Mourn

Well a buddy of mine has told me he is going to be a daddy.  It pretty cool, the whole daddy thing.  I don't have kids yet, but Danielle babysits a little girl named Hannah.  Don't tell her mom, but I secretly think she's my little girl ;)

Little babies are awesome and they bring so much joy, but the crazy thing is that right after I got the news from him, I started listening to a podcast entitled "Blessed are those who mourn" from the beatitudes.  The beginning of the sermon talked about how a young couple was pregnant and had a miscarriage.  Talk about crazy.  One minute I am full of excitement and the next I am getting depressed because of the story this guy is telling me.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  The point is, we need to join in the celebration of new life with others.  Which is easy.  But also join in the mourning of those that lose something... 

crazy huh?

Roofing and Reroofing

So yesterday was the last day of roofing for me, for at least this year and hopefully forever.  It was in erie, a 2 story 12-12.  One of those that are right next to the other houses, and hardly any room to move around.  It had 3 dormers and a two porches that were all messed up because somebody doesn't know how to install rubber.  We tore off everything and dried it in; shingled a little.  It was a long day.

Today I feel as if I have been hit by a boeing 747.  My eyes are heavy and my arms are sluggish.  If I needed to move anything today, forget it.  I am spent.  But I have so much work to do at the office today, no time for a break.  Youth Advance is coming up, this weekend (YIKES!!), and there's the normal wear and tear of Wednesday and Thursdays.  It seems as if it never stops.  It never quits, and that is exactly what life is like.

It is funny because in college I thought I was going to change the world right away.  I was going to be the Youth Pastor that nobody has ever seen.  Awesome and amazing.  Dynamic and real.  Relevant and challenging.  New-school and Old-school.  I am the One... or maybe I am just one of the many.

It is funny that we are fed the line that we are special, other, different, better, or something...  We are told that we are extra ordinary, and we are abnormal.  But the fact is we are normal.  Kind of depressing actually.  We are normal, we are the same, we are one of the masses.  And I have been trying to understand that.  "I thought God wanted me to change the world?!"  But to change the world, do I have to be different than the rest?  Do I have to be that hero?  Or is it ok to just be me, who is just like you, and them?

Roofing is about strength, finesse, and knowledge.  And when you tear off a roof and put another on, you rely on your own strength to get the job done.  But ministry is totally different.  Sure I went to school for equipping of the right tools.  But this is a battle not won by my own strength.  No matter how hard you try to change the world, I realize that I am going to fall short of my dreams.... I need to accept I am just one of the many, and God might then chose to use one of those many to change the world.  It seems to be the story of the bible.  The nobody, is used to make a huge difference.  And in the end, they still are a nobody but in a world that was changed out from underneath them...

Maybe I will be one of the many that God chooses to reroof the world.  Maybe not.

reDUX

The word redux means to bring back to prominence or importance that which has been forgotten or pushed away.  Basically it means bringing something back to the front burner.  Sometimes I think we tend to forget the importance of things and replace them with something exciting and new.  

Kind of when a junior-higher gets his first girlfriend.  His friends get placed on the back burner of importance.  He forgets those that strengthen him and those that will hold him up.  He turns away from his closest companions for a pretty smile.  He might not know the girl well, but in his mind she is all that matters.  I have seen this too often, and regrettably it also happened to me too.  But when all comes crashing down, those back burner friends are the ones you go running back too.

  

The back burner items in adult life and more importantly as a Christian seem to be a little more potent than childhood friendships.  We as adults tend to place family, friends, and rest on the back burner as we continue to cook our lives with the drive for success and accomplishment.  Rob Bell says that as Americans, we worship at the alter of success.  He says that we find our self worth in what we produce.  He later attaches the concept of rest and sabbath, and bringing back to importance rest and refreshment with family and friends.  A redux of sabbath.

Other areas that need a redux are more difficult to talk about.  They need more time to explain and careful wordings to not be mistaken.  But I leave it to you, what other areas in the Christian life need a redux of importance?