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.
Above is the graphic I put together for this coming Sunday at Narrow Road Community Church. It’s mainly what I’ve been working on this afternoon. This morning I had the site down for a little bit as I did some database work finalizing the changes from the old domain name to the new domain name. Old images with the old url were not showing up because the urls were embedded in the content. I finally figured it out and got the site running again, but it was a bit of a frustrating process to figure out.
But if you aren’t doing anything on Sunday and you live in the area, we’d love to have you join us. Check out the post on the church website for more info.
We’ve been able to get out of town for a few days this week. It’s been a welcome change. Besides it’s nice to see family we haven’t seen for awhile.
Keep our family in prayer over the next few weeks. I am waiting to hear about a potential job with a church. I won’t say where or anything yet, but in my opinion, it looks like a promising opportunity.
More than anything though, is that we are where God wants us to be. Right now we are really enjoying the church we are at right now. They have been a great family of people we’ve come to love. With a growing family and all, it is time to find something full-time for me again. Hopefully, it is doing what I love to do in ministry and what God wants me to do. In this, the prayer is for God’s guidance to lead us where He wants us.
I saw this video the other day and I thought it was wonderful. You may also recognize the guy who plays in the tv show “Bones”. But what I liked about the video was the message. We have an opportunity to “validate” and encourage others. So often we miss out on the chance to do so.
found via shallowfrozenwater (awesome find by the way)
My wife made an interesting observation today. I write like I am working on some kind of cumulative research project meticulously gathering data and facts ultimately working toward the encyclopedia entry for who I am as a person. She didn’t quite say it in so many words but that’s the way I heard it. I think I initially wanted to argue otherwise and defend it. I have come to the conclusion that she was correct in her assessment. The whole conversation revolved around my frustration that so many other people that I have helped blog and coached somewhere along the way were succeeding where I was failing. I can write day in and out, but actually saying something that is particular to me has become a chore. I felt over the last year or two that I’ve been having some kind of extended out of body experience objectively qualifying everything I write with the filter of bland factual analysis.
I am trying a different tack. Yes, the sharp pointy things that you used to put on your teacher’s chair but now you would probably get expelled from school for doing because in our culture you were trying to kill the teacher with tetanus instead of a mere tack. Tact. Yeah that word too.
A simple journal. This is a deliberate effort to be more real. Be more myself. Something like that. I think the other voice was me too, but it was a critical, self-absorbed version of myself trying to shoot myself with the same gun I was trying to aim. Maybe it’s all a bad analogy… maybe I should just shut up my critical self and write more?
If you were to have all the resources that you needed and complete financial freedom, what would you do? It’s a question that I have been asking a lot lately. I am far from “financial freedom” and I don’t have abundant resources but it’s been getting to me lately. What would I do if I had that kind of situation handed to me?
For me, I’d probably become some kind of wilderness recluse. Buy a cabin in the middle of the woods and have most things delivered. Books and stuff I’d order from Amazon.com. I’d learn about trees and roots and what to eat and what won’t kill you in the woods. Maybe even live completely off-grid and invest in some kind of alternative energy while I grew my own food. In short, I probably wouldn’t be much help to anyone outside my own family.
Maybe it’s not just a burden that I carry of debt and having to try to supplement income every month. Maybe it’s the blessing that through my situation (however much I dislike it) that I can be used to be a blessing to others. If I weren’t in need, it might be rather difficult for me to understand those who are in need.
…or Aidan’s first Birthday. Aidan turned one yesterday and we threw a big party. We had some friends up from Kentucky. A few other friends over. A few people called to wish him a happy birthday. It was a good day. For him and for us. I even think everyone gave our dogs a little something too because Dugal was a little sick this morning. He’s okay now though.
I thought I’d share the picture above of Aidan getting ready to completely obliterate his birthday cake.
It’s interesting how a little cleaning can make you remember old friends. You go through a closet and find a bunch of old pictures and you hit facebook looking for familiar names. Another thing that happens for me though is that I get a little free space and usually my guitar makes it out of the closet.
A little tune up and maybe a light dusting brings it to happy life once more.
As of late, new friends have been encouraging me to get out the ol’ git fiddle again regularly. My friend Mark, especially. Tonight I got another surprise. Another new friend who I’ve played with at church a few times… well, I never really realized how good he actually was. His name is Nathan Hiltner. Check out his video below. The sound and framerate are a little off, but you will get the idea.
Today is world AIDS day. Not a big thing to many people. AIDS never touches their lives. Because to many, it’s a disease that is spread among homosexuals, people in Africa and people who live wild lifestyles.
My dad has AIDS. He’s not a homosexual. He’s not a wild and crazy sex addict. He doesn’t live in Africa somewhere. He’s a regular guy just like you and me.
I don’t usually broadcast it out or make a big deal about it, but this disease has affected my life too. It isn’t just some random disease to me. He’s lived with full-blown AIDS since 1994.
I’ve been by the bedside while I watched someone I love battle the various illnesses that come as a result of a poor immune system. I’ve seen the reactions that people still have to people with AIDS, the judgement & the scorn still associated with it.
AIDS is still a disease that has touched millions in our day and age. In the next decade you will know at least a few people who have AIDS. In fact you already may and maybe you don’t even know it. In fact, they might not even know it yet either.
The image included is my dad with his grandson (my son) Aidan.