Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All & Happy Sunday!

Little miss Tempa Joanne (“Tempa Jo”) continues to press on and is enjoying her time with her beloved family (Jake, Sarah & Izaak).  She heads to Seattle on April 12th for a consultation with the pediatric neurologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Dr. Russ Saneto, to see what can be done to help her quality of life going forward.  In the meantime, she is acting just like any other baby would for her age (now six weeks old!).  We are really loving her being with all of us and continue to pray fervently for small miracles that might lead to a big miracle.  Never give up!  Keep praying and asking God for help in our times of need (and in our times of joy, as I would imagine He likes to here from us at all times in our journey through this crazy, wonderful, heartbreaking thing called life).

Our grandson Izaak went with us to Montana this past week and we enjoyed lots of adventures with him.  I’m a bit biased, but he has to be the best little boy I’ve ever met (and I’ve met some great little boys throughout my life, for sure!).  He IS something truly special.  He has an exuberance for life that is wonderful to see.  He took his bike with him and enjoyed going “off road”…checking out numerous snow berms and hillsides and “breaking trail” in his “mountain bike.”  It was a grand time with him and we can hardly wait to take him back to The Tana House and The Big Bear House just as soon as we can.

GO ZAGS!!!  Today is their “Sweet Sixteen” game with the Creighton Blue Jays.  Here’s hoping they make it to the “Elite Eight”!  What fun is “March Madness”!  And how about those Oregon State Beavers!  They are in the “Elite Eight”!  Get outta here!  How about that?  As coach Wayne Tinkle says “we are riding the wave.”  Wayne graduated from Ferris High School and has been the coach of the Beavers for some time now.  He’s a good coach and has a great group of players right now.  Here’s hoping for a “Zags-Beavers” national championship game…it could happen!!!…In fact, anything can happen in “March Madness”!

 

Happy Birthday to our granddaughter Isabel (Izzy) Knaggs, who turns 12 years old today!  Hooray for Isabel!  Here’s to you and may you have a glorious birthday celebration today!  We love you SO much!  Also, Happy Birthday to high school friend, Nelson; and to Lewiston, Idaho friend, court clerk and Lewiston Civic Theater actress extraordinaire, Gabi!  Here’s to both of you on your special day of celebration!  And Happy Birthday wishes also go to actress Dianne Wiest, who is 75 today; to singer/songwriter & actress Reba McIntire, who turns 66 today; to Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics, Bart Conner, who is 63 today; to rapper/singer Salt of “Salt-N-Pepa” fame, who turns 55 today; to actor Vince Vaughn, who is 51 today; and to singer/songwriter Lady Gaga, who turns 35 today!  Here’s to all of you!

 

I was sad to read in today’s local newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, that Al Keen had passed away.  Al and his wife, Joyce, ran a first-class auto body repair business (Ed’s Auto Body) in Spokane for many years.  They were involved in many local causes and activities (including the Float Committee for the Lilac Festival…we happened to run into them in Cranbrook, B.C. once when they were there with the Lilac Festival Float and the Lilac Royalty for a parade in Cranbrook) and certainly the greater Spokane area benefited from their presence in it.  They operated a terrific business that treated customers fairly and provided excellent outcomes in fixing vehicles that were damaged in wrecks of various kinds (I know this to be true, because they fixed one of our wrecked cars!).  Here’s to Al & Joyce Keen and all of the wonderful things they have done over the course of their lives!

 

I came across another 1964 vintage “Outer Limits” collectible card the other day.  This one features the “Man With Super Sight.”  Here is an excerpt from the back of the card talking about this strange man:

“The odd looking man with the bulging eyeballs (his picture on the card shows him having bulging yellow eyes with huge blue eyeballs!) walked right into the police station and demanded to see the captain.  A surprised captain speaks to this strange visitor.  The visitor explains he is from a far-off planet where everyone possesses super-sight.  With super-sight, he explains, it is possible to see through all objects.  The police were excited, for with this strange man on the force, no criminal would be able to hide.”  How about that?  Super-sight would come in handy in a game of “hide and go seek,” don’t you think?  It might be an awkward power to have if people were trying to maintain some sense of privacy, though!  The “Man With Super Sight” is definitely a funny-looking character, judging from the picture on this collectible card!

 

Here’s the word definition for the day:

“Lagomorph”:  A late 19th century Latin word meaning “a mammal of the order Lagomorpha…a hare, a rabbit or a pika.”  One of the best wildlife sightings I’ve ever had came when I made the ascent to the Brown Mountain Lookout in Glacier National Park.  It is the steepest hike in the Park, so they say.  Well, I was up by the Fire Lookout eating my lunch when I was greeted by a pika, a tiny little mountain rodent that is difficult to find and hard to see, as they are shy little ones!  It has to be one of the cutest mountain creatures around, for sure!  He (or she) was sure cute!  I have that pika in my mind’s eye to this day…

 

Here’s the trivia fact for the day:

Ice Hockey’s Stanley Cup was donated in 1893 by Canada’s then-Governor General, Frederick Arthur, “Lord Stanley of Preston.”  Lord Stanley never saw a Stanley Cup game!

 

Here is the thought for the day:

I’ve been struggling with the issue of the “sufferings/afflictions of innocents…babies to be exact” and I picked up a book the other day entitled “Gentile and Lowly:  The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers” by Dane Ortlund.  It’s a compelling book to read and I’ve found it helpful in processing feeling of hurt, anger and disillusionment with where God fits into our sufferings when tragedy or heartache strikes in one form or another.  Here’s an excerpt:

“Perhaps it isn’t sins so much as sufferings that cause some of us to question the perseverance of the heart of Christ.  As pain piles up, as numbness takes over, as the months go by, at some point the conclusion seems obvious:  we have been cast out.  Surely this is not what life would feel like for one who has been buried in the heart of a gentle and lowly Savior?  But Jesus does not say that those with pain-free lives are never cast out.  He says those who come to him are never cast out.  It is not what life brings to us but to whom we belong that determines Christ’s heart of love for us.

The only thing required to enjoy such love is to come to him.  To ask him to take us in…

…Our strength of resolve is not part of the formula of retaining his good will.  When my two-year-old Benjamin begins to wade into the gentle slope of the zero-entry swimming pool near our home, he instinctively grabs hold of my hand.  He holds on tight as the water gradually gets deeper.  But a two-year-old’s grip is not very strong.  Before long it is not he holding on to me but me holding on to him.  Left to his own strength he will certainly slip out of my hand.  But if I have determined that he will not fall out of my grasp, he is secure.  He can’t get away from me if he tried.

So with Christ.  We cling to him, to be sure.  But our grip is that of a two-year-old amid the stormy seas of life.  His sure grasp never falters.  Psalm 63:8 expresses the double-sided truth:  “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me…”

—Dane Ortlund, “Gentile and Lowly:  The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers,” Crossway (2020)

 

Here’s to a great Sunday and lots of love and good wishes always!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)