Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 28

The Beauty of the Season and of God's Words

The back pain which afflicted me last April seems tobe finally easing up. I still have bad days, but overall, I think that God hasanswered my prayers. I think that the pain I’m still experiencing is somethingI can live with, and something I may have to live with it.

Over the past several months, I’ve been studying Bibleverses to give me hope, passages to lift me up and remind me that God willnever leave me nor forsake me.

I’ve also been getting out more and enjoying thebeauty that God has blessed us with this time of year.

May God bless you this week and beyond. Chris

Magical Kinstone

It hasn’t quite been a month since I visited my friend inMinnesota. South of where she lives, and just about across the MississippiRiver from Winona, is a fascinating place called Kinstone.

Kinstone is 30-acres of peaceful beauty filled with stone sculpture, natural buildings, planted prairie, and views of the Mississippi River. It features three stone circles, dolmen, standing stones, labyrinth, thatched cordwood chapel and more. 

In 1994, Kristine Beck, the founder and creator of Kinstone, purchased the land which had been part of her family’s original dairy farm.  Kristine’s focus is on the beauty and wonder of nature. For her, Kinstone is a melding of the Earth with art to form sacred spaces that invite and inspire people to experience the life-giving power of the land to transform, energize and revive.  

I wish I would have had more time to explore the place when I stopped in that day.

I also wish that the battery on my camera hadn’t died. You’re probably going to look at these pictures and wonder, “Her battery died? But she took all these pictures.”

Well, you know me. Even when I regret something, there is always something to love. 

Read more about Kinstone by clicking this link.

What - or Who - should we trust?

 Some trust in wagons and some in horses.But we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God. (Psalm 20:7, New LifeVersion)

Last spring, I bought a newer vehicle. It has a ton ofsafety features, all of which blow my mind. It tells me if I veer from my laneand when someone moves into my blind spot. It yells at me if another carapproaches me when I'm backing up. How can a vehicle know all that ishappening?

Of course, it also has a light that comes on when Ihave a low tire – a feature my last three cars have had. Unfortunately, thelight didn't go off even after Hubby put air in the tire. Hmm? How trustworthyis that?

Or, actually, how much should I trust all these otherfeatures? If I pull over in front of someone because one of those lights didn'tcome on, who's liable? The manufacturer? They put enough trust inall these safety features that my car insurance is lower because they believethe chances of me having an accident are lower.

But what – or who – can we trust 100% of the time? Whowarns us every time we stray into the other lane? Whose lights always come on whenthere is the need to be cautious?

God is the only One we can trust with everything, allof the time. As long as we put our faith in Him, He will not let us wander. Hewill keep us from harm.

Minnesota in the Fall

Nearly every season allows us to spread joy in our outsideplaces. From patriot flags in the summer to snowmen, Santas, and penguins duringthe winter. Granted the lights of Christmas win all decorating contests, but autumn,with its parade of pumpkins, satisfies all our senses. The smell of fallen leaves,the crunch of those same leaves underfoot. The taste of pumpkin spice on ourlips. Cool nights and turning our faces to the fleeting warmth of the afternoonsun.

Many people say that fall is their favorite season. I would say mine too, except that it’s followed by a miserable winter. But anyway. Pictures. 

A few weeks ago, I visited a friend in Minnesota. Those small towns along the banks of the Mississippi River take their fall decorating to a new level.  Especially in quaint Wabasha. 

Perhaps we embellish our surroundings so much this time of year because we revel in the beauty mother nature supplies. Not that we could ever compete with her.

Get outside and enjoy this season, before we are blasted with frost and snow. Maybe make some new friends along the way.

A Visit to A Toy Store and More

I haven’t been blogging muchlately. I don’t know if I’m just being lazy or what. And when I have posted aboutany trips I’ve taken this summer, I mostly just share pictures and not the longstories I used to write. But maybe you like just pictures instead of myramblings anyway. Let me know.

            I’mgoing to try to start writing more, whether you find that boring or not. I’llstill always try to include pictures.

            The last road trip I took was to see my friend Julie in Minnesota the weekend of Sept29.

            OnSaturday, she took me to Lark Toys, which is a huge toy store, but is also waymore. 

               

   Firstinside is Memory Lane, with multiple displays of toys from the past.

Allof us older adults kept pointing to toys, exclaiming, “I had that when I was akid.” And any of today’s kids who were being dragged along were like, “Where’sthe Nintendo?”          

               But Ithink everyone likes a carousel. I don’t care how old or young you are.       

 

Anotter for me.

               And a loon for my sister Judy.   

            Oh, hello there, Mr. Stegosaurus.              

 And of course, it’s autumn, so everywhere outside, there were pumpkins and mums, haybales and corn stalks.           

     Happy Autumn, Everyone. I only wished it didn’t mean that winter is next. 

The Perfect Body

 

 Itis the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies areplanted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Ourbodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They areburied in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. (1 Corinthians15:42-43, New Living Translation)

I know. Nobody wants to think about dying or what isgoing to happen next. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, youhave nothing to worry about.

But here’s what I take from this passage.

Our bodies on earth aren’t perfect. On the outside, wehave scars, wrinkles, our teeth are crooked, our noses are too big. We may even bemissing fingers or toes. 

Inside, we may be worse. We could have diabetes, cancer,or chronic pain. Worse than missing fingers or toes, we could be missing akidney, a spleen, or part of our colon. We may have someone else’s heartbeating in our chest.

And then there’s the emotional baggage we carryinside. The fear of the future, the pain of regret, the sorrow of loss. Depression, anger, worry. So muchgoing on in our heads, or at least in mine.

But someday, when God is ready to call us home toheaven, we will have eternal life with a new body inside and out. We will stillbe us, but we won’t have any pain, fear, or anxiety. We won’t be broken orweak.

I’ve been writing this blog forover thirteen years, and I’m unsure how many of those years I’ve been writingmy Sunday inspiration. If you’ve been reading these for long, I hope you haveturned your life over to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that you knowJesus as your Savior and have asked for forgiveness of your sins. I’m prayingyou all go to heaven someday.

I’m just one small-town girlliving in a big world and praying for you all.

Pike’s Peak in Iowa – Camping at Wyalusing, Blog post #4

For a couple days back in August, Hubby and I camped atWyalusing State Park in the southwest corner of Wisconsin.

Across the river from there is Pike’s Peak State Park inMacGregor, Iowa. Not quite the same as the Pike’s Peak I’ve been to in Colorado,but the view was still stunning here in the upper Midwest.

I don’t know if you can read the plaque on the rock, butthis is where the Wisconsin River empties into the Mississippi. The first whitemen set foot in this area in 1673. Just a few years ago.

Back on the Wisconsin side at Wyalusing, there is a sadmemorial –  

-       extinction of the passenger pigeon. 

How horribly tragic and senseless.   

The next morning, we packed up camp and headed home. Lastcamping trip of the summer. 

Bring Back Justice

You say that God is with you, so youshould do good things, not evil. Then you will live, and the Lord GodAll-Powerful will be with you. Hate evil and love goodness. Bring justice backinto the courts. Maybe then the Lord God All-Powerful will be kind to thesurvivors from Joseph’s family. (Amos 5:14-15, Easy-to-Read Version)

I had a different Bible passage picked out for today;in fact, it was an entire chapter from the book of Psalms. Psalms has a lot of beautifuland moving verses. But what about the book of Amos? We never hear much about theprophet Amos or the book he penned.  

Seventeen books of the Old Testament are written by menconsidered the “prophets”. Most of these books are painful to read in theirentirety. You need to know and understand much of the history of the Jewishpeople for these books to make sense to you. I would love to delve into them, butit can make my head spin.

So, we pluck out a few verses that sound good. We maynot know what the words mean from the perspective of the ancient Jews, but weuse what we can. Doesn’t it make sense to us all to “hate evil and love goodness”?

And sometimes, sentences such as “bring justice backinto the courts” are so fitting to this time period that we have to believethat the word of God is as prevalent today as it was millennia ago.

Historic St. Feriole Island – Camping at Wyalusing, Blog post #3

 St. Feriole Island is the site of the earliest activities in Prairie du Chien. It was the center of the fur trade, home of the first Fort Crawford, site of the Battle of Prairie du Chien in 1814, and home to Villa Louis.

While we were camping at nearby Wyalusing State Park, wespent an afternoon visiting the Island.

Currently named the Dousman House and used as an eventvenue, this grand building was originally a hotel. Built in the mid-1860s, itserved railroad passengers traveling through the area.

This is the Depot Bar and Grill. I’m not sure if it’s theoriginal depot from the 1800s, but it sits along the old railroad tracks.

The Mississippi River flows across from the Depot and DousmanHouse.

Lawler Park Interpretive Rock Building.

The Brisbois House. I don’t know where my head was thatday – oh, yeah, I was just whining about my back ache. Anyway, that whole areahas a massive amount of history and each of the many 1800s buildings has a longstory to tell. Unfortunately, I was too hazy that day to put it all together.

Here’s a good website which lists most of the buildingson the island: https://www.prairieduchien.org/historical-sites/#:~:text=St.,the%20Chicago%2C%20Milwaukee%20%26%20St.

The original Fort Crawford.

Villa Louis is the chocolate chips in the chocolate chipcookies on St. Feriole Island.

Unfortunately, it was closed the day we were there, but with all the road construction around it, I’m not sure it would have been open all week.

But I’ve been in lots of old houses. The sculpture park nearby was just as fascinating, I thought.

But I’m not gonna lie.

I thought these guys playing Frisbee golf were the most fascinating. I never in a million years imagined that they would have different sizes of Frisbees for each “hole”. I lead such a sheltered life.

Ultimate Surge Protector

 

 I depend onGod alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is mydefender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God;he is my strong protector; he is my shelter. (Psalm 62:5-7, Good NewsTranslation)

If you thought last Sunday’s post about my hardwoodfloors was a stretch, hold on to your stocking caps. Here I go again.

On December 15, 2021, the power went out in our houseduring a winter storm. We’ve survived many a Wisconsin winter, so we fired upthe generator outside and made due. The electricity came on two days later.Fleetingly. Something sparked and snapped and the power went out again. Apparently,it was some sort of power surge and the lights were out this time until the weehours of December 19.

During that time, we ran a gas lantern in the bedroomfor heat and light, during the daytime only, when we hoped we’d notice carbonmonoxide poisoning before we passed out. I thought the burning odor I continuedto smell was from that.

Come Sunday morning, when the power was back on, wediscovered that the power surge a few days before had fried both our garagedoor openers, several light bulbs, and all of our surge protectors. The one inthe bedroom actually burned a spot in the hard wood floor. That was the burningodor I kept smelling.

And every time I vacuum that spot in the floor, Istill see that tiny cross.

Thinking about the beauty of my floors last week, itdawned on me how beautiful that particular mark is. Those power strips savedmany of our electrical devices from being destroyed. When there is a powersurge, those strips sacrifice themselves for your benefit.

Just like Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross forus. I guess He is the ultimate surge protector.