Life is like snow removal.

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Perhaps a bit more complex than that but today’s funtastic 3 hour snow removal project reminded me of some simple facts that take time to learn in life. I had a very nice young woman taking care of my home and my dogs while I was in Haiti. She did a great job but she doesn’t have the killer snow removal skills that I’ve honed over half a century. The ice storms defeated her in my absence. NO shame there, she is a young grasshopper and has time to learn. Home ownership adds to that dedication to see things through to the end. If memory serves me what was “good enough” at my parents house wasn’t good enough once I got my own house.

Seriously, having professionally plowed and shoveled snow at one point in my varied life, I have some skills and insight that many people don’t acquire. It helps when you have a half dozen bosses at the plowing company “coaching” you on your every mistake and pointing out the reasons behind the endless work that snow removal becomes. And much of the “advice” they gave applies more broadly to life. (Work with me here – after a week in Haiti,  a high fever, and now snow shoveling 3 of 4 days since I’ve been back I’m running low on this profound stuff but this does apply.)

1.  Check your oil before pulling the starting cord on the engine. If you pull that cord and let the engine get hot without enough oil in the engine it will fail. You get exactly one failure per engine. That applies to your soul as well. If you are not prepared with the right spiritual lubricants you will seize up and lose your engine when it gets too hot to operate without God’s balm.

2.  Take a minute to survey your path. Taking time to see where you want the snow to end up is much more efficient than just turning on the snow blower and marching around. I had a friend do that a few years ago at the church where I was a Deacon. I still laugh when I think of her spiraling pattern across the driveway and sidewalks. She would up with more snow blowing back in her face and in her hair than she did on the banks around the building. Nobody had ever taught her how to aim the chute or pattern her runs to keep moving the snow to a destination. Most of us go through life like that: we just go and throw without any real consideration for where our output winds up.

And as a result we hurt ourselves. Snow blown into your eyes can blind you with ice crystals. You can become hypothermic or frost bitten. But most of all you spend a lot of energy you need for life on things that do nobody any good. Let God show you the path to take and aim where he points. He knows more about it than we do.

3.  Take a breather from working now and again. If you grind away in the heavy wet snow for hours it will kill you. Even big strong dimwits like me. We call it “heart attack snow” in Minnesota. It is the worst stuff. It’s moisture content is so high it’s like shoveling a slushy at the convenience store. Life throws a fair amount of that stuff in front of us. It pays to let yourself rest on the shovel handle now and again and survey your progress and what you have left to do. Restore your heart rate, drink some water (hopefully of the Living Water variety) and say a prayer. You will be ready for the next round.

4.  Do it right the first time. Taking half measures will usually shorten the work but leave you with a result that just doesn’t cut it in the long run. If you don’t get rid of all the slush while it is still slushy you will invariably be back outside dumping salt on the ice it becomes and then chipping away with an iron bar to break it up and remove it. I’d much rather spend 4 hours with a snow blower than 2 hours with an iron bar and a shovel. Today was an iron bar and shovel kind of day. My arms, neck, hands, and legs all ache from the pounding and lifting of 20 pound blocks of frozen sidewalk slush. How nice it would have been to get it while it was slush. (But I was in tropical Haiti so I have an excuse!) In my life it’s become clear to me that most things we tackle are the same way – half way means doing the same work 3 times. Not a short cut in the long run.

5.  Check your results. When you’ve been out moving snow for 3 hours (like today) you are wiped out at the end of it. I was soaked, my snow suit was soaked, and I was starting to tremble from the exertion. But I took the time to go back over my work and make sure that I hadn’t missed anything. I will sleep well tonight knowing that I did my job well. No nagging concerns about what might have been done wrong. And I know that unless it snows again tonight I have a free day tomorrow.

As Christians we have a great manual to follow in the Bible. It tells you where to check the engine, how the pattern works, where the snow goes, and how often to take that rest. The final result check is pretty harsh – I’m aiming to be with Jesus when the final tally is taken. No slush or ice on my sidewalks if I can help it. Thankfully he keeps pointing out the patches I have missed.

The question for you is: Where are you in your snow removal project?  Have you checked that oil? Are you exhausted and need to pause a minute to get your bearings? Where do you store your salt and shovel, and is there enough salt stored for the next storm – it will come whether or not you are ready.

 

Non-chronological it is!

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I promised not to drag you down the road pointing out goats that Jesus loves and I’m going to stick with that plan. So today we start at the end of the trip.

I am still dumbfounded by the fact that I’m a missionary. This was my second missions trip. In my youth (and until a few years ago) I was firmly stuck in that place where missionaries were bringing the Bible to “the heathens” and converting them to Christianity. Picture pasty white people in white shirts and khaki pants waving crosses in the air and despairing of the souls of the locals. African Queen, etc. I’m way more Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) than Billy Graham.

That’s not at all what missionaries do in my world. I’m sure that it’s still a primary focus of some groups to bring the Gospel to people in a didactic form and actively win souls to Christ. But the missions I’ve been on (yeah, only two) were ones of service and giving. We didn’t do much preaching beyond saying Jesus loves you to the children and the sick that we tended to in our daily work. I’m not much of an evangelist when it comes down to it. I’d be lying if I said I understood the whole Bible, or even to say I’ve read every book and chapter and verse. (Working on it, but parts of the Old Testament kind of put me on the nod and it’s a struggle. No pop quizzes on Leviticus, please.)

But being a missionary isn’t about throwing out chapter and verse from the Bible, nor is it about bringing people to their knees in a flash of conversion. I think it’s showing that love through example and talking honestly about your faith with people you meet. That’s mission work as well.

Do you talk about your faith and your Christian walk with strangers?  Is there a slightly embarrassed place in your heart that says “Don’t be some boring holy roller” when you start that conversation? Are you reluctant about even saying “I’ll pray about your cares and the calving season coming up?” (Hi, Randy!)

I’m not. So here we go:

Lord, let this season of birth and life be abundant for Randy and his cows. Let the joy and pride he talked about with his 15 year old son extend to all of his life. Let his son know that he is proud and honored by his actions in his father’s absence. Let his cows bring forth new life free of pain and loss. Let his farm prosper and his joy in his family and you grow each day until he is called to eternity with you. I ask this, Lord, on behalf of a fellow traveler on the walk of life. Amen.

That wasn’t hard, was it? Just a simple prayer for the man in seat 21D from Iowa.

Why don’t we share that faith?  Why don’t we spread that ministry of our lives talking about the mission trip we are returning from? Why not talk about the blessing and protection of Jesus while walking the streets of Cite Soliel?

I will. I have. I’m doing it now. What’s keeping you from that witness?

Father Christmas cheered by army of child slaves upon arrival in Haiti’s worst slum.

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On February 9th I had the honor of addressing our meeting of the North Star Santas. My topic was ethics and professional responsibility. I delivered a very serious address about our need, as a group, to guard against pedophiles and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement right away. We have group guidelines, straight from the insurance people, about how we must behave around children. Never be alone with a child, always wear white gloves so your hands are easily spotted in photographs, how to avoid accidental intimate contact, etc.

And then, three days later, I’m up to the top of my head in naked children. Lots of naked children. My headline was not meant in jest – they were slaves (many of them) sent to fetch water from the tanker we’d driven into Cite Soliel.

I was in Haiti on an 8 day mission trip with Healing Haiti.(Click on the link to donate. Please.) Continue reading →

Sheepdog Update. (Part XXLC)

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The Haiti post will appear later today.

I have been laying in bed with my head in the trash can the last 24 hours. But I did have some wonderful hallucinations with the fever and all.  So, Haiti is delayed for a few hours.

But back to the sheepdog – she’s glad to see us. Coming up for snuggles, wagging her tail, making eye contact, being loving and kind. Last night when I first got sick she followed me everywhere, very clearly concerned about me. I cannot tell you how much that meant to me.  Ed remained on the first floor of the house snoozing. I guess he was less concerned.

So the trip to Haiti was a winner in every respect (except the high fever, etc.) My relationship with God grew and I got a bonus dog upgrade. After all, isn’t dog just God spelled backward?

How’s the sheepdog in your life?

I’m back.

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But you didn’t even realize I’d gone, did you?

I returned from an 8 day mission to Haiti with Healing Haiti and KTIS radio.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing my thoughts and observations on mission work, my personal experience, and what Haiti is like.

But first a little about culture shock – and thermal shock. On Monday morning we did our usual early rising/breakfast kind of morning and then headed out into the brilliant Haitian sunshine to make up some bundles for the tent city near our mission house. We loaded small bags (the size of shopping bags at your grocery) with soap, some shirts, lotions, toy cars, shampoo, and all the leftover food the mission team had brought with us to Haiti.

It was around 85 degrees Fahrenheit and I sweat out my shirt before the last bag was packed. We loaded up the goodies — well more on that later. This blog will not become a chronological “and then we went 400 meters down the road and saw a baby goat. Jesus loves baby goats…” kind of thing..

This morning, after 4 hours of sleep I woke up to my dog staring at me. She took our absence well. Both dogs, as a matter of fact. But she still wanted to go out. It was 4 degrees. Do the math.

After stopping at Mickey’s for breakfast I made a couple of quick stops. The stop at Menards told me I was back in Minnesota. I bought 750 pounds of salt. There were ice storms while I was gone and the cleanup by my minion didn’t quite meet standards. So I loaded the car (always fun sweating in the cold) and spread salt for the next hour. It’s ironic that three days ago fresh water was a blessing – not enough of it in Haiti. And Tuesday it was a curse that needed to be removed in its solid form. I’d rather carry buckets of water on my head than bags of salt. The water doesn’t eat through my blue jeans.

But the best part of the day was my visit to Izzy’s Ice Cream shop. On my second day in Haiti I got an email that the rarely produced flavor of ice cream that I love was available for a limited time (yes, they let you sign up for an email notification.) I had despaired that none would be left when I returned.

I got there an hour before they were open for business, but I pretended not to notice the hours when I saw people inside and the door was ajar. Strolling through the door I said, “Now I find out if God really loves me. Are you out of Hot Brown Sugar?  I got the email while I was overseas on a mission trip.”

The clerk, a pleasant young man, clearly wondered if the big doofus in the black coat and beard was a complete nut. But he gamely checked the cooler out front. “I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure it was all gone by Sunday. That one goes really fast.”

I didn’t even really pout. I had figured that was the deal. And then an angel appeared. A tall blonde woman, clearly a manager, asked where I’d been. I told her we’d been on a mission in Haiti and while the ice cream vanished out the door we’d been in the slums delivering water. And then God, who probably thinks my sense of humor above was not all that funny, stepped in: “How much do you want?  We’ll make a batch for you.”

It was right out of Malachi 3:10 which the pastor preached on in Haiti on Sunday – “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

I had been faithful. I had gone to Haiti and loved what I did. I worked hard and felt that love of God that we all talk about. And when I joked about the love of God He did “prove me now herewith” and sent the right person at the right time to bless me with ice cream.

It sounds silly, doesn’t it? But I will have 10 containers of my favorite flavor on Friday. And they didn’t have to do it. They usually don’t do it. But they did it for me. He did it for me.

And I am humbled by that. Yes, humbled by ice cream. But it is a measure of His love.

Where do you see God in your day-to-day that others might miss Him?  Do you recognize and acknowledge His love when He blesses you? Are you even aware of the good care that He takes of you?

I will be writing a lot about Haiti in the coming weeks. I will take a break here and there to put up some other posts. And I promise no “and there was a goat 400 meters…” etc.

I hope you will take time to read the posts. Miracles happen and we were part of them. I’d appreciate it if you’d share the ones you like on Facebook and Twitter. I can use the audience – and the people you share them with might just need that blessing.