What's going up?

On my way to work this morning, I decided to do something I haven't done in a long time. I listened to a podcast. I chose North Point because Andy Stanley is one of my favorites. Of course, the podcast I selected wasn't him, but I decided to give it a chance. I realized it was John Ortberg and decided it was still a good choice. This quote stuck with me so I thought I'd share it.

Dow Jones is down, NASDAQ is down, housing values are down, consumer confidence is down, employment is down, commercial real estate is down, you wonder, is anything going up these days?

The opportunity to serve is going up
The market for hope is going up
The chance to build a life on a foundation that will endure through storms is going up

That’s true because certain fundamentals remain unchanged:
God remains sovereign

The beauty of forgiveness is still greater than the stain of sin

The Bible is still the Word of God

Prayer remains the most remarkable communication available to the human race

Love still defeats bigotry

Faith still beats despair

The greatest scandal in this sorry dark world is still the scandal of the cross

God’s mercies are still new every morning

The tomb is still empty

The church is still marching

The kingdom Jesus announced is still expanding and does not need a bail out or a stimulus package

Sometimes we forget how good God really is. How much he wants to fill us with his Living Water. How much he really loves us. The world throws all these distractions at us.

You can listen or download the entire message here. The Me I Want To Be

Saying Goodbye

As far as I can tell, goodbyes are never easy. They may be good sometimes but they are never easy.

This morning I said goodbye to an old friend. We depended on each other for a long time. There were very few days we didn't spend time together - only when one of us was sick or I was out of town for work. We planned to spend our next vacation together. We traveled together. We took kids to and from church. We helped friends and family move, and even moved together once.

It's funny how we get attached to our stuff. I'm amazed at how quickly and easily it can be replaced, many times with very little thought of it again.

You may have been beat up a bit, but maybe that's why we got along. I'll miss your sun roof, your hatchback with lots of cargo space, your roof rack (even though I never used it), and I'll miss your missing mirror. Rest well, wherever you go. Goodbye old friend.

Victory!

Today, I got my first letter from my Compassion kid in Uganda. His name is Victory. What a great name! His actual name is Twesigyemukama Victory. Let's all say that together. Twi.. twes... twees.. tweyseeg... uh... I think I'll stick with calling him Victory.

Part of the letter (which is a form they fill out if they are able, and he is able) is to add some drawings, which I have included here.


Here's what he wrote:

Dear my beloved friend Karen,
Praise God Thank you For choosing
me to be your Friend.
I hope God will keep us alive and our frien
dship last. God bless you.

I typed it just like he wrote it so the line break is supposed to be there. This makes perfect sense to me, but they also added a translation, which doesn't make much sense at all. Maybe one day Victory will be a translator, but right now he wants to be a mechanic.

You know, sometimes it seems like our friends are too busy or that they have forgotten us. I'm glad to know that I have a young friend in Uganda who hopes our friendship lasts. I hope so too, Victory.

Why the Love Boat Theme Song is in My Head

The title of this could be either "Why the Love Boat Theme Song is in My Head" or "Road Map Through My Brain".

My head can be a scary place. Come, take a journey with me if you dare.

I woke up this morning after a somewhat restless night. I had a song in my head, which is pretty normal for when I wake up. The song was Follow You by Leeland.

That's not a bad way to wake up. Then, as I was thinking of these lyrics from the chorus:

I'll follow you into the homes that are broken.

Follow you into the world.

Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God.

Follow you into the World.

I was reminded of a conversation I had a while back with a friend from the UK. We were talking about meeting someday in real life, and how we would like to visit each other's country. She said she wanted to travel to see the world. I said I wanted to travel to change the world.

As I thought of her words, this song came into my head (are you lost yet?):

Then, I remembered an episode of The Love Boat with Ethel Merman singing the first part of that song (I can't find proof of this, but in my head, that happened). So then, of course, I started to hum the Love Boat theme song.

Welcome to my brain on little sleep.

Hard To Believe

It sure is hard to believe that another year has passed. As I reflect on the past year, at first glance it appears that nothing has changed.

But looking deeper, I realize a lot has changed. I've made some amazing new friends - a couple in particular come to mind who helped me through some rough patches.

There were things I wanted to do this year that didn't happen. That's my fault mostly. I did some things I didn't expect to do (like giving up Diet Coke - it's been 10 months - and reading the entire Bible).

While it feels like my circumstances haven't changed, I know I have. I learned a lot about who I am, and a bunch about who I am not.

I'm not going to go setting some lofty goals or resolutions that won't see the light of Monday morning. Instead, I'm going to look ahead with expectation that God is going to do amazing things in, around and through me.

^18-19"Forget about what's happened;

don't keep going over old history.

Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new.

It's bursting out! Don't you see it?

There it is! (Isaiah 43:18-19, The Message)