Friday, December 22, 2017

Barn Worship



When Joel was serving a church in NE Montana he came up with an idea to try something different, and began holding "barn services" on Christmas Eve.  He would find a member of the church or community who was willing to let us have services in their barn.  All cows, sheep, cats and dogs welcome!  And of course, people, too! The owners would clean up the barn as best they could, often putting out straw bales to be used for benches.  This became a very popular service for families ~ the kids loved it.  They were able to interact with the animals, and the adults were given a sense of what it must have been like the night Jesus was born in a manger.

 Without heat, everyone would bundle up to attend.  I do remember one year when the service was held just an hour north of the Twin Cities where Joel was serving a church.  The media somehow became aware of it and asked if they could come film the service.  Joel let them come, but they could not interfere with worship.  The film of the service was picked up by the associated press and friends in Georgia read about the service in their local newspaper!  We had to chuckle over their write up because they said the pastor "dressed to play the part", wearing boots and a cowboy hat.  Okay then.  Joel has dressed in that attire for more years than I can count, but they had no idea he was not dressing the part for a barn service!

It was our family's favorite service, with good memories about the times when the cows did not excuse themselves to use the bathroom, or they would often try to interrupt Joel's sermon with their own.  One year a donkey brayed throughout the service, in competition with Joel.  Often as we sang the familiar Christmas hymns the cows sang along with the congregation.....making their voices heard!

 It was a unique service and a joy for our family to participate in.  For approximately 27 years Joel held Christmas Eve 4 pm services in barns in Montana, Minnesota, and Iowa.  It was one of the best experiences in his ministry.

We will not be worshiping in a barn this Christmas but in a beautifully decorated church.    They both are places people will gather to worship the reason for this season.  Jesus.  A time to celebrate the birth of a Savior for the world over 2000 years ago.   A time to gather together with friends and family.  A time for memories to fill our hearts with joy.  Wishing you peace!

                                                       
Merry 
Christmas!

Renee and Joel



Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Is It A Lemon?


There is a tree standing in our living room and it took enormous effort on our part to accomplish this.  In our search for the right artificial tree, we went to too many stores to count, and many stores more than once.  We eventually decided on a tree that was 31% off and were pretty happy with the price.  We brought it home and Joel unpacked it and set it up.......and then we realized there was no stand in the box.  Say, what?

I mentioned to Joel that he should check to make sure the lights worked and he did.  Then he drove across town back to the store receipt in hand, and returned home with a stand.  Yay.  He got the tree put together and plugged in the lights only to discover the top section of the tree did not light up!  What?????  It was late in the day and we could not agree on whether the whole tree should go back or just the top, so we decided to "sleep on it".  The next day I agreed to just taking back the top of the tree, but Joel decided to exchange the whole tree.  So he headed back to the store and came home with a new top section because he told them he wanted a new tree and they came back with just a new top!   Whatever!  He left the store tree in hand after making sure that the lights all worked!

A couple days later, so far, so good.  It is lit, it is steady and straight in the stand, and our new tree is now holding it's place of honor.  I confess though, that I have put off decorating it.  I'm no longer holding my breath nor waiting for the next problem to pop up, but I am only cautiously optimistic.

So, our oldest son called and we told him about our journey with this tree......he suggested that maybe Jesus was trying to tell us something when so many things went wrong on our cross over into fake vs real.  His argument was that there were no artificial trees around the stable when Jesus was born.  Now, he knows full well there were no pine trees at the manger either, but you get the idea.  Real trees please!!!

It truly has not been an easy choice to make.  But here we are, staring at a Christmas tree in our living room with a long skinny trunk, that smells a little like fire retardant and looks just a little too perfect.  In a couple more days, if nothing else goes wrong and we don't officially declare this tree of a "lemon" variety???  Then we will decorate it.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Twins In Their Soul

Brothers and Sisters

I was watching Steve Hartman on CBS news last night when Joel and I both were overcome with laughter and tears.  Two 4 year old girls were absolutely more than best friends.....they consider themselves twins.  One girl is African American and the other is Caucasian.  They love to dress alike and are "closer than sisters".  Their moms are delighted with this connection.  Recently they were at a birthday party and one boy told them they couldn't be twins because they don't have the same color skin.  One of the girls started to cry, but then she replied, "We are twins!  We are twins because we have the same soul."  How sweet!  How profound.

This story took me back to when we had 4 kids and the two oldest were in school.  We went to some school event as a family and later one of the kids told our oldest daughter that our two middle kids could not be her sister and brother because they did not have the same color skin.  I don't even recall what our oldest said in reply, but I do remember she defended our family and tried to explain adoption.

Just this week one man was fired from his radio announcing job and a woman resigned from her teaching position in town an hour from here because of the comments they made towards a couple Hispanic young men playing basketball on the opposing team.  Among other statements on the air, they made the comment that "Just like our President said, they need to go back where they came from." I'm thinking there are times the Native Americans must think that about all the rest of us.  Hmm

One of the young Hispanic men at the game was interviewed a couple of days later, and when he was asked what he felt about what was said, he replied (in perfect English by the way) that he was surprised by what the announcer and teacher said, but was forgiving the two involved for their hurtful comments.  Profound.

Our country has so much to learn, and we can learn a great deal of it from the young.  Whether a teenager with forgiveness in his heart, or four year old girls who are twins because they have the same soul.  Yeah.  I'm thinking we could all use a bit more forgiveness, acceptance, and love for one another.


Monday, December 4, 2017

We Ain't Looking So Clean!

A couple of weeks ago Joel washed the outside windows while I helped tackle the inside.  When we were finished they looked pretty good.........or so we thought.  The next day when we looked closely I said to Joel....... "Honey, the windows?  They "ain't" looking so clean!"  What is up with that??

So today, we started over with the windows.  Again.  On December 4th.  Are we bundled up as we venture outside to soap and rinse and dry?  Nope.  It was 64 degrees by 11 am today.  Seriously.  In northern Iowa.  Huh.  We have been given another chance to make the windows sparkling clean.  This time we took vinegar and mixed in another ingredient, a little Seventh Generation dish detergent and it broke up the dirt and grime.  Rinsing the glass with vinegar water and wiping with a soft cloth had us smiling.  With a little extra work and the right ingredients, the windows are clean!

As I was washing the windows I actually started to see a connection here and started to sing  "What can wash away our sins.....nothing but the blood of Jesus."   It seems that we often try to eliminate our sins with self control, determination, and prayer.  Not a bad combination, but without that extra ingredient ~ Jesus~ to cut through the dirt and grime in our lives, we ain't looking so clean.  Jesus suffered and died for us.  For our sins.  For sickness and disease (Is. 54).  He alone can wash away our sins....make us clean.  Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

So we cleaned up the windows today in shirt sleeves, and we are all ready for the cold and snow that is arriving tonight.  Winter is on it's way.  Think I will bundle up under my wool comforter and listen to a little music.  Maybe the song I was humming today!  Nothing but the blood.  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

                                                                        Song by Matt Redman 

Saturday, December 2, 2017

The Search For A Tree

Good Saturday morning from our corner of Iowa where the temperatures remain in the 50's!  We have a few more days of this left before the bottom drops out and December weather becomes a reality.

Speaking of December, Joel and I have been on a quest to find a tree...an artificial tree.  One that will last for 30 more years.  What can I say, we are being optimistic about our endurance and a tree's!  We have searched a gently used place connected to our daughter's work place.  We have gone to Hobby Lobby, Fleet Farm, Target, Menard's, Wal-mart, and Shopko.  I think we are going to have to face the fact that we are going to be paying way too much money for a tree that smells like plastic and was made in China.  

There is a huge variety of trees made....different colors, sizes, shapes, and you can have one with lights or without.  Some have 400 lights, others 700.  The price ranges from $59 to $800.  I am not kidding you, an $800 tree should be able to plug itself in, decorate and un-decorate it's branches and put itself away, don't you think?  We saw one tree at Target that was supposed to look just like a Charlie Brown tree.  It succeeded.  I think it must be trendy to pay an enormous price for a tree with 6 stick like branches.  Seriously.

One store had more boxed trees than trees on display.  We need to see it, please!  Another store had the trees up on a high shelf so you had to stand back and stare up to see.  No touching I guess.  One store had a number of trees with a pathway to walk through them....fun!  Fun, but not on sale and way way to expensive.  All the stores had trees and all but one had trees on sale....so how can it be so hard?  I am getting suspicious......is it us?

Finding a tree has always been a journey for us.  When we purchased the real deal, it would take time to find just the right one for the right price.  When we lived in MN we once went out to a refuge and with permission cut down a tree.  It was a hike out there, and you had to be really good at guessing what the top 10 feet of the tree of a 40 foot tree would look like!  Joel would saw down the tree, then cut the top 10 feet or less off to take home.  The rest was taken care of by the refuge.  One of our refuge trees had to be tied to the wall because the trunk was so crooked!   After two years of that practice, a member of the congregation told us to come to their Christmas tree farm and pick out one to cut down.  Nice!  Years later when I was too sick to have one in the house, Joel would bring home one and put it on the back deck.  I loved looking at it all lit up from my resting place on the sofa.

We noticed in recent years that unless you paid a week's worth of wages for a tree, it was often packed with old needles, and who knows how many bugs.  Trimming branches from the trunk and bringing it in, and especially carrying it out?  I guess we have stepped into that season of our lives where that just seems like a whole lot of work.

Still, this search for the "right" artificial tree is taking such a long time...... I wonder if that Charlie brown trendy tree is such a bad idea?  I wonder if the one "on sale" for $199 is the one to grace our home?  Okay, okay, our early morning and late night quests for a tree are taking waaaaay too long. Make a decision or go without! 

I wonder if the grandkids would notice if we did not have one.......