The Blog, the hot water, and the Decaf...

This is an outstanding game we have played a lot at Jr. High. It is called, "Criss-Cross-Crash..." for more information, please e-mail me... So, I'm still not sure about this whole blog thing. I enjoy writing it. I think it is like journaling if you used to be a famous writer or something; some people will read it, I'm writing in this pseudo-objective-I have something to say about Life that is worth reading-but, still kind of personal-style. The other English Majors who peruse my Blog will have a field day with that sentence!

Anyway, while I will still be buying a motorcycle; it looks like the Nighthawk will not be the one (featured on the last blog). When I sit on one I can't turn without getting my knee out to the side... Kind of defeats the whole, "I look and feel cool and free riding my motorcycle." So, Ed talked me into a 750 Shadow VLX. The wife is scared, but we have put down rules that will hopefully keep her sleeping at nights until she is more confident in my skills. I did lay down a sport bike 3 weeks before we got married; she isn't just being "that wife".

The Great Thing about Criss-Cross-Crash is that afterwards I got to share the gospel with those kids. I wish it were that easy with my basketball team! It reminds me of why I love my job; we get to crash kids into each other, and somehow that is the ground we need to stand on to then tell them about the Lord!

As I think about going back to school (seminary) I think of how much I will miss being on the front lines of ministry. This is why I am taking one class at a time currently. I cannot (yet?) imagine not hanging out with the Dane Stole's (8th grader) of the world. Dane thinks for himself, his parents come from very different religious backgrounds, and he has incredibly good taste in music (including his own band: Tuxedo Park). I want to hang out with guys like Dane, I love that I have a job that encourages me to find guys like Dane, convince him that I care about him simply because he exists, and then, if possible, tell him about the Lord.

There is more to it than that (isn't there always?). I am still pretty cocky about my own knowledge and abilities in vocational ministry... There was an electronic debate at the other church (the one that planted my church) over sabbath keeping and worship. Sabbath keeping is one of my favorite subjects lately because I am studying it in my own time... Yet this discussion did not appeal to me. Too many 'ication' words. Too many "I don't know too much... but, let me regurgitate the history ofthe church's keeping of the sabbath and then tell you my opinion mixed in..." Let's talk about something real: can we talk about hearts? How are they doing? No, really, our hearts... your's and mine. How do we ask others if we are not asking ourselves? Are we encouraging the hearts of our congregation? Are we loving well? What does it mean to love well? I recognize that there must be good theology under-girding what we do, but how much do we really have to talk about it? Because when we talk about it we lose most our listeners. It was certainly curious that only those with Masters of Divinity degrees responded to this debate. Am I cynical because I am on the outside or am I cynical because that language doesn't make sense anymore? As I am learning-it is probably both of those and some other reasons thrown in for good measure!

I have been at Kayak's now for almost four hours. I had a good house Group meeting, one mocha, one cup of Half-Decaf/Half Regular, and now I am working on a Half-Water/Half-Decaf and blogging. Do I have anything worthwhile to say? That is up to the Anonymous readers...

Nighthawk

This is the motorcycle that I will hopefully be riding by the end of the week. I'm crossing my fingers (and the nub with a regular finger) that my parents won't find out until I have it. The deal is (with Rachel, my wife), that I cannot take other people and I cannot ride on the highway. I think that that is very fair.

So, the blog... It is hard to blog. My laptop is the only computer at my disposal which will allow me to blog. But, it is fun; even when some of your friends use it to flirt with each other electronically.

So, why a motorcycle? The ad on the Honda Web-site says something like, "This is rel freedom and adventure..." or something like that... "real life". I've taken some counseling classes, I read everything John Eldredge writes; one would think I wouldn't be a sucker for the ad. I am. I want to feel the way I feel riding a motorcycle (Iahve ridden one before... in fact, wrecked one right before my wedding!) ; even if it is just on the way to work once or twice a week. I want to 'feel' Wild at Heart, not just 'be'... Whatever that means...

My wife is pregnant, and so I certainly wonder whether I am attempting to compensate for the loss of my youth. I don't think so. All I am, is excited about the baby, and I do not feel that my life philosophy should change. I know I know I know... All people with children will tell me that my life will change, forever, more than I could imagine (insert big sigh for emphasis)... All I mean is, I hope I'm living the right way regardless of whether or not we have a child. I don't see buying or not buying a motorcycle as a good or bad decision based upon those things.

My car broker likes to talk about 'emotional decisions' that people make when they don't buy what he would consider a reliable automobile. Yet, he is freely willing to admit that he feels emotional every time he gets to drive a Subaru WRX-STI. I think John Piper, Jonathan Edwards, Pascal, etc. would contend that that is why we do things anyway. Even if we are buying the most reliable car on the planet (like the one I recently bought my wife), isn't that still an emotional decision? Whether it is logical, smart, frugal, and or stewardly I am certainly doing what will make me happy (or my perception of that).

What the heck am I talking about? One of the big questions: what are the desires of my heart and how do I follow them. I am not quite yet cocky enough to think I have answers to even half of the questions that gnaw my heart, but I know that to question my desires has always helped me. I find the deepest parts of my heart there (embedded in my desires), I make sure that I am listening to them and not to some addiction or passing fancy, then I try to follow them. The result: a cheap, but kind of cool-looking motorcycle...