Saturday, June 21, 2008
Muleboarding Invented!
This weekend at the ranch, the boys' ingenuity really kicked in. They found a board that was tapered on both ends, and decided to try to "ski" on it behind a Kawasaki mule. They call it "muleboarding." I'm sure this is destined to be the next rage in rural Arkansas, Tennessee and West Virginia. Check them out on Youtube (Jacob)(Benjamin). It all worked great until they decided to try it on their bellies. Now Jacob is covered in calamine lotion from breaking out in hives after being dragged through the weeds! Oh to be a kid again...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
New Springs Calendar
We have a lot going on this summer, and we're experimenting with ways to keep people informed about the church's schedule. I put this calendar together, and I'd like some feedback on whether this would help you. There are a lot of options on how this calendar can be used: we can embed it on the church's website, you can access it directly from the web, and you can even have notifications send to your phone.
Please participate in the survey to the right and let us know whether this calendar is helpful to you.
Monday, June 9, 2008
The Underside of the Table
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. From what I usually say about our table, it probably sounds that way. It's not. There are bad days. Like when one of the kids flushed a plastic dixie cup down the toilet in the upstairs bathroom. I'm sure it was fun watching it swirling down the hole--it was the perfect size to lodge in the S-curve of the toilet. I can tell you from experience that there is no Drain-O strong enough to break down a plastic dixie cup. And the roto-rooter just bored a little hole through the bottom of the cup. So the day I was taking the toilet off the floor to remove the mysterious clog, I was not basking in the afterglow of a great night at the table.
Table experiences constantly remind me of how remedial we are at relationships. One of the first things to go if you're not vigilant is the practice of listening to each other. The idea that we honor one another by listening to what each person has to say is not a self-evident truth for members of the Me generation and the Me culture. Our teenagers flubbed this last night, but we as adults struggle with it also. We can be interested in ourselves subconsciously, but it takes conscious discipline to be interested in everyone else. If we don't watch out, we can decide it's time for dessert while someone else is talking, or break into a sub-conversation at the table, or just talk too much. For me, the table is the best forum I have for learning how to value others and exercise the discipline of listening.
Still, with all our flaws, there is always at least one moment where God speaks to me. Last night, someone at the table said that they felt more spiritually grounded at the table than they had felt in bible studies in the past. I was taken back by the statement at first; after all, bible study is a very worthwhile pursuit. But it reminded me of how often we disregard the importance of a place to belong: a place where people are truly interested in us, know us, care about us, and have our best interest at heart. And we're not just supposed to have a place like that, we're called to provide that place for others. That's church to me. And as far as we still have to go, it's encouraging just to be in the game.
Table experiences constantly remind me of how remedial we are at relationships. One of the first things to go if you're not vigilant is the practice of listening to each other. The idea that we honor one another by listening to what each person has to say is not a self-evident truth for members of the Me generation and the Me culture. Our teenagers flubbed this last night, but we as adults struggle with it also. We can be interested in ourselves subconsciously, but it takes conscious discipline to be interested in everyone else. If we don't watch out, we can decide it's time for dessert while someone else is talking, or break into a sub-conversation at the table, or just talk too much. For me, the table is the best forum I have for learning how to value others and exercise the discipline of listening.
Still, with all our flaws, there is always at least one moment where God speaks to me. Last night, someone at the table said that they felt more spiritually grounded at the table than they had felt in bible studies in the past. I was taken back by the statement at first; after all, bible study is a very worthwhile pursuit. But it reminded me of how often we disregard the importance of a place to belong: a place where people are truly interested in us, know us, care about us, and have our best interest at heart. And we're not just supposed to have a place like that, we're called to provide that place for others. That's church to me. And as far as we still have to go, it's encouraging just to be in the game.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Published, sort of
One of my blog posts was picked up by a magazine (which will remain unidentified) recently and is scheduled to be published. The editor and I went through the customary back-and-forth of reducing the word count to fit the prescribed space alotted for it in the magazine. Since I didn't write the article for a magazine, I fully expected it to be adjusted to fit the magazine's purposes and target audience. If you've never thought about this process, rest assured that virtually nothing you read in a magazine is printed as it was originally written. However, in the end the article was also edited to remove any direct references to God. Generic "inspiration" was the order of the day, and the editor explained to me that since so many of the magazine's readers have so many different ideas about God (or god), they remove explicit references to the Deity as a matter of course. Hmmm.
Some of my readers who are Christ-followers may read this and be indignant that I didn't pull my article in protest. I never seriously considered that. I felt some obligation to consider that for a brief time, but it faded quickly. I was surprised that even the word "God" seemed to be taboo, but if so, I'm particularly glad they're printing my article. I'd rather throw my hat into that circle and enter the conversation--even if edited--than write just to an audience of Christians. I'd like people who are into "inspiration" only, who consider themselves open-minded except to Christianity, to see that someone who calls himself a Christ-follower has artistic sensibilities, that the stereotypes of Christians as lemmings or Christianity as repression just don't fit.
I don't expect the magazine to be willing to be a platform for someone's dogma. They're in it to sell magazines and ads, and my article is only valuable to them if it helps them do that. So if I, an avowed Christian, can write something that's interesting to people who don't agree with my worldview, so much the better. We'll see how it plays out.
Some of my readers who are Christ-followers may read this and be indignant that I didn't pull my article in protest. I never seriously considered that. I felt some obligation to consider that for a brief time, but it faded quickly. I was surprised that even the word "God" seemed to be taboo, but if so, I'm particularly glad they're printing my article. I'd rather throw my hat into that circle and enter the conversation--even if edited--than write just to an audience of Christians. I'd like people who are into "inspiration" only, who consider themselves open-minded except to Christianity, to see that someone who calls himself a Christ-follower has artistic sensibilities, that the stereotypes of Christians as lemmings or Christianity as repression just don't fit.
I don't expect the magazine to be willing to be a platform for someone's dogma. They're in it to sell magazines and ads, and my article is only valuable to them if it helps them do that. So if I, an avowed Christian, can write something that's interesting to people who don't agree with my worldview, so much the better. We'll see how it plays out.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Community and Catalytic Converters
When you say "small group," I think many people, especially guys, have an uncomfortable image in their minds of a bunch of people in a living room sharing their feelings. Last night, the guys in our group did auto repair. Blake's catalytic converter almost fell off on the way over to the house, and he didn't know how to fix it. I had the tools and Pete had the know-how and, after a quick trip to the auto parts store, Blake's exhaust system was good as new.
Real Christian community is about people sharing more than just Bible study. For us, it often starts with sharing meals, but it moves beyond that pretty quickly. Last night it was sharing tools, which is about as big as it gets in my world. I'll probably be at Pete's this week to get the grip replaced on my putter, and we're working on overhauling an old chain saw. Last week I borrowed his trailer to move some furniture. That's every bit as important as our meetings, maybe more so.
Real Christian community is about people sharing more than just Bible study. For us, it often starts with sharing meals, but it moves beyond that pretty quickly. Last night it was sharing tools, which is about as big as it gets in my world. I'll probably be at Pete's this week to get the grip replaced on my putter, and we're working on overhauling an old chain saw. Last week I borrowed his trailer to move some furniture. That's every bit as important as our meetings, maybe more so.
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