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Really sick and miserable last week... engine light on the Honda (again)... Virginia's flight to Nashville for her mom's birthday... news about her new job... looking at refinancing the house... Randy Moser's dad passing... Sunday's coming... slowing down to relfect and worship... wonderful fellowship lunch with our Family Circle and some others... engine light on the Honda (a third time)... Virginia coming home sick and miserable... travel to Livermore for a great rehearsal with the Tri-Valley singers... back in the office... checking things off lists... slowing down to give thanks to God for the amazing ways He finds to intersect with my life in spite of my harried scamperings. Thank you, Lord!
Yesterday morning Virginia and I left the house at 7:30 to get her to Oakland for a 10:10 flight. Leaving that early, even in commute traffic, I thought there might be an outside chance we would be early enough to grab a cup of coffee before dropping her at the airport. Little did I know that there was an accident involving a tractor-trailer and at least one car. I realize that the folks in the accident, at best, had a REALLY long day, but all of on the freeway were impacted as well. The usual 50 to 60 minute drive took almost 2 hours. However, Virginia did make it to her plane on time and arrived safely in Nashville to join in with her siblings to celebrate her mom's birthday this weekend. Oh, and she did have time to stop and pick up a cup of Peet's in the airport for the plane. I'm pretty sure they'll all have a great time this weekend.
OK, today is two weeks since I started feeling like I was coming down with something. At first it was typical cold symptoms, and, after a few days, I started feeling better. Then, last Saturday evening it started coming back, and Sunday afternoon it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was useless for a day and a half... slept most of Monday. By Tuesday I was pretty sure I would live. Wednesday was better, and today even my congestion is breaking up some. (And I'm quite sure you wanted to hear that, right?!)Tuesday, after being pestered by Virginia... bless her... I called Kaiser to tell them I was sick. Luckily I was coherent enough to negotiate the phone menu, eventually talking to a screener. After describing my symptoms to her, she connected me to an "advice nurse" who also listened to my symptoms. She made some suggestions, most of which I was already doing, but she was actually really nice. Pretty much it boiled down to "There's this bug going around that is keeping people sick 2 weeks or more, so keep doing what you're doing, and if you don't feel better in 3 days, call us back and you may need to come in." Well, I seem to be getting better, so I guess she was right. Being sick is no fun, but getting well is.
Well, tonight took me back almost eight years. Jeremy's senior year in high school he seriously wanted to go to Pepperdine, and we were working with admissions trying to figure out a way to make it happen. During a campus visit he found out about Won by One, a traveling a cappella group that represents the school. Sooo... eight years ago we set up the video camera and recorded an audition tape. He was selected to be in WBO, and that has had a tremendous impact on his life since. Tonight Josh Spainhower and his dad, Doug, came over to record a similar video audition for Won by One. It was really fun to be part of the experience again. Josh talked a little, and sang three songs in his crystal clear tenor voice. Don't know what the outcome of the audition will be, but those watching the video probably won't hear a cleaner sound. Good luck, Josh!!Virginia and I always really love this kind of thing. I guess it's just a hold-over from our youth ministry days, but watching kids set goals and getting to be part of their lives in even small ways are really special to us.... especially when we're walking along with them as they walk with the Lord. That's hard to beat.
The trip to Fresno for ZOE West coast was great. As usual, the singing was wonderful, and the whole weekend we were challenged to be missional... to be salt and light in the community around us. Leonard Sweet was both brilliant and challenging. Mike Cope also challenged us, and Saturday night he commissioned all of us as missionaries in our communities... to go out and treat everyday people just like Jesus treated folks in His day. Hard to describe this kind of weekend in only a few words on this page, but suffice it to say next year is already on my calendar. The College Church does a marvelous job hosting this event.Of course, we also got to spend some time with Jermy and Amber. We and they stayed at the Fosters along with the Gills. It's always great to get to see Jeremy and Amber, and Steve and Gail are wonderful hosts. We got to see a bunch of other folks as well. In fact, one of the greatest blessings of these kinds of events is the chance to reconnect with friends.
I always enjoy our praise team rehearsals on Wednesday nights. It's our time for singing through the songs for Sunday morning, working on any rough spots, laughing and enjoying one another, and, some nights, really feeling the Spirit among us as our rehearsal becomes worship. Tonight was one of those nights. The messages of the songs we sang, the passages we read, the people for whom we prayed... thank you, God, for inviting us into this time of worship tonight. Thank you for not requiring us to "get it right" before you ask us into fellowship with you. Thank you for tonight.I nearly lost my voice as we sang tonight. I''ve been trying to get sick for almost a week, first sort of cold symptoms that went away. Then, yesterday, this congestion and a cough gradually came on, so I started with the decongestant and expectorant. I felt pretty shaky last night and this morning, but by tonight I feel pretty good... now if I can just get rid of this cough. Hope it doesn't turn to a sinus infection... I hate that. The worst part is that today Virginia is feeling bad... seems to be about a day or so behind me. Thank goodness for Airborn, or it might be worse for both of us. One good thing is that she's tougher than I am... always gets well quicker... maybe I'm just a wimp. We're going to ZOE West Coast in Fresno this weekend, leaving really early Friday morning and driving back late Saturday. Karen Koonce is riding down with us, so she's coming over tomorrow night to stay over for an early Friday start. Otherwise she'd have to leave REALLY early Friday to get here from American Canyon. It should be a great weekend. We'll be staying with the Fosters, and Jeremy and Amber will be there, so not only ZOE,
but a bonus weekend as well. Well, lots to do before Friday morning... including getting well... hopefully!!
Today at noon Virginia, Darlene, Jacque, Wade and I represented Eastside at the Mission Christmas follow-up lunch at the New Hope church offices. It was mostly a time for the leaders of the planning group to just say "Thank you" to those who helped plan or worked as volunteers back on that first Saturday in December. We had some great Mexican food catered in, and there were about 40 of us there. It was really neat to see folks representing several different churches eating together, talking together, basking in our shared faith, and committing to work together in 2006 to put together another big event for the poor and homeless next December. This group is fortunate to have Dee Collins as our planning leader and chief communicator. She is gifted, she is passionate about ministry, and she loves the Lord. She and her husband give a significant amount of time and energy to this project. Thank you, Dee.And, speaking of energy and passion, Darlene told me that she and Georgia will become part of the planning team, joining John in representing us at meetings beginning in March. I think they will bring gifts to this team, and their involvement will make it easier for Eastside to perhaps be even more involved this coming year. I'm looking forward to it.
Last night about a dozen of from Eastside made it over to Tri-Valley in Livermore for the annual Bay Area Kick-off Dinner for the Pepperdine Lectures (May 2-5). Some of us have teamed up with the TV praise team to form an East Bay Praise Team that will sing a couple of times at Lectures, and we sang a little last night. Others went just for the fellowship. Jerry Rushford is an enthusiastic and gifted teacher, and he always has something worthwhile to share at these dinners. Last night he talked about some of the "hows" and "whys" of the division between the Churches of Christ and the Disciples of Christ a hundred years ago... some of our common misconceptions included. He also talked about some of the current dialog that is growing between us c of c folks and relatives in the Conservative Christian Church. All interesting stuff.The Pepperdine Bible Lectures is probably the most diverse educational/fellowship/encouragement offering in our fellowship. It is truly unique. If you're interested, just click the link above for all the details.
We're beginning this New Year by emphasizing prayer. It's not that we haven't been praying, it's just that we want prayer to be even more important to our church... we want prayer to become as organic for us as breathing. We'll be talking about prayer, teaching classes, encouraging others, and offering new opportunities for prayer. My prayer is that God draws us to Himself and teaches us all.Well, we've been collecting resumes over the last of months, and I guess you could say that we officially "kicked off" our new Youth Minister search last night at the elder/staff meeting. Over the next few weeks we'll be praying a lot that God steers us toward that person who will be the best match of us. Pray along with us, will you? Thanks!
Today was one of those days that go by really fast... good stuff all day. Saw the count from Sunday... worship and class attendance were both up a bit higher than average. Looks like folks are "back" from the holidays... hope folks stay committed to class. Ron Skrehot came by and helped us work through some issues on our church computer network. He said our hardware setup is good, and the glitches we had were easily solved... at least by someone who knows what he's doing. :-) Lunch and conversation were good as well.I sent out a longer than normal prayer list this morning. We had a number of prayer requests posted at the Sunday night Reunion service.Jarrod and I had a really good conversation this afternoon. It's really neat to have someone with whom you can toss out ideas, role them around, weigh them, chew on them and, over time, come up with something that works. Kaleb's birthday is today... seven years old. We sent him an interactive ecard this morning and called this afternoon to sing to him and see what he bought with the book store gift card we sent him. When his mom asked him what he wanted for his birthday, the first thing he said was a new "chapter book." Hence the gift card, so he could pick out his own... ended up with one that picks up where the last episode of Star Wars leaves off. Maybe he'll read it to me.
This week the New Year has definitely made its presence felt. People returning from holiday trips... schedules are gearing back up... all those things I put off are demanding attention. It's been a busy week, but somehow it all feels good. I know that going from December to January is really no different than going from April to May or September to October, but there's just something about it being a New Year that makes it all seem... well... NEW. You know what I mean... fresh... unspoiled... full-to-the-brim... starting over... almost as if God gives us a "do over"... a chance to delete all the mistakes and failures of last year and begin again... a time to recommit, to persevere, to make better decisions, to grow more closely into that person God wants me to become. One of those special things will happen this Sunday night. We'll have our first Reunion Service of 2006. Reunion is a time for our Church Family to gather for worship... both some traditional forms... and some more interactive activities that stretch us, draw us closer together, and offer parents and children a chance to interact with God and one another. I'm looking forward to our first 06 Reunion. Maybe you can be there too.
This morning about 6:45 our time, Virginia's mom, Ruby Bean, went into surgery for a masectomy. The surgeon had said that this surgery usually took 2 to 4 hours, and it took about 2.5 hours... things went as expected... no big surprises. I think we'll find out the lab results Monday or Tuesday.We heard that, in typical Ruby fashion, she had found a cartoon (probably a masectomy joke) and had it pinned to her gown when they came to take her to the OR. Virginia's sisters tell us that before the surgery she was keeping all the nurses laughing.We are so thankful that Ruby came through the initial surgery so well. We know she will be in a lot of pain over the next few days, so we appreciate continued prayers of those who may read this. Thank you!Amazing things happen at times like these. Those who know Ruby are aware that being early or on time has never been a big priority... especially if it's early in the day. Yet, she was on time for her surgery... amazing.
For some reason, maybe growing up in the 60s in Southern California had something to do with it, I have pretty much always been a USC fan (except during basketball season when I rooted for UCLA... but that's another story). I think part of it was all the exciting running backs they've produced over the years. I first remember Heisman winners from the 60s, Mike Garrett and O.J. Simpson. Later Charles White and Marcus Allen were Heisman winners, along with should've-been-winners Ricky Bell and Anthony Davis. I remember one year in the 80s when Notre Dame was up pretty big at the half, and Anthony Davis (AD) ran the 2nd half kickoff back for a touchdown, scored four more times, and led USC to a huge comeback win. And then there is Sam Cunningham, who had a great NFL career with New England, yet he doesn't come close to cracking the USC elite. If you just have to know more, you can click here. Then there's Texas... over the years I've admired their program and pulled for them quite often... not tonight.Sooo... here I am sitting with 1:04 left in the game... USC with a 5 point lead and Texas driving... I'm sweating bullets... :-) Vince Young just scored... defensive end lost containment. 19 seconds for USC... almost surely not enough time.Texas wins 41-38.
