Recommendation

I am nearly finished with Catching Up or Leading the Way and recommend this book as essential reading in the fight against NCLB and testing as the way to determine student progress. Zhao traces the failure of centralized education in China, Japan, Singapore, and everywhere else it has been tried. His most powerful comments come in the form of comparing our history of scoring very low in tests that rank nations (we always have) and yet we continue to lead the world in innovation and places many people want to live. To reconcile this discrepancy one must always remember that the U.S. has valued creativity which leads to innovation and invention which keeps us on top. The high performing nations on standardized tests are all abandoning the centralized education system and moving toward decentralizing while the U.S. is moving in the opposite direction. Can someone explain???

The Joy of Cats

Our home never lacks excitement. Boomer, the black and white cat, is taking liquid medicine for his bad breath while Rocky is on antibiotics for a bladder infection that returns about every six months. The vet told us the best cure was to give him a sex change operation, I had to wonder if humans have the same reason for doing that procedure?? We used to just do shots, easier to hit a cat with a needle than give one a pill but then we noticed he reacted to the shots and lost fur at the site of each shot. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that in a few years we would have a bald cat plus he didn't really enjoy that process either. So with cost and disfigurement we decided to return to pills. What an adventure.

Failed

Video from August trip to Door County, just found time to upload. I guess getting sick has benefits.
The island shown in the video is wonderful, no motorized traffic of any kind. Various trails allow you to walk the entire outside loop of the island in less than three hours. There are nice beaches, picnic areas and tent camping. A very short boat trip takes you to the island where you can spend a few hours, the day or several days. The walk from the lighthouse down to the beach is exciting and well worth the few nervous points along the way. This is, by far, the better part of Door County. The northern side of the peninsula is for tourists, stay away if you want any kind of an outdoor experience. If you like dozens of expensive shops selling trinkets at inflated prices to rich city folks who think they are experiencing Walden then spend your time there but I would head for Washington Island and Rock Island.

Reading

I am currently reading, "Why Don't Students Like School," by Daniel Willingham and since very few people ever find this blog I can write about what he says about tracking without fear of being discovered.

"I don't accept that some students are "just not very bright" and ought to be tracked into less demanding classes. But it's naive to pretend that all students come to your class equally prepared to excel; they have had different preparations as well as different levels of support at home, and they will therefore differ in their abilities. If that's true, and if what I've said in this chapter is true, it is self-defeating to give all of your students the same work. The less capable students will find it too difficult and will struggle against their brain's bias to mentally walk away from schoolwork. To the extent that you can, it's smart, I think, to assign work to individuals or groups of students that is appropriate to their current level of competence." (Willingham, p. 16-17)

Differentiation of instruction. If this became common practice, excellent practice, thoughtful practice, might some tracking be done away with? What if teachers were given the time to actually reflect on current practices with other teachers? Might this be accomplished?

While adding wild random thoughts. . .I have heard it said that there is no more important work in schools than what teachers do in their classrooms every day. As I sit here typing, the thought leaps to mind, then why are teachers paid far less than administrators. Even if we are of equal value then our pay should be closer to equal??? What if teams of teachers ran the schools and taught? Developed budgets, disciplined, counseled, and taught according to skills acquired through graduate classes? Time for reflection.

Long Time Writing

It's that time of year. Shorter, cooler days, longer nights. After having four years of excuses our church offered a men's class on Saturday morning. Since September twelve of us have met from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in a class called "Basic Training." We are supposed to have about two hours of homework but since my brain doesn't memorize well I usually have to spend far longer to get my memory verse internalized. It has been wonderful. We have read several chapters of Ortberg's book, The Life You've Always Wanted and now several chapters of Farrar's book, Point Man. I have listened to taped messages by Howard Hendricks and Bill Hybels. I have been confronted with the disciplines of the faith. I have been found wanting in my commitment to serve. The week I had to memorize Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus," I learned I am a very anxious person.
I am anxious because my house remodel hasn't been completed, I am anxious because I am not the teacher I desire to be, I am anxious because money is more of a stress than it was, I am anxious because my 92 year old dad isn't in good health and the list could go on. Why am I not thankful for a job, for a wonderful wife, for a loving family, for a church family that has brought blessings that we can never repay, for the people I work with who make going to work a pleasure instead of a pain, for a group of men meeting on Saturday morning who are willing to take a risk and share their joy and pain. Why am I anxious? I am told not to be. I am told to be thankful. I am resolving to allow the Lord God of all creation to begin a work in me, to change me, to take my anxious heart and mind and give me peace and rest.
May this same God do the same for you. Peace.

If your church doesn't have a Basic Training class for men, contact me and I will send the information. It will change your life.

Time

Do you ever find time in short supply? I noticed it has been nearly a month since I last posted. How to summarize........a Dad in and out of his assisted living to ICU to a hospital room to a nursing home room, to ICU again, hospital room and now back to the nursing home. A wife having a biopsy (good report :-) ). A difficult class at school. Starting a 9 month study program with ten other men at church. Oh, a house remodel that has been stalled while I adjust to getting other things done. Thoreau wondered, does a person own things or do they own him? The older I get the easier it is to answer, I am owned.

The good news is that fall is here. The colors, the cool weather, an end to mowing, the harvest, raking leaves. I love this time of year. The God of creation is doing good work outside and in. ;-)

Odd Thoughts That Occur While Working

As I read about our inability to have open and honest dialogue regarding health care I grow frustrated. As a fiscal conservative I operate from a viewpoint that man is fundamentally flawed (in need of a Savior) and given the opportunity will take advantage of the system (either rich or poor). As I listen to my more liberal friends they tend to believe man is fundamentally good and given the choice will make the proper choice most of the time. As I work on my house remodel project and have followed the honors heaped on Senator Kennedy, it started to occur to me that it is indeed liberals who believe man to be fundamentally flawed and numerous laws are necessary to control his behavior. If man were fundamentally good why would we have ever needed Title IX? The universities would have seen the obvious inequities between men's and women's sports and corrected them. If we were fundamentally good the Disabilities Act would never have been necessary, communities would have seen how difficult we were making life for those with physical handicaps and they would have banded together to correct those errors. We would never have needed a government to show us what ought to have been obvious.

I also question whether or not all the support for those in poverty has had any positive effect since the war on poverty other than to create a generational poverty problem for those of us in education. My idea is that you get five years of total support. Yes, one hundred percent support, housing, food, medical, dental, education, job training, counseling, and a two year old car. At the end of five years you are on your own. Not one dime more for the duration, not you, children or grandchildren. We must find a way to stop the attitude that is permeating high schools, someone has taken care of my grandparents, parents, and someone will take care of me. Why work hard in school, my parents have a apartment, cable tv, food, medical, etc. never mind they are a slave to the system. They have no freedom to travel, it looks like an easy life so why should I expect any more and why should I ever put forth effort? I get very nervous the liberal point of view regarding public aid is more of an enslavement mentality. Let's make the poor dependent upon the government for everything, they will vote for those of us who give them more but they won't be there to compete for the limited number of jobs we seem to have in this country. My mom grew up poor but because there was no support system provided by the government she pushed and pushed for each child to get an education and get a good job. No complaining about the teachers, no complaining about the homework, do it. Do it well and there will be a positive payoff. My teachers never had to read books about the "culture of poverty" and "other peoples children" because even if you were poor you raised your children to work and better yourself. Where did that attitude go?

I found it interesting to read the French Prime Minister admitting their social system is broke. They can't afford all the benefits, the debt is too deep, the benefits too expensive, major changes must be made and yet, call it what you will, we are following their path. We never see the errors of others, our arrogance is like a blinder, we never have a discourse on options, we blindly go where others have trod and failed. Government officials using Twitter to keep people posted is no substitute for real discussion, deep philosophical discussion about where we want this country to be in twenty-five or fifty years. We must stop looking beyond the two term max a president may serve. Fifty-nine percent of the population in the U.S. paying taxes, no matter the rate, cannot pay for an additional nine trillion in debt. The time to discuss is now.

School

We began the second week of school and I finally feel as if I'm getting into the mode. Up at 5:10 and off for school by 5:50 is the goal. That means progress on the garage and house has slowed considerably. We finished the north side tonight and now we are ready to move to the front. There is only the south end where I have to be up in the air quite so high. That isn't enjoyable at all! None of this would be done without the help of my wife who climbs to the top of the scaffolding and nails, tapes, or generally does whatever must be done. I am so fortunate to have a partner in such projects. She did say that this is it, no more large-scale remodeling projects. My goal is that ever elusive $60 per month heating bill for the winter. Much care has gone into sealing cracks, taping the insulation joints and then wrapping the house in Tyvek. God has been good, no serious injuries and no fights.
It is amazing to have a wonderful partner in this life journey AND go to school and work with a great staff. The start of our year was a little different than most but our department members responded in their typical business-like manner. I think that is what frustrates me the most about NCLB, we work hard, we use best practices in our classrooms and because our test is the ACT we will never make adequate yearly progress. We are not a middle class school and most standardized tests measure economic class. Oh well, all we can do is keep on trying.

Therapy

From the picture on the top to the picture on the bottom in less than a month! I don't feel bad for a mid-50's teacher who has made his mid-50's wife help on some pretty heavy lifting. Building something is therapeutic. The creating process to actually nailing one board to another is a great way for a teacher to spend their summer vacation. To the left was my 2007 garage project and now I am moving to the rest of the house and getting ready for new siding. I have begun to tear off the first layer of siding and then the second layer and finally wrap the old windows, install insulation board and tyvek. Then I will be ready to install the new siding. Who knows how long that will take.

Another Beautiful Day

Got the north side of the garage sheeted today and I am set up to finish the south side tomorrow. South side will go much slower since there is a lot of flashing to finish. It seems as if this has gone on forever but I was reminded of a song our boys listened to when they were young and the words seem very appropriate for my hurry up mindset. The part I remember went, "have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry, when you get impatient, you only start to worry, remember, remember, that God is patient too," and by this point I get the message. Slow and steady will get the job done. The weather has cooperated and stayed unusually cool for July (where did all the horror stories about global warming go).

Getting There

I really don't like heights anymore. I have just finished installing the roof on our new garage and I am sooooooo glad to have my feet planted on the ground. From the photo you can also see that I have finished installing the last gable end studs on the second floor. To give an idea of the height, my nine foot step ladder fits under the cross pieces toward the upper part of the interior. It is still a good thing for me to keep doing some things that stretch my confidences. They help me think things through, always plan for an emergency (if your plank snaps, lay flat and in five feet another plank will stop your fall) and never get in a rush to finish. With school about to start these are probably pretty good steps to remember in my classroom.

New Neighbors

Just came in from taking this photo of our new neighbor. I think it is a Cooper Hawk but someone better than I would have to verify. The mother and father have a nest in the tree just two houses down from us I came across this one eating something. The partner was also on the ground but by the time I got home and got my camera it was too late. Truly amazing to watch this great bird eat. I have never seen hawks nest in town before. This is the third time I have seen these two in yard and a person can listen to their cry from the tree when walking by.

Geometry

I hate algebra. I never saw a use for it. Geometry is beautiful, just look at all the shapes in one photo. You will never find this in an algebra photo.
I am at the frustration point in the construction, the fun and easy parts are done. I have to pay attention or I'll mess up or worse, get hurt in the fall. I'm ready to turn it over to someone else. In Sunday School today Frank shared a quote that was appropriate for me, "God is sovereign but you can't lean on a shovel and expect a hole." (Tommy Nelson) I was at the leaning point but now I'm ready to go again

Another Day

Continued work on the north garage, I do not like being in the air without solid visible support. Today was installing the final two rafters on the south edge, face boards, and filling in the north gable end. Video clip shows Paul doesn't care for heights any more than I.

Garage Progress

Tonight was the night. Rafters were set, racing against the rain that never came. Luke Stuber, Paul Schurter, Arlan Miller, and me. It was humid, the guy who decided to put a 12 pitch on the garage was crazy (me). But, once we figured out how to do this without killing anyone (put the youngest and strongest in the dangerous positions) it really went well. The difficult part of getting the sheeting in place comes next and then filling in the gable ends but that is another worry. Our thanks goes to neighbor Wayne for coming up with another 9' step ladder, my 8' was a bit short so having two 9' ladders made for much easier work for the height guys.

Video from Oregon Trip

Video clip from a hike we took while visiting Samantha and Michael in Portland. Great day, great company, great hike. God is good, His creation is amazing.

Current Project

Living in an older home is interesting. Over the years there were attempts to "update" things. Carpeting laid over oak floors is one I still have yet to comprehend. The original owner of our home got tired of walking two blocks to a garage so he bought a garage from someone, dismantled it, and put it up next to his house. That worked well for years and years but then termites and other "updates" by owners over the years took a toll on the venerable garage. We knew there was termite damage and so the year we moved in I hired American Pest Control to rid the premises of the pesky critters. Ahhhhhh, the damage was already done. Tearing the old garage down I found the garage door header had been chewed literally to pieces. Every corner was eaten and the sill plate was just about gone. Anyone reading this who thinks you can treat your own home for termites.....you can't. Pay the professional, you are just postponing the day of reckoning. I will try and post updates on my progress. I may even be able to find a good picture of the garage header to post.

Pine State Biscuits

The picture to the left is from the Pine State website. These are the best biscuits ever. If you are in Portland (Oregon) be sure to either stop at their Farmer's Market location downtown or go to their hole-in-the-wall location. My wife claims their mushroom biscuits and gravy are amazing. I had a sausage/egg biscuit which was out of this world. Travel really is fun.

Life

Rail bridge that has been turned into a bike path bridge in rural Nebraska. We walked about a half mile and then got on the bridge. It was amazing, the prairie in all its glory and a bridge allowing the easy transport of goods across a river valley. We need that transport in our life, a way to cross those valleys that inevitably enter our life. Not that I always want things to come easy but having Christ provide a bridge to make the difficult times more manageable is sure nice. He is faithful, always present, always desiring relationship, no matter where we have been, what we have done, Christ can be that bridge to help us over the rough spots that life brings.

The Trip

My wife and I have returned from our travels to Portland to see our son and daughter-in-law. Three weeks, one week driving out, ten days in Portland and the trip home. The picture on the left was a little 1950s camper we ran into at a gas station. A whole group of these little mini vehicles had driven from Key West on their journey to Alaska. What man can create! The picture on the right was taken on the Oregon coast. We spent a day traveling a small section from Fort Clatsop to Tillamook. Wonderful day, beautiful views. It was also wonderful to spend time with our children. It is always good to watch children grow up and turn out to be great human beings. We were able to attend their church, which did take me back to a Rich Mullins concert, the pastor wore no shoes or socks, taught the Word and asked thoughtful questions. A blessed time in the Lord.

Read this book!

Who Knows?

This flower has grown under the care, feeding, and nurturing of my wife and our Creator. Last Sunday our pastor addressed the question, "Who knows how we will end up?" He discussed the erosion of faith in our country because the economic crisis, the relentless battering of the media, and the lack of understanding by Christians that they are God's children. "The world may fall apart but we know where we will end up. The God of tomorrow is the God of today. As we walk with Him we know Him more and more so we trust Him more and in times of crisis what is inside us becomes the outside." These words struck me deeply. Because of the lack of depth in my spiritual walk with the Lord I become easily frustrated with our culture. I become angry with political leaders, economic leaders and life in general. I forget upon Whom and what my foundation is built. I can only influence those I am in contact with and my life must reflect the joy and hope I find in the Lord. "God came to give us confidence to take a stand. Today we tend to live in fear, we are called to live in the confidence of a creator who has promised to guide us AND direct us." We must be confident to step into the future and walk with Him and walk like Him. " from Tim Bias and I John 3)

Extreme Makeover Schurter Edition

What better way to get a group of guys together than tell them they can wreck something? I have an old termite riddled garage that must go to make way for a new garage. I am probably the only person in central Illinois who lives on a corner lot and can enter a garage from either street. The destruction began on May 30 and the final fall came on June 6 (D-Day). No major injuries occurred during the filming process! I must express my thanks to Dennis Koch of Koch Konstruction for hauling away the first load of junk. There is more to haul and you will be paid.

Tour de Casey's 2009

June 5, school has been out for two days and we are finally hitting the road for the first annual Tour de Casey's. Blaine, newly graduated senior, Tom, my team-teaching partner and I are leaving Pekin High School at 7:00 a.m. bound for Tremont, Hopedale, Minier, Mackinaw, Morton and finally Groveland where we will stop at every Casey's. I have ridden all of 100 miles in 2009 and we rode 55 miles in one day most of the final 25 miles into a fairly steady headwind. Overall the day was fantastic, the Casey's donuts were supurb, the G2 cold, second breakfast at the Mackinaw Family Restaurant was outstanding and my legs were shot. We were only yelled at once by a driver who didn't know how to pass bicyclists riding single file. This is a great time of year to ride and the winner of the outstanding Casey's was Minier. All you bicyclists.....this route is a great ride and there are dozens of others in Tazewell County that would equal it. Cycling is a great way to truly enjoy the outdoors, even though Blaine had his Blackberry out at every stop and had to listen to two teachers discuss the "voice" of each community we passed through the day was great. My apologies for the lousy video, my legs were shaking so bad from lack of training and riding with people who could be your children is getting more difficult each year. My thanks to both of these guys for allowing the old fat guy to ride along. It means a lot. Oh, Groveland....I couldn't face riding another mile north and then back to head home....next year!

Chicago

Light and shadows interest me. They hide and reveal. The can show hope and despair. These were taken on our recent field trip to Chicago. Federal Reserve Bank on the left, Sears Tower on the right.

The Question No One Wants To Discuss

When does aid move from help to enabling?

Premise: That I am obligated to assist those in need. This is a command from Christ. However, at what point has my assistance allowed a person to become dependent upon assistance and never seek to break that bond?

We have lost a war on poverty, we have lost a war on drugs, when do you raise the white flag and admit defeat and start over in a new direction? For example, we have such a large government system that employs thousands built around these two areas that nothing will ever change. Do humans need to be free to fail?

Odessa Lake Trail, RMNP

Vicki and I attempted the hike to Odessa Lake during our recent trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. There had been new snow and we were the first to travel this particular trail. Our Creator has put a wonderful earth together and hiking in the mountains brings a particular peace that can only be understood through experience. We left Illinois with a sense of frustration, a home we own in Peoria is not selling, I am barely staying ahead of my students which doesn't allow me to prepare the way I feel I should which means my classes are not going the way I think they should which frustrates (do you see a pattern here?) me. Anyway, time in the mountains allows me to clear my head and focus upon what God is doing and needs to do in my life. We are tremendously blessed. In spite of all that appears to be going wrong in our world God is good each and every day.

Lumpy Ridge

We have returned from our trip to Estes Park. The photo was taken on our hike to Gem Lake in RMNP. The area is called Lumpy Ridge and you go north out of Estes to find this wonderful hiking area. The trees provided me with wonderful lines that really blur the cabin in the background, much as we can allow life to blur our view of what really matters.
If you are planning a trip to this area we would recommend the Gem Lake hike. You have about 900' of elevation gain but some wonderful panoramic views of the mountains will truly take your breath away.

Rest

Life can always get a bit hectic. Time away in the mountains helps relax the mind, soul and sometimes even the body. We tend to make our trips a bit of an adventure and so the body doesn't always get to rest. The mountains are a place to gain perspective on a world that seems to place too much value on things. The mountains allow me to rest my mind from the normal daily wear and tear of life. The picture I have posted was taken on a snowshoe trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. The day was beautiful, the trail had close to 8" of new snow. This provided, "rest."

One Trillion Dollars

Website worth looking at.

http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

Lent

Lent, never meant much to me until the past few years. My fellow Catholic believers gave up meat, marked a cross on their forehead and proceeded to quietly model reconciliation for the next 40 days. This past year I decided I would give up Mountain Dew, hey, you have to start somewhere, and for the next five days I lived in misery. Deciding I wasn't Catholic and a cold Mountain Dew was screaming at me, I gave in. This year our church has been doing a sermon series leading up to Easter that deals with the process of reconciliation. Reconciling or changing my life so I am a more effective believer, more loving toward those who need love, more forgiving toward those who need forgiveness, and more Christ-like toward those who need to see a poor representation of Christ here on earth. Chocolate is gone, well, except for a slip, gone and I have not been seeing images of a Snickers bar everywhere I look. My department has been wonderful, they know I'm new at this kind of thing. Am I having deeper thoughts, do I feel closer to Christ, nope, I feel a joy that He is assisting me at overcoming a strong pull in my life. If He can help me with this one thing, He can help me with many other things. One little step at a time.

Observation

As we argue and discuss the current economic crisis I ask you to examine the chart at left. You will notice that tax freedom day fell later in the year under Bill Clinton. Our income and spending was much closer to being in check. I know we do not like to pay taxes but if our government (at all levels) is going to continue to feed our addiction to more and more services something must give. A real scary statistic that more people need to check out is that in 2006 forty-one percent of Americans paid NO income tax. Is it time for us to consider a flat tax that everyone earning over $25,000 must pay? Even those under $25,000 might pay a flat 2% so they are at least contributing.

To Change the Mind of God

Confessions, no, I will never be another Augustine. But I would like to change the mind of God. Our church found out this week that our directing pastor will be moving this July to Ohio. Ten years at our church and nearly six years as the pastor of Vicki and I. Six years of teaching that exceeded the previous twenty combined. I have learned the value of relationships. I have learned the church must acknowledge that dependencies exist and must be addressed. We are a broken people needing a healing savior.

On a separate note it has been interesting to listen to the regular bombardment of the media regarding Darwin's birth. This morning I even heard an "expert" wondering why Americans can't get over the fact that Europeans have accepted since the scientific revolution, there isn't a God at the top of everything. That statement answers why many of us still doubt American scientists, they don't know history. Most scientific revolution scientists did their research to prove the existence of God. It has only been since Darwin that science and religion have totally parted ways and history demonstrates that has been a good decision???? Both sides need to accept the other in a pursuit of truth, no matter where the truth takes them. God has given minds to think and recognize that humans need something outside themselves in order to control their behavior. Science wants to remove that "control" believing we will make the right decisions without belief in God. I do not doubt that change is taking place. I doubt that something came from nothing. I doubt that something came from nothing for no reason. I doubt that science has all the answers. I doubt that me, a single believer in Christ, has all the answers. I constantly seek Truth, wherever it might lead. Is that too much for science? Knowledge without controls leads to chaos.....single mother without the means to support children having fourteen to support. Science has proven they need to be accountable, no accountability can lead us to disaster. If there is not a God to whom we attempt to be accountable then to whom will we look for accountability? I guess scientists want to look to other non-accountable people from whom they will gain accountability.

House Progress?

January 2009 has been cold and snowy. I had days off from school so the video tracks the progress in our painting of the living and dining areas of our 1933 Sears house. The floor refinishing was started on Saturday morning and will be totally finished on Tuesday, sand, fill, sand, stain, seal, seal, seal. The large rectangle you will see in the floor is where the "central" heat advertised in the original catalog provided coal heated air to the entire house. It drifted up through registers to heat the second floor. Conversion to a gas furnace had the floor patched, we elected not to try and do anything fancy but simply kept the patch.

Facing the Future With Confidence

I have had several days off from school due to the cold weather in the middle of the U.S. It does appear that we will finally get back to school tomorrow! This has been a good time to paint the living room and dining room in our 1930s era Sears home. We are attempting to return to more of the look of the 30s, colors etc. The living room and dining room are now Sage and the stairs up are Oyster Bay (green and tan for those color challenged like me).
Our pastor had another great sermon on Sunday and it started with a question he was asked when interviewing as a candidate for Bishop in the UMC; if you had five minutes with the president of the U.S. what would you say? Dr. Bias made some really good points that can be boiled down to some thoughts that brought joy to a history teacher's heart. The Renaissance brought us the Age of Reason and the Scientific Revolution which brought us the ideas that we can solve all our own problems. The Age of Faith was replaced by the Age of Me. We now have enough history to examine that a conclusion about the success of that change is clear. . . it hasn't worked. Our problems have continued to grow totally unabated. The time to recognize our need for a relationship with our Lord is more important than ever. Our prayers must align us with God, get us working WITH God and not trying to change God. Prayer is a submitting process, submission to God's way, it is working with God, a pursuit of holiness that can only come by recognizing we don't have all the answers. This life is bigger than us. There are problems that can only be solved by God, even problems in our own life. God is not going to act unless we are willing to cooperate. We can't call out the evil without submission to God and following Him in trust and obedience. Evil won't be thrown out by a dictatorial God but by a relationship and partnership with a living and loving God. The impossible becomes possible to those who trust and obey. May our new leaders recognize this, may we recognize this and begin anew an Age of Faith. God is good, He has taken us to a church where our faith is challenged regularly. If you are in Peoria, looking for a church try us, First United Methodist, downtown Peoria.

Springs of Living Water

This photo was taken far from the "modern" world. Vicki and I were in Brazil in 2006 and had the opportunity to deliver this water purifier to a village about 180 miles south of Altamira. Living water came from this purifier, not the river water that made people ill but clean, clear, healthy water that people could drink and find sustaining life. This morning I was privileged to attend a memorial service for Farai Chimvinga, the brother of a close friend from church. Farai passed away November 28, 2008 from complications of skin cancer. He lived in Zimbabwe. How large my world has become.

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." (Rev. 14:13) No spring of living water kept Farai from joining the Lord but at his memorial a "spring of living water" from the Holy Spirit surrounded all of us present. Five African nations were represented, Holy Scripture was read, Amazing Grace, Soon and Very Soon, Blessed Assurance, and Ndofamba were sung. Farai's sister, Irene, shared remembrances and we left filled with the living water of our Lord. We were not Americans or Africans, we were people of God, joined together by a belief in one Lord, one faith, one baptism and confidence that we will join one another in the hereafter.

The family sang Shona Song and the words follow below:
1. Ndofamba ndofamba
Ndosuwa kudenga
Kunyika yatenzi
Isina nenhamo
2. Madzinza ariyo
Hakuna urombo
Hawacha zochemi
Hawana rusuwo
3. Watswene wariyo
Wofara zwikuru
Kuona yonyenye
Mufuri wewese
4. Neniwo ndinoda
Kufamba murwendo
Runoda wasimbi
Kuswika yonyika

English:
1. I'm on a journey, I miss heaven,
where there are no troubles
2. There are tribes there, there is no
poverty. There will not be crying,
and no sorrow.
3. The saints are there, they are
rejoycing, to see the sheep, who died
for all
4. I also want to be on this journey
it takes faith to reach that place.

May you allow yourself to be immersed in the living water of our Lord.

January 2009

Happy New Year! Vicki and I stopped at Frontenac State Park along the Mississippi River while traveling home from Minnesota. I thought this tree, valiantly holding its dead leaves, was interesting. We had hoped to snowshoe but the trails had very little snow and lots of ice. We almost needed our snowshoes because of the bite they provide on a slick surface.

May hope abound in your life as we enter another new year.