Zoë started kindergarten last week. The initial separation was difficult for her (surprisingly . . . first day of preschool last year was easy), but when we came to get her, everything was great. She’s really enjoying it, and already doing well, academically and socially. Amy and I are sending her to a really good Christian school, but we’re not anti-public school or anything. We’re just anti-THESE public schools around here. (They’re… not good.)
I still like being married.
It’s reported that Amy likes it, too
Church
Things are going well. We’re planting another Grace Central congregation (with a view toward even more over the next ten years). Folks are being gathered, forming relationships, believing the Gospel, serving eachother. It’s cool to see Jesus work in and through people.
Greg has been preaching through the book of Ezra, which is just what we need to hear at this stage — the story of God rescuing his people from exile, and then working through them to build his temple. He’s doing the same now — his temple now known to be his people, the Church.
(Feel free to subscribe to Grace Central’s podcast to hear these sermons, by the way. Maybe you’ll want to come join us! The iTunes link is here, or you can subscribe manually here.)
I’ll be preaching my first sermon (ever) at Grace Central some time in the next few weeks. Please pray for me as I study and prepare to deliver God’s Word to his people.
Home groups are starting back up in a couple of weeks after a Summer hiatus. We’re looking forward to that.
Tech
I’ve been enjoying Ubiquity, a new experimental extension for Firefox. The best way I can describe it is that it’s like Quicksilver, but for your browser. You should just watch the video and try it out for yourself. It has the potential to change the way we browse. Seriously.
We got an Xbox 360 a few weeks ago. I’ve actually been using it as a media extender (thanks to Rivet and a Linksys WRT54GS w/ DD-WRT firmware — in bridge mode) almost as much as I’ve used it to play games. The ability to watch HD video podcasts on our TV rather than on my Macbook’s screen is pretty darn nice (not to mention streaming the iTunes library to the TV, as well).
(My Xbox LIVE gamertag is raekwon00, by the way. Add me as a friend!)
I added an Airport Express router to our home network (this is in addition to the Airport Extreme and the aforementioned Linksys). This little thing is fantastic for extending your network’s range or creating a dual-band 802.11n/g network. It’ll come in handy if I’m ever again in a hotel with wired-only internet as well.
Music
I wish I had something to report here. I need some new tunes. Suggestions?
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
I wonder how many of my fellow African-Americans voted for Senator Obama primarily for his color (and rhetorical skill) rather his character (and policies). Of course, no one’s actually allowed to say this. If you’re white and you say this, you’re labeled a racist. If you’re black, you’re a self-hating Uncle Tom.
. . . and get the one pictured/linked here. Seriously fantastic stuff.
Unless, of course, you like your kids learning their Bible stories as simplistic, poorly-illustrated morality plays with absolutely no connection to the person and work of Jesus, that is. Then, by all means, keep the one you have.
Zoë’s loving hers, and so are Mommy and Daddy.
(* Feeding to the dog or shredding for use as rodent bedding are acceptable substitutes for burning.)
(This particular entry has been started, stopped, deleted, restarted, and re-written a few times already. Not that the version that gets posted will end up being the best, necessarily.)
I’ve been thinking recently of how broken we can (or should) show ourselves to be before eachother — how much of a mess we can admit to being.
See, I had this tendency a few years back to be brutally honest about myself with others, whenever a wave of introspection hit. Sins and struggles were confessed, and doubts about life and God were publicly hung like laundry set out to dry. I was broken and messy and wasn’t afraid of telling everyone and their mothers. The catharsis that naturally comes with dumping your baggage at the feet of others was gratifying, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t relish the “Rae, your honesty is so refreshing” accolades I occasionally received (particularly when they were from cute girls). There was even this weird, ironic arrogance that cropped up in me . . . as if I was somehow more “together” than others just because I gave voice to my issues. The 29-year-old me of right now would kind of like to punch the 20-year-old me of back then, actually.
[Don't be fooled — this kind of honesty only came in online forums (kind of like . . . what I'm doing right now). Actually seeing another's reaction to the crap you've just laid before them was a step I just wasn't too interesting in taking. Didn't seem safe enough.]
That tendency seems to have disappeared over the past few years, probably for a combination of good reasons (for instance, protecting the privacy of my family and myself) and bad reasons (for instance, thinking that real men don’t give voice to such things). I’d be perfectly satisfied with closing everyone off and putting up the “Perfect PCA Elder and his Perfect PCA Family” front if that pesky Apostle James hadn’t written that whole bit about Christians needing to confess their sins and struggles to one another . . . and since that happened to make into something we call “God’s Word”, it’s probably pretty important that I heed that advice.
So, how do we set our mess out before everyone without falling into despair? On the other side of that coin, how do we do it without becoming satisfied and comfortable with being “messy”? How do we create safety for others to be broken with us, and at the same time, have the courage to lovingly encourage them to get out of the junk that they’ve become so comfortable sitting in?
This video has been making the rounds in the blogosphere . . .
It’s a portion of a sermon that John Piper delivered at University Christian Fellowship in Birmingham . . . a college ministry that I used to be a part of. A few folks have been wondering here and there how to get the whole sermon, and since it’s no longer available at UCF’s website, I’ve uploaded it to this server.
I hope to get back to writing here soon. I’ve missed it, and I’ve missed you guys. Two rather significant items to mention quickly.
My employer’s client decided not to renew my contract, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I was on the verge of putting in notice anyway. The way they went about it was a bit shady (ie: no “coaching” or any sign that they were displeased… just… “go”), but no big deal. That’s what comes with working at an at-will state. It just goes to show me that I was indeed doing my job well. As it was, the commute had me on the road way too much (~3 hours/day), I was getting very little time at home with my family (~4.5 hours/day), and the rest of my time was spent either working, sleeping, or driving. Couple all of that with the abysmal pay, the non-existent benefits, the ever-mounting responsibilities, and the toxic work envionment, and it was just not a good situation.
As it is now, I have time to look for an enjoyable (not just a tolerable) job and time to be with my girls.
So, praise the Lord for (kind of) getting fired. Pray that I find something good quickly.
This Sunday evening, I’ll be ordained and installed as one of five Ruling Elders of Grace Central Presbyterian Church. This will also make Grace Central a particular church in the Presbyterian Church in America. The real work is about to begin.
For some intelligent, insightful, winsome, and often humorous reviews of live shows here in Columbus, be sure to take a look at my friend Joel’s blog, Just Standing There. He contributes to the local “alt-weekly” paper here (and is pretty much the only reason I pick up said alt-weekly on lunchtime trips to Chipotle. Well . . . him and the “Other Variations” personal ads in the back. Those are disturbingly hilarious at times.)
Check it out . . . even if you don’t live here. Joel will tell you if your favorite band is worth seeing live when they come to your town or if you should just stick with hearing them on your iPod.
My ISP appears to be having some DNS issues and I haven’t been able to access my site (or any other sites hosted on the same server) from my house in a couple of weeks. I can still hit the server from work (where I am now), but I generally don’t have the time (or mental reserves) to blog from here.
Hoping the DNS problems are resolved soon, but there are a couple of updates in the pipeline.
