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| Outside My Window By Pastor Del Keilman |
Have you ever wanted to do something, and then when you did it wasn’t
what you thought it would be? I had never ridden a train. I’ve worked in
them, sat in an engine while cars were being switched, but never taken a
train ride. So Mary suggested that while we were recently on vacation we
satisfy the “hobo” in me, ride the rails and take the time to cross this item off
my “bucket”
list.
I have long been fascinated by the steam engines that traveled through my
home town. The sound of the early morning whistle, and that familiar low
throbbing chuga-chug-a-chug as the engine powered its way up a steep
hill outside of Poynette, WI. So we decided that we would visit the Mid-
Continent Railroad in North Freedom, WI, a museum dedicated to the
railroading days of years gone by.
We walked through the museum, looked at and into some impressively
restored engines and cars, including early Pullman cars. We learned some
basics of steam locomotion, and the manner in which the engines were
classified, all of this while awaiting the return of the previous train from its
excursion. Then we heard it, at first faintly, it was the sound of the whistle….
but….it wasn’t the sound of a steam engine, it was the sound of a
diesel engine.
As it turned out the steam engine used was in repair, and the museum hopes
to have back in service next year. I was disappointed, but we had bought our
tickets so we boarded one of the two restored passenger cars and began
our 4.2 mile journey through a town that was no more, LaRue, to the end of
the line at a quartzite mine. The car rocked from side to side as we began our
short trip, and I soon learned that the rails were not the long span of today.
The day was hot and the car was of an era well before air conditioning. The
scenery less than I had anticipated, more corn fields. And to top it off we sat
across from a mother that was taking her 2 year-old son on his first train
ride, and he was far less than happy to be there. My dream ride was
beginning to be far less than I had anticipated.
It was then that the “light bulb” in my mind went off and I realized two things.
First, it wasn’t the journey that was really important, it was the one I shared
it with, Mary. This trip wasn’t her desire she had ridden on trains before.
She sacrificed giving up whatever it was that she wanted to do that day to
see me fulfill my dream. My growing disappointment soon turned to joy and
thankfulness; My heart filled with love.
The second realization was that in many ways this trip duplicated our journey
through life. Not all things turn out as we would have them to be, the travel
bumpy, the day disappointing, or discouraging, but we don’t travel the “rails”
of life alone. Jesus goes along for the journey, through the hills and the
valleys, not always in places He would have us go, but still He goes with us.
He sacrificed not only an afternoon or a day, but His life for you and me.
Jesus said, “I will not leave you or forsake you….” He is our constant traveling
companion, our source of true and lasting joy. May we be filled with
thankfulness, and our hearts with love, that He journeys each step of the
way.
In Christ’s love
Pastor Del
what you thought it would be? I had never ridden a train. I’ve worked in
them, sat in an engine while cars were being switched, but never taken a
train ride. So Mary suggested that while we were recently on vacation we
satisfy the “hobo” in me, ride the rails and take the time to cross this item off
my “bucket”
list.
I have long been fascinated by the steam engines that traveled through my
home town. The sound of the early morning whistle, and that familiar low
throbbing chuga-chug-a-chug as the engine powered its way up a steep
hill outside of Poynette, WI. So we decided that we would visit the Mid-
Continent Railroad in North Freedom, WI, a museum dedicated to the
railroading days of years gone by.
We walked through the museum, looked at and into some impressively
restored engines and cars, including early Pullman cars. We learned some
basics of steam locomotion, and the manner in which the engines were
classified, all of this while awaiting the return of the previous train from its
excursion. Then we heard it, at first faintly, it was the sound of the whistle….
but….it wasn’t the sound of a steam engine, it was the sound of a
diesel engine.
As it turned out the steam engine used was in repair, and the museum hopes
to have back in service next year. I was disappointed, but we had bought our
tickets so we boarded one of the two restored passenger cars and began
our 4.2 mile journey through a town that was no more, LaRue, to the end of
the line at a quartzite mine. The car rocked from side to side as we began our
short trip, and I soon learned that the rails were not the long span of today.
The day was hot and the car was of an era well before air conditioning. The
scenery less than I had anticipated, more corn fields. And to top it off we sat
across from a mother that was taking her 2 year-old son on his first train
ride, and he was far less than happy to be there. My dream ride was
beginning to be far less than I had anticipated.
It was then that the “light bulb” in my mind went off and I realized two things.
First, it wasn’t the journey that was really important, it was the one I shared
it with, Mary. This trip wasn’t her desire she had ridden on trains before.
She sacrificed giving up whatever it was that she wanted to do that day to
see me fulfill my dream. My growing disappointment soon turned to joy and
thankfulness; My heart filled with love.
The second realization was that in many ways this trip duplicated our journey
through life. Not all things turn out as we would have them to be, the travel
bumpy, the day disappointing, or discouraging, but we don’t travel the “rails”
of life alone. Jesus goes along for the journey, through the hills and the
valleys, not always in places He would have us go, but still He goes with us.
He sacrificed not only an afternoon or a day, but His life for you and me.
Jesus said, “I will not leave you or forsake you….” He is our constant traveling
companion, our source of true and lasting joy. May we be filled with
thankfulness, and our hearts with love, that He journeys each step of the
way.
In Christ’s love
Pastor Del
