05.27.08
Posted in Today at 2:47 pm by artistry
Crazy weather … what month is it anyway? Sunday’s tornadoes struck west and northeast of us. All we got were winds and lots of rain. And yesterday was chill and dank … a good word for weather that seems to penetrate your bones with cold. But today … I give up! It was 40° F when I woke up. I like it cool when I am sleeping, but that is a little much. At 11:00 AM it was still only 48° and the temp in the house had dropped to 60°.
That was the point where I gave in and turned the heat back on.
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05.26.08
Posted in Today at 10:58 am by artistry
Dr. Mohler has an interesting post on the effects of our shrinking cities. When Deaths Outnumber Births: The Parable of Pittsburgh points out how declining birth rates affect cities and the services they provide. This effect was seen in southern cities in the 90s and has spread in this decade to a number of northern cities. I was not terribly surprised to discover that Duluth, MN is one of the cities being affected. Hampered by industry leaving the area as well as an aging population, it is easy to see how schools and other institutions in Duluth would be impacted. Dr. Mohler notes that this trend first affects churches in major denominations, but in recent years the impact has spread to evangelical churches.
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05.23.08
Posted in Today at 4:11 pm by artistry
So today Dad asked me if I had given any thought to my own funeral … no kidding. I hadn’t given it much thought but Dad says I should. He feels it should not be left totally to the family. Which led me to ask him what he wanted. But he got me thinking and I may have to write some instructions. Oh, joy … which one of you kids wants this one? 
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05.21.08
Posted in Today at 10:33 pm by artistry
Tim Challies is offering another great giveaway: a $200 Gift Certificate at Monergism Books. I’m excited about this one. Now if he would only offer a bookshelf, cause mine are getting full.
Click the picture to get in on the drawing:
Please use my referral code in the event it doesn’t autofill: 70737
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Posted in Today at 10:29 pm by artistry
Yesterday was Mom’s funeral. Steve officiated and did really well. His message was one that Mom would have heartily approved. Last night I was too tired and stressed out to write anything here, but I saved this message to edit tonight because I was struck by the Verse of the Day showing on my site last night:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4.7
It is a fine epitaph to a life well lived.
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05.17.08
Posted in Today at 11:13 am by artistry
Louise Belle (Castor) Erickson
April 26, 1921 to May 14, 2008
On Wednesday morning, May 14th at 10:00 AM, my mom passed from this world into her eternal rest. Dad held her hand as the end came, and he told her “When you let go of my hand, Jesus will be there to hold your hand.” Because of the example Mom set and the lessons she taught, I fully believe that is what happened.
Mom was a pioneer entrepreneur. She built a national sales force and greatly changed the lives of thousands of people. She empowered women long before it was politically correct to do so. She understood the challenges women in the workforce faced and endeavored to help overcome them. She trained her managers to be compassionate about such issues. She wrote all her own training material. One of the women who worked for Mom in the early years told me that everything she accomplished later in life was due to the things she learned from Mom. I can echo that sentiment. I have always worked in sales, marketing and sales training. I owe everything I know about those fields to Mom’s teaching.
After retirement in the early 80s, Mom and Dad became active in the Minnesota Senior Federation, an organization she served for over 20 years. The director of the MSF told me that Mom was invaluable because she could not only see the big picture, but understood all the steps necessary to bring a project to completion and was willing to do whatever job was needed to achieve the goal.
Mom’s love for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren was immeasurable and yet her love could always expand to take in others. I came into the circle of her love at age 14 when I started dating her son and my adoption was sealed when we married. Through all the years and all the heartaches that would follow, Mom’s love never wavered. When my own parents died, Mom was there to let me know I was not an orphan, but her much loved child.
I owe Mom for so much, but her greatest gift was to encourage me to grow in my faith. She knew, loved and understood the Bible. She helped me to grow in my understanding and she prayed unceasingly for me and for my family. I am confident that Jesus greeted her with the words “well done, good and faithful servant”.
Rest in peace, Mom. You have been my comfort, my best friend, my mom for most of my life and I will miss you tremendously. I look forward to seeing you again and I rejoice that you are secure in His Hands, surrounded by His glory.
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05.13.08
Posted in Politics, Today at 10:06 am by artistry
I’ve been frustrated by the political rhetoric about energy and the ongoing argument about global warming. I would suggest that climate disruption is a better title, given the weather we experienced in the last week of April. We had everything from a balmy 77° to 2 inches of snow! Certainly not what you would expect, but a weather pattern that is becoming more normal every year. And then there is the price of gas!
Hillary and John McCain want to give us a gas tax holiday and Obama says it is playing politics but doesn’t offer any short term solutions. I heard part of his speech in Oregon, where he says the solution is to mandate higher gas mileage performance and switch to alternate fuel vehicles. What he doesn’t say is how we are to pay for those new vehicles in the present economic situation. More carrots from the candidates and no answers.
In the middle of all this, I saw a documentary that poured cold water on all the rhetoric. It pointed out the ramifications of doing nothing and highlighted that the highly touted solutions such as E-85 are not the answer. It talked about how America was handicapped by the oil embargo of the early 70s and the escalating prices of the late 70s … times I remember all too well. It seems there are no sure answers.
Today, if I were still working, I would have to budget $75 per week for transportation to work. Add a little personal driving and that means my cost to run my car (gas, maintenance and insurance) would top out at $5 – 600 per month … and this with no car payment. Most of us live in areas where there is little or no mass transit. In order to get to my job location by bus, it would necessitate 2-3 hours and several transfers. Something is really wrong with this picture.
Seems like the only readily available fuel is all the hot air the politicians keep spewing.
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05.02.08
Posted in Today at 5:55 pm by artistry
So how is it going with my self imposed page limit? Really well. I still manage to get through a lot of material, but am not obsessing about it … except for keeping track of my pages, of course. 
My 2 Corinthians study is going really well … much faster that the first epistle, but I think it may be that I am more familiar with the material. I’m also reading God in the Dock, a collection of essays, magazine articles and letters by C. S. Lewis. Interesting stuff. And I just started a new book edited by John MacArthur, also a collection of work by colleagues at The Master’s College.
I read Dead Heat by Joel Rosenberg, the last of a 5-book series. Once again I vowed not to read any fiction if it was part of a series and then … woe is me … I found out that Mel Odom will soon release another book in his Apocalypse series. *sigh* I suppose I have to read it since we left our hero in dire straits in Syria. ?
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Posted in Today at 5:47 pm by artistry
It always interests me to know the sources people use for information. So I find it curious, to say the least, to see someone reading Ann Coulter’s blog along with Michael Moore’s blog … that’s a study in opposites or in neutrality … I haven’t decided which. 
I took a curious look and decided I was better off not reading either one.
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Posted in Faith, Today at 11:17 am by artistry
I don’t do confrontation well. I never have and wonder if I ever will. It is best done rationally, without anger or hurt feelings. The problem with that is that most situations that need to be confronted also include both.
If one is to live Biblically, there are only two choices. One is to confront (and forgive) and the other is to forget (and forgive)*. The challenge comes in when we don’t do either. We decide not to confront because it is uncomfortable for us or because our feelings are so raw that we can’t confront in a rational manner. But the issue is neither forgiven nor forgotten. It keeps coming back to our thoughts and draws our attention like an aching tooth.
This comes to mind because there are a couple of issues in my life presently where I must either confront or forgive. I am always amazed that my needs are met without me even seeking help and often in ways I would not expect. Such was the case with this issue as I pondered whether I could or should just let it go. In the course of my daily blog surfing, I happened upon a post about conflict resolution and a link to an article from John MacArthur that had some of the answers I was seeking.
I still don’t know how I will handle these issues, but I do know how I will make the decision. And I am reminded again that God causes all things to work together for good and I am confident that I was directed to this particular article so that I would learn an important lesson.
*Edit @ 13.35 to clarify … either option calls for forgiving someone
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Posted in Politics, Today at 10:54 am by artistry
I found some interesting comments relating to the economic stimulus payments which are due to be mailed this month. John Piper suggests that this money could be used to support ministries within the church. Tim Challies had an article that I found most interesting.
Any way you look at it, I still view it with a degree of cynicism. David Kotter is quoted in Tim Challies post as follows: “While not explicitly stated, this law also seems to be designed to give a boost to presidential and congressional approval ratings. When economic storm clouds are on the horizon in an election year, it is helpful for politicians to be able to point to something that they have done to help. Few things improve the mood of voters like receiving an check in the mail.” That says it.
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