OFF TO SAINT LOUIS

On Wednesday morning, I am off to St. Louis for the "Unwrapped" conference, a national campus ministry gathering. I'll return on Saturday just in time to prepare for the Guatemala mission trip - leaving Stevens Point about 6 pm on Sunday, January 6 (Epiphany).

I'm not sure what to expect either at the conference or on the mission trip, but I know that they will be blessings to me and others. At the conference, I am leading one sectional on international student ministry. On the mission trip, I am the designated "evangelist," although I would expect that others will be vocal about sharing their faith.

For the Guatemala trip, this blog will become the communicating tool between the mission trippers and "folks back home." It seemed like the easiest way to do it, although I just don't know how good the internet is in Zacapa.

VIDEO OF ANOTHER SNOWY WALK. I just love this snow!

I was out making bowls again this afternoon. If I have to say so myself, they seem to be shaping up pretty nicely (get the pun?). I am more and more pleased with them. I'm beginning to note the techinques of how to get them "lineless," that is, so that they are perfectly smooth inside and out. I think that is a significant advancement.

These are the bowls that I've made since Christmas Day when Karol left. The smaller ones are all birch and the bigger, flatter ones are black cherry.

When I was out to get the mail today, I saw a bunch of turkey tracks along the driveway. I saw some the other day too, but I thought that maybe they were crows. This time I'm sure that they are turkey.

This is just to let you know that the snow hasn't melted yet! We'll much sooner have a meltdown in Washington before any of our snow melts.

 

 

WHAT A YEAR THIS HAS BEEN! I AM THANKFUL FOR WIFE AND FAMILY; FRIENDS AND RELATIVES; SAFE TRAVEL AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEADING WORSHIP; BOWLS AND GARDEN; ENGLISH CAFE AND ISM, INC; BUT MOST OF ALL FOR JESUS WHO HAS SET ME FREE AND FORGIVEN EVERY SHORTCOMING AND MISTAKE. SUCH A BLESSING IT IS THAT HE LOVES ME!

PARADISE!!

Last year, the prediction was for cold and lots of snow, but it turned out to be warm with hardly any snow at all. I don't know what the prediction is for this year, but it has been cold and we've had lots of snow. I just noticed that my last two blogs were about snow. Well, that will be a part of this one too! It is just too beautiful to not take notice.

VIDEO OF A SHORT WALK FROM THE BACK DOOR DOWN OUR DRIVEWAY

Karol is off in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl activities. She traveled out with the Wisconsin Badger football team as the "caregiver" for Ross and Miriam's four children. They left on Christmas Day and will be returning on January 2. The quiet days have given me time to read, make more bowls, catch up on paper work, and make a whole lot of "thank you" phone calls.

The road down to the shed and our pond.

To the left is the beginning of my supply for next winter. The empty space is where I have taken wood for this winter's heat. I still have the wood to the right to use (and there is more in the shed).

This is the view from the entry to our property. Ten years ago, I don't recall any evergreens standing in this spot. We planted some (especially spruce) but most of these are volunteers.

This is one of the two feeders right at the kitchen window. If the glass weren't there, you could catch the little pine siskins in your hand. Other birds that come to our window are: redpoll, goldfinch, cardinal, chickadee, mourning dove, nuthatches (red bellied and white breasted), and sometimes a bluejay (also the ever-present English sparrows). Each of those birds have to compete with both the gray and the black squirrels.

I've got the wood all stacked by the library door so that Karol does not have to carry it very far. I will be gone to Guatemala and later to Hong Kong for mission trips.

While Luke may look like an orphan, he was just one of the many grandchildren who used this sliding hill that Nathan had carefully groomed. It was a good run!

 MY FAVORITE HOME AWAY FROM HOME (EVEN THOUGH IT'S AT HOME)

I don't get to see my sister, Ruth, very often. She lives in Oshkosh, and, while that is not far away as the miles go, it seems to be off my beaten path. Rob and Penny had a Christmas Day meal and I was able to join them after leading Christmas Day worship in Westfield, WI.

A COUPLE OF VIDEOS

The first video is of the snowfall in Rosholt. I wanted to take a picture of the snow falling from the branches as the wind blew, but it didn't happen. You'll notice blurs passing across the screen. Those are chickadees flying to and from the bird feeders on the south side of our home.

SNOW VIDEO

The second video is of grandson, Isaac, in Pittsburgh. The weather was nice and so we were out in the backyard. He wanted to get out his play lawnmower. When I took it out of the garage, he proceeded to pull the cord to get it started. He pulled and pulled. Then when we got near the garage, he pulled some more. It was a joy to watch him operate the mower.

VIDEO OF ISAAC PULLING THE IMAGINARY STARTER CORD ON HIS LAWNMOWER 

Another special event was to watch good eater, Isaac, consume some of the Greek yogurt that I had brought with me from Stevens Point. He loved it!

ISAAC EATING YOGURT

We're enjoying our stay in Pittsburgh with Matthew and Angie and their two boys, Isaac and Caleb. We hope that all is well with each of you.

Caleb, at eight months, still enjoys his bottle. He's just starting solid foods.

Isaac. Two years old.

I can't believe how blessed Matthew and Angie are with their two joy-filled children.

The brothers have just begun their bath together. Isaac is great at sharing the toys.

Ray (and Jackie) Feller used to be the "across the street" neighbors until they sold their home at the end of August and moved to a Lutheran Retirement Center, north of Pittsburgh. Isaac calls them Grandpa Ray and Grandma Jackie. Both of them have become a wonderful Pittsburgh family for Matthew and Angie.

OUR FIRST SNOW

The first measurable snow of the season always seems to be spectacular. Yesterday was such a snow. While there was only 4.5 inches, it clung to every possible object so that we would certainly appreciate it's beauty.

Enjoy the snow with us - I'm always thankful for the reminder that as the snow covers all of the dead debris of the fall, so God in the Christmas gift covers all of our death with His life.

An early morning snack for one of our numerous black-capped chickadees.

This shot was taken to the south out of our great room even before the sun had some near the horizon. The snow looks like spider webs on the branches.

Taken out of our bedroom window.

The seed heads look like they all are wearing white caps.

Cheeto to the rescue. He comes to plow whenever we have a 3+ inch snowfall.

The birdhouse rests from it's labors and keeps watch over the pond.

What a beautiful frame for our house.

The sun just peeked over the horizon.

Tufts.

All waits for Spring. But the rabbits never rest.

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The view from our Great Room. So blessed we are!!

The sun is now up and our world begins to take on a real sparkle.

Now that the cranes have their winter coat, they'll stay plenty warm until the spring thaw.

With this view as I sit at my desk, you know exactly why it is "fun" to work.

A BEAUTIFUL "WINTER" WEEKEND

It's been a while since I've posted. Of course, I'd say, "Nothing really exciting!" but that would not be the case. There's always excitement each and every day. Surprises, acts of love, relationships, opportunities for service, and what not else.

Megan (Nathan and Holly) stayed with us last Tuesday night - always so very special.

Taylor (and the other kids) loved the hats that I scrounged up for them.

Abram loves tearing around the circle on one of the hot cycles.

Elizabeth, Rachel, and Asher enjoy the bikes and the battery powered jeeps.

Joshua loves his Green Bay Packer jacket - they start young in central Wisconsin.

Kaitlyn enjoys the swing - we've had that now for about 10 years. She travels "make believe" on airplane rides to many places around the world.

This weekend was wood cutting, with Andrew and with Rob, my brother. I love to cut wood, or stack it, or even split it with a splitter, but it wears on my body.

ANDREW CUTTING WOOD

Grandchildren were over this weekend too - seven of them.(Andrew Selle's and Kolodziej's). It's always great to have them around, and Karol is the number 1 GRANDMOTHER in the whole world. Abram and Asher stayed last night, and the four Kolodziejs will be here tonight. The weather was absolutely beautiful this afternoon, so Karol and I even sat in lounge chairs in the driveway. While it wasn't 74 degrees, it was nice!!

We're so thankful for this home. The outdoors gives the children room to run and play; the driveway "circle" is great for tricycle, hot cycle, and bicycle riding. You know, of course, that there are rules. The traffic pattern is always in a clockwise manner, and the end of the route is the rail fence. It works to have some kind of order because I know it would otherwise be chaos.

Rob and I cut wood on Friday morning, into the afternoon (we only stopped when we were hungry for the egg salad sandwiches that Karol had prepared for us. We have discovered that it is harder for us to cut a HUGE amount of wood every time we go out. No longer do we take our trailers with us - only our pickups. Whatever is extra from the pickups is stacked to dry until next fall.

The combination lock is severely rusted, the cabin has been undermined by woodchucks, and the once frequently used spot for family gatherings and campfires has fallen into disrepair. Nathan is looking into fixing it up so that it can be used by the next generation.

We just discovered that if we attach a rope to the logs, we can drag them out to where the roads are. In that way, we (usually me) don't have to carry the huge logs a long distance. Many of those big round chunks need to be split.

WE HAD TROUBLE WORKING THE VIDEO

ROB DRAGS A LOG TO THE ROADWAY

It really was a nice weekend. Tomorrow, I'm off to Immanuel, Westfield, to lead worship. The sermon title is "Advent Hope."

MISCELLANEOUS SHOTS

Sleeping like a baby at 8 am.

The cactus thinks that it is already Christmas....must be listening to the Christmas music on the radio.

A new purchase graces my orchid area in the great room.

WATCH THIS VIDEO

YOU WILL SIMPLY LOVE THIS VERSION OF JINGLE BELLS!

I've always known why Karol saved all of her glasses....She wanted the grand daughters to have a marvelous time wearing them during playtime.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THANKS!

Thanksgiving is, well, all about thanks. The national day of thanks gives Christians a special time to gather to praise and thank, although that is a part of daily living for each one of God's children.

Great fun watching a video.

Taylor, Elizabeth, and Karol watch a camera video while Rachel seriously works

 on making a Christmas wreath.

Abram is in his glory when he is able to play with his Batman garage!!'

Our first measureable snow of the season. It's not much, but it is measureable!

Karol first wore these glasses back in 1966. She dug out her old glasses and the girls tried them on. Doesn't Elizabeth look like a beauty queen?

The three girls had a wonderful time playing restaurant. Finally, Karol broke out the fine china dishes so that they could have REAL fun!

HOME AGAIN!

I’m excited about returning home to all that is familiar (and Karol and our nice warm wood heat). Visited with Joel again this morning and also met up with Carl Hanson (step up from Joel). Off to airport by taxi (58 HK$) and Airport Express train (90 HK$).

Slipped through all the airport hoops (checking luggage, receiving boarding passes, immigration, customs) with no problem. Time for lunch: Tsing Tao beer and Singapore noodles. Pretty good!! Now I’m just waiting. The plane departure time has been delayed 30 minutes, so we hope to leave at 1:05 pm.

Beautiful flowers at the Inchon (Seoul) Airport

 Korean Airlines is THE BEST! Dinner is served with real glasses and metal silverware – and the service is very good. Had bi bim bop (even though they didn’t call it that on the menu. As we neared Korea, the flight attendant asked the person in the row behind, “For safety as we land, would you please pull down your window,” meaning, pull up your shade so that the window is clear. Pulling down/up the window would have been disasterous.

Spent about an hour in the Inchon airport and now we’re flying on a Delta flight to Detroit. 12 hours and 15 minutes……Ow! A long stretch. Economy class is “light” meaning that there were many seats open. I was able to move from a side aisle filled with three of us to the center middle where no one was sitting. I had great visions of stretching out for a nice sleep. But shortly into the flight, the attendant brought over a lady whose TV/computer did not work. So much for stretching out.

Detroit at 5:45 for a two hour wait. Then on to CWA, arriving at 8:45. Home again. Good to see Karol. But, it’s cold!!

Most thankful for a very safe trip!!!!!

Karol had the fire going when I got back. Wow! That was toasty and warm!

ADDENDUM

What have I learned?

·         The Christian Church in China is growing quickly both in numbers and maturity.

·         Perhaps the greatest need in this country is training for leadership.

·         While I gained a picture of Christianity from my years of English teaching, this trip has opened up my eyes to the desire of God’s people to win China for Jesus.

·         There are numbers of outside Christians who are taking risks on behalf of the church outside of China.

·         China is slowly opening to others who want to come to share Jesus. BUT, that could change at any time because the government controls whatever happens in the religious realm through the Religious Bureau.

·         I still am in disbelief that I had the unbelievable opportunity to share two messages in a church where the minority of participants were foreigners and the majority were from mainland China. And I note that this is really historic. Joel has shared messages 6 times, and Will Graham shared once on Sept. 16. Otherwise, it is the law that foreigners are not allowed to share the Gospel publicly to Chinese nationals anywhere in the whole country of China. Shenzhen has now become the first exception.

·         We have the obligation to regularly keep the Chinese Christian Church in our prayers.

·         One day, Chinese missionaries will come to the U.S. We can help pave the way for that to happen by looking for places where Chinese Christians can serve in the U.S. For example, Chinese Christian teachers can serve in one of our high schools teaching Chinese. Grade schools or universities might look for teachers in Chinese. Why not locate the Chinese who are already have a burden to share Jesus with others.

·         China continues to have a great need for English teachers. We can encourage young adults (and older adults too) to take two years out of their lives for service in China through the American church.

·         Thanks to God for those who to go to serve in China (those whose names we know, and the many that we don’t know) so that the China Church can be better equipped to proclaim Jesus.

I AM WILLING TO COME AND SHARE SOME OF THE INSIGHTS WITH PICTURES OF WHERE I HAVE BEEN AND WHAT I HAVE SEEN IN CHINA. I AM NOT ALLOWED TO PUT SOME OF THE PICTURES AND PLACE NAMES ON THE INTERNET. GIVE ME A HOLLER!!