Tears for Newtown

Of all He has given us there is nothing
more powerful than choice.
It is a hammer, full of potential and danger,
able to destroy or to build. 
Yesterday someone used it to shatter.

Anger and grief are predominate 
and in my solidarity with the parents 
I think I can safely say that we don't want 
to see adolescence interviewed about their 
experiences and we don't want to hear 
why you think you still need your gun.

Apologize for my anger?
I don't think so. I hope not. 
He trashed a temple because evil men
took advantage of innocence 
so my feelings right now seem to resonate.
Trashing a temple today would be worthless
but putting a hole in drywall 
would probably feel pretty good.

Brokenhearted implies there are pieces
that can be taped together or cracks
that can be sewn up for mending.
When the moments we dread come to be
our hearts become dust
so typical sympathetic band-aids
become worthless and slightly insulting. 

So I grieve for the parents in Newtown.
In their beyond understanding pain 
I beg God to bring His beyond understanding peace.
Though with much smaller tears, we weep with them.

Why 9/12 is as important as 9/11

Yesterday was a post about 9/11. 

But today is September 12th. 

Everyone goes back to the grind, back to the busyness and hectic pace. There will possibly be a few mentions of 9/11 throughout the day:

"Did you see any of the memorials on TV?"

"Did your church do anything special?"

 

Conversation will be sincere, but probably brief. But it's 9/12. We've moved on. 

How to give comfort to soldiers

Over the weekend Jeannette and I were able to take the kids to the Magic House in St Louis. It's one of the best children's museums that we've been to with tons of different environments for the kids to be creative and play make-believe.

"Once Upon a Time" was an exhibit of walking through various storybooks. One of the stories took place in a civil war setting, so there were tents, prairie items, soldier gear and the such. 

Amongst everything our kids definitely liked the drummer boy's tent:

But one thing I thought rather interesting was in the "medical tent." It was completely decked out with bandages and stretchers so that soldier patients could be attended to. On the back wall of the tent hung this sign:

Don't quit too soon

Seth Godin wrote the following on his blog today.

"I don't even know what I'm afraid of"

This is the fear that kills brands and b2b sales and individual creativity. It's the fear without a name, without a face, without false facts that can be shot down or arguments that can be reasoned with.

This is the amygdala firing, the lizard brain being triggered without rational explanation.

When we are wrestling against the elusive and resilient fear with no name, often the only choice is to live with it, to care enough about forward motion and practical progress that we can come embrace the inner trembling that won't give up.

In market after market paralyzed with fear, this trembling might be the very best sign that you're on to something.

He is speaking about business, but the truth flows into faith and relationships as well.

Life gets shaky at time. Life can bring a ton of uncertainty. Life can be downright scarey. Throw in a side of loneliness or hurt or letdown and things can move from uncertainty to overwhelming in the blink of an eye. 

Living in the red white and blue doesn't like this. We don't like uncertainty nor imbalance and certainly hate the feeling that we have no control. So whenever we find ourselves wrestling with the "elusive and resilient fear with no name" we would rather step away than step up. We'd rather go after balance and wholeness somewhere else than risk facing the unknown outcome of where we are.

So where does faith come in then?

Maybe that shaky, uncertain, scary, lonely, confusing, fearful spot is the most amazing, holy, beautiful, incredibly spot you could be in. 

Maybe you look around with, "God, why do you have me in this impossible situation? 

And maybe God looks around with, "Why not? It's perfect! You get to trust me and I get to show off!"

Easy doesn't produce faith. 

Easy doesn't produce anything.

Imagine what you're on the verge of!

Whether marriage, family, friendship, or church: Avoid backwards. Move forward. Don't give up. Keep on.

Don't quit too soon.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 10:39-11:1

Batter My Heart

Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

This is one of my favorite poems, a sonnet by John Donne.

It is a dangerous prayer to ask God to batter your heart in such away that it becomes untangled from all other things but Him. But such a prayer must be offered, that we would be divorced from all other allegiances and found only with eyes for Him.

A dangerous prayer, a possibly difficult prayer, but a necessary one.

There was a day when it snowed REALLY hard.

We haven't gotten a lot of snow in Chicago this winter. Really barely any. But that wasn't the case in February of 2011. Last year we had one of the worst snow storms ever. Last year was when Snowmaggedon hit!

It was a year ago February the snow storm of the century headed toward Chicago. Now in saying that, this century is only 12 years old. Regardless, the winters over the last 12 years have for the most part been pretty lame. But what we saw crawling across the weather radars toward us last year did indeed look like a huge blue monster. The way that people talked about getting extra water, extra food, fuel for generators, blankets and the such, it was like they were getting ready for Y2K all over again.

The hour came. The monster crawled across Chicago. It was indeed the storm of this young century.

Snowmageddon. 

The pain of miscarriage and the goodness of God

Devastating. 

When talking of miscarriage, I'm not sure if there is a better word that can be used to describe what you're going through. Every person I've ever met who has gone through the experience uses this word when telling their story. 

Good.

When talking of God, this is one of many words we can use when describing Him.  Goodness is part of His defining character. It's who He is...all the time.

How these two words can come together in one story is hard to fathom. Yet, I'm incredibly thankful for my friends Tiffany & Daniel Schaaff. Last week Tiffany shared their story on her blog and beautifully brought these two words together. 

I'd really encourage you to take a minute and read her entry: God is Good...So Good!

Immanuel of Everything

As part of the message Sunday during our Christmas service, our amazing New Life Lincoln Park worship team did this song by Coldplay, "Christmas Lights":

The theme of this song rings true: Christmas is an amazing time of year, but it doesn't always feel amazing.

Along with all of the fun, celebrating, and connecting with others, for some this season was nothing but the opposite.  It was a stressful season: Who all do I buy for? What do I get them? When am I going to have the time? That woman took the last pair, could I take her out before she gets to the register? It was a time that raised old hurts: remembering loss, broken dreams, loneliness, no presents under the tree. And these could create feelings of doubt: What’s the point? Anyone care? Is anyone out there?

Everyone Mad Libs

The only people who don't like Mad Libs are the people who don't know what they are. And Nazi's. 

So for all of the unfortunately misinformed, and for all of the short evil dictators with little mustaches out there, this is the idea behind Mad Libs:

When was the last time you went to church?

Just because the last message was incredibly boring doesn't mean today's will be.

Just because no one said HI before doesn't mean no one will smile and say welcome today.

Just because fakes were at the last place doesn't mean they aren't genuine at the new place.

Just because you were hurt at the last church doesn't mean you can't find healing at the next one.

Just because the last pastor was a prideful jerk doesn't mean the next can't be a humble servant.

Don't condemn all Christians as guilty because a few act like complete idiots.

Don't attempt to hold Jesus hostage because of how His children behave sometimes.

Don't allow a few worse case scenarios to blind you to all of the best ones.

When was the last time you went to church?

Don't miss an opportunity today.

White Ribbon Day: Remembering 9/11 [VIDEO]

The day after the attacks, my friend Dave Trout came to me with 8-10 hours of 9/11 news footage recorded on one VHS and an idea for a video. The plan was to create for church a montage video, set to the song, White Ribbon Day. After two all nighters, about two hours before services started, the memorial video was finished. 

Here it is:

Critiquing Criticism: a lesson from The Smurfs movie

Transformers. G.I Joe. He-Man. Mask (come on - who remembers Mask? It was a-maze-a-zing!). Thundercats. Voltron. These were my favorite cartoons while growing up. But I must be honest, I must confess: I also watched the Smurfs. Yes, yes I did. Papa Smurf, Jokey Smurf, & Hefty Smurf were my favorites. Smurfette was dumb and annoying (young guy's perspective). Yes...I am a closet Smurf fan.

The idea then of a live Smurf movie was a mixed bag for me. It could be cool or it could be horrible, there didn't seem to be a lot of room in-between. But, having a 4yr-old and a 2yr-old that can be taken advantage of to see kid's movies without losing my mancard, I was willing to give it a chance.

And then the early reviews came out.

Rescue me from this poop

That time of year again, we are entering the 5th season.  You do know that we have five weather season, not five, right?   

They are: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and...MUD!  

Snowmeggedon is not a thing of myth & legend, but it has left a ton of mess with its exit.  Yesterday afternoon I had the fun experience of cleaning up the yard from two months of Stitch's work.  It reminded me of a post from a couple years ago, so I thought I'd repost.  Hold your nose, and read on...

9/11: This is a Special Place

In the summer of 2006 Jeannette was 5 ½ months pregnant with our first.  We hadn’t taken a real vacation in a few years, so we decided to have a nice last fling before the two of us became the three of us. There was no need for negotiations on where we would go, we were in complete agreement within seconds: New York City.

The Mess & The Iceberg

Yesterday I wrote about the 7-11 owner Jeannette & I talked with who was robbed at gunpoint.  The idea of lingering pain is still on my mind (yes, it's lingering), so this will be my cud for awhile.

Do you tell people what you're feeling or what you're going through?  

Do you open about things you've gone through, whether they are part of your past or present?  

As far as our feelings and hurts and ideas and fears and doubts and dreams go, we treat the idea of sharing any of them, of opening up, a lot like company coming over.