My Great Adventure!

So I went on another fly-fishing, overnight trip again this weekend. It was an opportunity to try out some new gear and get out into the wild:) It was a great 23 hours. Here are the trip highs and lows, combined with some outdoor gear comments:
Highs:

• Beautiful weather
• New rubberized trout net worked really well; flies and hooks didn't get caught in the net!
• Coleman Peak 1 Single-Burner micro stove worked very well. Heated up food and water in a hurry and was super compact and packable!
• Had some good snow this morning while I was fishing. Made for a beautiful view and was a pretty awesome moment. Nobody was around this morning while I fished; just me, the river, the snow and palisades.
• I stayed on the camping spot on the island near the beginning of the Dix River. It was difficult to find a place for my tent, but there was fire wood galore! I practically had a bonfire going for four hours and a fire in the morning for breakfast. Nothing like free firewood that requires no cutting!
• Caught quite a few fish! I caught my limit both days; nothing huge but most were decent.
  

Lows:

• There was a beastly wind at my face on my way home this morning. I'm pretty sore from rowing my rear off because of the wind.
• My new 0 degree, feather lite, Ledge sleeping bag was kind of a bust. It was very tight, and I could probably use an extra-long bag. However, the worse part was when the zipper broke in the middle of the night. I got up to take the rain fly off the tarp (it was windy, but no clouds). When I got back in the zipper snagged as I was zipping it up so that it didn't zip as it went up. While I was pulling it the zipper piece broke off. I finally got the seems to match up and managed to zip it up using the inside zipper piece. I was a little bit cold when I woke up at 3am. It's supposed to be a 0 degree bag, but at 23 degrees I'd be afraid to take it any lower.
• I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked: wind on the rain-fly, took the rain-fly off, zipper broke, woke up a little cold, etc.
  
• Had to leave for work. I really wanted to stay a couple more days! It was a great trip, despite the zipper issue!

Did I mention it was a solo trip? It was fun, but solo trips always make me a twinge nervous. Nothing like hanging out in the woods of Kentucky by yourself to live on the edge. I might go to the Smoky Mountains with some friends in a few weeks. That will be another adventure to share later:)

Christmas for Christians??

As I get older there are some elements of Christmas that are well focused and some that are increasingly bothersome (and I don't throw out the word bothersome everyday). Gift giving does promote an unselfish and giving aspect that I think is important. It would seem to correlate with the wise men and their gifts, even though they gave gifts to Jesus and didn't receive a tangible gift back. I think I struggle with the Americanization of Christmas, especially as it leads to consumerism. It does create a flux in the buyers market unlike any other time of the year. So much so that many business' count on the flux in order to survive. Kim just text'd me to share her current disdain for the season for the first time ever. Why? Because she has been on a big, brown truck that delivers gifts to many since after Thanksgiving week. It has put a lot more money in our pockets, but she is exhausted and ready to hibernate. I think somehow, for Christians, Christmas needs to change. It should somehow celebrate the birth of the Messiah and reflect the values and goals the Christ child has for us all. So, any ideas as to what that might look like for a Christian community? Christmas Eve service is great, but its more like the anasthetic for a post-Christian society. Just about everyone goes and walks out feeling like they did their duty for the year. I think we need something that creates community interaction and demonstrates thankfulness and worship. Maybe someone is already doing something like this?? What is it:)??

Incredible Testimonies about addiction and faith

Check out this website! - http://www.iamsecond.com/. It has testimonies from different famous folks about their relationships with Jesus Christ. They talk about everything from sex and drug addiction to greed. All of it contains a message of how God worked with them and through them as a result of it. They even have people ready to talk with folks who desire help and a relationship with Christ via phone, text and I.M.! Check it out and send it to friends.

Jim's Christmas List:)

Here is what I want for Christmas. This is really just for Kim, but everyone else feel free to contribute anyway you'd like:)

Jim’s Christmas List

Fishing Kayak (used or new)

Car Top Rack for a Malibu Max 2005 (used or new)

Frisbee Disk (Driver or Midrange)

0 or 10 degree mummy style sleeping bag

Baseball Cap

Cool stocking cap

Ultra light camping stove

Bait casting reel

Waterproof Outdoor Medkit

2 Way Radios

Coffee Press (larger than single serving)

Backpacking Water Purifier

Gospel Commentary

Wedding Band (lost during ’07 ice storm)

Under $10

Fly Line tippet (7x, 6x, 3x)

Trout flies (midges, scuds, dries)

Gift Cards

Amazon.com

Cabelas

Bass Pro

Dick’s Sporting Goods

Last mega-church blog not real! Bummer!

Just a side note to my most recent blog post. As I began reading the comments made directly to the blog article, I noticed people kept making comments about satire. I just realized at the bottom of the article there was a note stating that the article was satire and intended to bring about discussion on possibilities. So, not a true example:( I'm kind of bummed. Sorry that I initially pumped it as a real example, I didn't know.

A mega-church that sells its building to become missional!

I already posted this on facebook but I'm going to post it here as well. I read a blog today that is very much inline with Barna's predictions in Revolution. A mega church pastor noticed that a majority of the church's members were apathetic to mission and discipleship. So, he sells the church and closes the door on Sunday morning worship productions. They create home communities instead, which means many leave but many stay! Read the blog- it's very thought provoking and inspiring!

http://www.emergentvillage.com/weblog/pastor-abandons-his-church

Tithing again

Tithing is something that I learned very early in my life and have practiced pretty regularly (until recently anyways). I actually learned it in college while going through a membership class in a Presbyterian church. They spent quite a bit of time talking about it and its importance- but I guess I forgot. When we moved to Kentucky I decided that we couldn't afford to tithe. After all, we are taking out government loans just to survive. This made quite a bit of sense. There were some months where I wasn't even sure if we could pay the bills! But low and behold, all the bills have been paid and continue to be paid. We have received blessing through scholarships, extra jobs, gifts from friends and family and yes, loans (mostly no interest to low interest). And the more the provision comes, the more conviction (guilt really) I feel. So, we have decided to begin tithing again based on the income of our jobs (not our loans). Ultimately, I have learned two things:

1) If the church (and other organizations, but primarily the church) is about promoting the gospel, doing good, helping, providing and supporting- why would I not want that organization to have my finances, especially in a time of recession more than any other. I also benefit from this community and have given very little to it. Even though it will be very little, I need to financially support the structure because the structure supports the community (others, Nicholasville, our family, etc.)
2) It's about faith. As far as I can tell, the budget still does not balance out. It doesn't appear that the funds coming in will match the funds going out, especially now that we are tithing, but somehow it always does.

We do continue to cut back in many ways as a family, but this has been for our good. It has helped us realize that we need far less than what we want. Most recently I have learned this about food. For some reason we have, as Americans, this intense fear of not having a large quantity of high quality, eclectic food. Its crazy how much we can spend on food and we often justify because it has a dual purpose: entertainment. But that's going to have to be another blog:)