Babies and Blooms

Makes for lots of smiles at the office! And, BOY did I need them today!

Little Miss Audrey Grace came by for a visit...

...and the flower delivery man visited once again, with another beautiful bouquet from Chris to brighten my office!

Aren't I the lucky one...

Professor Petersen

I have hit the BIG TIME...
My name now appears on the "Rate My Professors" website!
Thank goodness I'm doing well so far...

RATE MY PROFESSOR

Let's hear it for the Hotness Factor! Whoot!

It May (cough....cough....)

...be time to invest in one of these. It's getting awfully smokey in these parts! At first, it was kinda cool, walking around feeling like "it's campfire night at Summer Camp". You know the smell. Now, schools are on perpetual rainy-day indoor schedules. I couldn't eat lunch outside today because the smoke irritates my eyes. I've heard more coughing in the last few days than I have in a long time. And there is an eerie brownness in the sky that is worse than the normal L.A. haze. Last night, as I was walking to my apartment, the air smelled exactly like a Best Western hotel room...or an equally mid-range hotel that smells of smoke and cleaning products. This morning there was a layer of ash on my newly cleaned car. However, I'm thankful for my ash-covered car. It's better than having a car turned to ash. I have some friends and family in the areas affected by these fires...please keep residents and evacuees of these parts in your prayers, and especially all the fire personnel on the front lines.

And if you don't live in Southern California, enjoy your TV programming uninterrupted by 24-hour-a-day coverage of the fires and your blue skies....

Beware of Efficiency!

That's Entertainment!

This weekend crept up with amazingly few plans! Consequently, I was able to get out and enjoy some social events with friends- fellowship time that was long overdue. It was a good weekend. Of course, ANY weekend is a good weekend when it starts with getting a surprise flower delivery at the office...

On Friday night, my Stockton singing-buddy, Heather, stopped by to take some zzzzs on my couch- but not before we could enjoy a late night snack at Lucilles BBQ....mmmmmm!

Admittedly, pumpkin-carving is NOT my greatest strength. As a MAXIMIZER, I wanted to scrap the whole project and go play a song about a pumpkin...something at which I could actually be successful. However, in the spirit of halloween...er....harvest/autumn- WHATEVER- I called forth every ounce of carving artistry I had in my body and THIS was the final product. Not too shabby!

Eric, another maximizer, wasn't quite so successful. Or maybe he was...if he was trying to create a japanese vampire.

Most of us fashioned styrofoam jack-o-lanterns to donate to the children's ward at Ashley's hospital. Due to the nature of their illness, real pumpkins are not allowed.


Following the gourd-defacing ceremonies, I caught a sneak preview of the soon-to-be released film "Dan In Real Life" with my friend Suzanne. We weren't expecting much, being that we knew very little about the movie, but we found it to be quite the delightful little film! Steve Carrell has the perfect balance of likeability and comic genius. DEFINITELY catch this one when it comes out in theaters!

On Sunday evening, I visited Knott Avenue Community Church to see my friend, Shauntelle Sposto, in their production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". I saw this musical years ago in Washington D.C., but THIS production I'm sure would rival any professional endeavor. It was AMAZING, and Shauntelle did an incredible job in her lead role as Narrator. I'm so proud of my friends!

I wrapped up the weekend by spending some time with my little buddies, Kaelyn and Kaden...and, of course, their mommy and daddy.

One Semester of Spanish Will Get You This Far.

Those of you who were conjugating verbs in High School along with me will "get" this...


Hablo español.
Appreciate the Bilingüe!

Perspective

The mission field is between your feet at any given time.

You Can Keep Your Crazy Kool-aid.

Yesterday- following a Sunday morning full of awesome, JOYFUL worship, I grabbed some lunch and laid down for "a few minutes". FIVE HOURS later, I woke up. The sun ran it's course as I was sleeping, which doesn't fare well for a normal sleep schedule. As you can imagine, I was still awake into the wee hours of the morning. So...I flipped on the T.V. as I tried to lull myself back to sleepyland. And then I saw IT.

Even in my early morning, droopy-eyed, restless delirium, I am not STUPID enough to buy into this.


Are you ready for YOUR miracle?
I hope you have "$1000 worth of faith!"

Quick Stop for Some Mad Props

I've got some friends that are FIERCE with a camera. Their wickedly awesome skills almost scare me. (Check out Beth Hutton's blog, for example, to see what I mean!)

To get you in the "mood" for fall, here are some shots snapped by the wonderfully talented Randall Gee:





He's making pumpkins the new sexy.

I Shall Return Soon...

Do not be dismayed, friends, by the BRIEF hiatis I'll be taking- I am off to Sacramento for the California Credential Analysts & Counselors conference (note the alliteration!) and I'll be away from the computer until Thursday night. Sooooo, in the meantime you can satiate your thirst for fabulous blogging by:


1) Reading some old posts from my archives! :)

2) Check out some of my cool friends on the sidebar. Some of them post regularly. Don't know where to start in your blog-stalking? Start with Bobby Marchessault or Carlos Whittaker. Good stuff on both.

3) Take a break from the computer and GO DO SOMETHING OUTSIDE! The weather is stinkin' beautiful.

Admit it...you'll miss me.

Lessons from a Desperate Housewife.

I have a confession to make....
I watched "Desperate Housewives" for the first (and possibly last) time last night. It wasn't intentional, but my little TV has no cable and programming was slim-pickings on Sunday night. As with any hour-drama, there are a billion subplots occuring at the same time. One such storyline involved Teri Hatcher and her very pretty TV husband. Teri's teenage daughter was interested in attending a party, which later became a cause of contention. Teri's new husband did not want her to go to this party, and to keep a united front with her hubby, Teri insisted that her daughter refrain from attending the hoopla. Well, in an effort to remain the "cool mom," she later went behind her husband's back and permitted her daughter (in secret) to go to the party. As you can imagine, things got uglier from there.

The original intention here was to keep a united front, however, one half of the front was not fully committed. Because of this, the entire decision was negated in the eyes of that teenage girl. As I was reading this morning in Ephesians, I was reminded of the importance of unity within the church.

"We will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does it's own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." -Eph 4:15-16

When I make a poor decision, not only is that a reflection on me, but it hinders the purpose of the church. It shows that I'm not committed. It shows that it's not worth the sacrifice. It shows that hypocrisy runs in the veins of the church. And it's not that I claim to be perfect- I am most certainly not. I ask myself: AM I contributing to the united front of Christ's message, or am I hindering it? When people look inside the figurative "windows" of the church, what do they see?

Do they see bickering amongst one another? Usually what people hear about us (the church) is that we are fighting amongst ourselves.
Are they arguing about what style of music we should worship with?
Are they griping about the way the message is presented?
Are they complaining about how much they have to surrender?

Or do they see imperfect people trying to mold their character into that of Christ? If someone stumbles, the church is the place to be picked up and set back on track towards the Lord.

IS UNITY a big deal to God? YOU BET! It's not something that just sounds nice- for Christians to have a heart toward oneness- but it's very vital in God's economy, and it is the KEY INGREDIENT in us magnifying Him with the loudest possible voice. I'm confident that God LOVES it when His kids praise Him harmoniously.

It's all about the MAC.

See...dogs don't like PC's, either.

Bring on the Funk.

This is the best commercial. Ever.


Now, go spread the robot love.

BLT and BFL

A couple random thoughts to throw your way today (as if you needed any more thoughts cluttering your head...)
First, I ordered a sandwich for lunch today (a BLT with Avocado, to be exact) and the server/food service attendant/whatever-you're-supposed-to-call-them asked me if I wanted Lettuce and Tomato on my sandwich. I thought to myself, "that's a funny question, since the lettuce and tomato compose two-thirds of the BLT and are, therefore, the essence of the sandwich.") I didn't even have time to answer before the guy working next to her said, "It's a BLT. Duh." She seemed really surprised by this, and defended her original question. "Maybe not everyone wants lettuce and tomato." It is my personal opinion that if it's in the title, then you can assume that I want it- unless I state otherwise. For example, "I want an order of Spaghetti and meatballs...with no meatballs."

I would, incidentally, never say that. Meatballs are awesome.

So as I was enjoying my BLT WITH lettuce and tomato, I found this little ditty on the comp. Ben Folds is kinda quirky, but this song just makes me happy. If you love a good, 'ol fashioned hootenanny, take a listen. And have a great Wednesday.




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Outtakes from S-Town

Here's some of our "less sophisticated" pictures from our visit to First Baptist last Sunday. As you can see, Chris had a lot of fun on the tour!

Karen adds some adornment to Chris' coif in the Bridal Room.

It's Spiderman! In flip-flops!

Daniel and Anne-Marie take a run down the walkway.

We discovered a wrestling ring on our visit to the youth center....it's ON!

I won't say who "won" that match. : (

Anne-Marie may have been a little disturbed by our wrestling antics. Good thing Auntie Karen was around!

Chris ditches his successful wrestling career to take up the snack business. "Would you like a pop?"

Freedom.

Today, I made my final payment on a credit line I've had since college.
Ooooh, that feels good.

For the record, Gateway sucks.

Nor to the Cal

Just some more pictures from our many stops in Northern Calfornia. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all my wonderful friends who joined us for some of the action!

Chris' first glimpse of the UOP Tower.

We enjoyed a fun dinner at Garlic Brothers on the Delta with the Conner family (that's Scott, Aiden, Kim and baby Conner on the way!)

Mi familia was there, too.

Off to First B on Sunday morning. Praise God for the blue skies that came out to join us!

Grandma and Cliff came up to visit with us on Sunday afternoon.

We had lots of company at Valley Brew!

Here's some more of my favorite people!

At the State Capitol in Sacramento, I did some tree-hugging...

...and some Chris-hugging before we were off to the airport.

Not Your Mother's Religion

An interesting article appeared in this month's issue of Worship Leader Magazine. It was hinged on the characteristics of the Millenial generation (born 1978-2000) and their approach to religion/spirituality. In light of my previous studies with Millenials (the students in my classes fall into this category), I found the following bulletpoints interesting:

*They perceive religion to be a choice and not an obligation

*Religious labels, including denominational identifications, are relatively unimportant to them.

*They are typically tolerant of other people's beliefs and, in fact, enjoy the variety of different religious practices they see on campus. (ummm...obviously they aren't talking about THIS campus.)

*Religious authority is internal rather than located in some external source, such as the hierarchy of a church.

*They see more value in religious experience than in a codified set of beliefs.

*They affirm the idea of being on a religious journey rather than embracing a static set of beliefs and practices.

*If they join a religious group, they are more interested in the authenticity of people- their honesty, openness, and humility- than they are in an authoritarian presentation of the truth.

*They have no problem being eclectic in their religious taste, which sometimes includes creating their own hybrid religious identities.

*They want to make a diffference in the world and therefore believe that religion should address issues of justice and equality.

Can you relate to this generation?

Pastor Jim celebrates 20 Years

I saw many of you Stockton-ites this weekend as I joined the festivites in honor of Pastor Jim's 20th year of service at First Baptist, Stockton. Pastor Jim has been an influential part of my life, from baptizing me in 4th grade, to offering wise counsel and entrusting me with leadership. Under his guidance, I came to know the Lord and practice disciplines that have grown me spiritually.



It was also good times introducing Chris to my friends and family back home. If you missed out this time around, we'll be back soon!

(Above: Daniel, Karen, Chris, Jamie and Randall.)

"Michael, 5K means 5 kilometers, not 5,000 miles."

THE OFFICE runs tonight.

Throw some tennies on...it's gonna be a fun run!

Balancing on Suspended Pianos

It was a little tune from the group "Cool Hand Luke" that reminded me of my control issues as I was sitting in my office, meditating on these lyrics. They resonate with me. Perhaps, you too. (Incidentally, that's some wicked awesome cover art going on.)

"THE BALANCING ACT"

I've got to climb to the top
Never stop, until I reach it
Until I feel that I'm gold
And that I'm in control
Of life and my thought
When I'm not, I still preach it
Because they're all going to see
if I start to fall or lose control.
I'm losing control...of this

I've been balancing on suspended pianos
And trying to look composed
It makes the loudest noise when they begin to crash
With eyes on me, I force a laugh
You come to me and set me free

I cross my arms across my chest
This is not a gift I can accept
But I appreciate the sentiment
I've worked too hard for rightousness
To just lay down while you hand me this
And put my faith in something you call grace...from you.

I've been lost inside a cave without a lantern
At every sound I start to run
I feel my way around the dark without a pattern
If I would wait you'd come
to rescue me and sail away

I've been trying to learn what is from you.
Because I've been trying to learn what is freely given.

Get ready, S-town. I'm coming home.

I miss my family. I miss my friends.
And I miss this:



I need a good infusion of autumn in my life.

Getch'er hugs on!