We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
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That’s the cheer that carried the Hi-Line United 14U soccer team to their state competition in Great Falls a couple of weekends ago. The tournament was the climax to a season of growing together as a team through their various wins and losses, sweaty practices, and coach’s reassuring critiques and skill-building drills. The state competition was also their final opportunity to face off with a tough, physical team in a rivalry that had been building over the past couple of months. As it turned out, this rival team was the first team Hi-Line U wo...
No, I’m not misquoting Forrest Gump here. I’m reflecting on the celebration of love that is often expressed through cards and flowers and…yes…heaps of chocolates arrayed in valentine boxes that ultimately layer the landfill at the end of every February. But it’s not necessarily the one-time use, disposability of love that is marketed and exploited every year that I want to focus on – not today anyway. Let’s go back to that box of chocolates. Any good box of chocolates comes with a road map so that one’s fingers can make their way to the most de...
In your prayer time, have you ever paused to consider…no, really consider, the one to whom you are addressing? Who is it that you are speaking to? Is it your heavenly Father? What does that mean exactly? Do you pray to the friend you have in Jesus? Those are pleasant conversations to have. Perhaps you pray to the indwelling Spirit – that is, if you can wrap your head around that one. The point is, when we pause to consider who we are speaking to, it might alter the dialogue just a bit. After all, how we approach a mighty king is different tha...
I love the season of Thanksgiving. It’s wonderful to have a day set apart to remind ourselves to be thankful for the abundance we have in our lives. If we don’t overlook Thanksgiving in our charge toward Christmas, we would observe that this holiday is more than just a fly-over state. We see preludes of Thanksgiving when the harvest comes in, when the fall colors brighten the store fronts, and when pumpkin spice returns to the menus. It’s all a foretaste that prepares our hearts for gratitude, but again, only if we take the time to appre...
Let’s face it, we’ve all faced some dreadful days lately. Don’t even try to deny it. As I write this, voters have yet to go to the polls. Even today, I dread going to the mailbox only to find it stuffed with paper representations of money well wasted. I dread answering the phone when it nags in the evenings. I dread turning on the TV at home, turning on the radio in my car, even checking my e-mail that’s spattered with click-bait political ads. And I’m convinced that you dread these things too. By the time this little monologue goes to press,...
Recently during the all class reunion I, a former graduate from someplace other than Chinook, was granted the privilege of marching in the alumni band for the parade. It was great fun to dust off the ol’ clarinet and play a little part in the CHS fight song. It brought back nostalgic memories of my own high school band whose amazing director took a bunch of goofball teenagers and taught us how to march in step with one another on the field and to play some of the most melodious overtures on stage. While it was heartwarming to reminisce and j...
I’ve always enjoyed road trips. If I have the time I prefer taking to the open road than to the air. Recently I found myself traveling south more regularly than usual but what a beautiful time to hit the road. The season’s rains have cast an emerald glaze over every horizon which feels as refreshing as cucumber slices to the eyes. No, I didn’t go anywhere for a spa treatment, but my senses were revitalized just the same. As the miles rolled by I found myself hanging onto a blush of purple along the road side and wondered if that was flax alrea...
Debt-free living. That has a pleasant ring to it, doesn’t it. Those three simple words have a way of invoking a sense of freedom. They clash with today’s norms of mortgages, high interest rates, credit card and consumer debt - where we spend, spend, spend on someone else’s dime in a thrillingly euphoric (and often expensive) period of grace. But that grace period ends when the creditors come to call. Ultimately, we are brought to account for our indebtedness. The time comes to pay back (with interest). We become enslaved to paying for our p...
Holiday – it’s a word that originated from an old English word meaning “Holy Day.” It’s a fitting word for our end of December celebrations – no matter its old English or modern English contexts. But here in the thick of January, the glitter of Christmas has faded. The echoes of new year celebrations have diminished down a canyon of life moving on per usual. As lights disappear from the eaves of houses and the parched evergreens lean against back door steps, the extended hours of darkness feel especially long in our holiday hangovers. We stumbl...
