Learn To Be Wise – Page 47 – Wisdom for daily living from a Christian world-view.

For fun — the best and the worst chart for vacation 2010

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 30, 2010

When you go on a long travel vacation, you just can’t resist rating things sometimes. You know–what did you like best? Well, here’s a for-fun chart of some the best and worst moments. Part of our blessings were that none of the worst moments were very bad as you can see.

	The best	The worst
meal	Gail and Sue Stater’s salmon dinner Truly extraordinary	Leftover bagels for breakfast with no banana, but we ate.
restaurant meal	Happy Garden Chinese in Wallowa, OR – steak and vegetables – very tasty, excellent service	Applebee’s Asian Ribs, Kalispell, Montana. – thin cut with little meat, cooked dry and charred.
hotel	Shilo Inn, Moses Lake, WALarge clean room, great breakfast, good internet, convenient, and medium priced	Edgewater Inn, OR, near Crater Lake, in spite of being expensive.Not well cleaned from the last party, very skimpy breakfast.
roads	70 miles per hr freeways in WA	Hell’s Canyon switchbacks without guardrails
views	A very tough choice – I nominate Logan Pass, Montana by a hair over Hurricane Ridge, WA	Mile after mile of dry sagebrush in eastern WA
surprise	The height of the Crater Lake peak and the size and beauty of the lake	The great scarcity of rooms available close to Glacier National Park on both sides.
Enjoyable driving	Farming valleys of eastern OR, Idaho and Washington	Seattle traffic as we came back into the city at rush hour.

Tags vacation

Americana Journal

Mountain Pass Hiking (written Aug 23)

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 29, 2010
1 Comment on Mountain Pass Hiking (written Aug 23)

I may be a little sore tomorrow, but what an exhilarating feeling. It was too cold for JoAnne up at the Logan Pass Visitor Center. The wind was blowing hard and the stormy gray sky was spitting occasional rain, snow or hail as clouds tumbled over the backbone of the continent, as the Native Americans call it. I had on a warm Henley, a flannel shirt and a wind breaker and I could still feel the chill. JoAnne stayed behind at the center while I pressed ahead up the stepped walk over the Alpine tundra, 1.5 miles, mostly up the mountain, then over the Continental Divide, to the overlook to Hidden Lake. The flowers were blooming everywhere. Near the top, picas were abundant. Just as we neared the overlook, a young teen girl behind me screamed/squealed as only girls that age can, “A goat!” There it was– a momma goat ahead of us and in the middle of the walkway with an offspring close behind. What a treat. She was nearly pure white with those little curved black horns. All the hikers were so distracted by the goats that the view hardly got the attention it deserved. And it deserved attention! The beautiful boomerang shaped lake lay below us, surrounded by mountains on every side except in one small corner. In that corner was an endless vista facing west. One of the surrounding mountains was a tall pointed one named after an Indian leader called “Bear Hat.” Little picas were running around everywhere, rating a poor third to the goats and the scenery. On the way back I also spied a tundra-loving white-crowned sparrow and a marmot. The hike was rigorous for me. I could feel the altitude and had to stop a couple times during the ascent. Between the cold wind, the occasional hail and the long climb, I was tempted to turn back. But I am so glad I did not. The hike was a great climax to the trip, both literally and emotionally.

$last year\'s snow$

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Whenever we accomplish something difficult that requires pushing through difficulties, we can relate to the climbing metaphor. The difficulty tempts one to turn back. The obstacles must be faced with courage, determination and savvy. There is often pain in the process. But the view from the top is worth it all. The feeling of accomplishment is thrilling. And whether we realize it or not, we are better prepared for future challenges. This kind of thinking is often applied in Scripture to help us with life’s challenges too. “Blessed are those who persevere under trial, because when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (Jas 1:12 TNIV). Or consider the thought in Hebrews as the author explains the example of Christ. “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2 NIV).

Tags Glacier National Park, hiking, national parks, vacation, views, walks

Journal Joy Notes

An abundance of blessings

We have just felt so blessed on our trip west. So I decided to make a list of some of the special blessings we have noted. The messianic blessing promised to Israel and received also by the church is pronounced in Isaiah 65:23 (NIV), “They will be a people blessed by the Lord!” We have certainly felt His care and provision on this vacation. Here’s a small list to celebrate the last Sunday of our vacation.

It was a special joy to connect with loved ones on the West coast. At the beginning of our trip, we so enjoyed our stay with our son-in-law’s parents in Eugene, OR. We had not seen them since the wedding. We were also happy to meet Mark’s brother, Bill and his wife Fatima for the first time. Then at the end of our trip we had the privilege of seeing our nephew’s wife, Kim and their son, Lincoln, who is not quite 2, in Seattle, WA .
We sighted so many animals on this trip including elk, moose, black bear, grizzly bear, pica, prairie dog, ground squirrel, marmot, mule deer, and mountain goat. I’ll be blogging more about this.
We had unusually good weather – very few clouds on our trips to places that usually have clouds like Olympic National Park and Mt St. Helens. We had almost no rain at all.
We found safety while driving about 3100 miles in a little cherry red Nissan Versa the trunk of which surprising swallowed our large suitcases perfectly. We had a couple close calls on the road, but God rescued us.
We worshipped on August 15 with Staters and it was communion Sunday at their church. It is special refreshment for me to be able to receive communion while on vacation.
We were able to find places to stay that were quite nice. The first night at Glacier was a little problematic because there was a state fair in Kalispell. Montana. But we ended up at an East Glacier guest house, the most luxurious housing of the trip. It was only available because the person renting it missed a plane for that evening.
We repeatedly commented how much we enjoyed traveling together. We work together while we travel. JoAnne plans, reads tour books and maps and navigates. I drive, handle luggage, and make choices that she hasn’t already figured out. For us, it was a joy to be away from our routine, away from our responsibilities, and doing something we love for vacation – seeing national parks. It is a great way to celebrate our 40^th summer together as a married couple.

Tags blessings, vacation

Americana Journal

A Rural Railroad Surprise

We had stopped to get gas in the middle of nowhere. As I pumped gas, I looked to the left of the station and noticed a small railroad station and yard, only a couple tracks and a sideline or two. But they looked like they might belong to a branch line or a tourist railroad. So I walked up the street and checked it out. The pictures show what I found. It was obviously rather rural as the mule deer ate right beside the tracks. I found a couple websites for it too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4alxKVJ4eVk and http://www.trainweb.org/rosters/WURR.html.

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Tags locomotive, railfan, vacation

Americana Journal

Hell’s Canyon – the scariest drive

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 27, 2010

Let’s just say that we figured out why they call it Hell’s Canyon. Getting down in and back up the other side, even one branch of it took hours and involved the scariest driving in all of our Northwest adventures. The switchbacks came one after another, stacked one above the other in tiers. I downshifted the Nissan into second and at one point into first. About then a double –yes double– grain tractor-trailer came roaring up the switchbacks – what would happen if you met him on some of the sharpest, blindest corners, I don’t even want to speculate. I can’t imagine why doubles are allowed on this road!! Did I mention that there were few guardrails or stone barriers? The area is very arid yet the steep mountainsides are range land and we actually saw cattle on them. I don’t know how the beef cows have any energy left to grow after all it would take to move around the canyon sides. There were fences too, but the ranchers must have had climbing gear to build them. We really didn’t get all the way down to the Snake River which forms the very bottom of the canyon; we crossed a tributary river called Grande Ronde.

Before we began the drive down, we drove to one of the overlooks to view the scenery. The area is very remote and getting to the overlook involved a 40 mile country drive one way. It was our first experience at seeing the slippery metal cattle crossing grates across the main roads, an experience we would repeat many times. Every mountain stream and river looked like a super-sized version of a Pennsylvania trout stream—pure clear water, often with that greenish cast of a spring run-off. The canyon itself is vast in its scope and depth. It is definitely grand enough to invite comparisons with the Grand Canyon itself. There are few canyons in that league. This one was much more complex in structure if that is possible; involving a large number of tributary canyons. It did not have such precipitous sides as our experience of the South side of the Grand Canyon. The rock here is much more eroded and has some sparse evergreen covering. We spent some quiet time at the overlook while JoAnne sketched and I observed the flowers, scanned the canyon, and watched for birds with my binoculars.

$he\'s out of uniform!$

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Tags canyon, Quiet spots, vacation, views

Journal Joy Notes

A Word and a song for our Northwest vacation celebration

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 27, 2010

One of the purposes of vacation is to be able to think about God’s work in our lives in a way we don’t think to do during regular work times. So JoAnne and I try to take time to read Scripture. On a driving intensive vacation like this one (we covered about 3100 miles in 2 weeks), sometimes she would read to me as I drove. We also occasionally sang. In the majesty of this area, the song, “How Great is Our God” was a natural choice. Second was “This Land is Your Land, This Land Is My Land.” In bear country they tell you to sing anyway, but it comes natural when you are followers of Jesus. It wasn’t very long before we discovered a favorite Psalm too, one that that seemed to describe so well our experience with nature and with God on this trip. We read it over and over—Psalm 104. I have inserted subtitles that related to our travels.

Ps 104
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
For the sunny mountain heights

O Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.

For the great rivers and the seaside

5 He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.

For all the mountain creatures and the birds

10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate — bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.
For the great evergreen forests
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the pine trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the coneys.

19 The moon marks off the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then man goes out to his work,
to his labor until evening.

24 How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number — living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are terrified;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.

For the volcanic peaks
30 When you send your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works —
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

Grand doxology

33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord. NIV

Tags joy, vacation

Church Leadership Journal

The importance of recording

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 27, 2010

Keeping family memories

Journaling, picture taking, blogging, and sketching, those are the four ways we have chosen to record our 40^th anniversary trip. When we were younger, we were content to simply experience events, and maybe just take a few pictures. We remember years ago when I was in the military and we traveled in Europe; to document things, we took some pictures on the old film rolls and JoAnne kept a notebook; but neither method was used too much.

These days it seems we just enjoy writing and preserving the memory. It seems almost as important as experiencing the event. Maybe it’s because we realize our physical memories are getting weaker and we need pre-planned prepared methods to prod our neurons to trigger the precious reminiscences. Anyway, these days we have doubled the number of ways we write and record. JoAnne sketches with colored pencil and watercolor pencil and pen and she keeps her journal, some hand-written, some on computer. Both of us take pictures, many more than ever with digital cameras; and, of course, I blog.

Keeping organizational memories

As a leader, this got me thinking about the importance of organizational memory and how recording of events is so essential to create that. How many meetings have I led where I didn’t have anyone keeping good minutes? How many times have I asked a secretary to look something up in the minutes from a few months ago, only to find that the record was not adequate? And how many times have we searched for a good picture of a past church event? At Community Wesleyan Church we are coming to our 50^th anniversary. I am acutely aware that the history of the organization is very important in understanding its present; creating a sense of cohesiveness and for envisioning its path into the future. Suddenly the role of historian– which seems so mundane, even trite, during most years– becomes very crucial. Just by the choice of what is included in displays and the way it is labeled, the historian will play a critical role in interpreting the narrative of the church. When you think about it, those who keep the organizational memory—increasingly this will involve website keepers too—are critical to the long term health of the organization. For an organization has to deal, not just with fading memories, but with longer time spans and changing personnel. The organization’s memory is crucial to keeping the spirit of the organization alive.

Tags journaling, leadership, memories, minutes, records

Americana Journal

The deepest blue

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 26, 2010

Crater Lake was a surprise to both JoAnne and I. Even though we had seen pictures, what we experienced surpassed our expectations in so many ways.

We did not realize that it was located at the top of a mountain. By the time we reached the lake, the landscape stretched downward for miles in all directions. We later learned that Crater Lake was formed by the collapse of a huge mountain in the Cascade chain, Mt. Mazama, which was originally taller than Mt. Rainer, the tallest today.
We did not realize that one of the most rigorous hikes we would take on our vacation would be from the rim down to the boat ride on Crater Lake and back to the car. All the sides of the lake are still precipitous cliffs. The boat ride is located at one of the most “hikeable” spots. But the trail down takes a half hour and contains multiple switchbacks.
We were surprised by a hot day, even at the high altitudes. By the time we reached the boat, the captain assured us that the ride was “air-conditioned.” He was referring to the refreshing breeze off the cool water created by the movement of the power boat. JoAnne was missing her sun hat which she had left behind in anticipation of the breeze.
The variety of the formations of rock surrounding the lake was more than we expected. One formation looked like a castle perched on the mountainside. Another is called the “phantom ship.” It is an island created from a very old lava upflow. Some spots contained interesting geological formations. One had misty waterfalls tumbling into the clear lake. Then there is Wizard island, the extinct volcano on one side.
The shear immensity of the lake was a real shock. Our mental picture was of a body of water a mile or so across. What we encountered was gem of a lake six miles across. Then the guides tell you that this lake perched at the top of the world is the 7^th deepest in the world at about 1900 feet deep. The facts are staggering.
The height of the cliffs surrounding the lake was unexpected too. In some places the mountains rose a couple thousand feet above the lake. Everywhere, they were too steep for climbing without technical equipment. We were told the lake only filled about half the pit created when the mountain collapsed.
Most of all, we were amazed at the color. The deep blue of the lake is inspiring, shocking, intriguing, almost haunting. It was the bluest lake we had ever seen. We learned why when we learned that Crater Lake is the clearest lake in the whole world. That fact combined with its depth results in its mind-boggling jewel blue.

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Tags Crater Lake, national parks, vacation, views

Americana Journal

Redwoods

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 26, 2010

We have always wanted to see the redwoods of California. We learned that there are two kinds of oversized trees in CA, redwoods in northern CA, the tallest trees in the world and sequoias in southern CA, which are much bigger around than redwoods, but not quite as tall. We would be seeing redwoods, not sequoias. We also learned that formerly hundreds of thousands of acres of northern CA were forested with redwoods, but lumbering demand over the years has reduced the acreage greatly to maybe a tenth of that. So now there is a complex of state and national parks in northern CA to protect some of the biggest and oldest groves [ http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24723].

We hiked in Jedidiah Smith Redwood State Park and drove through several others. I remember, one time recently we asked Keely what he thought was different about the west. She replied, “Everything is bigger.” Now that we are traveling here, we agree heartily, and the redwoods are a perfect illustration. In the East, we admire a mature towering grove of hemlock or Adirondack pine. But those would be like children standing beside these towering redwoods. Both the height and width are in another league to us Easterners. I remember seeing three people standing fingertip to fingertip in front of one trunk and the tree was wider that all three together.

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We were especially impressed with the quiet in the redwood forest. We are so used to noise that quiet impresses us greatly. Another interesting feature is the fern-covered forest floor. There is very little undergrowth, bit am abundance of ferns. We also noticed that neighboring redwoods seem to grow together and merge into one tree more than most trees do. So one would occasionally observe complex structures where multiple trunks had grown together or crossed each other.

It was in the redwoods that JoAnne first introduced what was to become the theme song for our trip, it just seemed so appropriate. “How great is our God, sing with me how great is our God… and all will see, how great, how great is our God.”

Tags national parks, Quiet spots, Redwoods

Americana Journal

An old Shay locomotive

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 25, 2010

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One night we were searching all over for a motel. It was at the end of a long travel day and we were both tired. We hadn’t made reservations since this stop was about 10 days into the trip and we weren’t positive we could keep up our planned itinerary. When we arrived at Glacier, hotels were full and in Kalispell, the nearest big town since the State Fair was in town, so the situation was compounded.

But, sometimes good things happen, even when you are frustrated over something else. We turned up a street in Columbia Falls, Montana, looking for that elusive room. As I started to turn around, there at the end of the street was a railfan’s dream, an old lumber locomotive, a Shay. It was all alone in an end-of-the-street park. Of course, I jumped out and took the picture. Online, I found a webpage about it (http://claytondeerparkhistoricalsociety.com/photo_11.html).

It’s easy in life to get so focused on the frustrations that we miss the gifts that come at inopportune times and unexpected moments. One of the great skills in life is to be tuned in to the rarity of the moment so that we don’t let the urgency of the mundane – like searching for a room – make us miss experiencing something rare, like a parked Shay, or a special spiritual moment.

Tags locomotive, railfan

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