My supposed day off.
Fridays are a great day in my book. I know that fridays are good in most everyone's book because it means the weekend is coming. But for me it means the weekend is already here. My plans for friday consisted of getting a few errands done and spending some time organizing my calender making sure everything is on it. I was also hoping that I would be surprised by tons of people volunteering for the much needed drivers for our fundraiser on Saturday.
I guess my surprise was that friday was not much of a day off at all. Granted, I was not in Rogers, but with cell phones that doesn't seem to matter. Mari and I were on the phone almost constantly yesterday working things out. Between her not being able to be there in the morning and lack of drivers and me not being able to be there in the morning, we had ourselves a pickle. As we were scrambling I could feel my stress level rising. Why was this fundraiser coming up to so much resistance? We didn't make our first date because of lack of kids, now are we going to have to cancel this one because of lack of parents?
In the end Mari and I (mostly Mari) went gang busters on the phone and got the needed drivers. Praise God.
There was one small surprise I received on Friday afternoon however. Heather and i were going to meet with a financial adviser that afternoon to work out our 2008 expenses and ask some questions. But he called in sick so that didn't happen. I was only slightly relieved because I know we need to do this, but it was nice after such a hectic morning to have a relaxing afternoon with no commitments.
For dinner I wanted to try and recreate a frozen meal I love from Trader Joe's. So I kept the package, looked at the ingredients on the back and went from there. It was pretty good. This was my first experiment like this and I might be better at cooking that I thought. This will be fun to try this with something else.
Dear Lord, please be with the youth fundraiser tomorrow. Help it be successful. Amen
dain
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Surprise Me God - Day 11 - Thursday
Youth and Education Staff Retreat
Today was crazy, nonstop and very intense. The day began with a retreat to a favorite pizza place for a staff retreat with myself and 7 other youth and education staff at out church. This has been a long time coming and with more and more staff we need to communicate more. Also, we have growing numbers and to put it Biblically, we are putting new wine into old wine skins. In other words...we need to change some things.
I was a little worried about how people would take a bomb shell like changing the ages of confirmation or requiring more of them, or changing the requirements. You see confirmation is a strange thing. I am not sure where it lands in the grand scheme of things. We have education staff and they deal with the little ones and there is youth staff that deal with the big ones. And then we have the medium ones who are the middle schoolers. Kids who are going through the biggest changes in their lives both physically and mentally and we are teaching them everything they should know about the Bible, Faith and God in three years and hope and pray that they stick around.
So my worry was that education would balk against the ideas I had, or they would throw out their own and we who hit the breaks. Neither happened. We discussed, talked, thought, questioned, and figured out a little more about where we need to go with the youth programming of this church. It was an encouraging day. When we all left at 3pm I realized that one day was not going to be enough for all of this to flush itself out. This is good, more talking and then doing comes after that.
I left encouraged and a little behind schedule. I was meeting with some of the junior guys for coffee and showed up a tad late. Not a lot but a tad. I had a great conversation with them about life and what is going on in their lives right now. No agenda other that getting to know them better. I met with three abut two others showed up in passing and one was working at the coffee shop. 6 birds, one stone. I need to do this more often. Get out of my office and just sit and talk with the youth. It brings me joy and I think they might get something out of it too.
I have another appointment with a youth for coffee on monday, I could get used to this.
Night,
dain
Today was crazy, nonstop and very intense. The day began with a retreat to a favorite pizza place for a staff retreat with myself and 7 other youth and education staff at out church. This has been a long time coming and with more and more staff we need to communicate more. Also, we have growing numbers and to put it Biblically, we are putting new wine into old wine skins. In other words...we need to change some things.
I was a little worried about how people would take a bomb shell like changing the ages of confirmation or requiring more of them, or changing the requirements. You see confirmation is a strange thing. I am not sure where it lands in the grand scheme of things. We have education staff and they deal with the little ones and there is youth staff that deal with the big ones. And then we have the medium ones who are the middle schoolers. Kids who are going through the biggest changes in their lives both physically and mentally and we are teaching them everything they should know about the Bible, Faith and God in three years and hope and pray that they stick around.
So my worry was that education would balk against the ideas I had, or they would throw out their own and we who hit the breaks. Neither happened. We discussed, talked, thought, questioned, and figured out a little more about where we need to go with the youth programming of this church. It was an encouraging day. When we all left at 3pm I realized that one day was not going to be enough for all of this to flush itself out. This is good, more talking and then doing comes after that.
I left encouraged and a little behind schedule. I was meeting with some of the junior guys for coffee and showed up a tad late. Not a lot but a tad. I had a great conversation with them about life and what is going on in their lives right now. No agenda other that getting to know them better. I met with three abut two others showed up in passing and one was working at the coffee shop. 6 birds, one stone. I need to do this more often. Get out of my office and just sit and talk with the youth. It brings me joy and I think they might get something out of it too.
I have another appointment with a youth for coffee on monday, I could get used to this.
Night,
dain
Surprise Me God - Day 10 - Wednesday
Winter sports, what a blast.
Today was a wonderful day. One that only can come once in January and February. It was about 30 degrees today and that made it prefect for the first of two tubing outings with the confirmation group.
My surprise came in the form of a conversation I had over multiple rides up the magic carpet to the top of the tubing hill. One of our confirmation students is actually a senior in high school. He wanted to be confirmed because he never got the chance when he was in middle school. So, he has gone through the three years, learning and mentoring along side the middle schoolers. He has always been a bit of a puzzle to me because he is so tall. When I first met him I couldn't believe he was in 6th grade, turns out he wasn't (whew) and since that time I have been very impressed at his excitement on Wednesday Nights.
We had a great couple of runs down the hill at Elm Creek Park and then on the way back up again he started to ask me questions. Not simple questions, but heavy very theological questions. And they were the type of questions that were meant to start a conversation. He had something to tell me. And in increments of 5 minutes we talked about everything from how shameful he was for his past and the things he has done to what the future looks like for him. And I must say the future looks bright. My surprise was what his choice for school was going to be and to hear that eventually he wants to go to seminary. This is a great thing to hear. I can hardly think of any youth who are so certain about going into the ministry at the end of high school. But over the years I have been blessed to know a couple of great people who will be great workers for Christ in their lives.
My hope is never that all the youth go into the ministry, but that everyone realizes that ministry is already a part of their daily lives and everywhere God leads us is our mission field.
Blessings,
dain
Today was a wonderful day. One that only can come once in January and February. It was about 30 degrees today and that made it prefect for the first of two tubing outings with the confirmation group.
My surprise came in the form of a conversation I had over multiple rides up the magic carpet to the top of the tubing hill. One of our confirmation students is actually a senior in high school. He wanted to be confirmed because he never got the chance when he was in middle school. So, he has gone through the three years, learning and mentoring along side the middle schoolers. He has always been a bit of a puzzle to me because he is so tall. When I first met him I couldn't believe he was in 6th grade, turns out he wasn't (whew) and since that time I have been very impressed at his excitement on Wednesday Nights.
We had a great couple of runs down the hill at Elm Creek Park and then on the way back up again he started to ask me questions. Not simple questions, but heavy very theological questions. And they were the type of questions that were meant to start a conversation. He had something to tell me. And in increments of 5 minutes we talked about everything from how shameful he was for his past and the things he has done to what the future looks like for him. And I must say the future looks bright. My surprise was what his choice for school was going to be and to hear that eventually he wants to go to seminary. This is a great thing to hear. I can hardly think of any youth who are so certain about going into the ministry at the end of high school. But over the years I have been blessed to know a couple of great people who will be great workers for Christ in their lives.
My hope is never that all the youth go into the ministry, but that everyone realizes that ministry is already a part of their daily lives and everywhere God leads us is our mission field.
Blessings,
dain
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Surprise Me God - Day 9 - Tuesday
Toady I witnessed history. On this day, for the 44th time, the United States has elected a new person to be the President. But for the the first time that person is not white. Barack Obama was sworn in this morning and I was there to watch it all. Well, I wasn't actually in Washington, but I did take the time to watch it online. We actually watched it as a staff at Word of Peace. FOr our staff meeting we gathered in the youth room and sat in silence as we watched the events unfold.
I think the biggest surprise of the event itself was how much it centered around God. Now I know that there is this whole separation of church and state, but on a day like this there is no evidence of that. The inauguration is even built like a church service with an invocation, song, message, poetry, special music, and benediction. The swearing in takes place on a Bible and it is tradition for the new first family to go to church before the day kicks off.
Is this just tradition? I don't think so. Deep down it seems like everyone knows that there is a higher power out there. That we would not be capable of doing this on our own. That our inspiration and abilities come from an al-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God above that is watching over us. The sad part is how many people then turn around and have a problem with manger scenes and the 10 commandments posted near government buildings and schools.
Another small surprise was how no matter the age we were old or young, all of us couldn't remember the last time so many people were so excited about the new president of the United States. That there was a great rallying point for the country and hope was something so thick we could hold on to it. Now the goal is to not let that hope slip through our fingers, or let go of it at the first sign of trouble. Because there will no doubt be ups and downs in this administration.
God, please bless this country and all who work for the common good. Amen
dain
I think the biggest surprise of the event itself was how much it centered around God. Now I know that there is this whole separation of church and state, but on a day like this there is no evidence of that. The inauguration is even built like a church service with an invocation, song, message, poetry, special music, and benediction. The swearing in takes place on a Bible and it is tradition for the new first family to go to church before the day kicks off.
Is this just tradition? I don't think so. Deep down it seems like everyone knows that there is a higher power out there. That we would not be capable of doing this on our own. That our inspiration and abilities come from an al-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God above that is watching over us. The sad part is how many people then turn around and have a problem with manger scenes and the 10 commandments posted near government buildings and schools.
Another small surprise was how no matter the age we were old or young, all of us couldn't remember the last time so many people were so excited about the new president of the United States. That there was a great rallying point for the country and hope was something so thick we could hold on to it. Now the goal is to not let that hope slip through our fingers, or let go of it at the first sign of trouble. Because there will no doubt be ups and downs in this administration.
God, please bless this country and all who work for the common good. Amen
dain
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Surprise Me God - Day 8 - Monday
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day. Some people had this day off...I did not. But that's ok. I woke up this morning thinking I would take it easy and go into work a little later than usual. I would sit and blog about surprise me in the morning, take a shower and maybe stop by the Circuit City that was closing in Maple Grove to see if there were any good deals. Heather went down to Fairbault to get her car fixed and see her uncle Herb so I had the apartment to myself. I started to blog and look up somethings on the internet. But I wasn't getting anywhere fast. My wireless connection was strong, my computer is newer so there shouldn't be anything wrong there. But the connection was slower that ever. I did everything I could think of to make it work but to no avail. So, I thought to myself, "Self, maybe I should take a shower." So I turned on the water and waited for it to warm up. I waited and waited and waited and waited. I have never experienced a time in my apartment where there was no hot water. What was going on here? This was a surprise.
What happened next was also a surprise. My thought process took me directly to this surprise me experiment and I thought "maybe God is trying to tell me something, maybe I need to get to work because something is going to happen there." I quickly dressed, went out to my car and drove down the interstate towards Rogers at a less leisurely clip than usual. "What does God have in store for me today? What am I going to miss?" The possibilities were limitless.
I arrived at work thinking someone was going to show up that I hadn't seen in a while or something was going to come in the mail, and I would like to tell you that something amazing happened...but it didn't. The day was as normal as normal could be. It was even a little less than normal. Only 3 youth showed up to _tag worship, that was a disappointment. So I really don't know why God got me out of bed and the apartment in the morning? Why did I feel the tug to get to work? Was there something I avoided at home? Did I miss being in an accident on the road? The best I can think of, is that God is telling me that even the ordinary is a blessing. I am healthy and have a wonderful life. I don't need surprises to have a complete life because it already is. God has made my life complete and that is enough.
I ended the day with a nice conversation with my father-in-law John about TVs. I learned a lot and it was good to talk to him. All in all it was a day and that's about all I can say about it.
Peace,
dain
What happened next was also a surprise. My thought process took me directly to this surprise me experiment and I thought "maybe God is trying to tell me something, maybe I need to get to work because something is going to happen there." I quickly dressed, went out to my car and drove down the interstate towards Rogers at a less leisurely clip than usual. "What does God have in store for me today? What am I going to miss?" The possibilities were limitless.
I arrived at work thinking someone was going to show up that I hadn't seen in a while or something was going to come in the mail, and I would like to tell you that something amazing happened...but it didn't. The day was as normal as normal could be. It was even a little less than normal. Only 3 youth showed up to _tag worship, that was a disappointment. So I really don't know why God got me out of bed and the apartment in the morning? Why did I feel the tug to get to work? Was there something I avoided at home? Did I miss being in an accident on the road? The best I can think of, is that God is telling me that even the ordinary is a blessing. I am healthy and have a wonderful life. I don't need surprises to have a complete life because it already is. God has made my life complete and that is enough.
I ended the day with a nice conversation with my father-in-law John about TVs. I learned a lot and it was good to talk to him. All in all it was a day and that's about all I can say about it.
Peace,
dain
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Surprise Me God - Day 7 - Sunday
Worship leading is something I love to do. I learned to play the guitar and rather than wanting to figure out the amazing guitar solos, I wanted to play amazing grace. Eventually I got good enough to so I could join the praise band at my church. I was the third guitarist, Steve and Pete were much better than I was, but that was the best way to learn. I sat in the back with out any volume or microphones until I was comfortable. Now I am the one that is up front.
It seems like I am always in awe at the power of music. There is something deep down inside every person that connects to some kind of music. I always hope that the music people listen to is positive and uplifting, so when the opportunity came at Word of Peace to help out the contemporary worship service I jumped at the chance.
I invited two of my friends to come and help me form a band at church so we could continue the contemporary service. Heather and Kate are still playing with me, and I married Heather so I would say it has been somewhat of a success. We even recorded a CD.
Sometimes I wonder if what I do is ever really noticed. Do people take what they have for granted? I have to believe that most of us don't really know how good we have it until what we have is gone. While I was going around and sharing the peace with as many people as I could during the service, a family told me it was good to have me back. It caught me off guard and I smiled and took their complement. I have to say that I missed being around last week. Worship is something that feeds my soul like othing else. It is something that is so powerful and wonderful it is hard to describe sometimes. Worship is the time that I get to say thanks with all my friends for all the surprises in my life.
It seems like I am always in awe at the power of music. There is something deep down inside every person that connects to some kind of music. I always hope that the music people listen to is positive and uplifting, so when the opportunity came at Word of Peace to help out the contemporary worship service I jumped at the chance.
I invited two of my friends to come and help me form a band at church so we could continue the contemporary service. Heather and Kate are still playing with me, and I married Heather so I would say it has been somewhat of a success. We even recorded a CD.
Sometimes I wonder if what I do is ever really noticed. Do people take what they have for granted? I have to believe that most of us don't really know how good we have it until what we have is gone. While I was going around and sharing the peace with as many people as I could during the service, a family told me it was good to have me back. It caught me off guard and I smiled and took their complement. I have to say that I missed being around last week. Worship is something that feeds my soul like othing else. It is something that is so powerful and wonderful it is hard to describe sometimes. Worship is the time that I get to say thanks with all my friends for all the surprises in my life.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Surprise Me God - Day 6
Today was a surprisingly relaxing day. Heather and I are extroverts, and what that means is we will most likely accept invitations to anything. Our our days are usually packed with seeing people and going places that we hardly have time do do what needs to be done around the apartment. Today was not that day, entirely.
For once we got to sleep in. Thank God for that. I woke up and blogged about the previous day and spent some good quiet time with myself. I like the time in the morning when Heather is still sleeping. There is a quiet innocence to the day, like a new born baby. It's that time when you haven't started thinking about the day ahead of you yet because you are still halfway asleep and in dream land. I have to think that heaven might feel a little like that. No cares of worries, just the infinite possibility of a wonderful day ahed of you.
The great thing about this saturday was there was nothing pressing or urgent about the day. Our plan was to clean, go outside and have some fun because we could be out for more than 10 minutes and not freeze to death (let's here it for 17 degrees above zero), and then rehearse with Kate and Steve for Sunday morning. Everything went to plan and it was a wonderful day.
Heather and I love to snowshoe and try to get out whenever possible. That usually means whenever we head to northern Minnesota. There is always somewhere to snowshoe when there are woods around you. The city is a different animal all together. There just doesn't seem to be the freedom of walking out your door and just going in the city. I started looking up different places we could go, parks, golf courses and other recreation areas. All I found were snowshoeing programs and guided nature walks. Not what I wanted. I was getting a little frustrated when Heather suggested that we just walk along the river. What a wonderful idea. I didn't even realize that by living where we do, on the Mississippi, we CAN walk out our door and be in the "wilderness". We walked about a mile up the edge of the river, on the solid ice part. I wasn't about to fall through the ice, that was not a surprise I wanted. The wind was in our face and it was snowing. It was beautiful. One of my favorite things about winter is how quiet it gets when it snows. The sound is absorbed and the constant roar of the nearby interstate is lessened to a hum.
While on our walk we found some ice heaves on the shore. They were about 5 inches thick and very clear. It was pretty amazing. No doubt the river is mostly frozen because of the cold lately. Still not enough to venture away from the shore. After we turned around we had the wind at our back and followed our tracks home. We could see the bridge over the river in the distance and I wondered if anyone could see us walking? If anyone noticed bright orange and green specks on the snowy river. It didn't matter, we had found solitude in the middle of the city and it was wonderful. A fantastic surprise.
Dain
For once we got to sleep in. Thank God for that. I woke up and blogged about the previous day and spent some good quiet time with myself. I like the time in the morning when Heather is still sleeping. There is a quiet innocence to the day, like a new born baby. It's that time when you haven't started thinking about the day ahead of you yet because you are still halfway asleep and in dream land. I have to think that heaven might feel a little like that. No cares of worries, just the infinite possibility of a wonderful day ahed of you.
The great thing about this saturday was there was nothing pressing or urgent about the day. Our plan was to clean, go outside and have some fun because we could be out for more than 10 minutes and not freeze to death (let's here it for 17 degrees above zero), and then rehearse with Kate and Steve for Sunday morning. Everything went to plan and it was a wonderful day.
Heather and I love to snowshoe and try to get out whenever possible. That usually means whenever we head to northern Minnesota. There is always somewhere to snowshoe when there are woods around you. The city is a different animal all together. There just doesn't seem to be the freedom of walking out your door and just going in the city. I started looking up different places we could go, parks, golf courses and other recreation areas. All I found were snowshoeing programs and guided nature walks. Not what I wanted. I was getting a little frustrated when Heather suggested that we just walk along the river. What a wonderful idea. I didn't even realize that by living where we do, on the Mississippi, we CAN walk out our door and be in the "wilderness". We walked about a mile up the edge of the river, on the solid ice part. I wasn't about to fall through the ice, that was not a surprise I wanted. The wind was in our face and it was snowing. It was beautiful. One of my favorite things about winter is how quiet it gets when it snows. The sound is absorbed and the constant roar of the nearby interstate is lessened to a hum.
While on our walk we found some ice heaves on the shore. They were about 5 inches thick and very clear. It was pretty amazing. No doubt the river is mostly frozen because of the cold lately. Still not enough to venture away from the shore. After we turned around we had the wind at our back and followed our tracks home. We could see the bridge over the river in the distance and I wondered if anyone could see us walking? If anyone noticed bright orange and green specks on the snowy river. It didn't matter, we had found solitude in the middle of the city and it was wonderful. A fantastic surprise.
Dain
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