FALL CLEANING

I just rearranged the blog (as a result of screwing up the HTML when I was trying to manipulate). I originally planned on stopping the blogging when school started but will plan on regular postings in the future. I added podcasts that Whitney and I listen to and some other features. Hope you enjoy and thanks for being "cyberly" part of this community!

JESUS CAMP

I always try to hold my expectations relative when reflecting over a movie. This exercise will typically keep 8’s from being 5’s and 4’s from being 7’s. (On a 1-10 movie rating scale of course…) For the first time that I can recall, after exiting Jesus Camp last night, my expectations were neither right nor wrong, but were completely off. I had no idea what I was walking into. I was not expecting the political overtones, the often dark cinematography, or the frightening manipulation of children that often occurred in the name of Jesus within the film. More so, I had no idea what to do with the mixture of truth that I saw interweaved into such a harmony of lies. My brain and my heart were overloaded and yearned for conversation with others.
What does the moderate Evangelical think of the film? What does the conservative Evangelical think when a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush is brought out at camp to pray over? What does a Liberal think of the emphasis on praying to end abortion, especially with prayers of fire and tongues? (What are these labels that I am using and that we put on people?) What does a person not intentionally following the ways of Jesus think of the film? How does this film affect their thoughts towards Christianity? Do the students that I have been trying to point towards Jesus over the past years view me the same way that these kids thought of the main pastor in the film? Did I sound like that? So many questions for so many people with such a longing to hear other perspectives.
The messages of this film were powerful. The chief message seemed to speak of the sea of Evangelicals that are “taking over America.” The producers really brought to light some of the lingo that Evangelicals partake in. For those of us immersed in that world, we often don’t realize that the lingo we speak is foreign to others outside of our bubbles. We also don’t realize the craziness behind what we are saying. The producers did an extraordinary job of bringing out these idiosyncrasies. I am still processing whether or not these messages were fair or if they were manipulated to send an anti-Evangelical message to America. We will probably never know. It is probably part of the mystery and brilliance of the film. Something that I do know is that I will be using this film as a conversation piece for years to come. There is such potential for rich conversation dripping with truth and reality from the themes and overtones that this film brought to the table. Jesus Camp caused me to think and it made me want to have conversations with others. For this I am thankful because conversation, after all, is what film is all about.

ETHOS OF MEGANARRATIVE

It is one thing when the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup. (At least 4 people that I know notice.) IT is a step up when the Pistons won the championship. We all routed DE-TROIT BAS-KET-BALL. But there is something special about today. It is drastically hard to articulate. What is it about the tigers and about baseball that is so special? Is it just my own affinity for baseball? I don't think so. I think that baseball, in some mysterious way, goes deeper into the depth of life than any other sport. Maybe it is the 162 game schedule, maybe it is the timelessness of the game (there is no clock in baseball), maybe it is the thought that if the tigers can win; anything is possible, maybe it is the recall of baseball in my childhood, maybe it is the real realization that I will never again play the game that I love so much, maybe it has to do with living in Los Angeles, maybe it is the community that has formed this year around the tigers this year due to the 19 year drought from the playoffs, I really don't know. But the Tigers are in the bottom of the 8th right now and they are about to beat the Yankees. This is incredible to me right now. I have longed to watch the Tigers in the postseason. I do not remember ever seeing them in playoff action, and to watch them in the fall, with the crisp of autumn in the air is magical. (Munroe just made a diving catch.) Memories continue to move through my mind. Thornapple baseball, FHC, Grand Valley, being cut from the game, Woodchuck mixed with Guiness, Fillmore, the grizzel, and now watching my team on national TV in Pasadena. I guess that the beauty behind this game is found that my story intertwines in so many ways with the mega narrative of the Detroit Tigers. Post-modern writers write of the loss of mega narrative in our current culture as a destructive force that may eventually tear humanity apart. In this moment I can feel the ethos of this graniouse statement. The mega narrative of the Tigers is so important to me. (One more out to go.) How much more important then is the mega narrative of the story of my family. How much more, then, important is the mega narrative of my true family... the church. (Pasada just hit a home run to cut it to 8-3.) The mega narrative of the people whom God blesses. (Tigers in 4! Tigers in 4!) (Sorry to cut this short!) It is time to celebrate, the Tigers, baseball, life and the beauty of combining mega narratives!

Justin and Caleb... I can't wait to pay you for losing bets on the Tigers this year!!!

A TOP 10 LIST

10. We had a cloudy day. (The variation was welcomed.)

9. I got published for the first time. (Don't get too excited, it was just a short article promoting the use of Flexcar, a new buisnrss that Whitney and I are loving.)


8. I officially began tutoring. (Trying to recall chemistry and biology will be especially interesting!)
7. I will be taking my first final at Fuller tomorrow. (Distance learning that I did this summer.)


6. The Tigers did not lose yesterday. (They got rained out.)


5. My parents are visiting my sister in the Dominican Republic. (And they are surviving the wilderness!)
4. I have first and second decelntion nouns complete in Greek. (ous, ou, w, ov, oi, wn, ois, ous, 2nd declention masculine)


3. I cut off my hair and I now weigh three less pounds. (Yes, I did it myself. Yes, Whitney cleaned up the mullet I left.)





2. iTunes has a new format. (Finally, movies can legally be put on the iPod.)



1. The season premiere of Lost was last night and it did not disappoint. (Are followers of Christ allowed to skip Lost?)

DANCING ON THE ROOFTOPS

Seriously, we really did. On Friday night, the Brehm Center (which is the center of worship, theology and art at Fuller) put on quite a party. They rented a rooftop right across the street from campus at a local art museum. What a great idea! They hired a DJ that was spinning (this is a new word for me to use), they had all the dessert you could ever want, and they also provided wine. I was impressed with the elegance of the party. Everyone was dressed up, (except me in shorts and a t-shirt) and the stars were twinkling above our heads. You could also go inside to view a room full of photography. With all these things in mind, Whitney and I were reminded that this place really is a great fit for our passions and dreams!

On Saturday we ventured on the Los Angeles Metro for the first time. (The train that takes you all over town.) After a two hour ride to Rodondo Beach we were a little frustrated with the weather. It wasn't sunny... We couldn't believe it. 55 of 56 days here have been sunny and last Saturday was cloudy. So we grabbed so nasty Thai food at a local joint and went to a mall to watch a move. (The new one with John Heder... It was okay for what it was.) We then ventured 2 more hours back home and found the place that we will be hanging out on the weekends! There is a back alley over in Old Town that reminded us of Carmel. Whitney and I sat outside and had dinner in the romantic environment. It was a nice way to clsoe out a long day. One more thing regarding the Metro... It will be awesome to get downtown and to get over to Hollywood. Besides these two things, we don't plan on using it ever again...

CALIFORNIA FIRE

I was watching the news this morning and remembered driving by the fire going on north of LA on our way home from Pebble Beach last weekend. Here is a picture of it from I-5 heading south into L.A.

ENVELOPED IN CALLING

It has been a lovely morning. This week I have been waking up with Whitney, rather than waking up as she walks out the door, and I think that I will pattern my sleeping habits within this routine. It has been a pleasure to have interaction with her, even in the smallest portions, as I read, or listen to a lecture, or rustle through e-mails, or just observe her as she gets ready for the day. For the past hour I have been reading down at Fuller's coffee shop and reflecting on the New Testament. In those moments calling crossed my mind. The Kingdom of God was near as I finally once again felt that I was enveloped in calling. I wish that these moments of envelopation (a new word) were more consistent in my life, let me know if they are in yours, but I am thankful when they are near. Especially in moments like this morning when they seem to be closer than skin. I think that relief was also a part of envelopation this morning. Relief in falling back into a rhythm of life that better fits my character. I know that the past 6 weeks have been character building for Whitney and I. All of the quiet time, all of the reflecting, all of the time spent getting to know new people while keeping in touch with old friends. It was a unique time. But I feel like a time of rhythm in having a directed goal is certainly more efficient for my personality and probably for Whitney's as well. (A fun conversation could happen on how this interacts with the previous post "Worth") With all this in mind I feel blessed this morning with a calling in this season of my life to learn. I don't want to be anywhere else. I feel so fortunate to be in a place of learning for the Kingdom now and for the Kingdom in the future. I covet your prayers in this learning process and look forward to sharing bits of it with you through this blog...

YELLOW LIKE THE SON

(A mysteriously relevant picture for today from the art archive of my extremely talented wife.)


The past week has been a bit of a whirlwind and much has taken place. Might I add that much good has taken place. I am no longer unemployed. After all of the blizurity (this is my new word of bizzare absurdity) that occured with California Pizza Kitchen, it was nice to deal with a more professional people at a company called Stepping Stones. I was hired to work at a tutor for them, tutoring high school Biology, Chemistry and Math. The job will probably be intellectaully draining, but it pays well, I can pick my own hours, and I get to stay in touch with youth culture.

Classes began as well. I have dug into Greek over the past two days and look forward to the depth of understanding of Scripture that it will bring. I have yet to dig into my other two classes, Gospels and Family Culture, but also look forward to them. I have also been working on trying to finish my distance learning class that is due in December so that I can get that out of the way.

We continue to meet different people. I had a snack today with an older man at a social justice fair. We had seen eachother around campus and I finally got to have more of an extended conversation with him. I had a feeling that he had an unusual story to him and my feeling was correct. While he never admitted, it was clear that this man had been EXTREMELY successful in his previous profession. He is about 50 years old and shared that he had retired earlier in life. He was diagnosed with colon cancer soon after his retirement and was given a 50/50 "chance" at survival. After a rather extraordinary surgery and recovery he was lead to come to Fuller. There is much more depth to the story but I think that you get the idea. Oh the perspective on like that this man must have... I can only imagine. I bet that his blues are a little brighter than my own and that his yellows seem much more like the sun...

WAY OVERDUE

We certainly have a lot of catching up to do. I think that I will take my time…

Early last week we had a wonderful time with Mary. We showed her around town (Hollywood, Old Pass, Dodger Stadium, and all over Pasadena) and had a blast sharing our new home with her. We shared stories and laughed a lot. We always look forward to spending time with Mary… she is a marvelous person.



Mary left on Wednesday and I went on the job hunt. I have out a bunch of resumes and have an interview tomorrow at a local business that tutors students. It could be a good fit… We will see. I also have out 4 resumes at Fuller and a couple more at local restaurants.

Classes start tomorrow. It has been a bit strange getting used to life out here in LA without going to class… We are out here for school and it will be good to dig deeper into the purpose for which we are here.

To the weekend! Whitney and I decided to go on a bit of an adventure. We headed 5 and a half hours north to Pebble Beach to spend time with my Grandmother and Grandfather. We randomly called them on Friday afternoon and they were nice enough to open their home to us over the weekend. We arrived around 11:30 on Friday evening and stayed up until 1:30 catching up. We were up and to the Monterey Bay Aquarium by 11:00 and enjoyed walking through the famous landmark. We then went on a tour of local flavor. We munched on some seafood appetizers at a small restaurant out on a pier and then headed over to Spanish Bay. We enjoyed some drinks and some wonderful conversation while overlooking the ocean and golf course and listening to a bagpiper do his daily walk around the course. What a beautiful moment. Check out the clip…



We finished with a charming dinner at a local Italian joint in Carmel. If you ever get a chance to go to the Monterey Peninsula, Whitney and I would highly recommend it. It is especially interesting to tour with Grandma and Neal as they are local experts on the history.



Whitney and I said our goodbyes before Grandma and Neal left for church. We hopped in the car and had breakfast at Al Fornio in Carmel (Whitney’s favorite coffee shop in the world). We shopped around and left Carmel by noon to make it back home by 6 for a community dinner.

I reflected on fear this weekend. Especially regarding the fear of God. Maybe our fear of God is bigger than fearing him because he is “in control” as I have been told time and time again in my life. (We need to fear the mighty smiter before he smites us into the deepest levels of pits of the present hell on earth!) Maybe we are called to fear God because we are a fearful people and maybe our fear goes deeper than the obvious. Maybe we are called to fear God because we struggle to be known. In the depths of our heart we cry to be known, yet so many of us don’t dwell in the depths but rather on the surface. Maybe God knew that we would mostly dwell on the surface, and therefore call us to fear him, knowing that we know that He knows us better than we know ourselves. If that didn’t make sense… Maybe part of fearing God includes knowing that He knows us and that we fear being known.

GOOD AND BAD

So let's start this morning with the bad... In a nutshell, I have been waiting for the past three weeks to start at California Pizza Kitchen. I was told that I was hired weeks ago and have been waiting to begin with an orientation. Well I called CPK yesterday, and was told that I was lied to and that I really didn't have a job at CPK. Well... that didn't go over so well. After some phone calls, some choice words, and a lot of hurt, I am back on the job market. Back at square one... Totally frustrating, but I am now beginning to reunderstand that there is a grandeur story going on here.

Now the good stuff... Whitney's best friend Mary is in town. It has been and will continue to be a joy to share this new place with friends. We will be heading to Hollywood today, and tomorrow to a Dodger game.

This week is also welcome week at Fuller. It will be good to learn more about the school this week, and to continue to develop relationships with people. Classes officially begin next week. I can't wait...

Be well.

FEELING FAMOUS

I woke up this morning with a certain contentment that I had never felt before. I woke up and thought, yeah, I was on national TV last night! Whitney and I had so much fun on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. While we waited in line to go in, one of the workers for the show took notice of Whitney's cute dress, and ended up saving a seat for us on the front row! (No kidding!) We couldn't believe it. We laughed a lot, pretended to laugh a lot (doing our duty), clapped a lot, and pretended to clap a lot. We sat 10 feet from Jimmy and Diane Lane, got front row to the Chingy concert after the show, and had enough of Chingy after one song and went home! It was totally fun. I think that next time we will be going to Jay Leno in Burbank to check that out. But I think that I am more of Jimmy guy, so I anticipate liking his show better.

I received some amazing birthday gifts over the past couple of days. My sister sent a little package with a surprise inside. The package was filled with birthday cards from all of her students in the D.R.. The pictures were the best part. Most of the time Whitney and I had no idea what we were viewing, but we had a great time going through each card and guessing. Justin also sent a surprise package. Low and behold, a piece of heaven had arrived, (or maybe just a piece of Michigan). The box was filled with 11 Oberon's... Justin drank one while he was packing it up. (Oberon is the finest microbrew in the world, brewed out of Kalamazoo, MI.) I gave two away to some new friends, but plan on savoring the other 9 with Whitney over the next weeks.

Whitney's best friend Mary comes into town today... We can't wait to show her around. She will be on buisness till Sunday, then will be coming to the Pas to check out LA until Wednesday. She will be moving here after her visit... We only could hope!

If you are up this evening around midnight, be sure to watch ABC and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Whitney and I got free tickets to the show and will be attending! (Don't pay too close of attention to the pic. We will be at the midnight show.)

A Confession

As my patience has been tested over the past week in waiting to begin work, I have had plenty of time to think. By last Friday I was nearly pulling my hair out as I thought that I was going to be beginning work. I did not begin work and began to desire to jump out of my skin as I felt like a bum. I have recently begun to think of this time as valuable rather than wasteful. After some conversations with friends and some quality reading material, I have been reflecting over this idea of worth. I have also come to better understand the beauty and ugly in that over the past three years I rarely stopped. So much got done, and so little got done. Even when I did stop (i.e. cottage visits, retreats, quiet times) I always had an agenda of things to do. Read, class, write for teaching, etc. (I think that the only time that I truly stopped and did not have an agenda for "getting stuff done" was on the golf course. I love golf.) Getting deeper into this, I think that I have shown traits of a person who finds their worth (worldly and heavenly) in completing tasks. I wouldn't sleep well if my to do lists weren't complete, and I think that I would even cut conversations/relationships short if I had "stuff" to get done and time was running short. I am sorry. I am also sorry if conversations were part of these to do lists that I maintained so meticulously. As if sharing words with someone is part of some list. I don't really know what this means for Whitney and I out in California, but I do know that I will be intentional with "remembering" this through my quiet days before classes and work begin. I will be living out where worth should really be found. Is it too easy to say that worth is found in Jesus? (I'm sure that some would be content with this answer. And there might be beauty in that. There might also be danger in being content with that... i.e. fitting Jesus into a personal understanding/box.) Where does worth and Whitney come together? Where does worth and community collide? Or how about worth and family? It will certainly be an interesting couple of weeks.

BEACHES

I've learned that becoming a Californian includes embracing a very important question. What beach will we call our own? I know... This question may seem very shallow, and I should probably be worrying about other questions like solving the hunger problem in the world, ot how to better extend the Kingdom of Heaven, but yesterday I soaked in my shallow question! We had been to Hermosa, Venice, Rodondo, Encinitas, and Santa Monica, and yesterday we found our spot. It is Zuma beach. The place the rhymes with cool shoes. The tourists were minimal, life guards were all around us (which was important considering the HUGE waves), the sand was clean, and we just knew, as we layed there pondering the absolutes, that this was going to be our home away from home. It is further away from Pasadena than many other beaches, but the drive keeps you away from a lot of traffic and includes a scenic route that knocked out socks off. Did I say yet that the waves were unbelievable. I will include some video footage in this BLOG so you can watch me get destroyed by 8 foot waves. I actually just tried to make a short (edited) movie out of the footage but couldn't get it to upload. So here is standard footage of the events. I encourage you to fastforward through the boring stuff. It is like 9 minutes long...

OUR NEW NEIGHBOR

As Whitney and I were coming back from a barbeque on Thursday night, we got to the top of the stairs and met our new neighbor. Whitney immediately screamed and ran behind me. I had no idea what was going on. Eventually my eyes looked down and saw a big ol rat! (As shown in the picture. The other is a picture of Whitney up on a chair scared that a rat was also in our apartment.) The rat had no where to go, so I started walking with him along the patios. After 20 feet of walking with my new friend he ran into a hole at the bottom of the wall opposite of the building. I then took my portable chair and thre it in front of the hole, catching the hairy mammel. After pondering golf clubs, body boards, blow torches and rocks as methods for murder, the rat tried to climb the outside wall and plummeted to his demise! We actually don't know if he survived or not as he fell into a bush. We'll keep you updated on his status if we see him around campus.

Have I said that I love technology? I think that it is becoming my golden calf! As I am writing this BLOG, I am listening to the Michigan football game. They just went up 21-0. Go blue. I also watch the TIgers everyday via a live feed on the computer. I am just amazed by this. I also love getting to share some of our life on this Blog. Thanks for caring enough to see what's going on in our lives. We appreciate it.

A VIDEO FOR YOU

Here is a 57 second tour of our apartment in Pasadena! I even cleaned up a little bit before I filmed just for you!



Peace!

I had such a nice birthday! I was so fortunate to wake up early in the morning and to be invited to play a little Frisbee golf over on the north side of Pasadena. The course is actually the first course ever constructed and is directly next to a NASA office. (Developed by NASA peeps.) The game is played with the smaller discs, not the 180 gram Frisbee that I am accustomed to, but I still loved the time. I spent that afternoon studying and writing about Arianism and the development of the doctrine of the Trinity. Exciting. Whitney and I then went out for a birthday dinner with our new friends Michael and Tina at a fancy Thai restaurant. The food was amazing and I can't wait to dig into leftovers for lunch! I also got to speak to many friends over the phone throughout the day and enjoyed hearing the nasty birthday song from my parents. Birthdays are fun. Even when you are getting old!

As I was riding my bike through Fuller's campus yesterday I saw something that caught my eye. In that moment I wished that I had my camara to show people what I was seeing. I then remembered that I did have my camara in my backpack and I went on a sneaky photogrpahic mission! If this is a picture of you, I apologize. I am purely entertaining others at your expense...

For some reason I haven't been given the option to post a title on journal entries. However, if I was to post a title on this one I would certianly call it Catching Up.



Whitney and I went down to San Diego yesterday and had such a nice day. We sat outside, on the back porch of our friends (Ryan, Pete and Jeff) house in Encinitas. For hours we shared stories, caught up on life, remembered, and laughed. By evening time my stomach hurt because we had laughed so hard all afternoon. I learned a little of the surf lingo and look forward to going back to Encinitas to surf. We took a walk down to the beach and had a marvelous dinner at a local bistro. It was so nice that it was hard to leave late in the evening to make it back for church the following day. It is always nice to rejoin with friends and to remember isn't it?



Whitney and I also did our first wine tasting at Belle Maria, on the way down to San Diego. When it comes to wine we do not possess much knowledge, but we do enjoy the social aspects of the drink. This to say, we felt a little out of place as we were trying to figure out the lingo of a California vineyard. Our waitress was very nice and patient as Whitney and I asked many questions. A couple of the wines were great and I tried my first port. (This will probably also be my last port! I'd rather drink a wine cooler.) We purchased a bottle and will open it up for my birthday here in a couple of days.

So much to report... So Little Time...


Things have been happening out here in sunny CA. Since I last left a journal entry Whitney has interviewed and recieved an awesome job at Fuller Seminary. She is now the Director of the Dean of Theology's Office. Basically she will be hanging out with some big wigs and making sure that big wigs stay on track. I am so excited for her. She has a 5 minute walk to work and will be on the same schedule that I am on regarding holidays. This all is a huge answer to prayer. I have also been working for the past couple of days as a software tester for a local company. It has been fun, and I am thankful that I got to make a little extra money, but I am glad it is over. There are still numerous options for me regarding work. I am thankful for the options and will tell you all more when decisions are made.

The Dodger game was amazing. We had a blast watching Maddux pitch and Griffey hit. The Dodgers won and we are starting a new fixation for a National League team. We are headed down to San Diego tomorrow to visit some old friends and then to a couple of different churches on Sunday. Whitney's best friend Mary is coming to visit us in a couple of weeks and we are totally excited for that! It will be fun to share this place with friends.

No deep thoughts for the day. My brain is fried from working on these computers. I'll keep in touch. I will also attach some pics from the game