Paint shopping

So I'm moving this weekend, and very excited about my new little rental house, even if it is outside the Denver city limits (by 4 blocks). I'm thinking about painting some of the rooms, but as excited as I get about picking out colors, I keep changing my mind about what color I want in which room. Does anyone else have this problem? I went to Home Depot and brought home some idea books from Behr, along with a dozen color chip cards, but the only thing I'm consistently sure of is that I love the set of dishes pictured inside their color trends booklet:

I know, I'm supposed to be looking at the big picture of how the walls and furniture and curtains and everything go together, but instead I find myself coveting these dishes, with their lovely blue background, delicate white flowers, and dark brown wood-like border. If anyone knows where I can buy them, I will cook you a meal and serve it to you in them!

Another year, another set of life lessons, another round of opportunities

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was a wonderful day. I did have to work, but not all of it from the office, and it included being treated to lunch. I learned I will be moving from quarter-time to half-time at my primary church (when I finish at the other church at the end of this month), which is very exciting. And I had dinner with some great friends, including 2 sets of twins under age 2!

A lot has changed in my life since my last birthday. My mom got remarried last year, I was approved for ordination (which will happen in 10 days!), the new worship service I was hired to start at church #2 started and ended, and I ended a 2-year relationship. But there's lots of good in each of those things. I shared my call story at church #2 on Sunday, and one of the things I told them is that sometimes the door that closes tells you more about who you are and what you are created to do in the world than the door that opens. Still painful at times, but I find it helps to keep that in mind. God works for good in all things.

Meanwhile, I may soon be moving into a new level of technological capacity... I'm considering getting the Palm Pre, the new smartphone from Sprint. I went into the store earlier this week to check it out in person, and it's very comfortable to handle, a better size than the iPhone. Of course, I'm also thinking about moving, and am likely to have a higher rent, so maybe the whole data plan required with the Pre isn't the best idea right now. So we'll see.

If anyone is still out there reading along, I hope you are well and that new opportunities are coming your way even if it seems like doors are closing in your face. God is good.

Advent... time to wait, to watch, to prepare for the unexpected

Obviously I am now an official blog slacker. If you want to know what I'm up to, Facebook is the best bet - both as a way to keep in touch, and what I'm likely to be doing on any given day!

I do want to lift up this great post on the God's Politics blog (part of the Sojourners community), as a reflection on how to sanctify our consumption in whatever form it takes:

A Pre-Consumption Prayer

by Rachel Anderson 11-28-2008

“Consumption” isn’t a bad word. Even as we watch the excesses of the consumer economy crumble and collapse around us, we should remember that the word “consume” also means “to eat.”

On Thursday, many of us consumed to excess as eaters; today, on “Black Friday,” many of us also consume to excess as shoppers. But as Eugene Cho pointed out so thoughtfully last week, buying stuff at low prices isn’t by itself a mark of shame or weakness. It is, in our post-agrarian, post-industrial society, a necessity. The issue isn’t whether we buy or not buy things. It is whether we do so with appreciation for all of God’s creation. read the whole article

This Advent I am seeking to celebrate the season in simpler, deeper, truer ways... I'll probably fall pretty far short, but I'm trying. Blessings on your seeking as well.

Fall is upon us... time to ramble like the drifting leaves

I can't believe it's October already. The car I bought 2 months ago has to be registered by Monday... as do any unregistered voters out there, at least in Colorado! :)

It's Friday, which means time to write a sermon, which means I'm procrastinating - but won't let myself do anything else intentionally productive because I'm supposed to be working on the sermon. So working out, taking my car for an emissions test and then going to DMV with the title papers, cleaning the kitchen, getting dressed... these are all on hold while I ponder World Communion Sunday.

I do a lot of my sermon research and preparation online. This week I've been very pleased to find lovely backgrounds for this and the 2 church blogs I manage. I have to check my email every 5 minutes in case a new, earth-shaking message has come in. You never know what crazy stuff someone might have sent me on Facebook, so I monitor that regularly as well. Has anyone else out there reflected on what a colossal waste of time this whole internet thing is? What? They have? Oh, okay.

The thing about preaching every week is that you really come face-to-face with how unoriginal you are, and how everything interesting, insightful, or inspiring has already been said. My saving grace is believing that the Holy Spirit can still work through a limited and unoriginal preacher to bring good news to people in ways that make it both GOOD and NEW. May it be so.

Coming Soon: The Open House

Thanks to all who checked out the list and commented either here or on facebook! Our leadership team met last week and decided on The Open House, with some kind of tag line to indicate this is an ongoing worship service/community rather than a one-time drop-in event - "a different kind of worship experience" or "a new community of faith," something along those lines.

There is already a church (UCC) in Portland, Maine, with this name, but they're far enough away that I think we can avoid confusion... the downside is that they already have the domain name and a great logo that we can't steal!

Next steps include plans for publicity (we'll need some kind of logo... the leadership team decided on a 12-issue advertising contract with a neighborhood paper, a big investment but it is distributed to the exact geographic area we're focused on), getting the music team and technology together, and rounding up a few more people to be part of our weekly welcomers and other helpers. Anyone in the Denver area looking to get involved in "a different kind of worship experience," Sundays at 5pm starting September 14, please let me know!

The name game

So hey, it's that time again... time for any of you who are still checking in here to vote on possible names for another of my (impossible?) professional ventures. This time a new worship service, to be Sundays at 5pm with an alternative/eclectic style of music and prayer and conversation and such. Emphasis on all are welcome (doubts and questions included) and faith is more than an hour on Sundays (do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God). We're particularly looking to reach young adults and families; the immediate neighborhood is mostly Anglo upper-middle-class but other nearby neighborhoods include lower-income families, African-American and Hispanic/Latino communities. The current congregation is mostly older and most of them have moved out of the neighborhood, so we're starting outreach more or less from scratch.

With that in mind, here's the current list of top contenders from my brainstorming sessions... What do you like? What else would you suggest?

the commons - a gathering place, also a sense of togetherness created by recognizing the common good, resources that are available to all, the world we have in common (*note: this one was added late*)
all in - all people are welcome, each person gives their all
work in progress - church is a work in progress; we all are works in progress; God is at work, we are at work, we are making progress
midcity God - reading Psalm 46 recently I came across this:
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. / God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
living room - a place for living, for life in abundance, not stuffy but casual, a place for play and talk
pigs and madmen - Matthew's gospel tells of two men possessed by demons, and Jesus cast the demons out into a herd of swine; Peterson's The Message has the swineherds telling "everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs." I liked it. Maybe for the name of our band?
allsacred - no distinction between sacred and secular; all people are of sacred worth
open house - God's house is always open to all
kin'dom - the reign of God without the hierarchy and patriarchy of kingdom, replaced by relationships among the family of God
koinonia - meaning community, communion
sheltering tree - the tree of life in the garden of Eden and in the City of God
deep life - life abundant, going out to deep water, heart & soul life
living word - the Word became flesh and lived among us; we are the Word of God living in the world
pilgrim band - think I heard this in a song? fellowship of those on the journey together

2nd-tier options:
vintage love
beloved fools
unholy rabble
come as you are
good earth
grace encounter
unexpected treasure
love in action

Summer is upon us

So I've been absent from here for a while... again. Lots happening IRL (in real life, I just learned that one recently :) ). Birthdays, ordination, Mother's and Father's Day, banquets, workshops, meetings, preaching, conferences, weddings, movies, and travel. That pretty much sums up my life since May 4.

More soon.. but now, it's time for lunch!