Friday, July 16, 2004

Yes...maybe...I think.

It seems I live in a state of constant confusion.

Nothing is ever really finished, or started for that matter. The more I try to figure out what is going on, the less I ever understand.

Randomness, utter randomness.

Notice these things are only a problem when I try to sort things out on my own. Probably a great way of keeping my pride in check...imagine what I would be like if I wasn't faking and really did know what was going on half the time.

Nice to know that God has things under control and that they do make sense in some round about way. Eclectic is good.

Monday, July 12, 2004

Pulling together (aka: I should teach my kids this story.)

I spent and hour watching ants Saturday night. Actually, that wasn't the main focus of my time...we were talking to "Sly." He befriended our group last Tuesday, I think, and has been around a few times since then. He's had marital problems and is now (from what he says) living in a van a few blocks away. He is always so glad to run into us, especially his "buddies" (the guys in our group) and, while he has been intoxicated each time we've met, it is amazing to know that God is working in his life.

So back to these ants...while we were talking with Sly I noticed a group of ants on the porch trying their hardest to deal with a piece of a potato chip. I thought, as I watched those ants, what a great model that is for fellowship, for the Christian body, especially for the situation we are in with Sly. (I was thinking about a lot more but there is such a thing as too personal to blog...)

Anyway, back to the analogy. Now I know it is probably elementary and I know that the comparison has to have been made again and again...but bear with me.

When I started watching the ants there was one ant tugging at the chip. He would pull for a while, stop to check things out, and then get back to work. He really wasn't making much progress. But then another ant came over, and another, and soon enough there were quite a few working to get the chip into the hole. They got it there in no time.

Great, so working together, supporting each other we can bear our burdens more easily. We can pull through when it seems hopeless. We can encourage each other to accomplish that which is set before them.

That's not where the ants stopped, though. The next problem was getting it into the hole. The chip was far too big to fit. The only way to move on was to break the chip into smaller pieces and deal with one bit at a time.

Things seem so overwhelming to us that we feel there is nothing more to be done. What we need to do is break the problem into more manageable chunks.

Right, so that's the ants. It's simple, and maybe even pointless, but I love the way things work in God's kingdom. I love that so many things are mirrored in the world around us.

Like how trees reaffirm my faith. When you look at something so massive as an oak, especially when you know how it works, what it takes for that tree to survive even a day, you know it is too perfect to happen by chance.

Wait, tangent, sorry. I know it's simple, I know it's childish but when you've been working with 7 year-olds for a week, simple = good.

And the heavens were opened.

All day long we've been fighting the floodwaters here at FDCS. It's been raining the whole day long; canceling some people's morning run as well as (yikes) our Monday trip to the pool.

The basement classrooms have also flooded and the flood is creeping through the halls and into the very office from which I write. The door has been sufficiently barricaded, I think, to prevent far greater catastrophe--we all know just how well water and electronics mix.

Ask any parent or teacher and they will tell you that a child's behavior is often directly correlated to current weather conditions. Today was no exception. I was, however, able to harness the opportunity, take full advantage of the downpour, and teach my kids the Water-Cycle song and dance.

They think I'm crazy.

I'm ok with that.