"So, am I a boy or a girl?"
Al was laying on his bed watching me with his Geico eyes as I got dressed for church. I could see his brain working. “Why do you put on layers of clothes? What’s the purpose? It’s not cold out so it can’t be to keep warm. Makes no sense.”
I understand his confusion. Frankly, I couldn’t give him a very good explanation. But I did tell him that if I have to choose between layers of clothes for no good reason and the way dogs say hello, I’m goin’ with layers every time!
(His reply: “Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.”)
I enjoyed church this morning. This is a great group of people. God has repeatedly blessed me with easy congregations to pastor. Pathway is the most recent iteration. And flexible, gracious, fun people make for great potential.
Tony Dungy is as good an analyst as he was a coach, IMHO. I like that guy.
I learned today that Tuesday is the “birthday” of the Marines. They were established on Nov. 10, 1775. If you see a jarhead, tell him Happy Birthday and Thank You.
Here’s a fun ad:
Toyota
How hard would it be to create an on-line magazine (a zine)? Nothing fancy; a home page with articles “inside” - minimal graphics. Does that take a whole lot of tech wizardry?
Early in my ministry we were chronically poor. No big deal; it goes with the territory and anybody who goes into pastoral ministry knows that - or should. God always took care of us and I don’t think we ever lacked for anything that mattered. In fact, God gave us some particular blessings that would not have come to us otherwise.
One of those blessings was the vacations we took. Because we couldn’t afford theme parks, hotels or restaurants we went tent camping. Pam & I had one 2-person tent (the old fashioned triangular kind, not domes) and the boys had another. We stayed in state parks at $5 a night as we worked our way up the west coast to my folks’ place in Seattle, and then more of the same on the way back to So. Cal. Breakfast was cold cereal, lunch was cheese and sausage “sandwiches” on crackers with some fruit, and dinner was Dinty Moore stew or something similar that could be heated over a Coleman stove. Sometimes fried eggs, bacon and rolls.
We went for walks in the woods or along the beach. The boys rode their bikes through the campgrounds. We built a fire every night and played games or read books while we listened to our battery powered radio. We went to see whatever there was to see in the nearest town (always a small town because that’s where the state parks are) - a museum, a restored historical house, a free tour of the local factory....
When they were really young Steve & Josh didn’t know any better. They thought this was what everybody did on vacation. Later they figured out it wasn’t, and we knew they thought it was pretty lame compared to Disneyland or Magic Mountain. Maybe if we’d had the money we would have done those things; there’s nothing particularly wrong with that kind of vacation. But I am very glad we slept in tents on the ground in “primitive” sites (no water or electricity, out away from the rest of the campground sties). We were together as a family, for better or worse. Nobody entertained us; we made our own fun. We saw God’s creation, not plastic manifestations of somebody’s imagination. We learned how cheese is made, how logs turn into plywood, how boats and fish get from Puget Sound into Lake Washington and how sea captains lived in the 1800‘s. Pam and I played Cribbage by the light of our kerosene lantern. And it was quiet.
Pam and I have talked about this lately, and we have a plan. I can’t tell you how much I hope our plan becomes a reality; I don’t think I’ve wanted anything this much in a long time.
Next summer Pam and I are going tent camping up the west coast. Lord willing we’ll own a vehicle by then that will make that trip and carry what we need (my van won’t make the trip and her xB won’t carry the stuff...because we’re going to take Al). If we’re not able to get that vehicle by then we’ll rent one. We have to buy most of the gear because what we had was not worth keeping after years of use. But a tent, sleeping bags, a lantern and a stove don’t add up to much, especially if you’re not going fancy. And we’re not. We’ll stay in the same state parks we enjoyed back then; the beauty of the coast in northern CA and Oregon has to be seen to be believed. We’ll go for walks, we’ll eat what can be cooked over a Coleman stove and we’ll read and play cribbage in the evening. We’ll get up in the morning, when everything is wet from dew and there’s a chill in the air, and make the trek to the centralized facilities for a shower with lousy water pressure and a cement floor. When we get back everything will have the smokey smell of a campfire. And we will be rested in body and soul.
Deo Volente
I understand his confusion. Frankly, I couldn’t give him a very good explanation. But I did tell him that if I have to choose between layers of clothes for no good reason and the way dogs say hello, I’m goin’ with layers every time!
(His reply: “Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.”)
I enjoyed church this morning. This is a great group of people. God has repeatedly blessed me with easy congregations to pastor. Pathway is the most recent iteration. And flexible, gracious, fun people make for great potential.
Tony Dungy is as good an analyst as he was a coach, IMHO. I like that guy.
I learned today that Tuesday is the “birthday” of the Marines. They were established on Nov. 10, 1775. If you see a jarhead, tell him Happy Birthday and Thank You.
Here’s a fun ad:
Toyota
How hard would it be to create an on-line magazine (a zine)? Nothing fancy; a home page with articles “inside” - minimal graphics. Does that take a whole lot of tech wizardry?
Early in my ministry we were chronically poor. No big deal; it goes with the territory and anybody who goes into pastoral ministry knows that - or should. God always took care of us and I don’t think we ever lacked for anything that mattered. In fact, God gave us some particular blessings that would not have come to us otherwise.
One of those blessings was the vacations we took. Because we couldn’t afford theme parks, hotels or restaurants we went tent camping. Pam & I had one 2-person tent (the old fashioned triangular kind, not domes) and the boys had another. We stayed in state parks at $5 a night as we worked our way up the west coast to my folks’ place in Seattle, and then more of the same on the way back to So. Cal. Breakfast was cold cereal, lunch was cheese and sausage “sandwiches” on crackers with some fruit, and dinner was Dinty Moore stew or something similar that could be heated over a Coleman stove. Sometimes fried eggs, bacon and rolls.
We went for walks in the woods or along the beach. The boys rode their bikes through the campgrounds. We built a fire every night and played games or read books while we listened to our battery powered radio. We went to see whatever there was to see in the nearest town (always a small town because that’s where the state parks are) - a museum, a restored historical house, a free tour of the local factory....
When they were really young Steve & Josh didn’t know any better. They thought this was what everybody did on vacation. Later they figured out it wasn’t, and we knew they thought it was pretty lame compared to Disneyland or Magic Mountain. Maybe if we’d had the money we would have done those things; there’s nothing particularly wrong with that kind of vacation. But I am very glad we slept in tents on the ground in “primitive” sites (no water or electricity, out away from the rest of the campground sties). We were together as a family, for better or worse. Nobody entertained us; we made our own fun. We saw God’s creation, not plastic manifestations of somebody’s imagination. We learned how cheese is made, how logs turn into plywood, how boats and fish get from Puget Sound into Lake Washington and how sea captains lived in the 1800‘s. Pam and I played Cribbage by the light of our kerosene lantern. And it was quiet.
Pam and I have talked about this lately, and we have a plan. I can’t tell you how much I hope our plan becomes a reality; I don’t think I’ve wanted anything this much in a long time.
Next summer Pam and I are going tent camping up the west coast. Lord willing we’ll own a vehicle by then that will make that trip and carry what we need (my van won’t make the trip and her xB won’t carry the stuff...because we’re going to take Al). If we’re not able to get that vehicle by then we’ll rent one. We have to buy most of the gear because what we had was not worth keeping after years of use. But a tent, sleeping bags, a lantern and a stove don’t add up to much, especially if you’re not going fancy. And we’re not. We’ll stay in the same state parks we enjoyed back then; the beauty of the coast in northern CA and Oregon has to be seen to be believed. We’ll go for walks, we’ll eat what can be cooked over a Coleman stove and we’ll read and play cribbage in the evening. We’ll get up in the morning, when everything is wet from dew and there’s a chill in the air, and make the trek to the centralized facilities for a shower with lousy water pressure and a cement floor. When we get back everything will have the smokey smell of a campfire. And we will be rested in body and soul.
Deo Volente
3 comments:
I was just thinking this morning (not during the sermon of course) about the time we went to Disneyland as kids - my only concrete memory of that trip is eating a picnic lunch in the outdoor seating area with Uncle Mark and Melissa. I think I gained more from crackers and meat sandwiches at rest stops and Mad Libs in the backseat of the car on a road trip than any fancy restaurant or headrest DVD system could have provided. I'm thankful for what we didn't have, it helps me appreciate a simple life that much more.
I wish I could loan you my camping gear. I have stuff that I've only used a couple of times since I've lived here.One thing I've found is that these days, an air mattress makes a lot of difference for my back.
I remember that one trip to Disneyland with your family and what stands out the most is the matching shirts Pam made for all of us. Melissa remembers that, too. You borrowed some camping gear from me once before and if that worked out okay for you, please feel free to borrow it again. We've got the sleeping bags, white gas or propane lanterns and stoves, pots and pans, water jugs, and might even still have the tent. You're on your own for air matresses (although you could use that inflatible queen bed you've got). Just a thought. M3
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