on a not-so-fun note: more house stress.

So Jordan is moving out on Friday, which leaves me with 2 roommates (Kyle and Zach). I was hoping to land a new job so I wouldn't have to add another roommate to make the mortgage payments. But 2 is doable.

Then Zack informs me last night that he has to move out in 2 weeks.

Which leaves me with 1 roommate. Which makes it impossible to pay the mortgage.

Freak out time?

Bri (the ultimate worrier) is not worried. This is very strange, but may be a sign from the divine.

Is HE clearing out my house the way I wanted in preparation for a career advancement?

Or am I royally screwed?

Yeah God

Rejuvenating, refreshing, resolving. A retreat from the whirlwind of life is what I needed. Thank you. I had an amazing time at Great Oaks this weekend. Between the high ropes course, fishing, flag football, worship, teaching, and reflection, the Holy Spirit inundated our cabins and spoke through the voice of falling leaves. What a beautiful weekend to be in His kingdom!

Brandon (http://brownsquirrel.blogspot.com/) spoke about being in the presence, but missing the Spirit. How easily it is done. There are so many distractions we fill our lives with-cell phones, iPods, the internet, movies, TV, planes, trains, and automobiles, serving in 20 different aspects of ministry, etc. We are so concerned with the details (Martha) that we totally miss the one thing that matters (Mary). If only we could slow down, tear down the idols that consume us and focus on Him. What a difference it would make. Fill your mind with the Word, which brings you closer to God and satisfies. Filling your mind with media only leaves you wanting more.

Last night was the Converge conference at the civic center. It was so encouraging to see young people bring friends on their arms to hear about God, some for the first time. The music from The Afters, Pillar, and worship leaders from local churches was powerful. Jeff Schwarzentraub gave the message: everyone was intentionally brought into this world and into the civic center that night. They are loved. And they can be certain of where they will spend eternity if they just accept Jesus and give Him their lives. He then invited those who wanted to know Him to the front of the stage. At first, no one arose. Then a couple, then a few more, then dozens, then hundreds of people made their way through the crowd. Adults and kids began counseling and praying for those newborn in the Spirit. No doubt, the masses left that place with a new sense of hope, direction, and belonging. How great is the Lord!

Hazed and Confused.

For the past two weeks or so it’s been hard to get out of bed in the morning. I don’t think it’s the weather, I’ve just used that as an excuse to try and convince myself that everything else is ok. It’s not the pressure of getting things done around the house because all that’s left now is odds and ends and the problem of not having any roommates to help pay the mortgage has been more than covered. God provided several more offers as roommates in the past week or so than I can accommodate! I’m serving more than ever at church in Nexus, Reality, drama and music. Relationships with friends and family are strong.

Why do I still feel so drained? Empty?

Is it just a season of the heart? So that when I move into the next season, I taste how good it truly is?

I can’t help but blame this job I’m in. It was a blessing at first. It was more money that helped me buy a great house. But it gets harder and harder to come in to work each day. I dread answering the phone, wondering who will be yelling at me next. Demanding money they have no right to. I want to feed every new claim that the secretaries put in my “inbox” into the “outbox” (which ideally is a paper shredder). I leave the office in a sullen, somber, and sometimes angry mood, unless it’s Friday.

All I look forward to is small group Wednesday night with the kids, Thursday with my friends and nexus/reality on the weekends. But it’s so hard to get through the weekdays that seem to never end. Am I wasting my life here?

I’ve applied for a new job with the potential to make 2 or 3 times what I make now. And it sounds like something I’d enjoy and I could take an active leadership role there. But will the phone call ever come? Is that just going to lead to another dead end?

So lost in the haze.

I need a new light.
Jesus, grant me patience. Let your will be done.

i swear i didn't do it.

maybe i did.

Post Secrets

I have not yet lost hope. I hope my patience does not wear out...

Joking, of course....somewhat.

Um, yeah.

I think we've failed our children.

No comment necessary.

Random thought o' the day.

Does anybody else miss these?

I miss them more than Michael Bay missed the boat when he made Pearl Harbor.

Stupidest Idea Ever.

Apparently, people in Nevada are also stupid. Why would anyone put $180,000 into a 1982 Italian clunker? Good luck moving this piece, buddy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170037422944&fromMakeTrack=true

Serious question.

If someone offered you a free zoo animal, what would you get and why?

It sure is monday.

After an amazing week at Catalyst, I returned to the office this morning.

Highlights: 60 emails, 14 voice mails, discovering the McDonald's policies (over 2,000) have not been renewed by the underwriting dept. in our system so we have to do all work on new files on paper instead of on our file system and then transfer everything over later.

I got a call from an 83 year old woman who said she was at Wal-Mart and a McDonald's employee knocked her over into some bicycles and now her ankle hurts and she can't wear her shoes. The funny part is that as I put her on hold and started getting out of my chair to go ask if anyone had her claim (since the computer system isn't working), I dropped my headset, wrapping the cord around my foot and stepping on it all in one fluid movement. It still works. kind of.

The prospects of a new job are getting more and more attractive...

Monkeys and Foxes

This afternoon was…interesting. It started out with a monkey eating a lollipop, transitioned into some incredibly powerful worship, which was followed by a moving Q&A session and challenge with Andy Stanley and John C Maxwell.

Then they brought out a member of Northpoint Community Church (the host of the conference) to speak to the masses. The emcee introduced him as an active member, a friend, and a partner in his bible study. Then he said he also has sold millions of comedy albums throughout the US. Georgia’s own, Jeff Foxworthy. Insane. So he came out with the usual redneck jokes and Southern humor, which was hilarious. But then something profound happened…he started preaching!

He said that when he was younger he questioned God a lot and often tried to unveil Him. But one day he came to a realization: “If I could figure God out, He probably wouldn’t be worthy of my worship, ‘cause I ain’t that bright.”

He continued, “I know God loves rednecks ‘cause His book is full of rednecks. Jesus came to earth as a redneck-born in a manger to a peasant girl and a carpenter in a small town. It wasn’t in a palace like everybody expected…He started at the bottom because his love is for everybody.”

Other biblical rednecks include:
Sampson-who had “the mother of all mullets”
-who caught 300 foxes, tied their tales together, lit them on fire and sent them through the crops of the Philistines. “You don’t get more redneck than that!”
-who killed 1,000 people with a donkey jaw bone. “You know that’s a redneck WWF move right there.”

David-who killed a guy with a sling shot, tried to kill another one in a cave when he was going to the bathroom, and peeked over a wall to see another man’s wife bathing-“totally redneck.”

John the Baptist-a guy who wore animal skins and ate locust. “Screams West Virginia!” (some audience member near the stage cheered). “You folks from West Virginia?” (Looks back at the stage lights) “What do you think of this electricity?”

The woman in the well-a lady who was divorced 5 times, shacked up with the 6th…if there had been trailers back then…

Then Mr. Foxworthy brought it back to the point by saying God took unremarkable people and did remarkable things with them over and over again.

My favorite point, since this is a leadership conference: “Even on our very best day, we are sheep leading other sheep. There is only one Good Shepard.”
Awesome.

conference update

Wow, it's been an adventure and a journey already and we've only been through 2 sessions.

If you haven't read the other guys' blogs, here's what's happened so far...

Last night we came back to the hotel after dinner. Jake and I went into the lobby to get an iron and ironing board while Chris and Charlie went up to the room. As we were waiting in line at the front desk (the attendant was busy answering the constantly ringing phone since the fire alarm was going off for the second time that eveing), we noticed a stream of water that had formed along a line in the ceiling and was dripping into a bucket. When the clerk asked what room we were in, we said "228" and she pointed to the water coming down and said, "that's your room!" The owner of the hotel then quickly snapped, "Is anyone taking a shower right now?" We replied, no that we had been at dinner for over an hour. He then said that the water had been running constantly and our room was flooding the lobby below it. Um...this can't be. So we ran upstairs and sure enough, the floor was soaked with toilet water. Apparently it didn't stop running the whole time we were gone. The maintenance guy (who speaks only a few words of english) attempted to vaccuum up the water, but it still smells like "gross." Luckily, the only casualty was Jake's pillow-no clothes, laptops, etc.

On the contrary, the worship, entertainment, and teaching at the conference has been great. Can't wait for more! Check out Chris's and Charlie's blogs for more details.

ALSO-Please pray healing for Bri's father. He was bitten by a brown recluse spider and has been flown to the ICU in Nashville with a life-threatening infection.

dorks.

So, we just arrived in our hotel in HotLanta and the four of us have been without internet for approximately 35 hours. We have been craving wi-fi like a pregnant woman craves peppermint orange juice. We had been praying that once we arrived we would be able to check our emails, sports scores, myspace's, etc...And alas, we are here, and we have free wi-fi. What a glorious afternoon this has become. Here you see us all in our most satisfying positions...laptops on laps.

Cattle-ist

I’m excited.

Tomorrow I, Jake, Charlie, and Chris (two “J’s”, two “C’s”) are headed to Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference (i know it's improper grammar, but it was necessary for the acronym).

I’m so ready to just be a sponge, soaking up all kinds of knowledge and ideas for the ministry at Nexus.

It’s time for some rejuvenation after a month of hard labor working on the house and stress at work.

Refresh my soul!

I think Charlie will be posting updates here: http://charliedean.blogspot.com/

Domicile.

Move-in day was a success. The only casualty was Bri’s phone, which managed to ride for more than 8 blocks on the trunk of her car before sliding off and getting run over several times on War Memorial Drive. Poor Bri.

Other highlights included:

Rapid-fire pneumatic staple gun.

My dad calling me a “mongoloid” after I ducked to allow my bed frame, which was leaning against the inside wall of the trailer, to flip over my head and crash to the floor rather than catching it (picture a cartoon where the façade of the building falls and the character survives by standing in an open window frame).

Discovering a lost civilization under the kitchen counter and cabinets where several 100 generations of mice must have lived (this revelation was only made because it was necessary to pull out the cabinets to replace the floor. Fun. And gross.).

Buying an 8-foot long dryer vent pipe, which was 5 feet too short to actually function.

Cougar hiding on the top shelf of the storage room in the basement for 6 hours because he was freaked out by the new house.

Attempting to roll the dryer out of the trailer on a cart without using a ramp, resulting in a very loud crash when the strap came off and the side of the dryer hit the concrete. I hope it still works.

Using brute strength and pent up frustration to tear out and destroy the old kitchen floor. Priceless.