bierkergaard

I drove out the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving. There, I dwelt and celebrated with Brother Steve and his wife and kids. I have been making the trek for over 20 years. It wouldn't seem like Thanksgiving without going out there. A tradition in the best sense of the word. I also get to hang out with my niece Averie who is a 7 year old ball of fire in 60 pounds of human flesh. She is a great spirit and a lot of fun to goof around with. Since I will probably never have kids, it is the closest slice of fatherhood that I will ever have--and a heck of a lot easier. More like unclehood. I am not exactly the most devoted uncle but I do think that my brothers' kids (I have three brothers) are supercool and a blessing to me. At the end of the days, I want to be named the Patron Saint of Teenagers. Those are the children I have spent most of my life with praise God. What a remarkable blessing. After one gets beyond Carlisle, the Pennsylvania Turnpike becomes a ...

Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. Ferguson, New York City, Cleveland. Unarmed black males killed by white police officers. Die-ins at Malls, protests in the streets. Baltimore, New York City. Police Officers shot or killed. Nary a sound. All is quiet. Nary a peep. Hypocrisy? For certain. The black males killed to one degree or another engaged the police inappropriately, even with illegal behavior. The police didn't randomly select these individuals without cause. There was probable cause for their confrontations. We can certainly condemn the heavy-handedness of the police, but easy for me to say. The cops didn't know if the suspects were armed. Just because some thug winds up not having a gun doesn't mean that the police officer knew this beforehand. And I certainly wouldn't take the word of a suspect. Good way to become a casualty. The police officers killed? Doing their jobs. The two cops killed in NYC were mi...

There are those who hate winter. There are those who tolerate it. And then there are those of us who love it. I love it. Must be my Nordic blood. I have to cycle through the seasons like different courses of a meal. Just when summer provokes my maddening summer itching--an odd ailment that happens to my skin as the summer wears on--the temps start to cool and my body comes back into balance. Winter has its dangers too for me with my vulnerability of catching colds like a frog catches flies. Fall and Spring are respites to the dual bodily dangers. I think living in California or Florida would parch my soul. Winter brings a needed desolation. Truly, the best thing about winter is getting warm, something that is taken for granted during the heat of summer. Winter would hardly be appealing if I was cold 24-7. It is only the coat, the blanket, the heater, gloves, and hat, that kindle winter affection. When I attended Millersville University, I lived on the 9th floor of a Dorm Hi-Rise...

About ten years ago, my nuclear and extended family eliminated gift-giving. First it was ending of the giving of gifts back-and-forth between each individual member and then there was the "select one person" and then that was axed. We killed it outright. I was thankful. We are geographically all over the place. So buying of the gifts had the mailing component on top of the selection stress. The kids were exempted. Under 18 years of age still get a Amazon Gift Card from me. I know, hardly the result of frantic and frenzied aisle roaming. It is the cash that counts. Back in the days of full gift-giving for all, I would buy the family books. I had a talent for discerning good books from what the Fam feedback told me. Although, I breathed a deep sigh of relief when the gift-giving concluded. I know what I want and need and hardly need someone else to buy it for me. If I want it, I purchase it. Otherwise, no need to procure it for me. This seems to be outright Un-America...

One of the virtues of getting older is watching my idols get old too, decayed, and ultimately destroyed. Not by dynamite but by diminution. Idols are less tempting when one has a of long history with them. Time is usually one of the best tests. Relationships, goods, investments, education. The time test. An idol that I have really struggled until recently was competitive sports, specifically basketball--but also rugby to some degree. Basketball became the test of my value and worth. The scoreboard and scorebook dictating whether I was a winner or loser depending on my stats and the final score. The story is long of basketball losing its power over me. Like the untying a nasty shoelace knot and it has taken decades. Over 30 years. Bad knee, two surgeries, rehab, trying to become the man on whatever court I happened to be on. College, Rec League. So many young men succumb to this athletic idol...only to become TV sports watching middle-aged men with empty souls and big guts. ...

There was an interesting exchange among friends on Facebook recently about Whole Foods putting a store where there used to be farmland here in Lancaster County. One friend commented about the irony of it. Another mentioned that he bought his produce from Central Market--the oldest continually operating market in the United States. A decade ago I was not real impressed with the stands because there was a lot of crap there like candy and Lancaster County knick-knacks. Now, it has a much healthier and hipper vibe. I commented on the Whole Food post that I grow my own produce in my small backyard, even the magical Kale that is all the rage everywhere. Radical! My Dad left a voicemail today commenting how I was probably out for a run or eating Kale which explained why I did not pick-up his call. I reminded him when I called back that I drink Kale--grind it up with V-8 into a smoothie and drink down the concoction. No fruit. Straight vegetables. Right now, I am attempting to grow Swiss ...

I really like my iPhone 5. I was never an Apple Groupie but when I got in the market for a smart phone, when the iPhone came out, I adopted it and became an instant fan. Intuitive and Intelligent. I am sure the Android devices are cool, too. I am using Google Classroom at school for my College & Career Class and since my course is all writing, Google Classroom is a fantastic technology tool. So, Google does great work and I am pretty sure will take over the world soon enough. Outside of the Google Maps app on the iPhone which has literally set this direction-impaired individual free, my next favorite app on the iPhone is the iTunes Podcast. Just as the convergence of Luther and the Printing Press (pic is of the first Bible printed) fueled the Protestant Reformation in Germany outwards, podcasts deliver high caliber preaching to my bedside nightly. Tim Keller, Alistair Begg, and R.C. Sproul are in heavy rotation. I rotate them to keep my mind from uneven wear like tires on t...