CALVIN SEMINARY CONNECTIONS

I was asked this past weekend if any of my colleagues had reached out to
me in any way. The answer is NO--no contacts whatever since I drove my
cluttered green mini-van out of the parking lot on August 31, 2006. I
do have connections with students, however. They have not abandoned me.
They warm my heart time and time again. Today I received an email from
a former student, thanking me for my book, "Left Behind in A Megachurch
World." He is now a minister in a "left-behind" church. He attaches a
review that ends with these words: "This is an excellent read. It will
encourage the person who feels “stuck” in a small church to appreciate
what they’ve got. It will also help the person who worships in a megachurch
to wonder if they’re really got it all. I love Tucker’s narrative
approach to this topic. She is a great storyteller, and introduces the
reader to a variety of stories that depict the “left-behind” church in
action. This is a book worth reading. You’ll never look at your church
in the same way again."

TENDER MERCIES

I've become a regular columnist for Plain Truth Magazine with a column by the above title. My first column just came out in hard copy and also on this site. The March/April cover-story is "Escape from Slavery," a wonderful article by Greg Albrecht on Harriet Tubman. Click here for a free subscription.

An Ode to Winter

We emerged on skiis out of our Narnia wonderland late this afternoon to be treated to a glorious sunset. I must write an ode to winter.

DEEP FREEZE

The winter wonderland continues amidst a deep freeze. It's a terrible time for homeless people and those too poor to have homes properly insulated as well as for postal workers and others with outside jobs. But for the rest of us, the best way to deal with real winter is to face it head on. We were out skiing again today, starting from our driveway and skiing a block to the end of the road and on into a wooded wetland along the river--forging a trail as we go. It's like having our own private woods through an uncharted snowy Narnia, no one anywhere in sight.

WINTER WONDERLAND!

To my friends down South, you don't know what you're missing. You just can't beat a real Michigan winter. We've been skiing this week on trails near home through the woods and along the river. Unbelievable beauty--nature in her finest attire. True we have a big driveway to shovel, but I take that philosophically. Years ago while shoveling the drive at my business, a friend stopped by and sympathetically enquired if I might be able to hire someone to do it. I responded: Sure, I probably could; and I could probably hire someone to go to the club and work out for me. But, I choose to do the shoveling myself. It's my free health benefits program, I told him. I actually have acquaintances who hire people to shovel, mow, and rake--and then pay to go and work out at the club. I don't get it. I guess it's one of those unsolved puzzles of life.

The river is rising due to ice jams, so it could mean the road will be flooded (hopefully not our house) and we'll be housebound for a while. Wonderful place, though, to be housebound.