Christmas in California

Aaron, John and Joe looking out on the ocean during our Christmas in California.

biketruck

Today I delivered 4 hams and 3 food baskets. All told, I place the weight at something like 60 lbs.

No problem at all on the extracycle. I'd even say I was getting it down Limestone. As I was walking it out, it was unbalanced and wobbly, but once I got on, it was fine. In fact it's so smooth that when I had to call Martina to find an address for delivery, I was able to dial and talk with one hand while steering with the other, pedaling thru the trailer park, maneuvering past potholes and going over speed bumps. All while fully loaded.

Clifton threatened to send me to Eastern State Hospital-- not for the bike, but because it was so cold out.

By the way the extracycle is banged up and and dirty. I am trying to talk John and Laura into getting one, so I let him ride it. He did. And scraped my wide loaders (the platform that adds three feet to the width so you can carry heavier loads and long cargo). And immediately after he got on it, he took it to the drainage basin to see if you can ride in the mud. Yeah. Thanks.

Any little way we can stick it to the oil sheiks is what we need to do.

Monday Night

We had 75 in the service tonight. I preached from Exodus 1 and 2 about the birth of Moses and Luke 1 and 2 about the birth of Jesus. We talked about how God overthrows rulers and all the folks who chase after the things of this world. And how God does not promise, after He has overthrown them to put us in their place; rather, He is the only one to be honored and powerful. He promises us peace and joy, not comfort and happiness.

At dinner, it seemed really nice and calm, in spite of the fact that we did not have as many volunteers as usual. And we all got time to sit down and talk with people. we're learning to not simply listen-- as if our lives are too mundane, not edgy enough, or as if we are somehow therapists. Rather, we are also telling our stories--otherwise we'll never get to know them.

A man came up and said, "I am 70 years old and have never heard anyone talk as much about Jesus as you do." Well, I am a preacher... but at the same time, it's sad. This is it: Christians just keep it to themselves. While we argue and write and go to conferences about what's relevant, there's folks not even hearing about Jesus.

A woman said, "Since we have been coming on Monday nights, we've had more peace in our marriage."

I wish I had the money to open up a dinner, food and clothing pantry every night of the week. Nothing but evangelism.

First Trip

So, Ica and I took the extracycle on our first foray. We went to Kroger. Let me just say that Ica is small, but riding the bike with her on the deck was tough. She pedaled the last half. That's how we split it up, half and half, and that's about all you can get out of us for a few days.

But it was awesome to go to the grocery store and realize you can get all your stuff on there. I'd say just the bags could hold 8 full sacks. It doesn't take all that much longer and it is a work out. Next time, two bikes.

I guess an extracycle is a strange thing; we're used to bikes as toys or as racing machines, not so much practical tools for getting around. This is an interesting step for us, getting some equipment that will let us ride bikes to do almost everything we have done with a car.

And, too, it's nice to have Ica; she's weird enough to get an extracycle and ride on the back, and tough enough to ride me on the back. As Martina said when she saw the bike and our excitement, "You two are lucky you found each other..."

Yeehaw

So, the HarperChick and I were trying to figure out what to get each other for Christmas. So we broke down and got a "Free Radical" from extracycle. BAsically, it's like a pickup truck for your bike. You take off the back wheel, add a new frame, lengthen the chain, and you now have a frame with a rack and saddle bags that can carry 200 lbs. We also got a wide-load frame so we can carry our garden tools and also load boxes of veggies on the side.

We were so excited when we got a call from Matt down at PedalPower. "Aaron, your Diamondback is now an extracycle!"

You can't tell it's on there. It doesn't change the ride. Maybe the hill at 5th street is more of a bummer.

Ica says she knows how to put pix on the blog, so maybe we'll get some.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Some days you can’t believe the kind of crap that has to come your way.

Then, if you’re lucky—really, it’s if you have someone close to you who can remind you of this—you will remember to not try to fix it solve it or take control.

A real blessing is if that person can also help you avoid getting dragged into the mania of others for a plan, a response. It’s one thing for you yourself to be abandoned to God, knowing that there is nothing you can do, nothing you need to do, other than let Him work. It is another thing entirely to avoid letting others take you captive to the world again. Giving into their fears, allowing their need for someone to be in control—as flattering as it may be when they are hopeful that you are in control—it takes real spiritual power to avoid this.

The Little Seminary

Tonight, Joseph asked if he could pray as we were putting the boys to bed. He asked us what we wanted to pray for. He said, “I want to put them in a sentence like you do, Daddy.” After he did so, I told him, “Wow! You just did a pastoral prayer! That’s awesome, Joe!”

He likes to jump off John’s bed into my arms and I catch and in one motion swing him across the room onto his bed. He asked as he was going through the air and landing on the bed, “I can be a pastor like you?”

It’s interesting what the boys see. John is interested in preaching. Joe is interested in praying. About a week ago he asked me how I put all the prayer concerns into a sentence. Somewhere in all this, he resonates with prayer. I remember a time in Louisville, taking John and Joe to school. Something came up about prayer, and Joe said he did not know how to pray, because he was a baby. On more than one occasion, John has lamented not knowing how to pray. But praise God, we just try to teach them to talk. No special words.

Jessica tells a story how she learned to pray when she was about six, learning/knowing/believing that God was always a prayer away, right there, available for her no matter how hard things got in life. The boys hear her child-like prayers and know they can say whatever.