We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
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There is no mystery in day to day life quite as exhilarating as the ordinary mailbox. Every day the possibility of something new arrives when the mailman stops at the end of the driveway and drops off the mail. I always thought being a mail carrier would be the best job in the world. You get to see the people on your route every day and you are the one they always look forward to seeing. Growing up, we didn’t necessarily watch and wait for him, but we were excited when we saw the mailman. I r...
When I was a kid on the farm, hitch pins were always in short supply. We didn’t travel on the road at all with our farm equipment back then, so we hadn’t heard of safety clips, much less any need to use them. We made do with what we had whether it be a long, one inch thick bolt, an occasional wrench, or even a screwdriver - we used whatever we could find. At one point in time, we used an engine valve. I’m not sure what engine it came out of or where we found it, but it was a piece of harde...
School is back in session for the most part. Which makes me think of my own school days in the public school. I was smart enough to skip a grade right off the bat - kindergarten. At six years old I was plunked down into first grade, but it didn’t settle well with me. I missed the carefree days of being home and hanging out with mom and dad on the farm. There was some adjustment required but I muddled through and eventually came to accept the fact that this was my new normal. I was a bit d...
As I sit at my keyboard pounding out the words going into this column, we are in the middle of a heat wave. It’s hot outside. But here in my basement office, it’s cool. Almost too cool. But as you read this, the heat wave has passed and it’s actually very nice outside. I have the thermostat in our house connected to my smartphone via an app. I can adjust the temperature from anywhere in the world that has wi-fi, which is pretty much everywhere. When my wife and I get away for a couple days, we a...
Today was the absolute worst day ever And don't try to convince me that There's something good in every day Because when you take a closer look, The world is a pretty evil place, Even if Some goodness does shine through once in a while Satisfaction and happiness don't last And it's not true that It's all in the mind and heart Because True happiness can be obtained Only if one's surroundings are good It's not true that good exists I'm sure you can agree with me, that The reality Creates My...
We have a kill-deer that built a nest right on the edge of our driveway, about a foot in from where the gravel meets the grass. Everytime I mowed the yard, the mama would squawk and squawk and try to lead me away by playing the broken wing trick. I looked and looked for her nest, hoping that I wouldn’t mow over it and ruin it and break the chain of life in nature. Then one day, when I was looking out the window I saw her sitting on the nest and took note of its location. When I went out there s...
It seems time goes a little faster now than it used to. Back in my youth it seemed like once summer was upon us, it had no end. We would work and play for sunny days on end. I don’t ever remember keeping track of the days. Summer was endless. My dad had two farms back then, about 20 miles from each other. One was a dairy farm, which was where we lived. The other was a beef farm where dad had a herd of Black Angus cattle. Grandpa took care of the beef cows, while dad and mom and the rest of us l...
A guy spots a sign outside a house that reads, “Talking Dog for Sale.” Intrigued, he walks in. “So, what have you done with your life?” he asks the dog. “I’ve led a very full life,” says the dog. “I lived in the Alps rescuing avalanche victims. Then I served my country in Iraq. And now, I spend my days reading at a retirement home.” The guy is flabbergasted, he turns to the owner and asks, “Why on earth would you want to get rid of a dog like that?” The owner says, “Because he’s a liar!...
We had some people visit our church a few months ago who live about 40 miles away. After the service we were chatting in the parking lot and the husband told me they’d love to come to Martintown, except “it’s just too far away.” My response was: “It’s not too far away. We have people who travel 50 miles or more every week to get here.” I didn’t even remember making that comment until he reminded me of it the day they joined in membership a few months later. He said he went home and thought abo...
Not long ago a couple of friends and myself met for breakfast to discuss some business at hand. We ordered our food and chatted amicably while we waited for our food to. When the food arrived, as is our custom, we bowed our heads and asked God’s blessing on the meal. As we started to eat, someone came over - a total stranger - and said he noticed we were praying and wondered if we’d pray for a friend of his. He went on to tell us his friend had just been diagnosed with cancer. One of the men...
A few weeks ago, after dinner one summer Sunday night, my wife and I decided to take advantage of the lingering daylight and go for a little drive. Our little drive ended up being more than little and we found ourselves in Galena. We drove the backroads getting there and once in town, we checked out the downtown area and then began exploring the neighborhoods up in the hilly parts of town. They were amazing. That town has some serious history about it. Afterward, we decided to take a different...
When I was still in high school I had a brother who was going to college with plans of being a pastor someday. On a trip home from Chicago one weekend, a salesman was on the farm and asked him what he was studying at school? He said he was studying to be a minister. I remember that guy’s response. He said: “Oh - that’s good. You’ll have job security because everybody has problems all the time and we all need a pastor.” I hadn’t really thought of being a pastor as somebody who would be helping...
We just finished Bible school week at MCC. The place was overflowing with excitement and action. We had over 90 excited students and 55 enthusiastic adults there most everyday. Our cup runneth over. But what is really important is that everyone involved was experiencing God doing something special in their lives. We are the community of God enjoying each other and learning about Him in many different aspects of life. We’re praising God together as one big group in the sanctuary through songs a...
In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives. Then using God's great gifts, Satan brought forth Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Krispy Creme Donuts. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?" And Man said, "Yes!" and Woman said, "and as long as you're at it, add some sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan...
It’s June. This is what we’ve been waiting for - long, warm days and pleasant summer nights. In my humble opinion - this is the best month of the year. All the promise of life comes in June. School is out as are the leaves on the trees. The garden is growing. The grass is green and the farmers have already brought in the first of the summer harvest (hay). You can go outside without a jacket. A couple weeks ago, my wife and I did something we have never done before. For the first time, we dec...
Spring is starting to wind down and summer is knocking on the door. For some reason, this has been one of the most beautiful Springs in my recent memory. When everything turned green a few weeks ago, it turned a deep, lustrous green. Around Easter we had a blast of summer that lasted a few days with sunshine and temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s. Many farmers went crazy in the fields planting their crops. But then it turned wintry again for a few days, and those same ambitious farmers had som...
Ten years before I became pastor of Martintown Community Church, I spoke from the pulpit there as a guest. It was August 28, 1983. I chose to speak from Genesis, chapter five on the person of Enoch. My uncle was visiting our family at that time. He was a missionary in Kenya, East Africa for 35 years and had plenty of experience preaching from God’s Word. I told him about my plans to speak on Enoch. He gave me the title for my sermon: “Don’t Knock Enoch.” Some ten years later, the Martintown chur...
Graduation season is upon us. Time to spread your wings and fly. The world is waiting. There is great anticipation in the air as the new graduates put their hands to the plow and don’t look back. It’s that time of year when the invitations arrive in the mail and we start planning to attend the graduation parties. We get a lot of pleasure out of attending those events. When I graduated from high school, my parents invited the relatives and a few close friends over to the house after the cer...
We live in a world of instant everything. Russian immigrant and comedian Yakov Smirnoff said the first time he went grocery shopping in America he saw powdered milk, powdered eggs, powdered potatoes and even powdered cheddar cheese. As he took all this in he was just amazed. His translator said: “All you have to do is add water.” Then they went down the baby aisle and he picked up a container of baby powder - all he could say was: “Wow! What a country!” We're used to instant. We don’t like wait...
Some random thoughts … A few years ago we replaced the roof on our house. It was a DIY project. It’s a two story house, and not being in the roofing business, it was a big job for a novice. I’ve helped replace a few roofs in my lifetime - both shingle and steel. The biggest project I ever did was to put steel on my 50 x 100 foot machine shed. I had some help, but it was my project all the way. About that same time, we reshingled our house roof with asphalt shingles. Over the years, we’ve replace...
I subscribe to a magazine called The Progressive Farmer. On the last page of each edition the editor prints a bunch of quotes from people, mostly of whom I’ve never heard of, but some of them are famous people from the past or present. The following quote by self-proclaimed radical atheist Douglas Adams (1952-2001) caught my attention. He said: “I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary a...
About three weeks ago we had 15 inches of snow. As I type these words, we've now had a week of 80 degree weather. Looking ahead to what is now this week, it looks like the temps are going to drop about 25 degrees. I even see snow in the forecast. So, we go from 85 degrees to snow. Some people say, “what is going on with our weather. We’ve never had weather like this before.” Ah, but we have. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in the great outdoors and who has any kind of memory, can attest...
I recently watched the Jesus Revolution movie in the theater. It’s a good movie about the Jesus movement and is set in the late 60’s at the height of the Hippy era. It’s a story about a young man in search of meaning in life who first reached out to drugs, and then to Jesus. It’s a very worthwhile movie to see if you get the chance. I don’t know how they did it, but “they” assembled a whole arsenal of cars consistent with that period of time. I was just a young lad then - about 8 years old, but...
As a child, my parents rarely missed taking me and my siblings to church on Sunday morning. By rarely, I mean, I don’t recall ever missing a single Sunday. We always dressed up in our Sunday best which meant our shoes were polished on Saturday night, mom laid out our clothes for Sunday morning, and after chores, we jumped into our best duds and rushed off to church in our family station wagon. On Easter, we dressed just a little nicer with perhaps a new pair of socks or a necktie. There’s a fam...
It seems like election season never ends. A few decades ago, when my wife and I first reached voting age, we were living in California and the voters in our precinct voted in our neighbor’s garage, which was the official venue. After we got home from work on election day, we took a stroll down the street, chatted with the neighbors, flashed our driver’s licenses, cast our ballots and walked back home. I suppose, there was a lot of emotion and rhetoric somewhere during the candidates’ campaigns,...