A Sign of the Times

As I was driving down the road the other day, I witnessed one of the creative ways people are trying to make money in these difficult ecomonic times:

Unfortunately, I saw this on a Sunday, but I think it’s so creative that I will probably go back this weekend and spend the $4.  Wouldn’t it be great if people saw this obscure blog posting and decided to take a ride in the country to support a local farm?  If you’re so inclined, you’ll find the baby lamb at Big Timber Road and U.S. Route 20 near Hampshire, IL.

I’d Like to Thank the Academy

I have not won a little statue or otherwise recognized by my peers for some achievement, but never the less, tonight I am thankful.  As we go through this particular phase of our journey, I am amazed almost on a daily basis the amount of people thinking of and praying for us and encouraging us along the way.  The list is too long, and I’ll never get all the names out before the orchestra starts playing me off, but be assured that we are so very thankful for each any every person who has offered their encouragement to us.

God bless each and every one of you.

Tweets from your Shepherd

I haven’t read it yet, but I’m anxious to check out Anthony Coppedge’s new eBook, “The Reason Your Church Must Twitter”, which just came out today.

Someone asked me today what value Twitter might have to a smaller church, especially one who’s congregation might struggle with the Twitter vision.  I think that’s an excellent question, and as I pondered it, I thought about the shepherd analogy that has been used for centuries in the church.  Our pastors are the ’shepherds’ of the local church.

When Jesus was with his disciples, we see a true example of shepherding.  Just as a shepherd eats and sleeps with his flock, so too did Jesus and his disciples spend their time together.  He was there every day teaching them and guiding them in the direction he wished for them.

It seems our modern model for shepherding is to meet with the sheep for about an hour once a week to encourage them in the direction they should go.  As a parent, I think about how hard it is to shepherd a toddler through the grocery store.  It seems success comes only with constant vigilance, sort of like the constant vigilance Jesus had with his disciples, and even then it seems that the disciples didn’t always get the message.

If constancy is key to successful shepherding, it would seem that using tools such as Twitter may help our local shepherds be more successful in building guiding relationships with their flocks.

A Little Christmas Prose from Haley

Haley brought home a writing assignment from school yesterday.  She had to complete the sentence and write a story about it:

If Rudolf Ate Our Front Door Wreath…

He would have to barf…so he did.  When my mom came out and saw that her wreath was gone…and the she saw the barf!  And she screamed!  And the dog came with my dad [we don't have a dog -ed.] and he was sad a little.  And then my dog came and like the barf!  And my sister came an she like some too!  And then she said, “Yummy it tasted like pickles and olives!” (She like pickles and olives)  But I do not.  So my mom and me went to the mall to buy a new wreath.  It was a nice one too.  And it never happened again.

The end.

I’m a little worried about the facination with barf, but at least her spelling was quite excellent.

Four Weeks to Live

I have four weeks to live.

Sort of.

My father asked me yesterday if I had made any resolutions for 2009, and honestly, I have not.  My life has been on an emotional roller coaster for most of 2008, and I have been so focused on this ‘ride’ that I have not allowed myself to focus on the big picture, or even 2009.  I’m focused on the next four weeks.

2008 has been a very tumultuous year for everybody, including me.  The first half of the year was consumed with one rumor after the next about the future of the company I worked for.  Then, in August, right it middle of my first real vacation in five years, right on Haley’s birthday, I get the text message:  my company’s been acquired.  I found out when I returned that our new owners were graciously extending six month employment contracts to those of us seen in supporting roles while they determined what our futures would be.  That contract ends in four weeks, and I’ve been told that there will not be a position for me with the company going forward.  In the fifteen minutes invested in learning what it is that I have or could contribute to the company, they were able to determine that they didn’t need me.

On one hand, this does bruise the ego a bit.  I think of all that I’ve accomplished over the past four years, the knowledge I’ve acquired, the plans I have and the potential I bring, all of that has been ascribed a very expendible value to the new organization.  Frankly, it hurts a bit, but I learned my lesson a long time ago: No one (not even ME) is irreplaceable.

As I have been processing all of this over the past few months, I recognize many of the same emotions associated with grief: shock, pain, anger, depression, and hope.  I am grieving over this job that’s ending in four weeks.  I’m sad for all of the untapped potential left on the table.  I’m angry that some have been offered the opportunity to continue with the company.  I’m depressed because it seems my ‘value’ was determined with little to no effort by the new company.  And yet, I have hope.

Hope has been the hardest to hold on to.  The timing of this couldn’t be any worse: every day I hear news of how our national economy has hit another low comparable to the Great Depression.  As the sole ‘bread winner’ of my family, this is the worse possible time to be out of work.  Frankly, without my income, my family will be forced down a path that no one ever wishes for their family, and yet, I have hope.  I have to have hope.  My sleepless nights and most of my days are filled with prayer, clinging to hope.  My entire life I have professed a faith that I have tried to guide my life by.  Lately, that faith is being tested like never before, and it is a scary, painful process.  I’m being forced to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.  Jeremiah 29:11 says

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Right now I am clinging to that promise because I simply must.  For the past six months I have been walking down a path that leads to a very unpleasant door, one that I no desire to walk through.  I’ve been on this path before, back in 2001, and I had to walk through that door, and I did not like it one bit.  I resent being in this spot yet again, but this time the stakes are even higher. I have been working my tail off to find an alternative to that door, and to this point, none have surfaced.  I know that my plans for the future and my definition of ‘harm’ may be quite different from that of the One who has made the plans for me.  I think it is that difference that scares me the most.  After all, financial devastation will most likely not physically harm me, but I imagine it won’t be too good for my emotional well-being, or that of my family.

So, I’m on a journey.  One that will drastically change one way or another within the next four weeks.  I am both hopeful and excited on one hand, and scared and worried on the other hand to see what unfolds.  This is the roller coaster that is my life, and I’m ready for a new ride.

Holy Cow, it’s COLD!

I saw this sign briefly on NBC’s broadcast of the Winter Classic yesterday. What I didn’t realize at the time was that it’s our great friends Butch and Kim holding the sign! It seems they came up with the right catch phrase, as their sign was mentioned in the AP wire story, and picked up by news sites across the country.

I’m glad I recorded it!

Multimedia message

Multimedia message

Originally uploaded by Bradc314

Not sure how i feel about the new design

Retooning the Nativity

“Get Back to Work!!”

Okay, this will not be the most sensitive post I’ve ever made, but maybe that’s due to my current set of circumstances.

Yesterday morning on my way to work I passed by the construction site of a new restaurant in our town.  We’ve been looking forward to this being completed for some time, but it looks like there might be a snag.  In the 10 degree weather I saw four guys picketing the construction site.

Now, I think labor unions have played an important role in establishing worker’s rights, etc., but more often than not, I wonder if they have outlived their usefulness.  I think about those four guys standing there in the cold.  I’m sure they think they have a legitimate complaint about some such thing, but then I think about the 500,000 people who lost their jobs last month.  I think about the nice people who lost their jobs when the local Kwik-E-Mart abruptly closed last week. I think about the fact that it looks like I’ll be out of work come February.  Whatever complaint those four guys represent seems like it would be just so trivial to those hundreds of thousands without work.

So, I couldn’t help myself:  I rolled down my window and yelled, “GET BACK TO WORK”.  At least while they have that option.

Leading worship or Putting on a concert?

The thought occurs to me as I listen to the band rehearse for this weekend’s services: Are we leading worship, or just putting on a concert?

We have very talented singers and musicians, but they are struggling with a new arrangment for “Angels We Have Heard on High”. If they are struggling, how will the congregation do without the benefit of music to follow? They will attempt to sing the carol they have been familiar with for years, which of course is not what the band is playing. So, they’ll end up lost, and just stand there listening to a nice concert.

Is that the point?