What i like about you...

had a moment the other day when it hit me.

i love church.

through the years i have realized that even when i struggled with my place, my purpose, lack of leadership, difference of idea, strategy...all these issues, my love for the bride has really never been shaken.

the connections we have made remain pure and wondrous. even now, after 6 months, we love it here, it really feels like home. and for us, home is where we are.

the bride still amazes me. made up of people who are different, carrying agenda, afraid, not transparent, doubters, sinners, saints, liars and leavers, righteous, holy, truth seekers, lost, far from God, and followers of the way. she is truly my delight.

all this came in a moment when i saw 2 people who i had never met. they smiled and said "hello, we are so glad to see you today."

she is beautiful in all her ways, the vehicle He has chosen to change the world. full of moderns, post-moderns, emergent, traditional, contemporary, liturgical, old school, and new school. marvolous, and full of opportunity and power. the very hand, feet and heart beat of the great God of Israel.

yea, i love her.

thoughts?

amish road blocks

been a while since i posted anything. not sure who follows, if you do, sorry.

this past month has been a bit freaky. best way to describe it would be darkness. it settled in, and i found it difficult to feel my way through it. heavy, like an old blanket from grandmas house. heavy, and familiar.

light has returned and there is a sense of ease now.

today was a great day. had lunch with a friend, and lost myself in the countryside. rode miles and miles. soaking in the beauty, lifting my face toward the sun, enjoying the warmth on my face, and like a plant who needed water, life began to return. i rode for miles and miles.

today was also my first "cant get around the Amish horse and buggy cause the road was real curvy" day. so rather than try and rush, i lost myself in this thought. simplicity.

when the road straightened out, i slowly pulled around, caught the old man eye, and we both waved. he with his long beard and hat, sitting in a God knows how old buggy being pulled by a single horse, and me, sitting atop about 110 horses...who i like to call Mavis.

i watched him as he disappeared in my rear view mirror, and wondered about his life. i became envious of him to a point. he probably gets up at the but crack of dawn, works hard each day, living in simplicity with his family. the economic crisis is prolly not as important as it is to me, gas prices most likely did not enter into his mind, nor did the housing market.

me, i lust for an iPhone, bigger, faster computers, heated clothing for my winter rides, more money in the bank, lower gas prices and a new Harley. not sure i am very excited about how my life has become about stuff.

i am thankful for an old guy in a buggy who slowed me down a bit today. thankful for the beauty of a fall day and a PA countryside that displays the glory of a great God. thankful for life and family. thankful for a hope and freedom that will not be denied, no matter how hard i try.

yea, Amish road blocks. did i mention that the by product of a horse driven buggy?