I Love Snow, but I hate ice!!

This year I have seen more snowfall than normal.  It has been great!  I got to take my son outside and let him play in the snow.  We threw snowballs and made a track to pull him on a shovel with.  Looked like a sled sort of.  I enjoy being outside in the snow too.  All weather actually.

Ice is not good, unless it is in your favorite cola.  I missed the first part of my work day a few weeks ago do to the door being frozen shut.  Then once at work and still upset about missing some work, I had to listen to all the teasing comments.  "Why don't you park it in the garage?"-  I don't have room!  First of all, my PAID FOR cars are MINE!!  I will do what I want with them.  Sorry if that seems loud, but I was frustrated with some people who own/are still paying for 2+ vehicles, no young children/none at home and who do whatever they want with their money.  Not that any of these things are bad.  I, my wife and I live a modest financial lifestyle.  Both cars we have are at least 10 years old and one of them was a gift from her dad.  We have a young son, and I would miss work for him anytime.  We are a 1 income family and it works for us.  Now, back to ice.

Ice.  That clear sometimes hard to see slick stuff that can be fun, but most of all dangerous.  I hate it.  It has caused most of the city to go without power for 24 hours or more.  No power for some means no heat either.  Of course it is winter and these things are expected.  I still hate ice.  Our ice skating rink of a yard is very hard to walk on without doing the "Oh no, I am gonna fall on my face." dance.  I am not the kind of guy who goes out and buys salt to pour all over my yard either.  I will admit that even though I can't stand walking or driving on ice, it makes nature look very pretty.  My wife loves taking photos of nature, especially during the different effects of the weather it seems.

Ice.  The stuff that looks like glass and feels like fire.  Hold an icicle in your hand for more that a few seconds and you could get frostbite.  It feels like your hand is burning.  I haven't fallen down(yet) on the ice but when/if I do, I bet that I will feel like fire wherever the pain is.

Ice.  When it melts, it refreezes.  Yes, it does.  Our yard and driveway is still covered with ice.  Even though the side of our house has had all the ice melted off of it from the heat of the sun and our power/heat coming back on, our steps and walk seemed to have get even slicker.  Pulling into the drive was fun/dangerous too.  We were pulling in from the north and turning right.  Slowly we veered towards our lamppost and the wheels were still turned right.  Luckily I stopped before we went to far into the yard.  I backed up and started to straighten out the wheels and still went left then right then finally straight.  Walking on the drive was also hard.  Seems like where we park the yard meets the drive at a slope and yes it is hard to walk up any size incline once it is frozen.

Ice.  Well, God made it and I thank him for it.  Even when times are hard.

Thank You Jesus.

A Few Days Ago....

I had a vacation from work during the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I was off most of November and had a wonderful time with my wife and son.  

Well, a few days ago I went back to work.  YUCK!!

That night when I came home I was very surprised.  My wife and son had decorated for Christmas!!  They had lights hung outside, a wreath on the house, a Christmas ribbon on the outside door and the inside was decorated too!!  I opened the door to the smell of Christmas cookies in the oven, the sound of Christmas music on the CD player and the sights of presents with my name on them under the Christmas tree!! 

WOW.  It really did me good to see and smell and hear all this in my home.  My wife and son are more beautiful than I can express.  Thank you!!

I hope you begin this season as blessed as I am.  If not, I pray that God will bless you even more than you have been thus far.

Growing up: Part 4.

Ah yes the wonderful, terrible, exciting but scary teenage years.  Where to start?  Obedience or rebellion?  Following orders, or making my own along the way?  I guess it would be easier to point out that I was a teenager when my dad died.  So, I will start with the years before he died first.

Normal teenager.  Scared of my dad.  Afraid of getting into trouble.  Often tried to talk my way out of trouble.  Get yelled at for being so smart.  Well sound familiar?  Rough years.  I rode the fence and struggled with who I was most of these years.  Even after my dad passed I still remained clueless.

I went to church, Boy Scouts, hung out with my friends and started to like girls!!!  I also discovered some things about girls that could have waited.  No experience, just the common or grossly common phrases and imaginations that teenage hormone raged boys have and share with other boys.  I wanted to know more.  My mind was now constantly on girls and their bodies.  I was so afraid of thinking anything or even saying I like a girl.  I pretty much just kept it to myself and tried to act like I knew what was going on.

Before the topic gets too heated I want to share that even Christians have sinful thoughts.  It is a part of the curse that Adam and Eve brought on to us all.  We live in a fallen world, and it will be this way until Jesus returns.  My mind was so warped with thoughts.  I tried my hardest to focus on the good things and not just on girls.  I am glad I grew up in church.  It helped me be afraid for a long time when it came to stuff like this.  Although I do have to say that the church I grew up in did a poor job of teaching about sex and how it is from God and it is to be between a man and a woman who are married to each other.   I wish that they could of had a special class or something to help both the boys and girls understand this and that it would not be such a hush-hush subject.

Moving on.  I did the same things most boys did.  I remember riding my bike everywhere.  I enjoyed being out with my friends.  I tried chewing tobacco, yuck.  Threw mud on some peoples houses.  Threw corn on people and their cars(also known as "corning"), which is now illegal.  It may have been illegal then too but I didn't know it was so terrible.  OK.  I apologize to everyone I ever corned.  Please forgive me.  Well, I guess I was a little mischievous.  Boy I knew how to fake my parents though.  Hey they were older and didn't seem to catch on. 

So, my brother was 2 years younger than me and I had to take him with me everywhere I went.  That was rough.  Most of the time he caused trouble with my friends and then their parents would say that he couldn't come back.  Sounded OK to me but then my dad would tell me that if he couldn't go then I couldn't either.  Like that's fair.  Actually that is what I used to say.  "Like that's fair!"  I must of sounded like a baby!!  Sometimes my brother would actually be good and things went alright.  Then he would even become their friend and I would become less of one.  Weird, it's like I had to be my brother's personal friend finder!! 

Once I went to high school I didn't really hang out with the same friends and my brother didn't have to follow me around as much.  I wonder if he was sent to keep me out of trouble?  I tried out for a few school sports but didn't really play much.  I played football in eighth grade and soccer my senior year.  I tried out for basketball my sophomore year, and everyone was glad due to my height, but didn't even make the first cut!  I was a little glad.  I didn't really like basketball and often didn't care to shoot hoops with my friends. 

Our church had a boys program called Royal Rangers.  It is a lot like the Boy Scouts, but is more Jesus centered.  After my dad died, I started to lean toward Rangers more and away from Scouts.  I regret it now.  I was just a few merit badges and a service project from becoming an Eagle Scout, at age 16 that was pretty impressive.  This is one of the things in life I would have done different if given a chance.  I think most of my reasons for dropping out of Scouts was that my dad passed away and I didn't have a male influence to keep me going the way my dad did. 

Another factor was that our troop was going through a lot of changes.  The biggest change to me was our scoutmaster was retiring from his position which meant someone else would take over.  His son had just received his Eagle a few years before and was already moving on in life and going to college.  It upset me to loose such a great scoutmaster, all the boys felt this loss but it was especially hard to me.  I was one of the last boys to have known him since being in cub scouts.  Most of the other boys either joined our troop by merging from another troop or were already boy scout age when they joined.  The older ones who had known him through cub scouts like I did were also moving on in life. 

After he left the troop the assistant took over.  He was another great leader, but he wasn't always able to make it due to work.  So, we had to get new leaders.  Our troop going through a leadership change also caused us to go through an even bigger change.  We somehow had to change locations of where we were meeting and this meant a charter change.  To simplify this let me explain:  We met at a church where our scoutmaster was a member.  When he retired, he was no longer our leader.  No one else in our troop were members of the church where we met, so we couldn't keep our charter.  I don't want to blame the church for dropping us, but they could of kept us even if we didn't attend there.

This change of charter and new meeting area, not to mention new scoutmasters, was a lot for a 16 year old boy who lost his father to have to deal with.  I gave up.  The troop number even had to change, which I really hated more than anything.  It was almost like I had to change my name.  So, I took on a new number, gained some new leaders and worst of all had to introduce myself to boys, I mean children, who were barely old enough to be in scouts and made me feel like I was babysitting a bunch of brats!!  No offense to THAT troop, but it wasn't MY troop!

Unfortunately I ended up quiting Boy Scouts, but then I adjusted and started to focus more on the Royal Rangers.  Having all the prior scouting experience I was the number one candidate for youth leadership.  I took on the challenge of being the best leader I could be.  I was the oldest in the outpost-Ranger name for troop-and had also gone to church there the longest.  Rangers gave me a place to stand out and be noticed.  That is exactly what happened too.  I went through the ranks very quickly and soon I became responsible for part of the outpost as a commanding officer.  The Rangers didn't go on as many camping trips, but we were the same guys who were involved in our church youth group so we still had other opportunities of getting out.

I was later appointed to become the Senior Commander of our outpost.  This is the highest level of leadership.  The only I had to answer to was the Pastor of the church.  I guess you could say that this was a ministry I held in the church.  WOW, I think I just realized that just now.  I did have help, I wasn't alone.  There were other men who helped me.  I had at least two others with me every time we met.  The funny thing about this is both of them were older than me by at least 15 years!!  I was only 20 or 21.  My biggest help came from one of the leaders and the youth pastor, who was the pastor's son.  They were both good men. 

My days in both Boy Scouts and Royal Rangers were very good overall.  I faced many challenges and overcame difficult obstacles.  I believe they both impacted my life in ways that helped me become who I am today.  I have been blessed by the things I have been given.  The only thing I lacked would have been a backbone and self-confidence.  You would think that I had these, but what pushed me  more was pride than anything.  I liked the attention and being the center of it at times.  So, I guess you could say that the confidence I had was actually the stuff other people but into me, their own trust.

I have remained a trustworthy person and will continue to be one.  It's just different now.  People who knew me then may not have seen what was on the inside.  The good news is I am older and now have the things I lacked then and I believe my pride is almost vanished.  So, if anyone from my past would meet me, I may look the same, but this time it is true.  I have been graciously hidden from my personal failures and have been given a respectful remembrance of my youth.

I want to conclude this series of "Growing up", but the growing never stops.  I continue to learn, fail, succeed and lose.  But, I will never give up on what God has in store for me.  I believe there is much more to know, less to forget and greater things to see.  I will remain.  I am not here for sorrow, sadness and pain. I am here for joy, strength and hope.  Remember what Jesus said in John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."  We can rest in the peace Jesus gives to help us with whatever life brings.

Growing up: Part 3.

THE HOLIDAYS
Don't worry I am almost done "Growing up".  My childhood memories of the Holidays were nice.  My favorites were Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving.  They all revolved around family when I was younger and probably why I enjoyed them so much.  I will start with Thanksgiving as a child.

Growing up Thanksgiving was always enjoyable.  My family would all pack up into my dad's truck and go to my grandma's house.  Several of my mom's side of the family lived on the same street.  The rest lived a few towns over, but a few lived out of state.  Every year all the relatives would show up, even from out of state!  There would be lots of food, of course, and lots of desserts.  Yummy.  I couldn't have a favorite because growing up I just loved to eat as much of everything that I could.  My brother and I would actually see who could eat the most.  There were only a few times one of us would actually get sick.  Really though it was us all having fun.

Us kids, anyone under 18 would all play in the yard until the food was ready.  Sometimes it was cold and rainy so we had to stay in.  Most of the time the guys would all play touch football or just catch.  The girls would play too, but mostly wanted to play tag.  I got along well with all of my cousins.  We were all blessed to have such a good family.  Once the meal was ready we would all wash up and go in to eat. 

My mom usually had us all hold hands and lead us in praying the Lord's Prayer.  I am not sure how she got picked when there were others who went to church too?  Hmm, maybe because she was more vocal about her belief.  Once we all fixed our plates to eat we pretty much took over the whole house.  Most of the older adults and very young kids ate in the dining area.  The others just found a spot on the porch or in the living room. 

Football was always on the T.V. at Thanksgiving and we loved watching.  The adults who weren't watching the games were usually playing some.  Most of the time it was Euchre or other various card games.  My parents always played but would yell in to see what the score was and who was winning. 

After about 3 or 4 hours everyone seemed to get really really tired.  That is when the kids would go for a walk.  Were my grandma lived there was a covered bridge.  It was fun to walk down there with my cousins and hear what they were up to and share the same about us.  When we came back from walking we would always eat more dessert!!  Finally it was time to cleanup.  Most of it was already done when the kids started helping but it was better that way.  We didn't want to be in the way you know.

I think my parents were some of the last ones to leave on Thanksgiving.  It was always dark out when we left and we usually went straight to bed once we got home.  I really enjoyed Thanksgiving as a child, but I have different reasons for loving it now.

Christmas:  Do I need to explain?  It was always a fun holiday.  Even if the weren't very many presents, and some years there were very few, it was always a good time.  My brother and I would wake up early and have to go back to bed.  Then wake up again and keep asking each other if it was time.  Then finally it was time.

We would go to the living room where the Christmas tree was and start opening the presents.  We tried to make sure we watched our parents open their presents too, but it was hard to wait.  After opening presents we had breakfast, which my dad was usually the one who made Christmas breakfast.  Sometimes, if it didn't snow or rain, we would take our new toys outside and play until lunch. 

Christmas lunch was usually at home or at my grandma's again.  If we went to her house, it was only a few of us who lived close.  It was still just as nice as Thanksgiving though.

Easter.  Easter was also a very fun holiday.  We would wake up to having a basket full of goodies waiting for us by our bunk beds.  Sometimes they were full of candy and small toys like cars or marbles.  Other times just candy.  After our small celebration of eating candy we would get ready for Church.  This was fun because we always had new outfits at Easter.  I am not sure if it is more common for girls to get dresses for Easter than boys to get suits, but my brother and I always got new suits.  Like I said in an earlier post we both looked good in our new suits.

We usually went to church earlier on Easter than normal Sunday's.  The church always had a "Son rise Service".  Notice the spelling SON not SUN.  It was important to understand the resurrection of Jesus.  If it wasn't for this, I would not be a Christian.  If God didn't have the power to raise Jesus from the dead, then nothing would matter about all the things Jesus ever talked about.  I will write about this later.

After church we would usually be given a brown paper bag full of peanuts and oranges.  Wait, was that done at Christmas too?  Maybe, but definitely at Easter.  It was fun.  Once we got home and had lunch we sometimes hid eggs for an egg hunt. 

Easter has always been important to me.  I think it is more important to me than Christmas now.  I celebrate them both as the same in a way.  Jesus came to us on Christmas, to live a life that would bring freedom.  On Easter He would raise from the death of punishment on a cross for my(and your)sins.  Yes, it is important to celebrate God's gift of Jesus on Christmas, but isn't it even more to celebrate God's gift of LIFE through the gift of salvation.  They are both free to us to receive, but Jesus had to sacrifice something both times.  One, he had to leave heaven and his place in heaven as king to come to Earth as a baby.  Two, he had to take our ugly sin and the wage of it on his perfect sinless body and be punished for our sin having his own Father turn away and then he would die.  I must move on, even though I don't want too.

Other Holidays that were celebrate at our house would include:  New Years Eve, St.Patrick's Day,  Fourth of July and Halloween.  Of all those I probably celebrate St.Patrick's day the most.  My wife and I have made it a tradition to celebrate it all the time we have been married.  Our anniversary is near it in March.  We always try to find a parade, OH Yeah I almost forgot....Thanksgiving Day Parade was always watched too!!  (On Thanksgiving of course.)  The Fourth of July has always meant something to me, being in Boy Scouts probably gave me reasons.  We would always watch fireworks and sometimes go to the carnival.  One year, at the carnival,  my brother got lost and we had to get the police to help us find him.  He was okay and just a little shaken up.  My parents were very worried though.  I enjoyed those summer nights around the 4th so much.  Those were the days I wish I could relive sometimes.  Maybe as my son gets older I will.  Halloween was not a big deal, but we would just dress up in something quick and do some "Trick or Treat"-ing.  I don't even recognize it as a holiday now.  Some people may disagree, but I don't.  My mom always had decorations up for these holidays and on New Years Eve we would stay up all night just to watch the ball drop.  As I got older, high school years, I would go to the church and we would have a worship service and then we had communion and prayed the New Year in. 

I think it is good to celebrate the holidays.  I don't think there is much more to say about the holidays.  My next post about "Growing up" will probably be my last on the subject.  I will probably write about my teenage years up to the time of meeting my wife. 

By the way, tomorrow is the first day of Autumn.  One of my favorite seasons.

Growing up: Part 1.

Do you remember what life was like as a kid?  How about as a teenager or young adult?  I remember good times and bad times.  I thought I would spend some time talking about my life to this point and maybe it would help you understand  a little more of who I am today.  No, this isn't an autobiography, but if it's good enough maybe it should be.

One of my earliest memories was going to my baby sitter's house next door while my parents went to the hospital to deliver my brother.  We are two years apart.  Other than family pictures to help me remember things I don;t recall much.  I do remember that my sister and her best friend taught me how to walk!!  Thanks sis.

OK. So let's start around preschool age, say three or four.  I was lucky, or unlucky according to some viewpoints, to have gone to daycare for a year and preschool at the same place the next year.  We only lived three blocks away, so my mom would always walk us.  I remember meeting new kids and making friends was easy then.  The teachers/daycare workers who worked there were sisters.  One of them lived across the street from us and my parents were friends with her.  I can remember playing outside in the playground and taking naps.  Also watching cartoons and of course learning.  I believe preschool is when I learned how to tie my shoes.  This age was full of learning and growing, but I also remember other things.

We lived next door to a church.  Actually it was across the alley to the south of us.  My mom would always dress me and my brother up in dress pants, dress shirts and shoes.  Sometimes she would put ties on us.  I wore a bow tie most of the time.  We usually got new outfits for Easter and Christmas.  I grew up in church.  Back then we would go to "Sunday School" before the main church service.

I learned most of the basic bible stories then like:  David and Goliath, Noah's Ark, Daniel in the lion's den, the story of Zacchaeus and of course Jesus' birth.  I think I might do a few posts later about these stories for anyone who is interested.  I will try to keep it simple but relevant to the truth.

I enjoyed dressing up for church.  My brother always dressed up too, but probably only because i did.  I tried to take care where i  walked and not step into anything with my dress shoes.  Not him, mud puddles look out!!  He didn't care about his clothes then, maybe I cared too much.  Anyway we looked good!

Often when we came home from church my dad would have lunch ready for us and be watching some old western with John Wayne in it.  I don't think I will ever forget those days.  He loved westerns and old army movies.  He introduced us to "It's A Wonderful Life" and it is still my favorite Christmas movie of all time.  My wife and I always have watched it together every Christmas Eve since dating.  It is such a good movie.

I remember that my dad loved to cook.  He cooked all the time.  He could make anything out of nothing.  As my brother and I got older we didn't like some of his concoctions though.  I did love his roast.  It had the best potatoes and carrots.  YUMMY!!

I guess I should explain my family setup a little bit before I get too far ahead.  I am from a family of five:  mom, dad, older sister, me and my little brother.  So, I am a middle child.  Well, yes and no.  According to birth order I am a middle child. But, there are nine years(yes I said 9)between my sister and me.  I have first born qualities and middle child alike.  I read somewhere that it only takes six years or so for a second child to have the firstborn characteristics.  I'm sure I have an edge being the first male child born too.  I tend to lean toward the middle child qualities in unique ways and often have first child strengths to back it up.

You my wonder,"Nine years between kids?".  Were my parents nuts?  I won't answer that here, ha ha.  Actually they were married ten years before having my sister and then me nine years later.  Two years after me my little brother shows up.  Imagine being married twenty-one years before having your third child.  Having older parents growing up was a little difficult.  It was good most of the time.

When I was about eight years old I can remember my dad trying to quit smoking cigarettes.  He had smoked them since before he was old enough to drive.  The rumor is that he was driving his dad's log trucks at age five!  I don't know if this is true, but I did feel bad for him.  He struggle so bad at times and often got very upset.  I wanted to help him stop.  So, I decided that I would pray for him. 

I remembered the story of JOB and how he lost everything, but still wouldn't curse God.  The devil, Satan, actually asked God for permission to try to make Job fail and sin against Him.  God had so much faith in Job that he told Satan he could do whatever he wanted to him as long as he didn't kill Job.  Job lost his family, his friends, his animals, he was deathly sick and still didn't curse God. 

One day I remember praying to God.  I prayed that He would do anything he could as long as my dad wouldn't die to get him to stop smoking.  Well, here is where the story gets a little bumpy.  Not long after I had prayed, maybe just a few weeks, my dad had a heart attack!  YIKES!!  He survived the attack and quit smoking "cold turkey".  I was so amazed.  I still think that God answered the prayer of an eight year old.

My dad lived another eight years after that before dying at 54.  He had some serious health issues.  He had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and even was put on oxygen.  Before he died, he had around seven heart attacks.  Three major ones and the rest were minimal.  He was doing a test one time at the hospital when the nurses forced him to stop moving and lay down, claiming he just had another heart attack.  He told them he didn't even feel a thing.  My dad was a big man.  He was obese.  He was six foot tall and easily weighed about 280 pounds.  His temper, stress and stubbornness was surely a big part of his bad health.

I was 16 when my dad died.  He was in the hospital undergoing several tests on his heart to prepare him for a heart transplant.  He never got one....at least not on earth.

Like me, my dad also grew up in church.  But, my dad chose a different life when he got older.  I am not sure when he stopped going to church, but it was before any of us kids were born.  My mom always told us that he used to sing in the choir as a boy and it was only a few years ago that I found out his own dad was a pastor.  I never met my dad's dad.  I heard that what turned my dad off to church was the things he saw at church growing up.  He claims to have seen some of the old men actually drinking(alcohol) in the back while the preacher was preaching.  Strange thought, he ended up drinking when he got older and when he was diagnosed with diabetes he quit cold turkey to that too.

I'm sure a lot of Christians do bad things.  I know I have and do some bad things from time to time.  I just wonder why we justify things for ourselves and criticise and judge others?  I think if I saw someone having a drink at church at first I would be shocked and think they are rude.  But, then I would be glad they had the boldness to go and be in church and hopefully they might hear from God and become free.(I feel a whole other blog post coming on!!)

So to finish off my first installment of "Growing up", I must say that life has its ups and downs for everyone.  We are all the same, but uniquely given different trials to face.  If you look to Jesus you will find light.  If not...then darkness will rule over you.  A few days before my dad died, he asked Jesus to save him, or in other words, he gave his life back to Jesus.  He trusted Jesus enough to call on His name and be rescued from the wage of sin.  In turn, Jesus did give my dad a new heart.  When my father died, he met his maker and was welcomed with the open arms of Jesus.

Romans 6:23 says:
 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV

Navigating Through Life

I am North.  I am a Christian man, husband to one, father to one and follower of one.  I desire to communicate the freedom in Jesus through this blog through stories, thoughts, desires and dreams of everyday life.  Join me in trying to bring insight and joy to others as we navigate through life.