Showing posts with label Wall of Gratitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wall of Gratitude. Show all posts
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Wall of Gratitude...Pipergirl77
Ever since I heard Zig Ziglar and his motivational mobsters I have tried to be intentional about thanking those who have made a difference in my life. Pipergirl 77 is the #1 referer to my page. For this I say thank you. And by the way... her and her hubby celebrated 5 years of marriage yesterday. Way to go Mr. and Mrs. G. Also, Thanks for training our dog and being fantastic friends.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Night of Elegance
I slept for 8 hours last night. I got up, checked my grass, started the Tigger movie for Isaac and went back to bed. This didn't last long, but still, today I feel like a human being again. Sure I have to work on my normal scheduled holy sabbath, but next week... I'll be hang'n with Journeyman listening to the cool sounds of Cobalt Season. I am so excited the church I work at has lasted twenty years. I will be more excited when this silly anniversary celebration is over. Anybody want a free tri tip sandwich? Come celebrate with us on saturday if you're not doing something else.
So last Saturday was, Night of Elegance, our annual prom alternative. This was one of the most frustrating and challenging events I've ever put together. It all started with an extremely unpleasant situation on the reservation line with a dinner theater, which was quickly resolved by a restaurant and catering representative. So I thought. When I called Friday to confirm our reservations they couldn't find us, and then told me the representative we'd been working with no longer worked there, and we had not been scheduled for any tours. WHACK! This only added to the nail biting that started two days before when the nice lady who was going to donate limo service called and said "I'm sorry. It's not going to work out. There's nothing I can do." BOOF! So on Saturday, the actual day of, our photographer got stuck in traffic and the Super Strecthed Excursion, we were paying full price for, couldn't make it. "BAZOOKO!" Do you ever feel like you must be the evil villian in an old Batman show?
I certainly did. Anyway the night came off wonderfully. We ended up having one way transport to the Queen Mary in an H2 Limo (goes against my acute Ford affections) which was really nice and our driver "G" was awesome. All the students looked fantastic and Eric was able to get some fantastic shots which we gave to the students for free. Dinner at Sir Winstons' was awesome and none of us encountered the paranormal aboard the ship (supposedly it's haunted). It was great to hear students ask questions like "Filet mignon...What's that?", or "What's the point of a sorbet palette cleanser?", and "Oops...Did I use the wrong fork?".
This is the nicest place I've ever eaten. Introducing fine dining, and Crem burlee to students is just as fun as when you take them to see snow or the ocean for the first time. Besides the obvious spiritual growth that I hope occurs because of my "job", My favorite thing about what I do is helping students create lifelong memories. After dinner we took a moonlit walk around the boat and headed out in the W.C.A. 15 passenger van. Thanks for the hook-ups Pastor Ben! It was perfect. So we showed up Silicone Valley Style (Limo) and went home Moreno Valley Style (old church van with no radio and a noisy a/c). The van gave us freedom to crash Hunnington Pier and In-N-Out burger before getting home at about 2AM Sunday morning. The pier was very romantic and alot of fun (Ever seen a student catch a fish with his hand while he's wearing a three piece suit?) So Like I said, the night came off wonderfully. Several parents even said thank you and as far as I know...no one got drunk or laid.
A Special thanks to Ben Schoening (if any of you graduated from Vanguard University, he's your new alumni asst. director guy) and Eric Hedman (New Life Photography). these guys made the night both affordable and memorable. If anyone is looking to give away any money please call these guys. If you need VU alumni relations please call Ben and if you need photos please call Eric. To them, as promised, I am eternally grateful.
Friday, March 9, 2007
A call to the church... It smells like chicken
Last night was round two of the D&D book club. It grew. By one. Fabulous! Recently I went to a "Get Motivated" seminar (got enough material for about a hundred posts). Zig Ziglar was a main speaker and talked about his "Wall of Gratitude". Anyway, I'm starting one and both the D's get a spot on it. These guys, and also Nick, are becoming such good friends.
Often times my humor is described as dry, cynical, or even recently, "tight-fisted". I thank God for allowing me this space with these gracious guys who put up with me. Often my venue for processing thoughts is by "decontructing" them to the lowest possible sarcassic denominator and then putting them back together from there. I just need to thank these guys for tolerating me.
So the Peter Rollins book was our launching point for discussion. I was so relieved that I was not the only one who felt largely uncomfortable with parts of the book, and also that I was not the only one who neglected to finish the book. Oh how misery loves company! Two things that struck me from our discussions and I can't stop thinking about them; First, the importance of relationship. Second, the aroma. In order to love people, we must be in realtionship with them. As leaders, there's always this fear of, "What if I'm wrong?" and, "What if I take others to the wrong place with me?" I was so encouraged by Nick's Comments expressed towards Damien. "You were there." And you told me, "The spirit won't jack you!" I was once again reminded that more important than our theologocial leanings or even our prefered program possibilities, it is friendship that allows us to trulely minister to others. Also, it's the Holy Spirit, not us, that does the real work, and The Spirit will never take people to the "wrong place". I know, that I know, that I know this, but it was good to know it again.
Yesterday I was driving a bus to pick up some steel with our spanish pastor and my four year old son. I know, I was probably the only person on the planet yeaterday driving a bus to pick up steel. Isaac, my son, has not been feeling well, so he was laying down in the seat behind me. We were stopped, in the front of the line, at a red light, when we sits up, looks all around and says, "Dad, I smell chicken!" Being near some of my favorite sit down restaurants, I made some suggestion about where the smell was coming from and then took off as soon as the light turned green. By the next stop light, this little prophet behind me says, "Dad, I'm hungry". And by the next light he's insisting "Take me to a place where they have food!" By the time I took him home, we was a little bit frustrated. He tells his mom, "Will you feed me, Daddy won't."
Peter Rollins talks about living out our faith so it's not just a pleasing aroma to others. He talks about being the kind of Aroma that makes people hungry. How often do people who hang out with us, sit up from their rest, forgetting about their own sickness and issues and say "I smell Jesus"? If this question wasn't disturbing enough... How often does it last to the next level where they are tapping us saying "I'm hungry... for Jesus"? Does it ever reach the point where they are pulling our shirt shouting "Take me to where I can find Jesus!"? And if it does, how often do we just stick to what we "have to get done", and take them home with out ever feeding them?
Adventures in missing the point? I know I've been guilty.
Often times my humor is described as dry, cynical, or even recently, "tight-fisted". I thank God for allowing me this space with these gracious guys who put up with me. Often my venue for processing thoughts is by "decontructing" them to the lowest possible sarcassic denominator and then putting them back together from there. I just need to thank these guys for tolerating me.
So the Peter Rollins book was our launching point for discussion. I was so relieved that I was not the only one who felt largely uncomfortable with parts of the book, and also that I was not the only one who neglected to finish the book. Oh how misery loves company! Two things that struck me from our discussions and I can't stop thinking about them; First, the importance of relationship. Second, the aroma. In order to love people, we must be in realtionship with them. As leaders, there's always this fear of, "What if I'm wrong?" and, "What if I take others to the wrong place with me?" I was so encouraged by Nick's Comments expressed towards Damien. "You were there." And you told me, "The spirit won't jack you!" I was once again reminded that more important than our theologocial leanings or even our prefered program possibilities, it is friendship that allows us to trulely minister to others. Also, it's the Holy Spirit, not us, that does the real work, and The Spirit will never take people to the "wrong place". I know, that I know, that I know this, but it was good to know it again.
Yesterday I was driving a bus to pick up some steel with our spanish pastor and my four year old son. I know, I was probably the only person on the planet yeaterday driving a bus to pick up steel. Isaac, my son, has not been feeling well, so he was laying down in the seat behind me. We were stopped, in the front of the line, at a red light, when we sits up, looks all around and says, "Dad, I smell chicken!" Being near some of my favorite sit down restaurants, I made some suggestion about where the smell was coming from and then took off as soon as the light turned green. By the next stop light, this little prophet behind me says, "Dad, I'm hungry". And by the next light he's insisting "Take me to a place where they have food!" By the time I took him home, we was a little bit frustrated. He tells his mom, "Will you feed me, Daddy won't."
Peter Rollins talks about living out our faith so it's not just a pleasing aroma to others. He talks about being the kind of Aroma that makes people hungry. How often do people who hang out with us, sit up from their rest, forgetting about their own sickness and issues and say "I smell Jesus"? If this question wasn't disturbing enough... How often does it last to the next level where they are tapping us saying "I'm hungry... for Jesus"? Does it ever reach the point where they are pulling our shirt shouting "Take me to where I can find Jesus!"? And if it does, how often do we just stick to what we "have to get done", and take them home with out ever feeding them?
Adventures in missing the point? I know I've been guilty.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
7 in 1... Go
No posts for over a week. Again, not because my head is not swirling with thoughts, dreams, and frustrations, just a lack of time. Let's try the 7 in 1 once again.
1. For two months now, I've made posts, and none of them really address these "things that shouldn't matter". For that I'm sorry. The other thing I have not addressed, is the one who really does matter most in my life... after Jesus of course. For that, I am also sorry and I just wanted to take a moment and share with the world (all six of you reading this) that I LOVE MY WIFE! I thank God for her everyday. She truely is God's perfect gift for me. I am her adoring husband till death due us part! She gets me through each day and I'm happy to have her walking alongside me in the journey.
Why is it that because my name has the word Pastor in front of it, she gets treated different? People do things to her (put her on the spot, publically critize her, and carry unreal expectations) that would be seen as terribly rude if done to anyone else. Yet, they don't seem to think twice about doing them to my wife. God has given my wife thick skin and broad shoulders and she has an amazing ability to walk through these moments with tact and grace, but it really frustrates me! Any thoughts? Helpful suggestions?
2. Ups and downs of weight loss. Tuesday was the first day that I was able to use the scale within it's normal mechanical limits. It read under 0! This is fantastic because that 0 represents 3 0 0 and this has been a mini plauteau for me. Thank you to all of you who have encouraged me in this and made my accomplishments seem monumental. Yesterday I had a meeting with my Metlife guy, and asked him what the magic weight number was to get affordable term life insurance through a non group policy for a non smoker with the height of 5'10. He's going to get back to me but he's pretty sure its 190lb. Quite the humbling experience. Perhaps by 2010 I'll fit into their tidy little boxes and graphs!
3. The Mystery of "contextulization"... it's missions month at my church. Which means terms like "contextulization", "UPG", "pledge", and "light" have been a little bit over used lately. In hearing our missionaries (the vocational ones, our church suppourts). I have been overwhelmed by the fact that we should all be doing "contextual" work and also the need to recognize that we are first citizens of "His Kingdom" and being Americans should come second. See #7.
4. Reading Peter Rollins for book club... This book is kicking my butt in a good way. This is the first book since Bible College that I've read with a highlighter and pen in hand. In the emergent conversations I've always thought of myself as a "park" kind of guy. (A metaphor I borrowed from Len Sweet, which describes those who fold fast to "old" theology and message, while embracing new methods and mediums for practicing them). I become very uncomfortable with terms like "a/theology", however, Rollins book is wonderful. Makes my head hurt... in a wonderful way. The second half is more practical, but not any easier; some fairly radical ideas on loving and serving others. It makes me wish they didn't seem so "radical" to me. See #7
5. I now live in Rancho Belago. I'm not sure I've spelled that correctly, but apparently the Moreno Valley City Council has renamed the entire 92555 as a way to improve our city's image. Maybe they could find a way to prevent people from shooting each other? You folks in "Orangecrest" got nothing on me, baby!
6. Today my baby climbed stairs! She will be one next month, and I'm so happy to be her Dad!
7. Here's the big one... #7. I often find myself in this tension of being or doing, being or doing. Honestly I'm usually about doing, doing, doing. In fact, sadly enough, taking time to process and record these thoughts here is one of the few ways I find myself "being". Recently I've been wrestling with a new verb. GO!
I want to be going. Going new places with my wife. Going closer to 190lbs. Going to those who need Jesus. Going outside my comfort zone. Going to healthy safe communities. Going to new heights! Going! Going! Going!
May I enjoy the "going" even more, beacuse I've taken time to yeild, and to rest.
1. For two months now, I've made posts, and none of them really address these "things that shouldn't matter". For that I'm sorry. The other thing I have not addressed, is the one who really does matter most in my life... after Jesus of course. For that, I am also sorry and I just wanted to take a moment and share with the world (all six of you reading this) that I LOVE MY WIFE! I thank God for her everyday. She truely is God's perfect gift for me. I am her adoring husband till death due us part! She gets me through each day and I'm happy to have her walking alongside me in the journey.
Why is it that because my name has the word Pastor in front of it, she gets treated different? People do things to her (put her on the spot, publically critize her, and carry unreal expectations) that would be seen as terribly rude if done to anyone else. Yet, they don't seem to think twice about doing them to my wife. God has given my wife thick skin and broad shoulders and she has an amazing ability to walk through these moments with tact and grace, but it really frustrates me! Any thoughts? Helpful suggestions?
2. Ups and downs of weight loss. Tuesday was the first day that I was able to use the scale within it's normal mechanical limits. It read under 0! This is fantastic because that 0 represents 3 0 0 and this has been a mini plauteau for me. Thank you to all of you who have encouraged me in this and made my accomplishments seem monumental. Yesterday I had a meeting with my Metlife guy, and asked him what the magic weight number was to get affordable term life insurance through a non group policy for a non smoker with the height of 5'10. He's going to get back to me but he's pretty sure its 190lb. Quite the humbling experience. Perhaps by 2010 I'll fit into their tidy little boxes and graphs!
3. The Mystery of "contextulization"... it's missions month at my church. Which means terms like "contextulization", "UPG", "pledge", and "light" have been a little bit over used lately. In hearing our missionaries (the vocational ones, our church suppourts). I have been overwhelmed by the fact that we should all be doing "contextual" work and also the need to recognize that we are first citizens of "His Kingdom" and being Americans should come second. See #7.
4. Reading Peter Rollins for book club... This book is kicking my butt in a good way. This is the first book since Bible College that I've read with a highlighter and pen in hand. In the emergent conversations I've always thought of myself as a "park" kind of guy. (A metaphor I borrowed from Len Sweet, which describes those who fold fast to "old" theology and message, while embracing new methods and mediums for practicing them). I become very uncomfortable with terms like "a/theology", however, Rollins book is wonderful. Makes my head hurt... in a wonderful way. The second half is more practical, but not any easier; some fairly radical ideas on loving and serving others. It makes me wish they didn't seem so "radical" to me. See #7
5. I now live in Rancho Belago. I'm not sure I've spelled that correctly, but apparently the Moreno Valley City Council has renamed the entire 92555 as a way to improve our city's image. Maybe they could find a way to prevent people from shooting each other? You folks in "Orangecrest" got nothing on me, baby!
6. Today my baby climbed stairs! She will be one next month, and I'm so happy to be her Dad!
7. Here's the big one... #7. I often find myself in this tension of being or doing, being or doing. Honestly I'm usually about doing, doing, doing. In fact, sadly enough, taking time to process and record these thoughts here is one of the few ways I find myself "being". Recently I've been wrestling with a new verb. GO!
I want to be going. Going new places with my wife. Going closer to 190lbs. Going to those who need Jesus. Going outside my comfort zone. Going to healthy safe communities. Going to new heights! Going! Going! Going!
May I enjoy the "going" even more, beacuse I've taken time to yeild, and to rest.
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