Who let that thought in?!

As I was here at work, singing under my breath O, Church Arise by the Getty's, while performing one of the mundane tasks associated with my job, I thought happily to myself, I like my job.

What?! My face dropped in surprise, and I almost laughed out loud. Where did that come from?

Astonishing! I just had to document this day. When God comes in, changes a heart, renews a mind through the truth of Scripture, and adjusts an attitude...there is no doubting that it was Him that brought about such a change.

Teach me, my God and King, in all things Thee to see;

And what I do in anything to do it as to Thee.

All may of Thee partake, nothing can be so mean,

Which with this tincture, for Thy sake, will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with the clause makes drudgery divine;

Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws, makes that and the action fine.

Dry dog

In response to Craver's post, I have been thinking about prayer. I loved what was said in one of my favorite books, Valley of Vision, regarding this topic. Consider the following:

"The soul learns to pray by praying; for prayer is communion with a transcendent and immanent God who on the ground of his nature and attributes calls forth all the powers of the redeemed soul in acts of total adoration and dedication."
(Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions - Preface)

Does anyone else find it difficult to learn praying by praying? It's a tough, but sweet, lesson.

Rink Rats

An inspiring image







Jersey #7 - Jon Schiedel, right wing, in action!

The winning team

The Great Canadian Experience

O Canada.

What a weekend! Beginning last Friday after work, Daasy and I started our great trek Nort'. We were going up to watch, support, and cheer for the Rink Rats in a hockey tournament. As is consistent with "typical Bethlehem women," we popped in a CD of a John Piper sermon as we booked it up to Dryden, Ontario. With little to no point of interest the entire distance of Minnesota, we found our way to the border, which is nestled right in a paper mill. It felt funny to be driving through something that felt like a back alley to make our way to a different country.

Approaching customs, a stench assailed our senses. We looked at each other, shocked. What is that?! Just as we looked forward, a large mural came into view, trumpeting The Great Canadian Experience. I don't know, but they might want to rethink the placement of that sign on the wall of a paper mill.

Upon giving the curt man at customs our drivers licenses and answering his pointed questions, we were asked to pull around the corner where our licenses would be returned. We did so, and Daasy quickly turned to me, thinking we were going to be asked to pass a Canadian Knowledge Test to get in, and asked who the president of Canada was. After informing her that Canada doesn't have a president, two guards walk towards us, armed with rifles. I mean flashlights. (Sorry, it's not that interesting of a story.) They asked us to step out as they poked through our belongings and asked us further questions. I found it hilarious as I watched the guy on my side of the car pick up my CD case and all it contains are CDs upon CDs of sermons. I wonder how often they see that.

After they wished us a good trip in Canada, we were sent on our way. After a couple hours of driving on a winding road...in pitch black darkness...while it began to snow, we finally arrived at the Best Western in Dryden. At 3:30 in the morning. We crashed, hoping to get a little sleep before the Rink Rats' second game of the weekend at 10.

We awoke at 9, and headed down for a sit-down breakfast. Unfortunately, because they wouldn't bus any of their tables, it took us 15 minutes to be seated, then another 20 minutes for the waitress to join us and hand us menus. We looked nervously at our watches and ordered our breakfasts "to go." After another 20 minutes went by and still no sign of our food, I began to wonder.

"What's taking so long?"
"Hibby, you did order French toast."
"What? Did they have to go to France for it?"
"We're in Canada..."
"So, they went to Quebec for it?"

(Sorry, Armchair. I just had to include this conversation in the post.)

Once our breakfast was brought to us, we quickly took it back to our room and ate while simultaneously putting our shoes on and brushing our teeth. We made it over to the arena just in time to not see the first game of the day. But after hearing about the disappointing lose the night before, it was great to hear they had won 8-0.

The day went by too quickly. Watching fabulous hockey games; explaining the game a bit to Daasy; heckling with fans of opposing teams; cheering with Lex, the 6-year-old son of one of the Rink Rats; hanging out with the Rats between games; exploring Dryden; buying Coffee Crisp...the list could go on. Of course the spike in adrenaline certainly followed the Rink Rats bringing home the victory of the tournament.

Our weekend (day) in Canada seemed to end too quickly. After heading to bed later than we probably should have, we woke up the next morning at 5:30. Jon, our B-Bapper friend on the team, joined us for the return expedition. Driving through the beautiful terrain of Southern Ontario, we sang hymns together that came to mind watching the stunning sunrise. After a couple hours on the road, we made a quick stop, and Daasy and I were officially introduced to Tim Horton's. Back on the road, there was a lot of sleeping and a lot of Cross Movement. We got into Minneapolis about seven hours after leaving Dryden.

The weekend, in summation, really was a Great Canadian Experience.

"Psst, anyone still here?" she wondered.

After a relatively lengthy sabbatical (for a blog writer), Jennifer once again returns to the blogosphere for what she hopes is not merely a cameo. Though, after so long an absence, she is rather intimidated in knowing how to begin her post. So much has happened in the recent weeks that she is at a loss as to where to begin.

Hundreds of thoughts run through her mind. Should she mention her aversion to this new-fangled Blogger? She proudly considers herself an old fashioned girl, and she misses the "old fashioned" Blogger. She decides against saying anything about it, however; no one would be interested.

She considers what else has transpired since February 8th. Why, the beginning of March! Perchance one would be intrigued by her discourse on the "in like a lion, out like a lamb" March weather. But no, that would be far more suited to parlor banter.

She smiles as she considers her scant remaining audience being amused as they read her anecdote from yesterday afternoon. She regales herself by replaying the scene in her mind.

There she had sat at her desk at work, so very tired. All she had wanted to do was sleep. Proceeding to zone out, her eyes glazed over and her body relaxed into the supposedly ergonomic office chair she occupied. How could she have known that it was possible to fall into a semi-sleeping state (or a "long blink" as she preferred to call it) with eyes wide open? Suddenly, she had jerked to attention, only to realize that she had just been "dreaming" of amillennialism vs. premillennialism. As she had shaken the fogginess from her mind, she avowed not to tell anyone of this. No one would understand. Who dreams of differentiating eschatological views?

Jennifer bites her lip as she remembers that that account is not supposed to be shared with anyone for fear of being labeled as one of those crazy theological geeks, and she supposes a blog entry featuring that story would not be permissible.

Oh! She could speak of her exciting, event-filled weekend, beginning with the mini-trip to Canada! It is going to be a blast. She is looking forward to road-trippin' it up to Ontario with her dear friend, Daasy, while the two of them will be jamming to some solid theology-packed Christian rap and headbanging to John Piper sermons. As seems to be tradition for road trips, Jennifer hopes to have time to bake banana bread for the ride up. Once in Ontario, the two will enjoy a rousing day filled with hockey tournament games and fellowship with some dear brothers.

Upon returning to the Twin Cities on Sunday evening, she will be heading over to Bethlehem for OneAnother's Variety Show. In the course of said Variety Show, a video will be shown featuring her as a "Typical Bethlehem Woman." The movie narrates how and why it is so challenging to get a date with those Bethlehem women. Apparently, they're a different sort of breed. Jennifer chuckled smugly over that fact. She also decided not to delve into divulging her weekend plans. Too long of a story, she determined.

After dismissing a few more thoughts that came to mind of potential bloggable moments, she decided on a very ascetic approach to her first post in over a month...she will simply pose the question:


Hey, does anybody still read this thing?