Larry and Laura Hoffert

Meltdown

2010-02-24T14:14:42+00:00

No, I didn’t have a meltdown….nor did Larry. “Meltdown” is the name of the middle school/jr. high retreat this weekend. A handful of counselors are coming back laden with their snow gear, sleeping bags, and Bibles ready to play hard and talk about things that matter. Students from all over have signed up, many who are from the area and many who would never find themselves in a church. One guy was recently at camp with his school and thought it was fun so decided to sign up for the weekend—-yay! Please pray for the students that fill this place, for the counselors, for those who spend long days in the cold—-and for the hearts of each, that we may each know and experience deeper aspects of God. Bring on the meltdown!

If we are honest with ourselves…

2010-02-23T17:06:49+00:00

we are all dedicated to a project of self-salvation. What am I talking about?! So, every week the winter staff guys come over for dinner and while we recount the week of campers, we also have been reading The Prodigal God by: Timothy Keller. (Add it to the top of your reading list—seriously!) We have been unpacking the parable of what many refer to as “the prodigal son.” In revisiting this weekly, I’m finding that it is not so much about one lost son, but two. Both wrong. Both loved.

“Jesus does not divide the world into the moral good guys and the immoral bad guys. He shows us that everyone is dedicated to a project of self salvation, to using God and others in order to get power and control for themselves. We are just going about it in different ways. Even though both sons are wrong, the father cares for them and invited them both back into his love and feast….”

“This means that Jesus’ message, which is ‘the gospel’ is a completely different spirituality. The gospel of Jesus is not religion or irreligion, morality or immorality, moralism or relativism, conservatism or liberalism. Nor is it something halfway along a spectrum between two poles—it is something else all together. The gospel is distinct from the two other approaches: In its view everyone is wrong, everyone is loved, and everyone is called to recognize this and change”.....“the prerequisite for receiving the Grace of God is to know you need it.” (T. Keller 44, 45)

It would seem like an easy question to answer…

2010-02-17T22:53:35+00:00

...but so often it becomes all too difficult to conjure up an accurate response: “How are you?” There’s the trite I-don’t-really-want-to answer-answer: “fine” or “good.” There’s the wanting to portray positivity answer: “We are truly doing great…so many great things in life!” There’s the I’ve-had-a-toilet-bowl-day-answer: “not so hot” or “I gotta say, I’m tired.” But somewhere there is the hey, if-someone-really-cares-to-honestly-ask, I-don’t-even-know-how-to-begin-to-honestly-answer answer. We all have had these split second responses in attempts to evaluate just HOW we are truly doing.

We took a bit of a break this weekend to do just that together. Well, kind of. It may seem cheesy, but we just needed to stop to evaluate just how we are doing….in life—at camp, in our marriage, on our journey with God, with others, in our fiances, our goals, dreams, desires, evaluating past, present, and future. We prayerfully desire to be intentional with our days and to care for one another through each day. Ah, it was as sweet as dark chocolate gram-crackers with a very small kick of that oh so slight bitterness that makes you want to take another bite. (If you’ve ever had one, you’d know what I mean…)

It is good to ask how are we?!? Ah, what a work in progress we each are…....Hmmmmm…......
What areas in life we need to simplify and how?
What ways will will try (by God’s grace) to make different from last year?
What is the single most important thing we could do to improve the quality of our marriage in this season?
What do we need to restructure financially?
How can we care for and be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us—-people, home, responsibilities, God’s word?

So, how are we? We’re doing okay…....

Skiing at Whitecap

2010-02-08T16:29:12+00:00

Last week on our day off we drove up to Whitecap mountain and had a fund day of skiing. There was 6 inches of fresh powder and nobody was really there, so it felt like we had the entire place to ourselves. I (Larry) tried going off of some boxes emphasis on the word TRY that day, it was some peoples first time skiing in powder, and Laura broke her pole halfway through the day. Overall it was a fun time on the slopes and a great day off. Check out some pictures.

Time With Friends

2010-02-08T16:07:48+00:00

We look forward to WWC (Wisconsin Wilderness Campus) coming each year for their retreat to camp. I (Larry) attended this school my freshmen year and my good friend Seth and his wife and there two kids are on staff at the college. They live 2 hours from us and it is a joy to be able to see each other periodically. They just had a little girl Sadie and she is so adorable. It was great to have them over on Laura’s birthday and simply spend time with them. We played broomball, cross-country skied, and ate lots of good food. Here are some pictures of the little ones.

Diggin time with the Den Hartog Clan!

2010-01-24T21:28:27+00:00

This is a shout out to my aunt and uncle and cousins who came to visit last weekend. Boy, we played hard together! They loaded up the family van for the weekend to visit us and to experience a bit of winter fun at camp. It was so sweet to simply hang out together as extended family festivities have become mostly limited to once a year holidays when trying to combine differing schedules. They got to see a small bit of our world. We stayed up late playing plenty of games, at grilled pizza in the winter, taught the entire family how to ski, tubed, played broomball, and even got crushed in games of carpet ball. I’ll let the pictures below speak for themselves!

28 and so thankful

2010-01-23T06:24:44+00:00

Today was my birthday. It was a simple day, similar to so many others. Yet, it gave me a chance to stop and reflect a bit. (Not that I necessarily reminisced over all 28 years of my life to date to reach an epiphanal conclusion.) Quite simply, I concluded: I am blessed. I don’t use that word lightly…I don’t like to tritely throw around the cliche “blessed” term, but for lack of something more articulate at this time of night, I write just that. I am blessed. I am thankful. Life is full and rich and good. I am grateful. I love where we live in this season and place. I am so thankful for the many people near and far who have touched our lives in ways they may never fully know. Moreover, I know that more than dear friends, an amazing husband, a warm home, rich memories, an incredible combination of work through school and camp and so much in between——-I know that I have hope beyond whatever circumstances….a hope in God’s grace. I am so thankful at the mere thought of being embraced in the Father’s love…not because I’ve got it together or figured out by any means, but because He loved me first.

(I got up on the morning of my birthday to find my birthday present from Larry pictured above.)

The subaru struck with the swine flu…

2010-01-10T21:18:34+00:00

I didn’t know exactly how bad it was the day multiple liquids were leaking from our subaru after I parked it in the garage. Much to our dismay, we soon found out that it was sick. Very (costly) sick. It’s insides were struck with head gasket replacement needs, timing belt issues, and some other cracked insides that Larry could tell you about in great detail…I am get a bit weasy talking about it. Not sure about treatment, we sought advice from a local doctor.

We are so thankful to Mike for helping us with the repairs…we have ordered a ton of parts, and we are soooooooo thankful to Mike for sharing his time and skills of car maintenance with us! Thank you!!!!! In the meantime, Larry is learning more about engines and insides and how to cure the swine flu in vehicles!

Wintertain-huh? Yes, Wintertainment….

2010-01-03T17:46:26+00:00

Yes, Wintertainment is a word. Huh? What is it? It is the week between Christmas and New Years when camp is packed out with jr high and high school students. Some come with youth groups that we partner with, others simply come with friends. Nothing like a high energy week after Christmas of human bowling, ski/snowboard competitions, razleblast, animal ball, a coffee house…yet, the coolest part is the conversations had, the challenges from God’s word in sessions, and the growth that happens in the lives of many. The days were long, but sooooooooooo worth it. I gotta admit I wasn’t too focused on taking pictures, but below are just a few from teaching ski lessons on the hill.

Christmas Cheer

2009-12-29T16:22:54+00:00

I love it. From the festive lights, to the Christmas treats, the classic Amy Grant Christmas Album to Transyberian Orchestra, to sweet time with friends and family, and the ultimate reason for the season…..there is something about Christmas that I love. Enjoy a few pics of the season!

We hosted an ugly sweater Christmas Party….Check it out:

We then traveled a bit….heading to the Twin Cities to catch up with my dear girl friends from college…alas, we were way to busy talking to even thing about taking a group pic. It was soooooooo good to see the girls again! From there, we headed to Iowa to visit my grandparents and extended family. We are thankful for time with them, even thought it was a quick trip….and very thankful that the roads were clear when we were driving.

Below is a pic with our good friends from Montana….(they found themselves in WI visiting family) and we were thankful to see them and their family and get in a few games of Pit.

We then headed to celebrate an early Christmas in Fondy with the Family…..some sweet times together:

(Christmas Cookies….mmmmmm…...)

(The Fam….gotta love em…..)

Okay….to those who know of our family’s tradition of scavenger hunts….this year’s theme was “The Year of the House.” (Since we both are first time home owners this year. We each got a screwdriver as a gift, and the clues lead us to all sorts of home improvements that we had been working on…It was a blast!)

Perhaps the best gift, was what we each opened after finally finding the box (and unscrewing all the screws)! Inside was a letter from mom and dad that they had written to each of us sharing the strengths that they see in us. We sat together that night sharing about the past year of life….how we have grown and struggled, and talked through how God may be leading us in the next year. It was a sweet time to share and pray together.

We hope that each of you had a sweet Christmas reflecting on the true meaning of CHRIST…of how and WHY he came to this earth. Praying that throughout the year we all may be reminded of what was brought….“good tidings of great joy…” living out what it means despite a messy hurting world.