Going Nowhere, Going Somewhere…*

Between the craziness of life and the hectic schedule of a modern-day family, there comes a time when you need to get away.  To do something abnormal.  To break the cycle.  But in the economy of today, and with no ability to leave, what does one do?  Well, I will avoid the one word.  The word everyone uses now, when you’re going on vacation by staying?  ;)

So that’s what my family is doing for the next couple days.  We’ve been planning a trip to Disney World for this week.  It was going to be awesome.  Due to the generosity and fortune of a friend, we were going to have a round-trip airfare, hotel, and Disney park vacation for this week, all for free.  The only thing we’d be paying for was food, souvenirs, and transportation in-town.  But then that fell through.  Just a couple weeks ago, to be exact.

So the wife and I were off work, we had taken the kids out of daycare/school…  We were still going out of our minds with stress and demands from life.  We needed to get away; to still vacate our lives for a bit.

“Why did God do this to us?”  I thought at first.  I mean, sure we couldn’t have asked for a better possibility (before it crumbled) but then again, we DIDN’T ask for it.  It was dropped in our laps.  It was an opportunity that simply doesn’t seem to happen to a guy like me.  We’re the ones left holding the check a lot.  And we’re okay with that most of the time.  We’re the ones that watch the other people’s kids while they do things that are fun and refreshing.  We’re the ones that work the extra shift to cover the vacationer.  We use our vacation time to go on missions trips and other service-oriented, non-restful things.  It was FINALLY going to be our turn!  And we were very excited.

And then it fell apart.  So yeah, I was a little bitter.  Not necessarily towards God, but with no direct person, who else was I mad at?  Just because I hadn’t named Him, doesn’t mean that I didn’t mean him.

I realized in a couple days (I’m not a saint) that God allowed us an opportunity.  An opportunity to not only overcome, but to unite as a family.  So no, we’re not going to Disney.  Frankly, the kids are too young to appreciate it much anyway.  It would be another vacation to them, not the special thing that my wife and I recognized it for…  So in that way it’s good.  We still have that ONE VACATION that will someday happen (or not) that can be held aloft as a family-owned dream.

Secondly, it gave my wife and I the opportunity to work together towards figuring out what to do with the week.  It gave us the chance to mourn our lost opportunity together, and to gain happiness as a couple, in finding the joy in this new opportunity.

So altogether, we’re not really going anywhere.  Sure, we’re getting a hotel for a couple nights, because we want to swim with our kids.  But we’re not going far.  In fact, we’re only about 20 minutes from home.  And we’ll still be taking our oldest to school tomorrow, and trying to get back in time for her school pictures on Thursday.  It’s not the grand journey we planned.  But sometimes, it’s not about where you go, but how you get there.   And for not going very far, we’ve come a long way.  I know for certain that I have.  And I’m looking forward to going nowhere, yet going somewhere.

*If you caught it, it was a Jesus Jones reference, from the song “Blissed”, off of the 1990 album “Doubt”.  The entire lyric of the song is appropriate, beautiful, and as follows:

if the sun shines today

i think i’ll stay here anyway
and if the world makes demands of me
then i’ll wait and see

it’s at times like these
i do what i please (do what i please)
and i’m pleased to say
it’s like i’ve always wanted to feel this way

blissed, blissed
when i’m going somewhere, going nowhere
blissed, blissed
when i’m going nowhere, going somewhere

no-one ever else could feel like this
i couldn’t settle for less than this

let the feel of the air wash over me
let the ground sink beneath my feet
and I expect so much more from today
than just a time between tomorrow and yesterday

blissed, blissed
when i’m going nowhere, going somewhere
blissed, blissed
when i’m going somewhere, going nowhere

there’ll be a time when all my dreams come to and end
when i’ll run out of postcards for you all to send
but i’ll keep with me
all the things i feel and see

blissed, blissed
when i’m going somewhere, going nowhere
blissed, blissed
when i’m going nowhere, going somewhere

(Get Jesus Jones’ “Doubt” on Amazon here for under $3.00, shipped!)

Confess, Re-Dedicate, Pray, Repeat.

Here’s the deal.  I’m going to lay it out for you all right now, and in the open for all to see.  Because it’s what needs to happen.  Frankly, it needs to happen for everyone that calls themselves sons or daughters of God.  It needs to happen before you go to youth group, before you go to church, before you go to bible study, or really we should do it again and again, before we lay down before bed, and before we get up out of bed for our days to begin, and probably throughout our day as well…

So what the heck am I talking about.  I’m talking about confession, re-dedication, and prayer.  I hate talking like this, but I’m going to add one more preface here:  This isn’t about being public so people will see me.  And it’s not about “earning God” because nothing I can do is worthy of God.  And anything in public that I do, is probably worth even that little bit less.  But it’s late at night, my wife is in bed, and I’ve got no one to share with.  So it’s going to be you.  Sorry about that.

So yeah, let’s start with confession.

Book Reviews Are A-Comin’

Well, you speak and I listen. (Except for the one person who said they don’t want to read reviews of books. Sorry, dude. Feel free to disregard this and future book posts.)

So yeah, while I didn’t get a very impressive turnout for the poll, (I get 70+ unique pageviews a day, yet less than 10 people responded? Huh?) the results are encouraging enough for me to say that I will occasionally (as I read books I find interesting enough to write about) do book reviews.

UnChristian - Kinnaman and Lyons

 

 

First up, will be “UnChristian” by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. This book, created by and with the vast and reliable research power of The Barna Group, takes an honest look at the modern church, and more importantly, the image problem that it has as a representation of Christ. I’ve only begun this book, but I’m quite excited about it.

 

 

 

 

Another book I’m reading currently, that I plan on writing about, is “Crazy Love”.

Crazy Love - Francis Chan

The author, Francis Chan, presents a view of Christianity, or really, of God, that makes us reexamine how we live our lives. Are we really recognizing the one true God? The creator of the universe? (As Chan puts it on the back cover: “The God of the Universe-the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies, and E-minor” (I love that quote.)

 

Are we truly living while keeping in mind that it is THAT God who created us, THAT God who loves us, and THAT God who deserves everything from us? Do we do this daily?

What’s great, is that while I wasn’t planning it at all (I really didn’t know too much about both books prior to getting them), both books really converse well with each other, and really converge in a purpose-questioning, life-changing way.

Anyway, I’m sure you can tell I’m enjoying both books. In fact, if you’re the type who ISN’T planning on reading the book reviews, let this be the review for you: Get both books. You will not regret it. One takes a hard, honest look at the current problem, and one takes a hard, honest look at the solution.

Again, I’ll have more detail when I finish the books, but I’m encouraged by what I’ve read thus far.

Down the line, I’ll be reviewing a couple books by an old friend of mine, David A. Zimmerman, starting with “Comic Book Character” and “Deliver Us From Me-Ville”.  And hopefully more.  (I’m open to suggestions, if you’ve got a book that you’ve been interested in reading, but weren’t sure if it was worth it…I’ll be happy to take that plunge for you!)

So, look forward to that in the coming weeks. In other future news, I will be reviewing Mega Man 9 as well. Keep your eyes peeled! (What does that even mean?)

I’ll leave you with a quote from the first chapter of “Crazy Love”, not from Francis Chan, but a quote he uses by A.W. Tozer, (and one I find quite true, and humbling if one meditates upon it):

 

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing to us…. Worship is pure or base as the worshipper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.

 

 

 

Perspective After I Heard About The Branches

A man I (to be honest) barely knew before he left to work in Jordan (the country in the Mid-East, not the basketball player), wrote a great story over at his blog.  I wish I knew Brian better before he left, because I was just starting to form a connection with him, his wife and his kids, through a video I filmed for the church, dedicating their daughter to the Lord.  

We talked a little more after that, and then he had to leave.  But I think we shared a lot of perspective on things.  Anyway, Brian wrote a post a little while back that I just got around to reading.  I suggest you read it, because honestly, what I say next is kind of all about that.  It may or may not make sense without the context, so…yeah.  Do as you will.

Anyway, what he said really got me thinking, especially with the very apt section from the book of Jonah about the vine.

It got me thinking about social class.  It got me thinking about wealth.  It got me thinking about all the ways in which we, who are privileged, become even more greedy.  

Now, before you cluck at me and think to yourself: “Maybe YOU find yourself more greedy, but really, that’s not the case with me!”

And if you’re right, then that’s awesome.  Of course it could just be me.

Commitment. It’s This New Thing…It’s This Old Thing.

 

Old-Skool Hardcore Commitment

So I was listening to the Bible today (I’m a big fan of the “Daily Audio Bible” podcast…the reader, Brian, is awesome and so on fire for God.  He’s got a hippy-dippy voice so not created for radio, but he’s doing his thang-thang for God and that’s amazing and powerful and God’s definitely taking his loaves and fishes and working miracles from it, and that is truly inspiring…but I digress.)  

 

So I’m listening to the Bible today, and thinking about those ancient times.  Times so distant to us that a lot of the cultural references and thoughts are so foreign to us, that we can’t really get in there, mentally.  We can only associate ideologically or really, more in a strictly historically academic sense.  So I am thinking about these things…And then I think about commitment.  I consider myself committed to Christ.  What does that mean?