He Is The Potter...

Wow! Enough said ...

Change Of Season

Well, it's that time of year when we put way all of the winter gear and start the process of dragging out all of the spring & summer stuff.

For me, this means finally putting away all of my deer hunting gear, clothing mostly as I will try to harvest a turkey this spring with my bow. I also got my my fishing gear out and cleaned up and ready for use!

On another front ... My loving wife bought me a Ipad! I wasn't expecting that!! We were at Best Buy to pick an Ipad for Lynn's Mom and she simply told the salesman to bring her 2! I was totally surprised, but I'm really enjoying getting to learn another device. As always, the learning curve is huge ... but I'm getting the hang of it. BTW, if you have any really great apps that I should check out please let me know. One thing though, I'm in no way interested in games.

 Today is March 17th and I'm with Daniel, Maggie and the boys in Grinnell for an area-wide youth rally. We are going bowling and then back to the church for the rally and pizza. Daniel asked me to speak at this rally and I'm really looking forward to it!

More to come soon,

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

First Time ...Long Time

Been a crazy Fall/Winter!

The last time I blogged it was before Christmas and now we're approaching the end of January. Where does the time go?

Sometimes I wonder if what I'm blogging is really of any consequence or I'm just chatting into the wind. I'm sure it would make more difference if I actually blogged more that once every 30 days or so!

Here is a quick update: 

Deer Season .... ended for me on January 10th and this year I did not harvest a deer this year. But I'm super pumped for Philip, who not only harvested his first deer ever but arrowed a very nice buck! In fact, the group that Philip hunts with did very well this year. Pastor Russ Farrell also scored a wall-hanger! As for me ... there is always next year!

Weather ... Winter finally arrived here in North Iowa with a couple of fairly decent snowstorms. Nothing to really write home about. In fact we're expecting another 2-4 inches tomorrow (1/27)! We shall see what we shall see!

The Ministry ... All is well at the church and the ministry plugs on! Loving the preaching aspect as I am still working my way through the books of Joshua, Judges and soon Ruth! Our counseling ministry has slowed a bit, but things are picking back up as I have been meeting with and setting up new meetings with folks as of late. #loveit

Family ... Everyone is doing well! we had a great holiday season and really enjoyed having the kids home often throughout Dec. & Jan. for all different reasons. It is a blast watching God work in and through our kids lives. What a great god we serve!

More to Come...

I Remain,
Pastor Steve

Christmas in Clear Lake

Due to Christmas falling on a Sunday this year and Daniel and I both serving in local churches with responsibilities, we decided to have our family Christmas on Saturday the 17th of December ... TODAY!

Last evening (Friday) all of the kids arrived and the stage was set for us to have an incredible day! Every one enjoyed a relaxing morning and we opened gifts and our stockings stuffed with goodies after noon.

One of the things that people often talk about is the best gift they received ... I have always tried to get my family to think about the best gift that they had given. Just a bit of a change in perspective!

That being said ... The best gifts that Lynn & I gave this year were Bibles to Daniel and Susan. Daniel wanted an HCSB Study Bible and Susan wanted an HCSB that was not a study bible...Done and Done! We also gave Daniel & Philip their 2012 Iowa Hunting and Fishing licenses; Amy, Susan & Maggie got Fishing licenses. It was really fun to watch the reactions as especially the boy realized what we had gotten them. Phil had just commented that he was going to have to buy a new licenses after the first of the year so he could hunt coyotes!

After the gifts were opened we enjoyed a meal of spiral cut honey smoked ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with tons of marshmallows, rolls and butter. Mmmmmmmmmmm GOOD!!! And lots of leftovers!!

So very thankful to God for the blessing of my family! Lynn & I are truly blessed!!!


I Remain,
Pastor Steve

Where Have You Been?

'Tis the season!

Having coffee with a friend, I was REMINDED, that it has been a very long tome since I posted a new blog. The reasons are many and varied, but as Rhett Butler once said ... Who Cares! (well, kinda)

Since our vacation I have been busy with ministry as always, deer hunting and the holidays.

Not long ago I blogged about purchasing a projector for use when preaching. As I have been using the projector and learning and growing in my skill level, it has been an incredible blessing and help! 99.9999% of all comments have been positive! That is always a very good thing!!!

Deer Hunting is underway and I have been trying to spend as much free time as I can in the deer stand. So far this year it has been very frustrating. I'm seeing lots of deer but nothing with in range of the bow and once again I prove to be a poor shot with my muzzleloader.

On a happier note: Philip harvested his first deer every and that with archery equipment! Pastor Russ Farrell hammered a monster buck in the shotgun season.

Pastor Farrell's Buck

Philip's Buck

The archery season will reopen in Iowa on December 19th and I will be in my stand and looking to harvest a nice doe or buck if I'm able! Time is running out and the ability to be picky is drawing to a close. I need to get some venison in the freezer!

Final thought for this blog ... Thanksgiving! Hosted this year by my sister and a wonderful time was had by all! Really how can you go wrong???? Great food, family, football and overall fun! Thanks Carol for opening your home!

I Remain,
Pastor Steve