E.T. Is 17

17 winters ago a little foster baby came into our lives. She was born with a number of birth difficulties, including a severe brain bleed. She also came with difficult legal issues and it took 18 months to sort them all out. She had a big forehead and big eyes and Kathy and I nicknamed her E.T. Her birth mom was 14 and a birth father was not identified. Each evening I took on the responsibility of putting Nicole to sleep. Many evenings during the winter I would light the gas logs in our family room and hold her, pray over her, talk to her, and generally have a wonderful time with this "little lady". More than once I agonized over that fact that she didn't have a daddy. One night, as I was praying over her, I felt the distinct impression in my mind that when I prayed words like "be a daddy to Nicole because she doesn't have one", the Holy Spirit whispered to me, "you are her daddy, just like I am your daddy". That was significant to me for a couple of reasons. One, it helped me understand that for the moment, I was indeed being a dad to Nicole and she was safe and secure in our home, and second, I needed the reinforcement that God was allowing me to see Him in a more intimate and personal way. I have always struggled with my image of God. Most times He was a distant God, able to do all that His word told me, and interested in me, but from a distance. I always felt like I was part of huge crowd in His presence. That evening, in the warmth of a fire warmed winter night, God became Daddy to me. I felt like He was there with just Nicole and I, letting us know just how much he loved us and cared for us. That memory will be one that will always be a highlight.

Yesterday "E.T." turned 17. Nicole is a beautiful young lady and Kathy and I are so proud of her. Yes, the legal problems were all resolved and by the time Nicole was 18 months old, we adopted her.

Being In Politics Is Like Being In the Ministry

As I watched the inauguration of our new president and all the pageantry and ceremony that surrounds it, I was saddened by the boos and derisive shouts when President Bush was introduced. While I realize that many of the people in attendance were ardent President Obama supporters and saw President Bush as an opponent, this kind of disrespect was offensive and totally uncalled for. I think history will see the Bush presidency in a much different light than it was portrayed in the last presidential campaign and in the media. A lot of good has happened in the last 8 years, however, much of it has been lost in the hue and cry of those who disagree with the former president on some high profile issues.

Sadly, I'm not sure much has changed since the founding of our country. Kathy and I just finished watching a great 7 part series by HBO on the life of John Adams, our second president. For all the great things he did, he was treated very badly by his opponents, and lost a bid for a second term. Towards the end of his life, he questioned the value of his public service. He wondered if the sacrifices he and his family made for his country were worth it, in light of how he was treated and the things that were written about his in the newspapers of his day.

With all this in mind, I look at my own life, a full time career in ministry. My family and I have made sacrifices in order to provide the best possible ministry to the churches we have served. There have been wonderful "high moments", and fortunately, most of our experience has been good. But we have also had the "lowest of the low moments" as well. Christian opponents and enemies have got to be the worst. (Yes, I said Christian opponents and enemies, they are real)There has been more than one Monday when the only thing I wanted to do was start packing and move away. Fortunately, I've never done that. I did have a friend, however, who felt so mistreated and unwanted that one Monday he and his wife did pack and leave without telling anyone. When people came for the Wednesday night service and activities, the church was dark and so was the parsonage next door.

At times the political process is so antagonistic and the press so relentless, that there must be hundreds of broken people who have been sucked in, chewed up and spit out in the process of "winning". Sadly, I know too many ministers who have had this same experience. I wonder if we will ever live in a "kinder and gentler" atmosphere?

An Orderly Transfer of Power

I watched the swearing in of the Vice President and President today with my 14 and 13 year old sons. I had the opportunity to share with them how blessed we are to live in a country where there is an orderly transfer of power. During the campaign it was very apparent that there are a lot of differences between the candidates and political parties. But the genuine appearing amicability between the two presidents was wonderful to see. Their embraces, yes there was more than one, was heartening. It was fun for the three of us to comment on all of this. However, I am also very concerned about this new president. This quote scares me to death, "The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." -- Senator Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007. In one interview tonight, at one of the balls, he told an ABC news correspondent that tomorrow there would be some announcements and executive orders signed that would put in motion a new direction for our country. What direction will that be? If they are some that he articulated during his campaign, I know it is going to be a difficult to support his new direction.

On another note, a young lady from our church traveled to Washington D.C. with her high school group for today's inauguration. They arrived at the National Mall at 4:30 AM and they were too late to get on the Mall. Estimates range from 1 to 2 million people were there for today's festivities. As my sons and I looked at the crowd, and Shawn wondered out loud "how many people are there?", I thought, what difference can 1 person make? How can 1 person who lives in the Midwest, with a relatively small circle of friends, acquaintances and family, and doesn't know anyone important in politics, ever make a difference? I know what I can do. The same thing I've been doing ever since the election in November. I'm praying for this new president. I'm praying that God will be able to lead him, inspire him, protect him, surround him with righteous counselors and prosper him, and our country. One person, praying, can make a difference, because as we join with millions of Christians praying, God will hear and answer.

So today I am thankful to live in a free country with a great system of transferring power. I'm also thankful that even though I don't agree with a lot of the potential policies of our new president, I can pray for him, continue to be a good citizen, and work for the issues and values that I hold dear.

We Have Another Unique Challenge

I sat with a group of St. Louis pastors yesterday morning and part of our discussion centered around the overall climate of fear and apprehension that we are seeing in people as they come into our churches for the first time. While most of the fear is of the unknown as it relates to the national and world economy, it also includes people with difficult health situations and other kinds of serious issues. The great thing about this conversation was that it turned rather quickly into a positive, solution sharing time that gave each one of us the encouragement that God has each one of us in a strategic place for timely ministry to people who are desperate for hope. I still remember the Sunday after 9/11. Our church was filled with people that I had never seen before. Fear had gripped our nation and no one could say with any certainty that the threat was over. Sadly, by the 3rd or 4th week after 9/11, we got back to "normal", and our attendance went back to where it had been.

This time it is different. People are being affected individually, and it is not a mass problem, yet. As people express their fears about layoffs, losing their jobs, not being able to pay their mortgage or bills and other issues, the fear is there and there is a reaching out for some hope to hold on to. As Christians, we have a great window of opportunity to share the love of Christ and His faithfulness to us. While His promises do not include providing for all our financial needs, His word does promise that He will not leave us nor forsake us. We may have to draw on every resource of the family of God to deal with what is coming in the future, but God will help us. His creativity and vastness will help us. Times will probably get very tough, but we will be better for it, because of Him.

A New Year, Starting Fresh

I know that making new year resolutions is "out". Everyone chuckles about broken resolutions and after a couple of weeks of the new year, it's back to business-as-usual. Picking a couple of fresh things to do, and sticking with them, seems to be a better way to go. We have asked our congregation this year to join a read-the-Bible-in-a-year campaign. I have done this for several years, with various Bible-in-a-year tools. I have joined, and if you are reading this, and a member of our congregation, I would hope that you would join us. This year I am using The Message Bible-in-a-year version. And yes, after 7 days, I'm right on schedule.

The other thing I desperately want to find time for is creative planning, writing and recording. I think I may have a book locked up in mind that is trying to get out, and I know there is a Christmas recording trying to make it out. In 2006 I recorded and released a piano CD titled Gentle Worship, Quiet Praise. Almost 1,000 copies are in circulation. I get requests all the time for another recording. For at least the last 18 months I have been mentally planning A Gentle & Quiet Christmas, (the working title). This year it is time to find the time to work on the creativity that will make it happen. What have you resolved to do in 2009? Can you change your routine and schedule to make it happen? Let's check back together in a couple of months and see how we're doing...

New Year Resolutions

I've been thinking about making some personal changes in 2009. I need to take better care of myself physically, I would like to pursue some individual projects, etc. In the process of thinking about how to go about making some things happen, I read an excellent blog by Mark Batterson on this subject. Mark is the lead pastor at National Community Church in Washington DC. Here is his blog...

"In the 1960’s, a study was done on the campus of Yale University. The subjects were Yale seniors who were educated about and encouraged to get a tetanus shot. Most of the students were convinced by the lecture that they needed to get the shot. But only 3% actually went and got the shot.

Another group of students were given the same lecture, but they were also given a copy of the campus map with the location of the health center circled. Then they were asked to look at their weekly schedules, make a plan for when they would go and take the shot, and look at the map and decide what route they would take. 28% of that control group got the shot. That is nine times as many! Why the radical increase? Because they identified how, when, and where?
I'm guessing all of us need to make a change going into the New Year. You need to stop doing something or start doing something. You need to do something less or do something more. But I'm guessing about 3% of us will make the change because we never identify how, when, and where!

So here's a plan. It's as simple as 1,2,3.
#1 Look at the calendar and schedule an hour between now and January 1st. Put it on your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself. It may be in the morning or in the evening. It may be at your house or a coffeehouse. It may be on New Years Eve or New Years Day. Just set aside one hour.

#2 Spend an hour reflecting and praying. And here’s a suggestion. Think in categories. I think it helpful to think in these five categories: spiritual, relational, intellectual, emotional and physical. Do an honest self-assessment. And ask God to reveal the answer to this question: what change do I most need to make?

#3 Make the change. Call it a goal. Call it a New Year's Resolution. Call it whatever you want. The goal is to make a change that honors God. Here's a suggestion. Don't make ten resolutions! If you make lots of resolutions you'll probably keep none of them. In my experience, you need to make three or less. And I'd start with the spiritual category.

Once you come up with your resolution you need to write it down. Then you need to keep it visible. Put it on a screen saver. Put it on your bathroom mirror. If it's diet related, put it on the refrigerator. You might even want to find an accountability partner who will make the same resolution. It helps to have someone hold you accountable."

I think this is pretty good advice...now, where can I go and spend that hour?

Start Putting Christmas Away...

Today is a sad day. It's the first day that I started putting away Christmas music, decorations, and other Christmas "stuff". I always hate to say goodbye to the things that make Christmas so wonderful. But time marches on and the new year is "in the wings". The great thing for Christians is that we celebrate Christmas all year long because of the relationship we have with Christ and His coming into our lives. From a church calendar stand point, Easter is the next big event, and we have another opportunity to tell a watching world that Christ lived, died and rose again to put us into a right relationship with the Father. I have been listening to Easter music throughout the Christmas season, and I think I've found an 8 song work that will be perfect for the Easter season. By Easter, April 12th, our nation and the world may be in a very difficult place financially and politically. We may have an unprecedented opportunity to share Christ with the people around us, in a way that has only come after 9/11 or other similar national times of crisis. I think we need to prepare now for this opportunity. So, while it is sad to pack away the Christmas things, it's exciting, and daunting, to think about what may be coming next. Emmanuel, God with us, God for us...

Two Days Until Christmas

I really enjoy these last days just before Christmas. Finishing special events at the church, preparing for the Christmas Eve service, shopping, wrapping gifts, getting the house ready for company and a myriad of other tasks. These all add to the excitement of the season. I still feel like a kid when it comes to Christmas. I love the cooking smells mixed with the scent of our fir tree, candles burning and a fire burning in the fireplace. I enjoy sitting by our tree, checking the lights outside and reading through Christmas cards. I must admit that my schedule doesn't really slow down until 6 PM on Christmas Eve. But after that it's our traditional Mexican dinner with our family, our son Josh and his wife Kelly and Kelly's family. Enchiladas, tamales, chili, beans, rice, tortillas, guacamole and more. After that we're going to settle in with a fire going and watch The Nativity as a family. We'll reflect on the wonderful story of Christmas and then the kids will go off to bed. Then Kathy and I will assist Santa Claus with putting out the Santa gifts and around midnight, Kathy and I will open the gifts that we've picked for each other. We started this tradition several years ago and it is a highlight for us. This time alone is a wonderful time to express our love for each other and to remember the great blessings of God to us and our family. God is good...Emmanuel, God with us. He is for us.

Good Christmas Listening & Viewing

Two posts ago I mentioned some great reading for Christmas. Here is what I'm listening to this year. First, my son Jason, told me about a new recording by Bela Fleck and the Flectones, Jingle All the Way. The Flectones are a blend of bluegrass, fusion and jazz. One of the most unique sounds you will hear is on their song Jingle Bells. Tuvan (from the Russian Federation nation of Tuva) throat singers sing along with the Flectones. The whole album is very unique. I have really enjoyed it. Download it from iTunes for $9.99. Since our Music Department sang 4 of Michael W. Smith's songs this year for our Christmas concert, I have been listening to his album, It's A Wonderful Christmas. His first Christmas album, Christmas, is well worth downloading. The Christmas Collection by El Divo is wonderful. Every year I enjoy watching The Preacher's Wife. Whitney Houston does some superb singing in the movie. I have some of that soundtrack album downloaded as well as her album, One Wish (The Holiday Album). Josh Groban's project from last year is great, Noel. Another favorite group has disbanded :(, Wind Machine. I have worn out two of their albums, A Wind Machine Christmas and Portraits of Christmas. You can still find these Cd's on eBay and other sites, but I couldn't find a download for them on iTunes.

There are some wonderful Christmas movies we love to watch at our house. I love the Alistair Sims version of Scrooge, The Preacher's Wife, Kathy and the girls watch White Christmas, and a new favorite is The Nativity, as well as the oldie It's A Wonderful Life. Whatever you do, take some time to listen to a variety of Christmas music and watch a movie or two, it will do your spirit good.

Christmas Music

This past weekend we presented a concert titled "Emmanuel-God With Us, God For Us". Saturday the concert was attended primarily by people who do not attend our church on a regular basis, and on Sunday morning, it was basically our own church folks. We had 110 vocalists and instrumentalists involved in this year's concert. For a church that averages approximately 400 attendees, I think this is remarkable. In fact, when you consider that our String Orchestra song was played by 6 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos, plus a harp, all from our congregation, it is quite awesome. I feel both humbled and proud, (is that possible?) to work with the people that God has given our church congregation. As we were leaving after the second performance, several people said things like, "I bet you're relieved it's over...". The truth is, somewhere near the end of the last song, in the last performance, a little bit of sadness creeps into my emotions. After 4 months of rehearsing, it's a little sad to put away music you've lived with for so long. Since I begin planning and picking music in the summer, it feels like I'm putting away old friends. Today I'm putting away music stand lights, extension cords, percussion equipment, etc., because we're done, until next year. The main thing is that we had the opportunity to tell the story again, and to set an atmosphere where Emmanuel could touch the hearts and lives of people who were in our congregation during the concert with His love and hope, especially during this holiday season. We had prayed in advance for people to be invited to come who desperately needed to have an encounter with Emmanuel. Time will tell...

Christmas Reading

Over the years I have collected quite a number of Christmas books. Collections of stories, poems and other writings, Christmas fiction and inspirational Christmas writings. I also have a collection of short Christmas stories that I have gleaned from many different sources. I have shared many of these stories with our family, friends, our congregation and other groups. I think it is great to read "the" Christmas story with your family, but also, to share other people's experiences and writings. Here are a few suggestions:
This year Glenn Beck has written a wonderful, true story titled "Christmas Sweater"
Richard Paul Evans has written a number of Christmas novels, beginning with "The Christmas Box" in 1995. http://richardpaulevans.com/richards-books/ lists all his books and descriptions.
Max Lucado has written a number of Christmas books as well. One in particular stands out, "Cosmic Christmas". This is a great telling of the story of Christmas and the Father's love for us.
A collection you may be able to find in the bargain section of the major bookstores is "Norman Rockwell's Christmas Book." There are some wonderful stories that are well worth sharing with your family. A couple of my favorites are The Miraculous Staircase by Arthur Gordon and Christmas Every Day by William Dean Howells.

One of my fondest childhood memories is reading books by the light of the lights in our Christmas tree. I would lay on my stomach and get as far under the tree as possible to read whatever book I was currently reading. Since we didn't have a television in our home until I was 14 years old, reading was one of our family's favorite pastimes. While I don't lay on my stomach under our trees now, I still enjoy sitting as close as I can, smelling the scent of pine and reading a favorite book. In fact, that sounds so good maybe I'll do that tonight...

Christmas Lights

I love all the lights at Christmas. For several years, Kathy and I worked at the PTL Network and we had a million lights throughout the park every Christmas. It was wonderful to drive in or out at night during the Christmas season. Here in St. Louis we love going to the Shrine of Our Lady Of the Snows to see the lights, or drive through the Busch headquarters. But I also love the lights on the outside of our house, and on the inside. I enjoy reading or watching television in our living room with just a lamp to read and the mini white lights on. We have them on our tree, on garland on the stairs and on our fireplace mantle. Tonight I sat at the piano in our sanctuary and rehearsed music for this weekend's Christmas concert with just a piano lamp and the white lights on the big wreaths and 12' tree that are in there. After I finished rehearsing, I sat and played for another half hour or so, Christmas carols that I love to play. I've been toying with the idea of recording another piano CD and tonight I was really inspired by the atmosphere as I experimented with different chords and rhythms for some of the carols. I think I'll work on the arrangements through the winter and record next summer. I probably shouldn't bury the mini white lights too far in our Christmas boxes, I might need to pull them out for inspiration when it's 95 degrees outside and humid and I'm inside recording Christmas music.

I think I love the light because of what it does to the darkness. Even the smallest light pushes the darkness away. It is not a wonder that a name for Christ is Light of the World. It is so fitting that we use Christmas lights during this season. Even people who treat this as a completely secular holiday put up lights, symbolizing the Light of the World. If you feel the darkness of the press of life surrounding you, go find some Christmas lights. As you view their beauty, ask the Light of the World to surround you with His light. He will...

Sometimes Life Is Life

Two weekends ago the flu made its way through part of our household. We lost a weekend trying to get everyone well. This weekend, on Saturday, Kathy had to have emergency dental extractions. On Saturday Nicole began complaining of a lot of abdominal pain. I spent part of the day with Kathy at the dentist and then Saturday evening we tried to determine what we needed to do for Nicole. By Sunday morning she could not stand the pain and Kathy took her to the emergency room while I went to church early to begin my normal grueling Sunday schedule. To add to this Sunday, we had a lunch and Christmas rehearsal scheduled for our choir, orchestra and youth ensemble. Since there was a children's musical presented in the 11:00 service, Kathy and I had planned to do all the preparations for lunch so everyone else could hear the musical. Except, now Kathy is at the ER. Physically I'm at the church, but emotionally I'm with Nicole. Kathy is trying to text me and keep me up-to-speed, however, the ER at St. Luke's Hospital is in a basement bunker. It was very hard to get a cell signal. Kathy and Nicole finally got home in the middle of the afternoon, however, Nicole's pain did not lessen at all. They were not convinced that the ER doc had done everything he could have. By Sunday evening, we called the ER, found out another physician was now on the floor, and Kathy took Nicole back. This time they admitted her and she is there tonight, for a second night. We still do not have a diagnosis and Nicole's pain is still fairly intense. I spent the morning with her so Kathy could work at her job for a few hours and then I went to the church to set up the Choir and Orchestra areas so that theatrical lights could be set tonight. Tomorrow we need to complete the setup so we can have our first concert run through on Wednesday evening. Oh, did I mention that this coming weekend is one of the biggest weekends of the year for us? We're doing a major Christmas concert on Saturday and Sunday. As you know, the Christmas season adds its own busyness, and then along comes "life". Life's events do not adhere to schedules or events. Life just happens. I thank God that I can rely on Him for calm, for direction and for help in determining what I need to be doing when my orderly plan has been suddenly shot to pieces. Peace on earth, goodwill to men... thank you, Lord.

Too Much To Learn, So Little Time

I get frustrated at times with all the things I want to learn, but do not have the time to take a class, or sit for hours with a manual. For instance, I would like to have some graphic design skills. I am not an artist, so design comes hard, but computer graphic design has leveled the playing field somewhat. I would love to take some graphic design classes. I would also like to understand the engineering of my computer, and to be able to troubleshoot both the hardware and software. More classes... Or how about home repair issues. Right now I'm having trouble with our furnace at home. There is a lot of great information on the Internet, but there are a few things that I need to know that aren't there. I'm sure there's a class for that. We have a seminary down the street from our church, with a Master's program in Church Leadership with an emphasis on Administration that I would love to begin. And then there is theatrical lighting systems, large hall audio systems and the list goes on and on. Sometimes I feel like I know enough to be dangerous, to myself and the equipment or process I'm working on. I think that what I need to do is to set some priorities for the new year and figure out which things are the most important, and attainable. Then find out which things at the top of the list are affordable from both a time standpoint as well as financially. Sometimes being a "jack-of-all-trades" can be frustrating, but then again, if you are always learning, you can always be productive. Oh yea, there is one more thing I need to learn. High school algebra. When I'm helping our kids with their homework I can usually arrive at the right answer. However, I have no idea how they are teaching algebra these days, and the process of finding the right answer. I wonder if there is a class for that?

A Huge City

Sunday evening we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner at our church. After dinner, The Servant Quartet presented an evening of music and inspiration. As I was listening to one of the songs about heaven, the lyric mentioned "the city foursquare". For some reason, that phrase stuck in my mind. I refreshed my memory of its dimensions, scripture tells us that the city that God is preparing for us will be 1,500 miles wide, 1,500 long and 1,500 high. This city is huge. We are given the outside dimensions of the city but we are not told how high the levels are. If each level was a mile in height, there would be 1,500 levels. If each level was a half of a mile high, there would be 3,000 levels. If each level was ¼ of a mile high, then there would be 6,000 levels. If the levels were 1/8 of a mile high, then there would be 12,000 levels. We simply do not know. Regardless of the number of levels, There will be plenty of room for all of the redeemed through all the ages. We will not be packed in like a bunch of sardines. There will be elbow room. Jesus is preparing mansions for us and not condos. During the concert I calculated, (on my phone) that if the levels were a mile apart, the surface area of this heavenly city would be 3,375,000,000 miles square. Over a trillion square miles! To compare that to something we are familiar with, the earth's surface area, including water, is 196,935,000 square miles. What an incredible thought - even though it is hard to imagine. One of these days we'll wake up to an unbelievable sight, unbelievable, but real...

Was Christmas Ever Like A Thomas Kinkade Painting?

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is to see the artwork that has been creatively painted and produced. Everything from manger scenes, to snow scenes, mountain villages, you get the picture. (pun intended) I have two Terry Redlin prints in my office that hang all year round. They are both wonderful country snow scenes with churches in the background and houses decorated for Christmas. Even though I know that the artwork is from the imagination of the artist, when I look deeper into some of these paintings and prints, I wonder if Christmas was ever like they portray. A village where everyone knows everyone, where the love and spirit of Christmas permeates everything people do. Where family gatherings seem to come directly from a movie script and memories linger well into the next year. I realize that Christmas really becomes what you make of it and I have celebrated some great ones. Just once, I'd love to be in a mountain town, with a carpet of snow, sleighs for taxis, roasted chestnuts on the corner. Our family all together in a big log cabin, with a huge fireplace and Christmas tree to match. We'd spend our time playing games, reminiscing about how good God has been to us, and just spending unhurried time together. We'd walk the postcard streets of the mountain town, greet everyone we met, sip hot chocolate, throw an occasional snowball and simply have a great time. Maybe I'm describing a time yet to come, where multiple generations will spend time together, rejoicing in the birth of our Lord, with Him with us. Christmas is what you make it. Make it grand!

A Must Read

In my last blog I told you about reading The Shack. I have finished the book and I highly recommend it to you. If you have trouble knowing God as a loving, unconditional embracing God, you must read this book. It is available at any of the major booksellers, or you can order it at www.theshackbook.com. This book came at a good time in my thinking because I have been overwhelmed with the process of thinking, praying through and talking to God about the way our church can reach people that live around us. In the latest issue of Outreach magazine, there is a mini-poll asking American adults, "What is an Evangelical Christian?" Here were the answers:

I have no idea 36%

A type of Christian 9%

Closed-minded 4%

Zealous/devoted 9%

Fanatics 5%

Impose beliefs on others 3%

Rely on the Bible 8%

Follow Christ 1%

If we follow Christ, we love, unconditionally. We don't force, protest, tear down, argue, demean. We love, just like God loves us. Read the book and we'll keep this discussion going.

The Shack

I am just about finished reading a wonderful book titled The Shack (Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity) by William P. Young. It is a story of a father and husband who is dealing with the tragic loss of a young daughter. Mack is experiencing what he calls The Great Sadness. A depression and sadness so deep that it is crippling life for Mack. During a severe ice storm, a note in Mack's mailbox invites him to meet "Papa" at the shack, a place in the woods where the reality of his young daughter's violent demise was discovered. I won't ruin the story by telling it all here, (you really need to read this book), but I can tell you that chapter 15 will have a profound effect on you as you see one possibility of eternity through this author's word pictures.

The one thing that has been so good for me in reading The Shack is helping me visualize God. I was raised in a fairly legalistic environment and from early on my view of God was someone who punished sin and responded to every mis-deed that I made. While I know that God loves me unconditionally, I still have difficulty putting that into a mental picture that I can equate with a loving God. I have struggled with consistent prayer throughout my entire adult life because I so often revert back to the image of a task master/punisher God, rather than a God who is my "papa", one who loves me and really wants me to spend time with Him, or in the case of The Shack, her. I'll let you read about that. :) Tonight I'll finish the book, and I think I'll make a note to re-read it again during the Christmas holidays. It's that kind of book!

November 4, 2008

By all accounts, yesterday was a historic day. Tuesday is normally my day off. Yesterday I spent 15 hours of it helping people, in precinct 435 in St. Louis County, vote. My specific assignment was to set up the touch screen machines for each voter, and to assist voters using paper ballots insert their ballot into a scanner that tabulated their vote. I arrived at 5am with 8 other team members and we got to work transforming the library of the Gambrill Gardens Retirement Community into a polling place. At 5:50am we were ready to go and we opened our polls with over 100 people in line at 6:00am.

Here are several observations that interested me. First, because of the location, we had hundreds of senior adults vote. Many of them needed help reading the ballot, using the machines, and even navigating the room. One lady I was leading to the touch screen machine tripped on a cord and knocked over the voting machine. I was able to hold her back from completely falling to the floor and hitting her head on a metal bookshelf. While the machine was damaged, the lady I "caught" only had a minor scrape on her arm. I'm sure she was sore today, but she was able to vote. I have a new appreciation for people who work with senior adults as a profession. The second observation was all the young voters, particularly those who were voting for the first time in a presidential election. Many of them came with marked sample ballots that they had spent time with, going over the candidates and issues. The third observation was that approximately 90% of the registered voters in our precinct actually voted. This was a great turnout. I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with people as they waited in line for a free machine or paper ballot booth. I hundreds of short conversations and met a lot of nice people.

At 7:00pm we closed our polling location and started the tear down process, which included preparing the vote totals so they could be quickly tabulated at the central location. At 8:00pm I left the location, tired, but glad for the experience of being part of a historic vote. At 11:00pm I watched our new president deliver his acceptance speech, shed a tear for what could have been, resolved to pray for and be supportive of our new elected officials and then went to bed. The result could have been different, but not bad for a day off...

Christmas Is Just Around the Corner

I just purchased my third manger scene this year. In fact, it will go in my office this week to join two others that I keep up all year long. The other two new ones will stay at home and will go up the moment Kathy lets me put them out, maybe when we're cleaning up the dining room and kitchen after Thanksgiving dinner.

I am just a big "kid" when it comes to Christmas. Over the next weeks leading up to the actual day, I'll write several blogs about special memories and events, plus share a story or two. Here's the first wonderful memory.

I was raised in a Spanish speaking church. As a child, I could hardly wait each year until the annual Christmas pageant was held in our church. I remember this huge stage that stretched for hundreds of feet in each direction, with a cast of hundreds portraying the wonderful story of Christ coming to earth. It seemed like every adult in our church was in costume. Even though I had the story memorized, and I struggled to understand all the words (after all, it was in Spanish), it was new and fresh every year. To top it all off, as each child left the sanctuary that night, they were given a bag full of candy, nuts and a piece of fruit. Since my grandfather was the founding pastor of the church, I usually left with him and he was always the last one out. That usually meant that if there were any extra bags, I would get two. Every year I fell in love with the story again, and as I learned how to play the piano better, I began to contribute a little bit to the celebration. Even now, I can see the outline of the Inn, the stable with the manger, straw and farm animals drawn on the stable walls. What great memories...

Several years ago I had the opportunity to poke my head inside the church for a look, after having been gone from San Jose for many years. I couldn't believe how small the stage looked. How did they get all those people up there? I even checked to make sure that they hadn't remodeled the stage and reduced the size. Fortunately, when I think back and visualize those wonderful pageants, I see them like I remember them as a child. I wonder if they still do a pageant at the church? It would be great to visit one Christmas. Too bad the church isn't "just around the corner".