What is a yamica?

i did a google search for "yamica", using the phonetic spelling of a word i had heard but never read. This picture came up, with the caption, “The biggest Yamica in the world”. Someone has a sense of humor, i think.

i haven’t written for a while, we have our bathroom in shreds, getting ready for all new stuff for the first time. Martin the guy who is a retired man with woodworking skills is in charge. He does this kind of stuff for lots of people, with a gentle spirit, humor and the skill to do a good job. i have enjoyed getting to know him, and already knew that he would do a good job for us.

this morning, i did a grave service for a family who came from out of our state to bury their dad. Three of his four children came to be with him as he was buried. They decided to have a private service, which limited the number of people who could attend, so there were only 8 or 9 people there. Walter buried his wife 6 years ago. He was a poor but hard working man. It was tough to see his kids mourn for him. They were nice, polite, but not too expressive. Their dad was a Lutheran; one son was an obvious convert to Judaism (no, not that silly- it was the “yarmulke” --pronounced “yamica”) he was wearing. that was just for my curiosity actually, i wasn’t talking about clothing, but the style of grieving i saw. They had apparently discussed their physical expression of mourning. Three generations of mourners folded hands in laps, bowed their heads and sat very quietly and reverently while the preacher stumbles around for words of hope or at least comfort. Only one daughter, Gwen i think, broke ranks; she nodded her head a few times, and allowed a few tears of genuine sadness to escape.

The preacher talked about a man named Job, during his time of frustration, which is found in Job 14. Here, Job seems to be blurting out the mournful question, “If mortals die, can they live again? This thought would give me hope, and through my struggle I would eagerly wait for release.” Job must have thought this question would have a negative answer. By chapter 19 he comes up with one of my favorite verses in the bible. “"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!” That always gets me, and made me wonder about Walter’s son, we both accept that verse as scripture. As a Christian, i have decided was fulfilled in Jesus. I pray that it will be literally fulfilled when we see our loved ones who have died, reunited with their own eyes and flesh someday. i can hope that this Jewish gentleman can find hope here.

My dad had brown eyes too, i wonder, will i see them again. Most people believe this question has a positive answer. i believe not because of the goodness or “deservability” of anyone, but i believe because in also know what Paul says in 2 Timothy “But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.” The one safeguarding is my redeemer. My eyes, and flesh will be in His hands, to keep until He returns. Pretty good news, right?

while marge is typing

it is saturday night, and i am sitting in my favorite large chair, watching a forensic show about dna while marge is typing in the other room. she already has two jobs, one is full time at the hospital, typing and getting insurance for us. the other job is part time but gets her full heart because it is the one in which she tries to make sense of my ramblings by putting my thoughts into an organized and visually pleasing format. good, right? but those two jobs aren’t the ones i wanted to talk about. you see, marge has another part time job, she is free-lance typing for dr. joe, a friend of great passion who can be frightening in his intensity. anyway, i am not even talking about joe, i am talking about the reason marge types. she types, this job that is, an average of three or four hours per week, for a small hourly fee, so we can turn our garage into an apartment, and turn our breeze way into a bathroom so we can be a stop off place for visiting children and other world travelers. the room will be perfect for us to use this way. it will give them some privacy yet it will allow us to make better use of the time and space we have for those we love. it is cool to know people of passion and skills like marge, and the people she loves, because there are folks who don’t do things for others very often, let alone spending themselves for others like she does. i think sometimes that marge worries about being too much like her family or that she is sometimes swallowed up by people like joe and i because we do take a lot of air out of the rooms we are in. she is wrong.

LORD, we are willing to take chances for you, and to spend our selves for you. I did a wedding for a young couple today, they had their little girl, Zoe, playing all over the place during the wedding. grandma died last week, and there was a picture of her on the mantle of the banquet room during the wedding, which was right behind us during the wedding. the groom was very emotional as he said his vows, and the bride was giggling as she walked down the aisle. Will you help them to keep their vows Lord? Will you help them to be a safe place for Zoe to live and to grow? Lord, i am such an old goose, i can’t even get through these weddings with out crying anymore, because i want to see them do well, serve you, and love each other. just this week, i heard a couple who were gonna “tear the sheets” as bob wingate used to call divorce. anyway, that couple tried to fulfill their vows, and have grown as Christians, but they are ready to give up. Whether it is a marriage, or our vows of faithfulness to you Lord, it is too easy to b.s. I am sorry that we let you down so often.

i am "safe in the ear!"

i wanted to post this pictue of the way that i want to feel. i want to be snug, secure, and to really feel the comfort of God like this kitty does with this dog. yes, i am this dependent and weak, but this makes me want to giggle, or at least smile because i know i am in His care. i am allowed to write these things, to smile and to have peace because He is a part of my life. Thanks!

three boys with out hope

Lord, it was tough to try to help the three boys, tough for me to help them, but even tougher for them to go through the day. Will you please love them, and help them, and give them strength today, they are doing things that no boys should ever be called to do. I call them boys, even though they are all “20-something” in age, two of the three have children, and all three have significant others in their lives. The fluidity of their relationships made it tougher for them to cope with the fact that they were burying their suicidal dad, who was younger than me when he chose to end his life in a very violent way. The closed casket was necessary because he chose an end to his life that robbed them from saying good-bye and from getting a last glimpse at the one who was a father, at least biologically, if not truly a dad in the best sense of the word.

What would it take to hate life enough to make this drastic choice? What can be said to give any hope to those who survive? What do we say about people who choose to leave the world this way? These tough questions will have to wait for answers, which are hardly more than dogmatic interpretations of a few bible verses quoted out of context. Some find meaning in some verses such as “greater love has no one than to lay down his life...” and “Anyone who destroys his body destroys the temple of the holy spirit” and others like these.

I am reading a book suggested by my neighbor that tries to prove that everyone goes to Heaven, even the “Hitler’s” of the world, because of God’s grace and love. Whether or not you repent, or even know who God is, you are assured of a place in heaven because of God’s inability to be less than loving and gracious, when the authors of the book define these words. All i can say is, i wish to goodness it were true, but am so glad that it can’t be true. Everyone has to have the freedom to choose to reject God or no one is free to choose to worship Him. Choice by God and by his creation is -i think- an absolutely essential part of this process. By including us in His equation, God is giving us the greatest compliment i can imagine, but by giving us this freedom, He is also making it necessary to make personal choices, which lead to eternal consequences.

Anyway, LORD, the feeling i had was nothing like the level of caring you have for us every day. No one hurts more than you when your children reject your hope, your grace, and your love. Without these, the possibility of peace is hopelessly absent. Tonight i will struggle with my inability to sleep, with images of those young men huddled together, shaking with grief, surrounded boy fellow mourners without a good word to share.

What did i actually do to try to help? I told about my dad dying, and how this prepared me to help others who have lost a parent. Why? Because now i have left behind the theoretical discussions of youth, the empty promise of hope based on theory, not based on shared experience and scripture. I quoted John 14:1-6, where Jesus said “Don’t let your hearts be troubled, ... believe in ME... I am the way, the truth, and the Life.” Whether it helped or not, i felt that a few words of truth were essential to helping these guys to get past this day.

the guy with the watch!

Even in a parade, i am the guy with the watch! silly picture i know, but i love those old days, the parade is flying by, and i love to remember how you have grown and how time has changed us. the watch is a reminder that i am on the "watch" for you guys, for my friends and that i will try to make my self valuable to you by keeping watch during your "parade-time" and not by directing the parade for you. i just hope it is enough to say that you are loved and that you are never far from my thoughts.

it is monday morning, and as usual, it is a good day to start off the week and to get a head start on the next few weeks. they are some of the crazies times of the year for us. Christmas always brings us lots of extra activities, and sad to say frustration seems to follow hand in hand with the season that should bring families and believers closer together. sad to say, i need to have someone remind me to stop being scrooge every christmas, because i get the “ bah, humbug” syndrome too easily. there are time pressures, and disappointed people who didn’t get the “pony” they asked for, or something like it, and are disappointed to say the least as they enter into this season.

we had ken idleman in from ozark for the weekend to preach and talk about giving. we were challenged to revisit a passage in 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 which give some great promises for us as believers. it is hard to grow in this area, but marge and i have both learned to see the reward side for ourselves. i am sorry to say that we haven’t taught you guys as well as we should, it is so personal to talk about politics, sex and money. i apologize for not doing a better job of teaching in these areas.

i am working on the narnia series, we are decorating an old “wardrobe” and are preparing photoshop documents for the whole series. i love the kids in the book, and hope that we are able to bring them to life this christmas season. if we can make the magic of the book and the magic of the christmas story tie together with integrity, that will be a fete worth doing. i do struggle with the “gimmicky” side of this stuff. it helps people to get excited, and is worth the effort if we do things well, and for the right reason. a lot of what i do is juggle these events, and aspects of corporate worship. jeri lacey is coming in to paint a winter scene on the back of an old “wardrobe” we have put in the foyer, with a stuffed lion on top, and a “stone table” beside it. this will dominate the area, and our excitement as we assemble. the first book is the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. it is the most overtly religious, so much so that tolkein even disagreed (very strongly i read) and tried to persuade lewis to throw the original into a fireplace.

Misty, i am praying for you today. i hope you can deal with some of the allergy issues, and also that you can find peace about language stuff, ministry issues, and life in general. just know that you are a daily joy for me. ken and kaylene asked about you and wanted to let you know they were thinking about you and that they appreciated the things you shared with OCC for the special offering last year. It is nearing bed time for you as i post this, and i will pray that you sleep better tonite, knowing you are loved and are such a joy to me.

Jodi, they also asked about you and both remembered meeting you at the missionary convention. as i am writing this, it is 1:45 in the middle of the night, i hope that you are sleeping well, and that you are knowing that you are loved and watched over as you sleep. i wonder what God is going to do with you and for you and in you the next few months, i only know that you have already given so much to all those who know you.

Matt, i have been enjoying mom’s efforts on photoshop, and each step of the way, i am more amazed at the gift you have for creating the things in the original way that you do. you have a wonderful eye for stuff, and even when i don’t understand it, i know you represent a view of reality that is valid and often excellent, even if i don’t understand. (i am talking about graphics, but much more as you can imagine) anyway, we are in the same time so i know what you are doing, sort of, time-wise, but you are farther ahead of me in many areas and that makes me glad. i pray for you to enjoy this time of growth and learning and see what happens in your life as you go.

for all three of you, we are pursuing ideas for finishing the breezeway and garage for a better place to use for stuff, and it will be a good thing for all of us. thanks for being better than me... dada

Triplets?

by the way, some of you didn't know i was a triplet!

Narnia

i have been given the privilege of writing an article for the area ministers, and here is a rough draft, discussing a favorite of mine, C. S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia

"We are starting a six-week series to prepare for the release of a great movie, the Chronicles of Narnia. I say great even though I have not seen the movie yet. I can't remember not loving the seven books of this series. C.S. Lewis wrote these books entertain children, but also to allow our imaginations as Christians to grow. C. S. Lewis has fascinated me ever since I read his first book, which for me was "Mere Christianity." Later I learned that Lewis died the same day that John Kennedy was assassinated, and that I never read a book by him until a decade after he died. I made up for lost time by reading the books, especially his children’s books when I was substitute teaching for public school in Missouri. Those students, now adults, remember the kids, the battles, the fantasy, but especially, they remember Aslan, the lion who comes to represent Jesus through these "fairy tales." They were caught from the first book I read to them because they were transported into a new world of fantasy and adventure.
Christians can learn a lot from Lewis about communicating with people with images and ideas that challenge our commonly accepted ideas about spirituality. He was always trying to get his generation to think of Christianity "out side of the box." In a country and a time where most Church buildings were nearly empty, Lewis challenged them to find God in stories and images that were not overtly religious or "churchy". His faith was never in cardboard-christian images, but in a living and breathing Savior. Many of the qualities of the Lord we find in the New Testament can be better communicated to children in the form of stories rather than in sermons or lectures.
Who did Lewis learn this from? He was an avid reader from childhood where he discovered the fantasy writings of a preacher from a generation before Lewis was born. This writer was George Macdonald, who gave us many treasures as well, such as "Phantastes." This particular book inspired C.S. Lewis, who once said that he never wrote a book with out quoting from Macdonald. Why is this important? Many Christians in our generation have gone to one of two different extremes. We can ignore all fantasy or magical writings as inherently evil, or we can over react by becoming enamored by these writings and ideas and images.
Ultimately, I believe that we can trace this using of images, ideas and fantasies to an earlier source, Jesus Himself. When Jesus taught the people of his days, he used parables and exaggeration to paint pictures tat people would enjoy and remember. Some favorite parables included stories about fishing, sowing seeds, banquets, and mustard seed. Jesus used colorful descriptions to excite our imaginations, such as calling Herod an old fox, and talking about having splinters or logs in our eyes, and houses built on sandy foundations. Jesus gave us images, ideas and fantasies that have fired imaginations and inspired missionaries for two millennia. We in the church dare not err by boring people or by making people feel guilty for using the imaginations which Jesus gave us and which he was willing to trigger.
When I finally get to go see "The Chronicles of Narnia", I will know the dialogue and the characters involved. I will remember the story line and watch critically to see if it is "de-christianized". I will look for Jesus in the story, because in this movie as well as in all of the stories of our lives, He is the Star."

"When i am weak, then i am strong..."

“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, "My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong..”

Paul said these words in 2 Corinthians 10. They were verses i read for devotions in the morning of a day of weakness and fear, both for me and for my kids. it was a day like many others, but one that again saw me dealing with spiritual issues and feeling like i was winning or losing, but always feeling a sense of God’s presence in my fears. As a leader i know that i have to be careful to trust you LORD, but i also know that there is something sweet about trusting myself rather than you. Is that what you meant about boasting about my weakness? In our meeting last nite, i saw fear as we talked about tough topics which are necessary but not fun. i know that this fear becomes a wall to getting past where we are as an organization. i felt the same for you kids today as each of you deals with fear in a different but very real way. Misty, i can sense in you that for the first time, you are starting to see how much you have bitten off in your quest to go forward as you have. i get to see you grow by becoming more completely alone. we both know you aren't and will be less alone as you continue, but still, aloneness is a part of your life that will grow less and less a daily factor for you. you sometimes are alone physically, but never alone, not really. your courage has to give way to trust and that is a good thing, even though right now you must feel like your weakness is overwelming. i keep on think of the lives you touch each day, your presence makes them feel less alone, too. Jodi i could hear in your voice and in your email that you are feeling things closing in, so i want to remind you of these verses too so you can rejoice that this is proof that you are actually walking closer to God when you walk in weakness, like you feel that you are right now. you are so brave, i can still see you as a pre-teen, beautiful and determined, when you set your mind to do something. remember when you shocked the kids in jr.hi by passing the "jock girls"? i do. that was your brave time, you had courage based on your belief, your faith in you, that you could do anything. when you set your jaw then, as now i believe, you could see your self doing anything. now your courage has turned into something different, it is becoming trust, which feels like fear because you get to walk into areas you couldn't run into by your self. i am glad we can trust our LORD as you step into those areas to be there already. Matt, i love seeing you sit back during this part of your life. you have always been much stronger than you think, and i enjoy even when we disagree (ok, maybe not enjoy, but understand at least!) because i get to see you discover an ability to do what you want, and to see things your way. again, you might feel "shaky" at times, but we both know that your character comes from deep with in you, and the key to the next few years. to you especially, but to all three of you, i apologize again for the times of pain that you have helped me through. i always wanted to be stronger,but when i get to reading the verse to day, i realize that God knew what HE was doing, and that all of this is a part of His plan for you. maybe we won't laugh about these things in the future, but we can get through the "valley times" by seeing the future in a different way. God help us to be strong in our weakness, to see our weaknesses through your eyes!

people i know and love

greetings, i am writing this as i sit and watch the office during lunch. i feel so privileged to hear from present friends, family and also friends from my past. i always am amazed that people care so much, and open up to share with each other so often, and especially with me. i am glad i heard from greg and pamela. you guys were the ones who helped me through some of my difficult times in the past. we have had to be warriors sometimes, but that was necessary at that time. you graciously shared your strength then, and i pray that God will allow you to move past those times to more growth and peace. rick and karen also share our anniversary with greg and pamela, but more they have my trust and respect. through some very interesting times i was able to see your character and integrity and praise God for you. i heard from jodi, and love to hear your voice. you always give me courage because i know that even with difficult decisions and trying to juggle so many needs and the expections of others, you succed in letting them know that you are the real one, the gracious servant of Christ who can do so many things so well. misty, i haven’t heard from you since the scare, as you put it, but i have been constantly praying for you, and know that you have ways of doing things the right way and for the right reasons. matt, i heard in your voice last night that you are tired, but i also have enjoyed watching you grow. you have been so gracious to me, i don’t deserve your acceptance and appreciate the way that you can help me your skills and your enjoyment of things. i pray for you too, and am honored by your life. thanks for being my kids. marge, i am praying for you to feel better to day, you help so many people and you do so in every circumstance to bring joy, so i pray for you today to be blessed as well. i love being able to post these thoughts, and pray a blessing for everyone i know and love. some people i know and some people i love, and you are the ones i know and love, marv p.s. keep looking under your car...