Friday, October 28, 2005

in brief

fantastic fall free-for-all on saturday (over 400 attendees, great weather, much fun, the whole 9 yards). baptisms on sunday. U2 on monday (cheapest tickets in the arena landed me front row, inside the ellipse, hand to hand contact with Bono, the whole 9 yards). closed on our new house wednesday (45 minutes, smooth as double churned butter). prepping the house this week, moving in on sunday after church. there is no way in heaven's name i deserve a "maker's 7" week like this (think: baker's dozen = 14, maker's 7 = 8 ... i don't know; maybe it'll catch on). but i'm gladly receiving it. oh, and a right turn on red in a no right turn on red ticket just to keep me from thinking i'm above the law.

must go to Lowes. must write much much more, especially about U2 concert. must find some time next week, assuming internet connection gets turned on, computer set up, etc.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

fall evening

sitting in the front yard of my parents' house, browsing the new itunes video store, watching Colin play with the neighbor kids, keeping an ear out for Elle who's sleeping inside. Ronni's leading worship team rehearsal tonight. really proud of her, love seeing her explore and stretch her giftings, love seeing her serve Jesus. Grace and Dad are playing catch in the driveway...Dad's throwing it as high as he can and Grace is snagging them all, quite impressive. Mom is in Midland for the state equestrian championships, which start tonight. she's a big Alias fan, which for some reason strikes me as humorous, so i've got to remember to record it for her tonight.

Grace, Ronni, and i did another photo shoot this afternoon, for a game called Nymble, sort of like Scattegories but with synonyms, antonymn, and homonymns. much fun pretending to have fun. funny how forcing smiles for an hour puts you in a good mood.

looking forward to the U2 concert on the 24th. looking forward to moving into our new home, too. it's pretty much finished now, just waiting for our closing date which was moved up to the 26th.

Elle seems to be waking up...gotta run!

Saturday, October 8, 2005

saturday

drove Ronni and the kids down to Milan this morning to pick up our van from the repair shop for the 3rd time in the last two weeks. this one was on the house, as apparently the last repair didn't take.

we finally won a basketball game today, in overtime no less. hard fought contest, dramatic ending. Gordon, Hartman, Bartholomay, Landingham, Brennan, and Sheilds were clutch. Gordon, especially, was a monster in the overtime period. Eric hurt his shoulder at the end of the first half - hard foul/tackle - and had to leave. hope he's alright. prayed for him. still waiting for an instant healing on the court. on my "before i die" list. wasn't expecting to play because of my ankle, but brought my uniform and shoes along just in case. saw a few minutes of action in the second half, after Eric had to leave, mainly to give some tired players a quick rest. wasn't too much of a liability, thankfully. felt really good to get out on the court after a game and a half layoff.

8 of us or so went out later in the afternoon to repair roofs at a modular home community in town. fixed up 5 or 6 roofs. really seemed to make an impression on the families we served. had a great time doing it together. what a remarkable group of people - hard workers, compassionate, giving, fun loving, eager to serve. the kind of experience that makes you feel lucky to be a part of a church.

feeling pretty under the weather tonight. praying to be well for a busy day tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Arthur and other things

went out with Arthur, the new pastor at People's Presbyterian, last tuesday to clean bathrooms downtown, partially to join with the Holy Spirit in infusing the community with Jesus' life and love, but mainly because it was good for our souls. went to an auto dealership, a new restaurant, a hardware store, and a hair salon. got turned down by a video store and a vet clinic. ran into lots of curious strangers and surprised friends alike. we had a blast together. loved seeing Arthur's heart for the community, passion for Jesus, enthusiasm for the kingdom to come. discovered he's a fellow disc golfer (although he did use the "f" word, so i'll have to talk to him about that).

continuing to grow in my love and appreciation for the vineyard tribe, too. been getting emails from a friend in Maryland, Steve, who's gaining a heart to plant a church with his family down the road. Steve's one of those way-smarter-than-I-am guys, and he's been churning out these high quality daily devotions/meditations chock full of depth and insight. i got to spend a few days with my dad at some conferences in the southern Ohio/northern Kentucky area recently, and i was so impressed with some of the pastors and leaders i got to hang out with and listen to. humble, tenacious, hungry, faithful, gifted...the whole 9 yards. and people in here at the Milan Vineyard who are just amazing. generous, fun, loving, self-less, compassionate, eager to grow, eager to serve. very inspiring.

my mom coaches the Pioneer High equestrian team, and they won the regionals last weekend. state finals in a week and a half. Mom is so proud of her team, as i am of her.

Grace is dominating at field hockey again; i think her team is still undefeated. if you've been following local controveries, you may be interested to know that it is her team that's been getting all the press about the boy on the girls' squad.

fun living at home with all these goings on, getting to play foosball with my dad and sister whenever we get the itch, etc. learning how cool Grace is, too. she pre-read my sermon this past weekend, and gave me some great feedback that was really helpful.

had a cool dream about worship two nights ago. the setting was a sunday morning celebration, and we were singing "beautiful one". really singing it, wholeheartedly, wholevoicedly, everyone alltogether, band, congregation, new and old. as if Jesus was bodily present among us, receiving our worship. i was weeping in the dream as i sang. happy kind of tears, tight throat, loud voice. right up there as dreams go, even better than the flying ones. a completely convincing kind of dream, nothing odd about it all. like i was really worshipping as i slept. i could sleep that kind of sleep forever.