Wow, Time Flies.

It has been quite a few weeks since I was last able to post something here.
We attended the retreat in Seaside and really enjoyed catching up with old friends and we also met the new spouse of a former pastor who was a widower. We were blessed by different people paying for all of our meals.
When we got home, the weather  forecast was clear and sunny for about 2 weeks so we asked my dad to come up and build a mudroom and steps to our front and back doors. We had had 3 people fall through the front steps and 2 people fall off the back steps. The front porch was falling off the house and was pulling the siding away from the house and allowing water to go inside. Three weeks later, we have a wonderful mudroom with a bench and hooks, shelves and a storm door on the front. They also built a porch with steps out front. The back door has a nice little platform with steps and handrails. It all looks so nice and is so functional. I will be posting pictures soon.
Since dad was here building, mom came with him. I really enjoyed having them. One day for breakfast, Junior made biscuits and gravy and mom made chocolate gravy. So good. Another time mom made Junior's favorite  dinner, Shrimp Pasta  & Roasted Garlic. They were here during Valentine's Day and we thought about going in town for dinner, but decided with the weather so bad, it was not a good idea. Instead, Junior and Dad bought steak and lobster and Junior fixed it, adding baked potato  and asparagus to the plate. It was so good. The only thing missing was some chocolate cheesecake, but I don't know where I would have put it.
The last week Dad and Mom were here, Kara came to visit also. I liked having them here but I wish we had more room for sleeping arrangements. Poor Chelsey had to sleep on the floor, then get up and go to school.
Jesse has been sick since 2-13-11. Coughing, fever, sore throat, etc.
On the 18th, the kids left on a Missions Trip to San Francisco to minister to the homeless in the Tenderloin district. I am so impressed with the stories and events that took place during the trip. I think Jesse has a real grasp on who he is in Jesus. Also, one of the first things he did, was apologize for being disrespectful so often. Chelsey, also, really felt the presence of God and was used in amazing ways.
Unfortunately, she lost her voice the day she got back and now has been sick in bed ever since. It was rainy, and cold the entire time they were in SF and Jesse is also still sick. They have missed so much school, I hope it doesn't cause Chelsey any trouble with graduation.
The 22nd was Junior's birthday and we spent the day hanging around the house watching tv. Around 2:30, he wanted to start fixing dinner. I half-heartedly told Chelsey to clean the kitchen. She lazed around, picked up a few things. We watched more tv. I kept asking Junior to bring firewood in, go get something at the store, go check and see if the squirrels are out so we can go target practice, any thing I could think of to keep him busy. Finally around 4pm he started getting serious about dinner. He went to the freezer and took out a whole chicken and then put it in the microwave to defrost. Every time he walked out of the kitchen, one of us would shut the microwave off. It took a very long, long time to defrost the chicken. Then he had to go out to the garage and look through our camping stuff to find the cast iron skillet he wanted. Then he had to have more kitchen stuff cleaned up. So I had to nag Chelsey to clean the kitchen. Still she was dragging it out as long as she could. When he mentioned going to the freezer to find flour, I suggested sending Jesse instead. Then I took him aside and told him not find the flour. After about 15 minutes of looking for the flour, he came in from the snowy outdoors, announcing that we had no flour left. Junior decided he should go look. About 10 minutes later, he came back without flour. Now I was worried because I knew we had some but even he couldn't find it. He sent Jesse over to the store and Jesse came back without flour because "the price was almost $5 and you only sent me with $3."  After a bit of roughhousing to try to give Junior his birthday spanking, he insisted that I give Jesse more money so he could buy the flour and Junior could have his fried chicken birthday dinner. I told Jesse he better not buy flour when there was some in the freezer. He finally came back with the flour from the freezer.
Around 5:45pm I sent a text message to a lady at our church and had her call Junior to meet her at the church to talk to her about something important. He wasn't really excited about it because he was just getting ready to dredge the chicken in the flour mixture.
We drove to the church and as soon as we could see the parking lot, he started laughing and got all embarrassed and refusing to go in the church. I made sure he got inside to the full fellowship hall where the ladies in the church had hosted a surprise birthday party. Later he told me that was the most surprised he had ever been. I can't believe he didn't find out beforehand. It is really hard to keep a secret from him. We had so many delaying tactics, I thought for sure he would get suspicious.  I think this was his best birthday.
Well, we are pretty much up to speed. Still snowing. In fact this is supposed to be the worst storm to hit this area in a long time. So far, about 3 inches of snow but it seems to be melting as fast as it hits the ground. Not much new accumulation.
Hopefully, the next post won't be so long in developing.

Taking a Break

Most of the time, Sunday evenings after church are a time to relax, but tonight we are packing to go to Seaside, Oregon. Tomorrow begins a 3 day pastoral retreat. It is a time of worship, preaching, teaching, and fellowship. The great part about this is, as pastors we are responsible for these things in our churches weekly, but at the retreat, we get to relax. Just listen to the preaching, worship without thinking about it, and answer altar calls without worrying about what someone might think. That is the hardest thing for me, personally. If I go up front when an altar call is being offered at our church, I am always concerned about what people are thinking: oh no, is pastor cheating? are they having trouble with rebellious kids? is the marriage in trouble? are they thinking about resigning from our church? is he having trouble with porn? is she gossiping and slandering?
I know I am suppose to not care what others think, just focus on God, but somehow I am always hesitant to answer an altar call, especially for "getting closer to God". Isn't a pastor's family supposed to already be close to God?

Retreats are a balm to a troubled spirit and a haven for someone who always feels in the limelight. I love being pastors and wouldn't trade it for anything. I just like to be part of the congregation sometimes. Also, it is really nice to catch up with others in ministry and pray for each other in real life, not just on Facebook or such.

The kids are staying home and a family has invited them out for dinner on the night that they will be alone. I am so thankful for such thoughtful and generous members of our church family.
I probably won't write much over the next few days but when I come home, I will have lots to share.

Lazy Day

Today the kids are out of school, so we slept in and have had basically just a lazy day. The kids attend school more than an hour's drive away so if they want to be involved in sports or other activities, it is a huge investment on the entire family. Dd is the stats person for wrestling this year. Yesterday the team had a meet in a town about 5 hours from the school. By the time they got home it was after midnight. A blessing named Oma lives next door to the school and last year contacted us to offer her extra bedrooms as a place for my kids to stay when they have late night activities. It has been so nice. She feeds them dinner on Monday nights and they stay for youth group, then back to Oma's for homework and bedtime. Because of where we live, my kids would not be able to attend youth group or afterschool activities without her offer. We sometimes send stuff for dinners and of course christmas and birthday presents. We had never met her until she offered the kids a place to stay, but said she remembered living in our village and having to send her kids away for school. It is also really nice because my kids don't have any living great-grandmas and she fills that spot perfectly. She also volunteers at the school and most of the youth group kids end up at her house on Mondays just to hang out. What a legacy. An elderly lady who has such a comforting and welcoming home and atmosphere that all the teens want to hang out at her house.
All this to say, dd stayed over there and the rest of us have spent the day just hanging out, dad and son doing a huge puzzle and  I am scrapbooking and playing on the computer. We are all in the same room listening to Klove. We don't get very many of these days so we are taking full advantage of today.
Tomorrow, we are supposed to escort dd to a sports recognition. This means we will drive almost an hour so we can walk her to the podium to receive an award, then drive home. These are the times when I wonder why God said "Let Me worry about the school situation" when we were praying about moving here.
I guess I will just continue to trust Him.

Welcome To My Blog

Hi. This is my first blog attempt and I hope you are patient with me as I learn.
The name of my blog is Love Live Learn. It stands for Love always, Live forever, Learn today. To me, this means love God, others and yourself  (in that order), become a follower of Jesus and have eternal life (John 3:16), and learn something everyday. These things are important for living a fulfilling life. I want to learn and help others to learn. 
I am rapidly approaching my 40th birthday and there are some things I hope to accomplish before May. One of the items is to have a blog and learn to write in a more interesting manner.
It is funny how a movie can influence language or rather how colloquialism begins. I haven't seen The Bucket List, but I have noticed how so many people now refer to stuff they want to do as "something on my bucket list". My ds is only 14 but has recently marked an item off his list. For several years he has mentioned Crème Brule as being his favorite dessert. Only one problem with that: he has never even tasted it. On New Year's Eve, we were invited over to a friend's home to play games, eat desserts and celebrate the coming year. One of the desserts was, you guessed it, Crème Brule. As he took a bite, he said "I am marking something off my bucket list". He hasn't seen the movie either. Oh, yes, it is still his favorite dessert and after tasting it, it might be one of my new favorites also.
Okay, enough for right now.