Recently

Symposium last week.  Lots of friends.  Some fun house guests.  Parties.  Theology lectures.  Good times!

Work.  Boy, the job sure gets in the way of my to-do list.

Washing the eaves.  Seems dumb.  But, hey, during winter's roof-raking I noticed spots that could've been dirt or could've been mildew on the eaves.  After living in the parsonage, I passionately hate mildew.  Kids washed half the eaves one week and I finished the other half this week with a bleach/soap solution. 

Grass seed scattered and being watered daily in one portion of the lawn burned in last summer's drought.  (Funny.  Last year "they" kept telling us that the grass would survive just fine.  Don't water it.  It will be fine.  Don't waste water on the lawn.  This spring, the landscapers were all offering to fix lawns which obviously need fixing.  If the government propagandizes about something piddly like lawn-watering, why should we believe what "they" say about anything else?)

The lettuces are finally coming up.  So are the turnips, beets, basil, zucchini, cucumber, and cilantro.  Memo to self: forget the seed-saving.  The germination rate is awful.  Short of catastrophe, just buy the seeds new each year.

Fewer strawberry plants + fewer rows = bigger berries.  Nice.   Clusters on the grape vines look great at this early stage.  Blackberries have been pruned, but still need more whacking back.  One cherry tree looks to be nearly ready for a nice harvest.

Loads of weeding to do. Katie and Maggie have helped a lot.   I need mulch.  Tons of mulch.  The strawberry bed this year (with the between-spaces covered with a few layers of newspaper and many inches autumn leaves) has been quite easy to weed.  I want everything else covered in that much mulch.  But mulch is heavy.  We can go at it slowly, though, with free wood chips and free compost from the town's compost site.  The mulching may be a huge amount of work, but the weeding is its own frustration, especially in the front where the flowers are, where the previous owners put layers of gravel which is now under a bit of soil.  It just plain needs to be fixed!

Pretty boring, huh?  That's the way we like it!

Two Kingdoms

There is a spiritual kingdom "through the word and without the sword, through which men might become devout and righteous, so that along with this righteousness they might receive eternal life."  The earthly kingdom, which is administered by the sword (that is, with punishments), exists "in order that they who refuse to be made devout and righteous unto life eternal shall by such earthly government be compelled to be devout and righteous before the world....  Though [God] does not reward this righteousness with life eternal, He nevertheless insists on it, in order that peace may be maintained among men; and He does reward it with temporal gifts."

Luther, WA 19, 629

in Wingren's Luther on Vocation, page 24

 

Wedding Pictures -- the cute little girls

When the bubble-passer-outers ran out of bubbles, they began gathering petals that the flower girls had dropped during the processional.

Alia

Zoe and her bubble-basket

Waiting patiently during picture-time.

Where Does Preaching Belong?

In the Lutheran church, preaching comes after the Bible readings and before the Lord's Supper.  We visited a church once where the Lord's Supper comes first, with preaching afterward.  What difference does it make?

If preaching is about converting sinners (over and over and over again), then it belongs prior to the Supper.  I am called to repentance for my sin; Jesus' mercy is lavished upon me; this makes me able to receive His body rightly.

But if the Holy Communion comes first and then preaching, that's because they believe the Supper is to give you the power, the oomph, the motivation, to be Jesus' follower.  And the point of the sermon is to instruct you in your behavior.

So the difference is whether the sermon is seen as comfort or guidance. 

And that ultimately indicates whether we trust in the law or the gospel.

Clean and Holy

I used to think it was so unfair of God to have those rules about being clean and unclean.  How could the Jews ever keep those rules?  For example, touching a dead body rendered a person unclean ... but somebody had to prepare the body for burial.  How could God makes rules and expect us to keep them when the rules were unkeepable??

But that's not what holiness is about.  Holiness isn't about doing all the right things and keeping ourselves oh-so-pure.  It's about being contaminated as the helpless unclean one is served and helped and made clean.  Again and again, Jesus' miracles show Him getting dirty by touching the lepers and the ill and the bleeding and the dead. 

God sure does seem fond of oxymorons.

School Accountability

"Private and voucher schools do not have the same accountability standards that exist in the public schools."  This time the quote was from the Pewaukee school board president, but you've heard that talking point a gazillion times before.

"They don't have the same accountability!"  They say it like it's a bad thing.

Why doesn't anybody ever respond, "Darn tootin'.  And maybe that's actually part of the reason they provide a better education than do the public schools"?

A Sad Side-Effect of Cell Phones

Once upon a time, when I called my mom to ask a quick question, sometimes my dad would answer.  Then we'd chat for a few minutes.  Or if my in-laws called to talk to Gary, sometimes I'd answer the phone.  When the kids grew old enough to answer the phone, they might catch a few minutes to say hi to Grandma and chat for a minute or two. 

With cell phones, that doesn't happen.
 
When I call Rachel, I don't bump into Matt.  Calling Paul to ask a question won't provide the opportunity to shoot the breeze with Mandy.  I have to choose which number to dial.


Even with landlines, the caller-ID provides a heads-up of which person should answer the phone.  So when I call Katie, Nathan seldom answers, assuming (usually rightly) that I'm calling to talk to her.



In the last couple of weeks, I'm recognizing these technological "advancements" as unpleasant barriers.

Cleaning Silver

Put down that bottle of silver polish.  Back away from it slowly.  It is bad. 

I didn't know any better.  Those pretty silver-plated things we received as wedding gifts?  When they tarnished, I used silver polish.  I have ruined them.

Watching Downton Abbey, I saw servants polishing silver.  In centuries past, people didn't have high-powered chemicals with noxious smells, liquids for which you need rubber gloves and a mask when you open the bottle.  There had to be another way to clean silver.  And those secrets are what the internet is good for!

A large pot made of non-reactive metal
(or even the kitchen sink).
A piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
Hot water.
Salt and/or baking soda.

Fill the pot or sink with enough hot water to cover the vase or tray or spoons.   Place the foil (shiny side up) on the bottom of the pot.  Add several tablespoons of salt or baking soda (or both) and dissolve it.  Place the silver into the water, making contact with the foil.  Wait for a minute or two (or five) as the tarnish dissolves away.  It is okay for the water to simmer gently on the stove. 

When you take the silver out of the water, polish it up a bit to dry it well.  Use a touch of olive oil on a soft cotton cloth or cotton ball to rub onto the silver to keep it from tarnishing too fast again.

If you have a piece of cheap silver that's in cruddy horrible awful shape, simply leaving it in the water longer won't be enough to clean it.  After 10 minutes or so, take it out of the water, and use some elbow grease and a rag to rub it well.  When you've gotten off as much blackness as possible, get fresh water, fresh foil, and fresh salt, and do it again.  If you've already used traditional hardware-store chemical silver polish on your silver gazillions of times, the silver may be damaged enough that it can't be cleaned nicely.  But you sure can make it better this way.  And it sure does seem to me that it takes longer for the tarnish to return when the silver is cleaned this simple, non-toxic way.

Longevity of Homemade Soap

One bar of Yardley soap came into our house as a party favor from a baby shower.  (Isn't that the cutest idea?!  Soap for a shower!!)  As Maggie and I tend to develop rashes when using store-soap, we looked up the ingredients online.  Yardley is real soap.  And it smells fabulous.  We used it without any negative reactions.  Woo hoo! 

Maybe I wouldn't have to keep making soap after all.  Granted, it's pricey soap.  But it would save me the trouble of making my own. 

And then it disappeared.  It took nine days for that four-ounce bar of soap to be used up.  That seemed unreasonably fast.  So I timed the longevity of my next bar of homemade.  A five-ounce bar lasted 25 days.  That means the el-cheapo homemade also lasts twice as long as store-soap.

I guess I'll keep making soap.

My Three Sons

It's fuzzy, but I like the expressions on their faces.

(Taken at the wedding rehearsal.)

Such Great Faith

Many Christians want to have "great faith."  So when we hear that Jesus marveled at the great faith of the centurion in last Sunday's story (3-yr series: Luke 7), we wonder what that is.   And we wonder how we can have great faith.  Do people notice our prayers, our good works, our level of holiness?    Surely that would show great faith, right?

Notice the difference between the Jews and this Gentile.  So often the Jews would come to Jesus on the basis of their own merit.  "We have Abraham for our father."  "All these commandments I have kept from my youth."  "Lord, I thank you that I am not like this tax collector.  I fast.  I tithe...."  Even when the Jews came to Jesus on behalf of the centurion, they said he deserved help because he'd done so many good things for them. 

But what did the Gentile say?  "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof." 

And when Jesus praised the great faith of the Canaanite woman, it was when she'd just agreed that she was an unworthy little dog.



(I'm still pondering what "little faith" is.  It always seems to be in the context of "God, You don't care about us" or "Eeeeks -- bad stuff is happening to us."  Do you suppose it too has something to do with whether I'm "worthy" enough that Bad Stuff shouldn't happen to me?  And if Bad Stuff does happen, then it must somehow be up to me to resolve it?)

Great faith =                              I have no standing

but Jesus saves me anyway

and lifts me up to be His brother

Some Pictures from the Rehearsal Dinner

Alia, Paul, Mandy, Zoe

Ring around the rosie ...

Doing what I do best -- cooking!

Papa and his littlest girl

Paul and Gary-in-Viking-purple

Playing the steal-the-pacifier game

The salad bar and the toppings for the potatoes

I think these were all pictures from Katie's camera.  I didn't take very many pictures, so I keep stealing from other people's Facebook pages.

Too Busy to Take Care of Yourself

Slowing down with meals, then, is symbolic of relaxing into our body, our career, our fears and desires, and anything life presents. It’s about granting ourselves the right to share in the simplicity of joyous moments on Earth. It’s about reclaiming our time, our dignity, and the sanctity of self-care.

My friend recently posted this quote

from Institute for the Psychology of Eating

Since we moved five years ago, our meals have changed drastically.  Part of it is getting home late from work, and part of it is having activities in the evening, and part of it is the lack of a dining room.  Whereas we used to sit down and eat meals together 10-18 times a week, moving cut that number in half.  When I started my job, it got worse.  And our commitment to mealtime continues to wane.  People grab food for themselves because we're not having mealtimes together.  When we are all together at a meal, too often we eat in the living room (with the tv on) because the kitchen table is too cluttered with mail and projects and other items.

"The sanctity of self-care."  I've been thinking about that ever since I saw the quote above.  "Sharing in the simplicity of joyous moments."  As we have fallen away from mealtimes together, I've noticed that it's harder to tend to other aspects of self-care: getting exercise, making sure my heels don't crack and split, flossing, etc.  

And what's worse is that this makes me less attuned to caring for the needs of others.  After all, if there's not enough time for me to take care of my hair, then I'm not motivated to help Maggie fix her hair all pretty and nice either.  If there's not enough time for me to sit on the Homedic massager to knead the knots out of my back, neither am I bothering to knead the knots out of Gary's shoulders and neck.

When we place little importance on mealtime---when we eat in the car, when we snatch bites of lunch while trying to work on a project, when we eat alone without setting the table for ourselves---does that cause callousness to grow in us?  Or maybe it's just a symptom of what's wrong.  I think a lot of health and happiness could be gained by going back to the mealtime practices we had before moving.  

But I don't know how to do it.  
Too many other things would go by the wayside.
And yet, should they, maybe?

Labeling Your Homeschooling Method

Not only do we separate ourselves from other homeschoolers when we label our methodology, but we also mess with our own minds.  "Can I use this textbook for science?  It wouldn't really fit with my unschooling perspective."  Or "It seems like the kids would prefer choosing their own books to read, but I'm a classical homeschooler and therefore the kids must read the books on this particular list."  Just teach your kids already!  What works for others may not work for you, and what works for you may not benefit another family.  And what works this month may not work for you next year.  That's okay.  Just teach your kids.

My friend EC explains it beautifully!!  Really.  Go read it.

Dad

Minocqua.  Fishing.  A quiet screened-in porch.

What more could anyone want?  Well, I mean, besides a plate of cheese, crackers, summer sausage, and tomato wedges while sitting on the pier with your feet dangling in the lake?

Depth of Emotion, Depth of Love

Mandy's dad caught this snapshot.  I love it.  Paul is his dad's boy.

God's Love or God's Wrath?

"Just as God’s favor cannot be measured by the good things one person has, so His wrath over sin cannot be measured and determined by the afflictions one suffers. Those whose homes were not destroyed [in the Moore, OK, tragedy] were not any less sinful than those who suffered devastation. Drawing a conclusion about whom God loves by their life circumstances is simply wrong."

David P. Scaer 

Professor and Chairman of Systematic Theology

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

(taken from Steve Blakey's FB page)

A Few Wedding Pictures

Supperless Sunday

"This is the feast of victory for our God ..."
WHAT is the feast? 
Why are we singing this when the feast is not offered?

"I will take the cup of salvation ...."
But the chalice isn't on the altar today.

"I will pay my vows to the Lord now
in the presence of all His people,
in the courts of the Lord's house,
in the midst of you, o Jerusalem."
I'm still pondering this:  IS the chancel heaven-on-earth when the Lord's Supper is not being celebrated?  When we're in church for prayers and preaching, are the saints and angels in heaven joined with us in the same way that they are joined with us for the Holy Communion?



I like Matins and Vespers and Evening Prayer. 

If there's no Supper, the prayer offices are good. 

So why pray the liturgy that goes with the Supper and then not celebrate the Supper?

Dinner for 40

I was serving dinner for 40-45 people, some of whom had special dietary needs.  And I was doing it far from home where I had limited access to a kitchen.  The menu was a potato bar and a salad bar.  I seriously over-estimated how much food was necessary.  So that I have records for another time, these are the amounts we should have bought and prepared:

20# baked potatoes
2# butter
24 oz sour cream
3# onions, caramelized
4# mushrooms, sauteed
4 bags (12 oz each) steam-in-bag frozen broccoli
2 quarts thick chili
8# bacon, cooked and chopped
2# shredded cheddar

2 quarts cole slaw
1 quart corn-&-black-bean salad

1 bag fresh spinach
6 bags (5-8 oz each) mixed salad greens
1 cucumber
4 pints cherry tomatoes
3 large bell peppers
2 large carrots, grated
16 oz raw, sliced mushrooms
1 pint black olives
1 bunch green onions
6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
8 oz cashews
6 oz sunflower nuts
4 bottles of various salad dressings

1 watermelon
1 large cantaloupe
3 pineapples

1 loaf of homemade bread
2 pans of bars/cookies (13x9" each)
2 gallons lemonade
2 gallons iced tea
12 cups coffee
water