auld lang syne

Another year draws to a close and it's only natural to find myself reflecting. Come to think of it, this marks a year that I've been writing this online journal. It seems fitting that I would then enter 2007 with a post.

It's overwhelming to think of the changes that have taken place in my life in 2006. I moved to Missouri to be an apprentice at Crosswinds Church... I then became the director of the recovery ministries... then Assistant Pastoral staff... and now, as of January 01, 2007, I have been named the interim lead pastor of Crosswinds. Whoa! I don't even know how that all happened. How do you go from an intern to the lead pastor of a church within a year? Our God is an awesome God... sometimes I think He's got some crazy ideas too. (just being honest...)

Also in this year I have seen my family get spread out geographically more than they have ever been before. Stephanie and her family are in North-East Wisconsin, Mom and Dad remain in South-central WI, I am in the StL, and Marc has moved his family to the northern rim of Indianapolis. It makes family gathering less frequent and a bit more difficult, but we're dedicated to making it work. That's what families do.

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts to come, but the New Year is quickly approaching and I want to ring it in with friends.

Happy 2007! Let's make it great!

morning

(deet)
(deet. deet)
(deet. deet. deet)
(click)

"mmmnnn. uhhh... hhh..."

Inhale and exhale. The first breath of a new day. Not particularly early, but earlier than desired nonetheless. So it starts again. Another day ushered in by the digital guardian of my schedule. What would I do without it? We really do have a love-hate relationship. What would I do without it? Sleep. I would sleep. I wouldn't likely rest... there's too much pressing in on my mind to rest. I would sleep though- and fall farther behind.

With a smack of my lips and a couple sneezes I hop out of bed. Well, no... not true. I don't really hop. I especially don't hop out of bed. I just lumber about through my routine until the caffeine takes hold, awakening my mind and informing it of what my body has been undertaking for nearly an hour previous. But I get ahead of myself because at this point I still lumber... shifting my weight from out beneath the warm womb of my bed.

"Where are my glasses?" I mumble aloud knowing full-well that there's no one else around.

I should find a better place to set them overnight. Believe it or not, it can be difficult to find your glasses in the morning without the aid of... well, your glasses. At this point everything is a blur. My sight, my mind, even the sensations coursing through my body seems blurred.

"Where are they?"

Oh, who cares even? I'm just going to take them off to take my shower anyway.
My feet shuffle about- gathering dust that has accumulated on the cold hardwood floor.
I should mop this floor. This thought drifts out of my mind about as quickly as it found its way in. The floor moans as if it sympathizes with my frustration of being awakened to the dawning day.
The slow-mo instant replay of a series of mornings continues as I move through a doorway, down a short hall, and hang a let turn into the bathroom.
The quickest movement I make at this time is contained within the flip of my wrist as I initiate the release of streaming warm water pouring out into the tub, then running down the drain. I can feel the temperature rise in the bathroom as I undress.

(shhhhing-gink)

I climb in and stand in the tub with the water rushing over my feet warming them to my reserved delight. I rub them together and crouch down to pull the pin that immediately sets into motion a chain reaction that would send forth a gloriously warm deluge upon my head and back.
As I write this now I can't help but wonder what happens between that pin and the shower head hanging above. I wonder that now, but not in the morning. No, there's not much going through my mind in the morning. In the first hours I only succumb to the gentle rain that caresses me. The pressure loosens my muscles and works out the tension left in my back as the evidence of a hard night spent on a mattress that alerts my lower lumbar to the precise location of every coil.
At this moment, this waterfall feels like the hands of a masseuse. Not nearly as effective, but the closest alternative that I can afford right now. So... get to work and wash away an evening of aching.
The shower rushes along as I work though my routine. Soap. Suds. Scrub. No need for shampoo without any hair. Not much of a silver lining, but I guess it saves some money... and time. Not a long shower, but long enough to get me clean and help me to feel refreshed.
I step out and dry off. I slip on the essentials and move with a bit more alertness back to my room where I begin the process of picking out the "right" shirt. I don't know what it is about this process, but it takes longer than any other single thing I do in the morning. Pants aren't a problem. Jeans are jeans. But the shirt is another story. I rummage through my drawers, then my closet... Then I ping between the two of them until I somehow establish a form of emotional connection to the shirt that beckons me above the creaking of the floor beneath my pacing feet.

And so another day begins. Sometimes meandering, but more often blazing by as it approaches another and another and another... So it goes. So be it.

whirlwind

Everything seems to be moving so fast. Tasks slip through my fingers like sand in a desert storm. As I look to the left, the right, even straight ahead life buzzes past me in a blur that could rival the finest roller coasters. This is such a fast and wild ride it's no wonder that I am not amused by NASCAR. Their pace doesn't hold a candle to simply living with eyes wide open. What a wild journey this life is... and thank God for it!

a great quote

"Go the extra mile. It's never crowded."

-anonymous


simple... true.

ripped from the headlines

"Lindsay Lohan has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, her publicist
said Friday."

Not much to say about this... But I guess the whole anonymity thing is out the window, eh?
Bravo.