I have to admit that I’ve looked at this screen more that a dozen times in the last week. Not sure why the entries have stalled right here. But when I look at the front page of my blog, the last time I actually wrote anything was over a week ago now. Sheesh…

It’s funny. You read some blogs, get excited about having one of your how. At first it’s your little pet, your new toy, your shiney new bike you get for Christmas that you want to ride up and down the street on in your pajamas on Christmas morning even though it’s 12 degrees outside so maybe your neighbors and friends will see you showing off on it…(or was that just me?)

But like the new toy that gets used less frequently after the shine isn’t so bright anymore, that’s what this blog might have become for me. But I don’t want it to. Seriously, at different times during the day, I’ll see, hear, experience things that I think would be a great blog entry. But it never makes it on the page. I dunno why.

But I want to be much better. I want to find my ‘voice’ and be true to it. I want to be real (but not tooooooo vulnerable), be a place for me to aire thoughts, share stories, and a joke or two as well.

We’ll see if I can get back on the horse.

I guess life has its share of fears. I don’t think I’m really a fearful type of person, but sometimes you think of things sometimes that really do cause a bit of a scared feeling. I’d like to mention one of those.

Maybe it’s just me. I dunno. I’ve not really asked people about it before. But this weekend while going to the fantastic showing of Monster’s Inc. On Ice (really not that BAD, but not very good either), I got up to go to the rest room. Not that I really had to go that badly, but I just wanted to get up and look at something besides skaters in oversized monster suits. So, I go and I stand there at the urinal doing what I do there.

But then the fear creeps in. It’s usually one of two things. But if/when someone walks into the restroom while I’m there at the urinal, I always think that I’m in the prime position for someone to come up and steal my wallet from me. All they’d have to do is snatch it and take off running. I’m at one of my most vulnerable times in my life when I’m there at the urinal. It’d take me time to get thigns in order before I could charge out of the door in pursuit of someone. Or defend myself in a fight while still inside. Just a crazy fear of mine.

The other possibility was someone just pushing me and me getting all wet against the back wall of the urinal.

Because I’ve been out of the blogosphere the past few days, I’ll just give a quick catch up as to what’s been on my mind or what I’ve done.

I’m going to get to see Monster’s Inc. On Ice this weekend! Aren’t we excited? I’m not sure if I am yet or not. If my daughter likes it, then it’s worth it, but otherwise…sheesh!

That’s all for now.

I thought all day about stuff I needed to write in here….but all I’ve got is block.

Not really….

But my wife and I have been commenting lately on how much our two year old daughter is talking. She’s been talking forever, don’t get me wrong. But lately she’s been putting together “grown up sentences” and all that. And her powers of observation are very keen too. She notices most everything that’s going on. Just this afternoon we were walking down a sidewalk and she blurts out, “I hear an owl! Hoo Hoo Hoo!”, and sure enough, I could hear an owl a few blocks away somewhere.

But this morning I knew I was in for it. I did my usual morning routine. Get up; get the kid up; let the dogs out; feed them; eat breakfast ourselves; then I was going back in the kitchen to let the dogs out again. The puppy will poop in the floor after breakfast if you don’t watch out. So we went in the kitchen, but no dogs. Only an open kitchen door. The door I’d left propped open from earlier.

So I rush out, calling for the dogs, “Saaaaaaaaaaaaleeeeeeeeeeeee! Buuuuuuuuuuuurkleeeeeeeeeeee.” Clap-Clap-Clap! “Saaaaaaaaaaaaleeeeeeeeeeeee! Buuuuuuuuuuuurkleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” But no sign of them. So I grab some shoes and throw a shirt on the kid and go get in the car. The wife is out for a morning run, so she doesn’t know about this. That’s a good thing.

I begin driving and know where to go. Sally used to walk off sometimes and cross over a really busy road a few blocks away and go into some other neighborhoods and just wander around having a good ole time. I figured that’s where I should head. But Burkley had never been out of the yard before. I was half expecting to see a little black and red lump squashed on the road. But as I crossed the road I didn’t notice anything in either direction.

So I go into the other neighborhood, and there they are, a few houses down, just standing in a front yard watching me drive down the street. Almost as if they were waiting on me. I pull over, call for them, and they come running and hop in the car. My daughter is happy to see them (she knew the dogs had run away). We go back home and I jump in the shower to get ready for work. She plays with some toys in the bathroom floor while I finish up in the shower.

I knew she’d probably relay the details of our search & rescue to my wife. But I didn’t tell her not to tell mom. But that was literally the first things she said to her mom. “Sally and Berkley runned away! We had to find them!”

All I could do was grin…

1. What housekeeping chore(s) do you hate doing the most?
Probably all of them. Cleaning the toilet or tub is probably the worst.

2. Are there any that you like or don’t mind doing?
Vacuuming isn’t too bad, actually.

3. Do you have a routine throughout the week or just clean as it’s needed?
Clean a little everyday….or that’s the plan. I usually clean when I’m asked.

4. Do you have any odd cleaning/housekeeping quirks or rules?
I think my dishes should usually soak a few hours/days before being put in the dishwasher

5. What was the last thing you cleaned?
Cleaned out a bowl I had ice cream in.

I was reading this post from Jeremy’s blog which referenced Rick’s entry on an article from Christianity Today (did you get all that?) But it was about relevance of the Church in today’s culture. Maybe we’re trying so hard to point out to our culture that Church is relevant that we’re actually saying that it’s not relevant.

To be honest I think that in a lot of ways, church today is not relevant. Don’t get me wrong. I think Jesus and His Gospel is timeless and more than relevant (or should be). But maybe we as a Western Culture have watered it down over the years to be more easy to stomach. But in large part, the local church has ceased to be relevant to the local members of the community.

Anyway, here’s the long and short of my comment I left on Jeremy’s entry:

Maybe I’m the odd man out here, but I do think that there is a time to intentionally push to be relevant.

Not that you alter or change the Timeless Truth of the Gospel, but that you shift the container of the Truth. Think of the Gospel (the Good News about who Jesus Christ is and what He’s done for us) as water. You can pour water in many different types of containers, but it’s still water. Therefore, I think you can have the pure Gospel presented to people in different containers and not lose the purity of it.

I work with teenagers in our church, both Sr High and Jr High. The means and methods that we try to communicate the Gospel to our teens (the container we present the Timeless Truths in) is obviously going to be different than the means/methods we’d present it to the senior citizens Sunday School class or the pre-school or elementary Sunday School classes. You try to make it relevant to them (just as you would as a missionary taking the Timeless Truths of the Gospel to different cultures.)

I believe by the same token that even in the 20-50 age group (big group, I know) there are different subcultures that you can target.

Jesus and His Gospel are always relevant. Hands down. No argument. But it’s the vehicle that sometimes needs sprucing up. You know, He’s always looking to do a new thing!

Yeah, Jeremy pointed out that I’d not posted since the middle of the week. I guess I should try to keep up with his whirlwind of entries over at his blog.

But since Wednesday this is what I’ve done.

*Gone to a high school football game. It was a good game. My team won. :woot: Saw lots of kids from the church. Our team may be good yet again.
*Got the finished product from the poster contest. Took them to a printer and got some nice posters made (except the colors are a little muted.
*Did a load of mailouts. Brochures for our ski trip to Copper Mountain over Spring Break and some fall calendars.
*Shoveled lots of dirt for a new bed we’re putting in along the back fence. We hope to put some “privacy shrubs” along there and some nice looking stuff too. Right now I have a nice looking raw spot on my thumb from the shovel. Sheesh…office work kills a man.
*Hurt my neck working out…with an exercise totally unrelated to the neck! Interesting…but the crick/catch is almost out of it by now.
*Watched The Two Towers finally. Great movie. Still blown away by the grandeur of the cinematography and all. Great story line as well. Waiting til December for the final chapter.
*Had my final fantasy football draft. To be honest, drafting is over half the fun…but looking forward to the rest of the season beating my cocky friends!
*Shoveled more dirt. Wore a glove this time.
*Set up the church for worship tomorrow. It’s not in my job description…but so what. Who else’d do it?
*Watched college football! Mississippi State spotted the Oregon Ducks 28 points in the first half. We looked like a sucky junior college team out there and they looked like they had an all pro offense. But we settled down, got our heads on straight and only lost by a touch down, 42-34 with a slim chance at the end. Season could turn out to be okay…I’m an eternal optimist with these guys. Will I ever learn?
*Now? Going to bed much later than I should be.

1. Are you going to school this year?
Nope

2. If yes, where are you going (high school, college, etc.)? If no, when did you graduate?
High school? In 1992, College..1998

3. What are/were your favorite school subjects?
Science classes.

4. What are/were your least favorite school subjects?
Law and Media

5. Have you ever had a favorite teacher? Why was he/she a favorite?
Hank Flick from MSU. Not sure, but he taught well, but made learning interesting. That and the fact that he was the most sarcastic yet entertaining teacher I’ve ever had. His class was hard too.

I just want to give some props to Palmer over at DesignOutpost. He’s crafted a great site over there. If someone has a design need for a graphic, website, logo, template, flash movie, or similar project, you can post a contest and you’ll have people prepare entries that you review and pick a winner from.

They’ve assembled a talented group of designers. I’ve had two contests there (here, and here). I had great success with the first one, and the 2nd one is still in progress but the initial entry has “winner” written all over it.

So I recommend you visiting Design Outpost to see what they can do for you.