On Friday night, I found myself in my back yard, tackling the monster that my lawn had become.  Of course I had left my headphones at theAXIOM, so there ended up being a lot of thinking while I was out there.  It had been a couple of months since I last mowed it,and the grass was at least four feet tall.  I thought a lot about how I hate to mow my lawn.  I don’t like yard work at all.  I’d rather be inside with the AC and a computer.  That’s when I made this connection.

Some people have beautiful yards.  I don’t.  It doesn’t bother me that it’s not manicured.  It bugs other people.  There are people that can’t think about anything else when they know that they need to get to something in their yard.  It even bugs these people that my yard is in such disarray.  Again, it doesn’t really get to me.  However, I am the same way, but with different things.  The thing that bugs me the most is the way people treat their computers.  They invest a chunk of change in a computer, and they never attempt to learn about the OS they are using or how they should keep it tidy.  There is nothing more obnoxious then when I sit down at someone else’s computer and there are at least 20 icons on the desktop for things they will never click on, there are 4 search bars in the IE6 that they are using, and their dock or their start menu is the size of a county library.  I feel like I need to teach them, help them, and redeem them from the doom they have allowed themselves to encounter.

I wonder why we’re wired to be a little bit obsessive.  And in that, help point other people to what we are obsessing over.  Maybe sometimes the obsession is a little misdirected.  It usually is.

My friend Jason Merino is going back to San Diego this weekend to finish his college degree.  He has one class left.  Something to do with Greek.  We hung out quite a bit this summer, and we had some really good talks.  There weren’t many ends of discussions or neat conclusions, but good convo none the less.  He posted a challenge that I am going to attempt and see where it takes me.  You can read about the challenge here.  It is more or less 77 days without buying things we don’t need.

I’m going to write down everything that I buy, trying as hard as I can to really think about whether or not I need it.  Then see where it leads me.  It will end on Oct. 31st.  This might be really, really hard.  That’s two reallys.  You should really read the challenge to see the why behind it all.  And yes, I’m the other character, the one with the Jetta.

We’ve had some requests for more sonogram photos, so I’ve put up more of those at the end of this post.  Also, the hilarity that was telling my family is now on youtube and right here for your viewing pleasure.

p.s.  i love imovie 08.

We started serving dinner on Thursday nights at the oroville rescue mission.  I know that when setting it up, the idea was to be consistent, but summer is the opposite of consistent (hot? no. sporadic.) tonight was the first night i got to go serve, and i have to say that it was awkward.  i like the idea of service, but i don’t live it.  i start to feel like the people there think that i think i am better than them, and that is probably because deep down, i lie to myself and tell myself things like that.

after we served them i sat down at a table with 3 guys.  one of them had a ninja monkey shirt (which was pretty cool), one of them had a broken tooth that he kept accidentally almost knocking out, and the other was named Blind Bob.  he was the oldest guy and he didn’t eat very much.  i didn’t know what to say or how to help them.  i felt helpless.

also, (i almost didn’t write this thought) i didn’t eat.  i don’t know why.  i actually lied and said i had already eaten.  i feel really bad and don’t even know what led me to lie in the split second question of ‘do you want to eat?’  i did.  i was hungry.  but i lied instead.  what is wrong with me?

today rhonda and i went to the hospital.  rhonda drank 32 ounces of water to make sure her bladder was full.  she thought i should have to drink more water as well because then i would feel like i was more a part of it.  anyway, she had to pee real bad.  and then we had our first ultrasound.  that’s right.  i’m gonna be a dad.  on february 3rd (ish).  oh.  and we affectionately refer to our child as the wizard.  it currently makes rhonda hungry and tired.  the wizard is also a thumb sucker.  it is 2 inches from crown to rump and .25 inches across the palm of it’s hand. we are the most excited.

I have to say that I am excited for 2 reasons. One is that I am going to Catalyst for the first time. I’ve wanted to go for a few years now, and I have finally decided to make it out to the east coast in October.  I am also really excited because Eric, my bro, is coming with me.  We’ve never really taken a trip together, so it should be good times.  The speakers I am most stoked for are:

• Andy Stanley - Environments.  The idea alone has redefined ministry for me.
• Craig Groschel - One of the most creative, out of the box thinkers I’ve found.
• Seth Godin - The Dip changed how I view life, and I wouldn’t be where I am without getting out of the cul-de-sac I was in.
• William Paul Young - Haven’t read The Shack, but enough people won’t shut up about it that I am now excited to hear this guy speak.
• Tim Collins - Good to Great, again, I haven’t read it, but everyone is raving mad about it. (mad in a good way)

We also registered for the labs, and there are a couple names that I have to drop here:

• Perry Noble - I really can’t get enough of this guy’s passion and transparency.
• Mark Batterson - Best book title ever.  His vision for DC is amazing.  God sized.
• Reggie McNeal - His six questions have been formational in our church, and he talks so fast when he gets excited that I can’t help but get excited.  Missional Community.  Good stuff.

It’s still a ways off, but I am so excited.

During my springtime blog silence, I finished a few books that I need to synopsisize and reviewerize.  This was the 3rd Donald Miller book I’ve read, and I have to say that I can’t get enough of his style.  It is so honest and free.  It’s like he has this point that he is getting to, but you’re not sure if he really knows what it is because the points that build to it just meander along until all of a sudden, you’re like “this crap makes sense.”  Well, maybe not those words exactly, but that’s kind of how I think.  I know that there are some ‘good’ books out there that outline the why of life, but this one really kicks you in the teeth.  It’s so subtle in how it guides you, and in how it builds.  There are two points near the end that I really loved what Don was saying.

In my opinion, if you hate somebody because they are different from you, you’d best get on your knees and repent until you can say you love them, until you have gotten your soul right with Christ.

I can’t say this clearly enough: If we are preaching morality without Christ, and using war rhetoric to communicate a battle mentality, we are fighting on Satan’s side.  This battle we are in is a battle against the principalities of darkness, not against people who are different from us.  In war you shoot the enemy, not the hostage.

And also:

It is true that people need Jesus, not religion.  And yet at times I am concerned our most passionate missionary endeavors are more concerned with redeeming our identity as Christians within the lifeboat than with presenting Jesus to a world looking for a God.

I fully recommend it to people in all walks of life.  The way Donald writes just poses questions and ideas in a way that gets you to think about everything you know and things you’ve never thought of before.

On a side note, a good friend of mine, John Niemeyer, was helping set up a school in Uganda and while he was there, he hung out with Don for a couple days.  I asked John if Don was as cool in person, and he said that he totally is.  I’m just a little bit jealous.

One group went to the church in the morning to try to get a head start on the shower.  At ten, the other group went to the church and we met up with Carlos, and all of us headed over to the Oaxaocan migrant camp.  I’m not sure if any of us were fully prepared for it, and I for one was pretty nervous, but we went anyway.  When we got there, we played soccer with some of the kids, and another group played pato pato ganzon (duck duck goose) with some of the other kids.  After playing with them for a while, we gave them some sandwiches that we had made and some punch.  Some of the kids sniffed the bread before they ate it.  Some of them dunked their sandwiches in their punch.  In all, I could tell they were happy and grateful.  We also brought some oranges that we gave to each of the mothers that were there.

I can’t begin to tell you about the way these people are forced to live.  It’s a version of share cropping/modern day slavery.  Their language is one of 150 dialects in Baja that don’t have a written language.  I don’t know if some of these kids have ever had baths.  I don’t think that we can process what was going on quite yet, but we will show you some pictures.  The church here has amazing vision for what they can do to help these people and lead them to Jesus.  There culture is thick with paganism including witch doctors as their sole source of medical care.  It was only an hour that we were able to be there, but I don’t think that any of us are the same after that short hour.

We debriefed a little bit from the trip to the camp and began to ask the question “What now?”, but there was no concise way to end that conversation.  One of the really good thoughts that came out during this time actually developed from Joanna’s trip to Africa: Justice cannot begin to really happen without compassion, and compassion is ’suffering with.’  It is a feeling and a reason why we act rather than an action.  The Holy Spirit uses it to partner us with others.  It compels us.  I’m sure the conversation will continue for the next couple of days

In the afternoon we were invited to a bar-b-q to celebrate the church’s 2 year anniversary.  It was an interesting dynamic going from the one to the other, but there really isn’t any easy way to transition that.
We played with some of the children there as well as with each other.  There was also some bocchi ball going on.

In the afternoon some of us stayed to try to finish the shower and the rest went to La Bufadora (The Blowhole).  The group at the church got really close to finishing, but there was this water problem that required a fire line with 2 buckets for about an hour.  We finished most everything, and we are going to put the finishing touches on tomorrow.  We finished the night with some delicious tostadas and a bon fire on the beach.  Smores were enjoyed, and we tried to unwind with one last night at the beach.  We’ll be heading back tomorrow after church.

Rhonda and I leave this afternoon for a mission trip to Mexico. I have never been out of the country, but I’ve seen a few seasons of the Amazing Race, so, you know, I still have no idea what it is going to be like. I feel entirely unprepared and terrified of what is going to happen when I get back. I know it is going to be a crazy experience. I’ve tried to take Jesus at his word, and he said to go, so I am going. I will post an update when we get back next Monday, but as far as I know we won’t have any sort of internet while we are down there. Keep us in your prayers.

Update: We have internet.  I’ll try to post once in a while.  Booyah.

I’m sitting on my front porch. It’s awesome that I have a front porch to sit on. I went to the doctor today because I have strep throat. It’s awesome that I have a throat that it can get strep. I’m really thankful and really sad right now. I am watching the smoke layer float in front of the sun as it sets across the valley. My friend’s house burned down yesterday along with 20 other houses in this little town called Palermo just south of Oroville. I am watching the particles that used to be his home, his stuff, his box of things he will always want to go back and look at someday. I am watching those particles light up the evening sky. We always try to talk like we are tough. You can’t take it with you. Which I know, and you know, but if you can’t even get it back tomorrow, does it matter, or can we move on? I don’t know, but right now I am really thankful and really sad. Sirens mean something entirely different on days like today. I wish that cameras could do it justice, but it cannot. It is thick and brown and yellow and pink and purple and concise and daunting, this haze that sits between me and the setting sun. Maybe the wind will take it away tonight. Maybe it will stay here and remind us of eternal things, what real value is.