Hello? Is Anybody In Here?

It has been unbelievably quiet in our little corner of the blog universe. Most of us haven’t posted anything in more than a month, me included. So I’m throwing this out there in hopes of reigniting the activity that once was.

This has been a good summer, and year, so far. I have done a lot of stuff and met quite a few new people. Some of which I hope will be long-term friends. Much of my activity this summer has been spawned by the people in FaithWorks, my Bible study group; nearly all of whom I didn’t know prior to the start of 2005.

I have really busied myself with this FaithWorks group. Which if you don’t know is a 20’s and 30’s ministry at my church, that I had a hand in sparking and getting organized. I don’t do much in terms of leading studies and organizing events and such things. What I’ve found myself doing is keeping the church aware of what we are doing and trying to let people know we exist in hopes of growing our numbers. As a result I have become the ‘face’ of the group. I have taken it upon myself to submit a weekly 'blurb' in the bulletin, and I also maintain a blog for the group.

People I barely know have been coming up to me and talking to me, which is a hard thing for me to get used too. I’ve been getting emails from our pastor on a variety of topics. I still haven’t gotten used to seeing his name pop up in my inbox. I received a phone call from the congregation president asking if I’d be willing to serve as an elder,…no thanks. I received a call from someone I think is a ‘leader’ in congregation asking if I’d be willing to be a small group leader/mentor for the confirmation class thing called ‘Head to Heart’. The guy said ‘I know you’re active in the young adult ministry. You are exactly the type of person we’re hoping to see involved here’…I don’t know about that. I have to do some thinking and praying on this one.

I have done two things this summer that I probably wouldn’t have given any real thought to a year ago. Both of these things are the result of ‘seeds’ being planted in my head at the Alive 05 festival, which by the way was unbelievably cool. One of the speakers that was there asked everyone who considered themselves to be a Christian to stand…being a Christian music festival pretty much everyone stood up with some level pride. Next he said ‘if can recite 1 verse of the Bible, and a explanation of its meaning and context, for every year you have been a Christian, stay standing'. Well needless to say nearly everyone sat down. After talking to a couple of my friends, and listening to a couple other speakers make similar points in their presentations, we decided to challenge each other to read the Bible over the next year. We found a plan that will get us through the readings in one year. We started on July 1. Already I’ve been surprised by what I already knew, but was unable to place it in any kind of context. So far it's going well. I've missed a day here and there but was bale to catch up. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up.

Also at Alive 05 they had several displays set up for Compassion International. This is a Christian organization where you can sponsor a kid in an impoverished part of the world and make a monthly donation to help that kid, and community, be able to get the things they need (food, clean water, basic health care, education, all in a Christian environment). They had many ‘commercials’ throughout the festival for this. I started talking to one of our Deacons, one of our Pastors, and a couple others who have knowledge of this sort of thing, and yes I did some praying about it. It’s probably obvious to you, but I decided that this is something I should do. The thing that surprised me is that I decided to sponsor two kids: aboy from Guatemala and a girl from Ecuador. I have a lot more information if you’d like to learn more. I will fill you in periodically on how it’s going.
I was also exposed to different ideas and theories at this festival. We’ll see if any of those lead me to action. Those theories fall under such topics as technology, music performance, and dating. Lots of material there, for another blog. Maybe even several blogs.

Completely unrelated to all this I have decided to do is take a photography class. I'm hoping to learn how to take better pictures. I already enjoy photography and looking at other peoples work. I'd like to learn the techniques and tricks for taking better photos. I'll let you know how it goes. This also means having to buy a new camera, since my old one bit the dust.

Outside of all this, I have spent the last few months trying to get myself ‘up to speed’ in my new job. When I think I’m just about there I get hit with a new project and I feel like I don’t know anything. This has been a good learning experience for me, but I don’t really feel like I have a good footing yet. Maybe that’s good, I don’t know.

On another topic, tomorrow is my birthday. Does anybody else find it hard to believe that I am now in my mid-thirties? It seems so weird to even say that. This fact has definitely caused me to reflect on my life and the things I’ve done and not done. The conclusion I’ve reached thus far is that yes, there are things I wish were different about me and my life, but all in all I’m pretty happy with where I’m at.

Alright that’s enough for this entry. Ok everyone, get out there and start blogging again!!!