Is it finally Spring?

Is it Spring?

Even the gulls are being lovey-dovey...

Is it Spring in the air?

On my walk past Eagle's Roost Park,

I saw dozens of Bald Eagles,

Perched in trees

And crusing through the air.

The sun is shining,

the air feels warmer...

Is Spring finally here?

by Mark Kubo

March Sunset

After all that snow today, the skies cleared up with plenty of clouds left for a colorful sunset this evening. We had just finished playing a game of Clue when I went out to the windows to take a look and saw colors that we hadn't seen in some weeks. Grabbing the camera, I rushed out to the Narrows, now at low tide, and the rocks had just enough snow left on them to create interesting patterns going out towards the water.

What Spring...?

The snow's been coming down fairly steady and sometimes quite heavy for much of the day today. Cell phone service has been completely out since around midnight. Anyway, I went out for the weekly minister's coffee at Helse's this morning and grabbed a few photos, and a few more this afternoon.

It looks like Narnia's endless winter...

Anyone familiar with C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe has read about the endless winter of Narnia, thanks (or no thanks?) to the White Witch, where it's always winter but never Christmas. Well, our winter is beginning to feel a bit like that. Although the forecast office no longer has any advisories out for our area, we are seeing large quantities of huge, wet chunks of snow falling. Winter is not giving up without a huge fight, and I'm beginning to wonder where the White Witch of Alaska resides... Now some may say, "But you're in Alaska!" But this is Southeast Alaska, where we're supposed to be getting mostly liquid, not solid, precipitation.

Winter makes a comeback

Since Saturday, the skies have been showing off its blueness, the sun has been peeking through the clouds. The temperatures have warmed up, the snow is thawing, and edges of lawns can be seen where the snow has retreated.

Believing that spring is here and not expecting much more in the way of ice and snow, I swapped out my bicycle wheels yesterday from ones with studded tires to the ones with cyclocross type tires. I went out for a nice ride out and back for about 45 minutes under light showers.

This morning was similar. I rode out to the church to take the trash bin to the street for emptying today. Later on, in early afternoon, I rode out to the Post Office to retrieve today's mail. There was a package for Amy containing shoes and boots. I was afraid I was going to have to call Elise to come pick up the package, but I managed to cram the box with the other pieces of mail into my backpack and return home.

It was only short time after returning that I looked out the window and saw ice pellets raining down. After a few minutes of that, snow started to fall. It started out light, then got heavier and heavier until it was no longer possible to see across the Narrows.

And then just a few minutes later the snow tapered and the sun peeked through the clouds, and the far shore became visible again...


And soon enough, the skies began to clear and show some blue...


This evening, the snow is falling like it was in the first photo -- heavy and blown about by gusty winds. The far shore is nearly hidden again. The Juneau forecast office has issued a snow advisory for much of tomorrow, with 2 to 5 inches possible by the evening tomorrow.

It looks like Winter is giving her one last "hurrah!" before leaving the stage for spring's solo act.

Bible Reading 2007, Week 13

This week's readings comes from Deuteronomy 27-30 and the letter to the Galatians.

After quite a number of weeks in the books of the Law of the Old Testament, we are treated to Galatians where Paul gives his treatise on the proper place of law in a person's spiritual experience and journey. Chapter 5 is the summary of the proper relationships between peoples, God, grace, and law.

Is It Spring Yet?

A New Song

Here is a new song, hymn style, based on Ephesians 2:11-18, which speaks about how Christ's blood shed on the cross reconciles people back to God and with one another.

As I was composing the music, the melody from Beethoven's 9th Symphony popped into my mind and I realized that it fits this song's meter perfectly. So I used a short portion of the famous melody right near the end.

Our dehumidifier quit

I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised since it's been running 12+ hrs/day for almost six months now. It switches on and makes a short beep, but nothing else. We had Gerry come in and take a look, but couldn't find anything obviously wrong.

We could send it out for warranty work, as it's still under warranty, but that means paying hefty shipping fees. And even then, we need another unit ASAP so all of the moisture doesn't collect inside all over again. So we are trying to locate one to borrow, or else we will have to purchase another unit (hopefully the hardware store still has some in stock -- they cost more than ours did, though... sigh.)

Today is the first day of spring, or so I'm told. Looking outside, it's hard to imagine spring being here. The precipitation has turned to fairly heavy rain today, though, so maybe that is a sign.

Amy has been going to swimming lessons this last two weeks. Although I haven't seen it yet, I'm told that Amy has progressed from barely dog paddling about to being able to use her hands and arms effectively in the water.

Pastor Brown is here this week and he will be giving the sermon, so I have a break of sorts this week, at least from that particular bit of work.

We decided to use some of the sales proceeds to pay off the mortgage on our rental property. That way we save immeidately on interest payments, more than we would gain by leaving the funds in a money market account, and the rental income becomes a real income stream rather than simply passing through to the lender. We'll also be completely debt-free, at least until the next mortgage.

The children's choir is scheduled to perform twice during the first week of April. The first is on April 3 when our Alaska Conference leaders come through Petersburg. They do this once a year and have music and some talks. This year we will add the children to the mix. The evening begins with a potluck dinner, the music, and then talks on health and spiritual topics. I've invited the families of the choir's kids to come and stay for the whole program.

The second performance is for the community Good Friday service on the 6th at the Lutheran church. The tradition is that each minister in town who participates speaks on one of the assigned seven last words of Christ. I'll be giving a short message of around three minutes on the phrase, "It is finished," followed immediately by the kids singing When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, in a contemporary musical setting.

As far as I can tell, my body is still suffering from stress, though I haven't been experiencing bad headaches. Either the stress level has gone down, or my body has readjusted to the higher stress and I don't notice it anymore. I hope it's the former and not the latter. It really doesn't help that I haven't had much opportunity to go out and exercise as much as I would like. All the snow, slush, and ice hampers outside exercise. And there isn't enough room indoors to do anything.

Bible Reading 2007, Week 12

This week's reading comes from Deuteronomy 4:4-26:19 and Psalm 119:1-80.

These readings go back over Moses' final words to Israel where he repeats the instructions God gave to the people, to remind them that it is best for them to live inside the boundaries that God gave them. If they choose to live otherwise, Moses warns them that they will suffer the natural consequences.

Sermon, March 17: No Accident

(Click on above title link for sermon audio)

This week I take another look at the story of the wedding at Cana as recorded by John in chapter 2, verses 1-11. The sermon looks at the larger literary context that John places this story inside, so I look at John chapters 1, and also chapters 12-20.

The question that I think faces all of us from time to time is this: Is my life an accident? Especially when things aren't going well, we begin to question and doubt whether God really knows what is best for us, and we wonder if God can really be trusted. Wouldn't it be better if we could have the power to change the past and see into the future so that we could make better decisions today?

The story of the wedding at Cana led me to some lines of thought that answers some of the questions posed above.

(The first couple minutes sound a little different than the rest of the recording. I again forgot to turn on the recording device at the beginning, so I had to re-record the first couple of minutes after getting back home.)

Small town birthdays

Amy was a guest at a birthday party this evening. It was for one of the girls that is part of our choir. It's also the first one that either of our girls had been invited to.

What I find interesting isn't the party itself -- the party itself is just like any one might encounter. What I do find interesting is first of all, the toy store that we have here. It's a small, one-room store. I'm pretty sure it's smaller than the living/dining area that we used to have. Anyway, the owner/storekeep keeps track of the kids in town, their birthdays, and what gifts were purchased for each child. Not just for one birthday or occasion, but purchases going back for years. So the chances of a child receiving duplicate gifts is greatly diminished. This is something that can occur only in a small, isolated town where it's highly impractical to purchase birthday gifts elsewhere. And with someone interested in keeping track of all this, why would anyone shop elsewhere?

The other interesting thing was that after the birthday party, the girl's mom drove all the little guests back home. Again, this is something that can only be done in a town where most everyone lives within a 3-mile or so radius. We were imagining how long it would take if we happened to do this in the Portland area: From Tigard, go to Beaverton, then to Hillsboro, and then down to Tualatin, and maybe West Linn and Oregon City, and then back. This would take a lot longer than a half an hour.

Shelley spent the afternoon at the Boys' and Girls' Club where she decorated a ceilling tile to be used to redecorate the building that is used for the Club. After that she made faux-Olive Garden Minestrone soup which we had for dinner tonight.

Spring is trying to make a comeback. We had rain for much of the day. The weather forecast says we might see snow again tonight, however.

Sold!

We got word this afternoon that all transactions on the sale of our house was completed and title transferred to the new owners.

I just looked in my e-mail archives to see when we listed, and it was August 20, 2006. Today is March 15, 2007. So that means it was just a few days shy of seven months from listing to close.

On that day when we stepped forward on the irreversible course to where we are now, we never imagined that it would take that long... We thought a couple of months, maybe three at the most. But we didn't realize how bad a turn the real estate market would take, and how competitive the Bull Mountain area had become.

How long had God been preparing us for this? I have to go all the way back to the days I lived as a child in Singapore, where I first encountered the wonders of computers. Then I have to thank Bob Baerg at Monterey Bay Academy for allowing me to indulge my love of computers there. As a confused eighteen year old, who for some reason which I cannot recall, who put down as his initial major choice, Chemistry, and also considered majoring in Music, I chose instead to pursue Computer Science, because it held the best chance for making a more than comfortable living.

Even prior to graduation, I was fortunate in getting hired into a growing software company, Eikon, which became a part of Central Point Software, then Symantec. And then I made a move to Network Associates/McAfee. These companies served for me a bit like Egypt's seven years of plenty under Joseph.

Though during many of those earlier years, my walk with God was off and on -- mostly off -- and even when on, it was at a distance -- as I look back I can see how God used even those years as preparations for where I am today.

And for those that are wondering, yes, I feel better today. I haven't had a headache today for the first time in about a week.

It appears that the snafus regarding Elise's nursing license aren't as large as we initially thought. So though things looked to be completely derailed yesterday, today it looks as if things might only have taken a minor detour -- instead of facing a cliff, maybe it's just some rocky and potholed spots.

We continue to have off and on snow here. It's been this way since the latter part of February. We're told this is not typical weather here. But then, it seems that all over the world, chaotic weather seems to be becoming the norm rather than the exception.

Stress is getting to me

Over the last few weeks, I've encountered, and still going through, a number of stressful events. By themselves, I may not have really noticed too much, but all of them coming together in a short span have resulted in my body simply no longer physically able to adequately handle it. It's showing up in my blood pressure readings. I've been having unexplained headaches that nothing will alleviate.

I have a little wrist-based BP meter that my mom gave me some years back. It was in one of the boxes that I was digging through last week. So just to see, I used it and discovered that the measurements were in the area that, based on past experience, I know for me results in headaches and generally ill feelings.

I got to thinking about all the things that have happened and quickly realized why my body is reacting the way it is.

• Elise being away for 1.5 weeks, of which a couple of the days were unexpected absences because the weather wouldn't permit planes to land.
• Our property sale being handled during that same period, having to deal with signing papers across states and time zones.
• Wondering if the sale will actually close -- all indications are that it will today or tomorrow. The purchasers have signed their papers and all that's left is for the funds to be disbursed.
• Elise's mom and our niece coming to visit for a week coninciding with Elise's return. Additional people and disruptions of schedule on top of an already stressful period multiplies the stres level.
• Elise's nursing license situation. She found out today that in order to get an Alaska license, it requires her to hold a valid license elsewhere. In all her converstations with the hospital here and the Board in Anchorage, despite hearing that Elise doesn't have a current valid license anywhere, no one seemed to realize that that would be a problem until the application process went through. Let's just say Elise is not a happy camper -- a rather frustrated, angry, and depressed camper... maybe... but not happy. And that again contributes to the overall negative stress level. Again, our plans get tossed the window, or at least delayed due to uncertainties and circumstances beyond our control. Elise is now working through the process to regain her California license, because that appears to be the most feasible and shortest route.
• The church heating bill (heating oil) has been around $450/month the last two months. The regular contributions might come to that each month. So what we have is a negative cash flow. As the weather warms up things should improve, but still, it isn't good. The usual response is: Well, we need to increase our membership. But I have a problem with that. If the only or main reason to increase membership is to bring in more funds to keep the church open, then we shouldn't have a church building. We're planning a business meeting in a couple of weeks and having to present this little "problem" weighs on my mind.

Yesterday, I was close to non-functional because of all the things weighing upon my mind. I couldn't even get up the mental energies to put together a plan for our weekly children's choir rehearsal. So I went in last night with basically no plan -- except to wing it -- something I normally would never choose to do for anything. There must have been a power greater than me working things out and helping me, because not only did the rehearsal go about as well as it ever have gone, but as the evening progressed, I just felt better. Elise commented on that last aspect as we were heading home.

I think one reason for why I felt better after going through the rehearsal might have to do with the fact that this little choir, even though it's just four right now -- our two plus two other girls -- it is the one tangible difference that we seem to be making on a regular basis. The two girls that aren't ours, enjoy the hour we spend each week, and they are learning the songs. Last evening, we started working on a song that uses two-part harmony.

The other things we do, whether the regular church services or the cooking class, or the stop smoking class that we want to do, they're long-term efforts and we haven't really seen any results, good or bad, from those things yet.

Even though the my conscious efforts and thinking does everything possible to reduce stress, more exercise, more water, more prayer; the subconscious still reacts in a negative manner.

We desperately need your prayers. First for a sort of healing so that my negative stress goes down, my subconscious can find some rest, and I can feel better. Secondly, for Elise's nursing licensing process to proceed with no more major stumbling blocks. Thirdly, for Elise's general well-being through all of this.

God's ways are not our ways, the Bible tells us. Wait on the Lord, it also tells us. How much more have we to learn about this, I wonder? Just when we think we could see down the road, we discover that there is yet another unmarked bend in the road.

A jaunt to Blind River

There was a bit of a sun break this morning.

From the family we had lunch with yesterday, the girls learned that the Girls' Club portion of the Boys' and Girls' Club here, offers a Photo Club. So they spent around an hour yesterday afternoon there, and came back with one of the single-use cameras. They were taking quite a number of indoor photos.

Anyway, back to the opening sentence of this post... I sent them outdoors this morning to get some photos there. And then my plan was for all of us to drive down to the Blind River picnic area next to the fish hatchery. This is where last June, the girls spent some time swimming in the river/slough. The bridge across the river to the hatchery is where kids jump off and into the river during the summer.

By the time we started out, the clouds had rolled back in and snow was starting to fall again, if ever so lightly. It's about a 15-mile drive out. This is just a little bit more than what my commute used to be. But now it seems like a really, really long trip. Funny how perception of time and distance is oh, so relative.

Anyway, we got to the river and the picnic area. The highway beyond the picnic area is not plowed. To go any farther requires a snow machine of some sort. The scenery was quite different from what we saw last summer. That might seem like stating the obvious, but it really looked like a different world, although some of the shapes and forms were somewhat recognizable.

We spent probably a half an hour or so in the area, photographing the scenery. By the time we were getting ready to go back, the snowfall had increased in intensity and continued to do so as we drove back. While driving back, I think it was Amy that mentioned something about changing the clock. It was only then that we realized that, "Oh, today is the changeover to DST." We don't watch television, we don't really listen to the radio, no reason to try to make it to the stores at opening or before closing, and there were no appointments that we had to make today. We knew about the change yesterday, but there was nothing to remind us today that we were living one-hour behind the times...

This evening the clouds again closed in and there was a period of heavy and wet snow.

Here are a few images from today. The bottom one of the boat is from the front yard of the apartment. All the others are from the Blind River area.

Bible Reading 2007, Week 11

This week the readings are from Deuteronomy 1:1 - 4:43; and Psalms 74, 76, 104, 105, 114, 135, and 144-150.

Sermon, March 10: Running Empty, Running Full

(Click on above title link for sermon audio.)

This week I start a series of sermons within a series (I guess...) In our journey through the Gospel of John, we are now at chapter 2, the first part (vss. 1-11) which is the story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana, and where He miraculously turns water into wine. There is so much to this story that it is probably going to take three weeks to do it justice.

Anyway, it deals with the question of emptiness that I think all of us feel and experience from time to time, and also the mystery of why God doesn't always seem to respond immediately and/or in the way we want the response to appear.

I forgot to turn the audio recording on until about a minute into the sermon, as I was reading the passage in John 2:1-11. So that's where the audio starts -- in the middle of the reading.

They made it out

They got seats on the southbound flight and made it out. Last night before heading off to bed, I saw that the flight was enroute to Seattle, so I'm assuming they made it back to Portland sometime during the night.

It's a good thing they got out when they did, because it was just 20 minutes or so later that the clouds and fog and snow all came back with a vengeance, reducing visibility to just across the street. It stayed that way, more or less, for much of the evening.

I think that yesterday's weather changes were one of the strangest that I've ever experienced. One moment, blue skies and sunshine, the next blowing snow and visibility reduced to half a mile or less, and then just as suddenly, blue skies again.

Today, it appears that all of that is behind us. There's just a smooth blanket of snow on the front yard. Now maybe Winter is ready to make way for Spring.

Another strange weather day

Today is the day Elise's mom and niece are supposed to leave. I think it will happen, but the weather has been swinging between extremes. They definitely will not make the planned connection in Juneau. At this point, I'm not sure they'll make it back to Portland today. They can get as far as Seattle. The other option is for them to try to get seats on the later, southbound flight and take a chance that this flight will make it in and out.

The morning started out with falling and accumulating snow. Then around mid-morning it swung to almost partly cloudy skies with bright sunshine. Then the snow would start again, the clouds and fog would roll in, the wind kicks in, and turns into an almost blizzard-like condition. Then a few minutes later, all that would be gone and the sun comes back.

Looking at the Alaska Air site, it looks like the plane is probably in Wrangell, as the pilot and ground crew try to make a decision on whether or not to continue on to Petersburg, and if so, when.

Almost done

Welcome to a semi-bright Thursday morning, at least here in Petersburg. Winter refuses to release its grip without a fight. We had a couple of days of 40+ degrees and rain, helping to wash away some of the snow, but last night, snow started to fall again. This morning, we are seeing a combination of sun, clouds, and snow.

We received our property sale closing documents yesterday. We signed them, and now they are on their way back down to Portland. Unless something major occurs between now and next Thursday, the closing should take place as scheduled.

When that finally settles, our severely negative cash-flow situation will be improved to a little bit of a negative cash-flow. The next little hurdle is our wait for the Alaska Board of Nursing to send Elise's nursing license so that she can start working. It can come as early as around the 20th, and hopefully no later than the first week or two of April. The application fee check was cashed, so we know they've received the application.

And then once that happens, we can find out how much of a housing loan we can get. That plus the proceeds from the sale will determine how much house we are able to purchase. Projecting forward, my guess is that it's going to be May or later until we are able to purchase and move. That's probably just as well, because moving in snow and ice isn't all that fun. (I must add though, that moving is never fun for me.) Maybe it will be dry and warm by the time May and June come around. On the other hand, some property could come up for sale in the next month or two that we simply have to jump on.

We're basically looking for property in town (no more than a mile, maybe two, from the center), 3+ bedrooms, 1.5+ baths, a largish living area, a good kitchen, and covered parking (we've learned is very important here - no fun digging out vehicles buried in snow, or trying to thaw out 1/4-inch thick ice) that can fit our F-150.

I'm not yet at the place where I understand the reasons behind why our property sold when it did, or why it's taken so much longer than we anticipated for Elise to get her license, and a multitude of other "why's." Maybe in another six months or a year, we will be able to look back and begin to better understand. I guess that's one bit of life that I've learned -- that the events of life don't make much sense at the time they're happening. Our God reveals only what is necessary for us to live life today, for us to make decisions necessary to get through today. Our life this past year is an illustration of James 4:13-16:

"Look here, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.' How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog--it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, 'If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.' Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil." (NLT)

This week, our girls have been spending their nights at the church with their grandmother and their cousin. Grandma and cousin are leaving us tomorrow. Stripey, one of our cats, will be very happy to have Shelley back home. Shelley is his special person. This week, he's been very clingy whenever I'm around. He tries to hug and kiss me when I'm trying to read and otherwise accomplish things at the kitchen table.

Snow Day

Things are warming up, but there is plenty of snow on the ground. I just heard that today was an extremely rare (as in even old-timers don't know when the last time this occurred, or if it ever has) snow day where the schools shut down.

I walked to church and back, but there were no sidewalks... They were all under four to six feet of plowed snow.

Bible Reading 2007, Week 10

Our Bible reading together continues this week from Numbers 31-36; Acts 6:8 through chapter 7; and Proverbs 10-15. The Israelites, after spending 40 years in the wilderness as nomads, are now once again nearly ready to enter Canaan to settle there permanently.

Everyone made it back

Yes, the fog lifted and the snow stopped and the plane was able to land this afternoon, albeit a few hours later than scheduled. The storm watch is still calling for snow tonight and tomorrow, but it looks like it won't be quite as severe as was originally forecast.

So we are all back together tonight for the first time in a week and a half.

More snow

It seems that Petersburg is where the storm wants to stick around. The snow is once more coming down at a good clip. Both north and southbound flights are delayed now because of weather. It is not looking good for today's arrivals.

I barely made it into the church parking lot today. Not only is the unplowed area deep, the entry to the driveway had a berm that the city plow had built up. The streets have become so narrow that turning around is difficult for a large vehicle like mine. I had no choice other than to shovel the berm and then drive in praying that I wouldn't get stuck. I'm at the church now, but I don't think anyone will be coming today.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

Another attempt today

As feared, none of the flights made it into Petersburg yesterday. So Elise spent yet another night in Juneau. All the hotels there are full now. Fortunately, one of our church members who works for the Forest Service was also stuck there, and the Forest Service provides housing to traveling employees. So Elise and Lorean were able to go there instead of spending a night at the airport. I'm sure if they had to, they could have found a place to stay with one of the church members in Juneau.

The weather this morning is overcast, but visibility seems to be okay. A bald eagle is sitting on a post that is just across the street. There's probably somewhere close to 3 feet of snow on the ground. Another storm watch is in effect late tonight and into Sunday with potential for another foot or more of snow.

So there is a window of a few hours today where the flights could make it in. They will be attempting to come in on the southbound, afternoon flight. The departure from Anchorage has already been delayed 30 minutes or more, so we will see what happens.

Elise's mom should be on her way here. Her flight has left Seattle and is enroute to Ketchikan. No delays are reported for that flight yet. The church service this morning is likely going to be fairly short, since that flight arrives around 11:40 a.m. and I'll need to pick her up.

Good morning to a whiteout

I guess it's not quite what one would call a blizzard, but nevertheless visibility is very limited and snow is still coming down thick and heavy. The temperature has warmed up to 30, so the snow is no longer light powder, but of the thicker, heavier kind. The clouds are low, almost fog-like. If the skies don't clear up a bit more, there won't be any flights landing here today.

The fiddle and guitar group, of which Shelley is a part, is performing at the Elementary School this morning. Once again, my Friday is going to consist of running about to different places, and additionally will include waiting for a plane that might or might not land in the afternoon.

Knowing that I spent 3 hours last night from 10p-1a writing a first draft of tomorrow's sermon. I thought it would be better to have something to speak from than waiting until the last minute and not having anything at all. I'm not entirely satisfied with what I wrote down -- blame it on being tired and wanting to go to sleep. I hope I'll have some time today to work on a revision.

Cold, windy, snowy, and poor visibility

The storm came in this afternoon, and the plane did not land -- although it tried a number of times. Elise wasn't even on it... The Alaska Air customer service in Juneau told her that the chance of reaching Petersburg today was very, very remote, so she decided to stay overnight there and try again tomorrow. The chance of a plane coming through tomorrow also seems pretty slim, as this storm is expected to continue into tomorrow evening. If the storm lets up early, then the chance improves. If not tomorrow, then Saturday afternoon would be the next opportunity.

The Adventist church in Japan

I came across a just-posted blog entry containing an interesting interview with Yasuki Miyamoto, an Adventist pastor in Japan, and also the director of the Japanese agency of the Willow Creek Association. In the interview, he relates the challenges facing Christianity in Japan and what the Adventist church is doing in its effort to overcome some of them.

Interview here: http://progressiveadventism.com/2007/02/28/interlogue-21-yasuki-miyamoto/

Last day of February and Some Photos

A couple other pastors and I were talking this morning about the weather this winter. One made the comment that the winter had been bookended by cold and snow. It came in with a bang in November with single-digit temps and snow after snow. Now at the end of February, it's not leaving without a fight. A winter storm is forecast for tomorrow. That on top of the teens and twenties, and the several inches of snow we've already had this week. I wonder if Elise's flight tomorrow afternoon will be able to land...

Today was a spectacularly beautiful day. All morning and about half of the afternoon was with sunny to partly cloudy skies -- very cold, but also very bright. Mid-afternoon the clouds started to roll in, foreshadowing the storm that is likely to hit in 8 to 12 hours' time.

I went to meet the other pastors this morning without my camera. There were no clouds to speak of in the sky, and scenics just don't look very good without at least a few clouds. By the time I left the restaurant, about an hour later, puffy, interesting clouds were covering the sky. So I made my way back home, grabbed the camera, and began walking back into town and past to the church, stopping along the way to capture a few images.

Of the photos below, the one with the deer was taken a few days ago. All the rest are from today.

Sale is moving forward

Last night I received a few escrow papers to fill out and return. I heard that the earnest money was deposited yesterday. This morning I got a call from our broker telling me a few concerns brought up by the buyer. One of the issues I've already arranged to have someone come out and look and do some maintenance, if needed. So the sale of our property is moving forward.

Due to a number of factors, Elise and Lorean had stayed in a motel in Rapid City instead of going all the way into Wyoming. They leave today to spend one night in Wyoming, before returning to the same motel tomorrow night for an early flight out and back here. But it turns out that this worked well, because the escrow paper needed Elise's signature, and the front desk at the motel was easily able to accommodate this need.

By now you probably know that the global stock market took a severe downturn in today's trading. Was it coincidence or providence that there was an offer made for our property just a week ago, and that we chose to accept it last Friday? If I was considering purchase and the market started to fall off a precipice like it did today, I would become very reluctant to go forward with such a large purchase...

Mt. Rushmore

I just spoke with Elise. She was able to go and see the big faces at Mt. Rushmore in the Dakota hills. They were delayed out of Atlanta, missed a connection at Salt Lake City, waited for another flight, and got into Rapid City later than scheduled. So rather than going into Wyoming, it looks like they will be staying their entire time in Rapid City. Lorean's brother and his wife came into Rapid City and they will be staying there the next couple of nights as well.

The girls and I are managing ourselves back here in Petersburg. We had extra butternut squash from last Thursday, so I made the same soup last night, plus some fried rice to go with it. Amy does not like the little fake-meat gluten burger bits, so she didn't have any of the rice.

The weather here continues to be mostly cloudy, cold, and dry. The snow remains on the ground, slowly evaporating away. I went to the Post Office yesterday on the bicycle. Riding through soft slush is worse than ice. It's like riding through deep sand or mud. I was trying to go up a slight incline, and my rear wheel kept spinning and sliding sideways. I'm sure the driver of the car following me must have been amused...

Bible Reading 2007, Week 9

This week's readings are in Numbers 26-30; Hebrews 5:1-4; Proverbs 4, 9; and Psalm 95.

Sermon, Feb. 24: The Heart of Worship

(Click on above title to listen to audio.)

In today's sermon, I explore what I've come to understand as the main reason why Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah refused to eat the food from the king's table. Although the clean/unclean issue, as many of us were probably taught, likely did play some part, I no longer believe that that was the main issue for Daniel. I believe there is a much more fundamental and universal principle at work -- one that is relevant to us today.

Psalm 95 Leadsheet

Here is the leadsheet for the tune composed by the children's choir and set to words taken from Psalm 95 (click on each page for a larger view) --

Buyer's offer accepted

Last evening the interested buyer offered us $5K less than what we said was the final offer. After considering the merits, including the proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," and getting a hold of Elise over in Atlanta, we decided that it made sense to go ahead.

Among the factors that led to us deciding it was good enough, was that the buyer wants to close on the property in under 3 weeks, and he won't be asking for fixes of minor issues that come up in the inspection.

Elise had to find a fax machine where she could receive and send the signed agreement. She called me about 5 a.m. this morning, waking me, to tell me that she found a place (of course that was already 9 a.m. where she is). Anyway I asked her to wait until I was a bit more awake. I had planned to go back to sleep, but of course with my brain starting to race, sleep was out of the question. So around 6 a.m. I tried to call, but no answer. I called every five minutes or so until close to 7 a.m. when Elise happened to have her purse and phone next to her and answered it. It's a phone that I hadn't been using all that often, so it was probably set to either vibrate, or the ring set to the lowest setting.

Anyway, we are now a little closer to having our housing limbo finalize into something more tangible.

On the weather note again, during Shelley's fiddle lesson, a snow squall came through for about an hour. Now it's all let up again and we have mostly cloudy skies.

It's definitely winter again

After a night and day of snow, I awoke to partly cloudy skies and the sun radiating on the hill just outside our window, across the Narrows. It is cold, crisp, and dry today. The weather forecast looks like much of the same for the next ten days or so -- though that forecast could well change in a blink of an eye.

Last night I taught the second cooking class. Probaby due to the snow and ice, as well as some Lenten services going on in a couple of churces in town, the turn out was low -- just two from the community, two of our church members, my girls, and me. But we had a good time, and it appeared that everyone was quite pleased with the new dishes to try out on their own -- an Indian potatoe dish, an Indian green beans dish, and a butternut squash soup. We used lots of garlic, ginger, and cayenne.

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, I arranged a series of notes, composed by the children's choir on Tuesday, into a little praise and worship style song using a few texts from Psalm 95. The series of notes were composed by the children, by holding up plastic plates at three levels -- above the line, on the line, and below the line -- all on a count of three. We repeated this about four times so that I would have around 25 notes to work with. I'll get the music posted here sometime in the next few days. The kids will get to listen to their composition on Tuesday.

My Linguistic Profile

An interesting little self-test to see what you speak. Here's my result:

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

10% Yankee

5% Dixie

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Merry February Christmas

I wasn't the only one that Ms. Weather had fooled into thinking Spring was coming along. I heard of people going out earlier in the week to do some gardening. Our church member that plows quite a number of places in town had just taken off the plow attachment this week. It's now back on the truck. There's already been two or three inches just tonight on top of the inch or two that had fallen earlier in the day. Lots of plowing to do in the morning...

On their way

The flight was delayed about 1.5 hours, but it did manage to come in and leave Petersburg. It wasn't able to get the next destination, Wrangell, however, and went straight on to Ketchikan.

We've had snow coming down for pretty much the entire day. The heavy snow warning is still present for tonight through tomorrow morning.

Shelley is attempting to make Alfredo sauce, but her first try she neglected to follow the instruction regarding heat levels and ended up with a rather lumpy sauce -- not very useful at all. Her second try is progressing much better.

Race to beat the snow

The skies are holding off at the moment (except for a few light flakes), but starting this evening there is a heavy snow warning issued for this area. We could see over six inches of new snow through tonight.

Elise leaves this afternoon, at least that's the plan. If the storm comes in early, there's a chance the flight could bypass Petersburg. Yesterday morning's flight did just that due probably to the unexpected bit of snow that came down in the morning. The afternoon flight came in just fine though, so I'm not quite sure how the airline makes the decision to overhead or not.

We did get an offer on our property a couple of days ago, but it was absurdly low. We countered a couple of times and are now waiting for the final verdict to come in this morning.

Spring to winter

The warming temperatures and a little bit of sunshine this morning fooled me into thinking that Spring was coming. About an hour after I captured the photo of the sun radiating off of the top of this hill, the snow started to fall. The snow came down for several hours, and is continuing to come down, and now the whole city and countryside looks like winter all over again. The remainder of the week looks like it might get colder -- back into the 20's, even. I thought about changing the studded tires on my mountain bike to regular street tires, but it looks like that will have to wait.

Here's how things look now.

Still waiting for a buyer for our property

We continue to wait for someone to make an offer on our property. Our broker visited a number of the new construction brokers in the area over the weekend. Most of the new construction in the area is listing from $50K-100K more than our asking price, and many potential purchasers cannot afford that. So our broker went around to suggest to them that when interested parties come around to look and cannot afford the new construction, that they take a look at our property. Since the brokers don't get paid until the property sells, if they can bring a resale to close more quickly than a higher priced new construction, it benefits them as well.

Elise received her RN refresher course completion certificate last week. She needs to find out in what form to send this certificate to the AK Board of Nursing, and then following that, a few more weeks of waiting.

Once our property sells, once Elise begins working, then we can figure out how much we can/need to borrow, and then look for a permanent abode here.

Snow is falling again this morning, turning the lawn outside into a pale shade of green.

Start of another busy week

President's Day notwithstanding, we are heading into a busy week. On Wednesday Elise leaves with Lorean for a trip across the U.S. for eight days. We continue our choir rehearsal on Tuesday, prayer meeting on Wednesday, a cooking class on Thursday, and sermon preparation. I also have to keep on top of the kids by myself, make sure they get their schoolwork done and make sure they don't get too antagonistic towards one another.

I'm not sure how I'm going to mange all that and retain my sanity...

Bible Reading 2007, Week 8

This week we're reading from Numbers 10:11-25 and Hebrews 4.

This is where we learn that we aren't so different from the Israelites. We like to have our own ways, seems to demand more, and just generally not content with what we have and how things are. I'm sure there are a few lessons to be learned from our readings this week.

Sermon, Feb. 17: Come and See

(Click on title above to listen to the audio.)

Today I spoke on John 1:35-51 and what John, the Gospel writer and the Evangelist, says to us about witnessing and evangelism. I'm not sure how and where we got the usual stereotypes of witnessing and evangelism, but they aren't what John describes.

Thoughts on the flu and children's choir

Yes, it's been a few days. There really hasn't been much happening here besides the usual routines. Additionally, although I'm not showing much at all in the way of observable symptoms, I've been feeling just terrible the last couple of days.

Whatever bug is going around is apparently more severe than usual. I've heard from a number of people how in most other years they don't stay down for a week with the flu, but this one just knocks a person out good and cold (or hot, I suppose depending on your point of view). I heard this morning that the high school is seeing an unusual number of substitute teachers.

While I was miserable and unable to get to sleep last night, I came up with a hypothesis. I have no idea if its correct or not, but it's my explanation of why it seems like the whole town is sick. Maybe someone's done a study on this and has a more scientific answer...

Hypothesis: A person, regardless of where they live, probably interacts with about the same number of people over a period of time, say a day or two. In a larger community, these interactions are quite likely to be with different people with few overlaps. But in a small community, you tend to bump into the same people -- lots of overlaps. In a larger community, the people carrying the cold or flu probably tend to be more spread out and a person comes across them less frequently. In a smaller community, a person tends to have more frequent contact with those that are carriers. The immune system is able to handle and combat new threats, but it takes time to build up the proper antibodies. In a larger community with less frequent contact with carriers, the immune system is able to build up the necessary antibodies before being overexposed to the threat. In a smaller community, with the more frequent exposure, the immune system doesn't get enough time to build up the necessary antibodies before the body gets overwhelmed by the threat.

Monday we went from dry and clear to snow, and then overnight it changed to rain. Tuesday was a mixture of rain and occasionally some heavy, wet snow. It's been just rain today.

I'm also trying to figure out how to most effectively run the children's choir. The kids range from 3rd to 8th grade -- a very wide range. And to add to that, some have had extensive musical training already while some are complete novices. How and what are ways to make sure kids at both ends of the spectrum are engaged so that they want to continue?

You know the kids are feeling better when...

After severals days of being very docile and compliant, they begin to argue with each other and with you.

Starting about last night, we've been noticing that they are regaining their physical and mental energies back, and things are returning to normal around here.

Bible Reading 2007, Week 7

The last two weeks have been heavy on the number of pages that we had to read. This week is giong to be a very light week. It's just Numbers 1:1-10:10; Hebrews 3; and Proverbs 1, 2.

Sermon, Feb. 10: Will You Be Mine?

(Click on title above for MP3 sermon audio.)

As you know, we've all been, and continue to suffer from some type of flu -- I think it's more than just the common cold. Elise and the girls have been suffering a few miserable days here.

I've resorted to my "suppress the symptoms and stimulate the immune system" concoction of crushed raw garlic, grated fresh ginger, large amounts of cayenne pepper, and a bit of concentrated lemon juice. So far it seems to be having some effect.

Yesterday, I was not feeling well and thought things might get much worse today. I did awake in the middle of the night with some aches, but some ibuprofen took care of that and I managed to continue sleeping. I felt much better this morning and knew that I would at least get through Sabbath School and Worship without any physical problems.

A family that hadn't been attending for a while, and with whom I visited this past week, came this morning bringing along two of their girls and another girl. I sort of suspected that there might be a few kids, even with ours flat out at home, so before leaving home I quickly downloaded a Sabbath School lesson for earliteens. Fortunately the adult class teacher was able to make it so we had a teacher in there, and I was able to go in and lead out the kids' class.

The sermon was based on John 1:19-34, where John the Baptist gives his testimony regarding Jesus. From there I tried to give an answer to the question, "What would a Valentine from Jesus look like and say to us today?"

Now that morning duties are done and I'm back home, I am feeling somewhat worse than I was. The aches are returning and I'm feeling about 70%, down from about 95% earlier.

Everyone down with a cold

I think I'm over the cold that I had last weekend, but the rest of the family is now coughing, sneezing, and generally cold-ish. I'm just hoping that this is the same cold as mine and not a new one. It's always difficult to tell because in nearly all cases, my symptoms are much milder than everyone else. It's almost more annoying that way, because I don't feel ill enough to stay in bed, so I end up working at my daily tasks even though I'm only feeling at about 75% of normal.

On another note, for whatever reason, I've lost more weight since getting here. I'm now just a few lbs. above 100. If this keeps up, in just a few more months I might be at my college low of about 95 lbs. and will need slacks with a 26 in. waist...

Sun, Clouds, Mist

This morning started out cloudy, but by afternoon the skies had cleared enough for the sun to come through.



I got the brakes on our vehicle checked, and was told that the pads were still good for a little while longer, and to come back in later in the year. So it was about $40 spent for a bit of peace of mind. When the pads do need replacing, we hope to be in somewhat more secure footing...

Truth, half-truth, or fables?

The last few days I've been listening to the audio version of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. It was available from our online audio library, so I said to myself, why not? I might as well know firsthand what all the fuss was a couple of years ago.

From the very first "pages" I've got to admit it is engaging. I find it difficult to shut off the playback so that I can get some other things done, or get some sleep (even though that hasn't been forthcoming in great quantities as of late). Even if the story doesn't come close to being a masterpiece work of fiction, the elements engage curiosity and emotions.

Why am I writing about, what would be in this digital age, ancient news? I think it is because there are some things that I can learn from the book and the way it is put together. And I think I was meant to read it at this particular point in time.

The main point I think I was meant to learn, or be reminded, is that a story, no matter how well crafted and logically laid out it may be, it not necessarily true. The story's "facts" even when presented so convincingly, may not be facts at all, or may be misinterpretations of reality.

Another point that I think I am supposed to glean is that a person's perspective, to a great degree, colors what is reality and truth to that person. If I'm wearing yellow lenses, I'm going to see everything as yellow. If someone else is wearing red lenses, they are going to see everything as red. What another person is convinced is truth and reality, may not be, or only be partially. The same goes for my perspective and opinions.

A third point may be that when enough truth is mixed with fiction, the fiction begins to seem like truth. Even with all that I know about Christian history, when I'm listening to the Da Vinci Code, I find myself thinking, that makes sense... but wait a minute... is it really that way? So I can understand the many individuals who have come to question Christianity based on reading or listening to this book. The story for the most part sounds plausible, especially in the context of a conspiracy that organizations have supposedly kept hidden for centuries. I think most people are suspicious of organizations, especially in today's context, and are willing to believe plausible conspiracy theories.

A final point that I needed reminding is that when a person believes fiction, fables, and errors long enough, for that person, the fiction becomes reality. The take away for me is that whenever someone tells me stories, I need to be (I hate to do this) skeptical enough to separate what is truly true from what someone simply believes to be true, albeit sincerely.

Life goes on

On Saturday night, Elise got a call from the hospital about coming in for a few hours on Sunday to help "babysit" a woman whose husband takes one day off a year for his Superbowl party. So yesterday Elise spent noon to 7 p.m. getting a little bit of pay.

However, I've been noticing that the front brakes on our pickup are starting to make noises. So I'm sure the cost for replacing brake parts is going more than make up for any pay.

The blind lady in our church wants to go visit her sister in Georgia. No one has been found so far that has time to do it. Except Elise, who may be able to go if the trip fits into the last two weeks of February, and it doesn't cost us anything out of pocket. With more fees and such for nursing paperwork, expenses for selling our house, auto repairs, and just the regular living expenses, things are definitely looking tight.

That plus other things related to what is happening around here have definitely contributed to my insomnia experience. I'm afraid it might turn from acute to chronic... I've been trying Valerian supplements upon a suggestion, but so far without much effect. The one study I saw on this herb, in which the results appeared to be statistically significant, showed that positive effects usually started to be observed 14 to 21 days after starting it. So I might have another ten to fifteen days to go before I experience any change.

I've also had a mild cold since Thursday or Friday. I first thought I had a neck or shoulder muscle problem because the right side of my head felt some pain when I tugged on my ear. But then after a couple of days I noticed that my throat was scratch and dry. Things seem much better today, though after riding the bicycle over to the church, the cold air hurt more than it would have if I had been feeling fine, and I also seemed to feel a bit more tired, even after the short trip.

Last week, the weather cleared up after I moaned about the fog. Now, the clouds have rolled back in and we've seen some sprinkles, but no major rain yet. There was a few days of strong auroral activity, but as it typically seems to be, it occurred when the skies were obscured. Now we are in a period of quiet activity.

Bible Reading 2007, Week 6

This week's readings are from Exodus 19-40; Leviticus 18-27; and Malachi 3.

As I read through Moses' life again, I get the distinct impression that he was a strong introvert. For example, he doesn't like to speak, he wrote a lot (the Pentateuch), he keeps his feelings bottled up until they explode, he survived 40 years in isolation caring for sheep...

Sermon, Feb. 3: What's So Special About My God?

(Click on above title for audio.)

Today's sermon is the conclusion of the prologue section of John's Gospel, John 1:14-18. I explore the question regarding what sets Christianity apart from other religions. The answer is found in today's texts from John, together with texts from Leviticus, Matthew, and Colossians.

We had an individual come to our worship today that hadn't attended for many years. It's always a pleasure to have another person join us in our worship.

Finishing up another week

But not quite. One more day to go. Once I get past the first half of tomorrow, I can take a little break -- maybe.

For different reasons, this week seemed more difficult and troubling than ones in more recent memory. The last time my psychological state was in this somewhat brooding, downward mode was a couple of months ago.

A number of somewhat negative data have all converged this week, so that even though I wasn't as busy as I was last week, this week just seemed much tougher, mentally and emotionally.

For instance, the transit and bureaucracy needed for Elise's paperwork to travel through before she can start working for pay is expected to be another six or so weeks. The good news is that we now have a more definite end point. The bad news is that we had hoped the end to have come by now. So our cashflow situation will continue to be severely negative for another couple of months.

That compounded with having to lower the asking price on our Oregon property again last week, followed by additional, unplanned, marketing costs (interior staging and spring exterior cleanup) that we have to absorb adds to my anxiety and frustration -- neither very constructive to my mental and emotional well being. Neither does this help our cashflow problems...

I also learned this week about some troubling, unresolved issues within the church. So that adds more on top of everything else. The experiences I've gone through during the last ten years have been valuable training in ways I would never have imagined.

Finally as I was finishing up tomorrow's sermon, I felt my words and efforts seeming so inadequate to the task. All through the week though, I saw little signals here and there that gave me confidence that both the theme and the approach were right, but today, it just hasn't felt right. I've re-read the sermon, adjusted a few things here and there, but overall I can't do any more. Maybe what I'm feeling now is just a reminder that it's not my words or my cleverness that touches hearts. I need to rely on the Holy Spirit. I'm just a tool.

Lately I've been letting God know that it's okay if he pauses faith-growing activities in my life for a little while. I'd like to coast along on a plateau for a little while. You know, just let me spin along for a while until I catch my breath and recover a bit. So far though, God isn't granting me my request.

Book: Evangelism for the Rest of Us

Evangelism for the Rest of Us: Sharing Christ within Your Personality Style

This is the how-to evangelism book for those of us with an introvert personality. On the Myer-Briggs Extravert/Introvert scale, I come out as far as a person can on the "I" side of the scale. I'm sure if it could go any more, I'd be right there.

So my thoughts and feelings resonated strongly while reading this book. I could identify with nearly everything in the book, from having the "evangelism is not for me" feelings, to the fears that introverts have, the discomfort of large-scale evangelism methods, and so on.

The book is really an affirmation that we, introverts, are uniquely equipped and gifted in ways to reach a portion of the population that is turned off by the more traditional methods and forms of evangelism that continue to be promoted and employed.

Extraverts who read this book will probably not understand and may even think this book is completely wrong about evangelism. Guess what!? We, introverts, think the same about 90% (maybe even more) of the evangelism methods and training out there. Welcome to the club!