by
Chet
5. March 2010 07:57
We come into the world with a longing to be known and a deep-seated fear that we aren’t what we should be. We are set up for a crisis of identity. And then, says Frederick Buechner, the world goes to work:Starting with the rather too pretty young woman and the charming but rather unstable young man, who together know no more about being parents than they do the far side of the moon, the world sets in to making us what the world would like us to be, and because we have to survive after all, we try to make ourselves into something that we hope the world will like better than it apparently did the selves we originally were. That is the story of all our lives, needless to say, and in the process of living out that story, the original, shimmering self gets buried so deep that most of us hardly end up living out of it at all. Instead, we live out all the other selves which we are constantly putting on and taking off like coats and hats against the world’s weather. (Telling Secret...
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by
Chet
12. January 2010 09:08
So yeah, we're on our way to having another kiddo. Three months along, actually. We thought we'd take a sec to both share the good news and also request your prayers over Erin and her health during the next weeks and months. If you know the story of her pregnancy with Colton, you may have heard about our couple trips to the ER with blood pressure spikes. They never occured before her pregnancy, and haven't been around since, until now. This time things seem a little different. Her blood pressure is up, but not up like crazy yet, but she has had some other weird episodes where her heart just "pounds" really hard for a few minutes, once up to almost an hour. She's been to the ER once to get it checked out, but since she's pregnant, there were only so many tests they could run (no X-Ray, CAT scan, etc.). Her obstetrician referred her to a cardiologist, which she should get in to see here in the next week or two.
So while we're again floored with joy about the news of the baby doing fin...
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by
Chet
20. December 2009 21:26
Merry Christmas! As I sit down to write this letter, I have the daunting task of looking back over the past year & try to decide what moments have been most noteworthy. Colton is now 3, so the number of stories I have on a daily basis could fill a book.Colton celebrated his 3rd birthday with a Little Einstein’s Party held in the barn. This is the first year that I have made his cake – Rocket from The Little Einstein’s. In September, Colton started preschool. He really enjoys it. When I pick him up, he tells what letter they worked on today & I ask if he was good that day. Without fail, he ponders a moment and then replies, “A little bit. I was talking.” Trains are still a favorite for Colton. This year we were able to take two train rides. In September, we took a weekend trip to Nashville, TN & took a ride on Thomas the Train. Just a few weeks ago, we got to ride on anoth...
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by
Chet
7. October 2009 22:47
This past weekend was full of events, stories, fun, and lessons. I need to get some of them down.
Saturday morning started with a family shopping trip to Menards for material for a new chicken tractor. If you don't know what those are, you haven't been to my house and looked out the back window. We have these portable pens for our chickens, one made of 2x2's (good idea), and one made of 1" PVC (not so great idea). Each day we move them around our pastures, giving the chickens access to fresh grass, while at the same time fertilizing, mowing, and clearing bugs and weeds out of the way. So the PVC tractor's life has come to an end... wood is easy to repair, glued PVC, not so much.
On the way home, Erin, Colton, and I took the "messy road," as my son likes to call it. It's the state road that's technically closed right now, but is still mostly paved, and on Saturday, there was no construction traffic, and we were in the truck... ADVENTURE awaits! So we took that road to the Orchard Co...
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by
Chet
29. September 2009 17:37
This entire entry is going to be copied from a newsletter I just happened to open today. It seems so timely to my own life, to those around me, to those I'm walking through life with, that I couldn't help but copy it all down.
From the Ransomed Heart Newsletter for September, 2009:
September 2009
Dear Friends,
Just this morning Stasi and I were talking about marriages we know, and we came to a pretty sobering realization – we can’t name one marriage that hasn’t been through deep waters in the last three years. Not one. And we know a lot of people, and a lot of marriages. You’d think we’d be able to point to some couple who is trouble free. We can’t find one. Not one. Every single marriage we know is either currently struggling, or they’ve just passed through some major struggle, or they’ve thrown in the towel. What’s with that?
Is it just a bad time to be married, like the 90’s were a bad time to live in Rwanda? Is it...
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by
Chet
20. September 2009 15:31
Yesterday we loaded up the kiddo and were headed to Plainfield to drop Colton off at Grandma's so that Erin and I could go to the Kenny Chesney concert downtown, which we didn't expect to get out of until 11 or 12PM, so Colton was going to have his first "overnighter" at Grandma's house. Not 1/2 mile down the road, however, the day goes very sour. A small dog, what breed I'm not sure, darts out of a ditch right in front of our car. Erin yells, but it's already too late. Thump... maybe even Thump Thump, I'm not sure. But it was a definate hit. Oh no. Oh no.
So we turn around and go back to check on him. He's gone. There's a pool of blood around his back end, eyes are open, no movement... Oh no. At least he didn't suffer. So I move him off to the side of the road, and then we decide to go to the nearest house and see if it's their dog. They're not home. So we go to the next house, which was on the same driveway, and it's actually the mother of the owner. She completely understanding.....
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by
Chet
17. September 2009 06:31
I'm reading through the book of Isaiah right now with the Daily Audio Bible. One of the longest books of the Bible, and often, it seems, one of the driest. So much cursing. So much prophesy. But what I'm hearing today... there is always hope. Not a hope that everything will get better. Not a hope that one day our circumstances will get better. Not even a hope that the people around us will change. A hope, a promise, that God Will Intervene. That He Will Step In. In the midst of the deepest darkness, where there is no way out, even by scratching, crawling, or sacrificing our very lives to escape, He will show up for His children.
Like this passage in Isaiah 27, in the midst of curses, curses, curses, and sin, sin, sin:
For the fortified city will be deserted,pastures abandoned and forsaken like a wilderness.Calves will graze there,and there they will spread out and strip its branches.When its branches dry out, they will be broken off.Women will come and make fires with them,for they...
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by
Chet
3. September 2009 10:34
I'm reading a book called Fields of the Fatherless by C. Thomas Davis right now in my "spare" time. I picked it up for two reasons: First, it caught my eye with the "Fatherless" part of the title. Second, it was 75% off. The book is actually all about caring for those in need - orphans, widows, and strangers. Towards the beginning of the book, it asks the question, "what do the Fatherless look like today," and gives these pictures:
A widower at church who always shares candy with the squirrely kids.
The girl who babysits your children and has no father at home.
The single mom next door who always seems to be harried - in and out of her car with kids, groceries, and work related paraphernalia.
The unruly little boy at your child's class who keeps getting moved to another foster home
The only looking Asian college student waiting for the buss everyday as you pass by.
Even your own grandma who lost her husband 10 years ago and spends her days watching soap operas.
The book go...
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by
Chet
28. August 2009 23:18
Another story on the power of prayer... in this one, though, I was mainly an observer. This occured earlier this summer, while my wife, son, and I were over at my mom's house one Sunday afternoon.
We're all just taking it easy, hanging out at my mom's house, when my cell phone rang. It was Nancy, my neighbor in "the big house" just around the corner (the best set of neighbors I've ever known, I might add). I figured she had a computer question for me, as that's the "going rate" for me borrowing farm equipment every now and then. But we were in for a bit more drama than that this time.
"Your horses are running loose," she told me. "Some other neighbors down the road came to us thinking they were ours, but they're yours. They said they last saw them galloping east down the road, running as fast as they could towards freedom. Are you guys nearby?"
Of course we weren't. We were around 30 minutes away, under normal conditions. So we pack up real quick, and take off. What can we even do...
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by
Chet
23. August 2009 21:23
I am tired. I don't know but perhaps it's been such a full week I need to refresh. For now, some memory joggers for later.
Talked to the neighbor kid about his drummer. He sees where I'm coming from, what my complaint is, and where we can compromise.
Played quite a bit of softball; had a blast, and finished strong.
Helped Erin husk and freezer-prep 2-3 bushels of sweet corn.
Brought in another key spot to our Sunday School leadership team that we've been praying for. PERFECT FIT, I think.
Made it through the weekend of softball without compromising my desires but at the same time refusing to allow any conflict of interest with other "real" priorities.
Made some serious progress on projects, alone and with help: retaining wall, garden fence, mowing grass.
Talked to my next door neighbor.
Prayed with my wife and feel leading / direction with her mother.
Rode horses... by my self, with my son, and with my wife.
Had lunch with a TON of friends today. I am so blessed.
And now...
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