Art Explanation

For those wondering...(a few have asked)...a student took a picture of me and photoshopped the image you see in my profile. I'm not sure how he did it...but I liked the way it turned out because it's 'easier on the eyes' than my actual photo!

A Great Valentine's Evening

In the midst of an emotionally and physically hectic week, an evening reprieve with my bride of eleven years was a wonderfully romantic distraction. A leisurely meal together, a stroll through the mall, and a cinematic date with Harrison Ford's latest was the perfect combination. Of course, Ford's flick was predictable...I don't know when people are going to learn not to mess with Indiana Jones!? But we had some great conversation and it was good to leave the kids with the folks (thanks mom & dad!) and be alone together. That's right...I said "alone together." You know what I mean.

Unfortunately, the frequent byproduct of leisurely conversation and time together often supplies me with too much room for analysis and evaluation of life. For the marriage partner who loathes change and the insecurity of raising big questions...these kinds of conversations can put a damper on an otherwise delightful date. So although I'd scored a few points on presence, I probably lost a few on content. The level of difficulty of my routine was impressive though.

Speaking of Floods

A friend in youth ministry will be traveling with me to New Orleans and the gulf coast area next weekend. The desire to contribute in some way to relief efforts from the summer's hurricanes has been gnawing at me for the past few months. So I'm very excited to spend some time in the area and decide who we might partner with to lend a hand.

We had the opportunity to sign our students up for a couple of other mission trip options, but I've not felt good about any of them. One of the reasons for this has been a sense that so many mission trips and service projects turn out to be token conscience-comforting endeavors which fail to truly change our perspective of what it means to participate in community with people in need. I will also be meeting with an individual in the coming week who pastors a congregation in the heart of Dayton. For months now I've had a heavy sense of mission towards the community in which this church exists. I think a better way to approach missions and service is to develop an ongoing relationship with a group of people whose lives become woven into the fabric of our own. Not just token drive-by missions I want our students to develop a Kingdom lifestyle of meeting needs.