Happy Christmas Season 2007

Our holidays always begin with making cut out cookies. This year it seemed somewhat hurried as I had just returned from Africa and Christmas was just around the corner. After loading the 5 batches of sugar cookies into the fridge I left for Concert Choral dress rehearsal. Our cookie weekend and Holiday Pops Concert happen to fall together this year.

After topping off my Starbuck's mug with Caramel Delight I was off to my sister's house to make cut outs. Yeah. I was warmly greeted by my niece Lauren. She had a bright smile on her face and said she was ready to "rock and roll". What a pleasant blessing to be greeted with early Saturday morning.

We spent about 4 hours cutting, baking, rolling and decorating. I'm sure we had several cups of coffee between baking episodes also.

This year our cookie baking staff consisted of Lauren, Delene, myself and Ellie (my golden, the taste tester). We had a delightful time and lots of giggles. Most of our cookies graced the desks of clients this year, however, several were left for family gatherings we had through the remainder of the year.

What a blessing to have a tradition to pass down to children in our family. I trust their children will have as much fun with cookie cut outs as we do.

Africian Blessings

Being blessed in the US is something I know I take for granted too often. The blessing of modern conveniences like technology, indoor plumbing, electricity and gas-operated appliances are simply a luxury in many parts of rural Africa. Even though I found myself missing many of these conveniences, which make my life much easier, they didn’t seem to matter much in the scope of what we were there to do. Building relationships aren’t contingent on electricity, indoor plumbing etc.; they are built by spending time together and sharing life.

Returning to Kipkaren and Ilula villages reminded me of the blessing of building relationships. Over the many days, I was consistently reminded of the luxury of simplicity. Much of our time was spent on building established relationships and developing new ones. It didn’t seem to make a difference if we had electricity, indoor plumbing or a TV to entertain us. We could sit by candlelight on Thanksgiving night telling of the many blessings God had so richly bestowed upon each of us over the past year. What did make a difference was the humble disposition I found my heart resting in.

Living a thankful life was a daily event I saw so many of my Kenyan friends executing. Maybe it was a quiet conversation with one of the children's home parents or a lively conversation with the Rono young adults. Blessings were difficult to miss and almost never ignored. Great is God’s faithfulness to all of His children.

Stranded in Vermillion, South Dakota

Due to my travel schedule for work I am often faced with the challenge of making tough decisions based on what the weather masters are presenting. Do I reschedule all of my customers in hopes that their schedules work with my next visit or do I roll the dice and take the risk of being stranded “again” because of inclimate weather? That continues to be one of the toughest questions I’m faced with on a consistent basis during the winter season here in the Midwest.

This trip I made the wrong choice, or so it seems. Flying out Wednesday morning with lunch, afternoon and dinner appts set, I truly believed I could get in and out of South Dakota before the HUGE storm hit. However, this trip was not the one I could beat. After learning my Thursday morning flight was cancelled I quickly ran back to Enterprise and asked for the SUV back and asked if I could drop it off in CR. Not a problem, so I was back on the road heading south on I 29 for Omaha then East to CR. Just about 20 miles north of Sioux City the conditions became utterly unbelievable. We were in complete white out conditions and I literally had to stop dead in the road because I could not see a thing in front, back or on the sides of the SUV. Suddenly the wind calmed and I spotted the Vermillion exit. After a quick call to our travel dept to make hotel arrangements I headed to the local grocery store with the Holiday Inn Express just around the corner. I arrived safely at the Vermillion Holiday Inn Express.

So far I have been able to accomplish several items for work, make future appts and eaten just about every Ho Ho from the vending machine in the hotel lobby. The weather has still caused the interstates to be closed and snow continues to fall. Last word was that I 29 and I 80 might open by Saturday afternoon. Storm Lake and Spencer Iowa received over 13 inches of snow. They haven’t closed I 29 for over 30 yrs and many are saying this is one of the worst blizzards in the past 50 years.

I have guests arriving at my home on Sunday to rehearse for an upcoming concert with the Cedar Rapids Symphony, however, I’m wondering if I will even be home by then. Safety first, that is something which is not negotiable.

To be continued….