Whatever Takes Us Away

The 2008-2009 deer hunting season has begun! Day one was rather uneventful, I saw nothing that resembled a Whitetail Deer in the six to seven hours I was in the woods. I did manage to scare something off while attempting to get to my tree stand at about 6:15 am on day one. Day two was a bit different and that is what this post will be about.

Things started a bit slow, I was up and settled into my tree stand by 6:35 am; I waited patiently for any movement. There is a small field next to my parents’ property and I was just inside the wood line on a well traveled deer path. The sun rose at 7:29 and at 7:30 I noticed something small with a longer tail and thought it must be a fox. However, I noticed just after that another tail and the body of a coyote. Two coyotes entered the woods at about 45 yards; one headed slightly away from me and the other slightly towards my position. I drew back, and tried to guess the yardage as I got the animal sighted in. Just as I was about to loose an arrow it noticed me and ran away. Having seen these coyotes I figured I would see no deer in this position, but the morning was still very young and there was still hope.

Many squirrels, various birds and a raccoon gave me something to look at to pass the time. An hour after I’d seen the coyotes I noticed on the far side of the field two deer, slowly grazing towards me! I was surprised to see them coming from the same area the coyotes had approached from, but happy to see deer. After a few minutes they wandered off to my right into the woods, and I had begun to lose hope once again. I started to think about changing locations, but decided to stay put and stick it out. To my glee they returned only minutes later and there were now three of them! A mother and two fawns.

They made their way towards me once again and they got right up next to the wood line. After a few minutes one of the fawns entered the woods, jumping over a low spot in the fence. I had placed a small corn feeder along the deer path and the fawn headed straight for it. The other fawn entered as well and went right to the feeder as well. The mother was a little hesitant about jumping the fence, but after a few minutes she too entered the woods. I was standing at this point and waited for the mother to give me a good broadside shot, but her leeriness lead her to exit the woods. The fawns did not follow her, but continued to feed on the corn. About five minutes later the mother entered back into the woods but was fixing her eyes in my direction. She turned her head and I quickly drew back, she spotted me and lept back over the fence out into the field where I could not shoot.

The mother walked away and headed to the north, which was fine because a friend was sitting in a different place about 500 yards from me. He had a chance. So, I sat back down and decided to just watch the two fawns, still chomping at the corn. The mother had left the area about 8:50 and I had been watching all of this for just over 20 minutes at this point.
The two fawns ate and ate and ate some more. They had each spent about 30 – 40 minutes eating the corn. One had more of a black tail, the other more brown. The one with the black tail walked away, but I lost sight of it and focused more on the lighter colored fawn which was still eating. After a few more minutes it too walked away, but laid down only a few yards away from the feeder. Once it had laid down I noticed the other fawn which had also been laying about 25 yards from me. It stood up, raised it’s tail and did something I thought I would never see, hear or experience. The fawn with the black tail raised it’s tail and blew one of the loudest flatulations I had ever heard. The deer had farted! It laid itself right back down where it was.

All told I watch these deer for just over two hours, watching them lick themselves, get up only to move a few feet or yards, come back to the feeder, but they never noticed me or got scared by my presence. It took me more than five minutes to get them to leave before I got out of the stand to return to the house. I talked to them, clapped my hands, and even got to finish most of my coffee with a smoke before finally chasing them off. I recounted the events with my friend and my family that was there. We chuckled a bit and I showed a picture I had taken with my phone, the kids enjoyed the picture and the story of the deer that farted in the woods.
No, I didn’t shoot anything opening weekend, but it was interesting nonetheless.

I haven't looked, but I know it has been quite some time since I last posted anything! Life has gotten a little out of control and I have been neglecting some parts, the less important parts, of said life. The blog has been one of the worst hit parts.

So, here's a quick update on all things me: 3.6 GPA through the first semester back in school, hoping to at least keep that if not better this semester. 6 courses taken, 6 courses passed. Currently in Systematic Theology, Western Civilization, and Speech. So far, all going okay, though the work load is far greater this semester than last. Lots of reading, lots of writing, lots of tests and quizzes and discussion board stuff, but I am learning! By the way, I am giving one of my speeches again this week after morning church service, so plan to stick around.

Madison finished spring soccer this past weekend!

Noah just turned 7! As a quick reminder for you, I HAVE FOUR KIDS!

I am working on getting the swimming pool ready for summer, need a little more sand to level off the pool area and then it'll go up nice and easy - we'll be swimming within two days!

My van is dying! I need prayer for that. I don't know yet what the problem is, but it has something to do with the coolant system, pray that it doesn't take our life savings to fix it. If that's the case I may go another route, junk the thing and get something smaller and more efficient! Anyone have a small, gas saving vehicle they'd like to give a poor, full-time college student/full-time job bearer/youth director/father of four? Again, prayer would be greatly appreciated.

Our manx cat will be having kittens any day now. She is miserable, cudly, and does nothing more than lay around. She's ready to burst! Anyone want a manx kitten? (they don't have tails or have incredibly short tails, for those that are unaware of what a manx is)

Youth group, next Saturday, June 14th we will be going to New Richmond to work on a Habitat for Humanity house. We should be doing insulation work so wear long pants and shirts! If you have any questions let me know this week!

Oh, and I am working on getting our church's summer VBS program up and running. I will be spending much time with that over then next few weeks.

It seems I don't have enough to do (as I have time to post here) - anyone need help with anything?

It's been many years, I think back in 1985, since I've seen snow like this! Well, in Ohio anyways. While in Northern Illinois we made it through six wonderful winters like this, but there it's a yearly ocurrance. Here in Ohio, snow like this doesn't come as often. I am enjoying this weather.

The one sad part of this weather, my parents' anniversary is today, for some reason I doubt we'll be doing the things we had planned. Tina and I were looking forward to spending time with them, two on two, a little mini-sabbaticle without the kids; home & garden show, dinner, you know, the things adults do without kids. I'm positive about the day anyway, knowing that at some point we will be able to spend time with them today. I am a pleasant optimist and this day will be enjoyable with my parents and their 39th weding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Maybe the kids and I will venture out of doors later, playing in the snow with at least the big dog (Tasha gets lost in the snow drifts). Pictures to follow.

So, for those of you snow bound to your homes, enjoy this time with family, and if at all possible, get out there and throw a snowball at someone!

This past month marked the second year of this blog for me. Last year I managed to put a post up; a year-in-review, if you will, but this time around, a few days late, I'm getting around to it. This post should have occured February 26th, I missed it by less than one week, not too bad in my world.

So, why did I miss this year? I'm not going to make excuses, but I will try to give the actual, honest, truthful explanations for why I missed writing and posting.

1. You see, in order for you or anyone to read this, it would require the assistance of a computer. Mac, PC, whatever, but the minimum requirement is a personal computer with access to the internet, right? Right. A little more than a month ago I had this problem with my iMac - namely, it died on me. I don't know what caused it, I don't know why it happened, but the Mac crashed - a rare occassion. It took me a couple days, but after running some disk utilities, reinstalling the OS (and buying an external HD backup), the old thing is running like new again. The only problem(s) . . . everything I had, school files, music files, photos, web sites - everything was lost in the process. I missed this anniversary, even the date marked in my iCalendar program was gone.

2. Nature has a way of taking a normal day, adding some wicked strong storms, and wrecking that day all together. Just after the iMac was restored, very high winds came through our little town. Walls ripped in brick walls, trees strewn about the streets, power lines knocked out, and even our 100 year old house was struck. An incredibly large tree (width and girth, not height) took out my shed, hit the back and one corner of the house, and even managed to partially land on the hood of Tina's van. I've been working on the tree removal myself, an hour here, two hours there, I'm somewhere in the vicinity of 12 hours of actual work now. It's a time consuming process, labor intensive process, and a process that requires some measure of weather cooperation (irony).

3. If you haven't noted recently, my posts have been rather sporadic. I'm a college student, cut me some slack!

4. I HAVE FOUR KIDS, cut me some slack.

5. Of all the things happening in my life recently, I think this is the one thing I can stand to ease back on. This doesn't impact my household income. Doesn't have an effect on my family life (though I talk about it).

6. I will have time to catch up on this . . . I know God has a plan for me, and that plan requires time (God has plenty of that, we share very little of that), and I have a feeling He will keep me around long enough to share that journey, even in this form.

7. I'm adjusting to this whole Vista thing. Lord, I just want to pray for those that work at Microsoft, that one day you will give them the ability to make something easy to use like the wonderful people at Apple. Amen.

God can work miracles, I more than believe this to be true.

Yes, God, the One who controls the weather, even the extreme bad weather, works miracles through the bad times. Very early this morning my wife and I experienced extreme weather and God’s awesome hand.

The city sirens sounded, the power was cut, and the wind howled louder than I’ve ever heard; something horrible was about to happen. And it did. The sound of the wind rushing grew louder with each passing moment. As I ran through the house lighting candles I noticed flashing lights out the kitchen window. I looked, but with the power outage I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Upon closer inspection for our upstairs bedroom I could tell that at least one of our trees had fallen into the street, taking with it a power line. I popped my head out the door once the winds had subsided, only to look in horror as two, three, four trees in our yard had fallen prey to the weather.


Part of the tallest tree had broken from the top, taken out our 20 foot blue spruce, which had landed in the street with the power line. Another tree in the back yard fell towards, but not on the house. But the worst of them was the one directly off the back porch. By far this tree was the largest, not necessarily the tallest, but the girth of this tree is astonishing. Half of the tree had split, falling on our shed, back part of the house and on Tina’s van parked in the driveway. Here is where God’s hand of mercy and blessing were displayed for us. The shed took most of the weight of this might tree, sparing both our roof and Tina’s van. Some minor damage to the back corner of the house, the downspout and a few shingles, but nothing major. Tina’s van has one good sized dent and a few other scratches, but everything works.

My dad and I cleared everything from the shed, van and house this afternoon, but I still have much work to do with clearing the rest of the debris – I should be done clearing by this time next week!

At any rate, I thank God for keeping watch over my four kids, my wife, my house and even me. And I think I’m taking this all pretty well, and I know it’s my faith that is keeping me together; God is amazing, even in the worst of our storms.

This Saturday night, November 3rd, our youth group is going to have a movie night and lock-in. So far we have two movies lined up, along with pizza, popcorn and other snacks to hold us over through the night. The movies we are planning on watching are Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" and "Facing the Giants". Depending on response to the first and what may take place afterwards, time permitting after the second, we may watch "The End of the Spear" - but that will largely depend on the reaction to the "Passion".

So, if you read this much at all, you may already know that I really enjoy music. It takes many forms, functions and all different kinds - most of which I truly to love and appreciate listening to. Last night was no exception. I took two of my three girls for a night out complete with a concert with BarlowGirl & Toby Mac. I love my family and I love music, what better way to spend an evening and a birthday gift. We sang, danced, praised & worshipped God with both groups. I was a little hesitant about BarlowGirl, after hearing the latest album, thinking it may not be a rock concert, but they proved that notion all wrong. Those girls have really got it going on when it comes to music! They are truly amazing (young) women for God; taking vows of purity and not dating and using the talents and gifts God gave them to share the message of Jesus - really awesome!

Likewise was Toby Mac. He's been around a while, formerly being a part of dc Talk. He and the Diverse City Band brought the house down. A real professional and a good man of God, his show lacked nothing.

I'm so glad I was able to share that with my wife and oldest daughter, who happened to turn eight yesterday! It was equally great to be able to share in fellowship with so many other believers. During both BarlowGirl and Toby Mac there was an awesome moment of Bible reading, sharing testimony and God showing up in our midst. Something I will always remember, me and my girlz, a night on the town and with God!

Coffee. I like coffee. I like to drink coffee first thing each morning, usually before I do much of anything else. Somedays I drink more than others, not for the caffeine, but because I like it so much. One cup would be sufficient for the caff intake, but I continue to drink because I enjoy it.

Sunday morning, this past one, I didn't have the opportunity to have that first cup before getting started, or startled as it were. I was barely out of bed when my phone rang. It was my mom, sounding confused and bewildered and in need of help. My dad, who is also the church pastor, was sick and had hardly slept at all the night before. Could I help and stand in his place for preaching? Still needing that first sip of java, I accepted the task and wandered back up stairs to see what I could muster up. Coffee finally brewing!

I sometimes read something, hear something, see something that makes me write something. Okay, it's more than sometimes, it happens quite offten. I read my Bible often. I listen to a few Bible based programs through Podcasts on my iPod almost everyday. I see things in daily life that make me wonder what people sometimes think (or if they even think at all) before doing whatever it is and I feel compelled to write about it. This past Sunday morning was taken care of in advance of it ever happening. God took control and I let go.

The below post is what transpired several weeks ago. I didn't stick entirely to the written message, I sometimes tend to wander in my speaking, but mostly the written was what was spoken to the congregation.

After getting myself somewhat put together (message wise) I tended to myself, then to getting everything gathered for Children's Church. I thank God often and always for my best friend and wife, Tina, as she is the backbone and lifeline for me here on earth. She stepped in for me downstairs, gathered a few helpers and made it through Children's Church just fine. I got through my message, and by the divine inspiration and preparation of God, the music that was already picked out worked well with my message. Afterwards, those in the congregation ensured me that I did a good job and a few, at least three, said I had a promising future behind a pulpit. Had to come to grips with something like that thought, but somehow, by God, I accepted their compliments and well wishes with grace. Firm handshakes all around and out the door.

I still needed coffee, the 1.5 cups just didn't do it and I was mentally, emotionally and physically drained after church.

Today, however, I have had nearly a whole pot of coffee, making up for my weekend lack. Drink on java lovers!

What’s really going on in the world today? Is that we, as humans given dominion over all things, have ruined this place? Or, is it that we have allowed Satan a foothold in our lives so much that our country looks and runs the way it does? Or, are we so much like the Israelites of the Old Testament that God has allowed us to be in the hands of our enemies?

Judges 5:31 through 6:6, “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years. Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.

And again in Numbers 14:21-23 we read, “Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times - not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.”

There’s a pattern when you look at many of the Old Testament stories: The Israelites rebel and revolt against God; the Lord punishes the Israelites for their disobedience; the Israelites cry out to God for help; God provides a way out and provides redemption when they turn their ways back toward Him. Let’s read a little further in those passages of scripture. Judges 6:11-12, “The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” While Gideon may not have been a mighty warrior, God had chosen him as His instrument of redemption for the Israelites. And again in Numbers 14:30, “Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.” The Israelites turned from God when they could have walked into the promised land, but two men, Caleb and Joshua gave good reports of the land and tried to ensure that with God’s help it could be theirs. These two men, out of so many that came up out of Egypt, were the only two from that time who would enter into that land – the redemption.

Are we as a nation and as Christians in a similar pattern, and have we turned our ways from God so much and His desire for us as His people? Let’s take a moment just to look at a few things that have taken place in recent U.S. history:
Legalized abortions
Prayer in schools banned
People arguing to remove “under God” from the pledge of allegiance
People arguing to remove “In God We Trust” from all our monies
The rise in violent crimes, murder, foul language on radio and TV . . .
The list could go on and on for a very long time, I think you get the point.

So, is it Satanic influence in our society? Maybe, in part, but certainly not in whole. Is it the fault of Christians unwilling to bow to God’s will for His people? The same, part, but not wholly. I think it is a combination of many things. The book of Jude, versus 3 through 10, “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.”

These godless people have infiltrated our lives, our families, our workplaces, our churches and our governments. Is that it for us then? No. You see, we as the church have been set apart by God for His good and great purposes. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” In that, each of us has been given gifts by the Holy Spirit. And if we move forward just a bit to 1 Peter 4:10, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.” We need to tap into those resources, each and every one of us, and help bring about real change and real revival, to awaken those lost souls to the Word and Power of God.

Now then, back to the Israelites. An angel of the Lord came to Gideon, Gideon tested God, God tested Gideon’s faith. In Judges 7:2-7 we see that Gideon had 32,000 men to start with, 22,0000 left when they were given the opportunity to do so; then, another 9,700 were weeded out, leaving Gideon with only 300 men to fight with against the Midianites. Most of you probably know the outcome of that one, Gideon and his men, by the Power of God, were victorious and caused the Israelites to once again turn their gaze back to the Lord. It may have not been the end to their usual pattern, but a return to the Lord none-the-less.

What if we would turn our gaze upon God? What if we would give God the credit for everything we accomplished, each and every day? Instead of saying, “I did it on my own” or “I did it my way.” Why not say, “God used ME to accomplish this!”

We have been given the power to move mountains, why not use that to make this world a better place? We follow a RISEN SAVIOR and if we look to Matthew 28:16-20, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus tells us what we are to do and assures us that He will be with us to the very end of the age. Let’s do our best to fulfill that great commission before another generation passes. We are followers of Jesus, not followers of the world!

We, ourselves, are as much to blame for our current situation as the devil, but let us turn our gaze to Him who provides all, and is all. 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” God IS faithful and He will provide a way out for us. We need to open ourselves to Him and give Him the glory and honor He SHOULD receive from us. Let us be like the sun that rises in its strength, giving light to a darkened world.

I think things went well this past Sunday. The Youth Group did a great job leading the congregation in song, reading scripture and short stories, and I did what I could for a sermon (see post below for the message). However, things didn't exactly go as I had planned . . .

You see, I had planned on a praise & worship service, with a little bit of devotional reading about worship, but as last week rolled on MY plans were changed. I've been listening to sermons by several preachers on my iPod while at work, as well as good music and parts of the Bible. While listening to a sermon last week (Thursday to be exact) I was confronted by God on giving a sermon. I wanted to make it quick, easy, painless, easy, simple, and really easy. God however, wanted me to do more than the easy. He gave me a message and I was His mouthpiece on Sunday morning. I had expected to get comments afterwards, and I did.

To my surprise many said they really enjoyed the message (and apparently some told the pastor I had a future behind the pulpit). A few parts of the service went a little long, but I can't control, nor do I want to control, everything. I managed to squeeze eight songs out of everyone, stretching their vocal chords (and mine as well), and introduced some songs new to them. I don't see myself doing this every Sunday any time soon (famous last words?!?).

At any rate, the service went well and the youth group did a great job.