Take a Break

So, I haven't posted a blog entry in roughly 3 weeks. Considering that I started posting only a few weeks prior to that it might appear that I gave in and quit. Untrue. In reality what happened was a question that I have been rolling around in my head. The question is: are you consumed by things that don't matter? I asked myself that question at the beginning of April and I didn't know how to answer it. So I just kept asking until I got somewhere.

Where I got is important, but the way in which I got there is also important. The process started when I asked myself quite simply, "what do I value? what is important? what am I for?" I was caught off guard by these questions because initially I thought I should start to determine what are the things that don't matter before anything else. But once I started down that trail it lead me to begin to name just about everything. So, I learned that to define something in the affirmative by citing all the things that it is not, is a pointless waste of time and accomplishes nothing.

A Believer from Beauty

My family didn't do many "family trips" when I was growing up, but there were a few. Specifically there were two little road trips to Washington State to visit my grandparents in a little town called Port Townsend. I was 8 years old the first time we traveled there so the "little town" seemed large and exciting. Heather and I went back as adults and now I know with certainty that it is indeed a little town.

Driving 1000 miles in a 1987 Chrysler Voyager minivan with a family of five makes for good family bonding. My brother and sister rotated the back seat for taking naps and I sat listening to a Walkman - that's right, a Walkman! - or sleeping against the window with my head bouncing back and forth on the glass. That trip took forever.

Face-to-face, part 2

In my last post I wrote about how face-to-face connection is essential to our human existence. The point of this post is to show the influence our culture and our technology is making on this kind of communication.

The point of face-to-face connection is the simple component of personal relationship. A deep relational connection occurs most effectively in face-to-face connection because the connection is between two persons that are sharing time together. The two (or maybe more) people may talk to one another, cry with one another, laugh with one another, or whatever else with one another. This is important to our existence. Isolation and separation are two terrible conditions. If that were not so, there would be no solitary confinement in prisons.

Face-to-face, part 1

This morning I was reading from a letter in the New Testament called 2 John. It was written in the last half of the first century by a guy that lived during the time of Jesus. He reported in another letter (1 John) that he was an eyewitness to the life and teachings of Jesus. His hands touched Jesus, his ears knew the voice of King Jesus, his eyes beheld the second person of the Trinity, our God and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

What stood out to me was a little verse at the end of the shortest book of the New Testament. It simply says,

 "[12] Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete."

John, an eyewitness of the ministry of Jesus, probably did have a lot to say to anyone that would listen. To travel with Jesus for 3+ years would definitely produce a good story or two.

Free Thinking

I have spent a good amount of time looking at pictures and watching video from the devastation in Japan. It's almost incomprehensible. For that earthquake to be thousands of times stronger than the '89 quake here is mind-blowing. When I watched the footage of the tsunami slamming into the small town of Otsuchi I was speechless. I had the thought, "I'm watching people die right now! Oh my goodness." It was the same feeling and same thought that I had in 2001 when I was sitting with roommates watching live footage of the World Trade Center collapsing. "I'm watching people die right now! Oh my goodness."

In the aftermath of this horrendous event, there has been a lot of talk about people's reactions in the media. I was reading about different celebrities tweeting their "heartfelt condolences" and responses to the tragedy. Reporters and news agencies were questioning celebrities about what they will do and what they think even to the point of asking these celebrities how they plan on helping the Japanese people. This is sad to me. When a catastrophe of this magnitude occurs and people scramble around to find out what celebrities are feeling, thinking, and doing about it, that is sad.

Prayers, Providence, and Provision

A few weeks ago I began an endeavor that is very exciting. I am a very amateur wood worker and for the longest time I have wanted a shop where I could have a place totally dedicated to wood working. That dream is beginning to come alive.

I am lucky enough to own a home that has a third car garage bay. It has been my vision since we bought this house to turn it into a wood shop. It's a small space with very little to offer, but I knew that it could eventually turn into a small, functional shop for the small projects that I enjoy doing. In order to have this vision come to fruition, there was a need for some huge upgrades to the space. I knew I needed a wall to separate the third bay from the rest of the garage (and to keep dust of Heather's car), I needed new electrical with a larger breaker, new outlets and fixtures, new lighting, insulation, sheet rock, and lastly, shop cabinets. As I looked at this list, I realized that with what little skill I had I was in no way prepared to take on such a project. But God provides.

What Ex Coram Deo means

I've written a few posts now and I think it's time to finally reveal what the title actually means. Although it appears that I just wanted some foreign language title to wow people and show off how smart I am (in reality I had to look it up to even know what it means), I actually came across the phrase Coram Deo in a book I was reading. While reading the book, I learned that the Latin phrase means literally "presence of God." I loved the idea of being in the presence of God and also liked the way Coram Deo sounds and I like the way it looks. So where did the Ex come from? The Ex is Latin for "from." When you put the three words together - Ex Coram Deo - you get the literal translation "from the presence of God."

This blog is meant to discuss some of the issues that I'm thinking about and experiencing, but ultimately it's about what God is teaching me as I come to Him with my life. What I get from those times of being in His presence I will write about and that is why I purposefully chose to add the Ex to the title. Thus, "from God's presence" I write these things; Ex Coram Deo.