Snowmobiles and Sumo Suits

Daphne and I went on our walk in Flying J this morning (local hiking area), and about half-way along the trail we had a nice surprise: a fully decorated Christmas tree with ornaments and garlands out in the middle of the woods.  We almost missed it, because it was set back from the trail about 30 yards.  So someone carried a box of decorations out in the woods and decorated a tree... just because it's Christmas.  I love it!  Makes me wonder how often I do something because it's my job, or because I'm told to - versus doing something just for the sheer joy of it.  It's possible that no one else will even see that tree between now and Saturday, but it sure made my day. If someone decorates a Christmas tree in the forest, and no one is there to see it... is it still worth it?

Demon Santa

We've got a dancing Santa Clause out in front of the diner.  He's a loaner from one of the gals in our church, but I have to confess - he gives me the creeps.  He works off a motion-sensor, so he stands there with this blank stare on his face until some unsuspecting victim happens to walk past - then he starts singing and dancing like Elvis doing the Hula Hoop.  I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten that he's there, and I'll just about jump out of my skin when he starts singing and doing his little jig thing.  I think he's possessed... but that's just me.

 On the other hand, we had the REAL Santa and Mrs Claus here last Sunday.  Yes, it's true: Santa has a vacation home right here in Conifer, Colorado, and he made a charity appearance at The Journey Community Church.  Unfortunately, he got into a tussle with one of the rookie reindeer recently, and he had to wear a sling on his right arm; at least, that's the story they told the kids.  In reality, this particular Santa tripped on the sidewalk and did a face-plant, breaking his upper arm in the process.  Kind of ruins the "Santa Aura", doesn't it?  The kids loved it, and Santa and Mrs Claus did this particular appearance free of charge.  They're regular customers at the Angry Llama Diner, and he actually wears red most of the time - I guess he's really embraced the Santa role!

A few days ago, several of us from church drove up to Breckenridge to visit "Good Times Adventures", which is a Dog-Sledding and Snowmobile company run by one of the men who attends The Journey.  Our reason for going was to make a brief news story that we can show as part of the "Journey News" portion of our weekend service.  We did do some filming, but in the process we had more fun than humans should be allowed to have.  Brian, the owner, had us spend an hour on the dog sled, followed by a two-hour snowmobile ride right up to the Continental Divide.  The dogs are purebred Siberian Huskies, and they only have two gears: full speed or stop.  The only way to control their speed is by standing on the brakes behind the sled; if you tip over and fail to grab the sled in time, the dogs just keep on running . . . all the way back to their kennels.  To avoid this, one of the staff rides in front of the dog team on a snowmobile so he can jump off and grab the dogs as they race past. 

The snowmobiles were just as much fun, only a whole lot faster - I think we got up to 45 or 50 mph on some stretches.  What a ride!  The guide took us to a couple of sites where thriving towns used to exist during the gold rush.  It was hard to imagine what it must have looked like, because all that's left is part of a log building, or just an open space in the woods.  It's amazing how fast a town of 1500 people can simply disappear and get taken over by nature.

 Once we got up to the Continental Divide, the view was breath-taking.  We were grateful to have a beautiful day, as there are some days when you can't see 20 yards in front of you due to fog or snow.  From the top we could see clearly for at least 50 miles.  The snow was a little thin on top, so we couldn't race full-speed around the open meadow like they'll be able to in another couple of weeks.  Apparently, from what the guide told us, the wind is so strong up on top that they can have four or five feet of snow in one night, and by the next morning it's all blown away.  Pretty amazing.

It was an incredible adventure and I'm grateful that I was given the opportunity to go.  Hopefully, our whole team can get back there together sometime this winter so the others can have the same experience. 


Last Sunday evening the youth ministry had their Christmas party, and we rented sumo suits for the occasion.  I'd never seen a sumo suit before; once you get in the suit and put on the helmet, you look like a giant dog tick.  The goal of the game is to either knock the opposing sumo person out of the yellow circle, or knock them down and fall on top of them.  The only problem is, once you're down it's impossible to get back up by yourself - you just lie there flailing your arms and legs like a giant upside-down tortoise.  The little kids were the funniest to watch because their heads barely stuck out above the suit.  All they could do was waddle towards the other kid and kind of lean forward, and hope the other one fell down before they did.  You hoped you were one of the first ones to get in the suit because by the time fifty sweaty kids have been rolling around inside, you can imagine how rank the suits and helmets were. 

Last night I finished teaching through the book of John.  One of the other staff - Adam - will take the next couple of weeks as I work on preparing for the next series called "Jim's Believe It Or Not: Amazing but True Adventures From The Mission Field."  Michael thought it would be fun for the church to hear some of the stories we've accumulated over 20 years as missionaries overseas, and the lessons we've learned in the process.  Should be fun!

When God Puts On A Spread

Frozen Waterfall near Idaho Springs, CO

We had our weekly home group meeting last Sunday evening.  I've started looking forward to those two hours as one of the highlights of my week, not only because I'm always encouraged and inspired by those in the group, but because I can see a real sense of unity and community growing between us.  Every so often at some point in the evening there will be one particular event - maybe a word, maybe a story - that grabs everyone's heart, and in the end that's all any of us will remember thereafter. There were two "memory maker" moments for me last Sunday.  The first one came when we were discussing the third sermon in Michael's "Unwrapping Christmas" series - this one on Mary's role in the Christmas story.  One of his points was that Mary was willing to give up her life plans (a wonderful wedding to Joseph, living in the warmth of family and friends, a peaceful life) to accept God's plans for her.  For Mary, God's plans included an "illegitimate" pregnancy (at least in the eyes of her community - I mean, how many woman are impregnated by God?), rejection by the community as a "loose" woman, starting off her marriage to Joseph as a pregnant woman,.... and the list goes on and on.  We wondered together what it must have been like for Mary to raise Jesus: what was His sense of humor like?  What was it like to watch Him as He slowly grasped His true identity as God's Son?  There's a song that I've always loved called "Mary do you know?" that describes so wonderfully the life that Mary lived as the earthly mother of God Himself.  None of us could remember the words, but I do remember how moved I was the first time I heard the song.  So while we talked I looked up the lyrics on the internet, and once more I was moved to tears as I read these words:

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.

Later, our conversation moved to God's goodness to us - His undeserved, unmerited love and compassion.  One of the women in our group shared an incredible story of how God takes care of us just because we're His "Kids".
She works six days a week - including the weekends - at the Veteran's Hospital in Denver.  Her expertise is in the area of Music Therapy, which simply put means using music and rhythm to help a patient through a difficult therapy.  On Thanksgiving day, the hospital made a turkey dinner for all the residents, but the paid staff had to settle for their brown bag lunches.  This fact really bothered me, that the VA can't even provide a Thanksgiving meal for their staff - they get to smell the Turkey and all the trimmings all day, and then be content with their sack lunch.  Anyway, as she left at the end of the day she decided that she would try to stop somewhere to buy a Thanksgiving dinner - maybe Denny's, or Perkins, or the like.  Then she remembered a great Italian restaurant right off I-70 and she just knew they could cook a truly gourmet dinner.  She figured out in her mind that she could spend up to $20 to treat herself since it was Thanksgiving.  The lights were on in the restaurant, so she pulled in the parking lot.  When she went inside she saw all the chairs stacked on the tables, and she realized it must be a private party.  A tall Italian man heard the front door and walked in.  My friend explained to him that she was looking for the "Best" Thanksgiving meal in town.  He told her that the restaurant was only open because he had gathered his friends and family together.  She turned and started to leave, but he stopped her and said, "How many did you want for?"  She said only for herself, because she'd had to work that day.  He said "Really?", then he took her arm and said, "Come with me."  He led her back into the kitchen, handed her two large take-away containers, and told her that he wanted her to go through their buffet line.  When she hesitated out of embarrassment, he smiled and said, "Come on!" and started piling her high with the most incredible, gourmet Thanksgiving meal she'd ever seen - six different kinds of stuffing, meats, exotic vegetables, incredible desserts.  She filled both containers.  He led her back to the front door and simply said, "Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!" 


She giggled all the way home and all through the night - that her Heavenly Papa saved the best Thanksgiving meal of all for her, just because He loves her. 


That's what I'm talking about! :)

Black Like Me

This is Sterling and Emily, who are also on staff here at the Journey Church.  They've both become great friends of ours, and we (the whole team) give Sterling a fun-loving hard time because he's the only black member of the team - in fact, the only black member of our church (the only black man in Conifer?).  He has an awesome character and walk with God, in spite of a very tough upbringing.  I told him recently that he's like an "anchor" in this team - always there, always steady; he the kind of man who adds stability and safety in a team.

This morning I showed him a picture and told him that he's no longer the only black member of our team.  He looked at the picture for several seconds, and finally said, "Who is this?"  "It's me - I was working on our fireplace yesterday".  I was cutting the damper out, knocking out the wind shelf (concrete), and just making the opening large enough to put in the liner for the wood stove.  At one point I climbed out of the "cave", and Daphne took one look at me and ran to get her camera.  "Oh, I hope that all comes off!" she said.  "Why, what's wrong?" I asked.  Of course, I couldn't see my own face, so I had no idea how all the soot had transformed me into Michael Jackson in reverse.  Anyway, I had to put this picture in the blog.


Daphne's parents - Felix and Valerie Posselt - arrived last night from England to spend two months with us.  Her Dad is 82, and her Step-Mom is.... younger than that.  We hadn't seen them for over a year, since just before we left France to move to Colorado.  They've both been like little kids in a candy store since they arrived, as neither of them have ever been to the U.S. before.  They arrived in the dark, and this morning they were greeted to the incredible view we have from our living room windows.  Val kept saying this morning, "I just have to keep pinching myself - I can't believe we're really here!"  They were treated to a special mountain welcome last night when a beautiful mule deer buck crossed the road in front of our car as we climbed up Shadow Mountain towards our house.  They haven't seemed to be negatively affected by the altitude so far, and we hope they'll adjust fine.  We keep trying to impress Daph's Dad the necessity of drinking lots of water, but he's not convinced.  The problem with drinking large quantities of liquid is that it all has to be evacuated sooner or later.  Oh well, he'll adjust as he goes I guess.

_______________________

I've been thinking lately about all the promises in Scripture that speak about how God will provide for us, that He offers a life free from worry and anxiety, and that we can trust Him daily to answer our specific prayers.  Unfortunately, for many of us these promises are pie-in-the-sky bye-and-bye: nice to read and certainly comforting, but far from our daily experience. Why?  My guess is that we generally have no urgent needs, as most of us have money in the bank and probably a healthy balance in our IRA, as well as having health insurance, life insurance, and savings accounts.  When it comes down to it, we really have no genuine NEED to trust the Lord at all.  I should probably qualify what I've just written, as there are believers around the world who have to believe God for the impossible every single day - it's just not normally our experience in the West.  There is something deep in my heart that desperately wants to put God to that test - you could call it a spiritual longing to trust God for my daily bread, because only then would I be in a position to see His supernatural provision.  I suppose we could say that God has already provided through our employment and our retirement income; and yet, Jesus said on many occasions that we shouldn't "store up" treasures for ourselves here on earth where moth and rust destroy, but to store up treasures for ourselves in Heaven.  In Luke 12 Jesus actually condemned the rich man who wanted to hoard his riches: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’  So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”  He then immediately exhorted His disciples not to worry about life - food, shelter, clothing - but to trust that God knows of their needs and that they can rely on Him to provide.  Even more challenging is His conclusion in verse 33: “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

I think of men like George Muller from 19th century England, who made a willful decision to trust God alone for his every need - and God provided and intervened supernaturally on what seemed to be a daily basis.  George had such an intimate walk with God that He KNEW God had already provided even before the need was met.  But what is most amazing is that George chose this life of daily trust of his own free will - rather than being forced into such a lifestyle by life's circumstances. I was just reading an excerpt from an article on Muller's life:  "Muller was a man of fervent prayer, who believed that spending time with God should take priority over all other tasks one might have on their agenda.  To this end, Muller himself got up early each morning at four o’clock to spend time in prayer before he started his day.  Never were his days too full to spend ample time in prayer each morning.  In fact, he was often heard saying that if someone only had five hours to accomplish a task, then one would definitely accomplish more through one hour of prayer and four hours of work than through five hours of work alone. This was especially true for those involved in full time Christian work.  Muller warned ministry leaders everywhere he went to not let the work of the Lord prevent someone from spending time with the Lord in prayer." 

I find it humorous to note that almost every time I bring up George Muller's example in conversations with other Christians, there is an almost instant emotional reaction - "George Muller had exceptional faith" or, "God isn't asking everyone to live like that!"  Maybe he isn't, but why the instant, emotional rebuttal?  There's something in Muller's example that strikes a deep chord in our hearts and we long to see God working supernaturally - but the price we would have to pay is simply too great.  I'm not there either.  But I find my mind and my heart turning more and more in that direction, almost like Daphne's parents longing to visit America... and hardly believing that they're actually here now.

Conifer Christmas Parade... one year later

What a difference a year can make!  One year ago we attended the Conifer Christmas Parade as spectators.  We knew only a handful of people, and our girls had only just started school.  This year, we walked in the parade with 100 other members of The Journey Church.  Who would have imagined how much would have changed one year later.  Our float won first prize for creativity; we made a mock-up of a local Victorian home (the theme of the parade was Victorian) decorated as a ginger-bread house.  We also had our own Grinch - he didn't go with the theme, but we'd already reserved the costume before we decided what kind of float we would make.  He was a big hit with the kids in any case.  I was one of two designated photographers from our church, so here are a few shots of the parade and of our float.  We handed out flyers inviting everyone to our Candlelight Christmas Eve service.

Hershey's Kiss... or Anti-Alien Head-wear??

Mr Grinch and a less-than-enthusiastic fan

Silas: Mr Gumdrop Head