Mentors are Golden

For as long as we had cable in our apartments, I have been a fan of Mike Rowe.  His show Dirty Jobs has highlighted jobs all over the country  and the silent heroes that make our life possible. I have found him thoughtful, as he testified to congress on the lack of skilled labor in America today and the systemic issues that underlay that problem.

This morning I stumbled upon a story Mike wrote and recorded remembering his mentor Fred King. I encourage you to grab the audio file and sit with a nice beverage or in the car on your next 30 min. car ride and listen to they story.  You will be glad you did.

Photo credit: mconnors from morguefile.com

It is Good to Have Goals

So disclaimer number 1 here is Bethany and I are NOT pregnant!



I stumbled upon an article recently from Backpacker magazine about carrying babies along on backpacking trips. It lead me to a few other articles.  Seems this is a whole new niche of backpacking and outdoor adventures.  These people strap 30 lbs of gear to their back and then a 20 lb baby to their front.  Now, they usually will cut their distance in half and aren't usually hiking over rough terrain...  I really like this concept. I aspire to this when we have a family.

I know that having kids is one of the hardest things that you could ever do, but I think there is something intrinsically healthy about doing something like this. I think when some people have kids, they feel as though their life has completely ended.  There is a turning inward that happens, much of which is natural and similar to what happens when two people get married.  But I also know that in times of massive transition, we need to fight for things that help to keep us sane, even if they can look harder and more daunting than the hill we are already climbing.

I think that is something we are learning right now.  Through seasons of difficulty, we need to push beyond the immediate comforts we hold to into greater communion with God and stronger community with others. Often those first things that we cling to are the least healthy.

Photo credit: jeltovski from morguefile.com

The Three Rs...

When I was little, I learned in school that the three R's stood for "reduce, recycle, reuse". Taking care of the environment certainly stuck in my mind! But this past week, I decided that the three Rs most important in our current phase of life are words like rest, refresh and rejuvenate.

This week, Nate and I drove up to a family cabin on Lake Nebagamon, WI to spend 2 days on a spiritual retreat. The retreat is something required of us by WorldVenture, to help ensure that we are staying mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally healthy during each phase of the process as we prepare for the mission field. We really love that WorldVenture values this and pushes us to rest and get away.

Our time at the lake was exactly what we needed. We spent time in prayer and study, focused on worshiping God and reading about what true worship is. We read the chapter on worship from Richard Foster's book Celebration of Discipline and each of us studied worship on our own through sermons, books and scripture. We also spent time resting and relaxing. After a few days, we definitely came home rejuvenated!

Here are a few photos from our time at the cabin...

A favorite spot - sitting at the end of the dock gazing out over the water

Sitting in front of the fire

The view of the cabin from the shoreline

Reading time

A great way to start the day - a good book and a cup of coffee!

When was the last time you took a spiritual retreat? It can be hard to get away amidst the busy-ness of life, but you will come back refreshed. I highly recommend it!