Only Wonder Grasps Anything

shelter

Many of you have probably heard or L'Abri, or spent time at a L'Abri branch, but for those who haven't L'Abri is a French word for "shelter", and its the name of a ministry which grew out of the love for God and people that Francis and Edith Schaeffer and their family showed to whomever arrived at their doorstep.

Sunday evening I spent a few hours at the Rochester branch of L'Abri, by myself. I'd been invited to come spend time with whoever was there after Jess & BJ's wedding, but when I arrived Jock told me that everyone had left, and he and his wife had some other guests for dinner. I assured Jock that I'd find plenty to do, and he showed me some left-over pizza in the fridge.

Someone had put a bunch of tabs in the hymnal on the piano, and I played through all the tabbed hymns: they were good, solid hymns, songs of faith, of trust in Jesus, sturdy songs that have carried generations of believers through the storms of life. As I sang and played, I was reminded of the never-ending love of God for his people, in spite of our frequent spurning of his grace toward us.

After a while I warmed some of the pizza, and ate it while sitting out on the porch. The sun descending in the west, I walked out to the end of the yard to see the view. The L'Abri house sits on a hill above a residential portion of east Rochester, and is pretty much in the woods, but there's a small clearing at one end of the yard where the town and the hills beyond it are visible. Standing on a wooden bench, I was able to see much of the sunset. The Lord's grace to us comes in so many different blessings, as a quite house for thinking, reflecting, or a sunset of colour spilled across the sky.

Back in the house, I read through the current issues of the Ransom Fellowship's "Critique", and then JoEllen came home from a wedding shower she'd been at. We talked a bit, and then Jock came over and I went to spend the night at his house.

I'm so thankful for his hospitality to me. The rest of my friends from Covenant were to have left by mid-afternoon, so at the wedding reception Jock invited me to come up to L'Abri Sunday evening. He'd greeted me by name, even though I'd only met him briefly at the L'Abri conference back in February. As I spoke with Jock over breakfast Monday morning, I told him that this was my third time to pass through a L'Abri branch, after being here for a meal in February, and being at the English L'Abri one afternoon and evening in autumn 2000. He shared how he became involved in the L'Abri ministry after studying civil engineering in university.

Pray for the Rochester L'Abri to find the needed staff to host students. Two of their helpers just got married and left (Jess & BJ), and their other worker is leaving soon to get married this autumn. Pray also for Jock's wife Allison's continuing health.

I'd really love to go to L'Abri sometime...

single point

The first evening in Rochester this past weekend, we got of Route 52 to head to our motel, and drove through a single-point interchange.

"Hey, I've seen diagrams of these, but this is my first time driving through one," the traffic engineer in me commented as Currie navigated the less-than-familar left hand turn that feels like you're gonna hit the on-coming left turning traffic.

"Been through what?" Currie asked.

"A single-point interchange. Like the one we just drove through. Those highway exit ramps didn't lead to an intersection on either end of the bridge over the highway, but to one large intersection centered on the bridge over the highway.

Saturday morning, before we had our pannekoeken breakfast, I went out for a run, and finished up at the intersection, getting a good look how traffic operated in it.

Here's 1000 more words on the subject:

"PANnekoeken, PANnekoeken, panneKOEken!"

This past Saturday morning I walked into Sytje's Pannekoeken Restaurant in Rochester, Minnesota, with five other close college friends, and sat down to an incredible breakfast. We were in town for our friend Jess's wedding, and were dressed for the wedding, so when we entered the waitresses and other customers looked a bit surprised to see a group of folks in their suits and skirts for a wedding showing up for breakfast at a Dutch pannekoeken joint.

The pannekoeken, a sort of thick pancake cooked in a deep frying pan, came topped with blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries, and they were excellent. Currie and I each got dark roasted European coffee, and Abby ordered cafe con leche, wondering at the Spanish name in a Dutch establishment.

After we were seated at our table, a server came running out from the kitchen shouting, "PANNekoeken, PANNekoeken!" as she carried an order to another table. Seeing how the goods were delivered, Erik decided that "I want someone to shout "Pannekoeken" as they run to the table with my breakfast."

We ordered, and our waitress brought our five pannekoeken out in three runs, so we were treated to the culinary exclamation three times. We did find out that the servers don't have to audition for shouting when applied to work at Sytje's.

If you're ever in Rochester, its worth a visit to Sytje's Pannekoeken Restaurant.

nicked from funke's blog

"A Book a Day" - nicked from funke's blog

One book that changed my life: True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer.

One book that you have read more than once: Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. I've also seen and read the play based on the book.

One book you would want on a desert island: (I am assuming this is in addition to the Bible). How in the island can I pick just one? Perhaps Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or The Complete Poems and Plays of T.S. Elliot.

[Two] books that made you laugh: The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill, and How to Travel With a Salmon & Other Essays by Umberto Eco.

One book that made you cry: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, (I'll have to check my list of books I read in elementary & jr. hi school- I know there were others, but my memory fails me... perhaps Rascal?)

One book you wish had been written: Language Games: Pitfalls and Joys of Cross-Linguistic Encounters, or Why in the World is the Diversity and Development of Languages so Delightful When its a Result of Babel?.

Several books you wish had not been written: Wild at Heart, The Sacred Romance, the Atkins Diet, Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, The Men's Bible, the Women's Bible, the Kids-Who-Can't-Read-Good-Bible, the Geriatrics-Bible... etc.

One book you are currently reading: The Creative Gift by H. R. Rookmaaker, borrowed from Hackenfriend.

One book you've been meaning to [finish]: Crime and Punishment by Dovstoevsky.

give me Jesus

Last night I went to a dinner & seminar for folks who work with kids in church. We had a meal, heard a lady talk about teaching Sunday school. Boring, you might think? No,

--not boring unless you find the gospel of Jesus boring

--not boring unless you find the task of fighting against the world, the flesh, and the devil, for the sake of Jesus' kingdom boring

--not boring unless you find being a weak vessel in the hands of the most all-powerful, sovereign, One-who-does-the-impossible Creator boring

--not boring if you are excited to be reminded that the Lord is a promise-keeping God, a God who makes his covenant with his people, to be their God and they his people, who will never leave or abandon them

--not boring if you are a lost, broken man or woman, boy or girl, who has been found by the Shepherd who came seeking his lost sheep

I was energized and invigorated by the reminder of the gospel, and in the context of working with kids at church there are so many ways to live out the gospel. Teachers should arrive 15 minutes early for the Sunday school class, right? Pragmatically, this helps with crowd control: if two fourth grade boys get there first, you'll be playing king of the mountain all class, and they're already on top. But theologically, being there waiting for the kids shows them you care enough about them to make time in your busy adult schedule to be there for them, to listen to and talk with them. Jesus made time for us, he waited for us to come to him, and when we never came he actually came down and found us--so being early is one way to model Jesus for your students.

Show them Jesus! Yes, he's the "sundayschool" answer (along with God, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible), but he really is the only answer. You lesson is on Noah's ark--Jesus is our ark. Is your lesson on unfaithful Israel wandering 40 years in the desert? Jesus was the faithful Son of God, 40 days in the desert, yet without sin- he did what Israel failed to do.

I don't teach a Sunday school class. So last night I was sitting there looking for ways to take the principles and apply them to the music I sing with the kids Wednesday nights. I'm the travelling musician, and I sing with four different classes, and am looking for more ways to show them Jesus, to find songs that point to him, to find ways of talking in between songs that increase his fame and our desire to see his fame extended to all peoples.

I love this song:

In the morning when I rise,
In the morning when I rise,
In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
You can have all this world, give me Jesus.