5 years ago

at this hour, Lindsay and I were married.
It has been a tremendously exciting adventure these past five years as we have gotten to see each other mature, grow and settle-into adult life. That was the blessing we experienced getting married "young" (by compairitable standards), as we tried to figure out ourselves we had and have each other to lean upon.
Now as we begin the lifestage of parenting and career's it will be exciting to see where God continues to leads us.

The eerie piece is that the office in which we received our premarital counseling five years ago is now the same office I work in. I now sit on the other side of the desk, and can look back on those times and realize how much God has guided us through.

So what is the 5 year gift anyway? Wood, glass, kitchen rennovation or maybe a new airconditioning unit...ah the joys of adulthood.

Ha: Browns

You know your team is bad, when this is one of your drives. 3rd and 40, ha.



Not that the Panthers look much better, thankfully the NFC South looks flat. Thank you Delangelo Hall for the 67 penalty yards in one drive that turned the tide of todays game.

Lay-Away

Last friday was indeed a strange day of making some purchases, alot of money down but I received nothing tangible in return.
1) Lindsay and I bought new cell phones. For the first time I did not buy an old used phone off of Ebay, but got a brand new one. Which not only plays mp3s, takes videos and pictures, and has an FM radio...but I think it can make phone calls as well. It should be here momentarily.

2) I bought another suit, since that is now my normal appareal. It should be ready in 2-3 weeks.

3) I bought a Clergy Robe, since that too is now my normal Sunday appareal...until we get the contemporary service restarted. That should arrive in 6-8 weeks.


4) Then we under contract on a house. We are having the inspections done these next couple of days to hopefully move this thing along so that we can move in at the end of October.


I don't think I have ever spent so much money without having the immediate enjoyment of playing with any new toys.

Gameday

I was sitting in my office today at 8:45 writing out a prayer, as I began to stare out the window. Lo and behold, I saw the Goodyear blimp flying around the church building. Then I noticed all the surface lots around the church starting to fill up. I was wondering, how in the world are we going to fit all of these people into our pews, and then I remembered--the Panthers were playing (if that is what you call the embarassment they coughed up today).

But this morning, I had my own gameday, as I was able to assist in worship at First Presbyterian for the first time. While I was extremely nervous all week because of timing the "live" tv component, once the service began I was able to fully worship today. As I sat in the highback chairs overlooking the congregation, I was grateful for God calling us to this community.

This past week has been a total affirmation of God's call for our family here. Saturday was Lindsay and I's 5 year reunion at Davidson. While speaking with the Alumni coordinator, she asked me what church I was serving. When I said First Presbyterian, her immediate response was, "Wow, how did you pull that?" Her words expressed the humble yet excited heart I have for serving this church.

As I have looked back over my "Sense of Call" statement that I wrote last November in preparation for the job search. It is eerie yet totally appropriate that every aspect of my sense of call has been fulfilled here. I am also able to look back over the annoying, disappointing and frustrating time I had last fall, since I did not pass my exegesis ordination exam. It was a truly humbling experiencing--since my only other stumble like that was the 47% and 49% I got in Intro to Psychology back at Davidson. But I can now see God's agonizing timing throughout all of the ordeals we have faced over the past year, which have helped to prepare us for this new opportunity.

As I walked home from the church this afternoon, going against the flow of Panther fan traffic, I was celebrating my own gameday and began preparing for the next as I look forward to seeing where God will lead me and this congregation as we seek to serve him.

Pro 27:5

I stumbled across this passage the other day...by that I mean I read it, said, hmmm that's interesting. Then "wow, that is really interesting." I kept trying to read past it, but I kept being drawn back to it.

"Better is open rebuke, th[a]n hidden love."

I don't know about you, but on the surface I wouldn't think that is true. I hate being rebuked. I hate being corrected and will immediately get defensive if someone tries to redirect me.

So, how can that really be better than "hidden love?"

Deep down, I know that is true. Open rebuke--someone who comes forward to challenge my perspective is actually showing an interest in a restored relationship with me. On the flip side, "hidden love" just gnaws away at us. It destroys relationship because we fear having our feelings exposed.

I figured could tack on an extra clause and add it to my dry erase board in my office for when people come in with suggestions: "Better is open rebuke, th[a]n hidden praise; but best of all is open praise."

[edited by the grammar police of Don and my wife!]

How I ended up in a pink shirt

Last week, Lindsay, Ellie and I were at our friend Laura's wedding in Chicago. Lindsay was the matron-of-honor, so I was on fulltime "dad" duty the day of the wedding. As folks were flitting around and getting ready for the service, Ellie and I were happily playing in the nursery.
Then I made a new dad mistake. I knew something did not smell right, but decide to pick Ellie up and set her on my lap in order to the check the diaper. Lo' and behold, my nose was accurate, but my eyes had failed to see the extent of the damage done, thus rendering Ellie's dress, my suit pants and my shirt stained.
This was at 1:00pm, the wedding started at 2:30.
So trying not to disturb the women, I quickly ran Ellie who at this point was screaming, into the men's room to change her. I tried to salvage her dress by hanging her upside down and yanking the dress off. This only increased her screams, my sweat and my nerves.
Finally, we were all clean, but I was left in an undershirt, and Ellie in a sweater and diaper.
So we hit the streets of Lincoln Park, Chicago in search of new outfits (1:30pm). About five blocks up, we came across a child store called LMNOP. In a hurry, I purchased the first dress that looked cute enough for a wedding. Not only a size 12month, but also the most expensive outfit Ellie has to date, we left.
At least one of us was freshly clothed. I had resorted to wearing my undershirt and suit jacket--that would look trendy right?
But, as we got one block from the church, I noticed a consignment store. Inside, I found the only 16-34 shirt...pink, and the price was right $5.
So to Lindsay's surprise, Ellie and I returned to the wedding just a few minutes before they processed, decked out in our matching pink outfits.

Doubting...

What a difference a week makes...[I will again be vague in my acknowledgement of the preacher, though you can access the mp3 here].

This week the sermon Lindsay and I heard addressed the issue of doubt and the unshakableness of Christ. What I found intriguing was the pastors claim that doubt can be a spiritual gift; doubt is necessary in our lives and our faith because it pushes us hard to explore the depth of our faith. Doubt invites us on the journey of faith.

Too often Christians have lambasted doubt as a sign of weakness: Peter starting to drown, Thomas having to touch Jesus to believe. But both of those Biblical figures had unique experiences as the result of their doubts. Peter got to walk on water, and save Jesus, he is the only human to have ever done so. Thomas is one of the few to have ever gotten to touch the gaping hole in Jesus hands and side.

God is able to use our doubt to push us into far deeper spiritual realities; it is not a sign of weakness, immaturity or in opposition to faith.

I appreciated the point that this preacher made about Judas. While Judas's doubt was the catalyst to Jesus death, had Judas stayed alive and wrestled with his doubt about Jesus' Messianic claims, then he would have discovered the fullness of God. For God's plan was greater than Judas' betrayal.

In fact, God's plan utilized Judas's doubt. Had Judas embraced rather than run from the gnawing doubt, he would have seen that Jesus was in fact the Messiah.