Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 28

Exploring a Nearby Park with my Sister

Aweek ago last Wednesday, I took my sister out for a short adventure at Oak Parkand Fern Island in downtown Wausau, Wisconsin.

If you’ve never been there, it is worth the short trip. Easy to find and an easy walk out to the island, with trails to explore.

 

 Sisters forever! 

Two in One Museum – annual camping in the UP, Blog Post #2

Over the years, we’ve stopped at this place in IronMountain, walked around the grounds, and debated taking a tour. We always hadDino, the Wonder Dog, with us, and though we’d left him in the truck at otherplaces, there was no shade to park in and a cloudless sky above. This year, as sad as it was not having our recentlydeparted companion with us, we paid for our tickets and went on in.

The Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining Museum and The World War II Glider and Military Museum are in two buildings next to each other and display a large number of artifacts and a lot of history. 

The Cornish Pumping Engine is the largest standingsteam-driven pumping engine ever built in the United States and one of thelargest pumping engines in the world.

It removed the water from Iron Mountain's Chapin Mine,which was one of the wettest mines ever worked, and the largest producer ofiron ore on the Menominee Iron Range.

The next room holds the Mining Museum.

A collection of mining artifacts, which were interesting,but I didn’t feel I had to learn anything about them. 

In the next building was the World War II Glider, which wasbeyond amazing when you think about it.

A regular plane would fly with the glider in tow, then release it when getting close to their destination, which was often behind enemy lines. The glider pilot would land the glider where he could, delivering troop, weapons and other supplies to their allies.

Lightweight and engineless, the gliders could fly into enemy controlled areas without detection. Most of the gliders were made of plywood covered with fabric, weighing less than 4,000 pounds but able to carry up to twice that much in cargo. They were built for one-way missions and actually many of them were destroyed during landing as the glider pilots only had so much control without an engine.

It all sounds incredibly dangerous to me. 

There were also displays of military history, but I kindaskimmed over those, falling for the antique cars instead.

Wouldn’t you love taking a cross-country road trip in this beauty? 

For more information click on the following links: Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining MuseumWorld War II Glider and Military Museum
World War II: On a Wing and a Prayer: The Use of Military Glider Aircraft
The Flying Coffins of World War II

The Deer

     Then God said, “Let the earth be filledwith animals, each producing more of its own kind. Let there be tame animalsand small crawling animals and wild animals, and let each produce more of itskind.” And it happened. (Genesis 1:24, New Century Version)

For several weeks, I’d been seeing a doe coming throughmy yard nearly daily and it was obvious that she was nursing. I was gettinganxious for her to bring out her fawn, hoping that the little one was okay.

Friday, I saw the doe coming out of our woods and couldsee movement behind her. I ran to grab my camera, and when I got back to thewindow, she had moved on. But there on the edge of the woods, where she hadjust been, was not one, but two adorable fawns.

They stood for moment, wondering what this open areawas all about, but quickly turned to follow Mama down along our driveway.

Pictures, of course, don’t do them justice. I justhope they grow strong and wise and have long, safe lives. 

But this reminds me that God made these creatures. AndHe made them when He made the earth and us and everything else that is on it.There was no evolution; humans and whitetail deer didn’t somehow come from somecreature that crawled out of the sea and evolved and grew lungs and hair.

Nope, every species of animal, as well as plant, wascreated by our God, the Creator.

And by the way, there are about 25 verses in the Biblewhich refer to deer. I know you’ve all heard Psalm 42:1 (come on, you know you’veheard it, don’t go looking it up), but here’s just one of the other verses.

     He makes me like a deer that does notstumble; he helps me stand on the steep mountains. (2 Samuel 22:34, New CenturyVersion)

Just a Little Project

Ihad planned on sharing more about last week’s camping trip, but decided to show off my latest (and only recent) project. I’ve been so lazy since the end of May, that I really am proud of myself for finishing this.

We bought this guy at Menards on sale, probably nine years ago. Adorable, right?

He’d been starting to fade and show his age. And then last fall we didn’t get around to storing him in the garage over the winter. Whatever plaster he is made of does not apparently like the snow. 

Yikes! I feel like I could be arrested for cruelty to lawn ornaments just showing these pictures.

We brought him in the garage, and I started with two coats of primer.

Then lots of coats of lots of different colored paint.

And finally two coats of a gloss spray finish.

I hope he makes it another nine years. 
I’m not much of an artist, but I think I got him back to looking adorable. 

A Few Pictures and Some Whining – annual camping in the UP, Blog Post #1

Finally, finally, finally. After months of sitting home,nursing my back, and cancelling plans, last week Hubby and I finally wentcamping. To one of our favorite spots – Bewabic State Park just over the borderin the UP. 

Of course, I should have realized it wasn’t going to bethe best vacation when this stupid bird wouldn’t even let us pull out of theyard! I did mostly complain the whole time and Hubby had to deal with me, untilwe finally decided to go home a day early.

But really, it was still good to get out of town. And even though we sat around the campsite more than we usually did, I managed to take some pictures of wildlife.

A doe and a fawn.

Another deer. 

A deer in our trailer’s back yard. As if I never see any deer at home

.Or turkeys and their babies.

And a stupid seagull.

The rainy, cool weather we had didn’t help at all.

But it was still okay. And we’ll go again and it will be better next time.

Rejoicing

     We can rejoice, too, whenwe run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us developendurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and characterstrengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead todisappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given usthe Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5, New LivingTranslation)

We can also rejoice because thorn bushes have roses (andsometimes flies).

I had a different message written for today, but whenI got up in the night (except I only got up twice instead of three or fourtimes like I’ve been doing for three and half months), the pain in my back washardly noticeable and the stiffness was tolerable. It took mere seconds to situp in bed instead of the long minutes it has taken since April.

And I’d had a rough week too. We’d been camping and Ithought I could do it, but the pain and stiffness were such that we came home aday early. It just wasn’t any fun; I was disappointed beyond words.

Yet here I am, this morning, rejoicing. I hope that thisback issue of mine has reached another plateau, but I know it's not healed yet.Now, the key is to take it easy and not overdo it. There will be other setbacks,I’m sure, mornings when I can’t get out of bed or bend over or get comfortable,but I’ll keep moving forward.

Thank you to all of you for your many prayers as I’vefought through this.

     And thank You, God, for answering thoseprayers. I’m sorry for my impatience and for those moments of anger when I feltYou had left me. Please, Lord, stay by my side until my back is as good as its goingto get, and if it’s never going to be 100% again, let me accept that outcomewith serenity. Amen         

A Sprint or a Marathon

 Philip ran over and heard the man readingfrom the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you arereading?”

The man replied, “How can I, unlesssomeone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sitwith him. (Acts 8:30-31, New Living Translation)

I’ve read through the entire Bible twice, and to behonest, I don’t know how much I got out of it. I read it like I was running amarathon, just to get through it. No stopping to look at the sights, no talkingto those around me, no taking pictures. No understanding it.

A few years ago, I started reading through the Bibleagain, starting out at a sprint, which soon came to a stand-still as lifestarted happening all around me. My goal now is to finish that great Book butto get something out of it. Take my time, research what I’m reading, understandwhat God is actually saying in those 66 books (or 80 books in some versions ofthe Bible or even 100 books if you read the Ethiopian Bible).

There are a lot of great stories in the Bible, besidesthe wisdom of Solomon, the preaching of the apostles, and so much more. Eachand every word in the Bible is well thought out and inspired by God. It’s abook to be read, and also one to absorb and be understood.

And not to be raced through, but to be lived. 

Just Pictures of Emma and a New Word

I’msure that the Independence Day holiday on a Tuesday has a lot of people unsureof what day today is. Is it really Wednesday? How did that happen?

Anyway,I have all kinds of stuff going on and no time to write right now, so I thoughtI’d just share some pictures of my sweet little Emma in my bed.

Sheis on a second medication for her seizures and, knock on wood, she hasn’t hadone since starting the generic Keppra. She gets it in a liquid form and eventhough she isn’t thrilled by it, it’s better than her spitting out the tablet threetimes before we can get it down her throat. It’s bad enough with the phenobarbitalpill, but she’s doing better with that too.

 I also have a word for the week.  

You know how some animals, especially dogs, will lay all stretched out on their bellies with all four legs stretched out. I always called that their froggy legs. But there is a word for it. Sploot or splooting.

I caught Emma doing it on the deck earlier this week, but couldn’t get a picture. I’m sure I had a picture of Dino splooting, but I can’t find it now. Oh, well, you know what I mean. 

Hell on Earth

     
“When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubleswill not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; thehard trials that come will not hurt you. For I am the Lord your God, the holyGod of Israel, who saves you.” (Isaiah 43:2-3, Good News Translation)

We were watching an old episode of NCIS, and one ofthe characters was dealing with some trials in life. One of his co-workerssaid, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”

Isn’t that the truth? When things aren’t going wellfor us and it feels like we are living in hell on earth, don’t we sometimesjust want to give up and quit? And then where are we? Still stuck in hell onearth.

Turn your problems over to God, ask Him to give youthe strength to keep plowing through, and then keeping going until you are backto heaven on earth.

And also remember – hell on earth is nothing comparedto the real hell. Make sure your goal is to end up in the real heaven when youleave this earth.

(The picture above is from Hell's Gate Park in Kenya, when I was there in 2017. I climbed this same wall, but didn't do it nearly as gracefully as the younger volunteers.) 

Just Be Still

 “Be Still and Know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10,NIV)

Every year, I choose a word to help guide me throughthe next 365 days. Nearly six months ago, I didn’t proclaim just one word forthe year; I went with one of my favorite Bible passages.

Over the last couple of years, on December 31, when Ilooked back over the past twelve months, it felt like it had been another toughone. So much going on, so many people and situations to pray for, so much goingwrong in this world.

And here I am, not quite six months into 2023, and I –I have nothing to say. It’s been brutal again.

When, Lord, are things going to get better, get easier?When will we find peace and comfort?

To which He answers, “Once you have sent your prayer,let it go, because I have heard it, and I will take care of it. I will takecare of you and your loved ones. Be still. Be calm. Be at peace.”

If you read last Sunday’s blog, you realize that Godhas been telling me that for a while. I really need to start listening, or atleast be still and know that He is God and He has got this.