2 a.m. Saturday Morning.

For music lovers: www.inventorsofflight.com My roommate Adam has just released a new song and it's a must have for your iTunes 8.1 playlists.

Putting a wedding together is quite a task. I'm so proud that Katie has a great ability to be organized otherwise I'm not sure I could see this coming together.

If all goes as planned we will have a reception location and flower arrangements figured out tomorrow.

My brain is fried. I'm tired. Physically. Emotionally. But I've been reading through John 3 where Jesus says to Nicodemus " The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit."

I guess I'm desiring that mysterious rebirth. I can't explain how it happens but I can pray for that fresh filling to come.

O.K. Goodnight.

$4.43 to focus.

I marvel at my inability to focus while at home. It has become my Monday morning routine to come to Panara, buy a Cinnamon Crunch bagel with Honey Walnut cream cheese and drink a few cups of Hazelnut coffee.

I've started this year trying to simplify and live more frugally (my Vibe is still for sale!), but have since decided that $4.43 is worth my not going crazy.

I have to pull away. Change my surroundings and dump my thoughts into a journal and I can't do that at home.

In fact I've come to realize that I have a number of habits that, if removed, inhibit my ability to focus.

• I always walk in circles when I'm on the phone.
  In fact, I have patterns that I walk when in the house - somewhat of a figure 8 through the living and dining rooms. This use to drive my mom crazy. This is what I do to process information. I have to move. If I were strapped down I would explode because information does not flow through my head without movement. Even when I read or write. I have to get up and walk around to think about what I just processed and what I'm about to process.
  
• I change my surroundings every two hours.
  Recently I've tried staying at the office thinking I would have everything available to me and would, therefore, be more productive. Not so. It has now become apparent to me that the minute I decide what I need to do next. I need to go somewhere else to do it. The library. My house. Anywhere other than the place I currently am.
  
• I need noise.
  I need visual as well as audible noise. I wonder if this has to do with me needing problems to solve. I do enjoy silence and will read and pray in silence; but if I'm trying to accomplish a task, I need a bunch of things going on in the background. In the past 20 minutes.
  
  

So in order to accommodate my needs I think I may contemplate building one of these:

Why this you may ask. Well I hypothesize that I would have my best phone conversations while walking the route. I would be able to think clearly through anything weighing on my mind. It may also serve to generate some ideas.

We sometimes get obsessed with "thinking outside the box" but I am wondering if boxes are exactly what I need. On Monday's I have my Panara box. In this box I dump my mind and thoughts onto paper, into files, and into cyberspace.

My home box consists of smaller boxes. My desk box hold all of my financial information. My bed box holds my dreams. My kitchen box holds my diet.

So really all that I'm ever seeking is getting out of the box I'm in that does not meet the need. My office box is good for processing emails and planning church services, but ineffective when I'm trying to generate ideas.

So my goal is to be fully present in the box box I am currently in, but to be aware of when it's time to get outside of that box.

OK. Off to the kitchen box to do the dishes.

Monday.

I slept in. The first thought that I had when I woke up was, "I really need to start my blog." So here we go...

I've been wanting to share more of my life with my family and friends that live far away. So some things I'll be doing in the near future are.


1. Posting a video of where I live
More clearly defining what it is I actually do (for some reason I feel like being an Associate Pastor is a bit nebulous. So I hope to be able to look back on these postings in a year or so and say, "Hey, this is what I actually do")

Week in Review

• Last Saturday, I went to see Fiction Family. It was a great atmosphere. Very intimate and free of an overproduced feel. Jon Foreman played Your Love Is Strong which just made my night. Whenever Jon or Sean would sing some of their solo stuff, everyone in the band would go sit down on some benches on the stage. If they felt inspired to add something to the song they would stand up and play or sing along. It felt as if they were playing in my living room.
• After the Sunday Celebration at The Jar, the staff took off to Crystal Mountain to go skiing. We had a blast. I had never been skiing before but felt good about going from nothing to a few black diamonds by the end of the first day. I had gone snowboarding last year and so the second day I got back on the snowboard. I enjoy the challenge of snowboarding. It completely wore me out and so I spent a good hour in the hot tub. Here's what I loved about being there though. It was quiet. I would get on the lift with Chris, John, or Rob and we would just enjoy being together. We had some great conversations. But mostly looking at the sky heading up the slope just put me at ease.
• I got back Wednesday afternoon and headed out to see Kings of Leon play at the Murat Theater. I went with Brent Close from church. The beautiful irony is that he always tells me that the band at church is too loud and we went to a loud rock show. It was a great show. Loud. Energetic.
• Saturday Night, Katie and I went to Grace Community Church in Noblesville. We had never been to church together (where I wasn't distracted by responsibilities). It really was nice to be able to connect in that way. Then we went to Borders and browsed books for a good hour and a half.

OK. there are my musings from this week. I'm hungry and it's time for lunch and an oil change.
Oh yeah, I'm selling my 2004 Pontiac Vibe for $7000 if you're interested give me a buzz.