So several of my cousins and I traveled from the Detroit Metro area to the aforementioned Upper Peninsula to visit more cousins. My cousin Lois was the head of the Copper Country Strawberry Festival in Chassell, MI. (http://www.einerlei.com/community/strawFest/home.html) This is a Lion's club thing for 62 years. Chassell grows small but yummy strawberries. And it's as good a reason as any to have a festival, I suppose.
Anyway, hundreds of people showed up. My cousins and I (along with sis) made shortcakes Friday night until we were ready to drop. They bailed while I helped clean up I might add. The new Strawberry Queen was crowned, there was a fish boil (yup) and a good time was had by all.
Saturday was the big PARADE. Apparently nobody wants to be parade judges so my cousin signed me up along with another cousin's friend. Oh, we judged an hour long parade with floats, cars, bands, clowns, fire trucks, (too many) Politicians and more. Real Americana. Good stuff.
My cousin the Strawberry Festival Head (therefore the "Queen Lion" by the way), then had us over to her house, which is about 12 feet from Portage lake, which is a body of water that is connected on both sides to Lake Superior. It separates the Keewenaw Peninsula from the rest of the U.P. I know you love the geography.
Always good time and fun with family, and we traveled over 500 miles to get together when the farthest of us here in Metro Detroit are about 25 miles away. Weird.
So I started to think about family, and how family is really God ordained. He created woman and man to be together and always talks about having many children, being fruitful and multiplying, etc. He even put the genealogy of Jesus in there, to connect the family of man to the family of God.
When we tear families apart through selfishness, (divorce, petty quarrels, etc.), we are tearing apart some of the basic framework of the Father's design for us. We are tearing ourselves apart. It's easy to look at family sometimes as a burden, whether it be aging issues, responsibility issues and the like. But, gee, when we look at family as not just a gift but an ordination from God to us, it sure looks more important.
Hey! Write, email or call someone in your family that you haven't really connected with in a long time. Do it today. Don't worry about being uncomfortable, these people have some of the same blood flowing in them you do. Family is always family. They might disappoint you, or run from you , or embarrass you. But I'll bet no one cares for you more, even when years and miles have separated you.
Here's to you, in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; Bless you all in Jesus' Name...You and your families, with a special shout out to mine.
Welcome to Fox's UPS N downs live from Michigan, the state of two peninsulas. I'm from the Upper Peninsula (a Yooper). I live in the Lower Peninsula (those from the lower peninsulas are called trolls or fudgies).
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Summer Time
Ahh, yes. To paraphrase Kid Rock "it's summertime in Michigan". While I firmly believe that Chicago is about the best city in America in the summertime, I also believe you can't beat a great Michigan vacation. Miles of beaches, great woods, fun and funky cities and towns along the way, water sports, fishing, boating, you name it, you can find it here in the state of two peninsulas.
Yup, in case your knowledge of geography is limited, Michigan has a Lower Peninsula and an Upper Peninsula. Those living in the UP are called, of course, Yoopers. Yoopers call those from the lower peninsula Trolls. See, the main route from lower to upper is the Mackinaw (Or Mackinac) Bridge, a 6 mile long suspension bridge connecting our state. Obviously if you live "under the bridge" you are a troll. People from the southern part of our state are also called "Fudgies" because of the great number who head up north and partake of the famous fudge confection.
I am a natural born Yooper. Born in Hancock, MI in the heart of the copper country, where for a time about 80 per cent of the world's copper came out of the ground near where I was born. I consider myself immune from Troll or Fudgie because of my UP birth.
Yoopers sound a lot like the folks from the movie Fargo, except the accent is more pronounced. I asked a Yooper what the weather was like and if I should visit in June or July. He answered, "Badder mayk it Chooly; der's a fuddasnow onda crown and annadder fudda wet snow comin' tonight." (Better make it July; there is a foot of snow on the ground and another foot of wet snow coming tonight. Classic Yooper.
Anyway, my lovely bride and I started in Chicago, her birthplace, to visit family and celebrate both our kid's graduations from college. We also met to celebrate my daughter's engagement, which is still very recent and very exciting. She's marrying the type of guy who actually came and asked my wife and I if we approved before asking her. It killed us to wait an entire 24 hours to find out. Another new chapter in our lives.
The two of us then spent the week touring the west coast of Michigan, from Bridgman and Douglas, Saugatuck and Grand Haven, Holland and Grand Rapids. Beaches, sun, fun, relaxation, hiking and (ugh) shopping. I tell you, when we vacation it's like we're just kids dating again. Good stuff.
I'll tell you what, too. When you look at Lake Michigan, sparkling like shimmering gold in the sunshine, with an endless horizon, waves washing up on white sandy beaches, you can't help but wonder how this beauty came to be. You know, when you look at a sculpture or painting, or magnificent sky-scraper, you think of the artist or architect or dreamer conceiving of the project, and then try to imagine all the work involved in moving from concept to finished product.
Why then, is it so hard for some to believe in a Creator who did indeed separate the day from night, the water from dry land, the One who hung the stars in the sky and called them by name, as it is written? If I see a car, I know many people were involved in the design and construction, from iron ore mines to steel plants to rubber tree farms, etc. If I see a billboard or television or laptop I know it did not just miraculously evolve from some smaller, less complicated sign, or machine, or whatever; no more than the skyscraper or painting came together on their own by some evolutionary process.
Why, then, when people look around at this magnificent Earth, at the diverse people, animals, landscapes and plants, do they think all this evolved from some "primordial stew"? (Thanks a lot, Carl Sagan). Doesn't it indeed take more faith than that of any Pentecostal Evangelical Born-Again Christian to believe in simple chance as to the birth of our very universe? Really, if I say OK, I believe in man's evolution from some amino-acid laced puddle in a newly formed world, how do you explain the difference between a Great Dane and a Chihuahua? How can you explain the difference between grass, corn, apple trees and Kentucky Blue?
Any way you slice it, the fingerprints of a single creator are all over this world, and all over us. It's just not cool to speak out on behalf of One God, the master creator of everything. There is no proof of an evolutionary process, that I'm aware of. There is lateral adaptation, as in the Galapagos Finch, which is still a finch. There is the salt-water swimming iguanas, which are still iguanas. I watch old movies, look at old pictures, heck, my family has pictures from the very dawn of photography. People still look like people, animals like animals and things really haven't changed too much.
Deep thoughts for summer vacation. It's amazing when you don't have to worry about work, or deadlines. When all you have to do is look at the world around you, it's people, plants, animals, lakes, oceans, etc., you really can see the workmanship of a Creator who desires you to be friends with Him. Try it, you'll like it. Happy Summer Vacation to all, wherever you are and whenever your summer is.
Yup, in case your knowledge of geography is limited, Michigan has a Lower Peninsula and an Upper Peninsula. Those living in the UP are called, of course, Yoopers. Yoopers call those from the lower peninsula Trolls. See, the main route from lower to upper is the Mackinaw (Or Mackinac) Bridge, a 6 mile long suspension bridge connecting our state. Obviously if you live "under the bridge" you are a troll. People from the southern part of our state are also called "Fudgies" because of the great number who head up north and partake of the famous fudge confection.
I am a natural born Yooper. Born in Hancock, MI in the heart of the copper country, where for a time about 80 per cent of the world's copper came out of the ground near where I was born. I consider myself immune from Troll or Fudgie because of my UP birth.
Yoopers sound a lot like the folks from the movie Fargo, except the accent is more pronounced. I asked a Yooper what the weather was like and if I should visit in June or July. He answered, "Badder mayk it Chooly; der's a fuddasnow onda crown and annadder fudda wet snow comin' tonight." (Better make it July; there is a foot of snow on the ground and another foot of wet snow coming tonight. Classic Yooper.
Anyway, my lovely bride and I started in Chicago, her birthplace, to visit family and celebrate both our kid's graduations from college. We also met to celebrate my daughter's engagement, which is still very recent and very exciting. She's marrying the type of guy who actually came and asked my wife and I if we approved before asking her. It killed us to wait an entire 24 hours to find out. Another new chapter in our lives.
The two of us then spent the week touring the west coast of Michigan, from Bridgman and Douglas, Saugatuck and Grand Haven, Holland and Grand Rapids. Beaches, sun, fun, relaxation, hiking and (ugh) shopping. I tell you, when we vacation it's like we're just kids dating again. Good stuff.
I'll tell you what, too. When you look at Lake Michigan, sparkling like shimmering gold in the sunshine, with an endless horizon, waves washing up on white sandy beaches, you can't help but wonder how this beauty came to be. You know, when you look at a sculpture or painting, or magnificent sky-scraper, you think of the artist or architect or dreamer conceiving of the project, and then try to imagine all the work involved in moving from concept to finished product.
Why then, is it so hard for some to believe in a Creator who did indeed separate the day from night, the water from dry land, the One who hung the stars in the sky and called them by name, as it is written? If I see a car, I know many people were involved in the design and construction, from iron ore mines to steel plants to rubber tree farms, etc. If I see a billboard or television or laptop I know it did not just miraculously evolve from some smaller, less complicated sign, or machine, or whatever; no more than the skyscraper or painting came together on their own by some evolutionary process.
Why, then, when people look around at this magnificent Earth, at the diverse people, animals, landscapes and plants, do they think all this evolved from some "primordial stew"? (Thanks a lot, Carl Sagan). Doesn't it indeed take more faith than that of any Pentecostal Evangelical Born-Again Christian to believe in simple chance as to the birth of our very universe? Really, if I say OK, I believe in man's evolution from some amino-acid laced puddle in a newly formed world, how do you explain the difference between a Great Dane and a Chihuahua? How can you explain the difference between grass, corn, apple trees and Kentucky Blue?
Any way you slice it, the fingerprints of a single creator are all over this world, and all over us. It's just not cool to speak out on behalf of One God, the master creator of everything. There is no proof of an evolutionary process, that I'm aware of. There is lateral adaptation, as in the Galapagos Finch, which is still a finch. There is the salt-water swimming iguanas, which are still iguanas. I watch old movies, look at old pictures, heck, my family has pictures from the very dawn of photography. People still look like people, animals like animals and things really haven't changed too much.
Deep thoughts for summer vacation. It's amazing when you don't have to worry about work, or deadlines. When all you have to do is look at the world around you, it's people, plants, animals, lakes, oceans, etc., you really can see the workmanship of a Creator who desires you to be friends with Him. Try it, you'll like it. Happy Summer Vacation to all, wherever you are and whenever your summer is.
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