Friday Five: Church Olympians

This week's Friday Five (surprise - I'm playing again!), posted by Deb at RevGalBlogPals:

With the Olympic Games in Sochi just around the corner, I started thinking about all the athletes who attend the Games and never win a medal. The hours of practicing, sacrifice and dedication don’t get noticed by the media. Yet, for the love of their sport, they persevere.
Then I began to reminisce about the “Olympians” in the Church. Perhaps you can think of faithful ones who never get up to preach, sing or read, but faithfully come, week after week, to serve. It seems to me they deserve a medal of sorts.
So, for this week’s Friday Five, share stories or memories of those “medalists” of the Church who have encouraged you in their faithfulness.

Friday Five: Roots and Wings Edition

This week's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five, from 3dogmom:

I’ve just returned from an extended road trip, a portion of which included travel through ancestral homelands. While I was gone our son’s first child, Hunter, was born, making me mindful of the gift that our roots can offer to us as we venture through life. That juxtaposition inspires today’s Friday Five.

At a baby shower honoring Hunter guests filled out a card full of hopes and wishes for his life. Thinking about whatever new life may be touching yours (the birth of a child, a marriage, a new call…), choose five wishes from the following and do the same. (For instance, I wrote for Hunter, “I hope you laugh at your grandfather’s jokes.)

I hope you: learn, grow, remember, laugh, get, follow, aren’t afraid, love, respect, try to, never forget, become, experience. 

Bonus: what hopes did someone in your life offer to you that have stayed with and inspired you?

Friday Five: Let's Eat!

This week's Friday Five comes from 3dogmom over at RevGalBlogPals:
My first ever Friday Five is dedicated to Nikki MacDonald, sister RevGal, who was hungering for an opportunity to write about Haggis. With that introduction, today’s FF is all about food!

1) Is there a food from a foreign land whose reputation led to trepidation when you had a chance to give it a try? Did you find the courage to sample it anyway? If so, were you pleasantly surprised or did you endorse the less than favorable reputation that preceded it?
Growing up in the middle of the midwest, anything remotely "Oriental" sounded exotic and strange.  I remember reading about and seeing people in "New York" eating "Chinese food" but never having the guts to try it myself.  Until I got to college and actually smelled the aromas wafting away from the Imperial Palace in the Union.  First time I tried it I was hooked, completely.  Now I love the stuff.

2) What food from your own country/culture gets a bad rap?
I love many of the delicacies that come with my ethnic heritages:  German and Swedish.  I'm not sure if potato sausage and pickled herring are authentically German/Swedish or if they're an American development, but I love them both, particularly around Christmas.

3) Of what food are you fond that others find distasteful?
My campus pastor introduced every board member to his favorite pizza:  Canadian Bacon & Sauerkraut.  It sounds disgusting, but it's actually wonderful.  Add in some black olives and onions and it's a wonderful pizza if you're not going to be speaking in close proximity to anyone in the near future.

4) Is there a country’s food, not native to you, that you go out of your way to eat?
My ex-wife introduced me to Korean food when she was a student at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, and I still love the stuff.  Bibimbap, bulgogi, and kimchee, which makes my father wince because he remembers seeing it made and buried to ferment when he was stationed in Korea in 1968.  Thanks to Christina, I'm also able to remember to thank my host in Korean when I order and receive my food.  "Kam sa ham ni da" is guaranteed to make any Korean restaurant worker smile in delight.

5) What is your guilty pleasure food?
Ice cream.  Love, love, love the stuff, but we don't keep a lot of it around as I find it hard to resist.  We've limited the girls to weekend treats only, and so far that's keeping everyone's sweet tooth at bay.

Bonus: What was your most memorable meal (good or bad), either because of the menu, the occasion, the company, or some other circumstance that makes it stand out?
I've blogged and preached about this before, but the wedding banquet for our friends Sven & Eva at a castle outside Coburg, Germany was the most incredible meal we've ever experienced.  It was four hours long, your wine glass/beer stein never went dry, no one got hammered, and everyone laughed, cried and had a wonderful time.

Yeah.  It was as good as it looks.

A Fully-Packed Friday Five

From RevGalBlogPals:

We are 90% done with the pack-em-up-and-move-em-out week here are our hacienda. One daughter is moving to her first apartment, the other daughter to her dorm for her freshman year of college. Not gonna lie, it was an adventure these last few days!

As a part of the process, we let our daughters manage their own packing (with our input and support.) Part of that educational experience (for all of us) was letting them figure out how to create their own organization, make choices, and consolidate what they were packing. And also pack carefully enough so that they could still get everything in the car -- and in the dorm/apartment!

It made me realize that there are some elements to packing and moving that are learned, and some that are innate. So let's talk "packing or pack rat?" for this week's Friday Five.

Friday Five: Keeping My Cool

This was our house in Minnesota the day we baptized Ainsley in 2007.
Keeping cool, indeed.

Ahhhhh... Just a few short months ago, we were shoveling snow. Today, we're sweating buckets!

Highs in the 90s. Humidity in the "uncomfortable" range. And air quality in the "red" zone. It's summer here in the Washington, DC Metro area, and I'm not really a fan.

Recognizing that RevGalBlogPals are from around the world, your weather may be different. But play along and tell us how YOU beat the heat when it's in season with this week's Friday Five.

Friday Five: Church Libraries

From RevGalBlogPals:

Church libraries seem to be diminishing and even disappearing in some churches. Our church is full of scholarly books that no one looks at, and how should it change, be developed, or continue? As the de-facto chairperson of the library, I need ideas and suggestions about church libraries in this day and age. Please help!

Friday Five: Take Five!

Whoosh! My calendar is packed. And June is almost gone! There's the old saying, "Bad luck comes in threes" but I've decided that "Busy-ness comes in fives!" So this week we'll take things five-at-a-time. Tell me:

Friday Five: Smile!

Posted by Jan at RevGalBlogPals:  

Remembering that Meister Eckhart said that if you pray "thank you" that that is enough of a prayer, share with us five things, memories, or activities that bring you smiles and gratitude.

Friday Five: Nostalgia Edition

Today's Friday Five takes us on a trip down memory lane, from Sally:

This year Tim and I have planted and nurtured a vegetable garden, and I have just spent the morning preparing vegetables and soups for the freezer, our veggie garden is producing like crazy and it is hard to keep up with, that said it'll be worth it for a little taste of summer in the middle of winter :-). That got me thinking of the things I treasure, memories are often more valuable than possessions.

1. A treasured memory from childhood?

I remember the chair pictured here very fondly. We all loved that chair: it was the per

fect size for reading, snuggling with Mom or Dad, and all kinds of fun to turn over on its back and/or side. I know it got re-upholstered at least once in its lifetime. I have treasured comfy reading chairs ever since. A close second to this memory is Ed, the black lab we had when I was just a wee little thing. He was the gentlest, kindest dog I ever knew. I used to fall asleep in the yard using Ed as a pillow. Any wonder I wanted a lab when we started looking for a dog? I'm happy to say that Jack shows the same patience and love to the Sisters that Ed did to me and my brothers.

2. A teenage memory?

This time of year I'm always thinking about football. At the moment I'm listening to The Junction Boys: How Ten Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged a Championship Team on my iPod, and it brings back memories of two-a-days on "the hill" back home in Wakefield, NE. You never forget the feel of the pads on your shoulders, the helmet on your head, the smell of grass and sweat and maybe a little blood if you got popped in the nose or mouth. I remember my senior season most fondly: we weren't expected to amount to much, but we only lost two games that year, both very close games

against teams that went on to high post-season results. We worked our asses off for what we got that year, and so far as I can remember, it was the first time most of us had went out and gotten something people didn't think we could get. Man, those fun Friday nights were worth every torturous practice beforehand.

3. A young adult memory?

Ranch Camp, Week #7, 1994 at Carol Joy Holling Camp. I have a lot of wonderful memories from my five summers at camp, but this one week will always stand out for me. My co-counselor was Tanya, on whom I had a bit of an unrequited crush, but despite me making calf-eyes all week, we got along great and worked really well together. Our campers that week were just incredible. They bonded really well from the start, even Blake, who was our big rebel/too-cool-for-camp kid that week. We hiked, we cooked out, we had an overnight sleepout on the hill; you name it, we did it that week, and it was the kind of week that makes you think you could do that job for the rest of your life. The Bible Study was particularly good that summer: "Jesus, Who Are You?" was the theme, and each day we studied one of the "I am" sayings from the Gospel of John. Thursday was "I am the Resurrection and the Life," and as you can imagine, we talked about death. This particular Thursday was a very emotional session, but in the best possible way. Our village walked to the Closing Program in one big long line, arms around shoulders, me and Tanya right in there with them. We both cried when the campers were all gone that week. Experiences like that are so few and far between, yet they carry so much weight in ou

r lives; who would have imagined a bunch of teenagers, most of whom I can't even remember individually anymore, would remain in my heart all these years later?

4. A memory from this summer?

Just yesterday, as I was hurrying the girls into the car to go to the gym, Ainsley looked at me and said, "Daddy, you just have to be patient with me!" That's just one snapshot of this summer for us: growing girls who are blossoming into real people right in front of us. Holy. Crap. Ferris is right: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." We've tried to take time to look around this summer, and I'm really thankful to be able to do it.

5. A memory you hope to have?

Lots in general: family vacations, happy weddings, great accomplishments for the Sisters, weddings, grandkids, etc. But one in particular we hope to start working on soon is a big anniversary trip back to Europe in 10-15 years. I'd dearly love to tour Ireland with Beloved; nights in the pub, days on the road, seeing the sights I saw in 1996 when I went with the Nebraska band, but with the appreciation I've gained over years of reading about Erin and her children. After some time in Ireland, a trip to Germany so Beloved can see "Luther Land" would be neat as well. We honeymooned in Bavaria, but Kristin hasn't seen Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, Eisenach, Leipzig or any of the wonderful sights I saw

during my J-term class in seminary. It would be great to spend a night or two in Haus Hainstein with my beloved, ja?

Bonus- a song that sums up one of those memories.

My folks had one of these gigantic counter-style stereo systems. They had (and still have) a chest full of LPs, but the ones that got the coveted spots inside the stereo itself were the Statler Brothers albums. My dad loved the Statler Brothers, and we all followed suit. I remember loading that record player up with three or four records and listening for what seemed like hours. I learned to harmonize from the Statler Brothers. (The fact that I'm likely doing the same thing to Ainsley and Alanna with Storyhill has certainly not escaped my notice.) Anyway, this is one of many songs I remember singing all those years ago:

Grace & peace,

Scott

Damn - I Know I Came In Here For Something...

You Lutherans in the audience likely remember this little book. Augsburg Fortress has been making this appointment book for years. I've never used it myself (too small for my taste), but Larry, my campus pastor, carried one with a golf pencil rubber-banded onto it for as long as I knew him. Today's Friday Five is all about why we need such things...

a) What's the last thing you forgot?

Well, I bought tickets for a group trip to a DCI show in Des Moines next weekend, and I bought one for Beloved so she could come along, but forgot that she has a church commitment that night. Unfortunately, if I can't find someone to take the ticket, this one will cost us a little bit of money. Oops.

e) How do you keep track of appointments?

I used a Palm device from 2001 until just a few months ago when we got new phones. The new Palm devices are just too expensive, so we got Samsung Reclaim phones and I switched to Google Calendar, which is working pretty well so far. In other words, I haven't trusted my own memory for these things for nearly ten years, longer if you count the number of paper appointment books I kept before 2001.

i) Do you keep a running grocery list?

About half the time. We're in a bit of a grocery rut right now - toddler tastes don't vary much, so most of the time we're buying the same stuff every week. But we're getting food from a local CSA now, so hopefully we'll expand our palates a bit over the weeks to come.

o) When forced to improvise by circumstances, do you enjoy it or panic?
I'm not sure - I have the feeling what I think might not match what people see when circumstances happen. Generally, one of the things I love about being a minister is the flexibility. There are very few hard and fast administrative "rules" for us - basically, if you've got the sermon on Sunday and you're present in emergencies, the rest of your time is your own to manage as you see fit. I remember Larry Meyer telling me once, "When it comes to worship, you plan as much as you can in advance, make sure everyone's on the same page, and then you let what happens happen. Don't ignore surprises, but don't act like they ruin everything, either." I've adopted that wisdom for a fairly large portion of my life, and it seems to suit me just fine. Beloved would definitely disagree on this one, though - she does NOT enjoy being easy-going when it comes to deadlines, packing, etc. It's one of the few things to have actually caused fights in our marriage.

u) What's a memory you hope you will never forget?

Three in particular: our wedding day and the days Ainsley and Alanna were born. If I can hold on to those three, I'll be pretty good if everything else goes.

Now, has anyone seen my sunglasses?

Grace & peace,

Scott

Summery Friday Five

Songbird gave us the Friday Five this week, and it's all about summer. Here are three things I love, two things I don't come the longest time of theyear.

Three Summery Things I Love:

1. Swimmin' holes. Specifically, the new Furman Aquatic Center here in our lovely town of Ames (Kids' Pool pictured to the right by Ronnie Miller of the Ames Tribune). This water park has been ridiculously wonderful for us this summer - we bought a season pass (with some help from a good friend) and have already gotten return value for the big expense. The Sisters love nothing more than going to the Water Park on an afternoon, and at this point all they can do is walk around in the water and go down the kiddie slides. I can't wait to see how much they love it when they're big enough to go down the big water slides you can just see in the background.

I've loved going to the pool in the summer my whole life, and it's been fun going back with our girls and discovering, among other things, why running on a wet pool deck is never a good idea. Okay, maybe that last wasn't so much fun, but the rest certainly has been!

2. Cooking food with fire. Hot dog roasts, burgers and brats on the grill, hobo packs, corn on the cob wrapped in its own husks - you name it, if it can be cooked outdoors I'll give it a shot this time of year. I'd like to try pizza and a dutch oven roast sometime before this summer's out, and maybe if I get a little adventurous I'll attempt to smoke some ribs, too.

3. Baseball. I grew up in the Baseball Capital of Nebraska, and spent most of my summers pursuing America's pastime until I was 16 and, frankly, got burned out. Even though I haven't played in all the years since, I still love going to the ballpark to catch a game, and joining a summer church league for softball wouldn't be all bad, either. Our campus ministry makes at least one trip to Des Moines for an Iowa Cubs game each year, and it's always a highlight of the summer for me. Hopefully at some point in the near future I'll have the chance to catch a Twins game at Target Field in Minneapolis as well.

Two Summery Things I Don't Love So Much

1. Sun, Heat and Humidity. You can blame this one on my Swedo-Germanic ancestors, I guess. When it comes to the weather, I'm all for sunny days, but I love them best when accompanied by spring or fall temps. Well-insulated chaps like me don't react well to being constantly sweaty, itchy from heat rash and fried to a crisp. An additional frustration for me is the way my body selectively tans: my arms will get comfortably red, my legs will stay pasty white no matter how often I wear shorts, and my face and neck will burn no matter how much sunscreen I use. I bought a nice hat last fall, and hopefully the full-coverage brim will help keep the forehead blisters to a minimum this year.

2. Mosquitoes, the state bird of Minnesota. Nothing ruins a picnic or night at the beach/lake/ballpark/campfire faster than these flying vampires. Yet another reason I prefer autumn and spring: no bugs.

Bonus Target of Loathing: Junebugs

Please, feel free to fly around our porchlight all night, smack into our screens and generally scare the hell out of me or my family by flying into our faces, buzzing like the world's first vuvuzela. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

Family Tree Friday Five

Playing the Friday Five this week from RevGalBlogPals.

1. Do you have any interest in geneaology?
I do and I don't. I like getting the stories and knowing more about where I come from, but I'm not at all interested in the hours of searching records to do it. Thankfully, on my Dad's side my uncle Warren has done that for us. No one has stepped up on Mom's side as of yet, but maybe, in spite of my reluctance, that'll be me someday?

2. Which countries did your ancestors come from?

Mom's side comes from Germany and Dad's side comes from Sweden. My great-grandfather Spangler emigrated to the U.S. in 1906, so part of my family has been here just over a century.

3. Who is the farthest back ancestor whose name you know?

Off the top of my head it's just my great-grandparents, but I remember from reading through the work my uncle has done that there were several people with the name Johannes in the mix in further generations back.

4. Any favorite saints or sinners in the group?
We don't have a lot of stories about our skeletons - midwestern Lutherans of all ethnic stripes tend to keep the darker secrets close to the vest. I know some of the struggles my grandparents faced getting through the Depression; my grandfather told my dad they were reduced to grinding and boiling their own field corn for food one fall. But I have many, many fond memories of the family I knew:

• The last thing my Grandpa Janke said to me before he died was how proud he was of me for winning our local spelling bee in 6th grade.
• My Grandpa Johnson loved candy orange slices, had a laugh that has passed to my uncle Warren and now to me at times, and he could sing like no one's business.
• My Grandma Johnson loved nothing better than having the family together as often as possible. Sometimes I think she held on to her house as steadfastly as she did because she knew how hard it would be to do holidays together once she moved to the nursing home.
• My Grandma Janke loves to tell stories about her family and her faith, and is ridiculously proud of her two pastor grandsons (well, almost pastor in the case of my cousin Ryan - he's in college and planning to go to an LCMS seminary after graduation).

5. What would you want your descendants to remember about you?

If I could be remembered like my grandparents I'd be very, very happy: kind, loyal, faithful, generous, firm in character, hard-working and humble. I know it's a parody of midwestern Scandinavian Lutherans to love this about my roots, but I won't apologize for the better aspects of what Garrison Keillor so richly satirizes.

Bonus: a song, prayer, or poem that speaks of family--blood or chosen--to you.

I know it's Rich, again, but I've thought of my family from the first time I heard "First Family." No, we didn't grow up in Indiana, and there were three of us kids, not five, but the feel of this song is EXACTLY what I remember from my youth, and I love it very much.

• First Family by Rich Mullins

More Rich Mullins music on iLike

Grace & peace,

Scott

Friday Five: On the Road

These pictures of the Sisters were taken on our way to Nebraska last summer.

1. When was your last, or will be your next, out of town travel?

My last trip out of town was our wonderful Campus Ministry trip to Holden Village in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. It was an incredible trip marred only by the fact that Beloved and the Sisters couldn’t be with us.

As to the next trip, well, it can’t come soon enough. As of right now it will be my cousin’s wedding in early June, but we’re trying to find some time to get out of town before that trip. Beloved and I both need to get away for a while and just be with good friends and family.

2. Long car trips: love or loathe?

Depends on the company. By myself, I could drive all day and never feel the worse for it. Being one of those “introverts in an extrovert job” types, an empty automobile and a good audiobook is one picture of heaven for me. But I do enjoy road trips with friends as well. (yes, M, K, and C, that trip to Webstah back in 2000 was enjoyable for me, even though I was an ass on the way home. I hadn’t figured out how much I need “alone time” at that point. Again, sorry for those last two days.)

Travelling with the Sisters? Well, that’s different. Sometimes it’s wonderful, sometimes it’s excruciating. Kinda like everything about parenting toddlers, only compressed into a small metal box moving 80 miles an hour across the Midwest.

3. Do you prefer to be driver or passenger?

Driver, driver, driver. I am a TERRIBLE passenger. The only form of transportation I’ve ever found enjoyable as a passenger is Amtrak, frankly – air travel is too hectic and cramped, cars make me motion-sick if I’m not behind the wheel, and tour buses are the same as airplanes, only slower. If I had to take Amtrak to hell, at least I’d enjoy the ride.

4. If passenger, would you rather pass the time with handwork, conversing, reading, listening to music, or ???

Reading, mostly, when I’m not motion sick. I bring my iPod when I travel, but often it winds up being background noise these days.

5. Are you going, or have you ever gone, on a RevGals BE? Happiest memories of the former, and/or most anticipated pleasures of the latter?

I haven’t been to a BE, and probably never will, given that it’s for Gals far more than Pals, but I did meet several RGBPs at the Festival of Homiletics in Minneapolis two years ago, and that was just frickin’ awesome. You all are some pretty cool chicks. And pals of chicks, of course.

6. Bonus: a favorite piece of road trip music.

I'm in a Rich Mullins mood today, so here are three of my favorites:

Friday Five: Going for the...Couch?

Another week, another collapse. Yesterday afternoon I slept more than the girls did - took a 90 minute nap during their naptime, then another hour after Beloved got home from work. Apparently I needed a bit more rest than I've been giving myself lately. So, Lenten Devotions went by the wayside for a couple of days. Sorry about that.

But Songbird gave us an AWESOME Friday Five this morning, and I figured I might get back int the swing of things by playing along.

It's been two weeks of snow, or not enough snow, of heartbreak before the action even began, of snowboards and skis and skates, of joy and sorrow. At our house, we've stayed up too late, and we don't even watch sports any other time!

1) Which of the Winter Olympic sports is your favorite to watch?
Alpine skiing, followed closely by speed skating and bobsled/luge/skeleton. Long track, that is - while I think Apollo Anton Ohno is indeed a great athelete, that game is just too random for me to get very interested. I LOVE watching Lindsey Vonn, Julia Mancuso, Bode Miller and all the other ski nuts throw themselves down mountains. To me, the alpine events and the 'timed' events are the essence of the Winter Olympics. As I told someone Wednesday night, if there's a stopwatch I'm all over it, but if it's a "scored" event, I couldn't care less.

2) Some of the uniforms have attracted attention this year, such as the US Snowboarders' pseudo-flannel shirts and the Norwegian Curling team's -- ahem -- pants. Who do you think had the best-looking uniforms?

I really liked the Norwegian unis - I mean, I watch golf when John Daly, Ian Poulter and Duffy Waldorf are playing, so ugly pants are nothing new for me. At least the Norwegians didn't wear a non-matching hat like Duffy's known to do.

3) And Curling. Really? What's up with that?

Haven't a clue. All I know is whenever it's on, everyone stops and watches. Everyone. In the men's locker room at our gym this week, everyone has been spellbound every time curling is on. Which is a marked improvement over whoever keeps turning the damned TV to Fox News, by the way...

4) Define Nordic Combined. Don't look it up. Take a guess if you must. (There will be a prize for the best answer, but be aware, this is a judged sport.)

Best photo spread incorporating Dale sweaters & IKEA furniture. And yes, I do know what the actual event is, but this was kinda fun.

5) If you could be a Winter Olympics Champion just by wishing for it, which sport would you choose for winning your Gold Medal?

Gold Medal: Skeleton gets the nod over the other two because it combines high speed and head-first body position three inches off the surface. If you can find a bigger rush I'd like to see it.

Silver Medal: Alpine Skiing (especially the Super G). Seriously, who's sexier: Bode Miller/Lindsey Vonn or Figure Skating Guy/Figure Skating Girl? Your disagreement is invalid.

Bronze Medal: Bobsled. Because if Steve Holcomb (front left) can wear spandex, so can I. Besides, that hulk of non-fat muscle in the back? Former Cornhusker Curt Tomasevicz. Guy looks like he could still kick some serious ass in shoulder pads.

Lenten Devotions: Punt

I just returned from a very frustrating lecture on campus. Before I comment publicly, I need to take some time and digest what I remembered and how I’d choose to agree/disagree/blow it all to hell and start over. But my thoughts on tonight’s lecture were to be the LD for this evening. So I’m just going to punt and do today’s Friday Five, not that it’s an inferior pursuit, mind you, but it gives my reeling mind something to grasp with a bit more coherence than I could otherwise offer. Ergo, here we go.

From Sophia:

Each year you give us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mystery with mind and heart renewed. You give us a spirit of loving reverence for you, our Creator, and of willing service to our neighbor. As we recall the great events that gave us new life in Christ, you bring the image of your Son to perfection within us.... (First Preface for Lent, Roman Missal)

1. Did you celebrate Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday this year? Any memories of memorable celebrations past?

We meant to do a Fat Tuesday celebration at the Lutheran Center, but planning didn’t get done until last minute, and by then, people were already overwhelmed enough considering Ash Wednesday and Lent that we just scrapped the whole thing. So I went home and ate a pizza. That’s right: keepin’ it classy up in HYAH.

2. How about Ash Wednesday, past and/or present?

Every year, without exception, I consider the moment I’m marked with ashes to be the “beginning” of Lent. I can’t imagine not having ashes imposed. One thing I did hear about this year were several folks of various denominations doing ‘public’ impositions, and I’m thinking we might spend a few hours at the Free Speech Zone on the ISU campus offering the imposition of ashes during the day next year. Seems a good way to be distinctively Christian and perhaps do some educating and public witness at the same time. Also, a Christian in the FSZ who isn’t pounding a Bible and yelling about JAYSUS might be a nice change of pace for some folks.

3. Does your denomination or congregation celebrate "this joyful season"? Any special emphases or practices to share?

The old joke is that most Lutherans prefer Lent to Easter because we are much more comfortable in penitence and self-denial. As I wrote the other day, my Lenten experience is formed by the joy my mentor found in the season, and there are indeed many in my denomination who share a love for the journey of Lent, not because we’re big fans of feeling guilty, but because the introspective, penitential nature of the season has a real impact on us spiritually. In the “Invitation to Lent” our liturgy reads, “As disciples of Jesus, we are called to a discipline that contends against evil and resists whatever leads us away from love of God and neighbor. I invite you, therefore, to the discipline of Lent—self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love—strengthened by the gifts of word and sacrament. Let us continue our journey through these forty days to the great Three Days of Jesus' death and resurrection.” I believe most of us try to live out these disciplines, as do most Christian churches, and this is what makes Lent a special season in the church.

4. Do you have a personal plan of give-ups, take-ons, special ministries, and/or a special focus for your own spiritual growth between now and Easter?

This is the second year I’ve attempted to write a nightly post for Lent. Last year I simply ran out of steam a few weeks in; in retrospect, I may have simply been trying to say too much. Thus tonight’s ‘lighter’ fare. I also give up a few things every year, this year being meat and Sporcle, and I attempt to use the changes that result from that sacrifice for good. So, hopefully giving up meat lessens our grocery bill and my waistline, and wasting less time playing Sporcle gives me more time to sleep, work, play with the kids, etc.

5. What is your dream for the image of Christ coming to perfection in you, the church, the world? How can we support you in prayer?

Humility and grace. I am more and more convinced that as Christendom continues to die (and die it should, for the sake of genuine faith as opposed to institutional idolatry), the church in its panic is asserting ever more loudly its own supposed position of power and dominion. I am by no means ashamed to be a Christian, but I am ashamed by the bleatings of those who will not give up the false dream of America being a “Christian nation.” We are called to be humble servants in this world, not a dominating moral police, and it seems to me that the first duty of every Christian during Lent is to tend to the sin in our own lives. That, in itself, ought to keep us busy for at least 40 days, don’t you think?

Bonus: Song, prayer, picture, etc. that sums up your feelings about this liturgical springtime.

I was hoping to post “Tree of Life And Awesome Mystery” by composer (and Lutheran, though he works for GIA, a Roman Catholic publisher) Marty Haugen, but couldn’t find a video on YouTube. But “Shepherd Me, O God” is another that fits well with the season, so here goes:

Friday Five: Staving Off the Gloom

Let me start by saying how much there is in my life for which I’m thankful. I have a beautiful, wonderful, incredible wife who continues to bless and surprise me in many, many ways. I am the father of two adorable girls who fill me with joy on a daily basis. Sometimes hourly, even. I’m the called pastor of a campus ministry where I feel as though the gifts God has given me for ministry are a good fit, and I get a lot of satisfaction from the work entrusted to me. And I love winter – snow, cold, ice; none of those things really bother me as much as some (and no, that’s not a judgment on those who dislike winter: I’m only saying I’m not one of them).

All that having been said, the 2009-2010 winter has been, for lack of a better word, pretty rough. Some of it I can’t share here. But between lack of sleep, lack of exercise, poor diet, lack of focus and the daily struggle to be a good father, the word for the winter is "frustrated." So this week’s Friday Five is a good one to use as an opportunity to take stock, and I hope you don’t mind if I do it with you all listening in.

From Sally, then:

Candlemas is past, and Christmas is well and truly over; here in the UK February looks set to be its usual grey and cold self. Signs of spring are yet to emerge; if like me you long for them perhaps you need ways to get through these long dark days. So lets share a few tips for a cold and rainy/ snowy day....

1. Exercise, what do you do if you can't face getting out into the cold and damp?

One thing I’ve really enjoyed this winter is our spin class. Holy cow, there’s nothing like pushing your body to the limit over the course of 45 minutes or so. Even on bad days, I still feel as though all the sweat and burning legs are worth the while, and of course it’s easy on the joints. The fact that we’ve become friends with a couple of our class leaders is nice as well, although we do keep one of them in our prayers as she begins a fight against cancer.

At the same time, I’m disappointed with myself for not running regularly, and I think it’s beginning to affect Jack as well. One of the reasons we got Jack, of course, was so I’d have a partner for my runs, but between excessive snow, schedules with the kids, lack of quality sleep and ennui due to some of the unbloggable stuff, my mileage has plummeted since August or so. I had hopes of doing a marathon this coming summer, but I need to kick it in the butt if I’m going to make that a reality. And Jack could definitely use the time outside as well.

2. Food; time to comfort eat, or time to prepare your body for the coming spring/summer?

I’ve eaten like crap this winter. Too much fast food, too many M&Ms, not enough fruits & veggies. It’s odd: when I went through the divorce, I lost my appetite completely, to the point of losing about 40-50 lbs in the course of three or four months. This time, with the emotional turmoil we’re experiencing, all I want to do is scarf down fast food burgers and pizza. What’s up with that? Here’s hoping that starting a garden this spring will bring about the dietary change I need.

3. Brainpower; do you like me need to stave off depression, if so how do you do it?

I’m not entirely sure about this, but I think the mild depression for which I’ve been taking an anti-depressant might have intensified this year, or at least this winter. Reading is a struggle, which will shock most of you who’ve known me over the years. But I just can’t focus, and I feel as though I can’t even think properly these days. I miss appointments and drop to-dos far too often. A good portion of the time I feel like a dunder-headed ninnymuggins, and that ain’t good. We'll see how things change come spring, and if they do, then maybe it's time to look into ways to handle Seasonal Affective Disorder or something like it. And, of course, if I could think more clearly there'd be more to offer here as well - so if your particular neurosis includes an affinity for what I've got to say, you could pray I get this figured out, eh?

4. How about a story that lifts your spirits, is there a book or film that you return to to stave off the gloom?

This makes me wonder – maybe it’s my reading choices that are driving my ennui? I’ve been spending a lot of time with The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman, and if he weren’t the personification of Dream, I’d say that Morpheus would be the personification of Depression instead. Perhaps I need to get away from him for a while.

We’ve been watching Friday Night Lights on DirecTV, and even though every episode is a gut-wrenching emotional roller coaster that never ceases to make us sick to our stomachs, watching Eric and Tammi Taylor manage all the stress while maintaining the absolute bedrock solidity of their marriage is truly inspiring. I said it on Facebook yesterday: the fact that this show is not in NBC’s rotation is proof positive that if their executives were any dumber they’d need to be watered once a week. (God bless you, Molly Ivins, and I can't wait to meet you in heaven - I have a feeling we'll get along fabulously.)

5. Looking forward, do you have a favourite spring flower/ is there something that says spring is here more than anything else?

I always watch for the hostas to break the surface. It happens early, of course, but I love playing in the dirt, and seeing green shooting out of last year’s stalks tells me that it’s almost time to break out my pruning shears and shovel and get ready for some fun.

Bonus; post a poem/ piece of music that points to the coming spring...

Copland captured it pretty well:

ps: Please don’t take this as a ‘woe is me’ post – reread the first paragraph if that is how this sounds. I might compare the present moment to mile 21 of a marathon: painful, slow, and filled with questions, but I continue to move forward and, most importantly, I’m trying to find the joy in the race. That second wind is bound to come along one of these days, right? Life is good, friends, because it is a gift from the Giver, with all its complexities and questions. We trust the God who gives life more than the life itself.

Grace & peace,

Scott

Friday Five: Social Media

This week's Friday Five, courtesy of RevGalBlogPals:

I had the joy of spending time with Songbird last weekend, someone I would have never met had it not been for the blogosphere. Now we keep in touch using a large variety of methods: blog (hers a lot, mine not so much lately), facebook, twitter, text messaging, chat and email. So far there has been no skype.

It got me thinking of the pros and cons of these relatively new means of communication and interconnecting and so I ask you the following:

• 1) What have been the benefits for you of social networking (blog, twitter, facebook, etc...)

First, I keep in touch with far more of my friends far better than I have in years. We joined Facebook sometime in 2007 on the invite of a seminary friend, but things really took off after we moved to Ames and I started really using Facebook as a means of communication and contact. I’ve reconnected with some friends I really missed, especially from high school and college, and even some family members with whom I’ve always wanted to be more connected. So, obviously, connection is a big deal, especially over the last two years.

I’ve been blogging since 2005/2006 or so, but much of what I once did on my blog is far more easily shared via Facebook. Now the blog has become more of what I thought it would be: an avenue to share more dedicated writing, such as sermons and the like. I don’t do as much as I want to right now, but I think once the girls get a little older and less supervision-intensive, I can get back to some more demanding writing.

• 2) Which medium do you use the most? Or if you use them all, for what do you use each of them?

Facebook is what I use the most, by far. Everything we do as a campus ministry goes out over Facebook. I also use Constant Contact to do mass announcements, while the blog, as I noted before, has become more of a writing site these days.

• 3) If you could invent a networking site (with no limits on your imagination), what would it provide? What would it not provide?

Honestly, I wouldn’t, because there’s enough out there already. I don’t think you could make a networking site that would be revolutionary enough to overcome the fact that it’s just one more login/network to suck up my time.

• 4) Who have you met that you would not have met if it were not for the 'miracle' of social networking?

I’m Facebook friends with a number of fellow bloggers, some of whom blog anonymously. That, to me, is really freaking cool. And it gives me people to look up when I’m headed somewhere IRL.

• 5) Who do you secretly pray does not one day try to 'friend/follow' you?

Honestly, I don’t think I should answer this, because you KNOW the second I do that person is going to look me up via Facebook, right? J Actually, I can’t think of anyone – is that a sign I need to live a bit more dangerously?

• BONUS: What was the most random/weird/unsettling/wonderful connection you made that would not have happened if it were not for the ease of which we can find each other in the computer realm?

Last spring I was in Eugene, OR for my father-in-law’s retirement celebration. I arranged a few hours to get away and write my next sermon one afternoon, and I found a really neat local coffee shop online for my mobile “office.” While I was there I remembered that an old camp friend had lived in Eugene for a while, so on the off chance she was in town and free I dropped her a note via Facebook telling her where I was and how long I’d be there. Not twenty minutes later she walked into the coffee shop, which, as it happens, is only a block or two from her office. We had a perfectly lovely chat, and it was just wonderful. Now I look forward to hopefully meeting her again next time we’re in Eugene. There will be more random Facebook meet-ups, I’m sure, but this one wins for sheer coincidence and “only because of Facebook” randomness.

Friday Five: Dreaming

How funny - two posts in a row about dreams. Odd.

Anyway, Sophia at RevGals has the Friday Five today, and it's a good'un. I'll let her bring you in:

With the beginning of my college teaching semester I have been having some unusually intense and memorable dreams lately--especially related to my Women and Religion class. With the beginning of a new calendar year many of us are engaging with dreams of another kind: planning, brainstorming, setting intentions or resolutions, etc. And many churches will celebrate the baptism of Jesus this Sunday, reading the Gospel account of his vision of the Holy Spirit as a dove and the "beloved child" words of [God] that set him off on his mission sharing [God]'s dream for the world. So let's take a few minutes on this (where I am at least) lovely snow-blanketed Friday morning and share about the many different dreams and visions in our lives.

1. Do you tend to daydream?
Oddly enough, not as much as I once did. I am as absent-minded as they come, but my lack of attention to the here and now rarely, if ever, happens due to a flight of fancy. I'm usually thinking about something concrete, whether it's the church, faith, football, books, or something else I'm experiencing/pondering at the moment. When I was a kid, however, I often found myself getting scolded because I wouldn't/couldn't stop daydreaming about anything and everything.

2. Do you usually remember your night dreams? Do you find them symbolic and meaningful or just quirky?
I do remember my night dreams, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they are deeply symbolic and meaningful; these dreams come during the stressful times in my life (death of loved ones, during my divorce, moving, trouble with work for myself or Beloved). Sometimes I have nightmares, and for the life of me I can't identify a cause - they just happen and then they're gone. I've shared in the past about dreams (also here) that seem to be the mental equivalent of flushing toxins out of my system. And sometimes my dreams are just plain weird, and no, I can't say anything more than that.

3. Have you ever had a life changing dream which you'll never forget?
Yes. About a month after my Grandpa Johnson died, I dreamed he came and sat on my bed, healthy and much younger than I ever knew him, and we talked about life and how much he loved us. I had similar dreams when my Grandpa Janke and Grandma Johnson died as well, and I've often dreamt entire conversations with Larry Meyer, my campus pastor and mentor. I'm not saying every dream is a message from God, nor am I suggesting everyone dreams their prayers, but I will say this: my faith was strengthened by all of these dreams, because they seemed to be holy moments.

4. Share a long term dream for one or more aspects of your life and work.
I have a few. I'd like to be the campus pastor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln someday (relax, Eric, I'm in no hurry). I'd like to publish a book and sell enough copies to actually make a profit. I'd love to see if I'm up to the challenge of PhD level work on Bonhoeffer. But the dream overriding them all is to be a good husband, father and pastor first, and if that doesn't leave room for the rest, I'll be just fine.

5. Share a dream for 2010....How can we support you in prayer on both the short and long term dreams?
I'd love to see our campus ministry community double in attendance and activity by the end of the calendar year. I'd love to be pushing 100 in worship by December, with small groups meeting nearly ever day of the week in some shape or form. I'd love to have the sense that we're building leaders for the church, not just entertaining students as they pass through their years at Iowa State. I think that ought to be enough to pray on, don't you?

Bonus: a poem, song, artwork, etc. that deals with dreams in general or one of your dreams.
I've posted this many times before, but it's just so beautiful I keep coming back to it. I first discovered this poem in Garrison Keillior's collection Good Poems, and it always makes me think of those I love who've died, and how much I dream of seeing them again.

Four Poems in One

At six o'clock this morning
I saw the rising sun
Resting on the ground like a boulder
In the thicket back of the school,
A single great ember
About the height of a man.

---

Night has gone like a sickness,
The sky is pure and whole.
Our Lady of Poland spire
Is rosy with first light,
Starlings above it shatter their dark flock.
Notes of the Angelus
Leave their great iron cup
And slowly, three by three
Visit the Polish gardens round about,
Dahlias shaggy with frost
Sheds with their leaning tools
Rosebushes wrapped in burlap
Skiffs upside down on trestles
Like dishes after supper.

---

These are the poems I'd show you
But you're no longer alive.
The cables creaked and shook
Lowering the heavy box.
The rented artificial grass
Still left exposed
That gritty gash of earth
Yellow and mixed with stones
Taking your body
That never in this world
Will we see again, or touch.

---

We know little
We can tell less
But one thing I know
One thing I can tell
I will see you again in Jerusalem
Which is of such beauty
No matter what country you come from
You will be more at home there
Than ever with father or mother
Than even with lover or friend
And once we're within her borders
Death will hunt us in vain.

"Four Poems in One," by Anne Porter from An Altogether Different Language: Poems 1934-1994 (Zalond Books).

Friday Five: CHARGE!!!!!

Haven't done a Friday Five for a while, and I've got a few extra minutes this morning. Thanks to Sally for the post at RevGals:

A few weeks ago my lap-top battery died, suddenly I found myself looking at a blank screen and was rather relieved to find that it was only the battery and not the whole computer that had failed. This morning a new battery arrived in the post, and suddenly I am mobile again!

After a week with what feels like wall to wall meetings, and Synod looming on the horizon for tomorrow I find myself pondering my own need to recharge my batteries. This afternoon Tim and I are setting off to explore the countryside around our new home, I always find that walking in the fresh air away from phones and e-mails recharges me. But that is not the only thing that restores my soul, so do some people, books, pieces of music etc....

So I wonder what/ who gives you energy?

1. Is there a person who encourages and uplifts you, whose company you seek when you are feeling low?
Beloved, of course. We try really hard to be supportive of each other in our work and in our parenting. When we went through PREPARE/ENRICH prior to our wedding, we took the practice of daily compliments to heart, and we try to find ways to give each other a positive nudge at least once a day. Sometimes it's as simple as "You're a really good parent/spouse," but even that, if it's sincere, can do a lot.

2. How about a piece of music that either invigorates or relaxes you?
I struggled answering this question. I don't think in terms of invigoration/relaxation when it comes to music, at least, not very often. I do have favorites, including U2, Green Day, Dave Matthews Band, Storyhill, Peter Mayer (both of them), PFR, and lots of Irish music, but I tend to pick stuff based on what I'd like to hear, not on the mood I'm seeking.

One piece that always does touch me emotionally is Symphony No. 4 by David Maslanka. Maslanka is a wind ensemble composer who wrote Symphony No 4 with the landscape of Montana, the hymn tune Old 100th, and the death of Abraham Lincoln in mind. It's a 30 minute piece filled with a kaleidoscope of tones and styles, with an immense instrumentation. Oddly enough, while searching for files of this piece on YouTube, I discovered a clip from the University of Nebraska Wind Ensemble, which is the group in which I first discovered Maslanka 15 years earlier. It's long, but you might hear enough to pique your interest.



3. Which book of the Bible do you most readily turn to for refreshment and encouragement? Is there a particular story that brings you hope?
Romans 8 is my "go-to" scripture. "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separated us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Yep - refreshed and recharged. Thanks, Paul.

4. A bracing walk or a cosy fireside?
Fireside, with a good book and a hot cup of coffee. The walk can come in the morning so long as it doesn't interrupt good reading time.

5. Are you feeling refreshed and restored at the moment or in need of recharging, write a prayer or a prayer request to finish this weeks Friday Five....
I'm getting refreshed as we speak. Our family has been sick with HFM disease this week, everyone but me, but we're apparently all on the mend today, so I'm at the office catching up with students, preaching and other fun ministry items. So a prayer of thanks for health and recovery is in order for us today. Thanks be to God!

Grace & peace,
Scott

Friday Five: VACATION!

I should be on my way home at the moment, but I haven't done a Friday Five in a while, so I'll just be a teensy bit late while I think fondly of trips and non-trips of years past.

1) What did your family do for vacations when you were a child? Or did you have stay-cations at home?
We did take vacations, but almost always with family in mind. I remember several trips to Des Moines to see family on my Mom's side, and trips to Omaha for family on my Dad's side. We went to Chicago when my Uncle K & Aunt A lived there, and also to Denver to see Mom's sister L, her husband G and their son J, who is just a year older than me. The longest trip together by far was the year we drove to Seattle to see my Dad's sister P and my cousin K. We drove through South Dakota and saw Mount Rushmore, drove through Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful, stayed with my Mom's Aunt E and Uncle D in Wyoming, then stayed for a week in Seattle before flying back to NE (my grandparents flew out and drove our car back). It was a great trip.

2) Tell us about your favorite vacation ever:
While the one mentioned above was wonderful, my favorite by far was our honeymoon in Germany. Kristin's family hosted an exchange student who is now a professional basketball player in Europe, and he was married three months after our own wedding, so we decided to go for the ceremony and then do some traveling. Using Rick Steves' tour guide (thanks to my sister-in-law and her husband, who'd done the same trip two years earlier), we drove around Germany for a week by ourselves, with stops in Rothenburg ob det Tauber, Nurnberg, Munchen, Hohenschwangau and Wurzburg before flying home. Great beer, incredible sights, a really fun rental car, great beer, good food, great beer and, of course, the wonderful company of my wife made it a trip that'll be hard to beat. Did I mention the great beer?

3) What do you do for a one-day or afternoon getaway...is there a place nearby that you escape to on a Saturday afternoon/other day off?
We haven't found it just yet. There's a really nice state park not too far from here that everyone suggests, but travel with our girls to anywhere like that is really tough. As they grow older, though, we'll do lots of camping and hiking and outdoors-y things with them. I'd love to spend a day or two riding along some of the great trails in the area once we get a bike trailer, or maybe spend the day at the Iowa State Fair with the whole family when they're older. For now, though, one day get-aways are for me, not for the family. :-)

4) What's your best recommendation for a full-on vacation near you...what would you suggest to someone coming to your area? (Near - may be defined any way you wish!)
Amana Colonies. You just can't do anything else in this part of the country, really. There is a neat wine trail that the local wineries have put togther, so oenophiles could certainly do that, but for most folks, this part of Iowa means Amana Colonies and perhaps Dyersville, the "Field of Dreams" field. I know others who live here would disagree, but chalk it up to my ignorance of Iowa and let me say I hope to discover more to enjoy the longer we live here (and we want to stay a good long time).

5) What's your DREAM VACATION?
A month in Ireland with Kristin, followed by another month in Germany. Could also be done in a cabin on the north shore of Lake Superior, much like the picture here. Unlimited money for Guinness and pub food. My guitar with me and a solid grasp of a goodly number of reels and jigs so I can sit in on sessions in local pubs. Time in the morning to drink good coffee and read good books. Afternoon visits to museums, castles, landmarks, what have you. Most of all, to fit into the local culture and not be so easily identified as American tourists - always a goal for me wherever I go.

Bonus: Any particularly awful (edited to add: or hilarious) vacation stories that you just have to tell? ("We'll laugh about this later..." maybe that time is now!)
When we got to Germany for our honeymoon, we thought we had good directions from the airport in Frankfurt to Bamberg, a drive of approximately 160K. What we didn't realize is that in Germany roads often cross and re-cross one another, so it's best to get directions by city, not by road numbers. For example, to get to Bamberg you go through Town A, then Town B, etc., not the A5 to A29 S to ... You get the picture. So, we got lost. Then, when we realized we were off track, we tried to get back on track, which is difficult with a dyslexic navigator and a driver who's not sure exactly where he's going. About two hours after we landed, when we should have been arriving in Bamberg, we were off the map in some hills southeast of Frankfurt, calling for help on what we soon realized was a phone only used for accidents or car trouble. As we sat in the car, frantically trying to figure out where we were, arguing with each other about how we'd gotten into that mess, windows down because of the heat and not wanting to run the engine for fear of running out of gas, a moth attracted by the dome light flew into the car and we wound up screaming, flapping our hands at it and finally opening both doors and shooing it into the night. Then Kristin was crying, but 30 seconds later we were both laughing our asses off. It was just so absolutely ridiculous. Pretty soon we got back into the car and just started driving until we found a road on the map, and eventually we found our way to Bamberg. The really funny thing? We were never lost again on that trip. Not once. And now we do indeed laugh about it.

The pictures, from top to bottom:
- On the shore of Lake Superior, north of Duluth, summer 2004
- Sharing a drink at this cute cafe near the Kaiserburg in Nurnberg, summer 2004
-"Our" cabin at Cascade River Lodge, north shore of Lake Superior, summer 2006
- The Panorama Trail Overlook at Yosemite National Park, summer 2004
-Hanging out with friends in Lincoln, NE, summer 2006 (and soon to be together again, which is the best reason for traveling these days.)