Hey!! Email us at theandersenbunch@msn.com!!!!!
Another two weeks gone by - actually 3 now. Is anyone out there? I started this as an attempt to reconnect with my extended family, my mother, my niece, and through them my brother, aunts and uncles and anyone else who thinks I may have isolated myself from. Are you all out there? Are you reading this? I'm trying. The demands of my career and six kids doesn't give me any time for much of anything except sleep, and even then not much.
So here we are, well into the school year. Tasha, Cheni, and Derek are all at the top of their classes now. I knew once they got used to the routine they would do well, but I didn't expect this! I'm so proud!We're still home schooling Destiny and Ian.
Hey! Wanna hear something cute? Click here (sound file lost) and
here (sound file lost).The first one is Ian singing in Navajo. I still don't know what the words mean, but it's
something like "Jesus oh how wonderful you are to me." The second one is Grace, she starts out with "Jesus loves me" then goes into the same thing Ian
sang (with a little prodding from Dad!) Here's another one. Click here (sound file lost). This one is all the
kids doing their rendition of "The Pirates who don't do anything". (Never heard of it? No worries, the song pretty much speaks for itself. Not exactly
one of the classics of modern compositions, but then again there hasn't been any since Duran Duran broke up.)
Learned something about myself last week. We had a managers meeting, actually a retreat, up in Estes Park. We were sequestered in this cabin way up
in th mountains, at about 8000 feet - miles from anywhere. Mostly the meeting was boring business stuff, but the first night we got to connect with
each other. We were instructed to bring three things that represent us, then we shared them around the campfire. It took me three days to come up with
stuff - maybe I thought too hard on it? Most everyone brought their Bible and pictures of their families or some other nick-nack that reminded them of
a favorite trip or something. I, on the other hand, tried to really follow the instructions - three things that represent me. I took that to mean
three things that are a metaphor for my life.
At the time I didn't know we were going to be sharing these things around a campfire, so I thought way outside the box. The first thing I found
that represents me was the movie "The Matrix". So I went and downloaded this
picture of Neo to share. Now before you wrinkle up your nose and go "why?" - thinking that a movie that promotes so much violence isn't an
appropriate family choice - hear me out.
The first movie in the trilogy is about Neo (aka Mr. Andersen!) questioning "is this all there is" and discovering the world he thought was real,
wasn't. He goes through a process of discovering the nature of reality and then awakens to the true nature of that reality and another life - not an
easier life, one that is at war, but he discovers his true place in the universe.
My conversion experience can be is a lot like that. While sitting at the funeral of a friends child I found myself asking "is this all there is?"
And something told me "no, it's not, go figure out what is". This set me on a journey. I went through the whole analytical process, studying all
religions. And I discovered The Truth, and woke up in a different world - not easier, but I have found my place in the universe.
Which leads me to my second item. this song (sound file lost). Once I discovered the true nature of reality, reality bit
back. We've gone through some bizzare things in the past 4 years. But through it all, we're ok. Give it a listen, you'll get a kick. (Incidentally I
sang this for the group around the campfire... no, I won't sing it for you.)
That brings me to number 3. A quote. No, not from the Bible, though that is always nearest and dearest to my heart. But this one pretty much sums
up how we as Christians should look at life....
On days when life is difficult and I feel overwhelmed, as I do fairly often, it helps to remember in my prayers that all God requires of me is to
trust Him and be His friend. I find I can do that. --Bruce Larson
'nuf said.
So, anyway, I'm on vacation this week. We really wanted to head back to the midwest, but I didn't get enough time off to make it worth the drive,
plus we needed to fix the brakes on the van before heading over the mountains - unless we wanted to take an extra day - and then we're just getting
out of New Mexico before vacation time runs out and we have to head back. I still have a lot of time left to use up, but I can't use it until January.
Actually, I HAVE to use it in January. So we'll see.
That's it for now... please write back!
