Day 5 - Part 2

Happy Veterans Day to all of you who served our country.

Day 5, Part 2

After the American WW2 Cemetery, we went to the town of Sienna.  Oh my what a lovely town.  The church, the main square and the clock tower were amazing.

Medieval city wall of Sienna.  No one was coming in!!

Carved heads of important civic leaders adorned this building 
from the 1500s.

Fantastic medieval streets and architecture.

The Sienna cathedral took 100s of years to build.

sculptures on the church were amazing.

Clock tower was built in 1250!!!

In America, if something is 200 years old, we think it is old.  It is quite a perspective change to visit these places and realize that 1,000 years ago, other humans were looking at these buildings.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Day 5 Part 1

Italy Day 5, Part 1... the American Cemetery from WW2 near Florence

During WW2 the American Armies worked their way up the Italian peninsula from the south.  There are three cemeteries in Italy for American soldiers from WW2.  As the troops made their way north, an additional cemetery was needed, and then finally a third.

We stopped this morning at the 2nd US cemetery in Italy.  It is near Florence and holds about 4300 graves from the fighting in 1944 and 1945.  One row of young men after another.

This is the map of the campaign and its progress.

Those who died made it possible for those who live
on the hill above to live in freedom.

1800 of the graves are unknown.
So sad.  So many tears.

41 People on our bus.  There was not a dry eye among them.  In a year, we will not remember the name of what city we visited or what we liked better Siena or Florence. But to our dying day, we will remember the visit to this cemetery.

So much is owed by so many to those brave young men.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Italy Day 4 - Florence

We spent all day in Florence.  It was fantastic!!!

Street vendors dressed like a monk or ???

The resting place of Galileo

The doors were huge and amazing.
look at them compared to the size of the
man sitting at the table.

The Baptistry at the Florence Cathedral

The Florence Cathedral

More of the Florence Cathedral

some of the panels of the door to the 
Baptistry of the Florence Cathedral.
Zoom in to see the detail.

The paintings were huge and amazing.
It was such an important thing in the medeval
times to preserve on canvas the pictures of
what we believed.

Michelangelo's The David

Many sculptures by Michelangelo were left 
unfinished after his death.

Another view of the David.
Which he sculpted from age 25-28.

The domes of the Florence Cathedral.

So many statues.

So much architecture!!!

Church from the 1200's

The beautiful things of history leave me speechless.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the Good.

Italy Day 3

Today we visited the towns of Pisa and Lucca...  Again, a fantastic day!!!

First, let's talk about the leaning tower.  The Leaning tower of Pisa is actually a church bell tower.  That doesn't get advertised much does it?  In 2000 a project was undertaken to stop the lean as it was continuing its movement.  The tower was straightened from 5.5 degrees to a 4 degree list.

The tower actually leans more at the bottom

And is straighter at the top.  That is because as they built it, 
they built the leaning side taller so that as it rose, it would
become a bit more level with each floor.

City wall in Lucca ca. 1500

Inside one of the church in Lucca.  Ca. 1100.

Church in Lucca Ca. 550

Walls of Pisa Ca. 1500

Church in Pisa that has the famous leaning bell tower.

Narrow streets of Lucca so typical of medieval and
renaissance European construction.

We had a lovely day!   Tomorrow we go to Florence to see the famous statue of David.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Italy - Day one and Day 2

Many of you know that I am on a trip with 41 friends in Italy.

Day one was travel day... drive to the airport, fly to Chicago, long layover, then fly to Milan.  And then a 4 hour bus ride to the hotel in Venice.

Day 2 = Venice.... words cannot express the beauty of it all.

Lots and lots of statues

amazing historical craftsmanship

The armaments museum was so very cool.

Leaning tower of the Greek Orthodox Church

St. Mark's bell tower

Next trip, I hope that you can join us!!!

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Great thoughts from Dr. Stacy

Dr. Stacy is a friend from church... a Doctor of Education.  I found this information from her quite thought provoking...

A good teacher must be able to put himself in the place of those who find learning hard. -Eliphas Levi

“Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will.” -Vernon Howard

In other words, get over yourself... realize that you have something to learn.  I don't know everything.  Approach life with a teachable posture... and you will learn and grow.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Christianity and Politics

I have tried to keep pretty quiet about politics.  This is because there are both kinds of folks in the churches and they all deserve to be loved.  They all deserve to feel welcome whether I or others agree with them or not.

But I have a question... What comes first... what feeds your brain first, your Christianity or your politics?

In my opinion, our politics should be shaped by our faith, not the other way around.  When we compromise key elements of our faith because of our politics, I think we are sliding down a slippery slope.

Love comes first.  What comes first for you?  The words of a politician or the words of Jesus?

Something to think about.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Halloween Food Pantry

A friend's Facebook post popped up on my computer.  I read their post.  

For Halloween, they have candy for the kids... come on by.  They have also collected some groceries for those who are in need.  You could message her if you wanted to come by to hit their Halloween food pantry.

I loved this idea.  I loved it that someone out there is looking for and finding creative ways to help the needy.

The world needs less selfishness and more compassion.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

sermon notes and an expensive card

Here is the link to yesterday's sermon if you want to watch or listen.  I am leaving for Italy on Tuesday so I will not be preaching again until Nov 23rd.

click here for the sermon

Now on to today's blog post...

I had a long list of things to do last Wednesday, one of them was buying an anniversary card. Then I broke a tooth and had to fit in a dentist visit. Funny about the dentist you know no one wants to go to the dentist until you need to go to the dentist and then you’re just praying that they can fit you in... soon.

So I’m a little early to go to the dentist. I stopped at the grocery store next-door, I'm gonna pick up some celery sticks and an anniversary card.   I should not have been surprised when I got to the checkout and the anniversary card was $6.99. Usually I buy my cards at the Dollar Tree for $.50 or a dollar. I felt bad for wasting that much money. But I’m on a time crunch.

Which took my brain to the two thoughts about money that I’ve always told my children.

1. It doesn’t matter how much you make, if you spend it all, you’re going to be broke.

2. The other thing that I tell them [and anyone that will listen] is people have money for two reasons - number one they make a lot - number two they don’t spend very much.

I need to stay away from $6.99 anniversary cards.

It’s a beautiful day in God‘s world. Be sure to see the good.

"I love you and I am proud of you"

I do not remember my mother ever telling me that she loved me.  Maybe she did, but if she did, I do not remember.

I do remember the first time that my Dad told me that he loved me.  It was Easter Sunday 1996.  I was 38 years old.  Mom had been dead for a year, so Dad was finally able in his adult life to be the person that he wanted to be. [how sad is that.]

Anyway, he came out to church that Easter Sunday and came to the house for lunch after church.  He was sitting on the deck and I walked by to get something out of the kitchen.  As I walked by he said, "Son, I love you and I am proud of you."  I was pleasantly surprised.  I still think of it as a very happy moment.

Because of the lack of hearing that I was loved, I made sure that my kids heard it, and that they still do.  No one should grow up wondering if they are loved or not.

If you are not saying "I love you" to the people that you love, then it is time to start.  3 small words that mean a great deal.

I love you!!!

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

All Saints Day

Today, November 1st is All Saints Day.  It is traditionally a day when Christians remember those loved ones who have gone before us. On the night before, All hallows eve [Halloween] [yesterday] worshippers would have a party and remember the dead.  On November 1st, there were special church services.


Today is a day to remember those we love who have gone on before.

Today, among many other things, I will think of my Parents.  They were not perfect.  They were children of the depression.  They had a hard life.  They wasted nothing.  They did not tolerate anything that smelled like disrespect.  Boundaries were kept very firm between a parent and a child.  Questions were frowned upon.

But, they loved us, they cared for us, they fed us and they protected us, as they knew how.  They got us through college and they survived our craziness. [we were children of the 60's and 70's]

They gave me a chance at life.  I know that they loved us and if they had the chance today, they would tell us that they are proud of us.  

I hope that you have parents or mentors that helped launch you.  Although not perfect, where would we be today without them?

While I grieve the loss of family and friends, I savor their lives and I am thankful for them.

It's a beautiful day in God's world be sure to see the good.