I sometimes get cramps in my legs. Especially when I was younger. When I was 19, I was a summer camp counselor at one of our synod church camps — Camp Lutherwald. The camp sits on the southern shore of a beautiful kettle lake.

I just returned from a trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park where I went camping with a friend from college. He was also the best man at my wedding. We lost touch with each other for many years, but about 7 or 8 years ago we reconnected and have stayed in loose contact. This was the first time we had spent any real time together in almost 40 years.

When you think about it, musicals are pretty ridiculous. I mean, really: when was the last time you saw an entire farming community burst into song and dance with flawless choreography?

I hurt my back a number of years ago, and since then I have been particularly attentive to lifting things safely. And I have become a big fan of a block and tackle assembly. I’ve got one set up on the upper floor of my barn to help me lift heavy items from the lower level. I also use one when I’m working with trees.

Deer in our backyard — I’m sitting on the screen porch. They can hear me — they can even see me — but because of the screen, they don’t understand what they are seeing. It isn’t until I move that they are able to figure it out.

I’m a big believer in taking notes. I write stuff down because I have a brain like a sieve. If I don’t write it down, I’ll probably forget it. I put things on my calendar on my phone, but it’s easy to lose track of stuff like that, so if it’s something REALLY important, I’ll put a more permanent note up -- maybe stuck to the wall above my desk or on the refrigerator or on the door.

Some quotes from Mark Twain: Note that venerable proverb: Children and fools always speak the truth. The deduction is plain: adults and wise persons never speak it.

While living in Taiwan, we went to visit with a special friend in a city about 4 hours away from Taipei by train. Our friend, Elizabeth, wanted to end the day with a special dinner -- took us to a restaurant famous for seafood -- but when she spoke with the staff and asked about options for children, she immediately changed her mind. We got in the car, and she said, “How would you like to go to McDonald’s?” It was the perfect choice for the end of the day. a host who understo

Today’s texts are an invitation for us to celebrate the grace of God and for us to be joyful about life and God’s presence in it with us -- but, as it turns out, this is an invitation harder to accept than we might believe.

Do you know what matters most? If we took time to go around the room, I imagine we would hear some pretty thoughtful answers -- deep, philosophical, profound. And if you’re like me, you probably try to keep the answer to that question at least in the back of your mind all of the time.

Do you know what it’s like to prepare for company to come -- or a family member you haven’t seen in a while? Our daughter, Rachel lives about an hour away in Hillsborough. She’s coming to visit later in the week and will probably stay the night — but we’re already ready for her to come.

I’d like to begin with a question -- How many of you have arrived where you want to be? Learned all you need to learn? Grown in the ways you want and are the person you wish you were? It’s a never-ending process -- a life-long challenge. We live and learn hard lessons along the way.

Some of you know that I am a beekeeper. Part of that has to do with actually caring for the bees, and another part of it has to do with deciding what to do with the honey.

Birds were singing this morning and the sun was shining as I got up today. Some of you know that I drove up to Indiana a few weeks ago and I returned home with my dad, who visited with us for a couple weeks. Dad and Patty drove back up to Indiana last week. It was a nice break from routine.

We stand at a crossroads. That phrase is often used on occasions of great change. In 1861, our nation and President Lincoln stood at a crossroads — would we continue to be a nation which tolerated enslavement or not? Would Lincoln and Congress allow states to secede or not? To say that we “stand at a crossroads,” often means we are at a moment when historic choices must be made, but the truth is that we have ALWAYS stood at a crossroads. We always will.

Jesus is the bright morning star. I have some thoughts to share -- not entirely in sermon form, but some reflections for you to ponder. It occurs to me that the nights are seldom clear -- even when there are no clouds, there is the haze of pollution or just humidity, and around here there is a lot of what astronomers call “light pollution” -- the hazy wash of light from lamps and signs and streetlights that make it difficult to see the stars.

Patty went to the grocery store yesterday and sent me a text — “Is there anything you can think of that we need?” “Nope,” I replied, “not a thing.” And, of course, when she got home, “Oh! — Gatorade!”

It was my first trip to the Holy Land -- I was with a group of fellow seminary students and our Old Testament professor. We began our trip in Amman Jordan. One day, we went to a sight identified as Mount Nebo — the place where Moses looked out and was shown the place that would be a home for the Hebrews -- the promised land.

In 1582, an Italian Jesuit priest named Matteo Ricci arrived in Macao, an island on the south shores of China. China was a famously insular country that vigorously resisted the influence of outside cultures. For centuries, outside religious influences were strictly prohibited.

I remember my grandfather’s flashlight. It was chrome and long, with a big round lens at the end. It woke me up as Grandpa shined it through the car window, and I heard him laugh, “hello there!”