Church ------ing

I've been giving a lot of thought to my vocation in last few weeks. Three classes in particular are guiding this process. 

1) Greek - I have realized that I do not want to be a greek expert....

2) Preaching - Before this year I pictured myself filling the role of Preacher in a congregation somewhere but I am beginning to re-envision my future. Not that I am excluding the idea of preaching but I am open to different roles.

3) Education Ministry - one of the focuses of this class is the question: What does it mean to be a missional church? David Wray described his visits to several congregations to give a presentation to elders. Often their response is something like: "You are scaring us to death." The job of re-imagining church and developing a contextual practical theology is indeed a scary job, especially in a quickly changing world.  I found myself scared along with those elders but at the same time I felt the excitement of a challenge worth giving your life too. 

I have thought more lately about being involved in church planting after I graduate. I don't really like the term church planting. Not that this is a bad metaphor, it is very suiting in many ways but to me it connotes something that we do, as if we create church. When I think about the work of creating a community of faith I think in terms of something like "church sculpting" or "church gathering." I picture the minister as an artist, painfully searching for the masterpiece hidden in the rough stone. I picture a roll of yarn strewn all over a messy room that the minister carefully rolls into something meaningful and useful. Just some thoughts from a young theologian. I am beginning the long journey of discerning a theology that honors the living God.

School

 Since my marathon class last year I have dreamed of being able to run a marathon as quickly as the pros do. The winner of the olympic marathon finished 26.2 miles in 2 hours 6 minutes and 32 seconds (2:06:32). This means he ran each mile in under 5 minutes. If I successfully makes it through this semester I will feel as if I accomplished something similar. School is off to a blistering pace.

A quote from my preaching class: 

How can you preach knowing what preaching is? Who dares to preach? 

- Karl Barth

Preaching

When we preach we put into words the deep silence of God. The best preachers are those who venture deeply into God's silence and try fervently to verbalize the great silence that creates, sustains, saves, and redeems. 

Pray that I am able to do that on wednesday. 

Grand Prairie

This last week was rewarding but very tiring. Our mission trip to grand Prairie went well. The VBS we helped Sunrise with grew from about 30 kids to 95 by wednesday, our last night. The theme was Bee Jesus, and we showed clips from the Bee Movie every night during our bible lesson. Originally our T-shirts featured a Bee and font that "borrowed heavily" from the actual movie. This upset a few of Dreamwork's lawyers who gave us a cease and desist warrant the friday before we left. We scrambled to get the shirts changed and finally came up with something that looked pretty good. This was the beginning of a busy week. I got to stay with my parents this week in Irving which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I got to be home and see my family for a little bit each day, I have missed them this summer. The downside to this was since we stayed in Irving and all of our work took place in Grand Prairie we didn't have any where to go in the afternoons while everyone else was resting at their host families homes. This made for a tiring week of waking up at 7 or so, doing our morning activity (passing out flyers, playing at a waterpark, helping Pat Everroad with her house), eating lunch, doing our afternoon activity (going to the mall), trying to find something to do with the rest of the afternoon (7-11 double gulps and hotdogs, Snacking at Sam's, upgrading phone plans at AT&T, hanging out at Target), VBS, then a late dinner. We'd get home about 10 each night and fall asleep shortly after a few rounds of NHL Hitz on the x-box. The trip was very rewarding, I enjoyed seeing the youth serve and use their gifts on this mission trip. I also enjoyed getting to spend time with Jason, Micah, Scott Haile, and Ryan Binkley. All of these guys came out of Southmac and are now doing what I plan to be doing in a few years, it was a blessing to spend time with them and learn. 

I'm Fired

I've noticed that my blogs have gotten increasingly less in depth. I apologize to my readers (all 3 of you) but I have felt less of a need to record and evaluate my time here. I have been content to just experience it. 

Good news: Jason and I annihilated Dusty and Lindsey in our basketball game!

Bad news: My thigh also annihilated Dusty's finger. Dusty was guarding me and as I passed the ball to Jason he apparently jammed his finger into my thigh and dislocated it. I was fired a few hours later after he returned from the emergency room. 

This upcoming week is our trip to Grand Prairie. I am kind of apathetic about it right now, although I am excited about getting to go home and getting to know the kids a lot better. There is nothing like a mission trip for creating deep roots with people. I am little nervous about the actual vbs though, I am not sure what to expect. I trust that God will be there though. 

I am very sad that I'll have to be leaving Conway in two weeks. In many ways I feel like I am home here. I look forward so much to going into the office to work with Jason and Dusty everyday, I am learning so much from them yet I feel like I am making lifelong friendships as well, I feel as if we all speak the same language. 

Long time, No post

Man it has been a long time since I posted! Things have been going well but I have been busy. I think I have pretty much recovered from my surgery and I am feeling good! This week coming up will be a busy one, we have to prepare for our Grand Prairie VBS trip, participate in the VBS here in Conway, and I need to write a sermon for the wednesday after I get back from our trip. I have a feeling this will be a long week. 

My parents came up to visit me this weekend. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with them and showing them around Conway. They did my laundry for me and payed for all my meals, it's great having parents in town! We also got to eat a couple of meals with Jason which was good because my parents have not spent very much time with him at all and they need to get to know my future brother-in-law. They also got to meet Noah which I think they both enjoyed, I think Noah really liked being around the "old lady." 

It is less than a month till Kristen and I get married. I continue to get more and more excited!

How Can I Keep From Singing?

This was a good friday. I had to wake up a bit earlier than usual to do some "homework" for Jason. He asked us to read a section from the book we are working on and I had not done it yet. Work went very fast this morning. We talked about what we had read, planned for our time at the apartment next tuesday (Laura, Dusty, and I will be going), spent some time talking about the lesson I'll teach on Sunday (we will talk about Peter's confession: "You are the Christ"), and spent some time praying for the trek trip. After a busy but productive morning Jason, Laura, Lindsey and I went to Zaxby's for lunch. Then I needed to take care of my car so I went to McKinney tire to replace my badly damaged right front tire. After Dad and I figured out payment everything went smoothly. I had been worried about my steering in my car because since I had the rack and pinion replaced there has a been a lot of movement and vibration in my steering wheel. That all went away once I got the new tires on so I am relieved it wasn't something more serious. After I got the car taken care of I  went home and started writing a couple of letters for the two teens that Jason chose as "crew leaders" for trek. Jason chooses younger members of the youth group so that they can be in a leadership role and hopefully continue as a leader once they get back from the trip. I know how meaningful words of encouragement were for me when I was learning to lead in high school so I wanted to give a blessing to the two very special young men who Jason chose. I am very proud of who they are and I am excited to see how God uses them. I spent some time praying and talking with Jason after I finished the letters. Jason had some difficulty with his computer and had to call tech support, the way he talked to them reminded me of Kristen, it made me laugh (He said they got it from Bruce). After leaving the church I went to Scott's house and ate dinner with his family and several others who also came over. After dinner the parents all sang through a Zoe worship book and I got to join in. I enjoy so much singing with groups like that. I don't get to do it enough at ACU, maybe I can try to be more involved in worship leading when I get back, I would enjoy it very much. I wish I had been given the gift of song writing, there is much in me I wish I could express in that way. I am very appreciative for the time of worship I shared with the group tonight. After leaving Scotts I came back and have been relaxing with Scott and Amy watching some TV. 

North Korea destroyed a nuke plant today! This reminds me of the vision many people have shared of a time when we would all give up our weapons and live in peace. I hope this is a taste of things to come, what a ray of hope in a violent world! 

Day Off

Today I had a nice long day off! Jason is going on trek with the youth on saturday and Shannon works on friday so he wanted to have the day off to spend time with her and so he gave me and Lindsey the day off as well. The plan was to sleep as long as possible but I got a wake-up call at around 9:40 from another person who had the day off today (she was way more productive than I was today). I got to talk to Kristen a lot today which was nice, I don't usually talk to her more than once or twice a day but I enjoyed spending the day with her over the phone. I went and ate lunch (grilled hotdogs and mac and cheese) with scott today at his house. After his dad got home and it became clear that scott needed to be working around the house I left and went to hastings. I spent some time browsing and ended up buying two books: 1) Same Kind of Different as Me, a true story about two men who will be coming to ACU to speak this september, and 2) Jesus for President, a challenging book by Shane Claiborne that challenges christians to think about where our allegiances lie. I have actually already read the Claiborne book, I bought it as a gift to a friend here who is in the military and who will be shipped out to Iraq soon after training. I hope this book both renews his hope and faith but also challenges him to think about his allegiance to God in new ways. After that the rest of the afternoon was spent mostly talking to Kristen online and reading. This was a relaxing day that I needed after a long and trying week. 

Appendix A

Well, my worst childhood fears came true this last weekend. After a whole day of pain in my stomach and an all-nighter in the ER, I had my appendix removed saturday morning. I started feeling a sick on friday afternoon but didn't think anything of it. We got back from Splashdown (a church trip out to a water park) around 1 in the morning and by that time I was feeling pretty terrible. I tried to take a hot bath and relax so I could sleep but it was not working for me. I ended up waking the Westjohn's around 2:30 and asked them to take me to hospital shortly after that when I started feeling like I was going to pass out. Jason showed up at the hospital a little while after and he stayed with me the whole night. I am really thankful for him, he did so much for me this weekend. I felt bad for him because I was in another world with the pain medicine they were giving me and he just had to sit there all night in that uncomfortable seat. After I was feeling better with the pain drugs and anti-nausea medicine I drank Barium Sulfate for the CT scan. Luckily for me they just upgraded to vanilla shake flavor so it wasn't too bad getting that stuff down. I waited a couple of hours to let that settle into all the important spots and then they wheeled me down for a photo-shoot. It wasn't too long after that when the doctor came in and told me that I had appendicitis and that I would have surgery in a few hours. I remember waiting in the recovery room for surgery for a long time. I kept falling asleep and every time I woke up I hoped that someone would tell me that the surgery was already over with. I went in to surgery close to 10 and woke up about an hour later. I left the hospital soon after that and went to Jason's house to recuperate. Soon after that Kristen showed up at Jason's house and seeing her made me feel much better. After being away from each other for about 4 or 5 weeks and having had surgery it was wonderful to get to see her. I think it made me miss her even more after she left though. The following days have been mostly taken up with rest and relaxation. Keep me in your prayers as I regain my strength. 

Unity

The other day I watched Star Wars episode 1 and ever since I have been thinking about how the unity movement of the Church of Christ is like Darth Vader. 

For those of you unfamiliar to Star Wars lore, Anikan Skywalker was discovered by two jedi as a young man full of potential in the force. In fact, he was so full of potential that the jedi council believed that he would bring balance to the force... he was the chosen one to bring everything to the light. However, over time, he got a big head, over-confident in himself, thought he could do more than he could and when he was threatened with the possibility of losing his wife he turned to the dark side for the power to control his fate. He ended up losing his wife and became a terrible tyrant otherwise known as Darth Vader. Most of you know how this ends: Darth Vader finds his son Luke and trys to convert him to the dark side which fails. When the Evil emperor is fed up trying to change Luke he decides to kill him and as Vader watches something happens... he shows compassion. He saves is son by throwing the Emperor down a random large hole in the middle of the room. Luke all through the movie insisted that there was still good within his father and Vader's dying words are "You were right." What looked like a broken promise and a hopeless darkness ended up bringing immense light. 

The Church of Christ began committed to unity. The idea was that if we could all just get back to scripture we could all agree and be one big happy family. 100 years later there are dozens of identifiable sects within the Church of Christ itself. It seems like the story is finished. There is not much talk about unity anymore within our churches, we failed, end of story. We have seen so much positive change over the last couple of decades in the Church of Christ though. We have largely become a more loving, graceful, thankful group of Christ followers and with these changes maybe the group that began with such promise and grand hope for unification can someday fulfill that potential. Maybe, after journeying through the darkness, we can point to the light. 

Here's some things I think we have learned, some things we still have to offer to the Unity conversation because of our unique journey:

1) Unity is a gift of grace from God

2) Unity emerges from a relationship with God

3) Some things are more important than others

4) Outward expressions of unity (worship preferences, aesthetic choices, how we name our churches) are no substitutes for deep expressions of unity (confession of the holy trinity)

5) Sometimes we are wrong

6) the Truth changes us into different kind of people, it does not give us authority to condemn

Can you think of other things we've learned along the way? 

Father's Day

During my prayer time on Tuesday I practiced the breath prayer. The first step of this prayer, after being silent for a while, is to hear Jesus speak these words: "What would you have me do for you?" Dusty instructed us to answer whatever first came to us, without analyzing it or dissecting it. My answer surprised me. "Hold me." I don't know where this request came from, it's not what I thought I would say. So often I see myself as sent out, one of the 72 who has been called on by Jesus to carry the gospel. I am not the one being lowered through the ceiling by his friends, no I am Paul, traveling, speaking, telling. But Tuesday I was drawn in. I took the time to look back and see Jesus standing there motioning me towards him. As I sat there I thought about God, the great silence, holding me. The mystery of God's silence often brings out anger in his people. "Why don't you speak", we ask, "just give us one word!" Yet he remains silent, his presence is enough. 

I thought about my Dad during that prayer time. He is quiet and patient, I can count on one hand the number of times he yelled while I was growing up. I can't remember if he ever really lectured me or my brother about anything yet we learned everything we needed from him. Being with him was enough. At the All Son's retreat when I was 13 we often walked to where we would be meeting with our arms around each other, John Ogren even commented about how we showed affection openly. Being held by my Dad made me the man I am. I cannot express how grateful I am to have had a father who was Christ to me in this way. A deep silence and open arms. 

Some Thoughts on Abstinence

1) it requires that you consider God even in your most passionate moments. You Honor God, not because of some Divine mandate that "You shall not have any fun before marriage" but because your mind is on God even as you are fully involved with your lover. I suspect that this habit of inviting God in, even at your most intimate and vulnerable, makes the marriage and sex all the more full. 

2) I have a secret: I think it would have been possible for Kristen and I to make love in a way that was very healthy without being married. As with any sin, it is not the act itself that is necessarily sinful but rather the underlying implications that really get you in trouble. I think Kristen and I could have been intimate in a way that honored each other and considered the other before ourselves, I think that having sex could have been a beautiful expression of our love for one another. But by taking this long pause before engaging in sex we told each other something that will profoundly shape our love for one another for the rest of our lives: I love God more than you. Sex is a spiritual practice. 

How Are We Different?

This week has been really great so far. Monday, Lindsey and I spent the morning with Dusty (the preacher at UCC) as he guided us through some thoughts on prayer and silence. He started off by asking us about our prayer lives, I talked about journaling and trying to pray throughout the day. After we discussed that he went on discuss prayer. He talked about how prayer means being mindful of God and impressed on me the importance of prayer in the life of a minister. I am looking forward very much to our meetings with Dusty every monday morning. I cannot tell you already how much of a difference having a guide and minister in prayer has made in my prayer life. I sense that this may be a key component to a deep spiritual life, one that, sadly, is often hard to find in churches. After our talk with Dusty he sent us to go practice what we had discussed. After about 45 minutes of prayer time the whole office went to lunch together at Larry's pizza. I enjoyed very much getting to know my co-workers better. The more I get to know Dusty the more I like and look up to him, I am lucky to have both him and Jason as guides this summer. Monday afternoon Lindsey and I worked on our plans for S.S.S. and then were done for the day. Monday night the Westjohns (the family I am now staying with) came over to Jason's and we ate dinner together. They are a nice family with two good young men in the youth group. Austin, the younger brother, reminds me a lot of Paul when he was that age. 

Tuesday was spent with the teens at S.S.S. and later swimming. S.S.S. went well for the first time. Jason said this was the largest group they have had show up and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The bible story was perhaps a bit awkward but we will work out the kinks as we continue to try to communicate the story of Jesus to these children. The whole youth group went to lunch at wendy's then swimming at a family's house. I participated in a belly flop competition after being egged on by Jason and I am still recovering. Tuesday afternoon I moved into the Westjohn's house, the boys seemed excited about my arrival. That night we had a disappointing loss in softball and we only have one more game, this Thursday. 

Wednesday always has the potential of being a long day but this one was a nice exception. I went to breakfast with my geriatric gentlemen which was fun as usual. Jason then gave me the rest of the morning off because Lindsey was coming in until that afternoon. I spent part of the morning over at Hastings, browsing the book section. The rest of the morning I took the time to pray and practice silence. It was a deeply spiritual experience and I am thankful to Dusty and Henri Nouwen for helping me connect with my God. I went to lunch with Dusty and Jason which I really enjoyed. I got to learn a little bit about the church's history and was informed that I would be speaking on the last wednesday night I am in Arkansas. The church is doing a series entitled: God Helps those who Help Themselves and Other Misguided Notions about Faith. I will be speaking (From what I have been told, this is tentative though) about family not being the most important thing in our lives. It will be my last Wednesday night so I figure I can  offend everyone. 

My close friend Garrett and I share much of our spiritual journey together. One of the questions that is central to his walk and challenges me to think and act differently is this:  How does my life look different, as a Christian, from others who do not believe? I was reminded of this important question as I listened to Dusty talk about prayer. Dusty described prayer as a mindfulness of God. The our goal of ceaseless prayer means that we would always be mindful of God, aware of him during each moment of the day. What a beautiful difference that would make in our lives and in the lives of others! 

Getting into the Rhythm of Things

The last couple of days have gone by really fast. They have been spent mostly by spending time with the youth. Wednesdays are going to be long days. Jason and I eat an early breakfast with some of the older guys in the church around 7 and then we usually go to the office. This wednesday though we went and helped the Westjohns build their deck. I enjoyed working outside with Amy's dad (Alex and Austin's grand-dad), I'd like to spend more time with him learning everything he knows about building projects. After we left their house we went and helped Don (one of the guys we eat breakfast with) with his computer. We got to the office after lunch at worked on some stuff. Then that night we had a guy come in to talk to the kids about a church camp, Lindsey and I enjoyed this because it meant we didn't have to teach. After church the kids always stay afterwards and play games. I went outside and played basketball for a long time with a lot of them, which was a lot of fun. When I finally got home that night I was pretty exhausted. 

Thursday was another short day in the office spent playing with the youth group. We met the youth at the building around 11:30 then went and got taco bell before heading to the park to play wiffle ball. Afterwards I went with Noah, Aaron, Ryan, Allie, and the two Hayley's to go swimming then get ice cream. I went home, took a nap, and then played b-ball with Mason and Laura. Scott and Allie showed up right as we were leaving and said they wanted to do something so we went over to Laura's and played Star Wars monopoly while watching episode 1. It was a fun filled evening. 

I really enjoyed today, friday. Lindsey and I went in and worked on the lesson for sunday morning after that was done we went and took care of the shirts for S.S.S. We tried Zaxby's for lunch, which I am now I huge fan of and then Jason gave us the rest of the day off. I spent the afternoon asleep!

Tonight's softball game was great! We beat the 1st place team with a shut-out (5-0), I am  still excited about it!

  

I am speaking at the Men's Prayer Breakfast tomorrow. Pray for me to speak a word of truth. 

Playing Minister and Softball

Yesterday was a fun day. First of all I didn't have to go in to work until 10. Usually it's 9:30 which I also love, but it was good to sleep in until a nice round number this morning. I helped Laura a little bit organizing things and then we decided to take a little trip to her house to pick up a chair for her office. Problem: my car could not fit a chair in it. Solution: I got to drive Jason's truck. Oh baby! (I have a bit of a crush on Toyota trucks) When we got back to the church Jason informed us that Shannon had ordered pizza for everyone in the office. So Jason, Shannon, Lindsey, Pat, Laura and I went to Jason's house and broke crazy bread. When we got back to the church Lindsey and I started working on the S.S.S. (Sidewalk Sunday School - a time spent at a local apartment complex with kids playing various games and sports, eating snacks, and sharing the gospel) plans. We came up with what stories we wanted to tell the kids from Jesus' life and designed a t-shirt that looks really cool. I'll post a picture of it on here once we get them in. Jason had left to go get Laura a chair for her office so Lindsey and I talked for a long time while we waited. I was glad to finally get to know her, I think she will have a great positive impact on the kids this summer. After Jason got back we discussed what we had come up with for S.S.S. and then left for the day. I love being in the church office, it's a wonderful place to work and I like getting to play minister. After work I went home, ate dinner, and got ready for my softball game! I was so excited about playing, I've been looking forward to it since Jason told me about it. I've really missed playing baseball lately and softball is close enough to baseball to satisfy this longing. I was 1 for 3 with a single and an RBI (I think) and got plenty of action while playing first base. I am already looking forward to Friday's game!

Jason and Shannon's New Ride

For the Sake of...

The last couple of days have been pretty relaxed. Thursday I went in to work at 9:30 and Jason and I worked on the lesson for Sunday morning. After we came both went home to eat we came back and I worked with Laura on cleaning up and organizing her office/storage room. Friday Jason had me stay at the house to receive the new refrigerator they had coming. I went out to lunch with a couple of guys (Andy and Mason) and spent the rest of the day hanging out with them. It was a good opportunity to get to know them. We went and played basketball at the McGee center that night and after a few rounds of horse and 21 and kid much younger than any of us came up and asked to play. We, ofcourse, said "yes," ready to be patient with his limited skill level. This perception of him quickly changed when he started dribbling circles around us. Luckily he was on my team because he was amazing! I asked him his name and he sheepishly told me "Felix." I will be looking for him on espn in about 12 years. 

Today (Saturday) was relaxed as well. I got up around 9:30 and lazed around until around noon when I went for a run on the nice trail right next to Jason's house. It was so hot and muggy that it was hard to really get going but I felt like I had worked out pretty hard. It was a good first run after a couple of weeks off. After my run I went for a nice car ride around Conway, I'm still trying to learn how to get around. This trip inevitably lead me to McCalister's for lunch, I was craving some sweet tea and I was missing Kristen (McCalister's was the last place we ate before she left). Not long after that I got a call from my new friend Austin to see if I wanted to hang out so I went and picked him up. We channel-surfed back at Jason's house until we decided to go get some pizza and watch a movie. We called a few more people to come over and ended up watching The Best of  both Will Ferrell and Chris Farley. Overall it was a good night, I am really enjoying hanging out with my new friends and getting to know them better. 

Henri Nouwen is known for his honest and intimate reflection about himself and his spiritual walk. He believed that in working out his inner struggles publicly he could help others face these same struggles within themselves. I hope that the following reflections (along with this blog in general) perform that role as well. 

It is hard to pray. Much like exercise or any other discipline in life we can always come up with excuses. During the school year I can say, "When I have more time, I will pray more." Now that I have had plentiful free time I find other distractions to fill my time. It is uncomfortable to be quiet, to feel as if you are wasting time, wondering if what you are thinking and feeling is appropriate for prayer. I needed prayer today though, much of my thoughts lately have been centered on myself, more specifically how I can make a name for myself as a Christian leader. There are important questions behind this self-centeredness which makes it all the more confusing. How can I be more compassionate? How can I communicate Christ's love for this person more fluently?  How can I behave more like a shepherd? These questions are good ones but I feel as though I should make important addendums: How can I be more compassionate for the sake of others? How can I communicate Christ's love for this person more fluently for the sake of the kingdom? How can I behave more like a shepherd for the sake of one lamb, lost and tired? As I contemplate on this, one image keeps returning to my mind. Every year around Christmas my family and I used to go to the library's Christmas festival. It was always a night that I looked forward to because it meant hot chocolate and the chance to write a letter to the real Santa. One year they had a petting zoo that included one small lamb. As I entered the petting zoo and looked around I quickly noticed this lamb because it was surrounded by a crowd of children clamoring to pet it, the lamb, meanwhile, was bleating in the corner, scared by all the noise and bustle. Eager to see what was going on I too joined the crowd and tried to pet the lamb. I don't know what prompted me to do this but I sat down cross-legged right next to the frightened animal and began petting it gently. It soon warmed up to me and came closer and closer until it laid down on my lap. The other kids around me began to ask my permission before they touched the lamb.  I hope that my hands will bring peace, but this is a hard task for hands that are so accustomed to grasping and grabbing. 

New Camera

I got a digital camera today from wal-mart so I can take pictures of my adventures in Arkansas and post them here for the world to see. Isn't the camera a pretty shade of "plum?!" I am going to call it maroon, that seems much more manly. 

Surprised by Grace

I got up around 6:30 today to eat breakfast with some older guys from church. It was a lively breakfast; we discussed cataract surgery, the cute lady that works at the jewelry store across the street, and how airlines should charge passengers by their weight. All the guys have great personalities and are men worth looking up to. I am looking forward to spending more early morning breakfasts with them. After breakfast Jason and I went and helped Laura, the new children's minister (she was the intern last 2 summers) move from Searcy. I'm looking forward to getting to know her, she is a sweet young woman who has a heart for kids and it is obvious the youth groups loves her. Having worked up an appetite, Jason and I went to wendy's for lunch which was delicious. After we got to the church office he asked me to plan the devo for tonight's wednesday night class. Fortunately he has a format he typically uses so I just had to plug in the new material I came up with. I chose to talk about Luke 17:11-19 where Jesus heals ten lepers but only one samaritan comes back to thank him. I focused on how Jesus sees beyond the man's status as a leper and samaritan and heals him. We talked about the transformative thankfulness the man who was cleansed exhibited and how we so often, like the other 9, expect God to save us as if we are entitled to grace. In a world that expects grace may we continually be surprised by it. 

Cousin-less in Arkansas

Kristen left today to go back home. Despite this I had a really good day. The initial plan for the day was included Jason and I going to Little Rock to help move Laura, the new children's minister for UCC, to Conway. We would have left around 7 but because of the rain we cancelled those plans and I got to sleep in till around 9. I met Jason up at the church at 9:30 where he gave me a key to the church and gave me a tour. After we finished he told me that I could spend the rest of the day with Kristen since she was leaving today. I appreciated that very much, I was worried I wouldn't see at all until we had to take her to the airport. After we helped Jason and two delivery guys move in a new fridge we left to go eat at McAlister's (AMAZING sweet tea!) and then toured downtown. Walking through downtown, checking out the different stores while holding hands was a perfect way to spend the afternoon. When Jason got home from work we left pretty soon after that to take Kristen to the airport. I didn't go into the airport because passengers go through security almost immediately and I think it was better that way, like ripping the band-aid off. I will certainly miss having her nearby this summer and I can't wait till August 9th!

I am looking forward to a good summer here in Conway. I like this part of Arkansas, it's beautiful and I am enjoying its peaceful environment. The church family here has been very welcoming to me. The youth especially have gone out of their way to get to know me which is making this initial phase of summer much easier for me. I am beginning to learn the prayers of a minister: for the wisdom to discern people's needs, the faith to pour myself out, the humility to point others to Christ for healing, and the ability to speak the words of grace and peace that have been spoken to me. 

First Time!

This is exciting, I had been wanting to make a blog for sometime now but never got around to it. Kris gave me the website and I figured I'd go ahead and get started. So here's to a random start at 1 in the morning!

peace,
David