A Preschool Chapel Christmas

The other day it was my turn to do chapel for our preschool. I wanted to tell the Christmas story, but sometimes it’s hard for us adults to grasp and when the average attention span with our little ones is about 4.5 seconds it can be even tougher.

Fortunately, the toy closet we have at home for our grandchildren came to the rescue and with some volunteers from the school, and a few creative alterations we reenacted the miraculous story of how God sent his son into the world as a baby.

Our parents may have been a bit confused when they heard from their children about the giant poinsettia above the stable and how the wiggly shepherd worms came to the stable, but when the angels rang their bells with gusto to herald the good news somehow the good news of God’s love came shining through.

"Repeat the Sounding Joy, Repeat the Sounding Joy!"

A Baby Changes Everything

We’ve been having a beautiful fall in Texas this year. This is our granddaughter Mia on our back patio. I thought of her today at church. It’s December 7th. In our prayers we remembered the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. In our scriptures we were reminded of how fragile and quickly our life goes by and then, as always, our prayers were filled with petitions for people who are going through difficult times.

Our Intern Pastor did a wonderful job of singing an old Jim Croce song called, Time in a Bottle and then later in the service, Sarah Wolff sang a song by Faith Hill called, A Baby Changes Everything. It’s only the Second Sunday in Advent, but it was one of those sweet, sweet mornings when somehow God finds a way of helping you to see that everything you want and need to know about Christmas is absolutely true….

Shepherds all gather round, up above the star shines down.A baby changes everything, yeah, a baby changes everything

Thanks for Last Night America

So, how does a person know when they have just witnessed and indeed participated in a watershed moment in our country’s history? I ask because it sure feels that way today and it’s not a feeling that I’ve had very often.

I can tell you that I spent a little time during our preschool chapel this morning trying to explain to a group of toddlers how amazing and significant this time is for our country. They all smiled at me, and though half of our students are African American I’m sure they had no idea as to why everyone was making such a fuss over this guy named Obama.

So I simply ended our time with a short little prayer that went something like this…
Thank you Lord, for the freedom to vote and for the many other blessings of living here in America. Please be with our new president. He has a lot of hard work ahead and so do we. But we know that you are with us and that with your help all things are possible. Amen

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf

I recently read how it’s been 75 years now since Disney released the classic animated cartoon, “The Three Little Pigs”. (1933) Apparently, the song, who’s afraid of the big bad wolf, became a hit single because in a light hearted way, it symbolized our country’s determination to work hard and to help each other survive their big bad wolf…
The Great Depression.

Hopefully, today’s economy will get nowhere near that point, nevertheless, during these times of economic uncertainty, it’s a good feeling to know that tomorrow is Reformation and that when our congregation gathers for worship we will all have the opportunity to remember and sing about the faith and courage that enabled Martin Luther to write….

“Though hordes of devils fill the land, all threatening to devour us.
We tremble not, unmoved we stand, they cannot overpower us.

Were they to take our house, goods, honor, child or spouse
Though life be wrenched away, they cannot win the day,
the Kingdom is our forever!

Galveston, Oh Galveston, Now

The last time I visited my own blog I was reflecting on what a wonderful vacation my family had in Galveston. So much has changed since then. Like people throughout our country the people at Shepherd of Life are collecting donations and offering prayers for all those affected by Hurricane Ike. May our efforts help them to feel the grace and love expressed in the scriptures here…

“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, he who formed you: Do not fear, for I I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and they shall not overwhelm you.... Because you are precious in my sight, and I love you” Isaiah 43

Galveston, Oh Galveston

Our family had a chance to spend the past week together on the beach in Galveston. We took long walks. Played in the sand. Splashed in the waves. Did some reading. Celebrated my birthday and just hung out. Here I am with our two youngest grandchildren.

I suppose none of us have the chance to do as much of this as we would like, but according to research, even when we take as little as five minutes to relax and mentally unwind in our day to day lives it can make a big difference. As for me, I want to see if can re teach myself how to daydream, and for a while it will be about…

Galveston, oh Galveston,
I still hear your sea winds blowin'
I still hear your sea waves crashing

At Galveston, at Galveston

A Prayer for Tim

On Thursday I was introducing my son David to the place
I get my haircut. As we were both sitting in our chairs a
special bulletin announced the sudden death of Tim Russert.

Like many I have always appreciated Tim's work as a journalist.
His devotion to his father and son has been noted by many and
on this Father's Day Sunday as I was sitting in worship with my
own son, I said a prayer of thanks for Tim.

His life, faith and love for family was a wonderful reminder that
no matter what you do, it is possible to keep the most important
things first and still do good work.

Thank you Lord for Tim, take good care of his family and help
me to do the same for mine. Amen

Congratulations Steffanie!

This is from the day our daughter Steffanie graduated from the Law School at the University of Orgeon in Eugene. It was a wonderful day. We couldn’t be more proud. But after a nice dinner out with family it was pack, pack, pack.

On Monday she packed up all her belongings, squished them into her little compact car and drove to Reno, Nevada which is where she will spend a good chunk of the summer studying and getting ready for the Bar…. That’s different than a tavern or a honky tonk right? Congratulations again Steffanie, we look forward to seeing what God has in store for you next!

Psalm 89

There were many moments and places like this, when it felt like we were eyewitnesses to the scenes that inspired our scriptures. Like this picture and Psalm 89…

“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever. I will make your faithfulness known. O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You rule over the surging sea and blessed are those who walk in the light of your presence.”

Sea Monster?

We got a lot of beautiful pictures of the rugged Oregon coastline. The waves crashing and spraying and sometimes even creating rainbows was absolutely mesmerizing, but this is Ruth’s favorite, because if you look closely you can see the eyes of something in the waves… Is it a sea monster or maybe just one of Sponge Bob’s friends coming up for a look?

Haystack Rock

We are started our Oregon trip this spring at Cannon Beach. A beautiful place just west of Portland. It was a cool, windy day. Smelling salt water again was a treat and here is a picture of Ruth with Haystack rock in the background. To give you an appreciation of this place I’ve included notes about a local artist who spent an entire year painting this scene, every single day. Sound like another guy who understands how to get the most out of our journey…

Over the course of a full year. Richard Gorsuch, a Cannon Beach artist, set out Jan. 1,
with the goal of painting Haystack Rock every day for a full year. Through every kind of weather, good and bad health, degrees of darkness and light, he set up shop and painted Haystack Rock.

Every day, all 365 days of the year. He had no “lofty life-changing purpose” and said that “Some days it was just dismal, cold and disinteresting, but life is like that. It’s not all bells and whistles.”

“When you look at it, it’s like a box of Sees Candies,” said Richard. “It’s still the same rock, beach, ocean and sky. But the light, and cloud formations ... it’s like when light comes through a prism in the kitchen window and you get a rainbow. It’s the handiwork of God creating. And it was different each and every day.”

“Mother Teresa described herself as a little pencil in the hand of God,” Richard explained. “I can resonate with her thinking when I have a tiny brush in my hand. How gorgeous the world is and how small we are, yet privileged to be there, paying homage to it.” “I’m just one guy on the planet on my journey,” said Richard. “And I keep moving.”

Fly Like An Eagle

I am not a good golfer. I like golf, took a few lessons, play once or twice a month, even got a new driver for Christmas, but I am not a good golfer. (Mostly 90’s) But today golf gave me a moment I’ll never forget.

I know golf stories are booooooring, so I’ll keep it short. A good friend, Harold Johnson, invited me to join him today on my day off to play a course in Dallas called Cedar Crest. A beautiful, old course that hosted the 1927 PGA.

Hole number 12 is a cute little par 4. It was a good drive. As we rounded the dog leg in our cart, no ball. I figured it had to be in the sand trap and grumbled about putting the best drive of my life into the sand, but again, no ball.

Finally, we see it… two feet from the pin. Honest, I wanted to pick it up because I was absolutely convinced that I would choke and miss the only chance I’ll ever have for an eagle. I miss these kind of putts all the time.

But after a 307 yard drive, that stopped 2 feet from the pin, I had to try. Thank you God and thank you Wilson 4 with the funky horse logo, I don’t remember where I picked you up, but I definitely plan to keep you around.

And even if I do I lose you in the midst of life’s clutter, I’ll never forget that moment we shared with Harold, in Dallas, on a beautiful Friday morning, when you dropped into the cup. In golf it’s called an Eagle, with my game it’s called a miracle.

Oompah Loompah Ball

The annual Preschool fundraiser this year was based upon Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I got to be Mike Tee Vee and one of the highlights was taking a couple of oompah loompahs into custody. AKA: The church secretary and preschool director.

To Rita Selene and her entire team. Thanks for a great event. We raised some $$ for the kids, didn't have to rob a bank and we had a lot of fun in the process. Now if I could just find where that Charlie kid went to...

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Hopping down the bunny trail. Hippity Hoppoty Easter is on the way. We had ourselves a nice Easter Egg hunt down at church this morning, but after showing our grandchildren the picture that Mark sent out, they're not so sure they really want the Easter bunny to come to our house!

No bunnies scheduled tommorrow at church. Just a couple of trumpets, a few lilies, a little breakfast, the Risen Lord and a bunch of grateful Lutherans singing: Hallelujah! He Is Risen Indeed!

The Last Supper

It's Maundy Thursday and the men from our church are doing the last supper for us. It's a drama based on the painting by Da Vinci and it's been done for many years by many churches, but everytime we do it, the impact is the same, it reminds us that the those first disciples were regular guys, just like the ones in our church, and it helps us to appreciate again the wonderful gift of holy communion. As we move deeper now into holy week, may the Lord grant to us all a wonderful reminder that we too have a place at his table.

At a boy Luther!

This is a picture from one of my favorite movies as a kid. It's called "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken". I haven't thought about it in years, but I absolutely love it and plan to make my grandson watch it with me.

I am including it as a sermon illustration this Sunday. If you ever get a chance to see this 1966 movie starring Don Knotts, you'll love it. It's funny and in some place kind of scary.

Here is the truly amazing part, I still remember the sound of the blood stained organ that played all by itself, according to legend it's the ghost of old man Simmons who "allegedly" murdered his wife with a pair of pruning shears, and guess what, if you want to hear the sounds of that creepy organ music just go to you tube and punch in "The Haunted Organ", some guy demonstrates how to actually play it on the organ and boy does it bring back memories!

Merry-Go-Round

It's been two months since I've even thought about this blog, but I do have a new picture that is blogworthy. This Christmas the number of grandchildren in our family doubled. I now have the above picture in a frame in my office. And I love the frame. It says...

"You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents everytime around, and why his parents will always wave back."

Well, I'm waving to you as well, and hoping you all have a wonderful, joyful, and blessed year!