Walking with my new camera...

I enjoy walking around Nashotah House, a theological seminary of the Episcopal Church. It is just about half a mile from Cedarly. The seminary dates back to 1842 and I understand it was an outreach to the Native Americans in this area at one time as well.

This farm is on their property, too

These are shots of Cedarly... the one above is the Carriage House, dating back to the 1880's and the one below is the home at Cedarly which was built in 1910, taken from the lake side. Winter is a fabulous time to be at Cedarly for a week of retreat with the Lord.

Titles and Authors

Today I drove down to Miller Park to purchase baseball tickets for a Hagen Family Reunion this summer. On the way I listened to a Wisconsin Public Radio talk show. The guest said that statistics show young adults under 35, on average, read one book a year. That's pretty sad ~ and would indicate that most don't read any. Our two daughters and sons in law read a lot, so they would make up for the one book dozens of others are not reading. Me, I read at least a book a week...I enjoy it, generally have the time, and don't always sleep well. You will see in this post, I am not a very creative critic. But, I will offer you a variety of books I have enjoyed so far this year.

One of my goals in 2008 is to read more biographies or at least stories about real people and their experiences, challenges, and how they overcame hardship. I sort of wondered how I would find good ones. Our library here in Delafield is very small and crowded so I generally put books on hold over the Internet so I can just stop by and pick them up. I have been pleasantly surprised at how interesting biographies have come my way ~ recommendations from guests, references to them in blogs, and even a in a Christmas letter. Then, of course, there are my 11 Heart Friends around the country ~ they always have great suggestions. The more I read them, the more I seem to find...one boook leads to another.

QUIET STRENGTH (Tony Dungy)
THE MAN BEHIND NARNIA (C.S. Lewis)
DON'T BET AGAINST ME (Deanna Favre)
THREE CUPS OF TEA (Greg Mortensen)
LEAVING MICROSOFT TO CHANGE THE WORLD (John Woods)

These are the ones I have read so far ~ each one unique and quite different. Each individual facing a wide variety of hard things in their lives and each one with a different sphere of influence. I'm just about to start a 500+ page book called ABUNDANCE ~ a novel of Marie Antoinette. Care to join me?

I can't seem to stay away from novels tho, and have been introduced to three new authors in the new year. Angela Hunt helped Deanna Favre write her story and I decided to read one of Angela's novels. I'm hooked. So far I've read THE NOTE, THE NOVELEST, THE ELEVATOR, and UNCHARTERED. Hunt is very creative ~ there is nothing predicitable, there is no pattern, each one is completely different. I like her ~ can you tell?

Then I read HIDDEN IN TIME and A RIFT IN TIME by Michael Philllips. Wow, they were great. What's the impact on the world in finding Noah's Ark or the Garden of Eden? You, too, can find out. Philllips also wrote a series of books about two young girls, one white and one black, who survive the Civil War all alone ~ with a plantation to run, bills to pay, and maurauders to worry about.

And finally I got around to reading THE KITE RUNNER and A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini. Oh, my...what a learning experience! Sections were hard to read ~ my life is so protected and so comfortable.

Andy's 40th MBI Reunion

God bless the school that D. L. Moody founded;
Firm may she stand, tho' by foes of truth surrounded!
Riches of grace bestowed may she never squander,
keeping true to God and man her record over yonder.

Glory over yonder, over yonder,
when Jesus comes in glory we shall part no more.
Glory over yonder, over yonder,k
when Jesus comes in glory we shall part no more.

There it is ~ the closest thing we had to a fight song, and sure enough, we sang it multiple times in early February when we went down to Moody for

Founder's Week 2008 AND Andy's 40th Reunion.

We are glad we went...it was fun to see what is happening on the campus at Moody ~ so very different from the way it looked in the late 60's. Students look so young and I'm sure we look so old. Of course, it is always the coldest week of the winter, complete with wind howling and snow falling. There was a very nice gathering and dinner Monday night in the Commons. About 25 were there and it was great to reconnect and remember days together long ago. Tuesday noon is the larger gathering of classes from all times, and then in the afternoon we had a few hours to meet and catch up on each one by going around the circle with each one giving a short (or not so short) summary of 40 years.

The small gathering Andy's class has caused some of us in the Class of '69

to start contacting classmates in order to create interest and energy for

a great gathering next year for our reunion, February 2-3, 2009.

http://mbi1969reunion.wordpress.com

Body Worlds

What is man that you are mindful of him,

the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

Psalm 8:4-5

A few weeks ago I went to the Body Worlds exhibition at the Milwaukee Public Museum and found it absolutely amazing. These verses from Psalm 8 were displayed on a large banner in the first exhibit room. I'm not sure I can put into words all that I saw and felt during the 3 hours I was there, but God was on my mind most of the time. Seeing the various parts and systems of the body displayed artfully, purposefully, creatively, and tastefully kept drawing me back to the Creator Himself.

Andy spent the day attending the NO REGRETS men's conference at Elmbrook that day and was surprised at my enthusiasm when I described it to him. I would highly recommend attending if the display comes to your corner of the world.

BABY J

Christmas Eve our family was together around the table for dinner at Sarah and Joel's home in Colorado. Joel's mom, Rhonda was with us as well. Sarah and Joel's tradition is Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas Eve and it tasted pretty good. At some point in the meal Sarah handed each of the adults a wrapped gift ~ a CD cover with a stamped letter printed in the case. When we put all the letters together they spelled BABY J! What a surprise ~ what a wonderful Christmas gift. Sarah and Joel are expecting a little one in August ~ August 21st to be specific.
We are thrilled for them and excited for ourselves ~ our third grandchild is on the way. For the countdown, a picture and more info check out Sarah's blog.

Happy New Year

SNOW was the order of the day while we were in Colorado over the holidays...and Faith & Avery ate it up!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!
It is mid-December, but we've already had four snowfalls, so it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The Christmas cards are in the mail, the decorations are up, and gifts are under the tree. Wish you could stop by for a cup of tea in front of the fireplace.

We're looking forward to some time over the holidays at home and some time in Colorado with our kids and granddaughters, to celebrate Jesus' birthday and enjoy winter sports in the mountains.

A few years ago Andy started a journey ~ taking one of the fruits of the Spirit each year ~ asking God to teach him and grow him in that area of his life. During the year of JOY he discovered a little book by Ben Patterson called HE HAS MADE ME GLAD, Enjoying God's Goodness with Reckless Abandon.

Joy is what we experience when we are grateful for the grace given us. The sequence is - grace, gratitude, joy. Grace - the unearned, unmerited favor of God. Frederick Buechner calls grace the "crucial eccentricity" of the Christian faith - God doesn't give sinners the bad things they deserve but the incredibly good things they don't deserve. Patterson goes on to write, "Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder lightning. And as gratitude follows grace, so joy follows gratitude, for joy is what we feel when we're hugely grateful." And, that's what we are - hugely grateful! Spend a little time reading and reflecting on Psalm 95: 1-7 to get an additional perspective on why and how grace, gratitude and joy flow together.

And so, while our deep desire is to live joyfully, gratefully, grace-fully all year, it seems particularly clear and focused at this Christmas season. We hope and pray that you too are fully alive ~ immersed in God's grace, grateful, and joyful. As you can read from our other posts to this blog, we really do enjoy God's goodness! We invite you to revisit this site for on-going news and pictures about our family. Merry Christmas!

Be faithful,

Andy and Nancy