Circles

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Sandi Asker

Christmas. It’s here. The man up the hill had his front yard decorated and lit up this last weekend. Menards has super huge Christmas inflatables. As big as a house. McDonald’s, the weekend before Halloween, had “holiday” drinks on their menu. *sigh*

I sort of don’t like how fast it comes, but I’m so glad to be past all of the creepy, dark Halloween stuff. I can now safely shop with my kids without having to avoid the super bloody masks hanging near the checkout at the drugstore.

We were asked today to read for Advent at an upcoming service. I saw a few of my friends promoting Advent liturgy on Facebook today. I admit I’m getting excited for Christmas. I’m going to write more about this later, but I am refusing to “give in” to many pressures in life lately. One is to not get too amped about Christmas.

Walking through Menards tonight, we saw all of the sweet, interesting miniature houses all lit up. Bell chapel, gas station, Christmas trees and even a Menards store. And yes, nestled in the midst, was a nativity scene.

Picture this in your mind: a small stable. There is a star on top. There are a few animals seated around sweet baby Jesus. And, rotating around the stable, are 3 wise men. Circling, round and round.

There was another couple behind us and I said, “huh, the wise men seem to be missing something. Maybe they are saying, ‘I thought they told us He was around here somewhere?!’ ”

But round and round they go, never getting to Him.

I said, “Maybe that is why it took them so long to get to Jesus.”

I kept looking at the “wise men” just circling. It was hilarious actually.

Then sad. “Isn’t that just like us?” I said to the couple and to Brian. “We just keep going ’round and ’round, looking for Jesus. And the whole time, He’s all lit up. Right there. We just don’t see Him.”

Maybe Christmas seems to be coming earlier every year. We could get mad about that. We could run around in circles, complaining about the calendar, feeling cheated out of Thanksgiving, getting anxious about what to buy and how much to spend. We could run in circles, making plans, worrying about the in-laws and how much weight we’ll gain…

Or we could head straight for the manger, rushing past all of the temptations, the materialistic, anxious circles that miss the point. And we might just fly through the holidays with smiles on our faces!

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Oral hygiene and conversion

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Sandi Asker

I haven’t been to the dentist since I was pregnant with Elam. I know, yikes. (he is 21 months old!)
I went yesterday. I kept saying to the dentist during my “interview” or exam, “I’ve never had much trouble with my teeth.”

Then he opened my mouth and proceeded to tell the assistant to keep an eye on about 12 of my teeth. “flag them,” he’d say. Then he measured my gums. That went badly.

To put it simply, I might have fine teeth (minus the few signs of decay – a scary word) but my gums are a mess.

After about an hour of the horrible scraping, the hygienist asking if I was ok and telling me ibuprofen normally deals with the pain, I heard my voice in my head, “I never have any problems with my teeth…” I must have said that 100 times. Dumb. Dumb. I didn’t even know that I had a cavity in there. Shows you how often I actually look in there.

As I sat there, I told the hygienist I had a parable starting in my head. ( I had plenty of time to think …)

Now before anyone starts hurling up their last meal thinking of yourself in the chair, let me share the parable.

We can think nothing is wrong with our teeth. We can go about our lives, brushing, flossing (occasionally) eating and going to bed without brushing. We think we are ok. Until someone who knows what they are talking about takes a look INSIDE our mouths! Those people know way more than I do about gingivitis (another scary word). They implored me to floss, to come more often and warned me that if I didn’t, in 3-5 years I’d be in serious trouble. It was a humbling 2 hours.

Isn’t that like our soul condition sometimes? We think we are fine. We might even have a glaring “cavity” that anyone with adequate eyesight notices, but it’s a blind spot to us.

But every once in a while, there comes along someone who might just know more than I do. And I get to choose whether or not to listen, repent (change directions) or go about destroying a part of myself.

I had an oral hygiene conversion. I have flossed about 5 times since yesterday. It was painful at first, I could barely eat lunch and had 2 ibuprofen and a nap in the afternoon, but sometimes the truth hurts. And I’m not willing to pay the greater cost if I ignore my problems with my teeth. I hope I’m as responsive when it comes to life with Jesus.

Now, I wonder if ibuprofen helps sooth the pain of receiving the bill from the dentist’s office? Because Brian goes in tomorrow…

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Then a priest walks by…

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Sandi Asker

It’s been one of those days. I had many opportunities to sin today, but instead, I have laughed my way through.
Take tonight for instance: I worked all afternoon and evening. Before I got to go home, I had to swing by the store for egg bake ingredients for tomorrow’s MOPS meeting at 8:30am. Much baking was in store for my late Tuesday night. (And apparently much blogging while I wait for it to cook…)

So I was looking for the cheese (SuperOne still baffles me) at 9pm and I noticed a familiar face. “I know you,” I said to her. Turns out it is a friend I’ve made at a playtime at the Y up the street. She speaks Russian, which I love since we’ve been there, and works on a campus in Duluth so we have something in common there too.

She had 3 pounds of almonds and we started talking about them. She taught me almonds have cyanide in them, so we shouldn’t eat too many… It was fascinating, actually.

Somehow I mentioned I believed in a Creator and she mentioned she was an atheist. She has studied religions and we embarked on a 35 minute conversation about all sorts of things. She schooled me on a few things regarding Roman history, but I hope when I talked about the resurrection I got a few things right! We talked so long, she threw her groceries on top of the meat display!

All of a sudden, I noticed a priest walking by. I said to him, “hey we’re just talking about Jesus over here, Father.” Looking down at the meat section I said, “Right here in the pork department. How ironic!”

My friend laughed and said, “Well, mazel tov! My grandfather was a Rabbi!” She grabbed her groceries and we began to wrap up the conversation. Her cell phone had been ringing for about 10 minutes, so she was in the process of calling that person back when she said, “you should call me sometime!” I love bold people! I got her number.

I kept shopping, looking for the bread section. An employee helped me find it. SuperOne has a whole aisle dedicated to the funniest two items: bread and water. (America: really?! A whole aisle for water?!?!) Guess who else needed bread? The priest. I said to them both, “Isn’t it funny these two things are in the same row? I guess it’s all we need. Well, actually, Jesus said we don’t live by bread alone…”

And of course the priest finished the quote for me. We proceeded to talk about the Jew in the pork section, evangelism and having a personal relationship with God as we walked to the checkout. We got our clerks in on the deal and at some point, I said, “I feel like I just lived a Seinfeld episode.”
One clerk says, “my dad watches Seinfeld.”

Thanks. Ok, so I’m old.

Not sure how to end this funny story, but even as I type I smile. It sounds like a joke: An evangelical, a Jew and a priest stand in the pork section…

Or maybe it’s a parable?

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Some family videos

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Sandi Asker

These are a few videos from this summer of our family life!

Elam tells us about the bear…

House project!

Ta da!

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Making a Name…

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Sandi Asker

Here at St Scholastica, we are “rebuilding.” This is a good way to say we are small, but watch out! We’ve got a vision. Our chapter president came up with this goal: every incoming freshman will know about IVCF this fall. (And hence, hear about Jesus.)

Day one: we borrowed a local church’s cotton candy machine and handed out fresh cotton candy. It was a hit and the residential life director asked us to come back the next day for the freshmen party.
Day two: The party had inflatables, music and … US! All the games were inflated and the music rocked. Then we started up our machine, flipped on the heat and … blam. The lights went out in the gym. The games deflated. So did the party! Yep. We blew it, so to speak.
Hilarious. The res life director called an electrician. We plugged the machine into another circuit. We started up the machine and made cotton candy in the dark. Love it. Students made their way into the dark gym and we were there to welcome them! (The party must go on!)
Do you think we made a name for ourselves? I hope so. However, I hope we won’t just be the group that put everyone in the dark!
Pray for us as we renew the campus at St Scholastica! One bag of cotton candy at a time…

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C.P.F.

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Sandi Asker

I have diagnosed myself with an ailment: Chronic Project Fatigue.

Symptoms: irritability, absentee husband, muddy floors, sleepless nights and frequent trips to Menards.

Seriously.

This summer’s projects have included, but not limited to:
1. Painting the downstairs living room, bathroom, bedroom, hallway.
2. Ripping out waterlogged carpet and padding.
3. Scraping up the ugliest, stupidest carpet in history. (for 45 minutes I used the blunt side of the scraper. Other symptoms of CPF include dullness of the brain).
4. Replacing downstairs carpeting.
5. Painting upstairs kitchen, dining, living room, hallways, 2 bedrooms.
6. Ripping off old decking in the front.
7. Landscaping even more than I can mention.
8. Ripping off the sliding door in Elam’s room and replacing it with a new wall and window.

Are you bored yet? Another symptom of CPF is boring one’s friends with the list of all of the said projects and their status.

I have found some relief for CPF. Some cures: homemade guacamole with said absentee husband, vists to Grandparents’ homes where projects are not in abundance and somersaults with one’s children.

If you find yourself with CPF, have hope. With the change in seasons, some projects are either put on hold or you just can’t go outside and see what’s unfinished!

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Don’t be afraid to get your feet dirty!

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Sandi Asker

Calista and I took a short cut the other day.


Oops. We ended up knee deep, stuck in the mud.
We were on our way to the gym to play and I quickly realized we could not go inside with an extra 10 pounds of mud on our legs and feet!
Thankfully, Brian was just 3 blocks away, at home. He came to get us.
I laughed hysterically but Calista was a bit traumatized!
I was a bit traumatized after I washed our pants and the mud, rocks and gunk were still quite present after 2 loads. The third did the trick, thankfully.
Just another day in the life of the Askers.

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So the sun stood still…

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Sandi Asker

“so the sun stood still and the moon stopped…” – Joshua 10:13

Recently, this story was part of a lesson at my church Bible study.  Joshua and his people had just been duped into making a pact with a neighboring pagan nation.  This was not a good idea.  But when this nation called upon Israel for help in war, they came through.  Let’s not make a bad situation worse!

They sent their best men and marched all night, chapter 10 tells us.  Then they arrived in an unknown land.  God had promised Joshua success, but I’m sure they were still reeling.  After I have been caught doing something awful, I always feel a little low.  Then add being up all night…

Recently, Elam has been waking up super early.  One day it was 3:45am.  Sunday it was 1:15 and (today) Monday, 4:45.  Yikes.  At least I am sitting in my basement with the fireplace on, not marching up hill.  Although getting through this Monday may feel a bit like marching up hill into battle.  We will see.

Well they arrive and it simply says Joshua “said to the LORD, ‘Sun stand still…and you, moon…'”  And they did.

When the odds are stacked against us, when we are weary, when we desperately need something, what is our tendency?  Mine is to go to bed, give up or get frustrated.  Sometimes I’ll pray a “Lord have mercy,” as I roll out of bed to get Elam.  But asking – perhaps it’s not too much of a stretch to even say tell – the sun and moon to stand still?

What could I pray for that would be audacious like Joshua?  I too know that God has the victory and that we win.  Big, hairy, audacious prayers: BHAP.  That’s how I want to start praying.  It’s actually fun!

If you know about our work on campus, you know we need staff.  So Brian and I are asking for 3 staff in the next year, one being a man.  In the last month, two women have shown interest.  We asked last week for a second fridge because of all of our food for students and our Sunday night meetings.  I sent one email asking my Bible study leader if I could ask at church.  She wrote back, “you’re not going to believe this but we just purchased a new fridge and my husband and I were wondering what to do with our old one.” “Actually,” I said, “I do believe it!”  Lastly, we are praying for a certain athletic team at St Scholastica that has a bad reputation on campus.  I met with a coach last week who is a Christian who attends our church.  He shared with me that he regularly prays with another coach – the coach of that same notorious team.

I think we are on to something. As an InterVarsity movement in the Twin Ports, we want to take God at His word, “Ask and you will receive.” We’ll let you know what happens!

Today I’ll settle for staying awake and not flipping out with my kids as I got less than 5 hours of sleep last night.  But after writing and reflecting on Joshua 10:13, I may just ask God for more.

 

 

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March 12, 1980

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Sandi Asker

31 years ago, a young woman and a young man had their first child.  He was a delightful boy and they loved him.  He loved to play with rocks and faithfully lined them up on walls and sidewalks.  He had lots of energy and loved to run.  He talked his parents into allowing him to his Christian elementary school in order go to public school so he could tell his friends about Jesus.

He didn’t have the perfect life, however.  He was often sick and his worried parents did their best to nurse him many months.  He also couldn’t see well and had to wear awful glasses.  He endured many unkind words from friends because of those glasses.  Once he hit a baseball and broke a window, at church.  Another time he smacked a kid at school.  Unfortunately, it was the principal’s son.

He proved to be an amazing leader.  He experienced growth in many places where he led.  His youth group and college ministry flourished partly because of gifts in faith and leadership.  During college, he realized his passion for computers would not turn into a career path.  Telling people about Jesus was more appealing and he decided to do it full time.

It was about this time that a girl entered his life.  She smiled at him.  She invited him into her circle of friends.  They loved sports. She encouraged him to pick up running again.  They “watched” football together, over the phone.  At some point, he realized this girl was her best friend.  Then he knew he was in for it: LOVE.

The rest is history: love, marriage, kids and ministry.  This is his life.  He delights in his children.  He delights in his students and staff and how they tell others about Jesus.  He empowers his wife.  He sends her away to study.

This boy has become a man.  I have been privileged to only know him a brief time.  Some of the story I have shared may not even be fully accurate.   But on this day, 31 years ago, my husband was born.  And oh how grateful I am to the One who gives all life.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”  I John 3:1

 

 

 

 

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John 13 Leadership

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Sandi Asker

John 13:3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

I am in a leadership course for my masters at Wheaton College.  And am alone.  (Read no kids, no husband and great time to blog!!)  And what have we focused on regarding leadership? Our security in knowing who we are before we act. Our integrity. Our hearts. Our spiritual connectivity to God.
A book we read, A Failure of Nerve encourages leaders to not react to others’ anxiety.  Much of our leadership is reactionary.  Anyone with a kid who has tantrums gets this: Calista starts to freak out and sometimes I do too!  Instead, if I am secure as Jesus was: Whose am I?  What power has God given me?  Where am I going?  Then and only then do I have a prayer in the face of her tantrums.  Tantrums, social injustices, death, cancer or any other broken part of life on earth should not make me lose it!  We do not need to lose our nerve in the face of opposition or temptation.

Perhaps another way of thinking about it is in terms of faith.  Nothing we face is more powerful than the God in Whom we trust.  We can keep believing Him no matter what.  Instead of reacting, we could be cultivating our integrity, our hearts and our spiritual development so that when those issues arise, we are prepared to deal with them.

We could all probably list many pastors, priests and Christians who have failed.  They maybe were successful leaders in exterior ways.  But on the inside, they were rotten.  Jesus used the term “white-washed tombs.”

I do not want to be a white-washed tomb.  I don’t want to be afraid to deal with the mess on the inside.  And I think if I do deal with it, no matter the tantrum, the injustice or the situation, God can equip me to lead.

Sometimes when I’m writing, I feel like asking the reader a question, but I don’t know who you are!  Or I want to break into prayer.  Or I edit and edit and rewrite and then wonder, what is a blog truly for?  Or who is it for?  Hmmm…  Sounds like I need to apply John 13 here!  I know Whose I am, the power of the written word and where I am going.  So boom.  I’m done tonight.  Hope you enjoyed my musings this March evening:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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