seriously, that’s a word?
bethany and i just got back from seeing a bunch of our middle school kids in a performance of The Music Man Jr. now, never seeing The Music Man before, the ‘Jr.’ version definitely lost me in terms of plot. but my big question – Shipoopie? are you serious? i’m afraid to Google search that one in fear of what i might see that i really don’t want to see. Shi-that’s a ridiculous word to name a song!
Groundhog Day
does anyone else think that Groundhog Day is just utterly rediculous? i don’t know one person who thinks a groundhog is cute. in fact, i know many more people (my father included) who would rather just rid the world of them. and if years of scientific research and millions of dollars spent on weather equipment still can’t really do the job that well, why are we still basing something like whether winter continues or ends on if a groundhog sees his shadow after being pulled out of a stump by an old man in a top hat?
shout out: Ben Wygant, whose hunting skills put John Locke to shame. Ben – i have a groundhog under my porch, BTW.
who thought of this?
what’s the deal with magazines that you have to flip over halfway through, because they changed the printing orientation? seriously? is your magazine that boring that you’ve resorted to a hipster non-linear printing style to try and keep me interested? well, you didn’t. in fact, i skimmed the first half and threw it in the trash.
try again.
what can the church learn from Starbucks?
unless you live under a rock, you should know to go vote tomorrow. if you really needed more incentive, check this out.
there are some statements in that video that are a straight up call to action. i wish the Church as a whole would be as no-nonesense as this when it comes to impacting our community & world. for Starbucks “it’s bigger than coffee”. when it comes to our mission, it’s also bigger than coffee – why don’t you go do something about then?
what are you putting off?
There are some things you don’t need to pray about. You don’t need to pray about whether you should love your neighbor. You don’t need to pray about whether you should give generously or serve sacrificially. You don’t need to pray about whether you should bless someone when it is within your power to do so. God has already spoken. What you need to do is quit praying and start acting.
there are plenty of things that if i’m honest, i’m waiting for a solution that never shows up. truth is, it’s not the solution that doesn’t show up – because i already know what it is. instead i’m waiting for some sort of confirmatino after confirmation to get me to a place of my assurance that i cannot fail. and you know what: a lot of those things never happen because i’m not confortable feeling safe from failure.
but when the crap were we ever promised safety from failure?
Psalm 37:23-24
The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.
even though God establishes our steps, we still fall. i read this a few weeks ago on one of my favorite blogs:
I’ve been encouraged many times by reminding myself that God orders my steps. He helps me make wise decisions. He guides me in my choices.
But doesn’t it encourage you even more to know that He even orders your falls?
He doesn’t just help me choose the right path. He redeems me graciously even when I choose the wrong one.He doesn’t only order my successes. He orders my failures too.
And it all works together for my good, and His glory.
is that really needed?
i got a call from Lowe’s special order department this morning letting me know that my new door arrived. cool. the automated message gave me the necessary information i needed: that it was here, and where to go to pick it up. it even gave me a number to press if i needed more help. but then –
‘press 3 to end this call, or just hang up’.
seriously? is that action at all remotely necessary? answer – no. maybe it’s because i’m in planning & evaluation mode, but it makes me wonder if there are actions within the ministries i lead that are just unnecessary. or are there options that are either duplicating something already happening? is something there whose purpose has only become another option with the same payoff?
things that cause me to lose my patience
1. incorrect use of the self check out line
2. drivers pulling out in front of me, then driving 10 mph under the limit
3. getting poked in the eye
4. when my dog decides he’d rather defecate on the floor instead of the grass he was just on
5. pickles
p.s. i once stood in line behind a woman with two full carts in the self check-out; it rang up to over $120. she should have been arrested on the spot.
[sunday night @ our youth meeting i talked about patience. our icebreaker/intro in small groups was to list the top 5 things that make you lose your patience]
it’s dangerous
yesterday at our Creative Kids Camp, i got a call i wasn’t expecting. it was from my friend running our culinary arts program for kids. i picked up and he said, “karl, i don’t know what to do. i need you up here now.” that complete with screaming in the back. all i could think of was a severed hand on a cutting board. thankfully it wasn’t that. a trip to the ER, a few stitches later, and our injured student was all good and ready to come back. so what did i learn from yesterday?
- those medical release forms really are important
- not only do you need a first aid kit, you need to know where it is
- trouble never comes at a convenient or expected time
- there are times when action is needed immediately, and we have to be prepared to act
our pastor came in this morning and took me aside. he told me, “now you know that part of your job is to make sure no one gets injured; and the only way to do that is to not do any ministry at all.” then the smile. “ministry is dangerous.” you know what - it is.
bravo Sony
i’m a sucker for great commercials. in my opinion the Sony Bravia commercials are some the best i’ve seen – perhaps ever (no hyperbole intended). i don’t often do the corporate shout out, but here it is. block out a few minutes and watch these. that kid inside you will thank you.
twitter-ific
i’ve known about Twitter for some months now. honestly i always saw it as something kind of cool, but not really sure if it was something i really cared about doing and maintaining. but like all free things, i finally broke down and gave it a try, because well 1) it’s still interesting to me 2) i know a good handful of folks doing it that i like 3) it’s free. so i’m on a Twitter trial.
so far i like it. within 15 minuets of signing up ad posting one thing, i had two friends following me. kind of cool, kind of creepy, but i’ll roll with it. the tough thing right now will be me figuring out the balance between Twittering and blogging. if you want, you can follow me, too.
anyone else doing this?
