LIfe changes... at least my Saturdays.

Today starts a new era for our church and for me... Saturday Night Services!

Mixed feelings...

1. Excited! -cool! More people with more options. Biger impact - bang for the buck!

2. Pressured...  less time to get every detail in place.

3. Loss...  this means for all foreseeable Saturday nights I have plans. (Saturdays come almost every 7 days)

4. Glad...  that my kids are older now. Don't think I would sign up so easily for this if my children were younger.

We also begin a new series today:  30 Days to Live

Loving a friend after a fight...

No, I haven't had a big fight with a friend. But this was the title of a message I taught a few weeks ago.

A few people asked for the “defining questions” we should ask in the aftermath of a conflict. Here they are:

1. Which is more important: to be right or the relationship?
(Note, there are some times when the issue is that important.)

2. How significant will this issue be in a week, a month, a year, or in five years?

3. What do you want this relationship to look like in a year?

4. What was “my part” in the conflict? What did I do and say that added to the problem?

5. Is this a healthy friendship? Is it dangerous? Do I need different boundaries?
(We can’t be best friends with everyone. It’s important to choose healthy close
relationships.)

6. What is the other person thinking and feeling? How do they view the issues?

7. Do I still believe the best and want the best for the other person? Why or why not?

Answering these questions help give us perspective and direction for our next steps.

If you are interested in the rest of the message... go to www.crosswindschurch.com
and you can listen to past messages including this one. The series was called "Tough Times Love" and included Loving a friend going through divorce, ...who has lost a job, ...who is depressed, and ...after a fight.


One last thing... I know it's been a year. Maybe I'll write more. And maybe not...

Did Willow Creek Repent?

This is a reprint of a bog from Tim Stevens Pastor of Creative Arts at Granger Community Church

It seems that just about every week someone submits a comment here using Willow Creek's supposed repentance as proof that I'm wrong and that any attempt to reach "seekers" is misguided. There has been amazing amounts of misinformation out about the study...including a blog from last fall and an article in Christianity Today that appeared a few weeks ago.

Today I received notice of a "correction" to some of these news reports just issued by Bill Hybels. Some notable quotes from the interview...

How did you respond to the CT article? "I think it was an unfortunate article that was written without a proper understanding of what we’re actually doing these days. We have had the same one sentence mission statement for 32 years. We’re trying to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Christ. We have never been more committed to either side of that mission statement."

What about the headline that Willow Creek had repented? "I wondered what horrible, immoral thing have I done? I think it was a poor choice of words, actually, because we have made strategic adjustments on an annual [basis] to try to be more effective in building an Acts 2 church. I don’t think when you make a strategic adjustment it qualifies under the term repent."

Are you abandoning your seeker focus? "There’s no real worry about that ever happening. I mean, since the day I became a Christian...I’ve wanted everyone in my life to experience grace, saving grace...I think the older I get, the more aware I am that I only have from this day until my final day to get the Word of Christ out to as many people as possible. My risk profile is going up, not down. My commitment to trying to inspire our congregation to reach their friends is going up, not down."

Watch the entire interview on video here.

So what's the relevance to crossWinds?

Since we began crosswinds 11 years ago we have had the label "seeker church". For the most part I've been proud to have that association. It reminds us that God is passionate about reaching those far from Him and that we are not merely a fellowship, we are a mission.

The other day someone asked me if we were a "seeker" church. I found myself incapable of just saying "yes!". I don't know the other person's biases. I've watched "seeker" churches become the punching bag (in some circles).

So these days I find myself explaining crosswinds to others as a church deeply commited to convincing people about the relevancy of God (that's the seeker commitment) and to becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus (the growth and development of the convinced). That's our mission statement. I never want to be "seeker" to the exclusion or detriment of growth. I never want to lose our commitment to those far from God because if we do that we will lose our growth edge. True discipleship cannot take place in an environment that does include convincing those apart from grace.

How observant are you?

take the test


How did you do?

U2 Reflections

Wow - we just finished a teaching series called "U2-The meaning behind the music". It was challenging for me as I'm not a huge music person. Which means I had to engage in research - who is U2? - What do their songs mean... if anything? - Is there more to the songs than the words? (yes there is!) Songs included were "I still haven't found what I'm looking for", "Sometimes you can't make it on your own", and "Miracle Drug".

We recieved great feedback from all real fans. And positive feedback from casual fans. And no feedback from sports junkies! It was a very interesting experiment for us and one I think we will repeat in various forms. If you're interested in getting a cd write the church... the messages should be posted online soon!

U2@CHURCH??

The point of U2 series wasn't U2 or music. It was to find a way in. A way in -means how do we get to open up spiritual conversations and have meetings that speak the language of our culture. Our goal is to mine our culture for these open windows and doors (a 'way in') to greater truths.

U2 songs were a way to do it. Which would you rather invote your friends to a series call "U2@CHURCH" or "a walk through the book of John".

This doesn't mean we won't teach the book of John. We'll just look for portals into our culture to introduce them to John and the rest of the Bible. (We said as much about Jesus and God as we do every Sunday)

Our goal is to create experiences of spiritual growth and discovery that are intriguing to our society (friends). This is why we've done series like "crossWinds at the movies" or "what would Jesus say to.." And it's why we steal pop images from our culture anytime we can ("iLife" - "Life Swap" - "Heroes" - "Deal or No Deal")

This week I will be searching for these window into our culture where the gospel can shine as I plan the next 4-6 months of teaching.

Your prayers are appreciated!

Lucky

The Conference

This week I have been at a conference in New Mexico! I know... I missed a cold week in MN. Lorri and I attended an Evangelical Free Church Pastoral conference called "Midwinter Theological Discussions". The topic was "an evaluation of the emerging/emergent church movement. Are you on the edge of your seats? I was.

It was a great conference... I hope to write more later. But the quick notes are: God is up to some wonderful things in the emerging church. Are there some dangers? Sure... but there is danger in any effort to reach people. I am encouraged by the tone of the Free Church towards the movement. I learned a ton... my brain is tired.

The other insight I had is that relative to the values of the emerging church crossWinds has much in common. Some key words: honesty, transparency, authenticity. These are values I think we hold in common. Anyway more to come... as my brain cools off.

Reflection Time

The other thing I wanted to say tonight at 11:30 PM from New Mexico is that I've had some time to reflect. That's what happens when we leave our normal patterned lives. Most pastors announce major life changes after time away from church... I have no such major announcement to make.

But I will tell you this... I realized again this week how blessed I am. I'm not one to use the word blessed often or casually. In fact I wanted to say I'm lucky... but blessed would be a more accurate term.

Why am I so lucky, I mean blessed? I feel blessed to be a part of this church - crossWinds. To be with you (cW). I realized again what an incredible church you are this past Sunday. The topic was forgiveness... and without much prelude or time for the spirit to massage hearts... I asked you (cW) to write down on some index cards we had provided a resentment or bitterness... an instance where forgiveness was a challenge for you today. I told you no names because I was going to read some of them during the message that morning.

I didn't know how this one would go. I was a little afraid we wouldn't get any cards. Or that we'd get a few but it would be low level trite stuff. We got back about 80 cards (of about 250 adult attending). And there was nothing trite or shallow written... it was real and painful. It made me so proud that we would tell the truth about the fact that even those of us who are following Christ struggle with forgiving.

I took the cards back to the office and left them for the staff to read and pray through. We don't know who wrote what... but our prayers are that God would bring healing and power to our lives... that the work on the cross done for our forgiveness would empower us to bring freedom from resentment to others.

It was a morning I will not forget... I am blessed to be so lucky... or lucky to be so blessed! I love this church and how God is at work within us.

Changing Lives

Here's a blog that was forwarded to me (written for pastor-type folks):

You Get What You Preach For

When you preach salvation, people come to know Jesus.
When you preach about loving Jesus, people become better lovers of Jesus.
When you preach prosperity, people want to be prosperous.
When you preach about the second coming, people get ready.
When you preach healing, people will be healed.
When you preach hope, people are more hopeful.
When you preach about tithing, people tithe.

What you talk about is what people are going to respond to. In other words, you get what you preach for.

This is not about communication manipulation. This is about communication transformation.

So, friends, what are you preaching for?
What are you communicating for? ---Brad Abare 1-8-08

Thoughts after reading the post:

1. Cool - I should teach on tithing! ...a lot.

2. Really? This makes people sound like lemmings (see pic - yup, that's a lemming.) Can we really just teach on whatever we want and people will morph into whatever we choose?

3. I wonder... Are people changing or do congregations shift? If one teaches on the Second Coming over and over again... do people really begin to get ready? Or do the people who are not engaged leave the church and other people who love to hear messages about the return of Christ, associated events and theories start attending?

Bottom Line for those of us who teach (including parents):

We must be careful and intentional because we will be held accountable.

Dear brothers and sisters,not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. ---James 3:1 NLT

My Resolutions...

We watch the Today Show. It's the background noise to our morning rituals. The last week the noise has been full of "why" and "why not..." and "how to..." and "how not to..." make resolutions.

The advice of the experts... keep it real: real simple and real do-able. Otherwise it will be another defeating experience. The resolution will be "I should have" instead of "I did".

I agree. I'm not a fan of regret. I am a fan of goals. It's how things get done. Someone says "I'm going to..." and they do it. Someone aims and hits the target... maybe not bull's eye. They might even miss the target they were aiming at... but at least they took a shot.

So what am I shooting at this year? And why would I tell you? I write it down to merely to make it more real for me.

1. To continue to be disciplined in exercise and food. Not to brag, but for the last couple of months I've been on the mark with this one. It requireds a little OCD on my part (thanks to my family for putting up with me). My goal is not simply to lose weight... but to be in-habit at this time next year. To energizer-bunny this area of my life ("still going").

2. To read more. I know, bad goal. Not specific enough. But this past year I felt I was so busy doing that I didn't have enough developmental aspects in my life. So... I'm going to a conference end of this month. And I'm going to read more... some for fun and some for development... and of course, I want to stay on top of my Bible reading. I'll try to blog about some of it as I go.

3. To enjoy the day. I don't know about you, but as I look at these first three months of the year, it just looks tough. I see all the things that must be done... it could overwhelm me. So I've got to break it up into daily bites... My goal: enjoy the bites. Enjoy the day.

4. To finish Zelda on my WII game... such a goal might be too lofty.

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. I Corinthians 9:24-26 NLT

Merry Christmas!

It's 9AM Christmas Morning! We are at Lorri's folks. In 3 hours there will be 11 people gathered around a tree opening gifts. The stockings are already opened. Yes, there were some oranges! (some things never change)

Right now people are getting showers. I'm next in line. So I am not being crazy or delinquent by writing a blog. Do I get bonus points for writing one of these on Christmas?

I can't help but think how grateful I am to God today. Not merely for the day, or even for Jesus (which I am). But also for you who are a part of cW church. As people were headed to Christmas Eve services last night, I realized next Christmas we will be having our own in the building God is giving us. I can't wait!

If you are reading this on Christmas day itself... remember to take your card (from church) and be intentional about drawing close to Him today!

Shower is now open... my turn. Merry Christmas!

It's about time... and stuff.

1. I confess. I am blog delinquent. Sorry.

2. Just got back from Vikings/Bears Football game. Lesson learned: football and baseball have totally different style of fans. Man was it loud. Man was it rowdy. Man was it fun. Molly and I went courtesy of a friend who prefers not to become a message illustration. It was especially fun to go to a game because it was Monday night... those Sunday noon games are a little difficult for my schedule.

3. WE WERE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEWSPAPER... check the picture. Here's a copy of the article(italics below). Now let me just say... reporters never seem to get everything right...there is nothing "modest" about $1.7 Million Dollars! But 9000 square feet is on the modest side for a church. I am happy for cW to get the ink. This is "The Rev. Mathers" speaking... although everyone I know calls me "doug". I am excited about the future... crossWinds or Crosswinds... is the greatest and most rewarding team I've ever been a part of... by the way, that's Diane Nickel standing there with me as I point to the window of my future office!

Anyway... here's the story.

$1.7 million church is a 'modest' start
12/18/2007 12:21:53 AM
By Matt Russell

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

It's one step at a time for a Rochester congregation as it builds a worship center on the city's north side.

The congregation, CrossWinds church, is erecting a 9,000-square-foot facility on 31st Avenue Northwest. The $1.7 million church will sit on a 20-acre site about a mile from the 75th Street Northwest interchange at U.S. 52.

"Its a modest first stage for us, but we're excited about it," said the Rev. Doug Mathers.

Modesty of ambition is a mindset Mathers stresses, but the master plan CrossWinds has developed -- allowing for a 100,000-square-foot building -- would result in one of Rochester's largest church complexes.

So what is CrossWinds church?

In a general sense, the 10-year-old congregation is an offspin of Calvary Evangelical Church in Rochester. Its pastor, the Rev. Doug Mathers, is a former Calvary Evangelical Free youth minister who wanted to start CrossWinds as a way of reaching people turned off by traditional church settings.

Mathers' congregation, which has met at Willow Creek Middle School in Rochester for its entire 10-year history, stresses a contemporary worship style with music, drama, and multiweek sermon series on themes connected to people's everyday lives.

Between CrossWinds' two Sunday services, the church's average weekly worship attendance is about 320 people, Mathers said. The new building will seat 260 people, but the master plan allows for a sanctuary with 1,500 seats.

"I don't have delusions of grandeur," the pastor stressed, saying the church will expand as need dictates.

In 20 years, however, he hopes people will ask him why CrossWinds bought only 20 acres of land.

If that happens, Mathers said, he'll tell people what he says now when asked why CrossWinds was ambitious enough to buy 20 acres.

"Because we couldn't afford 40."


4. Finally - thanks for your patience with me. I will try to BLOGON more faithfully.

Makes You Think

We are in a new teaching series at crossWinds called "Say What?" It's a look at some of the statements Jesus made. Yesterday we talked about Jesus call to Love Your Enemies (Luke 6:27-29, 35-36).

Today I received this picture via email. The people represented in the picture are (left to right) German Chancellor Angela Merkel; Tony Blair, England; Kofi A. Annan, UN; George Bush; Osama bin Laden; Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; and Jiang Zemin, former president of China. And that's Jesus on his knees with the basin.

This picture was orignally used to promote a conference on the character of God. The poster drew deep emotional responses.

So I was wondering... how does it make you feel? What does it make you think? Thumbs up or thumbs down?

How would your response change if Jesus wasn't in the picture... what if it was George Bush washing the feet?

Post your responses.

Believe!

For those of you who don't know... Believe is the name of our church's effort to raise the funds needed and to build a facility for our church. (crossWindschurch.com) We recently began construction.

Believe - is about trusting for two things. First that we as people who are in the church can and will give to be able to build. Secondly, that God will step into the process to guide us and provide for us.

So two stories... after about 20 inches of rain this past month and a half we were nervous about soils. In fact, if it weren't for the Minnesota winter (which happens almost every Nov - March) we probably would have delayed the bulldozers. Our excavator warned us that the soils were so wet that we might have to bring in up to a S100K of fill! That would be less than good for us.

However, after digging in we hit a vein of gold! Okay, not jewlery gold... sandy soil. Which is gold for compaction and building purposes. We just had soil compaction tests done yesterday and we have perfect results! The soil inspector was more than surprised. He's not seeing these kind of results in this area. GO GOD!

Second story: last night I received a phone call... out of the blue... it was from someone who knew of our building effort. He was calling to tell me that a $15K donation for the building is on its way!

All this to say: I'm believing!

Why didn't I write that?

Ever read something so well said that you wish you would have written it? That happens to me frequently. The following was written by Steven Furtick...

Don’t put Jesus first
The worst thing you can do as a Christian is to try and put Jesus first in your life. I know it sounds good, and Lord knows, I’ve said it plenty:

Put Jesus first, your family second, your job third…
But it’s a flawed paradigm. Jesus doesn’t want to be first on your list. He doesn’t need your shout out. He’s not content to be first in your life. He insists on being the center of your life.

Putting Jesus first in my life means I kind of segregate Him from my other priorities. Making Him the center of my life means I integrate Him into every priority.

It’s not Jesus, then my family, then my job… It’s Jesus: in my family, in my job…
It’s not Jesus, then anything… It’s Jesus in everything!

Nail head meet hammer. Like I said, wish I had written it.

Followers of Jesus do more than put Jesus first. She or he rearranges their life around Jesus. They strive to live out their whole life as Jesus might live their life. Spend like Jesus. Save like Jesus. Give like Jesus. Laugh like Jesus. Date like Jesus. Eat like Jesus. Sex like Jesus. Worship like Jesus. Drive like Jesus. Parent like Jesus. Love like Jesus. Serve like Jesus.

Not how I would live "if I was Jesus". But how Jesus would live "if he were me". Huge difference. Jesus was never married. I am.

How to Avoid Pain

In church we are wrestiling through questions that people have submitted. The series is called Real Questions. Next week we tackle "why is life so painful?" Here is C.S. Lewis' comment on heart break.

Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to be sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one - not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safely in the casket or the coffin of your selfishness. But, in that casket-safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, unredeemable. The only place outside heaven where you can be safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is hell. -C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

I think what Lewis was saying is the price tag is too high to avoid heart break. I wonder if that is part of God's answer to pain (His and ours)as well.

Innovation

Okay... this will be a different kind of blog. A friend of mine from church linked me up with another blog-pastor-guy named Ben Armon. Ben's blog on the church and innovation is copied below. Read it,then I'll blog on...

Why innovation is a joke in the church
My iPhone has opened pandora's box for me in the world of podcasting. It turns every car ride into a church service; every trip to the DMV into a conference session...

One thing I can't get over is how flippantly the Church throws around the world "innovation." Big difference between the innovation I'm hearing about in podcasts from the New Yorker conference and the TED talks... and what the church is calling innovation.

Innovation in the church has almost become formulaic.... "We have the greatest story in the world!" we cry, and then "innovatively" insert pop songs and cultural references into our services, proving that... well... look who's borrowing from who.

These days, innovation isn't recognized or rewarded in the Church until it's no longer innovation... it's commonplace. But true innovation will always leave the masses of men scratching their Selsun Blue, wondering, "Whaaa?" or "Can we really do that?" or "What's the connection?"

True innovation is completely unrecognizable while it's innovating.

Okay. So I don't really disagree with anything Ben wrote. The only question I have is when did the goal become to wow people with true innovation or even psuedo-innovation?

The goal is relavance. We live in a culture where the masses accept "god" or the concept of god but that's where it ends. The truth is they find God and usually the church irrelevant to life. The goal of any change or adaptation is not innovation it should be effectiveness (meaning they can hear and will listen) and relevancy (meaning that people connect to the message).

As one who "planted" a church and who has been plugging along for ten years in that church... I'm not overly excited about being cool or innovative (maybe I'm old). I am pumped about being effective and relevant.

Now here's the rub: effectiveness requires innovation and adaptation. I trust that you understand I'm not talking about adapting theology, but how we communicate to the people of our culture.

TEN YEARS!

Wow. Ten years ago yesterday we opened the doors to crossWinds church. I find myself comparing the decade to running a marathon. I’m allowed to make the comparison only because I ran 1/4th of a marathon a few years ago. That makes me an athlete and therefore entitled to use athletic comparisons. I digress in justification.

Anyway… at the start of race you can’t wait. You’re excited to get started. You’ve trained (hopefully). You’ve got the right equipment (shoes and shorts). You have run the race in your mind (over and over). And suddenly you’re off. The mental images are becoming reality.

At first running feels great. The early miles go by fluidly. Any hills are faced bravely and with confidence. But somewhere during the marathon runners often struggle. Doubt creeps in. The legs feel like rubber. Every breath... every step requires focused energy to keep the pavement moving beneath your feet. And suddenly you’re not so sure about this run. This is what runners call the wall. If they hit a wall early in the run… they will probably hit more of them.

Marathons by definition are long distance. Churches are the same. What we began together ten years ago is a long term venture. We started with incredible energy and some naivety. I think both are required or else we might not run at all.

We’ve had our walls. But we continue to keep breathing. We propel our feet forward. And then we get a second wind, a third wind, and so forth. And if we are going to run to the finish line we will need to keep getting “winds”. Because sometimes running is sheer pleasure and sometimes it isn't.

Two related thoughts:

1. I’m grateful to be running with you who are a part of crossWinds. As I barely whispered through choked voice yesterday, it is a privilege.

2. We never run alone. We never ever run alone.

Whether you find yourself fighting the wall today or in an exhilarating down hill stretch of your race, keep running!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 NLT

Vacation Vancouver – Days 3-4-5

Friday’s Adventures As promised, we spent Friday in downtown Vancouver. Took the bus downtown (buses, “sky-trains”, “sea-buses”, and “sea-cabs” are everywhere in Vancouver). So bused to China Town and we hiked throughout the city.

The highlight of China Town for me was seeing a truck deliver live sea food to a Chinese street store. The picture above is cod, at least that’s what I think they were. They were flopping all over the place and a few flopped right out of the container. In addition to this there were crab crawling all over. A little different than what we see in Rochester.

During the walk we saw many homeless and probably drug users. Drugs are a huge problem in Vancouver. The current strategy is to use treat addiction as a purely medical problem. This philosophy sees addiction as no different than cancer (that’s a quote of a Vancouver doctor). If they arrest and jail all the users, they go right back to using, which is expensive and ineffective. Likewise, forcing a person into treatment that they don’t want seems useless and again expensive.

So instead, they try to help the drug addicted to stay safe and hope that someday they will choose treatment. They provide clean needles, clean drugs, and hotels and safe houses. I don’t know how many of their addicts seek treatment, but I’ve got to think that the safe and clean strategy must make Vancouver an addict’s dream come true. Now I don’t have a better strategy and I’m sure I’ve greatly over simplified what is really going on. I don’t know if there is a good answer to this problem. It’s very sad.

Okay… back to the vacation. Lorri’s highlighthad to be Friday evening. She and Jeremy went on a bike ride with about a thousand bikers. The last Friday night of each month bicyclists from around the city meet downtown Vancouver and then ride throughout the city’s main arteries. It is a different pattern determined on the fly each time.

The event is called "Critical Mass". The goal: to congest traffic. The message: “see bicycles” and “make the city safer”. By the way, Vancouver is a very mild in respect to weather, so bikes are everywhere all the time.

So Lorri and Jeremy went on the ride and disrupted traffic. While waiting for the ride to begin other political protests were being organized. Lorri was invited to take her garbage, along with everyone else there and dump it on the
mayor’s front lawn (his house). This is because all city employees are on strike including the garbage services. So for about 6 weeks garbage has been piling up every where. The mayor made the mistake of saying that the strike was “not his highest priority”. These protestors were trying to help the mayor reprioritize. Lorri did not take part in the garbage protest and will not be arrested on this trip.

Kind of makes me grateful for Rochester’s faithful sanitation personnel and our wonderful bike trails through the area.

That night Jeremy went out with friends while Lorri and I found a hole in the wall Greek Pizza Shop and had a slice and wonderful Greek salad. The pizza was completely void of raw fish.

Saturday
In the morning Lorri went on a little bike ride to a wonderful and huge park about 2 miles from Jeremy’s apartment. Wonderful trails, so we went for a short walk in them with Jeremy. After, we drove Jeremy around doing some errands. He doesn’t have a car, so our rental was nice for him to get some things done.

Finally after a burger (beef!), Lorri and I left Vancouver and drove to Seattle. Besides the beauty, there is not much to report except an hour in line at the border. Get your passports!

We made it to Seattle and stopped at the “Public Market” on Pike Street. This is the place where they throw the fresh fish around. You may have heard of it. It was fun and we even bought a pound of smoked salmon; it’s one of Molly’s favorites. Sorry Molly, no t-shirt, just some smoked fish.

After walking around downtown Seattle for an hour, we drove around for about two! We wandered looking for the best views of the city. Later we stopped at the south end of Lake Washington near a Boeing factory (huge!). The lake was gorgeous… and there was a little burger shack and some docks to walk on. So we ordered fish and chips! (Yes, more fish.) And we took our food out on the dock to eat. It was very beautiful.

Finally we went to the airport only getting a little lost on the way. We were scheduled for the red-eye (12:55 AM flight). The flight was extremely over-booked and we hoped to get bumped (hotel and 300 bucks!). But apparently people make and change reservations all the time, so in the end no one was bumped and every seat was filled on the plane.

Sunday
We sat in our seats on the plane and both fell asleep until we were awakened by the pilot’s voice telling us that we were landing, 6 AM central. Lorri’s mom picked us up (she’s an early riser - God bless her) and we crawled into our bed at her home in Minnetonka at 8 AM.

Tomorrow Molly and I will be taking in the Twins’ game and then we will come home. Back to work and school on Tuesday. Thus ends the trip! Thanks for thinking about us, praying for us, and reading.

Vancouver - Day 2

Okay – travel report. We left downtown Vancouver and went up highway 1 to Squamish, BC. I know there is a joke in that name somewhere… but I’ll let it lie. The drive to Squamish is spectacular; mountains on one side and a beautiful bay on the other. Everything was so postcard that it was hard to know when not to take a picture. We had lunch in Squamish.

Then we continued to Whistler. If you don’t know where Whistler is, you will in 2010 when Vancouver hosts the Winter Olympics. Most of the downhill events will be there. There are no words that can capture the beauty of the area. The picture posted doesn’t do justice. That picture was taken from the peak of Whistler. Two dimensional images have great limitations. I think “grandeur” is found in the 3rd dimension.

Jeremy’s quote of the day was after Lorri said “this is all surreal”: “yah, even when you’re here you don’t feel like your really here”.

In late afternoon we headed back to Vancouver. It’s really not that far away, however they are doing a ton of road construction to get ready for THE GAMES… so some waiting involved. But the view was always beyond description so we didn’t mind.

Finally, back in Vancouver we ate a Seafood restaurant called Monks. We ordered one meal to share and an appetizer. We let Jeremy choose the food. For the appetizer we had “Calimari” - it’s squid that has been deep fried in batter: onion rings with chew. We also had tuna. singed on the outside and very rare in the middle. There is a melt in your mouth quality to it. It was one of those gourmet meals you rarely get to taste.

Today we will visit the China Town of Vancouver. It is 2nd in size only to San Francisco. Thanks for praying for us.

Vancouver Vacation Day 1

These entries will be more of an account of each day of the vacation that Lorri and I are on.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we left Molly with her grandparents in Minneapolis and got on a plane to Seattle. Did you know that you can't always pick your seats in advance? Even though we did when we bought our tickets? So we had seats 11 rows apart. When you check in at the outdoor kiosk you can change your seats for $11! We didn't. But then when we were at the terminal I asked the person at the desk, who, even with a full plane, got the job done. They did it for free. Eleven bucks! Y'all must be crazy!

As long as I'm talking about money and planes... this was over a 3 hour flight. We didn't even get a peanut! Sure you can buy "snacks" from the attendant. But the Metrodome has better prices. Okay - I'm done ranting.

From Seattle - sunny and 78 degrees - we drove up to Vancouver. Wonderful drive. We stopped at Sam's for shirts (packing error on my part) Once in Vancouver we went met Jeremy (my 21 year old son) at his effeciency apartment. He looks very thin - but healthy. His hair has returned to his natural God-given color and to a very nice hair cut - no mohawk or wierdness to it. Not that any of that matters - but still it was cool to be reminded of what his natural hair color is.

We drove around University of B.C. Got the tour from Jeremy. We walked through an incredible forest down to a beach. The beach didn't look very nice for swimming, but the 500 stair climb through the woods was wonderful and tiring.

We had supper at a sushi restaurant. I didn't complain once. It was an experience. However, tonight I hope to have my food actually cooked.

After supper we wandered the street of downtown Vancouver. Which was swarming with a wide variety of people. It was an adventure.

Today we hike in the mountains.

Golf

This morning, as I do on many Mondays, I went golfing. This time it was nine holes in Zumbrota. I found myself contemplating what I enjoy about the game.

There is the game itself. No need to compete with others. I compete with my previous scores and with what I consider my true golfing ability. Which, I’m sure, is an inflated estimation of talent, so my competition is pretty stiff.

I enjoy knowing how far I am capable of hitting each club, making adjustments for wind, lie, and an elevated target or one a hundred and fifty feet below me. I enjoy a the rare 250 drive down the middle and the even rarer successful second shot. I relish in landing and holding the green from one-fifty out.

In the end the score doesn’t really matter to me, which is why I can still enjoy golf. But there is more than the game. There is the experience within the game.

On the golf course there is no loud music, no car horns, no yelling (except for the occassional “fore”), there is no running and no hurry. Rushing is counterproductive. There is a lack of distraction. Instead, there is focus. The ball... the swing... the outcome.

There is reward in a great shot. I can’t count on that reward. But every so often, without warning, a shot will go exactly as I saw it in my mind. Sweet.

I don’t pray much on the golf course. At least I don't pray for my game. I don’t really want God messing with my shots. But when I golf, especially when I golf alone, I am never alone.

“Be still, and know that I am God! Psalm 46:10