I’ve had a few projects sitting around for a few months that I am working on this week trying to finish up. Here is one that is nearing completion. There are a few main things that still need to be accomplished, but I am confident that it will be done this week.
Also, this week.
Right now I am sitting in my favorite local coffeeshop for what may be one of the last times. I used to work at this coffeeshop and open up on Monday mornings at 5am. Granted, at the time I needed the extra money to provide for my family, but I still enjoyed the people, all the free coffee I could drink (when you open the store by baking pastries at 5am you need that coffee) and the employee discount. I even ended up building the website for them (for which I apparently got a lifetime employee discount which I only employ occasionally).
Today, I am just enjoying the quiet while I write and think a little bit. The next few weeks are going to be a radical shift for my family and I. I’ve never done a long-distance move before. I’ve contemplated it when I interviewed at churches in Lake Havasu, AZ and Kalispell, MT & sent a resume out to Juneau, AK. As you can tell probably, Becca & I are really excited about the move.
There is a bittersweet part of moving in all of it too. We had gotten pretty close to our church family at Narrow Road Community Church. I mean, they knew we were looking for where God would take us since we first started attending there. I had mentioned it in prayer enough while I was frustrated with the job search (which was often). They knew also that it was wearing on us considering Becca being pregnant and also the primary provider for our family financially. But we love these people. We had gotten involved in numerous ways (not as much as we wanted even) and really felt loved. They have in many ways become family to us.
I know there are problems in every church, but being at Narrow Road Community Church has been one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with a church… warts and all. We have been blessed beyond measure, prayed for, lifted up emotionally & spiritually and invested into while being a part of the family there. There’s been way more opportunity to get connected with the church family that I’ve never been able to take advantage of. More ways to serve than you could shake a stick at. I can honestly say that no one in that church feels like they are left out feeling that they don’t know how they can get involved. If they do, it’s their own fault. Now I know not every church is destined to be a mega-church. I had never understood that till I came to Narrow Road. Some churches are meant to be small. Small is what they do best. A congregation can be cared for adequately. People can grow together in ways they just can’t in a big church. The pastors (both of them) excite in me a passion for preaching the Word, really caring about people, and just being around them you know you are loved and cared for yourself. I don’t know if Narrow Road is destined to be a large church, but I can say they do small really well and I think they would do large well too.
I am not belittling the lessons I’ve learned elsewhere before coming to Narrow Road as a burned out (probably mostly my own fault) recent Associate Pastor from another local church, but here is where I’ve been re-ignited, reforged, and set aflame with passion again. Narrow Road has been a refuge for me and a place of renewing for both Becca & I. I hope in the future I can maintain the relationships I’ve found at Narrow Road and bridges can be built in the Kingdom of God for God’s Word to be spread all the more because of it.
I am feeling awesome today. Even healthwise as the gallstone finally passed (I know, TMI but it’s relevant for those who were wondering about my most recent health status). I think some of the stress of the prolonged job hunt is starting to fall off too. Oh, I guess I didn’t announce that here yet. In fact I don’t think I announced a few things. Like where we are expecting a new baby by December (of which we are about 80% sure is a girl, but waiting on a second ultrasound to confirm). But in other news in the Lehman household….
But job sounds like something you do for money as in “selling out”. I prefer the term “position” because it sounds more like the way I view it. Doing something you love while getting paid and being able to provide for your family doing it. So what does this mean for the immediate future. Well, we are moving for one. Right now the moving is scrounging around for moving boxes and trying to pack while looking for a place to live.
So now for the details. The church is Franklin First United Methodist Church in Franklin, KY. This means we are moving in the next few weeks. Becca is really excited as it means going back south. Kentucky is her home state and as she’s lived pretty much all over western Kentucky, she counts the whole state as “hometown” for the most part. We will be about an hour away from Mammoth Caves, 45 minutes away from Nashville, 30 minutes or less from Bowling Green. I will be the Youth & Young Adults Pastor at the church Full-time & Becca will get to be a stay-at-home mom (which is what she wants to do). She is also probably going to start writing on her site a lot more, www.motherhoodfordummies.com.
Now, the only thing I’ll be worried about is the fact that I’m going to be working with this guy below as he is the pastor at the church I’m going to. He’s the one on the right.
See I didn’t realize the underlying Jewish Rabbi Cult that has permeated the United Methodist Church. The fact that he has Henna Art on his hand along with painted fingernails. I will assume that this image is of some strange new age Jewish wedding or “The Night of the Henna”. Looking at Wikipedia I find: (via this link under the section for “Traditions of Henna as body Art”)
The Night of the Henna was celebrated by most groups in the areas where henna grew naturally: Jews,[11] Muslims,[12] Hindus, Christians and Zoroastrians, among others, all celebrated marriages by adorning the bride, and often the groom, with henna.
Turns out I could buy the whole alphabet plus a few extra characters for around $12 including shipping. You may remember that I had a sticky “A” key on my laptop. Well, sticky turned to unstuck, then changed into defunct. Meaning, It came unstuck then started working and subsequently stopped working altogether. Hence my posting became erratic. I limited myself to just posting pictures and only things that I felt absolutely worth posting, or I posted from my iPad.
My new keyboard arrived. I installed it in about five minutes and fired up my computer to all the “A” goodness I could muster. My first few attempts at typing were awkward as I had become accustomed to not pushing the “A” key because I was copy and pasting the “A” from other places where I could find an “a” on the screen. Every time I needed an “a” I would instead hit ctrl+v and paste it from the clipboard. I am much happier today.
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I took this picture when I went up for an interview with Olan Mills Church division about a month or two ago. They offered me the job, but the hours kept changing every time I talked to them. At first, I would have had Sundays and Mondays off. Then that changed because I would be the “new guy” that I’d probably work most Mondays. Then it became “We can’t even really give you Sundays off”. Wait…
… that’s seven days a week traveling, staying in hotels and away from my family?
When I went for the interview for the position with Olan Mills, I stopped and took this picture because of the turkey vulture on the roof. It was one of those scenes that was pretty cool in person, but didn’t have the right atmosphere for the moment. I played with the image a little this morning and came up with this rendition of the scene. Enjoy.
Anyway, I am doing a second interview for a position I interviewed for this coming week sometime and hopefully can announce that here soon. 
Original Image.
I have been working on a project for a friend of mine, Mark, who is a Youth Director at Bakersfield United Methodist Church. Here’s the final versions of what I’ve been working on.
Here’s the link to the article via the local newspaper – link.
If you are anything like me, you are a moment hound. You savor moments in time that were precious to you. Sometimes it’s little things. Sometimes really meaningful times. I want to tell you about two such moments.
Swings.
We had decided to go for a drive up to the Wooster, Ohio area. 514 is a beautiful drive and I love driving country roads. (don’t even start singing that song right now) We drove up to Killbuck wetlands near Wooster and decided to head back. We saw a sign for Mohican state park, and made our way there in hopes that we might find a place just to hang out at a park or something for a little while. The campgrounds proved to be the best spot and we found a nice little playground. My son, Aidan loves swings. But as you can see in the picture below, my wife does too.
The Funeral.
The Second Moment, I don’t have a picture for but hopefully I can do the scene justice as I illustrate it with words. My grandfather died recently. My grandmother and him were married for 67 years. The day after they were married, he headed to war. So he was a veteran. Now the scene.
My grandfather died the week before the fourth of July. Every year on the fourth of July they put flags out at cemeteries much like they do on Memorial day. Being a veteran, they also give military honors. It was cool for late June. Around seventy degrees and the wind blew just enough to keep the flags all flying and flapping in the breeze. All the family was gathered around and right at the beginning of the service, the veterans with rifles at the ready saluted and raised their guns and all seven fired three times. I held my son, Aidan (a gentleman from the funeral home held his hands over Aidan’s ears for the gunshots). In the quiet peace that followed, Taps was played. I am not usually the most emotional of people, but in that moment, with the wind flapping American flags as far as I could see behind the veteran soldiers as the trumpet played the tune of a soldier who has finally laid down his life, I felt something more than mere patriotism. Several soldiers then proceeded to in front of the casket and folded the American Flag and presented it to my grandmother. Bullet shells were passed out to family. I got one for Aidan. It is a scene that I will never forget.
These are the two moments that I have recently had that I will never forget. Things I will cherish. Moments that will go with me the rest of my life and be played out in dreams for years to come.
