Suicide Forest

I saw a news clip today that made me sad.  It was the mission of this Japanese man to hike throughout this forest and save people who wish to commit suicide.  The 20 minute video clip shows him walking around discovering remains of people who have died, stopping one person from killing himself, and questioning why a person would kill themselves in such a beautiful forest.

One quote of his really struck me, "You think that you die alone but that is not true.  No one is alone in this world.  We coexist with one another to take care of each other."  This man has such a heart for people, for those who feel they are all alone, that no one really cares for them.  Could we be that kind of person for those around us?  There are so many who feel defeated, rejected, and alone.  They need us to give them a reason for living.  May we tell them about Jesus who cares for them and honestly care about them too.

Blindsided!

I was recording my kids sledding one day in March and out of the blue I feel this thump on my backside.  I turn and see that my daughter has just blindsided me with a snowball!  She was laughing so hard and enjoying herself that she kept throwing them at me until I screamed like a little girl!  It was a great day!

Spring Beach Days

It was a beautiful Saturday in mid March  (St. Patrick's day) and I am at the beach!  I didn't really factor the cool beaches into our decision to move to MI but it has been a great thing for us.  We were running up and down the dunes and my kids were playing in the water!  It was a nice 70 degree day at the beach.  How much change can happen in 3 weeks when we were sledding?

The best part was sitting on the beach with Carla as the waves were lapping on the shore.  When the kids were otherwise occupied, it was like being on a date .   Just one more thing to thank God for!

Our Duty to Have Fun!

My kids love life!  I think it is the duty of all kids to have fun and take each day as it is the only day that matters.  It is so difficult to think of tomorrow and waiting until later to get what they really want.  The focus is on now and living today.  Look at my kids in the video and how eagerly go after fun.  I will put another one up next week!

It was one of the only days this year that we went sledding.  This event was at a park in Grand Haven which has benches to sit on that look like hot dogs.  Seriously!  We had so much fun and we even left before they stopped having fun.  (The key to every event with kids!)

Just to let you know, I don't believe that any of us should get rid of our playful, fun-loving side of life.  But that is just me.  I am usually the one at the funeral home visitation that is seen laughing in the hallway with people.  Remembering the great times of the person who has died (gone on ahead of us) should bring up smiles and sometimes great belly roars of laughter.


I hope that my kids and I never lose that perspective of life.  I hope that we all see each day is vitally important and filled with potential for enjoyment.  I hope that we see that fun is so interwoven into every part of our lives that it should be impossible to remove it from even the most ordinary events.

Basics of Life

I love creative people!  People like Ian.  He is a student that I met in Canada a few years ago.  He has been radically changed by the love of Jesus.  It is so fun to hear of how he is presently serving God and how he plans to continue to do that in the future.

Ian recently sent me a list of different ways to state the basics of life.  Do not confuse these with the facts of life.  That was an awkward conversation with my mom when I was younger.  I'm glad that is over.  These were the basics of life, an important framework through which life makes sense and has meaning.  Without the basics of life, everything starts revolving around us and will ultimately fail horribly.  The best part of it all is that it is simple, easy to understand, and memorable.

The first way I learned the basics of life was as Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude from catechism class.  The basics stated that it is undeniable that we are full of Guilt because of our sin.  This Guilt offends our holy and perfect God.  Thank God for Jesus through which we may receive Grace, total forgiveness of all of our sins.  Because of this grace that is freely given and undeserved, we live with Gratitude to God for what Jesus has done for us.  That is a framework makes sense and gives meaning to life.

Until now, I did not know any better words to portray the basics of life to a growing post-Christian culture that we now live in.  My hope is that the following list may communicate the basics more effectively and will help open the door of a person's heart for Jesus to work.  

So, thank you Ian for this list.  I will see if I can use it in the future.

awful - abolition - adoration 

bad - born again - benevolence
corruption - correction - calling

death, deliverance, Discipleship
evil - eternal life - exertion
failure - freedom - fruitful
hindrance - heaven - help
lie - liberation - love
reprobate - redemption - righteousness
Sin, Salvation, Service 

ugly - upkeep - utility
wreck - wash - worship

Holy Skeet!

Saturday started off kinda slow but a slow start on Saturday is OK once in a while.  We watched Anika play in a basketball tournament.  Some coaches take this way too seriously!  It is as if the kids who play have a direct reflection on them as a person.  They have no separation.  So when the ref calls something that they see wrong, loud demonstrative ranting ensues.  The girls are in 4th and 5th grade!  There is a slim chance they will get a full-ride scholarship or play in the NBA!  No one gets a million dollars for winning or shot for losing!  Dude, chill out!  So, basketball was a little boring. ;)

Then, I got to go skeet shooting with my friend Mike.  This was to be my day to show off what I know about guns and how to use them.  In most respects, it was not a successful outing.  This sport is more complicated than I previously figured. I thought that everyone brings their guns to the open field and shoots the clay pigeons.  Just like on Wii sports!  Reality is that there are specific places to shoot from and load your gun.  There are different ways to angle and move your body to adjust to the arc of the discs.  There is skill in leading the clay pigeons just enough so they break and reflexes needed to consistently catch up to the flight.  My head was spinning just trying to keep up with it all!

Unbeknownst to me, the gun club that I visited is world famous!  There are skeet shooting world champions who are members!  Roger shot over 100 straight last week!  That means he didn't miss a bird for over 4 rounds!  There are people who shoot hundreds of shots each week!  These are serious shooters!  And then there is me, the guest shooter for the day, who only got 7 of 25.  It was quite fun and I may go again some other time.  Trouble is that there is no place to practice your shot except to just shoot!

I kept thinking of how often I miss the target of what God requires and expects of me.   Even if I practice all the time, I will not live up to that standard.  Saturday I was really trying hard but there was no way I was going to get a perfect score. What a sad life to be required to be perfect knowing that sooner or later you will miss the target.  How do people live without Jesus?  "But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Now I can deal with that perfect score!

The Hunting Pastor

I am sure the drawing was rigged somehow!  How else could I get such a prize?

We had our annual Wild Game Dinner this past Saturday.  What a great event!  The best attended yet!  There were so many people at church that I had never seen before!  This is the 3rd time that this event has occurred and I hear that it keeps getting better each year.  The organizers do a great job!  The focus of the evening is clear each time: celebrate our God!  He has made us stewards and managers of his creation and we celebrate him with others who share a common interest, hunting.  (And a few of us who are not hunters, yet.)

If you love food, this is definitely the event for you.  It is clear that the cooks made each dish with love.  I have heard of the detailed recipes that were used.  Wow, they took their role very seriously!  We had bear roast, rabbit stew, pheasant gumbo, venison steaks, perch appetizers, and more than that.  And each dish was incredible!  It was like Christmas dinner!  

After we were stuffed to near bursting, we heard a talk by the CEO of Scent-Lok.  If you know anything about hunting you know this product and how well it works.  I of course had no clue until a few months ago.  It was great to hear his story of how God has changed and shaped his life.  I think that this meant a lot to those who know the brand.  A CEO within the industry is a follower of Jesus and is proud of it!

The next part of the evening was a blur for me.  Each person gets a ticket that is used for the drawings.  The event organizers have so many contacts within the hunting industry that they can get many different promotional products and donations for the event.  There was hats, deer stands, hunting videos, and even urination pouches.  I will let you Google that last item.  Everyone walked away with some kind of gift, maybe two.  The night progressed well and the gifts were slowly given away.  People seem genuinely grateful for their gifts.

Then, the next item in the drawing is one of the big prizes donated for the night, a muzzleloader rifle worth around $250.  I have a vague idea of this style of weapon but would not be able to tell you the details of how to operate it.  My brother, niece, and I are joking that we are going to win it.  We are eagerly holding our tickets and laughing with mock expectancy.  The crowd is silent as we anticipate the number to be called.  They call my number!  Seriously!  I wait for someone to say "Just Kidding" but no one does.  Really, there may be only 2% of the people present that could not shoot this weapon better than me.  They must think it odd that the new pastor who is pretty green and ignorant in the ways of hunting gets a brand new rifle.  But no matter, I now am the proud owner of a rifle.

It is my lesson of grace all over again.  Receiving something of great value that is unexpected and undeserved always brings me back to the grace of God.  Priceless, unexpected, and undeserved yet lavishly given out of love and at a significant cost.  I am sure that I will underestimate the value of this rifle just as I underestimate God's grace.  My hope is that I learn to appreciate both and find great joy in having both.

It was a wonderful weekend!  And I haven't even talked about Sunday yet!