Monday morning meanderings. Vol.82

Shelton, Washington

Here is the weekly update of our life on the road between “homes”.

Item one.  Travelling between Western Washington, Western Oklahoma and Arizona is becoming pretty “normal”.  We have logged nearly 50K miles over the last 3 years but some of those miles are just the here and there of “living” somewhere for a couple of months at a time.  This is at least our 8th trip back to Washington since we sold the house and started living on the road.  It is good to be back in Washington but it never quite feels “right”.

Item two.  Part of this nomadic life means you really don’t completely “fit” anywhere.  There are no roots and no real permanence.  That is the trade off.  If you live in a house and work in a community you collect stuff and take care of stuff and turn in a circle of relationships at work and whatever else you do to connect with people.  When you “live” in a variety of locations you don’t sink down in, because you know you are moving on and so every stop is temporary.

The relationships we have are as good as any we have ever had but they are such that you never quite “fit” because life is so different for us.  We don’t have regular jobs and we don’t have lawns to mow, houses to take care of or regular meetings or gatherings to attend especially when we are not in Sayre.  Sometimes I really want that “normal” again but that isn’t possible here in Mason County and if we settle into that normal in Western Oklahoma we miss out on life with our family here in Washington.  It is always a dilemma without a good solution, so we keep on doing what we do.

Item three.  Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington.  The most direct route to Washington from Oklahoma passes through all of those states and covers a little more than 2000 miles.  We stopped in Colorado Springs overnight to have dinner with my dad and see his new apartment.  He has a $3000.00 view for $300.00 in a senior housing place.  Really great.

I parked the trailer at my brothers business and it was the biggest trailer mess ever, by far.  I got into one of those jams people who pull trailers avoid at all costs but because of the “perfect storm” of situations I got to the place where I could not back up or pull forward without damaging the trailer, the pickup or both.  It was a lose/lose situation.  Wish I had pictures so you could see what I stepped in.  It was totally bad judgement on my part but there were so many factors going on it was easy to make a bad decision.  After much effort in a rain storm, angels lifted the trailer a couple of inches and we made it out with some small scrapes.  I still have nightmares about it.

We went from The Springs to Charlie and Lorissa Kingsbury’s family ranch outside Greeley, Colorado where we spent the fourthof July weekend with Charlies family.  We were treated like family (which we are) and had such a great time.  Wonderful meals, the Greeley Stampede (87th annual), fireworks at the country club (never been to one of those) prayer with Charlies car dealership partners over their businesses, church (the most patriotic Sunday ever!) and many more fun activities that left us gasping for breath.  Great fun with great people.

We left Greeley about noon and drove into Wyoming and on to a rest area 60 miles east of Bozeman, Montana where we spent a short night and then on the next morning to Missoula where we loaded up on groceries and headed to our destination along Lolo Pass and the Lochsa River.  We have stayed in this National Forest Campground many times over the years and always enjoy it there.  I caught a lot of fish including 10-12 of the biggest cutthroat trout ever on that river (16-20 inches)  Great fun.

Did something dumb there too.  Because the nearest place to buy a fishing licence is about 50 miles one way, down the winding highway, I decided for the first time ever in my life, and I fish a lot in a lot of different states, to see how the fishing was before I made the trip to get the license (there was road construction too).  I have fished dozens of different rivers in at least 5 states over the years, always bought a license and never, ever been checked, ever!  You guessed it.  10 minutes into my decision to check the fishing before buying the license, along comes the LAW and checks me for a license! I felt so stupid and there is nothing you can say, no explanation wanted and none he hasn’t heard before.  The saga is still not concluded because it looks like I will have to drive back over there to appear in court.  I am trying to work something out but they are pretty tough on poachers!  “You just have to believe me, Sir, I have never done this before, honest, really, I never have…”  Sure.

We left Wilderness Gateway Friday morning and drove the 500 plus miles to Shelton arriving in time for #1 grandson Sloan’s 5th birthday.  We drove to Gig Harbor to pick up Brad’s two children, Canyon Paul and Sage and brought them to Shelton for Sloan’s party as dad was doing a wedding and mom wanted to go along without two small children.  It was a long day but a log of fun.

Well, that gets us to today and the start of 7 weeks or so in Washington before we head out on another adventure in living “nowhere”.

Not sure what we will do with all of this time here but will let you know.

Monday morning meanderings. Vol.68

Sayre, Oklahoma

The weather has been real nice, a little windy of course but lots of sun and warm temps.  Feels good.  The weather allowed me to get some much needed maintenance done on the truck and trailer, this weekend, so that was productive.

Item one. For some of you, your worst fears will be realized tomorrow, when Barrack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.  But not mine.  I am optimistic, as optimistic as I can be when my president does not support some issues that are very important to me.  The weight of the office must be huge and it has a way of changing the way presidents view things, once they get a close up view. Perhaps this will be the case for Mr. Obama.

Even though I will not agree with all his policies, like all patriots I am going to rejoice in the ceremonies of the day. I am going to celebrate the peaceful transition of power, the working Constitution, and the wonderful symbolism of an African-American president. I will not agree with some of the things he says or does, but that will not take away from my happiness as an American. Tomorrow, Mr. Obama will be my president, and as head of the government of the country where I live and am a citizen by birth and choice, I will pray for him and honor him. When he acts as head of his party, I will act as the loyal opposition when given the opportunity.

Did you know there are other verses to our National Anthem?  Here is one I hope they will sing at tomorrows ceremony: Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!  Then conquer we must, when our cause is just, And this be our motto: “In God is our trust” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave  O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Item two.  Have you heard of Mark Driscoll?  I have never listened to any of his sermons but I suspect if I did I would like them.  What I find interesting and troubling about him is not his style or the anti-church, church he has built in non-church Seattle, but the theology he is committed to.  He is an unabashed and a full on Calvinist and   Calvinism, in my opinion, is both scary and wrong,  for many of the reasons he embraces it.  I just read a very interesting article from the New York Times on Driscoll and found it a very good read.  You can find it HERE. 

Item three. Interesting changes in higher education that the church could pay attention to.  Read this, right HERE.  Do you think the way we teach in the church is really as productive as it could be?  Are we paying attention?

Item four.  Great website to introduce you to some of the best writing from the world of blogging.  It is like having access to the best writing out there, updated every hour, on almost any topic or interest.  I use it to find all kinds of helpful information especially related to the church and teaching but I just looked at the page on fishing.  It is called Alltop and can be found right HERE.  Check it out.

Item five.  I dvr’d the two championship games yesterday and watched them both in about an hour each.  Best way to watch football if you just want to see the game.  I am not a big professional football guy but I watch it this time of the season.  Pittsburg is stout, no doubt about their ability to punish you, but I like Arizona’s big play potential and I really like Kurt Warner’s willingness to put it all on the line, on and off the field, including his faith.  So, I am going with the Cardinals in the Super Bowl.  How about you?

 Blessings on your week.

Monday morning meanderings. Vol. 64

Sayre, Oklahoma

Knowing what family and friends in the Northwest are going through, related to weather, I really can’t complain about here.  It has been really cold but no snow to speak of and the wind has been mostly under 20mph, for the last couple of days, which is nice.  The best thing about out here weather wise is that the sun almost always shines.  Sun does make things better.

Item one.  Speaking of weather.  This article from the Seattle PI caught my eye this morning with these fun facts about Seattle weather:

• The biggest snowstorm of the last century was in 1916, when 33 inches fell between Jan. 31 and Feb. 3. That storm holds the record for the most snow falling in 24 hours, at 21.5 inches between 5 p.m. Feb. 1 and 5 p.m. the next day.
• During an unexpected storm that began on Jan. 13, 1950, the Puget Sound area was choked by almost 2 feet of snow that fell in 24 hours. Winds whipped the snow into drifts 6 feet high and blinded those caught out and about, making it the area’s only snowfall on record to be considered an actual blizzard. The storm left 13 people dead and caused $1 million in damage.
• Seattle’s snowiest winter on record was in 1968-69, with a total of 67.5 inches.
• A storm beginning on Dec. 18, 1990, dumped a foot of snow in and around Seattle. Teachers stayed overnight with 2,600 stranded pupils at 37 schoolhouses around King County rather than send them off into the hazardous elements.
• A series of snow, ice and rainstorms beginning on Dec. 26, 1996, caused 16 deaths in the state and $57 million in damages in Seattle and King County. Two storms — one dumping 6-12 inches and another of 10 inches of wet snow — followed by heavy rain collapsed carports and covered boat moorings and snapped power lines.

The full article can be found HERE.  Hopefully no records will be broken this week!

Item two.  We are into the third year of living full time in our RV and the last couple of weeks have been the most trying, that I can remember.  We like most things about it; little maintenance, can be cleaned in a few minutes, not much stuff to store or take care of, we can live anywhere…  But what isn’t good about it is severe weather.  We have been really fortunate for most of the time we have lived on wheels to be in places where the weather is warm most of the time.  Last year we were in Arizona at this point. We are still planning to be in Arizona for most of the winter but we really miscalculated the time to head out this year.  We have frozen up a couple of times, go through the propane like we never have before, which fogs up the windows and I find I worry more about what might happen to the rig than I like.  I guess that is the trade off for living this lifestyle. 

Item three.  We are leaving in the morning sometime, (Tuesday) to drive to Washington via Colorado.  We will spend Christmas with my father, brother and his family and then start driving toward the NW.  My father will be 85 in March so wanted to spend some time with him during the holidays. This will be the first Christmas not spent with our children, ever.  But given the state of the weather out there and the airport closures we probably made a good choice for travel.  We don’t mind long drives and we don’t have to be in a hurry so we will get there when we get there.  Our goal is around the 29th-30th.  We are excited to see Traci and Brandon’s new home.  After several months of close quarters they are enjoying their own place, especially a wood burning stove for these inclement days.  Can’t wait to see our four kids and 5 grandkids!  Want to see some videos of Canyon Paul?  HERE.

Item four. I realize that most of you don’t hit the links I put in here that direct you to things I think are worth reading.  Did you know I can tell what people read and don’t read on this site?  However I want to point you to something very valuable I read this morning from the Seattle PI.  The times are changing, whether we want to acknowledge them or not.  It seems most people expect our new President to fix things, as quickly as possible, so as to get us back to the the way things were.  Is it not possible and probable that the Father wants things in our world to be the way they are in order to get us to live in a Kingdom way.  Most of the problems we face in this country were caused by us-we are greedy, selfish, and overly focused on acquisition and consumption at levels far beyond what is right, ethically or morally.  We cannot continue to live as we have the last 25 years and expect any other result than the one we are experiencing right now.  We need this wake up call to get back to what is important and what it really means to live with Kingdom values and lifestyle.  The following link is not written by a follower of King Jesus, as far as I know, but what he writes is about Kingdom values and the need we all have to stop and realize who and what we have become.  I encourage you to read it.  Find it HERE.

Item five.  Here are a few other links you might find valuable is you have the time.  HERE on the Rick Warren prayer flap, HERE on church growth during hard times, HERE is one that says, under the old model you dated a few times and if you really liked the person you had sex, now the model is you hook up a few times and if you really like the person you might consider going on a date, and finally HERE, a post on why I miss the NW and fly fishing for steelhead and chums on the OP (Olympic Peninsula).

Item six. In my recent recapping of our Convergence School of Ministry Summit I have focused on Bob Mumford’s teaching.  I suspect many of my readers who were not at the school have passed over reading these posts but I don’t want you to miss this.  As we approach the day of celebrating the birth of our Savior and King I want to leave you with two things Bob said repeatedly while he was with us here.   The two most expensive attributes of the Kingdom are unqualified love and unlimited forgiveness.  There is nothing more Kingdom related, nothing more Biblically true, and nothing harder to do, yet more important than living out these two attributes.  Living with no restrictions on how much and who we love and who we are willing to forgive were intended by our Father to change the world.  Is there any doubt He is right?

Have a wonderful celebration of Jesus birthday.  I appreciate your visits here to The View From the Juniper Tree.  The fact that several hundred of you visit every week blesses me a lot.  Thank you.  See you down the road!

Monday morning meanderings. Vol.47

Sayre, OK

With temps breaking the 100 mark several times last week, we finally broke down and had a second air conditioner installed in our 5th wheel.  They told us when we bought it, we would need it but we said “we live in the NW, it doesn’t get that hot for very long.”  Who knew we would be in the Midwest for several months of the year.  Fortunately we did take their advice and have the trailer wired for a second air conditioner so the install was relatively easy.  It is nice to have and Jake has found the bedroom, where the new unit is, to be his new favorite place.

Item one. The kids are coming, the kids are coming!  By the time you read this, Traci, Brandon, Sloan, Sean and Eyob will be here!!!!  They spent Saturday night in Gallup, NM and will drive the 540 miles to Sayre today (Sunday).  They will be with us for a full week.  We are looking forward to them seeing where we are, meeting the friends who have been so kind to us and seeing why it is we love the Trinity Family.  Their lives are going through a shaking, but they are learning well, what it means to walk in faith.  If you want to check up on their lives and plans you can read Traci’s latest here.

Item two.  What is your price point?  That’s the price gas has to get to before you start to drive less.  Apparently for many, if not most Americans, their price point is $4.00.  Syndicated columnist, Charles Krauthammer has been espousing for years, what he calls a foolproof plan to end our oil habit that makes a lot of sense to me, but apparently the people in charge (politicians) don’t think they could get elected if they put it in place, so the plan, while foolproof is futile.  Read what he says here.

Item three. We can finally start to look carefully at who it is we think can best lead our nation.  Several months ago I called it an Obama/Huckabee and I was half right.  Now it gets serious.  It has been a long time since a presidential election in this country had the kind of importance this one does.  I am really no fan of either man and ask myself why, in this great country we cannot do two things: First, have more than two choices and two, barring that, have two people who are the very best we can put out there, not the two who are willing to cut off a limb to get the job.  Any thoughts on running mates for these two?

Item four.  More from Stuff Christians Like.  In a world where we all must begin, no its past time to begin, it’s time to get after adjusting our financial lives, it is time to stop with the spend anyway we want, charge it to our card and expect God to provide.  That is the gist of this excellent blog on money.  Read it here.  I mean it, go read it here.  Seriously, right…here.

Item five. Heading back to Washington in a couple of weeks has me thinking about fly fishing. I haven’t taken the time to go after the abundant warm water fishing there is out here so I am really anticipating getting some trout on the fly real soon.  Here is a website by a friend of Brad’s that has me thinking about it.  Wilderness Angler in Gig Harbor.  Find it here.

Item six. My brother MIke and my sis-in-law, Vicky are leaving for Africa this week for about a month.  They are headed out on their first mission trip and will spend 10 days or so without running water and flush toilets helping to build something (don’t have the details) in Kenya.  My bro will have his 61st birthday while in Africa and I am really proud of them for doing something “uncomfortable” when they have the means and the opportunity to just be about themselves.  Have a great trip guys!

 

Monday morning meanderings. Vol.10

Dodge City, Kansas

After about 9 hours of driving and an elevation drop of more than 5K feet we are settled in for the night not far from Boot Hill.  We are tired but glad to have the biggest day of driving out of the way, about 450 miles.  We usually don’t drive more than a couple of hundred in a day.

Item one. After the way Jake Locker played for the Washington Huskies Friday night I have decided that we named our little Carin Terrier after him.  Syracuse is no doubt horrible but who cares, it was fun.  We are really enjoying having the dog along.  He is really easy to care for and rides well in his little crate in the car.  A Carin Terrier played the part of Toto in the Wizard of Oz, so being here in Kansas, we are bring Jake back to his roots!

Item two.  Big Brown.  I haven’t fished much for Brown trout so it was a real thrill for me to hook and land a nice one from the Rio Grande yesterday.  I used to catch some in the Big Horn River when we lived in Wyoming but this was the first one of any size,  I have caught in a long time.  It was fun.  We enjoyed our time with brother Mike and sister in law, Vicky in Creede.  It is fun to camp with other people and to share meals together. 

Item three. Prayer for the week.  Several of you tell me you are using these weekly prayers so I will keep them coming.  Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in my heart the love of your Name; increase in me true religion: nourish me with all goodness; and bring forth in me the fruit of good works;  through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen  (find more like this here)

Item four. In last weeks meanderings I mentioned I thought the Mariners were done.  After 9 straight losses, does anyone disagree or care?  Put a fork in them…

Item five.  We are on our way in a few minutes on east from Dodge City to the town of Chanute where our Hitchhiker fifth wheel was manufactured.  We have an appointment in the morning for some service work.  We tried having it done at the dealer we purchased it from but they are too busy selling to service, or so it seems.  So we have about 4 hours of driving then we will relax for the afternoon and evening.

Item six. Something from Henry Nouwen: The apostle Paul writes to the Romans: “Bless your persecutors; never curse them, bless them. … Never pay back evil with evil. … Never try to get revenge. … If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink. … Do not be mastered by evil, but master evil with good” (Romans 12:14-21). These words cut to the heart of the spiritual life. They make it clear what it means to choose life, not death, to choose blessings not curses. But what is asked of us here goes against the grain of our human nature. We will only be able to act according to Paul’s words by knowing with our whole beings that what we are asked to do for others is what God has done for us.
 

And now it literally is time to “get the heck out of Dodge!”

Creede and Creed.

Creede, Colorado (8,852′)

We are in the Rio Grande valley in southern Colorado in the old mining town of Creede (info here).  We are here with my brother Mike and sister in law, Vicky.  It has been in interesting time.  We just had the heaviest rain, thunder and lightning storm I have been in, in a long time, if ever.  It just poured and the thunder was so loud and the lightning so close it was a little unnerving for someone from the NW.  Mike and I had just returned from fishing so I put my raincoat on and washed the truck!

Moving around at this altitude (8,852′) leaves you winded but the area is really beautiful.

Our new puppy Jake, was a little frightened by the thunder so he just went to bed.  We are having a fun time with him.  He has a real personality and lives up to the breed’s rep of being a bit stubborn.  He fits in well with the two of us!

Speaking of fishing, it has been interesting.  The water is the color of chocolate milk, because of all the rain and so catching fish is a little difficult.  We went upstream this afternoon and the color was a little better and I managed to land a few nice browns.

We have spent some time getting our trailer back in shape after the long trip out here from Washington.  It was so dirty. I washed half of it this morning and will do the rest tomorrow. 

The connection is remote but I couldn’t help thinking, while we are here in Creede, about the Apostles Creed.   A number of years ago I did a series of messages on the Apostles Creed, which I think is the best synthesis of Christian beliefs ever written (find it here).  Not sure if Creede, the town, added the “e” to separate themselves from a statement of Christian belief or not, but the name has made me think of these values important to my faith.

Wes King has a great song called Common Creed (lyrics here) that is a musical adaptation of this great creed.  I have it playing on my iPod, while I write this.  If you haven’t heard it, you might want to download it and hear the musical Creed as a way to learn it.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. 

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.

The rain has finally let up, the Mariners have lost 7 in a row and the Huskies are rolling.  Guess you have to take the good with the bad.

Prayer for the week.

I usually include the Prayer for the Week in Monday Morning Meanderings but since I didn’t get it out till Tuesday, I was in a hurry and forgot to include it so for those of you who enjoy these prayers and those of you who might find them helpful for your prayer life, here it is:

O God, the protector of all who trust in You, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon all your faithful people your mercy; that with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen  (From Divine Hours. Prayers for summertime.  Get it here)

An answer to this prayer and the implantation of this desire in our hearts is the need of the hour for all of us who choose to follow the Master.

We are off this morning to Creede, Colorado of some time with my brother and sister in law.  They have a fifth wheel too, though they don’t live in it full time.  We will spend some time fishing the Rio Grande River which has it’s beginnings in these mountains.  It will be a new river for me but I think it is the same as anywhere else, find the right flies, present it right and the fish will be interested.

More on Creede tomorrow.

Monday morning (+12 hrs.) meanderings. Vol. 7

 Idaho Falls, Idaho

I’m back!  In one way, not much has happened since I last posted but in another way there has been a lot going on, just not in the usual way.  Let me catch up.

Item one: After a quick post leaving Clarkston on August 3rd we headed for Idaho Hwy 12 and the Lochsa River.  Our first stop was a National Forest Campground called Wilderness Gateway.  It is a terrific campground though you have to live without hookups.  But we survived very well and realized we could get along well on our batteries and water tanks.  We really just downshifted during our time here.  We rode bikes, walked, played games (more on that later) and we enjoyed the quiet. For Linda it was the start of her vacation so she really just relaxed.

Item two:  After four days at Wilderness Gateway we moved 40 miles up river to another National Forest Campground called Powell.  Another great spot but here we upgraded to electricity.  We could have watched TV if a tree hadn’t been in the way of the satellite! But even with power we still had to use our fresh water tanks and avoid filling the waste tanks but we could make microwave popcorn!  We really didn’t need the electricity.  We were just fine without it but we enjoyed it.

Item three: Games! One of my earliest posts was about my recent willingness to join Linda in playing games.  She has always been a gamer but when she married me she had to put it on hold as I was not raised playing games and was too stuck in the mud to start.  But when we were in California last January, I decided it was time to bless her by learning to enjoy playing games and so I have.  We play pretty much 3 different game-Phase 10 (both cards and dice, we like the cards better) Farkel (a dice game, maybe you can get Brad or Kasey to give you the rules) and dominoes.  We have really gotten into dominoes the last few nights.  We really enjoy playing outside in the evening, finishing up by lantern light. 

Item three B: Art nights, afternoons, mornings. Hard to believe but we got started with water color painting while we were with the McComb family (see last weeks meanderings) and we had so much fun we broke out some paints and assorted supplies given to us by artist and friend Bruce Brezel and we spent several hours water color painting.  Yeah, I know, but it really is fun.  You camp with us we are going to paint!

Item four: Fishing.  I have fished the Lochsa several times before and found it a really fun place to fish.  Lots of Western Slope Cutthroat and usually they are more than willing to take a fly.  But the water was very warm this time and so it was not the usual good and relatively easy fishing, I was used to.  I had purchased a 5 day Idaho non-resident fishing license and I fished most of those days to rather mediocre results.  The fourth day was really bad.  Not only did I not really catch many fish, I fell down, I broke tippet, I lost flies on poorly executed back casts and generally decided I was never fishing again.  But after giving it 24 hours I had some new ideas, some better tools (bigger fly rod), and using some very small flies I was able to finish up my five day license on a good day.  I got lots of fish, including some of pretty good size for this river (18″+) and best of all remembered why I fish. It is such a beautiful river.  If you like to camp, like to fish with a fly and enjoy gin clear mountain streams (not that I know anything about gin) then try out the Lochsa.

Item five: Montana/Idaho fires.  Just east and a little north of our camp in the Idaho wilderness a fire was burning, pretty much out of control and everyday we would get up to a smokey sky.  Usually by noon or so it would blow out and we would have a nice day.  But yesterday it didn’t blow out and so we were in the smoke all day with a fair amount of ash landing on us.  Our plan was to leave Powell this morning, drive to Missoula, Montana about 6o miles away, get on I-90 to Butte and drive about 60 miles south on I-15 to the flyfishing mecca of Dillon, MT.  However the smoke just kept getting worse, fueled by at least 4 Montana fires that were burning, and so by the time we got to Dillon, fish or no fish we were not going to live with that smoke.  So here we are in Idaho Falls, ID, in a commercial campground, not nearly as welcoming as the ones we have been in for 10 days but it is nice and the Wi-Fi works great and so does the satellite.  So I am writing to you, watching the Mariners, who managed to hang on while I was out of touch, doing the laundry and just chilling in the heat.  Not where we planned to be, but, who needs plans!

Friday we plan to be in South Jordan, Uhah (that is how Sloan use to say it) with Traci, Brandon and the boys.

There should be regular posts as long as we have some kind of service, so check back again.

The River of Life.

Rivers are full of natural life and illustrative of our Spiritual life. 

Yesterday I floated and fished two sections of the Yakima.  In the morning I floated the river north of Ellensburg for 5+miles, Linda picked me up, we had lunch and then I floated a section starting in the city, floating south for about 5 miles.  The fishing was much better in the upper section than the lower one, though not really worth talking about. 

What was fun was seeing all the life intimately connected with the river.  Trees grow best along rivers, the grass is greener all along it’s banks and the deer, elk, mountain sheep, cows and domestic goats and sheep all find food in it and around it.  Geese, ducks, grouse, chuckers and all kinds of smaller birds make the river their home.  I saw a family of ducks with 7 ducklings swimming along a bank and when they saw me they literally ran upstream.  It was fun to see.  I saw a small family of grouse with babies (any one know what baby grouse are called) no bigger than sparrows and geese with goslings no bigger than robins.

Then there is the life in the river.  Fish grow because there are bugs of all sorts that live on the bottom of the river and float up through the water as nymphs, pop out on top as emergers, get their wings and fly away.  Fly fishermen know these stages of bug life and try to match this life cycle of the bug in order to fool fish.  Dry fly fishing is the most fun, because as the bug gets wings and tries to fly, fish are feeding on the surface.  If you have matched the hatch well you can use your imitation to fool the fish and watch them take your bug.  That is a lot of fun.  But if you want to consistently catch fish you have to know about the nymphs that are under the water, because fish feed about 80% of the time underwater.  Life cycles of bugs teem in the river, fish know it and flyfishers who know it, catch them.

The Yakima River has a number of species of fish that swim its waters.  Rainbow and cutthroat trout, more than one kind of whitefish, and at various times a couple of species of salmon.  The Tribes are working to reintroduce salmon to the river and you often see them floating the river counting salmon for their studies.  I think Bruce Selleg’s first fish on a fly, from the Yakima was a big King Salmon. He almost fell in trying to land it.

The Yakima not only naturally supports life it is also what makes the Yakima Valley the worlds leading producer of apples and multiple other kinds of fruits and vegetables.  During the summer months the Yak is a big irrigation ditch sending millions upon millions of cubic feet of water every day to water the crops the world consumes.

Without the water from the Yakima River the valley is nothing more than a desert.  Life flows in and from the river.

Floating along yesterday I started singing songs about rivers and believe me there are a lot of them.  I could list them here but that would take too much space.  Can you think of any?  If you do put a comment on this post and I will put them all together in another posting. 

One that popped into my head was from the 60′s, when Christian songs other than hymns, were first being written.  We thought it was pretty cool back then as it had motions and participation I think might not fly today.  It went like this:  I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me.  Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see.  Opens prison doors sets the captives free.  I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me.  There is more to the song, but as I sang the song and the words filled my brain, I wondered why I had never stopped to think about what it meant.  There is a river of life that flows, somehow, out of me, with the capacity to heal and set people who are in bondage free.  We would sing that song with great enthusiasm but I, at least, never thought about what it meant.

The song comes from these verses: Whoever believes in me, the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.  Knowing his readers would not understand what Jesus was saying,  John adds this explanation: By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed on Him would later receive.  Up to this time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:38-39) 

Rivers, streams and any other body of water or well were known to be life giving to anyone who heard what Jesus had to say.  In much the same way I described it earlier, rivers to those in Jesus day meant life, abundant, life giving and life sustaining.

In Matthew 10, Jesus gives Believers their marching orders: Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons.  Freely you have been given, freely give. (v.8)

The writer of the river song I was singing yesterday put those two verses together because he rightly understood when we were given the Holy Spirit there would be a life giving river in us,  when allowed to flow out and on to those around us, some spectacular and amazing things would happen.  People would be healed, people would be set free from all kinds of bondage, and those thought most despicable in the culture would be washed clean and restored to their full life giving potential. 

If I understand at all what rivers are about and what a powerful force for life they are, I cannot accept the premise of many evangelicals that Jesus meant the Spirit was to be in us just for sustaining our salvation, comfort in time of trouble, assistance in acting and thinking appropriately and conviction when we are going the wrong way, as wonderful and good as those gifts of the Spirit are.

Rivers flow, they give life, they cannot be contained and if they are dammed up with no release point they get stagnant and the life goes out of them. The writer of the song got it correct.  The River of the Spirit is in us to flow out of us bringing healing and life to sick, addicted, lost, broken, hurting, outcast, dead people. 

Rivers are life giving, life sustaining and life changing.  By this Jesus meant the Spirit whom believers have NOW received.  I’ve, (you’ve) got a river of life flowing out of me (us).  It makes the lame to walk and the blind to see.  It opens prison doors and sets the captives free.  I’ve (We’ve) got a river of life flowing out of me (us).

If we understand about rivers we understand something really important about the Spirit. 

Do we get it?

Yakima River Memories

When we moved to Washington, 18 years ago from Wyoming, what I missed the most was the trout streams and rivers so abundant in the mountain west. I had grown used to a day or more a week on a steam or river within 15 minutes to an hour of our house.  There was nothing like that in Western Washington.

Then I discovered the Yakima River, exactly 3.25 hours from our house and for the next 16 years I travelled over to Ellensburg an average of 10 times a year.  The Yakima, with it’s 5-700 fish per mile did not compare to the rivers in Wyoming and Montana where there are as many as 10,000 fish per mile but there were fish and I learned to love the river even if I didn’t catch the same number or size of fish I was used to.  The Yak can be maddening at times.  Trips with lots of fish and then 2-3 trips with very few.  Fickle river.

The best time to fish the Yakima is during spring and fall.  During the summer I think of the river as a big irrigation canal for the farmers down stream.  During the spring and fall you can have flows of 750-1200 cubic feet per second (cfs) where as during the summer the flows are around 3500-5000 cfs.  That is the way it was yesterday.  When the water is up the trip goes faster just because the water is moving at a faster rate but worse than that, for the fly-fisher, is the places where trout hold during the spring and fall are not there.  The fish are against the bank but without someone to row for you or a way to anchor in the fast water it is pretty tough fishing.  That is why I can count on one hand the number of times I fished here during the summer.

As I was floating and fishing (not really catching) yesterday I started to think about people I had fished with over here.  Here is the list I came up with: Don Knox, Duane Carver, John Butler, Kennan Butler, Brad, Brandon, Bruce Selleg, Glen Keeffe, a guy named Larry who was a pastor in Tacoma, several people I met over here and floated with to help row and Linda floated with me one time.  She read a book.  I thought there would be more.  Maybe I am forgetting someone. 

Here are a few memories.

Duane Carver was the best fishing partner I ever had and since he grew up fishing the Yakima, though he was a spinner fisherman, he really knew the river.  He wanted to learn to fly-fish and he had a boat so we came over here together dozens of times and I tried to help him learn.  He was easy going (at that point in his life) and loved the river, so we had some wonderful floats together.  Duane and I made several trips to Alaska and Montana together to fish, so we had a lot of good times together.  My favorite memory of Duane is his first fish on a fly.  I know exactly where it was and how big it was.  He was so excited and it seemed all the fishless days were erased by that one fish. Duane passed away a few years ago and his family spread his ashes on the river.  I really missed him yesterday but in a way I felt he was there.  While I have enjoyed fishing the Yakima since Duane left, it isn’t the same

Kennan Butler had never fly fished before he came to the Yak with us, probably 10 years or more ago.  On his first cast with a fly he hooked a huge white fish (not the fish of choice) and was so proud of his catch and how easy fly-fishing was.  I don’t think he got another fish that day but the first had to be fun.  I wonder if he remembers it.

If you know Don Knox you know he does not do anything slowly.  I don’t know how old he is but I would guess he is in his 80′s.  He does everything with the intensity of a man who is afraid he will miss something fun, if he slows down.  Don and I borrowed George Valley’s double-ender pram to float the river and neither of us had ever floated it before. Not a good combination.   Within 100 yards of the put-in we were in trouble.  Don wanted to go down a side channel that was, as we discovered, virtually impassible and full of white water.  Don lost his rod in there and we almost lost everything else.  What a rodeo.  Don was a great fishing partner but not the greatest catcher of fish.  He didn’t seem to care. I miss him too.

Bruce Selleg had a drift boat and liked to fish so we came over several times.  He was new to fly-fishing so it was his turn to learn to fish and mine to learn to row.  I did catch the two biggest back-to-back trout I ever caught on the Yakima while with Bruce, but mostly I tried to help him learn while I learned to row.  He caught fish eventually and I learned to row, eventually.  If Bruce had not been paying attention and moved fast I would have tipped the boat over in a narrow section just above the old farm. I got the boat sideways on a rock and he climbed up the high side of the boat to get weight there so the boat would slide back down.  Otherwise we would have gone in, lost the boat and everything in it.  The words George Valley told me came back quickly that day and they have never left.  “When you see something dangerous you need to row around, point your bow at the danger and row backwards.  It works every time, if you do it.  Thanks Bruce for thinking and acting so quickly.  Thanks for some really fun trips.

Brad and I had some really good trips with a guide on the river.  Brandon came for one of them as well.  Using a guide on this river, or any river for that matter, greatly enhances the chances of catching fish.  We had great guy time, caught fish, and made memories, at least for me.  I think they remember too.  The first trip Brad and I made was one of those really hard days on the Yak.  Days that make you think you know nothing about catching fish on a fly.  I have had lots of them but Brad hadn’t and was a little frustrated that even a guide couldn’t have him in fish all day long.  The next time we went, he did.  I would love to fish with the guys more, but at this point in their lives it is pretty hard to find time.  Good memories of great times with great sons.

I have fished with a lot of people who fished hard but none harder then Glen Keeffe.  He is the most tenacious fisherman I have ever been around.  He was new to fly fishing when we started going together but he picked it up really fast and often caught more fish then me.  We had one really great day with our pontoons, standing in deep water all day, catching big fish and lots of them.  He was not afraid to get into positions I found a little too scary but he didn’t seem to mind and so he was rewarded with some good fish.  He fishes hard and fast and I had trouble keeping up. I thought I was teaching him!  I miss fishing with him, too.

They shall speak of the memory of your great goodness, and shall sing of your righteousness. (Psalm 145:7)

My days on the Yakima River are full of wonderful memories of the Father’s goodness.  Re-creation and relationships are perhaps the best gifts the Father has given to me.  It saddens me that some of the men with whom I fished I no longer have a relationship with, but I am expecting one day the Father will restore them. 

If you like to fish, ski,  paint, run, play music or whatever, invite someone along and build a friendship and a partner in the pursuit of God’s goodness.  Memories are waiting.