It's been almost a week since my last post. Life began again at a run, rather than a jog. As I look at my calendar January promises to be a very busy month. My schedule is fairly simple, but a bit crowded.
I'm playing hookey from worship tomorrow. I'm bringing my dad to Vegas this afternoon for his Christmas present. We're going to see my close, personal friend, BJ Thomas. Haven't seen BJ in over a year.
On Thursday a group from Peace Lutheran, American Lutheran, and Grace met to talk about starting new congregations in our area. It was Peace and American who gave us our land. It's really exciting to work in partnership with other congregations in starting new churches. We are working through a new vision right now so more to come.
We have some computer generated drawings of what our new campus will look like. Wow!
I really love the presidential campaign this year.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
1st 2008 Post--Going Simple
We're about a week into the new year and I've yet to post anything brilliant or not-so-brilliant.
This is partly due to the fact that I had nothing to say. Like many of you, I was coming down from Christmas and gearing up for life after the holidays.
I'm not sure I have anything brilliant or not-so-brilliant at this moment so here's something I'm working on this next year:
This year our congregation is focusing on the theme: Simply Jesus. We're going to try to strip away some of the excess stuff that comes with Christianity and redisover Jesus and what it means to experience and follow him.
Part of this has grown out of a book the staff is working through--Simple Church. Part of it is growing out of the reading I am doing on simpler living. I've made a commitment to simplify my life this year (even though I feel my life is already pretty simple). I'm learning to see simple living as a gift of grace--a gift that enables us to enjoy what we have and free up resources for those who don't have.
Knowing this was coming, I bought everything I wanted the last two weeks of last year! :) This year I want to learn to buy only what I need and really enjoy what I already have. I'll let you know how it goes.
It promises to be another great year.
This is partly due to the fact that I had nothing to say. Like many of you, I was coming down from Christmas and gearing up for life after the holidays.
I'm not sure I have anything brilliant or not-so-brilliant at this moment so here's something I'm working on this next year:
This year our congregation is focusing on the theme: Simply Jesus. We're going to try to strip away some of the excess stuff that comes with Christianity and redisover Jesus and what it means to experience and follow him.
Part of this has grown out of a book the staff is working through--Simple Church. Part of it is growing out of the reading I am doing on simpler living. I've made a commitment to simplify my life this year (even though I feel my life is already pretty simple). I'm learning to see simple living as a gift of grace--a gift that enables us to enjoy what we have and free up resources for those who don't have.
Knowing this was coming, I bought everything I wanted the last two weeks of last year! :) This year I want to learn to buy only what I need and really enjoy what I already have. I'll let you know how it goes.
It promises to be another great year.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Wrapping Up 2007
I recognize that blogs are meant to be read by the public. So I'm always mindful of being narcissistic or self-absorbed. Why would you want to read my private journal?
Having said that (or written that!) I also realize that a blog serves as a personal encounter with life and that it enables a blogger to record his/her life experiences. I've been using the Christmas season for some of that--recording personal memories and impressions of my favorite time of year.
So I will do the same one more time as I wrap up 2007. I do this primarily for my sake, but perhaps it will stimulate some highlights from your 2007.
Below are some of the things I experienced this past year:
Some amazing bike rides
The phone call, while in Hawaii, that my mom had died.
My mom's funeral with so many, many of our Grace and Joy families with us.
A very exciting and successful building campaign at Grace: Building a Community of Grace (I actually wrote Joy the first time! I owe $5 to the Grace Hunger Fund! I'm going broke.)
The fun of dreaming about the new campus.
Dynamic Easter Services.
Getting a tattoo of the Grace cross on my arm.
The weekend spent with Jay Bakker, particularly his Sunday morning interview at our services
A quick but relaxing trip to Disneyland in April (to finish the vacation we didn't get due to mom's death)
Great experiences in our various clusters--the men's group, two couples clusters.
Backing out of the trip to Rwanda due to a panic attack--oi!
Beating myself up for three days straight for backing out of my trip to Rwanda due to a panic attack--oi!
A nice, relaxing trip to Hawaii in August with some friends from college.
My son, Mike, starting video game design school. He loves it. Since he was a little kid we knew he had a passion for video gaming. That, and his music!
Spending time with Alycia and her boyfriend, Corey, in Minneapolis during my trip to Luther Seminary. (I stayed in the middle of Downtown Minneapolis. Fantastic!)
Speaking at chapel at Luther Sem. Spending time with the students.
Front row seats at Barry Manilow.
Shaking hands with Barry Manilow.
Turning 50.
Christmas and all that that entails (see Wrapping up Christmas)
Every weekend with our community of Grace. Time spent with family and my dogs. Quiet times of prayer and Bible reading. Reading books about mission. Reading British mysteries. Hanging with the Pastor Buddies on Tuesday. Eating great food.
What a year.
Having said that (or written that!) I also realize that a blog serves as a personal encounter with life and that it enables a blogger to record his/her life experiences. I've been using the Christmas season for some of that--recording personal memories and impressions of my favorite time of year.
So I will do the same one more time as I wrap up 2007. I do this primarily for my sake, but perhaps it will stimulate some highlights from your 2007.
Below are some of the things I experienced this past year:
Some amazing bike rides
The phone call, while in Hawaii, that my mom had died.
My mom's funeral with so many, many of our Grace and Joy families with us.
A very exciting and successful building campaign at Grace: Building a Community of Grace (I actually wrote Joy the first time! I owe $5 to the Grace Hunger Fund! I'm going broke.)
The fun of dreaming about the new campus.
Dynamic Easter Services.
Getting a tattoo of the Grace cross on my arm.
The weekend spent with Jay Bakker, particularly his Sunday morning interview at our services
A quick but relaxing trip to Disneyland in April (to finish the vacation we didn't get due to mom's death)
Great experiences in our various clusters--the men's group, two couples clusters.
Backing out of the trip to Rwanda due to a panic attack--oi!
Beating myself up for three days straight for backing out of my trip to Rwanda due to a panic attack--oi!
A nice, relaxing trip to Hawaii in August with some friends from college.
My son, Mike, starting video game design school. He loves it. Since he was a little kid we knew he had a passion for video gaming. That, and his music!
Spending time with Alycia and her boyfriend, Corey, in Minneapolis during my trip to Luther Seminary. (I stayed in the middle of Downtown Minneapolis. Fantastic!)
Speaking at chapel at Luther Sem. Spending time with the students.
Front row seats at Barry Manilow.
Shaking hands with Barry Manilow.
Turning 50.
Christmas and all that that entails (see Wrapping up Christmas)
Every weekend with our community of Grace. Time spent with family and my dogs. Quiet times of prayer and Bible reading. Reading books about mission. Reading British mysteries. Hanging with the Pastor Buddies on Tuesday. Eating great food.
What a year.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Wrapping Up Christmas
Jan and I finished taking down all of our indoor Christmas decorations yesterday afternoon giving me a chance to think through this past Christmas season.
This will come as no surprise, but I loved it.
As always, it went by too fast, but we did manage to slow down and enjoy it, none-the-less.
Normally in early December, around my birthday (Dec. 11) we take a Christmas trip/Birthday trip. In the past we've been gone over a weekend. Even though this year was my 50th birthday, we decided to shorten our trip so that we would not miss any Sundays in December. A very good decision. It helped slow down the month a bit.
We enjoyed a couple of Christmas parties, one with our couples cluster and one with our staff and board.
The Sunday before Christmas Eve we had a wonder-filled worship/Christmas party. A very relaxed, informal time to hear some great stories and sing some of the classic Christmas carols, along with a visit from Santa and a petting zoo of the "nativity" animals.
Christmas Eve was spent at Grace where we experienced some powerful services. Those services are absolutely my favorite of the year (which is saying a lot!).
Christmas Day we relaxed and had dinner with our extended family in the late afternoon.
Alycia's boyfriend Corey flew in from Minneapolis on Christmas night so we had our immediate family brunch/gift exchange on the day after Christmas. It extended the holiday by a day and made for a nice, easy pace during what can be a frantic couple of days.
That night we went to Joy to see their Celebration of Lights and hit a Grace house with over 100,000 lights in their front yard!
One of the things I did this year was listen more to "sacred" Christmas music. XM radio offered a contemporary Christmas station (pop artists), a traditional (the Bing Crosby era), and a classics (choirs, orchestras). I mainly stayed with the traditional and classics. It kept me more centered on Jesus this year (although I love all of the holiday music).
All in all, a great Christmas season. We wrapped it all up at Grace today with a pancake breakfast/worship experience.
A couple days of rest and then back at it full speed.
This will come as no surprise, but I loved it.
As always, it went by too fast, but we did manage to slow down and enjoy it, none-the-less.
Normally in early December, around my birthday (Dec. 11) we take a Christmas trip/Birthday trip. In the past we've been gone over a weekend. Even though this year was my 50th birthday, we decided to shorten our trip so that we would not miss any Sundays in December. A very good decision. It helped slow down the month a bit.
We enjoyed a couple of Christmas parties, one with our couples cluster and one with our staff and board.
The Sunday before Christmas Eve we had a wonder-filled worship/Christmas party. A very relaxed, informal time to hear some great stories and sing some of the classic Christmas carols, along with a visit from Santa and a petting zoo of the "nativity" animals.
Christmas Eve was spent at Grace where we experienced some powerful services. Those services are absolutely my favorite of the year (which is saying a lot!).
Christmas Day we relaxed and had dinner with our extended family in the late afternoon.
Alycia's boyfriend Corey flew in from Minneapolis on Christmas night so we had our immediate family brunch/gift exchange on the day after Christmas. It extended the holiday by a day and made for a nice, easy pace during what can be a frantic couple of days.
That night we went to Joy to see their Celebration of Lights and hit a Grace house with over 100,000 lights in their front yard!
One of the things I did this year was listen more to "sacred" Christmas music. XM radio offered a contemporary Christmas station (pop artists), a traditional (the Bing Crosby era), and a classics (choirs, orchestras). I mainly stayed with the traditional and classics. It kept me more centered on Jesus this year (although I love all of the holiday music).
All in all, a great Christmas season. We wrapped it all up at Grace today with a pancake breakfast/worship experience.
A couple days of rest and then back at it full speed.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Benazir Bhutto
Some thoughts about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto:
For many in our world, freedom and democracy is a life and death struggle. It was for the US over 200 years ago and continues to be so today for far too many. We often take for granted the freedom we have in this country. Every 4 to 8 years we experience a "peaceful revolution" as one President steps down and a new one takes over. It's an amazing, remarkable process that we hardly notice anymore. But when someone like Bhutto, who represents freedom, is mercilessly killed, her death reminds us of how blessed we are.
Freedom and democracy are profoundly deep and important issues. We often forget that, too. Especially in our heated, polarized climate. Candidates sniping at each other with minutia and insignificant sound-bytes that have no relevance whatsoever to the humbling and immense task of leading one of the most powerful countries in the world. And far too many of us buy into it, tune out, or don't participate at all. People give their lives every day for the right to vote but we've become nonchalant about the whole issue, or have turned the democratic process into trite mudslinging.
What the world needs is grace and graciousness. And the US should set the tone. Candidates should debate each other, but the issues, not nonsensical quirks or innuendos. We need to debate with integrity and honor. We voters should recognize the great privilege we have to vote, and learn all we can about what the real issues are--issues like poverty, injustice, health care, immigration, terrorism, the environment, education, to name a few--again, not just the trite sound-bytes, but the real, deep, profound pieces that form these issues.
We are indeed blessed to be free. The tragic death of Benazir Bhutto stands as a powerful reminder of what freedom really means, what it costs, and the commitment it calls for.
For many in our world, freedom and democracy is a life and death struggle. It was for the US over 200 years ago and continues to be so today for far too many. We often take for granted the freedom we have in this country. Every 4 to 8 years we experience a "peaceful revolution" as one President steps down and a new one takes over. It's an amazing, remarkable process that we hardly notice anymore. But when someone like Bhutto, who represents freedom, is mercilessly killed, her death reminds us of how blessed we are.
Freedom and democracy are profoundly deep and important issues. We often forget that, too. Especially in our heated, polarized climate. Candidates sniping at each other with minutia and insignificant sound-bytes that have no relevance whatsoever to the humbling and immense task of leading one of the most powerful countries in the world. And far too many of us buy into it, tune out, or don't participate at all. People give their lives every day for the right to vote but we've become nonchalant about the whole issue, or have turned the democratic process into trite mudslinging.
What the world needs is grace and graciousness. And the US should set the tone. Candidates should debate each other, but the issues, not nonsensical quirks or innuendos. We need to debate with integrity and honor. We voters should recognize the great privilege we have to vote, and learn all we can about what the real issues are--issues like poverty, injustice, health care, immigration, terrorism, the environment, education, to name a few--again, not just the trite sound-bytes, but the real, deep, profound pieces that form these issues.
We are indeed blessed to be free. The tragic death of Benazir Bhutto stands as a powerful reminder of what freedom really means, what it costs, and the commitment it calls for.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Christmas Memories
Some of the memories of Christmases past:
*Sitting by the Christmas tree, by our front window, in our little home in St. Louis Park, MN, listening to Christmas records (yes, actual records). Andy Williams was one of my favorites.
*Perry Como and Andy Williams Christmas specials on TV.
*Christmas "pageants" at church. In our little Lutheran Church the kids would put on a Christmas program. Each of us would learn a "piece," a Bible verse, for example, and share it with the congregation. We would also sing Christmas songs.
*Christmas Eve: A big day for us--
*We'd start out at church in the afternoon. At the service we would always receive a little blue box with Christmas images on it. It was filled with candy.
*Then we'd head to St. Paul to hang out with my mom's side of the family--the great uncles and aunts. We'd have dinner and sing Christmas carols. If we had a "piece" from the Sunday School program, we had to stand in front of the tree and recite it (or sing the song we learned.)
*At 10 or 11 (I can't remember which) it was back to church. Grandpa always spoke at that candlelight service. I can vividly remember the crunch of the snow as we would walk into church that evening.
*Next, we went to grandpa's and grandma's house (around midnight) for what grandma called, "A little lunch." Breads, meats, herring (yuck!) and then, finally, gift opening. In our family the tradition was to watch as others opened their gifts, starting with the youngest. I often knew what I was getting as my younger brothers usually received the same thing.
After Jan and I were married we ran between her family and my family functions. Her family open gifts in a mad free-for-all. Interesting as her family was quiet and reserved and mine is loud and noisy.
Since moving to Phoenix we've created new traditions over the years:
*The annual trip to Disneyland in early December
*Peter Piper Pizza before the Christmas Eve marathon of services
*Christmas Eve services with our community of faith--back in the Joy days we had 8 Christmas Eve services. We're currently at 4 at Grace.
*Christmas Day we were up bright and early to open gifts before I had to head back to Joy to serve communion for two hours. Now, with no Christmas Day responsibilities, we sleep in a bit.
*When we were all younger, our families would go Christmas caroling on Christmas Day night.
Throughtout the month of December it's all Christmas music, all the time. Christmas shows on TV if we like them. Nightly walks with our dogs enjoying the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.
This is our first Christmas without mom. It will be different.
*Sitting by the Christmas tree, by our front window, in our little home in St. Louis Park, MN, listening to Christmas records (yes, actual records). Andy Williams was one of my favorites.
*Perry Como and Andy Williams Christmas specials on TV.
*Christmas "pageants" at church. In our little Lutheran Church the kids would put on a Christmas program. Each of us would learn a "piece," a Bible verse, for example, and share it with the congregation. We would also sing Christmas songs.
*Christmas Eve: A big day for us--
*We'd start out at church in the afternoon. At the service we would always receive a little blue box with Christmas images on it. It was filled with candy.
*Then we'd head to St. Paul to hang out with my mom's side of the family--the great uncles and aunts. We'd have dinner and sing Christmas carols. If we had a "piece" from the Sunday School program, we had to stand in front of the tree and recite it (or sing the song we learned.)
*At 10 or 11 (I can't remember which) it was back to church. Grandpa always spoke at that candlelight service. I can vividly remember the crunch of the snow as we would walk into church that evening.
*Next, we went to grandpa's and grandma's house (around midnight) for what grandma called, "A little lunch." Breads, meats, herring (yuck!) and then, finally, gift opening. In our family the tradition was to watch as others opened their gifts, starting with the youngest. I often knew what I was getting as my younger brothers usually received the same thing.
After Jan and I were married we ran between her family and my family functions. Her family open gifts in a mad free-for-all. Interesting as her family was quiet and reserved and mine is loud and noisy.
Since moving to Phoenix we've created new traditions over the years:
*The annual trip to Disneyland in early December
*Peter Piper Pizza before the Christmas Eve marathon of services
*Christmas Eve services with our community of faith--back in the Joy days we had 8 Christmas Eve services. We're currently at 4 at Grace.
*Christmas Day we were up bright and early to open gifts before I had to head back to Joy to serve communion for two hours. Now, with no Christmas Day responsibilities, we sleep in a bit.
*When we were all younger, our families would go Christmas caroling on Christmas Day night.
Throughtout the month of December it's all Christmas music, all the time. Christmas shows on TV if we like them. Nightly walks with our dogs enjoying the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.
This is our first Christmas without mom. It will be different.
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