Monthly Archives: July 2002

Wild Kingdom at the Obergs

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We’ve had some interesting wildlife sightings of late…A week or so ago, Michele and I were in the family room watching TV when we suddenly noticed that a raccoon had walked up to the screen door and was pressing its face against the screen, calmly staring at us for several seconds before disappearing. Then two nights ago as I was letting Sarah (the dog) out for her late night constitutional, my attention was drawn to a large shadow, just beyond the reach of the floodlight. I suddenly realized it was a large buck, frozen in stillness in the middle of our backyard. He hesitated for just a few more seconds before disappearing swiftly and in total silence into the darkness. Wow, that was a heart-pounding moment! I think he may have been on his way to sample our vegetable garden or something. Fortunately, Sarah never even knew he was there. Also, we have a large, fat groundhog living under our garden shed. He (or she) will appear occasionally, standing as tall as he can to see if there is any danger, before going back into his hole. One time I came within just a few feet of him before he realized my presence and scurried down his hole. Finally, about three weeks ago while working on the computer, my attention was drawn to a lot of birds flying around in the backyard in obvious agitation. When I looked out the window, to my astonishment, I noticed that a huge old crow with a white streak on its head had seized a fledgling robin, almost full grown, and was busy killing and eating the poor thing. Despite being mobbed by tons of other birds (not just robins), he calmly stood there on the ground, eating his fill until he was done. He then flew away. It’s Wild Kingdom at the Obergs!

He is the First and the Last

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Today I read a passage of scripture in Revelation 1:17-18: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. That is very comforting to me. So much of my life I have spent worried about something or other, anxious and depressed. Of course for me and for many people, the ultimate worry is death, but Jesus holds the keys to death and Hades. He will take care of you and me, no matter what happens. Elsewhere Jesus says, “…and noone shall take them out of my hand.” In a few days, Keegan leaves for his annual missions trip with his grandpa. He and my father-in-law will be spending a week on an Indian reservation on Manitoulin Island in Ontario. We will miss him while he is gone! Yesterday I met with the associate pastor of Upland Community Church, where Michele and I have recently decided to make our church home. We had a good talk and I was pleased to hear that he, too, used to attend Wheaton Bible Church, our previous home church.

Refugee shipment

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Summer is on the downward side as the days march on. I need to get in gear and complete the part-time side job I agreed to work on many months ago. But I am having trouble getting motivated, even though the job involves some really interesting work. I am working on a special collection of primary and secondary source material of C.S. Lewis and other notables such as Dorothy Sayers. This collection includes personal letters, photographs, and of course, books, as well as other items. Yesterday I saw the book given to Joy Gresham by C.S. Lewis on the occasion of their first meeting. It’s a copy of Mere Christianity, with the flyleaf inscribed in her hand to commemorate that meeting. Neat stuff! Lots of things have been happening in other areas of our lives. My brother, Jeff, bought Keegan an 18′ swimming pool, and we now have that set up. Keegan is as happy as a clam…er, fish. He is in the pool so much that I’m fairly certain he will soon grow fins and scales. I finally managed to install the wonderful Tiffany-style hanging lamp that my mother gave us. She and my father had bought it almost 30 years ago and it hung in our house all the years I was growing up, so it possesses many memories for me. We had a short but sweet visit from my in-laws this past weekend. As they normally do, they brought along a huge array of special grocery items for us from Trader Joe’s, which we can’t get around here. It’s what we jokingly refer to as the “refugee airdrop shipment.” Ah, ecstasy, to enjoy Trader Joe’s black licorice, English toffee, almond clusters, dried tropical fruit mix, plus tons of homemade bread and other goodies. Saturday evening, we met my mother and brother, Jeff, for supper in Lafayette at a nice Greek restaurant. My mother had made us a wonderful chocolate cake, plus her special banana bread. We can snarf on delicious food for days now, if not weeks ;-) .

Outdoor work

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Yesterday afternoon and evening, we had our first thunderstorm in a long time. It was refreshing, but probably not enough rain fell to make it worthwhile. Now I have to get out and mow the lawn again soon! Keegan stayed over night at a friend’s house, so it was kind of a strange evening with just Michele, Tristan and I at home. I thought it was funny to open my Bible up today and read a passage in Proverbs 24:27, which reads: “Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.” That kind of sums up what I’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks! While I’ve enjoyed the time spent cleaning up the yard, planting in the garden, etc., I unfortunately got a bad sunburn and am suffering the consequences. Itching and pain! Would that I didn’t burn so easily! A few days ago I was reading one of my all-time favorite devotionals, Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman. Part of what she wrote that caught my attention was this: “We look at our burdens and heavy loads, and shrink from them; but as we lift them and bind them about our hearts, they become wings, and on them we rise and soar toward God.” (The full text of that day’s entry may be found at http://www.backtothebible.org/devotions/classics/streams/189.)