Significant Happenings of 2010

A couple of days ago there was a mini poll on the front page of the local newspaper.  The question was asked:  Was 2010 a good year or a bad year for you?  57% said it was a good year, 43% answered bad.

That set me thinking about my year.  As I look back it was definitely a good year.  But then I don't have any bad years to look back upon.  Perhaps it's all in my perspective.  The following list of happenings from the year came to mind, not necessarily in any order of importance.

1. My Love and I went on a 5 day cruise in January.  It was so relaxing, refreshing and renewing that we have decided to repeat the experience on a 7 day version this year.

2. My Mother endured an operation last summer.  Her period of recuperation was much longer than anticipated, but we are all grateful that she is doing well now.  This whole experience did not strengthen our confidence in the medical system.

3. My Love's brother, Mike, died very suddenly.  His death reminded us all of how precious life is, and how important it is to live each moment to the fullest.  Since Mike was a perfect example of that reality, he had no regrets, we have none for him, even though his presence is missed greatly.

4. My Love's Father continues his slow, steady decline in the nursing home.  His gentle, loving acceptance of his reality is an inspiration to all of us in the midst of a difficult situation.  Also, the faith of My Love's Mother is a true sign of God's presence.  The opportunity to support and care for both of them has been a blessing to both My Love and me.

5. My 50th Class Reunion in September was an enjoyable and fun experience.  It was a bit of a surprise to be surrounded with so many "old" people!  But they could really dance.

6. Having a steady job with a good company in these rocky economic times is a true cause for gratitude.  The opportunity to work with good people and assist people in need only adds to the blessing.

7. Going home to our little Shack in the woods is like having our own private retreat house.  How refreshing and renewing it is to be able to soak up the gifts of nature by simply stepping outdoors or looking out the windows.

8. Two opportunities to visit with our friends, Gail and Marilyn, in person were definite highlights.  Once they came to our Shack, the second time we spent time with them at the home of their daughter.  The treasure of this friendship is truly a gift.

9. The loving support and constant encouragement of My Love for me makes all things possible, and everything joyful.  The gift of her presence in my life cannot be overestimated.  Nor can I be adequately thankful.

10. Finally it is the gift of faith which puts a positive spin on all life's happenings.  This it is which enables me to join with the 57% above who declared this past year as a good one.  For it is not what happens to us that is important, only what we do with what happens to us.  "If God is for us, who can be against us" (Romans 8:31).

May your New Year 2011 be filled with blessings that you recognize.  May God be present in ways that you can accept.

Healing Sleep

In the last year I have noticed several studies published highlighting the importance of a good night's sleep.  All of them seem to confirm the need of the human body for eight hours of slumber in order to maintain health, sustain a positive attitude and protect mental stability.  Nothing really new in this, but certainly something that is not practiced by a great number of people in our society.

I recall a woman I worked with many years ago who claimed that she only needed 3-4 hours of sleep a night.  She would function on that amount for sometime, then would get knocked off her feet by a terrific cold, sore throat, flu or other malady.  After being laid up for several days or a week, she would then go back to the same prior routine.

When I went to college, I made a decision that I would not stay up after 11:00 pm.  Others ridiculed me.  I missed out on some activities, though at this point in my life I am hard pressed to recall even a single one.  Since I was (am) a morning person, I knew that I would function better and be more productive by getting a good night's rest before entering into the next day's schedule.  I always recall my Mother's voice telling me "Go to bed on the same day that you got up!"  This tidbit of wisdom has served me well even up to today.

Why bring this up at this time?  The habits of our youth travel with us into old age.  Sleep is still the best medicine for the body, and is truly a gift for those who have it.  But people will say "I can't stop my mind from thinking about .....", or "I keep worrying about....."  How important it is to be able to place all our concerns and worries in the Lord's hands, and then truly leave them there.  We need the attitude of Pope John XXIII who, when he was going to bed at night, would pray:  "Lord, you take care of your Church.  I'm going to sleep."

The Psalmist also reminds us:  "It is vain for you to rise early, or put off your rest, you that eat hard-earned bread, for (the Lord) gives to his beloved in sleep."  (Psalm 127:2)  If we want God to take care of our problems while we sleep, we have to give them over to him and LET GO.  Then go to sleep.

Never Stand When You Can Sit

Yesterday I went to the doctor for a fasting blood test. After the nurse checked my pulse and blood pressure, she withdrew the requisite two viles of blood. Then there was a period of time, maybe four minutes, before the doctor came into the room.

Because it has always been my creed that you should "never stand when you can sit; never sit when you can lie down", I pulled out the footrest shelf on the exam table and laid down. I was in the midst of a relaxing rest when the doctor came in. It was a perfect "pause that was refreshing".

How many times in our day do we have two, three, four minutes between appointments, stuck in traffic, waiting for someone to show up, watching the meal bake in the oven or the laundry spin dry? In those moments we can rest and relax, breath deeply and pause in an awareness of the goodness of life, the nearness of the presence of God. Leaning back into the arms of God can bring immeasurable peace and refreshment in the midst of the hectic scramble of everyday life.

Such a simple practice with such profound results. What a habit to cultivate for better health, physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Gratitude List

Time to post a new Gratitude List -- things for which I am especially thankful today.

1. My Love is alive and safe. On Sunday evening, while driving into town for Bible Study, our car hit loose gravel, went out of control and plowed into an embankment. After climbing up the hill, it flipped onto its right side, swung around and landed back on the wheels. Thank you, God, she was wearing her seat belt and is only suffering from bumps and bruises. With extensive damage sustained, the future of the car is uncertain at this writing. The insurance adjuster is expected sometime today.

2. A fun weekend with friends and relatives. On Saturday we traveled to the home of John and Jan for good food and relaxing company. Also present were Darold and Sondra and Denny and Linda. Following our delicious dinner, we guys proceeded to give the girls a lesson in Joker, beating them 3-2 games. A good time was had by all.

3. Shack Too is shaping up. In between times we have been able to get pictures hung, boxes unpacked, shelves put up and sundry things placed. It is definitely feeling and looking like home. Over the weekend, our landlord put the deck outside our walkout lower level. Now we are able to sit outside and enjoy the beauty of the world around us. (This morning there were 4 deer walking through the bean field just outside our front door.) To attract the wildlife closer, we have hung a couple of bird feeders, a squirrel wheel, and a block of salt for the deer.

4. Our small faith/bible sharing group has been studying and reflecting on Change -- how we view it, respond to it and grow through it. What a tremendous gift to have faith-filled friends to walk the road with because change is constant. Only our attitude makes it a blessing or a curse. When we see through the eyes of faith, God is leading at every turn.

So, once again, it is time to says "Thanks, God, for all the blessings, in whatever form they appear. We welcome them with open arms and grateful hearts."

Spirit Grazing

Each day going to and from work, I pass by a small pasture populated with three beautiful riding horses. They move easily from one end of the field to the other, eating their fill of the lush grass which this cool, wet summer has produced. I have never seen anyone attending to them, or riding them, yet they seem content.

Yesterday as I passed by, I reflected on their typical day. They go from one end of the field to the other, not by a decision to journey that set distance, but by nibbling one bunch of grass after another. This process is called grazing. They meander from this luscious mouthful of grass to the next one, then to the next one until lo and behold, here they are at the opposite side of the field.

How like our journey with the Lord. We respond to the Spirit today, in this situation. That leads us to tomorrow where we again respond to the Spirit in the circumstances of that day. As all the tomorrows pass from todays into yesterdays, we awaken at some point to the realization that we are now at a place that we would never have chosen if it had been presented to us in the beginning. Our grazing in the Spirit takes us to new lands, new relationships, new realities which are more blessed and more wonderful than anything that we could have planned for ourselves.

As I have listened to our friends, Gail and Marilyn, as they have been celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, I have heard them say that when they spoke their vows to each other 50 years ago, they never imagined that it would bring them to their present reality. They did not choose their present situation 50 years ago, but rather they grazed with the Spirit down through the years. Now they awaken to find themselves in the loving arms of God as they are in the loving arms of each other.

So, graze on, my friends. Know that God will surprise you by taking you on a path unknown to you. A blessed path.

Shack Too

Last evening we were presented with the opportunity to view our own little piece of paradise. Shack Too is a small home located on about three acres of land overlooking the Little Sioux river four miles northeast of Cherokee. Nearly two acres are wooded, providing us with ample opportunities for wildlife, including various bird species, deer and coyotes. Hiking in the area will definitely be a possibility.

The owners, Kevin and Hallie, are as excited to rent to us as we are to be their neighbors across the road. They are a working couple who share a love and commitment to rodeo. She is the secretary for the Bull Riders Association and Kevin is a judge of bull riding events. This interest takes them on many travels around the country where they can also watch their son, Alan, who is a rodeo clown.

Since we are required to give a 30-day notice to our present landlord (which we have done!), we will be assisting Kevin and Hallie the next few weeks to clean, paint and get Shack Too ready. We hope to move in before the end of the month.

So why Shack Too? Because we expect to find God there also in even more ways than we already have. We believe that this location is a gift from a loving God who is drawing us out there to reveal to us even more God's care for us. We are looking forward with great excitement and anticipation to this new venture on the journey to the Kingdom. Stay tuned.

Learn The Lesson

Lately I've been pondering the fact that so many of the people I know -- family and friends -- are going through terrific struggles/challenges. Some are health challenges, some are emotional difficulties, some are financial adversities. But they are all very real and very painful.

It is possible to affirm that God is present with them in the struggles. It is possible in faith to know that "everything works together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purposes." (Romans 8:28) I can posit these things, but somehow that doesn't answer all the questions that come up in the actual going-through-the-struggle episodes.

I have come to the conclusion that there is another dimension to this whole reality. I have come to believe that God uses these struggles to teach us some lesson(s). That is not to say that God causes these illnesses or adversities. Only that God uses them to show us new realities, new dimensions in our lives.

It might be that I need to recognize that I am not in control of my life. Even though I proclaim my dependence on God, sometimes I live as though I am in charge. Therefore, from time to time I need to be reminded Who is really in the driver's seat.

Maybe what I need to learn is how to ask for help from others. In my idea of myself, sometimes I see me as self-sufficient, able to get along without the support and assistance of others. Here my pride comes into the picture. It is rather humbling to have to ask someone else to do for me what (I think) I should be able to do for myself.

Perhaps God is trying to change my priorities. Maybe the lesson plan for me is to reveal my mixed up hierarchy of important things. What I see as number one may not be so for God. God could be telling me to slow down, take more time for prayer because all the running around that I am doing is all being done to avoid facing God in my life.

One thing I have learned: God wants me for relationship with the Godhead. Everything else is secondary to that. My health, my finances, my home, my job, my whatever is dispensable if it comes between me and God.

Whatever the lesson(s) God wants to teach me, the sooner I learn them, the sooner my life can move on. That doesn't mean that my life will get back to what it was before because, as my friend Gail says, once we have come face to face with God, nothing is ever the same. But if I am slow, or refuse to learn the lesson, then the Teacher finds it necessary to prolong the class. So my mantra is to learn as quickly as possible.

What lesson is God teaching you at this point in your life?

Michael Jackson?

All of the muss, fuss, fanfare and hoopla of the last two weeks following the death of Michael Jackson has me scratching my head and wondering, "Are we really that crazy as a society?" I mean, have we really strayed so far afield that this person has come to epitomize our values, our hopes, our dreams and our goals?

That he was a success as an entertainer no one would argue. That he introduced some new elements of dance and singing into the pop scene are without question.

Whether he was a success as a human being can certainly be called into question. His predilection for children, especially young boys is not something to be idolized or imitated. I mean, Mothers, would you want him to babysit your small children? The fact that he either settled charges out of court, or was not found guilty does not alter the perception of his secret behaviors. Then there is his seeming discomfort with his own racial identity. His attempts to blur or dull his "blackness" seem to indicate a person who would rather be someone else. This does not seem to be an individual to be held up for emulation.

Yet, the overwhelming adulation and gushing from both ordinary people and media types call for pause and questioning on all our parts. What does this say about our society? About us as a people? Is this the best we can do when holding someone up as a model for others, especially our young people?

I remember when Elvis Presley died in 1977. There was a woman in her 70's who was cleaning and cooking in the rectory where I was living. She was in tears for almost a week because "the King is dead". I thought it was strange at that time; I still think it strange as I look back upon it. Even though there have been many "sightings" of Elvis since that time, he has never come back. I suspect that the same thing will happen with Michael Jackson.

Maybe I am just "out of touch" with the real world!?! Or maybe I just cannot forget that Jesus is the only one who said that He would come back again. Maybe I keep remembering what Jesus said to Satan when he tempted Jesus following His 40-day fast in the desert: "Scripture has it: 'You shall do homage to the Lord your God; him alone shall you adore.'" (Matt 5:10) Somehow I think the world will move on, the sun will rise again tomorrow and music will play in the hearts of all people. Michael has died. May he rest in peace.

Winner or Loser?

If the saying "It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round" has any truth to it, it is in the car business. Each person that comes through the door looking for a vehicle is as unique and different from every other one as is possible.

Recently we had a customer who was shopping (for several months actually) for a car for his wife. He had found one that she liked here at our dealership. Now it was just a matter of negotiating an acceptable price.

During the process of negotiation and subsequent sale, one thing became very clear. This fellow had framed his world in a win-lose mold. Every situation, every encounter was defined in such a way that someone would be dominant and the other would be subservient. He was bound and determined to be the one who exerted the power and others were required to cowtow to him. It was not enough that he got most of what he wanted in the process, he had to have all of what he wanted or he was unhappy because he had not really won. For him, the only important thing was winning, dominating, getting his way.

I have thought of him often since that encounter. What an unhappy way to structure reality. What a miserable way to live. To set up life in such a way that there is always a winner and a loser guarantees that in every situation half the people are going to be dissatisfied, half the people are left unhappy.

Fortunately, God does not operate in that framework with us. When we set things up in a win-lose scenario, God draws a bigger circle and makes it possible for everyone to win. In St Paul's letter to the Romans, we are told: "God makes all things work together for good for those who love God, those who are called according to his purposes" (8:28). So even when we may feel like we are on the losing end of the stick, we simply need to re-focus our eyes to see with the vision of faith that God is at work to bring about something even better.

What is your framework for viewing the reality of your life? Are you a winner? Is everyone around you?

Peace Of Mind

Speakers at some goal-setting workshops that I have attended in the past often posed the question: If money was no object, what would you do with your life? In other words, if I did not have to concern myself with making a living, how would I spend my time, what would I want to accomplish, where would I choose to focus my energies. This question was designed to help get in touch with deep-seated dreams, desires and longings so that they could begin to become reality.

As I reflect on that question in light of the past year and where we are today, I see it all from a different perspective. What a difference a year makes!

Last November, My Love's sister, Annette, and her husband, Jim, moved from their home in Larrabee to Maryhill. They put their home on the market. We prayed. It did not sell. Now they are joyfully fixing up the house and this weekend will be moving back into it. God heard our prayer by not letting the house sell, thereby making this comfortable return possible.

We continue to spend time with My Love's parents as we navigate the process of her Dad's deteriorating dementia. However now other members of the family are becoming involved with the care-giving by being present for a few days or even a week at a time. What a gift it is for all concerned to have this time together, to support one another, and to build even more family memories. As I've stated before, the general direction of this whole process is rather clear, but the particular steps of the journey have yet to be worked out.

What has become clear to me in these processes is that peace and contentment have been very deep so long as I am living in the present moment. As long as I am just being open to God's presence and action in each day and whatever it brings, I can remain undisturbed. Insofar as I can accept whatever each situation presents to me, I then move through it with equanimity.

Only if I begin to focus on how I want things to be other than they are do I start to become upset or dissatisfied. Only when my will gets at cross purposes with God's will does my life begin to unravel around the edges, and sometimes in the middle. Want and desire, when not in conformity with Divine Purposes, are the seeds of destruction. At that point chaos takes over.

How do you see the relationship between your own wants/desires and your peace of mind? Does your equanimity depend on the circumstances of your life, or the focus of your heart?

Old Age Is Not Kind

While living in Texas, My Love and I worked for eight years in the nursing home business. She served as Admissions Coordinator/Marketing Director, and I as Administrator. It was a very rewarding and enjoyable, albeit stressful, occupation. We were blessed with the opportunity to minister to people at a very trying and transitional period of their lives. Helping residents to adjust to the curtailing of their lives in an institutional setting, and assisting family members in the very difficult decision to place a loved one in our care, these were the focal points of our day-to-day energies.

Through the years of that work, and even in conversations since, many people have said to us that there is no way that they could do that kind of work. It would be too depressing, too sad, too taxing for them to handle. Yet, in reality, it was very fulfilling. There were so many moments of humor -- like the day I was walking Raymond (a resident in the grip of Alzheimer's disease) into the dining room. Another resident, Marian, was observing us passing and said in a stage whisper, just loud enough for me to hear: "Sort of makes you wonder who is leading whom!" I thought I would die laughing.

There were also many holy, sacred moments when we were able to pray with people as they were dying. Or pray with their family members after they had died. Those were God-blessed times. It was truly a form of hospice as we helped people let go of life here and move into the fullness of life in God's own hands.

One of the things that we learned that helped us to deal with the people and their circumstances: there is a huge distinction between a person and their illness. Many times we were called upon to remind family members, who were upset by the behavior of their loved one, that this was not their father or their mother doing this. It was the illness manifesting itself in this way. That separation of person from disease made it a little easier to cope with what was unfolding before them.

I recall all those times now as we find ourselves reliving those experiences from the viewpoint of the care-givers. In supporting and taking care of family members here in Iowa who are now journeying on those same roads of senility and dementia, I find the pain and the pathos, the humor and the joys, the frustration and fears that we helped others navigate. I am finding the struggle to be very real, the emotions to be very strong, and the desire to make the best decisions for all concerned to be more clear than the decisions themselves.

Yet we walk in faith and love, knowing that God's plan will unfold as we continue in the process. The path will be revealed to us as we walk it step by step. Where it will lead, only God knows.

Every Day is An Anniversary

Last evening My Love and I took some time for ourselves to celebrate our wedding anniversary which was actually last Sunday. We went to one of our favorite restaurants in the area for a delightful meal of BBQ ribs and chicken, accompanied by a salad bar, baked or broasted potatoes and corn fritters. With a glass each of our chosen wine, it was a joyful celebration of our 13 years together.

At the same time, we came to the conclusion that it was not enough to celebrate just this once. After renewing our commitment to one another each day for the last 13 years, we decided that we must continue the festivities through 13 celebrations, however long that takes. After all, life is a gift, each day is a treasure, and so we want to experience it to the fullest with hearts open in gratitude.

God has blessed us abundantly during these past 13 years. At no time have we felt anything other than total immersion in God's love, even in the stressful or bleak moments. When we passed through the hurricane, we felt surrounded by God's constant care. As we moved back to Iowa, we found God's angels caring for us and going before us to prepare the way.

Now we rejoice in the love that God has given us for one another that grows with each passing day. As we enter into year 14, we do so with joy and anticipation of the coming wonders of God. Where we will be a year from now is known only in the mind of God. But we celebrate each day as it unfolds before us.

The Shack

When I read The Shack by William P Young a few months back, I was touched by the insight into the personal view of God which this author expressed. Definitely outside the usual images and concepts that we associate with the Divine, this book expresses a reality that I found both challenging and comforting. The author has captured a very personal and relational vision of the inner workings of the Godhead, while also picturing that same intimacy as available to us.

This book has at the same time caused quite a stir and fury among some believers who consider it blasphemy, heresy and unbiblical. They tend to harangue about this book with a ferocity that certainly calls into question their real fears and motives. What is it that really bothers them? Why is it that they feel a need to attack?

I have found that this group of people is made up of individuals who have a rather rigid and narrow concept of God. Somehow God is defined by their language, their concepts, their images, ideas and theology. Anything that varies from that paradigm somehow is not true, but even seen as evil.

Yet as I read the Bible, I am struck by verses such as Is 55:8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts."

God is not confined to our limited understanding, nor hemmed in by our narrow vision. I don't care which religion or faith we profess, whether Christian, Buddhist, Jewish or Muslim, as soon as we think that we have a corner on and control of the Divine, we have set ourselves outside the Reality. Whether Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist or Evangelical -- or any other denomination -- our finite grasp of the Infinite is more unlike the Truth than it is like it. We have more inaccuracies in our personal view than certainties. God is totally Other. When we think that we have solved the Mystery, we are just plain wrong.

In the Old Testament, the Lord said: "I am the Lord your God...You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:2-3). Yet the Israelite people were constantly being warned and punished for making images of God which they would then worship. These were in the form of a golden calf or one of the other neighboring gods. Continually God called them to abandon this limited image of God.

In our own lives, God from time to time also calls us to let go of our encrusted image of the Divine and expand, stretch our understanding. Maybe we are not making actual physical idols. However, sometimes the idol has become our own understanding of Who God is and how God works. God then challenges us to grow, to move beyond that idol.

So when I find people defending God against supposed attacks, I am led to think that they are rather defending their understanding of God. It is their own insecurity many times that pushes them to this offensive posture. Their own fear drives them to tear down what they find to be threatening.

Somehow, I believe that God is able to take care of the Divine Godhead. It is I who need to change.

So if you are looking for a book that will stir you up, give this one a try.

Hindsight Now

Yesterday on our morning Bible sharing, Gail was telling how painful and depressing it was to go through a bankruptcy back in the 1980s. In that experience, he lost his business, and their family lost their home. Then, he went on to make the statement: "It was the best thing that ever happened to us."

That set me thinking! How often don't we look back at a terrible situation and see the good that has come out of it. How many times in our lives have we not experienced a loss, illness, death or business setback only to come out of it realizing the blessing that has come into our lives. How often have we not been stretched, pummeled and reshaped by circumstances that we never would have chosen, but that life presented to us. As we look back, we see the Hand of God at work. We know the truth of Paul's words in Romans: "Everything works together for good for those who love God" (8:28).

"Faith is hindsight brought into the present" said a preacher one time. If we can look back on an unpleasant situation and see God at work, realizing the good that has come out of it, why can't we, in faith, see that Same Hand in this moment moving in the unwelcome circumstances of life? Or do we not believe that in the future we will be able to look back on this moment and see the growth that it brought about? Do we not trust that God is able to handle this struggle just as well as He handled the last one?

Faith truly changes our perspective on reality. It sets our feet on firm soil, or perhaps on a mountaintop, from which we can see our small piece of the puzzle in the broader scheme of things. From that vantage point we are able to breathe in the fresh air of freedom since we are able to let go of our self-pity, our pain and our misery. What peace comes with that! After all, "if God is for us, who can be against us" (Romans 8:31).

Where is Home?

It was nearly three years ago when My Love flew out to California to bring her cousin, Catherine, to live in South Texas. At 94 years of age, her son had died and she was desiring to be closer to family members. Her remaining son lived in Texas.

As we settled her into the apartment we had arranged for her in a residential care facility, she said: "Thank you. It is very nice, but it will never be home." I felt sad for her as I did not understand what she was saying.

Last year, we lost our home in the hurricane and have moved back to our family roots in Iowa. After living in the small apartment that we have rented for the past 10 months, I now have a better grasp of what Catherine was saying. While our place is very comfortable and quite adequate for our needs, it will never be home. In fact, My Love and I have come to the conclusion, and peacefully so, that we will never have another home. Never again will we live in a place in which we invest so much time, energy and emotion.

When we purchased our home 12 1/2 years ago, neither of us had ever had our own home. We had always lived our lives to that point in someone else's dwelling. Having our own place in which we could invest our hearts, our funds, our time and our energies was a key priority for us. We did that. We made our South Texas ranchito into the small corner of paradise that fulfilled that desire for both of us. And we enjoyed it for 12 years.

Now that it is history for us, we appreciate it for the gift that it was. We also recognize it as past as we have come to see the truth expressed in our faith, that we are only pilgrims on this earth. Our true home is not here, so why should we be like the apostles on the Mountain of Transfiguration and want to build "three tents" and stay here forever! (Mt 17:4)

As My Love is wont to say: "Home is a Love you can count on." That is wherever we are, for it is the love of one another which reflects the Love of God drawing us to our true home.

Witness to Love

Our friends, Gail and Marilyn, whom I've written about in a former blog, will soon be rejoicing as they celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. May 18th is the actual date, however they are planning a family gathering to share their gratitude to God with a week of festivities in July in Idaho, where they reside. They are opening their home and their hearts so that others can join them in thanking God, but also so that they can express their gratitude to their friends and family for supporting them with love, encouragement, prayers and faith throughout the years. Without that, they realize that they would never have made it to this historic moment.

My Love and I have been blessed to know Gail and Marilyn these last five years. We met them through Reliv, but it was only a short time before our connections to them broadened into a believing and supportive faith community. Through their instrumentality, we were invited into, and joined a Leadership Bible study with another couple, Greg and Teri. That group has now expanded to include a fourth couple, John and Clar. For nearly four years now, we have joined together by phone on a conference call each Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday morning for one half hour of Scripture sharing. What a gift and blessing this has been in our life, My Love and me.

Through this Bible study, I have come to appreciate the deep faith that Gail and Marilyn have shared over the many years of their life together. In trials and tribulations, joys and sorrows, ups and downs, they have ultimately found their strength and direction in their coupled faith lives and the support of the believing community. They are a true witness to the faithfulness and love of God who "works all things together for good" (Romans 8:28). Gail and Marilyn's support and prayers were especially key in our lives during the hurricane last year and the ensuing uprooting and moving to Iowa. We are very grateful to them and for them.

In tribute to their love and faithfulness to one another and to God who has blessed them, I am dedicating this blog to them. May those of you who read it find edification and encouragement through their witness. May you also be led to reflect on the way Gail and Marilyn have touched your life.

I invite those of you who know them, family, friends, neighbors, business associates, to go to the comment section of this blog (directions are in the left column) and add your own comments and reflections on Gail and Marilyn's impact in your life. Please also invite others to add their thoughts by referring them to this blog. As the time for the July celebration draws near, I will compile all the many (hopefully) comments for presentation to them.

"I am sure of this, that He who has begun this good work in you (Gail and Marilyn), will carry it through to completion right up to the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

Then Came the Angels

Part 2 of the story (at Marilyn's request) of the hurricane/flood that brought us to Iowa. For Part 1 see And the Waters Came.

Although a deep peace settled in our hearts with the decision to uproot our lives and move back to our home area in Iowa, we were faced with the reality of dealing with a home and property buried under several feet of filthy water. From the very beginning God sent hovering angels to assist, encourage and uplift us.

First there was our neighbor, Beno, across the road. When Janella stopped there to ask if she could park our car in front of their house because we could not drive in and out of our property, he not only agreed, but went on to say that he had an empty apartment available right there where we could stay. This would also provide us with a handy location to store any of our things as we moved them out of the inundated house. The apartment even had a refrigerator/freezer included.

We began late Thursday afternoon floating things out to the road in three large, plastic garbage cans that we had in our garage. We started with all our food items from our refrigerator and freezer. After floating them out to the road, we loaded them onto our pickup, which we had fortunately driven out of the yard before the water made that impossible. Then, we drove across the road where we unloaded into the apartment. This was to be our pattern, with some adaptations for the next two days.

On one of these journeys late Thursday, as we were attempting to lift the garbage cans onto the pickup, another pickup stopped behind us. Three big, burly guys got out, came over, and asked if there was anything they could do to help. They were oil rig workers who were on their way to check on a well nearby. (So they said! We know they were really angels!) We told them that we would really appreciate their assistance in hauling a mattress from one of our beds to the apartment across the street so that we would have a place to sleep that night. They proceeded to follow us up to the house where we showed them one of the mattresses that was not yet soaked. They picked it up with no problem and delivered to our temporary haven.

The next morning we called our friends, Chuck and Lou, to ask if they could come with their sons, Jose and Dan, to help us. They became our archangels. They arrived with a friend of theirs and began organizing the move of all our salvageable belongings. They stayed with us throughout Friday and Saturday as they oversaw the transfer of our life from one side of the road to the other. At one point, Chuck commented to me: "You know, everything you move out of here, you will have to move back in." My response was: "Not if we don't move back in."

Throughout Friday, many people (angels) stopped along the road and asked if they could help. At one point we had 12 people assisting us, most of whom we did not know. One man who was helping, asked us, in Spanish, if it would help if he went home and got his small fishing boat. Then we could load things on the boat and pull it out to the trucks that we were loading on the road. He brought the boat, and we used it until Sunday. By Saturday evening, we had everything worth salvaging out of the house and across the street in the apartment.

It was late Friday afternoon when Lou invited us to stay with them in their home as long as necessary. It was like a light in the darkness because I don't know how we would have been able to survive if we had stayed in the small apartment, faced with the piles of our stuff that had been placed all over. We accepted their hospitality, which allowed us not only to enjoy the comfort of their home and a bit of normalcy, but also to share faith as we moved through this experience.

The following week was spent going through things in the apartment, deciding what we wanted to keep and take with us, and what we wanted to let go of. We planned and held a yard sale the following Friday and Saturday, right out in front of the apartment on the main highway that passed by. During that yard sale, we were assisted by two more angels, Judy and Phil, our friends.

Meanwhile, My Love had talked with her sister, Annette, in Iowa and asked her to look for a place for us to rent. She was another angel as she spent several days running around, talking with realtors, and scouring ads. But she was also a successful angel for she found the wonderful two-bedroom apartment that we are now renting, at a very reasonable and affordable price.

At the same time that all the packing and sorting was being done, we were busy deciding what to do with our home and property. We met with two friends who were involved in real estate, investments and financial planning. One of them, Rudy, had just been brought into our lives about six months before. He turned out to be another angel. He knew someone, Algis, who was a contractor who was looking for a property like ours. On the following Sunday, we met with Algis and his expectant wife, Daniela, in our water-soaked house. She immediately fell in love with the home. He fell in love with my shop. So, through Rudy, an arrangement was reached whereby Algis would fix up the house and move into it. With this arrangement, we were able to leave with a peaceful and joyful heart knowing that someone else would be enjoying our home as much as we did.

With that taken care of, we then proceeded to rent a U-haul truck which we loaded with all the remaining articles of our life together. Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, August 6, we began our trek north with our little caravan of truck pulling a car carrier followed by My Love in our car. On the car carrier was our pickup filled with stuff, as was the car following. We proceeded as far as Denton, TX, that night where we slept for a few hours. Rising early, we journeyed on, arriving in Cherokee, Iowa Thursday evening about 8:30 pm.

Friday we spent looking at the new apartment, and getting ready to move in. On Saturday, another flock of angels arrived to help unload the truck and move our furniture and other things into the house. The 10 or so relatives and friends did not have an easy task of it, for our apartment is up a flight of 23 stairs on the second floor. Yet they were real troopers and got the job accomplished that day.

The final touch of God's love came through several angels who sent us gifts of money to help with our expenses of moving. When we totalled it all up, it covered exactly the expense of the u-haul rental, the gas driving up, the cost of the motel and the meals on the way. Is God wonderful, or what?

As I reflect back over this experience, I am overwhelmed at the over-arching love, care and providential direction of God which was so present through the people put in our path. Never for a moment were we allowed to forget Who was behind and throughout this movement. Never could we fail to remember the existence of angels who come when we need them.

Sacred History

Gail and Marilyn, who belong to our morning Bible study, are preparing to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary in May. As part of the getting ready, they have been going through photo albums from their married life, picking photos for a slide presentation to be shown during the festivities. Last week, Marilyn shared with us what an awesome experience it has been to walk prayerfully through their history, and see the many ways that God has been present and blessed them.

One of the overwhelming realizations that they came to, and subsequently shared with us, was how God always seemed to be present, supporting them and guiding them, in the struggles and difficulties of their life together. That supportive presence was manifested most often and most consistently through whatever faith community they were a part of at the time. It might have been Christian Family Movement, Cursillo, Marriage Encounter, Charismatic Movement, or any number of other Catholic faith communities.

At this particular point in their faith journey, our morning Bible study is serving in that capacity of supportive and guiding faith community. For the last three years we have been sharing our faith as we reflect on and study the Bible. Their realization is that God has never left them without a faith community. At the same time, they have no idea where their life would be today were it not for the ever-present community of faith surrounding and carrying them along.

As they were sharing their insights and their gratitude for God's loving hand in their sacred history, I was struck with the importance of each one of us taking time to reflect on our own sacred history. From time to time, how encouraging and edifying it could be for us if we would spend time tracing the loving hand of God in our own lives. For it is a fact, God has always been with us. If we are not aware of God's presence, it is only because we have not taken the opportunity to peel back the top layer of our story and discover the underlying hand of God. We don't have to wait for a special occasion, like a 50th anniversary. We can do it today.

Under The Circumstances

A friend greeted me recently: "So, how are you doing?" Says I: "Pretty good under the circumstances." Without hesitation he responded: "What are you doing under there?"

After picking myself up off the floor, I began to reflect on what he was saying to me. Do I let situations and circumstances dictate how I am feeling? Am I controlled by what is going on around me, by what others do or don't do? Does something so simple as the weather affect my outlook and attitude for the day?

Or do I truly operate out of the center of my own being, out of the belief that God is in charge and therefore I am at peace. Does my equanimity reflect my trust in an all-powerful and all-loving God? Another friend said to me many years ago: "If you believe that Jesus is Lord, then an earthquake shouldn't shake you up!" I guess that even applies to a hurricane!

Many times I know this in my head, but it's my stomach that has a hard time catching up. Often my belief has to sink down from my head into my heart so that I can really be at peace, even though the circumstances are threatening to overwhelm me. I'm reminded of my friend, Greg, who says: "When you are up to your waist in alligators, it's hard to remember that you came in to drain the swamp."

What are your circumstances today? Are you under them, or on top of them? Where do you want to be?

What Are Your Goggles?

There is a country western song entitled "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On". It is about how drinking too much beer affects Billy's perception of reality around him.

This set me thinking about the goggles that I wear or have worn throughout my life. The various viewpoints I've held that have affected the way that I perceived life, people, relationships, the world, etc.

When I served as a priest, I viewed things through the goggles of the Catholic Church. People, relationships, lifestyles, finances, medical science, scripture, worship - everything was filtered through the teachings and stance of the Church. Whether I agreed with that viewpoint was not the issue. Only that there was that set of goggles which affected how I saw and related to reality around me.

As a nursing home administrator, I found that my goggles changed. There is life after/outside the perspective of the Church. Not that they were opposed to each other, or even in conflict. Only that now I saw things from the point of view of ministering to people who were nearing the end of their lives, or to the families of those folks, and doing it while observing the many State and Federal regulations involved. It was also to be done within the parameters of the company that hired me in such a way as to make a profit. It was a different set of realities, and my goggles changed accordingly.

Now as I find myself in the automotive industry, another set of goggles is available to me. I am especially aware of those goggles because the owner/boss that I am working with has been in this industry for 40+ years. Of necessity, he eats, drinks, sleeps and lives automobiles, their sales, trades and repairs. Reality seen through his eyes has a definite slant or perspective.

As I reflect on the various goggles that I have worn (and there are many other smaller sets that I have not mentioned), I have come to two conclusions. First of all, I see the importance of not identifying myself with the goggles at any time. I am not any one of the various viewpoints that I lived through in my lifetime. These are simply perspectives on reality that I carried for a time.

Secondly, no set of goggles is the same as the reality that they perceive. Reality is set apart from any particular viewpoint or filter through which it is viewed. In other words, the Catholic viewpoint, the nursing home viewpoint, the auto dealer viewpoint is just that -- a perception of reality that is both insightful and distorting at the same time. Insightful because it gives a deeper perception into life; but distorting because it is limited to the narrow confines of this one perspective.

I am reminded of the story of the four blind men trying to describe an elephant. The one holding the tail described it as similar to a rope. With his arms around a leg, the second man waxed eloquent comparing the elephant to a tree. The third man, with his hands around the trunk, assured the others that the beast was like a fire hose. Finally, the fourth man, taking hold of the ear, contended that the animal was like a large, tough leaf. All were right, but not completely; all were also wrong, but not totally.

No matter what goggles we wear, it is important for us to realize the limitations as well as the benefits of our perspective. That is especially true where God, faith and church are concerned. God is bigger than any of our perceptions. God is distinct from all of our views. What freedom there is in knowing that.

What are your goggles? How do they help/hinder you?