Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 19

The other thing I've been up to.

I'm sorry that I didn't post an inspirational blog on Sunday. My daughter recently adopted a puppy, and I ended up puppy-sitting him this past weekend. I had been thinking about getting a pup of my own, but after this little furball took over my house for two days, I have definitetly decided against adding another four-legged friend. I'm back up to three grand-puppies and that's enough. 
The two pictures above are from when my daughter first got him. I can't believe how much he's grown in just a few weeks. Below is at my house. 



 He's like a little bear cub. 

where-was-I-wednesday - High Cliff State Park

As you may recall, last weekend was the stateconference of the Wisconsin Society of Medical Assistants in Neenah, Wisconsin.I was president of the organization twenty years ago and every year during the conference,there is a luncheon for all past presidents.

When I walked in the room at 11:31 (it started at11:30), they were so relieved to see me. They were sure something had happenedto me and one of them was just about to call me. One minute! I was one minutelate. But at least I made an entrance.

After all that eating, joviality, and catching up onour escapades of the past year, I jumped in my car to go for a ride.

Oh, but wait, one thing I forgot to tell you. I wasabout three miles from my house when I remembered I had left my camera home. Yes,I know the rest of the world takes pictures with their phones, but that just stillfeels reprehensible to me. A phone is for communicating – calling people, but mostlytexting these days.  

Anyway, imagine how late I would have been if I hadgone back for my camera! My phone would have to do. Argh.

Also, the sun was shining (when I left the hotelanyway) and the temperature wasn’t too bad (upper forties), but the wind. Oh,my gosh.

So I drove to High Cliff State Park to go hiking andtake lots of pictures. Well, taking pictures with my phone, as you alreadyguessed, does not do it for me. And with the wind, my hikes were all cut short.

I made up for all of that by buying a pair of shoes atKohls on my way back through Neenah, then spent the night at a friend’s house.We caught up on things and discussed our trip to Cambodia this comingSeptember! Will NOT forget my camera then!

 

Still windy! I’ll have to come back again someday,with my camera and nicer weather.

Take Down the Ten Commandments?

 

Understand this, my dear brothers andsisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.(James 1:19, New Living Translation)

In January this year, I posted various Bible versesthat I intended to memorize. I think I did pretty well on that goal.

Then, last week, I started adding more passages.Yikes! My brain may be full, but I am going to plow through and try some more.And I came upon this verse.

But here’s what I think. I know certain groups want toremove the Ten Commandments from all public areas, to which I shake my head indisgust. But how about we at least replace them with this verse? How can anyonebe offended by this?

My dear brothers and sisters, always bewilling to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily. (James 1:19, NewCentury Version)

Post this at all the intersections, dearfriends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let angerstraggle along in the rear. (James 1:19, The Message)

So then, my beloved brethren, let everyman be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. (James 1:19, New King JamesVersion)

Whatever version works for you.

Oh, and then live by it. And maybe realize there are more commands in the Bible which would make our world a better place if we all lived by then. 

The Narrow Gate

     “Go in through the narrow gate, becausethe gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there aremany who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to itis hard, and there are few people who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14, Good NewsTranslation)

These verses remind me of Robert Frost’s poem “TheRoad Not Taken.” You know the one. It ends with “I took the one less traveledby, And that has made all the difference.”

Both of these, however, make me think of a fork in theroad. There’s a road to the left and a road to the right, and which one shouldyou take?

Hubby left a random fork on our washing machine last night.When I picked it up, it dawned on me. A fork usually has four tines, which tomy mind means four choices. I know an eating utensil is a totally differentfork than the one in the road, but bear with me.  

People who take the far-left fork blatantly commit allthe sins with no remorse. They lie, cheat, steal, have affairs, and maybe evenkill. They don’t know Jesus at all and they use His name in vain.  

People who choose the next road over try to be goodpeople. They heard about the Ten Commandments and thought it would make senseto at least keep the biggies, like killing and stealing. They provide for theirfamilies and try to help out people in need. But no matter how good they are,they don’t know Jesus as their Savior.  

The tine second from the right is the one people pickwho go to church, try to keep all of the Commandments, and usually ask forforgiveness. They say their prayers and help out strangers. The problem iseverything they are doing is just stuff they do. They say their prayers to someinvisible God because they have been told to. They haven’t asked Jesus intotheir lives; they don’t have a relationship with Him.

Lastly, the path to the far right, the road less taken,the one through the narrow gate. The one which the fewest people choose, butthose are the people who try to keep the Commandments, who ask for forgiveness,who have asked Jesus Christ into their lives, and have a personal relationshipwith Him.

Which path have you chosen? 

Green Bay in a Day

Last week, we had planned on flying to Seattle to visitHubby’s nephew, as well as see as much as we could in the four short days wewould be there. Unfortunately, and as our spring break weather always guarantees,our flight from Minneapolis to Seattle was cancelled due to snow. We banged ourheads together trying to salvage the trip, but decided it just wasn’t meant tobe. (We had cancelled the same trip last June because my back was just too badat the time, not that my pain is 100% cleared up even now.)

I suggested a few places we could drive to for just aday or two so that the week wasn’t a total waste. We decided to head to GreenBay on Tuesday just for overnight. 

As you can see, the stupid late March snow was stillin our yard when we left. And if anyone from the Green Bay area is reading thistoday, I’m sorry that your winter storm was worse than ours this week. Stupid WisconsinFake-Spring. 

First thing Wednesday morning we visited the NationalRailroad Museum. We’d both been there a few times before, but it’s still alwaysfun. Doesn’t everyone have a twinge of love for old train cars, the romance ofthe rails? 

The Merci Train  was a train of 49 French railroad box cars filled with tens of thousands of gifts of gratitude from at least that many individual French citizens. They were showing their appreciation for the more than 700 American box cars of relief goods sent to them by (primarily) individual Americans in 1948. The Merci Train arrived in New York harbor on February 2nd, 1949 and each of the 48 American states at that time received one of the gift laden box cars. The 49th box car was shared by Washington D.C. and the Territory of Hawaii. (From the Merci Train website) 

Some fancy cars. Some not so much. Pretty sure thisbed would give me more pain than I’ve had in a few months. 

Our next and final stop was at the Packer Hall of Fame. 

I took an unbelievably few pictures there. I was stupidlyemotional the whole time we were walking around. 

I’ve become very jaded towards professional sports inthe last couple of years. How can anyone justify the huge salaries any of themare being paid? And how can they make some of the most bone-headed plays? Itjust all seems so staged sometimes, like they are getting those big paychecksto keep their mouths shut when they have to throw a game.

But then there was that one shining season when thePackers won the Super Bowl after a very long drought. When Brett Favre was justa kid with an amazing arm and the spirit of a little boy. When I knew the namesand positions of all the players and Reggie White was the Minister of Defense.

I have two secrets – one I won’t share here oranywhere else EVER! The other is my birthday, I’m just weird about it. But I’lllet that secret out.

Because Reggie White was born on the exact same day asI was. And so sadly, he was called home to be with Jesus when he was only 43. Ireally haven’t got anything else to say about that. If you don’t know anythingabout the man, you can look it up on-line, but I admired him and know he would never throw a game. 

There were lots of displays of him at the Packer Hallof Fame, but I couldn’t get close enough to them to take any pictures. Theother people around me would think I was nuts when I started blubbering.

Now you know a little bit more about me. 

Do you?

 

Fridaywe were left with words such as Disappointment, Dismay, and Desolation.  

Butit’s Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene and others go to the tomb of Jesus, filledwith Dread. They believe their Lord and Savior is Dead and His cold body willbe lying there. Instead, the tomb is empty, Jesus’ body is gone. They are Desperateto find it, to find Him.

AndHe finds them and their Despair is quickly turned to Delight. Jesus is their Deliverer.

Aweek later, however, we encounter one last D word. Doubt. You know the story. Thomas,one of the disciples, wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. Hedoubted what they told him. He wouldn’t believe until he put his fingers wherethe nails had pierced Jesus’ hands.

WhenJesus appeared to him, Thomas did just that – put his fingers in the holes inJesus’ hands and in His side. Then he no longer doubted.

Whatabout you? Without having seen Jesus yourself, do you believe in the resurrection?Do you have faith that Jesus Christ came to save you from your sins?

Ipray you Do. May God bless you, Chris

So Many D's

Thispast Sunday night, Hubby and I were supposed to fly out of Minneapolis, headingto Seattle to visit his nephew for the week. I’d been watching the forecast thewhole previous week, and it kept saying that snow was heading our way. ButMinneapolis, Minnesota? Where a foot of snow is the same as an inch of snowanywhere else? Surely the eight to ten inches that was forecasted wouldn’taffect our flight.

8:30Sunday morning, twelve hours before our scheduled takeoff, I got a text fromthe airline saying our flight was cancelled. What? Twelve hours away! Anythingcould happen. Come on, people, give it a chance.

Hubbyand I reviewed all our options, tried to come up with every possible scenarioto save this trip, but it just didn’t feel like it was going to happen.

Wewere so disappointed. But then my pain jumped up again Monday morning and keptme miserable for three days, so maybe the trip would have been a wash anyway.

Disappointment.But nothing compared to what Jesus’ followers felt on the first Good Friday. Dismay,despair, desolation, dread. So many D’s.

Andwhat about Jesus? Death. An excruciatingly painful death on a cross.

ButSunday is coming.

Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled

 

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I giveto you. I do not give peace to you as the world gives. Do not let your heartsbe troubled or afraid. You heard Me say that I am going away. But I am comingback to you. If you love Me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father.The Father is greater than I. I have told you this before it happens. Then whenit does happen, you will believe.

            “I will not talk much more with you.The leader of this world is coming. He has no power over Me. I am doing whatthe Father told Me to do so the world may know I love the Father. Come, let usbe on our way”. (John 14:27-30, New Life Version)

Thereis nothing I can – or should – add to that. Today is Palm Sunday, the start ofHoly Week. Good Friday is only days away. But remember, Easter Sunday iscoming. God bless you.

I Want to Live

Itwill be a year on the first since I threw out my back, and this horrible cycleof pain began. For the last few weeks, I had been doing pretty good; then, I wasafflicted with vertigo, followed a few days later by a cold. But still, thepain wasn’t bad at all, except for my neck, which I couldn’t turn withoutgetting dizzy.

Then,I woke up Monday morning with another spin of the Wheel of Misfortune. Right pelvic pain to the point where I couldn’t walk. Over the last eleven months,I’ve had this before, and it usually eases up after two days.

SoI woke up yesterday morning, and the right side wasn’t too bad, but the left side was horrible. That has kind of been the trend. Not only is my left pelvis still hurting this morning, but today my left neck is stiff and killing me. 

I’vedealt with all of this as best I can. Some days, like yesterday, I hit the walland wasn’t very nice to my husband or son, as if any of this was their fault.But overall, I’ve accepted that this is life.

Therewas a time, however, last fall when I couldn’t cope anymore. God wasn’tanswering my prayers to take away the pain, and He wasn’t answering my prayerswhen I kept asking why this was happening to me. A depression descended on me,a black cloud. I didn’t care if I got up in the morning; I found nothing tomake me laugh. My prayers become times of begging God to take me home toheaven.

Iscared myself and the friends and family members who I told about my feelings.I started thinking of all the ways I could kill myself, which looked like anaccident.

Then,one afternoon in November, I got crushing chest pain while taking my walk.Instead of going straight to the ER (do not pass go, do not collect $200),since the pain went away by the time I got in the house, I called and made adoctor’s appointment for the following week.

Butin my head, I thought, ah-ha, finally, God has listened to my prayers, and He’sgoing to take me.

Imade it to the appointment and had a bunch of tests that day, which all cameback pretty okay. But the doctor wanted to run one more test, which took amonth to get in for. 

Still,I thought, this is okay. I’ll die from a heart attack before then.

Theday of the appointment came, and I was still alive. I made it through the test,and a few days later, my doctor gave me the results. He tried to cover up hisconcern, but I could tell he didn’t like something about the results. Hescheduled me to see cardiology.

Iwent home and looked up everything I could find online about the number hedidn’t like, that one little blimp on an otherwise normal test. What I sawstopped me in my tracks. The words “increased risk for sudden cardiac death”jumped off my computer screen.

Ilooked out my window and whispered, “But, God, I don’t want to die.” Then Iwanted to shout, “I don’t want to die.”

I was like George Bailey near the end of “It’sa Wonderful Life,” hanging on to the bridge railing, his mouth bleeding,repeating, “I want to live. I want to live again.”

WhenI saw the cardiologist, she said that the one abnormal number on that testusually didn’t mean anything, but she’d schedule one last test just to be sure.That one came back totally normal, and I was cleared; there was nothing wrongwith my heart.

Andmy mind? That is good again, too. Coz I don’t wanna die. No matter how muchpain I’m in or what new ailment assails me, I want to live.

Yes, I am sure that neither death, norlife, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, nopowers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the wholeworld will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in ChristJesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39, New Century Version)

 

Everything

Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the otherdisciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to revealyourself only to us and not to the world at large?”

            Jesus replied, “All who love me willdo what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our homewith each of them. Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember,my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. Iam telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Fathersends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teachyou everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”

Canyou imagine living in that moment? Being one of the chosen twelve disciples? Beingone of the men whom Jesus entrusted with EVERYTHING about His life? And tryingto understand it all.

Wedon’t realize how lucky we are. We have the entire Bible to study and learnfrom. We aren’t living in the moment, two thousand years ago, being told by ourTeacher that bad things were going to happen to Him and then watching this Frienddie on that cross.

Butwe still don't know everything. All we have is the indescribable joy of knowing that He rose from the graveon the third day.