Chloë

Happy, Happy 10th Birthday Chloë... My double-digit midget!

I'm on a Montanan, Ray-dee-o...

Today is the first in a long line of radio upgrade installations for Flathead County Road & Bridge dept., getting all their road plows (etc) ready to keep the roads safe this Winter.  I'm blessed to be serving the hardworking people of Kalispell, and blessed to be working with my hands.

WOS-dom

There's a thread that seems to run through a life lived among wide-open spaces (WOS).  The WOS-man (or -woman) knows how to hunt most wild game, and has the trophies to back up the claim.  He has an assortment of hand-made trout lures, which he uses every spring off the banks of the [insert river name here].  He has the ability to deal productively with every season of the year -- snow or shine.  Spent more than half his days on the back of a horse, or driving a John Deere, or some other studly activity.  The WOS-man owns a 300-acre ranch at the base of the Northern Rocky Mountains, which has been in his family for 4 generations.  He can survive anything, build anything, learn anything and be trusted.  Makes his (very lucrative) income by being his own boss.  Above all and in all and through all, he honors his Maker by living a life of wholehearted faith, simplicity and humility.

Well, as much as I want to be the WOS-man, I'm not there yet.  And given the legacy that I was born into, I may never be.  But that's OK.  Because you can't attain WOS-dom living in a large Southern California city.  You have to pull up stakes and move.  And even then, it may not be possible for you.

But it just might move your children toward WOS-dom.

Yes, they can learn to hunt!  (--Together with you, of course.)  They can learn to fish and plant and grow and build and sacrifice and save and dream and lead.  And by you having the faith to trust God's promises (in places like Joshua 1:9), you can bring about A Different Legacy, for generations to come.  And faith can change the course of history, one generation at a time.

(Thanks for sitting in on my little pep-talk to myself.  :-)

S.A.D. and Technology

I like TLA's.  Most of them are pretty functional and cool (USA, GFA, CGO, I-N-O, etc).  However, I'm not big on ascribing a TLA to every malady a person can experience (e.g. ADD, etc).  Still, I've been hearing a lot about SAD lately — or maybe its just that I'm more aware of it, since I'm heading into a long, snowy Winter for the first time.  Anyway, a friend who's lived in the area was telling me about a "sunrise simulator" he bought, to help him wake up with what would feel like the rising sun... even when the sun doesn't peek out at all, for days.  So I've been looking into things like this, wondering if it could or would make a difference in my or my overall outlook, heading into the cold, dark season.  Does anyone reading this blog have any advice or experience with this topic?  Please leave a comment, if you can.

Have a sunny day!

Now that we're here...

Well, as far as the Columbia Falls post office is concerned, we are now officially Montana residents.  Truth be told, we have moved into a house where, because the postmaster hasn't seen their way clear to put a mailbox at our residence, they feel compelled to give us a free PO box:

#171.  Zip=59912.  Feel free to drop us a note. :-)

Anyway, we finally have our own place, after camping out on the Tams' backyard for nearly 3 months.  Good thing, too.  We had had our fill of the "Frosty Coleman Tent", with many a night below freezing.  (Many, many thanks to our dear friends for hosting us as long as they did... much longer than any of us expected.)

So now, as we hunker down for the long Winter, we must remain focused.  For we were called by the Spirit of God to this region, to make it our home, to establish a different legacy than the one we grew up in.  We do not know what He has in store for us, but we are becoming sure that there are things to be studied, proficiencies to be gained.  Spring will come again, and with it, the further study of even more ways of making a life here, perhaps even gaining the land necessary for practicing what we study.  That is our hope and prayer.

I heard it said --  no, predicted -- that the next twenty years will be completely different and unrecognizable from the last twenty (or more).  I believe that is true.  And so, a different legacy is necessary, on a very grand scale.  I only hope that I can lead my family into it.

How about you?  What will be your legacy?  What will you trust God to accomplish through your lifetime, by faith?