Return of The King

This morning I was blessed to lead chapel at Lutheran South which has become my usual Tuesday morning ritual.  Throughout my chapels this year I've been reading to the school body from the devotional book "Walking With Bilbo" by Sarah Arthur.  It makes for a pleasant opportunity to share some of the basic themes and story lines from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit as well as The Lord of the Rings while also helping people to see the deep Christian themes residing behind the story.


This morning we read through Chapter 18 which is entitled "Living Legends".  With it was the theme of the King returning.  On the surface we are reminded of the return of Thorin as King under the Mountain when he arrives in Lake Town in The Hobbit.  Then the even bigger and more heralded return of the king (which Part 3 of The Lord of the Rings is titled after) with Aragorn's coronation as King of Gondor.

Taking on 2014

I'm readying to take this new year by the horns and have a great one.  So here we go. I always chuckle how we go through this ritual and every year I hear, and likely say myself, "I can't believe its 2011! [or 2012, 2013, 2014, etc].  But this oddity soon wears off.  In fact, as far as 2014 goes it seems we're well on our way to being used to it already.  As you well know, it is also a comical part of American culture to make new year's resolutions.   They're essentially lofty goals that we pretty much have no chance of keeping, but for whatever reason, because the calendar is new we think we can make some great, grand changes in our life.

What I am putting forth then is not so much your been there, done that, new year's resolutions.  I'm not sure I've ever made one of those.  I do however have goals.  Healthy challenges for the year to come.  None of them are great changes in lifestyles because those just don't realistically change over night.  The goals I have and I share are more like challenges and achievements to shoot for.   You could say they will be the carrots dangling before me in the months to come to push me to excel and to
continue to push forward.

Without any further ado, here is my 2014 list of goals:

Why I Love Winter

Here at home we are in the midst of one of the wildest winters I've ever known.  And its only early January.  We've had three snowstorms of 8+ inches and as of this moment we've been below zero with temperatures for more than 60 hours.  Our low point was a -15 degree and -51 degree wind chill.  Brrrr!

In my congregation where I serve as Pastor it is quickly becoming common knowledge that I love the winter, and I love the snow, and I don't even mind the cold temperatures.  I often get crazy looks from people who pretty much feel the exact opposite of these likes.  I even tell people I enjoy shoveling snow (which I really do!).

I have decided to include below some pictures and explanation for this crazy hobby of mine.