The Minnesota History Center is Free every Tuesday evening until 8:00.

It always has interesting exhibits and your kids will learn.

If you have young kids, make sure to bring them to climb around in the Grain Elevator.

As an aside, do you like how this picture formatted?

Here is the story:

When I was fifteen (give or take a year or two) and it was early in December when my parents encouraged my siblings and me to memorize the Christmas portion of Luke 2.  I decided to take up the challenge, and so did my sister who is three years younger than me.

God gave different gifts to my sister and me.  She is more personable, makes friends more easily, and had more of a servant attitude.  I was more academically minded and perhaps more suited to the task of memorization.  But she took up the challenge.  I’m ashamed to say that I hoped I would be the only one to succeed; I wanted it to be more clear who was the smart kid.  I had a chance to help her, and I did not take it.

So here’s this week’s Fighter Verse:  “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” (Ro. 15:1-2)

I did not do this when I was fifteen.  I used my strength to build myself up –to please myself.  I did not use my strength as God wanted me to.  If I had, I would have helped her, perhaps she would have succeeded, and I would have gotten joy out of the process.

So this week as I was talking about this verse with my kids, I told them that story.  I pray that my failure will at least have the benefit of serving as a counter example to them.  And maybe to you, as well.

Here is this week’s song. When I wrote it, I wasn’t thinking about the story about my sister, but the phrasing almost makes it sound like I was trying to lecture: And not to please ourselves, not to please ourselves, NOT to please ourselves.

As we were eating our picnic lunch

. . . on top of the interestingly landscaped hill

. . . we saw what seemed (to our Minnesota eyes) to be odd

: families were sledding

. . . down the brown grass, on real sleds and big pieces of cardboard.

. . . so of course we (with our Minnesota sensibilities) chuckled. How can you call it sledding when there’s no snow?

And then we went on a walk. We visited the Arkansas River Nature Center. We found a couple geocaches. And then on the way back to our car . . .

. . our kids found some of the big pieces of cardboard that a family had left . . .

. . . and they did the obvious thing. They sledded down the hill.

. . . and they, of course, had a lot of fun. And then as must happen, and as the sun was going down. . .

I, the Responsible Father, had to try it. It goes without saying that, on my way down, I turned sideways, turned over and got fairly grassy and dirty. But it was fun.

The End

I now leave you . . .

. . . with two artistic photos from that day.

. . . using my definition of ‘artistic’, of course.

Go to Michael’s and buy them one of these:

They cost about a dollar, are maybe four inches across, come with their own paint and are fairly easy for a young child to build.

There’s lots of different vehicles to choose from, so you can get a different one for each child.

Try it!

Each December for perhaps 8 or ten years we’ve been going to the St Croix Valley Tree Farm to get our Christmas tree. It’s a pretty drive and it makes getting the tree an event. We recommend it.

So while we were cutting down our tree, there was another family with a Mom, a Dad and two late teen age kids. The two kids seemed to be having fun and they did the cutting and we took a picture of their family for them and they took a picture of ours. There was no sign of these teens being grumpy or bored.

Later, I asked the Mom if she had any tips in raising kids who would want to do something like going to get a tree even when they’re older and she immediately said, “Do it every year.”

She said that they had considered getting a tree in a lot and the kids insisted that they do what they had done for so many years. That’s what I want.

But here’s the potentially more important point: Do you think that if this works for getting Christmas trees, it might also work for more eternally crucial habits?

Perhaps.

Our family makes a practice every year to take a drive around neighborhoods and look at Christmas Lights.

We did this on Friday and happened across a home in Shoreview that is really doing the job well.

They have created an impressive system of lights that they’ve coordinated and synchronized to music that you can listen to on the radio. And they just happen to be across the street from the Sitzer park parking lot so you can watch for a long time.

It’s impressive and fun and gave our whole family joy. We recommend it. Bring some food and they’ll donate it to the Emergency Food Shelf.

More information at mnlightshow.com.

Go see it.

So I was driving our 12 passenger van to Wednesday night church on a fairly busy suburban road and Bang! I heard a very loud noise right next to me. It sounded like someone had thrown a wheelbarrow at our car.

Whatever it was that hit us had turned the driver side mirror, so I couldn’t see what it was that hit us. I pulled off the road and saw that there was indeed a dent on the van. I turned around to find whatever it was that hit me – but I saw nothing that could have been the cause.

And then at church I took another look (getting some input from Andy, who nicely came out to take a look) and saw that the dents were more extensive than I had previously thought. The door also was caved in and the dents were on nearly seven feet of the driver’s side of the door.

I have no proof, but I suspect it was a deer that hit me. It’s weird not knowing. Ideas?

2. Funny kids story: After looking at the van with Andy (and I was carrying my now three year old son Foster) and after I commented that I was going to have to get it fixed, he (Andy) said, “That stinks.”

To which Foster replied, “Yeah, that is Dinx. That is really Dinx.”

And let that inspire you to change.