Packing Up

When my wife and I moved from our first home (a double-wide mobile home). All of our worldly possessions could fit into a $19.95/day Uhaul truck. We did not have much that was our own and when we decided to move, we sold most of our furniture. Now the very idea of packing up our home (besides the emotional grieving of distance from our family and friends) is overwhelming. Simply contemplating how to box up the garage, I feel like the little girl who tries to eat a whale in Shel Silverstein's book of poems, Where the Sidewalk Ends. After all, the stuff we collect grows to fill (and over flow) the space we have available. So, I sit blogging instead of sorting. Reading instead of packing. It is actually kind of fun to simplify and downsize. Why do I think I need so much in life? Like Steve Martin's character in The Jerk, I hold on to the most obscure stuff; a thermos, a lamp, and for me its a collection of tin 50's memorabilia signs and a Darth Vader Slurpee collectors cup... I guess the really important stuff is not stuff at all. Its the people you get to do life with. The most important ones go with you and the rest can visit. Most of all, the moments of laughter and weeping, and times of outrageous fun and conversations of such depth. Our sharing of the very fabric of our lives and the substance of our souls, never really gets packed up or left behind. It all goes with us because it has left an indelible mark on our mind and a permanent impression on our hearts. That's what I will miss most. Its the frequency and proximity that I will mourn. But, my life has been changed and shaped by the people I've traveled with along the way. So much of those divine conversations and god-moments has been recorded in my journals. Now if I could only find those so I can pack them...

Physics Formulas and New Beginnings

I hated physics. There were so many formulas to memorize and, being a high schooler, I had much more important information to store in my small brain. Today some of that information still reigns. Primarily 80's music trivia. Like who sang "Com' on Eileen"? Or, the ever popular, "Pop Goes the World?" Yet, there was one formula or physics puzzle I was interested in. The trajectory of a rocket or missile. It just seems cool to figure out the path of a rocket or the place a missile would explode. I learned that a small change in the angle of trajectory caused a huge shift in the final destination of the rocket ship. In other words, a incremental change resulted in a radically different location. Today is a day of a new beginning. Not because I started to blog for the first time, rather, it is the day that my family's trajectory has radically changed. Our decision to step away from UP, a church we helped to launch over 7 years ago, has significantly altered our path in ministry. I just accepted an offer to join the staff community of One Life. It is a young church east of Sacramento in the growing city of Lincoln.

Moving the family from So. Cal. has been a very gut-wrenching and emotionally shaping experience. Having lived here my entire life surrounded by family, friends and a whole network of kingdom collaborators is a very safe, comfortable and affirming place to be. Yet, earlier this year Dawn and I both felt the pull of God to end a very crucial season of our life with University Praise Church Community and follow God into another place. We thought originally it was simply to "step out of the boat" of our comfort zone of UP and into a another church or non-profit in So. Cal. But, as conversations progressed and offers were extended to us, it seemed that God was leading even beyond So. Cal. With conversations and interviews up and down the West Coast and even beyond the Rockies, we sensed God unmooring us from our home.


My friend Dave Avanzino is an incredibly gifted artist and created this picture. It reminds me of when a small group of followers of Jesus (his disciples/students) were crossing a lake late into the night and thought they saw Jesus coming toward them walking on the water. One student, Peter, decided to get out of the boat and defy physics by walking on the water toward Jesus. He did not get very far without sinking, yet his decision is worthy of celebrating. He would rather leave a few footprints on the water than butt prints in the boat.

I guess I do not need to write novel first time out (though it is tempting). I'll continue later. Respond as you feel led. Blessings.