Cathy's Broken Ankle the Real Story.

I know that I said the official story was that Cathy broke her ankle in a bar fight. The truth is she got tangled up in and tripped over a chair. I realize that sounds kind of boring. We got that bar fight cover story idea from the radiologist at the hospital. It sounds very exciting but I fear that it may have hurt Cathy's reputation. I mean what kind of a person gets in a bar fight?

I remember as a kid every good TV show and movie had a bar fight because fighting was in and bar fights were cool. If I had said that Cathy broke her ankle in a a bar fight and this was the 60's or 7o's then everyone would have said "Of course she did. How else would a person break her ankle?"

Now-a-days (I have always wanted to say that) bar fights just aren't that common so the automatic response is. "Ewww! What kind of person would start a bar fight?" So I think that people may have gotten the wrong picture of Cathy. Therefore, I must report that she is not the kind of person that would hang out in bars either waiting for or starting bar fights. Sad to say she is the type that would simply get tangled in a chair and break her ankle in three places.

If you want to read the full account then check out Cathy's story. She tells it way better and includes all the gory details in her blog at http://insidecat.blogspot.com/.

Other links of interest:
Underwater Bar Fight
Inn-Fighting Designer's Notes

Breaking the Silence of a Quiet Summer

Image via Wikipedia

What a summer it has been. I know its not over yet but it is getting closer. For my friends in Alaska it is over actually. I think they started school this week.

Usually I try to blog about something introspective or deep (as deep as my shallow mind can go) and all summer long I just wasn't feeling it. So rather than forcing something deep or remaining silent I think I just want to write an update.

On May 19th I resigned as Youth Pastor of Wasilla Bible Church and within a month Cathy and I were on the road to Oregon. I am so thankful for all of our friends who helped us as we packed and loaded the truck and headed out. I will never forget the last hour in Wasilla. I had mentioned to Patsy Inks that we were going to get a Crazy Moose sandwich on the way out of town. When we got there all the Inks (except Paul) were there waiting for us to have lunch with us and say good bye one last time. I really appreciated that.

The trip from there was long. That night we camped in Fairbanks. The next morning we decided to see how far up the Dalton Highway we could get and made it all the way to our goal - The Arctic Circle. There were very few people around and I didn't have anything that would repel or kill a bear so we decided to sleep in our car. BIG Mistake. We should have put up the tent. The tent would have been far more effective at keeping out the mosquittos. The car was hot and stuffy (it was about 73 at the arctic circle that day) so we needed to crack the windows. That meant that a horde of mosquittos laid siege to our car. Many got in. It was a sleepless night and the sun barely went down (it was two nights before solstice). The next day we traveled to delta junction to begin our trip down the Al-can.

We actually spent 8 days on the Al-can. We took our time as saw some really amazing scenery. We say 13 black bear, 3 elk, 4 moose, 15 bunnies, 31 Bison, 5 bald eagles, 1 linx and 3 brown bears (aka grizzly to non-Alaskans). The brown bears were a small family out for a stroll along the highway. Just a mom and her two cubs. Probably the most dangerous situation a person can face in the wild. We stayed in the car. We didn't see what happened to the nice stupid lady who got out of her car to take pictures of them.

We ended our trip wit a day in Victoria BC. Then we dashed through Washington in a couple hours and made it home in the middle of the night where our son greeted us with bleary eyes. It was really strange being back in Oregon at first. This was the place I had left and did not expect to move back to any time soon. Yet here we are living in the same house we left a year ago. Things have changed. I have made a ton of friends in Alaska who I miss very much.

I have spent the summer working with (or for) Cathy getting the yard and house in shape. We have replaced the back door of the house, dug up a couple garden beds, hauled dirt, hauled wood chips and pulled up hundreds of nasty black berry bushes that were taking over the yard. I have spent several hundred hours looking for work with very little success.

I have managed to land a couple temporary jobs. I am doing some occasional contract work for a translation company. I'm not translating just doing the desk top publishing part of the process. I start Monday on a job that should take a couple weeks at the company where my son Chris works. I will be helping them with a huge inventory project.

Tomorrow we are throwing my son a HUGE birthday bash. He is turning 21 on Monday so we are inviting all of his friends over to hang out, play some games, drink lots of root beer, and celebrate his special day. I am excited.

God continues to meet all of our needs. I know that he is with us. I have been reminded that this life which I call mine isn't really. It isn't my life it belongs to Christ and therefore it is not really about me. I think I begin to turn toward depression and despair every time I stray into thinking that this is my life and its all about me. But if I simply relinquish ownership to Jesus and let him live through me every change is an opportunity, every trial is doable, every disappointment has some deeper meaning and every heartache is consoled by a savior who loves me. That is pretty cool. So these days I am trying to live by my life verse.

Galatians 2:20. -- “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update)

Check this out

Check out my recently published content on AC:
<br> <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1982196/70s_tv_shows_that_changed_tv.html"> 70's TV Shows that Changed TV </a>

Thursday night: made it to the artic circle by 7:30. Spent the might with zombie mosquitos. Made it back to fairbanks on friday at 1:00.

Thursday morning: Slept in till 8:30. Left fairbanks at 11:30 headed for the artic circle. Stopped to eat at the hot spot. Good burgers. Sixty miles to go!

Arrived at Fairbanks at 8:00. Dined on leftovers. Thinking about going to the artic circle in the morning since we are in the neighborhood.

Made it to Denali National Park by 6:00. The run is shining up here. W00t

Left Wasilla at 2:15. We love you all and will miss you very much.

Cathy's passport arrives on wednesday morning. We will leave Wasilla around noon. What a blessing it has been to serve here.

A Bend in the Road

If the Christian life is a journey then the road we travel is often hard and always uniquely our own. Cathy and I will be traveling the Alcan highway this month as we make our way from our home in Wasilla to our home in Beaverton. The highway is legendary. In the "old days" it was quite an adventure to travel the thousands of miles of gravel and dirt and sometimes pavement. Now the gravel and dirt are mostly gone but it is still an adventure. Cut right through the heart of some pretty rough and very remote wilderness it can still be dangerous. Even so, we are really looking forward to the journey.

But, I don't think that the road we travel as Christians is like the Alcan. For one thing, even though the Alcan is very remote, somtimes a sturggle and sometimes thrilling, it is still a highway. Someone has blazed the trail for us. In the case of the Alcan it was a couple of guys on motorcycles in the 30's. Someone followed them and planned the path of the road. Workers followed and cleared a very rough access road then more workers came with bigger equipment and widened and smoothed out the dirt path. Finally, over the past 40 years, others have come and paved the road making it usable by thousands. And every year workers move up and down the highway repairing cracks, potholes and frost heaves.

All these people have worked so hard just so Cathy and I will have a realitively safe journey through the rugged wildeness (awfully nice of them.)

But the journey we are on as Christians is much more...private and...unique. The path is ours alone and although we may meet others along the way and even journey side by side with others from time to time we can honestly say that noone has journied the road before. Actually one person has. Jesus.

Psalm 139 paints a beautiful picture of what it is like to walk with Jesus. I know that ususally you think of Psalm 23 when you think of the spiritaul journey and that is also a very lovely picture of the journey, but 139 shows how we are not alone on this journey. It talks about how our God goes before us and leads us down the path. At first the picture is of God as a scout in the distance makeing sure the road is safe, then it shifts and shows that he is right in front of us protecting us. At the same time he is right behind us protecting us and moving us forward. We are hemmed in on all sides by God. He not only choose the road for us but he also had cleared it so we can see the path. And just in case we are worried about having to journey alone, Psalm 139 also paints a picture of the impossibility of ever getting away from God even if we try to stray.

The path God leads us down leads through a vast array of landscapes. Lush green meadows, dark valleys, high glorius vistas and deserts so dry we'd like to fall over and die. Yet we do not walk alone so even if we fall we are gently picked up and put on our feet again. And when we would like to stop and just rest a little bit longer in lush and beautiful places Jesus gently urges us forward, often toward harship, dissapointment and loss. I beleive he wants us to find the beauty in those places as well. The beauty is there, if only in the loving eyes or our Savior who sometimes has to carry us for a stretch.

My own journey has recently led to a hairpin turn (Cathy's word for it). At first I was confused by it and then I was even heart sick. Why would God lead me to a place with so much beauty and potential only to turn around and head back. Yet as time passes and I prepare to set out down the Alcan, the place where this hairpin curve leades, I am hopeful. At the very least I know that I will not be alone. My saviour is at my side. My defendor is behind me, my Lord is before me leading me on.

Ironically my last talk to the students at Wasilla Bible Church was about the journey. I wanted them to know that the road ahead was amazing and hard. I wanted them know, before some of them set out on thier own, that the journey was grim and beatiful; difficult and easy; painful and a blessing. I can't help but think how appropriate that message is to me now. I never want to turn away from the path that God has set me on. I never want to give up or stop or settle for an easier path. The path that God is leading me on is narrow and uniquily mine.

My prayer is that you will see our saviour leading you down your path. Perhaps we will run into each other along the way... just around the bend in the road.

Change

I usually like change. In fact I am what some might call a "change agent." I love looking to the future as I evaluate the present. I ask "Are things now as good as they can be someday?" I want to reach a brighter tomorrow even if it means making tough changes that seemingly turn a blind eye to the past. I realize that I am fairly rare in this view point. Most people hate change and work hard to protect the past. They look to the past as they evaluate the present and ask "Are things now as good as they used to be?"

But when change involves people it often involves pain and sorrow. That is what makes change so hard. Right now I am going through a huge and painful change that involves people that I care a great deal about. My heart is breaking because I now see that the bright tomorrow I was reaching for with them will never be. Instead, I will move on to something else and they will be guided by other hands.

Frankly, it is this kind of change that I could do without. No one likes this kind of change. It feels like a death or a divorce and the grieving process is just as real as if it were a death or divorce. So far I have gone through shock, sadness, anger, bargaining and just a twinge of denial. I know all this is healthy but that does not make any of it any more bearable. The truth is I hate this change from the core of my being.

So I am forced to move forward with my head down and my heart hurting as I plod into a future that is dark and foggy. I would be entirely lost if it were not for the hand that I cling to. The hand of my Lord. The one who called me. The one who brought me here in the first place and will never leave me or fore sake me; Jesus Christ. Through him I will get through this impossible time. With his help I will mange to emerge from the fog at the proper time and see the bright future once again.

This darkness will pass. And even if I let go of my savior's hand I will still get through it because he will never let go of my hand.

Romans 8:38-39 -- For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Consistantly Inconsistant.

Okay, so I have been trying to be a good blogger for a couple of years now. I like blogging. It feels good to know that I get to write a bunch of stuff the no one reads even though it is out there in the public. I find it hard to be consistant about it though. Actually that is not surprising being that consistancey has never been one of my strong suits.

I hate the rut of consistancy. It feels monotonous and boring. I can remember, back in 1976, when I first moved to Oregon with my family we lived with my Great Uncle for several months. Every night he would watch a little TV after dinner and then at precisely 10:00 he would announce that it was time to go to bed. Then he would proceed to close up the house and march us all off to bed. Even my Mom. It was really strange to me. He never strayed from it. Not on weekends. Not on holidays. Not ever.

It was a bit of a rut.

So since that time I have avoided ruts in my life. Until it dawned on me recently that I have indeed fallen into a rather large rut -- the rut of being consistantly inconsistant.

Now what am I going to do?

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STAR TREK is Coming! Yeah Baby.

Image via Wikipedia

Okay, so I have never denied my complete and utter geekness. The fact that culture seems to be racing into the future so fast that High School students have no idea who James T. Kirk is, has been a major downer for me.

But now the new movie set to release in May 2009 should welcome yet another generation into the geeky universe we call Star Trek. I am pumped. I am elated. The trailer looks good.

Image via Wikipedia

I only hope that it doesn't turn out to be as disappointing as Voyager or Enterprise.

Don't Let me down J.J. Abrams.

Check out the trailer for yourself.

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