All in the family

So, it won't be long before the world knows the truth - the truth that my wife is a far better writer than I. But of course if you ever read this you'll know that I am not really a very accomplished, and definitely not a very disciplined writer. I'm much more of a person who's just going to come out and say it rather than sit down and craft a well written comment on said subject.

But, I think it's safe to say, my wife is officially a blogger. My beautiful, blushing, bride, the pride of Syracuse, NY, Graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College with a Communication degree and vast experience as a Copywriter - she has begun her very own blog and you can check it out here.

Today, she made a post about our charming (read crazy) cat and his adventures with our son's first haircut. Unclear? Check out her post and you'll understand, she does such a better job of telling the story. I know she's been feeling bad lately about not being able to be around as much - having to go back to work and all and leave Brennan home with me all summer - not feeling as if she's living up to all her responsibilities as mom. But it's stuff like this, the haircut, which she so obviously cared way more about than me, that just proves how great of a mom she is. Truly, if it had been up to me I'd have cut his hair weeks ago, but it would have been with the clippers I trim my beard with and there would have been no clippings left to save.

In many ways, I am blessed to be able to share my life with her and to have this awesome family. It's so nice to think that even though we were a family before (just the two of us) we REALLY feel like a family now that we have Brennan. And Bridgette is such a great mom, that there's no one I'd rather be having a family with...

"What kind of man will I be?"

The more time I spend with Brennan at home, the more I ponder those types of questions for him. I mean, what will he like, what will he dislike. What will he excel at, where will he fail? What will he do with his life? And what kind of man will he be?

I think that's the big one. I mean, whether he'll be a garbage man or a senator, it's all kind of moot. It matters so much more what KIND of man he will be. Will he be honest, trustworthy, hardworking and sincere? Those are the types of characteristics I hope to help him to learn (many in spite of me most likely).

Which leads me to another question I've been pondering lately - what kind of man will I be? I've got 1 more year here, more like 11 months and I know I'm not ready. I know I'm not ready yet to be a pastor, to serve others in that capacity. And instead of asking what subjects I want to learn about, I'm thinking more and more about the kind of man I want to be in a year, and therefore what kinds of things I need to be doing to become that man. Stuff like being more disciplined, listening better, caring more - the kind of stuff that falls under the heading of "submitting to the Lordship of Chirst"...

Learning to Appreciate the "L" word

In years past - many, many years past - I was introduced to the concept of a lectionary. Actually, more accurately, I was introduced to the idea of preaching from a lectionary. Coming from a church and a background which (at least more recently) preached with far differing rhythms, I found the idea of a lectionary, well useless. It seemed to eliminate the reliance on the Holy Spirit, it seemed to downplay the use of the mind of the preacher to dicipher what was appropriate at a given time or season in the church or community and most of all it smelled of top-down, beuracratric popery!

Now, I have to take a moment here to step aside and point out that these many years ago when first I was introduced to the idea of preaching from a lectionary, I was quite young, arrogant and foolhardy. You might ask if there is any difference between then and now - and I can honestly say that I am much older now - the rest hasn't changed that much, no. I have also broadened my perspective and vision in regard to the Bible, Church History and the work of the Holy Spirit since then. Oh, and I don't hate the pope... but the Colonel - ah, I hate the Colonel, with his wee beady eyes! He puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes you crave for it nightly! "Ohhh, you're gonna buy my chicken..."

Got side-tracked a little there. What I was saying was simply that in the course of the past few years, I've gained a greater appreciation for the lectionary - the concept itself, and it's greater advantages. While I don't anticipate ever becoming a preacher who preaches from the lectionary exclusively, I still contend that there are a greater number of factors that should dictate what one preaches on than that book contains, I feel it is of much greater value. Particularly during the rest of the week. I had originally understood the lectionary to be simply a listing of chapters and verses for preaching from Sunday to Sunday. But that is far from the truth. I have since become aquainted with the fact that the lectionary actually has daily readings - for each day of the week.

My good friend Jeff recently reminded me that the PC(USA) has a link to this on their website and so I've slowly began incorporating it into my daily routine. VERY slowly. But I've realized that it's a great way to get a breadth of Scripture read and that if follows sequentially so that you're reading through both Old Testament and New Testament passages from day to day and not simply jumping around. I think there's definitely some value in it, simply to keep you reading. There are both Morning and Evening Psalm readings as well as OT, NT and Gospel readings. Currently the readings are from Numbers, Romans & Matthew - and it's neat to draw comparisons across the books.

Anyway, this is what I'm trying learning to appreciate right now. If I could only get up consistently early enough to read and pray for it to become a good habit and replace one of those lazy, bad habits I've picked up over my 28 years...

Busy, busy, busy

So, since the computer went down and we got this new one, we've been to Canada & D.C., hosted Bridgette's family from L.A. in between - along with 2 different couples whom we went to school with, and of course helped a new couple move to CRW. It's been a whirlwind last two weeks or so and it's not about to stop anytime soon. We have t-minus 23 days until we move across the courtyard into a 2 bedroom (which is LONG overdue) and just 5 days after that we will be on a plane to L.A. for two weeks. Oh yeah, did I mention that we will be hosting family (my sister & brother, and Bridgette's sister and 3 kids) for two separate weeks before we move?

Now, sometime in there we're supposed to get our apartment ready for the short move - not a small task when we sometimes feel we're so crammed in here we can't move. And I also need to begin studying for my Ordination exams which come smack dab, right after we return from Los Angeles in August. I say all this not to bore anyone, but as kinda the reason for the fact that this blog has been and may continue to be somewhat stagnant. It's not just the loss of the computer, although that was a significant factor. But as I spend most of the day between trying to entertain Brennan and trying to get normal household stuff accomplished like dishes, laundry, sweeping and simply eating my lunch, I sometimes don't have the energy or the inspiration to write. Hopefully that will change, but I see no rhythm being established in the next 2.5 months so who really knows?

But I can say this without equivocation - I love my son and despite the difficulties it has been a joy to be able to be with him so far this summer and I wouldn't have exchanged this for anything and I'm still looking forward to the rest of the summer and the rest of the time I get to be with him. Now if I could only get him to take more than a half hour nap...