Gibson Family Update–The Two-Year Version

Just after Christmas our entire family was together for 11 days in England–thanks to our kind Father!  I have no idea how many rows are in this picture as we are not capable of lining up in rows.  So we acosted a passing Brit and they made a “snap” of us.  Anyhow, going left to right–as a given head appears in the photo:  Grant, Hannah, Angela, Rachel, Kathi, Ross, Dave, Caleb, Elizabeth, Amy, and Josh.  Between our three children they have set a goal of giving us at least 12 grandchildren.  (Wait maybe that was my goal for them–I forget.)

This photo was taken at Stourhead Mansion where part of the movie Pride and Prejudice was filmed.  In the far background you can see a pavillion where a guy and a girl were talking to each other in a heavy rain storm and then they almost kissed each other and then they had a shouting match and promised that they would not marry the other person if they were the last living human being on the planet and then the girl ran away accross the bridge in the background–still raining heavily–and then apparently they changed their minds because at the end of the movie they got married.  (I cannot explain this plot but felt it important to explain the setting to you.  Rent the movie, get a big box of Keenex and a gross of Cracker Jacks and concentrate.)

So, I have not been lounging on the couch and reading Jane Austin novels and eating Cracker Jacks but I did not get an update letter out last year.  Forgive me.  I wrote it but didn’t send it.  Why?  I cannot remember.  Having received your forgiveness I will now do my best to give you the two-year summary in pithy, readable, and cogent form.  (Should I fail at my stated goal, I am confident that Mrs. Gibson can always fix it up before we publish it on the world wide interweb.)

Major highs and lows:

• Grant David Gibson married Angela Joy Napier on May 29, 2010 in Boise, Idaho.  It was a one-week party.  They both love God and they love each other and we are so blessed to have Angela in our family.  Grant married so far “up” that it is a little embarassing.
• May thru July of 2010 Kathi and I were blessed with a 3 month sabbatical–in the generosity of God, Cypress Bible Church, and the Lilly Endowment for Religion.  It was so renewing.  We spent a week at the wedding, two weeks in Alaska, a month in Montana, and a month in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and Belguim.  It was the fastest three months of my life.  When other men escape the fantasy playgrounds of their minds they think about women, beer, and golf.  I think about sabbatical.
• In January thru March of 2011 we were able to remodel our home–we had a falling out with a wall; so we took out that wall and put pergo flooring in most of the house–it’s a big blessing to us.  Kathi’s allergies have been much better with the Bronze Age carpet removed.
• Elizabeth Arwen Nelson was born to Josh and Amy on January 15, 2011–joining Caleb (11), Hannah (9), and Elizabeth (5).  She is beautiful–they all are.  Elizabeth is now one and can walk and wave bye-bye.  Back when she was only 2 weeks old I was talking to her on Skype and she said, “I love you Grandpa.”  (No, there were no witnesses but I heard it.)
• On June 8, 2011 Kathi and I began our 38th year of marriage!  This is one tennacious woman–unwilling to give up despite a mistake that she made when she was only 19!  (It’s hell having 19 year-olds making life decisions for you!)
• In July of 2011 Kathi and I traveled with some friends for two weeks of work in the Far East.  It was a spiritual high.  Cannot say much more here.  We also saw the Tiger Leaping Gorge.  It is not a piece of water that you would float in anything smaller than a trident sub.
• The major sadness in our lives is the home-going of Kathi’s mother, Joyce Kruckeberg.  Joyce went to live with God on Christmas afternoon at 4:56 PM–one month ago today.  Her memorial service/graveside was held on January 9th at the military cemetary in Dallas.  Kathi’s dad Bob could use your prayers after 58 years of marriage.  The man is a prince and the Lord is sustaining him.
• My father, Hoot Gibson, is thriving in Western Montana where he retired 30 years ago.  Since the death of my mother in 2008 my younger sister has lived with him.  He has lost most of his eyesight to macular degeneration and cannot drive but still does shoot his beloved guns.  A piece of advice:  Do not go to the gun range on Wednesday mornings–Dad and his other mostly blind buddies are there every Wednesday morning.  I love the man and have long phone conversations with him.
• As the picture above shows we were together as a whole family at Christmas time for the first time since 1997!
• I have been promising for 20 years to write a book, and it is written and being edited now.  The tentative title is Wheatie and it deals with the summer I spent as a wheat harvester when I was 16.  If no publisher buys it I will self publish it so I can hold it in my hand and so you can each buy hundreds of copies.
• On December 1, 2011 Kathi and I began our tenth year of pastoral ministry at Cypress Bible Church.  This is God’s great goodness to us.  I love having a place to do what I love.
• Josh leaves at the end of January 2012 for his fourth deployment to a dangerous place–your’s prayers are appreciated.  He is still flying helicopters.
• Josh and Amy and four kidlins are due to be transfered back to this continent this summer!
• Ross is working for Time Warner Cable Company in Moscow, Idaho and is acting in his second play in the past 5 months.  He is a terrific actor, a very good singer, and a sincere dancer.  We flew to Moscow, Idaho last November to see his acting debut–what a kick that was!  He did his old pappy proud!
• Ross began a blog at the address:  www.30isthenewboring.blogspot.com.  Funnier than David Letterman.
• Grant and Angela are living in Boise.  Grant works for the Idaho Department of Employment and Angela is a professional ballerina with Ballet Idaho.  They are doing terrific.
• I am still doing some woodworking–currently making a candle holder out of a 45 pound log–perhaps a little above the load-bearing specs but I like solid furniture.  Mrs. Gibson may not let it be in the house.
• In December of 2011 Kathi bought a “long-arm quilting machine” and named it “Lucey.”  (Technically the APQS quilting machine company named her Lucey but we didn’t have the heart to change her name.)  Kathi and Lucey are happily making quilts.  Picture below.
•  I am still supplying brilliant material to this site (www.runningtothetape.wordpress.com) and to my sermon site (www.corkingoodsermons.com) and to my story site (www.corkingoodstories.com) and on Twitter (@hhhoot) and on Facebook.
• God has blessed greatly in so many ways–for just one example we have no pets.

 Thanks to each one of you who sent a card or update letter to us at Christmas this year.  For those of you who did not–I understand, believe me, I understand!

If any of you would be willing to follow me on Twitter or be my friend on Facebook or listen to one of the 400 free sermons on my site I will mail to you a chocolate covered lawn sprinkler as a thank you gift.

All joking aside now–I just read a very short book called Be a Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.  (Well worth the read.)  I won’t give away the story about “Honi the Circle Maker” but I will say that Batterson has written a very motivational book about specific and bold prayer.  “Bold prayers honor God and God honors bold prayers.”

In this year I am praying a bold, simple prayer “to be fully alive.”  A writer by the name of Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

This is a very compelling idea to me and this is my bold prayer for 2012.

And yours is…?

God bless you each richly!  Contact us–it would be great to hear from you.

Dave and Kathi

Santa Claus is Coming to Town–Interpreted

 

Listen to the message of Santa’s own song please:

You better watch out–Santa’s coming is a scary and dangerous event–better hide.

You better not cry–Santa’s arrival makes you want to cry.

Better not pout–being around Santa makes you want to pout.

I’m telling you why–I am the watchman warning you about this dangerous guy.

Santa Claus is coming to town–the first warning of his arrival.

He’s making a list–Santa keeps religious track of your behavior.

And checking it twice–Santa is obsessive-compulsive.

Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice–Santa is a performance based giver.

Santa Claus is coming to town–the second warning of his arrival.

He sees you when you’re sleeping–Santa is a peeping Tom.

He knows when you’re awake–Santa is watching you like a hawk.

He knows if you’ve been good or bad–the guy is devoid of grace.

So be good for goodness sake–the only way to be blessed by Santa is to be good.

O! Your better watch out!–another dire warning that Santa is trouble.

You better not cry–do not show emotions around Santa because it might set him off.

Better not pout–an additional warning that unacceptable behavior will be punished.

I’m telling you why–once again, you better listen to me because this is serious.

Santa Claus is coming to town–the third warning of his arrival.

Santa Claus is coming to town–the fourth and final warning of his arrival.

You had better leave the guy some milk and cookies in hopes of appeasing him!

Santa’s popularity is a mystery to me.

You have this dire warning song.  The breaking and entry.  The ruined shingles.  The violation of sovereign airspace.

Self-Management Skills

I read a terrific quote, which I can only remember well enough to paraphrase here and I have forgotten the author to boot:  “Successful people have the ability to continually make themselves do what they do not want to do.”

Or, to paraphrase the paraphrase, they have the ability to manage themselves.

How are you doing in the management of yourself?

Richard Bolles, in his book The Three Boxes of Life, lists 47 skills of the person who is excellent at self-management.  The list will cause both motivation and depression.  I am listing them for you here in the hopes of giving you motivation.  If the result is depression I am sorry and ask you to see skills 16, 29, and 31.

There might be some help to score yourself on a 1 to 5 scale on each of these and consider where some intentional work might be needed in some area of self-management.

1. Ability to choose, or make a decision
2. Alertness
3. Assertiveness
4. Astuteness
5. Attention to details, awareness, thoroughness, conscientiousness
6. Authenticity
7. Calmness
8. Candidness
9. Commitment to grow
10. Concentration
11. Cooperation
12. Courage, risk-taking, adventuresomeness
13. Curiosity
14. Diplomacy
15. Easy-goingness
16. Emotaional stability
17. Empathy
18. Enthusiasm
19. Expressiveness
20. Firmness
21. Flexibility
22. Generosity
23. Good judgment
24. High energy level, dynamicness
25. Honesty, integrity
26. Initiative, drive
27. Loyalty
28. Open-mindedness
29. Optimism
30. Orderliness
31. Patience, persistence
32. Performing well under stress
33. Playfulness
34. Poise, self-condidence
35. Politeness
36. Punctualness
37. Reliability, dependability
38. Resourcefulness
39. Self-control
40. Self-respect
41. Sense of humor
42. Sincerity
43. Spontaneity
44. Tactfulness
45. Tidiness
46. Tolerance
47. Versatility

The Art of Self Management

 

“I have never had as much trouble with any man as I have with myself.”

D. L. Moody

“Amen!” to that!  I have given myself far more trouble than I have been given by anyone else.   The chief trouble I have given to myself is the inability to make myself do what I should do.  Self management or self-control has been a life-long fight for me.

Zig Ziglar once said, “The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want now.”

“Amen!” to that!  I have made this trade far too often.

What I want most is to honor God and love my wife well and serve faithfully at CBC and share Christ with the people God puts in my path and be physically fit and give help to my friends and be generous and build time margin in my life and build financial margin into my life and keep my house and cars in good condition and build emotional margin in my life and love my kids, grandkids, and parents well and on and on and on…  Trouble is there are too many times when I trade all this for a game or games of hearts on the computer.

I think there is a time to “veg out” with a game of computer hearts.  But I don’t think that is all the time or even most of the time or even very much of the time.  There is a time more often to manage myself and make myself do what I should do and what I want to do in order to have the things I want most—please see the list above.

In the Wisdom Literature of the Bible God gives some instruction on the issue of self-management—here is a small sample of His large volume of instruction:

• Proverbs 12:24, 27.  “The hand of the diligent will rule, but the
  slack hand will be put to forced labor.   A lazy man does not roast his pray, but the precious possession of a man is diligence.”

• Proverbs 16:32.  “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.”

• Proverbs 6:6-1.  Paraphrase:  “Look at the ant and learn something about diligence and self control.”

• Proverbs 24:30-34.  Paraphrase: “Look at the field and vineyard of a sluggard and learn something about diligence and self control.”

“The precious possession of a man is diligence.”

Wow!  The precious possession of a man is not a Rolex or a Lexus or a pallet of gold bullion.  The precious possession of a man is diligence.  I will take a pallet of that!

In his book The Three Boxes of Life author Richard N. Bolles gives a serious list of self-management skills.  I am listing them here for your reading pleasure.  I hope this is some help to you in the fight with self-management:

• Ability to choose, or make a decision.
• Alertness.
• Assertiveness.
• Astuteness.
• Attention to details, awareness, thoroughness, conscientiousness.
• Authenticity.
• Calmness.
• Candidness.
• Commitment to grow.
• Concentration.
• Cooperation.
• Courage, risk-taking, adventuresome-ness.
• Curiosity.
• Diplomacy.
• Easy-goingness.
• Emotional stability.
• Empathy.
• Enthusiasm.
• Expressiveness.
• Firmness.
• Flexibility.
• Generosity.
• Good judgment.
• High energy level, dynamic-ness.
• Honesty, integrity.
• Initiative, drive.
• Loyalty.
• Open-mindedness.
• Optimism.
• Orderliness.
• Patience, persistence.
• Performing well under stress.
• Playfulness.
• Poise, self-confidence.
• Politeness.
• Punctual-ness.
• Reliability, dependability.
• Resourcefulness.
• Self-control.
• Self-reliance.
• Self-respect.
• Sense of humor.
• Sincerity.
• Spontaneity.
• Tactfulness.
• Tidiness.
• Tolerance.
• Versatility.

To me this is such a helpful list.  “The precious possession of a man is diligence.”

I don’t know the whole answer about gaining diligence and self-control but it seems to me that part of the answer is constantly reminding myself about the things that I want most.

Lessons from “The East”

 

In the kindness of God, Kathi and I are back from two weeks of working in The East with some friends.  The work was primarily visiting some places where our friends had done development work–funding drinking water systems for schools and providing scholarships for tribal children to attend grade school.  It was my first time to the great land of China–specifically far SW China on the Tibetan Plateau–and it was not much like my home town of He Dog, South Dakota–though both places are primarily populated by native tribes.  (We were not in the political province of Tibet but we were at about 11,000 feet.)

In two weeks were exposed to so many starkly new things that I cannot even remember all of them.  Here are a few lessons that I do remember:

1. There are uncountable people in our world who live in horrible bondage.  People are spinning prayer wheels and using strings of prayer beads and leaving good food at the feet of inanimate statues and building elaborate temples and spending scarce money on incense and constantly driving roaming pigs away from the good food they have left at the feet of statues that cannot eat.  All of this is done to appease dead “gods” and assuage a sense of deep personal guilt.  It goes on for decade after decade in very sad lives.

2. Reaching people who have a worldview that is non-Christian and who cannot read is a bitterly slow process.  Worldviews shape each one of us so profoundly that we cannot even comprehend the impact.  Not being able to read is a handicap that I cannot understand.  I have been able to read the language of the country where I live for more than 50 years.  I take reading for granted.  I assume reading with the same level of unconscious expectation that I assume air.  I have lost touch with the blessing of reading.

3. It takes a lot of people working well together to reach people who never heart of Jesus and who cannot read.  The synergy of a body working in harmony is so beautiful.  Watching a professional high jumper gives a sense of this beauty.  The synergy of a Body working together is so pivotal to impact.  The work we were able to do was only possible because of the previous work of a lot of people.

4. If you can read and own a personal copy of the Bible in your first language you are blessed beyond imagination.  Every day I am reading and appreciating my “first language Bible” with new gratitude.

5. God is at work in so many places and in so many lives and in so many unique ways.  I was in awe of things that He is doing in a “corner” of the world without TV or internet.  (Our world has a lot of “corners” and every one of us live in a “corner” in one way or another.  The center of the universe is not on this planet.)  What God is up to, in endlessly creative ways, in every “corner” of the world always involves His glory, His Word, and the rescue/renewal of people.

6. God is at work in so many places and in so many lives and in so many unique ways–we miss then when we are too worried about when our golf clubs will be repaired.   I have nothing against golf–other than I stink at it–but what God is doing to rescue people towers above a hole-in-one.

7. Sitting in the home of a tribal person and explaining the Good News about Jesus is exhilarating.  It is also recalibrating.  It refocuses you on eternal things.

8. The standard of living in NW Houston and the cult of upward mobility are very strong.  I have only been home for 5 days and I already went out to look at a new BBQ.

9. Working and traveling and living with sterling people makes all the difference.  What a joy it was to spend 2 weeks with 7 sterling people.

10. Finishing your life in a second career in missions is really, really good.  I think it is more fulfilling than shopping or five-day-a-week golf.

11. They are very, very stingy with their oxygen on the Tibetan Plateau.

12. Traveling in remote places to share Christ is inconvenient and uncomfortable.  But my experience was nothing like Paul and many others have done.

13. I have a deep and severe cleanliness addiction.  I need some help with this.

14. I have a significant aversion to sheep that has been chopped up with a cleaver and thrown into a huge pot and boiled with the stomach and the bones and the gristle and the sinew and the bone chips and the fat.  In my own defense I tried to eat some.

15. Sleep is a very valuable commodity.  When you cannot get any you begin to understand its value.

16. Clean water and beds without bugs are a great gift.  I had forgotten this.

17.  The International Date Line is voodoo magic.  I still don’t get it.

18. A yak is not as exotic as it sounds from 6,000 miles away.  A yak is a Tibetan cow.

19. Living in a place where you can own a Bible openly is wonderful.  Many people don’t.

20. People all over the world have a keen sense of sin and guilt and the need to do something about these.  They are doing a variety of things with varied levels of diligence and nothing apart from Jesus is working.

21. An American can buy a yak leather briefcase for about $100 but if a local will bargain for you then you can get it for about $35. 

22. Speaking the same language with a person is so critical to telling them about Jesus and to finding the bus station.  I just spend 2 weeks with about a 5 word vocabulary and they were probably not the five most important words.

“He forgot to ask us to…

Soon after email was invented a friend sent this story to me:

Abraham Lincoln often slipped out of the White House on Wednesday evenings to listen to the sermons of Dr. Phineas Gurley at a local Presbyterian Church.  Lincoln generally preferred to come and go unnoticed, so when Dr. Gurley knew the president was coming, he left his study door open.  On one of those occasions, the president quietly entered through a side door of the church, took his seat in the minister’s study, located just off the sanctuary, and propped the door open just wide enough to hear the preacher.

During the walk home one Wednesday evening, an aide asked Mr. Lincoln his appraisal of the sermon.  The president thoughtfully replied, “The content was excellent…he delivered with eloquence…he had put work into the message…”

“Then you thought it was an excellent sermon?” questioned the aide.

“No,” Lincoln answered.

“But you said that the content was excellent, it was delivered with eloquence and it showed much work,” the aide pressed.

“That’s true,” Lincoln said.  “But Dr. Gurley forgot the most important ingredient.  He forgot to ask us to do something great.”

“He forgot to ask us to do something great.”

So much of our lives are built on the average and the every day and the need for daily faithfulness in the routine–even in the small and the mundane–and this is very good.  It is essential.  But it is also true that every life should strive for a contribution to some great cause, to do something noble, to invest deeply in something bigger than self-preservation and self-pampering.

A completely self-absorbed life is the smallest life in the world.  A deeply self-giving life is the largest life in the world–not usually the largest in terms of recognition but certainly the largest in terms of fulfillment and meaning and noble accomplishment.

“Af anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”  Jesus in Mark 9:35

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”  Jesus in Matthew 16:25

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  Jesus in Mark 10:45

Jesus, unlike Dr. Phineas Gurley on the particular Wednesday evening, calls us to something great.  He calls us to sell out our lives for the Person of God and the reputation of God and the work of God and the good of others.  He calls us to noble living and Bible causes.  He calls us to deep dedication to the Kingdom.

Life is so much more exciting when we follow Jesus’ call to “do something great.”

Let me ask you to do something great in the next ten days.  Here it is:  “Ask God to show you a noble cause that is far greater than self-pampering.  Ask Him to plant in your heart something great that is far above even self-preservation–more important than saving you life.  Ask God for the gift of a great dream and for the joy that goes with it.”

When He shows you, go after it!  That would be great!

The Essence

 

“Less is more.”

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

A few years ago I was at a conference in Washington State and I got up early to read my Bible and drink a cup of coffee.  I found a local Starbucks and sat at a table in the corner—thinking that I was in an out-of-the-way, quiet place.   Unfortunately my table was also near the place where the barista would set up the freshly made “coffee-like-drinks” and would also call out the description of the drink.

The variety and options that you can order at Starbucks are staggering.  “Tall, no whip, extra hot, skinny, soy,upside-down, caramel macchiato.”  The options must exceed a million.

A singer/songwriter named Keb Mo has a song called “Keep it Simple.”  Part of his lyrics read:

“Well I went down to the local coffee store

The menu went from the ceiling all the way down to the floor

Decaf, cappuccino, or latte said the cashier

I said gimme a small cup of coffee and let me get the heck up outta here.”

 

In many ways we have too many options in our lives in America.  This causes a number of problems for us.

The first problem with too many options is that we can be paralyzed by option overload.  If the choice is “vanilla” or “chocolate” most of us can make a fairly quick decision between those two.  If the choice is “which one of these 71 flavors” we can get immobilized by the array of options.

The second problem is that we can choose the wrong options—either the immoral option or the second class option.  Some part of life is making choices between moral and immoral things.  In my experience much more of life is making choices between the best things and the good things.

The third problem is that we can choose too many options.  We can end up doing dozens of things poorly and the important things either poorly or not at all.

In our world of limitless options the trick is finding and pursuing “the essence” or the things of “core” importance right now.

Years ago I read a question that has helped me a great deal in relation to the issue of essence or core or high-leverage choices.  Unfortunately I cannot remember the source.  The author asked, “What three things, if pursued faithfully, would make an 80% difference in my life right now?”

Life has hundreds of “seasons” and in each of these seasons there are essential things that make the most difference.  Certain foundational choices are right and essential for all seasons of life—pursuing God, service, humility, loving others well, purity, etc.

But in every season there are “seasonal choices” that get at the essence of what is important for me right now.  As I have fought to think of and pursue the essence or core things for myself right now I have landed on three things.  Simplicity.  Physical fitness.  Finish my book.

Regarding simplicity I am simply overloaded with appointments and commitments and stuff.  I would experience a stark change for the better if I succeeded in living a simpler life.

Regarding physical fitness I have let my fitness slide in recent months and I am suffering for it and I am in a season of life where I cannot afford this.

Regarding my book it is completely written and I have been unfaithful in honing the chapters for months and months now.  I need to just finish and move to the next step.  I am not going to write the next great American novel but I do need to simply finish.

What is at the “essence” or the “core” for you in the current season of your life?  What are the three things that would make the 80% difference in how you are experiencing life and how you are honoring God and how you are helping others?

1. _______________________________
2. _______________________________
3. _______________________________

There are seasons of life when we need a “small cup of coffee” far more than we need a “tall, no whip, extra hot, skinny, soy, upside-down, caramel macchiato.”

The way Jesus said this is, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”

The happy people are not the ones who have it all but the ones who have the essence.

Commute (A poem by former commuter Dave Gibson)

Shower.  Shave.

Fight for a place in the violent, driven snake as she slithers into the city.

Work.  Worry.

Fight for a place in the violent, driven snake as she slithers out of the city.

He Dog, South Dakota and Paris, France

A visit to my hometown in 2006.

When I was born my parents were living in He Dog, South Dakota.  (I am not making this up.)  He Dog was then, and is now, an Indian day school on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.  My mother was teaching there and my father was a government trapper.  He Dog is only a school, dropped in the bottom of a small swale, with no other services at all.  You cannot buy gas or groceries or get your hair done in He Dog.  From two miles away—in any direction—you cannot see He Dog because it sits so low in its little bowl.  About 20 teachers and administrators live there full-time.

He Dog School is named after Chief He Dog who was a war chief for the Oglala Sioux.  He Dog was a lieutenant for Chief Crazy Horse and he fought against Custer in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.  He died in the early 1900’s.

I lived my first year of life in He Dog and then visited there for two hours about 50 years later.  No one knows me there but I did list “He Dog, South Dakota” as my hometown on the program when I got my doctorate a few years ago.  I was more than a little proud of that fact.

Paula Bierman Gibson (L) at He Dog School in 1952.  She is pregnant with me.

Today on my flight home from a visit with my Dad I looked through the June issue of Sky Magazine.  The lead article, complete with a stunning French actress on the cover, was “French Allure: The Enduring Influence of Parisians on Popular Culture.”

This article in Sky Magazine overviews the lives of 13 young, beautiful, hip, brilliant, trend-setting, entrepreneurial, culture-influencing Parisians—a journalist, a barista, an actress, another actress, a designer, a first lady, a chef, a model, four rock stars, and an author. Each of these people, in his or her own way, is impacting the culture and the feel and the mystique that is Paris.  And they really are quite amazing people for their levels of giftedness and their diligence to pursue their various areas of art and expertise.

I visited Paris for four days one time and did the regular tourist stuff and frankly loved the city.  At one point I turned to my faithful little dog and said, “We’re not in He Dog any more Toto!”

The contrast between Paris and He Dog is harsh. Huge vs. Miniature.  Famous vs. Obscure.  Influential vs. “Never Mind.”  World’s Most Famous Tower vs. Invisible Swale.  World Famous Mystique vs. “Whoever Heard of This Place?”  Everything Available vs. Nothing Available.  Hip vs. Hick.

I am more “He Dogian” than Parisian.  (Yes, “He Dogian” is a brand new word that has never before been used!  You read it here first but it will never make the Webster’s Online Dictionary.)  I will not be written up in Sky Magazine.  I will never be a “pop culture influencer.” I would enjoy being hip and influential. However, it is a long way from He Dog to hip and I am incapable of the trip.  That trip would require far more education, giftedness,  cultural savvy, and entrepreneurial ability than I have.

At times in my life I have felt insignificant to the point of self-pity.  “Woe is me for I am a He Dogian!  I couldn’t write a movie script to save my mortal soul.  I couldn’t design an evening gown on a dare.  I couldn’t bake an edible Quiche to save my life.  I couldn’t act my way out of a paper bag.” (I can write clichés!)  I am not disparaging these fields of expertise—any of them can be done to the glory of God.  God is the Inventor of beauty, design, food, story, color, acting, and art. He is perfect at all of these.  Anyone who creates these is imitating God in some imperfect way.

All that said, “What is a He Dogian to do? What is an “also ran” to do?  What is a regular person without trend-setting, culture influencing ability to do?  What good is my life if I am from He Dog instead of Paris and my gift is for clichés instead of soufflés?”

Two major options are set before me:  self-pity or faithfulness.

Faithfulness is available to all of us no matter what our hometown.  The route to a successful life is very clear—simply adopt the values of God and pursue those values with faithfulness.  This isn’t easy but it is clear.

This is not flashy stuff and there are certainly times to innovate and try new things but God values faithfulness greatly.  To me this is great news.  With the help of God I am capable of faithfulness.  I cannot act, cook or write screen plays. I can be faithful in the skills and responsibilities that God has given me and my hometown has no bearing at all on this.

He Dog Day School.   South Dakota.   April 2006.

“Climbing Together”

Much of life is uphill is it not?

It is so good to have ahold of someone’s hand.