African Epoch

Well, the day has come.  I'm leaving in a few hours for the mountains of Abyssinia.   I ask for your prayers as I take on a new adventure.  God is leading; I know He will take care of my future.  He's going to teach me how to 'sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land.' 

Thank you for all of your support, calls, encouraging emails, and prayers.  I'm sorry I didn't have time to respond to everybody, but you all will be close to my heart.  

As the icon of American radio famously says, "Stand by for news!"

Excelsior

Darkness Before Dawn

What follows is my summary of the thesis of Richard Swenson's book, Hurtling Toward Oblivion. Quite convincing, I might add.

The exponential growth of profusion (more of everything) through irreversible progress has a dark side: the accompanying explosion of negatives, which,when they reach critical mass, will bring about the collapse of the world system with commensurately exponential speed.

The final events will be rapid ones. . .


Excelsiorr

Lakeview? Or Lost...

Well, I'm here at Camp Cherokee for another terrific summer. Things are exciting and busy, as always. For example, today I spent four hours driving boats, (complete with an injured camper waterfront drill), I tried to convince my cabin that resting during rest period was a good idea, tried to teach them how to clean a bathhouse properly (we got a perfect score, so either they learned well or I did too much;), dealt with a homesick camper (literally sick:( , and was recently subject to a frightening Indian raid, wherein the whole of camp was carried off by fierce-looking painted savages to the Teepees for the evening program. In between all that I've been busy taking trips to the ER (no more appendix--and hopefully I'll be able to keep the rest of my apparently non-vital organs), and trying to finish up the details to be able to go over to Ethiopia in a month. I've still got to mail things off to get my visa, figure out my insurance, and decide what to take with me; minor details like that.

Unfortunately, despite the awe-inspiring surroundings, despite the amazing, bountiful spiritual feast of camp meeting, despite the morning and evening chapel programs here at camp, the staff worships, our daily cabin devotions, and my own personal worship time (not as much of a priority as it should be), I'm not feeling alive in Christ. Somehow during the day, between my attempts to instill good behavior in my campers, the few witnessing moments I catch, and fights I stop, the relentless striving to be a competent staff member, the advice I give, I'm losing the little bit of the Lifewater I managed to scoop up in the morning. Dr. Clouzet shared a thought from an article by John Ortberg that I just recently recalled. It goes something like this, "One of the best things you can do to improve your spiritual life is to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life."

I'll let you ponder that and take from it what you will.

This is what it means for me. If I don't have time for God, then I'm just a walking, talking exhibit from the wax museum, labeled Christian. I might look real, even act fairly nice, but it's just a sham.

God, I've lost You somewhere among the orderly chaos of my own pursuit of excellence. Help me to slow down and listen.

Excelsior.

A Thought

They say it takes rain to appreciate the sun.

Well, it takes pain to appreciate none.


Excelsior

Summer School

Pictures are coming, I promise!

Some things I've learned during a two-week, 4,000 mile roadtrip with Timothy, Temple, Shama, and Brian, and then two weeks at my grandparents' farm with Ivan, in no particular order . . .

1. God can find the best camping spots ever!
2. A better appreciation for the song, "The Happy Farmer."
3. How to prune blueberry bushes
4. I'm not cut out to be a goat doctor
5. How to build a fence across a stream cut down into a gully
6. How to weld without a welder (it involves a torch with a heating tip and a lot of time)
7. Human flight is possible--it's just the landing that hurts (Sorry Brian)
8. Just how much you can fit in a Ford Taurus!
9. How to amuse yourself in airports (surreptitiously hide non-transportable items in the bushes without getting arrested, flip pennies into cups, long for a hackey sack)
10. That I really like the Psalms of Ascent (120-135)
11. Grandparents are one of the best ideas God ever had (I'm so glad I got to spend some time with all of mine!)
12. Chickens are lots of fun--it's like Christmas every day, trying to find their presents scattered around the barn
13. How to train goats that it's not a good idea to try to run through electric fences
14. That I have the most fun when I'm helping other people
15. How to eat Injera and Wot (now I'm really looking forward to Ethiopia!)
16. What fun it is to meet familiar people in strange places (Your eyes sure got big Kelsey:)
17. How to do a backflip (Thanks for your encouragement Nana!)
18. What it's like to drive 46 miles on a dirt road through the desert (and how to hang on when a jungle-trained driver is behind the wheel!)
19. Not to spray Dr. Brauner's Peppermint Oil Soap in your eyes (Seems pretty self-explanatory, don't you think?)
20. That haircuts are much more exciting when it's your hair stylist's first time
21. Living rooms are meant to have hammocks hung in them
22. How to pack a car like never before! (see number 8)
23. Pea soup and grapes and carrots are lovely breakfast food if your Grandma can't remember anything else to make
24. That it's much easier to catch goats with someone to help you
25. How to explore the inner workings of a medical clinic without getting kicked out (Stride boldly down the hallway and don't hang around to talk with anybody official-looking)
26. How to get in to an exclusive restaurant just to look at the decorations (same as above, only with the addition of a determined Grammie)
27. How to drive a truck and trailer with aplomb (I had more practice after I left Montana, I promise:)
28. Roadtrips are more exciting if you have adventurous compatriots and manage to avoid planning every moment (Thanks for your advice Timothy)
29. That Wafflehouse tastes really good at 11:00 at night (and that some waitresses aren't sure where Maryland is!)
30. How to scale trees and then descend with the greatest of ease (have your friends belay you:)
31. That Adult Sabbath School is very different than Primary
32. Waking up to NPR at 5:30 in the morning is slightly obnoxious (I sympathize for you guys at OA!)
33. That there is still a lot of snow in some parts of the country (over 6 feet in the Blue Mountains south of Walla Walla, WA), and that Crocs are wonderful snow-storage spaces, (although this action may have unexpected consequences when the Crocs are otherwise occupied!)
34. Driving long distances is much improved by the addition of odd rituals:)
35. It can sometimes take longer to get from Y to Z than from J to Z
36. Beware of opening your mouth when known mischief-makers ask you too
37. A day just isn't complete without singing three hymns and having worship
38. It's handy to have a tractor around when you get stuck
39. To pay more attention to the special little things that God does for me (I call these mini miracles "angel kisses" :)
40. What a huge blessing Godly friends are (I realize this anew every day!)
41. Oregon has full-service gas stations (and the prices reflect the extra service!)
42. Shade is a very special treat (Ps. 121:5), whether you find it during a hike in the Grand Canyon or after pounding fence posts on a hot and humid Maryland farm
43. It's nice to to have your labor appreciated (and goats and dogs sure are appreciative when they've been fed!)
44. Desert sand makes for soft landings while slacklining--as long as you avoid the cactus spines!
45. How to get ketchup out of a bottle without making a big mess (Thanks Kravigs!)
46. Following hunches while driving can make for beautiful excursions and terrible detours (I don't advise doing it when it's dark, on roads that aren't on the map, and while driving a Uhaul truck pulling a horse trailer--you might have to try to execute a 25-point turn on a little dirt road and end up getting temporarily stuck in a ditch!)
47. Some tricks for getting optimum gas mileage (go slower than the speed limit and make friends with big trucks)
48. If you want to really get to know somebody, either drive across the country with them or build a fence with them or trim goat hooves with them (Common points between the three are lots of time together and sharing lots of pleasant and some stressful situations)
49. A little bit of sand goes a long ways (especially when used as a seasoning!)
50. And I've learned that it's possible to be homesick for a place you've never been too. Being separated from people I love makes me long for our eternal Home more than ever.

Wow, all that and more (I didn't want to take all of your time!) and it's only been a month! I wonder what God has in store for the rest of the summer:)

Excelsior!