when the concatenation of universal events brought you to our galley,

and you were good enough to ransom us.” (Candide, XXVIII)  This morning, I got to work in my in-laws' new silver van (well, 2013 being considered automotive “new” as the van they've had ever since I have known them got so hurting that it cost more to fix than it was worth) and got to see their interior rear view system where they can see what's behind the car backing out. I needed the ride because – we're educatedly guessing – the starter on the main car I use for work has died, and the weather's been so changeable (we woke up to a light frosting of snow on the ground and all weekend we've had rain misting and blowing into our faces) that getting under the car where the starter likely is and tapping it or finding out otherwise what's up with it without making major contributions to an auto repair shop with my work and other schedule will not happen for a bit. But we can work around that.

My faith helps me make sense of the world. It gives me a feeling of optimism, in a sometimes scary world. It means that Jesus died for my sins, and that I will have eternal life in heaven because he loves me no matter what.

Yesterday was Confirmation Sunday at Bethany Lutheran Church, when fourteen ninth-graders who'd just completed three years of church lessons and doctrinal teachers and assorted activities were honored, and as happens every year a paragraph from each of their faith statements are excerpted and printed in our church bulletins, and I'll be sharing those all week here at the blog house … I have some idea of what I'd offer as a faith statement (I didn't have to write one that I remember at fourteen or fifteen because I grew up in a different church tradition) and it's a safe bet it would be somewhat different at my forty-two years old. I must work on that. We met with our prayer partners that morning and made flat (paper) representations of ourselves to send to other people as prayer partners for them! That was exciting; so was singing with the kids in music class and getting some nutty looks for it.

One of the most important parts of being a Christian to me is living out your faith every day. One of the ways I do this is by praying. I think praying brings you closer to God, and it lets him know how you're feeling. One of the important things in my life is my faith in God's love. His love is forever and unconditional.

Praise God I did NOT take my main vehicle – remember, the one the starter died on – to Bismarck with me and the kids this past Saturday. I was one of thirty or so participants in a Spring Fling Vendor Show at their Kelly Inn, and it was pointed out to me by my own eight-year-old that they could not sit for four hours! So they did roll on the floor a bit, and they did eat well – nobody can accuse me of not feeding my kids – and while I did not make any sales at the event proper, I did get information out and got plenty of people to contact in the North Dakota state capitol, which I will start today. Sometimes what some people tell me about building a Shaklee business being a team effort is a bit of a crock. When my team gets bigger and does things and holds shows of our own, perhaps then they will be noticed. But in the meanwhile I've got jobs to do.

Faith is not measured in how much you go to church or Sunday School, but how much you believe in God's word and that no matter what, he will pull through and be there for you. God loves me and I know that; that is what my faith is to me.

Yesterday was also the final day of Minot Chamber Chorale's season. Due to the car at the house not starting, Sarah, Jeffrey, Josceline, and I had to walk to St. Mark's where the “choral sampler” was; only about a half mile from our house. And during the walk with an overcast sky, the kids were linking arms and having fun talking about Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., hissing at the geese, and practicing the trust exercise which Jeffrey said several times I taught them. One person's eyes were closed (“see no evil”, usually Sarah), one person pretended not to hear anything (“hear no evil”, usually Jeffrey), and one person did not speak (“speak no evil”, usually Josceline). I'm getting better at seeing through the kids how I was as a kid and how I related to the world around me, which quite often wasn't as well as Sarah, Jeffrey, and Josceline – yes, I like to think I'm rubbing off on my niece too – do.

Faith isn't something you do every Sunday or Wednesday. Your faith is something that's in your heart and grows more and more as you learn about God. God is the one person I can talk to whenever I need help. He was there for me when I couldn't handle kids bullying me in elementary school.

When Martha was at our house with Josceline for the afternoon and Sarah, Jeffrey, and I were still in Bismarck, I remember my wife saying that after they read and played some games and ate Josceline was sad that it was so quiet without Sarah and Jeffrey around. And I'll give you that my two are reasons to keep young! On my way to Bismarck and back I listened to music from 1974 and “golden oldies” (which now means music when I was a teenager in the 1980s!) respectively, and dreamed up Star Trek plots, if you can believe that. I'll probably never write the stories or if I do I'll shift the settings to a universe of my own making, but these ideas were just coming unbidden through me as I tried to stay on the road. Star Trek: Consequences will likely not hit bookstores any time soon – I've got tales of my own to finish – but you could see the ideas germinate.

I especially like the idea of holographic first officer Carpenter, David