Update on the Crazy One.

Cristi got the job here in Columbus. She'll be back this way come September.

Stealing the Good Life

Does anyone have the "Stealing the Good Life" series?

Are you crazy or what?

It's 2:30 am on Thursday morning and I am sitting at a computer typing this message. So if by chance the ramblings of a mad man become unintelligable just chalk it up to sleep deprivation. As I sit here writing out this message I wonder how many others are out there in the wonderfull world of Blog that just can't sleep? Why is it that I felt compelled to turn on the computer and write down my thoughts? Maybe because the rerun of the Fresh Prince that is showing isn't so "fresh" or the Sanford and Sons' show is just not as funny at 2:30 am as it was at 12:30am. I hear the minds the first thing that begins to go but do you really recognize it when it happens? Sleeping has begun to be a sort of game that I play. I try to trick my mind into believing that I want to sleep, I do this by doing my usual routine which includes the normal stuff like changing into your night clothes, brushing your teeth, I let my dog out and I go take out my contacts (this is so I can't see all the neat things going on around me). Blindness is a sure way to trick your mind into thinking that there is nothing better out there to be doing rather then sleeping. Then I do the one thing all the so called "sleep experts" tell you to do. "Clear your mind of all thoughts" they say, "let your mind wander off into dream land" they say. Well really, who are they kidding? The thought of clearing your mind of "all thoughts" is kind of counter productive. I keep thinking, "well if I am thinking about not thinking then I am thinking". As far as this dream land business I am wondering what kind of dreams I will have and wouldn't it be neat if we could just dial up the dreams we want to have, instead of rolling the dice and falling to sleep. It's all a crap shoot! I could get one of those dreams where I am falling off a building and I wake up the instant I hit the ground (or I suppose I hit the ground), those are horrible, in fact I run the risk of death, either mine by hitting my head on the night stand as I unwittingly act out my dream or the death of my dog as I do a suplex off the bed onto the unsuspecting black lab at the foot of my bed. So back to my story....after I have done all the "right" things and I should be prepared to lay my head down for a long winters nap..err, spring nap, my mind begins playing it's own little game. It begins by saying, "I can't wait to lay my head down, it's going to feel so good, I am sooooo tired, doesn't this bed feel comfy, I will be asleep any minute". Enter the parade of nations!!! As every conceivable thought, idea, plan, hope and dream goes racing thru my mind. I fight a good fight, I say "I will not let this happen, I want to sleep and I will not think about anything, I will clear my mind of "all thoughts" (see above). Right then and there the fight is lost, only mother nature can overpower the evil genius that is my mind. So for those of you that may encounter the zombie that is Craig tomorrow beware and be warned that hidden beneath that quiet facade, that seemingly gentle nature, is the mind of a evil genius. Plotting the destruction of all bodies who would be so inclined as to think that they might sleep.



AHHH to sleep, oh sweet sleep, why do you elude me? Where have you run to? Oh the agony of longing for something you know you will never have. Sleep I knew thee once but now you seem as distant as the stars in the skies. Just a distant memory of days gone bye, of a better time and place. A time when neighbors gathered on the front porches to visit neighbors as everyone sipped thier fresh squeezed lemonade and pa picked his banjer. SLEEP,SLEEP MY KINGDOM FOR SOME SLEEP!!! Oh do not tarry sleep, come quickly to your humble servant.

Empty Shells

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Bcause it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


One of my favorite poems for all and ...

EMPTY SHELLS
Leaving one life is beginning another,
They go together like days and nights,
like the roots of a tree and its fruits,
like empty shells
in the steel blue sands of twilight
when the near-full moon casts an eye
and a vagrant tide washes the soles
of my feet.

Leave softly, but leave -
then will you be complete
as you touch and receive
the rising moments
in their unabashed splendour -
and allow all fear in your heart
to dissolve forever.

Are we not then like these
tudong shells
that gather on the beaches
buffeted on the waves,
polished and refined in the depths?

Wandering the vast seas
we arrive, yes
we arrive in one majestic
breath on the shores
of freedom,
to cease at last, to rest,
smiling jewels
discretely reflecting
the unnameable Silence.
- Ayya Medhanandi October, 2003


Dear friends do not think that it is easy for me to leave. I have had to do a lot of leaving recently but travel is as much a part of me as breathing and I seem destined to go. I have found something unique here, something not to be expected in such a sort time as I have been here. I really find it hard to say what it is, to describe our life here and I know that my leaving changes that in some small way.(ok fine so I know it is a really small way, dont rub it in!!). Yet as I leave in body, dear dear friends,know that I do not leave in mind, or in heart (or sarcastic wit!! Brandy will keep up the bar I am sure). Please keep me in your hearts and dont let me get away with forgetting you, make me toe the line!!! Praying to make it back soon, all my love, Cristi (promise I am still not crying, no really I promise!!)

One last word from David

Psalm 16: 5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,

Party at the Pauquette's!!!

Clear your schedules for Friday June 2nd at 7:30 pm. Tom and Karen have invited all Wednesday night home groups to a evening of food, fun and a bon fire. Everyone in your family is invited. Bring a lawn chair and a dish, all the drinks and eating utensils will be provided. I hope all of you will make it to this fun evening. It's a chance to get together and hang out with others from the church. Kind of a mini-family reunion.. If you have any questions please let me know. I will mention this at home group on Wednesday for those without the internet, if I should forget please remind me, we want everyone to have the opportunity to come out and enjoy the fellowship.

7 Things...All Day Every Day

I was thinking in the middle of Saturday night service that Tom should send an email reminder to the church to do their lists of "7 Things To Do, All Day Every Day." He won't, but he should.

But I can. So here's your reminder. Maybe if you're brave, you'll post it as a comment even. In an attempt to gain control of the "CHAIROTICA" of your life, if you had to do only seven things a day, every day for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Also, another question for you guys and gals... Tom said in his message this weekend that the four parts to a godly Sabbath were (let's see if I can remember this without the notes in front of me, so I'm totally paraphrasing)...

1. worship (through music??)
2. contemplation and comparison of the Lord's greatness??
3. uninhibited play (that's really the one I remember)
4. uh...considering areas of growth and flourishing?

In order to ask the next question, someone will need to help me clarify those four areas... but...

which of those four areas do you need to rest in more often on your Sabbath? Which is the easiest for you? AND WHY? is there something we can do to help? is there something we're doing to get in the way? How goes your Sabbath these days?

Why You Should Plant A Church

Below is the first part of an article I read tonight that I thought you guys might like. The rest of the article can be found by following the link at the bottom of the quote. This is about "church planting," but of course, "church planting" can apply here in the states, abroad, but ALSO...I want to challenge everyone to read the article think of themselves as THE CHURCH...because in reality...we are ALL church planters, aren't we? In everything we do, we plant the Church. Now don't get me wrong, I also love this article for what it means to say - actually planting fellowships...but fellowships don't always have to look like what we think they have to look like, and if that's true, then all it takes is believers like you and I to start that...so here's why YOU and I should plant a church.

In the early days of our church planting adventure I spent some time seeking out other church planters, hoping for some wisdom and encouragement. Man, did I get a wake up call.

There seem to be two distinct schools of thought in the church planting community. The first is “This is hard. Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t look like you’ve got what it takes… I’m not so sure you should do this! Have you prayed about it?”

Gee… thanks.

The second school of thought starts off sounding much like the first, but then takes a dramatic turn: “This is hard. What do you need? How can I help you? Man, what an adventure! Let me pray for you.”

Do you hear the difference?

The sad truth is I heard a whole lot more of the first than I did of the second. To be honest, it was discouraging to hear such defeatist talk from those on the front lines of the revitalization and renewal of the church: church planters themselves.

*I KNOW I CAN DO IT... IT'S YOU I'M NOT SO SURE ABOUT*

Let’s just put it out there. You have to be a certain type of personality to jump ship from the institution, the known, the safe and head off into the uncharted waters of church planting. It’s not for everyone… and for the A-type personalities who often make up the ranks of those who have jumped, those who are sailing those uncharted waters, when we see others getting ready to do the same, a common first impulse may be to wonder who they think they are… don’t they know that this church planting thing is for the few, the proud, the best of the best? And since we’re doing this different, emergent-type thing… we really don’t need more competition, do we?

Better to weed out the weak.

Click here to continue reading "Why You Should Plant A Church..."