"After an access cover has been secured by 16 hold-down screws, it will be discovered that the gasket has been omitted." - De La Lastra's Corollary

I am not a "sky is falling" person. I'm old enough to have seen too many apocalypses come and go, from A-bombs to the evil empire to Y2K to those crazy Mayans and their round calendar. (Remember under-your-desk drills at school? No, huh. Well just shaddup about it, OK?)
But after learning what the fiscal cliff bill did not do and the issues facing Congress in the next three months I'm concerned about finances for 2013. Sequestration is still on the calendar with its severe budget cuts. So is another battle over raising the debt ceiling, and the President and the Republicans in Congress have already drawn lines in the sand.

As a result of the bill passed two days ago our 2013 tax bill will go up somewhere between $1000 and $1500 because the "tax holiday" that reduced the employee's Social Security liability by 2% was allowed to expire. OK, we probably never should have had that "holiday" in the first place. It was another of the President's clever plans to stimulate the economy by putting more money in consumer's pockets. The govt. giveth and the govt. taketh away. But if the economy tanks because of the two battles to be fought between now and the end of March we're all affected.
Now may not be the time to buy that classic Porsche. Hunkerin' down and being very careful with the finances might be more in order.

Q: How do you know that a kid on the playground is the son of a trombone player?
A: He doesn't know how to use the slide and he can't swing.

Today I got an email from Jennifer at Big Woody Campers asking if she could use some of the pics I sent her of our trailer on their website. Absolutely! I'd be honored.
Those plans and build instructions were outstanding.

Watching NCIS reruns, Tony Denozo goes into a house and says, "I feel like I just walked into page 8 of an Ikea catalog."
I looked around our place and wondered if he's say the same thing.

Q: Why are orchestra intermissions limited to 20 minutes?
A: So you don't have to retrain the drummers.

Jan. 3 is one of those dates I always notice. It was my maternal grandmother's birthday. She lived longer than my other three grandparents, so I knew her best. A godly woman who was the classic Swedish grandmother.

It's also the day 42 years ago that my sister and her husband went missing. They were flying back from his childhood home in Wisconsin to Holland, MI where he was a youth pastor. They never found the plane, a Cessna 172, but a freak storm blew in from the southwest and they assume the plane went down in Lake Michigan. The days, weeks, and months that followed their death were pivotal in many ways. I watched my parents grieve, "but not as those who have no hope" (I Thess. 4:13). I can vouch for the truth of the statement that there's nothing more traumatic for parents than the death of their child. But also for the power of our faith to sustain through even the most difficult times.

I was home from college for Christmas break and Pam was scheduled to fly up from her home in Las Vegas to meet my folks for the first time. We were engaged, getting married that summer. She arrived a few days later, while the Civil Air Patrol was still looking for their plane. It was a tense time at our house, but my parents received her with all the grace imaginable and the bond that grew between them continues today. I'm thankful for the relationship between Pam and my folks, a relationship that began in the most difficult of circumstances.

There were four memorial services - at our home church in Seattle, at Don's home church in Wisconsin, at the church in Holland, MI where he served as youth pastor, and at the college in Grand Rapids Pam & I attended, and which Don & Kathy had also attended. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree and was a pretty good ballplayer. I represented our family at the two services in Michigan (classes had resumed at the college by then). I spoke briefly at the college service, the very first time I had done anything like that. I have NO idea what I said and probably didn't five minutes after I was done. But something clicked, and the feedback I got after that experience got me to thinking about ministry for the first time.

Last Sunday at Pathway we talked about the certainty that 2013 would bring problems, maybe life-altering problems. The question is how we'll view them. Are we overcome or do we pray through and wait for him to work it out?

Q: What's the difference between a viola and a chainsaw?
A: Vibrato. But you can minimize that if you hold the chainsaw very still.