The Way

Mom, James, Me & Dad I have the best brother ever who turns another year older today. October 29, 1959 (almost 4 years before my appearance on this terrestrial ball) a dark headed, widow peaked little boy was born. I have seen pictures and know that this kid looks much like his dad (my father). James and I have had some incredibly great times together. We grew up playing ball in the back yard (any kind of ball, it really didn't matter); he frequently beat on his little brother (I have the scars to prove it); and we shared a bedroom as little kids where he would say scary things to me and pretty much freak me out. He taught me how to throw a ball; hit a golf ball; kick a soccer ball and how to mow a yard. We shucked much corn together; broke many a green bean; traipsed through all kinds of woods hunting squirrel and rabbit; and fished every little creek, pond, lake, and puddle in Cass County. Oh, so many good times and memories. We grew, he moved out of the house, and I...

This past week I had the privilege of teaching The Minister of Youth class at Midwestern Seminary. A former colleague at LifeWay invited me this past summer to consider becoming an adjunct professor. I went through all the vetting process and somehow passed the test. I developed a syllabus and created projects with homework and everything. It was a good process for me to go through. Monday-Thursday we met from 9a-330p. Seven of the most fun and entertaining people/students have been around. I am pretty sure that I did not fit their idea of a prof. We learned together and I am grading projects and they have one more big project to finish in meeting the requirements of the class. It was a great experience. On Thursday afternoon, I climbed on a plane and flew to Anchorage for Avalanche which is their annual youth event. It was great to spend time training some great volunteers and leaders. That was followed by preaching on Sunday morning at University Baptist Church in Anchorage. It ...

Last Tuesday I left early in the am and headed towards Anchorage via ATL and MSP. I met my brother, James, in MSP and we loaded up for Anchorage. We got in before dark, saw lots of snow, mountains, and icy waters as we landed. We were both pretty tired but stayed up, grabbed some dinner, said Wow! alot at the scenery and hit the hay about 9p AST. Wednesday, we were up early but it does not get daylight until about 830a so we exercised, destroyed USA Today and the local Anchorage paper and then headed towards Seward. Beautiful drive of about 3 hours through the Turnagain Arm area and lots of snow covered mountains. We saw a few moose on the drive down and seals and bald eagles in Seward. Good conversation with one of the locals telling us about the fishing travails in the area. Halibut was just in season and expensive! On the ride back we stopped at an animal refuge and saw bison, bears, bear cubs, reindeer, moose and various other animals. Good times! Thursday morning we woke to s...