Halftime

Today is my 41st birthday - HUZZAH! I do mean that, with all my heart - I'm not worried about age or feeling the least bit nervous about what's coming next. That having been said, one does begin to ponder one's mortality - and so one goes off looking for stuff to make that pondering a bit more fruitful.

According to the Social Security Administration's Life Expectancy Calculator, I have reached the halfway point of my life expectancy today. What follows is a brief imagining of my least favorite part of any college football game: the on-field interview with a coach going into the locker room at halftime.

Small Catechism, Lord's Prayer, 4th Petition: A Reminder...

Give us today our daily bread.

What does this mean?

In fact, God gives daily bread without our prayer, even to all evil people, but we ask in this prayer that God cause us to recognize what our daily bread is and to receive it with thanksgiving.

What, then, does 'daily bread' mean?

Everything included in the necessities and nourishments for our bodies, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright servants and members of the household, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors and the like.

Martin Luther's Small Catechism, trans. by Timothy Wengert

God provides...

• We have cupboards filled with enough food and drink to last a good long while, even if the money dried up tomorrow.
• I have several coats and enough clothes that picking out what to wear each day is sometimes time-consuming.
• I have not one but two pairs of Dr. Marten's boots which have long since repaid the value of the high price I paid for them. I have running shoes. I even have biking shoes now.
• There is a roof over our heads, and the reasonable assumption that, if need be, friends and family would provide a roof if we lose this one.
• Not only is there a roof, but I have a yard in which I love to work when the weather is nice, and even when the weather is not-so-nice. I am the caretaker of things that grow here, and I take that job very seriously and derive a tremendous amount of joy from it.
• I have no fields or cattle, but I remember when I did, and what a good life it can be. And, let's be frank, I like eating cattle. After butchering and cooking, of course, but still...
• I am paid well for doing what I love to do. Not exceptionally well, mind you, but enough that we live comfortably.
• We have what we need, and a little extra.
• My Beloved is a wonderful woman. She is a loving wife, a devoted mother, a gifted youth minister and a caring friend. I need to remind her of these things more often.
• I have two wonderful daughters who fill my life with joy. I can't imagine my life without them, and yet I still have to stop and pinch myself that, yes, they really are my daughters. I have kids. This never ceases to amaze me.
• Servants? Not so much. But I do have a good office manager at work who is not only a good co-worker, but also a friend. Tonight, more than ever, I'm thankful for that trusting work relationship.
• There are some good people working on our behalf in local, state and federal government. I wish there were more of the good ones, and less of the not so good ones, but there are good folks trying their best, and for that I'm thankful.
• The snow is melting. Not too fast as of yet. Spring is finally coming.
• I have never seen a violent crime in person. I have no reason to expect being the victim or a witness to such a crime. This town where we live is largely a safe community. The fact that I don't think about this more often probably says a lot about how insulated we are as a society, and how we take far too much for granted.
• I'm not as fat as I once was, even if I'm not as "in shape" as I'd like to be. I exercise, and most nights I sleep well. Mild depression and being 20 lbs overweight is not anything about which I should complain.
• People keep me accountable in my family, my work, and other areas of my life. Most of them do it appropriately. Most of the people with whom I associate value kindness, respect, integrity and honesty, and again, now more than ever, I am grateful.
• I do my best to take everyone at their word, without judgment, and I think most of the folks I see regularly do the same.
• I could list my good friends here and it would take up several paragraphs. I am richly blessed in the friends department.
• H lets me borrow her snowblower when the weather's bad. A always says hello when she's out walking her dog. P's kids brought gifts when Alanna was born. B clears off our sidewalks if it snows while we're out of town. D pets the dog over the fence and always waves when she comes home. Maybe we're not as close to our neighbors as we'd like to be, but we know who they are all the same.

Why all of this? Because in the midst of trying times we do well to remind ourselves that God provides far more good than the world provides evil. Even though the hard road continues for us, we also have much for which we are thankful. God is good, all the time - even when God's people are sometimes not.

Grace & peace,

Scott

The picture above is our girls playing together last summer. The yard in which they are playing is ironically connected to the Unbloggableness, but it remains one of the most beautiful pictures we have of them.

2009: The Year in Review via RevGalBlogPals

Having left the charger to the MacBook behind while on holiday this week, I'm only four days behind on thinking about 2009 in review. Well, thinking publicly, that is. It was a crazy year, for sure.

It's not much of a stretch to say that there are times I resonate quite strongly with this song from Mary Poppins, which currently resides at the top of Alanna's Disney hit parade:



It would be lovely to live like this. But, alas, like Mr. Banks, my life is not so simple. In fact, upon reflection, the year more properly resembles this:



You know, minus the dead Nazis and such. Also, I didn't get shot. But it was definitely more crazy than predictable.

Last Friday's Friday Five at RevGals was about 2009 moving into 2010. Here's my answers.

1. What will you gladly leave behind in 2009?
Two children in diapers. Ainsley is mostly potty-trained at this point, with just nights to go, and she's doing great. I can't tell you how happy I am to be minimizing my daily contact with poo.

2. What is the biggest challenge of 2010 for you?
Living more purposefully. As any regular reader of this blog has noted, posting has become less frequent and of a lower quality, and that's been a snapshot of the year in real life as well. I make no resolutions for 2010 other than this: to live more in the place I am, in the moments around me, and to refine my use of Facebook et al so that it becomes a tool for connecting and not a crutch for living.

3. Is there anything that you simply need to hand to God and say "all will be well, for you are with me"?
Our financial situation. There's a strong possibility that Beloved's call as Family and Youth Ministry Director at our congregation will be terminated in May because right now the deficit between the 2009 budget and projected 2010 giving is so large it's impossible to ignore. We are making changes in our lives to prepare for the worst while hoping things work out for the best.

4. If you could only achieve one thing in 2010 what would it be?
Get my eating and exercise under control and weigh 200 lbs by the end of the year (I'm currently hovering between 225 and 230). Thankfully, I managed to hold off the holiday bulge, but I didn't lose anything, either. I want to be a sub-4:00 marathoner, and that's not going to happen unless I get serious about losing the weight and hitting the pavement. Plus, Jack has turned into a great running partner and I want to continue that bonding time with him.

5. Post a picture, poem or song that sums up your prayer for the year ahead....
You've seen it here before, but it's worth hearing again: "Steady On" by our favorite singers, Storyhill:



I might add that getting to a Storyhill concert in 2010 would be pretty sweet, too.

Grace & peace,
Scott

Blog? I Think I Used To Do That...

Apparently natural selection has eliminated blogging as the weak link in my life for the past few weeks. Who knew?

The semester is ON. Work continues apace. Preaching has been a struggle at times. We're looking at another 18 months of terrible twos at the very least, with more fun to come as the girls' ability to argue and fight expands with age. Money is tight - very, very tight. So I feel as though I've been treading water for the past month. Thankfully, thus far I've been able to keep my head above the waves.

So, life is good, but uncertain, unsure, unsettled at best. Beloved is working her tail off, too, and it leaves us with very little time to just be a family together. Last weekend we traveled to Nebraska for my brother's wedding, which was a wonderful, beautiful weekend with many family and friends. The only problem? It was over FAR too soon.

I keep hoping that I'll grow more efficient with my time, and to a point I think I've done that, but I keep wondering - is efficiency really the issue? Am I just trying to do too much? Life has so much to offer that I want to do it all (well, most of it - I could do without the sea slug smoothie the folks on Survivor had to chug down in tonight's episode).

I want to be a better blogger, but I've been choosing the far more important job of being a better husband, father and pastor (in that order, mind you), and I think I've made the right choice. Then again, this post only took a few minutes - really, how hard can it be? *Sigh* I guess I'll never learn...

Grace & peace,

Scott

When Did I Become My Father?

Today is my 35th birthday. 35?

I remember my dad's 36th birthday. We had a barbecue at the farm and friends came. I asked my grandmother how old she was - she said "34" and I told her "My dad's older than that!"

I really don't have a problem getting older. Frankly, life has gotten better the further I go. Sure, I'm starting to lose my hair and my back has become a problem lately. But I've grown. I've learned. I'm still passionate about the things I love, but the more I live and love, the more I understand that passion and channel it in proper ways.

One of the most enchanting ideas from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is Bilbo's gigantic birthday party. I love the idea of the host celebrating by inviting friends and giving gifts rather than accepting them. If you were here, you'd be invited to dinner tonight. Life is good, even if I may not get a run in today because my back is hurting again. So, I'll celebrate. We'll grill some steaks and bake potatoes and peppers. I'll hug my girls lots. And, hopefully, we'll do this again for, oh, another 50 years or so.

With that, I leave you with today's Writer's Almanac. I share my birthday with some interesting folks. Have a great day, everyone - this one's on me.

Today is Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates Mexico's defeat of French invaders at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Cinco de Mayo has actually become a bigger holiday in the United States than in Mexico, where it is mostly a regional holiday in Puebla. There are large Cinco de Mayo celebrations; with parades, music, and food — in Los Angeles, Denver, Portland, St. Paul, and other cities across the country.

It's the birthday of philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, (books by this author) born in Copenhagen, Denmark (1813). He inherited enough money to be financially independent for his entire life, and he published many books, including Either/Or (1843), Works of Love (1847), and The Sickness Unto Death (1849). He was almost unknown outside of Denmark in the 19th century. But in the early 20th century, he was rediscovered by European writers and philosophers, and he is now considered the founder of existentialist philosophy.

It's the birthday of the novelist Kaye Gibbons, (books by this author) born in Nash County, North Carolina (1960). Her father was a tobacco farmer, and she grew up poor. She loved to read but the only books in the house were a Bible and a book on cattle castration, so every week she walked to the local bookmobile. Her mother committed suicide when Kaye was 10 years old, and her father drank himself to death a year later. The girl lived with a series of relatives. She said it was "the sort of childhood that encourages someone to either become a writer or to rob convenience stores." So she became a writer. She won a scholarship to the University of North Carolina, and while she was a student, she started writing a novel based loosely on her own childhood, called Ellen Foster (1987). It got great reviews, and since then she has written many books, including Charms for the Easy Life (1993) and Sights Unseen (2005).

It was on this day in 1891 that Carnegie Hall in New York had its opening night. The performer was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

It's the birthday of Karl Marx, (books by this author) born in Trier, Prussia (1818). He got a Ph.D. in philosophy, but he couldn't get a job as a professor because of his involvement with radical politics, so he became a journalist instead. His columns critiqued local government practices, like a new law that made it illegal for peasants to gather firewood from the local forest. His writing made his newspaper so popular that the government shut it down. He was stuck without a job, so he decided to spend a few months analyzing the previous 2,000 years of world history, and he came to the conclusion that all historical events were caused by economic forces. He moved to Paris, where he was introduced to the basic ideas of communism, and he met Friedrich Engels. In 1848, they published Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei,the Communist Manifesto.

It's the birthday of journalist and social activist Nellie Bly, (books by this author) born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania (1864). She wrote columns about working women, she travelled through Mexico reporting on life there, she faked insanity in order to write an exposé of life in an asylum, and in 1890, in the spirit of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, she broke the world record for traveling around the Earth, which she did in 72
days.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Grace & peace,
Scott

Easter Evening: In Pacis Requietum

5:30 A.M.
Wake up, make coffee, start roast in crockpot with one bag french onion soup and a bottle of Guinness, finish notes for today's sermon.

6:30 A.M.
Alanna is awake. Make a bottle and enjoy a quiet moment with her. Much too short as she begins fussing, crawling about and, of course, falling down and bumping her head.

7:00 A.M.
Beloved takes a shower while I entertain both girls for a while with Sesame Street. Drink my third cup of coffee. Wonder how the day will go, now that I'm somewhat conscious.

7:30 A.M.
I shower while Beloved has playtime with the girls. Beloved leaves just before 8:00, so I shave and dress while watching the girls, then set out the rolls to thaw and rise. Unwrap the ham, place in the baking pan and set the timer on the oven.

8:15 A.M.
Start getting the girls ready for church.

9:00 A.M.
Arrive at church in something less than a happy mood. (Note the time difference between the last two time checks for possible cause) Breakfast puts me right: biscuits & gravy, egg casserole, potatoes and an omelet make for a happy pastor (especially the bacon & sausage after the Lenten fast!)

9:45 A.M.
Leave girls with Beloved and sundry church child care folks and head off to my part of Sunday morning. Purchase donut holes and OJ for students, Starbucks for me and head to University Lutheran Center.

10:20 A.M.
Prepping for worship, including setting up communion, double checking Power Point show and making sure I have full liturgy script and sermon notes, plus a hymnal. I've done good advance work this week, so I'm free to shake hands and greet folks from about 10:35 until worship starts.

11:00 A.M.
Easter Celebration Worship. Songs in the liturgy replaced with Easter hymns in a "Jesus is risen" extravaganza. Consider contacting KTel or Time/LIFE to tell them about our "greatest hits" Easter service. :-) Easter sermon seems to preach well - "Raised for Hope" is the title. After listening to it again tonight, I think I managed to stay out of God's way this morning. Assisting minister carries his load perfectly, brass group hastily assembled Thursday adds a nice touch to the service, all goes well. I think I like this part of my job.

12:15 P.M.
Quickly shed my alb and meet with a woman looking for a handout from the church. Invite her to contact local service agencies for food and agree to buy her a tank of gas at a local filling station. Gas dispensed, I hurry home to finish Easter dinner for the students who've accepted our invitation.

12:30 P.M.
Ham & roast have turned out well. Cheesy potatoes are still baking, baked potatoes (for the lactose intolerant) are a bit behind. In the hurry to finish baked potatoes and everything else, we forget the vegetables until just before serving - too late to do anything about it. In the midst of conversation about the rest of the meal, realize that we've used Cream of Chicken in the cheesy potatoes, much to the chagrin of the vegetarian raving about how good they are as she dishes up seconds. Profuse apologies ensue. Student-baked apple pie and coffee top of a wonderful time together.

3:00 P.M.
Students have left, girls are in their rooms for naps and I'm downstairs, exhausted. But on my DVR, Lefty has made four birdies in the first six holes of his round at the Masters. I settle in for a long afternoon of excitement, capped by disappointment at the end when Phil ties for 5th.

7:00 P.M.
Beloved is giving Ainsley a bath and I'm dealing with fussy Alanna. Teething is no fun for anybody.

8:00 P.M.
After phone calls from my brother and my mom, we put the girls to bed and finally repair downstairs for television and private time. "Amazing Race" is a good one tonight.

9:00 P.M.
I finally get around to reading Foy Davis stories from Gordon at Real Live Preacher. Good stuff.

10:45 P.M.
Full day - and I'm tired, but happy. Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Grace & peace,
Scott

Wednesday Night Reflections: Peace, Love, Community

We're all guilty of working too hard in the wrong direction occasionally. In reviewing the sermons I've preached over the last few weeks, I've thought that perhaps I'm doing too much lecturing on our calling as the church of the 21st century. It's necessary and even helpful lecturing, to be sure, but there's not a lot of gospel to be found in defining what it means to be a forgiving church in a culture that doesn't value or understand forgiveness. Frankly, I've been demanding a lot, and while we do need the occasional challenge from the pulpit (even when you don't use a pulpit), the last thing students need at the four week point of the semester is more lectures.

So - tonight will be reflective. A reading from First John on love. A very brief give and take on one question: how do you feel or imagine God's love for you? What is it like? Then a time of meditation using one of my favorite hymns, Ubi Caritas et Amor, a motet composed by Maurice Durufle (yes, you've seen it before here, but it's so beautiful I thought I'd use it again). There is so little time for these students to be in a place where they are simply valued for who they are - another lecture won't suffice. Thus, time for peace, for love, for community. It might be sappy as hell, but that's okay - I've been accused of worse.

And, as always, friends, peace be upon you also.

Friday Five: Back To School!

It's been a while since I played a Friday Five from RevGalBlogPals - here's this week's edition:

It's time for a Back-To-School Friday Five!
1. Is anyone going back to school, as a student or teacher, at your house? How's it going so far?
Yes, someone from our household is going back to school: me! Well, not really 'back to school,' but close. It's my first fall semester as a campus pastor, so I'm also getting back into the swing of the academic calendar (which, by the way, is far superior to the Gregorian calendar, IMHO).

2. Were you glad or sad when back-to-school time came as a kid?
Both, like many kids. Being a farm kid, I spent a lot of time playing with my brothers and working for my dad over the summer, so seeing friends all day instead of a few hours for baseball practice and swimming lessons was cool. I've always loved buying pencils, notebooks, and the like for the beginning of a new school year, too. But facing hours of enforced learning was always tough: I'm a self-directed learner and school was always tough for me, not for lack of intelligence or ability, but for the restraints teachers had to use to keep me in line with the rest of the class.

3. Did your family of origin have any rituals to mark this time of year? How about now?
Mom always wanted a picture of us boys before we got on the bus the first day of school, and there was always a trip to Sioux City for a few new school outfits, but nothing beyond that. Since our girls aren't school age yet, we don't do anything special, but something will be in the works when that day rolls around, I'm sure.

4. Favorite memories of back-to-school outfits, lunchboxes, etc?
Nike Air basketball shoes were HUGE when I was in high school, and I remember the day I found some Nike Air Whatevers on sale. That was pretty cool for me. :-)
Another memory that always makes me laugh is my freshman year in high school. Small schools like ours let all the kids practice with the varsity for all sports, so when football kicked off I was thrown into the mix against our varsity team, which ended the year ranked #2 and lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual state champion. After two days of two-a-days I was so sore that when we arrived in Sioux City for the aforementioned shopping trip, I had to LIFT my legs out of the back seat of our Buick with my hands because I couldn't move them otherwise. It was worse than the aftermath of any marathon I've run!

5. What was your best year of school?
My last year of seminary was about as good as it gets for me. Finally seeing the end of a LONG educational road (six years undergrad + 1 year working + 4 years M.Div.) was just part of it. I finally hit my stride in terms of classes, interests and motivation, and it showed. I did my best work by far that senior year, including a ton of work on Bonhoeffer and a great job as a teaching assistant for Dr. James Nestingen, who is still a major influence for my theology and my preaching. I met Kristin that year, and by the time graduation rolled around I was pretty sure we'd be making things permanent very quickly. To top it off, a friend nominated me to give the graduate address at our commencement ceremony, and the rest of the committee voted me in. Quite the privilege, and likely the highlight of my academic life thus far.

Alanna's Baptism

Life has been busy at die Johnson Haus lately: many family members arriving and leaving and lots of planning and cleaning and cooking and such for Alanna's baptism. I'm happy to report that the whole thing went off without a hitch, unlike Ainsley's baptism which involved a worship-canceling blizzard and at least one case of stomach flu/food poisoning. Yeah, fun times. Anyway, this weekend couldn't have been better: gorgeous weather, everyone got their hotels and the rooms were good, and the baptism was a snap. When the worst thing that happens on a big weekend like this is some slow-cooking burgers because I got impatient and scattered the coals too early, you know it's a good weekend.

Here are some pics from the weekend. First, Kristin got this beautiful closeup of Ainsley:


Cousin Z and Ainsley really enjoyed some time in the kiddie pool on Saturday:


Alanna in her beautiful baptismal gown:

Grandpa Johnson, Cousin Z and Ainsley getting ready for worship:

One happy post-baptismal family:

The Johnson clan:

The Mooneyham clan (at home because we couldn't catch Cousin Q at the church):

My brother (L) and father (R) showing my brother-in-law what it means to be Cornhuskers (Okay, not really - BIL knows how to husk corn. But the joke was too good to pass up.):


Ainsley getting her cute on in the backyard after lunch:

My brother trying to get Alanna to stop crying and start burping:

My baby brother and his SO laughing at something:


Like I said, a beautiful weekend with lots of family time (and it was fun in spite of all the family time!). Now we are just the four of us - everyone has gone home. It's both nice to just be home with the kids and a bit crazy now that no one is around to help - but it's a bit more nice to be finally settling into a bit of a routine. I'm sure it won't last, but for now we're having a grand time, just the four of us.

Friday Five: Fall Transformations

Ooooooh, this'll be fun! Lotsa things changing in the life of RevScott & the girls this fall, so it'll be hard to pick which five to mention. Here goes:

Here in my neck of the woods, rain is falling...a little uncharacteristic for August, but most welcome! It'll be hot and humid later, but a break in the heat is most welcome.Also falling (especially into my driveway) are the fruits of the bois d'arc tree (also known as the Osage Orange). We call them "bowdarks" and enjoy bowling them down the driveway to the empty lot across the street. (Yes, I may be a redneck...)Bois d'arc fruits are used only for: 1) making more trees and 2) eating by squirrels (if you have another use, please let me know!)The wood of the bois d'arc tree, however, is very hard and very beautiful, and makes gorgeous items like the vase above. Such a lovely thing, from such an odd-looking source!

For this Friday's Five, share with us five transformations that the coming fall will bring your way.

Bonus: Give us your favorite activity that is made possible by the arrival of fall.

1. On a personal note, this will be my first "full year" as a campus pastor. Since we're now on the academic calendar for our ministry schedule, I'm in the thick of emailing incoming students, nailing down our first few worship services of the fall semester, and preparing for the onslaught of students which will start next week. It's VERY exciting and something I've anticipated with glee since I first interviewed here last October.

2. Family transformations are also huge for us this year. In a few short days Alanna, Ainsley, Kristin and I will be on our own: MIL, who has been a wonderful help to us since Alanna was born on the 21st, will be heading home with FIL after the baptism on Sunday morning. I'm so grateful MIL could be here with us, and at the same time I'm ready to start trying to figure out how we're going to make this family thing work. Not least of all will be the simple matter of scheduling everything and making sure we're all on the same page: a hefty task for the three of us, exponentially more complicated now that we are four.

3. Seeing autumn in a new state is going to be different, too. Ames is a lovely community, with lots and lots of trees, parks and other spots where nature invades this town of 55,000, but it's certainly not northern Minnesota, whose beauty from August to the first of November is simply beyond compare. Right now would be the season for groundfog over Barrett Lake as I head out for my morning run, and I'm surprised to note how much I miss it, and the smell and sound of the lake as the days tend toward cooler temps.

4. There is an aspect of this move to campus ministry that I never considered until just now. In addition to the calendar changing, my position within the community has changed as well. In congregational ministry, which I left in January at the age of 33, I was still a kid when compared to most of the members of our church. I felt that way, too, and sometimes it was a huge problem (how is a kid supposed to provide advice for living to folks twice his age and more?). Here in Ames, I'm 34 and OLD to most of my students. No one in our student community remembers the Challenger explosion. Heck, most of them don't remember when Kurt Cobain was alive and making music. I'm sure I'll receive the list from the faculty at that one school that tells us all what this year's freshman class takes for granted as their world view, and like the last few years, I'll feel the passing of time and the shock of realizing I'm now approaching an age that encompasses my earliest memories of my parents (gulp).

5. Finally, the transformation of our house into our home continues. Bushes have been removed from the backyard and replaced with smaller, more sensible plants. The next few weekends will be spent getting stuff out of the garage and putting in new steps into the kitchen so we can get the minivan in there before the snow flies. Next spring I'll start tearing down the humongous shed in the backyard so I can move it and reassemble it in a smaller fashion in the corner and reclaim some of that space for my garden. This home-ownership thing is fun - of course, it would be a lot MORE fun if the mortgage payment took care of itself. :-)

Bonus: Hmmm, favorite activity made possible by the coming of fall. What could that be, said the young farm boy from Nebraska who played football for years and wound up playing trombone at three NCAA National Championship bowl games? Oh, yeah:

NEBRASKA CORNHUSKER FOOTBALL

I think the whole state and all of us in diaspora are breathless with anticipation for this fall. Coach Bo Pelini sounds like the real deal and, we hope, an ascension back to the upper echelons of NCAA football will soon follow. Please, at least tell me we're going to hit people in the mouth again! That by itself would be a major transformation from the former regime in Lincoln. Go Big Red!

Getting A Life Back?

It's been an interesting week since last I posted. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. Some good stuff happened, about which I'll post later. But it's been a real struggle this week also. Some things I think are pretty important are getting dropped, regularly, and figuring out how to handle this frustration is going to be an important piece of work for me in coming days. I'm overjoyed to be a daddy for the second time - but paired with that joy is an exponentially greater challenge to be patient and forgiving, which aren't natural character traits for me. I'm more from the "Get it done and stop giving me excuses" school, which can be great in some instances but doesn't always contribute to the happiest home environment. Just a few more days and things should settle down a bit, but those are going to be LONG days, I think.

One of the good things from the week was our trip to my hometown for the 125th Anniversary Celebration of Salem Lutheran Church, where my family has worshipped for four generations (actually, counting my nephews now that my brother has moved home, it's five generations). I'll post more about that later, but here are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

Alanna & her cousin N:



Burping the baby:

Little girl, big fish at the new pool in Wakefield:


Hi!

Brothers and kids at the new pool:

Here I come, Daddy!


WHEEEEE!

We had a FUN day at the pool!


Ainsley's second tractor ride (because no one was around to take a picture for the first)


Cousins Z & Ainsley sitting at the table where Daddy & Cousin Jon sat, many years ago:




All the grandkids at Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's farm:

Time and Priorities

As I was trying to get the Durufle video from YouTube working yesterday, I noticed that the countdown widget for Grandma's Marathon to your right was down to less than 14 days. My first response was, "Oh, shit." Second response: "Well, it's not like you haven't run the full 26.2 before, right?" Third response: "Where did all the time go?"

I entered Grandma's just after we moved to Ames. In the time since then, I've broken and repaired our treadmill twice. After the second breakdown we joined a gym and will be selling said treadmill soon (we bought it back in the days when the nearest gym was 30 miles away and winter lasted six months). So even though we've had some of the nastiest weather I've ever experienced this winter and spring, it's not as if I haven't had the opportunity to do the training required for running a marathon. Well, running a marathon well, that is.

There are a number of reasons I haven't trained as well as I would have preferred. Numero Uno on that list is the move. Putting all your stuff where you think it oughta go is difficult, frustrating and time-consuming; some of our items have moved three or four times since the three of us came to Ames. Reason the second is the child(ren). I love running, but I love being a good daddy even more, so my priorities have changed. Frankly, it's been frustrating; being with my daughter is wonderful, and the right thing for me to do, but it's hard to make that sacrifice. Helping Kristin with her pregnancy as I'm able also takes up a lot of time, and believe me when I say that in two months I'll be lucky to get out for a run at all for a while. Add in a bit of sympathy weight (it's hard NOT to eat when your life partner is noshing every chance she gets) and the lousy weather and it's not surprising that I'm going into this marathon just hoping to beat my 4:35:00 from the last time out.

This morning I tried something new. Kristin is teaching a morning water aerobics class that falls squarely, for me, on the most inconvenient morning hour possible. I like to get up at 6:00, do some devotional reading and sip a cup of coffee or two, then head out for my run at 7:00, but for this summer, that 7:00 hour is taken up with childcare while Kris goes out to make some money (which I don't oppose - we like money here). So, today was day one of the "How Freaking Early Do You Want To Run?" experiment - a 5:00 a.m. wake-up call followed by a 5:30 am run. All told, it went well, but if you'd have told me fifteen years ago that I'd be doing this I'd have either laughed in your face or punched you for a liar. Ah, how life changes.

Time and priorities - it all comes down to that, doesn't it? Do I want to stay healthy, or do I want to polish off the bag of barbecue potato chips? (Stay healthy - rats). Do I want to play with Ainsley, or do I want to dump her on Kristin so I can get my run in? Blog or Facebook? Read a book or watch Mike Roe fall into something icky on Dirty Jobs? We often think about morality as if everything were a choice between good and evil, but I'm finding more often that the choices are really between two different kinds of good (e.g. BBQ potato chips taste good vs. running builds good health and makes me feel good about myself). A few years ago my new year's resolution was to spend more time making things instead of consuming them, but it's a hard road to walk when it's so much easier (and quicker) to buy what you need/want. Sometimes good priorities come with a price that can be difficult to pay.

I ran out of time for really doing this marathon well, but for the most part that time was better spent, in ways more suited to my genuine priorities, and the cost is not so much I can't bear it. Instead of pushing myself and possibly earning an injury, I'll enjoy a long run down the Lake Superior shoreline with two good friends, which is a priority I'm happy to indulge. If you're in Duluth a week from Saturday, look for me at the finish line in Canal Park at about noon or so, and if I'm smiling, that'll be the proof that it was all time well spent.

Festival of Homiletics: The Un-Homiletical Homecoming OR T-Minus 2 Months and Counting...

This is my final post from the Festival of Homiletics. I'm happy to say that the Big Lutheran Wrap-Up went very well - score one for the home team. Mary Hinkle Shore preached on today's passage from 1st Corinthians and had the entire assembly eating out of the palm of her hand within the first 45 seconds. Best of all, the body of the sermon was worthy of the great introduction. It was a sermon aimed at preachers, so while it probably wouldn't have flown in the congregation, I for one felt very, very edified by her proclamation.

David Lose gave a great lecture following worship. I'm pretty sure it was a short synopsis of his book Confessing Jesus Christ: Preaching in a Post-Modern World, but it was still good to hear from him. What I noted was an emphasis in his title that I hadn't understood previously: I had thought his book title was emphasizing Jesus Christ, but in actuality, his particular point of emphasis is on Confessing. His argument, which I endorse whole-heartedly, is that our preaching (and indeed, the whole life of the church) must now center itself on confession of our belief in Jesus. In the post-modern world, empirical rationalism has become quite limited, but the church, for some reason, continued to insist that her claims could be empirically proven through bigger and better arguments, making 'the case for Christ' (if I might borrow from a well-known apologetics book). Lose believes, as do I, that the church's witness is most effective when we cease our efforts at argumentative coercion and manipulation - the safe road - and simply state our faith in the boldest, most vulnerable means possible - in the same way that God once boldly, vulnerably came among us in the life of Christ. Well, at least, that's the story in a nutshell.

Between that lecture and the final worship service, I ran into an old friend from campus ministry at the University of Nebraska. Turns out he's in a call 35 miles from my hometown these days. We didn't have a chance to talk a whole lot, but it was nice to see him again, and I realized that even if the conference had been a complete bomb, meeting all these new friends and catching up with old friends would have made the time pretty special on its own.

Finally, Fred Gaiser preached a poetic interpretation of the crossing of the Red Sea for our closing worship. "Something There Is That Doesn't Love A Wall" was his title, and joining Robert Frost to the Exodus narrative Gaiser made a moving case for the end of walls between God's people. Powerful stuff, exactly what I expected from the good Dr. Gaiser. Throw in some beautiful music from Beth Nielsen Chapman and a celtic worship group from Westminster Presbyterian, and you had a lovely morning of worship. All in all, a great end to a great week.

After driving home Friday, I was all keyed up to do some stuff yesterday that involved anything but sitting. So, I took the kiddo shopping for tools, and then I

• changed the oil on the car
• sharpened the blade on the lawnmower
• changed the oil on the lawnmower
• mowed the lawn
• sprayed the weeds in our walkway
• cleaned some weeds out of some of our flowerbeds
• cleaned up the garage
• and started replacing the head on our string trimmer

So, that's how I spent yesterday's un-homiletical homecoming. Today we went to church, where I sang in the choir and did special music as well. We came home, had lunch, then the girls went down for their naps while I read the Sunday papers and watched Phil Mickelson tear up Colonial (he wound up winning on a birdie putt on the last hole. YOU DA MAN, PHIL!). After everyone got well rested, we went grocery shopping, I made pizza for supper and finally Kristin and I watched a movie after putting Ainsley down to bed.

During worship this morning, Kristin looked at her watch and noted that the due date for She-Who-Is-Yet-To-Be is two months from today. Yikes. Just thinking about it makes me excited and a bit worried all at once. I can handle one - indeed, most of the time I love taking care of our one kiddo. But two seems exponentially larger, like the complexity jumps by a factor of three or four or eight instead of one. I suppose there's nothing for it now but to just jump in and learn to sink or swim, huh? Should be a fun ride, at the least. Well, that's the word from Ames tonight. Tomorrow, it's long run and a long, hopefully sunny Memorial Day with the family. I foresee parks and grilled turkey brats in our future. Mmmmm - love me that grill.

Peace,

Scott

34: The Story So Far

Last Monday was my 34th birthday. I haven't posted since, for a number of reasons, most of which have to do with sloth, to be honest. It's been an interesting experience, though, - here's what I've been up to:

On my birthday, I got lost. Knowing that I'm a runner, one of the Lutheran Center students recommended the Iowa State YMCA Outdoor Center for a good run. Was she ever right. I just went out for an easy jog and wound up deep in the woods and hoping I was following the trail back OUT of the woods. Granted, the Outdoor Center only covers a few acres, but if you get going in the wrong direction the trees do run along a valley for several miles. The good news is that I know what I'm doing for the next time: I'm going to cover Peggy's Trail, a 2.14 mile trail that is clearly marked though their land. Even with getting lost, it was a COOL run, and I'm always glad to add new routes for running.

All in all, it was a good birthday: we stayed home, had fun around the house, I got some work done organizing our stuff that needed doing, I got in an awesome 5 mile run, and had steak for supper. Life was good!

Tuesday, I got the bird. As I was leaving the Lutheran Center around 5:30 on Tuesday, a car came zooming up Gable Lane and nearly hit me. Granted, I maybe could have looked more closely, but all in all, I was glad no one actually hit anyone. Not so for the driver of the other car. Since it was a nice day, we both had our windows down, so I could clearly hear him as he raised his right fist, popped up his middle finger and shouted, "Fuck you!" Then he floored his accelerator and zoomed away.

Now, I'm normally a pretty reasonable guy. I'm willing to admit when I make mistakes. I like to think that even when I'm not at fault, I'm willing to bear the mistakes of others graciously. But for some reason, that just pissed me off. I never understood the "weaving in and out of traffic throwing things" level of road rage until that moment. My heart rate climbed, I broke out in a cold sweat, and I was MAD. "Fuck me? No, no, my friend: FUCK YOU." So, being the rational, kind, non-confrontive person I am, I promptly changed my direction and took off after him. Not recklessly, mind you, but definitely in haste. About a mile later, I pulled up behind him at a red light, and by that point I'm thinking, "What are you going to do now?" It apears the answer was "nothing," as I just turned away and headed for home. I guess I wanted the guy to realize you can't just DO stuff like that and expect to get away with it. Except that he did, and all I wound up accomplishing was getting home late for dinner. Apparently older doesn't mean wiser for me, huh?

Wednesday, I got locked out. Went out for an eight mile run in the morning, and while I was out, my beloved packed up Ainsley and went out to run some errands. I got back to the house at 10:00 and realized I couldn't get in - we haven't hidden a spare key anywhere just yet. So, since the garage was open, as was the tool shed, I spent the next 90 minutes pruning bushes, cutting 2x4s for the new shelves in the tool shed, and sweeping the garage floor, all while waiting for Kris to come home. Yeah, that was exciting. It threw off my day so badly that I missed our last Campus Ministers' meeting of the year - grrrr. The spare will be made and hidden sometime this week, trust me.

On Sunday I enjoyed my first "just a guy going to church" Sunday in nearly five years. Since campus ministry here doesn't worship on Sundays in the summer, I was free to attend worship at our congregation like any other father with his family. It was great. Ainsley stayed in the nursery, so Kris and I actually got to listen to the sermon and pay attention during the service, a first for me in a long time. Good stuff, that. In the afternoon Kris took a nice long nap (the only thing she said she wanted for Mother's Day) while Ainsley and I took a good long walk around the neighborhood. That night I tried a new meal: fajitas on the grill. Worked great, and it was so nice we even ate outside.

Yesterday? Not so nice. Woke up feeling a bit "off,"but I figured if I had a bowl of cereal and my usual cup of coffee I'd be fine. I've started a practice of devotional reading in the mornings, with Bonhoeffer's Discipleship being my first book, and I went downstairs thinking "You've got two hours to 'get right' before you go to the gym. No problem." Uhh, no - BIG problem. By 8:30 I was achy, feverish and freezing, with stomach cramps to boot. What really sucks is that Kristin had been signed up to sub for three water aerobics courses yesterday morning, and I had to call her back after only one of them, as I was in no position to properly care for a toddler. So, she had a real "Mother's Day" yesterday: entertain the child, do the laundry and basically run the house while Daddy promptly threw up breakfast and spent most of the day sleeping or watching TV. Not fun at all. Thankfully, it appears to be a 24 hour bug, if it's a bug at all - today I'm feeling much better, and no one else appears sick at all. Time will tell, I guess, but it certainly wasn't the day I thought it would be.

Well, there you have it: A Week in the Life. As you were.

One Day of Running

I've often said that one of the primary reasons I've stayed a runner is the cool gadgetry. I love thinking about different types of shoes and how they work, looking for good deals on moisture-wicking shirts and shorts, waiting for my favorite double-layered socks to go on sale, etc. Right now I'm saving up to buy a combination stopwatch/heart rate monitor. I guess all of this indulges the boy in me who will forever be entranced by lightsabers, rings of power and the idea that a truck could become a robot commanding a huge robot army.

I mention this because one of the new gadgets I've discovered is the training log program that Runner's World runs through their website. It compiles your mileage, times, how many miles are on the shoes you wear, what the weather was like on your last run, and about as much detail as you'd like to add. They even have a mapping program so you can enter the routes you run where you live and know the exact mileage of each route, which is a marked improvement from my old method of driving the routes and using the trip odometer on my car (and guestimating the distance when I ran where I couldn't drive). AND they have a button you can add to your blog, so that others can keep track with you - you can see it to the right, just under the "About Me" section.

As I was entering tonight's tempo run (1.5 mile warmup, 4 miles at 8:23 / mile or faster, .75 mile cooldown), I noticed that my comprehensive running time for 2008 is 24:12:44. So far in 2008 I've run for just over one day, total. The thought of it just amazed me. I started running for fitness eight years ago, when I finally got fed up with wearing jeans with a 40 inch waistband and getting seriously winded walking up the hill from Burntvedt Court on the Luther Seminary campus. Back then, I couldn't run constantly for very long - I'd go 3 minutes running, 2 minutes walking, for 30 minutes or so. But slowly, I made progress. I got to where I could run without stopping for much longer than I thought I ever could. On my internship in Florida, running kept me sane when lots of stuff around me was driving me crazy (and, let's be honest, a fair amount of my own stuff was contributing to the craziness). I came back to seminary the next year so thin that my classmates didn't recognize me: one friend who'd been in a monthly marriage care group and several of my classes walked right past me in the weight room before doing a double-take and coming back to say hello. Two years ago, in response to a particularly rough stretch that included my first diagnosis of depression, I entered the Fargo Marathon to give me a goal to work toward. Today, I'm a little heavier than I was then, but I'm still running, and I still enjoy it nearly every time I go out.

Transformation is a pretty incredible thing to see in hindsight. One day you're running just to drop a couple of pounds, the next you're wondering how much weight you could drop and whether you actually could take a shot at qualifying for the Boston Marathon in a few years. I didn't get into this to do anything other than be healthier, but now it's become such a part of my life that I can't imagine myself NOT running. It'll be interesting to see where this takes me.

Anyway, since I don't currently have a book on the iPod (problems with audible.com), I did a random shuffle for the run today. (the iPod is, by the way, another great gadget) Here's the list:
1. "Satisfied Land" by Storyhill (a great start if you ask me)
2. "Light As The Breeze" by Billy Joel
3. "Come Back To Bed" by John Mayer
4. "Like a Child (Live)" by Jars of Clay
5. "Grace Is Gone" by the Dave Matthews Band
6. "Nightingale" by Norah Jones
7. "Begin" by the Wailin' Jennys
8. "Jill" by Harry Connick, Jr.
9. "Peaches & Diesel" by Eric Clapton
10. "New York Prophesie" by Blues Traveler
11. "Good To Have A Friend" by Peter Mayer
12. "Bela's Reels" by the Chieftains
13. "I Got Stripes" by Johnny Cash ("on a Monday, I was arrested...uh huh...")
14. "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes" by Paul Simon
15. "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself A Letter)" by Nat King Cole
16. "Peace Of Mind" by Boston (possibly the best intro to a song ever written. ba da da dum, da da dum da dum da diddly-a dum...)
17. "Rhythm Of Life" by Soul Support
18. "Let's Live It Up" by Brian Setzer
19. "Black & Tans" by the Wild Clover Band
20. "Jerry Was A Racecar Driver" by the Cornhusker Marching Band Drumline

Now, here's the funny thing about the last two - tomorrow the fam and I are off to Omaha to visit my brother and his family, to enjoy a birthday party for my nephew, AND to see the Wild Clover Band at the Brazen Head Pub. My college friend Aaron Svoboda plays bodhran and sings in the WCB, and I can't wait to see him and his wife. It's going to be a great weekend, made even better by the run I'm going to enjoy in Plattsmouth, NE on Saturday morning. So, in the best Irish I've got, let me wish you all:
Slainte!

Hi, I'm Scott - this is my blog...

It's been more sporadic blogging lately. I don't know why, precisely - I'm just not feeling as inspired to write and reflect at the present. That doesn't bother me so much, but I've not been reading blogs as much, either, and that makes me uncomfortable. So many people have great things to say, and I'm not giving them an audience they deserve. Anyway, I'm going to stop playing Scrabulous for a bit and tell you what's up here in Ames.

Speaking of Facebook, it's been kinda fun suggesting friends and having them suggested to me. I've connected with a few old friends and lots of new ones, and I've kept in touch with some folks from our previous calls as well. Scrabulous, though, is definitely the best thing about Facebook.

Ainsley continues to be a wonderful blessing to Kris and me. Having learned some basic children's signs, she can now ask for food, help with various things around the house, and lots of other stuff. I took her to the pediatrician on Monday, and all of a sudden she started signing "Baby." Then she pointed to the picture of a mother and baby on the cupboard above my head. Talk about a proud moment! Then she asked for milk and food to eat and we proceeded to enjoy a snack together in the examination room. I've remarked more than once to Kristin that she may not be talking yet, but she is communicating, and it's a lot of fun.

I've picked up my training for Grandma's Marathon, which is two short months from yesterday. *gulp* We've joined a gym in Ames and have been putting our membership to good use - in the 23 days of April I've gotten in 13 workouts, and that includes my trip to Nashville when I was so tired from the long travel days that I just slept in. In the past week alone I've lost two pounds - hopefully I'll keep losing weight and approach my goal weight of 190 lbs. for the marathon. If I'm going to make it under 4 hours I'll need to cut the weight. On Monday night I enjoyed my last bit of ice cream until my birthday, and I've eliminated the late night TV snacks as well. We'll see how it all goes, but I'm pretty happy thus far.

Is it me, or does it seem like God just flipped a switch and spring came ON? We went from cold and rainy and even snowy to green and warm in less than twenty-four hours, it seems, and I'm loving every minute of it. So is Ainsley, who now asks to go outside several times a day (when she's not already out there, that is). We were definitely feeling cabin fever the last few weeks of March, and apparently we weren't the only ones: either Ames is home to the highest per-capita percentage of runners in the world, or everyone's out feeling their oats this spring.

Watched a neat little program last night on NOVA: Tom & Ray Magliozzi, aka Click & Clack the Tappett brothers, hosted The Car of the Future. It wasn't as funny as I'd hoped it would be, but damn, as soon as Tesla comes out with an affordable plug-in I'll be first in line. That sports coupe they are building right now is HOT. Here's a video promo for the show that also shows the Tesla AND Ray's beloved '52 MG:



Good stuff there - brought to you by Dewey, Cheathem & Howe, naturally.

In book news, I've finished the Irish Century series by Morgan Llywelyn. 1999: A Novel of Ireland and the Search for Peace was the last and, unfortunately, very disappointing. After the Halloran family was so deeply involved in the republican cause for most of the century, watching them watch the rest of the century happen was very much underwhelming. You just never got the sense of the historic figures in 1999 like you did with Padraig Pearse, Michael Collins and even Eamon de Valera in the earlier volumes. That having been said, it's a worthy series with much to recommend it, even the final volume. Now I'm looking for good books on ancient Irish history, Brian Boru and the like, and not necessarily historical fiction, so if you've got suggestions, please send them my way!

Campus ministry continues to feel like a good fit for me, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity to work with and for these young people in our community. It's just incredible to watch them live and study and work and grow and become who they're becoming. Jan E at A Church for Starving Artists had a post about her church and their struggle to be a better community for each other - her frustration hits why I feel called here squarely on the head. I did NOT become a pastor to churn out confirmands and pray at every church supper - I'm here to help people ask the questions for themselves and learn what it means to be a disciple of Jesus every day for the rest of their lives, to never stop growing in faith, and in campus ministry I feel like I can really put that passion to good use. As I said a while back, it's good to feel useful again.

Well, that's the news from Ames - blessings to you all!

Peace,
Scott

Thursday Coffeehouse Update

I'm not having a good afternoon.

Mind you, I'm not having a bad afternoon - but I'm beginning to feel like I've been surreptitiously cast in a Mr. Bean episode. I walked into Panera at 2:00 p.m. It's now 2:30 and thus far I've gotten bupkis done on the sermon this week. But I have:
- found my favorite table, right next to the fireplace (essential on a cold, rainy day like today).
- spilled a good portion of my first cup of coffee because said table was wobbly.
- fixed the aforementioned table with several trips to the counter for napkins.
- spilled coffee again because I didn't actually fix it as well as I'd thought.
- taken two more trips back for napkins and, finally, fixed the table.
- answered the comments from the guy at the next table who also hates wobbly tables.
- fired up the trusty laptop.
- dropped my Bible on the floor.
- hit my head on the wobbly table while bending down to pick up my Bible.
- discovered that my laptop battery is low and, unfortunately, I'll need to move because no outlets are open in the vicinity of my favorite not-so-wobbly table.
- walked around for several minutes looking for an open outlet.
- found an outlet, moved all my stuff, bent over to open up my laptop & hit my head on the low-hanging table sconce.
- knocked over the other chair at my table while piling my jacket & bag on it.
- finally gotten my computer set up, coffee refilled, Bible opened and ready to go.
- sat down & discovered my chair is wobbly. At which point I burst out laughing.

You could ask, "Why are you writing away from your office in the first place?" Well, I've discovered that when I'm at the office, it's really easy to be distracted by housekeeping details and never get any writing done on Thursdays. I spent the better part of the morning working in the sanctuary: cleaning out the old sound booth, setting up the pews (which are still out of order after being moved for renovations last summer and fall) and cleaning & reordering the sacristy so that we can start using it again. This is stuff that needs doing, mind you, and it's part of my unspoken job responsibilities to be the building caretaker, but I can't do it ALL the time. Unfortunately, there's a part of me that would rather spend my time finding new ways to organize the cleaning closet and replacing lightbulbs instead of doing the hard work of proclamation. There's a different kind of creativity that's needed to create order from the chaos that is this building, and it's a creativity that appeals to me, but the primary reason I was called to be a campus pastor was NOT to change lightbulbs and reorganize closets.

I made a promise to myself that when we moved here, I'd spend more time meeting people than I would "nesting." I did pretty well in that regard - it took me two months to get all my files into the filing cabinet, and I didn't get my posters and degrees hung on the wall until last night. I've spent the time I would have spent organizing my books, etc., getting to know folks in the community and learning about stuff here, and it's paying off already. After all, knowing which folder contains my Ancient Hebrew History notes from UN-L is far less important than knowing that Susie's grandpa is sick or Pastor Inquist has been a strong supporter of campus ministry in the past.

We had a great ecumenical prayer service last night. Some of the students at the St. Thomas Aquinas Center were doing a cardboard city sleepout to raise awareness for homelessness and poverty relief, and I sort of invited ourselves to worship with them instead of holding our usual service at the Lutheran Center. About eleven of our students and the same number of RC folks stood in the Campanile and joined together for song, prayer and just a little bit of preaching from yours truly. We talked about doing a joint sleepout next year and getting more Lutheran Center folks active in the ONE Campaign at Iowa State, which would be really cool since I'm a ONE campaign member myself. Good times with our brothers and sisters from the RC church, especially with Papa Ratzi having come to America yesterday.

So, that's the news from the coffeehouse, and since I've managed to avoid hitting, dropping or bumping into anything for a while, I think I'm safe to get back to work now.

Slainte,
Scott

Checking Back In

Yeah, it's been a while, I know.

Last Wednesday I pretty much wore myself out getting campus ministry stuff done and preparing for a four-day trip to Nashville for the ELCA Campus Ministers' Gathering. And between travel and the gathering itself, it's taken me until today to really feel like I'm beginning to catch up again.

My desk is a disaster right now. For a compulsive neat freak like me, that's a HUGE problem. I do not like all the clutter, because when things get cluttered things get dropped, and I do not want to be dropping events, etc. in the days to come. So, tomorrow is a desk-cleaning day, made all the more simple because my administrator will be out of town for a funeral and I'll likely not be disturbed.

I'm really thankful that I went to the gathering, though - it was well worth the time away from family. Well, almost. I caught up with some friends I hadn't seen in years who are still doing great work in campus ministry, and made a bunch of new friends, also. I got some great new ideas for our own campus ministry, and heard about some spring break trips for next year that will be really great (Lutherstadt Wittenberg, here I come!).

Being Nashville, we heard some wonderful music, of course. For starters, we heard a presentation by Pastor Becca Martin, an Episcopal priest and director of Magdalene and Thistle Farms. She was incredible - passionate about her ministry and the uncertainty that comes with doing it. Her husband heard we were in town and said, "Hey, why don't I go down and play a song or two for them?" So he did - we got a free two-song concert by Grammy Award winner Marcus Hummon, writer of Closer to You and God Bless the Broken Road. Not bad when you can get it. AND I learned that if one Peter Mayer is good, two is even better. This Peter Mayer, who moonlights as Jimmy Buffett's lead guitarist, is as good a musician as the Peter Mayer of Minnesota / Blue Boat Home fame. Unfortunately, this Peter Mayer doesn't have any youtube videos, otherwise I'd post something. But you can check out his excellent Lutheran rock (including a song attributed to Luther Seminary's own Dr. Rollie Martinson) at petermayer.com.

Unfortunately, air travel added a lot of tension and very little relief to my trip. I'm enjoying flying less and less each time I have to fly, and at this point I'm seriously considering driving to anything less than 8 hours away for the near future. I spent all day Thursday and all day Sunday in airports, and believe me, the only thing I like to do in airports is walk out the door. Combine that with seats next to the lavatory on a tiny commuter jet with lousy snack service and you've got a recipe for extreme annoyance. I will say this, though: the airline staff were all marvelous. I don't know if they're trying to be kinder and gentler now that their profit margin is getting squeezed more and more by gas prices, but whatever it is, I got way more smiles and hospitality than I'd expected, and that did make for a much more enjoyable experience. Still, next time it's behind the wheel with a good book on CD to keep me company.

I'm discovering more and more that the major drawback to campus ministry is time away from family. I expected this, so it's not surprising, but it's hard to stomach at times. Kristin told me that the second day I was gone, Ainsley walked to the front door and made her "guy with the hat" sign, which was her way of asking where I was. When she told me that over the cell phone it was all I could do to keep from sprinting to the Nashville airport and begging for the next flight home - I missed my girls that much.

So, that's the post-trip report. Today is the anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's murder at Flossenburg Prison Camp, so we're doing a Bonhoeffer video tonight in chapel - thus no reflection will be posted. See you soon, friends. God bless.

Random Monday Musings

Just some random Monday musings for you today.

First off, will SOMEBODY please send a memo to anyone in showbiz explaining the difference between a Sigma and an Epsilon in the Greek alphabet?

For future reference, this is Sigma:

And this is Epsilon:
The first correlates to our English S, the second to our English E. Therefore, when you use the Sigma because it sort of looks like a fancy E, all Greek and stuff, what you’re really doing is a horrendous misspelling. Like, “My Big Fat GrSSk Wedding.” Or the new show on ABC Family, “GRSSK”

I wonder if there are any fraternity or sorority alumni/ae producing these shows? Or if they all killed that particular brain cell at a Thursday night kegger and never remembered that THOSE ARE ACTUAL LETTERS ABOVE THE DOOR OF YOUR HOUSE.

Morons – I’m surrounded by morons.

Second, I’m really enjoying The Pillars of the Earth on my iPod right now – for crying out loud, the thing is 40 hours long, so it’ll be more than enough book to get me through the month. Good thing audible.com doesn’t charge by the minute. But Mr. Follett’s constant return to sexual themes is getting a little old. The plot is already fascinating, and his descriptions of cathedral construction and the social and environmental setting are great, and every time some young wench bares her heaving bosoms to somebody, I wonder, “When did I download Clan of the Cave Bear?”

Third, The Pillars of the Earth, at 40 hours, is one monthly credit at audible.com, while The Amber Spyglass is two credits, though it is less than half the length. Not cool.

Item the Fourth: I’d like to register my chagrined aggravation with God rewarding my parents' steadfastness of 30+ years ago by giving me a child exactly like me. I was that kid in church who couldn’t sit still for a second and hated every blasted minute of it. (I was actually dragged out by my father once, screaming "Don't spank me, Daddy!" the whole way.) Guess who else must be moving constantly and will not, under any circumstances, be contained within a pew for any length of time? And worse, she doesn’t yet understand that church is a sit still activity, so I can’t try out my dad’s patented Vulcan knee grip just yet. But am I looking forward to that day? You bet your sweet bippy I am.

Finally, just because it’s freakin’ funny, another song interpretation from David Armand. Have a great Easter Monday.

Scouting The Mountains (And Starting To Climb)

I promised earlier today on Facebook that I would blog. Not "post a sermon" or "link a video" but "blog." As both of my regular readers have noticed, it's been a while (ReverendMother said last week that her blog had grown "stale." If that can happen, then this thing oughta be ready for croutons by now.)

It's been an interesting beginning to our life in Ames. I think we're finally coming to grips with the fact that we own a house (paying the first mortgage payment can do that to you - let's say it was somewhere between "ouch" and "boing.") and we're making a home here. Kristin and Ainsley have found all sorts of fun things we can do together - play groups at the local rec center, KinderMusik, story time at the public library, etc. But the weather has been conspiring against us, it seems - school has been delayed or canceled at least once each of the eight weeks we've been here, and I think I can count the the number of days of seasonal weather without removing my shoes. We expect snow in the midwest, but the frigid temps and ice? Not so much. I have the opportunity to get to work daily, but Kristin and Ainsley are getting a bit of cabin fever, I think. Thankfully, spring is coming soon and we'll be able to get outside and see exactly what kind of backyard we have (right now, all we know is "big").

At the Center, it's really starting to feel like "my" call, and I mean that in a healthy way. The danger coming into a situation where you follow quickly on a well-liked previous pastor (in my case, less than 8 months) is the constant refrain of "Reverend _____ never did it like this." That hasn't happened much here, for two reasons - first, I haven't changed a whole lot, and second, Reverend _____ has graciously stayed away, even though he's still living in town while he does a long-term interim in Minneapolis-St. Paul. I like my predecessor very much, and I hope when his interim is completed he'll feel comfortable stopping by occasionally, but I very much appreciate his discretion and respect; it's made things much easier for me.

In terms of program and spiritual life, our numbers are slowly increasing, but we're making quality growth steps in ways that I think will pay large dividends for the future. We've restarted a spiritual discernment program called "Reaching In / Reaching Out" and the eight members of our group will, I think, form a strong core for next year's student community. We're averaging about 25-30 for Sunday morning worship and 15-19 for Holden Evening Prayer on Wednesday, and again, there's quality growth here: these are regular attendees, with very few one-timers. If they come, by and large they come back, so we're obviously feeding something even as the community and I get to know each other better.

With all that happening, and my continuing exploration of the community (I'm blogging from The Stomping Grounds this afternoon), I'm beginning to get a sense of the mountain range that I'll be travelling professionally for the foreseeable future. Though the University Lutheran Center facility is impressive, there is a TON of renovation and repair to be done, and it's more than a little intimidating to contemplate. My colleague from Lord of Life Lutheran and I toured the building again this morning and found more that we can repair (and this is in addition to the thousands left to raise to pay off the repair of our sanctuary roof and installation of new windows and a different floor). My office administrator just smiled when we told her what we'd been doing; she said "Sometimes it's better not to think about everything that needs to be done." There's a need for spiritual life and community building, of course. The old nursery rhyme is certainly true: the church is the people. But since this particular people have been blessed with a building site, part of my responsibility to them is to inspire a sense of stewardship when it comes to that building. Somehow that got neglected for quite some time, and though my predecessor got a lot of things moving, there is much yet to be done.

It's enough that this afternoon I'm feeling more than a little overwhelmed. Consequently, my two-week string of Thursday afternoon sermons has come screeching to a halt. With luck and a bit more determination, I'll be able to recapture the magic tomorrow and still enjoy a weekend free of nerves. I do have a title/them in mind, and even an opening illustration, but it's going to take some dedicated work to pull it off tomorrow. Not to mention I'll be anxious to post the results of the 20 week ultrasound. Yikes - hard to believe we're close to the third trimester already.

It's quite a range of mountains in front of me. But each climb begins with one step, and it's getting near the time that scouting stops and climbing starts. Wish me luck.

Peace,
Scott