Happy 8 Year Anniversary

Wow. Cynthia and I have been married for 8 years today! Cynthia has been so supportive of me and my ministry with Cornwall and Roosevelt Community Church. She has supported me in school and cheered me on the entire way. She was a very important part of Loa coming to this world. She has laughed at my jokes even when they weren’t funny. With her I’ve shared many laughs, many secrets, many joys, and many kisses. I love her!

Dirty Talk in the Church

This past sunday we had “the talk” at church.  “The talk” was the money talk, and how we don’t have it. We didn’t meet budget, in fact we were several thousand dollars off. It was hard because of course it’s an awkward conversation, but in the end I think that the people walked away encouraged rather than guilt riden. We showed our budget and where the money is going (i.e. staff, insurance, RCC/NCC, bulletins, etc) and explained what we have cut and/or are cutting. The miracle is that last year we were able to give 20% of our budget away to non profs, benevilance funds, and other various people/organizations in need.

We, the church, make this money converstaion such a dirty talk. Have you ever noticed that when we talk about money, usually it is solomon who is quoted and not jesus. I think this is because Jesus’ words are a little harder (sell everything you have…). I’m not going to get into this right now though, because that is a whole other can of worms.

Anyways, after the talk I felt like we walked out encouraged rather than discouraged. We know exactly where money is going and what we do with it. Unfortunately we live in a time of economic crisis and our human nature tells us to keep it.  I saw this cartoon at ASBO Jesus a while ago that showed a pastor asking a person, “Do the birds worry?”  t o which the person replied, “Do the birds have a mortgage?” This is are human nature taking over our faith.

So I wonder this:

1. Who else has had this talk with your church? How did you handle it/HOw did they take it?

2. If you are a church worker (Pastor, director, etc), what changes have you seen in the church staffing and budget?

Fat Hawaiian Update

Do you watch the Biggest Loser? You should. It is inspirational and awesome. You will laugh and cry (from laughing) and be angry at Heba and Vicky. I just want to know why they are so mean! I feel like i am back in middle school. The show also makes you want work out as these people are trying to lose weight for life.

For six weeks, I was involved with Bob Anderson’s boot camp in Ferndale, WA to help me lose weight. It is a 10 week program, but I was able to hop in in the the middle of everything. I’ve been trying to lose weight before the baby gets here. Here is how it is going so far:

I weighed in on 9-27-08 at 227 pounds and could do 29 push ups and 28 sit ups.

Today I weighed in at 214 pounds and I did 45 push ups and 40 sit ups.

Improvement! I love it. I will do all of the measurements (chest, arms, legs and waist) and a final weigh in at the end of 10 weeks on Dec 6th.

This would have been mine

…if I was in the 11th grade.

Regarding Community

The idea of community is wierd. What is community really? Is it the place that you live in? Or is it the company that you keep around you? We have a strange community emerging within the last five years or so with MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and even as you read this blog entry we are engaging in some sort of faux community.

We have our home community in which we live in a neighborhood. This is our direct community. Sometimes we try to block out this community by building fences around our homes, to which only those who are invited may enter. This home community is quite tricky, because none of us truly want to invite others into our lives usually. Sometimes I find myself inside of my home with the blinds drawn and the lights off so that nobody thinks I am home. We seclude ourselves so that we never have to speak to others, but really we are missing out on the community that we crave.

We also have our work community (neighborhood) in which we go and punch the clock. Sometimes we get so caught up in how much our job sucks that we forget the impact that we might have on people. Sometimes when working at the church, I feel like a jukebox playing the songs that people like or dislike. I feel like I am there to play the hits, but then something changes. I see somebody standing and truly worshipping. Those are the moments that my work community is at its best: when I’ve led somebody to a place of happiness, or they are touched by Jesus. The same thing happens when I work at starbucks. Sometimes I see people who are regulars coming in as I am leaving and they say things like, “you can’t leave, who will make my drink for me?” Though they may not be complimenting me, I feel that I am touching their lives in some way. Though I leave somedays hating people more than one man should, I know that Jesus loves them even more than I hate them.

I think this is the purpose of community. True community is the effect that you have on other people’s lives. Whether you are living around them, serving them at your job, or even seeing them on the same bus everyday, true community is formed when they notice you aren’t there anymore. When people start to miss you, then you know that you have formed community.

The Ultimate in Whatcom County Dating

If you are married, you know the importance of “Date Night”. It’s a night to get out and away from home to connect with your significant other. Last night I went to the Ultimate Date here in Whatcom County, Washington. Cynthia and I were “lucky” enough to get tickets to the Lynden Fair to watch the hottest ticket in town. Randy Travis? no. Chicago? no again. Though both of those shows are really going on this week here in our little section of the United States, the hottest ticket in town every year is the demolition derby. Yep. You read right!

So we had an evening filled with Fair Food and smashed up cars. Break out your John Deere Hats and “Git-R-Done” t-shirts, because here are some pics for you (Incidently, this first pic is the first pic of Daddy with his baby pai…it’s a family pic of sorts):

All in all it was a fun night. Cynthia and I had a great time. Cars were smashed. Fords and Chevy’s were rivaled. All was right in this neck of the woods.

Mi Vida Loca

Lately, my life has been a little nuts, thus why the sporadic blog entries. To catch you up to speed, here are some of the things I’ve been planning and doing and trying to do:

- Cynthia is 4.5 months along. She is getting more and more adorable. She can’t sleep some of the time because she has to sleep on her side. That means she wakes up with me at 4:30 in the morning when I am working at starbucks. Sorry. We find out if it is a boy or girl on August 22nd (the same day we go see Amos Lee in Vancouver!)

- I’ve been trying to be outside as much as possible. A lot of my work for RCC I’ve been doing at my local starbucks up the road. Really, outside at Barkley Square they have an amazing soundtrack playing. I heard Lucy in the Sky…, Maggie May, and Tiny Dancer all in the same hour! Later they played Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. If you live in the bellingham area, you could probably find me sitting outside working here.

-Speaking of work, I’ve been working a lot these days! I work at RCC (25 hours), Starbucks (20+ hours), Give Guitar Lessons (3-5 hours), and mow our lawn for money from our condo association. I work about 50+ hours regularly. Maybe I am more in ministry than I realize, because don’t all people in ministry work this much?

- I’ve been recording a CD fueled by Burger King (I feel another diet coming on!). I’m really kind of gun shy about it. I like it, but that doesn’t mean other people are going to like it. So my question is why should I play out? When I get it done, I’ll put some tracks on my music MySpace to give you guys a listen. My friend Chris Cochran is helping me with it. He’s amazing really. I swear, all of my friends are so talented. I just wish that it would rub off on me. Chris is moving to Hillsboro, Oregon. He is working in the school district with Kids with Behavioral Disorders. I’m going to be sad when he leaves.

- Cynthia has a birthday coming up on the 13th. I really suck at this, because ”an evening of good loving” doesn’t count as a gift. I think that I disappoint her every year. Hopefully this year’s gifts will be fun for her. (cross your fingers!)

-I’m thinking of doing an “Evening of the Arts” at RCC in November. I don’t know totally what this will look like, but I think it will be awesome.

That’s about it on my end of things.

I Miss Ray of Hope.

 

This summer has been kind of sad for me. For the previous four years, I had been working at Ray of Hope – a summer day camp for kids who had been through various forms of physical and emotional abuse, are socially awkward, or just plain forgotten or given up on. I really miss it. My job was to give a summer filled with fun for the kids who otherwise would be stuck at home in not so ideal conditions or in front of a television alone. It was one of the greatest jobs I’ve ever had. I see kids once in a walking past starbucks. That rules. I just really miss having fun with the kids. Giving them a summer was one of the best things I could do.

The Brown Kid Still Works at Starbucks!

There were a few closures in Washington, but none of the Bellingham Stores were on “The List”. Click here if you want to see what stores were closed. At a quick glance, I think the most starbucks closed were in Texas. Don’t fret though. As far as we know, Uncle Howie takes care of his employees. The workers are supposed to find work at the Starbucks across the street.

My Blogroll A-C

I just wanted to introduce you all to my friends in my blogroll. I hate when I go to blogs and I don’t know who they are. Now you will know some of them. Please visit them and say hello.

Aaron Nelson – Photographer, Phormer Starbucks Partner, and Phriend of mine. I hope he plays the trumpet still. He was good at that.

Alan Hirsch – Have you read “Shaping of Things to Come”? It is pretty interesting. This is his blog. Now you can get in his mind whenever he posts something!

Baron Miller – This is our pastor at Roosevelt Community Church. He posts on his sermons and attempts to draw conversation out of people. Sometimes it works.

Big Skye’s Country – Chess Player, Interesting blogger, Lover of Jesus, and they dress up as a bear. Any questions?

Blending Worship – Mandy Thompson lives out in New England. She is a worship leader. This is her worship blog. I like it. It makes me think.

Brad Hauge – This fool never posts anymore. He put an RSS feed on his site for me, then he never fed into it ever again. he is still my friend. I love him.

Cameron Garcia – The “Man of Many Thoughts”. Cameron discusses his journey in becoming a pastor and the “wonderful” things that come along with it.

CEC Worship – A great worship resource and finder of funny YouTube clips.

CHauncy Handy – Former Youth Kid turned friend. Chauncy has great things to say.

Chris Knox – Friend. Sporadic blogger. The Best. Seriously, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie just named one of their kids after him. Knox, you rule.

…more to come tomorrow