The "Dairy Farm" is good for my soul

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

I am at the"Dairy Farm" again today. I call my chemo treatments the “Dairy Farm” because we are all hooked up like dairy cows, the only difference is, instead of giving milk (like the cows) we get chemo infused into us. My chemo treatment takes 2-days, 6-7 hours on day 1 and 2-3 hours on day 2.

As you might have guessed I have cancer.

Please do not feel sorry for me, I do not feel sorry for me. The surgeries and the chemo are doing their jobs. I will be around for a while longer.

As I look around the farm, I see people that are a lot farther down the road on their journey than I am.
When I talk with the other people on the farm, I find nothing but a kind and generous people. I guess when you go through something like cancer you stop worrying about the little things that really don’t matter.

The longer you go on this journey, the more you realize that the things you were worrying about were little things.

When I talk with my friends on the farm and I look into their eyes, looking into their eyes is a chaplain thing. When you look into a person’s eyes you do a better job of connecting their words to what they are truly saying. Anyway, when I look into their eyes they shine when they tell their stories. When they talk about their journey and when they ask about my mine.

Something that I never thought I would say, “Going to the Dairy Farm is good for my soul.”

The doctors are good, the nurses are great, but the people are amazing.

Their eyes shine with love for others.

Their words are respectful and honest.

They get things done when they need to get them done. When you don’t know what tomorrow will bring, you get it done today.

They ask if I need anything; something to drink or eat…

I guess when you are looking at eternity square in the face; the face you want people to see is one of love, one of respect, one of honesty, one of responsibility, one of service.

Something to think about.

Blessings,
Roger

Neighbors

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

I have a neighbor down the road. She is an ER nurse and has a husband and a child.

During this time of pandemic she is working very hard. She is helping to save lives. She is very tired, anxious, and a bit scared.

We check on them often. Yes, we maintain our social distance. We ask them what they need. We make meals for them.

I have other neighbors that live on our little road. Some come and talk through their anxieties as well.

Most of my neighbors are what one would call "spiritual, but not religious." A vast catch-all for a variety of worldviews and thought lives. I am not put-off by their worldviews. I am not fearful of them. I listen to their thoughts. I listen to their concerns.

I do my best to bring them comfort and to show them a bit of Christ. They know that I am a Christian yet they still come to share their stuff with me.

I am reminded of something Leonard Sweet once said:

Christianity has much less to do with being “right” than it has to do with building right relationships—the strong protecting the weak, the rich serving the poor, the insiders making room for the outcasts.
Leonard Sweet, Out of the Question…Into the Mystery. (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook Press, 2004),133-4.

A funny afternote: My neighbors are starting to use my language now. They are saying Christ-like thing without even knowing they are quote Him.

God is amazing; all you have to do is show the love of Christ to people, live in congruence with His word, and He will do the rest.

We have to walk the talk, or the talk is just noise.

Have a great day, and God bless you.
Roger

Put your trust in God, but lock your car.

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

I'm a kid that grew up in Kansas; more specifically, I grew up in the far northwest corner of Kansas.

Do you know what is in the far northwest corner of Kansas? A lot of sky, a lot of open country and a lot of farm land.

Do you know what is not in the far northwest corner of Kansas? People, there really aren't a lot of people in the far northwest corner of Kansas. The last time I looked we had about 5,000 people in our county, which by the way covers around 1,000 square miles. This translates into around 5 people per square mile, but wait there's more!

In the far northwest corner of Kansas is a town! it has roughly 2000 people in it, yes I know it is a metropolis!! If you take the 2000 people that are all in one spot of our neck of the plain (I would say woods, but there really isn't a lot of woods going on in the far northwest corner of Kansas) that leaves roughly 3,000 people for the rest of the county, or 3 people per square mile.

But those 3 people per square mile were people you could count on. If you needed something they were there.

I now live by a river in the Cascade Mountains very near a large town that is very close to a much larger town. There is roughly 1 million people in the metro area, and we are all under quarantine or shelter in place, or stay at home orders...What ever you want to call it.

I turned on the news and they were taking about inquiries to divorce attorneys were on the rise because people had to stay home together all this during the first week. They were showing pictures of empty store shelves and other crazy stuff.

Did I mention that I grew up in the far northwest corner of Kansas?

Did I also mention that we realistically only had 3 people per square mile?

After college I joined the Navy.

I joined the Navy and we sailed around the Pacific Ocean a lot.

Do you know what is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? A lot of water, a lot of sky, a lot of stars

Do you know what isn't in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? People, there aren't a lot of people in the Pacific Ocean. All we had was each other on the boat. We knew that if something went wrong all we had was each other to get us through it (Like Typhoon Percy, which sank a bunch of ships and knocked a 13' hole in our bow.) If we hadn't all worked together I would not be here to tell this story.

I saw this church sign the other day, "Put your trust in God, but lock your car."

I get what the sign was conveying. But I do come from a part of the world where we did not lock our cars, we did not have to.

I love the fact that our YMCA is changing its operational structure to meet the needs of the current social landscape. It reminds me of my little town in the far northwest corner of Kansas. I reminds me of my shipmates when things went wrong.

Put your trust in God, that is true.

You can also trust the YMCA will be there for you too.

A shout out to all my YMCA family, "Well done good and faithful servant."

I am humbled and proud to be part of this family.

Blessings,

Slow down you move too fast

Good Morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

I am a morning person.

I was up and this song came into my head. Simon and Garfunkel wrote it years ago and yet it just popped into my head.

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy
Hello lamppost, what'cha knowing
I've come to watch your flowers growin'
Ain't you got no rhymes for me?
Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy
I got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you, all is groovy

At first I was happy and singing then;
As I ruminated on the words to the song I began to think, "All is not groovy"

Then I saw my neighbor's lambpost and I thought, "Hello lamppost what'cha knowing? I've come to watch your flowers growin."

I was grappling with the song and the times we live in when that still small voice whispered, "Don't you remember, I said the same thing many years ago to a group of people."

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

I didn't say wait for the world to change to get happy.

Don't wait for your circumstances to change to get happy.

You are blessed right now,right where you are at.

Look at the end of the song again.

Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you, all is groovy

If you need prayer, please ask.
If you have time to pray, pray.
If you can help someone out, help them out.
If you need help, ask.
In all we do, love God. He loves you.

Blessings,
Roger

To worship God means to serve Him

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

I read the following during my quite time:

To worship God means to serve Him. There are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for Him the He needs to have done—run errands for Him, carry messages for Him, fight on His side, feed His lambs, and so on. The other thing to do things for Him that you need to do—sing songs for Him, create beautiful things for Him, give things up for Him, tell Him what is on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in Him and make a fool of yourself for Him the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love…Unless there is an element of joy and foolishness in the proceedings, the time would be better spent doing something useful.Northumbria Community, Celtic Daily Prayer, (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 2002), 630.

After I read this I went, "Wow, I am ordered to shelter-in-place, what should I do?"

So I started singing. It wasn't long before my wife said, "Please find some other way to serve Him."

It isn't hard for me to be a fool for Christ. Those that know me, know that I play the part of the fool really well.

Some you know I have a medical condition, others may not. This condition causes me to have a lowered immune system. In other words I cannot leave the house during this time. So how do I serve Him? I thought about this a lot actually over the past little while.

I wrote my doctors, nurses and staff a thank you letter telling them that I appreciate them very much and to know that someone is out there praying for them.

I call staff, volunteers and members of the YMCA and check in with them, pray with them when asked to do so, and let them know someone cares.

If I cannot physically be there I can at least share Christ's love with them via the phone.

To be honest it would be easy for me to dwell on the negative. It takes intentionality to be positive and be there as a listening ear for others.

Let's read this again:
To worship God means to serve Him. There are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for Him the He needs to have done—run errands for Him, carry messages for Him, fight on His side, feed His lambs, and so on. The other thing to do things for Him that you need to do—sing songs for Him, create beautiful things for Him, give things up for Him, tell Him what is on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in Him and make a fool of yourself for Him the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love…Unless there is an element of joy and foolishness in the proceedings, the time would be better spent doing something useful.Northumbria Community, Celtic Daily Prayer, (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 2002), 630.

Is there anything you can do to Serve Him?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,
Roger

It's not the challenge that defines you

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

Holy Moly, what the heck, did not see that one coming, all the things we say when something comes at us out of nowhere.

This virus (Covid-19), definitely fits into the Holy Moly, what the heck, did not see that one coming category.

As I talk with people I find that they are really trying to keep their chins up and putting on a strong face; at the same time they are anxious, worried and a bit scared.

Truth be told they are not alone, and alone makes the anxiety even worse.

As more and more of us begin to shelter in place and practice social distancing the loneliness aspect can mount.

I am reminded of something a really smart guy once said, "3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."(Col 3:1-2)

So often if we are being honest with ourselves. Something comes at us that is a challenge and we tend to let our thoughts go down and not up. We think of the negative not the positive. Let us set our gaze on Christ during the midst of these troubling tough times.

I do not know about you, but for me it is the only way I get through times like this. I ask the simple question of, "What would you have me do Lord?" and then wait for His quite response.

You see, it is not the challenge that defines us, it is our response.

My YMCA is asking that same question, and waiting for His response.

I won't blather on about looking for the good during troubling times, just do your best and know that there are people that care, like the YMCA.

Blessings,
Roger

The River and the YMCA

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

It has been hot, really hot.

I came home from the YMCA and the river was calling my name. I am blessed to live by a river. In the mornings I sit out by it and drink my coffee. This is the time that God and I have our best conversations.

As I looked at the river I had a hard time seeing anything in it. The water is crystal clear and the bottom is rocky, a typical mountain river. I can see the bottom clearly, but unless the salmon are running I don't see any fish. I always knew they were there, but just couldn't see them.

My kids, and grandkids were at the house they other day and my oldest son Brandon bought a snorkel mask. We had a great time in the river that day.

I came home from the YMCA the other day and the temperature was 109. I got into my swim suit, grabbed the facemask and headed for the river.

I got in, put the facemask on and went for a swim. When I looked under the water with the facemask I was immediately struck by the amount of life in the river. Fish were all around me, crayfish wandering on the bottom.

The river was full of life.

I was struck by the fact of when I would sit on the bank of the river I couldn't see much. But, once I dove in, looked beneath surface, I was surrounded by life.

Then God said, "That is the way life is. So often people sit on the bank of life and complain that I am not doing anything, or worse, I don't exist. All they have to do is get in the river of life, take a look around and see everything that is going on."

A couple of thousand years ago, when talking of the things of God, a guy named Paul said, "We see through a glass darkly."

Much in the same way we cannot see beneath the surface of a river. The fact that we cannot see all the life in a river while we sit on the bank does not mean it isn't there.

My thoughts turned toward the YMCA.

Now I am not going to say that all "Y's" are this way, I can only speak to the "Y" were I live.

When people come in, or drive by, They can see we have a gym; it is a place were they could workout, they could even go swimming. What they cannot see is all the other things that are going on. In a way they look at our "Y" much the same as I had been looking at the river by my house.

It is only when a person takes the time to look under the surface of our "Y" do they get a chance to see the "life" going on in our YMCA.

People being healed from depression and anxiety.
Kids at risk for hunger being fed, everyday.
Kids healing from abuse through swim lessons.
Homeless people getting help.

People getting a glimpse of God in a place that they would not expect to find it.

I love our YMCA, it is a good place.

A place where the hurt find healing and the hopeless find hope.

Blessings,

Roger