How will you respond?

I recently saw this video on Kem's blog, which she originally got from Church Marketing Sucks. This is an amazing story of how Kinetic Church chose to react to losing 75% of the equipment they used to run their "portable" services. You gotta see this...

Thoughts

• I may possibly have finally figured out a solution to a problem I have been working on for a few weeks. It's looking very good so far. After a few more test runs, there may be a spur of the moment celebration of jumping around.
• Have you noticed that all law office commercials are the same? Same look, same feel, same type of branding. If I ever got "injured in a car accident", I would go to the first company that decided to be original. What can I say, I like people who think outside of the box.
• Are some types of dried fruit more important that others? Take raisins. Raisins are dried grapes, but does anyone call them dried grapes? Nope. They got a name of their own. Prunes. Prunes are dried plums, but does anyone call them dried plums? Nope. What about the other dried fruits - the apricots, the mangoes, the bananas, the apples, the cherries and all the many types in existence. Why are these fruits not as important? Why isn't all fruit treated alike?
• I drink a Gatorade every morning at the gym (it keeps me from feeling light headed and woozy, so needless to say it's kind of important...) and I workout seven days a week. The Gatorade comes in an eight pack. I had been making a trip to Walmart every 8 days to by another pack of Gatorade. Only today did I realize I could actually purchase more than one at a time. Don't ask me how long this has been going on for - I won't tell you.

Rise Above This

I saw this video on Corey's blog this morning, and something about it is so real, so powerful, I had to share it as well. (and if you were wondering, yes, I did immediately head to itunes and purchased it)

Mulberry Bushes

This weekend we did some "spring cleaning" around our yard. You know, some of the basics - raking the leftover leaves, picking up sticks, getting frustrated by the acorn shell remnants from winter. And through this spring cleaning we discovered something in our backyard...

We have the beginnings of mulberry bushes growing up around our big evergreen trees, some even growing underneath the branches. I've never thought as mulberry bushes as a threat - they were always the bushes from the cute song my grandma taught me as a child. It's sometimes those things that don't appear to be threats that cause the most damage... Apparently mulberry plants can overtake everything nearby and choke out other plants and trees. They start off small and innocent looking, but in actually are very hard to get rid of.

It got me thinking - how many things in our lives do we let go because they seem small and innocent enough - not really expecting them to cause any real damage? And if we choose to ignore something that is small and only mildly dangerous, eventually it becomes large, out of control, extremely dangerous and incredibly hard to get rid of. It kind of reminds me of the small blood thirsty plant from the 1986 movie Little Shop of Horrors. It started off small and easy enough to please, and eventually became a man eating plant that controlled its owner, instead of the other way around.

There are specific times in my life I can look back to, and see those little things planting seeds around me - and I let them. I thought I could control them - they were small, why wouldn't I be able to? But it never works that way. They all ended up as mulberry bushes and man eating plants.

My spring cleaning served more than just a aesthetic purpose, it served as a reminder that sometimes you just need to be a little more careful what you let into your life. Otherwise, you may have a really hard time getting rid of it later.

A Matter of Perspective

Everyday we make assumptions and judgements with the information we have. Even if we don't mean to, it happens. And it happens to the best of us. But what I've come to realize is how important it is to think about perspectives. There is always more to the story and there is always another side.

As most of you know, I have recently become addicted to LOST. When people ask me what it is about the show that keeps me coming back, my answer is simple - the complexity of the characters and what a difference perspective makes. There is always more to the story. A character is never just as they seem. And that, to me, makes them more "real". We have all been judged by what we "seem" to be, and we have all judged others the same. I've come to learn that there is always more to the story than what you initially see - especially in every day life.

On Easter Sunday I was driving to church when I noticed a police car sitting beside a four way stop behind my church. My initial reaction was outrage. How dare he try to pull people over for speeding on Easter Sunday while trying to get to, or leave church! What kind of person does that!? I couldn't think of a single other reason why that cop would be sitting there on Easter morning. Imagine how horrible I felt when I left church later that morning only to discover traffic actually wasn't backed up - because the police officer, along with two others, were directing traffic at that four way stop. They were helping others - they were helping me - they were sacrificing their time.

And I realized there is always another perspective.

The '80s

As most people know, I heart '80s music. Yep, I know, it's not something alot of people will admit. But I do.

So you can imagine my excitement when GCC dedicated an entire series to the '80s. All '80s music, all weekend for four weekends. Here's one of my favorites:

*Whack*

Tonight was a slap in the face for me.

There's a worship song we often sing that reminds me of India. Every time I hear it I can see the people's faces. It causes moisture to build up in my eyes. It makes my hurt stir. But tonight was different.

When I started singing the words something else happened. A realization. And it wasn't pretty.

August 2006 I went on a missions trip to India. When we were there, I promised people I would pray for them. I made a commitment to myself to pray for the women church planters there - the women I love.

I broke that promise. And what makes it worse is that I didn't even realize it until now.

How often do we have the best of intentions - our heart is in the right place, and there is no doubt that this time will be different. And how many of those times do we actually follow through?

I've made a conscious effort over the last year that when people ask me to pray for them, or something going on in their lives, I pray right then - before I get a chance to get distracted or forget. With diligence, I have improved. But it never once occurred to me to think about the people in the past that I have made a commitment to pray for.

Tonight, one simple song reminded me of all the people and things I've always meant to pray for - that I have added to some "mental list" - but never did.

Maybe it's time to put my new habits to use to make good on my old commitments...