Weather - Blizzard

http://www.1011now.com/weather
Blizzard.  We went to some friends house for lunch Christmas day.  About 24 hours later we got home:)
The drifts around their house are 2, 4, 6, and even 8 feet high.  And you can walk on talk of them.  We barely made it into the farm driveway across the road from their house.  Today they are busy with tractors making their livestock slightly more comfortable.
We decided to come home, we got onto the road and about 30 feet later we were stuck in a drift.  With the help of a shovel we brought along, someone behind us who was gonna get stuck with their little car, and a person coming toward us who decided to just go back home, we shoveled and pushed the van through.
We are home now.  Looks like no church tomorrow.  No power at the church, ice under the drifting snow in the parking lot, the roads blow shut right after being opened.  Blizzard

Facebook?

I am wondering what could possibly be happening on facebook.  For some reason, I have taken a break from facebook for the past 2 weeks.  Cold turkey.  The reason?  I didn't want to press the "Continue to next step" on the new privacy announcement.
I almost did it today:)

A little snow a little rain

We spent Monday and Tuesday in Omaha, NE on a family getaway.  It was a very fulfilling time!
I enjoyed taking a break from work (email, phone calls, study, etc.) and instead focusing on being together.
Suzanne enjoyed having me fully present.
The girls enjoyed 24/7 attention from their loving parents.
We went to CoCo Key, an indoor water resort.  We stayed in the Holiday Inn attached.  We swam, floated, tubed, soaked, climbed, tagged, shot, gamed, and lounged... and came back exhausted.  For those of you from Hesston, you'll remember how much our girls grew to love water.  We've missed it a bit here.  We went to the water park and the hotel pool both days, and logged nearly 9 hours of water time.  I think we were literally water logged:)
How often do we get to Lincoln?  Not often, so we stopped at Home Depot, the Mall, and Walmart on the way back.  I spent about an hour of driving time feeling like it was too much energy to even talk.  The girls didn't seem to have any problem with energy.  However, they slept beautifully last night.
After arriving home on Tuesday evening, the drizzle continued and became slick roads and some snow coverage Wednesday morning.  They are calling for 6-12 inches by Friday and some blizzard like conditions.

A little bit of snow

We got a bunch of snow since Sunday afternoon. We've enjoyed playing in it, building tunnels, shoveling it, sledding on it, and snow boarding. Today the temperature is about 5, with wind chill below zero, so we are staying in so far. I went out this morning and took a couple pictures of the drifts from last nights wind.

The girls have been off school Tuesday and Wednesday. And they are getting at each other a bit. I think it's time for them to go back to school:)

How about some pics?

November happenings

Nice weather, family visit, and imagination:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045482&id=1435934516&l=771f296805

Comfort Zone - Take a risk

Step out. Try something different. Take a risk.

When God invites us to be a part of the work that God is doing, it usually involves a step of faith and taking a risk. But here is a thought that recently struck me with more force than I will be able to communicate. Is it really a risk to follow the movement of a God who is good? Is it more of a risk to lean on our limited understanding? As good as we intend to be, we will never match the pure goodness of our God.

Comfort Zone - Try something different

Step out. Try something different. Take a risk.

With advent season our order of service has changed. I need intentional change at times to help me think more intentionally about God and I. This break in routine helps offset us to consider different ways that God may be working. Use this holiday time of year to seek God in fresh ways.

Comfort Zone - Step out

Step out. Try something different. Take a risk.

On Sunday, I did something that was a challenge for me. I am a reader. I love to read and learn. Sermon preparation often involves reading and thinking. The transition from study to delivery can sometimes be short. The delivery can sound like reading. This week I didn't write a manuscript of the sermon. Instead, I wrote an outline. Then I delivered the message 90% away from the pulpit. It felt more intimate. I hope that the message was closer to home for people, and that they took it with them to perform.

Board

Two examples of what may appear on my board in my office. Which one do you think was more painful to erase?

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

From the mouth of babes...

Fountain of Youth

We had the youth of our church over Sunday night to get to know them better, have some input, and enjoy food and fellowship. (We missed a few of you) It was a really good time, at least we think so. I think I found the fountain of youth, and it was flowing through our basement. Spend some time with some younger people today. After an hour or so, you will feel young again:)

Pray that God will bless our youth, and their parents today.

November 15

It is amazing that we are half way through November. We just moved here a couple weeks ago, at the end of July:) Well here are some pictures of what we have been up to in October. You will probably notice a theme.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043325&id=1435934516&l=a1f0b7e711

Good Hesston Weekend

We spent the weekend in Hesston, KS. We attended the Hesston College Anabaptist Vision and Discipleship Series weekend. It was a good conference. The topic was Learning the Bible in Lifegiving ways. For those of you who have heard of Bib. Lit. at Hesston. It was Bib. Lit. in a weekend. Marion, Michele, and Ted did a great job of presenting the Inductive Bible Study Method, the whole Bible story from Genesis to Jesus, and Hermeneutics (How we approach/interpret the Bible) in a very short period of time. There was much to learn, and understand.

We also enjoyed seeing friends from Hesston Church and Hesston College and the Hesston Community; a place that we recently called home. The time went too fast, but was well worth the drive down. We look forward to seeing what next years topic is.

Good thing I put a stop to that

Wow! I just went two full weeks without even thinking about updating this page. Am I out of my mind? Actually, I had a little out of body experience earlier this week. I had a sudden temperature and flu symptoms on Monday afternoon. I don't remember a whole lot till Tuesday afternoon. One thing I do remember though are some really weird (matrix-like) dreams. I'm going to call them hallucinations:)

A fever has been passed around our family a bit. I think we're all on the mend. I hope you all are staying well.

Huskers football

Awesome! I think they are back in it.12:59 in the 4th second touchdown to go up 13-12 over Mizzou. It wasn't looking so good going into half time. With :02 left in the first half they were down 0-2. Then 2 seconds later they were down 0-8.

What is really exciting is that I am watching the game! I am (becoming) a Huskers fan. Unfortunately, most of the games are on espn instead of a local channel. We only get local channels. I was listening to the first half of the game streamed audio on the Huskers website. Then all the sudden I got a bright idea and discovered that I can watch the game streamed live on espn360.com. Just a moment... YEah!!!! Interception by the Huskers and they are at first and goal! WEEEEEEE! Shhhhhh.... I don't want to wake anybody up. They are all sleeping:)

Tomorrow night we get to cheer....Touchdown HUSKERS!!! with 10:34 left in the fourth they are up 20-12. Sorry, what was I saying. Oh yeah, we get to cheer on the Shickley Longhorns in football Friday night. Go big Green!

Snow soon?

It looks like it may snow here soon. Here is our upcoming weather:

For those of you with more mature eyes or larger resolution screens, you may need to click on the image to see it larger.

It has been going well here. Days and weeks are busy. I have been here just over 2 months. Where does the time go? Still trying to figure everything and everybody out. God bless you till we meet again.

Museum Day

http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/about.html

Just so you know. Free admission across the USA.

Book list

As you can see the list of books that I want to read is growing. One part of being a pastor is growing so that there is reserve to share. It is important:

to stretch myself through experiences.

to enrich myself through reading quality material.

to soak myself in hearing good sermons from godly preachers.

to humble myself in God's presence daily.

I am sure there are many more important things. These are the things that are currently pulling on me. May God pull you to himself and fill you.

Hard sermon

This past Sunday's sermon preparation was probably the hardest one I've had yet. The sermon just wouldn't come together. I ended up with about twice the material than I needed. I let it sit for a day, and then after the Husker's tough last minute loss, I returned to it.

I hacked the sermon to pieces, and rearranged different sections and went to bed still feeling very unsure of it. As I slept the spirit continued to work. I woke up in the morning with the new end of the sermon spinning in my head.

Even 5 minutes prior to the sermon I still had misgivings about the sermon. Someone must have been praying. I missed a lot of things that I had prepared and added a couple things that came to me in the moment, and the sermon went okay. Praise God! There were a lot of heartfelt comments and learnings that people shared with me after the service.

The Spirit of God is still at work in the congregation... and in me. :)

To God be the glory, Amen.

Pictures from Nebraska

Enjoy some pictures from Nebraska. You should be able to see them even if you aren't a facebook member.

Click and enjoy

Labor Day

People in Ohio are lazy:) Just kidding! No really, I am kidding!!!!! I just wanted to catch your attention. Now that I've got it. Are you enjoying your day off to celebrate labor day?

I haven't found anybody here in Shickley, Nebraska that is actually taking the day off. Everybody is laboring to celebrate Labor Day. The people that I talked to last night are doing construction (Brett and Swartzendruber construction), removing irrigation pipe from the field (Will and Don, and maybe Derek and Kristi), Suzanne is mowing the lawn, and there is this pastor who is working in his office.

The girls are off today from school. I plan to hang out with the family this afternoon.

We took the girls and some friends to the Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln on Saturday. It was a good time of seeing animals, watching people, eating lots of really tasty (and expensive) food, and being with friends. The only things that were missing was a Ventrac booth and my Dad's Amsoil booth where we get a yearly picture with he and the girls. We all got pretty tired by the end of the day.

Oops

I must have gotten a little busy there. It has been nearly 3 weeks since I posted here. I have a pastor friend who sat around the first couple weeks wondering what he was supposed to do:) Maybe a slight exaggeration. That has not been the case for me. I have found plenty to do. Actually to the point that I have to discipline myself to not follow thoughts that come up. Instead, I have to write them down so that I can complete what I am working on. One morning, I realized that I had over a dozen things that I had written down while trying to prepare an email to worship planners about where my Sermon was headed.

Anyway, I am getting into the groove of things, enjoying the work, and looking forward to becoming more efficient. I want to get out of my office more.

Des Moines, IA

Yesterday morning at 4:30am, I hopped into our car and drove like a bandit to Milford, NE (about 1 hour). Why like a bandit you ask? Well, I intended to leave around 4am, but didn't wake up till 4:20. Why Milford? In Milford, I hopped into Bellwood Mennonite Pastor Dave Miller's car, and we headed for Des Moines Mennonite Church. (about another 3 hours) Why Des Moines? You sure ask a lot of questions, so I'll tell ya.

Yesterday, Dave and I had interviews with the Pastoral Leadership Council of Central Plains Mennonite Conference. These interviews lasted about an hour, followed by a time of discernment by the council. Then they brought you back into the room and gave you their verdict, encouragement, and council. Dave was interviewing to be credentialed as an Ordained Minister. He passed. I was interviewing to be Licensed toward Ordination. I passed. Let's celebrate.

It was an enjoyable day. I really enjoyed catching up with Dave Miller. He is a Pastoral Ministries grad from Hesston College. He is also from Kidron, Ohio. He is interesting, witty, thoughtful, talented, and reading this blog (I found out yesterday) :)

The interview was also enjoyable. The council was very gracious, asked good thoughtful questions, and seemed very interested in the success of Salem Mennonite Church and myself as a pastor. God's blessings to the council members, Dave, and Salem as you all serve God and his church.

Back to it

The girls are back to School! Alyssa and Courtney started school yesterday. They came back excited about their new friends and teachers.

Mom and Dad were here for a week and headed back part way this morning. It was good to have them here, experiencing what we experience. They had a lot of good to say about our neighbors, friends, community, church, and situation in life.

Emberlynn and Suzanne are enjoying some extra time together. She'll be in school before we know it.

I am working and blogging:) and dreaming. Still feeling my way through the work and personal life balance. I'm guessing that will be ongoing.

Installation Service

For those of you who wanted to know...

My installation/licensing service will be September 13th during the morning service (@ 10:30am).

Dave Greiser, Director of the Hesston College Pastoral Ministries Program will be preaching. Ed Kauffman, Conference Minister of Central Plains Conference will be officiating. The wonderful people of Salem Mennonite Church. There will be a fellowship meal following. Can it get any better than that:)

Saltdogs baseball

The town of Shickley had a night at the Lincoln Ballpark Sunday Night. It was a good time of connecting with friends and getting to know some more people from the community. This was put together by the Commercial Club of Shickley, and it was also a faith and family night at the park. There was concert by a talented Acapela (no better cause) type band before and after the game. Some of the local children's league ball players got to go out on the field. It rained pretty hard for about 3 innings. The saltdogs lost.

But the most memorable experience was getting out of our van at the park and realizing I had forgot our 5 tickets... Suzanne had a good laugh at what my face looked like when I told her what I had done. I felt like an idiot. I was so mad at myself. Those of you who know me as "always organized and in control", well there goes that. We had driven an hour and a half and now we would have to buy new tickets or drive all the way back to get them. Luckily, or by providence we had brought Wes and Linda with us, and Wes knew some people. It turned out that the organizer from Shickley had extra tickets. Fear, dread, and humiliation gave way to comfort, relief, and humility.

Here is where it got really funny. It was like God was saying, "let me take care of it. I will provide. You're not in control. You need a lesson on humility." No less than 4 people, as part of the sponsoring church where walking around giving out free tickets as part of the faith and family night. Each time they offered us tickets. I just had to laugh, and say, "Yes God, you are good. You have a good sense of humor. I need to be less serious about myself. Thanks for the lesson." We had a good time.

Getting started

Last Sunday was my first Sunday as Pastor of Salem Mennonite Church. What a blessing! The people of Salem and Shickley are wonderful people. We have enjoyed getting to know them and being here with them. Last night we had our first premarital counseling session with a couple. It was a good time of developing a relationship and enjoying this exciting time with them.

The girls are getting into the flow of life here. They are enjoying their rooms and have spent most of their nights in their own beds. Suzanne took them to the local pool the other day. Alyssa jumped off the high dive! Courtney and Emberlynn were jumping off the low dive!

Alyssa and Courtney are playing soccer in a local league in Shickley and Geneva.

Suzanne has been exhaustedly unpacking and decorating the house. She is a wonderful wife, mother, and partner.

I have been trying to get into the groove of sermon prep, meetings, and other duties. There is room for improvement as I work at focus, time usage, and scheduling. I have gotten to mow the lawn twice already, it takes about 1hour and 30 minutes to push. I have been tinkering and learning in other areas like TV antenna's, sprinkling system, our car, office layout, water softener, bike tires, snake control, running routes, utilities, etc... all the fun stuff of moving and getting into your new community.

Shickley, Nebraska

Our Home! We made it... It is good. We've been unpacking boxes and putting stuff away for about 2 hours now. We are planning to go to a local church's Ice Cream Social this evening.

The trip went well. Today was better than yesterday. The girls did better. We didn't make any wrong turns. It didn't rain as hard for as long. We're home!

Progress

We made it to Princeton, IL. Sleeping for the night and finishing out the trip tomorrow morning. We have about 7hr 40min left according to Google Maps.

The trip has gone fairly good. The girls were at each other early on in the trip. We missed a turn and ended up taking about an hour detour. We met my Dad for supper at Arby's close to Columbia City. He was trucking from Chicago and we were driving toward Chicago.

Two out of three girls are sleeping.

Good night!

Last day in Ohio

It is here. Our last day in Ohio. Suzanne is out to breakfast with Krista and Julie. The girls are at the Hershbergers where they stayed overnight. I am here. But you probably guessed that:) We are wrapping some things up and getting some packing done. We'll see how much we can get in the van. Then start rolling this afternoon. We expect to go about halfway and then sleep for the night.

It has been good to be here. God's peace be with each of you. Pray for us. We will pray for you.

picture fun! July 09

A picture show for your viewing pleasure. Some of the captions are longer than the picture stays up for you to read it. Either watch it multiple times or pause the show and advance it manually.

Enjoy!

Hiatus

Hiatus - a period of time when one is on a break. Wow! It has been a long time since I have refreshed this blog:) It has been a refreshing break, and I am not promising that I am back to regular publication either. I just felt compelled to update what we have been up to.

The last post said that we were moving. We have. Sort of. Somebody asked me the other day where we are living. After a pause, I said Ohio. They picked up my pause and asked, "Last month?" I said Kansas. They said, "Next month?" I said Nebraska.

There you have it. We are in transition. Being on Hiatus isn't as simple as it seems to those who aren't. You should try it for a month sometime. Somethings we are without - a home, a space of our own, a place to retreat, a regular schedule, our own things, a job, fulfilling and meaningful work, etc. You may or may not get the picture. I guess you have to experience it to understand it.

We have really enjoyed this "once in a lifetime" opportunity to be free, living with family and spending time with family and friends. It has been a good time to step back from schedules and disconnect from our stuff and let go of routines. We will probably never experience a month like this again, so we cherish the moments and days.

At the same time, we have the next piece of life planned and prepared for us. We are ready to embrace it and immerse ourselves in the work, play, growing, and knowing. But yet we can't. We have to wait. Waiting is hard sometimes. I want to begin what I have been called and prepared to do. But I can't. I'm forced (or I have chosen) to wait.

Well there it is. Rambling. Lightly filtered. Hiatus.

Book: Jesus for President

Quick summary. I finished this book while at the Columbus MCUSA Convention. It was a book of challenge. One that makes you think about your relationship to government, power structures, institutions, and how you use these things to bring about good for yourself and others. The first half or so of the book is brilliantly structured around a history of the Bible, or as we say at Hesston College in Bib Lit - Heilsgeschichte. It is a German word meaning "salvation history."

I would recommend this book as an excellent read for a couple reasons.

-Great way to get a big picture of what God is doing in the Bible written from an "Anabaptist" perspective.

-Shane Claiborne and the intentional communities that he lives in are doing the work of justice, helping the poor, challenging the status quo when it elevates the elite at the expense of the "lesser".

-Challenges our notion of nationalism, patriotism, and even religious ideals that become idols, which have the potential to distract us from simply "following Jesus."

Get it and read it.

Moving experience

Over the weekend we moved our stuff from Hesston, KS to Shickley, NE. I am overwhelmed by the kindness and helpfulness of friends new and old. We had about a dozen people help us load our stuff in just under 2 hours in Hesston. These were great friends that we've gotten to know during our last 18 months in Hesston. We didn't know them before, and they have become very dear to us in such a short time.

At the other end, nearly 20 people showed up to help us unload. Wes was disappointed that we missed our unload record of 30 minutes, by about 5 boxes. We have to remember that we had a number of more boxes and a couple more furniture items than we did when we moved to Hesston.

We appreciated the help of many people that we hope will become close friends in the coming months and years.

God's blessings on all of you.

Unbelieveable

The last three days I have tried to help Alyssa fly her new butterfly kite. It is unbelieveable! I didn't think I would ever say this, but... there isn't enough wind in Kansas to fly a kite. There I said it. Call me crazy, but it's true.

This is our last week here in Hesston. Today I took the girls to Suzanne's SilverSneakers class that she teaches. Her elderly students just loved having the girls there for a little bit. Then I took the girls to King Park to play in the water fountains. Then it was home to play with the Coburn girls after lunch. This afternoon is the girls friends birthday party. Then supper, then Suzanne and Emberlynn head to Hesston Mennonite for Bible School. I take Alyssa to Kingdom Life, and Courtney to Hesston Methodist. It is neat to see a truly community expression of Bible School (different age groups at different churches). That is enough for today.

Packing and Relaxing

We have been trying to pack a box a day, and sometimes more. The girls have really got into it too. They have been packing some of there stuff, which requires us to unpack a box every once in a while to find something they weren't quite done with yet.

I have had a bit of a recharge which has increased my desire/energy to read and reflect. I finished reading "Road Signs for the Journey" and have started two more books.

Alban Institute's "New Beginnings" and Shane Claiborne's "Jesus for President". Both are very different and excellent reads so far.

Road Signs is a real challenging read. If you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to struggle through it. It is based on a 2006 member survey of Mennonite Church USA and looks at current trends as well as comparisons between previous surveys, between racial/ethnic members and Caucasian members and pastors. The book can make our demise seem hopeless, but it can also help us to see where we may be headed and give us some direction for conversation and action to regain hope. I for one, choose hope.

Quick trip to Nebraska

The girls stayed overnight and day at the Coburn's. Suzanne and I drove the car and van up to Nebraska around 7am, and had a productive day. We got to see a number of the church people throughout the day.

-We stopped at the church where Bible School was in session and the children had prepared a special welcome basket of food, cleaning supplies, and paper products. Thank you so much. The items will be come in very handy in the coming weeks. We got to see a number of the adults and children there.

-We went to the Geneva courthouse to take care of our drivers licenses, vehicle inspection, title, registration, license plates, etc. We got everything done in less than an hour. It was all in the same building. Gina waited on us, and her daughter Krista also stopped in to see her mother.

-We parked the car in the parsonage garage. It will stay there for the summer.

-At lunch time we went to Shickley and had lunch at Dawg's Cafe with Wes and Don and Shirley. The fish was awesome. We met pastoral people from a local church and enjoyed catching up with them.

-After lunch we took Don back to the farm and then drove back into Shickley. We stopped into the post office to put a hold on any mail that ends up there before we do.

-Next stop was the hardware to return paint swatches for the girls room. We ran into John, Wes, Linda, and Roland there. We then drove around the block to the Swartzendruber construction and flooring. We met with Kay and picked out some carpet for the basement.

-We stopped at the parsonage to take a couple measurements and ran into George, Matt, Ron, Randy, and Brett.

-Finally, Suzanne and I hopped in the van and drove back to Hesston around 5:30pm. It was good to be with the girls again.

It will be here before we know it. I can hardly wait!

Some buildings

This is the main lodge where we had our meals and some activities. The picture was taken Tuesday morning when we were leaving. It snowed overnight.
This was our cabin (Aspen). We lived on the second floor of this building. It was a beautiful retreat center with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. I hope you enjoyed this picture show. We've got more, but I've also got some other things to do. It is going to be 92 degrees here in Hesston today. Looking at the snow makes it feel cooler:)

Everybody hands up

How cute! The girls worked and played hard, and slept pretty well to boot. Alyssa is hugging Courtney. It may be hard to believe, but this is actually Suzanne and I's bed. We got up and then Suzanne took this picture of the "raised hands while sleeping". They are so precious to us. We have really enjoyed spending time and making memories together.

Sawing

One of our assignments was to clear a "branch" off of a trail high above camp. It turned out to be two large branches. We ended up cutting them into about 6 pieces and dragging them down the hill half way. The picture above shows Courtney and I trying saw it together. The girls were real troopers. Hiking up so high and sitting in the rain for a little while. We were up here for about 2 1/2 hours. As you can tell, it was a very steep incline.

We had an option of a gas powered chain saw. But this was a lot more fun for all. Suzanne and I had a lot of laughs. Especially when I was jumping on the log to break it. I lost my balance and nearly fell down the hill. If I would have got rolling, I doubt I would have stopped before either hitting a tree or getting to the bottom of the mountain.

Kettle popcorn

One evening we had kettle popcorn cooked in this kettle. The sugary stuff got eaten up faster than the non-sweet stuff. Here are just a few of the people (out of about 50) that were there during the weekend. I may get some spelling's and names wrong.

(John and Christy Frederick on the far left, Corbin the camp director in the tan shirt and blue jeans, Mary the cook in the dark blue shirt and black pants, 4 of the 5 Voth family members from Hesston starting with father in striped shirt then mom followed by daughters Marie and Dorothy, behind them you will see me talking with Marvin and Vi Miller. My dad and Marvin lived in South Bend together while they were still single.)

A beautiful view

We hiked up behind the camp to "staff ville". It is where the male, non-counselor staff live. We then hiked up on top of this ridge and decided a family picture was in order. In the back ground you can see part of the pikes peak bottom. If you hiked up there, you would then have about 4 miles up a ridge behind this view to get to the peak.

Gold mine

We explored a gold mine that is on the camp. It is a horizontal shaft about 400ft long. It was about as big as you see it here the whole way in. My head lamp batteries were weak and died completely about 2/3 of the way in. I had to confiscate a little girls flash light to finish the trail in. This was about a third of the group that went in.

Suzanne the dare-angel

Suzanne was very brave and decided to go rock climbing and rappelling. She was way up high and out on a rock face. We went hiking out to where she was. I was especially afraid for the girls as they got close to the edges. I was happy to be back on land a little more flat after this hike.

Hiking up the mountain

We all enjoyed hiking on the many trails around the camp. This was a fun morning hike that involved climbing up the side of the mountain that was very steep and very high.

Trip to Colorado

We had a good time in Colorado at Rocky Mountain Camp in Divide, CO. It was a first annual Work and Play Camp. We worked at the camp doing cleanup and other work, and played by hiking and other stuff. The girls loved it! We loved it! It is beautiful.

We met a lot of nice and friendly people. Some of them knew us or our parents. Others were new acquantances all around. I will post some pictures in some upcoming posts. We were there from Friday evening through Tuesday morning.

We had all kinds of weather. Sun, clouds, rain, hail, sleet, snow, wind, calm, 35-55 degrees. We contemplated trying to hike towards pike's peak. There was knee deep snow about half way there. Then it snowed over a foot at the peak the night before we were planning to go up. We decided to just go home instead. We'd love to go back. If you are free next memorial day weekend, I think they are doing the work and play weekend again.

Memorial Weekend fun

Alyssa's last day of school concludes tomorrow at noon.  We will pick her up and drive North to Salina.  Then turn east on 70 towards Colorado for a couple hours.  We are spending the weekend (Friday-Tuesday) at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp.  It is about 8 hours drive from Hesston.  We are helping them with pre-camping season cleanup.  It is kind of the way I remember vacation's with my family when I was growing up.  A mixture of service and fun.  We expect to work just a little less than half the time and play a little more than half.  Oh yeah, that doesn't leave much time for sleep, does it?

Our basement and other places will be occupied while we are gone by the owner and some siblings.  Just in case you drive by while we are gone and see people hauling stuff out of our house:)  As long as you don't recognize it as our stuff, they are probably okay.

More Ready Than You Realize

I finished my first book of the summer in one week.  It is a book by Brian McLaren.  The gist of this book is that we need to be "Spiritual friends" to or with people.  It is written from a predominantly post-modern perspective, which is helpful in better understanding many people alive today.

Here are a couple ideas that caught my attention:

-How can our churches become safer places for seekers to seek, and still remain safe places for those who have found a life-giving connection with God to grow in their faith?

-Engaging in spiritual friendship will not only help others become Christians, it will help us become better Christians, who love God more than ever.

-Goal - Helping people take the next step.

This last concept really struck me as a part of my role as a pastor.  It isn't just about getting people to make a commitment or getting them to get involved in church work.  A goal is growth; going deeper with God.  No matter where someone is at the goal is a closer relationship with God than they currently have.

Tough job, but God will be doing the work.

Good or Bad place to start

I was thinking this morning as I walked around the Arboretum.  In the short time that we have had to get to the know the people of Salem Mennonite, we like them.  They seem to like us too.

The song sung at our Hesston College Commissioning service was going through my head, and here is a phrase, "I will hold your people in my heart."  I was struck by the thought that I can love these people.  I plan to love them.  They have a special place in our hearts, and we aren't even living there yet.  This is a good place to start full time ministry.  Or is it?

The thought occurred to me that it could be a bad place to start ministry.  Why, you may sadly ask.  I am going to make all of my mistakes with them.  I am going to fail at things and get things badly wrong at times.  And if I love these people, then I am going to hurt the people that I love.  So, it really is a bad place to start.  But yet, it seems like a great place to start.

May I have the grace to fail faithfully, and may you at Salem have the grace to forgive and teach.

(Just in case anybody was concerned, there is no change in plans.  God is taking us to Shickley!)

Sabbatical

It's not every assignment that begins with a Sabbatical.  What a blessing is it is to spend time here with my family before jumping into full time ministry.  We are getting projects done, preparing for our move to Nebraska, reading books, dreaming about the future, going to parks, making memories.

My prayer for the people of Salem is that they continue to grow in the their walk with God, and their understanding of who they are under the leadership of the Interim Pastor.

My prayer for our families is that we will have time and wisdom to make transitions for what will concieveably be a long time a long distance apart.

In all things, may God be glorified.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my mother (in blue) and Suzanne's mother (in white):

You are loved, blessed, and a blessing to many.  Thank you for being our mothers, and being you.

God bless you,

Shawn and Suzanne

College is done for now

This week has been a different one for us, now that college is done.  Suzanne worked all day Tuesday through Thursday at the College, helping with cleaning of the cafeteria.  I had Emberlynn and Courtney at home.  We had some good times together.  We were at the Arboretum, took Bernard to the Wichita Airport, visited several parks, went on walks and bike rides, cleaned debris out of the ditch/river behind our house, played games, rode scooter, roller skated, swam in the little boat pool, picked up Alyssa after school, made and ate lunch, took Alyssa to piano lessons, worked on a sermon, and I'm sure I missed something.

It's days like these that I really appreciate Suzanne and the time that she invests in our girls.  I do it for 3 days and I am exhausted and short tempered:(  She does this for days without end.  I love Suzanne for so many things.  This is just one.  I am guessing that most moms feel like they come up short, and hope that their children turn out okay in spite of their childhoods.  Suzanne does really great.  Better than I think she realizes.  She is a wonderful mother.  Our girls and I are blessed to be with her:)

Graduated

Liked it.

Thanks to family, old friends from Hesston (college and church), and new friends from Shickley. 

It is good to be done.  My head needs a rest. 

It is finished

Done, Kaputt. I have just finished my final final. My second career at Hesson College is completed. I don't plan to come back for a third. But then again, 13 years ago I didn't plan to come back for a second time. I am eagerly anticipating this weekend:
-commissioning service
-lots of family
-maybe some golfing
-lots of friends
-reading for fun and personal growth
-continuing the transition that has started
How about you?

Swartz's are here

They arrived at 6am this morning.  Right now there is a lot of "noise":)  IT's beautiful.  It is good to see them and for the children to interact with each other again.

Last night was a little late, for me.  The Ministry Assistants got together for a celebration party.  We went to Druber's at 11:30 and got home at 1:30 or so.  I studied until I was tired and went to bed.  One more test at 10am and then I'm done for a while.  Maybe a long while.

Plan B was great

Courtney and I just got back from Exploration place in Wichita.  The people we were going to ride to the zoo with wanted to hang with us.  It was a good time with Corine (sp?) and her dad, Derek Yoder.  We played hard and finished the day off with Braum's Ice Cream.  I was curious what Capp stood for in Courtney's Capp Chocolate Ice Cream.  That would be Cappuccino!  No wonder the lady looked at me funny when I gave it to my 5 year old:)

Now it's time to print and turn in a project, pick up Emberlynn and Alyssa at a friends house, and then go to supper with Suzanne at the college Cafeteria.  Emberlynn was looking forward to going to a friends house by herself today.  She doesn't often get to do that.

Update on the zoo

Well... they canceled the zoo trip:(  We are going to have to make it another day.  We (Courtney and I) are very sad.  I am sure the animals are sad too.  They were going to have a great group of children visiting them.  Sad sad day.  Well, we are going to have to come up with a remedial schedule now.  

Looking forward to seeing family from Ohio (Merv, Ruby, Carlin, Sandy, Sherri, Dan, Brianna, Brandon), and friends from Shickley this weekend.  Both our sets of parents are coming together and staying at our house.  My Sister and her family are staying at some of my brother-in-law's relatives.  Speaking of zoo's, this weekend will be a happy one:)

I choose the zoo

Today is reading day at the college.  It is also Courtney's preschool zoo day.  Should I read or go to the zoo?  Silly question.  I am going to the zoo with Courtney!

It is going to be a great day.  Just the two of us... and a bunch of her friends.  These are times that must be cherished.

Last night it rained, alot.  We were eating pizza with some friends, and the restaurant we were at sent us home early.  They were concerned about the storm that was happening outside.  It rained so much that the black pipe and it's cement squares disappeard under the water in the ditch behind our yard.  We watched debris and logs tumble down the "river".  The water actually was deep enough that it was touching the bottom of the bridges on Weaver and Main.  We were concerned that they would cancel the zoo trip if it was raining today.  So far so good.

I am becoming a pastor

For those of you who didn't read the last two posts or who I haven't talked to in awhile, read those posts and then read on. The candidating weekend went really well. I felt real good about the sermon and many of the conversations that I had. Salem Mennonite Church of Shickley, Nebraska.
Salem voted on Sunday morning and I got a call soon after noon. It was a positive vote and they invited me to become their pastor. I accepted. I am thrilled, excited, elated. And just a tiny bit scared. That will probably increase as the time approaches, and on quiet days as I reflect. But I am becoming a pastor.
It has been a great experience to learn and grow in the Pastoral Ministry of Hesston College, Clinical Pastoral Education at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, KS, and Supervised Ministry with John Murray at Hesston Mennonite Church. All three of those experiences I would not trade, and I would highly recommend to anyone that has an inclination.
God is working in and through a person that is willing and called. I am becoming a pastor.

I got a phone call a couple minutes ago

We are moving to Nebraska!

More later.

Big Weekend

We are heading to our first candidating weekend on this Friday evening.  It is about a 3 hour drive straight North.  We will be staying with a member of the search committee.

Saturday involves an open house from 10-noon.  This will provide a time to meet and be met by the people from the church.  Later in the afternoon we will meet with the Elders of the church to talk business and religion, I am assuming.  Then, once we come to an agreement, we can go out to supper.  I hope our combined hunger will make us all agreeable:)

Sunday involves me preaching during the worship service.  This is followed by a carry-in meal.  Followed by a question and answer time.

The following Wednesday with be a church meeting, and the following Sunday will be time for the church vote.

We are excited!  I am looking forward to meeting more people of the church and progressing in discernment.  Please pray with us that God will lead in the discussions and in the quiet.

Post Lent

As you may recall from my earlier posts about lent, I had forsaken the use of non-school and non-candidating internet access on Mondays through Saturdays during the 40 days of lent.  Well we celebrated Easter yesterday!  He is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!

This has been a good learning/growing experience.  My intention for lent was to reduce the amount of time and energy that I was spending doing less important things, so that I could spend that time and energy doing more important things.  Was I successful in resisting the temptation to use internet?  Was I successful in becoming a spiritual giant?  The answers are no and no.

But I was successful in reorienting my priorities and connecting with God.  It goes like this:  spend less time on the computer, get my school work done earlier, spend more time with my family, feel more connected with people and less rushed, drawn to reflect on my relationship with God, talk to God about that = success.  Isn't that the whole point?  To connect with God!  Plus there were all the side benefits of relationships with people and being less stressed and disconnected with myself.  Finally, I have realized how less important it is to know what is going on in the internet.  This has been a good discipline, but it isn't complete.  It is a continuous process of refinement.  Just like our relationships with God.  It isn't a one time prayer or commitment.  It is all about everyday, moment by moment, being transformed into the image of Christ.

Do you have conficker worm?

I decided this might be the easiest way to disseminate information, partly because if you are infected, then the worm keeps you from getting to security sites that can help you out. Hopefully everyone is clean.
Here is an explanation of what we are talking about.

Here is a test to see if you are infected:

McAfee detection tool, you may have to use another computer to download it.

According to some reading I did, AVG should detect it and remove it.  Some other antivirus should do that as well.  However, if you're antivirus is out of date, then you probably can't update it if you are infected.  So back to using the test at the link above entitled, "here is a test to see if you are infected."

Microsoft site has the patch that would have kept you from being infected, the tool to remove it, and instructions on how to manually remove it.  However, once again if you are infected, you probably can't go there.

Additionally, James (in the comments) added a link to the Sophos detection and removal tool.

Our snow fun!

Here is a picture from March 17th. Playing soccer in the shade, because it is too warm.

Then we woke up Saturday morning March 28, and took a sled ride to the college to have brunch with Suzanne. Here the girls are sitting on the road on the way back.

This is the area that I shoveled out before we went on our walk. It had another 3 inches 2 hours later.

The girls stayed outside for quite a long time. Emberlynn decided to take a break to warm up. This light provided a way to warm her hands and feet.

With all the fun we had in the snow, I had to do some work to open a path to the road.

This little path took a lot of effort. The snow was very heavy and wet, and it had been plowed into our driveway at this end.

Here is the culprit for our heavy slush pile at the end of the driveway. This is what they use to plow the streets.

Success! At least for one side of the driveway. Suzanne did most of the other side. Then a couple minutes after coming inside, a friend from church drove up with this plow and cleaned out the end of the driveway. I guess I could have left more for him.

Here is what the girls worked on while I played in the driveway. They did an awesome job.

A beautiful winterscape in the backyard. So long snow.

Some times you get what you deserve

Since I have been bragging about the nice weather we have had since January, here is a video from a local weather station of this weekend's snow festivities. We just had mid sixties and sunshine last week. Enjoy and laugh at us. Actually, we are looking forward to playing outside!  We'll be back in the fifties and sixties next week.

In coming blizzard

We are forcasted to have blizzard like conditions throughout the day.  Maybe a bunch of snow.  I guess it is about time:)

Lenten Intentions

I have been giving up all extra internet access during lent.  I give it up Monday through Saturday and then use it a bunch on Sunday.  It has been going pretty well.  I cheated yesterday evening.  Suzanne and I were doing some planning for the future.  My intention has been to replace the time spent on the computer with time to connect with God.  I have had some great success and some great failure.  I think what I have found is that this is a good practice for year round.  To give up frivolous entertainment and trade it for time with God and my family.  This should be a continuous evaluation that we do on our lives.

Intentional living.  When we don't live intentionally, we end up wasting a lot of the good moments of life.  So, I must practice what I preach.  I am going to post this blog, make some popcorn and watch America's funniest videos with three of my four favorite girls.

God bless you and yours.

We miss you all, wherever you may be.

Still here

We're still here, in Kansas.  It is just about windy enough today to blow us down the street.  Suzanne worked one of her two last weekends today, so I took the girls to church this morning by myself.  They matched mostly, except for Emberlynn's socks.  Their hair was combed, but I didn't worry about it too much.  I knew the wind would remove all evidence of combing by the time we got there.

I attended the youth sunday school class.  I will be teaching their class the next two weeks.  

The sermon was another hard hitting one by John Murray.  I have appreciated all the learning that has been provided by everyone at Hesston Mennonite church.  John has been an especially diligent teacher who seems to ask the right questions and provide some answers when they are needed.

Weather and Candidating

Let me just say this.  Kansas weather is awesome!  Yes, this is this weeks forecast.  For those of you who may want us to move closer to Ohio after Kansas.  It's gonna take a miracle:)  We have sunshine literally everyday.  The temperatures are lovely.  The wind isn't really that bad.  It hardly ever rains or snows.  I've gone soft.  I can understand Stan Miller's sentiments of Ohio weather.  Your weather stinks:)

So, it's gonna take a miracle, but we have a God of miracles.  Anything is possible.

(For those of you who like to read into cryptic messages.  This blog post is not one of those.  I am not announcing or hinting at anything.  I know very little more about our future after Hesston than you do.  End of comment.)

How is everybody?

Hello, it has been a few days since I have used the internet for reasons of lent other than school or candidating.  That means no facebook, no blogs, no google reader, no email just for fun, etc.  That has actually been going very well.  I have had more time with my family, and gotten more sleep.  Now for the harder part of creating a rhythm that connects with God.  That is the challenge that I have been giving to the chapel at Hesston College and a local church here this morning.  I am going to be selfish, this message is for me first, then for you.

Lent Chapel video

I was given the opportunity to speak in Chapel and I choose to speak on Lent, of which I knew little about.  I had some trouble with my powerpoint presentation (I learned some important things from that experience for the future)  The speaking time went very well, and was well received.  I received a lot of feedback, especially people thanking me for presenting Lent in a fresh way for them, and helping them to consider using lent as a way to prepare for Easter and connect deeper with God, just like it is intended.  I also had a number of people tell me that they were mad at me for making them give up something.  Take that one up with God.  My prayer is that your walk with God will be deeper after this, and that resurrection will have fuller meaning.  The end result is lives changed and more Glory for God.

If you happen to be mentioned in this presentation, I thank you for your important part in my life.  I apologize if I offend you with my portrayal of you.  Please understand that you were a part of making this speaking opportunity hit home for the listeners.  God's blessing on you!

What are you giving up for Lent?

Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.  Lent is 40 days, for Christians it is calculated by counting Monday-Saturday.  Sunday is not counted because we celebrate Resurrection on Sundays.  Lent is a time to postpone celebration of resurrection until Easter.  By postponing resurrection celebration, we mourn, and repent.  This causes us to yearn for Easter, and when it arrives, it is celebrated with renewed vigor!

I am giving up all extra internet and computer access on Mondays through Saturdays during lent.  This includes facebook, this blog, checking rss feeds with Google Reader, and anything other than school work, candidating for a pastorate position, or other important business.  I am doing this so that I can redeem the time for connecting with God.  Some people give up chocolate or desserts for lent.  This is a good way to practice self discipline, which when learned, can be applied to our spiritual disciplines as well.

I like the direct aspect of trading time.  If I give up something that uses time, than I now have some extra time.  I then choose to spend some of that time connecting with God through prayer, Bible reading, journaling, singing, resting, etc.

More of my thoughts on this in a next post.

Hello

I just wanted to say Hi.

Sermon at Hesston Mennonite January 25th

For a few of you that have asked.  I broke it into 3 parts, it was too large to upload all at once here.  Hopefully it is small enough to watch.

Sermon part 1 of 3

Sermon part 2 of 3

Sermon part 3 of 3

Friday is here

We are looking forward to some much needed family time this evening and tomorrow.  The girls recently learned how to play Yahtzee, and they love it!  Actually, I haven't won a game yet.  They have gotten pretty good.

Saturday will find us sleeping in, maybe, and hanging out as we go shopping and then play around in the sunshine and breezes of Hesston.

Saturday evening will include going to Catholic mass.  Oh, you didn't know I was training to be a catholic priest?  Actually, no.  We are supposed to take in a mass for Worship and Celebration class.

Sunday will be a relaxing first for a while with no responsibilities at church.  Sunday afternoon will find us at a Superbowl party somewhere, yet to be determined.

This is the end of week four of sixteen for the semester.  It is moving quickly.  Please pray for us as we sort through the possibilities of where we go from Hesston.  This has been especially weighing on my mind as of late.  Some of you, for example Dan Swartz, are praying for Ohio as the only possibility.  Keep praying.  God will give us discernment even when we pray for the wrong thing:)  Not saying Ohio is the wrong thing, just saying that there are other states in the United States, actually there are 50 from what I have been told.

We got snow (finally)

The last snow that I remember here in Kansas was just before we left for Ohio before Christmas.  Yesterday afternoon we started to get some snow and it started to stick and cause some slippery sidewalks.  Overnight it continued with wind and cold temperatures.  Right now it is about 14 degrees, and the sidewalks and roads are slick.  We have a very thin covering, about an 1/8 of an inch.  Nothing like the 40-50 inches of you Ohioians.  I really don't miss it as of this point.  Nor do I miss the sub zero temperatures.  Happy white days to you!

Sunday's Sermon

Thank you to those who prayed.  Sunday's sermon went well.  I was extremely nervous at the beginning, due to inexperience, the large crowd, the bold content, and well, speaking on God's behalf as best I know how.

I received a lot of feedback, and affirmation, along with a few critiques.  I will be having a followup evaluation with one of the pastors, along with some written evaluations by other church members.  I am looking forward to watching the DVD and critiquing myself.

The passage was Luke 12:13-34, about the rich man who decides to fill bigger barns instead of filling empty stomachs.  Also Jesus telling us not to worry about life, eating, the body, and clothes.

I felt the need to balance a pretty strong message of living on less than you have and being generous with as much of the extra as possible, against the trust that we can have in God.  I think we worry because we don't trust God to provide or we have too much stuff that occupies us.  God wants us to be free from both extremes.  He wants us to live in faith, so that we can be blessed by his presence and relationship.  These areas were where I received the strongest affirmation.

May God be glorified.

Practice what you preach

The last two posts are my own medicine.  May I complain for a moment?  Since noone said, "No."  I will continue:)  That is the beauty of blogging, no one can interupt you before it's too late!

This past weekend has been "occupied", this week has been busy.  It feels like every extra moment I have is filled with reading or writing or relationships related to college.  And then the moments beyond that are filled with writing and preparing a sermon for Sunday.  (I know Bruce Hamsher and all you great pastors out there are saying, "welcome to ministry.")  This weekend involves an all day Friday and Saturday class.   So there is my rant.  It actually isn't a complaint, it is a confession.  I am not the rested leader that I want to be.  I am busy, but if you asked me how I am doing, I would say "good".  And it is true, but I am just over the edge of my capacity.  I can't sustain this pace for too much longer.  I will have to make time for rest, relaxation, relationship, and reflection.

To that end, I am blowing off the next 30 minutes of productive time by going to the prayer room at HMC and being with God.  Followed by Supper with my family and a guys night out to see the WSU shockers.  All will be well.

The Rested Leader

Here is an article that I recently stumbled upon.  It speaks to me in relation to the post about How are You?

How are you?

Have you ever answered, "busy"?  Usually the question is meant as a feeling question.  Busy isn't really a feeling.  It brings feelings, such as tired, stressed, energized, etc.  It really seems like a good answer in our society.  We think it would be wrong to say, "at peace", because then the assumption is lazy, slothful, disengaged.  How can a Christian or any caring and productive member of a society not be busy?!  If I am not busy, and you are, then I may be afraid that you will give me something to do from your plate.  But maybe I'm not busy, because I have found rest, contendedness, and the assertiveness to say "no".

These thoughts are not aimed at anyone or even a certain situation.  In fact, they are self critical and self convicting.  Just some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head/heart.  If it speaks to you, then it is aimed at you.  I am releasing the arrow with my eyes closed, and my heart open...

Proverbs 27:6a

Weather

I feel bad for those of you with single digit and below zero weather.  Well not real bad though.  We had two days of the low teens, but the wind was still and the sun was shining.  Did I ever mention how much the sun shines in Kansas?  Awesome!

I found the weather forecast to be somewhat humorous if you look at the trail from yesterday till today.  Also, I wanted to rub in how nice it is going to be the next week or so here:)  Look but don't touch.  Enjoy.  I know we will:)

Wow time flies

"Time flies like an arrow.  Fruit flies like a banana."  JD Hershberger, others

The beginning of this semester has been a busy one.  I started out with 16 credit hours, plus 3 audited.  I have since gained my sanity and dropped it to 13 credit hours, plus 3 audited.  My schedule for those of you that may be interested:

And if you want to know what we are upto at any given time, here is our family schedule (yellow is my PM schedule, and blue is Suzanne's work schedule):

Any time that is not scheduled is family time, or reading, writing, and discussion time.  Just for fun, I calculated my weekly in class and project time as 24 hours.  I then estimated my weekly reading, writing, and special project time and came up with about 50-55 hours.  School is like fulltime work, except for I am paying them, and they don't provide any insurance, 401(k), or company banquets.  Venture was an awesome place to work, as are many other places that you may currently toil your hours away.  Perspective.

Peanut?

Answer to the previous post

Referenced from Princess Bride movie.

Breathing better now

Classes started on Tuesday.  Syllabus shock set in shortly after.  I am just recovering and beginning to breath again.

Alyssa went back to school on Monday and is doing great.

Courtney started back on Wednesday and could hardly wait.

Emberlynn went to chapel with me and we weren't late.

Suzanne is the love of my life; she is really first rate.

No more ryhming and I mean it.  Anybody want a ......

We had fun in Ohio

Alyssa learned to play the piano with all the fingers of her hand over break.

I am not sure why there is a break here.  I will use an official line from my manual creation days at Venture Products.

This space intentionally left blank.

Grandma broke out her accordion and wowed the girls with the music she could produce.

We rode sleds on a hill that I frequented when I was this age and slightly older.  It is just across the street from my parents.

More sledding fun.  For some reason I am laying on the ground.  I believe I fell giving Courtney a push.

Every family gathering needs a little computer time.

Our three girls with Suzanne's Grandparents on her mother's side.  We enjoyed visiting with them over break.

Sled riding at the Hershbergers.  You may have a sharp enough eye to notice that something is missing.  Suzanne and her sister Christa had the smarts to snap some pictures prior to stopping the fun.  I think the grass is going to make it.

Nolt Cousins, my side.

Alyssa getting her hair blow dried with an "antique" dryer.  It still smells the way I remember it back when I was this age.

Lehman Cousins, Suzanne's side.  The two little ones in the front, we met for the first time over break.