A new direction-many of them

Hey All--

If you have visited this blog in the past you are in for a change... I've moved the blog for One Life Church to a new spot. It is now called "one life together". It will be a collaborative experience for those who have a connection with One Life Church.

This re-imagined blog will be a place for a wider conversation and will truly reflect my life of scribbling. If you have ever eaten lunch with me or been in my office you would see that I scribble a lot. Napkins, yellow pad and dry erase boards are my friends. I even have an app on my iPhone that allows me to scribble there, in color!

Scribbling could be with a pen or pencil, like I used to do on the cover of my PeeChee folders at El Dorado High School. Or they can be short bursts of concentrated thought on a particular subject, like this blog. See I just scribbled about scribbling.

I am fascinated by life and in particular people, technology, spirituality and philosophy. I also plead guilty to a number of guilty pleasures, namely pop culture and 80's trivia ("Bueller, Bueller, anyone?").

So, first question: Do you doodle or scribble? What have you scribbled lately?

P.S. I've included a few past posts that share some of my life story and our recent journey to Nor. California from behind the Orange Curtain (Orange County, CA)

Trail Head

A few weeks ago I shared about envisioning a pathway for spiritual formation for our families. It is less about a formula and more about a shared road of God-experiences. This is not to say that we do not have a plan, its just that the plan is a beginning point. Like a trail head.

A few weeks back I have a week with two of my sons. We do this every few years. I spent the first half of the week with my middle son and then the latter half with the eldest. We went hiking a few days (a different trail with each boy). We found each trail head and started there. Sometime we stayed only on the trial, sometimes we ventured off a bit to get, what we thought, was a better view.

The passage that serves as inspiration is Deut. 6:1-9. It is a picture of a whole life filled by God's good presence, experienced throughout each day in the most ordinary ways. A few of you asked for the short prayer we shared together. Is it simple way to begin each morning individually or as a family. It again finds the inspiration from Deuteronomy:

[4] Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [5] Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. [6] These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. [7] Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

As you rise, we God and others in your home, join in a prayer of receiving the day:

Thank you God, for this day. I receive it as a gift. This is a one-time opportunity. Help me to live it well. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Grace and Peace,

Troy