Beautiful Trip Back from Grand Junction

James took this picture of me waiting to get on the train.

This is a beautiful sight right outside of Grand Junction.

The vineyard is to the east of Grand Junction and I am sure the wine that comes from here is excellent!

Same vineyard....

This was the first snow we saw. Isn't this pretty?

That same place where we first saw snow, but this is the whole view!

This is the Glenwood Springs train station.

This is across the river from the train station in Glenwood Springs. They have hot springs here, and this is a very cute looking town!

If you look in the middle of this picture, you can see the Hermits House. It is built into a cliff east of Glenwood Springs. There is an elevator at the top of the cliff that you can take to get into the house. It is totally remote. No one would, or even could, bother you there!

This is the start of the canyon just east of Glenwood Springs.

The canyon walls didn't have snow on them, but the trees did.

I-70 near Glenwood springs. The west bound lane is elevated.

Pretty view of the river and the mountains.

The train and the tracks with snow. It was so much fun!

The Colorado River and snow

We sat in the lounge car the whole way. I worked on the blanket I am making the entire time.

Pretty huh?

Snow on the mountains and the Colorado River

James on the train.

Bad News and Good News

Good news and bad news. I will start with the bad news first. My mom told me on Wednesday that my Grandpa Dickey was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Since he is over 70 they will not operate. He will be going to Sioux Falls to where my aunt Donna is a nurse and works in the hospital, to get a second opinion, just to make sure. I hope that you will keep my family and Grandpa in your prayers. It is much needed at this time!

Now, for the good news. I have been in Grand Junction all week long, and it has been wonderful. I really think I know what I am supposed to do for this time in my life. I am going to stay right where I am and enjoy working in a job I love!

Wednesday evening and all of Thursday we went through a workshop called Healthy Congregations. I was a lot of information thrown at me at one time. I don’t know how much if it I will be able to put into practice at my church but I guess I will work on it. The whole premise of the workshop is to create a congregation that is “healthy.” This does not necessarily mean that it has to grow, but it is a way for conflict and all that to be dealt with on a civilized and Christian basis.

One of the main points was that each person in a congregation should focus on improving self, and when one does that, it in turn will help improve the whole. For example, most churches will experience a time of high anxiety from time to time. This anxiety can come from many sources. Such sources can be positive or negative; losing members, losing a long time pastor, money problems, issues involving sex/sexuality, staff conflicts, growth, worship styles, etc. These factors can contribute to the whole becoming anxious and possibly arguing, and even eventually dividing.

This does not have to happen though. A church can work through these anxious times and be a healthy church. Like I said at the beginning of the last paragraph, each person needs to focus on improving themselves, and in turn the whole will be better. This example was set by Jesus himself. If you look at the story of Jesus, he taught (Matthew 22, Mark 4, Luke 6, etc) and was a leader (Mark 1, John 6, John 10, etc) for the people. However, he took time to got to the mountain and pray and get away to reflect. He made time to reconnect with God and make sure he was focused on God’s will (Mark 6:30-33, Luke 4, Luke 22:39).

I must cut this short, but I really feel that this, if put into practice, can help any church. I have to finish this for now, but I will write more tomorrow on the rest of the Gathering.

Grand Junction Train Ride

Have you ever been on a train ride? Have you ever traversed through Colorado on the train? I never had till today I did. I went from Denver to Grand Junction for the ABCRM Gathering. It was a spectacular ride. I recommend doing this to anyone! I would love to take a cross country train trip. Not only do you see wonderful things, you can meet wonderful people. The food is actually really, really good too! Here are some of the pictures from my trip. I’ll update with more pictures as the Gathering goes on.

This is just outside of Denver. If you look in the middle of the picture you can see downtown. It was kind of foggy and very very smoggy.
The train as we went through Boulder Canyon.

The mountains outside of Frisco.

Glenwood Canyon and the Colorado river.

The Colorado river leaving Glenwood Canyon.

The train going around the bend after going through Glenwood Springs.

Near Grand Junction

Comments from my Uncle

My uncle and I have been penpals lately and I asked him to comment on some questions I had. One of them was about my blog posting about James looking for a new job and the comments surrounding that. The second was on some questions about women and the church that I have been pondering for some time. My uncle was brought up in the same church I was and went to the same college, but it 10 years older than me. I wanted his opinion just to see if I was crazy or not!

Here are his comments!

“Luke 3:14 is John the Baptist talking to occupying Roman soldiers. These soldiers were far from home and paid well compared to the people that lived in the land. But they still caused problems and extorted money from the civilians around them. John’s call to “be content with you pay” was in response to their questions of what they needed to do to receive God’s favor. Also, Hebrews 13:5 is about the only reference to money I can find in Hebrews. While it is very important to not love money more than God, wanting to make enough money to pay your bills is not a sin. The things to remember when looking at scripture is WHO is saying it, WHO they are saying it to and WHAY is going on that has made the message be spoken. Some verses are for a specific people at a specific time; especially the teachings about the authority of women. But also in teaching about tithing and giving there are specific applications and prophetic applications. Malachi 3:9-12 basically says that if you are tithing then you will be blessed. This is a specific and prophetic writing. God was the speaker here and that makes it applicable throughout time. I especially like the end of verse 10 where God says, “Try it! Put me to the test.” Just see if your tithing will go unnoticed. I think that is a far better section of scripture to apply to a church than a fragment of a conversation about being content with your wages. I also found in 2 Corinthians 8:12 where it says to give eagerly. To be glad in your giving and tithing is a blessing to God. The most important part of money is that it is not the center of your life. God should be the center.

As for the female authority in the church; the only Bibilical reason I can find for this is in 1 Timothy 2:9-15. Once again, this was written to the people of that time. Women were for the most part not educated. Those women were far more likely to teach false teachings and be seduced by worldly teachings that were contrary to God. They were also separated from their husbands during the teachings and would be yelling out questions to their husbands because they wanted to understand what was being taught. Paul lists several women who were at least deacons in their churches. I guess my own experience has been that a teacher is a teacher, male or female, it doesn’t matter. As an adult male, I have had many female teachers in my faith journey. I have made many mistakes in my life. Of course my mistakes do not invalidate my past encounters with God, they just prove the need for a constant and renewing relationship with Him.”

8 lbs down...

So this mornings weigh in was a little traumatic for me. I was fearful that I had gained all of my weight back. James and I had gone to Outback Steakhouse for dinner and I really did not eat a very good meal. I had steak, broccoli, and a baked potato, with water. This usually would not be too bad, but it is what we had before that messed me up. James ordered some of their cheese-fries. MMMM good, but really really really, and I mean REALLY not good for you. I went online and found the nutritional value of that meal.... YIKES!!! Just the fries themselves were 20 points!!!!!! And that was for the 1/2 of the plate! Never having those again!

So when I got home from dinner (James had a pulpit committee meeting) I did my dance aerobics workout, then went swimming for 30 minutes. I did get back 10 points, but I was .5 a point from going over!!Oh well, that is ok. I DIDN'T.

Anyway, back to the weigh in. Needless to say I figured I gained it all back. I stood on the scale and saw 254! I smiled! That made my morning! I just really need to start watching what I am eating to make sure I don't do that again!

Prayer to My God in Heaven Above

My heart fills with love for You
my life is filled and made so new
You died up there just for me
You died just to set me free
free form all I have done wrong
free to let me sing Your song
praises I send You now
never asking why or how
You knw my hear, my soul, my mind
and when I talk to you I un-wind
from all the days joys and woes
to than You for all, only You know
You bless me in every way
that is why I say what I say
please bless me now in my own life
and help me make my decisions right
Your will is what I hope for me
not mine, but Yours, forever will be
please help me find what you know is true
let it only and honestly glorify You
You are my only rock and prayer
You know my every though, action, and hair
I ask you to forgive me for all I have done
Thank you Lord, the battle is won!

Un-published poetry

Dec. 12, 2001 my family's lives turned around. My brother, Tim, died suddenly in his sleep. As is my tradition when someone passes, to deal with the grief, I write poetry. I was going through my old poetry books that I had written in and found a couple of poems that I have not put out there for anyone to read. I feel now is the time that I can do that. Here are a few.

"Untitled"

"Brother, oh brother, my brother dear!"

That is what I would say

if only you were standing here,

yesterday and today.

But your time is here

God has asked for you back,

you know I will shed a tear.

But the love I will not lack.

For though I never said it enough,

and time and again I wanted to

-you were always so rough and tough-

it scared me to say, I love you.

"Untitled 2"

Each little piece carefully placed

in its spot, with perfect grace

finally the work is done

a ship whose battle it had won

just like the life of my dear brother

piece by piece, just like the other

the construction of this life gone by

had its straights, lows, and highs

starting with a thought conceived in the mind

but eventually leaving it all behind

pieces were broken, fixed, and glued

its importance as the pieces new

so, too, my brothers days

each step never mixing his ways

applying the last paint coat on

so did he fall asleep at the dawn

like the maker placing it in a safe place

God did the same with his life, with grace

the creation was finished and finally done

just like my brother, he's finally won!

"Tim"

(this one was published in the program for his funeral)

You are with Grandma now

and little Jacob too,

Jesus and all the others
are in God's house with you.

You, my brother,

regarded with much love,

are standing with God

watching us from above.

Please watch over us

each and every day

and be our guiding angel,

keep us from harms way.

One last thing

before you go

I will always love you,

I just wanted you to know.

Grab a Tissue....

My sister and I have this video posted on our myspace pages. I reccomend grabbing a tissue before watching this video. But, I say you should and ought to watch it.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=11230538

This Video is Halarious!!!

So my mom sent me this video. I have to send it on to everyone out there who either is a mother or has a mother! It is halarious! YOU MUST SEE IT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anSpBUxsgAU

Wedding Day Adjustment

One of my bridesmaids took this at my wedding. I finally got it from her. I have to share it. It was taken by Mary Olsen (then Fritson) and I have to explain the back story.

We took pictures before the wedding. During the pictures, my back was killing me. I could hardly stand up straight. Well, we have a family friend who is a chiropractor and he came in before the wedding and straigtened out my back. The problem was, as you will see, I was in my wedding dress at the church. My nephew is in the background and thought he was hurting me too. This is just too funny. You have to watch it all, the funniest moment is close to the end.