She Thinks We're Just Fishin

Dear Fellow Children of God,

 

When is fishing not really fishing?  Maybe when you take your family.  But hopefully, when you take your family what happens is more important than fishing.

 

On Thursday I looked for family to go fishing with me.  The only one who could go was my 3 year old granddaughter, Emma.  Emma loves to go fishing with Poppy.  So, I went to put the fishing supplies in the truck.  But Mary and Tim are home.  We have 3 vehicles and 4 drivers.  The truck had been taken.  I could have gone to get the truck, but, I put the fishing stuff and the dog into my car and Emma and I went to a local lake.  So Emma and I  got to walk across the ice and snow.  She played with the dog.  We drilled holes in the ice. And Emma talked about “fish in the water.”  The “fish in the water” were especially exciting to Emma.  After about an hour Emma was getting cold, so we started to pull in the fishing lines.  But, then a fish bit, and Emma helped me pull it in.  Somehow Emma wasn’t cold any longer, and she wanted to stay and fish some more.  When we left she walked and I carried her across the lake.  Emma brought the fish home and talked about “the fish in the water” for a long time.

 

So, Friday, I was able to take my son, Josh, and both Emma and her brother, Jacob, fishing.  This time I had the truck so we took all the equipment.  We took the snow machine to pull the sled with the pop-up tent.  We took lots of snacks.  We took the dog.  We went back to the same lake.

 

When we got to the lake we pulled the sled with the pop-up tent across the ice.  It was heavy so Josh and I traded off pulling the sled.  We got the holes dug and the tent set up.  We got inside the tent and tried to fish.  There’s not a lot of room inside a small tent with 4 holes, two seats and 4 people.  But, Jake and Emma sat in our laps.  They held the poles and watched the bobbers, for a couple of minutes.  They ate snacks, took their gloves off, put them on, and took them off again.  They went outside to play in the snow with the dog.  They played with each other, and kicked ice into the fishing holes.  And Emma kept talk about the “fish in the water.”   

 

We did have one bite, but missed catching the fish.  Yet, I’m not sure that Jake and Emma were upset we didn’t catch any fish.  They got to spend time with Dad and with Poppy.  They spent time outside playing in the snow and playing with each other.  As we finally arrived at home and were unpacking both children came out and told me, “Thanks for taking us fishing, Poppy.”

 

No, we didn’t catch any fish.  In fact, we spent a lot more time doing chores other than fishing, but I’m not sure that catching fish was all that important.  What was important was time spent with family.

 

In Ephesians 6:4, God tells parents, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”  I have 4 children, and now I have 5 grandchildren, with a sixth on the way.  I love to catch fish.  But, I have found that fishing gives me a chance to spend time with those I love.  Catching a fish is not as important as time spent fishing with those we love.  I have also learned that if Jesus’ love shows through my life to my children and grandchildren, those actions speak louder than my words.  My actions are not always what I want, but I do need to spend time with family to be able to share faith and love.

 

The Christmas message is that God did not just love us, but He came to us.  Jesus is Immanuel, “God With us.”  There is no greater job for a dad than to train and instruct children and grandchildren in the love that God has given us in Jesus.  But, in order to share that love we have to spend time with them.  What a great goal and resolution for 2013!

 

A Child of God, Praying my Life shares Jesus’ love with my family,

Pastor Jonathan

 

 

P.S.  Here are a couple of pictures to go with today’s devotion.  https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/FishingWithEmmaAndJakeDadAndPoppyDecember27And282012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

 

P.P.S.  Here is a video that might be appropriate for today’s devotion.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IheODRwalEw

 

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

 

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A Story for Christmas

 

Dear Fellow Children of God,

 

One of the most impressive experiences for our group from St. John as we recently traveled through Germany was the sharing of stories from our city guides about the times before The Iron Curtain came down in 1989.  We heard personal accounts of fear and faith from guides in Eisenach, Erfurt, Eisleben, Wittenberg, and Leipzig.  That part of the world is also the source of one of my favorite explanations of Christmas in recent years.  Please let me share someone else’s devotion this week.  I believe this story from that part of the world can help us understand God’s gift of His Son at Christmas.

 

“In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words: 

 

‘It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger. Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word.  Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins  . . . for straw [and] small squares of flannel for the baby's blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States. 

 

The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6-years-old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger.  Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately -- until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib.  He made up his own ending to the story as he said,  

 

"And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with Him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give Him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept Him warm, that would be a good gift." So I asked Jesus, 'If I keep You warm, will that be a good enough gift?' And Jesus told me, 'If you keep Me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave Me.' So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and He told me I could stay with Him -- for always." 

 

As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him -- for always.’ 

 

The Americans? They had learned the lesson they had come there to teach -- that it is not what you have in your life, but Who you have in your life that really counts.  God’s Christmas gift to us is the enduring love of Jesus Christ, the one person who keeps us warm and safe for always.”

 

“4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,  5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”  (Galatians 4:4-7)

 

A Child of God, Living in God’s eternal Love in Jesus,

Pastor Jonathan

 

 

P.S.  I have attached the documents for the Gratitude Journal to this e-mail, with a cover page in MS Word, and the body of the document in Excel.

 

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

 

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White as Snow

Dear Fellow Children of God,

 

About a week ago I saw what I thought was an interesting picture of Denali in a local newspaper.  Mt. McKinley was covered with snow as it always is, but the surrounding area was brown in the picture.  Lack of snow is somewhat unusual for December in Alaska.  But, at that time we hadn’t had much snow yet.  The lack of snow was getting reactions from people too.  We usually close Confirmation Worship each Wednesday with our youth in a circle, holding hands, and praying.  Two weeks ago, on December 5, one student prayed for snow, and then another prayed that God would not send snow.  Hmmm, dueling prayers!

 

Anyway, we know what has happened since that time.  It started snowing on Tuesday, December 11 and continued snowing for a couple of days.  Most people I know say they had about 12” of snow at their home.  That is a quick end to the lack of snow we’ve had so far this winter.

 

I actually enjoy winter.  I know some who dread the dark and the cold and the snow, but to me it is another opportunity to enjoy the variety and beauty of God’s creation.  I enjoy getting out doors in the winter to ice fish and to snow ski, and to spend time with my family.  But, there is another blessing that comes with snow, a reminder of God’s forgiveness.

 

Maybe you too faced challenges with the wind in recent weeks.  One day I put out my trash to be picked up but the wind was blowing.  The winds swept my hat off my head.  The wind blew over the trash can, and almost blew me over.  I picked up the trash can, and tried to pick up the trash, but the wind blew the trash can over 3 more times, and I found ravens and other animals helping to strew the trash around our yard and the neighborhood.  This Monday I picked up everything I could find, but I know there are still items out there that the wind distributed around.

 

But, when I look out my window today I find no trash, just a pure white blanket of snow covering the brown of the dead grass and the trash that had been scattered around. 

 

In Isaiah 1:18 we are told, "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”  This was a picture the people of Israel could understand.  Their sins and idolatries had led to God’s coming judgment, but He was offering to cover the crimson of their sin with the white of His forgiveness.  Our lives are messy with selfishness, failures, and times we have rebelled against God.  There is no way we can pick up the mess of our own sins on our own.  But God sent His Son, Jesus, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.  Jesus died to make our crimson sins white and to cover the mess in our lives with the white blanket of His love and forgiveness.

 

We can look at the winter landscape and see a visual example of God’s love for us, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;”

 

A Child of God, Thankful for the Forgiving Love of the Righteous Creator of the World,

Pastor Jonathan

 

P.S.  Here are some pictures for a winter outing this past Monday.  https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/IceFishing12102012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

 

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

 

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