December 31, 2004

Goodbye 2004

Today is the last day of 2004. Ok, you knew that.

This year, at least towards the end, has been a defining year for me and my family. Its been a difficult year for some of my (new and old) friends as well. It wouldn't be appropriate to discuss the details of what they've been through this year. I know that we've been there for each other especially in these last few months of the year and I'm grateful to them and the Lord for that. J and I joked that we should toast the new year with real champange this year given the events that have transpired, but that wouldn't be appropriate :-)

I look forward to a clean slate in 2005 for my life with its new challenges. New church, new school for my kids, new friends, new HUGE project at work. Terrifying and exciting all at the same time.

Change is constant. So is Christ.

As my Brit friend at work would say, Cheers!

Tsumani Prayer Blog

I read Messy's blog from time to time. When I first heard of the tsunami I quickly emailed to make sure she was ok as she lives in that part of the world. To my relief, she was ok and she setup a virtual prayer room regarding this horrific disaster in Asia. My jaw continues to hit the desk each time I refresh Foxnews for an update on the situation.

Insomnia 2.0

Well, here I am again unable to sleep but able to scribble in the blog.

I received a phone call from Ed tonight about some logistics stuff for his last days in the U.S. before returning to Honduras. He mentioned he thought I was really slugging through alot of "stuff" as a result of me leaving my former church. It is a credit to my Lord [and certainly NOT me!] that I really didn't think much of it at that point when talking to him on the phone. I mean, we're soldiers for the Lord, right? Do soldiers in the U.S. military or our first responders (Fire, Police) whine and wimper when the are injured? Well, yes because it hurts but from what I've seen they would run into the danger again and again because that is what they train for. That is what they have dedicated themselves to. I know its not scripture but this reminds me of the quote by D.H. Lawrence:

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.


Ok, its probably the insomnia talking but we Christians need to be more like the wild bird. We as Christians have not chosen to follow Christ because it was going to be a smooth ride. If that were the case then the churches would be emptied right now. When we look at the types of Christ in the OT, then Christ Himself, then the apostles, the evidence is overwhelming. Those who choose Christ, who choose the righteousnes of God, will run into CRAP at some point. Yes, one's life will downright suck at certain points. But we have signed on to the armed forces of Heaven, the paramedics of the Cross. Our job is to face the crap head-on and hang onto Jesus. He is the one who will see us through. He is the one who designed us at the beginning of what we consider "time" to serve His purpose.

Ok, just so we're clear here - I don't consider myself anywhere near where I suggest a Christian could be in the previous paragraphs. During my transition from my old church there were plenty of "fetal-position-thumb-sucking" moments where all I could do was cling to Christ.

I can't speak much for thumb sucking, but clinging to Christ when things hit the fan works. He carries us through when we can't.

December 18, 2004

Insomnia

Ok, its 0206 on the east coast of the US while I write this. I went to bed a bit early tonight after getting the kids settled. My wife was doing some light shopping and then stopped at a friends house to chat for a while. When she got home at 0030 or something like that I woke up and we chatted for a bit. Not her fault.

I've finished two of the books that I mention in previous posts. Purpose Driven Life definitely deserves another read. Maybe I could host a study group with the book? I devoured Grace Awakening in a short amount of time because of the relevance of the content to my own life. I strongly recommend these two books to any Christian. If you are not a Christian, then I recommend Purpose Driven Life first as it contains an evangelical thread to it without beating one over the head!

My Moleskine obsession continues with much of my personal thoughts landing in a pocket grid edition of the overpriced notebooks. I have since purchased a Waterman Phileas which is probably a nice not-so-cheap fountain pen. I'm vexed from time to time that Waterman is/was a French company. I suppose that I'll just keep chanting "they helped us in the War for Independence". I stayed with the default Florida blue ink and it seems to work just find in the M books that I have (one for work, one for personal).

The most suprising thing happened while checking my blog entries - someone commented which implies that someone else actually reads these mental mutterings. Yikes - go watch a reality TV show for better content :-).

Speaking of which - I don't watch much TV at all these days with kids and reading that I (should) do. However, I do like watching the Apprentice. My boy Kelly crushed that snotty little Ivy League princess. West Point graduate with his jump wings and experience in Intelligence? C'mon Donald, how could you go wrong! Kelly was calm and collected unlike his opponent, whose name escapes me right now, that liked to go on a *itchy attack on her opponents rather than standing on her principles and FACT.

Well, the advantage tonight is that I can take another look at Daniel 10 before this morning's Bible study at CCS. The last time I attended we covered two verses while the last meeting only one verse was covered. I view this is a good thing. What better thing to discuss and debate about than scripture. I don't mean pissing matches over nonsense, either. I mean spirited discussion in the honest pursuit of the Truth!

Muuuusttt sleeeeeeep...