Life and likesuchas...

I haven't posted in a while because I'm going through one of those periods where I feel like there's nothing to post. Inspirational thought has left me for the time being, and there's no real news to report. Right now, it feels like we're somewhere in here:

We're just waiting, waiting, waiting. Something might be coming soon, but for now, we're still just standing in line.

Shut Down all the Garbage Mashers!

You know that scene in Star Wars: A New Hope when Luke and Han Solo have just rescued Princess Leia from the clutches of Darth Vader? In their haste to escape, they find themselves in a giant trash compactor, filled with all manner of filth and some sort of one-eyed, tentacled thing that wants to eat them. Just as Han defeats it with a shot from his blaster, the walls begin to close in.

"SHUT DOWN ALL THE GARBAGE MASHERS ON THE DETENTION LEVEL!" Luke screams to C-3PO and R2-D2. Just as their fate seems sealed, R2 comes through in the clutch and our heroes live to fight the Empire another day.

Someone asked me recently how my life has been going, and I responded that I feel just like Luke Skywalker must have in that moment. The walls seem to be closing in on all fronts, and right now it seems like there is nowhere to go. We were talking the other day about our little boy, now four plus months old; he'll be crawling soon and walking before we know it (he seems to want to now!) and there's no room for it. We can't baby-proof anything...there's nowhere in our apartment for it. We only sleep in bed together one night a week, and when we do have a day together, one of us is exhausted from working the night before.

We could move to a larger apartment, but that would cost more money that we don't have, and would mean that we would have to commit to a year-long lease. One of us could look for a new job, but that would mean new insurance and some of the jobs I have looked at require commitment to hang around, at least for a little while. We've maintained an uncomfortable flexibility for a while now in the hope we would soon be moving, but nothing has yet materialized. Now we're faced with a decision...should we make some commitments (maybe a new job and a new lease) to stay here? Or should we hold tight, hoping that an opportunity with a church comes through soon?

I don't know, but I know that the Lord is faithful, and that at some point, the walls will stop closing in. I just wish I knew when that will be...

It's Official

I feel old. I know I'm not old, but I feel like it. More on this later.

My New Year Resolution

I'm not big on New Year resolutions. Too often, I find that I'm trying to externally patch some problem by simply resolving to stop rather than dealing with whatever deeper root cause. This being the case, I too often fail at whatever I am undertaking because I'm attempting to treat a symptom rather than the problem.

All that to say that I have a New Year resolution of sorts this year, and it's one that I would recommend to everyone. Timothy Brister, in collaboration with The Resurgence, has begun a project called "Partnering to Remember." The goal this year is to memorize the entire book of Philippians beginning on January 1, to be completed by Easter Sunday (April 24). The Resurgence has created a very helpful PDF that divides the text up into small chunks of 5-8 verses for each of the sixteen weeks. The sections of this PDF are sized so that they can be cut and taped into a Cahier Moleskin for maximum portability and ease of study.


I know that memorizing and entire book of the Bible seems daunting, but what more worthy way to spend your spare time? I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to stick it out for 4 months, but why let that stop me? Come January 1, I'll start on the most ambitious memorization project I've ever undertaken. Tim Brister:

Let’s face it. Memorizing Scripture can be a difficult discipline, especially memorizing long passages of Scripture. In our fast-paced lives of multi-tasking with any number of things vying for our attention, there is a real danger for the Word of God to get squeezed out of our daily lives. More than any other time, Christians need to partner together for the purpose of internalizing Scripture, encouraging one another to abide in the words of Christ, and remembering the weighty truths that center us in God’s work in our lives.

I encourage you to join me on January 1 as I begin to memorize the book of Philippians.

Merry Christmas!!!

I enjoyed this...

100 days and counting...

For those of you who follow our baby blog, you'll know that yesterday marked the end of our first 100 days with Aiden. We've been chronicling the journey in pictures, and so I thought I would post the entire slideshow here for everyone to see. I can't wait to see the Lord's faithfulness in all of our lives over the next 100 days, and beyond.

The Alternative Chronicle

My brother is a writer and the editor for The Alternative Chronicle, a website for serious lovers of film and music. Writing from Los Angeles, many of the films reviewed may only be seen by the rest of us in some obscure video store after a very limited release, but that shouldn't dissuade you from visiting the site. The writing and film criticism is top notch, and in addition to excellent reviews of more familiar films like The Social Network, there's plenty you've never heard of to be discovered on their site.

What pulled me to the site recently is their ongoing roll-out of a best in genre list of movie musicals. The introductory post can be found here, with upcoming lists from a number of the collaborating writers and a final, yet-to-be-released top 10 list. If you love musicals, you're sure to see some of your favorites along with some unknown to you. Besides the current musical list, the site serves to remind me that there is much more out there than the headlining blockbusters that are standard fare at your local movie theatre. Check out The Alternative Chronicle and see what great films you've been missing!

UPDATED: The list of top 10 musicals is now online here, as well as all the individual writers' personal lists.