porchpondering.com

DAY 3 UPDATE

I'm now into the third full day of life as a temporary-single-Dad. I'm learning how much effort and anticipation it takes to keep things moving in the right direction. The boys got off to school on-time today and I even managed to heam a pair of Matthew's pants so that Andy could wear them (Andy needed black pants for a school play and of course, he doesn't have black pants). Mackenzie has preschool this afternoon, so I figure I've got another hour or so to work here at home before we head into the office. I'm wrapping up a paper for Columbia so I'm doing my best to catch snippets of time here and there to work. The deadline is tomorrow.

Joy should be in Norway by now and I hope she's recovering from the long journey. On Sunday she went from Los Angeles to Minneapolis, then from Minneapolis to Amsterdam (with a layover for most of the day) and then from Amsterdam to Bergen, Norway. They'll be together with relatives for a short while before boarding the MS Midnatsol. Evidently, there's an internet cafe on board the ship and so I hope to hear from her as soon as they are underway. Stay tuned for updates.

Award of Merit

Congratulations to my friend and covenant brother, Tod Bolsinger, whose book It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian (get it from Amazon by clicking here) received an "Award of Merit" from the Christianity Today Book Awards for 2005. Tod handles this incredibly important theme with wisdom, grace and insight. It's a book I wholeheartedly recommend.

Joy's Graduation

At last, Joy has completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at Cal State Fullerton but, unfortunately, she'll be flying on the day of her commencement. So in order to make sure she experienced the joy of graduation, we gathered with a handful of friends on the green in front of our home to celebrate her accomplishment. After the obligitory "Pomp and Circumstance," we all cheered for our graduate of 2005. Joy was also honored with the distinction, "Cum Laude." I'm very proud of her accomplishment. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Joy came home after picking up the boys from swim practice to the surprise of friends waiting in our courtyard.

Joy had to endure the typical boring commencement address but this one included words from her former bosses at Hallmark. Congratulations to the "very best."

Joy and Steve celebrate the completion of this milestone. After this "ceremony" we feasted on pizza, salad, wine and the most wonderful chocolate, chocolate cake!

Joy's plane departs at 8:40 a.m. on Sunday morning. She's heading for Norway for "a trip of a lifetime" with her mother and sister. Bon voyage!

Learning to Pray

As we begin this Memorial Day weekend, we are reminded that summer is almost here. This Sunday we'll be finishing the series on Joseph and in a few short weeks we'll be launching a new summer series. But before that, we have the pleasure of having Rev. George Johnson with us for the first two Sundays in June. If you don't know, George Johnson is my father-in-law and he is an outstanding preacher. I know he will bring a challenging and encouraging word to us (he graciously agreed to preach for these weeks because my home duties will be increasing as Joy leaves for Norway tomorrow).

Our summer series is titled: Establish the Work of Our Hands! Psalm 90 finishes with these words, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.” (TNIV) As we enter the second full summer in the life of this new congregation, we are going to consider the way we use our hands to do the work of prayer. All of our doing in the church and in the world needs to be established in the practice of prayer. Psalm 127 reminds us, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” This series will explore the connection between our prayers and the common work of our hands. Here are the titles and texts that will carry us through July: Praying with Folded Hands (1 Thes. 5:12-22); Praying with Open Hands (Acts 10:1-33); Praying with Bare Knuckles (Matthew 7:7-11); Praying with a Clinched Fist (Matthew 5:43-48); Praying with Overloaded Hands (Phil. 4:4-7); Praying with Uplifted Hands (1 Tim 2:1-8); Praying with Ready Hands (Col. 4:2-6).

And so may we learn to say with the disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray!" (Luke 11:1)

Coming Soon

Last Sunday I was pleased to announce that Rev. Leanne Strommen will be joining the staff of Village Presbyterian Church starting July 1st. Leanne will serve half-time and her focus will be on developing our ministry to children. Leanne just happens to live here in Ladera Ranch with her husband, Kevin, and her son, Noah. I'm looking forward to all that Leanne's ministry among us will add to the strength of this congregation. I hope to have her bio on the church website soon.

I also want to note how good it was to have Lynnette Carey leading the "Children's Moment" on Sunday. With daughter Amy at her side, she did an excellent job! I hope we'll be seeing others participate in this part of the service in the weeks and months ahead. Let me know if you might be interested.

A Darker Side to the Story

Last Sunday someone was telling me about the Veggie Tales version of the story of Joseph, "The Ballad of Little Joe," and I had to admit I hadn't heard of it. But there's one thing I'm sure about: I doubt the Veggie Tales version handles the situation in 47:13-26. This is part of the story where Joseph takes all the money, livestock and land from the people in exchange for food. There's no free lunch in Egypt even if it was the people's grain that filled the silos in the first place. I guess that's the way things work. But I'm troubled by this part of the story (even as I like it that the Bible is daring enough to include the good, the bad and the ugly). Has this "oppressed" brother now become an oppressor? I want to say, "Come on, Joe! Where's your compassion?"

Am I being fair to Little Joe? His tactics seem terribly harsh to me. He set the tax rate at a flat and firm 20% even as he seeks to appear generous by describing what they keep in this way, "four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones." (47:24) You can argue that 4/5's is better than 3/5's but it's still not as good as 5/5's. If you've got another take on this part of the story, I'd love to hear it.

Job #1

This morning I woke up to one of my favorite passages in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 4. The first line states what I think of as job #1 in the life of a New Church Development pastor, "do not lose heart." It's easy in the face of all that needs to get done to get discouraged. Sometimes things go smoothly but often small things seem to more take effort than I think they should. The whole of verse one reminds me that my daily efforts here must be considered in light of God's call upon my life, "Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart." Paul later offers details into his own struggles in ministry. He writes, "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perpelexed, but not driven to despair; persectuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies" (8-10). And so as I sit on my porch on this overcast morning, I'm confident that there will be plenty of struggle planned for me today but I'm even more confident in the Lord who gives me the courage to face it. "Thank you, Lord, for the good start to this day!"

Sports Connections

A loss last Wednesday eliminated the Orioles from the playoffs and so Andy's baseball season is over. I think we all mourned the loss because we've had such a fun team experience this year. Good kids, good coaches...it was great experience. Andy and I went to the ballpark on Thursday night to cheer our friends on and this afternoon our whole family headed back to the park to watch the White Sox play the Red Sox. We cheered for both teams. The Red Sox prevailed and so they're playing the Dodgers on Monday night. Again, we will be torn between two teams because we know players on both squads. Go team!

Over the past few months I've really enjoyed meeting new families as our kids learn to play the game of baseball. Both Matthew and Andrew are now swimming for the Ladera Liquids and so there's more team stuff in our future. I'm grateful for variety of ways we are connected to this community. On a baseball diamond, a pool deck, at school and in worship on a Sunday morning, it's always good to be with friends.

All Clear

Joy and I received good news just a few minutes ago. Mackenzie's tests were totally normal! [sigh] We called the doctor's office several times over the past few days and never received a return call. The silence only increased our anxiety. Mackenzie has been looking pretty normal lately but I wanted the results just the same. Now we know. Thanks again for all your prayers!

Couples Garden

This evening I'm heading over the Geneva Presbyterian Church to be the speaker for the "Couples Garden." The topic I've chosen is "Expanding Your Playlist." In married life, we too often end up singing the "same old song." Tonight I'm going to encourage all who might be "stuck in a moment" to reach out beyond themselves. I'm going to tell a few stories about what life is like in our home as we commit ourselves to this New Church Development. My talk with also include a "sound track" played live from my iPod. I think it will be fun...at least, I hope so. Here is the playlist for this evening, in case you're interested.

And for those of you who have been praying for Mackenzie, let me say thank you. We're still waiting for the results. I'll post something as soon as I get word. Thanks again!