"The Secret Message of Jesus"

"So now, perhaps the dimensions of the secret message of Jesus become clearer and clearer. Jesus forms a movement of people who trust him and believe his message. They believe that they don't have to wait for this or that to happen, but rather that they can begin living in a new and better way, a way of life Jesus conveys by the pregnant phrase kingdom of God Life for them now is about an interactive relationship reconciled to God reconciled to one another"

This is a quote from a book I'm reading by Brian McClaren..
Sometimes I think we forget that word interactive. We forget that God wants us to interact with Him just as we as we are to interact with those here on Earth. If there's no communication, if it's all taking and no giving, the relationship suffers and slowly dies Instead of reaching out to expand the kingdom..we draw in...waiting for God "to do for us" without listening to what God needs us to do for Him.

A day and "cold" night in Cleveland

Darrell,Zach,and I went to Cleveland yesterday You hear alot of jokes about Cleveland being an ugly city but it's actually kind of cool
Zach is a huge Boston Red Sox fan and they played in Cleveland last night so that was what drew us there first
We decided to stop at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before we went Darrell and I had been 3 yrs ago but you could spend a whole day in there and not see everything
Alot of guitars, alot of outfits,and then some really unusual things ie Jim Morrison's death certificate, art work by Jimmy Hendrix (which was actually good), props from concerts,ie U2 and Pink Floyd, hand written lyrics by artists It amazed me how really gaudy alot of the concert outfits are when you see them up close I think the things that I liked the most were things that made them seem "real" They had personal postcards that John Lennon had sent to his son Julian the year before he died. They had cards that Jim Morrison had made for his mom on Mother's Day Sorry Mike...no "Smashing Pumpkins" :(
Jacob's Field is about 1 mile from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame It's a beautiful stadium and we had good seats but it was COLD Zach and Darrell made fun of me for bringing my winter coat and a blanket but they weren't making fun of me by the 2nd inning You get breeze from the lake which makes it even colder at night There seemed to be alot of Boston Fans at the game Unfortunately it was a sad night for them Boston got "killed" 15 to 3 We left at the end of the 7th inning since we had a 3 1/2 hr drive home and have to work/school today
If you ever have a chance to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or a Cleveland Indians game...go....it's alot of fun ...just make sure you dress for winter :)

Insomnia

in·som·ni·a ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-smn-)
n.
Chronic inability to fall asleep or remain asleep for an adequate length of time.


This has been my definition lately I will wake up at 2 or 3 am I find alot of times it's a day when I've been in "overdrive" and my mind is racing..I think vanilla lattes at 8pm from Starbucks don't help :)
At times I like the quietness and being able to process some things I'm trying to deal with..if only I didn't have to get up at 5 am and start my day :)

Spring days

This is why I love Spring

What is emerging?

I think it's interesting that there is so much controversy over a very simple term...emerging. It's used many times synonomously with postmodern If anyone knows about the true definition and what it stands for I feel that's Dan Kimball He has written an article on his blog that explains in a clear way when he started using and being associated with the term and what it means to him Here is a quote

The word "emerging" simply means 'what is coming to the surface'. So I use the term for what is the Spirit of God bringing to the surface in terms of the church that He has since the birth of the church. The church has always been emerging since it was birthed and we have seen all types of various expressions of church 'emerge' throughout church history. If anyone disagrees that the church has not been emerging, then simply look at what you are doing now in worship. Mostly everything we do has "emerged" as culture changes. If you sing with an organ, that 'emerged' at a certain time. If you are in a denomination, what that denomination started from 'emerged' at a certain time.

Easter

Kristen was home for Easter this weekend which made it very nice We went to see my mom on Sat am to color eggs and visit We went to Apex with Darrell Sat night The Yosick family and Tyler's roomate from Lee, Sean, sat with us I also got to see Kendall while I was there We decided to go to Home Depot to buy a new gas grill It's very cute It's called the Weber Q and it's portable and uses a small propane tank It could easily be taken on a picnic to grill out This morning Kristen,Tyler,Zach, and I went to Southwest They did an amazing job on the "Ragman" drama It was nice to see all the little girls dressed up in their Easter dresses, especially the new baby girls...Adia,Ava, and Savannah Jamie and Aaron's daughters had matching pink dresses on and looked adorable My sister and I used to wear the same dress when we were little We always go to my dad's for Easter dinner My step mom and her sisters do the cooking and have the best food ever My dad hides plastic eggs with money for the "little" kids to hunt It's always fun So now we're just hanging out at home Kristen and Tyler head back to Lee tomorrow but will be back home for the summer May 2nd

Good Friday ... Time of reflection

As we were driving home last night I noticed the moon looked full and bright...just like the scene from "Passion of the Christ" when Jesus is in the garden the night before his death When I got up this morning ,it's dark and rainy ..matches the mood of the day ..Good Friday. I think this is a good day for reflection as to what are really the priorities in my life I've felt "unsettled" all week until this morning..I feel a peace


Jesus' Death

44It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." 48When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.

The Princess Diana exhibit

When I found out that the exhibit for Princess Diana was coming to the Dayton Art Institute ,it wasn't a question of if I would go , it was when and who would go with me.
Darrell had no interest in going but I have a friend Tina who was as excited as I was to go Just like me, she got up at 5 am on July 29,1981 to watch her get married . I know that originally it was because of the "fairy tale" aura of it, that I was in awe... a simple kindergarten teacher marrying a prince in a fairy tale wedding. Unfortunately for Diana her prince turned out to be a total frog and she had to endure alot of heartache and grief. I think what I admired about her the most is how she handled herself even when her life was falling apart around her. She continued to have a passion for humanity which was obvious in her charities and the way she related to those who had Aids,leprosy,injuries from landmines, etc .Despite all of the bad press she received, she tried to make her children's lives as "normal" as possible
In the exhibit, there are several rooms starting with her childhood and ending with her numereous outfits. There were home movies of her childhood playing,clips from her numerous visits,and the clip of her wedding. It took about 2 hrs to look at everything . I had the audioplayer which gave extra information about the exhibits you were looking at as well as family history. My favorite room was the room where they showed how she grew up followed by the room where her wedding dress was displayed . My favorite thing that I saw was the small bible that Mother Teresa gave her with a small note to her in the front.
It was definitely one of the more enjoyable times I've spent in the museum . The other thing that really amazed me was the distance some people traveled just to see the exhibit.

Also, if you love art,they have some beautiful paintings and sculptures to look at To get to the Diana exhibit you have to go through an area of "European Art" and there was a room dedicated to "Christian art" with several pictures of Jesus,Mary Magdalene,angels, etc. and it's free of charge to see that area of the museum

Weekend at Lee with Kristen

We had a long weekend so that we could take Zach for a college visit and visit Kristen at the same time We went to the Delirious?concert with Tree 63 with Mike at Tricounty Vineyard on Thursday night We stayed at a hotel in Berea Ky then left the next morning for Lee They had "Lee Days" which is something they do to recruit juniors and seniors in high school to the school There were alot of activities sports,plays,concerts,displays, It was nice because I got more of an idea of what campus life is like and got to meet Kristen's friends I love their campus We took Kristen and Tyler to Chatanooga on Sat to get off campus Kristen loves to shop and we love to eat at a restaurant called "Sticky Fingers" when we're there We went to church with Kristen and Tyler and Dylan I loved the passion of the choir and the pastors who spoke ..I'm not used to "speaking in tongues" during prayer so that took some getting used to but I loved their minister's message He was so honest and not afraid to show emotion The music was actually a mixture of hymns and contemporary music which kind of surprised me They sang a song which I think may have been called "We shall overcome" with a male soloist which was amazing..made me have goosebumps We made our usual stop in Lexington at Chipotles and Starbucks (they are right by each other) and then picked up Pumpkin at the kennel in Waynesville She didn't seem too traumatized even though they raise Dobermans :) So now I have the fun chore of 4 days of laundry :)

Be Still

I thought this was a cool picture of the sunset in the North Pole It reminds me of one of my favorite verses "Be still and know that I am God..." Psalm 46:10

Did you remember?

Today's the day you should be an hour ahead If not you'll be late to wherever you're headed :)
I hate losing an hour of sleep but I love the fact that it will stay lighter in the evening and it means that summer is almost here:)

I went to see the spring musical "Footloose" friday night They did an awesome job
I know some people who read this hate the movie :) I can't say it's my favorite but I would go to see the musical again Jacque did a great job as one of the dancers !
We went to Applebees afterwards 1/2 price appetizers after 10..definitely worth it

I went to Old Navy yesterday If you're looking for bargains, they have their t- shirts 2 for $10 and their flipflops 2 for $5 and every color you can imagine

I went to Apex last night with Darrell and have to say I really do enjoy some of their choices of worship music They sing "Come and Listen" by David Crowder which is one of my favorites They are studying the book of Philemon right now which I have to say I don't remember ever reading. They are using it to connect the idea of house churches which they have just started
I'm looking forward to church at Southwest this morning Adam is doing the message and Tena is leading worship :) Tonight is "house church" with Darrell and tomorrow is 3rd Place..always my "breath of fresh air" spiritually.

That's my weekend..on to another busy week..I'm looking forward to seeing "Delirious?" and then on to see Kristen at Lee next weekend..yay!!