Picture This!

I went to the very last College World Series game at Rosenblatt last night. It was a fun evening as I got to use company tickets to entertain guests- which meant I had great seats right behind the first base dugout and a VIP pass to get into the air-conditioned glass clubhouse which came with all the food and drink we wanted. It's nice to see how the other half lives once in awhile!

We had a perfect evening- cool with only the slightest of breezes. And on this perfect evening, the game went into extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th and 11th innings, something sort of amusing happened. On every pitch, hundreds of flashes went off. It was quite the sight really- the stands lit up with points of light as fans tried to catch for posterity a picture of the last winning hit at Rosenblatt. Finally that hit came and I am sure there are pictures of it all over the city this morning.

Pictures are amazing- how they can capture more than a moment. They also capture for us the history or maybe the excitement and feelings we had. I have on my wall at work a picture I took of Jake playing basketball at the University of Missouri in front of their student section. The photo shows Jake shooting a 3-pointer (which he made) and a high flying Missouri player trying to block the shot. If you look close enough you can see the ball in mid-air and Jake (in green) still in shooting form. It's a great picture that captures the excitement and thrill of the moment.




How great would it be to have pictures of our greatest moments? The times when you were at your very best- not just in sports or fun things like vacations, but at your very best as a Christian- helping others, encouraging, loving. How great would it be to not only see those moments again but feel the love and excitement and thrill of them?

On the other extreme, this past weekend I saw a show from Israel that talked about Peter and his denial of Christ. And in the courtyard of this church in Israel was a statue of Peter and his denial. So Peter gets more than a photo, he gets a life-size recreation of the worst moment of his life? How would we like that? 'Oh, and this statue over here is a tribute to my worst selfish and sinful act ever- thankfully only one occurance of my shortcomings has been saved for posterity for everyone to see.'

Truth be told, the world couldn't hold all the statues to shortcomings we would need if we each got one - not to mention if we each could have more than one for each of our most noteable foibles. I could build a museum around my statues of badness. 'And over here in this wing of my museum we have my greed collection which is next to my mean-ness masterpieces, behind my recent additions of coveting.' I'd have the Louvre of 'Peter' statues. Maybe your collection would rival mine?

Sherri and I made a poster out of Jake's cool Missouri picture which he then put up in his room. What a fun reminder for him of a fond memory. One day God will blow up the picture of His forgiveness and love into an eternal heavenly monument just for us - what a cool way to always remember what He did for us! Now that's a picture worth remembering, worth lighting up the stands of our church for to carry around with us in our heart for a lifetime. See you photo-friendly people Sunday.

Blest Regards,
kp

My Bike and Wonderful Wyoming

I got a bike this past weekend for Father's Day. Not a new one- a used Cannondale with 18 gears. Which really didn't mean much to me as I was bidding on it at an estate auction- I liked the color. I won the bid paying $60 which I thought was a lot. Then the lady who owned the bike told me she paid more than $600 for the bike in 1982. I liked my new bike even better after that comment and was proud of my bargain purchase.

The bike was only one of many bids Sherri and I won. We bought boxes filled with 'stuff' for a dollar, boxes of books for two dollars and bags of new blankets and linens for a dollar. In the end we spent over $150 (including the cost of my bike) and filled one side of our garage with lots of 'things'.

Some of the dollar boxes were filled to the top with unique oddities- like the small 'Wonderful Wyoming' plastic toaster shaped salt and pepper shakers circa 1960's which our son Dan found funny and entertaining (original price tag on that beauty alone was $1.47). It's cool because of its age and the fact that the toast comes out to be used as salt and pepper shakers. See for yourself what a neat find this was and remember, coveting my toaster is a sin!



Sherri liked the professional grade hair curler she found in one of the boxes which was most likely worth $50 or more. I liked the outdoor gas grill complete with a brand new almost full propane tank which I got for $5. The old milk box came with an old-time bug sprayer inside which looked to me like an immediate way to get my cancer to return- just by touching it. Eight boxes of Christmas goods cost one dollar total- I guess no one else was in the mood for Christmas in the heat.

It was all just one more big reminder for me of the real value of 'things'. When you leave this world, all your stuff will be divided up among family or sold for mere pennies on the dollar to strangers at an auction. Some stuff you really liked will just be thrown out (like the candle in a sea-shell we tossed). By the next generation it will all be dump material- maybe even 'Wonderful Wyoming'.

So why do we value our stuff so highly? Why do we pay so much for so little that lasts such a short time? Why does our heart become so easily distracted by shiny gotta-have objects? Why, why why? In short, why don't we set our hearts on things above instead? If we did we would discover God's boxes of grace, bags of joy, and salt shakers of love, all for free.

I do try to set my mind on things above. And in the meantime, I enjoy an occasional auction of things here below. That's ok I think as long as I know nothing's coming with me in the end. I may try to sneak in the salt shaker with me just for fun though- you can ask me if I was successful one fine eternal day in the future!

Blest Regards,
kp

Mr. Tamate'

In the movie 'Sister Act' the nuns sing a hymn, 'Hail Holy Queen' which includes some lines that date back to somewhere around the year 1000. Anyway, part of the song says, 'Mater ad mater inter marata' which I believe refers to Mary as the mother of all mothers. But that is a topic for another day- I have another reason for mentioning these words.

Yesterday our foreign exchange student Mate' went back to Hungary after a 10 month stay with us. It was sad to see him leave even though we knew he was going home. Early on in his stay it became apparent that bread and especially tomatoes were foods very much like what he enjoyed back home- and so these two foods became an early American staple of his diet.

Luckily we had a few prosperous tomato plants last summer and Mate' could eat his fill without us having to go to the store. He ate so many tomatoes I started calling him Mate', Mate', Mr Tomate' - which was a slight variation 'mater ad mater inter marata'. It's a funnier name in real life than it is in a blog.

Anyway, all that to start a story to tell you Mr. Tomate' was a great fit for us. He did everything we asked of him with the exception of a missed time or two taking the garbage to the street- a shared task which our son Caleb forgot about just as often (or more). We enjoyed showing Mate' all the features and benefits of life in America.

Somewhere along the line Mate' ceased to be our exchange student and instead became a part of our family. He took his fair share of teasing at our Petersen Sunday evening family dinners and dished out some of his own. He traveled with us on our annual trip to Okoboji where Sherri's side of the family gathers for food and golf and food and shopping and food and time on the lake- not to mention the soccer Cale's team played. Mr. Tomate' went tubing, swimming and spent an evening at Arnold's Park in addition to all the other family activities.

His adventure with us provides a few life lessons- that time does indeed fly by- just as the years seem to fly by for us. One day we will all be going home as well and that time comes faster than any of us can imagine. Sherri helped Mate' pack, no easy task when you are limited to 50 pounds. He ended up leaving a few things behind- of course we'll leave everything behind on our final trip home.

There was rejoicing in Hungary when Mate' got home- a family so happy to see their son again. I'm confident there will be rejoicing upon our arrival home as well. Till that day comes, we enjoy the company of each other just as we enjoyed the company of Mate', Mate', Mr. Tomate'. So here's to a season of tomato fun with Mate', a lifetime of happiness with family and friends, and an eternity of joy in heaven.

Blest Regards,
Keith

Octopus Beaks

Its been a busy time at our house, especially with my treatments and cancer surgery. The good news is all the remaining cancer has been removed. Soon I will begin radiation and resume some light chemo treatments to try and stay cancer free. In light of all we've been through our family took a welcome trip to Okoboji for a long weekend of family and fun.

On the drive up Sherri and I shared a funny conversation as we worked a crossword puzzle:
Sherri: 44 across, four letters, ends in 'K', clue is: octopus feature.
Keith: Oh, that's easy, (and trying to come up with a goofy answer adds) 'beak'. Very few people know octopus have beaks. Did you know that hun?
Sherri: (Shakes her head and sighs quietly at my stupid answer) No, and I'm not accepting that answer. 52 down, four letters, clue is: jambalaya ingredient.
Keith: You'll never get this one so I'll just tell you, the answer is 'rice'.
(Which is funny because of our Chris Rice discussion on a Kansas City trip-see an earlier blog for that goofy conversation - and even funnier because Sherri makes great and spicey jambalaya).
Sherri: (Smiling as she remembers the last time 'rice' was an answer she couldn't recall) Yeah, 'Raman' wasn't going to fit.

So we come to the end of our abilities, completing almost the entire difficult puzzle (Sherri is pretty amazing at these things) but never filling in 44 across. Sherri then turns to the answer page and you know what? The answer to 'octopus feature' is indeed 'beak'. We both shared a good laugh over that one. I said 'I told you so' and then unsuccessfully tried to convince everyone that I wasn't kidding, that I really knew that octopus had beaks but no one bought it. So we got to share a few good laughs on the long drive.

Laughter is pretty important at our house. Mate' said he knew he was part of our family when we laughed at things he said and did, just like we do about everyone in the family. Like how we still laugh over the monster tubing spill Dan took on vacation last year, how mom made some very sticky macaroni once for church that people said some funny things about, how Kathy made hamburgers once that we didn't need to flip because they were so perfectly round they just rolled across the grill- and those are just for starters.

I'm kinda surprised really that the Bible doesn't have a few verses of Jesus laughing because I'm confident He smiled and joked and laughed a lot. I think maybe Jesus walking on the water and scaring the disciples in the boat was the subject of a few laughs over lunch the next day. Can you really believe no one teased Peter about sinking after walking on water? Those funny comments should have been recorded.

When you picture Jesus in your mind is He laughing? smiling? or does He have a stern look? or maybe that Mona Lisa mystery look? I remember a picture that used to hang in the church basement of Jesus with children. That was a smiling Jesus. Maybe we think He was different with children but really, aren't we all His children- not just those who are young in years? I think Jesus smiles when He thinks of you.

Creatures with beaks like octopus don't smile. But we can and we should. We were designed to smile and encourage. After all, we have plenty to smile about- a Savior who loves us, died for us, and offers eternal life, all the while calling us friend. So the next time you see a beaked octopus, let him be a reminder for you of all you have to smile about!

Blest Regards,
Keith