I grew up on a small 160 acre farm near Pella, Iowa and it was a very different life than living here in the city. It was a life lived with a deep understanding of the natural world and of God and our dependence on him. Farmers are quite attuned to the world around them. They read the skies and recognize the different kinds of clouds and what weather they might bring. They observe when a cow is si...
Read More »The prayer tub wasn’t working. It was a couple weeks ago and it just quit. The lovely Mrs. Hugen went out one morning to relax in it only to discover ice cold water and no electrical power to the spa. The Encouraging Discipling Communities conference was fast approaching and I wasn’t able to any longer sit in the spa in the middle of the night and pray because it simply wasn’t working. I checked a...
Read More »At Vespers one evening Sue prayed at the beginning and mentioned something about God being around the bend and it stuck in my brain. Here is the poem that leaked out… Around The Bend Rodney J. Hugen Just around the bend, only a half turn away, legions of winged ones, mighty warriors all, are poised, hovering, ever attentive, eyes searching, a gesture here, a glance there, readying with bated...
Read More »I am overjoyed to report that Derek is doing very well. We went to the hospital this week to a follow up appointment with the ear, nose, and throat specialist. She looked at where the spot in his throat had been and it was completely healed. He is being weaned off the medication that treated the acid reflux he suffered from that kept irritating the small open sore that he got when they intubated h...
Read More »Mom would never miss a clothespin from the hundreds in the blue cloth bag, or notice the missing wooden ruler from the drawer of school supplies. There were bags of red rubber bands furnished by The Evening American, a newspaper unlike the godless Republic that delivered an ad filled Sunday edition, forcing kids to violate the Sabbath Day. If you held your tongue just right, you could use a bit of...
Read More »The Middle Day It is the day between two days, memories of what once was, generic hope of what might be. Just another middle day, like a middle child alone in his room, rejected and ignored. A father’s back is turned, a mother mourns her loss. Friends abandon friends and quickly run away. A lonely borrowed grave becomes a body’s home which happens most times when death comes as a shock...
Read More »Sometimes two things are true, but seem like they can’t be. We often hear those things as not complementary, but divided. In my recent sermon I talked about finding rest in community and shared that it was restful to be humble and to follow Paul’s instruction to consider others better than ourselves. Considering all others to be better than ourselves allows us to let go of the stress o...
Read More »Every day the phone rang. Sometimes a day or two might slip by without it ringing, but for the most part it rang every day. Sometimes it rang several times a day. I couldn’t or wouldn’t always answer because I was in a meeting or counseling someone or cooking dinner or any of a myriad of other reasons. Sometimes I just wasn’t in the mood to answer. I’d be watching an episod...
Read More »The ‘I love you’ girl is running wild. Missing part of her brain and experiencing fine motor skills issues has meant that she’s been unable to walk. She crawls all over the place and loves to ‘walk’ which is her name for being pushed around in her stroller. At age eleven she is incredibly strong primarily because she is constantly pulling herself up into chairs and dr...
Read More »Sometime around 5:30 this morning my Mom went to be with Jesus. It is an answer to her deepest longing. We rejoice that she is with him and grieve our loss. She was a good mom. Born during the depression as one of ten children she knew the realities of being poor. She married young and had a us kids to care for, especially my little sister who struggles with cerebral palsy. Then Dad died leaving h...
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