The Letter

In my continuing effort to write short stories, I present "The Letter." As with most of my stories it was written to illustrate a point and spark a discussion in my youth ministry. I think that it stands well on it's own so I decided to go ahead and post it.

Bill woke to the lovely strains of profanities being hurled at him. He lifted his head slightly off the pavement. Apparently he was to live yet another day. The trash collectors continued cursing at him to get out of the way. Bill scratched himself and climbed slowly out of his box. He smiled a dopey grin. Sometimes the grin calmed people down. Today the insults and profanity simply increased. Eh, what did it matter. Better to be cursed than run over.

Reaching back into his box, he grabbed an old army surplus bag that contained all his belongings. A few bottles worth a couple pennies, a perfectly good shoe that someone and left beside the road, a few shirts he had found in a dumpster that he was holding to for winter, and the letter. Far and above the letter was his most prized possession. It was stained and wrinkled, yet he valued it far above everything he had. He reached quickly into the bag and assured himself that it was there and with the horn of a garbage truck blaring in his ears, he left the alley headed for the bathroom.

The Power of Parable

"It was an out of place blue door among the ruins of a forgotten world. Proudly it had been built. With cheers it had been painted. In reverence it had been passed. By shouts it had been defended. In screams it had been lost. With cries it was remembered until it was remembered no more. Behind its timbers hid both the foundation of a kingdom and of that kingdom's demise, and if time would allow, the rise of that kingdom once again."

A blue door, an ancient story, and a mystery. With a few words we find ourselves being pulled into a story.

After a crazy week of many messages, I found myself at a lost for my Tuesday night youth service. We've been working straight through the book of Ephesians and the next couple of verses stumped me on how to present them. I understood them, but I just wasn't sure how I could get it across to my students.

Diagramming

I did something crazy and probably extremely boring in my youth service this past Tuesday. I took a large chunk of my teaching time and showed my students how to make a rough diagram of a sentence. Now I know that there is an actual method for diagramming a sentence which is fairly in depth, but I ran more with the idea of breaking the sentence into basic portions of thought that you write on following lines of the paper. A thought that clarifies or answers a question from the previous thought is placed underneath that thought.

Things I'll Miss

In a little over a month my team is heading back to Kenya. I know it sounds a little presumptuous to call them my team when I'm not going with them, but I worked side by side with these people last year and somewhere in my soul I still consider myself a part. I've had the opportunity to speak with a few of them in the past couple of weeks and it really stirs me up. I fully understand and accept that this isn't a time for me to go, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about it. In honor of that, I feel compelled to compile a short list of things that I'll miss by not going to Kenya. Some are poignant and others pointless and I'll leave you to distinguish between the two.

I'm going to miss going to dinner late at night in Eldoret, Kenya. Not just dinner at any old place though. I'm going to miss going to an Indian restaurant while staying in Kenya. And not just any Indian restaurant, but one that served up Italian style pizza done the American way. And if that wasn't enough, I'm going to miss being able to choose Chinese chicken as our pizza topping. To put it all into perspective and in one long sentence. I'm going to miss going to Kenya and having dinner in an Indian restaurant that served Italian pizza done the American way with Chinese chicken on top. I love the craziness of it all.

If the opportunity arises my team, eat a slice for me.

The Daisy Chain 2

If this appears in Facebook and it's not just in my notes section, then technology is really crazy,

The Daisy Chain

This is a post to see if this crazy daisy chain I've set up will work. Currently I have my blog at www.focusedjourney.com. I have it set to automatically sync with a Blogger account of the same name. I'm a sucker for backups. Now, I have my Tumblr page pulling in the info from the Blogger RSS feed. I think it's possible to set up Tumblr to automatically update Twitter. Then, I have Twitter update Facebook. It's more of a test of whether or not it can be done and not something I'm sure I intend to keep.

How Did You Get Here

I was out of town the past couple of days and I had to miss my youth service. As I've done in the past, I asked one of my youth that is considering heading to Bible college to take a shot at filling in for me. He spoke on 2 Timothy 4:7 which reads, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” He ended his message by telling this story.

Imagine you are at the marriage supper of the Lamb with all the saints of God. Across from you is a girl that appears about five years old. People are talking and laughing and just enjoying themselves. As the dinner progresses, you and the girl begin talking. You ask her how she came to be here. She opens up and begins her story.

Resist the Doughnut

I have decided to coin a phrase of which I'm sure will be used to teach, edify, and encourage long after my time on earth is through. It basically states this.

Resisting the doughnut is harder when you're standing in the doughnut shop.

I make no claims of originality as this thought surely as been echoed somewhere in my life, but it's still a good thought for us to ponder. As Christians, we are called to resist temptation. We are even told in the Bible that every temptation can be overcome. No temptation is all powerful. Yet, sometimes popular opinion leads us to believe that some temptations are irresistible. That we are in fact powerless to resist them.

In many instances, I think the problem lies in the fact that we start resisting the temptation far too late. Jump back to doughnut shop as an illustration. If we're trying to be healthy and avoid foods like doughnuts, it's foolish to place ourselves in a doughnut shop. We can deceive ourselves all we want with thoughts of "I'm just looking" or "I simply like the smell", but you know as well as I do that we're going to wind up walking out with doughnuts. The resisting must begin before you are ever near that shop.

Personally, as I am on a diet, a doughnut may sound good, but when I keep myself far away from doughnut shops I find it a lot easier to resist them. I make the conscience decision not only to resist the doughnut, but I also keep myself away from places where it would be so easy to buy one.

Now I obviously don't think doughnuts are sinful, but I know you can make the cognitive leap to apply what I'm writing about. I think the mature action of believers is not only to resist temptation, but to also be smart enough to avoid places and situations where the threshold for giving into temptation is greatly lowered. Everyone is tempted by different things, and with that in mind, everyone needs to figure out what boundaries can be set up to assist in them in their fight.

There will always be unexpected situations of temptation that we will have to fight, but many could be much more easily overcome just by prayerfully examining and planning ahead.

The Good Samaritan

Sadly, there are days when my actions fall in line with the Levite and Priest. I'm more concerned with my tasks and duties to bother myself to stop and assist another.

Thankfully, there are days when my actions fall in line with the Samaritan. I stop, I care, I act, I sacrifice, and I give.

Then, there are days where I feel more like the man that has been robbed, beaten up, and left for dead.

I'm trying to live out the second one, but sometimes it sure feels more like the third.

The Power of Scent

Lately, every time I take a shower I find my mind wandering back to my time in Kenya. It happened enough times that I consciously took note of it. I wondered why for awhile, and then it slowly dawned on me that the body wash I was using was the one that I took with me on that trip. In an effort to clean out a cupboard, I've been using up old shower gels. Normally I just use a bar of soap, but bottles are handy for traveling. At least they're handy until they get too low to last for an entire trip.

It really amazes me how a scent can bring back vivid memories. The second I open the bottle my mind is flooded with scenes from Eldoret and Nairobi. Suddenly I can taste the food again and see the incredible night skies. I remember how driving down the road is one long game of chicken and being served a cup of tea after I finished preaching. For a brief moment I relive sleeping tangled up in mosquito nets, walking through the crowds at the street bash, and even being interviewed on radio.

All this from a simple scent. The only hard part about this is that I don't like the scent of the body wash. It was a bottle that I got free and since it was full I took it on the trip. So my mornings are a mix up between a smell I don't particularly like and the amazing memories it invokes.

Coffee and Humanity

After a very long summer of running everywhere, I finally have been able to have coffee Thursday. Coffee Thursday is when I take the morning to work in a coffee shop. It's a weekly tradition that summer schedule greatly hindered.

When I pastored a very small church several years ago, my office was block walled with two windows that were frosted so you couldn't see in (or out). It was like being in prison every day. I began calling it my sensory deprivation chamber. Once you walked in all contact with reality ceased to exist and creativity began to asphyxiate. It was a depressing place. In my time there, I probably only wrote a few messages in that office. Most were written at home with a window (clear) that gave me a view of the world outside. Prayer and planing were better accomplished by driving and finding a quiet spot by the lake.

That's why I love working in the coffee shop. There's people walking in and out. You see the gamut of emotions from happiness to sadness. You hear snippets of conversation that make you laugh and others that make you shake your head. I know everyone is different, but for me it sparks my creativity. Plus, having a nice dark roast of coffee doesn't hurt either.

On Facebook? The original post resides at www.focusedjourney.com.

A C.S. Lewis Quote

Preparing a lesson this morning and came across this thought by C.S. Lewis in his work Mere Christianity. It's worth pondering for a few minutes.

When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others-not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as sunlight, though it has no favourites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as a clean one.

The Phone

Back in March the phones at the church got wiped out from lightning. For a variety of factors out of our control, it took about four months to get the phones working again. Just last week they were finally up and working again. Within the first few hours of them being repaired I realized how much I enjoyed them being out. Already the telemarketer calls have started. Various companies calling and telling me how they can save me so much time in ministry preparation by purchasing and using their products.

I would just like to state that I normally have enough time for ministry preparation, provided I don't have to waste too much time trying to extract myself from telemarketer calls.

I sort of miss the phones being knocked out.


(For full disclosure, I have nothing against Christian businesses producing materials for church use. I just prefer to go looking for them when I actually need them)

I Love Mommy

My little two year old boy loves his mommy. He unashamedly loves her. As for me, the love is conditional. If he's in a good mood I might get an "I love you." But let that mood turn bad through tiredness or a host of other factors and he quickly becomes a lover of mommy only. This past Sunday he was riding with me to get our weekly Taco Bell lunch. He loves the ride as he gets to point out where all the fast food restaurants are located. That's scary in and of itself but thats not the focus of this post. As we were riding, I thought I'd test him.

"Hey little guy, do you love daddy?"

With that sweet smile he replied, "yeah, I love mommy."

"No, I asked if you love daddy?"

"Yeah, I love mommy."

This went on for several moments until I realized that I wasn't going to get a response concerning his love for me. Later that afternoon as I lay on the couch, I thought I'd try again.

"Do you love daddy?"

"I love mommy."

Again after several attempts I quit my pointless endeavor. However, before he walked away I had him look me in the eye for one moment and I told him something very simple. I told him I would love him even if he never loved me. Now granted, I comprehend that my little two year old doesn't have a full understanding of love. I even know that he does love me even though he swears undying allegiance to his mommy. Yet, I wanted him to know that my love would always be there whether his love was or not. Perhaps I said it more for myself as I look toward the future.

As I lay there watching him play I was quickly reminded of another father that chose to love even though his children refused to love him back. I was reminded that the Father loved us enough to allow his son to die in our place, even while we were living in open rebellion and hatred against Him. He loves for God is love. I can only speak for myself, but I'm grateful that the Father chose to continue to love me even through the times of my life where I didn't have love for Him. Only by His love was I brought back to a place of loving Him and experiencing His incredible love.

Health Update July 10, 2010

Back from vacation and I was thrown right into preaching last Sunday (I did volunteer before I left), running a youth group overnighter, and then finalizing the preparation for a wedding ceremony that I'm conducting in a few hours. Shoulder is still bothering me and I've just been swamped. Now that I have all the excuses firmly in place, it's time to reveal my fabulous weight gain. I'm up 4.6 pounds which officially puts me back at 244.4. Not proud of that but it is what it is. I have this wedding reception to make it through then my schedule is fairly clear so I should be able to buckle down and get working on this healthy change again.

Shoulder Failure

In my quest to get healthy, I've started to do something once unthinkable. At least in my mind. I was getting up early and heading out to ride my bike. I got two days in then had to take a couple days off because my wife was away. No problem. I was planning on getting back on my bike starting this morning. Now the however.

However, on Saturday I took my youth group tubing at the lake. It was a great day, until my last run. Our driver tried to kill me. I love him but I promise it's true. The final turn had us whipping across the water, and then the tube flipped. Found myself skipping across the water. No big deal, but by Sunday morning I struggled to lift my left arm. Spent all day Sunday in considerable pain. Today has been painful, but thankfully I'm regaining mobility.

So anyway, my great plans to continue my bike quest has been temporarily placed on hold until my arm is healed enough to get back out there.

Health Update June 19, 2010

Just a quick update as I run out the door. I lost two pounds this past week. Broke back under 240.

It's both a sad and a happy day. Sad that I allowed myself to climb all the way back up to where I am. Happy that I'm at least headd back in the right direction again. Well, that's about it for right now.

Health Update June 12, 2010

Okay, I've promised myself that I would once again take up the weekly accountability of posting my weight on my blog. Just so we're all clear, I started using sparkpeople.com about three weeks ago. My starting weight on this journey was 247 pounds.

The scale graphic to the right shows my current weight. Additionally, it also shows whether that is a loss or a gain from the previous week. Green means I lost and red means I gained. So without further ado, this past week I lost 2.2 pounds and now I'm officially at 241.8 pounds. That was as of Friday morning. Kelly and I went away overnight and I wasn't great. I have six days to work like crazy to negate that bad two days.

The Future

What does the future hold? I have absolutely no clue. I don't know what the next minute will hold let alone what tomorrow may hold. That is the amazing thing about following Christ. Tomorrow is a mystery to me, but not to my savior. There's amazing peace in that. I will plan for the future the best that I can, but ultimately I place all my plans into His hands.

I Got Another Blogging Gig

This blog has been extremely quit. Too quiet. The reason is simple. I've started blogging somewhere else. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I've recently joined sparkpeople.com. It's an online community to help people get healthy. I track my calories, exercise, and several other things on the site. It's free so that's a plus. Anyway, they encourage you to blog there. These past two weeks I've been trying to get my mind back into the mental game of wanting to get healthy so I've been focusing my time there. Plus, while I don't mind posting updates here on my success or lack of it, I didn't want this blog to become a place were I vent about my lack of willpower and the amazing power of a doughnut to tempt me. That's what my other blog is for. So if you've been worried where I've gone, I'm going to do my best to be back here more frequently. The scarier part is that I don't think people have probably been all that worried.

As I use to do in the past, I going to publicly be posting my weight and hopefully loss of weight on Fridays. Come by to chuckle or encourage me.