Justin's quote of the day...

So it's been three months...but Justin just said something that must be recorded. So it snowed somewhere between 15 and 20 inches in the last 24 hours, but Justin just said that he wanted to go outside and play golf with the little golf set he got for Christmas. When we told him he couldn't play golf in the snow, his immediate response was:

"But Momma, I can always find my balls!"

Gotta love the innocence of the young :)

Success...by whose standards?

yep...it's a trend...

anyway...couple random thoughts. there's been a regular thread through a couple recent conversations with a few friends. the main point of these conversations has been what we're going to do with this career...this life...whatever. ultimately, i think most of us are just floating. we have this vague idea of what we want to do, but we continue to do what others have asked us to do. and we measure success by the perceptions of those same people that are pushing us away from what we said we wanted. so what if we all actually put some time and effort into defining our goals and basing success on that? why is this a novel concept?

i was listening to the mars hill church podcast today and mark driscoll was talking about how Christ called believers to live with a completely different mindset. we're called to turn the conventional ideas of success completely upside down. then, it's a success to sell everything and move to Ethiopia to care for others, or adopt any kid, much less one (or more) that comes from another culture. and yet, most of us that claim to be Christians still push after the american dream.

don't know if this is unpatriotic, but the american dream is cheap. God offers us something so much greater.

Blatant Plagiarism

So it's been forever since I got on this...probably will continue to be a trend. We're in Jersey now and I'm killing myself as a student...learning Calculus and Statistics so far with more to come. Anyway, I wanted to post 2 things...

First...about a month ago (actually on her birthday), Kate was telling me how we needed to be careful for "tomato storms". I tried to keep it together and not die laughing as I asked her what a tomato storm was. She said "you know, Dad, the ones that tear down houses!" Gotta love the minds of children...she was just talking about them again a couple days ago and reminded me that I wanted to put it in here.

Second...still pushing through the Bible reading plan (although I'm about 10 days behind). But Will Johnston is one of the preachers at NCC. He put up a post a while back that's basically a modern American version of 2 Corinthians 6:4-10. Even though I hate the shallowness of our perceived suffering, I love that he was able to capture so much that challenges us to do SOMETHING. So here's my blatant act of plagiarism...enjoy...

“...as servants of God we commend ourselves in many ways: by financial restraint, forgoing bigger TVs, slicker cell phones, expensive furnishings, and costly meals in order to support missionaries and our brothers and sisters who have lost jobs; by sacrificing personal safety, opening our homes to the homeless and living in rough neighborhoods to provide an example for children with little hope. We feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, and adopt orphans. We remain humble through all of this, recognizing that our sacrifice is nothing compared to that of Jesus Christ or the persecuted saints around the world, for whom we pray daily and provide support when given opportunity. We are pure, wise, patient, and kind because we have the Holy Spirit. We love all people and speak the truth even when it is difficult. We do not care if others judge us for what we have given up or how we choose to live. We are rich because we have Christ, one another, and eternal treasure, and we believe that by caring for one another, Christ’s light will shine through us and draw people into His Kingdom.”

old friends...

so i had an awesome opportunity this last weekend. flew speaker pelosi home to san fran and i got to stay there all weekend. i was able to borrow one of our cars and go hang out in vacaville with some amazing friends (cory & krista cline). cory and i had an interesting conversation about how we don't truly have any close friends at this stage in life. here in d.c., i can say that i have people i love...people that i like...but not really anybody that i really love sharing life with (besides sara!). when sara and i lived in california, i completely believe that we truly connected with an amazing group of people. we bonded over food, wine, games, and deep and shallow conversations about everything from God to sex. it was like we were in this small snapshot of life that we were free to just hang out with each other and treat each other like family in all the best and worst ways. and i can honestly say i miss that. outside of that group, i can count the people like that in my life on 1 hand. not sure if that's depressing or not...but it was amazing to just fall back into an amazing relationship with cory and krista for just one evening. it was like the last 5 years didn't even happen (except for the kids running around!). i'm looking forward to the same thing happening this weekend as dj gets married. anyway, all that just made me so deeply thankful that God brought cory, krista, lucas, colleen, peder, sasha, and dj into our lives. we don't really do a great job staying in touch all the time now, but that's not really what's important right now. what's important is that we (like family) will always have a connection that time can't really take away...that there are people in our lives that we would always choose to sacrifice for. it's just an amazing gift.

I'm a pharisee...aren't we all?

So this whole 'read through the Bible' thing has been going ok. We powered through Job, Jeremiah and Lamentations first (I guess getting through the really depressing stuff first). But today we started Mark. Mark just dives into the story of Jesus’ ministry with no back-story of his birth or anything like that. And he packs a lot of stuff in the first 2 chapters. The story of Jesus calling Levi is probably the hardest hitting for me. After Levi has Jesus and a bunch of his followers over for dinner, the Pharisees start calling Jesus out for ‘eating with sinners’ (not really all that hard to believe…we’ve all heard the whole ‘bad company corrupts good character’ bit applied to pretty much any interaction outside the church). But Jesus just comes back with this infamous line (2:17): “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” I say this is infamous because we as a church have flipped our theology in a practical sense. We really do teach that you have to fake it until you make it. We live and act as though behavior change fosters faith instead of flipping that and falling on the grace of God in acknowledgement of our depravity. Because deep down, we really don’t think we need him…we’re righteous enough, right? 'Empire' is a song by the band As Cities Burn that talks about this – “I was a Pharisee / I never saw my need for grace / then your love came to me / stood next to mine and I saw I was poor / show me I was poor / show us we are…” It’s so easy to shake my head and agree with all that, but if I take a step back and look objectively at myself, it’s tough to say that I live like I need somebody to save me (or even that I’ve already been saved). One of my biggest hopes is that I can see myself against the light of what is truly good through the filter of God’s grace…instead of seeing myself compared to the people I choose to bring to mind.

amazing weekend...

So this weekend has been pretty awesome. To start with Thursday, Sara and I went to a concert downtown. Got to see Fun. & Jack's Mannequin...I'm a huge fan of Fun's music. One reviewer described it as exhausting, but brilliant...just don't know what causes someone to write music that's so all over the place, but I love it. Anyway, Friday night was cool...we caught up on a few episodes of 24 (gotta love hulu.com). Saturday was quite possibly the best day we've had in D.C. as a family. First, we went to the National Archives. I've always heard it was a beautiful building, and I wanted to check it out. The building was great, but it was amazing to get to see a 500-year-old copy of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. It's one thing to see pictures, or copies of these things, but another to be right there with them. To see the actual signature of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and so many others was pretty awesome. Random side note...I'm not sure why they used such huge paper back then...must've been a pain to be the writer when everything was the size of an easel. Anyway, next we went to the National Sculpture Garden and took the kids ice skating (their first time). I was totally worried about killing myself or the kids (this was only my second time), but it felt like focusing on keeping them up made it alot easier for me to pick it up. After that, we dropped by the US Botanical Gardens. They had an orchid display going on that was phenomenal. There was one flower (I'll try to put the picture on this) that was unbelievable. Made me wonder what God was thinking when he created a flower like that...but it was beautiful. Anyway, there are pictures from yesterday on facebook.

Today has been pretty good too. Church was powerful this morning. Dave Schmidgall preached from the first part of Jeremiah. Seriously, it's not so infuriating as Job, but maybe more depressing. God is so pissed in this book! Anyway, one thing that Dave said really stuck with me. He asked if we mourn for those who are going down a harmful or destructive path. Most of us find it easy to judge people, or feel pity on them, or try to fix them, but how hard is it for us to step back and see through the eyes of God? How different it would be if we could love people so much that it pained us to see them going the wrong way? Anyway, it was good. After church, we had brunch in Eastern Market with a great friend (Tim Welter). Great to catch up with him...so excited about Tim & Kim's daughter showing up next month.

To finish this book out...I was working out just a bit ago and listening to a podcast and this guy Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill said something amazing about our beliefs. He said that we believe that the Bible is infallible...and we incorrectly assume that our interpretation of the Bible is infallible. He also said that many of us go into every interaction looking for a chance to correct someone instead of looking for a chance to learn. Deep stuff...wish it was as easy to apply as it is to hear...

LXVI...From Garden to City

So yesterday, our church started a church-wide campaign to read throught the Bible together. They called it LXVI: From Garden to City (fromgardentocity.com). Anyway, today's reading was Job 1-3. I’ve always hated the book of Job. We have this tendency to think that God has our (my) best interests always at heart…and Job is the biggest example of what a load of crap that is. The book kind of highlights what I see as a petty nature to what is almost a game between God and Satan. Job 3 is one of the most depressing chapters in the Bible (and it's a game!), but this is going on all the time, right? This is the biblical example of bad things happening to good people…and basically it’s all about God (it’s not about us!). Anyway, Job mirrors the behavior of a person that’s completely in touch with God and in-line with the fact that we exist to revel in him…not the other way around. I definitely have difficulty with people who lose a child or are going through some horrible time and keep the Christian happy talk going…so not there myself. But Job, in chapter 3, basically says ‘this sucks…I wish I’d never been born’…but I love the rest of his reaction in 1:21 and 2:10. He said “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord…Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” Love that perspective even though it would be so hard to keep…especially with our western mindset that God is all about making my life better. How shallow would God be if was just the genie that we have in mind when we go to church…when we have our occasional prayer? I still hate the book of Job…but I love it too.

frustration and mission

had a difficult talk with Sara last night. definitely happens sometimes when i'm on the road. some times (like last night), it's because one of the kids is just continually doing things that aren't ok and...being kids...they just can't seem to get the idea that they need to stop it. so, seeing that i'm not there, Sara gets to deal with all that with no break and it can be crazy frustrating. not sure i could do it. so often she thinks i take this for granted, but i truly respect who she is and what she does...she's an epic woman that (like many women) can't seem to see how amazing she is and the beauty that she brings to the lives of the people around her.

so this morning, i was listening to matt chandler from the village church while i was running and his message was about living on mission. he talked about how everything about us is the way it is because God had something in mind for it...our bodies, the time we live in, the people around us, the place we live and work, everything. i often try to make it seem like my job is something that i endure so i can make money that i can put to use in the the things that are actually important to me (God, family, random indie music, etc.). but this is so contrary to what is true! i am in my job...i fly airplanes...i'll go to new jersey in may because God wants to drop me in a new environment with the goal of pointing at him! i don't have to get up in people's face about it, but i need to embrace God as part of ALL of my life instead of compartmentalizing work, and home, and God, and whatever. i need to go into my house today (hopefully i can make it home in the aftermath of the blizzard)... anyway, i need to go into the house with the primary goal of pointing at God...showing the grace and love of God to my amazing wife, to my children. i think that if we can embrace this, then alot of the frustration that is so present in life will just melt. it is NOT my job to force my kids into some moral standard. it is my job to point them towards God in a way that they will see his love as the most important thing in this world. so easy to type this...now i (we) just need to live it...

Kate's quote of the day

When discussing bathroom privacy with daddy...

"You go potty in the toilet...I've seen it...it's like a water fountain"

how's that for a deep thought of the day?

I'd forget my head...best frustrating moment ever

Random...last Friday, I had an early appointment at the dentist. Didn't want to have crazy coffee breath while they were cleaning, so I held off until afterwards and picked up Starbucks on the way to work. I probably should've called Sara to see if she wanted one, but being the occasionally inconsiderate person I am, I just rolled on to work. About a half hour later, she called asking if I went to Starbucks...yeah, busted. Anyway, I decided to do the right thing and go get one for her and drop it off. So after I get back to work I'm getting out of the car...and of course I forgot my hat at home. Dad always said I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached. Anyway, I curse my way home...so frustrated with pretty much everything. I storm into the house, grab the hat, and start towards the door.

That's when Justin yells out..."I love you Daddy!" First time he ever said it...

Now...logically, I know that Justin really doesn't get the idea of love yet. I know that he probably said that because I always tell him I love him before I head out the door. But really, it doesn't matter. Hearing my kid say that is awesome, even if he doesn't really get it. Made my day.

Interesting how we never really stop to think how similar our relationships with our kids are to God's relationship with us. Do I really understand what it is to love God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength? Not by a mile...but does that make my random cry of "I love you God" any less meaningful to him?

I hope it makes his day

Purity Equals Potential & Our Greatest Idol

Pastor Mark Batterson at our Church (NCC) said something today during the sermon that I loved. He said "purity equals potential." He later tied this to our motives. I think that this holds true in almost every facet of life that truly matters. Pure motives really do determine our potential. I can pour everything into my job. I can work my butt off to be the best pilot or the best military leader the Air Force has ever seen, but if I am only doing it for self-advancement, then what good is it? What potential for lasting gain is there in this back-stabbing culture that we in the military (and in the business world) have not only allowed, but encouraged? This goes the same for anything. I can pour everything out for my children and my wife. I can give them everything they could possibly want. But is that really worthwhile if I have no true love for them? Anyway...thought it was an awesome insight. I have a personal distrust for those (myself included) that only do good when it gains them something. Do the right thing!!! If good things come your way, then celebrate them...but do not live for them.

2nd thought from his message...He talked about idols. This hit a note with me because I've thought before about writing a piece on the idols we don't really acknowledge. So...I honestly think that for most of us in the US, our greatest idol IS our country. We think that because our country was based on Christian principles, then God must have our country's best interests at the center of his plan. How does this compute under the gospel? At what point did nationalism and evangelical christianity get all tied up? Someone I love and respect recently said something that almost made me cry. I was talking to this person about the US possibly detaining people in countries with lighter restrictions on torture so that we could 'extract information'. This person responded with..."So?"

When did we (believers) adopt the belief that American lives are more valuable than any others? How can we claim to celebrate the love and grace of God if we are ok with torture in the name of any man-made institution? Derek Webb recently put out a song called American Flag Umbrella. In it, he included the following lyrics. I think they're amazing and I think I'll round this out with them...

I know a way out of hell

We raise all our enemies' children

After they've murdered ours

We affix all their scars to our walls

So there's heartbreak for everyone

Thoughts after reading 'The Shack'

So Sara bought this book a couple weeks ago and told me I should read it. I gotta say that this was one of the most interesting novels I've read in a while. For me, this book highlighted some serious issues in my 'relationship' with God. We who claim to believe in Christ have a tendency to talk about having a "personal relationship" with Jesus...but what does that really mean? It's not like any of us have really spent a weekend with physical embodiments of God like the character did in this book. So many people today (and always) have called for shaking off our religion and moving more towards freedom...but how do we really do this? If we're truly called to just love God and live life...HOW do we love God? As for me...I definitely have trouble making God a part of every facet in my life. How do we love someone that we have our heads, but rarely our hearts, wrapped around? Either way, I'm comforted by the knowledge that God loves us and has his (our) best interests at heart...even when we let our doubts, assumptions, or even our religion lead us into confusion.