Who wouldn't want a 3d wolf poster?
one love, one heart.
12.30.2008
12.23.2008
Ornaments.
Another NHC Student Ministry Blog
I love Christmas ornaments! In our family we each have our own
Christmas ornaments. Some are store-bought and engraved, while others
are twenty-year-old glitter-covered pieces of construction paper cut
to resemble trees. My favorite is one that probably dates back to
1984, and it is simply a piece of pipe cleaner attached to part of an
egg carton. Of all the artwork I've done over the years, my mom has
kept the stuff from pre-school to decorate the tree!
Decorating the Christmas tree is a tradition that comes from Europe,
and can be traced back to Martin Luther. Legend has it, Luther was
walking in the woods, and he saw the stars shining through the branches
of an evergreen tree. He brought a tree home and decorated it with
candles to illustrate to his children what he had seen.
There are many references to stars in the Bible. Ask Job. It's pretty
easy to see a theme develop with God communicating His love for man
using the sky. Here are a couple of thoughts I'd like to focus on:
In Genesis 22, God promises Abraham that his descendants will be " as
numerous as the stars in the sky".
In Psalm 147, the writer declares that the Lord "determines the number
of the stars and calls them each by name".
I'd like to paint a picture for you. It's a Norman Rockwell piece of
an elderly man gently hanging ornaments on a giant tree that fills the
entire room of his palatial estate. At first you notice the size of
the tree and the room. As you peer closer you notice that there are
already thousands of ornaments on the tree gleaming in the light, with
boxes yet to be unpacked. Finally, with eyes squinted you see that
each ornament is hand carved, hand painted, and uniquely labeled with
various names.
What if we are the ornaments on God's tree?
What if each one of us is handmade, individually named, sitting on
the tree that God is using to decorate His home?
This has a profound impact on my life. When I start to look at myself
as a treasure of God, when I start to look at my life as something
that brings him joy when put on display, I am completely humbled. I
have a place on God's tree. I am a part of His family. There is so
much beauty in an individual ornament. But, as special as each
memento may be, there is nothing like seeing hundreds of thousands of
them together. And there I am…an ornament on the same tree as
David, Moses, Solomon, Peter, Matthew, Stephen...
Jesus.
I hope you find joy this Christmas in knowing that we have a Lord that
knows every one of the stars He has named.
one love, one heart,
d.j.
I love Christmas ornaments! In our family we each have our own
Christmas ornaments. Some are store-bought and engraved, while others
are twenty-year-old glitter-covered pieces of construction paper cut
to resemble trees. My favorite is one that probably dates back to
1984, and it is simply a piece of pipe cleaner attached to part of an
egg carton. Of all the artwork I've done over the years, my mom has
kept the stuff from pre-school to decorate the tree!
Decorating the Christmas tree is a tradition that comes from Europe,
and can be traced back to Martin Luther. Legend has it, Luther was
walking in the woods, and he saw the stars shining through the branches
of an evergreen tree. He brought a tree home and decorated it with
candles to illustrate to his children what he had seen.
There are many references to stars in the Bible. Ask Job. It's pretty
easy to see a theme develop with God communicating His love for man
using the sky. Here are a couple of thoughts I'd like to focus on:
In Genesis 22, God promises Abraham that his descendants will be " as
numerous as the stars in the sky".
In Psalm 147, the writer declares that the Lord "determines the number
of the stars and calls them each by name".
I'd like to paint a picture for you. It's a Norman Rockwell piece of
an elderly man gently hanging ornaments on a giant tree that fills the
entire room of his palatial estate. At first you notice the size of
the tree and the room. As you peer closer you notice that there are
already thousands of ornaments on the tree gleaming in the light, with
boxes yet to be unpacked. Finally, with eyes squinted you see that
each ornament is hand carved, hand painted, and uniquely labeled with
various names.
What if we are the ornaments on God's tree?
What if each one of us is handmade, individually named, sitting on
the tree that God is using to decorate His home?
This has a profound impact on my life. When I start to look at myself
as a treasure of God, when I start to look at my life as something
that brings him joy when put on display, I am completely humbled. I
have a place on God's tree. I am a part of His family. There is so
much beauty in an individual ornament. But, as special as each
memento may be, there is nothing like seeing hundreds of thousands of
them together. And there I am…an ornament on the same tree as
David, Moses, Solomon, Peter, Matthew, Stephen...
Jesus.
I hope you find joy this Christmas in knowing that we have a Lord that
knows every one of the stars He has named.
one love, one heart,
d.j.
12.22.2008
Caleb.
This is from my blog from the NHC student ministry site:
Talking points:
Why do so many people make resolutions for the new year?
Why do we have a desire to constantly push ourselves?
What is it that you can be fanatical about this year?
Is there something God has promised you that you are afraid to reach for?
Have you ever been one of the ten?
Intro:
The Green Bay Packers have some of the greatest fans in all of sports. Every year thousands of fans brave the Wisconsin winter to cheer their team on, despite the insane weather they have up there. It's always a blast watching the crowd shots at Green Bay home games, because you see what it means to be truly fanatical. I remember one year I saw an older guy with no shirt wearing a painted on jersey while it was snowing. Guys like that are a blast to be around. It's easy to imagine his is the truck in the parking lot covered with Packers stickers, and his home is the one painted team colors. I bet he even has one of those cool cheese head hats!
Do you think anyone that knows him even has to ask if he is a Packers fan?
The Word:
In Numbers 13 we catch up with the Israelites as they are in the desert on the outskirts of Canaan, the land that God has promised them. Twelve leaders representing the different tribes have been on a mission to scope out the land and to see what kind of condition it is in. They come back with a report that it is, in fact, the 'land of milk and honey' that God has promised. They even brought back a cluster of grapes to show everyone the fertility of the land.
The scene is easy to imagine. Forty years of wandering in the desert is coming to an end for an entire race of people. The home that they have been promised is right over the hill, and it is everything that they could imagine. Unfortunately, there is something holding these people back from taking what God has promised them. There is a problem with the Promised Land. You see, among other tribes, the descendants of Anak live there- and they are huge. Ten of the scouts start spreading word through the entire nation of Israel about the giants that live in the promised land in these fortified cities. They describe themselves as 'grasshoppers' in the midst of these giants.
And just like that the Promised Land is gone.
Fortunately that is not how the story ends. You see there were a couple of scouts that had a faith in God that could not be quelled by a few obstacles. One of these men, Caleb, silences the crowd of doubters and proclaims, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
You see while the rest of the Israelites are wondering if they would be better off as slaves back in Egypt, Caleb and his friend Joshua are crying out for the people to remember that they have the Lord on their side. Caleb is a dedicated 'fanatic' of the Lord. There is no doubt about his faith, or his determination. Can you imagine anyone getting a less than enthusiastic response when asking Caleb about the promised land?
Wrap up:
It's easy to sit back and look at an obstacle as insurmountable. How often are we one of the ten that look for reasons that things can't be done? My encouragement this week is to be Caleb. Be the person that is so trusting in the Lord that the odds are always in your favor. Will you charge into the new year with your jersey 'painted on' cheering loud enough to eliminate all doubt as to which side you are on?
one love, one heart.
Talking points:
Why do so many people make resolutions for the new year?
Why do we have a desire to constantly push ourselves?
What is it that you can be fanatical about this year?
Is there something God has promised you that you are afraid to reach for?
Have you ever been one of the ten?
Intro:
The Green Bay Packers have some of the greatest fans in all of sports. Every year thousands of fans brave the Wisconsin winter to cheer their team on, despite the insane weather they have up there. It's always a blast watching the crowd shots at Green Bay home games, because you see what it means to be truly fanatical. I remember one year I saw an older guy with no shirt wearing a painted on jersey while it was snowing. Guys like that are a blast to be around. It's easy to imagine his is the truck in the parking lot covered with Packers stickers, and his home is the one painted team colors. I bet he even has one of those cool cheese head hats!
Do you think anyone that knows him even has to ask if he is a Packers fan?
The Word:
In Numbers 13 we catch up with the Israelites as they are in the desert on the outskirts of Canaan, the land that God has promised them. Twelve leaders representing the different tribes have been on a mission to scope out the land and to see what kind of condition it is in. They come back with a report that it is, in fact, the 'land of milk and honey' that God has promised. They even brought back a cluster of grapes to show everyone the fertility of the land.
The scene is easy to imagine. Forty years of wandering in the desert is coming to an end for an entire race of people. The home that they have been promised is right over the hill, and it is everything that they could imagine. Unfortunately, there is something holding these people back from taking what God has promised them. There is a problem with the Promised Land. You see, among other tribes, the descendants of Anak live there- and they are huge. Ten of the scouts start spreading word through the entire nation of Israel about the giants that live in the promised land in these fortified cities. They describe themselves as 'grasshoppers' in the midst of these giants.
And just like that the Promised Land is gone.
Fortunately that is not how the story ends. You see there were a couple of scouts that had a faith in God that could not be quelled by a few obstacles. One of these men, Caleb, silences the crowd of doubters and proclaims, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
You see while the rest of the Israelites are wondering if they would be better off as slaves back in Egypt, Caleb and his friend Joshua are crying out for the people to remember that they have the Lord on their side. Caleb is a dedicated 'fanatic' of the Lord. There is no doubt about his faith, or his determination. Can you imagine anyone getting a less than enthusiastic response when asking Caleb about the promised land?
Wrap up:
It's easy to sit back and look at an obstacle as insurmountable. How often are we one of the ten that look for reasons that things can't be done? My encouragement this week is to be Caleb. Be the person that is so trusting in the Lord that the odds are always in your favor. Will you charge into the new year with your jersey 'painted on' cheering loud enough to eliminate all doubt as to which side you are on?
one love, one heart.
12.17.2008
The traditions of the season are best enjoyed in the warm embrace of kith and kin. Thith tree is a thymbol of the thpirit of the Griswold Chrithmath.
Mele Kalikimaka blogworld!
I love christmas time. music, decorations, lights, and most importantly my Clark Griswold quotes are suddenly in context.
It's been a crazy year for me with a new job, moving, traveling and all of the other fun stuff that happens in a year. I haven't spent as much time blogging this year (which is either really good or really bad) but that's something i hope to single handedly change that right now.
travel.
looking back on the past few months on my life as a bedouin i'm really glad that i had this chance to venture around. there were definitely some slow days, and days where i wasn't sure where i was going to sleep that night, but all in all my travel time was a huge blessing. my list of places that i went is pretty sweet to look at:
san diego
murrieta
long beach
los angeles
ventura
fresno
bakersfield
colorado
houston
dallas
okc
vegas
boston
friends.
an even more meaningful list is that of my friends and people i call family that have showed an amazing amount of love. i am truly blessed. i may have lost my job, but i feel like i have regained my spirit. a lot of that is God putting me into the presence of some mighty warriors that i am fortunate enough to call friends and family.
thanks.
this thanksgiving we went to boston to be with mi hermana who started her first hotshot job recently. what a fun trip. for thanksgiving day we went to plymouth rock and had a picnic, which i loved.the little adventures that we stumble into are awesome and it cracks me up to see our family picture in front of the mayflower.
the only thing i would have changed about that day is that we should have dressed up as pilgrims. to top the day off, we decided to do our own 'senior pictures' in the park at plymouth rock.
what can i say, we are a goofy family. but we do have fun.
the lion's den.
i capped off the trip to boston with lunch inside the green monster and a celtics game. seeing fenway was cool, but the tour there is lame. sitting for 45 minutes watching a video and five minutes of pictures does not make for a tour, it's a lecture. at the very least we did get some good pics.
as for the celtics game, that was an adventure in it's own right. tickets were sold out so we went the scalper route which was funny, because i think it was mi hermana's first exposure to that culture. after walking around for a few minutes my sister gave me the best quote of the trip, "I don't think we're going to get tickets cause everyone else here is looking too." In between laughs i explained to my sister that no scalper was going to stand on the corner yelling they had tickets, since this isn't exactly a practice condoned by the nba. anyways, we had a great time at the game. Celtics fans are nuts, and they are definitely die hards. Who wouldn't be when you buy a great championship team? The two best parts of the game were the crowd yells at the Disco dancer in the Gino shirt (had to be there)
and whenever Brian Scalabrine gets the basketball. Needless to say we had a blast.
parting words.
We also toured around downtown Boston, which was fun but cold. Mi hermana works by boston commons and all of the historical parts of the city which is pretty cool. My only complaint about Boston is the lack of street signs. Someone needs to donate a couple grand and buy some street signs. Oh yeah, and the frat hats need to go.
If you're going to be a diehard fan, buy a decent cap.
best moment in boston:
dropkick murphy's coming on the radio as we're driving up bunker hill. even mi madre was rocking out.
christmas fun facts:
so i've been looking up how different christmas traditions got started and it's been really interesting.
decorating trees comes from martin luther. legend goes he was walking in the woods and saw the stars shining through the trees. he brought a tree home and decorated it with candles (is that really a good idea?) so he could describe to his kids what he saw.
the song 12 days of christmas comes from england when it was illegal to be catholic. parents sang in code to their children about the gifts that God (my true love) gives us.
a partridge is a bird that will draw predators away from the nest by sacrificing itself.
two turtle doves are the two testaments of the bible.
three french hens are faith, hope and charity
four calling birds are the gospels
five golden rings are the first five books of the old testament
six geese laying represent creation
seven swans are for the seven gifts of the spirit in 1 cor 12
the eight maids are the beatitudes
the nine ladies dancing represent the nine types of angels (according to catholic theology)
ten lords leaping are the ten commandments
eleven pipers represent the faithful apostles
and the twelve drummers represent the apostle's creed (once again going towards catholicism)
santa comes from several european traditions in folklore, but was popularized by chrs billings in the late 1990's.
time to get ready for making ornaments with the kiddos tonight.
one love, one heart,
d.j.
I love christmas time. music, decorations, lights, and most importantly my Clark Griswold quotes are suddenly in context.
It's been a crazy year for me with a new job, moving, traveling and all of the other fun stuff that happens in a year. I haven't spent as much time blogging this year (which is either really good or really bad) but that's something i hope to single handedly change that right now.
travel.
looking back on the past few months on my life as a bedouin i'm really glad that i had this chance to venture around. there were definitely some slow days, and days where i wasn't sure where i was going to sleep that night, but all in all my travel time was a huge blessing. my list of places that i went is pretty sweet to look at:
san diego
murrieta
long beach
los angeles
ventura
fresno
bakersfield
colorado
houston
dallas
okc
vegas
boston
friends.
an even more meaningful list is that of my friends and people i call family that have showed an amazing amount of love. i am truly blessed. i may have lost my job, but i feel like i have regained my spirit. a lot of that is God putting me into the presence of some mighty warriors that i am fortunate enough to call friends and family.
thanks.
this thanksgiving we went to boston to be with mi hermana who started her first hotshot job recently. what a fun trip. for thanksgiving day we went to plymouth rock and had a picnic, which i loved.the little adventures that we stumble into are awesome and it cracks me up to see our family picture in front of the mayflower.
the only thing i would have changed about that day is that we should have dressed up as pilgrims. to top the day off, we decided to do our own 'senior pictures' in the park at plymouth rock.
what can i say, we are a goofy family. but we do have fun.
the lion's den.
i capped off the trip to boston with lunch inside the green monster and a celtics game. seeing fenway was cool, but the tour there is lame. sitting for 45 minutes watching a video and five minutes of pictures does not make for a tour, it's a lecture. at the very least we did get some good pics.
as for the celtics game, that was an adventure in it's own right. tickets were sold out so we went the scalper route which was funny, because i think it was mi hermana's first exposure to that culture. after walking around for a few minutes my sister gave me the best quote of the trip, "I don't think we're going to get tickets cause everyone else here is looking too." In between laughs i explained to my sister that no scalper was going to stand on the corner yelling they had tickets, since this isn't exactly a practice condoned by the nba. anyways, we had a great time at the game. Celtics fans are nuts, and they are definitely die hards. Who wouldn't be when you buy a great championship team? The two best parts of the game were the crowd yells at the Disco dancer in the Gino shirt (had to be there)
and whenever Brian Scalabrine gets the basketball. Needless to say we had a blast.
parting words.
We also toured around downtown Boston, which was fun but cold. Mi hermana works by boston commons and all of the historical parts of the city which is pretty cool. My only complaint about Boston is the lack of street signs. Someone needs to donate a couple grand and buy some street signs. Oh yeah, and the frat hats need to go.
If you're going to be a diehard fan, buy a decent cap.
best moment in boston:
dropkick murphy's coming on the radio as we're driving up bunker hill. even mi madre was rocking out.
christmas fun facts:
so i've been looking up how different christmas traditions got started and it's been really interesting.
decorating trees comes from martin luther. legend goes he was walking in the woods and saw the stars shining through the trees. he brought a tree home and decorated it with candles (is that really a good idea?) so he could describe to his kids what he saw.
the song 12 days of christmas comes from england when it was illegal to be catholic. parents sang in code to their children about the gifts that God (my true love) gives us.
a partridge is a bird that will draw predators away from the nest by sacrificing itself.
two turtle doves are the two testaments of the bible.
three french hens are faith, hope and charity
four calling birds are the gospels
five golden rings are the first five books of the old testament
six geese laying represent creation
seven swans are for the seven gifts of the spirit in 1 cor 12
the eight maids are the beatitudes
the nine ladies dancing represent the nine types of angels (according to catholic theology)
ten lords leaping are the ten commandments
eleven pipers represent the faithful apostles
and the twelve drummers represent the apostle's creed (once again going towards catholicism)
santa comes from several european traditions in folklore, but was popularized by chrs billings in the late 1990's.
time to get ready for making ornaments with the kiddos tonight.
one love, one heart,
d.j.
12.15.2008
here ya go okchick
hola blogworld.
it's a rainy day in SD and i was just sitting down feeling a blog post coming on, when i see that i've been tagged by okchick to do this:
8 TV Shows I Watch
1. the office
2. jimmy kimmel
3. chuck
4. big bang theory
5. heroes
6. jackass
7. lost* pending a rapid improvement in answering questions
8. baseball tonight
----------------------------------------
8 Favorite Restaurants
1. rosarito's #3
2. sombrero's
3. alberto's
4. roberto's
5. el indio
6. (tie) rubio's / in-n out
7. humberto's
8. wok-n-roll
----------------------------------------
8 Things That Happened Today (past 24 hours)
1. sat on the porch
2. ate a burrito
3. played guitar
4. watched the rain
5. designed a cd
6. made plans to watch mnf at andy's
7. did some laundry
8. got new glasses
--------------------------------------------------
8 Things I Look Forward To
1. owning a surfboard
2. youth ministry mafia meetings
3. paying off my truck
4. driving to texas for christmas
5. days off
6. jam sessions
7. late night phone calls
8. baseball season
------------------------------------------------
8 Things I Wish For
1. the astros in the world series
2. no more geico cavemen commercials
3. an economic bailout plan for my student loans
4. more snl digital shorts
5. free rolled tacos for life
6. thrice would put a new album out every other month
7. the raccoons outside would stop staring at me
8. dennis miller would run for president
-----------------------------------------------
8 People I Tag
1. james
2. liz
3. darrin
4. thornton
5. sumner
6. you
7. beyonce
8. championship vinyl visitor # 18,333
one love one heart.
it's a rainy day in SD and i was just sitting down feeling a blog post coming on, when i see that i've been tagged by okchick to do this:
8 TV Shows I Watch
1. the office
2. jimmy kimmel
3. chuck
4. big bang theory
5. heroes
6. jackass
7. lost* pending a rapid improvement in answering questions
8. baseball tonight
----------------------------------------
8 Favorite Restaurants
1. rosarito's #3
2. sombrero's
3. alberto's
4. roberto's
5. el indio
6. (tie) rubio's / in-n out
7. humberto's
8. wok-n-roll
----------------------------------------
8 Things That Happened Today (past 24 hours)
1. sat on the porch
2. ate a burrito
3. played guitar
4. watched the rain
5. designed a cd
6. made plans to watch mnf at andy's
7. did some laundry
8. got new glasses
--------------------------------------------------
8 Things I Look Forward To
1. owning a surfboard
2. youth ministry mafia meetings
3. paying off my truck
4. driving to texas for christmas
5. days off
6. jam sessions
7. late night phone calls
8. baseball season
------------------------------------------------
8 Things I Wish For
1. the astros in the world series
2. no more geico cavemen commercials
3. an economic bailout plan for my student loans
4. more snl digital shorts
5. free rolled tacos for life
6. thrice would put a new album out every other month
7. the raccoons outside would stop staring at me
8. dennis miller would run for president
-----------------------------------------------
8 People I Tag
1. james
2. liz
3. darrin
4. thornton
5. sumner
6. you
7. beyonce
8. championship vinyl visitor # 18,333
one love one heart.
12.11.2008
Safe in San Diego
The FA/18 plane crash on monday has been on my mind a lot this week. My heart goes out to Don Yoon, who lost his mother, wife and daughter all in one day. In the wake of this tragedy his response was absolutely amazing.
When asked about the pilot Yoon responded, "Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," Yoon said. "I know he's one of our treasures, for the country, and I ... don't blame him. I don't have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could."
What an example of faith. I can not begin to imagine the type of loss he is feeling, and the many things that must be running through his mind. To respond with such a Christ-like attitude is absolutely admirable. When Christ calls us to be in the world, but not of the world, I think this is what He was talking about. We tend to be a nation of people looking to complain and point fingers, so men like Don Yoon stand out.
On a personal note, I've always appreciated the planes flying over San Diego. Like hundreds of thousands of others, there have been many times driving on the 15 that I've watched fighter planes buzz the freeway and land at Miramar. It's an amazing sight watching these machines come roaring in hundreds of feet above you, and even cooler when the timing works out where you hear the roar of their engines. For a brief moment the radio is muted, everyone in the car sits still, traffic pauses, and you are completely overwhelmed by the power of those planes.
I appreciate that feeling. It reminds me that there are men and women who are constantly training to protect my freedoms. Day in and day out there are hundreds of thousands of people who sweat, toil, and sacrifice so that I can be safe from harm. I feel safe with the planes overhead.
My heart goes out to the Yun family, the pilot and his family, and all those who were affected by this accident. When things like this happen I think it's important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. There are thousands of flights that go right every day, and there will always be a need for others to serve our country. When accidents do happen, it is so vital for us to step up as followers of Christ and be ready to forgive.
one love, one heart.
11.16.2008
Stay Classy.
i love san diego.
now that the final details are getting wrapped up with my new job (another post sometime soon) and things are becoming official, i am so excited to say i love this city. my city. home. i am 'from' here. i have lived in a few other places, but i am from here. this is my home. this is not a dig on your town, i hope you love where you are at as much as i do. but for me, san diego has my heart. so as i sit outside my favorite mexican restaurant enjoying a carne asada burrito, looking in between palm trees at the view of downtown and the ocean on a perfect afternoon, i think this is a good time to put some thoughts down on why i love this city so much.
i am sitting outside my favorite mexican restaurant enjoying a carne asada burrito, looking in between palm trees at the view of downtown and the ocean on a perfect afternoon.
the beach culture here is absorbed miles inland. even people that live thirty miles inland still have a laid-back, beach attitude. things may be fast paced here, but people for the most part are pretty relaxed. you're more likely to walk into a an office and see guys in hawaiian shirts than a tie. sandals are considered the shoes of choice. you don't even have to be a beach-going person to be a part of this culture, i think it's the default setting.
every neighborhood has it's own unique flavor. if you're up north, you're in a track home. normal heights has adams avenue. the college area is flooded with people walking around all the time. downtown is the ultimate urban reclamation project. mission and fashion valley have the friars rd corridor that has everything you could ever imagine. el cajon is hot as blazes but affordable, oceanside is the beach town that blew up big. la jolla has the glitz and glamour when it comes to scenery, but the money spot is still coronado.
every tuesday one of the museums in balboa park is free. so on any given tuesday you can hang out in one of the nicest parks in the city and cruise around some great museums, that is if you feel like going inside.
the mix of people. you will literally see people of every nationality imaginable here. it's a great constant reminder to be not just open, but excited to explore new cultures.
outdoor eating. you'll be hard pressed to find a decent place to eat that doesn't have a patio area. the weather is nice enough here that you really can eat outside pretty much all year long. which leads to;
the weather here is perfect. a little june gloom and the dog days of august are just long enough to make you appreciate the mid 70s to 80s the rest of the year mixed in with the occasional showers.
sports here are a blast, even if they're not watching championship teams. petco park is by far my favorite new-school stadium in the west. the view from anywhere in the park is amazing, there's a field behind center where you can picnic with your family during games, and nothing tops off the ballgame experience like hopping on the trolly with a bunch of pads fans. then there's the classic concrete of qualcomm aka jack murphy stadium. right in the heart of san diego, the constant fireworks shows, charger games, aztec games, and car racing make it a welcome neighbor. and that's just the major sports. san diegans have a local game called over-the-line, that is essentially stickball at the beach, skating, surfing, you name it. great sports town.
when it comes to staying active, san diego has enough touristy stuff to keep the masses entertained; there's the largest zoo in the world, sea world, the wild animal park, legoland, and a bunch of well known beaches to visit. for the more discerning tourist, or interested locals, there's old town, several missions, world class museums, the gaslamp district, miramar, point loma, mission bay, coronado, and quite a few off the beaten path beaches. and for the long-time locals, there are even more beaches. oh yeah, we're also right next to mexico (dangerous) and not too far from the desert, or mountains for the moto-x and snowboarders.
and lastly, as i previously mentioned, the beaches here are awesome. from the hippie scene at ocean beach, to the busyness of mission beach, the scenery at la jolla, the nudists at black's beach, and the awesome break up at swami's. absolutely unreal.
one love, one heart.
11.12.2008
If I were Control, you'd already be dead. / If you were Control, you'd already be dead. / Neither of us is dead, so I am obviously not from Control.
rant time...
mall kiosks.
trying to navigate your way through the mall without getting stopped by some club-thumping goofball selling discount sunglasses is almost impossible. who do you have to have offended to get that job? no i don't want to get sprayed by your new age patouli hair growth remote control massaging hair weave, now let me go so i can get my hot dog on a stick.
barnes and noble is the new library, but with better books. and coffee. i think you would be hard pressed to find anyone under the age of 40 that could give you directions to your closest library easier than the nearest of several b&n. even if they could, ask them where they'd rather hang out. b&n wins hands down. they have comfier chairs, newer books, easier to get membership and no decimal system to decipher. sorry dewey, it's true.
russian mp3 sites. all of the fun of us mp3 sites but at a fraction of the cost. tell em dwight sent you. www.mp3search.ru
i saw somebody's car with an obama sticker covering a kerry sticker. i don't know why i thought that was funny, but i did.
all mexican food is essentially the same. everything stems from the burrito.
tacos=burrito folded in half
tostadas=flat burrito
chimichanga=fried burrito
quesadilla=cheese burrito
enchilada=burrito with sauce
nachos=chopped up burrito
tamale=corn burrito
i heard my favorite line consistently used in prayer the other day, "God please be with those who are sick of this congregation."
did anyone miss kid rock while he was gone? how long do you have to disappear until you can have a comeback?
observations from apt hunting:
'move in special' = good sign
'ring manager in apt 310' = not a good sign
everything near the military base = beat up
everything in rancho bernardo = expensive
everything in pacific beach = beat up + expensive
apt sales people = shop at ross
covered parking = sweet
park at your own risk = not so much
top ten quotes from the office this season:
"every little boy fantasizes about his fairy tale wedding"
"whenever i'm getting married you don't believe me"
"well holly-lujah"
"story's kind of bland. it's about this guy named dumbledore calrissian, who needs to return the ring back to mordor."
"i am bill buttlicker"
"it's pronounced Colonel, it's the highest rank in the military"
"it's like farmaid, but instead of farms fighting against aids, it is us fighting against our own poverty"
"let's get ethical, ethical..."
"the tall guy got engaged"
"must look like the tide at omaha beach"
one love, one heart.
11.08.2008
simi/dallas/houston/okc/fresno/bakersfield/san diego/colorado/san marcos/las vegas/long beach/murrieta
hola blogworld:
as you may have noticed there haven't been any post up here in the past 800 years or so, and both of you that read this are probably wondering what happened. to answer the questions both of you have asked:
1: i haven't had an internet connection in a while because our neighbors moved.
b: getting online is not really a big priority.
3: i kinda got blogged out, and switched to journaling for a while.
anyways, i've got a stockpile of stuff to blog about now so never fear, your lunch breaks should be covered for a couple of days. maybe. whatever.
election.
did we have an election? i didn't realize it was this week. i guess i missed everyone's facebook status over the past week. my big question is what is going to happen to Jessie Jackson? will the rainbow coalition break up? i wish i could have been there to see the look of chagrin on his face when we elected our first african american president and it wasn't him. or al sharpton.
i give both senators props for their speeches the other night. sen. obama was a gracious winner, and sen. mccain was gracious in defeat. i think the real winners were the speech writers, who should both have job security for a long time. the biggest losers are the people in hollywood who won't have politics to talk about anymore, and will have to get back to the important issues, like acting.
and to my friends who didn't vote; watch out. P Diddy is is still running his 'Vote or Die' campaign.
vegas.
i went with some of the ym mafia crew and families this week and this is what i learned:
roulette=fun
blackjack=dangerous
craps=confusing
slots=boring
all in all i came out even, so i'm going to call it a successful trip to vegas. the people there were amazing, and it def rivals nyc in the 'things you won't see anywhere else' category. the cool part is, vegas lived up to all the hype i've heard, it's expensive, kind of dirty, completely lit up at night, and the waitresses there are disturbing.
mi amigo johhnyvegas lit up the roulette tables a couple of nights and did pretty well, and ronald did the up and down thing so all in all i think we had a pretty safe trip to vegas.
oh crap, that's supposed to stay there.
packing.
i hate moving. i was packing up all of my stuff into storage, and i bought this 5x10 little piece of real estate to keep my stuff dry, thinking it would be ample room for me and my non-owning-furniture-self. right. saturday rolls around and my little cell is more stuffed than oprah at thanksgiving. that, and i'm pretty sure that we cleaned our apt on a regular basis, but when all of the furniture was moved out you would have thought an entire section of season-ticket-holding raiders fans lived in our apt. the smartest thing i did on this move was setting aside a 'last box out' for everything that was left after we thought we were done packing. because if you have ever moved you know that phenomenon were things keep popping out of every hidden crevice. the fun part was counting how many times we said 'i forgot i had that' during packing week. yeah for moving!
colorado.
a few weeks ago i went on a hunting trip with dantheman, ronald and a whole crew of guys. and by hunting, i mean camping, because i def do not have a gun, and didn't have it in the budget to buy a deer tag. anyways, colorado was amazing, very good for the soul. we'd get up before dawn every day, go hunt (which is actually quietly hiking for ten minutes, then sitting down quietly for ten) come back for lunch, hang out, go hunt again for a while, cook up some dinner and then sleep. i was real stoked about this trip for several reasons. first off, things are very simple when you are camping like this, you eat, hike and sleep. secondly, it was a blast getting away from the city for a while and being surrounded by nature. i stopped caring about the fact i hadn't had a shower, or what was going on in the rest of the world, or anything outside of what direction i was going to start walking that day. and lastly, the best part of the trip was the silence. actual silence. no distractions, no noise, just me, God, and the nature He created. it's tough going back to church services after spending my own time in worship at the edge of a mountain staring a thousand feet down into a valley. colorado was good for the soul.
bedouin.
right now i'm couch crashing at dantheman's house waiting to hear back from a church in s.d. about a job. i get really nervous about stuff like this, so i'm doing my best not to think about it at all. until now. not having a place to call home is kind of fun. it's nice to be hanging out with people i call family, nice to be out of my old apt, and really cool not having to check all the junk mail every day. in case you were wondering, my new mailing address is: good luck. the funniest part about that is that som-som went ahead and mailed her fundraising letter to dantheman's house so that i would get it. comedy.
cart before the horse.
so in anticipation (hope) of getting a job in sandiago, i've been looking around at apts there. ugh. not fun at all. i'm learning that if the only pictures the apt complex shows on their website are shots of the pool, the place is going to be shaaaaaaady. i've learned this by checking out every shady apt in the miramar/mira mesa area. right now i'm looking in the escondido are if i'm going to live north, or the pb area if i'm going to live south. or i just might buy a boat and live there. if anyone is looking for a roommate that wants to live near the beach... lemme know.
that's what's on the mind right now, the rest are excerpts from my journal over the past few weeks:
______________________
thoughts on leaving simi.
i have been feeling very free lately. i'm on a flight back from texas right now, where i've been catching up with friends and family. this is the first time that i feel like i've truly gone on vacation in a while. over the past four years, most of my vacations were short stints that never really let me spend time away from thinking about ministry. one of the lessons i have learned is to take fewer trips, for longer amounts of time, so that i can give my mind a rest from ministry. right now, knowing that i am heading back to absolutely zero crisis, and zero expectations is a very welcome thought.
to answer the question that i'm getting asked the most, i have no idea what i am doing next, or where i am going to end up. my prayers are that i end up in youth ministry somewhere in socal, but in an effort to be free from worry, i am trying my best to allow God to guide me to what's next. keep me in your prayers when it comes to that. i'm excited on calling on God to provide a clear path, and really trying to use this opportunity to stretch my faith. it's a little scary sometimes for me when it comes to putting complete trust in God, but Jesus himself said it best when he told us not to worry. let's just say that i've been looking at a lot of birds lately as a reminder.
i've been doing a lot of reflecting these past few months over my time at simi. it's kind of tough not to dwell a little bit, but i think it's important to go back and examine one's past to make sure that growth occurs. a lot of people have asked if i am going to look for a job in the graphic design field, and while i thought about it at first, i realized that my time at simi would be more meaningful if i can take what i have learned and apply it to another ministry. i don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, but it makes sense when i explain it out loud. anyways, that line of thinking has forced me to ask what i have learned over the last four years.
get filled.
this wednesday i went to the singles class at memorial road in okc, and was truly blessed. it has been a long time that i've been in a class just for me, where i wasn't trying to work out how i could translate what i was learning to my teens. it was such a blessing to be a student, and not a minister for a while. one of the things on my mind lately is how long it has been since i've been taught. yeah, yeah, yeah, i listen to a sermon every week like everyone else. but if we're going to be completely honest, twenty minutes once a week in an auditorium setting hoping you'll be able to a: stay awake and b: get something concrete to push your faith, isn't really enough to keep me filled. don't get me wrong, i get built up by reading the bible, praying, encouragement from the ministry mafia, and the countless books i pour through. however, if we were going to look at my spiritual life in economic terms, my account is deep in the red after spending much more than i am bringing in. the lesson is: get filled so that you can keep pouring out.
divide and conquer.
one thing i have definitely learned is to delegate duties, events, lessons etc to a large group of people. when we set out to define our leadership roles, there were only a couple of people involved. in this dynamic, i take responsibility for everyone's roles, and when expectations are not met it all falls on me. with a larger group of people with fewer responsibilities per person, it is much easier to pick up the slack when one part starts to, for lack of a better term, not show up. also, with more people involved with fewer clearly defined duties it is easier to spot out who on the boat isn't rowing.
the right thing.
one of the things i was struggling with at the end was holding on to doing what i knew was right. i was getting so wrapped up in making others happy, and making sure that 'the ministry is going well', that i lost sight of fighting for things that i believe in, and more importantly what God has called me to do as a christian. basically, i forgot that working for God supersedes working for elders and parents, and those that put their money in the plate.
yes, i will spend time with kiddos that don't have two parents at home, especially when the rest of the family doesn't go to church.
no, i will not stop bringing up the fact that we literally put up a fence around the church.
_____________
thoughts from colorado:
thanks for reading,
one love, one heart.
as you may have noticed there haven't been any post up here in the past 800 years or so, and both of you that read this are probably wondering what happened. to answer the questions both of you have asked:
1: i haven't had an internet connection in a while because our neighbors moved.
b: getting online is not really a big priority.
3: i kinda got blogged out, and switched to journaling for a while.
anyways, i've got a stockpile of stuff to blog about now so never fear, your lunch breaks should be covered for a couple of days. maybe. whatever.
election.
did we have an election? i didn't realize it was this week. i guess i missed everyone's facebook status over the past week. my big question is what is going to happen to Jessie Jackson? will the rainbow coalition break up? i wish i could have been there to see the look of chagrin on his face when we elected our first african american president and it wasn't him. or al sharpton.
i give both senators props for their speeches the other night. sen. obama was a gracious winner, and sen. mccain was gracious in defeat. i think the real winners were the speech writers, who should both have job security for a long time. the biggest losers are the people in hollywood who won't have politics to talk about anymore, and will have to get back to the important issues, like acting.
and to my friends who didn't vote; watch out. P Diddy is is still running his 'Vote or Die' campaign.
vegas.
i went with some of the ym mafia crew and families this week and this is what i learned:
roulette=fun
blackjack=dangerous
craps=confusing
slots=boring
all in all i came out even, so i'm going to call it a successful trip to vegas. the people there were amazing, and it def rivals nyc in the 'things you won't see anywhere else' category. the cool part is, vegas lived up to all the hype i've heard, it's expensive, kind of dirty, completely lit up at night, and the waitresses there are disturbing.
mi amigo johhnyvegas lit up the roulette tables a couple of nights and did pretty well, and ronald did the up and down thing so all in all i think we had a pretty safe trip to vegas.
oh crap, that's supposed to stay there.
packing.
i hate moving. i was packing up all of my stuff into storage, and i bought this 5x10 little piece of real estate to keep my stuff dry, thinking it would be ample room for me and my non-owning-furniture-self. right. saturday rolls around and my little cell is more stuffed than oprah at thanksgiving. that, and i'm pretty sure that we cleaned our apt on a regular basis, but when all of the furniture was moved out you would have thought an entire section of season-ticket-holding raiders fans lived in our apt. the smartest thing i did on this move was setting aside a 'last box out' for everything that was left after we thought we were done packing. because if you have ever moved you know that phenomenon were things keep popping out of every hidden crevice. the fun part was counting how many times we said 'i forgot i had that' during packing week. yeah for moving!
colorado.
a few weeks ago i went on a hunting trip with dantheman, ronald and a whole crew of guys. and by hunting, i mean camping, because i def do not have a gun, and didn't have it in the budget to buy a deer tag. anyways, colorado was amazing, very good for the soul. we'd get up before dawn every day, go hunt (which is actually quietly hiking for ten minutes, then sitting down quietly for ten) come back for lunch, hang out, go hunt again for a while, cook up some dinner and then sleep. i was real stoked about this trip for several reasons. first off, things are very simple when you are camping like this, you eat, hike and sleep. secondly, it was a blast getting away from the city for a while and being surrounded by nature. i stopped caring about the fact i hadn't had a shower, or what was going on in the rest of the world, or anything outside of what direction i was going to start walking that day. and lastly, the best part of the trip was the silence. actual silence. no distractions, no noise, just me, God, and the nature He created. it's tough going back to church services after spending my own time in worship at the edge of a mountain staring a thousand feet down into a valley. colorado was good for the soul.
bedouin.
right now i'm couch crashing at dantheman's house waiting to hear back from a church in s.d. about a job. i get really nervous about stuff like this, so i'm doing my best not to think about it at all. until now. not having a place to call home is kind of fun. it's nice to be hanging out with people i call family, nice to be out of my old apt, and really cool not having to check all the junk mail every day. in case you were wondering, my new mailing address is: good luck. the funniest part about that is that som-som went ahead and mailed her fundraising letter to dantheman's house so that i would get it. comedy.
cart before the horse.
so in anticipation (hope) of getting a job in sandiago, i've been looking around at apts there. ugh. not fun at all. i'm learning that if the only pictures the apt complex shows on their website are shots of the pool, the place is going to be shaaaaaaady. i've learned this by checking out every shady apt in the miramar/mira mesa area. right now i'm looking in the escondido are if i'm going to live north, or the pb area if i'm going to live south. or i just might buy a boat and live there. if anyone is looking for a roommate that wants to live near the beach... lemme know.
that's what's on the mind right now, the rest are excerpts from my journal over the past few weeks:
______________________
thoughts on leaving simi.
i have been feeling very free lately. i'm on a flight back from texas right now, where i've been catching up with friends and family. this is the first time that i feel like i've truly gone on vacation in a while. over the past four years, most of my vacations were short stints that never really let me spend time away from thinking about ministry. one of the lessons i have learned is to take fewer trips, for longer amounts of time, so that i can give my mind a rest from ministry. right now, knowing that i am heading back to absolutely zero crisis, and zero expectations is a very welcome thought.
to answer the question that i'm getting asked the most, i have no idea what i am doing next, or where i am going to end up. my prayers are that i end up in youth ministry somewhere in socal, but in an effort to be free from worry, i am trying my best to allow God to guide me to what's next. keep me in your prayers when it comes to that. i'm excited on calling on God to provide a clear path, and really trying to use this opportunity to stretch my faith. it's a little scary sometimes for me when it comes to putting complete trust in God, but Jesus himself said it best when he told us not to worry. let's just say that i've been looking at a lot of birds lately as a reminder.
i've been doing a lot of reflecting these past few months over my time at simi. it's kind of tough not to dwell a little bit, but i think it's important to go back and examine one's past to make sure that growth occurs. a lot of people have asked if i am going to look for a job in the graphic design field, and while i thought about it at first, i realized that my time at simi would be more meaningful if i can take what i have learned and apply it to another ministry. i don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, but it makes sense when i explain it out loud. anyways, that line of thinking has forced me to ask what i have learned over the last four years.
get filled.
this wednesday i went to the singles class at memorial road in okc, and was truly blessed. it has been a long time that i've been in a class just for me, where i wasn't trying to work out how i could translate what i was learning to my teens. it was such a blessing to be a student, and not a minister for a while. one of the things on my mind lately is how long it has been since i've been taught. yeah, yeah, yeah, i listen to a sermon every week like everyone else. but if we're going to be completely honest, twenty minutes once a week in an auditorium setting hoping you'll be able to a: stay awake and b: get something concrete to push your faith, isn't really enough to keep me filled. don't get me wrong, i get built up by reading the bible, praying, encouragement from the ministry mafia, and the countless books i pour through. however, if we were going to look at my spiritual life in economic terms, my account is deep in the red after spending much more than i am bringing in. the lesson is: get filled so that you can keep pouring out.
divide and conquer.
one thing i have definitely learned is to delegate duties, events, lessons etc to a large group of people. when we set out to define our leadership roles, there were only a couple of people involved. in this dynamic, i take responsibility for everyone's roles, and when expectations are not met it all falls on me. with a larger group of people with fewer responsibilities per person, it is much easier to pick up the slack when one part starts to, for lack of a better term, not show up. also, with more people involved with fewer clearly defined duties it is easier to spot out who on the boat isn't rowing.
the right thing.
one of the things i was struggling with at the end was holding on to doing what i knew was right. i was getting so wrapped up in making others happy, and making sure that 'the ministry is going well', that i lost sight of fighting for things that i believe in, and more importantly what God has called me to do as a christian. basically, i forgot that working for God supersedes working for elders and parents, and those that put their money in the plate.
yes, i will spend time with kiddos that don't have two parents at home, especially when the rest of the family doesn't go to church.
no, i will not stop bringing up the fact that we literally put up a fence around the church.
_____________
thoughts from colorado:
thanks for reading,
one love, one heart.
9.17.2008
resigned.
hola blogworld.
this past sunday i announced my resignation as youth minister at simi. there are a lot of details to the story, but the short version is that it was simply time to leave.
the why.
there are a lot of things that have added up over the years. recently it became obvious to me that the things that have been frustrations for a while were not going to change. at the very least, i did not feel like they would change before i got burned out on ministry. my original goal was to do everything possible to work at one place for ten years, and i feel like i have honored that commitment. between politics, constant miscommunication and feeling like i was going at it alone, it is simply time to go. as far as the timing goes, i'm not the biggest fan of doing things immediately, but some things are out of my control, so my resignation comes from out of the blue for many people, and i apologize to those that are upset and seeking more of a resolution.
obviously there's a lot more to this, but for right now let me say thank you to everyone that has been supportive to me, encouraging, and praying for what's next. one of the benefits of a shortened timeline is that people feel an urgency to say what is on their hearts. I've been thinking a lot lately about the statement, "a man is measured by the company he keeps", and by that measure I consider myself very blessed.
next.
for the next few weeks i'm going to be doing a lot of traveling. i'm taking time to see family and friends, relax and have fun. aside from interviews, i have trips to texas, colorado and vegas in the works. i'm still working on san diego, okc and tulsa. it's been a while since i've been able to take any extended time to do things that i want to do, so i will most certainly take advantage of my 'availability'.
as for a job, i'm sending out my resume to anyone who'll read it to see how wide my options are. my hope is to stay in socal, but we'll see what the Lord has in store. i already have a few interviews in the works and plan of pursuing as many options as possible. if you know of any church that is looking for a youth minster, let me know.
i'll be posting more stuff soon. it's been a while since i've written anything, but as you can probably guess, things around here have been pretty crazy.
one love, one heart.
this past sunday i announced my resignation as youth minister at simi. there are a lot of details to the story, but the short version is that it was simply time to leave.
the why.
there are a lot of things that have added up over the years. recently it became obvious to me that the things that have been frustrations for a while were not going to change. at the very least, i did not feel like they would change before i got burned out on ministry. my original goal was to do everything possible to work at one place for ten years, and i feel like i have honored that commitment. between politics, constant miscommunication and feeling like i was going at it alone, it is simply time to go. as far as the timing goes, i'm not the biggest fan of doing things immediately, but some things are out of my control, so my resignation comes from out of the blue for many people, and i apologize to those that are upset and seeking more of a resolution.
obviously there's a lot more to this, but for right now let me say thank you to everyone that has been supportive to me, encouraging, and praying for what's next. one of the benefits of a shortened timeline is that people feel an urgency to say what is on their hearts. I've been thinking a lot lately about the statement, "a man is measured by the company he keeps", and by that measure I consider myself very blessed.
next.
for the next few weeks i'm going to be doing a lot of traveling. i'm taking time to see family and friends, relax and have fun. aside from interviews, i have trips to texas, colorado and vegas in the works. i'm still working on san diego, okc and tulsa. it's been a while since i've been able to take any extended time to do things that i want to do, so i will most certainly take advantage of my 'availability'.
as for a job, i'm sending out my resume to anyone who'll read it to see how wide my options are. my hope is to stay in socal, but we'll see what the Lord has in store. i already have a few interviews in the works and plan of pursuing as many options as possible. if you know of any church that is looking for a youth minster, let me know.
i'll be posting more stuff soon. it's been a while since i've written anything, but as you can probably guess, things around here have been pretty crazy.
one love, one heart.
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