A Slower Pace

I am post dating this post so it appears on the date my son and I went fishing.

To kickoff the Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to emphasize family time. We had a shindig planned with people coming over on Sunday and definite pool plans on Monday. But to kick it off with good emphasis, I woke my son up early Saturday morning so we could go fishing. We hadn’t been in a while and he had been asking. So we beat the sun up and packed up the poles and tackle, bought some live bait, and headed to a spot where a friend had some luck earlier in the month.

We arrived at Miles Park only to find the “old men chasing a little while ball club” (also known as the SPGA) had absconded with the park for the weekend. With the Senior PGA at Valhalla, Miles Park was rented for the parking and they weren’t allowing fishing. Lame and a total bust! (Another reason I don’t like golf.)

So plan B kicked in and D and I headed down the street to Long Run Park. It is a very scenic area with a large-ish pond (or small lake). A few fellow fisherman beat us there, but none had taken our favorite spot in an inlet with some downed trees. It must be a good spot though because as we pulled up we scared off a blue heron who was fishing the same spot.

Soon enough worms were on hooks and lines were in the water. The air was a bit chilly for just a t-shirt but perfect in an hour or two. The mist slowly rose from the lake and we could hear the occasional splash of a fish jumping for breakfast.

D caught the first fish — a smaller but nice bass (I think). It put up a pretty good fight and D was thrilled. I am proud of him because his dad is not a fisherman by any stretch of the imagination. I actually hate fishing and would be much more successful if they allowed firearms. It burns me that I can see my fish but can never coax them into anything more than just stealing my bait. So for my son to actually do well fishing is nice to see because he didn’t learn it from me — other than maybe how to worm a hook and how to cast. I am just one of those who pays my yearly donation to the Kentucky Fish and Game Dept (more commonly known as a fishing license to normal people).

However, as I was thinking about that quote for this post and smiling at my son’s luck and the scenery around me, my line drops down and I get a tug on my pole. Could it be that my “donation” this year might actually provide a dividend in the form of a captured fish? Sure enough, there was something on my line and it wanted to get away. Now in the past, my luck has always been to hook the spirited, energetic fish that provide quite a fight only to be removed from the water to reveal a tiny pipsqueek fish. This appeared to be another one of those times. So while I enjoyed the tugs and fight during the reel in process, I did not have my hopes up. I was genuinely surprised when I pulled out the largest fish I have ever caught — which isn’t saying much. I don’t know how long he was or how much he weighed but the catfish was quite a beauty. I did get a picture of it though thanks to the wonders of today’s technology and my cell phone camera.

Even a bad fisherman gets lucky every once in a while.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Someone’s reading my blog and has a sense of humor.

However, do NOT mistake one false prophet man’s mis-interpretation of Jesus’ return as if it is not going to happen. Technically, Harold Camping is right — he just is very wrong in his timing. Which is the sign of a false prophet.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I have heard some recent hubub about a certain sect of folks who think that the rapture / judgment day / end of the world are coming tomorrow. Interesting…..but not very Scripturally based.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” – Matthew 24:36-37

So these folks know that tomorrow is the day, but Scripturally Jesus himself said that He did not know. Again, interesting.

For my perspective on end times prophesy, take a look at this previous post.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I am still working in Oregon and going through the hundreds of work emails before I get on a plane tomorrow morning to go home. I am using this down time in the efforts to get my email inbox down to a managable size before next week.

While going through all my email, I came across on of the more enjoyable emails that hit my inbox from Max Lucado. It was about priorities, family and overtime. A quote that ended the inspirational email really hit me — so much that I stopped my work and decided to blog about it right here, right now.

“When it comes to kids and family, it is a lot easier to make money than to make up lost time.”

So true!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

It’s a good thing that this blog is not my job — because right now I suck at it and I would be fired. Is it possible to be fired from your own blog?

I am traveling this week for business to Oregon. It has been off and on drizzly and cloudy with occasional pokes of sunshine — kind of like Seattle south. But this morning is absolutely gorgeous with a bright morning sun and spotty clouds against a blue sky. Yesterday morning on my walk/run I was blessed with the opportunity to serve. This morning I received a different gift from God in the form of nature and seeing a beaver, heron and various water fowl. They were two very different gifts but gifts none-the-less for my morning.

Make sure that you are used by God today. He places so many opportunities — big and small — in front of us every day. It is up to us to identify them and act on them in the hopes that some day we will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant”.

Off to breakfast, work and an all day training.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I have been out of the blog habit for a few weeks now. No real reason aside from the many conflicting priorities of life. For example, right now I am on business travel sitting at an outdoor cafe in old town Basel, Switzerland enjoying a freshly poured cola by a nice waitress while listening to street musican Tribela classically exhibit his cello skills. I have been in Switzerland all week and it has been a challenging combination of jet lag, a mild illness, and long corporate meetings. But that is not necessarily an excuse for not blogging — it just hasn’t happened.

And that’s not to say that there hasn’t been anything worth blogging. There were stories in my meeting Gary, a morning with Joe, an Abraham lesson, and a side of the road hat trick. We’ll see if I retrospectively go back and blog each of those experiences, but for right now I am going to focus on the one God placed right in front of me today. It became the highlight of my week. And it was my encounter with two of God’s servants on earth – Elisabeth and Ruth.

My meetings for the entire week were finally completed. I was not lucky enough to be invited to the 1pm-4pm final meeting (which I say tongue in cheek), so I decided to abandon my hotel room and fast internet connection for the slower pace of Swiss life — slower connectivity-wise as well as pace-wise. I relocated to the scene described above – Restaurant Schlusselzunft on Freie Strasse — a Troy Aikman football throw away from the Marketplatz in old town Basel. My intent was to actually get some computer work done on my laptop but for once blogging has actually become a higher priority than what I was planning (I guess blogging ranks higher than work).

Across from me is Tribela who I had met earlier in the week playing cello at this same location. He was so good that I bought his classical music cello CD for future enjoyment. And now I am enjoying his live concert while I imbibe in a cold-ish drink which cost way too much in Swiss francs…..and even more in U.S. dollars. However, I substantially tipped the waitress so she wouldn’t kick me out of the outdoor cafe while enjoying this very European atmosphere.

But I am digressing from my story. I made my way down the main street from my hotel to catch the local tram. Basel has a very nice, clean and efficient streetcar/train system that allows you quick access to most parts of the city. I sat down to wait for the #6 line which was due to arrive in 4 minutes. And knowing the punctual Swiss, it would only take 4 minutes. The day was perfect — sunny, warm around 21C (70F for you stateside), and early afternoon with boundless possibilities. Soon enough an older lady approached me and said something in German while handing me a brochure I could not read. When I said that I did not understand German, she reached into her bag, gave me another brochure and switched to English. Knowing now that I could not fein inability to communicate (since she switched to English), I prepared a defense for whatever she was peddling. However, when she mentioned Jesus and I caught a glance at my now-English brochure, I realized she was a fellow believer obediently spreading the Gospel. We engaged in a delightful conversation and I was impressed with her fortitude and willingness to put herself out there. She had literature material in 70 languages and while she could not communicate in all those languages, she had the necessary road signs to direct people in the right direction — to Jesus. She said she carries those materials with her so she can give them away while on the train. But when she goes out in public to specifically do what she was currently doing, she always goes with a fellow believer because of the command Jesus gave to go out two by two. In fact, her fellow sister in Christ was on a bench behind us praying and managing the literature.

Somehow we got onto the topic of small cards and I showed her my “business card” that I use to connect people with Jesus. It seems Elisabeth uses the same company I use to get the cards made inexpensively. She had some cards made specifically for Muslims. It is in Arabic and points them to a website created by a guy who used to be a Muslim but converted to Christianity and is using his conversion as a tool for others. The websites are www.hayatfudla.org and www.enjeely.com. I have not yet been to them but if they are at all like what Elisabeth is doing in spreading the Gospel, they are God’s tool.

NOTE — Tribela has just packed up and unfortunately my beautiful cafe atmosphere just went down a notch.

Elisabeth took me over to her friend for an introduction. Her name is Ruth and together they are Christ’s disciples in Basel spreading His Gospel message of salvation. I was, again, impressed with their obedience, humility, and service.

NOTE — no sooner has Tribela vacated than an accordian toting man shows up 50 meters up the street peddling his fare of tunage.

Before I departed, I asked Elisabeth and Ruth to pose for a picture. We also prayed together and I left them with some resources that I hope will continue their printing and distribution mission here in Basel. With our goodbyes, I let them know that, coindicentally, it was National Day of Prayer in the U.S. My meeting with them was also the highlight of my week and I will continue to keep both of them in my prayers. What a great example they are for all of us. And I love writing about all the other servants of Christ who are out in our midst.

What a wonderful surprise it was to bump into Elisabeth and Ruth and even more, wonderful, what surprises God has for us during our days if we are open to them.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Your God loves you and wants to hear from you today.

www.nationaldayofprayer.org

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net