Another Wordle

I'm having fun with this. If you haven't tried it yet, go to http://www.wordle.net and create one for yourself.

Random Friday

It's been a crazy week. Not so much busy, but a lot going on in my head more than anywhere else.

* I've been challenged this week. Things people have spoken into my life have challenged me to think more, go deeper, and even lose sleep.

* There are so many things I love to do. But now I have so many unfinished projects, I really must stop starting new things and finish what I've started.

* Mark Hilliard (at http://www.renownworhsip.org) had an interesting comment the other day. He was wondering where all the extra campaign money goes. My response "I'd like to know why there is so much money spent on a campaign. So much could have been done with the millions of dollars wasted. Or is it billions?" That's the only political comment I will make on this blog.

* I've been challenged as a parent this week. She has a strong will some times, and the issues of respect and responsibility have been big around here.

* I really must put something on the window by my desk to keep the birds from flying into the window. It is fascinating though to sit here and watch them fly and feed. But where has the "darn" squirrel gone? He hasn't been around lately.

* Welcome to all the new readers I've had this week. I'm going to a blog party next weekend and as part of that, the organizer Heather Whittaker (http://whittakerwoman.typepad.com/whittaker_woman/) created a page to introduce all to each other with short bios. In the past two days I have seen a tenfold increase in my statistics. I'm so looking forward to meeting all of these incredible people.

* Thanks to Dre (http://drefillmore.typepad.com/my_weblog/) for sharing this laugh this morning. Everyone should laugh at least once a day. http://www.nolaf.org/

* Thank you to all the other bloggers out there that I read. You share what's on your mind, and you speak into my life and I thank you for your words.

* And I leave you with this question. Are you doing it because you can or because you should?

Title Unknown

I have a hard time with titles. Not the ones that are given to a person such as doctor, president, pastor, etc. But with titles for this blog, or a book, or a message. As part of the creative team with Journey Church I am responsible for helping come up with titles for the podcasts. When I worked at another church I was responsible for the message titles that went on the CD's and video casts. It's been 4 years (or more) that I've been doing this and I still have a hard time with titles.

I admire the authors who can come up with the witty titles for their books. Right now I am reading "Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself" by Alan Alda. His previous book is "Never Have Your Dog Stuffed". These titles don't give you any indication of what the book is about. They pique your curiosity, then it's up to you to discover what it's really all about.

I love to read. I read more now than when I was in school, and I read a lot then too. As a child I read a lot too. I have memories of the bookcases my dad built in my room, being filled with books. Some of which I still have today that I am passing on to my daughter. But what I love about reading is the ability to get "lost" in another world. Fact or fiction, every story, every book, can take you somewhere you've never been before, if you are willing. You are given the opportunity to experience another life or learn something new. And it all starts with a title.

Any good recommendations for what I should read next? I'm looking forward to the new places I can explore. Share your favorite titles with me.

Wordle

There is this website called Wordle that will take the words used on your blog and create a word picture of them. Go check it out.



http://wordle.net/ Images of Wordles are licensed Creative Commons License

Jesse Cook Cafe Mocha

Beautiful images and amazing guitar playing. Enjoy this while I try to organize all the thoughts running around in my head for my next post.

What Is Church?

What is church to you? Is it an ornate building with lots of stained glass windows, a pipe organ, and a choir? Or is it a contemporary service, with a full band, meeting in a building that looks nothing like a church building. Or does it fall somewhere in between?

It was pointed out to me this morning that I didn't grow up in church the way so many of the people I'm surrounded with did. I did go to an Episcopal church until I was about 9. After that, it was pretty much hit and miss until I was in my 20's. There were the occasional Christmas and Easter services, but they were few and far between. And of course since it was a "traditional" church, it was the stone building, with the stained glass windows, the steeple, the bells, the hard pews, kneelers, and so on. This is pretty much what I associated with church and God.

It wasn't until someone took the time to explain the personal, loving, relational aspect of Christianity, that my skewed idea of what church was changed. And my idea of who God was, well lets just say that was even more skewed. Once I finally met that person and listened to what they had to say, then I thought I finally understood what church and God was really all about. That was almost 19 years ago.

This past Wednesday night we had our leaders small group at our pastor's home and it really showed me what the church really is supposed to be. It's not about the building, or the seats, or the illustrations, or any of the other trappings. Church is the people. The people that God has placed you with in life. It is about the real, authentic, honest relationships. Accepting and loving people where they are at right at that moment. Not forcing rules and restrictions and doctrine down their throats. But simply shining the love of God and letting Him work in their lives. That's what church is all about.

What Has Your Attention?

What is occupying your time? Is it the blogs are you reading? Are there some that you should just unsubscribe from? Are they imparting anything of value in to your life?

Is it a something? Is there something that has become the main focus of your life, taking away from someone or something else, that may be more important.

Or maybe it's a someone that is occupying your time and energy. Are you spending time with or are you investing time with this person? Are they imparting something into your life? There is a difference between spending and investing. Think about it in terms of money. If you spend money, what do you have to show for it? A trinket. Something that is going to be used up and soon forgotten. If you invest money, what do you have to show for that? Hopefully a good return for the future. (Thank you Pastor Douglas for this illustration. It has stuck with me since the first time I heard you use it.)

There is so much going on in the world right now. So many things screaming for our attention. Too many different directions we could be going. It is too easy to get bogged down in these things and forget what is really important.

I'm not writing this to tell you that you should stop reading blogs, watching the news, don't spend time with that person anymore, or doing whatever it is that you are doing. I'm simply writing this to encourage you to take a moment and consider what are you doing, what is it accomplishing and is there something that you are missing because of this.

I'm also doing it as a reminder to myself. To focus on what is important and not lose sight of that. To invest more and spend less. To speak positive into the lives that I impact.

Where The Money Goes

I think SchoolHouse Rock had it right. Maybe this is a lesson we all need to learn again.

Love Everybody?

My 8 year old (who some days has the mind of a 30 year old) asked me the other day, "Do you love everybody?" "What do you mean by everybody?" I asked. Her response was "Everybody, in the whole world." I thought for a moment and said "to a degree yes. We are commanded to love everyone, just as God loves us. But it's not in the same way as I love you or daddy." I thought that would have been the end of the discussion, but she took it a step further. Her next question was "what about people who hurt you?" Wow. How do I answer that one. Like most people, I've been hurt on different levels. I had an experience where I was assaulted when I was younger. Maybe terrorized would be a better word. But regardless of the terminology, it took me a long time to battle the fear it left behind. So this was one of the things that came to mind when she asked me this question. And quite frankly I didn't have a good answer for her. I stuttered and stammered through and now I don't even remember what I told her. But ever since then, this question has been replaying in my mind. I have gotten over the fear and terrors, and I've gotten over the pain of other hurts in my life. But could I honestly say I love those people that hurt me?

I had to look up the definition of love, and here's what I found.

* a strong positive emotion of regard and affection;
* any object of warm affection or devotion;
* have a great affection or liking for;
* beloved: a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
* a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction;
* get pleasure from;
* a score of zero in tennis or squash;
* be enamored or in love with;
* sexual love; sleep together: have sexual intercourse with;

If I were to answer based on those definitions, I would have to say no, I don't love those people. But then I looked up God's definition of love. And here's what He has to say:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

The words "it keeps no records of wrongs" jumped out at me and I was reminded that, yes, no matter what, we must love others. We don't have to like what they've done, but we must love and show God's love to them. I choose to walk in this love today and everyday. How about you? Is there someone you have been withholding love from?

Creative team meeting

Yes, we actually do get work done. But part of the creative process is this too.



I've said it before, I'll say it again. I love the people I get to work with. It doesn't feel like work even though it can be a full time job and then some.

Road Trip Thoughts

So we're home from a week long road trip. A lot of time spent in the car, driving up to Cass West Virginia and back home, via Deltaville Virginia - with a few stop in between.

These are some observations from our trip:

~ Thank God for built in DVD players. At first it wasn't working, don't know why. But then it fixed itself and kept Amy occupied and not asking "are we there yet?"

~ Can someone please tell me why the price of gas can vary so much, even in one city. We passed two stations that were $2.99, then down the road a couple of miles, it was $3.39. I don't get it.

~ I am also thankful for OnStar and their driving directions. Dean has a GPS built into his phone, but there were some times it just wasn't working. Fortunately we were able to push that "blue button" and someone was able to download directions to the car and we were able to find where we were going.

~ I found that you can tell a lot about an area based on the billboards you see. And along those same lines, you can tell which way an area is leaning politically based on the number of those signs too. Don't believe what the polls and news are telling you. Go out and drive around and see for yourself.

~ Road food... what happened to the diners? The mom and pop places where you could get a good meal, cheap. Most all we found was chain food. Need to go look up "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives" before our next road trip.

~ Some names of towns I wouldn't want to live in (only based on the name):
Muddlety (muddle through life... sounds boring)
Gassaway (that one speaks for itself I think)
Goochland (I'm a Goochlander?)
Dinwiddle (uh?)
Squirrel Level (who came up with that name?)

The leaves were changing in West Virginia, not quite at peak. But we had a beautiful day for the train ride and picnic. Had a nice visit with family, albeit short. Glad to be back home.

So what did you do last week?

What Makes A Star?

Why do we elevate some of the people that we do, to the level of a "star"? When did politicians go from being someone who worked for the betterment of the country to being a celebrity? And how about CEO's? When did they achieve this status? There are many to be admired for what they have done, the innovations they have brought to us. But what makes them a "star"?

Why isn't the lady who drives the bus and delivers the kids safely to and from school everyday a star? Or the guy who dependably delivers the mail? Or my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Booker? Why don't we recognize them as someone worth celebrating? These are the people we should be acknowledging and thanking. When was the last time you said thank you to the mailman? Do you know his name?

It's time we stop idolizing and worshiping the mass produced man made stars and recognize and celebrate the stars in our every day lives.

One last thought for you to think about. What if Jesus came back today? Would we treat Him like a star? What would He think of that?