CHRISTMAS CARD 2012

This is a video I made for my family. My version of a Christmas card.

THE DAY AFTER THE RACE

It's been interesting to see all the chatter on Facebook regarding the election.  My thoughts:

I'm a temporary resident of this kingdom and a permanent resident of an eternal kingdom. I must rest in the fact that God has ordered this election for a purpose (Dan. 2:21, 37-38; Ps 75.6-7; Prov 8:15-16; 1 Sam. 2:8; Is. 41: 2-4; Rom 13:1). No man, Obama or Romney can change the human heart-only God can. Politics is a huge distraction to the Christian and I must continue to learn and pray for the President/leaders that they too will bend to the will of God.

I appreciate these scriptures and others not posted here that speak to me about God's working in human affairs.

Wayne County, Ohio

Holmes County, Ohio

FALL 2012

CHALLENGED

CHANGES

Big ones are coming! And I'm not sure if I'm excited or scared.

SAN FRANCISCO TRIP-SANTA CRUZ: JULY 27

SAN FRANCISCO TRIP: JULY 27

-Santa Cruz, CA

A RECAP OF A DAY AT YOSEMITE: JULY 25 2012

YESTERDAY...

...in Yosemite:
1. I found $20 on the floor
2. We walked and walked and walked.
3. 90% of the people we heard speaking were not from America
4. The other 10% were from England
5. It was rather warm-the sun felt hot, but the shade was perfect
6. Started at Glacier point by 8:00 am. No one there yet, but the crowds soon followed
7. Walked to Mirro Lake
8. At sub-par food from the gift shop
9. Ate at Jack-In-The-Box. Haven't eaten there for probably 25 years. Now I remember why
10. Took a lot of pictures...more than I'll ever need. Would like to enter one in this years county fair back home

YOSEMITE: Wednesday July 25

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 2012: Tuesday July 24

SAN FRANCISCO TRIP 2012: MONDAY HIGHLIGHTS

LIZ'S GRAD PARTY SLIDE SHOW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWICT2b2FNQ&feature=player_embedded

33:06:27

Ok, in my second 5k I was able to cut my time to 33:06, running (and walking too) down to a 10:40 mile. The winner of this whole race came in at a total time of 16.09 (5:12 mile).

Other notable participants:
Elizabeth Kelch 39:48:40
Dean McIntee 29:37:23
Barb McIntee 30:08:19
Dawn Kelch 57:22:53 (It should be noted that Dawn walked with mom)
Kathy Kelch 57:23:54

It should also be noted that Mom won second place in her class as she was one of two ladies in the 60+ category. It pays to finish, even if you're the last one in the race to cross that line!

LIFE AFTER CANCER

In the last year I read the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, the professor who was dying of pancreatic cancer but gave a lecture or talk, the content of which was life lessons for his kids (though he gave the lecture to his college-age students and other professors)-that lecture went viral which eventually lead to a book titled, The Last Lecture. It's been a few years since he died, but his wife has now written a book which chronicles the life lessons she learned being the wife of a person with cancer. I just finished the book and would highly recommend it, especially for someone who may be a spouse of someone with cancer. Good insights.

38.13

That's my time for doing a 5K. Dawn, Liz and I participated in a walk/run that raised money for breast cancer research..a 5k started by the husband of a woman who died when she was 29 years old. Dawn and Liz did it last year, and I wanted to go along this time as well. For mile 1 and 2 we were walking as fast as we could, averaging a 14 minute mile (yeah, we're not Kenyan athletes doing 2-3 minute miles), but I wanted to do better than average a 14 minute mile, so on mile three I picked up the pace a little and jogged most of the remaining way...that way I could average it out to a 12 minute mile. Liz pulled in next, then Dawn a little bit later. Other than helping fund research, the best part was the T-shirt and free food after.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

From Henri Nouwen's book: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith-Spiritual Direction:

"A spiritual life doesn't necessarily lead to tranquility, to peace, or to a beautiful feeling about ourselves or about how nice it is to be together with others. The chipping-away process can hurt. It might mean being lonely in a place where you never wanted to go. It might lead you to a vocation you never sought. It might ask you to do uncomfortable things. Or it might ask you to obediently and routinely do comfortable things that are not very dramatic when you prefer adventure. The spiritual truth is that God is at work in each of us and in our communities and families. Often the companionship of trusted friends allows us to see how God is at work. We can't always see God's activity by ourselves."

Thank you Henri.

FISHING AT GRAMPS

STILL

I read a review about this title in Christianity Today, and what peeked my interest is what the author calls a Mid-Faith Crisis...kinda of like a Mid-life crisis. It's not so much a prescription for what to do during a mid-faith crisis, but how one person has gone through one. I'd give it a 7 or 8.

A SPIRITUALITY FOR LIVING

This is a fantastic little book. I received a review copy of this book for my Nook, and plan to buy a copy to have for future use. If I ever lead another small group or class, this will be at the top of my list for discussion. It relates to living in community with other Christ followers-starting with Prayer and Solitude, Community and finally Mission. Nouwen draws on Luke 6:12-19 as the base scripture for the entire book. I don't re-read books, but this one I will.

SCENES FORM HILTON HEAD

 

 I've been very lazy about getting photos up & I've felt very uninspired to do anything with them.  Serious organization is not a strong trait of mine and I just realized I had 500 photos on one chip-not all from the same trip or event, mind you. That's the two sided coin of digital photography, for me. You can take photos to your hearts content, but then you wind up with 500 photos of nothing, really. Plus my favorite editing website sold out to Google, which I must admit, added some cool features, but now I have to learn how their system works. For the time being, here is Sean and Will at the beach on our recent vacation.

A LUCKY CHILD

Thomas Buergenthal was a child when he was sent to Auschwitz. He wrote the book years later as an adult, it's a great account of what happened to Jews living at the mercy of Hitler's Germany. For me, it was a fascinating study of human behaviour. Worth a read!

THE WAY

I like movies that don't always come complete with the answer. This is one of them. It's a story of a father who goes to get the body of his son who died in an accident while hiking a trail that cuts through France and Spain. It's a trail many hike for spiritual reasons...looking for answers to what troubles them in life. When the father arrives to get his son, he decides to have him cremated, placed in an urn, and pick up the son's backpack and finish the journey for him, scattering his ashes at key places along the trail. Along the way, the father meets different characters who are struggling with their own issues, but friendships are formed.

A DAY AT THE RANGE

ONE OF MY FAVORITE TOPICS

LUCAS OIL STADIUM

Lucas oil stadium, originally uploaded by Bookrep.

As close as I'm getting to the Superbowl.

ISAIAH 58

True and False Worship

58

¹ “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.

Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.

Tell my people Israel of their sins!

²Yet they act so pious!

They come to the Temple every day

and seem delighted to learn all about me.

They act like a righteous nation

that would never abandon the laws of its God.

They ask me to take action on their behalf,

pretending they want to be near me.

³‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.

‘Why aren’t you impressed?

We have been very hard on ourselves,

and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.

“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.

Even while you fast,

you keep oppressing your workers.

⁴What good is fasting

when you keep on fighting and quarreling?

This kind of fasting

will never get you anywhere with me.

⁵You humble yourselves

by going through the motions of penance,

bowing your heads

like reeds bending in the wind.

You dress in burlap

and cover yourselves with ashes.

Is this what you call fasting?

Do you really think this will please the Lord?

⁶“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

lighten the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free,

and remove the chains that bind people.

⁷Share your food with the hungry,

and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸“Then your salvation will come like the dawn,

and your wounds will quickly heal.

Your godliness will lead you forward,

and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

⁹Then when you call, the Lord will answer.

‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.

Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!

¹⁰Feed the hungry,

and help those in trouble.

Then your light will shine out from the darkness,

and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

¹¹The Lord will guide you continually,

giving you water when you are dry

and restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like an ever-flowing spring.

¹²Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.

Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls

and a restorer of homes.

¹³“Keep the Sabbath day holy.

Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,

but enjoy the Sabbath

and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.

Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,

and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.

¹⁴Then the Lord will be your delight.

I will give you great honor

and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”

ETERNAL PLANS

...He (God) has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

ECCL. 3:11

...How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

ROM. 11:33

A friend from my junior high/high school church youth group died yesterday after a two year battle with cancer, leaving behind two kids not quite in high school yet. She was a single mom which made these last few years even more difficult, though her immediate family provided her great care and comfort. I have an internal tendency to put myself in that person's situation, and that is when I grieve.  On the one hand, I recognize the fact that we live in a world marred by sin, that everything is in ruin and disrepair, and the outlook isn't too bright. Like Solomon, I look around when things like this happen and find things meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Yeah, there's a time for eveything, it just seems the times of bad can outway the good. I think he and I would have gotten along well, but I think we'd bring each other down all the time too.

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste

of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering...

...But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.

And I am convinved that nothing can separate us from God's love...niether our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow.

ROM 8: 23,25,38



After leaving high school, I hadn't talked with my friend for 20 years, but Facebook put us back in touch, which I am so grateful for. It wasn't long after reconnecting that she got a prognosis of colon cancer, and thus started a two year journey in which she fought courageously, always confident of God's healing, praying for the best outcome. In her last post on Facebook, three days before her death, she eluded to the second half of Romans 8, and the great messages it holds. I'm reminded that in this life, we will still groan and suffer, seeking relief to be free from the sadness. But I am to rest in a God that loves me, who has adopted me, and will someday give me rest from this life that is full of suffering.While acknowleding my sadness, questions, and "groanings", I need to rest in the love of someone who has a plan and is working it out for the final good. I don't quite understand his plan for my friend, nor his plan for me, but once my full rights of adoption are complete, I will understand this moment in time. I must be patient and remain confident as my friend was, whose adoption process is complete, and is now home.

RESOLUTIONS

I had a friend whose goal was to blog something everyday for one year. Hearing that I thought no problem; now, having a blog for several years, I believe that would be near difficult for me. But it will be one of my resolutions this year to blog at least once a month. I like reading blogs that are creative, and as such, one of my goals for my little piece of cyber-space, has been to do something that is creative as well. However, I've learned that I can have moments of creativity, but it only comes at moments when I least expect it, or am looking for it. It's like my habit of reading, which goes in spurts. I will read or listen to books on audio for a month, then not touch a book for a month or two (not good for a guy who sells books). I blame my strong non type-A personality on this.

Resolutions take discipline, which I do not have, but if I put them up here, maybe I can look back in a year and see real progress. For me, resolutions are also hopes, something to look forward to even though it may not happen. I'm driven that way, it helps relieve the daily grind sometimes. I think the following list reflects both ideas of what a resolution is to me. A few of these I already do, but want to take it to the next step.

By years end, I hope to:

1. Exercise 5 days a week
2. Drop 10 lbs.
3. Read the Bible through in a year
4. Read one non-fiction title a month
5. Read through R.T. Kendall's Sermon on the Mount
6. Have put together a photographic themed project
7. Be a better salesman
8. Be in a position of leadership
9. Taken a trip out of the country
10. Visit somewhere west of Nebraska