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I was frustrated with the return to cold weather, snow, and rain. I was walking from my kitchen to the living room, and I was thinking to myself how bored I was. I wanted to be outside! I sat down and asked the kids if they wanted to do something. “What?” I said, “I don’t know…any ideas?” Then there was silence…and I realized I was trying to win a battle against their electronic devices, which meant I would lose. What child wants to hang out with their parent over their phone/computer/gaming device or TV? So, I decided to research fun...
This last week, I needed an injection in my eye. They numbed it well, so I didn’t feel a thing. They used an Eye Speculum to keep my eye open so I wouldn’t shut the eyelid. I instantly thought of the scripture in Matthew 13: “So they show that what Isaiah said about them is true: ‘You people will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not really see. Yes, the minds of these people are now closed.” Numerous times in the Old Testament, the prophets would say they have eyes, but they don’t see. The we...
Easter seems early this year, and I’m not ready to celebrate it. The holiday allows me to contemplate my relationship with Jesus and what it means to be a Christian. I often fall into the trap of wanting God to take care of me, to fill my needs, and not allow hurtful or difficult things to happen to me, creating a utopia where everything is good. I found this short article and wanted to share it. I thought it was so good. “I would have pulled Joseph out. Out of that pit. Out of that prison. Out of that pain. And would have cheated nations out o...
Years ago, before my wife and I had kids, she would commute about 40 minutes to work every day. When I had days off in the middle of the week or came home from work early, I would sometimes use the time to surprise her. This would usually involve cleaning the house thoroughly, knocking out a handful of “honey do” items, and then making an elaborate (for my level of cooking prowess) dinner. One thing I remember from those days is racing the clock to get everything done that I wanted to do before she got home from work. I remember that I did not...
This year, I have been preaching through the book of Genesis’ accounts of the lives of the Patriarchs of the Jewish faith. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph are considered to be the founders of the Jewish faith and the starting point for God dealing with humanity in the Bible. All of those men had something in common: they were all sojourners. Sojourners are people who live in a land that isn’t theirs amongst people who are not their own people. In the ancient world, sojourners had no rights or legal protections. In addition, they were lim...
Kierkegaard once wrote: “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward.” To be more accurate, this is a summary of a journal entry he wrote. The idea is quite simple. We can only really understand our lives by looking back at what happened. Events, challenges, choices, difficulties, losses, and everything else must be experienced day to day. The challenge is that in the moment, we lack the proper context to find meaning in our experiences or to make sense of them. The challenge is that we can only live moving forward. This...
Many years ago, not long after I first got married to my wife, I worked in a retail electronics store for about 6 months while looking for work as a youth pastor. That included several months of Christmas retail sales. It was pretty genuinely terrible. I was often shocked at how angry and nasty the customers were as they were supposed to be preparing themselves for the joyous Christmas holiday seasons. I remember one guy, who had waited a long time to make his purchase because the store was really busy. When I finally rang him up, he was...
A few years ago, I participated in the Master Gardener class that was offered at the Big Sandy Library. Learning about plants, soil, landscaping, and other topics was quite informative, but I think the best part of the class for me was learning about how plants live/operate. In more than a few occasions, I spotted tidbits of information that helped me understand the teachings of Jesus in a clearer light. I also caught a few life alessons. One that has hung with me and comes to mind often relates to the rings trees develop as they age. Most peop...
The biblical book of Genesis in the Old Testament tells the story of Joseph. Joseph was Abraham’s great-grandson. He had 11 brothers but was favored above the others by his father. His father’s open favoritism toward one son and early signs that Joseph would be favored by God over his brothers kindled jealousy amongst the siblings. Eventually, the other brothers hatched a plot to get rid of Joseph altogether. From that point forward, Joseph’s life is a series of successes and setbacks. It’s noteworthy because the setbacks are pretty univers...
Best restaurant in town! The SENIOR CENTER has an amazing menu! Fantastic, cooks and exciting foods that I had never heard of. They really put a lot of a love and creative work into their meals. My favorite was chicken stirfry on rice cooked just right, with a crisp Chinese mandarin almond salad. I am away from my real home in Big Timber, during fall and winter to work harvest in Big Sandy. It has been a lifesaver for me that the town of Big Sandy provides a warm, balanced meal, so I don’t have to eat a cold sandwich in a cold shop. It is nice...
I have been writing columns for the Mountaineer for around 11 years. At different times, these articles have dealt with marriage, family, spirituality, depression, other mental health issues, and a plethora of other topics. Every year over New Year’s, I find myself reflecting on what to write that will help folks who are making resolutions. I’ve talked about S.M.A.R.T. goals, given tips for consistency, and other bits of advice to help readers of the Mountaineer with simple, life change advice. This year, while reflecting on the topic, I had...
A new year is always a time for reflection. During December, I heard the word hope many times and realized I needed to renew my hope. Life is hard, and sometimes depression tells us the future is bleak. Listening to politics never mentions how the future looks bright! I was challenged by an article I read to eavesdrop on conversations around me and see how many of them had hope in the tone of their conversation. And to be honest, that day, there was none. I hope those who read this paper realize that I am a Christian; if not, let me clarify...
Are you a reader? I am a definite wannabe reader! I absolutely love searching for books, buying books, and having a ton of books! Have I read them all? NOPE! I have good intentions of reading them, and sometimes I do, but if the book doesn’t capture me in the first three pages, I stop reading it. How about when someone says to you, "You wanna read a good book? I have a good recommendation." I immediately think, "No, I don’t want your recommendation because I’m a book snob and want to find books on my own." But I do give in, and I’m thankfu...
Christmas 2023 I can’t help but stop my hectic life and think about what I need to do for Christmas. Once again, I didn’t get decorations up, once again, no letters, no Christmas cookies, and I still don’t have all my presents bought. But I have spent more time this year preparing my heart for Christmas’s meaning. Richard Foster is one of my favorite writers. His book Celebration of Discipline remains a compelling book for me. The first sentence says, “ Superficiality is the curse of our age.” My faith affects all my relationships with my fam...
Christian author, Jeanette Lockerbie once shared an anecdote about her daughter: “Four-year-old Martha, hugging a doll in each of her pudgy little arms, looked wistfully up at her mother and said, “Mamma, I love them and love them and love them, but they never love me back.” I came across this passage while preparing for Advent sermons this year. It stood out to me because little Martha’s love for her dolls demonstrates something powerful for us about God’s incredible love for us at Christmas. Our natural bent toward sin and ignoring God outri...
Over the weekend, my wife and I took the kids along on a run to Great Falls for Christmas shopping. I generally enjoy taking the kids along for grocery runs or out for meals in town. However, there’s something about the Christmas season that turns the energy level in kids to 11 on a scale of ten. That spike in energy is accompanied by similar increases in noise, crowds, traffic, expense, and general stress. By the end of our outing, my wife and I were thoroughly frazzled and exhausted. Peace on Earth was the furthest thing from our hearts as w...
My younger brother runs marathons. He intensely trains for them in the months, weeks, and days leading up to race day. Sometimes those races involve particularly difficult obstacles, like running up a mountain or in Death Valley where the heat coming off the asphalt can melt your shoes while you run. He trains accordingly: running up and down hills, lifting weights, or even working out in the sauna to increase his heat resistance. In training season, he eats a certain way to fuel and prepare his body. Paul draws a comparison between running in...
Every year, Americans fail to spend $23 billion dollars in gift cards. That’s an average of $187 per person in gift certificates, Amazon cards, Starbucks bucks, and other monetary gifts they’ve received and left in a drawer somewhere doing nothing. 47% of American adults have unused gift cards at home. What’s particularly interesting is the higher the household income of the person in question, the more unspent money they are likely to have stashed away and forgotten. I’ll confess that I have more than a few gift cards for businesses that ha...
Over the weekend, I officiated the Celebration of Life (memorial service) for Ronald Christiansen. Anyone who has lived in Big Sandy for more than a few years knew Ronald and his twin brother, Donald, because the pair dutifully spent their days walking the streets of Big Sandy collecting cans. Ronald was a developmentally disabled person who had lived in a string of institutions that were supposed to care for him. They took up residence at the Marx home through their placement at Big Sandy Activities (BSA) residential facility in 1981. For...
Whenever I watch a television commercial or read about a new product making amazing claims about how a new medicine or kitchen gadget will change my life, I find myself asking “Does it work?” I read reviews, reach out to friends who have tried it, or just buy it to see if the hype is real. Usually, I find that the answer to the “does it work?” question is “sort of.” Arthritis miracle cures sort of relieve pain. Weight loss miracles sort of shrink my waistline. Kitchen tools kind of perform as advertised. The simplest solution to the questio...
What’s the use of owning my own newspaper if you can’t write what’s important to me? I just recently spent a weekend with my brother and sisters at the family cabin at The Pines Recreation area on Fort Peck Lake (ok, it’s really a reservoir). It was my brother’s 70th birthday, and the cabin is 50 years old. It was a surprise birthday party for my brother, who lives near Portland. My brother and his wife drove through Big Sandy on Friday. I was supposed to lie and tell him I couldn’t make it. As it was, I had an ear infection and was at the...
After The Last Supper, not long before Jesus was arrested and turned over to be crucified, he taught a flurry of last lessons to his disciples as they traveled to the Mount of Olives to pray. Perhaps one of the most powerful things he said at that time was recorded in the gospel of John: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” That’s not a small command. Jesus loved his d...
Before every meal I ate with my family growing up, we would pray the Lord’s Prayer. When I was young, I don’t think I really understood what it meant. But as I got older, it made more and more sense to me. One line that I understood early on, but have grown to appreciate as containing all kinds of depth is, “Give us this day our daily bread.” When I was little, I believed I was praying for God to make sure we had food to eat every day. It’s the most straight forward way to understand the prayer and it makes sense. We should ask God to make sure...
Giving Back I had spent the entire day from 10:00-4:00 watching football in Box Elder starting with Junior High Football. It consists of 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. It’s a fun watch, but a long watch. Two hours of watching young boys learning and celebrating a game they love. The varsity Pioneer football started at 1:00. I tried to take some good photographs, but this game was intense. The kind of game that’s exhausting to watch. I made it to the Harvest Festival at 4:00. I sat down to eat—yes it was early, but I was hungry. I wande...
A family pet brings enormous joys, of laughter and companionship. Often they sleep in the same bed. Ivan was too big he would take up the whole bed. He was a Great Dane Massive. Nathan bought him when Henry came home from Seattle's Children's Hospital with the firsthand knowledge that life is precious and oftentimes too short. Henry was proof that miracles still happen, and Ivan represented that. He came to live with me on the farm because he was just too big to live in a smaller townhouse....
