Catching Up

Things Fortnightly time once again.

This week's theme is catching up.

Thing 1. Dropping in.

Sometimes we catch up with people when they drop in for a visit.

These paratroopers were a highlight of a wonderful visit to Cantigni park in Wheaton for Scout-A-Rama. Been meaning to post these pictures for a while and am just catching up to it now.



Thing 2. Has it really been that long?



I recently had the opportunity to catch up with several friends that I knew in my high school days. We got together last weekend, sang some of the old songs and had a great time visiting with each other. What's really odd with seeing people that you've known for pushing 30 years is that some of the things that you remember the person for, they have forgotten and vice versa.



Thing 3: Catching up on Labels



A few months ago when this blog celebrated 300 posts. I decided to write 25 tribute posts to my 25 most used labels up to that time. This has proved to be a little more difficult than I first anticipated. I've decided to give it another go.



Here is today's installment



#20 (7 way tie) Russia



From 1992 to 1994 I served as a missionary to Russia for the Southern Baptist Convention. In many ways it was the best time of my life. At least it was the best time of my life up to that point. From time to time it comes up in the blog.



Someday I'd like to take my whole family back to Russia. One of the books I am reading about now, is a memoir about a woman from Russia. It reminds me of the time that I spent there.



Thing 4: Speaking of Catching up.



On the June 4th installment of Things Fortnightly I mentioned the White Sox and my passion for them. I mentioned how they had lost the game the night before that I took my son to and how I was taking my youngest daughter to the game that day. The Sox had a record of 22-30 at the time. They were 8 games below .500 and 8.5 games behind the division leading Minnesota Twins. They were 5 games behind the Second Place Detroit Tigers.



Since then The Sox have turned their season around. They beat the Rangers when Lucy and I saw them which was the beginning of a 23-8 run they are currently on. They have gone from 8 games below the .500 mark to seven games above and with tonight's victory over the Angels they are in second place in their division only 1 game behinf the Tigers and have just pulled a half game ahead of the Twins.



Thing 5: Vote Pauly, Vote Often.



A big reason the Sox are doing so well is the monster season Paul Konerko has been having for them. He is one of 5 AL players who can be voted to next week's all star game. In tonight's victory he doubled twice. Click here to vote for him. He is currently in third and needs to catch up (you knew I'd have it somewhere) to make it to the game.

Washington Day 6 and Beyond

It's been almost 3 weeks since our trip to Washington.

It is now time for Things Fortnightly. Thing #1 will have to be my journal entry from day 6:

Charlie and I were slugs today. We drove in to DC with the friend of my sisters that we are staying with. With 3 in her car and 3 in ours we could both ride in the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicles) lane. In DC commuters meet up to be able to make enough passengers to get in those lanes. This practice is called slugging. Once we got into the DC area we took the metro to the zoo. At first,, neither of the pandas were very active or photogenic. While we were resting one panda started climbing a tree and spinning around.

Amy got footage.


I showed it to my sister and she said she doesn't know anyone who's been there and seen them be anywhere near that active.

We also saw many other cool animals like Orangutans climbing through towers outside of their usual habitat. After a number of hours at the zoo we went to the library of congress and visited two amazing exhibits featuring children's literature. One for authors and researchers and the other for young children to read with their parents.

Thing # 2. You can't believe everything you read.

Before the aforementioned trip to DC we read and read and read about how to prepare for said trip. One thing that we read and read and read over and over and over (I think you may be beginning to see the point here) was don't drive your car in DC.

This is why in past journal entries you have read about trains and slugs. It turns out that driving in D.C. is no worse than driving into Chicago. For us it was our preferred form of travel and was part of the adventure. Again we stayed outside of the city proper, and I could see the benefits of parking your car somewhere for a week if you were going to be holed up in some downtown hotel.

Thing # 3 In-flight Movie

Thing # 4 Endings

Charlie and his cousin Bobby finished cub scouts last week.
The kids finish Awana and another semester of our home school co-op Monday.

It's a good thing they all have at least one more activity they are still involved with. Otherwise people might start asking "What about socialization?" again!



Those are my things for this edition. Can I count on you to share some things by clicking on Mr. Linky below?


Next Time: Washington Trip Day 7: Saving the best for seventh.

The International Impact of Keith Part IV

The first summer I lived in Russia Keith visited me for a few weeks. One day we were on a bus headed over to have a dinner at the house of 2 of my students. While on the bus we encountered someone having some difficulty communicating in Russian. It turns out he was a Brazilian missionary who had just gotten into the country. He spoke no English, and very little Russian. He was fluent in Portuguese and Spanish. I used to be a fair hand at Spanish but lost most of Enter Keith who was practically fluent in Spanish. We ended up inviting (I think my students were with us on the bus) him to join us at the dinner.

The dinner was a very unusual affair my student's Mom spoke no English, Spanish or Portuguese but was very interested in talking with the Brazilian. So here's what we did our host asked a question in Russian, I translated it into English, Keith translated it into Spanish. The Brazilian would respond and Keith would translate it into English and I would translate it into Russian. Talk about having to sing for your supper.

Keith really enjoyed being useful and a focal point of the evening.

The International Impact of Keith Part III

The Kostya Rules

When Keith was visiting me in Russia a few of the students from the Russian Baptist Church paid a visit to my apartment. After a while we started playing Yahtzee. I don't think my Russian friends had ever played it before. One of my friends, Kostya kept throwing one of the dice off the table. Now "Roller American Rules" dictate that on such an occasion the entire role must be redone.

For whatever reason Keith initiated the Kostya rules. Kostya could look on the floor and see what the roll was, if he wanted to he could keep it, or he could re-roll. This certainly gives an advantage to the (lower cased) roller.

When I returned to the states Keith and I would often play Yahtzee and we always had to decide whether the Kostya rule was in play or not.

The International Impact of Keith Part II

Keith visited me when I was living in Russia in 1993. The picture of us on the blog page was taken on that trip. If you'll notice we are drinking soda, but there is no ice in the glasses. At one point of the trip this caused Keith to comment. "A guy could make a lot of money in this country, if he had the recipe for ice cubes."

Remembering Millard

Millard Posthuma 1916 -2009

Heaven centered living provides own eulogy.

I have recently discovered that there is a new blog carnival for Christian men. When I think of Christian men, I think of Dr. Millard Posthuma. So I am going to submit this post to the innaugural edition of the carnival. If they accept it instead of reading this sentence you will see a link to their carnival.

I first met Millard Posthuma at a prayer meeting on my university campus in 1990. Until he started attending regularly, I, at 24, was the oldest person at the meetings. Millard, then 74, changed all that. The retired surgeon was the father in law of our campus group's faculty advisor.

I remember one of the first conversations I had with Millard. I recognized his last name and asked him if he was related to Dan Posthuma who produced contemporary Christian music albums (Margaret Becker, Julie Miller among others.) It turns out that he was Dan's father. I followed that up with some question of how he must be proud to have such a famous son. His response was that he was very glad that all his children loved Jesus and were following Him.

Now, please don't imagine that comment coming as a rebuke. It was said with the same graciousness he said everything with. I am not sure that I have ever met as kind of a person before or since I met Millard. He was a regular at our prayer meetings and often attended and many times sang at our weekly meetings.

He was also the most active man in his seventies I ever met. He had a spry step and was involved in a plethora of activities: Rotary, Gideons, Pro Life rallies, etc. Anyone who has the caricature of an anti-abortion protester as a hate spewing unmerciful hypocrite in their mind, has never heard Millard present the Pro Life message. He gently stood up for the unborn fetus and used his medical background to provide evidence of where conception begins.

Millard had a great deal of influence on people my age. A friend 5 years my senior became involved in the Rotary because of Millard's leading. Another friend 5 years my junior had him as a groomsman in his wedding. A twenty two year old with a 76 year old groomsman! After I graduated in 1992 I spent two years as a missionary in Russia. Millard sent me a an encouraging letter while I was there mentioning meeting Russians when he was in WWII.

Most of all, I remember Millard loved his wife. He was always so tender and protective of her. I never heard him say one disparaging word about her. If you talked to Millard for 5 minutes, you would know 3 things about him 1: Jesus was his Savior, 2: He loved his wife and 3: He was genuinely interested in you.

When I was a younger man I read many books about dating, love, and marriage. One thing I read that stuck with me was: don't visit friends and relatives on your honeymoon. When Amy and I married in 1998 we honeymooned in the Smoky Mountains. We flew from Chicago to Louisville, Ky and drove to the Smokies. On the last day of our honeymoon we spent the day with Millard and Trudy in Louisville, where they had recently moved to. It was one piece of advice I am so glad I ignored. We had a wonderful visit, the couple married 1 week and the other married 57 years. It also turned out to be the last time we would see Millard alive. I found out a few weeks ago that he had passed away on May 31, 2009.

There is so much I would like you to know about Millard. I could start with his obituary, there are some things that I didn't even know. I knew he was in WWII but I had no idea that he was seriously injured in the Battle of the Bulge. Near the end of his life, Millard started blogging, he only posted three times but one of his posts was so Millard that I wanted to share it here:

A New President !! 11/04/08

A new president? Yes. and he will be receiving our prayers for God's guidance We asked for God to be incontrol in the election, and We trust that He was. Now we owe him our prayerful support. http://mposthumablog.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-president-110408.html

Millard in his unassuming way could so quickly get to the heart of a matter. The same precision God gave him with a scalpel was also evident in his communication.

In a way Millard speaks even though dead. His life speaks volumes and I'd like to leave you with the sound of his voice as featured in a Gaither and Friends album a few years back entitled appropriately enough: Heaven. (He is on the second to the last cut.) I guess there are advantages to having a son in the music industry.

Goodbye Millard, we miss you and look forward to singing with you again in Heaven.

For more of Six Word Saturday go to Show My Face dot com.

Next Time: The Century Mark.

Last Weekend, This Weekend, and About a boy(cott).

It's almost Thursday and I have my three things in advance. Let's get to them shall we.

1. Of Tall Buildings and Birthdays.

I started telling you a few posts ago about my weekend. We certainly fit a 50 lb weekend in a 10 lb bag. We went to a marriage conference at out church on Saturday. It was very good. Amy and I certainly do have a lot we can work on. But as my last few posts, pointed out, we are both blessed to still be married to our best friend.

We had to cut out of the marriage conference before it ended in order to go to the airport. I had been told that a Russian friend of mine and a friend of hers were going to be in Chicago for a day and needed me to arrange a place for them to stay and to pick them up at the airport. In the two years that I had lived in Russia, I had learned always be prepared for anything. So I was not too surprised that instead of 1 friend, Marina had 9 Russian friends with her!

While I could only fit her and her friend Irina in my van(my family was filling up the other 5 seats.) I was able to make accommodations at the same motel as I had for Marina and Irina for her 8 other traveling companions. I got those 8 in a couple of cabs towards the motel.

We then asked Marina if she wanted to go to the motel or to go into the city. She said she wanted to go out in the city as today was her birthday. We went out to Chicago, to the John Hancock Building and went to the observatory.

It was a lovely evening and we had a spectacular view.

Going to the top was not inexpensive, so we did have Lucy wash a few windows to defray the costs.

When we got down from the observatory we had a fantastic dinner at The Cheesecake Factory which is located on the bottom floor of the Hancock.

The wait staff even came out and sang a birthday song for Marina. From top to bottom it was an excellent evening!

2. Home School Conference

This weekend is also a pretty big to-do. The Home School Convention is a major part of our planning for the next school year. There are excellent seminars to choose from, some great main session speakers, and the big draw, the vendor hall. Imagine Sam's Club filled with Home School products and you have an idea what the vendor hall feels like. We generally plan our curriculum for the coming year and purchase it (generally at the best prices of the year) at the convention. This year we have some Konos material that we bought a few years back and have not yet used. This will probably be a large part of the curriculum but there are still a few other things to figure out.

Speaking of Konos, Jessica Hulcy, of Konos, was supposed to be a speaker at the convention this year. As many of you may already know, she was involved in a major car accident between her and a fire truck. You can get more information on her condition by clicking here. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

If you are interested in further convention info, the organizers will be blogging live from the conference.

3. There's Nothing Wrong With Esther.

A dear friend of mine recently joined a group on facebook. The group exists to encourage a boycott of the upcoming Warner Brothers film Orphan. The movie is in the horror/slasher genre. According to the group description, the film perpetuates misrepresentations of adoption, and it serves to reinforce the perception that older adoptees are very troubled.

Now, I am always good for a boycott, or any other kind of principled stand against wrong thinking or action. The problem is, I have never seen a horror/ slasher film, and I cannot think of any scenario whereupon I would. So you could say that I am already boycotting the genre. So how can I kick Warner Brothers in the pocket book when none of my money is heading in that direction? I can appeal to you the horror/slasher movie people out here in the blogosphere. If you see 17 horror/slasher films this year do not see Orphan. See Saw. I can't reccomend that film, I just wanted to say seesaw. Also let Warner Brothers know that you are not interested in seeing a film like this, by joining the group on facebook, or by going to Petition Spot and signing the similar petion there.

Those are my Three Things This Thursday. Join Michelle at Psalm 104:24 for more three entertainment.

Next Time: But Dad, You're not a Girl!

Rainy Days in June

I know I promised to continue to blog about my weekend. I will continue with that in a few days. For now the weather outside, albeit not frightful, has dictated my next few posts. I hope you enjoy them.

Amy and I weren't always the mom and pop operation that stands before you today. No, for the first seven years I knew her, we were "just friend's". The thing is, nobody believed it, except us. Everyone fully expected us to get the memo and get married. It is kind of hard to believe, especially when in 1993 I wrote her a love song. Now before you say "you did what?!!?!??!" Let me just say that Amy and I communicated a lot by songs in the early stages of our friendship. Like this little ditty I wrote for her in 1990 or 1991

Amy, as I come to an end to this song.
Please get me right, don't get me wrong.
In baseball's hall of fame you really don't belong
'cause after all you're just a girl.

Now at the time, A League of Their Own had not yet come out, so I was blissfully unaware that Women (or known girls) were already in baseball's hall of fame.

When I was in Russia in 1993, it was early April and I was going to visit one of my students. I was walking to my bus and it was raining. This song came to me which I dedicated to Amy and then recorded for her on my portable cassette player and mailed it off to her.

I didn't think of it as a love song as much as a friendship song although the lyrics I love you are right there. But in dedication to this first rainy day in June and to the best wife a guy could ever be best friends with is that smash of the mid '90s, Rainy Day in June

Rainy days in April almost every day.
Rainy days in April, flowers come in May.
Rainy days in May, they're are still a few
But I love a rainy day in June spent with you

Rainy days in June, baseball gets delayed
If it's really pouring some games don't get played
Though I'd miss my baseball I will tell you true
I prefer a rainy day in June spent with you.

Though you can't predict them like these April showers
And you sure can't pick them like the sweet May flowers
If I could choose my favorite time of year, and the weather too.
I would pick a rainy day in June spent with you.

Aim I miss you dearly
I wish you were nearer
We still get some rain here
Here in sweet Siberia
So when the rain comes falling
In April, May or September
Rainy days in June and you I will remember

(Musical Interlude)

Though you can't predict them like these April Showers
And you sure can't pick them like the sweet may flowers
If I could sing of my favorite time of year and the weather, too
I would sing of rainy days in June spent with you

I love rainy days in June and I love you

(repeats indistinctly)

Next Time: A handful of salt when a pinch will do

A Poem: March 11th

March 11th

written 3-11-93 Russia

Two days before my Brother's birthday

Eleven days before my Dad's

Yesterday, it meant only tomorrow

In a few hours, the roles will be reversed

Just another day

Life in another country

New experiences each day

Man has a way

Of making the extraordinary

Commonplace

Russia

Living in former Godless Russia

As a missionary

I've preached at church services

In old communist buildings

But today is just a day

Not special
Today I spoke to Russian students

Little spiritual knowledge

But much curiosity

But today is just a day

God forgive me

Next Time: In praise of Home School Kids Write

It's Not Uncommon, It's Not our Problem.

When I lived in Russia, someone sent me a copy of an article from the English version of a Moscow newspaper. The story told of hundreds of bags of undelivered mail being dumped into a lake near Moscow. When some Russian government official was contacted, his comment was: "It is not uncommon, it is not our problem."

As I approach my 45th birthday, it is natural for a certain world weariness to creep in from time to time. When you are younger, you seem to have boundless energy to solve all the problems of the world. As you begin to see the same problems over and over again, it is easy to get the "not uncommon, not my problem" mentality.

Empathy covers apathy in the same way that paper covers rock. As the world and its worries harden your heart, putting other peoples' troubles in front of your own soften it. So, next time you have the opportunity to help someone in need, tell yourself it may not be uncommon, but I can make it my problem.

Next Time: Perspective

Crazy Dave's Give-A-Ways: The Power of an Encouraging Word.

This is officially the 25th post at Home School Dad. I thought I would celebrate by having my first give-away. I plan to give something away every 25 posts with every 100th post being a contest. Just comment on this post to be entered to win the book. I am posting all the "official" rules on a sidebar. Without further adieu, here is my first give-away:

The Power of an Encouraging Word


Encouragement - creating hope for the future - Ken Sutterfield from His book "The Power of an Encouraging Word."

From December '92 to November 1994, I served as a Southern Baptist Missionary in a Russian city of approximately 800,000, called Khabarovsk. At the time, they were the best 2 years of my life. (When you get the privilege of being married to a girl like Amy for nearly 11 years, everything else pales in comparison.) In Khabarovsk, I eventually teamed with 4 other missionaries to share the gospel and start a church among the college students. I say, eventually, because I came in November and the first of my teammates came the following summer. My first 6 months, I taught English, learned Russian and went to about 5 Russian Baptist church meetings per week.

I was one of the first Americans living in the region, but was hardly ever lonely. I dived right into my studies and my ministry. I went cross country skiing in 20 below weather. Let's face it, the first few months, I did everything in 20 below weather. I led a man to faith in Christ just by getting in a conversation about Russian Roulette. Like I say, I was hardly ever lonely for America or Americans. I should say, until Easter of 1993.

To the Russian Baptists, Easter is a much bigger deal than Christmas. A Russian Baptist Easter service is a sight to behold, with much singing, preaching and sending of greetings. The problem is that the calendar for Russia's Easter is different than America's Easter. Easter Sunday as I know it, was 1 week prior to Russian Easter. So on American Easter Sunday, it was just another Sunday at my new church and I was homesick, feeling isolated and frustrated with not being able to communicate heart to heart fully in Russian or English

I don't know if my good friend Vladimir Lebedev, one of the young men from the Baptist Church who later became the Pastor of the church we started, noticed my malaise or not. But after the evening service he advised me that there was another American in town and that he and I were going to visit him in his hotel. So we endeavored through Khabarovsk public trans to find that he was not at his hotel, so we went over to Vladimir's house to regroup. His mother made a nice dinner and while we were eating, Vladimir translated for his father as he told me this: "If anyone were to stop by and look at this house right now, they would feel like I have another son. You are part of our family."

Many people have done and said many kind things for me over the years, but Vladimir's father's words ministered to me in a way that no words have before or since. It was one of those moments in early language learning, when you understand the meaning before the translation is given. As in the quote I led off with, an encouraging word had given me hope for the future and I believe that was the last time I was that homesick in the entirety of my time in Khabarovsk.

I am going to give away 1 copy of Ken Sutterfield's book. It is a series of vignettes about encouragement. The author's goal is that the book will promote the act of encouragement. I hope I have a small part in that by promoting the book in this manner. Just post a comment by 11:00 p.m. CST 2/28/09. I will let you know who wins.

Next Time: Beginnings Part III, Now Where Were We?