Fried Pop Tarts + Journey to the Sun + My Kind of Exercise

If you notice any typos, please forgive me. Following cataract surgery on my left eye, close work is still a challenge. In order to type or read I have to tilt my head as far back as I can I squint through my right eye glass. I can say, however, that colors do appear sharper in my left eye. And it's easier to drive w/o using my glasses any more than necessary. My right eye's turn is on 9/18.

I'm not saying that we take our Nebraska FB too seriously, but our governor announced that this SAT 9/1, the date of our home opener, has been declared Scott Frost Day. [No, I am not making this up.]

State Fair Odyssey

I worked a 6-hour shift at the LLL/Lutheran Hour Ministries booth yesterday (8/30). That was too many consecutive hours, especially since foot traffic was pretty slow. If I do this again in the future, I will only volunteer for a 3-hour shift.
          Food is a necessary part of the State Fair experience. What I had:  a gyros, which was mediocre, & ice cream from the UNL Dairy Store [peach + black walnut chocolate fudge] which was delicious. I also bought some kettle corn to take with us to Nathan's this weekend. [I may have sampled it once or twice.]
          Although Iowanians can rightly claim that the exotic food items at their State Fair are the cream of the crop--or butter of the crop, if you include the butter sculpture of an Iowanian cow--here are two exotic food items from the NSF that I did NOT sample.

From Omaha World Herald (8/31):  "Jalapeno Floer Pot Bread & Fried S'mores Pop-Tart.

Whimsical Feature on Free-for-All Friday

OWH (8/13):  "NASA probe aims to 'touch the sun.' NOT POSSIBLE, YOU SAY? I SAY IT'S POSSIBLE IF THEY GO AT NIGHT.

OWH (8/28):  "Omaha's first 'cat cafe' is scheduled to open Sept. 18." iNQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW:  ARE WE TURNING INTO CALIFORNIA?

OWH (8/22):  "PETA pressures beasts to roam free on boxes.Nacisco's animal crackers break out of their cages." I WILL THINK OF PETA WHENEVER I CHEW UP A FREE-ROAM ANIMAL CRACKER IN THE FUTURE.

There Is No Place Like . . . 

. . . California. (OWH 8/27):  "California man had 800 lbs of stolen lemons."

. . . New Zealand (DITTO):  "New Zealand official bikes to hospital to give birth."

Dept. of Shameless Joke-Stealing

From Reader's Digest (May 2018):  'An exercise for people who are out of shape. Began with a 5-lb potato bag in each hand. Extend your arms straight out from your sides, hold them there for a full minute, & then relax.
          "After a few weeks, move up to a 10-lb potato bag. Then try 50-lb potato bags. & eventually get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag & hold your arms straight out for more than a minute.
          "Once you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag."

Whimsical Wednesday

Temp Challenge Returns + Eye Progress + Pastors as Fathers

Leckband Temp Challenge

It's still August, for crying out loud! Here are today's results, thanks to Weather Underground, 6:35a, CDT. (6) Balmiest Leckbands, Eagan, MN, 65; (5) Garrison, IA, 61; (3 TIE) Lincoln, NE, Beatrice, NE, 54; (2) Ventura, IA, 52; (1) Norfolk, NE, 49.

Cataract Update

My left eye continues to improve. Reading is still a challenge, but I am beginning to see better w/o my glasses. Yesterday I had a follow-up check-up, & got a good report. My right eye gets done on 9/18.

PASTORS ARE FATHERS

“God also fathers us through the pastors that He gives to us. In the Divine Service every pastor represents Christ to us, & through Him, God the Father. Pastors thus speak the Word of the Father & do the Father’s work. Those who listen to a pastor as their teacher hear the voice of God the Son (Luke 10:16) speaking on behalf of the Father. Those who receive a pastor as God’s spokesman receive both the Son & His divine Father (Matt. 10:40; John 13:20). Those who reject the Word of God spoken by the pastor as God’s spokesman reject both the Son & His heavenly Father (Luke 10:16).

            “A pastor therefore does not just speak Christ’s Word to his people, but, like the Son, he also represents the Father to them. As the pastor exercises his ministry, he speaks the Father’s pardon, welcome, acceptance, approval, love, & blessing to His faithful children. And all this is done in both a physical & a spiritual way. He does these things with his human body as he is commissioned by Christ & empowered by the Holy Spirit. Thus God the Father fathers us spiritually through the men that sevre with Christ in the ministry of the gospel.”  From “Spiritual Fathers,” by John Kleinig, Lutheran Witness, June/July 2018.

Getting Personal

Tomorrow I head to the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island, where I am volunteering at the Lutheran Hour Ministries booth. On FRI Lois & I take off for Eagan, MN. We'll spend Labor Day weekend with Nathan, Laura, & Calvin. Next week I head to Concordia, MO, for the 45th anniversary of the SPC Class of 1973.

Mental Health Monday

EYES + ROAD TRIPS + REAL MEN

           Tomorrow it will be a week since I had the cataract procedure on my left eye. [My right eye gets done on 9/18, I think.] My vision is still somewhat blurry, which makes reading & other close work a chore, but I think I'm making slow but steady progress. Driving doesn't seem to be an issue, although I'm not sure I should be driving at night yet.
          Yesterday we went to Beef Blast. I feel a little more sure of myself each year since I left LHNE. Crowds tend to make me anxious, but I was better at not feeling too self-conscious.
          My eyesight made church a little bit of a challenge yesterday, since I had trouble reading from the worship folder & hymnal. Church is still a highpoint of the week for me. It's as close as a mountain-top experience as is possible in my weekly routine.
          This THU I go to Grand Island where I will be volunteering at the Lutheran Hour Ministries booth. I did this two years ago & enjoyed it. My shift is 6-hours long, which in hindsight is probably a little too long, but I'll also have time to do some wandering through the Fair. If only I can keep from submitting to the temptation of deep-fried foods!
          On FRI we'll go to Eagan, MN, to spend Labor Day weekend w/Nathan, Laura, & Calvin. We'll be back in Norfolk, & I'll leave for Concordia already that THU for the 45th reunion of the St. Paul's College Class of '73. I think it's the first reunion our college class has ever had, & I'm looking forward to renewing some acquaintances. Unfortunately, Lois can't go along because of her school responsibilities. She will already have to "spend" some personal days when we fly to our niece Katie's wedding in OCT & again when we go to Washington, DC, in DEC for our late brother-in-law's memorial service at Arlington.

Thought for Today

REAL MEN ARE NEEDED

“Right now, the world needs men. Real men. Manly men. Strong men. Courageous men. Christ-like men. Masculine men. Men who will give of themselves for the good of their wives, their children, their communities, their congregations, their countries. The Church needs men, too. She needs men to be the spiritual leaders of their families—husbands who will love & forgive their wives as Christ loves & forgives His Church; fathers who will catechize their children in the faith & set the example for them in the pew of what man forgiven by Jesus Christ is & does. The Church needs older men who will mentor younger men. She needs martyrs who will boldly confess Christ in the face of persecution. Above all, the Church needs men who will work to solve the problem of toxic masculinity by embracing God’s call to embody the higher, holier, selfless masculinity they found in Jesus.”  From “The Toxic & the True,” by Jeffrey Hemmer, Lutheran Witness, June/July 2018.

Eyes + Thought for Today

All in favor say "Eye!"

My cataract surgery last TUE 8/21 went off w/o a hitch. In fact, I spent more time in the waiting room for my follow-up than I did for the procedure, which was accomplished in about 45 minutes. Now I'm trying to wait patiently for the blurriness in my left eye to clear up, so my right eye still has a cataract. This is making reading a challenge; also writing in my blog. I'll have my right eye done next month.

Thought for Today

EMPTY

“So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.” Matt. 27:66

“A lot of life is lived waiting for what God is still up to. God is not done with us or with our world. Every moment of fulfillment directs us on to what God will yet do. Every moment of emptiness is a time of holding our breath awaiting God.”  At the Crossroads: Devotions for Lent, by David Kehret, Creative Communications for the Parish, 2016.