Monthly Archives: September 2015

Chapter-a-Day

Words in My Heart

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You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:5-6 (NRSV)

I’m posting a little late today because, I’ll be honest with you, it’s been a really rough couple of weeks. I don’t want to whine and I’m not complaining. It just is what it is. There has been unexpected trials in business. There has been unforeseen relational conflict with friends that hit like a blind-side tackle. Then last night we discovered our basement flooded. Somehow the electrical plug to our sump pump got pulled a tiny bit out of the outlet. The heavy rains of last week and the watering of our newly seeded lawn backed up into our storage room and family room. I’ve spent much of the past 24 hours in Noah mode.

As I was working the wet-vac into the wee hours last night, I found myself thinking about Job, for whom things were much worse than a wet basement, and yet he said, “The Lord gives and takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” I had other verses come to mind like those from James when he wrote “Consider it pure joy when you encounter various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” Or, the prophet Isaiah who said, “Don’t fear for I am with you. Do not look anxiously about you, for I am your God. Surely I will strengthen you. Surely I will help you.” Or the prophet Jeremiah who while looking over the desolation of his home town said, “This I recall to mind. Therefore I have hope. God’s love never ceases. His compassion does not fail. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.”

These various words are not just in my head. They are in my heart. And, as I read Moses command this afternoon to keep God’s Message in our heart, it struck me that the difference between having these words in your head and having them in your heart is all the difference in the world. When they are in your head they affect your thinking. When they are in your heart they affect your life.

Last night was a long evening of sorting through our ruined belongings. Many of them were irreplaceable and with priceless sentimental value. We had a very short night’s rest and woke sore and worn but got right back to the clean up. Mid-morning, Wendy and I took a breather. We found ourselves laughing. We hugged, and between the two of us we found a few silver linings for which to be grateful. Among the things for which we are grateful are God, His promises, and His mercies that are new each morning – even when that morning calls you back to the clean up.

Top Five Tuesday

Top Five Tuesday: Distractions

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Speaking of distractions, here are the top five outlets feeding my appetite for distraction:

  1. Facebook: Who’s doing what, where, with whom right now?
  2. Twitter: #losingmyselfin140characters
  3. MLB At Bat: All things baseball and the Cubs at any moment.
  4. Photos: So many photos, so little time.
  5. PSVita: Inside the man is a boy who loves his games.
Chapter-a-Day

“Stay the Course. Eyes on Me.”

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You must follow exactly the path that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you are to possess.
Deuteronomy 5:33 (NRSV)

Some mornings as I read the chapter there is a message that is just for me; A word that speaks directly to the moment I am in at that particular waypoint on life’s journey. This morning was one of those mornings.

We are a fickle culture with short attention spans. What’s trending on Twitter today will be a long forgotten memory in a few days, or even hours. We are inundated with competing messages broadcast from countless media outlets and sources all vying for our attention. The result is that I am constantly distracted.

There is so much available to me at my finger tips through the myriad of screens in my life. If I don’t like this show I can switch to that channel, or watch YouTube, or Vimeo, or stream Netflix. If I’m bored with Facebook I can check Twitter, or Pinterest, or my blog reader. If I don’t like the music on Spotify, I can always look for a playlist on Amazon Prime or turn SonicTap on the television, or I can always go retro and actually turn on a radio. The opportunities for distraction are mind-numbingly endless.

How does this affect my spirit? My thinking? My life?

I fear that it is becoming far too easy for me to lose constancy, fidelity, and focus. When I spiritually experience an obstacle in life’s road, I immediately assume there’s an alternate route that will be faster and easier. Instead of sticking to the path to which I’m called, I’m distracted by all the other paths leading off to who knows where. Instead of focusing on the task at hand I’d rather focus on my iPhone, my iPad, my smart TV, or something else, and then another something else, and then another something else.

This morning, in the quiet of my home office, God whispered to my spirit: “Stay the course. Don’t turn to the right or left. Eyes on me.”

 

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featured photo:  Blake Patterson via Flickr

Memory Monday

The Nose Guard

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The Nose Guard - 1

As I was sorting a bunch of old family photographs, Taylor grabbed this one. She stared at it for a long moment before asking me what on earth was on her Grandpa Dean’s nose. Ha!

This photo was taken in the early to mid-1970s on the boundary waters between Minnesota and Canada. It’s where our family vacationed every year at a place called Camp Idlewood. Dad spent his two weeks of vacation fishing as much as he possibly could (notice my mother’s “How long are we going to be out here?” posture – not to mention her courageous attempt to mix stripes and polka-dots) and that meant his pasty white CPA’s skin was exposed to the sun’s rays for a lot longer than usual. A painfully sunburned nose was usually result.

I’m not sure who discovered the wonder cure. It was a plastic triangle that clipped onto the bridge of dad’s sunglasses and covered his nose, protecting it from the sun. My dad and both my grandfathers got one and wore them all day while they were out fishing. If you look closely you can even see the chic little red jewel that adorned the middle of it.

For some reason, the fad (fake jewel and all) never caught on. I can’t remember my dad wearing it for more than a summer or maybe two. BUT, if you want to look as stylin’ as my dad did back in the day then today is your lucky day, my friend, because you can still buy one on Amazon:

 

Warning! Amazon says that if you buy it you can't return it (shocking).
Warning! Amazon says that if you buy it you can’t return it (shocking).
Sunday Summary

The Latest 09-21-2015

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I’m a little late on the publishing of my Sunday Summary this week. There was a lot happening early in the week. Wendy and I were excited to finally see our yard getting graded and seeded with grass. We were thankful for a couple good rains late in the week.

2015 09 20 Lake with Rooses LR - 1 (1)

The early part of the week also included a whirlwind of work that had to get done early and a business trip to northwest Iowa. On Thursday evening Wendy and I headed down to the lake with our friends Kevin and Becky. We had to drive to Kansas City and pick up Kevin at the airport as he flew in from a business meeting in Denver. We arrived at the lake near midnight.

It was a bit overcast on Friday, nevertheless we got out on the boat for a slow cruise in the morning. We headed into town in the early afternoon and went to BWW for lunch. Becky went shopping while the rest of us stayed to watch the Cubs take on the Cardinals. We were about the only people in the restaurant and the manager, Darin, came over to chat with us. One thing led to another and Kev and I found ourselves doing a “tasting” of their four hottest sauces. We were even given complimentary boneless wings with them. My digestive system is still recovering.

As usual, our weekend with Kevin and Becky revolved around food, drink and rather intense conversation lasting deep into the night. Great salmon dinner on Friday and then burgers on the grill on Saturday night. We, of course, also found time for some sun and fun. On Saturday afternoon we spent a lot of time on the dock in the sun. Becky insisted we say good-bye to summer with one last boat right. We headed in the boat to both Bulldog’s Beach House and Larrywood for some refreshment.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed home, arriving back at VW Manor around 5:00. Wendy and I unpacked and settled in to watch the Vikings beat the Lions on the DVR.

Chapter-a-Day

Complacency

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When you have had children and children’s children, and become complacent in the land….
Deuteronomy 4:25 (NRSV)

It has been fascinating for me to live in a small town. Growing up in the city, I never had much of a sense of community heritage and generational patterns, but you see these things more clearly in a small town. Families stick closer together. Lives are more intertwined. Businesses and farms are generational. Faith is part of the fabric of both family and community. Traditions bind generations.

I have also observed that there is a subtle sense of complacency that sets in across generations, especially as it relates to faith. Rather than being the personal, intimate relationship Jesus talked about and called us to it seems to me that, for some, faith slowly becomes just another communal tradition. Go through the motions. Keep up the tradition. It’s simply what we do; It’s what we have always done.

The older I get the more I realize that it takes effort not to experience complacency in our spiritual journey. Moses warned the people about it in today’s chapter as they prepared to enter the promised land.  Along the way the patterns become habits, habits become traditions, and traditions are mindlessly acted out as they have always been done for generations. But, there’s no real investment of heart or mind in it. It’s Life-less. And then, bad things can happen.

This week I’m taking up the task of thinking about the things I continually do from work to faith to recreation and relationships. I want to be aware of areas in which complacency is setting in and try to understand how it affects me and those around me. Perhaps there are some changes I need to make to consciously re-engage my heart and mind.

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Throwback Thursdays

TBT: Grandma’s Photography

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Vander Well family in front of Grandpa (Herman) and Grandma (Everdina) Vander Well's house in LeMars, IA. Photo processed June 1974
Vander Well family in front of Grandpa and Grandma Vander Well’s house in LeMars, IA. Photo processed June 1974

I’ve been slowly taking up the task of scanning my family’s archive of old photos. I came across this little gem from 1974 of my family standing in front of my grandparents’ house. There were two things that this photo brought to mind:

  1. Grandma insisting we must take a family photo before we would be allowed to leave for home (notice our shared excitement).
  2. Grandma, bless her, couldn’t frame a photo to save her life.
Chapter-a-Day

Playing the Role I’m Given

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At that time, too, I [Moses] entreated the Lord, saying: “O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your might; what god in heaven or on earth can perform deeds and mighty acts like yours! Let me cross over to see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and the Lebanon.” But the Lord was angry with me on your account and would not heed me. The Lord said to me, “Enough from you! Never speak to me of this matter again! Go up to the top of Pisgah and look around you to the west, to the north, to the south, and to the east. Look well, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because it is he who shall cross over at the head of this people and who shall secure their possession of the land that you will see.” Deuteronomy 3:23-28 (NRSV)

Casting a show is one of the more difficult things about being a director. You can have throngs of people audition but only so many parts to go around. It’s crucial to make sure you have the right people in the right roles and there are so many things to consider about an actor when deciding which role you want her/him to play including ability, experience, physicality, chemistry with others, and the ease of working with her/him.

Without fail, people will be disappointed with the roles in which they are cast. It’s a universal. Even as I write these words I can quickly name specific roles from long ago productions in which I still believe I should have been cast. Everyone who is a part of theatre for any length of time experiences this. There’s something at the core of our fallen nature given to this seed of both envy and pride. That person thinks he/she should have been cast in that role. Feathers get ruffled. Feelings get hurt. Some refuse to play the role in which they were cast. Others grudgingly accept the role they were given, but infect the rehearsal process with their grumbling and disgruntled attitude.

Today, I’m finding parallels between God’s direction of the events in Deuteronomy and the experience of directing and leading a production. In today’s chapter we find Moses, who was the lead character in the wildly successful Exodus from Egypt, wanting a lead role in the sequel production, Conquest of Canaan. He entreats God, the great Director, with a little flattery and then begs for the part. The Director seems a bit frustrated with the incessant grumbling and insists that the lead role in Conquest belongs to the actor who was cast (Joshua) and there will be no further discussion of the matter.

One of the most difficult yet rewarding lessons I’ve learned along life’s journey is that of choosing contentment in the roles that I am given. This is true whether we’re talking about a bit role on stage or the role given me by God in the on-going production of Life. When I stop whining about not having the role I desire and pour myself into the role that I have been given, then it’s a win-win-win for myself, the Director, and everyone else in the production.

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Top Five Tuesday

Top Five Tuesday: Trips with Teens

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Speaking of trips with a youth group, here are the Top Five trips I loved taking with teens both as a youth and then as a youth leader:

  1. Missions trips. Whether the slums of Mexico City, the hollers of Kentucky, or reservations of South Dakota, my all-time favorite trips were those where the kids got a chance to serve others, to see, and to experience what life is like for people in drastically different circumstances than they knew. I can still see the faces and hear the stories of young lives that changed, and life journeys that took drastically new trajectories because of a week spent on a mission trip.
  2. Culture trips. Those who know me will not be shocked to learn that I loved exposing young people to cultural opportunities that they might not have had otherwise. More than once I had uncomfortable conversations with parents to explain why this or that movie, play or event would be beneficial for their kid, but the conversations with the young people afterwards and the lessons I observed the them learning was priceless.
  3. Amusement parks. I don’t often admit it, but ever since my Grandma Golly took the Vander Well kids on an annual summer excursion to Riverview Park in Des Moines, my inner child has been in love with amusement parks. Being a youth pastor gave me a great excuse to entertain my inner child a couple of times each year.
  4. Ski trips. I’m not great on the slopes, but I loved strapping on the skis and zipping down the mountain. It was a treat to get to do it a time or two each year with the kids. Truth is, I haven’t been on the slopes since the last time I took a group of kids over 20 years ago.
  5. River tubing. It’s a blast just to float down the river in an inner tube. Before there were “lazy rivers” at every water park in America, we had to go to a river and pay to have someone drop us off at one point and pick us up at another. I loved it though. The scenery always changed and you never knew what was around the next bend.
Chapter-a-Day

A Simple Act of Integrity

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“You shall purchase food from them for money, so that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them for money, so that you may drink. Surely the Lord your God has blessed you in all your undertakings; he knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”
Deuteronomy 2:6-7 (NRSV)

Many years ago I did a short stint as youth pastor of a fairly good sized youth group. I would often find myself taking large groups of kids on various outings throughout the year. There were mission trips, ski trips, camping trips, trips to conferences, trips to concerts, trips to sporting events, and trips to the amusement park. It was common for me to lead a bus full of middle and high schoolers into a restaurant for a meal while we were on the road.

I made a point of talking to my kids about the integrity of not only paying for what you eat and drink, but also paying the human beings who served us in restaurants. I could see the look of agony behind the counter as my little nation of teens poured into Pizza Hut. My kids and I talked about putting ourselves in the shoes of our servers, the integrity of paying for both what we consume and the service we receive from others.

One evening I had a my usual throng of kids in the city for I can’t even remember what event. Knowing that their hunger was voracious as always, I herded them into an all-you-can-eat spaghetti joint and we loaded up on carbs Italian style. It just so happened that our server that night was a girl who was in my high school youth group when I had been part of the herd a few years earlier. After the meal, as I was rustling my kids out of the restaurant, my old friend from high school tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned to receive a warm hug.

With tears in her eyes, she admitted to me that she swore when she saw our group coming in. She knew from experience that a group of teens meant she was going to work her butt off for a bunch of rowdy adolescents and then get stiffed for the effort. She told me how kind the kids had been, how well they had conducted themselves, but most of all she couldn’t believe how well they had tipped her.

Along my life journey I’ve observed our culture increasingly given to cost shifting. As long as something is free to us, we ignore the fact that someone else has paid the price for it. I was struck this morning by the very simple command God gave to His herd of Hebrew children on their trip to the sea: “Pay a fair price for what you eat. Pay for the water you drink. Don’t take it. Don’t expect someone else to pay for it or incur the cost of it.”

This morning I am reminded of a waitress weeping over a couple of bucks that she both earned and deserved by her good service. I’m reminded of the simple integrity of paying for what you consume.  More than ever, I find it a differentiating mark of character in this world.

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featured photo:  global panorama via Flickr