Middle Ground

Peter entered the courtyard of the chief priest expecting to stay close to Jesus. . . sort of. He didn't want to be too close, right by Jesus' side, but give him some credit, he didn't stay away like the rest of disciples.

He took the middle ground, the place that appeared safe. Close enough to count, far enough away to be safe. He couldn't forsake Jesus all the way, but he couldn't follow him all the way either.

An interesting thing happened to Peter in the middle ground. It happens to everyone. He was forced out of it. "You were with Jesus." Even on the middle ground you need to identify yourself. Peter couldn't appear neutral and have the satisfaction of following Jesus. It doesn't work that way. It didn't for him and it won't for us.

I am amazed at how often this is tried still. Even though it has always been unsuccessful. A high school student join her parents in church without much of a fuss, but is a totally different person on Friday night. The end for her will be the same as the end for Peter. This strategy leads to denying Jesus.

In Revelation, Jesus tells the church to be either hot or cold, but don't choose the lukewarm middle ground. The irony is that the middle ground appears safe, but it is the most dangerous. So, choose to be either hot or cold, go all the way in with Jesus or stay away, but don't settle for the courtyard and think you'll be safe. You will get called out. . . and it won't be pretty.

He Went Away Sad. . .

This video reminds me of reading Jesus' encounter with a rich young man in Matthew 19. Tom, I'm sorry about the loss in the Superbowl last Sunday, but I hope it helps you figure this out!

Winter in Oregon

Brazil Trip

McDowell Creek Park in the Fall

Last week I had the privilege to attend a Pastor's Prayer Summit at Camp Tadmor. I was disappointed that I didn't have better weather and didn't find prettier places, until my last day. Then I discovered McDowell Creek Park. Here are some pics:

A Mom's Life

We're Home!

We're Home! We loved our trip AND we're excited to be back. Here are some stats from our trip --

Trip Stats

Days way from Home: 53
Nights in a Motel: 16
Breakfasts at McDonalds: 0
Museums: >17
Number of times Marcia's cell phone went off during the changing of the guard at Arlington Cemetary: 1
Total Miles: 10,609
Lowest Gas Price: $2.49 (Two places)
Highest Gas Price: $3:26 (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Quarts of Automatic Transmission Fluid: 7
Pictures: 5324
Minutes in the car with tears: 4
Mosquito bites on Lisa: 147 (more or less)
Most common question: Where was your favorite place?

Thank you for your prayers and love for our family. We returned with a renewed love for each other, for the Lord, for our country and for our church that would allow us to be gone for so long.

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore, in one sense, is in the same category as Wall Drug and the Corn Palace. It is a preposterous attempt to get people to South Dakota. It is, on the other hand, a magnificent and awe-inspiring tribute to the birth, growth, preservation and development of the U.S. of A.

South Dakota

South Dakota gets credit for doing the most with the least. I cannot believe the marketing moxie of this most barren of our 50 states. The Corn Palace in Mitchell and Wall Drug are boondoggles that were created simply to convince people to come visit are interesting only because of their preposterous marketing. You are in the middle of nowhere the whole time you are in South Dakota. . . and you need to stop at these places simply to take the car off auto-pilot.

Walnut Grove, MN

We left Niagara Falls and drove through Ontario. We stayed at Ann Arbor, Michigan. They raised the price of our hotel, we paid the highest gas prices of the trip and they refused to feed us when they learned we were from Oregon! We saw Hillsdale College and Olivia Wolcott the next morning and then visited Moody Bible Institute that afternoon. The next morning we toured Wheaton College with Heidi Mitchell. (The people are in the "Friends" post, but I thought I wouldn't bore you with pictures of schools). Then we drove to Mankato, MN so we could get to Walnut Grove for our final Little House on the Prairie destination. Here are our final "Little House" pictures.

Niagara Falls

We left Connecticut and drove through upstate New York in the rain. We saw the house I lived in when I was in kindergarten and first-grade. Then we spent the night at Niagara Falls. The sound is more impressive even than the sight of the magnificent waterfall.

New York, New York

We took a train into the city and then took a tour-boat ride around New York City. We had a beautiful day to do it.

Connecticut

We went from Philly to Connecticut to see Marcia's Family. We had a great time there. They are gracious and generous people.

Friends Along The Way

We all agreed that one of the chief highlights of the trip has been seeing people. I mentioned already we saw the family of a friend who was in our wedding. We also saw the Searls, all the Wibaux/Glendive cousins and Marcia's cousin and aunt in Connecticut. We met my fourth cousin once removed, Ken Reavely, who has in one notebook more than anyone knows about our branch of the Reavely family. We stopped by and visited some colleges and saw Janelle Austen, Olivia Wolcott, and Heidi Mitchell. Here are some pictures of the friends, old and new, we saw on this trip.

Pennsylvania

We left D.C. and drove through Lancaster, PA on our way to Philadelphia. We saw Amish country, ate the largest meal ever conceived, and visited historic Independence Hall.

Washington, D.C. #3

Here are the rest of our Washington, D.C. pictures of the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court Building.

Washington, DC #2

In order, these albums are the National Cathedral, the White House, the Holocaust Museum, Ford's Theatre and the Smithsonian Air and Space museum.

Washington, DC

I have several albums from Washington, DC. They are in order: Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, DC at night, and Arlington National Cemetery. I'll save the others for another post, so this one isn't so long. The key thing you need to know out of all these stops is that Marcia's cell phone went off DURING the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier!

Washington, DC Day Trips

We made a home outside of DC our home base for ten days. Here are some of the day trips we made. We went to Fulks Run, VA, a quaint little wide-spot in the road where my 4x great-grandfather lived. We met a distant relative who happened to have a display board of my relatives and we saw their school house and cemetery.

We drove to Gettysburg and visited my friend Steve Burlew, the director of Banner of Truth in Carlisle, PA.

Manassas Battlefield, the site of two decisive Confederate victories, was another favorite. It is the place where Thomas Jackson earned his nickname "Stonewall".

Mount Vernon was the place that most exceeded my expectations on the trip. It was beautiful. George Washington retired as president because he would rather be at Mount Vernon than be president of the United States.

Annapolis

We stopped for a few minutes at Annapolis, MD where Taylor and I went to a conference four years ago. It is a beautiful city and home to the Naval Academy.