The Last of the UP, 2022 – Camping Post #7

Well, finally we are here, looking at the last hodge-podge mix of pictures from our annual camping trip to Michigan’s UP. Amazing that after – I don’t know – at least eight vacations up there, that I still have more things to see and more pictures to take. Already looking forward to next year. 

Fortune Lake, the lake which Bewabic State Park is on.

In Ishpeming

Still in Ishpeming

Alger Falls 

Wagner Falls

In Iron River

Still in Iron River

The pleasantly delightful Buck Lake Park 

Summer is way too short

 

Let's Just Get Along

Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.

          What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other. (Romans 14:5-9, The Message)

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but I use different versions of the Bible. Some translations make more sense to me or are just easier to read. I don’t usually like The Message Bible, because it seems like it gets pretty wordy. It’s supposed to be easy to read and understand, but if the verses get too long, my attention span wanders. You know, like when you’re listening to a long sermon.

Anyway, I read Romans chapter 14 a while back and really liked what it had to say. I marked it to write about on my blog at some point. It seems like that time has arrived, and I really like how The Message Bible describes the point that Jesus is making.

So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture: “As I live and breathe,” God says, “every knee will bow before me; Every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God.”

So mind your own business. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God. (Romans 14:10-12, The Message)

Once again, our country is embroiled in controversy and dissent. Everyone has a very strong opinion on this issue of student loan forgiveness. And no one wants to bend or wants to even rationally discuss it with the opposition.

Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. (Romans 14:13, The Message)

How about if we all just stop the madness – again – and just get along. How about if we just listen to Jesus. How about if we all just take a deep breath and find peace and spread peace to others.   

So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. (Romans 14:19-21, The Message)

 

The Rest of the Museum - Camping Post #6

   I’m sorry that I didn’t post anything earlier this week, but we were once again out of town – as hard as that is to believe. Today’s post is still from when we were camping in the UP in the middle of July. There has been so much happening since then!  

But anyway, a week ago, I shared pictures from the one-room schoolhouse at the Iron County Historical Museum. Today hosts pictures from the rest of the grounds which are located at the site of the former Caspian Mine which closed in 1937. The tall headframe stands over a flooded mine shaft that is 539 feet deep!

As many times as I’ve visited the various mines of upper Michigan, you would think I would know how they work. Someday.

Imagine taking this to work on a frosty, January morning.

This is the Carrie Jacobs-Bond house. She was born in Janesville, Wisconsin in 1862 and later lived in Iron River with her second husband for seven years. She was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. She also formed her own sheet music publishing company when no one would take her seriously because she was a woman. She had an amazing, though tragic, life.

This was what her dining room table might have looked like. And surely what mine looks like at every meal. Not.

This looks more like my kitchen table.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church, built around 1912.

Quite obviously, and disappointedly, circa 1976 on the inside.

It was nice that Dino could join us as we walked around the grounds, even if he couldn’t go in the buildings. Like the silly boy needs to use the outhouse!

Hubby and I had a good day and even enjoyed our picnic lunch there.

For more information on the Iron County Historical Museum, click this link: 

          https://ironcountymuseum.org/exhibits/

This link will give you the museum brochure which has much more information on it: 

         https://ironcountymuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Museum-Tour-Guide-2.pdf

For more on Carrie Jacobs-Bond, click this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Jacobs-Bond

The First Commandment

      Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3, King James Version)

Since there’s more to the first commandment than the one verse, let me give it all to you in an easier translation than the King James Version.

God spoke, and these were his words: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. Worship no god but me. Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws. (Exodus 20:1-6, Good News Translation)

We finally made it back to the beginning, the first – and perhaps most important – law which God gave to His people.

If you think back on all the other commandments, if we just kept this one, we wouldn’t break the others. If we put other gods – possessions, power, people – above the one true God, that’s when we steal, covet, cheat, commit adultery, kill.

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37, New International Version)

If we put our love and our trust in God Almighty and put all those other distractions on the back burner, we would have peace in our hearts. We wouldn’t have to look elsewhere for happiness.

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:10, New International Version)

But what about the hard-hearted non-believers, the ones who have ripped the Ten Commandments out of public places, claiming that this is a free country and that by posting God’s laws for all to see, Christians are forcing our agenda on them?

Folks, you need to have something bigger and more powerful than you are. Something or someone that you can turn to in times of trouble, that has the ability to rescue you when you are sinking, that will love you more than you can ever love yourself. Without that, you are nothing. And if you can truly find that god somewhere other than in heaven, then congratulations, I guess.

“But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15, New Living Translation)

Because the one true, triune God is the One who I know will always have my back. And I will try, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to believe in and worship only Him. 

Going Back to School - Camping post #5

   The Iron County Museum is a complex of historic buildings just outside of Iron River, Michigan. We first toured it four years ago when we were camping at the nearby State Park. In the middle of July, on our yearly camping trip to the area this year, we visited the museum once again.

In a future post, I will share the other exhibits throughout the grounds, but today I’m only going to share the one-room schoolhouse.

The Pioneer Baumgartner school was built in 1896. Like many school buildings of the time, it was named for the person on whose land it was built. The Pioneer school was moved from its initial location to the museum grounds and restored in 1988.

I’ve been fascinated by one-room schoolhouses for two years. That was when I started writing my latest novel which has one of those schools as its main character.   

The schoolhouse in my book was built of brick around 1860 in a town that is in a vague location. I wanted it to be in northern Illinois or Indiana because that location would fit with the rest of the story. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any record of brick schoolhouses that far north and west in that time period. Ah, such is the quandary of the novelist! 

My goal is to finish writing this novel in the next week or so. Send me a message if you want to be one of the first to read the rough draft. 

In the meantime, best wishes to all students, teachers, bus drivers, and others who will be returning to modern schools in the next few weeks.

 The Iron County Historical Museum website: https://ironcountymuseum.org/

Pictured Rocks part 2 - Camping Post #4

   Just because I am retired, does not mean I need to fill my every minute all summer long. Someone should have told me that in May.

We took our yearly camping trip to the UP from July 17^th through the 23^rd. I worked one day the following week and three and a half days the next week. The week after that, which was last week, Hubby and I went camping again. Add to that the fact that our internet was out for three days during that time, and – well – I am so far behind on blogging. At this point, I can’t remember much of that first camping trip. Maybe you don’t want to hear about it anyway, right?

But two weeks ago, I promised more pictures of Pictured Rocks. So here they are. 

Just as the boat turned around to head back to the dock, this fog rolled in out of nowhere.

And then, just like that, it was gone. 

The good thing about posting the first batch two weeks ago is that you might not remember having seen some of these.

Of course, I took 300 pictures on that two-hour cruise on Lake Superior that day, so I hope I didn’t repeat any.

Such cool colored rocks.

Except for the pictures where I played with the settings on my camera and really made the colors pop!

The Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse was built in 1868 but was put out of service in 1913, having been replaced by the new range lights across the channel in Munising.

Last, these lucky kayakers who get to see the rocks up close and personal. Maybe. 

The Second Commandment

          Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7, King James Version)

What is this commandment all about? According to Luther’s Small Catechism, it means this: We are to fear and love God, so that we do not curse, swear, practice satanic arts, lie, or deceive using God's name, but instead use that very name in every time of need to call on, pray to, praise, and give thanks to God.

That explanation says a lot, a lot more than we want to think about. And why is that? Because, once again, this is a commandment many of us break all the time!

I’m just going to keep it simple, though, and focus on one point in all of that.

We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people, whom God made like himself. Praises and curses come from the same mouth! My brothers and sisters, this should not happen. (James 3:9-10, New Century Version)

Don’t swear. Don’t use the name of God or of Jesus Christ as an expletive. Don’t throw any of the names of God into your general conversation. (You know the conversations I’m referring to; we’ve all heard them in movies or even at work.) Use His names only in thanks, praise and prayer.  

And I always take this commandment a step further. Don’t use the other words which used to be banned from TV and radio. Just don’t do it. (And, again, you know which ones I mean.)

Sure, believers agree that we shouldn’t take the Lord’s name in vain, but what do all those other “bad” words have to do with it?

Here’s what those words in our daily language are doing to us as a society. Just like all the sex and violence we see in movies and on the internet, those words are desensitizing us. We are getting to the point where we don’t even flinch when we see certain things or hear certain things. And after that? Well, we lose our human-ness, our kind and gentle spirits. We become monsters tearing at living flesh.

Sorry if that sounds dramatic, but using profanity (even though it slips out of my mouth sometimes) just should not be an acceptable way to talk.

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. (Proverbs 21:23, New King James Version)

The Third Commandment

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8, King James Version)

The third commandment in the good old King James Version. But let me tell you what else God had to say about this law in Exodus chapter 20, verses 9 through 11, in the New International Version.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Over the last two months, I’ve been writing about the ten commandments, starting with the last seven of them. Commandments four through ten should be easy for anyone to understand, believer or non-believer. They are all about how you should love your neighbor more than yourself. That you shouldn’t do anything to harm them, but should instead help them in any way you can. The kind of stuff where if everyone was obeying them, we wouldn’t have all the crap going on that makes the evening news. Killings, cheating, stealing, people talking smack about each other. We could live in peace.

Now, however, it’s time to circle back to the first three commandments. The ones we should keep to demonstrate our love for the one Triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation (Genesis 2:3, New Living Translation)

Honestly, I’m pretty sure that God didn’t really need to rest after creating everything in the heavens and on the earth. He is God and He can just keep going like the Energizer Bunny. But He sure deserves to rest.  

But really, because He is such a loving Father, I think this commandment is for us as well for Him.

For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. (Exodus 35:2, New International Version)

We aren’t God, so we need to rest periodically, one day a week. Take a day for yourself, to put all your troubles aside. As a believer, you should attend church that day or spend time in some sort worship and praise to your Creator. Study your Bible. Pray and thank God for all He has given you. As a child of God, you should be more than happy to spend your day off remembering your Lord and Savior.

If you aren’t a believer, you still need to give yourself a break. God didn’t create us to go on and on; He knows we need a day off.

And as a side note – something that isn’t really about the third commandment, but which God does want us to do – we are to work those other days of the week.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17, New International Version)

Wise words bring many benefits, and hard work brings rewards. (Proverbs 12:14, NIV)

Do not be lazy but work hard, serving the Lord with all your heart. (Romans 12:11, New Century Version)

Pictured Rocks part 1 – Camping post #3

   Whenever I go anywhere, I always take too many pictures. Thank goodness for digital photography. When I was a kid, I’d always get yelled at by mom when we’d bring home the developed pictures from the drug store and she’d see all the photos I took of such random stuff. When I was younger, it was because she had to pay for them, but even when I had my own money, she’d still chide me for the waste.  

Anyway, it didn’t stop me and I think I’ve more than made up for it in my adulthood. 

Which is why I just couldn’t post, at one time, all the pictures I took of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore from the boat ride we took the Wednesday afternoon we were camping in Michigan.

The boat we rode.  

And lucky people riding in their kayaks.

I’d tell you the names of all these rock formations, but those are manmade names.

Some things are too awesome for mere human names.

Names are for people, like these two clowns.

This is as far as our cruise ship went. Next time that I share pictures of our yearly camping trip to the UP, I’ll post the pictures from the return ride.

About Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore - https://www.nps.gov/piro/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

More about the Rocks - https://www.munising.org/pictured-rocks/

The cruise we took - https://picturedrocks.com/tour-highlights/