We are leaving for our trip to the States in a few days. We are going to the Seattle area and then spending some time in central Oregon. It is the longest time away from work I have taken in one shot (about a month). It will be nice to spend time doing some things we haven't had the ability to do lately. I am looking forward to hitting the Starbucks in Hawaii.
It is also very interesting that it will be the only opportunity we will have to do certain things or see certain people for a year. For example we have no sit down restaurants with servers on the island. When we are in the States it will the only time this year to go to a restaurant. The same is true with shopping opportunities. We have no real clothing store here so this is the time to buy the children's clothes for another year along with our own. It is an odd thing to wrap our brain around.
I am looking forward to a rest from creative thinking and preaching for four weeks and Kim is looking forward to a break in the daily routine with the kids. The kids are just so jazzed to see family and friends and do stuff like go to the zoo they can't stand themselves..
I am also hoping to blog some as to our reactions to being in the States and what God is teaching us through this next part of our experience. For those of you who read this from MLC, Kim and I will be at the 815 service on the 24th and will stay through the 1045 service that day. The kids will join us for worship at 1045 when Pr. Jim and Carol bring them. I am looking forward to seeing many of you next week.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
iPhone
It has been almost seven months since I have had the use of my cell phone. While I was in the States I can honestly say that I almost "loved" my phone. What wasn't to love after all. An iPhone with all the latest gadgets and devices is a really cool thing. With all the things that it does you don't need to go outside or have friends. You can entertain yourself with such great apps as Angry Birds, Google Earth, Peakfinder USA and Cut the Rope. While you are stuck in traffic you can search webcams and find shorter routes, not to mention surf the Internet with blazing speed and even read my blog....All at the same time. Wow. So far this sounds like an Apple add..
The funny thing is that after seven months of living on Kwaj I don't miss my phone at all. I still play some of the games on it but the phone doesn't have the same sway over me that it once had. (Maybe its because we don't have cell coverage out here.) I find that am no less happier or satisfied now that I am cell-phone less. I don't feel naked without it like I once did. It makes me wonder why I was so enthralled with the device when I lived in the States. I also wonder if I would have been able to live without the latest device there. Kim and I talk about when we move back some day if we will have the resolve to live more simply.There are so many things we spend our money on that we feel like we have to have and I wonder if there are more simple options staring us in the face that either we don't want to see or that people are spending billions of dollars to help us not to see.
Contentment and joy don't flow from the things we have or don't have. The Apostle Paul says that he has "learned to be content in whatever the circumstances" (Philippians 4:11b). He finishes that passage by sharing that he gained strength for all situations from his relationship with Jesus. The secret for his contentment was in his relationship with Jesus and the strength he received no matter what happened in life. It takes a certain courage to look to Jesus as our source of contentment and joy. It is the courage to seek to cut through all the noise and chatter to what is real and to ground ourselves in the real and to live from that place. We are called to live from the place of deep love and truth rather than a shallower superfical life that leaves only boredom and discontentment.
The funny thing is that after seven months of living on Kwaj I don't miss my phone at all. I still play some of the games on it but the phone doesn't have the same sway over me that it once had. (Maybe its because we don't have cell coverage out here.) I find that am no less happier or satisfied now that I am cell-phone less. I don't feel naked without it like I once did. It makes me wonder why I was so enthralled with the device when I lived in the States. I also wonder if I would have been able to live without the latest device there. Kim and I talk about when we move back some day if we will have the resolve to live more simply.There are so many things we spend our money on that we feel like we have to have and I wonder if there are more simple options staring us in the face that either we don't want to see or that people are spending billions of dollars to help us not to see.
Contentment and joy don't flow from the things we have or don't have. The Apostle Paul says that he has "learned to be content in whatever the circumstances" (Philippians 4:11b). He finishes that passage by sharing that he gained strength for all situations from his relationship with Jesus. The secret for his contentment was in his relationship with Jesus and the strength he received no matter what happened in life. It takes a certain courage to look to Jesus as our source of contentment and joy. It is the courage to seek to cut through all the noise and chatter to what is real and to ground ourselves in the real and to live from that place. We are called to live from the place of deep love and truth rather than a shallower superfical life that leaves only boredom and discontentment.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Quote
I came across this quote and thought I would share it.
Base your life on that spirit of conversion. Everything flows from that. Turn to God. Be open to his infinite love. Respond to it. And everything else flows from that--what we should do, where we should go, everything flows from that deep spirit of conversion. It requires courage.
--John Main
Base your life on that spirit of conversion. Everything flows from that. Turn to God. Be open to his infinite love. Respond to it. And everything else flows from that--what we should do, where we should go, everything flows from that deep spirit of conversion. It requires courage.
--John Main
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