A grand total of 60 years!

Need a laugh? Here you go!

I grew up going to a traditional Southern Baptist Church. What does that mean? We almost always sang "Just As I Am" for the invitation (which we had at every service). We always sang verses 1, 3, and 4 of every song, for which we had to stand. For every service, the order was exactly the same. I could hardly WAIT to get to a church service that was different. I finally had that opportunity, some, at my last place of employment with the Contemporary Service. Then, after leaving there, we attended a bonafide Contemporary Service that was WONDERFUL!!! Jen and I thought we were on the way OUT of traditional.

I joined the AF. I was put in charge of the . . . Traditional Service. Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhh! Not only that, but my new boss wants an even more traditional format!!!! It's killer. But wait--it gets even better!

I have been put in charge of the Liturgical Service at F. E. Warren AFB. What's liturgical? Liturgical, technically, is to have a set order of worship. Indeed, that is the AF definition--we will have a set order of worship. Feel free to look it up in Wikipedia. For those of you aware of what it is, and who know me, I can't imagine a more antithetical service for me to run, can you?

Peace be with you . . . .

Check out my Slide Show!

On Top of Mount Belford

Well, I promised an update about a hike and pictures. It's late because we can't find the cord for downloading the pics from the camera!!! However, my brother sent some pics, so I'm using those!!! The story of this hike starts in 1994. Jen and I, having married during Easter Break, took an extended honeymoon over Summer Break to Colorado, where my sister, in the early stages of becoming an avid Fourteener, asked if we wanted to hike up Pike's Peak. Sounded fun--Jen and I both love the mountains (actually, it was Jen's first time ever in CO)--sure! Never mind that we came from 100 ft above sea level or that we had not, in any way, trained for the hike. Mel said it would be easy and fun, so we went for it. Needless to say, we did not fare so well on the 12 hour hike up 5000 feet! If you really want to know how it ended up, give us a call.

Fast forward 13 years . . . I am now acclimated to 6000+ ft above sea level and in considerably better shape than before. Consequently, when my sister and my brother (the one in San Francisco) suggested climbing another Fourteener, I said, "Yes." I did, after all, have something to prove! We actually started up Missouri Mountain, but decided on Mount Belford due to the distance being a mile shorter. My ten year old nephew and my dog both accompanied us.

Climbing in the Rockies is an exercise in humility. Being that near majesty is a faint, although awe-inspiring, echo of what it will be like to be in the majestic presence of God Himself! It was a beautiful day. The meadows were green; the mountain stream was full; the sky was crystal clear; it was amazing. It was hard (very), and I hurt for the next week, but it was a great trip. My dog and my sister both did considerably better than I did, but I did better than my brother and his son. I'm happy with myself.

All of these pictures were taken at the summit of Mount Belford. Enjoy the view. If you want to try this yourself, start training, and then let me know when you want to join the Fourteeners!!!

Update!

This summer has been uber-busy! We've had visits to make, funerals to attend, and visitors to receive. The largest and longest-staying group of visitors was my sister-in-law and her family from the mighty Mitten State! Her husband could only stand us for a week, but she and her two boys stuck it out for around four weeks!!!! Brave woman . . . . . What could cousins possibly do for four weeks? Hmmmmmmmmmm, let me count the ways--
1. See the USAF Thunderbirds;


2. Buy cowboy hats;


3. Make cookies;


4. Sightsee--
a. Cheyenne Frontier Days--


b. Estes Park, CO--


5. Bowl--




6. Get in LOTS of trouble!





So, stay tuned--I plan to blog what I did this weekend, and it's a doozy!!! I'm sore, tired, and NOT cranky!!!! For more information, check out this website--http://www.14ers.org/page.php?pname=peaks/sawatch/belford/standard. Also, not that I know how to put a video on, but my input for the whole music thing is Jimmy Needham's "Lost at Sea."

Indomitable

It's the end of an era. Born in the 19 teens, Bunah May Klingman Heston had designs of being a teacher. However, the Great Depression intervened. She also had designs of marrying another man, but a move and her father intervened (interestingly enough, she was written to by two men, but only received letters from the one her father deemed "the lesser of two evils"). She ended up married to a farmer in Southwest Oklahoma. This is the same man she "forced" to buy a car because riding on a horse would cause runs in her hose! A diminuitive woman, Grandma loved kids, chickens, colors, new foods, stuff galore, teddy bears, knick-knacks, gossip, games, hot pink, and helping other people. She did NOT, however, love my attempt at positive thinking while riding in the back seat as Granddad drove her to the hospital for a broken arm. "Just try not to think about it, Grandma" went over like a Yankee carpetbagger in Louisiana. That's the same summer I used a lawn mower to run over her cherry trees she was trying to grow. Grandma was blunt beyond belief, having no problem asking very personal questions of my girlfriend at the time the very first time they met. Jennifer married me anyway!

Some of my favorite memories are . . . gathering eggs with/for her from the chicken coop; eating her country-fried steak; seeing my 80+ year old grandmother walk around in a hot pink sweatsuit; the box of sermon illustrations she clipped out of newspapers, newsletters, etc, and gave me for Christmas one year; the child's toy she gave me when I was a teen because she thought we could play with it together!; the too-small backpack I took to Germany with me and have since passed down to my children (far outlasting any of the "real" backpacks I used in college); her cheating at every game we played (much like her father did in dominoes); working in the garden with her, especially the summer we gathered potato bugs and talked about making a pizza with them (you had to be there); her pride at my being a minister and her love of Jesus Christ; driving her around the countryside just last month as she enjoyed the green grass, colorful flowers, and livestock . . . .

Driving down to Colorado Springs Friday night, preparing to go to a family reunion in Texas, Mom called me and told me that Grandma was gone. It was the weirdest trip down, as I alternately cried in mourning and laughed at the prospect of Grandma in heaven, face to face with Jesus Christ. I listened to an old song--"Ain't No Grave"--by Russ Taff all the way. Sorry--I'm not proficient enough to place it on here, but it's worth listening to. Saturday night, I fixed Country-fried Steak a la Grandma, and we toasted her as we ate. I think she would have appreciated it. It's really strange to me. On the one hand, Granddad was always the one we talked about--Grandma was a little strange to us. On the other hand, what an indomitable person she proved to be, and one who just grew better with age. Thank you, Jesus, for the wonderful opportunity to have Bunah Heston in my life.

Cheyenne Frontier Days!

Yep, for those in the know, it's that time of year in Cheyenne again! I won't post all of the pictures, but here's a few for you to enjoy.

First, we have the 500 head of cattle drive down the ride (we could see it from our house, but chose to get a closer view!).




Our youngest took the pics, so you must accept them for as they are! Yesterday was the first Cheyenne Frontier Days parade (with Gen. T. Michael Moseley as the Grand Marshall). There's just a few pics from that.










Lastly, I had to have new "official photos" taken, so here's my best shot. I'd really like to know your opinion of this one!!!

What a year!

So, today I pinned on Captain (that means I promoted to the rank of Captain). It's been exactly one year since I went to Andrews AFB, and some young Captain swore me in as an Air Force officer. I wasn't, at first, all that impressed with putting on Captain. For Chaplains, it's kind of automatic. But then I thought--I went through 3.5 years of seminary and 6 full years of ministry and 1 year as a 1st Lt to get these, and I'll be in these for 8+ years. Maybe I should treat it as a bigger deal than I have been! Besides, just working with Mark Garrett is enough to have made me a Colonel!!! With all of that in mind, Ch Breig (our Wing Chaplain) read the orders and swore me in. Jen had made homemade cinnamon rolls (excellent, as usual), and I had brought orange juice, so we sat down afterwards and had breakfast together. Actually, it's pretty meaningful to take the Officer's Oath. Check it out at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj02/win02/keskel.html.

What makes this really important is thinking about where I was last year (it's been a pretty sweet year) and the year before (that was a pretty crappy year). God has certainly blessed us in this last year. I've had the chance in the last year to get a job that I enjoy very much; I spent time with my dying grandfather and ailing grandmother that has been very meaningful to me. I am closer to my sister than I ever have been, and I've seen more of Mom than I have for a long, long time. Jen's happy; the girls are happy; my promotion today simply marks a God-blessed year. May He get all of the glory!

James 1:2-4

I'm preaching through the Book of James in my church, and this week, I'm preaching on James 1:2-4. Studying for it, I did some word studies, and wrote my own "translation" of the passage. I am particularly impressed by the definition of "perseverance" being "characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith by even the greatest trials and sufferings," as well as the idea of perseverance becoming mature within us. Anyway, here it is--let me know what you think.

"See it as a matter of pure joy, my fellow believers, when you are utterly drowning in those experiences sent by God and designed to test your faith, holiness, or character, because--knowing the person, character, mind, and plans of God--you know that the testing of your strong convictions about Jesus as the Messiah will result in you having the characteristic of one who does not waver from his deliberate loyalty and faith--even when crushed! Allow that characteristic of unwavering loyalty and faith to Jesus to become full-grown and mature in you with the end in mind of you yourself becoming a spiritual adult--ethically free from sin and lacking no spiritual grace."

I am constantly amazed that God redeems EVERYTHING in our lives. Everything we experience (kids, marriage, bosses, friends, family, jobs, etc.) is PURPOSEFUL in the hands of God. What a cool concept that is!

Family Time

This last week was a really neat week. It started on Saturday with the girls, Jen, and my sister experiencing (very mildly) a "deployment." They went through a deployment line; they toured a C-130 and a Blackhawk Medivac Helicopter. They came back to Base X, where they tried MRE's, ate lunch, put on chem gear, and more. My sister's favorite experience was driving the bomb robot! It was really well-done. If you'll go to www.warren.af.mil next week, you had ought to be able to see a pic or two. I'll try to post some next week here as well.
We left on Sunday for Oklahoma to visit my mom. It was a horrible, wicked, no good, very bad day! I was cranky; Jen was cranky; we hit a concrete abutment and flattened a tire (Thank you, Lord, for safety!); we hit at least one bird, and a doe walked up to the edge of the road. It's already a 13-hour drive, which didn't help at all! However, we did eventually make it to a very green and wet Oklahoma--most unusual for late June!!! In fact, not many people could remember this wet of an OK summer. Be praying for them--wet ground makes harvesting difficult, if not impossible! We stayed in OK until Jen and I left on Thursday. My Grandmother is 92, and suffers from dementia. She is skin and bones, and often refuses to get out of bed. We had a great time with her! She enjoyed going on rides around the country; she did puzzles with our youngest; she was cracking us up. She told me she was going to cry when I left. I did indeed almost cry, because I don't think I'll ever see her on this side of heaven again. However, I'm really grateful that I was able to spend some time with her. She has always been very proud of me for being a pastor--in fact, one year for Christmas, she gave me a box of clippings to use for sermon illustrations! She loves bright colors (finding the flowering shrubs, etc., while we were riding around was always a plus), so Jen bought her two yard ornaments--the spinny kind. I grew in appreciation of this wonderful woman this week, and the wonderful woman--Mom--who honors the Scriptural mandate of taking care of one's family. It was a bittersweet week. My Dad is buried there, Mom's gravestone is also there. My uncle is buried there, as are my great-grandparents. When Grandma dies (she thought I called her "granny" this last week and got hot!) and Mom leaves, my family will be out of a town lived in for many years. Nevertheless, what a great opportunity to be with family we had! The girls remained, giving Mom much-needed "Mimi" time and help, so Jen and I are enjoying our time alone.
Tomorrow's sermon begins a series on the Book of James. It's titled "Revolutionary Living." May your lives be filled with the revolution of the love of Jesus Christ, and may you revolutionize the world around you! Happy Independence Day (such a misnomer for Christians)!