well over a month

It has been well over a month since my/our last post. Christin and I were in Detroit over the weekend. We were helping in the 29th annual St. Lucia breakfast that our old church held. Since 1980, Faith Covenant Church has held a series of breakfasts honoring the heritage of the Evangelical Covenant Church. That heritage is one of Sweden. The breakfast is actually four breakfasts and the easiest way to describe them is dinner theater for breakfast. There is singing, bell playing, an orchestra, children dancing, and lots of carbohydrates...er...food. Coffee flows from six in the morning until two in the afternoon. And a nap is sorely in order at the close of the day. It is an amazing time that for many signals the beginning of the holiday season in our community. At least it did. Many of the old patrons of the celebration have either passed on or moved on and no longer attend. The younger members of our congregation seem not to feel as drawn to it as the originators of the program. This is sad in that it means that we will most likely drop one of the four breakfasts to reduce the overall strain on the volunteers. Maybe it will be a good thing and one that the workers will be happy to have. Or maybe it will signal that it is time for St. Lucia to come to a close at Faith Covenant Church in Farmington Hills Mi. Next year will be the thirtieth anniversary and could very well be an appropriate time to end it. This would be very sad to many who have poured so much into the preparation and maintenance of the festival. But sometimes, in God's Kingdom, one mission needs to end so others can be born and have a place to grow.

New favorite procrastination

My new favorite procrastination (cause I need one) is Failblog. It is a little raunchy, but overall, it depicts random failures of businesses, people, and things. Normally I would not condone laughing at other peoples failures, on the contrary, I want to lift and encourage people. But, this site exhibits mistakes that are made because of a lack of paying attention to detail or generally making bad decisions. I was introduced to the site by a friend when he posted a video of a failed log throw on his blog. The guy is fine, but shaken. Most of the pics are of misplaced signs from businesses, similar to Jay Leno type ads and pictures. Hope you enjoy. Peace and here's to not getting anything done for awhile!

3 posts in a month... but 1 from me

Hi all! Welcome to my first ever blog post. My name is Christin and I'm a first time blogger. I know - shocker. I'm not really sure what I'm doing, so we'll see if this works. Keep your fingers crossed.
Jon has kept y'all updated the last few months. I honestly forget that we have a blog.

It's finally becoming more cool out and I'm so excited! I love the changing of seasons. I could never live in an area that only has one season. I love them all, but I must confess that Fall and Winter are my favorites. It's kind of funny that I love the darkest months of the year when I'm pretty sure I have a little seasonal depression. You'd think I'd love the summer then... but you'd be wrong. I love the clothing we get to wear in the colder months like jeans, sweaters, hoodies, and flannel PJ pants. I love the smell in the air when the leaves are changing color and falling, or on the morning of the first snow fall. It's incredible. Every time a season begins to change I am in awe of God's amazing and beautiful creation.

Now to change the subject. (Like my transition?) I recently read an article on CNN about a Christian bookstore. Although I have never heard of this bookstore, it's apparently one of the biggest in the country. This Christian bookstore carries a particular magazine and when the most recent edition of this magazine came out... the bookstore pulled it from its shelves. Why? What was so bad about this magazine that the bookstore pulled it and wouldn't sell it? I'll tell you. This edition had several female pastors on the cover. Female pastors. The store pulled the magazine off the shelves because female pastors were on the cover. The owners of the bookstore chain do not believe that women should be pastors.

Now, I do not like the term feminist because I don't like the connotations with that word, but I basically am. I am a FIRM believer that women are equal in our society. Women are perfectly capable of pastoring a church, just like a man is. I don't understand churchs who have rules that women can't be elders, can't preach, can't achieve any level of leadership above teaching grade school Sunday School classes. Women can't teach adults? I know I am a leader and I thrive in leadership roles. God created me to be a leader in different areas. I used to be a teacher and I taught adults in some of my classes. I was a team captain in Mission Year on a coed team. Was that wrong? Am I disobeying God by leading in different areas of my life? I don't think so. I believe God gave me leadership gifts to use for His glory and I will continue to use them where He calls me to.

I believe that many women have been given gifts in many areas that may call them to work above (in a hierarchical structure) men and children. Is that wrong? Is that going against God? No. God calls women to leadership roles just as He calls men. If a woman can't teach an age above 5th grade, then should there be no female professors in colleges and universities? Should there be no head female chefs in restaurants? Should there be no lead female attorneys or judges? Should there be no women Senators or Representatives in the House? I believe that men and women are different, for sure, but both are created in the image of God. No person should take a position because they feel entitled to it or in order to prove a point. All people should do what they are good at and what brings them joy. If that's teaching Sunday School, male or female, then do it. If that's pastoring a church, male or female, then do it. Do what God created you to do and nothing less.

I realize I can get on a soapbox about these kinds of issues, and I know this sounds like a rant. Maybe it is. But I can't help but feel upset when I read these kinds of things. I am so glad I'm part of a denomination that accepts women and men at all levels of leadership.

2 posts in one month!!!

Wow, I am actually getting a post in here before the month is out. We are five weeks into the semester and I think that it is actually shaping up to be the best one ever. I have had four quizes in Greek and scored 30/30, 24.5/30, 27.5/30, and 28/30. I never scored that well last year, which is why I am trying it again, and I actually know what the heck is going on. This feels amazing. I can actually sit in class, follow the lecture and translate what I need to. The other classes are going well too, although, I do not have weekly quizzes to gauge my performance by like in Greek. I feel like I am doing well in the other courses though. I am accomplishing most of the reading, following the lectures and taking comprehensive notes and have an overall understanding of whats going on. I am nervous for the next couple of weeks though, I have multiple midterms or first exams in about two weeks. I expect to do very well on them, but I am still nervous about it.

Christin and I are doing well. It's kind of strange that when I am working harder on school and spending more time on it, the time that she and I are together is actually less, but better. Neither of us are stressed about whether or not I should be working. Alright, who am I kidding, when did I worry about getting something done? Christin is a lot less stressed about me getting everything accomplished, because she sees that I actually am getting things done. Overall, this semester is working out much better. Christin is an amazing, patient wife, and I am blessed to be able to have her as mine.

The annual Lund Lectures at the Seminary started yesterday. A professor from the U.K. spoke for roughly two hours about the connection of Romans 9-11 with the Wisdom of Solomon. Two hours of speaking to basically, as far as I can make out, conclude that grace is a gift, not a reward, bestowed on whomever God chooses. I know that there was more there, but I have not studied enough to really follow all that he spoke about yesterday. I sometimes sit at school and think to myself, are we over analyzing something that is not ment to be so stinkin difficult. Apparently this has been the nature of Biblical studies all along. The centuries have shown that humanity has been struggling with all types of aspects of Christianity, the Bible, and Jesus. I know that it is also no different for the Jews before us. They have whole books on the discernment of how to keep the law, and yet, it is still debated by some today. And what I am finding is that even learning a dead language or two is not going to really help the situation within my own understanding. It may help some, but I am still working with translating from one language into English, which is quiet frankly, barbaric in its conveyance of emotion and thought. I know that I am missing intentions of the authors when I try to ascribe an English word to an originally Greek thought or even worse, to Hebrew. The depth is not there. I know that earlier theologians working with an understanding drawn from living at that time, also struggled and wrestled with these concerns. This is not to say that I am not going to continue my studies, just that it is a reality check that I most likely will not gain some momentus insight that will change the face of Christianity as we know it, through my humble understanding of a dead language.

School again

Last week started the beginning of the 08/09 school year. I am enrolled in Intro to New Testament, Christian Heritage 1, Spiritual Direction and Solitude, and I am auditing Greek 1. So far I am off to a very good start thanks to a productive long weekend spent studying and relaxing with Christin. I feel extremely optimistic about this year and how well I am going to do. I know that I am going to have to work my butt off, but it will definitely be worth it in the end. This semester I am trying out an evening class, Heritage. In undergrad, my favorite classes were the evening ones and I always did well in them. There is something about meeting only once a week and being able to work on the reading the rest of the time. And I know that it doesn't hurt to be more of a night owl, as I am. I am definitely more awake and alert for the entire period, where I am still trying to see straight half way into the first hour of eight o'clock in the morning classes. There is not one class that I am more or less nervous about, all of them equally intimidate me and intrigue me. I will keep you posted as to how I am doing and possibly what I am learning in these courses.

August already

It is actually August. That means that its time for another post from the procrastinating poster. For seven weekends in a row, we were in Michigan, starting mid June through the last weekend in July. That was kind of crazy. It started and ended with weddings of friends of mine and there was a missions trip in there, camping, hanging out at the lake, and a bachelor party. Overall, it was great to see everyone that we did, but this last weekend, our first in Chicago, was awesome.
Christin and I went to Ravinia and saw/listened to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform pieces from your favorite film composer and mine, John Williams! They were amazing and the evening was amazing. If you have never been to Ravinia, check out the website. Its an open air pavilion with a lawn area to sit and picnic. The night that we went was gorgeous cool August evening and the orchestra was perfect. The first half of the concert were individual selections from the 1984 Olympic fanfare, ET, Close Encounters, Schindler's List, Jaws, and Raiders. The second half was all Star Wars, in chronological order of when they take place, not when they were released. They finished the evening with the theme from the Cantina as people cleaned up. On Saturday and Sunday I finished reading book seven of the Harry Potter series. Wow, I know that I am a year behind, but wow. That was an amazing ending to a great series. Also watched Juno, Good Will Hunting and Wall street this weekend. All very good but very different movies. Overall, it was a great weekend back in Chi town.

Post-a-month

Apparently I am going to post on our blog once a month. Go me for creating this thing. Last month Christin and I traveled to the Dominican Republic with the youth group from Faith Covenant in Farmington Hills Michigan. It was a truly amazing experience. Honestly. I have never traveled off of North America, and so that alone was kind of nerve racking, but I made it. I have also never really spent an extended amount of time with people who do not speak English. Christin and I were two of six leaders that took thirty students for a week long missions trip to the DR. We coordinated with Merge Ministries (http://www.covmerge.org/) who helped establish relationships for us before we got there. We served two churches in the Puerto Plato area of the DR through a works project in the mornings and a vacation bible school in the afternoons. I am so impressed, but not surprised, by the work ethic of our students. They were amazing. They painted, cleaned, shoveled cement, broke concrete, installed a new roof, and overall sweated harder than I think most of them ever have. Oh, and then they put on an amazing VBS after all of that! I am not going to put all of the details of our trip here, but it was an amazing experience and Christin and I did not want to come home, and I think that we would both still rather be there than here.

I am #1

This is an article copied and pasted from Wired.com. I started this blog with the anger/rant type of posts.

Jon

Secrets of the 7 Basic Blog Posts

By Lore Sjöberg 10 hours ago

According to some people, there are only 36 basic story plots that just get reused. Others say there are merely 20. Some people even say there's only one plot, but they probably just watch too many Michael Bay movies. I like the theory that there are only seven plots. It's a nice round number, and the plots are vague enough that you can shoehorn anything from Citizen Kane to a cereal commercial into them.

In the spirit of oversimplifying things so that you can smugly shove human endeavors into pre-labeled slots, I'd like to present my own, contemporary take on this premise: the Seven Basic Blog Posts.

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1. Be upset!

Terrible things are happening in one of the following: the world, the web or a television show you really like. Make a blog post about it! People will comment about how much they agree with you. Then they'll make their own blog posts about the subject, and other people will comment about how much they agree with them. If we all work together we'll learn that we can make a real impact on our pageviews.

2. Buy a thing!

For too long, the mainstream media have shoved advertising down our throats. It's time for us to take the reins of mass communication and shove advertising down each other's throats! If we both see the same overproduced movies and lust after the same overpriced devices, then maybe the bitter wind of loneliness won't bite quite so fiercely.

3. Animals are cute!

Nobody likes animals when they act like animals. Videos of a cat snapping a robin's neck don't go big. No, we like animals when we can convince ourselves that they're just like us, only with worse spelling. For the purposes of this category, animals also includes babies and children younger than 8.

4. People are dumb!

Try this: Put up videos of yourself volunteering at a soup kitchen, giving a speech at a symposium and breaking your arm in seven places doing the "shopping cart luge." Guess which one will get the most hits. We like our animals to appear smarter than they really are and our humans dumber, which means that the perfect internet celebrity would be a somewhat slow-witted centaur. In a Darth Vader outfit.

5. Something I like, only different!

Liking new things takes so much effort. You have to learn all these unfamiliar characters or remember completely new lyrics. It's much easier to like something that you already know about. The Matrix -- in cookie form! The Lord of the Rings -- if Frodo was a ninja! The Mario Bros. theme song -- played on the hollowed-out skulls of owls! We're already starting to see this undergo a third iteration: Star Wars, only with homemade lightsabers, only in a Weezer video! In about 10 seconds, someone's going to make a Lego version of that video, bringing it to the fourth level.

6. Weird science!

This includes homemade experiments involving explosives, as well as actual scientific studies. There are two types of scientific studies: Ones you agree with, and ones you don't. If you disagree with a study, you should link to it and point out how stupid and biased it is. If you agree, you should link to it and point out how ridiculous it is that scientists get paid to state the obvious. Either way, you're educating your readers that you're smarter than science.

7. Me, the blogger!

We've reached an age where egotism is considered too much work. Why discuss your hopes and fears when you can just post the results of online tests, show cartoon versions of yourself and collect "friends"? It's a good thing Anais Nin wasn't a blogger, or instead of a steamy tale of sexual awakening and creative fervor, we'd just know that if she was a Ninja Turtle, she'd be Raphael.

- - -

Born helpless, nude and unable to provide for himself, Lore Sjöberg eventually overcame these handicaps to become a blogger, a logger and an otter.

Why swear at public events?

Last night we went to a hockey game here in Chicago. Now I understand that when someone goes to an event and your team is the "away" team, there will be a certain amount heckling and smart mouthing. That is expected and part of what makes going to a game fun, support for your team and not supporting the other team. But last night, I experienced something that I never really have at any other event. The couple sitting behind us was spewing forth nothing but F bombs all evening. Apparently they had no further mental capacity for human speech than to accentuate every other word with the favored F bomb. Oh, and don't forget that when you sit in the upper most section and are only six or seven rows from the top, the teams down on the ice can actually hear you in an arena filled with over 20,000 people. Yup, hassle the players from up here, it'll work awesome! Good job sparky! Keep up the good work.
I love going to sporting events and seeing the live action, but no where does it say that I need to put up with constant strings of F bombs. But, like the one member of this linguistic duo said last night, "this is a hockey game, not church." I'm still not sure what that was supposed to mean. Apparently these folk only keep themselves from swearing while in the house of the Lord. And if thats the case, I truly feel sorry for all that they encounter on a daily bases. Go into 7/11 for a coffee "thanks for the F...in coffee!", or out of a taxi "thanks for f...in ride", or even mothers day, "here's some f...in flowers, mom." I am seriously upset about this and wish that they would think a little more about how their actions effect those around them. Yes we have freedom of speech, but we also have a choice as to when to express it and when to keep it to yourselves. I would like to be able to go to a sporting event and not feel horribly uncomfortable about the prospect of taking my kids with me some day.

What the ?

I was just checking the "News" section of Google and came across two separate "top" stories. One is that the Governor of New York is about to resign because he purchased the service of a personal escort/s. The other is a study conducted by the Center for Disease Control which learned that over a quarter of the female teens screened were positive "for at least 1 STD". The second story reported that this could be partly to blame on abstinence only programs and the teens own sense of invulnerability. I want to bang my head against the wall. Honestly. One, because once again we have a New York politician stuck in a sex scandal (does anyone remember that prior to 9/11 Giuliani was caught up in a similar situation?), and two because apparently the teenagers in this study don't value their bodies or purity enough to wait for marriage to a single partner or at least use protection no matter what activity they are partaking in. The study showed that some of the teens believed that they could only get an STD from sexual intercourse. Why? Where are these myths being perpetrated? My head actually hurts because of this. I really wonder where this perception comes from. Oh, but wait, I forgot. Apparently its ok for our political leaders to use escort services. I pray that our next president will have the initiative to realistically evaluate what our country needs.