Winter Thoughts on Trout Fishing again in 2010

Someplace in my early 20's I started to fish, at least once a year, for trout. As a kid I joined my dad to pluck sun fish and perch out of lakes and a few streams with bobbers and worms.

In my early 20's shortly after I'd started seminary I picked up a fly rod. A true shame, looking back, is that I lived a few yards from Gilmore Creek on the West End of Winona for 3 years and I wasn't ever smart enough to pick up a fly rod once in those 3 years. A couple years later a buddy invited me along fishing with his dads old hip boots and rod at a place called Pickwick. In one trip I was hooked. I saw more fish than I could count and I wanted to know how to catch them.

Over the past dozen or so years I've lived in trout country and I've lived a couple hours drive away from the cold water spring fed streams of Winona County there in Minnesota's driftless region. I've explored some neat spots and had some luck mostly with beaded nymphs and a couple times with dry-flies. Looking back it's been pretty good, not all that remarkable but pretty good just the same. I have had one regular time to go fishing, Mother's Day Weekend. Year after year, except when my wife was very pregnant, I've kept on fishing with one buddy and a few others who tag along for the campfire and the story telling.

Tonight, living out here on the Prairie where it's just too cold to chase pheasants, it's time to start planning for 2010 and reviewing a few discoveries of the past year.

1. I got out trout fishing 7 days last year. That's a pretty good record for a dad with 3 daughters 6 and under who is still married to the mother of those 3 daughters. My goal for 2010 is to teach the older 2 how to fish (at least with nymphs) so they can join me some of the time.
2. I've had success catching fish on a light weight spinning rod with meps, worms, and rapala's but for some reason I want to catch trout on a fly rod. I think it's the challenge of always learning and always trying to add a new skill or technique for each year that keeps me turning back to the fly rod rather than the spinner.
3. Trout are almost always feeding. I used to think trout were just feeding on the surface or in seams in riffles; but some good reading this winter has convinced me that trout are almost always eating. The key is to figure out what they're actually eating not what's under a rock or floating on the surface.
   
4. For some reason nymphs work best for me. Maybe its my lack patience, maybe its the streams I've been fishing. Maybe it's my inability to match the hatch. I don't know yet and I guess I'll have to keep on fishing for a long time to figure out.
5. I learned a couple things from a wise man who used to be from Michigan this year. He now calls the prairie home just like me, but it's good to have a wise
   

• watch the stream. The trout are there; so before you tie on a fly watch them.
  
• use 2 or 3 nymphs at a time on the same leader, but don't fish with a nymph right on the bottom of the leader. Put a weight on the end and the nymphs end up in the right place and you don't snag one on the bottom.
• be patient; but don't stand in one place for ever. If you've spooked the trout don't flog the water, either wait a while for the trout to start feeding or move on to a new spot.
  

Now I am just waiting for a chance to get a line in the water again and see if I've learned anything at all. Even better than that I am hopeful to see if I can teach anything about fishing to my girls.

Radical Like John the Baptist

One thing I keep hearing as people talk about the emergent chuch is the radical nature of the Gospel that's been sanitized and even hidden by the church in Christendom for years. As a Lutheran I see Martin as one of the first to listen to the whole text and to let it work on him and not the other way arround.

Reading John this week has gotten me hopeful about the future church again maybe because I can see God at work through such radical preaching.

After hearing a particular story from scripture a few times I start to think I know what it's really about. And I must confess that sometimes I stop reading the story and just try to push ahead thinking I already know what the point of the Word already is supposed to be. Advent and Christmas are seasons when we are tempted to push past the story found in Scripture without spending any actual time listening to the stories. And the stories of God breaking into our lives at Christmas without our authorization are some of the best that we can share with the world.

John was never tamed or bridled. He was created by God on purpose and he came preaching a message that was so radical and so bold that people came out to the wilderness near the river Jordan to hear it. They came from Jerusalem and all over Judea to hear John's bold unrestrained message. It was a message that wasn't meant for somebody else or some other people. It was a message that was meant for the nation of Israel. And it rung in their ears so boldly they couldn't stop listening.

John spoke so boldly to them, the NRSV and NIV said he addressed the people who came out to be baptized by him in Luke 3:7, as “You brood of Vipers!” John literally calling them the γεννήματα spawn or offspring or the fruit of ἐχιδνων poisonous snakes. How's that for the opening line of a sermon. You brood of vipers. John understood that God was up to something big. He knew that Kingdom was coming and that the time had come to get ready.

Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Luke 3:8-9 NRSV

John the Baptist was and is a dangerous radical. John was the most unrestrained man of his time in all Israel until Jesus came along. John came and told the people the straight truth. He didn't bother to shave off the rough edges that make us uncomfortable. John wasn't worried about being politically correct. He wasn't worried that the prophetic word that he shared with the people on God's behalf might sort of kind of make them uncomfortable. John knew who they were and he knew that they and all of us have shame, sin, guilt,and grief that we need to lay aside.

John's radical preaching was hard to ignore in his time and it's hard to ignore today. This past week I've been reading Wild at Heart by John Eldridge and seeing in John a true man of God who was really wild and free as God had intended. Eldridge makes a pretty good case in the first chapter that men are contained and constrained by our civilization and that was never God's design or plan. Adam, Eldridge says was created out in the wilderness, but Eve was created in the Garden. Eldridge even points to Jesus and John the Baptist being lead by the Spirit out to the wilderness. John was a radical bold man of God. He had a message from God that wasn't a lullaby. Repent. Lay down you sin. Repent. Don't fake it; don't pretend God doesn't know your sin. Repent.

Who do you imagine as a faithful man of God?
Do you imagine a nice guy, a real push over, a pussy cat or do you imagine someone dangerous an untamed: someone like John. But if your part of my generation of TV watchers you've seen Christian men often portrayed as a sort of Ned Flanders. Nice and restrained.

So what does that say about all of us: are we nice or a we wild and free, like John.

Look who's coming

Dateline: LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

Walking along Pearl Street yesterday we spotted white car. The girls said there was even a red hat on the front seat.

2000 words or 2 pictures

Dateline: Sleepy Eye, Minnesota

Milestones: 3 Girls & 1 Teddy

I haven't added to this blog in a while but I think this is a good time to reflect and share. Our family keeps on passing more milestones every week. Last spring we moved 120 miles west into the prarie. It was quite a change. Looking back its been a change that's brought us a lot of blessings.
Our big girls are full fledged 1st graders. Today it seems like they've done well making the jump into so many new parts of life: new town, new school, new friends, new activities: so much new and the seem to be doing great with it all. They are fast becoming proficient readers and their violin playing is getting a little better with practice each passing night.
They ride a bus to and from school and have only missed once. Iwalked with them really fast all the way to school;. I think that will help make sure they don't expect a car ride if they miss.
Our little girl is almost 8 months old. She's laughing and smiling like a toddler these days. I love her smile and the twinkle in her eyes. She fusses some when she's put down and is usually opposed to going to bed. As a new born she didn't complain much until her pants were full.
She's a fullfledged crawler who loves to stand up and play with the contents of any basket she can reach. She knows her toys are in a basket in the living room so its no surprise that any other basket: like 1 full of clean clothing might also be fun to explore.
Teddy, our American Water Spaniel, is 2 1/2 years old. He's a wonderful dog with our trio. He sleeps on the floor in or 6 year-olds' room most night. We never replaced the last bed that he chewed up with all his end of being a puppy energy. Now he curls up on the carpet with any stray cozy object he can find. Teddy's never been allowed on furniture or in a bed, and with our rooms hardwood he looks pretty smart crashed out on the carpet between our big girls' beds.
When we got Teddy we wanted a family dog who would be patient with kids, not shed much, and love to run, especially after birds. Teddy is all that and more.
Last week our almost toddler and I brought him to the vet for shots. 3 other dogs growled at Ted. he wasn't phased by their bad manners at all. Teddy and I went walking looking for birds to eat last weekend. I guess we'll have to keep at it.
Pax
unlikely

First Taste of Sweet Potato

Our wonderful 5 month old baby girl had her first taste of sweet potato baby food tonight. She was a bit perplexed at first but really started to smile with pride as she got her first meal (beyond rice cereal). Maybe she picked up cues because all of us were so excited to watch. My beloved decided that it was best to feed her as we all settled down for supper.

The funny thing about youngest babies is that the parents aren't the only ones to share the excitement of each first. Her older sisters were excited to watch and smile with her.

Traveling Minnesota and Iowa with Twins + 1: a suspension bridge in Iowa

One of the neat things about resettling this year in the prairie of southern Minnesota have been finding different places where we've never been to explore together as family.

Of note this week is a wonderful suspension bridge we found in Estherville, Iowa.

Our current home is just 3 blocks from a lake. It's great to live near a lake with two 6 year-olds and a baby. We have a great place to go on walks every morning and night. There's easy access just a short jaunt away for canoeing which is great. But there's something different between a lake and a river. Rivers rush even on calm sunny days when lakes seem still and inviting. Rivers team with unrestrained energy and even inspire a little bit of awe and wonder as we look on at the force contained within their banks.

So yesterday, when we were out exploring in a nearby town, we were pleasantly surprised to find a pedestrian suspension bridge just a few miles away from home. The bridge was shaky which made it all the more fun to cross over the small section of white water below.

Our minute younger twin, Gray for short, was definitely not going to go over that shaky bridge at first; but once we crossed one time she had to be sure to cross four times more to appreciate the full drama of the moment.

Traveling Minnesota with Twins plus 1: Harkin Store, New Ulm, Heritage Acres

One of the wonderful things about the 4th of July is the chance to get little extra time with family. This year we took in 3 great sites in south central Minnesota this year.

Harkin Store: On July 3rd we headed up to the Harkin Store. The store first opened in the 1870's as settlers moved up the Minnesota River Valley to settle. The store and the surrounding Minnesota River town of West Newton were left behind as the railroads and settlement moved up to the prairie above the river. The store closed and much of the contents are still there. The Harkin family turned it into a museum and the Minnesota State Historical Society/Nicollet County Historical Societies have taken over the operation of the store as a museum together.

When we entered the store we met a man dressed as the proprietor of a 19th century country store. The girls thought the store was great right down to the authentic hats they got to wear during the tour and the bonnet and night cap they got in the gift shop next door. They came with shopping lists in hand to see what they could or couldn't by at the store that they might have wanted to take home.

New Ulm: I can't hide my love for sauer kraut, braised ribs, and dumplings when I get to New Ulm. My daughters say that the food I pick at the Kaiserhoff stinks; but hey it's dad's chance to eat comfort food. The girls enjoyed seeing Herman Heights and the show at the Glockenspiel. They also liked the trip to Target to use the gift cards from Grandpa Bruce.

Heritage Acres:
Our longest exploration of the Holiday weekend was at Heritage Acres on the west side of Lake Sisseton. Established in the 1970's as an agricultural interpretive center it was an exciting place for twin 6 year-olds and their parents. The baby slept through most of the trip in her stroller as we wondered from building to building. The rest of us were able to explore while there was blue-grass music to listen to in the "Mall of 1900." We would have enjoyed having more time up on the hill to see even more and plan to go again the next time Heritage Acres is open.

Heritage acres is a neat collection of historic buildings brought together to retell the story of rural America in a hands on way. All the parts of a old farmstead: from the house to the chicken coup, the barn to the corn-crib have been moved on site, only the barn was originally on the site. An old railway depot, a country church, a one room-school (outfitted with books and a real teacher who taught in a one room school herself), a log cabin and a collection of stores (the Mall of 1900) built in a modern machine shed are all on site.

Topping off our fourth of July weekend were church, fireworks, and rhubarb pound cake; all in all a great way to celebrate the over through of colonial rule by the English.

Raising daughters and training dogs

One morning last week one of our 6 year-olds was up early. She was wide awake at a time when a dad is usually the only one awake in our house on the Prairie. I get up everyday with Teddy (our 2 year-old American Water Spaniel). Not wanting her to be left out I invited her to come along on her bike while the dog and I ran. I wasn't sure if she'd say yes; but she was excited to be asked.
The three of us headed out. It was a good run and bike, about a mile out with a couple of good hills. Our turn arround was at a large park. The idea, in my mind, was to let the dog run off leash up the hill while our daughter checked out the prairie dog exhibit at the bottom of the hill.
Tough part was Teddy spotted a doe and gave chase. It was one classic moment. I was at the top of the hill with my daughter, still in sight, while the dog was in full chase of a deer on the other side of the hill. In just a few seconds I spotted him on top of the next hill. I called to both the dog and my daughter and neither one listened.
I went to get the girl first and she came with me calling, "Come here boy." After a few anxious moments for dad and daughter our dog came back into sight. When he reached us he was panting hard while smiling a little amused with himself.
We came home just in time to get cleaned up before Vacation Bible School. Not a bad morning adventure.

New Canoe

A week ago my beloved encouraged me to buy a canoe and not just look at it in the ad in the newspaper. I've been considering getting a canoe for about 2 months now. We moved to a new house and we live just a couple blocks from a chain of 5 lakes. My bride's logic seemed clear: it's the end of Spring and we'd have a chance to use the canoe for a whole season if we bought it now and not at the end of the season. The sale price was great and I jumped at it. Tonight was the maiden voyage in the new boat, a red Pelican Explorer DLX. Its a 15 foot 3 seater.

I took the canoe out for a spin at about 7:30. The lake was relatively of boats but the shore was full of people fishing. There were reports of crappies and sunny from the folks on shore. The only folks out on the water fishing were out in another canoe. I saw a few jet skis and boats full of familiyes headed towars home. and a few boats. It was a good first time out tonight. It was great to be out on the water again other than a trip with kids . It's been a good while since I've been out and it was a great hour on the water.

My goal is to get out with my daughters before to long with rods and see if they can start catching fish.

Join Kiva!

Hello!

I did it again. I loaned money to people in places on the globe I will never probably go; but hey it's good to know that a little of the money I have can make a positive impact in a far way part of the world.

I made the loan tonight to someone in Peru using Kiva (www.kiva.org).

Any one with a few bucks and a computer hooked up to the internet can do it. Just go to Kiva's website. Kiva loans support small businesses and as the owners build their businesses they it turn can support their families.

I have appreciated the stories and pictures connected to each loan, that as well as the ratings of the partner lenders who work with Kiva, has been a great asset as I consider who and where to lend money. There's a unique chance to support entrepreneurs by giving them loans at rates commercial lenders would never offer.

Kiva provides brief descriptions of the business and the family who it supports. As lenders we get to decide who to support.

All Kiva loans are managed in country by local microfinance institutions. Its not big banks making the loans, its people in many countries working through agencies already on the ground.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named VIRGEN NATIVIDAD DE LARES Group in Peru. They still need another $3,700.00 to complete their loan request of $4,150.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to VIRGEN NATIVIDAD DE LARES Group too:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=109305

It's easy and it invites a different world view into the way we view money.
https://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=register&_isc=1fb9bf50-4ff1-11de-911c-dc6669dc15d3&_te=inu

Traveling Minnesota with Twins: Mill City Museum

Minnesota's a pretty neat place for kids to discover a little bit of history. From the battle-fields of the Dakota Conflict in the southwest to the mining and forestry sites of the Iron Range there's a lot to see. Besides, my folk's gave us a family membership to the Minnesota Historical Society for the next 2 years; so now we've got lots of good reasons to go and explore all kinds of history.

This past Saturday my older 2 daughters and I joined my folks at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis. The museum's only a few years old and its definitely worth a look or two. The museum was built in the shell of the old Washburn A Mill overlooking Saint Anthony Falls. I explained in advance that the museum was build in a building that had once exploded and been very damaged by a fire. That made our girls very curious.

When they got there they found lots of surprising and wonderful things, fresh bread and chocolate cake samples in the kitchen, water wheels and turbines to play with, and a tour that takes place in a huge freight elevator in the Flour Tower. The girls favorites included a mock up of a table set for threshers, including a classic wood-fire cook stove; a chance to decorate cereal boxes, and a mock-up of the falls and several different kinds of water wheels.

Growing up in Minneapolis, but not living in the city for some time now, it's kind of neat to see that the river's been rediscovered in recent years. My girls will have become big fans of downtown. They like the children's room at the downtown library, the Nicollet Mall, and of course Kramarczuk's Sausages.

As a teenager I remember running along the river with the rest of the South High Cross Country team on both banks until the river roads ended. When I was home on breaks from college and especially in my last years at seminary I rode my bike quite a bit along the river road. It was good then to see some renewal starting in the abandoned mills. It's good to see the progress and great to introduce my family to the city that 2 of their grandparents have called home for their whole lives.

Traveling with twins in Minnesota: Jeffers Petroglyphs

Memorial Day is always a good day, in my mind, to look back in history. Living a good ways from family this Memorial Day (my beloved and our baby went to California to visit her aunt for the week), meant that dad and the 2 older daughters marked the day together. The community picnic (with hot-dogs and pork burgers, chips, beans, and bars, and the subsequent trip to the county historical museum just up the street were my most celebrated ideas of the day.

After the trip to the museum and a quiet break at home, I, Dad had the bright idea of heading North West into the prairie and taking a good look around one of the true historic wonders of Minnesota. (click on the pictures to enlarge them and then start searching for the carvings).

The petroglyphs neat Jeffers are prehistoric (at least pre-European history) carvings on an outcropping of exposed red Sioux Quartzite. I first came to the spot about 11 years ago. The state historical society has made some real progress over the years. Durring my first trip signs were out and trails were marked on the rock and nearby to protect the images from people. A building was underconstruction, but not yet complete back then.

I came back a few years ago with another history buff. But this trip with our oldest girls reminded me of the wonder of this place, that like they said is, just "Out here in the middle of the wind and the prairie?" No body knows which group of people carved the images in the rock or what they mean. The symbols are easy to make out: spears, people, animals like the turtle and the buffalo. But the bigger question of meaning their remains unresolved by modern historians. The mystery of why this rock has been a place for stories over the centuries is fascinating and easily leads to great imagination about who, when, where, why, and how these images in the rock came to be.

The weather was warm and my traveling companions did their best in the late afternoon early evening memorial day sun.. Thank goodness for big enough water bottles and interpretive signs through out the area.

One story that the girls are still discussing is the legend that the rock formartion was a safe place during a great flood. The legend said that the rock turned red from the blood of those who died in the flood.

Whatever the cause of the rock or the origin of the images in the rock our girls had an unsolved mystery to talk about and a beaded bracelet and necklace to show at school during sharing time.

Fatherhood and fishing thoughts

I haven't blogged in a while but I have two updates:

Fatherhood thoughts: My beloved and I took a trip back down memory lane this past weekend with our 3 girls. We went back to the city on Lake Winnebago where our older 2 girls were born just about 6 years ago. We shared meals with old friends, played with some friend's and their kids in a swimming pool with a nifty water slide. We had a chance to drive past the places we'd been so many times before.

It wasn't our first trip back and it won't be our last. Wisconsin isn't that far away after all. We've come back to relax and catch up a few times over the past 6 years. We came back this time so I could give a speech at a banquet for the church where I served a few years ago. Our first girls were pretty small when we left; but we've been back enough to introduce them to the church where they were baptized and the pastor/God-mother who baptized them.

The time in the Fox Valley included a short trip to the Hecrodt Nature Center and Light-House at Kimberly Park where the Fox River flows out of Lake Winnebago. The girls were complaining about the Lake Flies that hatched last week too much to catch the beauty of the area where they were born.

We're back in the prairie today. The air is warm and there's plenty of wind. My beloved said it's a record setting heat. It's a good old prairie heat wave. Its our home now and will be for a while, but still it was good to go back to see old friends and celebrate with them. It was good to know that there are good places to go east of here.

Trout Fishing: A week and a half ago was the annual Mother's Day Weekend on the Whitewater River. It was a great time and I will look forward to the weekend in the pasture next to the wildlife management area again next year. A new member joined the crew at the old fishing hole. Dave's a true fly-fisherman who even brought out a wonderful wet-fly called a Mother's Day Caddis for the weekend. All these years that I've been fishing on Mother's Day and I had no idea that there's a Caddis pattern for the weekend. I learned more from Dave in two days then I had in about 11 years playing with a fly rod.

The challenge for the trouter, taken from God's question to Job in Job 41:1 was, "Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook?" was answered by Chad, an Iowan by way of Fargo. Chad had the biggest catch ever on the Whitewater, while fishing with a mep thrown on a spinning real. He said it had gotten snagged on a tree across the stream a good hours walk up from the rest of us up at camp.

He pulled back hard and it snapped back. At first he thought it had bounced off, but obviously it didn't.

I drove Chad to Winona so that a doctor could pull the hook out rather than risk having either of the 2 chemists or the preacher in camp try to remove it. Chad caught himself with 2 of the 3 treble hooks. The doctor was quick with the lidocaine. She snipped the 3rd hook. Next she pushed one of the hooks through to cut off the barb before pushing the 2nd one through and snipping out the barb. After about 60 seconds of pushing and pulling chad had 4 little 2 mm cuts in his cut where the barbs had pierced him.

2009 SEMN ELCA Synod Assembly

As a pastor I'm obligated to attend a series of annual meetings. Today I'm at one of them.

ELCA Lutherans have a creative sort of church governence. Members of different churches gather in the spring in synod assemblies. The gathering is partially like a family reunion with friends meeting again after a time apart renewing old frienfships. It's partway a time for renewal & revival, and this year considerable time's is being spent on a discussion about complex social issues.

There's no shortage of secondary topics at these gatherings. This year's no different. We have a great deal of time dedicated to a secondary topic, notably human sexuality. The real issue in our time for the church, sharing Jesus Christ in Word & Sacrament with 2 missing generations, is easily lost.

A first lost tooth

Parents know about the unique moments that tell us our little ones are getting older. Tonight, after a couple of false starts the past few nights our minute younger five and a half (almost six) year old girl lost her first tooth.

Her first tooth came in on Christmas Day 5 years ago. Tonight with just 5 weeks more to go in kindergarten she's taken another little step towards growing up. It came free after just a few seconds of tugging on the dental floss.

Motley Fool Finds the Cullprit behind the crash NCAA bracket style

I've always been amazed at the ways people choose to figure out mysteries.

MotleyFool.com: Stock Madness 2009 has figured out one of the mysteries of our time, who caused the crash behind the current recession. The wise folks behind the Motley Fool gave their readers a chance to determine the answer NCAA Basketball style. Readers gave a solid answer and I think they are right.

There were lots of potential culprits behind the crash; but one act of congress stands out because of how badly it exposed the whole nation to the effects of corporate greed: the repeal of the Glass-Steagal Act. Nothing else compares in its effect on our nation.

the Great Sabbath

Preachers are known to take naps around Easter. But there's an even great Sabbath. The Sabbath between Jesus cross and rising. Most Christians know one section of scripture better than any other: the Gospel accounts of the passion and the stories of the resurrection.

There's a great mystery in these accounts. What happened between the cross and Resurrection morning. The 4 canonical gospel writers offer great details about the events of Thursday night and the passover and Friday morning and the cross; but the intervening space before Easter Sunday morning is a a mystery left unresolved in the Gospels.

The early church confessed a belief that God was at work at some point between Jesus' cross and rising. The Apostle's Creed speak of Jesus' descending to the dead. Some writers have pointed to Peter's allusion in Acts 2:27 & 31 to Psalm 116:8 as an explanation

For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling... (NIV),

1 Peter 3:18-20 speaks of Jesus preaching to the dead through the Spirit. Its a moment of mystery and of Jesus as part of the Trinity was at work. Death could not hold him.

Giving thanks at the start of Holy Week

Its common, among preachers, to have a sort of general discontent this time of year. Lent's home stretch takes alot out of time and prayer. But this year I don't feel the unease; rather I'm feeling some relief.
After a couple years of ministry in interim mode I'm enjoying Holy Week in a new place with new opportunities that come from being in a fully staffed team.
Taking a new call seemed pretty crazy at first; but my beloved reminded me that we don't have to worry. We learned to pray and have faith leaving things in God's hands and not our own to resolve the challenges of our move.
We both came up with plenty of reason not to move. We both needed jobs; then my beloved got a good offer a few days after I had a formal offer. Next we needed our house to sell; and it did. All this time our older 2 girls kept growing; we had a beautiful baby girl who is smiling in my lap right now. It's been pretty amazing.
This past week the last details of our move west came into place a week after we started unpacking in our new home. Our old house closed Friday a week later than scheduled. Turns out the buyers bank wasn't ready on time. But a week later it was done. We paid a extra half moth's interest on the loan and walked away.
Now's time for giving thanks: we had a good house, a new person is moving in. We worked with a great Realtor who came through right at the end and held back some of his profit for a few months to complete the sale; for all that and more we give thanks to our generous God.

Our Baby is Smiling

About a week ago our newest addition started to smile. Now we have pictures to prove it. She's such a joy. She and her sisters and mom can all light up the world when they smile like this.
What a beautiful girl.
Pax, Unlikely

Settling in to the new home and call

One of the real amazing things about pastoral ministry is moving to a new congregation. People my age seem to move from profession to profession and employer to employer pretty regularly.

But what about pastors?

I'm 35 and I've been a pastor for 9.5 years. I spent 2.5 years in my first call before moving to a new call to marry a bride who'd just taken a job in a new state. We moved back to the land of 10,000 lakes after the birth of our twin girls. After five years in a congregation not far from the Mayo Clinic and suburban Rochester we have picked up everything again. We've headed west into the Prairie for a fresh start in ministry and in our family's life.

The folks church we left were stunned that we'd chosen to move; most of my friends in ministry weren't surprised. 7 weeks after we announced the plan to leave I worshiped in another congregation taking a week off. 8 weeks later we were introduced as a family in a new place. 9 weeks later I'll be introducing the Passion reading to the new congregation. It's gone fast, and for that speed I give thanks.

Our fresh steps have given us a lot of opportunities for change. We've sold the rambler and we've bought a big old 2 story frame house in a prairie town. The town is beautiful built around a chain of lakes. Its a good 50 minutes drive to a bigger town; there are a few new big box stores in town and a small mall. We're settling in and getting used to things. My wife will start a new job in the summer and we're getting used to having our little one at home.

Right now I'm giving thanks for fresh starts.
Pax
Unlikely

New house

We arrived today at our new house 120 miles or so west of our place on the edge of both the prairie and the Hiawatha valley. The Hiawatha Valley (and its nearby trout streams) are a good ways back now. The pheasants are closer and we're still a couple hours drive away from my folks.
We're in lake country now. The new place is just a quarter mile from the closest one. The movers (mostly Quist family members) came and helped us pack Wednesday and Thursday. I met with the banker Friday and signed a loan that will be paid off when I'm 65. The movers met us at the new place with their 53 foot truck and unloaded the contents of our old home into our new one.
It's been an amazing day to watch so much into this house in such a short time. Now we're learning the new sounds of this old house.

+++

We keep praying for friends in Fargo hoping that they are allright. Please keep them and others in the Red River Valley before Gods throne.

Pax,
unlikely.

My plan to end the recession

I've been reading some about the current recession being the product of greed and regulatory indifference. So now I am wondering what would happen if we started with the opposites? Sgt C (christopher-calbat.newsvine.com) put the formula for the crisis like this
unbacked assets + immediate equity on securities - oversight + deregulation x greed - ethics = FAILURE!!

So my proposal to get out of the mess is to do the opposite thing.
real assets - equities with real value + oversight + regulation * generostiy = a stable economy

Real assets. We already have assets starting to take on relatively stable value (if you can see the difference in housing prices in 2009 vs 2005 you can see that we have more stable values today than 4 years ago). We still need to pull in short sellers and others who are undermining the value of goods and services today.

- equities with real value. Its time to limit equity markets and funds to selling shares limited in scope to actual assets or sales (real property, machinery, patents, proprietary technology, cash etc.) Yes the fast buck era is over for most on Wall Street; but real growth might actually take place now that the profiteers are all asking for bail outs.

+ oversight (the FDIC is ramping up today like it hasn't in years)

+ regulation (lets not ever get back to this type of market again

all this multiplied by generosity and altruism

= a stable national economy

tell me what you think
Unlikely

Newsvine Article: Real Estate Still Moving in Olmsted County, MN

Real Estate Still Moving in Olmsted County, MN

Summary:
There's one bright spot in the toboggan slide knows as Minnesota Real Estate prices. It's Rochester and the rest of Olmsted County. As prices in the Twin Cities metro area continue to fall this one area just 90 miles southeast down US Highway 52 is surprisingly stable.

Visit the article by clicking this link:

http://unlikelybanter.newsvine.com/_news/2009/03/13/2545025-real-estate-still-moving-in-olmsted-county-mn

Moving on

My bride and I are getting ready to move a new home. We have a first time home buyer coming for inspection tomorrow. It's a little to worry about; but as a seller in this market its a good reason to hope.

Our world's changing fast. My last Sunday in my current call is just a few days away; our littlest girl is sleeping in my arms and it looks like we'll be moved to a new home at the end of this month. Wow. We sure feel very blessed.

Hello!

Hey Kristi
thanks for the note

I'll post it as a comment

john

the new girl in our family comes home

We've been blessed again.
We had another daughter she was born at 8:33 am on Monday in Rochester, Minnesota. After three days in the hospital everyone's finally gotten home safe and sound. Now I have the chance to share some pictures and video of our newest little girl. She's been a real joy to watch and hold.

Right now she's being just a little vocal about a few things. She's learning very fast about the world around her and is getting very close to her mom. The pictures are just a few of many from the past week. If your browser doesn't support the slide show try this link out picasaweb.google.com/unlikelyconversation/ANewGirlInOurFamily




We even broke out the video camera on the day of our newest daughters birth. I get a real kick out of watching the way her big sisters responded to meeting her. The giggles are are coming from pure joy. Our minute older twin had a cold that day and had to wear a surgical mask so not to get the baby sick.

There's no question for me. We've been blessed with our two older girls and now we are blessed again as our family is continuing to grow. For all these gifts we give our thanks and praise to God.

Pax,
Unlikely

Please check out the video. It's posted on youtube and on vimeo. Please let me know if you can see any difference in quality. I like vimeo but I want to give them both a try and see how they both work.

Vimeo's first,


Our 3rd daughter's First Day from Unlikely on Vimeo.

youtube is next

Norah's been born

Siri and I are proud to announce the arrival of our newest girl: Norah Kathryn. She was born at 8:33 am at Methodist Hospital. She's nursing right now. She was 8lbs 1oz, 21 inches long and is very beautifil. Siri and Norah are both doing very well. Siri thinks its funny that she doesn't look like either of her sisters.
In Christ we have our hope and give thanks today.
John & Siri.

Waiting Room

Siri just headed in to the "delivery room" at Rochester Methodist Hospital. It's time for her spinal and then I'll be brought in for the delivery, by way a c-section, of our 3rd daughter. We've been listening to her strong heart beat and waiting. Now I'm the one waiting alone.

progress on 1 of the root causes of recession?

Watching Nightline I finally heard the news I've been wating for, President Obama is expecting an audit of the nation's banks. As part of "taking off the bandaid" on Wall Street. (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Politics/story?id=6839534
Finally real progress 1 year after this recession started. We needed this last year; and now I think we're going to get it to happen.

The 2nd tooth is gone

Our minute older girl wants me to put this picture on the internet tonight. She lost her second tooth tonight 35 days afterlosing he first. She's playing at sluring her words a little for fun.
Its fun to watch the girls grow up a little each day.

A new call

I announced, in church this morning, that I have recieved a new call to serve as a pastor in a different church. After 5 years, the past two working with various interim pastors, it seems like a good time for us to move on to a new call. The news was a surprise for most everyone. There were lots of hugs and a lot of surprised expressions and word for both me and my beloved.
I received the formal letter extending the call 8 days ago. My beloved received an offer from a clinic in the same town just 3 days ago. It's a very exciting and hopeful time for both of us and our girls; now we just need to sell our house.
We told the kids that this move was a possibility 2 weeks ago. We told them it was a secret. They said it would be hard to keep. They surprised us by keeping it as well as they did. Tomorrow they can start sharing the news, just like I am tonight.
Pax,
unlikely

An unsolicited email irked me

I received an unsolicited email that really bugged me today. It came to my church account signed by a raving Bush backer, Donald Wildmon. In it he called deficit spending proposed in HR1 immoral. I replied asking him when he'd spoken out against deficits in the past 8 years of the last administration.
He's published some of the letter at
capwiz.com/afanet/issues/alert/?alertid=12540961.
Its time to keep the discussion going but Mr Wildmon needs to call the old administrations deficits immoral if he's going to call HR 1 immoral.

Day 1 of 100 no wall street cleanup, yet.

President Obama has been in office for about 36 hours now. Some might say its too early to ask to see the meat of Obama's plans; but I'm wondering about the specifics of the wall street bailout will include.
Others are still thinking about the festivities thid week; but I'd like to hear some of the gritty details.

Lessons from FDR's first 100 days

A NY TIMES blog offers details of the first 100 days of Roosevelts administration right as we prepare for Obama's first 100 days. The overview provides real insight about what we might expect as a nation on the financial brink.

Check it out http://100days.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/how-fdr-made-the-presidency-matter/?th&emc=th

Contemplating Something New

The older I get the more adverse I get to taking risks. But today the risk I've been avoiding, moving, seems pretty tiny compared to the possibility of a new start in a new call in ministry.

A few regular readers of this blog know that I've been contemplating seeking a new call for many months. I haven't said much about it online. I made the decision to seek a new call in the summer and started interviewing some this fall. While I haven't said much online I have been working towards a new call in the real world.

My wife and I now are waiting for a congregational vote. It will happen in a few weeks. If we choose to move we'll have to sell our home and start over with two new jobs, a new home, new school and lots of other new and changing things. We still have much to decide: when we'll announce our decision, how long we'll stay after we announce, and what we'll do if our house won't sell.

Its been quite a year for us. Somehow realizing in the middle of all the joys of expecting our 3rd girl that it's the right time for dad to move to a new church has really given us cause to pray and to appreciate that timing isn't really ours to control.

We appreciate any prayers you might have as we ask for God's assurance that this is not our will but God's will.

thanks
unlikely

Still waiting for a bank/financial services holiday.

With less than 3 weeks until the beginning of the Obama administration I renew my request, as stated in my blog unlikelybanter.blogspot.com in March and October, for a national bank holiday. Our nation would benefit immediately from an even broader bank/financial services holiday than the one FDR imposed in March of 1933.

Students of US history know that Roosevelt's dramatic action, which started the FDIC (auditing the books and insuring deposits of banks) effectively saved the banking system. Consumer banking along with the economy as a whole was teetering on collapse at the end of Hoovers administration. FDR's dramatic action arguably saved the US economy and the capitalist system.

It should be noted that the circumstances are somewhat different in 2009. The real crisis is not so much in the banks as it is in all the other financial institutions that act some what like banks; but for sake of escaping regulatory oversight aren't considered banks. Its time, with the collapse of Madoff's fund and Petter's investment scheme, that all investment funds have their books opened to a more powerful SEC. Its time for to shutter the doors, just like FDR did with banks in 1933, until regulators are clear about the basis for each fund.

published simulatneously at newsvine.