Investments

I have never been known to be a great investor.  In middle school, I attempted to gather my first “complete set” of baseball cards by purchasing the cards one package at a time.  After statistically purchasing more than 350 packages of cards and consuming 350 sticks of the most disgusting bubble gum known to mankind, I found myself a mere 20 or so cards short of a complete set.  I biked over to the local Card Shop to see what I could do to bring my ultimate card collecting goal to a conclusion.  After spending around $15 on the final 20 cards, I could proudly say that my investment was complete.  All in all, I spent an estimated $200 and collected the entire 716 card set of 1990 Donruss baseball cards  Today, that set could sell for $10-$15. I still own that set…maybe when the market peaks I will sell them.

When I graduated from high school, I decided to invest in a classic car.  I purchased a 1973 Camaro Z28, with the original small block Chevy 350, for a mere $1,200.  The beauty of these cars is that they can’t help but go up in value.  I’ll bet I could have sold that investment today for somewhere between $25,000-$35,000…if…I hadn’t let it sit and rust for 30 years.  Perhaps investments need to be cared for.

A number of years ago, my wife and I began to invest in some retirement accounts.  For a number of years, we tried to set money aside and pay into our IRA as we could. Then…things happen…you have more children, your financial advisor gets replaced with someone you don’t know, the world runs out of toilet paper and the next thing you know you haven’t made investing a priority over the last few years.

This last week, Sarah and I finally decided to kick start our investments again.  I brought our paper work to a new financial advisor…a friend of mine…and showed him what we have and asked for his opinions as to how to move forward. 

The first thing he told us is…“Well…It would appear that your last financial advisor, took your money but didn’t invest your money. “

“I’m sorry…what is that?”

“It looks like whoever did your investing…didn’t actually “DO” any investing. He put it into your account but it has just been sitting there doing nothing.”

It was at this point that we felt affirmed to officially fire our previous investing company and hire the new one.

Jesus speaks of something similar in Matthew 25:14-30. Here he lays out a parable of three servants who have been given resources to invest.  Two of the three servants invest well…and earn returns on their investments.  The third however, does nothing. He buries his money and does nothing with what the Master has given him.

May we come to see, all that God has given to us…and then invest into the lives of others because of the great generosity of our Almighty God.

 Spelunking

I have gone spelunking exactly once in my life, though I have tried my hand at spelling, lurking and catching an occasional lunker, none compare to the act of spelunking.  Spelunking is in no way a combination of, nor has any association with, any of the aforementioned.

Spelunking is the act of crawling around in dark muddy caves.  It received its name from the Latin word “spelunca” which when translated to English means…cave. Very creative.

My one day adventure in the realm of “caving/spelunking” occurred in 1998 when I took a group of High School Students from the Chicago area across the state of Illinois, into the corn and swine infested state of Iowa where we entered into Maquoketa State Park. 

In the midst of the Iowa farmland, there exists an adventurer’s haven, where 13 caves lay waiting to be explored by 15 middle schoolers.  Despite being only 23 years old myself, I knew enough of the dangers of unsupervised middles schoolers, that I laid down some clear ground rules.

Rules:

1.       No one explores a cave alone

2.       No one explores a cave without a flashlight

3.       No one explores a cave without extra batteries

4.       No one let’s Jimmy out of their sight.

Every group has a Jimmy…no further explanation is necessary.

Because we had a Jimmy in our group…we stayed together the entire time.  We entered several caves together, exploring the rock formations and nooks and crannies.  I remember one cave in particular.  The cave orifice-d about four and a half feet off the ground and was only about two and a half feet in diameter.  To enter the cave you had to get a boost from someone below or a pull from someone above.  Once our entire team had made it into the entrance we began to crawl, as there was no space to stand.  After crawling approximately 30-50 ft, the cave opened up into a great expanse where the entire team could stand and wander and explore. It was really quite astounding.

After a few minutes, Jimmy said, “We should all turn out our lights at the same time.”

It seemed a safe enough task, so I agreed. Once all of the lights had been extinguished, the blackness consumed us.  Never had I experienced such an overwhelming and complete darkness in my life.  It was incredible.  Then Jimmy said, “Man! Could you imagine if we were like stuck in here…and we didn’t have any lights at all…and we didn’t have any extra batteries…and we couldn’t find the entrance or find our way out?”

That was a heavy and sobering thought.  We would be stuck.  The idea struck me as an incredibly hopeless situation.

In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus speaks to the disciples about being ready for his return.  He uses a parable that speaks to the dire nature of what it would be like to find oneself un-prepared for his return.  The imagery of being stuck and unprepared reminds me of how it felt in that cave with no sense of hope.

May we find ourselves to be prepared and ready for the return of Christ and not stuck outside of the closed gate with unprepared lights.

 

Graduate

Today spent the day celebrating our daughter’s graduation, by hosting a grad party in the form of an open house.  We enjoyed a wonderful time with many family members and dear friends.

It was far more than a one day excursion however. Leading up to the party we spent hours upon hours working on every aspect of the house.  We cleaned the interior and sharpened the exterior, including…as you may know…the washing of siding and the trimming of the lawn and reworking the landscaping.  We cleaned spaces in the house that no one would likely see...unless the occurance of an unlikely tornado forces us to find shelter for 100 people.  Additionally, when you add in the hours of decorating, planning and selecting photos, to total sum is somewhere between 2 and 1 million hours of invested work.

At one point in our preparations Sarah and I scheduled a “date” time, by eating donuts at the bakery while planning the food menu and making the shopping list. 

Today as I was carrying the crock pots to the serving tables I couldn’t help but consider, I wonder what we would do if we were not ready.  What if we simply chose to not cook the food, or chose to not put it out on the table?  What if, we didn’t chill the drinks…or even buy the drinks?  What if we neglected to order the cakes?

I don’t really have the answer…except, that to consider "not being ready" for the party would have been absurd!  It wouldn’t make sense.  We knew that guests were coming and so to not be found ready would have been nonsensical.

Yet, I wonder, if I feel as ready for the arrival of Jesus? Certainly being ready for the return of Jesus has nothing to do with having my house ready or food prepared and desserts ordered. Being ready for Jesus is all about putting our faith in him and being found faithful.

Jesus speaks extensively about being ready for his return in Matthew 24:32-51. 

May we be found ready and faithful as we await the return of our King!

 A Lemon

When I was a young child, I remember my grandfather always trying his hand at new things. Not necessarily learning new skills, but rather, finding new ways to, “make a buck.”

“Ken! Why is there a big yellow van in the drive way?!,” my grandmother questioned.

“JUST TRYING TO MAKE A BUCK!,” he bellowed back…he always bellowed.

“How much did this ‘buck’ cost us?”

“IT WILL PAY FOR ITSELF!”

He was frequently purchasing items at auctions and garage sales and turning around to sell them for a prophet…sometimes.  If he had lived in the Social Media era, think of what he could have done with a Facebook account…probably nothing good…

At one point he invested in a vacant building on the East side of Wadena, Minnesota and opened up his own antique shop.  I am not sure if this broadened his ability to “make a buck,” or simply sent him in a great need to make some bucks as he continued to buy antiques and knickknacks to place in his shop.   He purchased a wide variety of items including old phonographs, baker’s cabinets, antique desks and decorative vases.  I remember one of the more unique “vases” he brought home from an auction.

“Oh what a unique vase!,” my grandmother cooed.

“YEP, JUST NEEDS A LITTLE CLEAN UP, TO GET THE BLACK BURNED CHAR MARKS OFF OF IT!”

“Mom, that’s not a vase,” stated my visiting uncle while holding back a half smirk…”It’s a bong!”

Since cannabis was not yet legal in Minnesota in the late 80’s and early 90’s that little treasure never made it into his Why Not Stop In Antiques shop.  Yes…he named it himself.

To haul all of these wonderful treasures he invested in the previously mentioned large yellow cargo van.  The van gave him nothing but trouble from day one.

I still remember him bellowing through the blue tobacco smoked air of the dining room, “ROSE! IT LOOKS LIKE I BOUGHT A LEMON!!”

My grandmother had a way of just ignoring him and continued to provide us fresh baked cookies in the kitchen while he ate his own smoke flavored marshmallow crèmes while chain smoking his marlboro’s

“I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN WHEN THE SOLD IT TO ME!” he continued when my grandmother didn’t acknowledge him, “THE DASH LOOKS LIKE THE LAS VEGAS STRIP! EVERY LIGHT IS ON IMAGINABLE!!”

We all have times of regret.  Sometimes we call it buyer’s remorse, like when we buy a “lemon” or a bong that we can’t sell and will only lose money on.  Other times we experience it when we don’t execute a task like we knew we could have or should have. Still other times, like yesterday, when you put off replacing the brakes, only to find that before you get to the State Track and Field Meet, they are grinding like a locomotive stopping for a cow stuck on the tracks.

In Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus continues to provide signs of his coming.  He also begins to reveal the regret and mourning that will be experienced from those who do not put their faith in Him.

May we come to find ourselves NOT regretting.  Rather, let us put our faith in Jesus today.