You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September, 2008.
I have learned an important lesson. Don’t start a blog series unless you have a second blog planned. I have been racking my brain trying to find something else that annoys me but just as I expected, my annoyance was powerless when my optimism resurrected. I was sitting at work freezing to death and I thought that I might possibly be annoyed by air conditioning. I started to cultivate this annoyance in my head and it was nearly a blog, but then I realized that the air conditioning was protecting me from my nemesis the sun. I ended up going through this vicious cycle of thinking I was annoyed with something and then realizing I was not annoyed until I had nothing annoying to write about. So for now the series is on hold, until I wake up and feel that perpetual state of annoyance again.
Today is the first day on a new college small group that Kelly and I are leading at our church and while I am excited, it is a guarded excitement that is mixed with a little fear. I have lead small groups before but in the past the groups were mostly people that I knew, so this is a whole new ball game. I think the fear comes because this is big step toward coming to grips with the reality of the call that God has placed on my life. I know that ministry, even volunteer ministry, can be hard.
In the past I did not handle the rigors of ministry in a way that was pleasing to the Lord. I was met with success and I let it go to my head. I became arrogant and my arrogance almost destroyed me. So now I am met with a whole new challenge. I get to relearn ministry in a way that is not self destructive. So as I move forward cautiously I am thankful that God allows us second chances to get it right
My prayer is that God will bless this new ministry and that I will not get in the way. I pray that the grace that God gives to try again will be seen through me, and that others who have walked a similar path to me might be encouraged to try again. I have had this verse stuck in my had for a couple of years and my biggest prayer is that this could be true of my life and future ministry.
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man [or woman], what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Today we went to Disneyland since Stacie is in town and it was pretty fun. We have lived in California for a little over a year and have been to Disneyland almost half a dozen times and it is always an interesting time.
It is funny how all types of people from all walks of life come to Disney. From grandmas to emo kids there are all there and functioning in relative harmony. But there was a group that I was not at all accustomed to seeing, a large group of monks, in full monk orange robes. It was pretty interesting to watch. I saw them mulling about in different areas and looking pretty laid back. They did not talk to each other very much, just kind of stood around and watched people.
A little while later in the evening I was waiting for Kelly and Stacie to finish in the bathroom and here came the monks shuffling around the corner. There was about six of them and they proceeded to walk right into the women’s restroom. I started chuckling to myself and prepared for hilarity to ensue when the monks realized they were in the wrong bathroom, but they just walked out nonchalantly and went to the proper bathroom. There was no look of embarrassment or anything. They didn’t respond to the extremely confused women who were walking into the bathroom they just walked out of it was as if nothing had happened.
As we drove home I could not stop thinking about that peaceful look on those monks faces. I though “man, there has to be some sort of deep theological application to this.” But I am not that smart. I did come to one conclusion though, monks are cool. I wish I was cool like that.
Blogging is one of those things that I have tried to do many times. I am not sure why I feel compelled to start another one when numerous blogs that I have started in the past have met a slow death, but alas I must start again. There is something about being in a new stage of life that makes you want to conquer things that have defeated you in the past.
I have decided to blog this time for a number of reasons. First, this stage in my life has removed me from many of the people whose direction and encouragement I miss greatly. My hope is that those relationships can be maintained, even cultivated, by the sharing of my random thoughts. Second, I realize that I am not the only one who struggles with the practical aspects of what the call of God means for my life. I pray that what I go through might be an encouragement to others who find themselves in a similar situation. Lastly, I think that there is great benefit in being able to look back and remember what the Lord has brought you through, both to remind you of your victories and defeats. So if nothing else this will just be an online journal so I do not forget who I am and what I have done. Let’s see if this blog will die or not….. only time will tell.
