TATTOO on the HEART

Back from Wisconsin…

// June 22nd, 2009 // EVERYDAY LIFE

Well, I finally got to visit Wisconsin this past week.  I was invited to speak at a youth camp right outside Milwaukee. I was pretty close about a year or so ago when I was in Traverse City, Michigan. One ferry and about 5 hours separated me from popping my head in.

This week was an incredibly enjoyable experience as I’d have to say the people of Wisconsin (and particularly Whitefish Bay) are some of the nicest you’ll ever meet in your life. And by the way, in case you’re wondering, the correct pronunciation of Wisconsin is “Wes-kaun-zin.”
I had a lot of favorite moments, but here are a few:

• Driving through Whitefish Bay – Maybe I’ll get a chance to vacation there. It’s definitely a hidden gem that’s apparently not been discovered by tourist. Outdoor amphitheaters, art, history, beer, Pabst, houses that look like they were transported from Germany – it’s just a really cool place with a smalltown feel.
  

  View of Lake Michigan

• Milty Wilty – I had frozen custard for the first time in New Jersey many years ago, but Milty Wilty? Well, I’ll say this: you ever heard how doing crack one time could cause you to be addicted? Same principle at work here.
  

• Dairy Farms – I grew up with a view of grain silos, but I simply love dairy farms with real black and white cows. I’d hoped I would have gotten the chance to milk one, but we didn’t fit that in to the schedule.
  

• Late Night Cards – sometimes I really miss being a youth pastor, and it was so cool getting to play cards until you’re deliriously tired and you laugh about pretty much everything. Despite looking at my opponent’s cards, I lost miserably. I did learn how to play Texas Hold’em. Lost every single one of my chips. Got loans from other players. And then when I couldn’t get loans from anyone else, I let out a big, hawking yawn and said it was time to crash.
  

  You see a bed - a teenager sees a card table.

• Stars – sometimes you forget they’re out there. At 2am I laid – somehow comfortably – on a rock and stared into the millions of stars that were just layered in the sky. Sometimes people look at the vastness of space and feel insignificant. Quite the opposite for me. I felt a God who was staring down at me with light from the heavens that he prepared for me a 1000 years ago. And I was enjoying a moment he planned with me in mind. It was awesome.
• Milty Wilty – a spiritual moment as well. Told you it was addicting.
  

  Okay, not Milty - this was Culver's frozen custard dripping in the humidity

• Old School Camp – campfires, smores, songs, OFF!, humidity, outdoor sports – just such joy in simplicity.
  

UMC Whitefish Bay – if you read this, thank you so much for sharing your life with me.  Hope you guys enjoyed me (or are recovering from me if that’s more appropriate!). It was truly wonderful.

And a quick shout-out to:

Alex , Connor , Colin, Andy, Keith, Daniel, Danny, Sam, Bettine, Mary, Kevvy, Mitch, Will, ‘Kenzie, Georgia, Maggie, Grace, Riley, Jessyka, Annie, Sarah, Marshall, Nathan, Amy, Lori, Judy, Paul, Mel, Chris, Kali, & Neil.

Love you all.