Jeff Kerr

A Farewell Blog

 

Good morning.  It’s Sunday morning and I’m at a coffee shop.

 

This blog post will be my last on this site.  I’m switching sites.  So this is kind of an end of an era.  ‘End of an era’ sounds a bit grandiose.  Well call the ‘end of a good thing’.  Actually… let’s call it ‘the end of my blog being hosted here’.

 

I started blogging here 5 years ago and I ran out of interesting things to blog about just under 4 years ago.  But I kept plodding along, delicately walking the line between the interesting, humorous, inspiring and the annoying, mundane, narcissistic.

 

The grand total was 157 blog posts read just over 80,000 times.  Which are very meager numbers.  I suppose that’s what you can expect when you didn’t blog often and when you did, the earth remained ‘un-shattered’.   It averaged out to around 45 people a day reading my blog.  Here’s how those numbers break down:  I checked my own blog about 3 dozen times a day, which left about 9 of you that were really into what I had to say.  If you subtract all of the readers whom I ticked off at some point and who only looked at my blog to see if I was saying anything controversial, that leaves 1 or 2 faithful readers who like me. 

 

So a big “Thanks” to Nancy Holte and to who ever that other person was.

 

This is also a big thanks to River Valley Church.  I worked there for almost nine years and it was an amazing experience.  We are excited for what God is moving us on to, and we’re thrilled that at this point it looks like we wont be moving anywhere and can still call River Valley our ‘home’. 

 

What won’t be my home anymore is this blog site.  I will continue to blog at a glacial pace at www.fourthfloor.org.  Fourthfloor.org is the site of one of the new endeavors that Kristie and I are embarking on.  The website will have updates, videos, and other high quality ways to waste your time… including my blog.  It’s a simple site that we’ll continue to tweak.  But already it’s capable of handling 45 visitors each and every day.  I’ll put a few of my old blog posts on there, but to be safe, you’d better take the next couple of days and read through all 157 posts on this site and commit them to memory.  Because in some future - "book of Eli" - post apocolyptic world, there may not be any written records of this blog, and we'll have to re-create it from memory.

 

And please allow me to get some other self promotion out of the way…. And believe me, I’m rolling my eyes even as I type this.  If you use the web domain jeffkerr.net to get here, that domain won’t lead to my blog in the future.  Cause .net is for losers.  I own thejeffkerr.com but I haven’t been able to figure out how to do anything with it yet.  Nils Lorvick will be coming over to do his computer jiu jitsu and get that all figured out.  So in the future ‘thejeffkerr.com’ will get you to my blog site.  But for now www.fourthfloor.org is the way to go.  I will also begin using Twitter…. Cue exaggerated eye roll…. “oh brother….”  My twitter name (what do you call it?  Your twit name?  Your call sign?  Your lame name?) … anyway, my twitter call sign will be  ‘thejeffkerr’.  You can be one of my followers…. Yeeesh another large eye roll needed after that last sentence.  Fourth Floor Ministries also has a facebook page you can check out.

 

Yeeesh.  After that display self promotion, I’d like to punch myself in the face.

 

That is it.

 

I shall leave you now by switching gears awkwardly as I tend to do, and share my devotional thought for the morning….

 

But in a blog world ‘slight of hand’, you’ll have to go to my blog page at www.fourthfloor.org to continue reading…

 

Farewell.

Facebook Resolutions for the New Year.

I like facebook.  I’ve enjoyed using it to stay in touch with friends and family around the world.  It has indeed revolutionized how we connect with each other.  The fact that we can all stay in touch, post pics, share funny stories... it's all amazing.  But perhaps with all the awesomeness, facebook may be enabling some bad social habits in each of us.  For example, my last status was "Jeff is thoroughly enjoying his new long underwear, thanks Santa".  Really?  Why did I do that?  Who cares about my underwear?  actually this isn't the first status that i've put up that has to do with my underwear.  Why would I feel that my long underwear is by any means "news worthy"?  So many questions. 

 

As I ponder my own facebook behavior, I'm forced to wonder if there are subtle changes we can make to our facebook behavior to enhance the experience for all of us. So, at the dawn of a new year, I propose some thoughts in regards to Facebook.  Call them resolutions for 2011.

 

If we wouldn’t say something in real life, standing with a group of friends, we shouldn’t put it on facebook.  For example, when I post on someone’s wall how glad I am that we both are such awesome friends… like the besties ever… it seems a bit desperate.  If I walked up to a group of friends in real life, pointed to one of those friends and told everyone how glad I was that me and this one person were such good friends, it’d just be weird. 

 

Medical advice.  Again, I would never walk up to a group of friends and begin discussing various boils, pains and discolorations.  I should avoid it as well on Facebook.

 

Weather observations are fine if it’s out of the ordinary.  Snow in Minnesota in December.  Heat in Texas in August etc.  These are fairly common and may not be as ‘news’ worthy as I think.

 

Desensitizing you to boring topics of conversation:  Like long underwear.  Just as reality TV numbed the senses when it comes to quality Television, Facebook has made us completely numb when it comes to having actual interesting things to say.  Facebook has watered down the “interesting conversation” pool so badly, the percentage of actual interesting stuff is staggeringly low.  Percentage wise, it’s got less interesting things to say than any of the 6 “New Years Eve from Times Square” TV broadcasts.  At times, when I’m having a particularly low motivation day, I’ll find myself scrolling through the ‘news feed’, eyes glazed over, soul getting sucked out me by the second…. And then I think “Wait… maybe the TOP NEWS will be captivating”….. and after a few minutes I snap out of it.  “What am I doing with my life? None of this is at all interesting, captivating or important.”  Facebook needs to have a built in feature that throws a glass of ice water on your face if you’ve spent more than 5 minutes on the news feed.  And then it needs to have a pre-recorded voice that says “Is this what you want your life to be?  Go DO something interesting rather than wasting your day looking for interesting facebook stuff.

 

Desensitizing you to bad photographers:  Don’t get me wrong, if you’re a good photographer and you put cool pics on Facebook, that should still be encouraged.  But taking pictures and posting them on Facebook does not in itself make me a photographer.

 

I don’t get the ‘Places’ thing.  Posting where I am on facebook is counter productive to one of my life missions to hide from people.  In fact, I may start throwing out decoy ‘places’ to make people think I’m somewhere that I’m not. In case I’m being followed.

We should rid ourselves of the status version of chain emails.  “Copy this to your status and then press ‘like’ on mine if you agree… and then tag everyone you know… and then….” 

I will no longer take part in trying to help out Jesus through Facebook.  I shouldn't be concerned that Jesus has more friends than Bill Gates.  Or if Jesus is on the Top News.  Jesus is not on Facebook.  Nor does He need Facebook to maintain His reign as… you know…. God of everything.

 

And last but certainly not least:

 

Maybe people could stop talking about how hot their wife is.   Don’t mis-understand, we’re glad you’re attracted to your wife.  I’m attracted to mine.   But when we comment on the hot-ness of our wife, it forces everyoen else to ever so briefly ask the question “is his wife hot?”  Of course the answer is either ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ …. and either way, the answer is kinda weird.

 

That is it.  This is not an exhaustive list. But I resolve to do my part.  If you have other Facebook resolutions, let me know.

 

Also, I realize that by typing this, I open myself up to closer facebook scrutiny.  I’m OK with that, because I need it as bad as anybody.  Well... not ANYBODY but a lot of people.  I’m not facebook-awesome.  We all have much to learn. We’re all in this together.

 

If you agree, copy this to your status and press like.

Allow Myself to Explain Myself

 

Ever have one of those moments when you make a big decision only to have the following thoughts soon after: “what the what??? Did I just quit my job?”

 

I’m kidding…Kind of. 

 

More on that in a bit.

 

As of this weekend, the word is out, I’ve resigned my position as Creative Arts Pastor at River Valley Church.  Kristie and I have been a part of this church for almost nine years and it’s been a great experience.  We’ve already expressed our appreciation to Pastor Rob and Becca for the opportunity to serve and for nine wonderful, challenging, eventful years of ministry together.

 

“So what gives Jeff?  What now?”

 

Please allow myself to explain myself.

 

This whole deal began almost two years ago.  I was in the process of getting ordained as a minister.  Before that I was a licensed minister, which is still good.  So for all of you wondering if everything I did as a minister before getting ordained was legit, it was.  If I performed your wedding ceremony before that, it’s still valid.  You’re still married.  If I performed your funeral service before that,  it’s still valid….you’re still…. Dead.

 

Anyway.  I was in the process of getting ordained.  And the MOMENT happened at the end of one of the days of teaching and training. (right away, I can tell you’re wondering what goes on at a day of ordination training…. Running, pushups, sleep deprivation, training in baby dedications, worship wars, sword drills both the bible kind and actual sword training in how do deal with crazy Christians because truth be told, and you wont hear this from too many pastors that are ‘employed’, but some of you Christians are just plain weird…. and creepy)

 

Sorry, I keep getting side tracked.  At the end of the day, all the people getting ordained came up to the front altar at the church and the pastors and district officials who were there came up and prayed for us.  And as clearly as I’ve ever sensed God speaking to me, He spoke to me then:

 

“There are new things on the horizon”

 

“There are big things in store”

 

I was overcome with emotion and faith and uncertainty.  What did this mean?  Was I going to wake up the next morning to a phone call from Regis and Kelly?  Did I need to quit my job?  But I like my job!  It is a great job at a great church and it… you know…. pays us so we can buy stuff like…. you know…. food and clothing for our kids.

 

Later that night, I shared with Kristie what I had experienced.  She smirked and then she began to share what God had been speaking to her.  Yup.  Same thing.

 

Soon after that, I shared with Pastor Rob what God was speaking to us.  That we believed that God was preparing for us something “new”.  We didn’t know what that meant exactly.  Pastor Rob was very supportive and at the time we both agreed that it didn’t seem like it was time for me to leave River Valley Church. 

 

In the time since then, we’ve held on to this promise from God that there was something on the horizon for us.  This was also confirmed several times from people we respect and are close to as well as people that we haven’t heard from in years.  Each time, the conversation would start with them saying something like “This may sound strange to you, and I’m not exactly sure what it all means, but God put you on my heart….” And then they would share what God put on their hearts regarding Kristie and I.  And time after time it was a confirmation of what God had been speaking to us.

 

And in the months since, the confirmations have continued and God has been putting new dreams in our heart.  Dreams involving a number of things.  Dreams of Kristie and I writing books and Bible Studies, travelling, speaking, teaching at retreats, conferences and churches.  Writing music and recording albums.  Helping churches with creative content and resources.  All sorts of things.  And although I see potential for that with me, I see great potential for that with Kristie.  I see huge things in store for her.  She truly is exceptional. 

 

But it all kept coming back to the practical nature of life.  I had a job.  I knew how to do it fairly well.  I had a family.  I was getting paid every two weeks and things had settled nicely into a routine.  Dads throughout history have gone to work and come home at the end of the day as their way to provide for their family. 

 

And It also seemed a bit naïve to think that we’re going to step out into ministry outside of our church and think that there would be piles of money appearing on our front doorstep on the 1^st and 15^th of every month.

 

But when you are a disciple of Jesus, the practical, comfortable and routine are not at the top of the priority list.  There is the element of faith.  Faith isn’t one of the ingredients to a Christian walk, it’s the entire recipe. So through all of this, we opened ourselves up to God.  We allowed those dreams to take root in us.  And as God does, he continued working on our hearts.  Which led us to September of this year when we felt like God was saying that the time had come to leap.  It was time to leave our position at River Valley and step through the doors that God was about to open.  “About to open????” I said. “How bout YOU open the door first…. Then we’ll be happy to go there”.  But it doesn’t work that way all the time.  Faith is belief with all your heart in something that you can’t see yet. 

 

Yet.

 

So this all led to the conversation with Pastor Rob.  And as we’ve been all along, we were in agreement that this felt like God was at work.  Which led us to the announcement this weekend and thus here today.

 

It has been a surreal couple of months.  And it was a surreal week.  Before the news became public, I was completely at peace with everything.  But there was something about everyone hearing the news and having to explain to everyone that allowed my doubting “voices” to creep in.

 

“What the heck are you thinking?”

 

(actually heck wasn’t the word.  Sometimes my doubting voices use questionable language.  I’m cleaning it up a bit for you sensitive types)

 

I’ve ridden a bit of a wave this weekend, from pillar of faith, to a puddle of tears and everything in between.  But we know this is the right move.  We know God is at work, and as he does with His followers, He’s asking for our devotion, and our trust.  He’s a big God.  He’s got this.  I know it.

 

I also know that there will most likely be another step for me.  Teaching, Pastoring, something.  Who knows, you could be hearing from God what that next step for me is.  And if you are hearing from God, give me a call.

 

It’s quite funny today.  Because every time the phone rings, or the email dinger dings, I think “Here it is… here’s the ‘door’, here’s the big opportunity”.  So far today I’ve been quite disappointed.  Emails were from Expedia Travel Deals and the latest Groupon.  The phone call from the number I didn’t recognize was just the Pioneer Press with their holiday season sale…. Wednesday thru Sunday newspapers for a couple bucks a week.  “What?? The Pioneer Press??!!... No… I don’t want the newspaper… I’m waiting to hear from GOD!”  Then I wonder if my next step is to work at the pioneer press…. There has to be a big future for news print, and I should get IN before it blows UP.

 

Anyway, I think that about sums it up.  We are chasing after the dreams God has put before us.  We are taking the steps (and leaps) that He has asked of us.  We are not certain what it all means for us.  But we are eager and truth be told, a bit anxious about the next season of life for us. 

 

But we are full of faith.

 

So in the future you may all say “Wow I knew them before they were superstars”.  OR you may say “Wow, I knew them before they went nuts”

 

Or both.

 

But life is short.  God is big.  Why not go ‘nuts’?

 

 

 

Offer Right Sacrifices

It was the first time I’d ever been given a Breathalyzer test.  I could understand if they wanted to give me a Breathalyzer AFTER I preached, but I hadn’t even preached yet.

 

I was standing in the lobby of the Salvation Army Men’s Rehabilitation Center in Downtown Minneapolis.  I had been invited to come speak at their evening chapel service.  I had been buzzed in at the main entrance and now I was blowing into a Breathalyzer to see if I was in fact buzzed.  They have a strict policy of checking everybody who enters to see if they’ve been drinking.  I guess that makes sense.  And I can also think of a few other venues where this would not be a bad idea.  (The stands at kids sporting events for one)  So I blew, and passed, and in I went.

 

I was invited to speak there last Monday night by Bill and Diane Prince who are the administrators for this center.  And as soon as I got the invitation a couple months ago, I knew this would be one of those engagements that would be well outside of my comfort zone and thus well worth my time.  In fact, that should be a default lesson for all of us.  If there’s something that we know will put us outside our comfort zone, we should automatically sign up for it.  I guess it should also be something that Jesus would approve of.  But if Jesus is OK with it, and It seems really uncomfortable for you, then the rule should automatically be “do it”.  I can’t think of too many things that will suck the life out of you faster than “Comfort”.

 

The Adult Rehab Center is a 6 month live-in program for men who are recovering from Drug and Alcohol addiction.  Many of these men are awaiting trial, or just coming out of Jail. Many are homeless. The Salvation Army houses and feeds these Men, teaches them about the Bible, trains them and finds them a Job.  I don’t think there are too many things closer to the heart of Jesus than that.

 

When I arrived, I had about a half hour before the service began.  Diane invited me to come to one of the classrooms with her, where she was wrapping up a bible study.  Come to find out that this bible study was a one-on-one bible study with a Gentleman who was a part of the program, who had become a Christ Follower 2 months ago, and who was now working through the Old Testament with Diane learning the stories, meanings and life lessons found in Scripture.  I was observing, holding my sermon notes in my hand, realizing I should take a few minutes to review my sermon, but yet unable to not be immersed in watching this man who had gone through SO much in his life, begin his NEW life in Christ.

 

The service began soon after.  The music team heard that I was a music director and wanted to do a few songs, so they lead the rest of the guys in a time of worship.  All told, there were about 120 guys in the auditorium.  There were some testimonies and then it was my turn to preach.  I felt a bit out of place, not like I was above this or anything, but because I was struggling to know what would connect with these gentlemen as far as illustrations and stories goes.  But as I began to speak, I was reminded of this verse:  2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

 

I shared with them how honored I was to be with them that evening.  And how impressed I am with people who, with God’s help and the help of other awesome people like Bill and Diane, can turn their life around.  People who know they need to change and then do it.  I talked about how wonderful it is for all of us to know that our past is gone, and in Christ we are brand new. 

 

I had a great time sharing with those great guys.

 

As I was preparing to leave, one of the workers asked me if I was ok getting to me car, or if I wanted someone to walk me out.  “It is a pretty tough neighborhood after all” they said.  I flexed my arm muscles a bit and said “what do YOU think?” 

 

Somebody walked me out.

 

It was a great night and a great experience.

 

I drove home so inspired by people who see the road they need to walk down, and then they do it.  I was so moved by the dedication of Bill and Diane to be the hands and feet of Jesus to these men.  And I was again inspired to make the most of my days.  To not sit on the dreams and challenges God has put in my heart but to move forward into all that God has for me.

 

God has put dreams and challenges in front of all of us.  And the very worst thing that you can do is to sit still and wait and do nothing because you’re comfortable where you are. 

 

I also know that there is frustration that can come when you are chasing after what God has put on your heart only to seemingly get nowhere.

 

In moments of frustration or doubt, I’m always so encouraged by Psalm 4:5:  “Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord”.  What I hear God tell me when I read that verse is “Hey Jeff, do your part and trust me to handle the rest”.

 

In the Old Testament, a right sacrifice was one that was pure, without blemish, a first fruit, a tithe – the first 10 percent, a costly offering.  In other words, a right sacrifice is giving God your best.  In the New Testament, a right sacrifice was a heart surrendered to Jesus.  Dying to your self and following Jesus.  In other words, a right sacrifice is giving God your best.

 

So when you are faced with a long road ahead of you, do your best to honor Him in what He’s called you to do, give God a right sacrifice and Trust in Him to accomplish what he wants to accomplish. 

 

That verse also speaks to me the importance of doing my part.  God has put on my heart the dream of writing books someday.  It obviously doesn’t do good to wait and make excuses.  “Well, I don’t want to write this book, cause how will I pay for it? Will it get published?  How will it get noticed so that millions people buy it and thus setting me up for the easy life of writing books and collecting paychecks?”  The right sacrifice that I need to offer God is to sit down and start writing.  Because I know this is something He’s asked me to do.  I offer the sacrifice and trust in the Lord.  God can’t sell a million of my books if I don’t write the book.  Right?

 

A right sacrifice is seeing what the next step that God has laid out for you and taking it.  Even if you don’t know what the following step will be.  That’s the faith part.  That’s the uncomfortable part.  That’s the surrender part. That’s the fun part.

 

So whatever the road is in front of you, whatever challenge God has given you, whatever change he wants to make in you, whatever dream He’s put on your heart.  Don’t wait until you have it all figured out.  Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.

 

If it’s a dream He’s put on your heart, find a step that you can take towards it, do your best as a sacrifice to God and put your trust in Him.

 

If you’re trying to make changes in your life, take a step, offer a right sacrifice and put your trust in God.

 

If you’re unhappy at your job, or in your marriage, or your facing other difficult situations and you don’t know how God will get you through it, offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.  You can offer a right sacrifice by honoring your boss and doing your very best work.  You can offer a right sacrifice by honoring your spouse and putting his/her needs before yours.  Offer a right sacrifice.  And then put your trust in God.  He can do a lot of unbelievable stuff.

 

This is the faith stuff.  It’s not comfortable.  And that’s what makes it great.

The Second Ingredient....

 

This is part 2 of my last blog.  You should read part one first.  I broke it up into two blogs because when you blog infrequently, why use up all your material in one blog when you can stretch in to two blogs?  Why have one hour of American idol, when you can stretch it into four?  I guess with that comparison, I’ve now labeled my own blog as annoying and overrated.  I’ve become the Justin Bieber of blogs.

 

Anyway.  I’m talking about the two ingredients that made last week a good week.  The first was my trip to Lake Geneva Bible camp to help a friend with some music (last blog).

 

The second ingredient for a good week was this:  Swing Dance Class. 

My wife and I signed up for a swing dance class that began last Thursday night.  This falls into the category of “things we’ve said we should do but haven’t yet”.  We’ve been talking about it for a couple years and we decided to do it.  At some point, you have to take a good long look at your “things we’ve said we should do but haven’t yet” list.  If it’s getting to be a long list, you should either start a new list, or get to it.  We’re getting to it.  Backpacking through Europe and finishing the basement seem like bigger projects, so we started with Swing Dance Classes.  And judging from the comments we’ve gotten from people, dance lessons are an a few people’s “Things we’ve said we should do” lists.

 

Tropical Ballroom in Woodbury is where we go.  We’ve hired them for a couple church functions.  If you go my church and you remember LAST year’s volunteer appreciation night with the country music, mechanical bull and line dancing lessons… the nice-old-folks that taught the line dancing are the parents of the couple who run Tropical Ballroom (tropicalballroom.com).  We’re taking a four-week class on Swing Dance Basics.

 

So we made a night of it, dropped the kids at Grandma’s place, stopped at the MOA Apple Store to buy Kristie a new laptop (actually, that’s the third ingredient to a great week, new Apple products) got to Woodbury early enough to have dinner together at Keys Café and Bakery and then it was dancing time.

 

Now, I’ve heard a few comments from people saying things like: “Wow, Jeff, time to check your manhood” (I’m not sure what that means, or how you check it, but count me 'out')  or “Wow, Kristie, how did you get your husband to agree to that??”.  So it must be said that I was more motivated for the dance class than Kristie at times.  And I checked my manhood and it’s still there.

 

Here now are the reasons why the swing dancing class was great:

 

First.  I’ll never pass on an opportunity to put my hands on my wife’s body and move around a bit.

 

Second.  I’ve single handedly been the cause of some really bad wedding reception dance moves in the past.  Some receptions of which the bride and groom are now divorced.  I don’t like living with the lingering thought that perhaps it was my moves….. I don’t even like to talk about it.  Simply put, it never hurts to learn to dance.  On a larger note… it never hurts to learn anything.  Unless you’re learning to swallow swords.

 

Third.  It’s a fun way to get some exercise.  And with the quality time spent together, that opens doors to other fun ways to exercise.

 

Finally.  And here’s the big reason.  This was Kristie and I saying to the world… “Hey world, this is our life and we’re going to live it.”  We can tend to put all our time into kid stuff, or church stuff, or house stuff and have very little stuff left for us.  And stuff with Kristie should be at the top of the priority list.  So the reason I was adamant about doing this class was because I was determined to have something Krisite and I could go out and do together that had nothing to do with church and nothing to do with our kids.  Sorry church and kids… get in line.

 

Throughout the night we had great conversation, much of it around the topic for Kristie’s next writing/speaking project.  And her main topic summed up what I’m trying to convey in this blog…

 

…It’s your life.  It’s not happening to you, you are living it.  Let me explain.  Many of us live life in ‘reaction mode’.  We feel that our lives are happening to us and we are out of control and we just try to make it through, hoping for a miraculous change of circumstance. The truth is that it’s up to us to live.  If, for whatever reason, your life is not what you expected or wished for… it’s up to you to change it. 

 

Now, in connection to part 1 of this blog… there are circumstances that are beyond out control.  Disabilites, tragedies, sickenss, loss, death.  There are people that face an entirely different level of obstacle to ‘living their life’ than I.  I’m not naïve to that fact.  But here’s the bigger point:  If there are circumstances that are beyond our control, than we must do our best to get on with it.  Give it to God and then let it go.  Our job on earth is to live to serve God and serve others regardless of our life circumstance.  I’ve found that the things that are beyond our control are the things we spend the most time trying to control.

 

This was portrayed to me so brilliantly by my friend Scott Abbott and the other wonderful people at Special Touch Ministry Camp.  Their life circumstances are beyond their control.  They’ve given them to God and now they’re getting on with it.  They are living their life, it’s not happening to them.

 

So if you feel like your life is happening to you rather than you living it.  Change it.  If there are circumstances that are beyond your control that you can’t change, realize that it’s beyond your ability to control and stop trying to control it.  Get on with living.  If you have a long list of “things we’ve said we should do”, get off your butt and get on with it.

 

Your life is not “happening to you.”  You are living it.  So live it.

 

Yes this may be too deep of a thought to have as a result of a swing dance class. 

 

Mostly I wanted another reason to put my hands on my wife’s body and move around a bit.

 

 

 

Two ingredients for a good week

It’s been a good week. 

 

Not just good due to the absence of bad stuff happening... True, it has been a week without any car breakdowns, or kid sickness, or inter-personal drama, which helps because enough of those things can tend to produce a bad week.  But this week has been good on a deeper level.  It’s been a week that has been eye opening as well as fulfilling.  There was no great life altering experience or spiritual nirvana moment.  There wasn’t a lottery win or a celebrity encounter, invention patent or crowning achievement.  It’s been an eye opening and fulfilling week because of a couple fairly simple outings.

 

First.  On Wednesday, I had the privilege of helping a friend of mine with some music at a camp he was leading.  My friend is Scott Abbott.  Scott was born with Muscular Dystrophy and is confined to a motorized wheelchair.  He and his wife Michelle run Special Touch Ministry for the state of Minnesota.  Special Touch Ministry is a ministry to those with Physical and Cognitive disabilities. 

 

A few weeks ago, Scott emailed a bunch of his musician friends and asked if we would be willing to come up to the campground for a day, or the week and help with some music.  As I read that, I immediately knew this was something that I wanted to be a part of.  First, I knew that being a part of leading worship for the people of this camp would be a profoundly spiritual moment and a time when I knew God would speak deep things to me.  Second, because I know as life goes on and musical opportunities come and go, a night at Special Touch Camp one of those opportunities that I should always have time for, and one that I’ll never regret being a part of. 

 

On Wednesday afternoon I loaded up my stuff and drove the 2.5 hour drive to Lake Geneva Bible Camp.  I got there in time for a sound check and a quick dinner in the cafeteria and then it was service time.  After the service I stayed for a few extra minutes to catch the first part of the talent show and then I was back in the car for the drive home and in bed by 1am.

 

Let me first say this:  My friend Scott and his wife Michelle are heroes.  Not just because of the great ministry they do, but because of how they live their lives.  Scott has to ask for help for everything.  He uses a headset mic to sing and if he needs to move it or adjust it at all, he has to have someone lift his arm up so he can use his hand to adjust it.  He can eat by grabbing food with one hand, lifting that hand with the other arm and hunching over.  His wife is a constant care-giver and helper.  I was amazed, and I only saw about 4 hours of their life.  After 4 hours, I’m back in my car, but this is the reality in which they live every minute.  Year after year.  Amazing. The courage, the patience, the commitment they show to each other is truly humbling. 

 

I have in my mind what I refer to as a “Large Mansion List”.  People on that list are those who are serving God in very difficult circumstances… inner city churches, hostile country missionaries etc.  When I get to Heaven, the people on that list had better have much larger mansions than I, and I expect they will.  And if they don’t I may have to file a complaint.  That’s my Large Mansion List.  And Scott and Michelle Abbott are now on it.

 

Anyway, the evening service was wonderful. The reality is that for people with cognitive disabilities, expressing themselves in worship at their home church is often a distraction to others, so they are asked and encouraged to be quiet.  But here at Special Touch Camp they are free to worship, sing, dance and express their worship however they wanted to.  And as the music began many of them came up to the front and the singing, dancing, clapping, smiling, and spinning began.  I don’t know how else to describe it except to say it was truly a wonderful experience. 

 

The best part was near the end of the worship service, Scott had everyone sing “How Great is our God” one last time without any of the musicians playing so we could hear all the voices.  Now it would be awesome if the story continued with something like this:  “And as the band got quiet I was amazed at how beautifully they all were singing.  Unbelievable harmonies and voices…”  The truth is that the singing was pretty bad.  Really bad.   But I have never… ever…  heard a more wonderful sound of worship.  I can’t imagine God smiling any wider at any other expression of worship.  Ever.  As I said, it was simply wonderful.

 

We ended by singing these words to a familiar song:  “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Look full in His wonderful face.  And the things of earth will grow strangely dim.  In the light of His glory and grace.”   And it hit me…. I was in a room filled with people whose “Things of Earth” are rather daunting.  People like Scott with Muscular Dystrophy.  Other people with mental disabilities, who spend life hearing how they aren’t good enough to do things and aren’t usable by God.  Other people like Michelle Abbott who spend their life ceaselessly and graciously caring for a husband in a wheelchair.  As I heard that song being sung by that group of people, I thought about my “things of earth”, those things that I allow to frustrate me, or fill me with angst, or cause me to fear and lose faith.  The ‘bad circumstance’ things I encounter and fixate on.  Then I imagined writing all of those things down on a piece of paper and handing that list to anyone else in the room and asking what they thought of those things.  In that room and in that moment, with that group of wonderful people joyfully worshipping their creator and God, I had a rapid reprioritization.

 

I left there being once again blown away at the bigness of our God and His Kingdom.  I realized how often I think I have the ‘order of things’ figured out only to have God say “yah, Jeff… um… not so much with your thinking that you know how it all works in My Kingdom.”  In Gods Kingdom, the last are first, and my half hearted, distracted, self-absorbed expressions of worship are the ones that are looked at as ‘weird’.

 

I now realize that this blog is getting long.  Too long for most blog readers out there.  If you wanted to read long things, you’d be reading a book right now.  So, this will be the end of part 1.  I’ll post part two soon.

In a garage, with a laptop, on a rainy day….

It’s garage sale season.  Our neighborhood is having her annual sale, which we managed to get in on this year.  The last few years we missed it cause of church functions on the same weekend, but not this year.  Obviously the neighborhood sale provides advertising and lots of traffic and thus the desire to do the Garage Sale this weekend. So today I find myself sitting my garage, manning the sale.

 

Garage sales are an odd thing.  With each person entering my garage, I get an audition feeling.  I find myself watching them, wondering “oooh, I wonder if they like my crap”  and when they walk out after only a minute, I find myself feeling let down, like I’ve done something wrong… then I get judgmental… “oh, so you’re too good for my crap??”.  But mostly I feel joy with every piece of junk that leaves our property.  “so you’re telling me that you’ll take some my junk and give me money instead??”  This is the joy of the Garage Sale.

 

We have everything priced very low.  We’re not going to put a sticker on everything, so pretty much everything in my garage is a buck… all clothes, shoes, books, toys, games… a buck each.  We still get people grabbing a stack of clothes, expecting a drop in price cause they’re buying in bulk.  We hold firm and dare them to find lower prices anywhere.  We are walmart.  We are the low price leader.  I’ll do anything to not have to bring this junk back in to the house.

 

Well! We have a winner.  Barack Obama wins again..... I shall explain.

 

We are selling books.  I’ve enjoyed watching people parooze through our books and formulate opinions as to the kind of people we are.  We’ve got lots of biographies.  We’ve got a couple copies of ‘In A pit, with a lion on a snowy day” by Mark Batterson.  Those wont sell.  We may have to drop the price.  Or give them away.  Those books are like ‘Hootie and the blowfish’ CD’s at a used CD shop… void of any value due to the world having been flooded by them and.  Its supply and demand people. 

 

But anyway, we had two books by Barack Obama, and right beside them, I placed “The Faith of George W Bush”.  I’ve enjoyed having people come in, look at books and say “Yeesh, I’m not buying that book” and then find out which President they’re referring to. It’s been split so far.  Hmmmm… imagine that, a garage sale in America being completely polarized politically with no room in the middle.  It’s been funny to have people start up conversations bashing each president, assuming that the garage sale host as well as all the other people in the garage, agree with them.  I play both sides.  I agree with everyone who comments, cause I’m Canadian, and because I want them to buy my crap. 

 

But the Barak Obama books have both sold and the George Bush remains.  I’m not sure what that means, but I’m sure you have a reason that is 100 percent accurate.  We still have Hillary Clinton and Nancy Regan biographies for sale side by side… I’ll keep you posted on that one.  U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!

 

We’ve got a pair of giant obnoxious stereo speakers for sale.  They are great speakers.  They are enormous.  They are the first thing I bought when I got my first paycheck from my first job at Snippers Lawn Maintenance.  I bought them out of the back of a van and I’m quite sure I overpaid.  But they are well worth the 20 bucks I’m selling them for.  You will just be hard pressed to find a spot to put them that doesn’t make you look like a 19 year-old kid who works at snippers lawn maintenance.  Selling large speakers is like trying to sell an old TV… or an old TV wall mount.  Or an “in a pit with a lion” book.

 

Here’s to Garage Sales.  Come by and see us.  Bring a buck.  With a buck, you can get anything.

 

 

 

Mental Health is Underrated.

I'm taking a mental health day.

I found myself needing a day away following Easter weekend.  I imagine that the disciples, after experiencing resurrection weekend 2000 years ago, didn't feel worn out and need to escape to a coffee shop to regroup.  Perhaps I'm missing something.

But alas, I am at a coffee shop for the day.  I have no plans.  I'm here and I have no agenda or exit strategy.  I think I have to be at a band rehearsal in 9 hours.

I've found a great coffee shop in St Paul.  I think I've been here before.  It has a familiarity to it.  It has a "home" feeling to it.  I believe it could be the perfect coffee shop.

Here are the signs to let you know you've found the perfect coffee shop:

1:  It's doesn't say Starbucks, or Caribou, or Dunn Bros anywhere.  I like those places.  But a perfect coffee shop isn't a chain.  It's an independent operation.

2: It is not near the suburbs.  I had to drive a while to get here.  Plus, I took the scenic route along the river and through lots of old neighborhoods to get here.  (side note: a good start to any mental health day is to avoid the direct route everywhere you go)

3: It doesn't have any size options when you order a Cappuccino.  You order a Cappuccino, and that's it.  It has a set proportion of espresso, milk and froth.  If you want more, order another one.  which I shall.

(mental health rising)

4:  It has music playing that I haven't heard on any radio stations. 

5:  There is no trivia questions on the menu board.  They realize that good coffee is enough to keep everyone's interest.

6:  There's no hoops to jump through to get internet access... just select the network and go.  No hot spot nonsense.  No 'buy a coffee card and use that to access our internet'.  No 'log in to our caribou network' crap.  There is an overall feeling of a happy place that hasn't been corrupted by a corporate office somewhere... or a marketing dept gone bezerko.

7:  Finally, the perfect coffee shop has a sign like this:

Here's to the great coffee shops out there.  And to mental health.

Sleeping the day away

I slept in til 11:00 am today. 

 

I couldn’t tell you the last time I slept until 11:00am.  The last time was probably a Saturday morning in Bible College. Or it may have been a Sunday morning in Bible college, sleeping late, dreaming of church services, hoping the ‘church checkers’ wouldn’t knock on my dorm room that morning in their random searches to see who was skipping church.

 

I’ve been due for a long sleep for a while now.  My lack of sleep began on vacation a couple of weeks ago, when Kristie were out of town with 5 other couples.  There are fun vacations and then there are restful vacations.  This was a fun one with lots of laughs and lots of late nights.  It was one of those vacations that you need a vacation after it to get some sleep.  Since then, things have been very busy at church and with the kids and with life, and a good long sleep had been getting more and more necessary.

 

Mission accomplished.  And I don’t think I missed much.  And I’m not falling into the trap of thinking that I have to work harder now to catch up now that I’ve woken up.  I don’t believe God was watching me sleep, tapping his watch, waiting for me to wake up so I could get to the important things.  At no point do I believe God was saying “Hurry up and wake up Jeff, I have so many things I’m counting on you to get done”.

 

It’s good for me to remember that rest is not something God wants us to do so we can get more done after we’re done resting.  Rest is not something we do so we can be charged up and ready for the Godly tasks.  Rest IS one of the Godly tasks. God asks us to rest.  He knows we need it.  He created us to need it.  He knows that without it, we can tend to think that it’s all about us, and our productivity.  Indeed, me sleeping in til 11am this morning is the least efficient and productive I could do.  I believe for me, and the pace I’ve been at, it’s the Godliest thing I could’ve done this morning.  I think we all need to remind ourselves from time to time that this whole thing is not depending on us.

 

I’ve been reading through the book of Philippians over the last week.  In one of my Bibles, Chapter 3 has the heading “The Goal of Life” above it.  That is the Chapter that talks about putting no confidence in our flesh.  Paul talks about how if anyone had the credentials to put confidence in, it would be him.  In verse 8 he says “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own…” 

 

The goal of life is to know Christ.  There are times when our knowledge of Christ leads us to action and activity, there are times when we show how we know Christ in how we handle times of suffering.  (That is a whole other blog… perhaps a book… our goal in life is NOT to make things most pleasant for ourselves….) There are times when our desire to know Christ leads us to rest and DO nothing.

 

I work at a church.  I like my job.  But my involvement in the Kingdom of God is way more than all the things I do at church.  Likewise, your involvement in the Kingdom of God is way more than all the stuff you do for your church.  For us, knowing Christ involves how we’re ‘managing’ our personal relationship with him, how we’re managing our relationships with spouse, kids, family, community.  How we manage our jobs, our involvement in the local church, how we reach out to the poor and the hurting in my world as well as many other things. 

 

So I’m reminded this morning that if my focus is on knowing Christ and honoring Him in every area of my life, He’s strong enough to take my best efforts in any area of life and anoint them, bless them and cause them to bear fruit.  It’s not up to my own strength anyway.  Indeed, God was still at work while I was asleep this morning.

 

We’ll, it’s now almost 2pm and I haven’t done anything yet.  Kristie is now down for a nap and I have no idea where all the Children are. 

 

We’re having a Godly day.

 

By the way, one of my favorite writers is Donald Miller.  His latest book “A Million Miles and a Thousand Years” is a fabulous read.  And his latest blog is what stirred this blog of mine today.  It’s called “If it weren’t for God, You’d be more efficient”.

 

http://donmilleris.com/2010/03/19/if-it-werent-for-god-youd-be-more-efficient/

 

Have a read.

 

Peace.

 

 

 

 

Olympics Thus Far...

 

AS a Canadian living in the USA, I often become the ‘go to’ person whenever an American wants to poke fun at Canada, or has a question about Curling, or has a good Canadian impression they want to try out, or has a comment about famous people that they didn’t know were Canadian.   I’m happy to be here for you America.  Yes, Martin Short… John Candy…  Canadians.  Can you dig it?

 

So as the resident Canadian, here are my thoughts on the Olympics thus far…

 

I thought the Opening Ceremonies were great.  I thought they were perfectly Canadian.  A slow start to the ceremony that said:  “We’re Canadian, we’re happy about it, and we don’t need to prove anything to you”.  A very cool middle part of the ceremony with the video floor and the floating people that said:  “We are Canadian, underestimate us if you’d like, it doesn’t bother us, and the fact that it doesn’t bother us, bothers you, and in the end we’ll bite your face off with understated cool-ness”.  And an Olympic torch malfunction at the end that says:  “We’re Canadian, there are several things we’re not good at, and we don’t feel that bad about it, you can try to make us feel bad about being Canadian, but it wont work.” 

I really liked the opening ceremony.

 

The Red Maple Leaf mittens are awesome.  I can’t find any.  If you wanted to buy me a pair for Canada Day (July 1^st), that would be OK by me.

 

I get a lot of questions about Curling.  Curling is like shuffleboard on ice.  There are 4 players per team.  Each player throws 2 rocks per ‘end’.  There are 10 ‘ends’ in a game.  If your team’s rock is closest to the center at the end of the ‘end’, you get a point.  If your team has two rocks closest to the center… you get two points… etc.  The sweeping on the ice causes friction, which melts the ice ever so slightly creating a very thin layer of water causing the rock to slide further and curve less.  It’s a very enjoyable game to play and watch.  So back off America.  You shouldn’t make fun of something just because you’re terrible at it.  I don’t make fun of Basketball… “You take a ball and bounce it on the floor and run and try to put the ball in the basket at the other end of the floor… the other team will try to stop you but they can’t touch you or they get a foul.”  oops, I just made fun of Basketball.

 

There’s been some controversy.  There’s been talk of the Canadians not allowing other countries to practice enough on the tracks and courses in an effort to gain the upper hand.  This sounds fishy to me.  I’m pretty sure there’s not some guy at a gate somewhere in BC, wearing a team Canada hat that gets to decide who gets on to a track.  I’m guessing the home country doesn’t have that much power.  And if they did, I’m sure the Canadians aren’t the first to do it.  It’s just not Canadian. 

 

That being said, there has been a national campaign in Canada called “Own The Podium”.  An effort to get the Canadian team to be less… Canadian.  Having a swagger, a cocky-ness and not being content with 5^th place as we tend to do.  Canada has hosted two Olympics previously:  The 1976 summer Olympics in Montreal and 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary (my home town).  In each of those, Canada didn’t win any gold medals.  So this year in Vancouver there was a heavy emphasis on winning events… owning the podium.  In a sense, this is Canada’s attempt to be like their neighbors to the south… Dominate as many events as you can and let the world know about it in the process.  Which brings me to a key point:  Canadians shouldn’t try to act American.  It’s just not that convincing.  It’s not who we are.  We’re not loud and obnoxious.  And when we try to be, it just comes across awkward.  We leave the loud and obnoxious to America.  (and perhaps Australia as well)  We don’t win as much and we’re OK with that.  We’re thrilled to be Canadian and we don’t need to prove it to anyone.  Cause who are they anyway?

 

In addition, Canada hasn’t exactly owned the podium.  Well… we may own it, but we’re letting a lot of other countries use it every day.  Maybe the “own the podium” campaign was a fund-raiser to actually purchase the podiums instead of leasing them.

 

I’ve been very impressed with the American Team.  The coolest outfit I’ve seen thus far goes to the American Snowboarding Team.  Super cool.  Plus the entire crew are performing exceptionally well and doing so in a relatively quiet manner.  I haven’t heard many of them whining, yelling or trash-talking.  It’s really been quite enjoyable watching the entire American team going about their business as they own the podium.  It’s almost that while the Canadian team is trying to behave American, the American team is choosing to be content, confident and understated.  It’s a bit confusing to me.  Americans shouldn’t act Canadian… it messes with the natural order of things. 

 

But the highlight for me was the medal awards ceremony for the first of Canada’s gold medals.  As they played the anthem, you could hear the entire arena singing ‘O Canada’ at the top of their lungs.  I loved this.  Canada has a great national anthem and her citizens love to sing it.  My brothers and sisters in the USA should learn from this.  People in the states don’t sing along with their anthem and that’s always puzzled me.  But the Canadians love to belt it out.  It was my favorite moment thus far.

 

The second half starts today.  I’m looking for Canadian gold in Mens and Womens hockey and Curling.  Men’s ski cross.  Short track speed skating. Freestyle Aerials.  But mostly I'm hoping the Canadians can keep that torch lit.

Just like that, a perfect evening.

A Spectacular Night.

 

Outside, it's a crisp snowy night.  It's been snowing steadily for about 30 hours.  The driveway's been shoveled or plowed three times today.  It's supposed to snow for another 15 hours.  Everything is covered in a blanket of sparkling white stuff.  It's wonderful. Days like today I find myself coming up with reasons to go outside.  I just like to be in the snow on days like today.

 

Inside, it's quiet.  Kids are in bed.  Chris Botti and Paula Cole are filling the house with music.  All we need is a fireplace.   But even without, it's a great night.

We've been talking about getting a fireplace for about 6 years now.  But we don't like to rush in to things.

Now, this perfect night was not suddenly accomplished.  It has been achieved in several steps.

Before Chris Botti and Paula Cole, I made several attempts at picking music to listen to while I cleaned the kitchen.  I had on some upbeat worship music for a while and found myself getting tight in chest region.  It was definitely not doing the trick.  I think if your soul is ready for Botti and you try feeding it Steve Fee (even as great as he is) you'll only be filling the house with the sounds of dissatisfaction.

 

Before the kids were quietly upstairs, there were several phases of kids NOT in their beds as they'd been told.  At one point, all we heard was hysterical laughing upstairs by all four kids.  We went up to find that dottie (2 years old) had disrobed (nothing new) but instead of peeing on the floor, she instead decided to put on her swim-suit and her pink furry sparkly slippers.  We shared the laugh and were amazed at all the personality that can fit in a small 2 year old.

 

We tucked in all the kids AGAIN FOR LIKE THE 6TH TIME and resumed our peaceful evening with Chris and Paula.

 

Before the Dottie Show, all kids had appeared from their beds and were in the kitchen because Charlie had decided that he was indeed ready for me to pull out his tooth.  Now this tooth is a stubborn baby tooth that keeps hanging on.  Hanging on so well in fact that the new tooth is growing in over top of the baby tooth.  The Dentist gave Charlie two weeks to get the tooth out, or he'd have to pull it out.  Fortunately the dentist gave me a printout of what my share of the tooth pulling procedure will cost me. 

95 dollars. 

So needless to say, Dad and Son have been hard at work since then.  We've got two weeks to get said tooth out at all costs... or rather at all costs LESS THAN 95 dollars. 

 

I've used a two-sided approach to motivate my son to pull his tooth.  "Charlie... you know that video game you said you wanted?... if you pull your tooth out before we have to go back to the dentist, it's yours."  That is the bribery side.  The other side is use of scare tactics.  "Charlie, I don't think you want to have the dentist pull your tooth out... he chops at it with sharp objects and then cuts it out with a saw".  I'm both the good and the bad cop.

 

So that was also a bit of a show.  Tears and laughter.  I'm amazed at how many times I'll say to my kids "Don't worry... I WONT pull on your tooth until you say you're ready" and have them believe me.  I got the tooth 90 percent out.  It's hanging on by a thread now, but apparently it's a central nervous thread and Charlie is done for the night.  I believe he's determined to finish the job himself. 

Good boy.

 

Before that... While I was cleaning said kitchen, scouring my iPod for something to please the soul... the thing’s got like 8000 songs on it, why are so many of them songs i can't stand?... before that, the kids were watching TV, I was cleaning while on speakerphone hold with United Airlines, the house was filled with noise and did not resemble the perfect night at that point.  United Airlines on speakerphone hold is torturous cause they don't vary the music at all.  Every few minutes you get a break with 'thanks for your patience... please continue to hold'.  They assume they have my patience.  But the rest of the time is Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin... the United Airlines song, incessantly played over the speaker-phone. 

 

You are reading this, wondering in the day of automated phone services and the internet, what possible reason there is to spend 31 minutes on hold with United Airlines... it was a simple insignificant yet complicated issue that they didn't have an automated menu option for.  And I got it fixed in less than two minutes... after the 31 minutes of hold time. 

Did you know that In 1976 United Airlines purchased a license from the Gershwin Estate for 500,000 dollars to use Rhapsody in Blue in their advertising?... they are getting their money's worth in the phone system.

 

But alas, airline question answered, kids quiet upstairs, no bloody mess on Charlie's pillow yet.  Peace and quiet... all the other stuff out of the way and finally the perfect night.

 

Actually, all the other stuff was pretty great as well.

 

 

I Am Not Ann Coulter

Hello Friends...

For those of you who don't know, I work at River Valley Church.  My boss is Pastor Rob Ketterling.  He's a great guy, a great leader and pastor.  He also has a great blog which he is much better at updating than I. 

Previous to today, it had been a couple weeks since I read his blog.  But this morning at church, I had someone come up to me and say "Jeff, did you read pastor Rob's blog this week?"  Fearing this was a set up, some sort of sting operation where Pastor Rob was spying out who on his staff was most deserving of a raise, I looked quickly to the left and right and said... 'ummm.... yes'.  "Did you see that he said you were like Ann Coulter?"  And I said "Who is Ann Coulter?"  (I knew who she was, but I like to make things more difficult for people)  He said "She's a conservative talk show host and if you are like her than I should start reading your stuff!"

This of course tripped my curiosity and I pulled up the blog post from pastor Rob and read this:

"Ann Coulter is Conservative, is controversial and you might not like her, she writes a lot like Pastor Jeff but is really super Conservative."

So I'm posting this blog in case you've logged on expecting an ultra conservative rant on any number of hot button issues.  I'm not Ann Coulter.  I like way too many kinds of people to be like Ann.  Pastor Rob was merely saying that my style of writing reminds him of her style of writing.  I would hate for Rush to do a promo of my blog only to be severely disappointed.

And it's not that I agree or disagree with Ann's views on things. (That last sentence was a serious disclaimer... I know that for some of you, me giving political views would be like me saying I hate your mom... not only that, but I'm so vanilla when it comes to politics... so vanilla that you'd all find me lame... In this polarized political country, I'm stuck in no mans land.  I'm totally in lame-no-mans-land.  I'm like the Dutch.  See, even that joke is lame.  I have no idea as to the political landscape of the Netherlands)

I don't blog about political things.  If I did, I think Ann would think I'm a sissy.  Of course I think she'd think my gun-totin' brother in law Rick is a lefty.  (that reference is funny obviously if you know who Rick is)

So that's it.  Just want to be clear.  If your search for political diatribe has brought you here, I apologize, but this is the last place you want to be.  But please continue to enjoy this blog.  I write about winter, hockey, kids and poop.  I write about dogs, life and malls and other riveting topics.  And please enjoy Pastor Rob's blog at robketterling.com   It's a great way to keep in touch with what he thinks about church, faith and leadership.  It's a great blog.  He writes a lot like Al Franken, but Al is Super Liberal.

To All The Winter Haters

Today is one of my favorite weather days… no wind, sunny and cold…  not unlike myself.

So here’s the deal… there’s been a lot of winter-bashing going on lately.  It seems that most people put up with winter until Christmas. After that, everyone is in post holiday, weight-loss, new years resolution crabbiness.  Add in the temps dropping in the toilet and everyone starts whining. 

Winter gets a bad rap.  And I’m coming to it’s defense.

This blog is a Pro-Winter blog.  It’s about the finer parts of a good, cold winter.

The Kerr family comes alive a bit in the winter. (Those who know us also know that Kristie is excluded from the previous statement)  Over Christmas break the kids and I built a snow fort and a sledding hill in the front yard and a Skating Rink in the back yard.  It’s a winter wonderland… well, it’s probably not that impressive, but the kids think it’s pretty cool.  And I’m a hockey fan who grew up with backyard skating rinks, so I find it pretty cool as well.

John Buccigross of ESPN said this about outdoor hockey… “We are all certifiably insane.  All of us who let this game of hockey wash over us for the cold winter months.  But for some of us that’s not enough.  We have to take this insanity one step further.  We build a backyard rink”

Now about our back-yard rink: It’s not very large.  A game of hockey would be tough.  All you can do is turn.  But it’s perfect for getting the kids out there to learn how to skate.  And so far the kids are taking to it quite well.  As a Canadian, I feel I’ve failed as a parent cause my kids are just now learning to skate, but they are catching up in their Canadian-ness well.  They love being outside, the cold doesn’t phase them.

Yes, what I’m subtly saying is that my five-year old daughter is tougher than you.

My fondness for winter is a result of many hours spent outdoors as a kid during the cold Calgary winter.  I would walk to the local outdoor rink after school, lace up the skates and play hockey for hours.  Not a care in the world.  The only thing I had to worry about was getting home in time for food, homework and bed.  It really was a great season in life.

Last week I ventured out to one of the local outdoor rinks and found some youngsters there who were interested in having a game.  Everyone got over the weirdness of having some ‘old’ guy there and we played for a couple hours.  They kept playing after I left… but I had to get home for dinner.  Not cause I had a mom there watching the clock, but because I now have a wife and four kids and the opportunity for me to spend all evening at an outdoor rink showing up the youngsters wasn’t, I believe, afforded to me. 

So after a couple hours I was headed home.  Of course, not being a teenager anymore also meant that after a couple hours of hockey against 20 year-olds, my lungs were burning, my knees were stiff and there was a subtle but pronounced weariness about me.  I didn’t want the youngsters to know this.  “I gotta go guys… darn kids at home… they ruin everything... don’t ever get married…”

The outdoor hockey game is a beautiful in its simplicity.  If the ice is snowy, we all grab the shovels and clear it off.  We all skate around a bit and warm up, and then as if we all know it’s time to play, we all instinctively throw are sticks in the middle of the rink.  Then somebody skates to the middle, closes their eyes and tosses sticks to alternating ends of the rink.  This is how the teams are decided.  There’s no complaining about match-ups, everyone simply skates to their stick, does a quick glance at fellow teammates and then the game is on.  It’s a beautiful thing.

The cold winter weather is also beautiful.  A really cold day gets the adrenaline going.  It’s like a challenge.  It’s good for the skin… maybe.  When you’re out in the cold, your mouth begins to go numb and you talk funny.  I think you actually say less when your mouth is cold.  So everyone should definitely go outside for a while.

So let's get down to it.  It's winter.  It’s going to be cold.  You have three options

First - you can avoid it by going south.  If that works for you, great.  In Canada, there’s not a ‘southern’ part that we can go to in order to warm up.  Canada is an entire country north of Buffalo.  If you go to the southern-most part of Canada, you end up in Windsor.  Try putting that on a brochure. 

Second – you can whine and complain when it gets cold and be miserable for one third of the year.  4 months out of the year seems like a long time to be crabby just cause it’s cold out.  But yet there are many people I know that fit into this category.

Finally – you can decide to embrace and dare I say it, even enjoy winter.  People, it’s cold.  Get over it.  You don’t need to be crazy to enjoy the cold weather.  You don’t need to be extra-tough.  You just need to not be a wuss.  Put on some wool socks, and add an extra layer.  There are few things that feel as good as frozen toes thawing out. 

So get outside and enjoy winter.  Then come inside and warm up.  Start a fire.  Have some hot chocolate.  There are lots of creative, tasty, enjoyable ways to warm up.  Explore them a bit. Besides, the colder you are, the better it feels to warm up.

 

 

Let's Take This Slow.

Happy New Year.  I'm slowly getting this new year and new decade rolling.  I started with a cup from Kristie's new Keurig Coffee maker and have since moved to my Starbucks Barista machine.  I used to steam the milk and add a shot of espresso, but I've gotten to the stage of just sticking my mug under the espresso spouts and filling her up.  I may add a shot of milk.

The Kerr's rung in the New Year at the Mall of America.  We weren't planning on staying there all day.  We had some ride wristbands that we wanted to use, one thing led to another another... lunch... dinner...Karoke... Next thing you knew, the big ball was dropping as we rang in the new year.  Now, at Nick Universe at MOA, the new year began at 10pm.  People said this was because of all the kids that couldn't stay up til midnight, but truth be told it was for guys like me and my brother in law Rick who were done by 10pm.  If there was a stroller big enough, i'd have been in it.  We had been there for 12 hours. (My friends the Helgemoes wussed out by noon)  After one too many trips on the Rock Bottom Plunge... I had indeed found rock bottom.  Its less a roller coaster and more an outlook on life when you're entering hour 11 at MOA.  

I jest of course... we had a great time at the Mall with the fam and the other fam.

Today we shall clean the house, skate on the small but smooth backyard rink, and ease in to the new year with a lack of productivity and goal setting.  

I do have a few goals for the new year and the new decade.  I'll just get to them tomorrow.  I like thinking about a decade.  A decade will change your life.  10 years ago Kristie and I had no kids. We were working different jobs, living in a different house and didn't know most of the people that we share most of our life with now. 

10 years from now... who knows, but I like thinking about it.

One goal for me this year is to write.  Lots of writing.  That includes this little blog. I'm going to be more blog involved. 

I know this post isn't earth shattering, but I'm starting slow... fitting for a New Years Morning.