Hebrews 4:15-16

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 (ESV)

Black Friday

Today was Black Friday, the traditional shopping day after Christmas. Normally, my friend Kim and I prepare some packets with tracts and treats and head out to the early bird sales to distribute them, but we weren't able to do that this year.

I still wanted to get out in some fashion, so I decided to break out the "Are You Ready" cross. I stood at a very busy intersection in a local shopping complex. I was there for about 45 minutes, and in that time I had a lot of response (some honking, some profanity, some thumbs' up, some cheers, and some indifference--someone even took my picture with their phone, look for me on a facebook near you some day soon).

My goal in standing there was to allow people an opportunity to think on eternal things if even for a few seconds. I pray God used it in that way. I was ready with tracts in my pocket but didn't have a lot of foot traffic on this particular outing (maybe next time).



Upon reviewing of the pictures Greg took during that time: Note to self: Smile more next time. I actually have some good news to tell.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Remember to give honor where honor is due.

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Everyday I will bless you and praise your name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:1-3

Cookie Baking Night 11/21/11

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, and Carissa. It was Emily's birthday choice. For supper, she chose ham & cheese souffle (she had that at Panera once and was hooked), cheese curds, green beans, and pomegranate seeds. I thought that was a strange combination (though strange combinations on birthday dinners are not out of the ordinary). I later heard Emily explaining to Ethan that she chose an appetizer, an entree, a vegetable, and a fruit for a complete meal.

For her "cookie", she chose Fun-da-middles (cupcakes with a cream center) that we decorated with lots of frosting.

We also read lesson 59 "God's Children Read the Bible" from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. Emily read the lesson and Ethan read Deuteronomy 11:18-21 from the Bible.

Before the evening was over, we managed to squeeze in a couple games of Zingo.

As usual, a fun time was had by all.

Isaiah 57:15

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15

Cookie Baking Musings

Since I know of a few new readers to the blog, I thought I would take this opportunity to explain "Cookie Baking Nights".

• Cookie Baking Night happens every other Monday from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The participants are nieces and nephews from both sides of our family.
• The qualifying Cookie Baking age is 3 years old until they decide to retire (which has been anywhere from 14-16 years old). We've had two move on (retire) from Cookie Baking Nights (they are now 16 and 19) and we have two who will be moving up through the ranks eventually (1 year old and one on the way).
• Cookie Baking Night has been in existence in our home for about 8 years now.
• Those who attend Cookie Baking Night join us for supper, then we bake some kind of dessert, we read a Bible lesson, play a few games, go for a walk, etc.
• On Cookie Baking Nights near birthdays, the one having a birthday gets to chose what we have for supper that evening and what we bake for our "cookie" as well.
• My goal of Cookie Baking Night is to establish and maintain relationships with the nieces and nephews. So far, so good.

A Day With the Nieces 11/12/11

On November 27th, my niece, Kylie, turns 12 years old and on November 28th, my niece, Emily, turns 11 years old. The two cousins requested an activity together for their birthday, so we spent today at the Mall of America. They went on rides in Nickelodeon Universe, spent some time at the arcade, went through the mirror maze. We ate lunch, stopped at a couple chocolate shops, and went on the ropes course.

The above picture is Kylie on the ropes course. It was a course of ropes, rope bridges, and planks reaching a final height of 56 feet above the ground. There were harnesses involved, it was frightening. Kylie has no fear of heights and was experienced at the ropes course. She loved it. Emily, who was talked into the idea, went up the stairs, said "This is really high" and went back down the stairs never to return to the course. I, who have a mediocre relationship with heights at best, spent the entire time trying not cross anything that provided me with only a rope to walk on (such as what you see Kylie walking across in the above picture). I preferred planks if I could find them (which weren't any wider than a an average tissue box, by the way).

It was a fun day together and allowed me more opportunity to establish relationships with both of the girls, for which I am grateful.

Isaiah 45:5-7

I am the LORD and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Isaiah 45:5-7

Evangelism Focus 11/08/11

The above picture probably has little-to-no significance to you as was the same case for me until June of this year. In June, it was discovered I had an infection in one of my teeth that was draining into a pocket in the side of my gums. I was sent to a local endodontic office (thus the above picture), as the tooth was way in the back of my mouth and needed a specialist. This led to a root canal on one tooth, an attempted fix on a root canal on another tooth (everything that goes with a root canal procedure without the success at the end of the day), eventually surgery on that tooth, and many, many appointments to check the progress in between. As I entered this last appointment, I realized I was possibly missing an evangelistic opportunity that only came my way because of these tooth troubles. So, on my way to this last appointment, I stopped and purchased a couple gift cards to a local coffee shop (one for the doctor and one for the assistant), put them in a card with a gospel tract, and a note that went something like this:

Thank you so much for the kindness and care you've shown to me over the past few months. I wanted to take a moment to pass on a token of my gratitude and a booklet containing the most significant information I've ever heard.

There's not a lot of opportunity for conversation in dental appointments, so I handed the cards to the receptionist on my way out of the appointment.

God puts many opportunities in our path to share the gospel (some perhaps a little unconventional). If we keep our eyes open and employ a little creativity the opportunity is usually there (I say this from one chicken to another).

Cookie Baking Night 11/07/11

Tonight was Cooke Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, and Carissa.

Tonight involved some special circumstances. Today I had some dental surgery done which ended up being a little more extensive than I had anticipated (no anesthesia, just Novocaine, but several sutures to the gums, which involved icing the area 20 minutes on/15 off until 9 pm). I decided to continue with the planned Cookie Baking Night. I planned a little lower key evening, and gave Emily an opportunity to lead some of the night (she'll be 11 years old in about 2 weeks, and I knew she'd jump at the opportunity).

I explained the situation to all of the kids. They were very understanding of the circumstances and worked well as a team throughout the evening. Emily did a great job taking the lead. We made caramel brownies. Emily read the recipe and took charge assigning tasks and making the brownies.

Emily also read our lesson this evening from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. (Lesson 58, "God's Children Work). Ethan read 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 from the Bible for us.

We ended the evening by watching a video. As usual, though a little on the low-key side, a fun time was had by all.

Postscript:

When I explained the situation to Emily and asked her to take my place for some of the evening, she said, "Okay, if I'm going to be Katrina tonight, I'm going to need an apron and something to make my hair frizzy (hey now!) At one point, I also heard her turn to Ethan and Carissa at the table and say, "How's it going over here, kiddos?" (I'm notorious for calling the children "kiddos"). It was amusing (and humbling) to watch myself being "interpreted" throughout the evening.

Indianapolis

Here's a few highlights from the trip Kim and I took to Indianapolis over the weekend to attend a Revive Our Hearts conference.

We set out on Thursday morning and arrived in Brownsburg, Indiana at about 8 pm that evening. We had supper with our friend, Jewel, and stayed the night with her landlords who had a couple extra guest rooms and graciously offered them to us for the night.

We set out for Indianapolis on Friday morning, about 30 minutes away from Jewel's house (hitting a couple garage sales along the way, Kim has a hard time resisting a garage sale). The leaves were at peak for color in Indiana, so it was a beautiful drive.

We arrived at the beautiful Marriott in Indianapolis on Friday

afternoon. The conference started at 2 pm and went until 10:30 pm on Friday, then started up again on Saturday morning at 8:30 am and went until 4:00 pm.

On Saturday evening, we met our friend

Jewel for supper and walked around Indianapolis.

On Sunday morning we began the road trip back home, arriving back in Minnesota around 6:30 pm.

The conference was Christ honoring and extremely beneficial for future ministry.

The fellowship was sweet (with Kim, with Jewel, and with several new friends made at the conference). It was time well spent.

Revive 11 Conference

The Revive 11 conference was a wonderful time. It was held in Indianapolis, Indiana. As we arrived at our seats, we found this gift of a canvas bag containing various helpful resources (including an ESV study Bible, given by Crossway publishers).

The theme of the conference was "Women Serving Women", and it was geared toward pastor's wives and women's ministry leaders. It was put on by Revive Our Hearts ministry. The speakers were: Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Crawford Loritts, and Susan Hunt with music by Fernando Ortega (beautiful, worshipful hymns that made you want to love Jesus more).

I've attended many women's retreats and conferences over the years. This one lacked a driving emotional undertone that is often present at such events. Rather than emotion, a love for Christ and His purposes fulfilled in women seemed to motivate (and carry) this event. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're not familiar with this ministry, I encourage you to check it out.

Celebrating Friendship

Expect sporadic posts to this blog from now through next Monday.

My friend Kim and I are on our way to Indianapolis, IN. We'll be attending the Revive 11 conference put on by Revive Our Hearts ministry. It's geared toward women's ministry leaders (of which Kim is one). We're looking forward to it (the conference and a good road trip).

We decided to attend this conference/retreat as a celebration of our friendship. Our friendship was established at a women's retreat through our church 10 years ago (that's right, it's our 10-year friendship anniversary--no need to send cards, chocolate will suffice). Out of gratitude for what we've been given, we've always celebrated our friendship, but for the 10-year celebration, we went big (Nancy Leigh DeMoss or bust).

I thank God frequently for my friendship with Kim. If you looked at Kim and me on the surface you wouldn't find two people with very much in common, but our anchor of commonality is a love for Jesus Christ. Our friendship is built around Him and, therefore, it is a good friendship. The only thing extraordinary about the two women involved in this friendship is the Savior whom they love. And that is enough to make it a remarkable thing!

He is God; I am Not

On days leading up to a conference at the end of this week, I've been reading some specific devotional material from Revive Our Hearts ministry. I'd like to share with you one day's reading in particular (the text for that day was Job 38). It is as follows:

"Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place?" Job 38:12 (NASB)

We need to hear this question from God every time we forget that he is God and we are not. It is so easy to slip into a prideful spirit, protecting our own little kingdoms, thinking, I have it all under control, and if everyone else would get in line, things would run so much smoother!

When we attempt to take on God and challenge him with the injustice of our situation we can become like a child having a temper tantrum, screaming out accusations to a caring parent, "Why did you do that?!" Although Job wasn't screaming, and although he threw no fits and seemed rather patient, in his character was an accusation of injustice made against God. So in a barrage of more than eighty questions, God proceeded to move Job from his position of challenger to a much humbler place of speechlessness.

If we're not careful, our hearts and wounds will grow infected with resentment and self-pity. Out of our pain, we may strike back at Him with an accusatory "Why?!" We allow ourselves to ignore the truth of His Word--the fact that He cares for us and will never leave us or forsake us, that He desires to comfort us in our affliction--and instead we stand as His accuser. That's when we need to hear Him ask, "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place?"

We need to remind ourselves regularly, although I may imagine that I am right and have all the answers, I didn't cause the sun to rise this morning! He is God; I am not!