming my time

I am teaching the adult class Sunday mornings, I am spending 2 days or so a week helping with the addition at our building and I’m teaching a course in Systems Analysis at Algoma University.

Of course life goes on and there are many day-to-day household tasks that need to be done and sometimes are getting neglected. So it is no surprise that I’ve not had much time for “NET surfing” – visiting with my friends in discussion groups, on blogs and via Facebook.

Speaking of the building project, we have been kidding our chief planner Lloyd Hotchkiss about “raising the roof”.

We are using mostly volunteer labor and with a wall height of 14 feet it was a bit daunting to think of putting up the trusses “in place” so Lloyd came up with the idea of assembling the roof on the ground and then lifting it into place with the crane.

Lloyd is shown here after completing the rigging before starting the lift.

It worked amazingly well – although we learned some lessons about the need to do better measurements of “what was there” rather than depending on the design plans.

I'm the one one the left holding the rope to help "steer" it into position

In the last picture, I’m the one looking out the doorway (the one that I originally had framed at the top of the wall –see later in this post )

I have built up a long list of topics I’d like to write about – things like my thoughts on The Shack, some ideas on how building buildings might relate to growing churches, sharing some ideas from another forum on how generational differences affect our relationships.

However, I’m resisting the “buffet table” and keeping closer to biting off what I can chew.

To-day I want to share some recent thoughts on happiness. Some may remember the ongoing “Happiness is ….” Sayings by Charles Schultz the creator of the Peanuts comic strip. In fact he published a book called “Happiness is a warm puppy” One of the ones I remember best is Linus saying “Happiness is a thumb and a warm blanket”.

One (out of about 400) of my favorite Bible passages is found in Philippians “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”. About 2 weeks ago I came across a blog by Silas Shotwell where he discusses (in his post for September 13) this idea of being happy in all circumstances. He discusses the Preface to the “The Little Book” which is the simple statement “Be Light Hearted and Happy”. I have posted this above my desk in a renewed effort to let the Spirit have fuller reign in my life and to fuller experience the fruits of letting Him reign in my life.

It does help keep things in perspective when life closes in. When things happen that seem depressing and might put me into the dumps – seeing this statement and thinking about all the blessings I experience each day remind me that I need to “Rejoice” – not rant and rave about how bad things are. However, it isn’t always easy and I also struggle with the balance – The Bible says to “weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice”. How can I be happy and light-hearted while”weeping”?

Linda has had a really bad cold the past 2 weeks and it has been depressing to her. If I go around all “Pollyanna-ish” it seems to lack sympathy and understanding for her circumstances. How can I be light hearted and happy when she is feeling so miserable?

As mentioned, I have been helping with the construction of the addition tour church building – I’ve made my share of mistakes. One day we were roughing out a wall on the ground and I put the opening for a doorway in the top – fortunately my friend Len who is overseeing the framing work noticed it before we sheeted it in and was helpful in tearing it apart and doing it right.

I have always had a hard time “moving on” when I mess up. I tend want to re-hash "why?" and often try to "rationalize" my stupidity. If I just say -- "well no matter" and I am lighted hearted and happy” - am I diminishing the cost and effort that others had to put in correcting that mistake?

This morning I came across the story of DQ in the blogpost by Wendy my “down under” INTERNET friend – As I read about DQ I thought he seems to personify this life principle of “Being happy in his skin” no matter how difficult his life may seem.

I do want to avoid making my happiness be based on comparing my circumstances to others whose circumstance may be worse. We likely all have heard the saying “I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.”. I wonder if it is a good idea to use the fact that there is someone worse off than I am to “shame” myself into being happy. I think we need to base our happiness on knowing that we have peace in Jesus – not because we perceive that we are in better circumstances than someone else.

However, the fact is that keeping this note of encouragement in front of me has helped me be more positive about life and spend less time worrying about the problems we encounter. I want to face those things with the attitude I will do what I can to overcome and I will leave the rest to God – and because He is there I can “rejoice always”

Well that’s it for to-day

God Bless

Charlie

Yeah Dr. Melissa –

2008-09-17T11:05:00.003-04:00

I am thrilled to announce that, as of approximately noon yesterday (September 16), there is a newly minted Dr. (Ph.D.) in the Whitfield family

Yeah Dr. Melissa – Mom & Dad are very proud and very happy for you. ( This picture of her with her grandfather taken when she was home in June is one of the most recent I have. I hope we will have one of her graduation - with the hood and all in a few months)

A couple of weeks ago I received the following notice by email from Melissa who, up until yesterday was a (civilian) graduate student at the Royal Military College in Kingston

(The notice is slightly edited – removing the French version and scientific units since I don’t have the proper character sets and they came through garbled)

THESIS ORAL EXAMINATION
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Royal Military College of Canada Kingston, Ontario CANADA RMC

TRANSFER OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS) FROM CONTAMINATED SOIL TO KEY PLANT SPECIES IN REALISTIC FIELD CONDITIONSImplications for the application of phytoextraction as a persistent organic pollutant (POP) remediation strategy.

Melissa L. Whitfield Åslund Candidate PhD, Environmental Science
Supervisors: Dr. Barbara A Zeeb & Dr. Kenneth J. Reimer
16 Sep 2008 9:30 hrs SB4301, Sawyer Building, Module 3

ABSTRACT
The uptake and translocation of PCBs in plants was researched over three years in a field trial of PCB phytoextraction. The soil was contaminated with a mixture of Aroclors 1254 and 1260. The study species were Cucurbita pepo ssp pepo cv. Howden (pumpkin), Carex normalis (sedge), and Festuca arundinacea (tall fescue).

Plant and soil samples were analyzed both via gas chromatography electron capture detection (GC-ECD) for total PCB concentrations and via gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for individual PCB congener concentrations.

For pumpkin plants, the PCB concentration was observed to decrease exponentially within the shoot as distance from the root increased. This pattern, and the preferential mobilization of two pentachlorinated co-eluting PCB congener pairs (93/95 and 105/127) in pumpkin plant shoots, suggested that the primary PCB transfer pathway was root uptake and translocation. The PCB concentration in pumpkin plant leaves and stems increased significantly from 5.7 and 3.9, respectively, in year one to 10.1 and 9.3 , respectively, in year two. These high shoot PCB concentrations were maintained in the third year. In both years two and three, the lower parts of the pumpkin shoots achieved PCB concentrations that were greater than the soil PCB concentration. This had not been reported previously in any part of a plant shoot for PCBs. Therefore, pumpkin plants are excellent candidates for further PCB phytoextraction research.
Relatively high PCB concentrations were observed in sedge and tall fescue shoots (concentration of 20 and 39 , respectively, were observed in year 3 of the study). However, the primary transfer pathway of PCBs from soil to these shoots appeared to be soil particle contamination. Application of a sand barrier between contaminated soil and growing shoots was found to significantly reduce the shoot PCB concentration of both species and the PCB congener pattern in the plant shoots was found to be nearly identical to that of the soil. Therefore, these species may not be appropriate for phytoextraction. However, their interception of soil particles may make them good candidates for groundcover of PCB contaminated sites in future phytoextraction applications.

KEYWORDS: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phytoextraction, bioaccumulation factors (BAFs), uptake pathway, phytoremediation, field study
Melissa is our youngest and I suppose will always be our “baby”.

Many of my posts about our journey through life have focused on our children and grandchildren.

The entire family is mentioned in the posts about Melissa’s “re-wedding” in September 2007 (CLICK HERE and HERE). Interestingly her thesis defense occurred a year and a day after the “re-wedding”

Another post featuring Melissa is our summer visit to Kingston in 2006.

I need to say that while I am boasting and swollen with a special pride and a special joy about Melissa’s accomplishment it doesn’t take away from the fact that we are especially proud of each of our children

(Those who have read “The Shack” by William P. Young may remember the phrase “I am especially fond of … that is often used by “Papa” (his personification of God). The point being that God loves all in a special way without that “specialness” meaning that any one person is more important or more deserving of love based on their “performance”

I’m sure that I failed many times in communicating this aspect of God’s love to my children but as I grow older I begin to understand more and more what it means and I pray that as I seek to let Jesus live more fully in me that I will be able to show that type of love in my relationships with my children and with others.

God Bless
Charlie

Travelling

2008-08-20T09:05:00.005-04:00

This will be a short post—mostly I hope to let my faithful readers (maybe one or 2 of you!!) know I’m still alive.

When I wrote in June that I wasn’t going to be “OCD” about writing I wasn’t really intending that it would be a month or more between posts on a regular basis but it almost seems like it has worked out this way.

Of course the earlier part of the summer was consumed by travelling back & forth to Thessalon as Linda had the opportunity to care for and be a companion to her mother during her final weeks on this earth.

I may have said this before, one day as I was driving the 95 km (55 miles) from home to “home” (my sister-in-law’s driveway where we had the BBB parked) I thought I haven’t driven this road as many times in a short period for almost 42 years since the summer before Linda and I were married. I was working in the Sault and she was at home – having completed her nursing training in June - helping her Mom and preparing for the wedding. Of course the road has changed a fair bit with many more passing lanes and sections of 4 lane – none of the long lineups caused by a slow moving vehicle towing a camping trailer so the trip is faster and safer. (especially since I was no longer an impatient 20 year old who wanted toget home to see his girl or who was rushing because he had left late and needed to get to work.)

Anyhow, we came home after the funeral and dived right into making preparations for the long August weekend . We had a family reunion (my family) precipitated by the fact that my brother Elwood and his wife Shirley had come from Arkansas. I copied the following account from my facebook “wall” where I reported that I was “fed up” by Tuesday.

“My brother Elwood and Shirley from Little Rock, my sister Ruby and Art (Ford) from Beamsville and my brother John and Diane all arrived in Sault Ste. Marie Thursday evening. We had a full weekend of visiting and eating. (John & Diane brought Linda a lovely bouquet of yellow roses in memoryofher Mom)

Elwood, Shirley and my Dad were at our house for dinner Thursday and they stayed with Dad. Ruby (my sister) and Art stayed with us. John (my oldest brother) & Diane parked their T@B trailer at my niece Megan's place.

Friday morning my Dad, four sons (John, Elwood, Charlie & Rob) and one son-in-law (Art) went golfing at Root River.

Friday night we had 18 people at our house for a BBQ -- which was interesting when I discovered that my BBQ wasn't working -- Thank goodness for the grill in the oven!! S

Saturday afternoon there were 16 of us at (my sister) Diamond's camp near Searchmont and Monday there were (about) 20 of us at (my sister) Goldie & Morris place at Bright Lake

10 of us went to Amici's for lunch on Sunday and also were at the monthly "birthday's & anniversaries" event at church in the evening.

It was great!!”

The only one of my siblings that wasn’t here for the weekend was the youngest my brother Lawrence (far right in this family picture taken almost 2 years ago when we congregated on Thanksgiving (October) for an early family celebration for my Dad’s 90th.

Since then I’ve been busy helping with the construction project at the church building. We are adding a new entrance to accommodate a lifting device to make our facilities more accessible for the aging and those with physical handicaps and preparing for the course that I’m scheduled to teach in September as well as teaching an adult class each week at our Sunday assembly. I’ve been reviewing the purpose and meaning of the Lord’s table.

We made another trip to Thessalon on the 10th -- to visit with the family of the late Heb and Margaret Weir. We grew up with this family. I was baptized at the same time as Norman – the oldest son – who now lives in BC and was back for one of his rare visits east. The (I think) youngest daughter Arlene is one of Linda’s “adopted” daughter/sister’s and they have maintained a close relationship even though Byron and Arlene and their family had to move away for employment reasons in the 90’s.

On Monday Linda also had some business to take care of related to her mother’s estate.

To-day we go on the road again. This time to my nephew (Mervyn) Lee Whitfield’s wedding in Kitchener on Friday. We hope to visit with some friends in the area on Saturday and then go to Kingston for a short visit with Melissa and Alexander –and then take a few days travelling home in time for me to start teaching after the Labor Day weekend. I guess this is an early anniversary trip (it is September 3) since labor day is early this year and we won’t be able to take our “traditional” weekend trip closer to the actual date. .

I’ll close with a reference to this post by Dee Andrews about the Whisperings of God (May 18) which I’ve had floating around in my files for several months.

God Bless

Charlie

Martha Alfreda (Armstrong) Goodmurphy (June 5 1924 - July 22 2008)

2008-07-28T12:58:00.007-04:00

The obituary (as it appeared in the Sault Star and the North Shore Sentinel) (The picture of Martha and her oldest child Linda was taken in September 2007)

Goodmurphy (Armstrong) Martha Alfreda
Peacefully in her sleep at the Algoma Manor, Thessalon on Tuesday July 22, 2008. Martha Goodmurphy in her 85th. year, wife of the late Arthur Goodmurphy and dear friend of Merlin Trivers.

Dear mother of Linda Whitfield (Charles); Terry (June); Frank (Sally), Carol Morris (James), Dan (Kim), Joe (Diane), Theresa Seabrook (Jim), Arliss Bizier (Michel), Erin and Stephanie Kletke.

Dear sister of James (Murdena), Verna Goodmurphy (late Kenneth), Lee (Vi), John (Norma-Jean), Edna Beharriell (Les), Marjorie Barager(Carl), and the late Max, Marion Goodmurphy, and Donelda Ingram.

Also survived by 28 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren, Predeceased by great grandchildren Magdalena Szalai-Goodmurphy and Stephen Urry.

At Martha’s request there will be no visitation and a private funeral. Interment in Maple Ridge Cemetery. Donations to Thessalon Hospital gratefully accepted.

Biography

Martha was born and raised in the Kynoch and Dayton areas. She was married in June 1943 to a young man who was about to be shipped overseas. She lived for 60 years on the small farm on North Livinston Road (near Thessalon) where she & Arthur moved around 1945 when Linda was a baby after he returned home from the war with an injured arm. They raised 10 children there. Arthur died in May 1995. In the fall of 2005, Martha gave up the house at her farm (now owned by her daughter Theresa) and moved into a rented house in Thessalon where she lived until she suffered a heart attack in February 2008.

The limitations imposed on her activities by severe congestive heart failure required her to move into the Algoma Manor (home for the aged) in Thessalon) in March 2008. Shortly after the move she was confined to a wheel chair and required assistance for most activities of daily living. This was a difficult transition for a woman who was fiercely independent and used to doing what she wanted when she wanted to. Martha never really accepted this situation.

The past 2 months:

After making an emergency trip back from Vancouver when her Mom was hospitalized again in mid-May, (see earlier posts) Linda spent (at least) 3 days each week living in our motorhome (which was parked in my sister-in-law’s driveway) so she could be near her mother to provide care and support. For Linda and her brothers and sisters, it was very difficult period as they watched their mother disappear into a sea of confusion, pain and anger. There were moments when the “real” Martha surfaced and we enjoyed her humor and her smile but often the pain, the medication and the frustration of her restrictions consumed her. She is at rest and it is a blessing.

The funeral:

Her funeral was a private event for “her family” (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and their spouses /partners. Our son Christopher along with Tammye, Hunter and Camdyn came from Illinois. Melissa and Alexander came from Kingston. Kevin, Sarah & Will were unable to travel the long distance from Vancouver but they were connected – Sarah called us on the cell phone as we were driving to the cemetery—without knowing anything of the timing. I don’t have an exact count but there were well over 50 people present As Arliss said at the interment – “This is a pretty big crowd for a private family affair”

The funeral was followed by a lunch at Arliss’ house that included the “aunts & uncles” and some of the closest cousins.

Martha’s “church roots” were in the United Church and she had been attending their services during the period she lived in Thessalon. Unfortunately the minister that she had known for several years had retired and was unavailable. As a result the funeral was conducted by Charlie Martin the minister at the Thessalon Bible chapel who was known by several of the family.

The funeral was very much a family affair – Martha had picked 3 hymns. “I come to the garden alone”, “God will Take Care of You (Be Not Dismayed)” and “Jesus Savior Pilot me” These were sung (on tape) – The garden by Linda and Terry and other 2 solo by Linda.

The scripture readings were selected by Linda as reflective of her mother’s attitudes – Colossians 3 “Work as unto the Lord” and Romans 12:18 “In as much as it is within you live at peace with all men”

As the “ranking” son-in-law I wanted to do Martha’s eulogy and my offer to do so was accepted by her family. The text of the Eulogy follows and includes a poem written and read by Jamie –Theresa’s son. Jamie was raised in a trailer right beside his grandmother’s house and was very close to her.

At the end Linda read a short letter “To my family” that her Mom had left in the lockbox -- It was 2 short notes - one written in 1995 after their father’s death and one written in 2002 just before her open heart surgery. It was poignant and expressed her desire for her family to remain close together after her passing.

Her granddaughter Kylie had arranged for a piper to do “Amazing Grace” that the graveside – It was a perfect summer day—a little cool with some clouds and the haunting music allowed us to say goodbye with gratitude for her gifts to us and with thankfulness that she was now at rest.

(The text of my eulogy and Jamie's poem were prepared independently and without knowledge of the letter. Charlie Martin who had only moved to Thessalon 3 or 4 years ago said in his remarks "hard-working, honest, tough" are what I heard about the Goodmurphy's when I moved here. I found it interesting that her letter contained the line "I may have seemed hard at times with my rules of life "Don't lie, don't steal, Don't hurt others" . It seems clear to me that her commitment to raising her family by those rules is reflected in Jamie's poem, in the eulogy and in Charlie Martin's comments)

The eulogy

Mom & Grandma – A good woman worth far more than diamonds
Prepared for the funeral of Martha Goodmurphy July 26 2008
by her son-in-law Charlie Whitfield

Our mother, grandmother and great grandmother Martha has passed from this world. She will be missed and the sense of loss will be with us for sometime. It is right and natural for each of us in her family to grieve - in our own way and our own time.

But for now, I want to look beyond our sorrow and remind us that “Mom – Grandma” is still here – she lives on in each of you who have had your lives shaped by who she was and that is a living legacy that will endure.

A little later I will be asking if any of you have something to say or if, during the talk you want to add something to a story, just speak up while it is fresh on your mind.

It is impossible to mention all the memories that we could use to paint a picture of “Mom-Grandma” as she lived through her 84 years. I will try to give a brief snapshot as I share some memories and a few stories that I collected as I’ve listened to your conversations over the past few days.

I first attached myself to this family some 47 years ago when I started dating Linda so I have been a part of the family longer than some of the younger children. Of course, I was only an (almost) daily fixture for about 2 years and then I moved away. A couple of years of close contact and many (short) visits can’t compare to living with Mom every day for 17 or 18 years while growing up. So it is really Linda, Terry, Frank, Carol, Dan, Joe, Theresa, Arliss, Erin and Stephanie who experienced the “full force” and full measure of their Mom’s personality.

I know she loved them deeply - she loved them with the fierce love of a mother bear for her cubs – prepared to go to the ends of the earth to be sure they were cared for, aggressively protecting them , and occasionally swatting them to keep them in line.

And I know they loved her in return – even in the midst of the frustration that they sometimes experienced when she insisted that they should do it her way. As they grew and as they learned, her values and her characteristics shaped their personalities and became a part of the fabric of their lives.

To the grandchildren (and great grandchildren) I’m not going to tell you the “facts” about Grandma. If needed, You can ask your parents. Rather I will share some stories about Grandma that describe who she was. As you listen to these stories I’m sure you will recognize some of her traits that live on in your parents (or grandparents) – as the saying goes “the acorn doesn’t fall that far from the tree”.

My personal memories are like a kaleidoscope - so many that it is hard to pick any one to talk about
But as I thought back , there are a couple of strong memories that I have of Martha from that period when I became a fixture around “Hungry Hollow”.

One thing I was impressed with was that there was almost always lots of food—it wasn’t fancy – just meat and potatoes, garden vegetables and homemade bread and when the crew came to the table it often seemed like a horde of locusts had attacked -- but most of the time Mom had made enough that there was something left for breakfast and for lunches.

Another thing that I remember about “Mom” was her passion for the farm – her cows and the way she knew it was time to go to the barn at 2 in the morning to help birth a calf.

But the most enduring memory for me – formed over the many years and it is one that is often mentioned by others in the family --was her impish mischievous nature that to me is best captured in a picture of the Armstrong family where a young Martha is instantly recognizable with her “silly little crooked grin” and the upside down guitar. At times she clearly was marching to a different drummer.

In time I came to recognize that the “crooked smirky grin” meant one of 2 things

EITHER she had just thought up some grand scheme that she was about to make happen and she likely expected you dive in and help her – no matter how impossible or “weird” you thought it was.

OR you had said something that she didn’t like and you would might soon experience a “Martha “ retribution that would leave your ears (and maybe other parts of you) stinging .

As I was thinking about what could be said today to describe “Mom-Grandma” I was reminded of a reading from Proverbs 31 that begins with

A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds.

If you want to read the entire passage it is found in Proverbs 31 verses 10 to 31.

This reading describes many of “Mom’s” great qualities and I will illustrate them with stories that I have gathered as I have sat and listened to the family talk over the past few days. I hope these stories show her as she was – not some idealized perfect woman but the real picture of our Mom and Grandma that each of us carries in our hearts, one which reveals not only the good qualities but also shows a few of the rough edges. I hope listening will fill our hearts with laughter and maybe some tears.

Proverbs says

She shops around for the best yarns and cottons, and enjoys knitting and sewing.
She doesn't worry about her family when it snows; their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear. She makes her own clothing, and dresses in colorful linens and silks.

Linda often mentioned how her Mom would spend time at the sewing machine putting together clothes for the kids and one of Linda’s earliest memories is of her Mom working at the sewing machine while listening to the news about the succession of the young Princess Elizabeth to the throne (which happened in 1952 when Linda would have been 7 years old)

It says that this good woman shops for the “best yarns and cottons” but, as Terry and Frank said, “Mom was a woman who was a product of the “dirty thirties” – she had a distrust of banking and always wanted to pay cash for everything she bought”. Because she had very little money in the early years the “best yarns and cottons” were often replaced by the material she got by tearing apart hand-me-down clothes. Linda says that she often thinks of her Mom when she hears Dolly Parton’s song “Coat of many colors”

But as time progressed and Mom exercised her uncanny ability to accumulate cash, she spent less time at the sewing machine and spent more on “store-bought” clothes. “Mom” became somewhat impetuous in her buying – she would see something she wanted and she would get it and it had to be the best – She had done without for too long and so when she could have something she wanted the best.

She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places and brings back exotic surprises.

I’m not sure what this may bring to mind for each of you but I included it because of a story that Linda told me as we were reminiscing about her Mom”.

She told about a time her Mom & Dad were at Maple Ridge store and discovered a group was gathering to board a Sunshine tour bus – likely on their way to a farm tour somewhere. “Mom” decided they should go so they asked the group to wait – drove home- threw some clothes in a suitcase, left some money on the table for the kids and headed off. This may have been the first of several such tours including one to Europe.

Now I’m sure they brought back things to give to the kids but, for me, the exotic surprises were “Mom’s” stories about the trip. She had (shall we say) an active and vivid imagination. She would observe something – maybe a couple of kids walking along alone crying and she would turn it into a story of intrigue and mystery that could amaze you – and she would be adamant that she had seen the whole thing.

She traveled to Florida with our family one Christmas in a motorhome we rented and came back with a repertoire of tales about that excursion – It may have been that trip that planted the motorhome bug in her mind, so we shouldn’t have been surprised (although I probably was) when she went out a few years later and bought her little “home on wheels” – I think Terry still has it parked at his place.

Anyhow, I overheard Kylie talking – with less than full enthusiasm - about the whirlwind trip to Alaska that Mom made with Theresa’s family in the confines of the “little tin can”. One of the stories from that trip speaks volumes about the way “Mom” approached problems. Apparently Theresa heard some squabbling in the back between her mother and the 2 young teens – Jamie and Kylie. Theresa said (I’m sure using her most calm and sweetest voice!) “What’s going on?” Well “Grandma” was squabbling with Jamie because he had opened a window trying to relieve the stifling heat. She was sure it would give her an earache. A little later, Theresa looked back and seeing a whirlwind of stuff blowing all over the place, she asked “What ‘s going on now?” Grandma replied “ I opened the other window – If I’m going to have an earache, I might as well have one in both ears!!

She looks over a field and buys it, with money she's put aside, plants a garden.

I’m sure this one fits. As a young bride she saw an opportunity and purchased the small farm on North Livingston Road that came to be known as “Hungry Hollow”. Later she bought a house and had it moved to the farm to replace the ramshackle old house that was originally there

As her family grew up and moved out on their own she “pushed” Dan into buying the adjacent property where Joe & Dan built their houses. Finally, she fulfilled her dream of her family owning land all the way out to the highway – when she bought the farm where Erin now lives.

And as for gardens, I’ve already mentioned, the Goodmurphy’s were famous for the gardens they grew – and the children remember the sore backs and aching knees that came from hours of planting, weeding and picking. I know I spent more than a few hours helping Linda with those chores.

Sometimes she was impetuous in her buying decisions. Terry told me that they had for a time gotten out of farming and had no cows but one time she saw these two jersey cows. She had to have them so soon they were back in the milking business.

Grandpa Arthur wasn’t known for his patience and fine carpentry skills (although he could do more with a chainsaw and sledge hammer than some I have known who used typical tools). According to Arliss and Theresa when “Mom” decided she wanted some changes in the house such as adding the patio doors, she made the necessary purchases, called the boys (mostly Joe, Dan& Erin) to do the work. She would then haul “Dad” out of the house on some pretense. Once he came back, saw the patio doors and said “Those weren’t there before were they??”

First thing in the morning, she dresses for work, rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started, she senses the worth of her work, (and) is in no hurry to call it quits for the day. She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking. She keeps an eye on everyone in her household, and keeps them all busy and productive.

I’ not sure “Mom” was eager about rising early –I seem to remember her voicing a few complaints -- but she was up early and she did work hard long days keeping the family going. Of course, she expected (even demanded) that her kids kick in and help. I know you all worked hard at “home and hearth” under your mother’s watchful eye – guided by her (sometimes shouted) instructions and the occasional swat on the back of the head if her directions weren’t getting the results she wanted fast enough. Reportedly, Erin, when he was thinking of getting married, told his mother that he couldn’t find the right ring. When she asked “Why?” – he said “Well it has to match the dent in the back of my head made by your ring!!

Dan told this story that illustrates her diligence in keeping an eye on her children. When he was young his mother always told the kids – “Don’t go past the gully – there are caves back there filled with bears and they’ll get you” When Dan became brave enough to explore past the gully, he came back and told his mother “I don’t know what you’re talking about – there’s no caves and no bears there that I could see.” “Well”, she says “I had to do something to keep you in my sight!!”

Arliss and Theresa told a story about how “Mom” deciding to move the piano from the living room to the basement. So She, Erin, Arliss and Theresa hauled it out the back door, down the steps, wheeled it around the house, in the front door and started down the basement stairs. It got stuck! Several trips in through a basement window to apply soap and a little more elbow grease got the job done!!

“Mom” being a good homemaker was always looking out for the health of her children. This past Wednesday night Kylie , Theresa and Arliss were laughing about a time when Dan came in and his Mom offered him a slice of a real nice looking chocolate cake . As soon as he bit into it, Dan sputtered “What on earth is in this anyhow?” –it turned out that “Mom had read that cayenne pepper was good for you so she had added a healthy dose of cayenne pepper to the cake .

I think Chris and Melissa (and Kevin if he were here) will recognize this trait because I know Linda “inherited” it. Carol said that the thing that she most remembered was her Mom’s ability to know when one of the kids did something wrong, or was in trouble or maybe just needed her to reach out and touch them. She said that when she was at home she couldn’t put anything over on her Mom and when she moved away she would be thinking “I should call Mom” and the phone would ring. The first words would be “What’s the matter?” or even more strange she would be trying to call and get a busy signal—hang-up and the phone would ring and it was her Mom. Yes “Mom’s” sense of premonition or sense that something was wrong was very strong.

She's quick to assist anyone in need, reaches out to help the poor.

“Mom” was like a mother hen – her wings opened to protect whatever walked through the door whether a stray cat or one of the many nephews and nieces that lived nearby or a friend that one of the kids brought home – if they needed mothering, she mothered, if they needed food, she fed them and if they needed a “kick in the rear” to straighten them out she’d give that too. But there were limits – if you lied to her or broke her trust, she would not hesitate to say (using words that were a little bit stronger) “There’s the door don’t let it hit you on the behind on your way out”.

“Her children respect and bless her;

A story Martha often told about Joe illustrates this point. When he was a youngster he scrimped and saved his money. Really too young to do this alone, he took off one day and walked to the store to buy his Mom a vase that he had seen her admire. Even though there were times that she frustrated and infuriated – she was always loved and respected by each of her children.

(At this point I asked if anyone had anything to add but there was no response although several times during the presentation someone added something to a particular story)

Jamie read his poem he had written (accompanied by Kylie for support)

GRANDMA
Friendly neighbor, loving soul
We all bathe in your afterglow,
I can’t say where your journey leads
But the path you chose was true indeed
You loved us all and spoke the truth
Shared the memories of your youth
I always liked to hear you laugh
Rest assured we’ll all miss that
You always stressed love and respect
A greater teacher I’ve never met
Oh Grandma how you loved to talk
And sometimes left us all in shock
We never knew what you might say
But we always knew we’d love the way
Your heart would melt around young kids
And yours raised theirs the way you did
With undying love and sacrifice
Wisdom, pride and sound advice
I can’t express what you meant to us
Because words could never say enough
I know we all must say Goodbye
But you’re the first to make me cry.

(This poem was written by Jamie and is on the cover of a CD of family pictures scanned from the original prints by Theresa)

As I said at the beginning, it would take hours to cover all the stories that I know could be told but I hope that what we have shared today have described who Mom-Grandma really was and that we will leave here with memories that will keep her alive in our hearts for a lifetime to come.

I will finish by reminding us of Martha’s hopes for her family. Many of her children have said that their Mom was known for doctoring her kids and her cows and anyone or anything else that needed doctoring – sometimes the remedies were harsh mustard plasters or horrible tasting concoctions but she almost always had something to try.

When she was growing up in a dirt poor family it wasn’t even thinkable for a young woman to do anything more than get married and raise a family but if “Mom” could have waved a magic wand and gone on in school she likely would have become a Doctor. Her substitute dream was to raise 10 children. The results of her fulfilling that dream are in this room today.

She often told her children to “stop and smell the roses” and she also wanted each of them and each of her grandchildren and great grandchildren to dream and to work hard to pursue their dreams.

So to all here who are the living heritage of this complex many faceted woman – remember her ability to dream and pursue her dreams . Dream as she did, work hard at accomplishing them - when you are disappointed, learn from your experience, avoid looking back in anger or bitterness – Dream new dreams and keep looking forward in hope.

Each time you get together as part of this family, I want you to see her there, sitting in her rocking chair, leaning forward listening to the chatter, smiling contentedly and whispering the words inscribed below the picture of her family on the headstone in Maple Ridge Cemetery where she will soon be laid to rest “

“My life, my pride, my happiness”

Proverbs 31:10-31 (The Message)

A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it. Never spiteful, she treats him generously all her life long.She shops around for the best yarns and cottons, and enjoys knitting and sewing. She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places and brings back exotic surprises. She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast for her family and organizing her day. She looks over a field and buys it, then, with money she's put aside, plants a garden. First thing in the morning, she dresses for work, rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started.She senses the worth of her work, is in no hurry to call it quits for the day. She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking.She's quick to assist anyone in need, reaches out to help the poor. She doesn't worry about her family when it snows; their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear. She makes her own clothing, and dresses in colorful linens and silks. Her husband is greatly respected when he deliberates with the city fathers. She designs gowns and sells them, brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops.Her clothes are well-made and elegant, and she always faces tomorrow with a smile. When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly. She keeps an eye on everyone in her household, and keeps them all busy and productive. Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise:"Many women have done wonderful things, but you've outclassed them all!" Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God.Give her everything she deserves! Festoon her life with praises!

A Rocky Path

2008-05-30T20:46:00.016-04:00

This picture was taken by Will (with a little bit of coaching by Grandpa --pretty good for a 4 year old!!)

I started this post almost a month ago. I’ll give the reason I choose the title a little later. It almost seems prophetic because our journey has experienced some twists and turns during the past few weeks.

On Saturday morning May 10 – the day before Mother’s day, Linda and I were awakened by the cell phone ringing. We had gone to the Anmore Campground on Friday evening and we were hoping to spend Saturday at Buntzen Lake Park with Kevin & Will (if it wasn’t raining).

However, the phone call was from Linda’s youngest sister Stephanie who was calling to say that Martha (Linda’s Mom) was back in hospital and not doing well. She was in serious distress with congestive heart failure – receiving morphine for the pain. It seemed quite possible that she would not be alive much longer.

We discussed our options and concluded that we should return home as quickly as possible. We spent the rest of the morning packing up and saying goodbye to Will & Kevin. (Sarah was working so we didn’t get to see her before we left.

We pulled away from the curb at Kevin’s around 1:00 p.m. PDT and we pulled up at our curb in Sault Ste. Marie at 3:30 EDT (12:30 PDT) -- over 2200 miles (3500 km) in 96 hours ( 4 days). We traveled to Moses Lake WA (Walmart) on Saturday – made Bozeman MT by Sunday night (Walmart again – same one we stayed at on the way out), Bismarck ND on Monday (KOA – also a repeat from the trip out) and Ashland WI Tuesday (Walmart). We were on the road (almost) dawn to dusk every day – although one of the beauties of traveling with the BBB was the ability to pull over and rest every couple of hours – and we did take a longer break around midday. Still it was a tiring -- and thankfully uneventful – trip.

After a brief stop at home - check mail, water plants, send email to say we were there, -- we continued the remaining 90 km (50 miles) to Thessalon and mostly we have been here ever since. I went home for a couple of days last week, Linda came home Friday afternoon and Saturday – I went back home Tuesday this week -- so we have gotten most of the spring cleanup of leaves out of the flower gardens and some of the other work at home. It is a little unsettling not being able to plan “what’s next” and it has been stressful for Linda working to find ways to help Martha be more comfortable. I am learning a bit of what “living one day at a time” really means.

One of the “silver linings” of this situation has been visiting with people I haven’t seen for years. I suppose it is a fact of reaching this point in our lives that many of our old high school acquaintances have parents or friends in the home for the aged and we have enjoyed getting re-acquainted. I sat for much of the afternoon visiting with Linda’s brother Terry – something I haven’t done for many years.

Well – that’s a brief slice of what’s been going on in our lives -- now back to the original post.

The title came from a walk around the seawall at Stanley Park in Vancouver. The path is fairly smooth but there are many rocks on the beach below.

I am always impressed by the “rock artist” who takes the chaos of the rock strewn beach and makes these great rock figures.

I choose the title because it seemed to be a metaphor that applied to my life. I walk mostly on a smooth path. I often see chaos around me (and sometimes it intrudes into my walk) but the question always is – “Will I just walk by or will I like the rock artist help restore – in some small way - some order from that chaos?” I pray that my eyes can be open to those opportunities to create something good from the rocks on or beside my path.

I'm including some other pictures of the walk - it was the last opportunity we had to spend a day of "R&R" with Kevin, Sarah and Will before we had to return home.

Linda & Sarah on the beach watching Kevin & Will playing

Linda looking at the flowers and sharing something with Will .

Kevin & Sarah enjoyed some time together while Grandma and Grandpa played with Will

The other motivation for mentioning the “Rocky path” is the irregular nature of my posts over the past few months.

When I started this mean of expressing myself and keeping friends and family posted on what was going on in my life –I made an effort to have something to say about each day because many of the bloggers (John Dobbs in particular) that I became familiar with and used as “mentors” seemed to post every day. However, not everyone who blogs maintains a daily schedule - some do weekly posts and some post when the “spirit moves them”.

But even those that have a schedule seldom are 100% consistent in the frequency of their posts. Many of the ones that I visit regularly often post every day. But even in those cases, I observe “dry spells”. Circumstance such as travel, illness or just lack of inspiration cause gaps in the postings.

Lately my lack of consistency in writing is matched only by my lack of consistency in going by and seeing what others have written today.

After a year or so of blogging I found that a commitment to doing a daily post was a growing source of frustration and I started thinking more in terms of once a week and the occasional special blog about some special event. Even that goal has been elusive – In 2007 I managed 34 posts – slightly less than 3/month and only 8 so far this year which is less than 2/month. Part of the slowdown this year has been a venture into using FACEBOOK. While I don’t spend a lot of time with it –it is one more thing in the “virtual” world that needs to be balanced with the rest of the journey.

So why am I boring you with yet another discussion of my failures to blog very often? (Maybe some would be thankful that I’m slowing down !!! I know Linda still thinks I spend too much time at the computer – and that may be true – finding balance between the various things available to us is a daily challenge. But I digress.)

My reason for mentioning this inconsistency in posting is that I see my reaction to that reality as a sign of how I have been changed in some small ways by the work of the Spirit over the past 4 or 5 years.

Throughout most of my life – as I have I have mentioned before-- I have had a tendency (some might say obsession) with making more commitments than I could ever possibly meet and then being frustrated and upset when my efforts to juggle things resulted in important things being ignored as I tried to keep ahead of the urgent. I lived by the credo “If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would get done”.

Part of the journey that I have written about in these posts has dealt with “making real” something my consulting friend Terry Miller taught me about 15 years ago – and something Jesus taught over 2000 years ago. Paraphrasing (both of them) – the lesson is

“Know what’s important; concentrate on getting those things done each day; Don’t make promises to do something unless you know you can keep it WITHOUT breaking some other promise you have already made”

In terms of pragmatic change brought about by this principle, more recently I have been trying to live by 2 mottos

– the Nike creed “Just do it!” (so when something needs to be done, don’t talk about it “just do it
– “to-day is the first (and maybe last) day of the rest of your life ”- I want to spend some time each day acting as if it was the first day of my life (what would I be doing if this situation was brand new and I was just starting) and I want to do something each day that I would do if I knew it was the last day of my life.

So now – even though I am aiming at least one post a week and I have a desire to get by and visit with a circle of perhaps 10-12 of my favorite bloggers – some daily – some weekly; I no longer feel driven to meet that aim – it isn’t a commitment (promise) that has to be met – and despite what I get from those visits that enriches my life if it doesn’t get done during the time I spend “writing and making the rounds” so be it. There are other “first things” and “last things” I need to be doing.

And I more than ever realize that the most important thing – both first and last and in between – is in that “real world” of daily interactions (some electronic) with family, friends and strangers especially those encounters that provide a better understanding of the presence and power of Jesus in this world.

God Bless
Charlie

Tragedy -- John Robert Dobbs

2008-05-22T16:36:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-22T19:12:00.014-04:00

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 1^st 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

2008-04-14T19:04:00.012-04:00

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

2008-04-09T07:42:00.008-04:00

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

2008-03-21T08:10:00.006-04:00

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 Bless
Charlie

Snow Fun (February 23) Updated

2008-02-23T10:37:00.003-05:00

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

2008-02-05T08:37:00.000-05:00

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

January Thaw

2008-01-09T07:26:00.000-05:00

When I was working full-time, I used to take advantage of the Holiday season to do things like reflecting on the previous year, preparing family letters(sporadically) and making plans for the new Year.

Now that I’m retired and only work (for pay) occasionally one would think I would have more time to do those things. However, the reality is that taking on teaching assignments last fall resulted in a large backlog of things that I wanted to “cleanup” before moving into new things. In addition we spent 14 days of December away from home and that increased the “backlog “. I have managed to clean out much of the “invisible” pile of old emails in both my personal and university accounts. I am current with the Berean discussion group, generally up to date with household and church related projects and almost up to date on the household books and budget preparation for 2008. However, that has meant that my intention to prepare a “year in review” posting has taken a backseat –as well as any other post.

I say all this partly as an ”excuse” for not having been posting more regularly but also to comment that unlike prior years I’m not stressed out over the things that aren’t done.

I receive a daily devotional based on the writings of Oswald Chambers and he has been emphasizing something that I have come to believe – namely that our job as Christians is to surrender our lives to Christ –to his Lordship and to then move forward doing those things that through prayer and meditation seem to be what is ”needful” for that day and having done that to be content. Putting that into daily practice is (I have found) a continuing struggle because the starting point is surrender and listening rather than starting by looking at my list, my plan about what I want to do—no matter how much I believe that my plans are focused “doing what God wants”. This doesn’t remove the need to have plans and to make lists and to be diligent in doing the things that God places in our lives to be done. Rather it takes away the guilt of not doing everything that is on the list. For example, yesterday I had 4or 5 things on the list that “had to be completed”

We are leaving today for 4 days to go to Southern Ontario to visit with our son Kevin who is flying in for interviews (more on that later) so there was some urgency to get those things done – However, something came up about my Dad’s health and I needed to go to his place and talk to the nurse who comes in every month or so to check on him. Then when I returned our friends Dave & Maxine from Red Rock phoned—they were in town on their way home after the Christmas break. Clearly, visiting with them for a couple of hours was more important than anything else on the list that plan. By the end of the day I had done a lot—but only completed half the list – but instead of being ”put out” and stressed because of the things that didn’t get done I was at peace because I realized that I wasn’t in control of circumstances and (by and large) I felt I my response to the choices placed in front of me were based on listening to the master’s call rather than my own selfish will.

I find this is a difficult thing to express without sounding trite, preachy or self-assured—but I do believe there is something real happening in my approach to “planning my day” –I pray it will continue). I titled this post January thaw because that is what we are experiencing. It has been a very unusual December and January so far. In late November - early January we got a lot of snow and it seemed like we were in for a major winter. Then just before Christmas we had a short thaw and a couple of days of rain. Then we had snow again and it had accumulated to around 2 ft (75 cm) on our lawn –with healthy snow banks. Since last Friday is has been above zero and raining a lot—and this morning our yard is bare.

I don’t know if this strange weather patterns are part of global warming (although I suspect they are) but they certainly make changes in our living patterns. It is difficult to know what to wear when you are going outside and difficult to plan for trips. I see these changing weather patterns as a metaphor for our lives as we grasp what it really means to surrender to Jesus, It is out of our control, it will have a variable patterns, sometimes change is imperceptible, sometimes it seems dramatic, we can resist it effects by hunkering down in the comfort of our homes, our cars and other buildings, we can complain and be frustrated because it isn’t what we expect or what we want or we can seize the opportunity to live our lives no matter what comes by adapting our clothing and our activities to suit the weather. It was strange having a raincoat and umbrella trying to avoid the downpour as we walked to a neighbor’s house for a New Year’s neighbor hood gathering last evening but it was better to do that than to stay home.

I haven’t been doing much “blog-hopping” recently but I did receive an email from my niece Lene and she has started a blog mostly to post pictures of her 2 lovely daughters (Click HERE)

Well, I have to finish getting ready for our trip.
God Bless
Charlie

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T12:28:00.000-05:00

To all our friends and family Linda & I extend our best wishes for a Merry Christmas.

While I know that the date of Christ's birth is unknown -- and I also know that our hope is because of his death, burial and resurrection which hopefully we honor and celebrate through a daily walk in his footsteps - it still seems appropriate to remember that angels rejoiced on the night of his birth and the world has changed forever because he came.

So I hope you can take this time to celebrate with family and friends in sharing love, life, laughter -- and yes even gifts -- as a joyous reminder of the most precious gift God has ever given the world -- and as we do this may we alsobe reminded of the compassion Jesus showed and called us to show to all especially those who are lacking in this world's goods.

It has been almost a month again since I last posted.

We left on December 7 to go to Chris’ in Aurora – we arrived home December 18. While there, in addition to spending timewith Chris, Tammye and of course Hunter & Camdyn, we worked on the basement putting up paneling, installing trim, doors and painting. By the time we left the “family room” was in usable condition and looked quite nice (if I do say so myself). The flooring and ceilings remain plus a little bit of finishing along one wall and down the hallway to the storage area. (I have some pictures to update the prior reports on this project from last Christmas and again in April but that will have to wait for another time)

I attended services at Naperville CofC both Sundays (Linda wasn't feeling well the 2ndSunday so she wasunabletoattend). The 2nd week they were installing 2 additional elders to supporting their growing family. They are planning a major addition to start in the spring that make our plans for a small addition of an entrance with elevator for accessibility pale by comparison.

While we were away it was discovered that both of the furnaces that heat our building at PineHill had cracked heat exchangers and had to be replaced. The building was also unusable because of the danger of CO from the one furnace that was left running to prevent freezing. Our sister congregation (Eastside) opened their facilities for us to share Wednesday evening and Sunday services – the new furnaces are being installed and we expect to be “back in business” this Sunday. Big dent in our financial cushion and we haven’t assessed the impact on our renovation plans – but in Sault Ste. Marie you need heat so there wasn’t much choice

We have spent the last couple of days recuperating from our trip and making preparations for a couple of family events to-day & tomorrow.

Sunday morning we head out to Melissa’s in Kingston to share Christmas with her & Alexander.

We had a “gramma” Christmas with Chris, Tammye, Hunter & Camdyn last Sunday. Sunday afternoon Chris & I took the kids sledding – and they enjoyed the new sled we gave Hunter. Linda got a platter with the handprints of here 3 grandchildren. They had gotten Will’s handprint when they were here in September. We also got a GPS based map for traveling – Linda thinks that will be great in avoiding the stress she feels when we are traveling and I want her to check the map when something unexpected happens or I haven’t worked out the route in advance). We tried it out on the way home and it was impressive. I had programmed in our home address and as we drove up to our driveway the GPS lady said “Turn left – you are home”.

Well I need to run --
God Bless
Charlie

An up & down week

2007-11-26T08:16:00.000-05:00

Another week has flashed by. I started on Monday seeming to be getting ahead -- I moved the summer stuff from the garage to the shed and cleaned up enough to get the car in. (We were getting tired of having to scrape the frost off all the time).

I made a Red Cross run and took a lady to the Group Health Center for adoctor's appointment --while there I caught up a little on current events by reading the various news magazines lying around. Ioften am pretty oblivious to those things when I'm focussed on a major prject (as I have been since September with the "statistics for Engineers" course.)

I also had to respond to some suggestions from the "client" on the course. It is a "work in progress" and we are attempting to find a balance between 'lecture", discussion, and hand's on problem solving. It is a "customized" course aimed at meeting the needs of the specific group and that is difficult because the participants have a wide range of prior expereince. Some need a lot of "instruction" , others just need a refresher and exposure to the software tools that comewith the course. Each week it seems we understand better what works and what doesn't and need to make adjustments . It has taken more effort to prepare for classes" this "2nd time through" than I had anticipated. But it is still significantly less work preparing and I have had time to fill in some "gaps" that we missed the first time through. It will be good tofinish this Friday and have (at least) a month off.

I also had a short discussionwith Paul & my brother Rob at the church building--dealing with outfittingPaul with a new computer (He had a nightmare experience with a "lemon" - faulty hard drive that the supplier was unable to resolve and needed a replacement while continuing the battle with the original supplier) and a discussion on some ministry issues we are dealing with.

Tuesday was devoted to making preparations for a ministry information session Tuesday night. I had been asked to review the "roles & responsibilities"of the various ministry areas--since we had a number of new people involved and had made several changes with Paul coming "on board" in July. We are also embarking on some major "construction" projects which required setting up a "project management group".

Late Tuesday afternoon our son Chris called with the news that Tammye's sister Marlene had died that morning. She had been ill with a Parkinson's like disease but her death was unexpected. She had a heart attack and died in her sleep. -- She would have been 60 to-day (November 26). We pray God's blessings for her family as they deal with this loss.

While we weren't close to Richard and Marlene, they had been a part of our "extended family" since Tammye came into Chris's life in the early 90's. ThroughTammye and the occasional get together, we followed their lives and the lives of their their children Christopher(who is now a policeman in Toronto - (inspired by a "ride along" with our Christopher about 5 years ago), Jennifer (a teacher) and Jessica (still in school).

Chris and Tammye drove up on Wednesday and left Sunday morning. It was an unexpected (and mixed emotions) visit with them and with Hunter & Camdyn. Linda & I tried to spend as much time as we could with them -especially the kids to let them talk through howtheywerefeelingabout this. Tammye's mother was killed in a car accident when she was a teenager and Marlene as the oldest sister had been a mother figure for her. We took the kids to see the Bee movie Friday night and took them to the funeral on Saturday (and brought them home after the church service rather than have them be part of the graveside service).

In the midst of all this, I came down with a cold. I hope I didn't pass it on to the kids. The cold got worse as the week went on and I didn’t go out at all yesterday. I think I'm on the mend today. We also had a couple of "panicy" days when we heard from Sarah that Will had aserious croup and she had totake him toemergfor a ventalin treatment. It tears Linda's heart to be so far away when here grandson is ill. By Friday he seemedtobeon themend--hopefully he has bounced back to his usual bubbly self.

Saturday, I made a quick trip to the place where the "BBB" is stored to disconnect the battery and do some other small things. (We hadn't done that last wek because John thought I might need to move it after he had gotten more of the vehicles in but it turned out that it wasn't going to be necessary.

Linda spent several hours on Wednesday counselling Wendy & her daughter about their situation. Friday --much to our relief - she got a clean bill ofhealth from theheart specialist fter having undergone several stress tests-- which were initiated because of an incident last spring when she had (what we now believe was) an anxiety attack while travelling in the mountains-- she reallydoesn' tlike heights!!

Well that was our week. God continues to be there for us and we seek the good he has promised we can find in all things.

One thing from my "virtual visits" this past week. You might enjoy this "You Tube" video (Thanks to Neva for pointing it out to me) "New Again"by Brad Paisley & Sara Evans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NaSROohLzs

GodBless
Charlie

8 days in the Journey ...

2007-11-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

I’m trying to get back into posting more frequently but it hasn’t seemed to happen. Probably because I keep wanting to say more – However, to get myself started I’ve been doing a daily journal entry and – good, bad or indifferent that what this post is - a daily log of the past 8 days (November 11 to 18) . Mostly mundane – with a few significant events (for me at least).

Sunday (18th) was a full day. We had our monthly potluck following services. Roger and Sandra (Regular readers may recall that Roger was our minister here up until September 2006- there are some entries about his family in my postings in July/August 2006). Their son Kyle and his wife Anna came by with their kids – Bayleigh and the just born (Wednesday 14th) new daughter Madison. Their daughter Jessica was there as well – it was good to see them all. Kyle is a medical student and had just finished a placement at Thessalon – which he had chosen because it meant Anna could stay with her parents here in the Sault and he would be close by when the baby came. He actually had the privilege of doing his first delivery for his own child.

After potluck we had a ground breaking ceremony. (even though we actually won't be "digging a hole" until spring we had planned this event when we thought we would be starting thisfall so we decided to go ahead -- it is symbolic of the fact that we are proceeding over the winter with some major interior enovations as well). I had to fill in for Lloyd who had been the one who along with Richarsd Mcnaughton had spearheaded the planning work over the past year -- he was ill and unable to attend. (L to R - Paul Hillier, Pauli Valli,myself and my Dad) .

We finished out the day with an area wide singing with about 75 people present- with visitors from Eastside and Thessalon.

I enjoy singing (even though I'm pretty tone challenged) and it was a moving experience to have so many voices lifted in song -- especially since several of the visitors are excellent singers and we had lost a lot of our musical talent over the past 2 years.

Saturday – Spent several hours preparing the “BBB” for storage (batteries removals) and similar things and in the afternoon took it out to John & Megan’s new storage barn. It’s not heated but it is at least under cover. (As I mentioned above) Roger & Sandra were in town -- and he came by for a visit. We caught up on family and discussed a number of “theological” issues -- this was something I had missed -- the “iron sharpening iron” conversations that Roger and I had over breakfast many times while he was here.

Friday – the day was taken up teaching - special course on Statistical Quality control for engineers from Algoma Steel.

Thursday – Morning was taken up in a meeting at the church building to review our plans for a building expansion and renovation. We had intended to put in the foundations this fall for a new entrance. The addition will provide accessibility (elevator) and other features. However, the group that was to do the framing in the spring had withdrawn from the project – so we decided to hold off on that part until spring to give us time to line up other sources to do the framing work. We are continuing to proceed with a number of interior renovations. Most of the rest of the day was spent preparing for my class

Wednesday - Spent the early morning preparing for my Friday class. I had dental cleaning just before noon and then took the “BBB” (motor home) to the Truck Service Center for Oil & Lube prior to storing for winter. When I went to pick it up the battery was dead –not sure why – the service guy said they had to use the Auxilliary start to get it going when they moved it – it may have been the brake lights because the pedal sometimes sticks down a bit and they stay on— when it has been sitting and isn’t being used – which has been the case. (I charged it on Thursday and it was fine so I guess it likely was the brakelights))

The previous Sunday (11th) we found thatmy Dad had a “strange” coat. Linda had gotten him a very nice fleece lined fall jacket and somehow it had gotten exchanged for a larger unlined coat. We had asked around with people where he had been but nothing showed up. Thursday a.m. we got an apologetic call from Cora – who had been at a Bible study with Dad the previous Thursday and had accidentally taken his coat – she had just discovered that she had his so that mystery was solved. We had Dad over for dinner as we have been doing most Wednesday’s. I had meeting at University and so didn’t get out to Wednesday services. Rob started a new class and apparently there was a good turnout.

Tuesday – I met with Paul & Rob in the morning to discuss some administrative things related to Paul’s “contract” and to work out plans for a visit by Joel Osborne- a young man we have supported (small amount) with a mission work in Sendai Japan.

Linda & I were at Lorraine’s to get our hair cut. Lorraine’s parent- Gordon & Dorothy Denis and her aunt Carol were there and we had a good visit with them. They were in town for a gathering of the Bailey family.
In the afternoon we went for a walk and I managed to get an hour to finish clearing the backyard of leaves. I also squeezed in a few hours of work for the course I am teaching.

In the evening, we were at a pot luck followed by a Sunday school (children’s) meeting. We are challenged with providing a quality program with very few teachers and a small number of children. It is easy to become discouraged – and even to ask is it worth continuing?—However, our confidence is in God not ourselves and our teachers are committed to giving what they can as long as there is 1 child to be taught.

Monday –

We took some time to drive to Thessalon, picked up Linda’s mom and drove out the see the “cabin” that Linda’s brothers Erin and Dan (and their construction partner Brent) are building on Cummings lake – off Highway 129 about 20 miles northeast of Thessalon .

Some “cabin” – It is at least 1500 sq. feet on the ground floor with a “loft” – It has cedar beams and a high cathedral ceiling—and a view out over the lake that could take your breath away.

Way out of my league to be able to invest in the area of a half million dollars for a place to come a few weeks out of a year. It is far from finished -- the frame is up and they are putting the steel on the roof.

The interior is still completely unfinished. We were left to imagine what it would look like with a floor to ceiling stone.

We dropped by at her sister Arliss’ and had supper there (takeout because Arliss had just come in from a long day’s work) before coming home.

The trip is “strange”, because after 45 years of making that trip, there is a new piece (15 miles) of 4-lane, which by-passes the congestion of Echo Bay and the Garden River reserve.

Sunday November 11 is Remembrance Day in Canada – a day set aside to honor the veterans of various wars -- We have one member at Pinehill who is a veteran of WWII and several others with connections to those conflicts. Linda’s father was injured as a young man fighting in France – so it was a day with real meaning to many of those attending our services yesterday. And we took a moment t the traditional 11o’clock hour to silently remember and perhaps many as I did prayed that nations could stop waging war – but I suppose that as long a there are humans who fail to honor their make these for.

One thing I think is important is that we see that honoring those who have been willing to put their lives on the line in these conflicts is NOT the same as honoring or endorsing the leaders and individuals who are the ultimate sources of these conflicts. War is abhorrent and those who see war and terrorizing other people as a means of achieving their personal goals are callous uncaring individuals who put their own glory above the value of other people’s lives. However, it is also a reality that refusing to do anything to protect the innocent and weak from death and terror is equally abhorrent. How Christians respond to a call to war is a matter of much debate and, perhaps it is my “ostrich” gene (head in the sand) nature but I am thankful that this has not been something that has been up close and personal issue with me. What I mean is that it is easy to say you should or shouldn’t take up arms in defense of your country -- but if you (or your children) are not personally faced with this choice it seems a bit hypothetical and to impose those views on others seems hypocritical.

Sunday was also a busy day for me. Our preaching minister Paul called me on Saturday and said he had lost his voice due to a cold. Since the other person who might have stepped in was away that meant I ended up being on the hook for the Sunday a.m. class and the sermon in addition to the Sunday evening class that I was already doing.

The class was relatively easy so I have a large collection of previous lessons that can easily be “dusted off” in this type of situation. The sermon could be more of a challenge. I do have a file of prior lessons but they usually require updating because I often build them around illustrations tied to specific “current events”. So I used another strategy – I went on the INTERNET and found a recent lesson (Click HERE) posted by my friend JD—Of course I adapted it a little and digressed from the “script” as the “Spirit moved” but it allowed me to provide (what a least 2 or 3 people said was) a meaningful lesson on fairly short notice – Thanks JD

Speaking of JD- I had an email from him telling of the death of one of the people we had met when we were in Pascagoula when we were there. Steve had lived a troubled life but he had come to Mississippi after Katrina because he felt God’s call to do so. Steve wrote an electronic book “Out of Chaos (Click HERE - this may not be available for long following Steve’s death) ) He had been working in Pascagoula and had moved intoan apartment – Sadly he died alone and was not found for several days.

I made a few quick stops in “blogland” this morning. (Monday Nov. 12)

One visit that I especially liked was Neva’s post – she compares the way we approach our Christian lives as a choice to “eke” out a living when a much more profitable “job” is there for the asking. – Are you choosing a “Meager existence”?

Well – that’s our journey for the past 8 days – Likely the next week will be similar.

Fall in the North

2007-11-10T10:43:00.000-05:00

I‘m finishing this post on a brisk November morning –frost on the ground – with the proverbial” red sky in the morning” signaling more inclement weather later to-day.

I’m going to go ahead and post this regardless of whether it is “complete” or not.

Since the “re-wedding” I have been very busy with 2 teaching assignments at the university along with teaching an adult class Sunday evenings (on the “structure” and purpose of our assemblies). On top of that there is the usual fall activity of preparing the “BBB” for the winter, and a lot of yard work – we have lots of trees and the colors are beautiful but we pay the price when they all congregate on the lawn and in the backyard.

This is a completion of a post I started 3 weeks ago. (I took a time out to finish up my “re-wedding” posts and to-day I WILL finish this one.)

*** written on October 21 ***
I woke up this morning with a compelling urge to do a post. Linda would likely say I’m addicted to blogging and the urge was driven from addiction. I maybe would think it was guilt – but I become more convinced each day that the still small voice urging me to act on something is the Spirit working—

It is almost a month since my last post –over a month since the “big event” and I’ll post some pictures of my lovely daughter’s wedding. (** I decided to do this a (two) separate posts **)

This post is a hodge podge . I started out with the idea that I would do a “look back” to a year ago and talk about the changes over a year.

Well, my first post in October last year was a “look back” asking the question “Why do I blog? (Click HERE) I was making “excuses” for infrequent blog posts – even though I did 7 fairly long posts in September 2006 and only one in September 2007. And I did 5 fairly long posts in October 2006 and NONE in October 2007 (I think it is the first time since I started in March 2006 that I have gone a whole month without posting – I can only hope that for the wonderful friends who keep coming back that the saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder” holds true in “blogland”

Last year in September, in one post I talked about the SIDS death of Linda’s niece and a visit by Bob & Roeann Ekman. Sadly a year later Roseann too has passed from this world. I also reported on a collection of 40th anniversaries (including ours) so looking back brings a mixture of sadness and joy—which I guess is what life is about –

In October I reported on our big family event (reunion) in anticipation of my Dad’s 90th (which was January 13 2007) and the challenges I was facing in trying to keep up my blogging because I had become “addicted” to a new form of virtual “reality” – participation in a Christian discussion group.

Well my lack of blogging and my getting behind in following my discussion group and my lack of visiting my friends in “blogland” have been worse over the past 2 months than they were a year ago but I’m not nearly as “stressed out” over that.

The other thing I wanted (actually before I went back to look at my blog) was to make a quick visit to some of my favorite blogs.

I only made it tone but it seemed to be a God given push that lead me first to Neva’s world because I found her post saying it was her 1st anniversary of blogging and then looking down a little I found she is in the process of moving from Texas to Nebraska – It will be interesting to experience that move with her –from a distance
**8 end of October 21 "Draft"***

November 10 - More random thoughts from a quick tour of ”blogworld”

John Dobbs laments the frenetic pace of “doing holidays” and the lack of thanksgiving (CLICK here) as our US neighbors approach that holiday. He gives some excellent encouragement to stop and be thankful.

My friend Dee also is on the Thanksgiving theme – working through the alphabet –one a day – with a word starting with the letter of the day (Click HERE) that describes something to be thankful for

Well, I do want to finish this and get it posted so I’ll defer talking about what’s been happening in in the Whitfield’s “real world” journey during October-November 2007 to another time.

God Bless
Charlie

The "re-wedding" Part 2 - (The ceremony)

2007-11-05T20:19:00.000-05:00

The wedding ceremony:

Alexander and Melissa - September 15 2007

The ceremony was wonderful - I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The guests assembled

The piper piped

The wedding ceremony was performed by Alexander’s father who is a minister in Sweden.

They said "I do" (again)

They exchanged rings (this was new)

And they kissed

Mr. & Mrs. Whitfield Aslund - It's (doubly) official

Back down the "aisle" to a new life together

A happy bride and groom

And happy parents

And happy grandparents - Grandma Martha (Linda's Mom) and Grandpa Mervyn (Charlie's Dad)

The wedding party posed for pictures

In 1966 we were two; in in 2006 there were 11 -- now for the first time in one picture the expanded Whitfield family

I had some technical difficulaties uploading the pictures --so that's why this is a day later than the "story of the "re-wedding".

A happy time and a chance to know God's blessings which I pray for each day for Melissa & Alexander and for our entire family.

Now that I've gotten the "big event" recorded maybe I can get back to blogging about "regular" stuff a little more often.

God Bless

Charlie

The Re-wedding (September 15 2007)

2007-11-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

It has been over 5 weeks since I last posted. I think that is the longest gap since I started this back in March of 2006.

I have been working on this post for over 2 week. (I’ll post something more general hopefully within a few days to help explain my absence from “blogland”. Suffice it to say that life in the “real world” has been demanding for the past 2 months.

In my post from September 10 2006 I talked (among other things) about the marriage of our youngest child and only daughter Melissa on September 7 2007. (click HERE and scroll down)

For several reasons (one of which was that Alexander is from Sweden and his parents were unable to come at that time) she & Alexander were married with only their friends Brent & Eleanor as witnesses. However, Melissa wanted to celebrate her marriage with family and friends and we spent the weeks and months following planning (what Melissa came to call) the “re-wedding”. (and if you have been following my postings you have heard about this many times)

The “big event” took place on September 15 2007 – 8 days after their 1st anniversary. (I don’t envy Alexander having 2 “anniversaries” to remember—but then maybe it isn’t so bad –they can celebrate twice –or if they miss the “real” anniversary they have a second chance to make up for it )

The bride & groom: The wedding (September 7 2006) and the “re-wedding” (September 15 2007)

The venue: Camp Wakonda is located on McCarroll’s Lake about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Sault Ste.Marie. Melissa was familiar with it from several family and church events that she had attended there growing up and she wanted to have the wedding celebration there.

(The pictures are from last year when we were making arrangements to rent it of the weekend)

It had the advantage of having “rustic” sleeping accommodations for family and friends providing the more informal atmosphere of a family and friends getting together for a weekend family gathering rather than the more common situation of many people being in hotels and there being limited opportunities for “visiting”.

The week before: Christer & IngBritt Aslundh - Alexander’s parents flew into Kingston on September 6.(the eve of the “real” anniversary). On Wednesday (September 12) Melissa & Alexander, his parent’s and Magnus – Alexander’s friend and best man from Sweden -- arrived in the Sault. (They had picked up Magnus at the Toronto airport enroute).

Kevin Sarah and Will had flown in from Vancouver earlier that day. Wednesday night we had a family dinner to welcome our Swedish visitor’s to the Sault.

Thursday: Chris, Tammye, Hunter & Camdyn arrived and we had a pleasant afternoon and evening of having our entire family in our home (first time for Will to be here & first time we had all been together since Alexander joined our tribe).

Although there were some last minute things to do Linda’s extensive preparations allowed us to spend most of our time enjoying their company).

Wednesday & Thursday, Melissa was fighting a migraine and Alexander’s mother was ill (Christer & IngBritt had gone to a hotel Wednesday night and were unable to join us for dinner on Thursday) so that was a little concerning. Late Thursday, I drove Melissa to pick up Kate – Melissa’s friend and maid of honor – at Kincheloe (CIU) from her flight in from Syracuse where she is attending law school. Melissa and Kate met as roommates at Queen’s their 1st year. They became best friends and roomed to-gether for all 4 years and have continued their friendship since they graduated.

Friday morning was a bit chaotic picking up rental items, packing the motorhome with food and all the other stuff we needed, loading the arbor on our friend’s pickup and then around noon making the trek to Camp Wakonda.

Friday afternoon was even more chaotic – trying to set up in the rain – do the rehearsal – “check-in” Melissa’s friends who were arriving for the night and serve the rehearsal meal – but it went off without any major hitches and by 9 we had everyone fed, the kitchen cleaned up, the arbor (more or less) in place by the lake, the motorhome (re)set up for Kevin , Sarah & Will,(They had been using it as their home away from home since they arrived – we had done that because Will was familiar with the motor home from our visits west and we thought it would make it easier for him to be somewhere familiar. It seemed to work. He was great – when they arrived he settled in quickly and acted as if he had been here all his life.).

We also had Melissa and Alexander settled into their rented trailer (Thanks to our friend from church – Alvin who had towed it out from the Sault that evening) and everyone else settled into their “bunks”. When I went out to bed around 10 I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. The younger crowd stayed up and had a “pre-wedding” party playing games and singing karaoke (or so I am told)

The weather: Planning a outdoor ceremony and a “family encampment” in mid-September has its risks. The weather can be great or it can be not-so-great.

In 2006, when we were making the arrangements to rent the camp Linda and I visited the camp in late September and then went back with Melissa and Alexander in early October. Both time were beautiful sunny “Indian summer” type days and we thought if we could have that weather we would be blessed.

Well, this year after a record dry hot summer, September was acting more like a “monsoon season” than “Indian summer”—the entire 14 day period from when September 15 first showed on the long term forecast, it was showing cold and rain that day. And many of the days in that period were rainy – although we also had some great warm sunny days. We wondered about tents or other ways to be outside in “inclement” weather – but the costs and the logistics were too complex – so our fallback was to have everything in the lodge – which would require some logistical “sleights of hand” converting from auditorium style seating to table set-ups with maybe 100 people standing around. In a room that had table seating for about 90 people at a time.

As we counted down into the last week– it was showing rain all weekend. Finally on Wednesday what had been showing as “partially sunny” Friday (which we wanted because we would be setting up and a rainy Saturday (ugh!!) and Sunday (tearing down and packing up - double ugh!! –) finally changed.

The forecast started calling for a rainy Friday (not nice), a strong chance of showers on Saturday (dicey) and cloudy with chance of showers Sunday (sigh). So we said (again & again) “it isn’t about the weather – it’s about people sharing this celebration with Melissa & Alexander and we’ll deal with whatever comes. It was in God’s hands and we kept praying for some small miracle.

Friday – the forecast held – it was clear in the morning while we where loading up – which was nice and it stayed that way until we got to the camp and had unloaded most of the stuff. But then we got rain showers and they continued off and on into the evening. We did as much as we dared preparing outside – between (and sometimes during showers) but we were also giving serious thought to how we would handle doing it all inside. It was raining as I prepared for bed and my prayer for a “miracle” was on my lips as I went to sleep.

At 6 a.m. I woke up and went over to the lodge to make some coffee—I was overjoyed when I stepped out the door and saw a clear sky. It was frosty and cool but as I sat on the porch drinking a coffee I watched the SUN come up over the lake on a beautiful fall morning my heart was full of thanksgiving. It remained sunny (although a little cool with some wind) until after the ceremony and there was no rain all day even when it clouded up a bit in the afternoon. Sunday morning was also clear and sunny. God is good – and we praise him for small blessings.

Getting Ready:

Saturday morning was full of activity- decorations, putting the arbor in place, running power and placing the sound system.

Cleaning and setting up chairs, setting up and decorating tables for the luncheon and setting out Linda's flower arrangements

– and of course getting dressed—which actually didn’t happen until after some of the guests arrived!!! (as shown in these pictures taken by our friend Sharon Valli less than an hour before the ceremony).

Sharon showed up with a surprise gift -- an offer to act as the "official" photographer -- which prior to then was going to be done by Brent - who was also in the wedding party so it was going to be a little difficult. Brent also took many pictures so Melissa has a good selection to choose from.

The wedding ceremony : The ceremony was performed by Alexander’s father who is a minister in Sweden. I'll do a separatepost with pictures of the and let them speak for themselves.

The afternoon:
Following the luncheon we had a fairly relaxing afternoon visiting and playing games. I got in a few games of horseshoes with my brother-in-law Coe and I teaming up against Linda’s nephew(-in-law) Travis and Chris. There was some work setting up the tables for dinner but lots of help so it was “light work”

The reception:
The dinner was catered by Ruiniti Banquet’ from the Sault. They put on a superb spread centered around a roast of lamb and barbequed short ribs— both of which (as the saying goes) were to “die for”. We had a number of last minute “no shows” so ur concerns regarding having sufficient seating vanished and we had food enough left over to feed a proverbial army.

The speeches “roasting & toasting” the bride & groom were I suppose typical but hearing Melissa’s brothers Melissa’s friends Lee(as MC) and Kate speak of Melissa and Alexander’s father and his friend Magnus speak of Alexander was touching and joyful(and filled with laughter and tears) . I brought tears to Melissa’s eyes (and to Linda’s & mine as well) with a reading of a poem called “When you were little” – It was in a book of stories that we had read tour kids as bed time stories—and this poem was one I had often read to Melissa and had for along time planned to read it at her wedding.

Another highlight of the reception was the square dancing. Again this was Melissa’s idea – so we arranged for Freddie Kent & the Northernaires—a band that is centered around Fred’s ”fiddling” skills and for a square dance caller Ellis MacDonald who was willing to work with novices and teach the moves.

Now anyone who knows Linda & I knows we don’t dance. However, much to the surprise of our boys, we had decided to give it a "whirl" (which if you have ever observed or participated in square dancing is a pretty literal description of that activity). The first set (3 different “squares” was pretty slow and a little “brutal” and many of the people dropped out and didn’t finish. Melissa was a little discouraged and disappointed that such a small number stuck with it and she was going to give upon it. But after a while we persuaded enough people for 2 squares to try again and completed 2 more sets (with a break in between – if nothing else it is great aerobic exercise so we old folks needed a rest before starting again) Each square got easier as we got down the basics – “allemande left and dosie doe” and by the 3rd set it went really well. Linda & I enjoyed it (in her words it was a ”hoot”) – by the time we struggled through the first square I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt

The aftermath:
Sunday morning was busy as we had to tear down and stack all the tables and chairs in the lodge, scrub floors, clean the cabins and kitchen, get the motor home and trailer ready to go and load all the stuff up to take it home.

Linda's niece Tracy and her husband Travis have a camp on the lake and Sunday morning they brought their pontoon boat over and took Chris & Tammy, Kevin & Sarah, Melissa & Alexander and Hunter, Camdyn & Willout for a ride around the lake.

Our young friend Lennie Roetman who had used his truck on Friday to bring out the arbor (and ferry chairs for outside that we had rented from the Elks in Echo Bay to the camp on Friday and back again after the wedding on Saturday) was on hand and helped with the clean-up as well as getting the stuff loaded. My sister Ruby and her husband Art had stayed over night and were a big help as was Linda’s sister Arliss and her family (Arliss had come Friday night to help with the rehearsal supper as well) .

Our frien Maxine from Red Rock had come out Friday and helped a lot all weekend. She was going to stay elsewhere Saturday night but had decided she wanted to stay longer at the “party” so she was there pitching in Sunday as well. Of course our family – including Melissa & Alexander were busy helping out. Our lovely daughters(-in-law) Tammye & Sarah both dived in -- and helped a lot.

So it was a “family affair”—both in the celebrating and in the work needed to make it happen.

There were 2 glitches in an otherwise “perfect event” -- For the rehearsal dinner Friday night Linda had prepared and frozen 3 large pans of meatballs for a spaghetti and meat ball dinner. All three were heated up in the ovens but only one was used and in the hustle of cleaning up and dealing with later arrivals somehow the 2 unused pans were left in the(turned off) gas ovens overnight. With the extra warmth of the pilot lights Linda decided that they had to be thrown out. The more serious glitch was my error. One of our neighbors whose children had been Melissa’ playmates had offered us the use of six sleeping bags. Sunday morning Linda had packed them up in black garbage bags. You probably see were this is going. Well, I saw my sister lugging this garbage bag along the sidewalk and said “here let me do that—and promptly took it and threw it in the dumpster—I still can’t figure out why I didn’t check to be sure it was garbage because I had earlier been doing that for other “real garbage) – bottom-line 3 sleeping bags gone—We felt terrible but in the end it was only “things” and money not anything important -- and we refused to let those things be our memories of what was and always will be a wonderful weekend with family & friends.

Melissa’s smile as she looked at Alexander after the ceremony was worth more than any amount of money could buy— and that’s the memory I will treasure and remember -- forever.

I'll end this report with a prayer for God's blessings on this marriage and on Melissa & Alexander as theylive their lives together.

God Bless

Charlie

It’s all about God –it’s all about me… (Sept.24)

2007-09-24T07:53:00.000-04:00

It’s been several weeks since I did a posting. The big event is now over. We had a great week (and weekend) with family and friends celebrating Melissa’s marriage. I hope to find some time this week to do a special post with pictures of that event. Linda & I also had alovely weekend getaway forour anniversary ove theLaborday weekend and I have an interesting "nature story" to tell about that. However I don’t have time to it justice this morning.

On Sunday morning Paul Hillier is leading a study on Philippians and I was struck but the phrase in Philipians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.

Now there are several very significant thoughts that can be drawn from this statement but I was drawn to ask “What work is this that God has begun in these people? (and presumably has also begun in all who have surrendered themselves to Jesus in to-day’s world). I thought almost immediately of one of my favorite passages in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”.

This could suggest that the work God is doing in us is that we are doing those good works that come about from his workmanship (Poiema). However, on further reflection, this conclusion doesn’t seem to fit. In Ephesians it is “we” who are the results of his work (workmanship) -- that is it seems Ephesians is dealing with God’s work in creation – not this ongoing work (through the Spirit) in our Christian lives that Philippians 1:6 refers to.

So again I asked . “What work is this that God has begun in these people? I started thinking about the whole “grace vs. works” dialog – but it didn’t seem to be very relevant because “grace” is about God’s work –and “works” is about human work”. Since this passage clearly has something to do with God’s work which provides (gives) us something, it has nothing to do with human works or even the human response to God’s work – it seems (by definition) to be describing the results that God’s grace has on our lives.

Where I ended up was a place I come to frequently-of late-- which is that many of our difficulties in understanding the Bible come from the way we frame our questions. (or at least the way we rule out certain answers to our questions from the “get go”). In this case I started from the view that this “work” couldn’t be talking about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus because that was a “once for all’, completed work of redemption- it was done yeras before the Philippian letter was written – so any discussion of an “ongoing work” couldn’t be talking about this “completed work.”

But as I think of it,it seems to me that that is exactly the work that is referred to here --but then how do we deal with the apparent contradiction of a completed work that is ongoing in my life?

Well I don’t know if I’ve really got the whole picture here but I’ve come to this view—we mix up how God’s sees us with how we experience life (see ourselves). When we read about the completed work – this is how God sees it—after all God exists outside time- time has no relevance to Him so he sees it all – beginning to end. (and it will drive most of us crazy if we really try to grasp what it means to live outside of time—or to put it another way to have the ability to see time in the universe in a similar fashion to the way I can look out the window and see my neighbors house in the distance or even walk over there and see it up close)

So – for Christians who have been “saved by grace through faith” God sees the results of a completed work – he sees perfection because our imperfections are covered by the blood of Jesus. Meanwhile ”back in time on this earth” we are still living in these imperfect bodies and with flawed thinking -- we are like the caterpillar who is being reborn as a butterfly—it doesn’t happen instantaneously (and indeed our metamorphosis is a curious one that can fluctuate in in progress) – some days we seem to have emerged and matured and be in full flight—other days we are back in the cocoon wondering if we’d might go back to being a caterpillar and other days we are struggling to emerge from the cocoon – strengthening our wings by the fight to cast of the constraints of our flaws and weaknesses. The good news is that as long as we are surrendering our will to God through Jesus – God only sees the full fledged perfect butterfly and even more good news – which is the point of Philippians 1:6 he (through his Spirit) is there with us in the cocoon, as we struggle to fly or in the rare days we actually take flight – no matter where we are in the experience of that process He is there with us – and Paul states his confidence (as he does elsewhere cf. Romans 8:38) that those who place their trust in Jesus will be carried through to experience the completed work --

So it’s all about God’s work and it’s all about my surrender to him and trust in him. And as I surrender he will give things to do in my life because it is needed to help me break free from the cocoon and fly—I need to ”just do it” without worrying about whether I’m good enough. (because no matter how much I do or how well I do it I’ll never be a perfect butterfly BUT God’s only sees the butterfly not the flaws I see).

Well I guess that’s enough preaching (to myself) for this morning. If there is something here that helps you praise God for that. But in any case for me –as the sun creeps over the horizon and spills into my living room – I say “ this is the day the Lord has made- I will rejoice and be glad in it”

I also haven’t been do much blog “visiting” recently but here are a couple of older items that I had noted.
August 29 - Dee Andrew’s talks about controlling the thinks we can control in her August 23 post (click HERE)
And includes this quote from an unknown source
You can't control the length of your life, but you can control its width and depth. You can't control the contour of your face, but you can control its expression. You can't control the weather, but you can control the atmosphere of your mind. Why worry about things you can't control when you can keep yourself busy controlling the things that depend on you?

August 29 – John Dobbs posts an excellent lesson on “Being a confident Christian” based on Hebrews 10 (click HERE)

God Bless
Charlie

Getting ready for the future -- Cleaning up the past

2007-08-28T11:23:00.000-04:00

It is a dreary cloudy morning here as I sit reading various blog and discussion list posts. I guess 2007 will be remembered as the year we stayed home to get ready for “the wedding”. July here was HOT at least for us. SO hot that for several weeks we were getting up and working in the yard for a couple of hours in the morning and then spending the rest of the day doing inside things. We experience the real dog days of summer in July.

Then one day it seemed like God said to the angels – you left the furnace on high again – and they switched on the air conditioning. (actually I suspect God is sighing over the fact that his created beings have been so careless in their actions that they’ve caused the Global warming thing and that has upset his carefully designed HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system so he has left us on our own to bear the consequences -maybe THEY (aka someone other than me) will do something about it to get things back into balance)

It has been pleasantly cooler since the first of August (roughly) although it has remained dry. Only this week (2nd last in August) have we gotten any rain—and it looks like we might get more today –although the forecast is a return to ”hot & muggy”. Wish the “angels” would leave that furnace alone!!!

I hate to see my water bill for late July & the first part of August because we were watering the newly seeded lawn and the flowers every day (and the lawn several times a day). The good news is that the grass came up and our lawn is looking a lot better – although it still has along way to go.

Well I got interrupted and now we are into the last week of August – hard to believe the summer is (almost) over. In just over 2 weeks we will have family arriving for the “big event”. Last week Linda was busy cleaning the basement since we will have a full house (up to 15) here for a few days before and after the “re-wedding”. And of those 10 will be sleeping in the house –Kevin, Sarah & Will are in the BBB and Alexander’s parents are staying with neighbors.

Anyhow – as Linda was cleaning her part I was “shamed” into taking a run at my office area plus she wanted me to do something about several boxes of stuff I had brought home when I retired and had just stored in a corner to do something with when I got around to it. (You know one of those circles of paper with TUIT written on it!!!). SO Thursday and Friday I tackled this mountain of paper and binders and books and managed to discard 2 boxes of outdated text books from my teaching PLUS I filled the yellow box with shredded paper and filled 3 garbage bags with other papers—well over 200 lbs (100 kg) of paper alone –plus another 2 garbage bags of old binders and other “non-recyclable” junk.

In the course of doing this I had 3 things happen that led to an epiphany of sorts (not something earth shattering and likely not life changing but still it seemed something significant -- something that I hope I can communicate to younger men who are in the middle of their careers and raising a family. This came about from 3separate incidents that all seemed to fit together to create this one big “AHA”. – something I’ll say must have been God’s way of reminding me of something I needed to remember.

1. The first piece of this “being hit by a lightening bolt” came as I was cleaning out the boxes that were the residue of 35 years of work (including graduate school) – most of it from my 30 years at ASI. As I sorted through the papers I would come across a report or other documents about I project I was involved in. It brought many good memories of the people and the successes we had with some of these things. There was also a lot of sadness because I was “tossing” the “tangible” results of months or even years of my life into the trash. The sadness came because of the realization that this document that represented some much work had little or no value now. Sometimes the work was done; the results had been achieved at the time but changed circumstances meant the documents were no longer relevant. In other cases – there was even more sadness looking at proposals for several large projects – proposals that had consumed hundreds of hours of my time-often at nights and on weekends -- proposals that (in my maybe not so humble estimation) were very well done -- and yet they had been shelved and never implemented – due to circumstances out of my control. It was tough to do it but I realized there was no point in hanging onto useless ”mementos”.

2. The second piece of the puzzle occurred because Linda and I have been involved in a project with our church family. When we came home from one of the planning meetings she said “you seemed angry – what’s the matter?” It took me by surprise because I was actually feeling quite positive about the results of the meeting and my role in it. However, as we discussed why she sensed anger, I realized, that I had indeed been dragging some past frustrations into the present conversation and that was causing me to express anger. (Albeit a mild (or suppressed) anger because as best I can tell only Linda really picked up on it)

3. The third piece of the puzzle fell into place when I came across an item on one of my INTERNET Bible discussion lists that introduced me to the writings of DallasWillard. (click HERE to learn more about this noted philosopher who also writes about theological issues . You may have to, as I did, look up the meaning of some big words to even understand what it is that he studies and writes about but if you get beyond the “academic” language he has many profound things to say about faith and living a life of significance within that faith.)

The specific item I came across was an interview (click HERE) with Dr. Willard conducted by Bob Bufford related to his book called “Finishing well” (click HERE to learn more about this book – note I haven’t read it yet so I can’t comment on its’ value but it seemed interesting). The book is based on interviews with noted people who appear to have taken their success in stride and moved on to significance – which I take to mean living in a way that your life has meaning that lasts beyond your time here on this earth.

I also note that the information provided at http://www.halftime.org/ looks interesting especially to anyone in mid-career who has achieved a degree of success but is still struggling with finding “meaning” in their lives. However, I haven’t taken the time to investigate it so if you do go to look at it do so with “caveat emptor” in mind. (As opposed to my hope that you would be cautiously optimistic that you might find something of value in something I endorse :) :) )

Anyhow – back to the “aha”. In the interview there is a discussion about the concept of moving beyond seeking success to seeking significance.
.
Bob Buford states (in part): I’ve concluded there are really four steps that, one is struggle, which is trying to be successful, however you form that in your mind. The second is success, which is that you’ve reached that point, and in my opinion in today’s world most people can [get there] just with focus and effort, and determination if not brilliance. Significance, I’m defining almost in the words you said, which is using your experience and knowledge to be helpful to others. And surrender I’m defining as being fully aligned with God’s purposes.

Dallas Willard responds: Well, I guess [I’d like to comment on] just two things there; I think actually that third step you’re talking about [significance] requires surrender. You can’t really manage that within the parameters of success, you have to give up, and so you have to surrender yourself to this good. The other point would be, for me, … many people cannot hear what you say about the , significance, in terms of God, and so I guess, I want to say to people you don’t have to worry about that now. Start with that third step,[significance?] and give yourself up to that. I think it will, in almost every case, will lead on to the fourth step [surrender to align with God’s purposes?] . Now Christians should be able to, as it were, start from the end, and deal with their struggle and their success in terms of that fourth step, and that would transform

Note in the above excerpt from the interview the items in [square brackets] are notes I added to clarify the meaning I took from the words actually spoken

So what great “AHA” came to-getherfromthese3 seemingly disconnected events. Well I have long known and made efforts to practice principles such as

1. “Seek the important things first; don’t let yourself get distracted from that by the urgent (Of course this is a Biblical principle of seeking first the kingdom but it was (as I recall) something I first heard in this form in the writings of Paul Faulkner. (and was repeated in many ways at many times through my life)

2. “put the past into the past” instead of "dragging the past into the present" – something I had learned from my friend Terry Miller over 10 years ago. (I always thought that this was another way of stating the Biblical principle of maintaining healthy relationships by extending and accepting forgiveness) . Terry often pointed out that if we “drag the past into the present” then our future will be determined by the past. On the other hand, if we have a clear view of what we want the future to be and we "drag the future back to the present" we can create a different future and be freed form the tyranny of repeating our past mistakes. (Well maybe this sounds a little weird – I know it did to me at first but as I thought about it and tried to practice it—it was a powerful way to create change in our personal attitudes and behaviors towards others.

3. “No person on their deathbed has ever said ‘”My biggest regret is that I didn’t spend more time at work” (Not sure were that came from – probably a preacher butit has been one of the messages I tried to play when I felt I was being sucked a WAY WAY too far into working.

4. Tis' one life -will soon be past only what's lived for Christ will last (another preacher's favorite that I've changed alittle -- I'd always heard "done" where I put "lived" (and I would add that "lived for Christ" means to me that I must experience significant transforming relationships with Jesus and with others)

The “AHA” was that as much as I had known these things and even in some ways put them into practice - I wondered if “back then” I could have really envisioned (made real) those days of “tossing those hard earned symbols of “success” into the trash and being left with only whatever significance was carried on in the people I had worked and in the lives of my children and in the lives of those in my community I might have influenced in seeing Jesus. – -- if I could have felt the pain and the sadness of those moments of looking back – and seeing that the past was gone – might that somehow have changed some of my choices.

So my first question was ”is there anyway I can communicate this to others who are in the place I was 10- 20 – 30 years ago and help them really live the ”Christmas” carol from the perspective of being at the end of their career – how things were back then – how they are now and how they might have been if they really committed to living by these principles. And I will make every effort to do this – to share my

experience with humility hoping that it can help others.

I really want to be able to communicate to them the experience of standing at the end of your career looking at a pile of paper in the trash (or whatever ever other "things" you might have accumulated ) and saying "This is what my life" was about

But the second “Aha” was the reality that the past can’t be changed – but and today “is what it is” but it isn’t over yet. If I will renew my commitment to “put the past in the past” (and I find I am struggling with this) and if I will take the time to ”paint a picture of surrender and alignment with God’s will for my life” then I can “finish well” (or at least better than I will if I just lay back and drift wherever life takes me

So I ask will there be another picture that you can paint that better represents your life? (I want to say that my focus on the trash is about "understanding the reality" of that possibility. I'm not suggesting that's all there is in my life --indeed this other picture shows what is of much more significance to me. My point is that without this 2nd picture (and more such pictures of lives impacted by my life) fully fixed and fully described in your mind -- then a different picture may not come into full focus and be as significant as it could be with a more intentional commitment to those things.

And I am reminded by this "Aha" experience that achieving those "future dreams" comes only through surrender toGod and alignment with his purposes in ALL that I do.

God – I offer this prayer that I like the apostle Paul may say "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 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". Philippians 3: 7-14

God Bless
Charlie

Star Light –Star Bright …

2007-08-15T08:55:00.000-04:00

Sunday night was the peak time for the Perseid meteor shower (Google Perseid meteor shower August if you want to learn more about this phenomenon. Our friend Sharon Valli would be able to tell you all this information of the top of her head because of her passion for astronomy but I had to look it up.

Our son Kevin was born on August 13 and, from his teen years, he would spend the night before his birthday going out somewhere to watch this display. Since Sunday night was a clear night and promised good viewing Linda & I decided to do some star gazing – as a way of drawing us closer to Kevin - who lives on the other side of the country – and as a way of experiencing the grandeur of God’s creation.

While it was more of a drizzle than a shower it still was an impressive sight to see those brief blips of light streaking across the star filled shy. We drove out to a lake about 20k ((10 miles) north of the city to try to get away from the light pollution. There was still some backlighting from cottages and the occasional yardlight but it was dark enough that we could experience the stars and the meteor show. We arrived about 10 and stayed until 11:30 sitting out on our lawn chairs laying back to look at the night sky. I guess laying flat on a blanket might be better but this was easier on the “old bones” – although it did lead to a stiff neck from leaning back. We saw around a dozen “full fledged” meteor streaks and many other short blips. As I understand it we likely would have needed to stay until the wee hours of Monday morning to really get the full show but you have to be awake to see it and we were (or at least Iwas) already drifting off to sleep when we decided to call it quits and come home.

It was a great experience to sit quietly with the love of my life and commune with nature. There was a tremendous sense of closeness with her and with God that came in the silence and beauty of experiencing this.

If you’ll forgive a personal sentiment, I said to Linda afterwards that 40 years ago I probably would have missed a lot of the meteors because I would have been more interested in looking at and being more physically close to her. I thought it was something of significance that after 40 years we could experience a real and tangible closeness without touching or talking –

Well – other than that life continues. We have finished up the bulk of the yard work – for now. We are pushing ahead with the details of the wedding plans.

Monday, we were talking to a friend about obtaining a sound system for the event. He said he wanted to talk to us about it and it was too hectic at his store to do it there so he came over.

He had had major surgery about 6 weeks ago the remove a malignant tumor. The discussion on the sound system didn’t take long but he did need to talk about and share his anxieties and rejoicings that came as he discovered that what was thought to be a benign polyp turned out to be a cancerous mass and then the sense of relief and praising God when he discovered that there was no need for chemo because he was “cancer free”. Of course there is the ongoing risk of cancer re-developing and he will be having regular MRI’s to watch for that .

As Linda and I listened and gave encouragement as he shared his feelings and fears I thought of the instruction in 1 Peter 5 about “casting our anxieties on him (Jesus)” and was aware of how sharing our burdens with other Christians is an important part of that process.

(Modifying a statement that John made about love I thought “How can we cast our anxieties on Jesus whom we can’t see if we can’t share them with our Christian friends whom we can see?” I also thought about how important it was to simply listen to and affirm the reality of what he was experiencing in this emotional roller coaster and struggle to really give it over to God – rather than as I’m often tempted to do quoting “platitudes” about trust in God and things working for good -- which in effect is saying “there must be something wrong with you because you shouldn’t be feeling those fears and doubts”)

Well that’s enough for now

I dropped by a couple of blog sites last week that I hadn’t been to for awhile

Tim Archer has been “ruminating” on the relationship between worship and assemblyfor the past couple of months – He summarizes this study in his Augus6 post (click HERE).

Preacherman talks about “Walking with God”. I hadn’t been by to visit him for a long time. Some may remember that he was very ill with Guillian-Barre Syndrome as a child and experienced a (rare) reoccurrence last November. (click HERE for the report of this). He recently reported good progress on his recovery (click HERE). Reading his story let’s you see a living example of someone who has made the promise of Romans 8:28 very real in his live – finding good where many would find bitterness and despair.

Some other thoughts from “blog land”
Bobby Valentine suggests that all Christians need to be “theologians” -- probably a weird thought to many – Why not check it out and see why he thinks that? (Click HERE)

John Dobbs cautions us to look at ourselves before we put on the judges robes to pronounce sentence on others (click HERE)

A quiet summer

2007-08-06T20:59:00.000-04:00

I haven’t been blogging much for the past several months. Maybe “writer’s block”, maybe laziness or busy-ness or maybe it's just that it didn't seem there was a lot to write about. Not sure I can explain or that anyone cares for that matter.

Since we got back from BC six weeks ago (aside from the weekend trip to the wedding and to see Melissa which I covered in my last blog) we have been pretty busy with a major landscaping project (I wrote a little about that in my "rocky path" post a month or so ago). That coupled with the regular demands of daily living and summer maintenance has filled our days.

The first picture shows what it used to look like along the front of our house . The second pictures shows the "new look". We have pretty well finished the “rocky path” and the associated landscaping.

We pulled weeds from the lawn area seemingly “forever” but last Tuesday morning I took a leap of faith and re-seeded. This morning (Monday) I was pleased to see a few new grass sprouts here & there. I’m hoping that it will soon be a sea of green – We’ll see this week if how that goes.

(This weed-pulling and re-seeding seems like a natural for a modern day parable - weeds in our lives, the futility of trying to fix ourselves - the need for renewal through God's grace -- well maybe -- but since I'm trying to do this without outside help it doesn't quite fit --at least I hope it doesn't fit - if it turns out that my efforts are futile and the weeds win then I'll have to revisit the parable!!)

We found an arbor (one that Linda intends to use as part of the “wedding” in September) that was a key part of the “vision” Linda had for the revamped front yard and it is assembled and temporarily in place. I have to figure out how to install permanent footings so it won’t blow over if we have a high wind(right now I’ve got it tied off to a tree but that doesn’t seem to be a good long term approach!!.

I have spent sometime over the past 2 weeks ordering textbooks and doing other preparatory work for the course I expect to be teaching this fall (assuming they are cancelled for lack of students which can happen).

One unpleasant thing that has happened is that Linda has contracted “shingles” – one hip and leg is affected. It has been very painful and has kept her bedridden a lot of the time. She is “stubborn” however and rests for an hour or so and then gets up and is back at the work – painting, housecleaning, washing curtains – etc. We have had words a few times when I’ve tried to tell her to stop – anyhow we are praying that this will not last too long – especially with the wedding coming up and all the stuff that needs to be done to prepare for it.

Our new “preacher” Paul Hillier (and his wife Michelle) arrived here to take up the assignment on July 1. Lloyd & I and Paul have spent time each week “orienting” Paul to the congregation and talking about approaches to the work here. We kicked off a”40 days of prayer” initiative this morning -- based on the fact that many significant Biblical things occurred in 40 days, -- the flood, Jonah’s warning to Ninevah and Jesus time of prayer prior to his temptation.

I took a couple of hours this afternoon to take my Dad to Thessalon. He & my Mom worked several years during the summers as the “overseers” of the township heritage centre at Little Rapids. Every year on the August Civic holiday that have a heritage day event and he had not been able to go for several years.He enjoyed meeting and visiting with his friends and neighbors from when they lived in that area.

So we have been working steadily during June & July bu the tempo and urgency is picking up as we go into August-- 5 weeks until the big event – that’s scary.

As I reflect on what seems to be a fairly humdrum summer I remind myself that I need to remember that each day is one God has given us and we want to live today rather than spend today getting ready for tomorrow. (but we also need to get ready for tomorrow!!)

I also have not been doing too much "visiting" on other blogs. But I did see a few things that were of interest

Dee Andrews provides a touching description of how her mother is part of the fabric of her life ( click HERE)

Reports of VBS by Neva (click HERE) and Bobby Valentine (click HERE)drew my memory back to the “Wild About the Bible” kid’s day that Pinehill put on last year. Sadly we haven’t been able to do anything similar this year. Perhaps next year.

I hope you have a great August

God Bless

Charlie

Twice Blessed

2007-07-26T13:45:00.000-04:00

How often do you become a grandmother and acquire a new daughter (well actually - daughter-in-law) within a 24 hour period? My sister Ruby was twice blessed in this way this past weekend.

Ruby and her husband Art have 3 sons – James, Trevor and Craig.

Their middle son Trevor is the main character in this story of blessings. The first of the "blessings" was his marriage to Sarah (Smith) on Saturday (July 21)

Trevor works in Toronto and has just moved into the house where he & Sarah will be living in Brantford when they return from their honeymoon in Budapest & Vienna – more about that later. I mentioned the emerging relationship between Trevor & Sarah in my post from August 9 2006 (click HERE and scroll down)

Their youngest son Craig and his wife Jeri are missionaries in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Their daughter Hannah is a seasoned traveler having spent her first birthday in PNG last July and her 2nd birthday (appropriately) in Canada on Canada Day (July 1). For more info about them see their blog by clicking HERE Also see the story of our “chance” meeting with Jeri’s parents (click HERE) during our trip west this spring

Craig was in the wedding party and that is part of the reason for the fact that Craig and Jeri are the source of the second blessing in this story – more later.

To complete the family, Art & Ruby's oldest son James and his wife January live in Waterloo and are the parents of Eowyn and Kiera.

Eowyn was the flower girl at the wedding. James and January were both in the wedding party.

(For more info about James & January see their blog by clicking HERE) (There’s an interesting picture of Ruby playing dress-up with Eowyn that might surprise some who know her and NOT surprise others who know her even better than most) -- I also think there is a connection between the names of James & January’s children and the fact that I came across January taking a quiet moment before the reception to glance over the latest Harry Potter book which was released on July 21. I say I think because I’m not heavy into the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter genre of fiction so I can’t say for certain that they are connected.

The double blessing for Art & Ruby is that the wedding on Saturday at 2:00 was followed on Sunday at 12:24 p.m. with the birth of their 4th grandchild Caleb James (brother to Hannah and son of Jeri & Craig).

To understand that this wasn’t exactly a coincidence – while at the same time seeing that God must have had a hand in arranging the timing, we have to go back to when Craig was planning his PNG mission. At that time Trevor was single with no prospects of marriage on the horizon. However, to be safe, Craig had it written into his agreement with his sponsoring congregation that IF Trevor got married he (Craig) would be permitted to return to Canada for the wedding.

Last May Trevor and Sarah “found each other” via a Christian INTERNET dating service. As her mother Deb explained at the reception Sarah’s parents and brothers were very apprehensive about this process and mentioned (as we had already heard from Trevor) that they subjected him to an intense 90 minute grilling the first time Sarah brought him to meet them. However, Trevor’s quiet manner and Christian commitment won them over.

By the time Craig left for PNG last June, he and James were laying heavy odds that there would be an engagement by September and sure enough plans to be married were announced in September (2006) and the wedding date was set for July 21 2007. Craig and Jeri then began to plan for a return trip to Canada. (and the US). Rather than Craig making a quick trip on his own they got agreement that they would return for an early furlough and then remain in PNG for an extended period before the next furlough. They also wanted to have a second child and wanted to have the baby in Canada during the furlough. The next thing we heard was that Jeri was expecting and her due date was July 21!! They, of course, were hoping for an earlier birth prior to the wedding and praying that the 2 events wouldn’t coincide – which was made more of a concern because Hannah had arrived precisely on the due date. Well, the day of the wedding arrived and still no baby. So there wwere a lot of prayers and they seemed to have worked in separating the 2 events – even if it was only by about 20 hours.

Linda & I accompanied by my Dad drove to Beamsville on Friday and attended the wedding in Brantford on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and we were pleased to be there.

All the usual things could be said - radiant bride, loving happy groom, beaming parents, -- and more but I’d probably get stuck on clichés if I tried to describe the event. I will comment that it is good to see a couple who are both deeply committed to their faith in Jesus –that seems to give them a good foundation for a long and healthy relationship. I pray and believe from observation that they will focus on this common faith and not be distracted by any differences coming from their heritages – Sarah having been raised in a Baptist tradition and Trevor in the church of Christ. James, in his toast to the bride & groom, made, what I thought was, a very “poetic” reference to them building their life together - taking good things from each of their families and heritages and blending them into something that was uniquely their’s.

The reception dinner ran a little longer that one normally might have expected but it was filled with thoughtful toasts and speeches. Art had prepared a Powerpoint presentation showing Sarah & Trevor growing up and then growing together – this was well done. Sarah’s brother Erin sang a song that he had composed specially for them as a surprise gift. They had a different(for me at least) approach to having the bride & groom kiss. You know the old approach was to clink on glasses but it seems everyone has a different approach these days. In their case they gave out a “scavenger hunt” list – for example a coin minted in 1976. They would kiss if the item was produced and then kiss again if you could explain the significance of the item – in the case of the coin this was Trevor’s birth year (you may be able to guess the significance of the 1981 coin that was also on the list).

After the dinner there were plans for a special version of the newly wed game that Trevor & Sarah would play with 3 other couples – hosted by her father. There was a couple who had been married 4 years, a couple who had been married 25 years and Linda & I who have been married (almost) 41 years.

Because of the late finish of the earlier parts of the program this was abbreviated so we only had 2 questions where the wives gave their answers with the men not present and 2 questions on the reverse. I matched 1 of the 2 answers she gave and she matched both of the answers I gave – which put us in second place. The winners were the 25 year couple who matched all 4. I don’t know if we can draw any conclusion from this but it may be that after 40 years you can’t remember all the things you knew after 25 years of learning about each other.

Sunday morning, we planned to go to Port Hope to meet Melissa and do some wedding planning of our own.

It turned out that Jeri had started some mild labor and had gone to hospital at 3:00 a.m. They returned home at 8:30 just as we were leaving.

She started having stronger labor and they returned to hospital around 11 and the baby was born at 12:24. (Another thing about the timing was that Craig & Jeri are due to fly to Cheyenne in 2 weeks and the baby needs to be 2 weeks old before he can fly -- so despite some nail biting God worked it out in his own time.

(I know that Jeri is the envy of many mothers who have much longer and more difficult labor) but (in typical man style) I think that it isn’t the difficulties (or lack thereof) of the birth that counts -it is seeing that wonderful new gift that God has given you that really matters.

We had arranged for my Dad to go home Monday with my nephew Ken who was also down for the wedding so Dad was able to get to the hospital on Sunday evening and greet his newest (36th) great-grandchild .

We attended services in Ajax – with a small group meeting in a community hall and went on to Port Hope arriving in time for lunch with Alexander, Melissa and her friend Michelle.

We walked around Port Hope for a couple of hours, went back to the apartment to watch the soccer final – won by Argentina for the 6th time.

We hit the deli at the A&P to put together a picnic supper and drove (15 minutes) to the Coburg beach for supper. We had our wedding planning meeting over food in the park and went back to finish out the day watching a movie – the one about the guy who gets caught up as a character in a book – he can hear the author narrating the story as he goes about his life. (Can’t remember the name but it has Dustin Hoffman as a university prof who teaches about fiction and who helps the main character find out who the author is – it has a bitof a surprise ending but I won’t spoil it – I saw most of the movie although there were a few times I was resting my eyelids!! )

It was close to midnight when we got back to the Econo Inn. Monday morning we met Melissa & Alexander for a late breakfast at Tim Horton’s, transferred over 20 boxes of centerpieces, said our goodbyes and we headed home –leaving at11:30 and getting to Linda’sMom’s around 6 – we got into the Sault just before10 – and back to the yard work Tuesday morning.

I haven’t been doing much blogging so the following “odds & sods” are things I have put into my journal over the past few weeks.

Our friend Mike Case from church had major intestinal surgery in late June to remove what was thought to be a blockage. It turned out to be a malignant tumor. However, in a positive answer to prayer the surgeon was able to remove the entire mass before it had spread – and the post-op test indicated that he was completely cancer free and did not require further treatment(radiation or chemo). Mike is a gifted musician with a music store here in Sault Ste Marie and he is well known in the community as a giving caring person..

A few weeks ago my friend Dee Andrews wrote about the “Gains & Losses” she is experiencing as she and her husband move into a new house they had built after Hurricane Katrina displaced them from their prior home in Slidell La . and Neva lamented about the perverse peace in our world and points to a perfect peace

In early July I received an email from my cousin that talked about a “sharing ministry”that she has started over the INTERNET. If any ladywould be interested in participatingin this sendme an email(or leave a comment with your email) and I’ll put you in touch with her.

The following excerpt from her email explains what it is all about

“ I am into something that I am really excited about. I met a lady …(through quilting ) that so impressed me with her use of scripture. There was never any attempt at explaining what anything meant nor that anyone should feel as she did about them - rather, she shared what they had meant to her through the difficulties in her life. … I thought how I would like to be a part of a Bible study group who approached scripture in that way. One day it dawned on me that I was sharing quilting questions and tips on the internet - why wouldn't the same thing work with Bible thoughts. So I set it up and in just over a month am up to 24 ladies sharing in this way. There is only one rule - it cannot be a discussion of what we think a particular scripture means - only what meaning it has had to us personally in our journey… I really am hoping it will turn out to be a blessing to many people - it already is to me.

Well that's it for to-day.

God Bless

Charlie

A tribute to a “Rose” (July 11)

2007-07-11T08:15:00.000-04:00

It is a cool gray morning here in Sault Ste. Marie this morning. It has been dry and hot so the break in the weather is welcome.

The gray skies and cooler air seem to reflect my mood this morning. I am introspective by nature and often need to “act my way into a better way of feeling” to avoid getting into a blue funk. Even at that I have spent way too much time in the past couple of days doing mindless things –playing freecell for example- and letting my mind get hung up on “what if’s” – shoud’a, could’a, would’a thinking.

Yesterday afternoo I was in the midst of one of these “internal debates” with myself – avoiding getting on with a household chore that needed to be done -- when our friends Dave & Maxine Bringleson called to tell me that Bob Ekman had called them to say that Roseann had passed away. This was a shock to say the least because we had no inkling that she had any serious health problems. She was always positive and upbeat and joyful in her communications. It came as such a shock to Dave & Max that they didn’t ask about the circumstances of her death so we don’t know what happened.

After their call I found the following –email in my “inbox”

Subject: Passing of Roseann Ekman
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:05:20
This is to inform those of you that knew Roseann Ekman, that she passed away this morning peacefully in her sleep. If you wish to contact her husband, Bob, you may e-mail him at roseann_1@charter.net or mail at 15221 Russell Rd. N. Brainerd,Mn 56401

I hadn't corresponded with her for a couple of months but we receive bulletins from the church at Baxter (Brainerd) and had just gotten a bundle a couple of days ago -- through June 21 - and there was no mention of her having problems. (In one of those eerie coincidences, I had just finished looking at the bulletins and was thinking of Bob & Roseann at the exacttime that Dave & Max called. We had been through Minnesota on our way home and we had considered taking a side trip to visit them. However, we had decided that the extra day would make us too late getting home. Anyhow, I was in the process of looking at mapquest to confirm that that they actually lived were I thought they didwhen I got the call. This just goes to prove that we should take our opportunities to visit friends when we can because we never know what tomorrow will bring.

I posted an abbreviated fomof thhe followingtributeon the Berean Spiritlist

A tribute to a Rose

One of God's saints has gone to her rest. I first met Roseann almost 30 years ago when her husband Bob became the preaching minister at Pinehill just after graduating from Sunset.I never met anyone with the same passion that Roseanne had to learn about God's word and teach it to others. She truly lived by faith and was an example of the "salt, leaven & light" that Jesus called us to be.

Unfortunately, Bob’s time here at Pinehill was filled with difficulties. This is not the time or the place to get into the reasons for this – God knows our hearts. However, when they left here in 1981 it was under difficult circumstances.

We kept in touch for a few years but eventually we lost touch as they moved around spending time in Mexico and Oklahoma. We were blessed last September to have them come back to visit with us. We discovered that they had moved back north to Minnesota near their birthplaces (as I recall).

I mentioned them in several of my previous posts.

Click on the links to see these entries (scroll down because the references are in the midst of other things that were happening) I posted pictures of their visit last September, I talked about the connection between Roseann and John Dobbs with a picture of them together. I mentioned how Roseanne was instrumental in getting me started on the Berean Spirit list. I have kept in touch with her through Berean Spirit and through private emails ever since.

Roseann loved her husband and was loyal to him through many challenges in their life. She loved her family and her grandchildren and spoke often of them in her emails and conversations. She loved people and loved teaching about Jesus. She spent many hours with Bible correspondence courses and with group studies. I know she was working over the past year with those struggling with addictions.

She was my sister and my friend. I will miss her but I rejoice that she has gone to be with the Savior that she loved more than life itself.

As I sit here this gray morning my life is brightened and enriched from having known Roseann. Christians like her who reflect the light of Jesus into our lives t help me keep the gray from taking over and so my day today will be bright regardless of the weather.

I am reminded of the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians Chapters 3 & 4

12Not 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. 13Brothers, 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, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Goodbye Roseann “until we meet again”

God Bless
Charlie

A Rocky Path… June 29

2007-06-30T14:04:00.000-04:00

It has been well over a month since I posted last – maybe the longest gap since I started this venture in March 2006.

A lot has happened in my life since May 24 but much of it seems pretty mundane. I am blessed by the gift of a life of peace even though at times there are upsetting events and rough patches in my relationships.

This is an overview of some of the things I have experienced in the past 5 weeks -- I may add some pictures in a few days. if I get that to the top of my list

We are now at home. We left Coquitlam mid- morning June 8th and arrived back home the afternoon of June 17 with overnight stops at Kelowna (Walmart), Lake Louise, Banff, Drumheller (Walmart), Regina (Walmart) crossing into the US at North Gate ND Wednesday evening.

We spent Wednesday p.m. visiting our friend Dave & Heather McMillan in Kennedy, Sask. It was great to visit with them and meet Dave’s parents—they are preparing a return trip to their “mission work” in Mexico and will be enroute now as they were flying out of Chicago (O’Hare) on the 28th.

The border crossing at North Gate was a unique experience -- - out in the middle of nowhere – on a flat road bordered by wheat or corn fields there are buildings -- for Canada Customs and Immigration northbound and the US one for us southbound. We pulled up and waited for a few minutes and a guy came out – asked a bunch of questions, took our passports and disappeared for well over 5 minutes. He then came back and came on board to look around – seemingly more to just see what it looked like that for any other reason, gave us back our passports and wished us a good day.

We spent Wednesday & Thursday nights at Walmarts – my “favorite” place - in Minot, ND and Bemidji , MN. Friday night we camped at the Wildwood campground off Highway 2 about half way between Duluth and Ashland, WI. We spent a couple of hours Saturday morning enjoying the “feel” of home walking the beach and a lakeside trail at Ashland, WI overlooking Lake Superior. Saturday night we spent a leisurely evening at a campground right on Highway 28 just east of Munising MI.

Overall we clocked 9000 km (or about 5500 miles) on the motor home and about another 2500 km (1500 miles) on the HHR -- I have been a walking commercial for the HHR – It gets the greatest gas mileage – it traveled over 11,500 km (7000 miles) on 2 tanks of gas (well maybe 3) !!!

Since we have arrived home we have been quite busy with yard work, cleaning up leaves, trimming out branches, cleaning gutters, planting flowers and working on the project that gives this post its title.

When it comes tour home and “garden” Linda is the visionary and architect and the “doer” when it come envisioning, designing, picking out, planting and maintaining the landscaping and flower gardens. I have been the “engineer” taking her conceptual designs and ideas and working out how to make them a reality --I am also the construction worker, landscape worker and carpenter doing the heavier and more mechanical aspects of the work (once I get past my initial response of ”You want to do what?? – That’s impossible!!”).

Sometimes it is a bit tense trying to translate her vision into something I can actually construct that when done is a close enough approximation to what she was visualizing. We also have debates over whether what she is describing (or at least what I’m hearing her describe) is really going to look OK. Now, I have experienced overtime that her vision – once I really understand it is going to look great but occasionally I have been able to make positive suggestions and I have experienced doing what (I thought) she wanted even though I felt it wasn’t going to work only to have her say that isn’t right we need to do it over—which as you can imagine can lead to some tense words.)

So we have come to understand that major projects we both need to be there all the time it is going on especially when the “aestethic design” is being shaped. And we need to talk about it before we started especially any irreversible steps.

The project we started a week ago Friday has been a major change in the appearance of our front yard and involved removing trees and shrubs that had been there when we moved in 29 years ago. So the past week has been a little rocky in our communications and in understanding one another and debating over what the end result was going to be. We bit the bullet on the first Friday and removed all the trees—we did do that fairly slowly—one at a time to confirm that the result was going to be livable for both of us but when we stopped we had removed all the shrubs and 2 larger cedar trees leaving a “naked” spot on the one end of the house.

By Thursday night we had removed roots, dug out a border with a plastic trim and transplanted several hostas into the empty space and the new vision wasbeginning to take place. There was also this “flagstone” path that Linda was seeing and I was having trouble seeing it the same way. It had been a source of serious debate all week as we worked on the “flower bed” portion of the project. Well yesterday (Friday) it could no longer be avoided – we had to deal with the path. Since the issue was one of “whether it would look right” to do it the way she was describing it, we agreed that the best thing was to just lay the stones out on top of the existing grass (such as it was) and see how it looked. First step was hauling flat stones from a pile that our neighbors had dumped along a path behind their house while excavating for an addition. Linda had seen these as we were walking by and had gotten permission to use them. This was no mean feat hauling a couple of dozen rocks some weighing upwards of 200 lbs. several hundred yards to our yard. We backed our little HHR down the path and manhandled (a couple of times by rolling them up a makeshift ramp because they were too heavy to lift) as many as we could into a load and brought them – it took a couple of hours and 4 trips but by noon we had the rocks here. By 5:00 p.m. we had a “rocky path” laid out that we both felt good about and were in agreement about how to finish it off—now there were a few “difficult” moments in that process – at one point Linda’s sister Arliss dropped by and had to “dip and dive” a bit to keep from being drawn into the “cross-fire” but all-in-all we seemed to come through it unscathed – it is wonderful what God can do in building strong relationships if we keep our focus on letting him be in control.

In addition to “being strengthened” by the rocky path, we have had several other things on our minds

My Dad was back in hospital for a day the Friday before we got home so I have been keeping in touch with him each day to be sure he is doing OK. Linda’s Mom has been going through some changes in her life that have been stressful and so Linda has been in touch with her almost every day.

I had a followup meeting on the training prposal I had been working on before I left and we have agreeeddto proceed with this course in the fall so I have a week or so of work to be doneover the summer toprepare for that.

My brother younger Rob retired from Algoma Steel after 35 years and is off on a 2 month “vacation” traveling to the West Coast to visit Marilyn’s family and to go on an Alaskan cruise.

We have had 2 nephews ( my sister’s son Nathan) and Linda’s sister’s son (Michael) who graduated from High school.

There have been several new babies born in the “extended” family of our church family.

Barb Hotchkiss had to have additional surgery June 21 to clean out and repair the incision from her February surgery soshe is still not back on her feet. Our friend Mike case had surgery on Thursday to have a tumor removed and he is in our prayers and thoughts right now.

Finally, Paul & Michelle Hillier arrived this week for Paul to take up his full-time role ministering with the church here.

One last thing – our son Christopher is a detective sergeant on the Aurora Illinois police force. He called this morning and also sent a link about this story of a major sweep he had been a part of that resulted in charges in 33 “cold case” gang related murders in Aurora some reaching back almost 2 decades. (click HERE for details)

So it seems “rocky paths” notwithstanding, our lives are full and God is good- I hope this is true for you as well.

Life with Will – May 24

2007-05-24T12:17:00.000-04:00

I just learned that my Dad went into the hospital back home yesterday – it doesn’t appear to be serious but he is 90 so any problems are of concern. Please be praying for his recovery.

Our grandson Will is an independent, energetic and (in our view) very intelligent 3 and a half year old. We have spent time looking after him every day but 2 since we arrived here on May 5.

He is naturally apprehensive about having his parent away and being alone with us. However, we can be with him for 2 to 3 hours before he gets to concerned and that is usually the longest period we are alone.

This first picture was taken May 11 at the Coquitlam Town Centre Recreation area. That day we were with Sarah and had walked there (about 1km from their house). We were throwing a little football on the edge of the field and running back & forth on the track.

On May 12, they came out to the campground

We went for a walk and a picnic in the Tynehead Regional Park. The pictures shows Will & Grandpa playing throwing rocks into the water,

Will pretending to be a swordsman and

Will & Sarah hiding in an cedar stump

Sunday May 13, Kevin took us to the Vancouver Science Centre (Telus World of Science) and Will had a great time exploring the various exhibits. They have a membership and make frequent visit there so a lot of our time was having Will act as tour guide showing us the various things of interest to him. He spent a long time playing with the water table - making dams and changing the direction of the water flow

May 15 was a beautiful sunny day and we went with Sarah to the White Pines beach in Belcarra (north of Port Moody) –met up with Bianca and Christian – he is close to Will’s age. Unfortunately, my batteries died so I didn’t get may pictures. (also note that for some reason, on May 10, the date on my camera reset back to January 1 2002 so all these pictures have the wrong date – add 9 to get the correct day in May. I just noticed it and fixed it this morning)

On May 19, we took a day trip with the BBB to Queen Elizabeth Park

and the Bloedel Conservatory.

It was rainy with sunny breaks – but we were able to spend acouple of hours outside with only a couple of drizzly period – we had raincoats and umbrellas so it was fine.

Linda & I first visited this location in 1979 (28 years ago) on May 21 to attend the wedding reception for my brother Rob and his wife Marilyn-- it was held in the Season’s restaurant

Many of their wedding photos were taken in the little quarry garden.

We stopped at the Rocky Point park in Port Moody on the way home and had supper together in the BBB.

It was good that we did this on Saturday because that it poured rain all that night and most of the day on Sunday.

Monday however was a relatively nice day and we took Will for a long walk to the Coquitlam centre. While there he started playing with another boy who was there with his parents – I was talking to the father and discovered he worked for the same company (Thompson-Carswell) as my brother Lawrence – although he didn’t know him – he is a salesman here in BC and Lawrence is in the IT area working in Toronto.

Well I’m going to close off now. We are heading to Harrison Hot Springs for an overnight trip with Kevin, Sarah and Will to-morrow.

I do have a few “challenges” such as a water leak in the HHR that showed up on theweekend during the rain storm—which has killed the heater motor and some other things that are “testing” us but I’ll deal with those later.

God Bless
Charlie

Mountains, Ocean and (mostly) blue skies (May 5 – May 18)

2007-05-23T11:00:00.000-04:00

Two weeks – where has the time gone. We pulled into the Tynehead Campground in Surrey mid-afternoon May 5.

We had been on the road 10 days traveling over 5000 km (3000 miles) after leaving Aurora on April 25, ( over 5000 km (3000 miles) from Sault Ste. Marie) – not the most direct route – which is just a tad over 3500 km (2200 miles)

Our route west had us driving in the mountains a lot more than any other trip we have made since we were in mountains most of the 1000 plus miles from Salt Lake City (and several hundred miles before that)—that’s what happens when you drive diagonally – northwest through the mountains - lots of good scenery – reminded us of the awesomeness of God’s creation.

We see mountains every day as we drive back & forth to Kevin's place (unless it is really foggy - which has been rare). We are very close to the Burrard inlet and Stanley Park (on the Pacific Ocean) and have been severalplaces were we could look out over the ocean . We have been experiencing cool but often sunny weather so this has become a daily reminder -- of something we can easily take for granted when we are in the "rut" of daily living at our homes.

Of course, we are also reminded of the downside of the natural forces when we hear of the tornadoes and damaging storms that have been occurring over the past few weeks. Our prayers are with those whose lives are turned upside down because of these storms. Every time I hear about something like this I remember our friends in Pascagoula and the first hand knowledge we gained last year of the impact these storms (Katrina in that case) has on people's lives.

While I certainly don't claim to understand why these things happen to some and not other and why "the rain falls on the just and the unjust" -- I am convicted that God is there and he is able to work good in tragedy and trials -- whether these massive highly visible storms or just the samll day today things that happen that can wear us down and discourage us. The question is always the same -- will we look to God for comfort and help and trust in his promises or will we believe this is proof that he isn't there or doesn't care.

Something to think about -- well back to what's been going on with us. (and what have we been doing that has kept me from writing in my blog?)

As we came north across the border on May 5th, I discovered that I had not brought the information about the campground where I had made a tentative reservation. I knew it was in Surrey just off Highway 1 near the Port Mann bridge. Our BC camping book didn’t have a listing for anything that met that description. I tried unsuccessfully to pick up a wireless signal so I could find it on the INTERNET. Since I had a general idea were it was located I decided to see if we could find it by watching for signs. As we came up Highway 15 we saw a sign for a campground – which turned out to be Tynehead. After we checked in I did an INTERNET search and found the reference to Dogwood campgrounds which I then remembered was the one I had been talking to—however – we were in a good location so we just called and cancelled at Dogwood.

The neat thing- some might say luck – we prefer to give credit to God’s providence – is that Tynehead seems to be a better location. We are just across the road from Tynehead regional park where we have gone hiking several times and - from our drive by visit to check out Dogwood – we ended up in smaller and probably quieter campground. So sometimes it pays not to be organized.

We are 2 minutes from Highway 1 and (depending on traffic) 15 to 20 minute drive to Kevin’s. It always takes 5 minutes longer to go there in the daytime – because traffic is always heavy at the bridge - but coming backing the evening we usually just sail through.

After we arrived we went to visit Kevin, Sarah & Will. It was really neat to have Will recognize me after 16 months. He had seen Linda last fall and he went to her as if she had neverleft. It was a great time catching up withwhat was happening with Kevin & Sarah and playing with Will.

Sunday we attended services at South Burnaby. We saw Irene & Shirley Wood (My sister-in-law Marilyn’s mother and sister) – more “almost relatives” (click HERE for my definition of this term) and visited with several others we have come to know from earlier times that we have been here. I really like the preaching style of Kirk Rauch the minister at South Burnaby. It is down to earth but insightful and challenges one to grow in their relationship with Jesus. He has been doing a series on Hebrews –with the general theme “God speaks—it is really important to hear what he says about Jesus - and to underscore that importance -- there are ”bad things” that happen if we fail to listen—BUT most importantly there are good things for us if we do listen. His analysis of Hebrews is that this is a repeating cycle throughout this collection of writings.

We have been at Kevin & Sarah’s everyday except one since we arrived. It seems the days fly by. By the time we get up and do our daily routines it has been time to head over. We have dinner with them and by the time we get back in the evening and spend a little time relaxing – TV or reading -- it is time for bed and the cycle repeats.

I have been getting about an hour a day on the “computer” and that seems to be enough to keep up with email and chip away at the backlog- but not enough to do much journaling. I did have to spend several hours updating and issuing the course outline for the statistics course for engineers that I have been working on with one of the math profs at Algoma U. I am also able to do a little bit of webmail work at Kevin’s when Will is napping or watching his videos. – mostly that has been dealing with my AlgomaU email

The weather has been cool but sunny – last week we had 3 days with temperatures in the low 20’s (70F) so we have gotten some tan—and had to use sun screen frequently. We have been to several parks at the Burrard inlet and spent one afternoon with Sarah & Will at White Pines beach. Will was wading but the water was pretty cold. We had our first taste of rain this last Friday (18th) but it was in the evening. It rained more yesterday and is raining steadily this morning (Sunday) as I write -- just in time for the long weekend.

Sarah had a list of “fix it” jobs she was hoping I could work on – so it was good that I had brought my tool box. So I have fixed a deadbolt lock assembly that wasn’t working properly, repaired a drawer hanger to keep the drawer from falling out of the cupboard, replaced the burner on the BBQ and several other small jobs. There are a couple of bigger jobs that I’m still trying to work out how to do them – with limited money and limited tools- we’ll see what happens in the remaining 2 weeks.

Linda has been doing some gardening planting some annuals she bought for Sarah for Mother’s day. I also spent an afternoon mowing grass and generally cleaning up in the yard.

The main variations in “routine” are that we have several days gone for a walk at Tynehead before going over to Coquitlam and the other variation is which park we go to with Will. We have been watching him for a couple of hours in the afternoon when Sarah goes to work to allow Kevin to spend more time at school working on his thesis materials. He is at a tough point in this process and is somewhat discouraged at his lack of progress – Hopefully he will get all the approvals for his method sand be able to get into the data collection phase soon.

Well it’s now Wednesday (23rd) so I’ll close this off and get it posted. More later.

Blowing in the wind (May 3-4)

2007-05-06T11:03:00.000-04:00

Posted May 6 from Surrey BC (Note I've added pictures to last 2 posts)

Wednesday afternoon driving on I-80 west of Salt Lake we were driving on a ribbon of highway which cut through miles and miles of white salt beds. For us it looked like fields of snow. As we drove every once in a while the wind would blow the salt across the road – again looking like drifting snow and a couple of times it was almost a “white-out”.

Thursday morning as we drove I-80 it was quite cold and there was fresh snow along the road. It was so cold that I had to stop and turn on the regular “car” heater (That’s another story but the heater control for the BBB is now located under the hood not inside on the dash- I had turned it off in Cheyenne so we could use the air conditioning). When we were driving into Wells Nevada (where we turned north on US93 to go to Twin Falls Idaho) we were in a blizzard (real snow this time) for a few minutes.

Fortunately it didn’t last long. Later that day on I-84 in Idaho we saw signs that said Caution –Blowing dust -- although we didn’t actually experience it. We though – now we’ve seen it all – salt, snow and dust – all blowing in the wind creating road hazards.

It was a long day driving with a lot of up and down. The trip along the snake river canyon in Idaho was quite scenic but I did get weary of lugging the car up the side of the canyon only to drop back down to the river and start over again.

We covered slightly over 350 miles (570 km) and did WALMART camping in Ontario Oregon. Ontario folks in Ontario doesn’t seem so strange except we were a long way from our Ontario.

We stopped at the Oregon Welcome centre just east of Ontario and as I was getting out the lady in a motor home that parked beside us was looking at the licence plate and asked “Are you from Ontario?” -- When I said “Yes” she asked where – I said Sault Ste. Marie -- with some tentativeness because mostly people don’t know where that is. She said ”Wow- we are from North Bay” —(which is about 5 hours east of Sault Ste Marie on the same highway). They had flown to Calgary, rented the motor home and were making a circle coming over to Seattle, up to Vancouver Island and back to Calgary through the Rockies.

Friday the mountains and the winds continued. The descent into the Yakima River valley – 6 miles of 6% grade was quite dramatic and 20 miles or so of flat driving across the valley was a welcome reprieve from the mountains - beautiful as they are -- and for once there didn’t seem to be either a cross-wind or head-wind.

The head winds were terrible for the first hour or so after we got onto I-90 heading in to Seattle. We also had another fuse blow on the brake lights. We had come up a very long steep grade on I-90 and I had left the 4 ways on too long I guess because when I pulled into arrest area a little later I noticed that they weren’t working. I guess I’ll have to put in a 20 amp fuse since the 15 amp obviously isn’t heavy enough to handle the extra load from the tow car.

While we were in Salt Lake I had realized (well duh!!) that we would be going by Seatlle where my nephew Evan lives. He was recently married (wedding was in Victoria the same weekend we left home) and last time we had seen him was at his mother’s 65th birthday party in the Sault - in 2004. We had talked briefly on the phone when we flew through Seattle in 2005. Anyhow, I didn’t have any contact information so I had emailed his sister Megan and gotten his email address, sent him and email and gotten his phone number. So we called him and were able to arrange to meet Evan & Angie last evening. It was another long day – we were on the road at 8:30 (Pacific) and arrived Lynnwood (north Seattle) Walmart (just off I-5 just north of the I-405 intersection) at 7:15 after covering around 470 miles (750 km).

Evan lives about 5 minutes away so he picked us up rather than us having to unhitch the HHR and find our way to his house. We spent the rest of the evening visiting over a very good dinner and it was 11 (Pacific) when we got back to the BBB – which was midnight or 1am or 2 am by our internal clocks – depending on which of the time zones we’ve crossed we are acclimatized to – I think I’m pretty well operating on Central time — since I woke up ready to get up at 4:00 am.(Although I managed to get back to sleep some and didn’t actually get up until 6:00).

Tahnkfully we completed our outbound trip on Saturday and arrived at our campground in Surrey around noon and spent the afternoon greeting Will, Kevin & Sarah – more on that later.

God Bless

Charlie

Salty Life (May 1 -2)

2007-05-04T13:52:00.000-04:00

Posted May 4th from Baker City Idaho

We spent 2 days in Salt Lake City and certainly the presence of the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” is a dominant part of that city. I’ll describe more of the specifics later but the “Mormon” experience caused me to think about several things.

One was I found myself thinking “the tours in Temple Square may be free in the sense of no money but there is a real cost – that of listening to a lot of talk about their beliefs”. I also found the idea of latter day revelations to be difficult to believe and had to remind myself that whether I believed or not didn’t give me the right to be derogatory and disrespectful – which is an important message for everyone in dealing with those who think and believe differently than we do.

One the other hand, I found much that I could support and agree with – the emphasis on Jesus as our Savior, the emphasis on the church as his redeemed body, the emphasis on family values (the early approval of polygamy notwithstanding), the emphasis on hard work and economic independence and self-sufficiency (that they believe comes as a blessing to those who serve Jesus) – these are things that any Christian should be able to align with.

The one final thought tied back to the sermon we heard in Cheyenne on Sunday morning from Ray Ward. The lesson was from John --when the Roman soldiers came to arrest Jesus and Peter took out his sword to fight them. Jesus told Peter to “put away his sword”. The point was that Christians are not called to “fight for Jesus” but rather to follow him and proclaim his wonderful love. Jesus has already won the fight by his death for all. Now there is lots of language about being soldiers for Christ but that is about our personal battle against Satan and his forces – not a battle against other people. The point of the lesson (in part) was that we too often as Christians used his word to “fight against” and “beat down” other people to try to force them to conform to our way of thinking. We would be better to live our lives following Jesus – relating to and loving people the way he did and let him fight the battle and claim the victory – as he has already done.

The reason I relate this to the Mormon “experience” is 2-fold –

1) their dedication to their understanding of what Jesus wants from them is a good example of the power of “salt, leaven and light” BUT

2) their passion for “proselytizing” seems a bit strong and gives a sense that they are treating people who believe differently as the “enemy” – It made me wonder if we as Christians convey that attitude to non-Christians. Can we follow Jesus and let him fight the battle – or do we need to take out our swords and cut down the “enemy” who doesn’t believe as we do?

Well – end of sermon and back to the journey of the “HHR’s” (healthy happy rovers)

The Cherry Hills orchard campground in Kaysville just of I-15 is about 15 miles north of Salt Lake City. It is a beautiful spot overlooking the Salt Lake basin with snow capped mountains as a backdrop. It was listed in our AAA camping guide but the real reason we picked it was because Phil Bullock recommended it from a time they had camped here. To get to it we took I-84 and came around and back down from the north. It would have been about the same distance to continue in on I-80 and come up I-15 but we were close to rush hour and our experience on Tuesday confirmed that it would have been a serious traffic jam if we had done that.

Anyhow, as I mentioned at the end of my last post, we packed a lunch and headed to downtown SLC on Tuesday to visit the Mormon Temple square. This certainly was a time when it was great to have the HHR in tow since we would have been hard pressed to find a place to park the BBB in downtown SLC.

Linda writes in her journal that we “went to Mormon location. Heard all about Joseph Smith-(how he had) a vision (and was) made a modern day prophet (and was given) the book of Mormon. Interesting story -saw a movie showing how the Mormons were chased out of Illinois & Missouri and then brought to Utah by Brigham Young. They irrigated barren land and made a beautiful valley”

Of the Temple square Linda writes “Beautiful buildings and flowers. (Several) “free” tours (but) had to listen to a lot about being a Mormon”

(The guides were mostly young people who came to SLC for an18 month mission service and their job was to testify about their faith. If you were mostly interested in the history of the Mormons or the architecture of the buildings, it would be better to go on your own and read the information that was posted -- however, some places you could only get to by taking a tour).

There is a interesting display in the North visitor's center -- in a dome there is a mural depicting the universe with a statue of Jesus in the center -- illustrating his position as central to the creation.

Linda continues “Heard the Tabernacle organ for ½ hour – enjoyed all but first piece” (which was a loud “hard” sounding composition)

The organ had an tremendous range – from the sound of a bell tinkling to the one more like a bass drum or tuba . The acoustics in the Tabernacle were amazing – you could literally hear a pin drop from 150 feet away.

We arrived in SLC around 10 a.m. and left around 5:30 p.m. and toured most of the buildings on Temple square that are open to the public. It was a beautiful day – nice breezes and a dry 89F (30C).

The roof top at the 21000 seat conference center provides a dramatic view of the city. (Our guide took this picture of us on the roof)

The “Beehive house” which was Brigham Young’s residence and early church offices was interesting but they rushed us through – which frustrated Linda because she wanted to stop and look at the furnishings and the decorating. The main purpose of the tour was to emphasize the importance of family “sealing” to Mormons and the young ladies couldn’t answer many questions about the historical aspects of the actual building and furnishings.

There was also a special series on Mormons on TV which Linda watched for both evenings.

Linda continues (May 2nd). “Got up this am and went to Antelope Island. Saw antelope and prong horn deer, quail and coyote but no bison” (The island has one of the largest free roaming herds of bison in the US – around 500 – it is culled each year to prevent it from overgrowing the available grazing land)

At the Garr ranch – part of the ranch house is one of the oldest original buildings in the state of Utah – over 150 years old, Linda writes “saw three (great-horned) owlets in their nest just about ready to fly and saw the father owl sitting way up in a tree”

We were going to hike up one of the trails 1.2 miles (2km) to “Dooley’s peak” but we got up about 200 yards and decided it was too steep – since we didn’t have our hiking boots and Linda doesn’t do well on steep climbs (nor do I for that matter). So we stopped and had our snack, took some pictures and went back to the car.

Linda continues “went down and walked on the beach of Great Salt Lake. Very salty – only brine shrimp & flies live in it. Walked in water (up to knees – it was a beautiful day around 80F (25C)) & might have gone swimming They say you just float”

(We had left our swim suits in the car because we thought it would be too cold – but really didn’t seem to be any worse than Lake Superior in early July – but it was a long walk to the car so we decided our wading would have to do).

We (mostly me) had decided that since we were so close we would take the “long way” to Idaho and drive west on I-80 to Nevada so we could see the Salt Flats. We had arranged for a late checkout from the campground and we arrived back at 2:30, hooked up the car, took showers and began the final preps for leaving.

I need to go back a little bit. Our auxiliary braking system (Brake Buddy) has a transmitter that is supposed to light up a receiver in the motor home when the brakes are activated. It had worked originally but when we tested in Cheyenne it didn’t light up – so when we arrived in SLC I thought I would just be sure that the reason it wasn’t working was because it was in the “shadow” of the motor home so I took the receiver and plugged it into the auxiliary power outlet in the car (where I have had the rear view camera plugged in and it had been working earlier that day) – and discovered that the fuse had blown. (I still haven’t figured out why -- I just got a replacement fuse last night so I’ll experiment with it maybe to-day) -- Anyhow – this was electrical problem #1.

Tuesday night – just after Linda finished watching the Mormon special our 12V TV in the bedroom died. Again, I haven’t figured out what is wrong with it but I think maybe the power supply gave up. Electrical problem # 2.

This brings us back to Wednesday afternoon. During the final preps for leaving we were checking the lights to be sure the connection to the car was working and discovered that the brake lights weren’t working (on the motorhome). I also discovered that the 4 way flashers wouldn’t work and concluded the 2 things were tied together. I thought maybe the heavy usage on Monday climbing those long steep hills had fried the flasher (remember I mentioned that in my last post).

I asked and found that there was an RV service center about a mile away so we finished the rest of our preps and drove there (using parking light switch to simulate braking). When I got there the guy said they were really backed up and would not be able to look at it until the next day. But he also said that he didn’t think a flasher failure would cause those symptoms – had I checked the fuse? So I went and checked the fuse and sure enough it was blown. Electrical problem #3 – all of which happened in or near SLC – go figure!!

It seems really weird that we had three electrical failures almost simultaneously in completely unrelated components (or circuits). My rationale for the brake light –hazard light fuse blowing was that with the extra load from the tow car and high usage it had overheated and blown just as we were coming in to SLC – I know the hazards were working up to 10 minutes before we stopped.

Anyhow, they have been working fine since I replaced the fuse (I used my spare and the guy at the RV place gave me 2 more so I’m OK if it happens again).

We were on the road by 4 and drove to West Wendover Nevada arriving around 7 with a short stop at the scenic overlook of the Bonneville flats. (The picture shows me standing in a "puddle"of saltwater along the edge of the salt flats - it does look like snow & ice!!!)

There is one flat straight as an arrow 35 mile section of highway across the flats heading into the Utah-Nevada line – incredible and interesting driving because we had high cross-winds for the whole stretch.

We parked overnight in a Casino parking lot – high winds and thunderstorm overnight.

Well that’s it for now - I have some pictures and I’ll update these posts at some point to include a few of them. (Done May 5)

God Bless
Charlie & Linda

Almost relatives (April 29-30)

2007-05-03T10:10:00.000-04:00

Posted from West Wendover Nevada (I-80) - Thursday morning May 3 (Updated with pictures May 5)

Sunday morning I had located the Cheyenne Church of Christ using their website. They are meeting in a school auditorium because their building was in the flight path for the airport and the airport had bought it as part of an expansion plan. MAPQUEST is great for getting directions and we were able to find the location with no problems.

When we went in we spoke to one lady who was originally from North Dakota who had relatives in Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Then one of the elders saw us and came over to say hello. When we told him we were from Ontario he said “Do you know anyone in Beamsville?” – I said “Sure – maybe you know my brother-in-law Art Ford?” – He said “Sure do – our daughter is married to their son”. Our response was surprised delight – “Oh, you are Jeri’s father”. Jeri is married to my nephew Craig Ford. I have mentioned Craig & Jeri before. They with their daughter Hannah are missionaries in Papua New Guinea (click HERE).

This made Phil and Ruth Bulloch “almost relatives” – my term for people that you have absolutely no earthly relationship with either by blood or “in-law” but who you share close relatives with. (The best example of this of course are the parents of your daughter-in-law or son-in-law – you share a grandchild but there (often) is no other connection.)

I had forgotten that Jeri was from Cheyenne although I had remarked to Linda as we came into Cheyenne that I thought her parents lived “somewhere around here”. As my memory got refreshed I recalled that the wedding had been in Cheyenne but unfortunately we had not been able to make it so we had never met Phil & Ruth before.

We had a great visit with them over lunch at Primo’s (Primos All-You-Can-Eat-Pizza, Corner Of Dell Range & Prairie) - a neat “cafeteria-style” pizzeria –where we learned about something we had never seen before – dessert pizza!!

Our lunch with Phil & Ruth along with their son Phillip and his wife and daughter (almost the same age as Hannah) and 2 foster daughters was a great visit . We were able to share our common bond as Christians as well as our common connection with the Ford’s. (I was really kicking myself because Phil had driven us to the restaurant since our car was “in tow” and we didn’t want to drive the whole rig around Cheyenne -- as a result my camera was in the BBB and I couldn’t get a picture)

Phil works in the funeral business and is an elder at the Cheyenne church. They have been foster parents for a number of years – in fact they are off to Washington next week as sponsored by the state of Wyoming as “delegates” to a national convention. Ruth is also working on a nursing diploma so they have full lives. We hope that God will continue to bless them and their family. It is possible that we might see Ruth this summer since Craig & Jeri are home on furlough and Jeri is expected to give birth to their second child while they are in Canada around the same time as Craig’s brother Trevor’s wedding in July.

One other fascinating thing about this visit was Monday afternoon when we arrived in Salt Lake I received this email from my brother-in-law Art (Craig’s Dad) “We received the word from PNG that you visited with the Bullocks in Cheyenne.” So in this day of the INTERNET news can travel around the world in the “blink of an eye”.

After lunch we were back on the road again. It was a long gradual uphill climb as we drove west. We crossed the highest point in Wyoming near Laramie (8650 feet) (actually highest point on the entire cross continental I-80 route) .

At the rest area there we learned that it is referred to as the “summit” and there is a historical marker describing the construction of the original “Lincoln highway” as a private endeavor to provide a continuous road from New York to San Francisco.

There is also a large marker with a bust of Abe Lincoln on top.

We had a demonstration of physics about 2 miles before we reached the summit. We were driving along when we heard a loud bang. – like a balloon bursting. I was concerned that it might have been a tire blowing out although there was no indication of any problem so we pulled over and checked. Everything looked fine so we went on. As we were driving I got to wondering if it had to do with the low pressure at this altitude and something in one of the storage bins might have ruptured.

So when we got to the rest area I checked everything in the bins but could find anything even though several plastic containers of water and washer fluid were bulged there didn’t seem to have been any signs of an “explosion” Linda discovered that several tubes of stuff in the bathroom were “oozing” materials – especially when she took the lids off but again nothing that would explain a “bang”. The next day as I was coming in from gassing up Linda said “I found it”. We had a bag of Doritos chips in a cupboard just behind the drivers seat and the bag was blown open at the top seam.

So the moral of the story is eat your chips before you start up the mountain!!! (I guess this is a science experiment for Hunter or Camdyn to see how reducing pressure outside a sealer container can cause it to explode.)

After the “summit” experience, we continued across the continental divide near Rawlins and on in to Rock Springs. We did a WALMART night there. (The picture of the sign was taken somewhere near Rawlins and the second one was in Green River)

As we pulled in to the WALMART at Rock Springs we were out walking around looking for a suitable “camping” spot and came across a couple from Ohio who were pulling a 5th wheel. They told us that they had blown a tire on their (double axle) trailer. The force of the “explosion” and maybe the debris from the tire had broken out the wheel well and made a hole right into the trailer. They had been able to get the spare on and had come in to get duct tape to try to close off the worst of the hole. Made me wonder what would happen if I ever blew one of our rear duals – I don’t even want to think about what would happen if I blew a front tire. I will try to keep a close watch on them to reduce that possibility.)

Monday morning Linda saw a “Corral West” cowboy clothing store and went shopping for a (very nice) shirt and vest . I was able to pick up INTERNET from a Quality Inn across the way and did that for a while as she shopped). We then drove on to Salt Lake City. I had thought we were through most of the mountains and it hadn’t really amounted to much but as we got towards the Utah border we started hitting very long relatively steep climbs that slowed me down to below 60 kph (35 mph). I used my 4 way blinkers a lot of the time as we climbed and occasionally forgot to shut them off (this is relevant later)

As we came into UTAH we were in “real” mountains – snow capped – much like going through the Rockies in BC. (The picture is at a rest stop just as we entered Utah -- one of the most beautiful locations we saw on the entire route)

We also got to see prairie dogs several places as we stopped and I got this picture at the Utah rest stop

Well I’ll close off this post with the text of an email I sent to family & friends Tuesday morning (May 1).

“We pulled into SLC yesterday around suppertime. We are in a very nice campground just off I-15 about 10 miles north - old apple orchard overlooking the city.We are headed downtown to check out the sights for the day -- more later.”

God Bless
Charlie

On the Road Again - Westward bound (April 25-28)

2007-04-29T00:14:00.000-04:00

Tuesday morning Chris & I went out and picked up the rest of the materials we needed to finish (stage 1) of the basement project. I also picked up a plug for my hot water heater and got that installed and the hot water tank filled and ready to go.

We put up some drywall and I finished off a small bit of framing that remained. I would have liked to have finished all the drywall to the point it was ready to “tape & mud” but a lot of what remained was fitting small pieces around doorways and I ran out of time.

Also during the morning, Linda called her Mom and talked to her in the hospital. She was feeling pretty good but Linda wanted to give her the rest of the day to be sure. Her sister Arliss called at 6 and told us that she (Linda’s Mom) had been released from hospital at noon and was now at home.

Chris’ neighbors were away and we had been parking the HHR in their driveway. Since it was threatening rain and we wanted to leave early Wednesday morning Linda came up with the idea of hooking up the car and pulling the motorhome ahead across the neighbor’s driveway (so we wouldn’t be blocking Chris & Tammye’s driveway). It was a good thing we did that because it poured rain overnight and I would have gotten soaked if I’d waited until morning.

We said our goodbye’s to Camdyn, Hunter & Tammye Tuesday evening.

Chris had a special SRT (SWAT) team demonstration Wednesday and was leaving at 6:30 – we were up at 6:00; had breakfast and once we had said good bye to him I did the last minute stuff – unplugging and final set-up for towing and we were on the road at 6:45 Central time.

We followed US30 west from Aurora – and after a couple of missed turns (with the difficulty of finding a “40 acre field” to turn around in since we can’t back up) we were westward bound. We crossed the Mississippi into Clinton Iowa at 9:45 and crossed the Missouri into Nebraska at Blair at 6:45 p.m. After overshooting and having to backtrack several miles (due to the fact that the camp book said “west of Ames” and the Fenton Lakes campground was EAST of Ames (Nebraska- not IOWA).

When we did find the location the road to the campground was NOT well marked and we had some close calls making wrong turns into areas were we had a real challenge avoiding dead-ends and finding a place to turn around). However, we finally got into the campsite and set up about 8:15. Long day but we covered close to 500 miles (800 km) much of it in driving rain.

Nice campground but as usual we found one close to train tracks and obviously a main line since Linda said there were trains blowing their whistles all night long) although I didn’t hear more than a couple of them-

Thursday morning we continued west. Mid-afternoon we had stopped in a rest area just west of North Platte after getting on I-80 at Kearney. While stopped, we both concluded at around the same time that I had gotten into my “let’s see how far we can go today” mode. Linda was looking at the tour books and saying “we’ll likely never come this way again – why aren’t we stopping to look around”. We had not talked about what we wanted to do and it was my idea to make a big push to get to Salt Lake City in 3 day. Anyhow, I won’t say that there weren’t a few “words” said but we realized that it was time to take a break and have some down-time so we startedlooking for somewhere to stop.

We found a nice campground north of Ogallala (Oga – la – la) and took the rest of Thursday and all day Friday to rest and do some sightseeing. Ogallala was the end of the cattle trails in the 1870’s and had a pretty wild reputation.

We saw their “Boot Hill” and an old mansion that was built in the 1880’a. Actually it wasn’t open for the season yet but we stopped to look around the grounds and one of the volunteers was there doing some work and let us in. Linda really enjoys looking around these old places. We also went to this little town called Keystone that boasts a little church built almost1000 years ago that is very unique. It was built jointly by Catholic and Protestant groups and feature pews with reversible pews (the backs are hinged and can be flipped over) so the Catholics could face the Catholic altar at one end and the Protestants could face the pulpit at the other end.

To-day (Saturday) we drove into Cheyenne and we are camped at the Terry Bison Ranch just off I-25 and just north of Colorado border. We plan to attend church services here in the morning and likely do a WALMART night tomorrow night before heading over the mountains on Monday. To-day we climbed about 2500 feet in a little under 100 miles but all just gradual climbs –no serious hills

God Bless

Charlie & Linda

Days 4-7: A whole week “in port”. (with pictures)

2007-04-26T18:07:00.000-04:00

Time flies. This post covers through Monday April 23 (Posted April 26 from Ogallala NE) (Revised to add pictures on April 28)

Sunday was a quiet relaxing day. We went with Chris, Tammye and the kids to services the Community Christian centre in Naperville. A very good lesson on how Jesus treated the situation with the woman who was brought to him because of being caught in the act of adultery. The theme was “What do you expect?” – and how Jesus responded to people in ways they didn’t expect. Her accusers were faced with “writing in the sand” and an unexpected statement “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. The woman expected condemnation and humiliation but Jesus gave the unexpected response. “If others haven’t condemned you, neither will I – Go and sin no more” (Have you ever noticed that he was the only one there that met his standard of no sin = first stone” but he choose not to cast it).

Sunday night Chris decided he wanted to install the bathroom stuff so we put in the vanity and the toilet, which met his objective of having a functioning “powder room” before we left.
(Actually this means there is one for each of them - since there is already a powder room on the first floor and 2 full bathrooms upstairs –main bath and “ensuite”.) – but I remember with a growing family you can never have too many bathrooms!!! (and it certainly is a little more private than the old “3 holer” shack out back that we had when I was growing up before indoor plumbing. (Yes Virginia - I am that old!!))

Monday we finished up some of the work in the basement but we ran out of material mid-morning and Chris decided that he needed some down time. He had worked a double the previous Monday and then had long days working with us in the mornings and working his regular 4-12 shift so he decided to crash for the afternoon.

So I packed up my tools and did other things to get ready to pull out Tuesday morning.

Monday evening Hunter had a flag football game which I went to watch. If you’ll pardon a grandfather’s pride – he was awesome. (He's the one in the blue shirt standing upright in the middle of the picture)

He ran for a touchdown on the first play and ran the extra point on another play. His team won 21-0 – although at this stage – it was their first game—there is a lot of luck involved since it is more like chaos on the field than any semblance of organized plays.

However, Monday evening Linda received a call that her mother had gone into the hospital Sunday night with chest chains. While it didn’t seem critical Linda was concerned enough that we decided to hold off for another day and remain in Aurora for Tuesday. More about that next post.

Going back and filling in the rest of our our week in Aurora.

Thursday was grandparent’s day at Hunter & Camdyn’s school. We were excited about that when we found out we would be here. It didn’t quite turn out the way we had imagined. For one thing it was only Grades 3,4, & 5 – which included Hunter’s class –but not Camdyn’s apparently the younger classes had their grandparent’s day earlier in the year.

We met Hunter on the way to the cafeteria and had lunch with him (and his classmates). There was only one other grandmother there for his class. We did get to see Camdyn for a couple of minutes as we were leaving the cafeteria she was there having her lunch. After lunch we went to Hunter’s “indoor recess” and watched him play aboard game with his friends. It was good to see him with his friends but we also had thought there might be more interaction with him and that he might have had some of his school projects to show off. However, I guess the main thing was that he knows his grandparents wanted to be there and to be a part of his day.

Thursday night I went with Hunter to his flag football practice. We were there early and Hunter and I raced the length of the football field (and he won!) – 9 year old vs. 62 year old out-of-shape grandpa wasn’t a real contest!!)

Hunter’s birthday is in February (10th) and Camdyn’s is in May (3rd). Last year we were here just after Hunter’s birthday and then back in April just before Camdyn’s so we had started a “tradition” of taking them out to eat for their birthdays. Friday night we took Camdyn to “Steak & Shake” and then to ToysRUs to get her a present - - as an early birthday celebration.

Last night (Saturday) it was Hunter’s turn – we had sent him a book and some money for his birthday so we didn’t have the shopping part to do. He wanted to go to “Chili’s” so we had Southwestern fare. He really likes the rib.

Anyhow – getting to continue the birthday meal tradition for this second year has been the highlight of our visit so far.

It has been fairly nice – sunny during the day – although it was near or below freezing until Thursday night. Yesterday was a great day – over 80 F (28C) and sunny all day. I decided it was likely safe to put water on board so we now are “officially” camping. (although I discovered something that I had forgotten – last fall the plastic drain plug on the hot water tank had broken off when I was removing it so I have to find a replacement before I can fill it and we can be fully self-sufficient with a shower on board.

Chris works 4 to 12 shift so we have been spending sometime with him in the mornings. It has been nice to sit on the deck in the sunshine and visit with him & Tammye over coffee. We have also continued to plug away at the basement project. All the drywall is installed on the bathroom walls (inside & out) and on the rest of the area we framed at Christmas. Chris & Linda started the mudding and taping on Thursday and we are hoping to have the wall behind the vanity and toilet ready for a coat of primer to-morrow morning so we can install the vanity and the toilet before we leave. I put the door on yesterday (Friday).

Saturday we did a little more on the project although I took some timein the afternoon to play catch with Hunter.

I was able to get my INTERNET connection working once in a while and note the following

My friend John Dobbs posts a YouTube tribute (click HERE) to the victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy.

Neva challenges Christians to “keep on keeping on” and to “walk the talk” each day in all they do rather than giving up and thinking they’ve done enough – it’s time for some one else to do the work. (click HERE)

God Bless

Charlie & Linda

The HHRs and the BBB – Cruise 2007: Day 1-3 (April 16-18)

2007-04-21T21:50:00.000-04:00

I’m actually playing catch-up. I’ll try to write a bit each day – actually this is Wednesday and we are parked on the street outside Chris’ house. I don’t have my usual “free” wireless Internet here this time. I’ll have to take my computer inside and see if I can pick up something there or else I’ll have to plug into Chris’ Internet but I don’t know when I’ll have time to do that so I may end up posting a bunch all at once.

Anyhow we are on the road again – actually we’ve finished Leg 1 – Sault Ste. Marie to Chicago. 800 km. (500 miles) in 12.5 hours – limited to 100 kph (or 60 mph) because of the tow car (the Chevrolet HHR). We plan to be here until next Tuesday (24th). At this point we have nospecific plans for our trip west to Vancouver. (I forgot to take a picture when we pulled out from the Sault so I'm using this one from April 25 taken just before we left heading west from Aurora)

Monday morning we were up early (6:30) doing last minute preparations. We got to Christies around 8:15. I started setting up the hitch myself and it turned out to be fairly straightforward (self-explanatory notes on the various pieces. We needed an adaptor for the wiring harness and Christie’s technician wired that in. He then checked what I had done showed me some details and we were off. It was still a little nerve-wracking to just take off with the HHR in tow – we were glad for the camera but it turned out that it stopped working once we were moving (what I discovered later is that the camera (wireless signal) is in the “shadow” of the BBB (Big beautiful beast or our motor home) and it needs something to “bounce” the signal from in order for the receiver to pick it up – As we drove it would fade in and out -- particularly it would come in view if we had a transport come up behind and pass – or if there was wire fence or along bridges where there were barriers along the edge. Overall it was comforting to have that happen since it confirmed that the car was still following along.

Speaking of the HHR – Linda and I were talking about it as we drove and she came up with “Happy Healthy Rover”, which I thought applied to us more than the car. For the car the Hitch Hiking Rider seems more appropriate. So we’ve decided that it’s the HHR’s and the BBB on the road. HHRs = Healthy Happy Rovers – us and the HHR (the car)

Tuesday Chris took the day off and we started working on the basement again (Click HERE and scroll down for the start of that story). Chris had put up some of the drywall and he is anxious to get the bathroom functioning. The first thing we needed to do was add a closet to the end. It took most of the day to get the materials and work out the framing but it got done. Wednesday (18th) we did a little more framing and finished putting up the drywall in the bathroom. It has been good to be here – seeing the kids and visiting with Chris and Tammye –and working with Chris on the basement project. I don’t like the taping and mudding part of drywall and Chris wants to g ive it a try so I’m giving him what little advice I can and letting him go at it.

I am using the INTERNET and email to keep up with things at home. The HOUNDS lost the 7th game Monday night after coming back from a 3-0 deficit to tie 3-3. Barb Hotchkiss had more surgery on Tuesday to clean out the incision. Hopefully that’s the last of it. Erin Hallam was back in isolation again. Our prayers are with them. We also learned on Sunday that Ross Hall has to have a series of tests on his heart this week. He has ongoing problems but he was concerned at the need for these in depth tests.

Well I’m going to close off on this post and start another for the second half of the week.

God Bless
Charlie

The BBB is ready to launch (at last)

2007-04-13T19:59:00.000-04:00

Well another 2 weeks have flown by. Thanks to Dee, Neva, Lisa and Bobby for coming by and commenting on my last post. Lisa -- we don't have Better Business Bureau soI hadn't thought how BBB could be confused with that. -- we have Chamber of Commerce CofC which could be equally confusing as an abbreviation for someofus with a restorationmovementbackground.

We just got our “BBB” out of the garage late this afternoon (Friday). and it is already partially packed thanks to Linda’s preparations (she had stuff piled all over the dining roomand bedroom). We expect to finish most of it tomorrow. We had hoped to be leaving for our trip on Sunday but that is no longer feasible. We have to go to Christie campers Monday morning to finish the “dinghy” hookup but, if we are all packed, we may leave directly from there.- we’ll see what God has in mind.

We have had winter again for the past week – snow and freezing temperatures and it appears another storm is coming in sothat could affect our travel as well. Good thing the people who are ”housesitting” for us are flexible in their plans.

This post is (more or less) an update on the things I mentioned in my last post.

Prayer requests –Erin Hallam remains in hospital and her status fluctuates from day-to-day.
Also Barb Hotchkiss –who had surgery in February - is still struggling with getting the incision healed up— today she called Linda and said that it has gotten worse again and they may have to completely re-open the incision. Finally please pray for our safety in traveling (and that the “beast” runs smoothly with no problems)

I continue to be tied up with my projects and haven’t had time to take any “virtual” trips. I hope that once we are on the road I will get a chance to catch up on what’s going on in “blogland”.

Update on the projects:
Job #1: My teaching: I gave the final exam yesterday. I have an assignment, a seminar and the final to grade and then I will have that wrapped up. Hopefully by next weekend. Top priority once we are on the road. I hope I can squeeze this in while we are at Chris’. The course development effort has been more or less on hold although I did have a meeting with the other instructor today. We have until the end of May to finalize the proposal so that shouldn’t be a problem – the wonders of email will allow me to participate while traveling. .

Job #2: The “dinghy” set-up: Getting our new HHR rigged for towing hasbeen delayed because we needed the both the "BBB" - the tow-er and the HHR (the tow- ee ) inorder to do that (no nickname for HHR yet – at least to match the HHR label – Linda has taken to calling it the “little beastie” so that may stick). As I mentioned – we have to take it and the BBB to Christie’s Monday to hook it up (and get trained on how to do it). I also have to set up the Brake Buddy. Maybe I’ll try that tomorrow.

Job #3; Preacher Evaluation: We completed our evaluation and finalized an offer to the Hillier’s – and they have accepted – starting July 1 – so this job is DONE!!! (of course when he gets here there will be lots of work to get things organized but that’s after our ”cruise”. Linda and I were pleasantly surprised and very honored last Sunday when the congregation presented us with an eagle “statuette” with the words “they shall mount up as wings of eagles” (Isaiah 40:31) written on it. This was in recognition for the work we had done in supporting the search committee.

Job #4 Preparing to launch the “BBB”. The repairs turned out to take way longer (and cost alotmore!!) than I had thought. They just finished the exhaust manifolds yesterday. In the meantime, the mechanic discovered that the lower ball joints were not the right ones and they had to be replaced. Now anyone who has followed our adventures for a while may remember the incident with the broken ball joint in San Antonio last spring (Click HERE). I now suspect that was the result of having the wrong part installed because I know that the people who replaced it in San Antonio just looked at it and replaced it with the same one that they removed. The mechanic at the garage here noticed there was play in the wheels and,upon checking he found out that the “bolt” part of the joint was too small. It took they a while to track down the correct part so that was the last thing that got done today. I don’t know if the wrong ones came from the factory or whether the previous owners had them replaced and someone put in the wrong parts – but I will be having a conversation with the dealer who sold me the vehicle. At least it is running quietly and smoothly now.

So I’m pretty well through the crunch of the last 6 weeks and hope to be back doing some “virtual” tours while we are on our “land cruise” over the next 2 months.

GodBless
Charlie

Whitfield's journey:

Still trying ... once in a while

I'm afraid to say I'm starting again

So far it isn't getting any easier

If it were easy ....

Why is it so hard to get started?

Thoughts about cracking eggs

Cracking the cognitive egg

Season's Greetings

What I did for my Easter vacation

Happiness isn't... Blogging

Happiness is ..part 2

Happiness is …

Yeah Dr. Melissa –

Travelling

Martha Alfreda (Armstrong) Goodmurphy (June 5 1924 - July 22 2008)

A Rocky Path

Tragedy -- John Robert Dobbs

Westing

Warm at last

Spring has Sprung

Tempus Fugit

Snow Fun (February 23) **Updated**

January thaw (Again) - It's getting to be a Habit

January Thaw

Merry Christmas

An up & down week

8 days in the Journey ...

Fall in the North

The "re-wedding" Part 2 - (The ceremony)

The Re-wedding (September 15 2007)

It’s all about God –it’s all about me… (Sept.24)

Getting ready for the future -- Cleaning up the past

Star Light –Star Bright …

A quiet summer

Twice Blessed

A tribute to a “Rose” (July 11)

A Rocky Path… June 29

Life with Will – May 24

Mountains, Ocean and (mostly) blue skies (May 5 – May 18)

Blowing in the wind (May 3-4)

Salty Life (May 1 -2)

Almost relatives (April 29-30)

On the Road Again - Westward bound (April 25-28)

Days 4-7: A whole week “in port”. (**with pictures**)

The HHRs and the BBB – Cruise 2007: Day 1-3 (April 16-18)

The BBB is ready to launch (at last)

Snow Fun (February 23) Updated

Days 4-7: A whole week “in port”. (with pictures)