Friday Recap...

What's been happening...or not happening:

• I'm ahead on my daily Bible reading plan.
  
• I didn't get out for a run this week.
• I'm working on #41 by Dave Matthews. I can play it...I just can't seem to do the lyric part yet.
  
• I've jumped on the Conan bandwagon. I don't think Leno is funny at all.
• Lots of things seem unimportant after what happened is Haiti.
• We have a Compassion kid in Haiti, who lives close to the hardest hit area. No word ye on how he is.
  
• I wouldn't mind it if my soccer game got rained out tomorrow.
• I'm off to District Staff Retreat in Kelowna on Monday. I do not like going when my wife does not come with me, thus I will not be a huge fan of this retreat.

How are you?

Book #1...

The Noticer
Andy Andrews

This is the story of a wandering "homeless" man named Jones who offers wisdom and advice to anyone he comes across that finds themselves in a particularly difficult or unfortunate part of life. It just so happens that in this story, every character is going through something, and everybody inevitably has some interaction with Jones.

The idea that Jones brings is that everyone just needs a little perspective. They need to change the way they are viewing their life, the way they look at others, the way they treat their loved ones and those around them. And in each chapter you find yet another example of how changing your perspective will change your life.

It's just too neat and simple. Sure, I get the premise, but anyone who's ever hit a tough patch in life knows that just changing your perspective will not solve all your problems. Sure, there is something to be said about learning to be content in the situations we face, but life doesn't get summed up in one chapter. Does it?

The book struck me as a little too much like a TV sitcom. Every problem from failing marriages to bad work ethics gets patched up. It's all basically fixed in 22 minutes because of some wise words or advice from Uncle Joey (a la Full House).

That said, I will be honest and say that there is probably some truth to what is found in this book. That sometimes we all need a change in perspective, that we need to pull our collective heads out of the sand and look at things a little differently. That alone can help some of us at least get pointed in the right direction even if it won't solve all our problems.

Meh...I'd skip it if given the chance.


*Thomas Nelson Publishers provided me with this book. Just thought I'd say it so that we're all by the rules with the FTC. I'm under no obligation to say that this book rocked my reading world, which is good because it didn't.

Goals for 2010...

Nothing earth shattering here, just a few things I'd like to accomplish in 2010. I'll keep tabs on my progress.

• Reading: After missing the book-a-week mark last year, I think I'll try again to hit the 52 book mark. I can't miss two years running...that would be embarrassing.
  
• Guitar: I'm obviously not writing my own songs, so I think I'll work on other people's stuff. I'm going to try and pick up a Dave Matthews Band song every 2 weeks. The rule: I must be able to play and sing it from start to finish.
  
• Fitness: I'm so lazy outside of soccer, I NEED to do something. I'd like to say a jog a week (not including soccer games and practices) would be feasible, but maybe that's too ambitious for me. Let's see if I can get out for a run every 2 weeks.
  
• Family: More regular family nights and adventures together. (And more dates with my wife!)
  
• Money: Take another step closer to debt-free by learning to curb the impulse buys and sticking to my personal spending budget (aka - my jar money).
  
• Bible: Read through a "chronological" Bible in one year.

Goal review of 2009...

Here's a few things I was shooting for last year and how I feel I did shooting for in 2009:

• With the kids - Was home more (I think) and we started "family nights". B+
  
• With my wife - Went on some big dates. A
  
• With books - Didn't hit 52, but still was over the 40 mark. B
  
• With TV - I watched more, rather then less. Fail. D
  
• With music - Didn't write anything with lyrics. Didn't practice enough either. D
  
• With ministry - Took a silent retreat, started some new ventures. B+
  
• With life - Looked at doing something new and promptly decided not to. No grade.

Not very good...but not terrible. I'll be posting this year's goals shortly.

Some things don't go well...

I encouraged 2010 to be good.

And so far, the reviews are mixed.

United looses to Leeds. Freaking Leeds!!!!

And tonight Canada loses to the US. The freaking US!!!

AaaarrgghhhH!!!!!

I am punching these little letter keys with so much venom right now.

On other better news:

My reading goal of 2010 is well underway. (More on that later this week.)

My middle schoolers were a blast to hang out with tonight. (Despite the fact that they raided my office mini-fridge.)

I found half a Mars bar.

So...Goodnight.

Creativity in Church...

I'm a big believer that God wants us to use our collective creative gifts as the church. I also believe that we often limit the use of creativity in church. We box ourselves in and think "that can't possibly be part of church".

This is one of the reasons I like tracking what comes out of the North Point in Atlanta.

Watch this video of how they opened their December 20th service (and read their explanation of how they pulled it off). Basically, it's one song done by four groups on four different stages...and they all have their own parts.

Creative genius. And I'm talking just talking about the musicians, I'm talking about the tech crew that pulled this off.

A Year in Review...

Editor's Note: Somehow I still haven't caught on to the fact that it is 2010. This showed up as a post for Jan 3, 2009. So, I'll put it back where it actually belongs.

Alright now, let's take a look back at some of the more memorable moments of 2009.

January: The beginning of "The Ballad of Robyn & Swarley" at our Student Ministry PROXIMITY Retreat. It's the only song I've written that exists on the internet. Bonus marks if you can find it.

February: I sold a bunch of my Star Wars collectibles (yeah, yeah, they're toys) and bought myself a guitar amp. A decision I have not regretted.

March: Headed out to Manitoba. Saw family, some friends, and drove in a convertible with the top down. (A big deal for being in the prairies in March!)

April: Headed off to Catalyst West in LA.

May: Took my first online sabbatical.

June: Took my first silent retreat out at Camp Kawkawa. Definitely need to do that again.

July: Vacation.

August: Received a new (at least to us) car.

September: Launched our new middle school ministry and then headed off to National Youth Workers Convention (one of my favorite places to be) with my wife (my favorite person to be with) and got had a few little road adventures that took us to some memorable California landmarks.

October: Saw David Crowder*Band and U2 in concert (separately, of course).

November: Talked porn in a Sunday morning service. (Audio here.)

December: Christmas. Vacation.

Favorite Album: Dave Matthews Band "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King"
Favorite New Artist: A toss up between Seabird & Vedera
Best Concert: U2
Best Book I Read: "Sustainable Youth Ministry" by Mark Devries.
Best Book I Haven't Finished: "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan
Biggest New Movie Letdown: Transformers 2 & I Love You Beth Cooper
Best New Movie: I didn't watch too many of the new releases, so I'll have to go with Up.
Best Date: A night out on the town with my beautiful wife with a meal at The Keg and tickets to Mat Kearney.
Best New TV: Another toss up with The Middle & Modern Family
Favorite Returning TV: How I Met Your Mother

Book #44...

Wrapping up the book list of 2009 was James Patterson's I, Alex Cross. I wish I had ended it on a better literary note, but you take what you get when it comes to the library.

In other news, I was a little off my year long goal of reading 52 books this year. I'm going to blame the PS3. (Oh, and maybe a little bit of my laziness.)

So, I'm curious to all of you who were keeping track, how many books did you read last year? And what are the top 2?

2010...

Remember the days when you would try to stay up all night just because it was New Year's Eve? I thought those days were over. And then last night we got into some game playing with Erin's parents, and before long it was 4:30am and we were trying to play some domino game with eyes at half-mast.

Fun stuff though...despite the fact that I feel like I'm in slow motion.

Plans for today: pretty much the same as all week, except that we have a family dinner with some of Erin's extended family tonight.

And to offset the Boston-Philadelphia Winter Classic that was on earlier I have thrown on a dvd of the Montreal-Edmonton Winter Classic from 2003.

That's how I'm starting 2010.

Bringing in the New Year...

I've had the week off work, so I have accomplished very little lately. I've played video games, board games, finished a book, played Lego, and watched a lot of hockey and TV.

And now on the eve of a new decade, my kids are busy laughing their heads off, Erin is watching some TV and I'm getting ready to watch the Canadians play the Americans in World Junior hockey.

Then we'll likely make the long trek upstairs to play some board games and ring in the New Year with my in-laws. We picked up a copy of a board game called Ticket to Ride that we're itching to try out.

So, how are you bringing in the New Year?

Passive-Aggressive...

Josh, you'll appreciate this one.

You'll need some backstory though to fully enjoy this one.

My neighbor seems to be physically & emotionally pained when someone parks in front of her house. The curious part is that anyone who parks in front of her house is also legally parking in front of our house, but she seems to have claimed ownership of this specific piece of public property.

I should also note that we have had "run-ins" with her about this in the past where she vents about the need for us to park elsewhere. Something that is difficult to do on a street where most houses have basement suites and that means multiple vehicles.

In fact, she called bylaw officers a week ago to report an abandoned car, which happened to belong to my brother-in-law and his wife who were visiting from Alberta for a few days over the holidays. The bylaw officer showed up knocking on the door and was apparently a little irritated when he heard what was actually going on.

Either way, I usually try to park on the other side of the driveway just to avoid the headache. (I'm not a big fan of confrontation.) But, arriving home from church on Sunday the only spot available was that infamous piece of public property. So I just parked it and haven't moved the car since.

Well, it just so happens that Erin found this on the windshield this afternoon.


Is this passive-aggressive?

I'm so annoyed right now.

It's hard to live at peace with people when they do silly things like this.

Maybe I should just move my car...

Merry Christmas...

Sorry, no video here. I ran out.

But I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.

As for us, we're cooking some goodies before we gather round the table to stuff our faces and spend some quality time playing games. And maybe...just maybe...a midnight (or post-midnight) showing of Die Hard.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas (part #3)...

Thanks to Laurie for this one.

(But I'll give you a fair warning about some mild language in the clip.)

Merry Christmas (part #2)...

Another video that's been circulating on some student ministry blogs lately. If you've never seen the original wedding version of this, you will likely find this uninteresting.

Merry Christmas (part #1)...

With things slowing down a little I thought I'd grab a few minutes to post some odds and ends that I've stumbled across lately.

Like this one that I found via The Resurgence Blog:

What to do with Christmas...

As a church we've been going participating in Advent Conspiracy. If you're not familiar, the basic idea is to encourage people to spend less and give more (money & presence). (And yes, we've already heard the comments about how encouraging people not to spend in a poor economy is not wise. I'll spare you any social commentary because I'm bad at math.)

So I'm trying to figure out what my place is in all of this. As a family we decided to cut back on the family spending this year. That's a great first step, but I need to be a little more proactive on the second step which is give more presence. Specifically, I need to give more of myself this Christmas season, particularly to my family.

I also found myself challenged by Mark Driscoll's recent blog post about how dads need to make sure they don't drop the ball this holiday season and how they need to get out there and do some family stuff.

So, that's pushed me to try and think a little more creatively. What can I do with my family to create a few Christmas memories this year?

So, here's a few things:

• We curled up on the couch last Sunday and watched The Santa Clause 2&3 (we're all a sucker for Christmas movies). I discovered that mom is the preferred cuddler of choice by both kids.
  
• A local bowling alley had $1 bowling games, so we went 5 pin bowling. I discovered my son is just as competitive as his dad (and maybe even his mom).
  
• I took my kids for "coffee" after school yesterday. I discovered that Jones Soda beats out hot chocolate any day of the week.
  
• We're breaking the bank tonight to take in an Abbotsford Heat game tonight as a family. I hope to get us there early enough so we get our free Santa hats! Woohoo!
• Hung out with some great friends on Wednesday night, ate supper and played Phase 10.
• Hanging out with more great friends this Wednesday to eat pizza and ride the Christmas train.
  

I've also got some time off in the next couple of weeks, so I'm hoping to use that wisely and not just be a vegetable.

So, what are you dads doing with your family this Christmas season?

Email exchange...

Remember the guy who tried to pay a bill with a picture of a spider?

This new one is probably funnier.

Book #43...

The Road of Lost Innocence
Somaly Mam

I picked up this book as part of prepping for a recent Sunday morning message about sexual exploitation and human trafficking. And I can only say that this book seriously messed me up. The night I actually finished it I was tossing and turning until after 3am. My brain wouldn't stop.

Much of what I read was completely horrifying and it's difficult to imagine that it can even be true. But wow...to hear this woman's story and how she came through a life of being sold, abused, and resold. To see her come to the point where she now helps others escape and experience freedom...it's inspiring and overwhelming. And it makes me feel like my contribution to helping fight injustice in the world is insignificant.

Ridiculous...

On Saturday our soccer team (ranked #2 in the league) played the team in last place (they have yet to score a goal this season).

In all my years of playing soccer I have never been involved in a game like this. This portion of a team email should explain:

Hi guys;

I have the scorers as,

Stew - 4
Taka - 3
Mike - 3
James - 3
Vic - 1
Kevin - 1
and one own goal that was almost Chris's.

Did anyone else get one?

Vic, you just got the one, right?

Chris, did you score a legit goal as well as that one they put in their own net?

Let me know if anyone else scored.

At least 16 goals are accounted for (11 in the 2nd half alone...some of which we played with only 9 men to match their 9 guys) and not a single one against.

I credit the other team for not walking off the field, but this is still ridiculous.

I was sitting with one goal midway through the 2nd half when I sent a shot wide from a few yards out. Some smarty pants on the other team decided to smack talk me about not getting my hat trick that day. (Seriously, who smack talks when they are down that many goals?!?!) So, I scored 2 more.

Anyways, not a good game to play the week before we take on the top ranked team.

'Tis the season...

I don't know this guy, but it's the greatest Christmas music video ever. Ever.