Family & Friends . . .

It was good to have some hustle and bustle back in the house again this past weekend. I miss that. Jamie and Evee came to visit along with dear family friends, Regina and Michelle. It was our first time to have Evee over a Sunday, so showing her off at church was fun. Regina is back from a year of mission work in Bosnia, moving on to new adventures in life. Michelle is home to raise support as a career missionary, returning to the Asian country where she has been serving. Below are pictures of our time together.

Speed scrabble, chats in the living room, coffee at Starbucks, early breakfast at Morning Star, walks on the pier, keeping up with the World Series, and just hanging out made up the weekend fun.

Up bright and early for breakfast
at our favorite place in town.

Keeping warm in the Michigan fall weather.

Michelle and Regina

Evee got in on all the girl stuff.

Papa and Evee watching the Red Sox
make a clean sweep over the Rockies.

Sadly, the house is too quiet again, but Thanksgiving is just around the corner.

Love your neighbor . . .

Today I learned about the oppression in the country of Burma through World Hope's website. For those of you who may not be familiar with the country of Burma, presently known as Myanmar, it is bordered by India, China and Thailand.

In a nutshell, this is what is happening: Burma is ruled by one of the worst military dictatorships in the world. Last month Buddhist monks and nuns began marching and chanting prayers to call for democracy. The protests spread and hundreds of thousands of Burmese people joined in -- but they've been brutally attacked by the military regime.

World Hope encourages us to be a part of bringing peace, justice and freedom to these oppressed people with the following: "Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries to intervene, Avaaz (The World in Action) is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers to deliver its message. Avaaz needs 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention."

I was number 789,508 on the way to a million. Click here to sign the petition to help alleviate suffering in Burma. The petition will be advertised in a massive ad campaign all this week, delivered by a Nobel Prize winner to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, and broadcast into Burma over the radio. Let's not let something like Rwanda happen again.

It's a small act for a world dilemma, but wouldn't you want someone to do it for you?

Love your neighbor . . . as yourself.

Great Deeds or Great Love?

One of the things I said to Dennis while we were on his summer sabbatical was this: I'm going to stop saying I'm going to do great things for God. As we were enjoying the cool waters of the Adriatic Sea one hot afternoon, we were talking about the "what's next" for our lives. He knew what his hopes were for the sabbatical - personal renewal and ministry refocus - but now he was asking about me. We had a laugh about my statement, but seriously . . . I've used this line since I was a teenager and now in my 50's I'm well aware of the fact that I haven't done anything that might be considered "great for God."

This past Saturday our church held a D.R.A.F.T. (Developing Real Action for the Tri-cities) conference where I heard this Mother Theresa quote: There are no great deeds, only small deeds done in great love.

I like this thought - it resonates with my heart. While the first (my line) is a noble cause, the second is simple, yet profound. One's about me, the other about God. This will be my heartbeat for the latter half of life. Not great deeds, but great love. I have much to learn about this great love.

Oh God, may my faith be transmitted to

others out of a heart of love.

Note to 20-somethings . . .

Okay, I’m soon to be 52. I don’t run like I use to. In fact, a year ago I stopped running because my joints were aching too much. I’ve slowed down to a jog or a fast walk. On the other hand, my 21-year old daughter Julie is a fast runner, especially after four years of cross-country in high school where her team made it to state each year. I might have been able to beat her in my 20’s when I could run a six-minute mile, but not now.

I can’t keep up with you 20-somethings, but I’ll keep on the journey of this cross-era in history. I’ll get there, but not as fast as you will. I’ve got 50 years of tradition and theology to think through. You only have 20 or so. Don’t expect me to catch on as fast. I’ll keep learning and discovering, but it’s just simply going to take me longer. Not because I’m resisting it, but simply because I’m older. Be patient with me (and other boomers). I’m eager to learn, but the fact is . . . I may never catch up. There’s a good chance that I will finish this cross-era journey of life before the phase of post-modernism is even fully developed, while you’re still on the journey discovering it yourself.

Please don’t disqualify me, like my traditions and theology don’t matter anymore. I certainly don’t want to get stuck in the past. I admit there are some shortcomings to Western Christianity, but I’d like to pass the baton of positive things in modern Christianity that would be valuable to the next generation. Moving forward doesn’t cancel out the past, but it does broaden the horizon as two eras integrate into a new future.

So, be patient with me. I'll try not to get defeated or bothered that you are out in front of me. It might be helpful if every once in a while you turn around and cheer me on. And I'll do my best to cheer you on. Better yet, let’s hook up and just talk about our faith from time to time. I’ll walk with you and you can walk with me. I know we can learn from each other as we share in a posture of respect. I want to have an attitude of humility that follows Jesus whatever era I am in.

Someday 20 or 30 years down the road, you’ll find you’re one of the slower ones. You’ll see the young bucks up ahead. Hopefully you’ll be cheering them on while you're at the back of the pack. Hopefully you'll take the time to walk with them on their journey, learning from each other. We’re all in this together.

The Span of 100 years . . .

As I told you in the last post, I went home this past weekend to PA to visit family and celebrate my Grandma's 100th birthday. Here's a couple pics from our time.

Grandma at 100


Five Generations


Great Great Grandma & Evee . . . 100 years apart

Talk about change . . . 1907 looks a lot different from 2007! I wonder what kind of changes Evee will see??