da bling blog

to Grandma Dottie

2006-12-05T22:45:00.000-06:00

So as I'm sure all of you have noticed that we are still somewhere in New Mexico...well, don't believe the blog. We're in SoCal and things are going well. I'm really not that inspired to write much lately. I apologize. Maybe this will help. I had a lovely "request" from my wife (I'm sure you can picture it) to write something. So this is a shout out to Sarah's mom's mom, Grandma Dottie. Hi Grandma Dottie! I hope you're holding things down in Toledo.

I hope you all are doing well. We miss you all, and pray that Sarah gets inspired and decides to write some on the blog.

day 3 and day 4

2006-07-13T01:14:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it just took me like 10 minutes to get to this screen. We are currently in Flagstaff, AZ, and we have a terribley slow connection, so I think I'll post pictures later. Regardless, let me get you all caught up on what we've been up to. Last you all heard we were leaving Oklahoma City for Albuquerque, NM. Well, that was a long, but good trip. It started off with an oil change. We went to an Instant Oil Change where you god 10 cents off for every year you were old. It was one of those times I wished I was much much older. It also made me think of my mom since it was her birthday. I will not tell you all how old she is, we'll just say that now she gets an extra ten cents off at the Instant Oil Change in Oklahoma City. So we did that and we began our day through the lovely Oklahoma countryside (can you sense the sarcasm)

Later that day we stopped at the Cadillac Ranch on our way out of Amarillo, TX. For those of you who don't know what it is, I'll explain it with a pic...it'll make more sense. We really liked it. Well, Day 3 continued on through Texas and into New Mexico. There's really not a whole lot going on on this trip. In Amarillo we saw a billboard for a Free 72 oz. steak. A later billboard informed us that the steak was free if and only if you eat the whole thing on your own. I think that I would need at least 3-5 friends to help me polish one of those suckers off.

Well, we cruised on in to Albuquerque, found a hotel, and then went exploring. Everyone in Albuquerque was so nice. Even this random woman at the gas station who just struck up a conversation with me and then helped us find a hotel and pointed us towards some stuff we may want to check out. We walked around and went into a coupele of shops that were still open in this area called Old Town. It's really cool. It's a bunch of old Adobe buildings with some cafes, galleries, and shops with a big old church right in the middle (again...pics...later). We got a recomedation for a cafe called "Church Street Cafe". It was so good. The place is in a 300 year old house (the city is celebrating it's tricentenial this year). It was some amazing Southwest food.

The next day included some more time in Albuquerque. We went around the University of New Mexico (and the surrounding parts), downtown, and we hit Old Town again. We loved it. I needed some film so we found a cool camera store and we scored a new/used camera bag and some film. We also bought a old original photo in Old Town.

We didn't want to say goodbye to one of new favorite cities, but we had to proceed. Day 4 meant that we had to get to Flagstaff, AZ. So we went off. This was a gorgeous trip. We ended up deciding to stop off at he Petrified Forest National Park. It was a bit of detour, but it was incredible. Got some good pics, saw some stoney logs, and walked through a painted desert.

The night brings us into Flagstaff. We went out for pizza. It was good, but I'm pooped and I'm sure you all could handle a break. Tomorrow is the Grand Canyon. Hopefully, we can get some of the other pics up before we go to the big whole in the ground.

an OK day

2006-07-10T23:06:00.000-05:00

So were back from exploring Oklahoma City, and I don't know if it was having low expectations but we really enjoyed it. It's a really cool city. It seems like it's actually a city that cares about itself. There are a number of renovated buildings, a cool baseball stadium for the Rangers' Triple A team, museums, music halls, a cool riverwalk, and some of the biggest houses I've ever seen in my life. The whole city is divided into districts (Art District, residential, etc.). It's all very cool. I could live here if it weren't for the tornadoes. I would have to agree with my sister in law Kate on that one...."I hate tornadoes!".

Before our exploration of dowtown we went to the Federal Building Memorial. It was awesome. We were both really impressed. It was very well done and very well thought out. Here are a couple pics. They can't do the place justice. If you are ever around Oklahoma City, definately check out the Memorial. We liked it so much that we went back at night after dinnner.

road trip...okay...it's really relocating via a long drive

2006-07-10T15:55:00.000-05:00

So yesterday Sarah and I started our trek to Lancaster, CA, which most of you know is where my call is to plant a church. But before I can start we have to get there, so yesterday we packed up the car and head off. I decided that I would use blog world as a means of journaling a bit.

Day 1-We ran around St. Louis trying finish all of the "stuff" that needed to get done including framing a drawing that Sarah did for a memorial comission from a family in Arcata. It turned out really well. We'll post a pic of it later (actually Sarah just yelled at me and said that "we" were not going to post a pic of it...if you really want to see it I'll email you one!). That went fine (other than we had to sacrifice our plants in order to fit it in the car. Regardless, we were off. Not a far drive. Just a short one. A bit of a warm up. We drove about 220 miles or so to my Godparents house (I call them my Aunt Marti and Uncle Bob). It was awesome! I was a little bummed about missing the Word Cup Finals but we had to get on the road. We were greated by my Uncle Bob and Aunt Marit who gave us a tour of their new home in Springfield, MO, and they grilled us up some Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignons that were AMAZING. It was a good time hanging out, talking, and watching the Cardinal game.

Day 2- We headed out for Oklahoma City (yeah, we know...two short trips in a row but it's just how it worked out. We just checked into the hotel and that is why I'm blogging. So hopefully we'll find some more spots with WiFi so we can keep the journal going. As of right now. We're gonna head out. Check out the downtown and try and see the Federal Building Memorial. Should be cool.

Eli

2006-06-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

Eli
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

Always on the move, we finally managed to capture a brief moment of stillness from our nephew...

Sassy Pants

2006-06-15T23:18:00.000-05:00

Sassy Pants
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

Ask her to "raise the roof" ...Very entertaining! Also, we've heard the American Idol routine is not to be missed.

Going...going...gone

2006-06-15T23:17:00.001-05:00

Going...going...gone
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

Ava is starting to fade in Papa's arms after a long day at the aquarium.

Giddy up!

2006-06-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

Giddy up!
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

It was great to see the cousins all together...Eli and Jens have conversations in the complicated jibberish language and actually understanding one another...Izzy swimming (it looks more like flailing in the water) while Nate tries to stay dry in the pool...good times

"Jens?"

2006-06-15T23:16:00.001-05:00

"Jens?"
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

This is Jens in his best form pointing to anything (in this case a goat) and saying "Jens?" ...He would point to other things and say "Papa?" as the weekend progressed.

The Risk Taker

2006-06-15T23:16:00.000-05:00

The Risk Taker
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

Nate is well known for his amazing feats of courage. Here is yet another example as he quickly rushes past the fountain before the water gets higher.

Izzy 1 and Izzy 2

2006-06-06T20:20:00.000-05:00

Here is my niece Isabelle. She is 3 1/2 years old.

This is Jason Isringhausen. He is 33 1/2 years old

Both go by the nickname "Izzy". We saw both of them on Monday. The first Izzy (our niece) we said goodbye to as she and her family (Josh, Brianne, and her brother Jens) drove back to Louisiana. The other Izzy (we'll call him Izzy 2), we saw last night when we went to the Cardinals game. Here's where the two Izzies differ. Izzy 1 has mad throwing skills. She can throw anything from a stuffed animal, a ball, or even a tantrum. Izzy 2 on the other hand only has mad skills at throwing bad pitches like the one he threw against Ken Griffey last night when he blew yet another save in the Cardinals loss.

Needless to say we have much love for Izzy 1, and no love for Izzy 2. I've usually been a huge supporter of Izzy 2, but even when he came in last night with no one on and a two run lead I knew something bad was about to happen.

Regardless, I was skeptical of the new stadium, but it is awesome. Very fan friendly. We sat in the bleachers, and we felt like we hade more room than at Old Busch, and it looked like all of the views were better. All in all, a great experience except for the end part.

As for my niece, as you can see, she is cute. Maybe we'll talk to Josh and Brianne and get her throwing baseballs more, b/c the Cards need some help in the bullpen (we'll put up some more pics of our recent trips and visitors soon).

master of the universe

2006-05-22T10:40:00.000-05:00

So I'm done...

I'm finally done with Seminary. This is the first time I've not been a student since I was 3 years old in Preschool. Needless to say, I'm pumped about the change. It was a great weekend. My brother and godparents came into town, which was great. We had a great time. Brad was even able to come to a "sending out" service at my field work church for all of the people associated with the church that are leaving (there's quite a few). It was a great time. It was the first time I had been a part of a laying on of hands for a sending out. I was awesome. Service went about 2 hours long, but it didn't feel that long at all. I was shocked when I looked at my watch afterwards.

And no, I'm not Pastor/Rev. Todd yet. I am eligible to be ordained (what makes me Rev.) and installed (what makes me Pastor), but for now you all can just call me Master Todd since that's about all I've got right now. Ordination will be this summer. Haven't decided on a date, but we'll soon have that set in stone (probably in mid-late July). There's just a lot of what ifs right now.

Going up to Chi-town this weekend to see Sarah's WHOLE family. Should be fun. 3 beds, 13 people...should also be a bit cozy, but we're looking forward to it.

random ramblings of midnight inspiration...

2006-05-08T23:48:00.000-05:00

just thought I'd stop in to say 'Hi" I just finished a 20 page paper on HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Christian Church's response. It's a good feeling to be done with that one. I'm suprised that my fingers even feel like typing right now, but I will ask no questions...I will only type.

I guess I'm in one of those moods where my eyes are heavy, my head kind of hurts, I'm a little exhausted, but I feel good. Things are starting to wind down. Things I should have done a while ago are starting to take shape and I'm getting stoked about new oppurtunities in SoCal.

Sarah is asleep right next to me. I'm sure she'd say "Hi" to all of you blog people if she were conscious.

I just got a roll of film back that I took with my new camera (an old Yaschica TLR camera from 1959). They weren't too bad. Still have a lot to learn. Just fun to be creative again.

I also want to thank all of you hard core blog-chekcers. Sorry we are not good at keeping up. I'm afraid we are by nature, flakes and losers, so it is always hard to tell how often we will post.

Please keep Sarah and I in your prayers. This is a crazy time of transition for us.

good night...I'm done

our new home

2006-04-29T16:23:00.000-05:00

Yup, were moving, as I'm sure the vast majority of you who still read our very sparse blog already know. Call Night was on Tuesday night. This is a worship service where everybody finds out for the first time where we are called. It's been a nerve racking year, but Sarah and I are very happy with the outcome.

We are going to be moving to Lancaster, CA. I was called by Grace Lutheran Church where I will be sort of on staff. Most of my duties will revolve around planting a new church in the Antelope Valley (which has a pop. of about 400,000 people or so). It's very exciting. The Antelope Valley is a growing area with very few churches, so the mission field is definately ripe.

For those of you who don't know much about SoCal geography, Lancaster is about 70 miles straight north of LA. It is high desert which means that we'll be high and dry (picture the opposite of Arcata which was low and damp).

Even though we are both really excited about this new adventure we definately need all of your prayers. We will be finally moving somwhere permenant for the first time since we've been married, and it's to a place neither of us have ever been to.

1 pphhhhhhh....2pphhhhhhh

2006-03-29T14:40:00.000-06:00

That's the sound that I heard today. I decided after my guitar lesson to go work out at school. For the first 25 minutes I was in there I was by myself. Kind of nice, but sometimes its nice to chat with someone while you're trying to forget that you're running or lifting. Well, this older, quiet-looking guy comes in with headphones on. He smiles and nods and we respecitively continue with our business. Well, I move over to start lifting on the bench machine and he sits down at a different machine. I begin my lifting and all of a sudden I hear at a volume just below a yell 1 PPPHHHHHHHH!!!!!! 2PPPHHHHHH!!!!!! and you can imagine how the rest went. I don't want to sound like a jerk. I guess some people love counting outload and exhaling loudly in the process. I guess I couldn't help but laugh. I'm sitting across the room struggling to get up a weight that girl scout could probably do, and this guy was making me crack up. I felt bad so I kept trying to hide my face. I don't know if I was successful. And, yes, it remained funny for the next half hour I was in there.

I know what you're thinking, "I guess you had to be there." Well, you've all been there I'm sure. It's like that time when you were in school, at a funeral, or some other inappropriate situation and something ridiculous made you laugh WAY more than it should have. Well, for me, that was today in the weight room.

chit chattin' w/ Gabe

2006-03-22T23:17:00.000-06:00

Had a great conversation with Gabe today. For those of you who don't know, Gabe is one of our friends from Christ in the City. He's the worship leader and my guitar teacher. We talked today after my lesson about art and music. It's always nice to talk to someone about the creative process, and someone who's so excited about expression and taking it to another level. This has been something that I've struggled with since I've been in Seminary. I can make plenty of excuses, but it boils down to choosing to do other things with my time instead of using what God has given me (this has been something that has been bugging me since the end of my first quarter at the Sem...and my chit chat with Gabe has inspired me to throw it out into blogworld). Sarah has been super encouraging for me to do this, so I'm gonna get back into what got me to love Art and expression in the first place, photography. The hunt has been on for a new camera for a few months. I know very few of you out there even care, but I've decided to jump into a different film format and buy an old school, used camera. Pray that the hunt is both short and fruitful.

Also, check out Kate and Ben's blogs. They visited last weekend and took some pics from the MO Botanical Gardens. It was a great weekend, and we already miss them.

ode to nuevo latino cuisine

2006-03-06T13:43:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I know...I suck. I haven't blogged in like 14 years, and, no, I don't have a good excuse why not. I know all of you have been painfully waiting on the edge of your seats to know what we've been up to, so here it goes.

Two weeks ago we went skiing out in New York. It rocked....Sarah still has bruises.

Last Friday, Sarah and I went on a killer date. Usually our dates consist of renting a movie and maybe splurging on California Pizza Kitchen. A fun night, but sometimes you just gotta go for that awesome night. We went to what might be our favorite resteraunt EVER, Mirasol. They serve Nuevo Latino cuisine, which is quickly becoming my favorite of all the cuisines. They have a blend of Caribbean, Central American, Mexican, and South American food with a modern flare...and served Tapas style. Our favorite tapas is plantains served over Chihuahua cheese and topped with Guava paste. Yeah, sounds strange, but even when we ordered it, our waitress smiled, and said "Oh yeah! Good One!" I don't think I've ever been so applauded for an order at a restaurant, but her reaction certainly made me feel like I did something great.

After our delicious meal we followed it up with the Gallery night in downtown St. Louis on Washington Ave where they open up all of the galleries and have receptions for the artists all on the first Friday of the month. I used to work in this area, and it has certainly turned itself around a lot since I worked there. It was great. The art wasn't at an extremely high calliber (kind of like my spelling), but it was still awesome to see this sort of thing in St. Louis. There were a ton of design stores and resteraunts open, too. We stopped and had some desert at a place called Gelateria. We had some Gelato and Espresso. A perfect cap on a great evening with my wife.

So what do we do?

We eat Nuevo Latino Tapas, go gallery hopping, eat Gelatto, drink Espresso, and enjoy a nice walk around downtown with each other....see....we're not total losers.

so what do you do?

2006-02-10T09:56:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago one of our friends from church asked us "So what do you guys do after worship?" Well, just to give you a quick background, our church only worships on Saturday nights right now and we get done around 7pm and then we hang out for about another hour (that puts us at 8pm). Well, I'm sure Sarah and I both had confused looks on our faces. After a moment of deep contemplation I said, "I don't know...what do YOU do?" She said "Nothin'...just wanted to know if I was the only loser."

Are we simply old farts and we didn't know it? Do we not have any friends? Well, those could both be true, but we realized that we're always so tired from the week, that we never want to do anything. I know what you're thinking, "But didn't you just talk about spending time with people in your last post." In our defense, we get to church at 4:30pm and stay til 8pm, and sometimes we do go out with people afterwards (can get $$$$ though). We do like to spend time with people, but also each other. So now here's the question..."So what are y'all up to tonight?" Well, let the hypocrite say "We're gonna watch TV." That's right, Arrested Development is having a marathon tonight, so we're gonna be glued to the TV for a bit. If you have never watched the show before, go out and rent the first season on DVD. You won't be sorry. Saturday night will be spent out with my parents, which ten years ago would have been embarassing, but now is nice since we only saw them twice last year.

So, yeah, we sound like losers...but before you judge, here's a question..."So what do you do?"

where does the time go?

2006-02-09T09:52:00.000-06:00

Okay, so my brother made the comment in his blog that we never post anymore. Well, it's true. I can't deny that. Here's the gist of what has been going on in Sarah and Todd's world.

-last night was small group Bible study that I have been leading. It's been going pretty well. The vicar's wife said the only reason she comes is because I lead it. I told her that I was just going to start bringing her around with me wherever I go so she can say things like that. Sarah feels the same way about one of the field workers who always compliments her hair. Brad, you're right...nice words rock.

-Interview stuff has been a little frustrating. Just a prayer request for all of that stuff.

-We're going skiing in two weekends, and I'm looking forward to faceplanting in some powder.

-Sarah and I had a great discussion last night. Well, maybe interesting and thought provoking would better to describe it. I guess we're both frustrated with the mundane. Just going to work/school, and doing what we have to do to get through and get by. What's the point? We're busy all of the time and we don't feel like we do anything fruitfull. Pray for that. I guess all of this waiting to hear what our future holds is a little draining and frustrating. Don't mean to sound all negative. It really was a good conversation, because we talked about how important it is to spend time actually with people and not just doing "stuff". I encourage all of you to take some time away from what you feel you are forced to do and spend some time with people, getting to know them better and sharing Christ with them.

Well, speaking of things I am forced to do. I have to go to class. Later!

welcome to blog world, dad

2006-02-03T10:56:00.000-06:00

My (Todd) dad just started a blog. Here's the address www.nieb47.blogspot.com/

I'll permalink it later

Enjoy

talk about boring

2006-02-01T11:05:00.000-06:00

In honor of the super-weak anonymous guy who commented on my previous post, here's what happened to me last night.

Sarah and I were excited because it was going to be an unusual night of just the two of us hanging out, with nothing planned. No homework, no work, no interviews...it was going to be great. Well, we decided to lay down on the couch and watch some TV. Well, the only thing on was the State of the Union, so trying to stay up to date on politics I felt that we should watch it. I think we were both asleep by 8:30pm or so (I guess W isn't all that interesting either...okay we were both tired all day from lack of sleep the night before), only to be awakened at 10:30pm by our neighbors car alarm. Sarah then said, "Let's go to bed." Bad idea. Have you ever taken a nap right before you go to bed. It doesn't work. We were both up late trying to get back into that nice comfortable state we were in before. Maybe we should have just tried to find the Democratic response. I'm sure that would have put us both to sleep.

home alone

2006-01-26T21:27:00.000-06:00

Hey all, not a ton going on here. Just registered for the last time, ever (well, at least for full time school). That felt pretty good.

Haven't seen any Cardinals players for a while...probably just hibernating until Spring Training.

Sarah decided to leave me home alone tonight. She's off teaching one of her friends how to knit, and I'm left home alone to do homework. Well, better get back to it.

Mall Walker

2006-01-23T19:55:00.000-06:00

Mall Walker
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

So, last week Todd and I were eating lunch at our favorite spot. This isn't any ordinary lunch spot. It's a cozy little marble table for two with leather chairs underneath an escalator with a nice view of Louis Vuitton and Tiffany and Co in Plaza Frontenac (the nicest mall in St. Louis). It's great for hanging out and people watching. Occasionally, we'll have the opportunity to listen to a pianist playing on the grand piano. During Christmas we got to see a school's holiday performance. But last week topped it all.

We were eating our lunch of sandwiches, chips, and soda from the cooler and talking about our mornings when Todd watches this couple walk past...I thought he was going to comment on the woman's extra sparklely sequin bag, which I couldn't help but notice out of the corner of my eye. But instead he whispers (not too quietly), "That's Jim Edmonds!"

That's right! We saw Jim Edmonds (one of the best Cardinal baseball players right now) walking around the mall with his wife. I guess all we can say is that if this is how Jim Edmonds is training for next year, then I can absolutely guarantee a World Series ring.

I guess it was just another typical day at Plaza Fronteac...

Pastor Jim

2006-01-22T00:38:00.000-06:00

My supervisor from vicarage is retiring. His last worship service is tomorrow (well, technically today), and he's moving up to Oregon. I just wanted to use this space to say Thank You Pastor Jim Kabel. Your ministry has made a major impact on my life, and your retirement is definately a well deserved rest after a rich and fruitfull career.

fancy schmancy

2006-01-18T23:55:00.000-06:00

So interviews are coming up. Sarah and I went shopping the other day to look at some things to add to the ol' suit so that I look ultra business man like (I honestly can't remember the last time I wore a suit. I think it was for the placement service for vicarage. Other than that...I have no clue...kind of funny that the Sem told us all to wear suits to the interviews. I know I'll "look nice" but it also feels a bit like false advertising. It's like saying "Hi, my name is Todd, and I dress like this all of the time...by the way I love math, too."

Whenever one of the 4th year guys is wearing a suit the first thing out of anybody's mouth is not "Hey, looking sharp." or even "Hello". It's typically, "So who's your interview with." I guess from my perspective it's rather amusing. Of course, it would be more amusing if we were all forced to wear chicken costumes. Of course, I could at least guarantee that I would wear that more than once.

After shopping around for new "fancy" shoes this weekend, I thought about it and we went out tonight to go get the ones that I wanted. We went to the mall, and met the strangest shoe salesperson. The second I picked up a shoe (before really even setting foot in the store) this girl says in a loud voice "Oh, I love those shoes, they are my favorite, they are so comfortable." I was a little confused. I wondered whether I had just picked up the manliest girl shoes ever or she wears guys' dress shoes. Well, they were guys' shoes, but she kept talking about how much she thought they were comfortable in a way that sounded like she owned a pair. Well, I did buy a pair of the "most comfortable shoes ever" from "the most hyper and odd shoe salesperson ever" who honestly wanted me to buy three other pairs of shoes to "go with them" $50 in shoe accessories, and one pair of shoes for Sarah. Oh, and by the way, they are comfortable, but only for dress shoes. I think that if I needed a pair of shoes to go on a long walk, or a hike that these shoes would probably only beat out my soccer cleats.

insert intense spy music at 9:21:02am

2006-01-13T10:16:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had to lead worship for chapel at the Sem. It's one of those things that all 4th year guys have to do. I wasn't looking forward to it especially. I guess I'm not a huge fan of going to chapel here (I know...I guess it's never really fed me much). Anyways, I had to be the "liturgist" (the guy who does everything but the sermon). Well, after going over what I needed to do the day before with a few people, I felt somewhat ready, yet nervous. I usually don't get nervous about things, but leading worship is one of those things. I think that I know the impact good worship can have and I certainly don't want anything that I do to get in the way of that. Also, this group, more than any group, knows when I screw up. Here's a minute to minute of my morning.

8:10am-go through a double check to make sure that I have everything...alb-check, clerical-check, workout stuff for later-check, books for class-check, laptop-check, lunch-check.

8:45am-hang out with Sarah and enjoy some coffee in the car (Yes, I skipped class. I would have to leave early anyway)

9:10am-grab everything from the car and walk to the chapel

9:13am-hang up alb, put bags aside in the sacristry

9:14am-the guy who's preaching walks in and greets me

9:16am-I take off my jacket and hang it up.

9:21am-I reach down into my shirt pocket for my "tab" (the white part of the clerical) to slide it into place.

9:21:02am- I realize that my tab isn't in my pocket

9:22am-still not panicked. I look through my bags and it is nowhere to be found

9:26am- I go and retrace my steps back to where Sarah dropped me off...no tab

9:28am-I'm all alone in the sacristry looking around to see if anybody ever left one there...a pointless endeavor

9:29am-thought pops in my head, "maybe I could just stick something white in there or I could just tuck my collar underneath my alb." The alb thing wasn't happening, the search for a new tab begins.

9:30am- feeling like MacGyver

9:30:30am- found a postcard that had a white back.

9:31am- I folded it up and jammed it into place

9:31:45am- feeling pretty good about myself

9:39am-walk out and chapel begins (things went fine)

10:00am-nobody noticed (not even the guy who pinned my mic on)....Boo-Yah!

3:56pm-walk into locker room to change

3:58pm-look around for my shorts.

3:58:30am-find my tab...the real one (apparently I put it there so that I wouldn't lose it in some sort of "just woke up" haze and I forgot).

So that was my day. I actually didn't feel too bad about finding the tab. I was still happy that my rig went unnoticed. I hope my story didn't leave you disappointed. Sarah wasn't too impressed, but the guys at the Sem were. Maybe you had to be there, maybe I'm just the MacGyver of the completely insignificant or mundane things.

flash back

2006-01-11T09:53:00.000-06:00

Right now I'm at church and I was just talking with the DCO intern about how we can reach out to the campus community. It brought me back to the beginning of my vicarage. Going down to campus, looking around at all of the students, and wondering..."how am I supposed to reach out to all of these people?" It was frustrating, but quite rewarding. We'll see if I can pass the wisdom received through failure onto the folks here. God definately has something in store, and its kind of exciting to see some of these things start to happen here.

If you ever...

2006-01-09T08:32:00.000-06:00

want to start a conversation with someone your don't know I (Sarah) recommend buying things in bulk at any store that is not a Sam's Club or CostCo. It seems this year we've found ourselves buying things in bulk quite often for work. This past Friday it was mugs. For the library, where I work, I'm doing a children's program called "Coffee Break" (...don't ask, it's fairly controversial in my office). So, one of the crafts we do is paint on ceramic mugs using glaze pens that bake in the oven (pretty cool!). Once again, the woman inline behins us "had to know" what they were all for. So for all of you looking for new friends or trying to think of creative ways to evangelize, I highly recommend buying in bulk at your nearest non-bulk store.

humble prayer request overdue

2006-01-06T10:56:00.000-06:00

so here is my second attempt at posting for the first time in about 3 weeks or so. The first time I tried I think that I wrote the extensively long post, then just closed the window without publishing it. Who knows...

I don't have much time, but I thought that I would at least try and update all of you in the few minutes that I have.

Christmas was great. Sarah's first Niebling family Christmas, and she stayed up till 6am with Brad and I conquering many worlds in Star Wars Battlefront II on Christmas Eve. We also got the chance to see her parents and Micah over New Year's which was also a lot of fun. The "kids" beat up on the "adults" in Trivial Pursuit 20th anniversary edition, and we lost on the last question in the edition they had that came out when Sarah and I were both 2 years old. I consider it a moral victory.

I'm back at school and Sarah is still working (she had to between Christmas and New Year's too). Things are going well. Interviews are starting here at the Sem which is quite exciting. Over break we encountered the same question numerous times, "So where do you two want to go?" Well, it's not an easy question to answer. I know there are many prayers for us to stay in the Midwest or go out to wherever you live, but I guess here is our prayer request: Instead of praying that we end up where you are (as much as we love and care about you), pray that we get put in a place where we are accepted by those who live there, where there are people who don't know Christ and we have the oppurtunity to witness to them, and a place where we can make a home. I know this may or may not mean that we are in Chicago (sorry Kim) or Columbia, MO (sorry mom), Austin, TX (sorry Becky), but it will mean that we will be put where God has been grooming us to go. We know that God is calling us somewhere, and the exciting part is soon, very soon, we will find out. I guess for some of you in our families we can be comforted by the fact that we are close now, and we need to take advantage of it. We hope to see you all more now that we are here whether or not we stay.

I gotta jet...Sarah and I have a lunch date at the best "lunch spot" ever....I'll explain later.

Thank you...

2005-12-16T08:20:00.000-06:00

to Kate, Rachel, and Adam. Today when I read your blogs I was laughing out loud. Isn't life great?

Christmas Break...

2005-12-15T15:57:00.000-06:00

In my attempt to keep up with blogging, I am writing these words. Well, they also allow me to procrastinate from walking over to the gym to work out.

One of my professors made the point a couple days ago in class that starting on Friday, this is going to be the last Christmas break of our entire lives. For the most part, that's true. I know that my future profession will require me to be working, but maybe it's just me being young, naive, and stupid, but I'm looking forward to working on Christmas. I can't wait to be done with school and sharing the Good News of Christ's with people seeking out Christ in their own life.

I guess this also brings me to a conversation that I just had with a guy in my class named Tim. He tapped me on the shoulder after class and asked me what I want to be doing next year. I said I don't know. He felt the same. After we spoke for a few minutes we learned that our hearts have a passion for mission planting, but we don't think that we'll get the chance because the Sem doesn't like to send guys without the right credentials into a mission plant right out of the gate.

It got me thinking about the tension that lies in most Christians hearts. I know what is on my heart, and in my head, and what I feel God is trying to instill in me, but I often wonder...is that God....or is that just my lack of sleep or am I just focusing on myself in my final days of school.

I don't know what's going on in all of your hearts, but I will certainly pray for all of you to have a better understanding of God's Will for your life. I would also ask for all of you to pray for those in the Seminary, the many congregations, and the District Presidents who are working hard to try and place all of us where we can most effectively do God's Ministry and not our own. Thanks.

okay....

time to go work out.....

I'm done......

iron and wine

2005-12-14T15:04:00.000-06:00

So last night, Sarah and I went to the Iron and Wine show. We were both pretty excited and the fact that we got free tickets made it even sweeter. (If you're really not interested in either band then this woudl be a good time to stop reading) Well, neither of us knew much at all about Calexico, the opening band. The only way I could think to describe Calexico is that they have a style unique unto themselves. If I were to draw a comparison from someone more well known I would only sell them short. I guess the closest I could come to describing them is that they have a foundation of indie rock, with a flavor of Mariachi and the Old West. They're based out of Tuscon and you definately get that feel. They had two amazing trumpeters who also played varying instruments (vibraphone, misc. percussion, accordian, guitar). It was definately intense without it being heavy. If you're interested I'm sure you can find out more.

After they played for about an hour or so, a man named Salvador from Columbia came onto the stage and played about 4 songs. He played the Flamenco (I don't know if that's spelled right) guitar and sung. I have no clue what he was singing about, but it sounded great (it was all in Spanish).

Once he was done, my new hero (for his musical abiblities and his sweet beard), Sam Beam (who is Iron and Wine) came out with his back up band. Now, I'm not extremely familiar with Iron and Wine. I was first exposed to them/him last year when Sarah and I picked up the Garden State Soundtrack. Since, I've downloaded a song or two and listened to more on internet radio. What I do know is that Sam Beam was a former film instructor and that was evident with the scrolling video that went on behind him during his set and during Calexico's. It didn't distract from the concert, nor was it vital that it was there, but it definately enhanced the performance. It came from a projector that hung above the crowd and projected these images onto some members of the band as well as a giant print behind them, and the video appeared to be clips from nature movies from the 40's and it was softly pixelated. Sound strange? It was awesome.

That's enough about the video. The music was way better. Sam Beam has a soft, whispery, soulful voice that just makes you want to listen. When you first hear most of his music it appears to be very simple and acoustic. Well, the live performance definately had that, but what was added was a quiet intesity that brought depth to each song. Again, like Calexico, it's hard to put Iron and Wine's music into a category or compare them to anybody without selling them short either. It's indie rock, with heavy acoustic influence, with lyrics that tell stories of Southern life (both real and fictional). The music ranged from him plucking at his guitar with his sister singing back up, to some songs where there were 12 people on stage. Each song, never giving what you expect but taking you in new and exciting directions. The entire concert ended up being about 4 hours long, and we didn't get home until well after midnight. Yes, we were both very tired this morning, but even in our most tired state this morning we both agreed...it was definately worth it.

Here's a link to theiron and wine concert they did for NPR. Though this concert is quite similar to what we saw, it doesn't give you the idea of the depth of music that we heard last night. It was much fuller, with more texture, and definately louder. Thanks for listening to me go on and on about these guys. Do a little research and you'll enjoy. I guarentee it.

so much to say in so little time

2005-12-12T11:44:00.000-06:00

So I only have a few minutes before I must get to the next thing, but I thought that I would take these few moments to update you all on life with Sarah and Todd.

I are still in the flow of things in our respective vocations, and things are going fine in both. This quarter is going to be tougher than the last one, so prayers would be appreciated. Actually, I found out that I got straight A's last quarter (well, 3 A's and 2 A-'s...but that's close enough for me...Sarah would disagree). It's the first time I've done that since high school I think. Unfortunately, I think I've set the bar too high and my lovely wife now expects me to do the same for the duration of my time here....we'll see.

Things have slowed down with the college job, which has been a big relief. Christmas is right around the corner, and we finally went and got a Christmas tree. Feelin' a little bit more like Christmas...and the fact that I got really ticked off at some lady who cut me off in a parking lot the other day.

I've been working out lately trying to shed the fat that I've accrued since Sarah and I met (know that is in no reference to me trying to get rid of Sarah....just the weight on my own body), and that's been going well.

One random story before I go....the other day I was driving around listening to a local college radio station. They said that caller #9 would get tickets to go see Iron and Wine. I thought...hey, that might be a cool concert. Let's give it a whirl...so I did, and I won the tickets! I've never really tried to ever do anything like that before, but I guess first time's a charm. So Sarah and I are going to see Iron and Wine tomorrow, and we're pretty stoked (at least I am...I think Sarah just gets a kick out of seeing me so excited that I won the tickets). We'll let you know how it goes.

prayer request

2005-12-02T10:18:00.000-06:00

Recently I had a close relative (a distant cousin) get mysteriously sick. Doctors did test upon test and they could not figure out what was wrong. Well, last night she passed away. They are doing an autopsy to try and figure out what happened. Please keep her kids, grandkids, her sister (Harriet), and her extended family and friends in your prayers as we mourn her loss. Thanks.

our hearts were on fire with the spirit

2005-11-30T08:51:00.000-06:00

So first off I want to apologize. It's been a while. I've become almost as bad as my brother at posting (sorry Brad...I had to say it). Let's recap the last couple weeks. Well, after finals were over I had my two week Fall break. I relaxed (a little), painted my parents kitchen (if you do get the chance to see it I highly recommend it...three colors...not easy), preached at C2 (my field work church), got caught up on some stuff around the homestead that I'd been putting off, and we went up to St. Paul, MN for Thanksgiving to visit Sarah's sister Kate and family. It was a ton of fun being up there. Our nehpews our hilarious and our neice is beautiful. We'll post pics sometime soon, but our pics page is slow today for some reason.

Kate and I got to fix our first Thanksgiving meal. We called it a great experiment, and we figured that if it went horribly then we could simply just chalk it off to it being an "experiment", or we could just blame Sarah and Ben. It actually turned out pretty good. We had all the good stuff: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, and it was GOOD.

On Sunday, we went to church which was really good. During the service it got to the time when the offering was collected. They made the announcement and the band started playing a song. We all started singing and then we heard this loud noise. The band played for a few more seconds, and the band leader said something to the effect of "Are you serious?" It was the fire alarm. The worship leader looked a little confused which I'm sure matched the faces of everybody worshiping. He proceeded with "Do we have to leave?" Ben got up and went to go check, and he came back and said that we have to evacuate. So everybody got up and started to leave. Fortunately, we didn't have to go very far when we were told that we could go back in. We proceeded with the service and it was great. Don't know what actually happened, but fortunately, nothing burned down...but it was definately the first time I had to evacuate a worship service.

i'm a nerd

2005-11-15T23:37:00.000-06:00

So on Sunday we had a few friends over for a BBQ. It was a lot of fun just to hang out with people and not have to worry about schoolwork. I was sitting out on the deck having a conversation with our friends Drew, Scott and their wives about movies. Well, I started recommending movies that Sarah and I have both enjoyed recently (we both highly recommend Shopgirl with Jason Schwartzman and Steve Martin) and I realized something. They all looked at me like I was nuts. Drew asked..."Do you have to think during that movie?" and his wife Sarah chimed in with "Yeah, Drew doesn't like to think during movies." Scott and Lauren agreed, so I got Sarah to come out onto the deck and help me defend some of our movie choices. It was later on after that conversation I realized something. I'm a huge nerd. No, not when it comes to Math or Science...just when it comes to artsy fartsy stuff like movies where you have to think a lot (and sometimes read subtitles)...Sarah thinks I just sound snotty...guess it takes one to know one....

It was upon this realization that I have come to the conclusion that we are all nerds...yes, you too. I guess we are all nerds about different things. For me...artsy fartsy stuff, for my brother, school psychology (Brad, you know it's true), for Sarah (well, she thinks she's a nerd by association but you and I both know that whenever she gets the chance she does one of two things 1. Reads 2. Watches lame TV shows)....I guess I could go on and one pointing out everybody's nerdiness, but I know that Brad and Sarah won't get too mad at me.

Go on....think about it...you're a nerd too...it's okay...you're still loved. Embrace the nerd within.

new look

2005-11-12T15:38:00.000-06:00

hey all, don't worry, you're not seeing things. We changed the look of our blog today. We're not too keen on this one, or any of our options, so we're gonna stick with this for now and we're going to do a complete overhauling over the next week or so. If you have any suggestions or technical advice we're newbies at this part of it all so we need all the help we can get. We'll continue to update it in the meantime so don't give up on us!

BOO-YAH

2005-11-11T15:06:00.000-06:00

So it is a beautiful afternoon and I am sitting on a bench right next to the fountain on campus. And as you can tell I'm picking up a wireless signal from one the lounges.

I just got done taking my last test of the quarter (BOO-YAH!!!!), and just to let you know how it went, I ran into a guy after I left the classroom and he said "That was the worst test I've taken since I've been here at the Sem." Notice he didn't say "hardest" or "easiest"....no, he said "worst". It was one of those tests where you sit down and study, and you don't know what to study, and even after you take the test you're still trying to figure out what you should have studied that would have help. Well, hopefully my prof will show grace upon my thoroughly confused classmates and myself....we'll see...probably not.

It's a good feeling having the quarter over with. Now I get two weeks off that is jam packed full of things that I put there not things that professors put there.

As I sit here on this bench many things go through my mind like...why does every campus seem to have one of those guys who walks around in shorts and a T-shirt every day regardless if its like 30 degrees outside. It baffles me. I've also noticed that those guys also have two things in common: 1) They always have the same response to there overly machoness, "I don't get cold." (Guys we know you do get cold...just admit it...it's okay). 2) They always wear jean shorts. Unfortunately, they are not the cut-off style like the character Tobias wears on "Arrested Development", they are those uber-tight kind that just look a little uncomfortable.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be mean. It's just one of those things that baffles me. Let's turn the tables onto myself, and why I baffle me sometimes (does that make sense?). I had 6 papers and 4 tests for 5 classes all this last week and yet I still didn't think to work ahead so that my final week wasn't insanely busy. Why do I procrastinate....I dunno...I'll figure it out later.....

It's official...

2005-11-09T09:13:00.000-06:00

I, Sarah, am addicted to coffee. It's been almost a year now that we've been making coffee almost every morning. I've always told myself I can stop whenever I want to. However, this morning, after getting a seemingly good night's rest, I was still tired and realized that I needed that cup of stimulant. Sitting here at work, preparing to do a storytime program with 50 children under preschool age this morning, I am now confident I'll have the energy, thanks to coffee.

the end is near

2005-11-08T21:41:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I was about to sit down and write something insightful, funny, or at least somewhat informational...well, sorry...I'm really just procrastinating. It's finals week. I need to write a paper for tomorrow, and then I only have two papers left and three tests.

Well, I gotta go...pray for me....

last night

2005-11-06T19:21:00.000-06:00

Recently I changed my field work church from St. Paul's to Christ in the City. For those of you whom I haven't gone on and on in detail regarding C2, it's a 140 year old congregation (in a 120 year old building) that recently got down to only 3 members. Well, those few people didn't want to give up. They knew ministry could still be done. After a great deal of hard work it has been transfomed into a mission replant and the "re-opening" worship service was last night. It was incredible. There was at least 100 people there (most of them were simply friends of those closely involved...with their own church home...I don't know if God works quite that fast...). C2 decided to open up a coffee house, refurbish the old building, put in a day care, and start reaching out to the community (most of which are Saint Louis University students who walk by the front door on a daily basis since the sanctuary is on campus...literally). I was definately honored to play my small part in worship and to see God working throught this ministry. I would like to ask for your prayers for the ministry at C2. Here is there website www.c2life.net The webpage is in need of some work, but you can get the idea. Take a look at how the sanctuary used to look, and you can also see some of the small group photos (aka the congregation), too. I'll post some more updated pics soon!

escapism

2005-11-01T09:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday after a hard 2.25 hours work stuffing envelopes in the Development office at school I took a walk down to one of Sarah and my favorite places in St. Louis, Kaldi's. It's a small coffee shop that many of you are familiar with. It's tucked back into a nieghborhood that neighbors the Sem. I've had many late nights and early mornings there studying or writing papers for school, and Sarah and I have taken many cheap dates there, too. I needed to pick up some coffee because we were out and they sell organic, fair trade coffee in whole bean form so Kaldi's has become our supplier since we've been back.

I grabbed myself a mocha and a pound of whole bean, organic, fair trade "Natural High", had a seat, and waited for Sarah to pick me up. It was overcast and raining. I stared out the window and watched a couple runners go by, some cars, and a few people just on a walk (it wasn't raining that hard). For a moment I was taken back to our days last year out in Arcata, CA, and, as weird as this sounds, I was in the mood to go to the beach or to go down to the Plaza and grab a slice of Smug's Pizza. It was a great few moments of escape from my thoughts about school and our "college" job. Last night was Halloween, so things were a little crazy when we got home, so this escape was a great feeling. On the plus side, when we got home last night we had our first trick or treaters ever as a married couple. On the down side, they weren't even wearing costumes (unless they were three little white kids who dressed up as three little Asian kids....if that's the case, then those are by far the best costumes I've ever seen!). After that, the craziness of our "college" job continued on into the night....ahhhh.....life.......

numb fingers, but still typing

2005-10-27T23:13:00.000-05:00

So it has been quite a while since we have posted anything. For that I am deeply sorry.

There is a certain chill in the air. The kind of chill that the vicar (David) at my field work church said the other day "lets us know that we're alive, and for that God...we thank you." It has been one of the few things that has kept me going the past couple weeks. No not David, God reminding me that I am alive and that is only by his incredible grace.

The past few weeks have been a little nuts. I haven't taken my blood pressure lately, but I'm sure it's through the roof on a regular basis. School work has been piling up ( I just got done with my 3rd paper in as many days), and our jobs as Resident Managers causes us a fair amount of stress and tension, but those stories are not the ones that really need to be discussed in blog form. Stress is stress, frustration is frustration no matter what package it comes in. Sometimes you need to make choices to alleviate some or both of those things. Regardless, everytime, you need to remember that you are alive because of what Jesus has done for us. I guess that's why what David said the other day has stuck with me. I am alive. Even though these things that cause me so much grief remain in my life, I am still alive because God chose to love me....the stressed out guy who has a billion things to do and only a couple dozen moments of time to do them in.

Thanks God. I don't deserve it.

Go ahead. Jump out into that cold air, and take a big deep breath and remember that God is still there and so are you, so maybe it's time for all of us to take our packages of stress, frustration, or whatever is weighing you down and airmail it directly to the creator of the universe.

Thanks God and good night to all of you from California to Ohio. We appreciate all of you who read our stories and thoughts.

This Weekend...

2005-10-16T21:41:00.000-05:00

we went to Michigan and Ohio. A lot of driving, but it was really nice to get away and see family. We had the chance to watch Micah play soccer in a tournament in Frankenmuth, MI (they won!) early Saturday morning. Then we (Todd, myself, my mom, my dad, and my brother) raced back to get ready for my cousin Erin's wedding in Toledo.

The wedding was beautiful (as everyone reading this blog who was there will agree). Very elegant. And the reception was a good time. It was so great to see my relatives, some of who it's been years since the last time we visited. It just got me thinking how much I enjoy my family and wish I had more opprtunities to be with them. So, I just want everyone to know (both friends and family) that we LOVE visitors and our door is always open to anyone who would like to come, whether we are in St. Louis or wherever we may be next year. Please come and see us!!!

one early morning....

2005-10-11T10:13:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I broke the other day. Yeah, Sarah and I went to Starbucks. That's not the point of the story. It was an early morning and Sarah had to be at work at 8am. I didn't have class until later that day, so I was going to drop her of at the Library so I'd have the car. Sarah woke up, got ready, then about 2 minutes before we had to go she woke me up. I rolled out of bed, through on a pair of jeans and t-shirt. Well, the way traffic works around here, we had to leave over 30 minutes early just to get there on time. Well, it took us less than 10 minutes, so Sarah and I decided to go next door to a Starbucks for a cup of coffee. We walked in and you wouldn't believe the stares I got. Yeah, I was dressed a little bit like a scrub, but I think that it was mostly my hair. I had rancid bed head. Not just the bed head that makes your hair look fashionably disheveled. I had that big poof on the side of my head that nobody would intentionally put there. You can ask Sarah...everybody kept staring at me. What makes this story even funnier is just where this Starbucks is at. It's in the heart of the richest area of St. Louis. Everybody there was wearing Fancy suits, Gucci, Prada, the who bit. I looked out of place with my jeans and zip up hoodie let alone my lovely bed head. I felt bad about going to Starbucks after being so mad at them, but it made the trip worth while just seeing the looks on those people's faces.

number 1

2005-09-27T09:31:00.000-05:00

So I noticed something interesting about a guy in my 8am class. Whenever he raises his hand he only holds up his pointer finger. At times I couldn't tell if he was asking a question, making a comment, or just telling the rest of the class that he's #1. Well, I assume that he's letting us all know that he's #1, and I whole heartily agree. You go Mr. #1 man. You ARE #1, and don't be afraid to let everybody else know. You keep letting us all know you're #1.

The Sev

2005-09-21T15:19:00.000-05:00

For those of you out there who are not alums of Concordia River Forest "The Sev" may sound like a foreign concept. Well, basically, it's short for 7-11 (the convenient store). There was one just around the corner from campus and let's just say if you went to CURF then you were familiar with the Sev and going on "Sev runs". Often they were just a way for a group to do something. It was nice to just grab a Slurpee, the latest issue of The Onion, and maybe some chips. Nothing fancy, but priced like it was VERY fancy. Sev runs were a great postmodern thing. It meant different things to different people. Sometimes it was an easy way to get to know a member of the opposite sex without having to ask them out on a date (it was a lot cheaper, too). It usually entailed walking to the Sev and then enjoying a stroll amongst the beautiful mansions of River Forest. You could talk about whatever, whether it was about God, the future, friends, family, class, or you could just enjoy each others company while taking an autumn evening stroll. They weren't always a "date" sort of thing though. That was what was so great about them. You went on Sev runs with whoever wanted to. I remember going quite often with my friends Dan, Andy, Ben, and Dan. It offered us a little holiday from campus and it gave us a good time to just hang out and talk about whatever.

So you might be wondering why I'm writing all of this. Well, it's not because I'm trying to live in the past or that I want to go back to undergrad. No, actually, last night Sarah and I went on a Sev run. It was a short walk, but it was fun. It was late at night, and it was a beautiful out. I realized that it's nice to live in a place where you can take a walk to. This area isn't really the best to take a walk, but hey, when you have a destination such as the Sev, it makes the walk even better, and when you're with someone that you care about it makes the walk worh while. So I highly recommend finding someone you care about or you want to get to know a little better and go on a Sev run of your own, whether you find a local 7-11 or not.

waiting patiently...

2005-09-12T21:20:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Sarah and I had our first of what will be many meetings for 4th year students (actually, Sarah wanted to point out that it is her second to last meeting...yeah.....whatever, Sarah... that's what I've gotta say). So it was a little on the boring side. It was mostly a procedural type meeting, but it was still exciting. It was good to hear that the end is in sight. Even thought school has just started it helped put the end a little closer.

Also, on a very different note, I would like to ask for a prayer request. My godfather, Uncle Bob, was having chest pains the other day so my Aunt Marti took him to the hospital. Well, after many tests, doctors found that he needs to have triple possibly quadruple bypass surgery. I know doctors can do amazing things (especially for someone as young as he is), and my Uncle Bob seems to be in good spirits so we are confident. I would like to ask for your prayers on his behalf. He's going in for the surgery tomorrow morning and it's supposed to take 4-5 hours, so we'll know more tomorrow night. Please pray for him and for all of the doctors and nurses that will be tending to him. Thank You.

a view from a helicopter

2005-09-11T13:58:00.000-05:00

Sarah's on the phone with her brother Josh right now. He just let us know that he and his family now have a blog. We went ahead and put a link to it over on the sidebar. He's only got two posts right now, but I just got done reading his story of the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina. For those of you who don't know Josh, he is a crew chief for a MEDEVAC unit in the Army. He and his family are living in Leesville, LA just off of the base at Fort Polk. Thankfully, they were not directly effected by the hurricane, but Josh has had to do a lot of work since it hit. Take some time to read his side of the story. It's good to hear about what's going on from somebody who's not getting paid to tell you like our friends at CNN, Fox, NBC, etc.

Are we gonna make it?

2005-09-09T15:56:00.000-05:00

That's the question Todd and I seem to be asking ourselves every night. No, it's not having to do with our marriage - which has been and still is awesome. It's having to do with this crazy job as resident managers. Last night, we thought we were in the clear, we thought we'd be able to go to bed without a major mishap (well, excluding that some of the girls managed to break the lid to the tank on the toilet in half when they trying to fix it that evening)...

Then, at 1:30 or so in the morning we hear this BANG!, BANG!, BANG!, BANG!, BANG!, BANG! on the door. Todd rushes downstairs, with me following after, my heart is pounding from being woken up like that. Todd opens the door and looks around, our neighbor, who heard the banging, comes out, too. There is no one around. Strange. Todd and I decide to walk around and check on the students, hoping to figure out who it was. As we're walking back, we see one of the students walking toward us with some forms that he needs to turn in to us in his hand. We ask him if he knocked on our door moments ago. He says no, but he needs to talk. We ask him what's up. He proceeds to talk for two hours about a very troubling situation back home. 45 minustes later, another student stops by to let us know that someone was banging on her door, no doubt the same person.

As we went back to bed at 3:30 am, I found myself wondering...are we going to make it?

This morning we were woken up with a call from another student who's bathroom sink won't stop running...

This afternoon we get a call from the college asking if we could check on some students who haven't shown up for class. Needless to say, you don't want to know what I found when I stopped by one of the apartments.

As I sit here, thinking about that "are we gonna make it" question again, I can't help but wonder I God asks himself the same question as prayers are offered up to him. What with Katrina and Iraq and sicknesses and unemployment and frustrations... it seems he never gets to rest. I guess the good thing is that he never needs to. Our God is truly amazing, listening to each one of our prayers and never tiring of answering them and caring for us. Things are too big for us, but never too big for him. Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below, praise him above you heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. AMEN.

a $100 piece of birthday cake

2005-09-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been a while. Unfortunately, there has been entirely too much going on for me to resonably recap in one post. New students moved in and it has been insane from day one. DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA. That's what it's been since the second they started to arrive. Our 'boss' here at Hickey told us that this has been the worst year ever (the worst in its organization and in the amount and severity of the problems). Last night was nearly too much DRAMA. So much happened that I don't even feel like going into to it. Let's just say it contained angry parents, a den of iniquity, late night busts, my parents having their car towed, a power hungry tow truck driver who wanted to beat up my dad, a really fat cop, my dad's birthday, all fueling our love for this job. I guess you could say that we are seriously debating whether or not this is worth it. If it continues like this, it's not, but hopefully it will simmer down a bit and we can go back to having a decent night's rest and just feeling comfortable and confident in living here. Yeah, I hate this job. Pray for us. We want this to work out.

Oh yeah, most of you know what the title means, but if you want a detailed version of that story then you'll have to call us. It, again, is too long for a blog post.

An Ordinary Trip to Walmart

2005-08-24T22:49:00.000-05:00

So, Todd and I went to Walmart tonight at 9:00. Whenever one goes to Walmart at this time of day, one can usually expect to see something unusual. Tonight was no exception. Except that tonight we turned out to be the unusual ones.

We have managed to score the Hickey Business College Resident Manager position this year, which pays for our housing and utilities. However, along with the job comes some responsibilities. This week we have to prepare the apartments for the new students. We've gone through them and taken inventory of the furniture only to learn we need 23 more lamps and 23 more matress pads. Thus, we went to Walmart to pick them up.

I guess I hadn't previously thought about how unusual we would look with this many lamps and matress pads. But other people noticed. We got many "looks" as we pulled our three very full carts up to the checkout line. One man made the comment that he knew what we were giving our friends and family for Christmas. The woman checking us out asked what they were for and Todd told her we had a very dark apartment..."Really?" she asked....hmmm

As we walked out with our load people standing in the next line asked what they were for, the Walmart door attendants asked what they were for, and people on the sidewalk said, "I just have to know..." We explained to everyone that we were RMs at Hickey College. And then we had to fit them in the car. As we were doing this, the same man who made the Christmas comment came up to us and asked if we "ever went to Campus Crusade." No, we hadn't. "Are you sure? You look familiar. Maybe you were in band or sang in the choir?" Todd tells him he would remember if he heard him sing, he doesn't have the greatest singing voice. The man continues, telling us not to be discouraged, that now we need to leave everything behind, our friends and experiences, and go where God leads us. Even when we feel alone, know God is with us and he has great things in store for us. May God bless us.

Well, at least he didn't mention Santa Cruz being the next Jerusalem - Todd wants everyone to know that so far he is 2 for 2 in prophecies. Meaning that 2 out of 2 prophecies have been very good for his future.

Ahhhh Wal-Mart...

something different

2005-08-22T19:51:00.000-05:00

So Sarah wants me to post something that's not cynical and not about the internet so here it goes.

Last weekend we went up to Crystal Lake, IL to visit the new home of Sarah's parents and Micah. It was great getting to see them and seeing their new home. We wished that we could have spent more time with them. We'll take the couple days we got, but hopefully now that we're back in the Midwest we'll get to see them more. According to my estimations we have driven 4000 miles in the last month, and man are our butts sore. It's all good though.

Okay...Sarah just yelled at me for writing about the same stuff over and over and over.....I'm gonna quit. I'll post more later when I have some "new". We'll see if Sarah's got anything good enough to blog about.

uberticked

2005-08-22T19:47:00.000-05:00

This is a post from last week. I was having some technical difficulties. Now we've got internet and a phone line at home, so all is well. I still stand behind these words, though. Enjoy!

Okay, so I did promise you stories from the move home and from the remaining weeks in Arcata, but I think that this story has priority over any of those. Sarah and I have been waiting forever for the phone company to set up a land line for us. It's been rather annoying, but there's little you can do about it I guess. I guess it takes a week for a guy to come out and flip a switch. I know, it sounds complicated, and I'm sure that it truly is, but it's still frustrating. So we did some problem solving and since we have no real way of communicating with people we got a wireless card and I've been spending some time here (where I'm presently at) at St. Louis Bread Co./Panera. It hasn't been too bad. A little inconvenient, but still doable. Phone calls have been made at my parents' house or at pay phones. Yeah, frustrating but still not too bad. Well, I've needed to do some work online that is pretty time sensitive and important. So last night Sarah and I went to Starbucks. They've advertised for quite a while that they are a wireless hotspot. We found one, not too far from our apartment, we went in, got a cup of coffee, and sat down in some comfortable chairs. Now, before I go any further with this story, I must make a confession. I'm not a real huge Starbucks fan. I've thought for a while now that they're just a giant corporation who mass produces fake atmosphere (they're kind of like the McDonalds of coffee houses) and average coffee. Oh yeah, and they have really poor coffee farming practices filled with hacking down rainforests, using chemicals that are illegal in the U.S., paying their farmers below a livable wage, all the while screwing small scale farmers out of a chance at being competitive...

Sorry. So anyway, we went to Starbucks last night. We got our coffee, and sat down. I got all my work out, flipped on the laptop and opened the browser, and a page came up for Starbucks and TMobile. Okay, whatever...yeah...I agree to your terms of use...okay. I typed in my email url and that same home page pops up. I try again, and the same thing happens. I looked closer at the screen and it said I needed a login and a password. Strange!?! Upon further searching I discovered that in order to get online it would cost money...yeah, because Starbucks doesn't have enough money...they have to charge 6 dollars for 60 minutes of internet use, $10 for 24 hours of use, or $39.95 for a month of wifi at Starbucks. WHAT?!?!?! This is absolutely ridiculous! So yeah, I'm pretty ticked. I hate Starbucks and I'm not going to go back unless I'm super desperate. I urge all of you who read this...don't go to Starbucks. Find a local spot to support. That way the money will stay local and the CEO types over at Starbucks can't line their pockets any more than they are.

2400 miles later

2005-08-14T18:24:00.000-05:00

So we're back...in good ole' Nellyville. We left on Sunday on the long, long, long voyage back. Parts were beautiful, parts were exscruciatingly dull. We will miss NorCal a great deal. Not just the breathtakinng landscapes or the ginormous trees, but the people, too. We will miss them all. The church was so sweet to us this past year. Many people have asked us where we want to end up after this next year, and we can confidently say that it's easy to trust God on this one. After all, He did such a good job with the vicarage placement that we're sure he'll do just as good, if not better, on the first call. It was hard to leave, but we had to and we had to load everything up into a truck, and put the car on a trailer for the 2400 mile trip. Loading went great. We had help from some of our friends. We finished in just a couple hours.

It's weird to be back. So few beards, so many people showered and without dreads. Sarah made the comment today that she thought she looked pretty good when we left the apartment and went to the Galeria Mall. When we got there she said she reallized that she was still dressed like a scrub. Funny what a year can do to you. I think that Arcata has changed us. That's a good thing, at least we hope so.

We're in the apartment, but unfortunately SBC sucks and they can't hook up our phone for a week, so we are without a phone and internet for a while. We went and got a wireless card so that we could email and blog during the down time. There's so many stories to share, but they will have to wait until later. We're sitting at St. Louis Bread Co. right now, and Sarah is looking at me saying "Finish already!". So I guess that it's time to go. We'll write more later.

We're Back

2005-08-03T01:07:00.000-05:00

Us at the base of Bridalveil Falls
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

Well, we're back in Arcata after some time away. Early Wednesday morning we went down to Yosemite National Park. It was awesome! We didn't get to do all the backpacking that we had planned, but we camped out and still had a blast. There was so much to see that I'm not going to even try and get into it in this post. Here's one of our pictures. This is a picture of us at the base of Bridalveil Falls. We got to scramble up to the base of it and hang out in the water. In this picture we're actually standing in river at the base of the falls. Yosemite is a gorgeous place with TONS to see. We didn't get eaten by any bears. We only heard one. We did see a coyote, but that was the coolest wildlife sighting.

Saturday we left and went to Sacramento where we went to our friends, Adam and Melia's wedding. It was a lot of fun, and HOT. It was over 100 both days we were there.

When we showed up to the Motel 6 that we were going to be staying in we were so excited to be able to take a shower and a nap (we were feeling a little scuzzy after 4 days of camping out and hiking around). Well, they told us that we had to wait to check-in until 3pm (the wedding started @4pm and it was noon by this time). So we got a bite to eat (mmm....In 'N' Out Burgers), then we hung out with the lady that wouldn't let us check in. We proceded to plant our stankiness in their lobby for a bit (after that it didn't take long for us to get our room). Well, to make a long story short Motel 6 doesn't give you shampoo anymore and we had to beg them for soap and washclothes. Yeah, pretty ghetto.

Sunday we came back up here and now we're getting ready to take off back to the Midwest. The new vicar is here. He seems really cool, and I think he'll do an awesome job. For now, I've gotta help him get acclimated, finish up loose ends, and PACK. I'm sure I'm forgetting many stories. I'll blog more soon. We posted a few pics from the trip on our picture site. Check'em out.

vicar fiesta

2005-07-25T10:03:00.000-05:00

So yesterday the church had Vicar Appreciation Day. It was great. They decided to have a potluck Mexican style asking everybody to make a Mexican/Southwestern dish. I was very touched by everything (and a little gassy, too...but it was worth it!). It was a lot of fun and sad at the same time since many of those folks I saw for the last time. One of the ladies in the church went and borrowed a bunch of sombraros, so those brave enough to wear them had fun with them. One of the things that happened that I don't know if I'll ever forget was as Sarah and I were going through the buffet line the spread was awesome. I didn't know what to put on my plate it all looked so good. Well, I worked my way through nachos, rice, enchiladas, taquitos, dips, and other delicisous Mexican/Southwestern dishes and all of a sudden I came across potato salad.....Potato Salad? Ah, I guess it couldn't be a good Lutheran potluck without a little potato salad (I passed on it by the way). It may not seem all that funny to you, but I know who made that wonderful mayo-filled dish. It was a woman who had recently invited us and pastor and his wife over for dinner. She ranted for about 20 minutes or so on how she hated the whole fiesta idea. It definately provided for one of the more awkward moments of that evening, but it also made me giggle as I saw her edible protest on Sunday.

Sarah and I will be leaving for Yosemite/Adam and Melia's wedding on Wednesday. Keep us in your prayers. The closer we get to this trip the more stressful it seems than relaxing. Tonight we'll organize everything, so that should make things easier. It's our first real backpacking trip together as a married couple (no we don't know why it took so long other than scheduling/weather problems this year and last). Should be a lot of fun. We can't wait to see Half Dome, El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, and all the other wonders of Yosemite.

prayer shout out

2005-07-21T09:37:00.000-05:00

This week we learned about, what seems to be a really cool job for Sarah for next year. She would be teacing kids K-12 about peer pressure, leadership training, conflict mediation, saying no to drugs and alcohol, etc. She's really excited about it, and so am I. We want to ask you all out there to pray for us. This would be a full time job with benefits, and Sarah seems really excited about it. She sent off her resume last night, so pray that Sarah will either get the job, or that we'll find out quickly that she didn't so that we can keep looking. Thanks.

black eye nomas!

2005-07-20T10:11:00.000-05:00

So yesterday, I spent my afternoon at the body shop. It took them three hours to replace the headlight and to buff out some dust in the clear coat. All is well, and the car is back to normal (minus any sort of emotional scarring it may or may not have in the years to come). I was a little frustrated at first that it took so long, but it actually ended up being a good thing. I got tons of work done. Good thing I had the computer with me. You know, yesterday was one of those "Can't stop" days. Even when I was trying to wind down last night, all I could think of was the long list of stuff I had to get done.

Bless my wife's heart, because she has been awesome these past few weeks. She has very willingly ran around like a chicken with her head cut off right along side of me. She has been doing the camp thing which has taken up the last 24/7X2, design work for 2 friends' businesses, packed, worked her regular job, cleaned up after her messy husband, tried to start on an art piece comissioned by church, helped me with website stuff, youth stuff, Bible study stuff, and the list seems to go on and on. So I guess what began as a simple report on our car has become a Thank You to my wife. I guess sometimes it takes a little chaos for God to show you his incredible blessings.

we're back

2005-07-19T10:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry it has been so long since we've posted. It has been a very busy 2 weeks. Here's a quick recap (if you want more details then you'll have to give us a call since I don't want to fill up cyberspace with more of my ramblings). We went down to Santa Cruz to Mt. Cross for training. It was fun. The staff there was great. We got to go to the Boardwalk and ride the Tilt-A-Wirl, a wooden roller coaster all right on the beach. Santa Cruz is a very nice place (but I don't know if God has plans to make it the New Jerusalem...I could be wrong though). Well, with all we had planned it was a hectic week. We came back up to Arcata, ran around town picking up supplies for camp and then headed out to Maple Creek within 18 hours of our arrival. Then we had camp. Normally, I would be posting pictures of our adventures, but like an idiot I forgot to bring my camera, so hopefully I can get some pics from other staff. Since we have talked last we celebrated 3 birthdays of family...one of them quite special (sorry Mom and Josh...you guys get second place here). We found out as we were driving back up to Arcata that we have a new family member, Ava Jane Griffin. She was born on July 6, and she is beautiful. There are a few pics on the link labled 'Ben' to your left. Welcome to the world, Ava. The last week or so, Sarah and I have been working on super sweet nicknames for Ava. Right now, the best have been able to come up with is Ava-cado. Don't worry Ben and Kate. We'll keep working on it. I know, it's not 'Nater-Potater' or 'Eli-aphant' (sorry...just made that one up), but it's all we got right now. Regardless, we love you Ava and we can't wait to see you...and...yes...I know you can't read this, but hopefully one of your parents will relay the message.

I hope all of you are doing great. Currently we're just stressing out even more out here. We're busy packing up, getting ready to leave, again, to go backpacking in Yosemite and go to some friends' wedding in Sacramento, getting things ready for the new guy coming in two weeks, and getting a little teary-eyed about leaving. It will be hard, but we know that God brought us here to teach us something in order to prepare us for where he is to send us.

black eye

2005-07-01T09:52:00.000-05:00

So we finally got the car back from the shop. For those of you who don't know, some guy backed into Sarah a while ago. We hade to get a new headlight and have a dent pushed out and the who front quarter panel plus some of the hood had to be repainted. Yeah, before our new car even got it's first oil change it was tainted by a giant Dodge Ram. When the guy hit us, he said he didn't want to take it to his insurance so he gave us cash to fix it. I felt like it was hush money or something when he gave us a giant wad of cash to pay for the repairs. We never blogged about it because it seemed kind of shady. Well, anyways, back to us picking up our car. We saw it from behind as we pulled up and we were exstatic. Finally, our car would be back to new and we could stop driving the crummy courtesy car they gave us (the thing started shaking at 60 miles an hour which is tough when all of the highways around here are 65 MPH. We got out of our Hyundai Accent and walked around the front of our car...and something was wrong. The paint looked fine. Oh wait...they put the wrong headlight in. For some reason they are blind and they put in a tinted headlight. Right now it looks like our car has a black eye b/c it's got one normal headlight and one "smokey" one. Let's hope it can get fixed ASAP, so our car doesn't look like it got into a bar fight.

If anyone wants to reach us this weekend we will be housesitting a member's house, so we won't be at our apartment much before we leave for Santa Cruz. Best way to reach us is email or leave a message at home and we'll check the machine periodically.

Shout Out

2005-06-30T09:50:00.000-05:00

So nearly everyday my (Sarah's) boss, who grew up in St. Louis and still has family there, gives me a report on how hot it is over there. At the beginning of the month he was saying lower 90s, then more recently it's been upper 90s, and yesterday he informed me it was in the 100s. He then usually proceeds to laugh and ask if I'm sure I want to go back there.

Now, I remember those days when (without air conditioning) you get done with taking a shower and feel the need to get right back in and cool off. I remember having trouble sleeping because, even though there are no blankets or sheets on, I still feel a thick layer of heat covering me. I remember going on outing to movies or to the mall just to enjoy some freezing cold air conditioning... Yet, I have to say that with time the intensity of the memories of heat have faded a bit. I have become "Humboldtized." I now complain when temperatures here get into the upper 70s, as they did yesterday. I'm afraid I'm not going to know what hit me when Todd and I get back to St. Louis at the peak of the hot season.

So I just wanted to give a "shout out" to all those family and friends who are enjoying this heat and humidity I'm speaking about. We are thinking of you over here where it's rare when the tempurature breaks 70 and an extra layer is always needed in the morning.

what's "normal vicar stuff" anyway...

2005-06-30T09:48:00.000-05:00

I would say that not much is going on out here...but that would be a lie. Both Sarah and I have been super busy. Sarah has been jumping headfirst into the beginnning stages of packing, working on artwork for church, helping with some interior design for another church, and picking up after me (because I'm a slob...yeah, I admit it...I'm a slob and I have an awesome wife who puts up with it...sometimes.). I've been working with a high school kid on completely revamping church's website, getting ready for camp, working on stuff for the new vicar, planning a camping trip, and taking care of normal vicar stuff. All fun stuff for the both of us...just busy.

Just wanted to let you all know that Sarah and I will be out of town beginning on the 4th of July (going down to Santa Cruz for some training...no...not with Tom the "messenger from God"...this is for camp). We'll be back in town only for a few hours on the 7th at night to the next morning. Then we'll be out of town again until the 15th in the evening.

If any of you have any good website advice then feel free to let me know. We're in the beginning stages right now, so we're pretty flexible.

naked apartment

2005-06-28T10:14:00.000-05:00

So looking at the calender recently, Sarah and I realized that we don't have much time left out here. We're only going to be here for a little over a month. Let me put that a different way. We're leaving in a little over a month. We realized that we only have a couple weeks worth of days at our apartment without the new vicar being here, so we're in panic pack mode already (or...at least Sarah is). Sarah started packing a few things yesterday. She decided to start with the things that she knew that we wouldn't need and that was what she labeled as "knick-knacks". Needless to say...our apartment is extremely bare right now. We have our giant window, an empty shelf, one random picture, and a mirror. Our place looks kind of sad. It makes us a little nostalgic and sad that we're leaving, but, hey, we're looking forward to being back in Nellyville for a while. It will be nice seeing family and friends and being on a student schedule for the last time in my life...and not being on an island (either geographical or philosophical like we are up here).

before

2005-06-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

before
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

shaggy Todd

where'd my hair go?

2005-06-27T12:09:00.000-05:00

after
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

So this is how it went down. Sarah as one lady at church said it "Robbed me of my hair". Oh well, as you can see, Sarah really likes it. It looks a little funny in the 'after' picture, but now it looks better. I guess it's a good "summer" haircut so I can avoid the scorching 62 degree weather we've been getting.

from cousin it to uncle fester

2005-06-21T09:57:00.000-05:00

So Saturday afternoon into Saturday evening Sarah gave me a little bit of a haircut. In fact, she gave me haircut with an emphasis on the "cut" portion. Yes, my hair has been chopped. We do have pictures, but as usual I haven't put them onto the computer yet so I will have to post them later. I was ready for a change, but this one I wasn't ready for. I have to admit. It did turn out well, but I was a little surprised when I looked in the mirror. I knew that Sarah was doing a lot of cutting, but I just figured that I had a lot on my head. So now, I have a bit of a mohawk...not really, but I put it in one because it's fun. People at church seemed to like it on Sunday (I didn't really make the mohawk all that tall so that none of the old people would flip out). I had one lady walk up to me and tell me how glad she was to see that it was me, because at first she thought I was the new vicar and she would have felt bad if she never said goodbye.

So, my hair is short once again. I made a compormise with Sarah after it happened. Now, I'm growing out a beard...so at the rate my facial hair grows, I should have some sort of beard before I turn 40. We'll see. I'll keep you all up to date and up to the minute on any breaking head or facial hair news.

go Banana Slugs

2005-06-16T09:37:00.000-05:00

So yesterday morning I had my meeting with the guy I mentioned earlier. The guy named Tom who I couldn't figure out who he was. Well, I talked to him for around an hour yesterday in my office. I was hoping that he would have sat down and said something to the effect of "I'm _____'s son/brother/friend and I have some questions about God/I think I want to join the church." No, it was nothing like that. Apparently Tom is a direct messenger from God, and God had a message for me. The U.S. is the New Israel and the New Jerusalem is Santa Cruz which is also where God will send me to lead his people. Well, as special as I feel for him thinking that...I spent quite a while trying to point out in Scripture where he might be "mishearing" God. So, even though it was a tough meeting to get through I was a little relieved that I didn't know the guy. Ah, Arcata...oh how I will miss you so!

iced mocha SHAKE

2005-06-15T09:33:00.000-05:00

So last night we had this meeting at Starbucks. It was a meeting of the college/career aged ministers in Humboldt County. We have recently been trying to connect with each other and last night was our first "meeting". It was really just a time for us to get together, meet each other, network, support each other, and pray together. Well, we were outside on the very large patio at Starbucks and it was quite chilly out becaue their outdoor heaters weren't working. So there were many of us shivering the night away.

Well, towards the end, we decided to pray, which was awesome. It lasted for quite a while. Well, apparently during that time a 7.1 earthquake hit. Yes, you read right...an earthquake that was 7.1 on the Richter scale. Well, none of us felt it. Granted it was 90 miles out to see, but something of that magnitude you should feel. We assumed that we didn't feel it because we were all shivering so much anyway (yes...it's still cold out here...and yes, I know...it's june out here too). We just chalked it up to the Holy Spirit letting us know that we're gonna "move" this place (Humboldt County). There were tsunami warnings out there for a while (which was an weird feeling since I had to drive on 101 which goes along the shoreline of the bay for about 7 miles or so).

Now, I hope that both my mother and my mother in law continue to read the rest of this because I can tell already that they are flipping out. The tsumani warning was quickly taken away because the kind of earthquake that it was couldn't have started a significant tsunami...and no, Mom and Kim, it wasn't that big of a deal.

It was quite interesting when we were given the news while we were at Starbucks. This woman who was at the meeting had found out and everybody there just kind of had a disinterested look on their face and they just continued on with their conversations. It reminded me very much of when a tornado hits in the Midwest. People there are just kind of like "oh...okay...I guess we should just go hang out in the basement for a while...or whatever." Well, either way, we are all fine. No damage on or off shore has been reported.

I think this would be a good Seinfeld episode...

2005-06-14T10:37:00.000-05:00

So as I'm walking into church on Sunday morning I was only expecting the Praise Band to be there. Well, I was approached by this guy who had a big smile on his face and he said, "Hey Man! How's it going?" like we were old chums from way back. Well, the guy looked somewhat familiar, but not familiar enough for such a greeting. He then started talking to me about how I like it out here, when am I leaving, how does the program at Concordia work, are you guys still doing that coffee thing (the coffee house we did during finals), and so on. Well, after about 10 minutes of him talking and my internal dialog going crazy trying to figure out who this guy is, he said "Hey do you you wanna get a cup of coffee or something this week? I'd like to get to talk with you." Well, he seemed like a nice guy, and I can't turn down coffee, so I said "Of course." I had him follow me to my office so that I could write it down along with his number. As we were walking towards my office he said "So, what was your name again?" With relief I introduced/reintroduced myself and he to me. I got his first name, and I have a meeting with him tomorrow.

I pray that we have never really talked before. I know that I'm not that great with names, but I thought that I was better with faces and the story behind the face. I guess this gets to the twofold purpose of me telling you all this: 1) pray for me that I don't make an idiot out of myself tomorrow and that I can be a faithful witness to this guy, 2) if you ever have anything really important to tell a pastor/vicar/worship leader, then don't tell them anything about it 20 minutes before or after worship. They are thinking about other stuff. Trust me. It's nothing against you or anybody else...the mind is just occupado. The best thing to do is set up an appointment during the week or something if you really want to talk...by all means talk to them and get to know them...chat it up. I guess my point is that don't assume they remember you if you have said "hello, I'm ______, from East Cupcake, Iowa and I'm visiting today" and expect them to remember you many months later. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming this guy for me not knowing who he is...people know worship leaders/pastors/vicars better than they know people worshipping because even though they are in front of you for an hour+ every week saying stuff doesn't mean they know you (especially if all you have ever said to them is "Hello"). I guess I'm just saying "Help a brother out a little." Maybe I need to learn better ways of figuring out who people are without offending...or just work on my memory.

I'll let you all know if I'm a complete idiot and I've talked to this guy before a number of times, or if he's just the super friendly type and he just so happened to be 45 minutes early to worship.

kinetic scuplture race

2005-06-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

extreme makeover
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

This is one of our favorite scupltures from the Kinetic Sculpture Race from a couple of weeks ago. This sculpture was able to go on road, on sand dunes, and through the bay...check out our picutre site to see some of the others.

philosophizing

2005-06-08T10:16:00.000-05:00

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. We'll just say it's all Sarah's fault. I guess we haven't really had any funny anecdotes, philosophical insights, or interesting pictures to show you (well, that one's wrong...just haven't had time to get them onto our photo site).

Sarah's old roommate from college, Casey, is flying in/driving in today so that will certainly be fun. Pray for her as she works her way up 101 dodging rain, rock slides, and fog.

Found out that Sarah is deathly afraid of raccoons. I'll let her tell you that story.

Here's some knowledge from one of the junior high youth of the congregation. Last night, we had our first family Bible study (it's for "toddlers to hobblers"). It went pretty well. Well, the whole Bible study is that we read one chapter a day and then each week we meet to talk about the seven chapters. Well, we started with Matthew and the group started talking about what Jesus must have been like as a baby, child, young adult, etc. One lady through out the question "Why didn't Jesus ever get married?" Well, a few of us through in our two cents and we didn't really come to much of a conclusion. I threw the question over to a couple of youth and the girl said "Because he loved everybody the same." Yup, as simple as that. The rest of us looked at each other and we realized that we were missing out on the real answer. Jesus loved us all the same in a deeper way than a husband and wife can love each other. He loves us like only a Savior can. I love youth, and Jesus loves them even more than me.

boys on one side, girls on the other

2005-06-03T10:12:00.000-05:00

So almost the entire time we've been out here, Sarah and I have been a part of this "home group". You can't really call it a Bible study...because we have never really studied Scripture in depthly every week (it would happen sometimes, though). We "are" going through a devotional book that takes an excerpt from an old theologians work and asks some practical questions about it. That was actually quite fruitful for a while, but we don't even bring the book with us anymore. Lately a couple people want us to talk about "coupley" stuff since we're pretty much all married...but that hasn't gone all that far. Basically everything we've tried...we've failed at keeping up with it. You might be thinking to yourself, "Get out of that group...it sounds like it sucks." Well, you couldn't be further from the truth. We still look forward to it every week, yet we don't feel guilty for missing it. The funniest part is that it's not even made up of people from the same church. There's a few Lutherans, an ex-Methodist, a number of Vineyard people, mixed in with a couple Baptists. Basically, we have a home group from like 3 different churches. We met them through campus ministry, but only a few were even students this year. Either way, God has definately blessed Sarah and I with these friends. It has made this year much easier. It has been great just being able to hang out with Christians your own age and in the same stage in life you are. I always love hanging out with any or all of them.

That gets me to our weekly "meeting" that we had last night. It was decided that we wouldn't meet because the girls wanted to have a "girl night" (which they do quite often...it's fine with me because then they watch superlame girly movies which means that I don't have to watch them). Well, the guys decided that we would take the oppurtunity to have a guys night. It was great. I don't know exactly what the girls were up to, but we played cards, drank coffee, and at Sour Cream and Onion chips (no, you're right...it WAS a bad combonation...coffee and sour cream and onion chips are a volatle combonation...but who cares what my breath smelled like...it was GUYS NIGHT!)

Anyway, I'm sure I could go on and one about how we played cards, talked about cars and blues music, but that's not my point. I guess my point is just that it has been awesome having this group of friends. The kind of friends that you don't have to worry about those annoying social norms or judgement based on where you come from. I pray that you would all find a group of brothers and sister in Christ who you can have fun with, share Christ with , and trust.

Y'know...my posts have been pretty long lately. I think mine are as long...if not longer than my brother, Brad's. Sorry. Thanks for reading both my posts, and Brad's blog, too (if you do take that oppurtunity). So we're long winded...I'm okay with that...I think we get it from our dad (at least that's who we'll blame for now).

it's about that time

2005-06-01T09:56:00.000-05:00

I noticed on the conference table in the office this morning a small packet of stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary. Some maps, local tourist info, and some other stuff. Once I saw it I had a flashback to a warm summer evening back in St. Louis when Sarah and I received that same packet. My supervisor has provided such info for each of his vicars so they can get a little taste of the North Coast before they come out. I remember sitting in the living room of our old apartment (aahhh our old apartment...we miss that place) and acting like little schoolgirls giddy with anticipation of our new adventure out here. When I saw that packet I realized that it really is getting to be that time. That time when we ship out of here and head back to Nellyville. I know that we have just over two months left, but I will certainly miss this place. I will miss gazing out of my office door at a big stand of old growth redwoods, wild rhodidendrins and lillies, and mossy ivy-lined hiking trails that weave back into Arcata Community Forest. This place will certainly be missed, but until then I've still got a job to do and things to learn. I guess I just wanted to remind you all not to forget those exciting times in your life, because it doesn't take much to forget them. Don't wish to go back to them...look upon them fondly while looking forward at the knew memories that God will bless you with along the way. Thanks for this experience, God.

the teacher gets taught

2005-05-31T10:20:00.000-05:00

So, I was going to wait to continue my last post, but I thought that since I was here at my computer with a couple minutes to spare that I should take advantage.

As most of you know, I've been teaching 6th grade Sunday School/Confirmation this year and it has been awesome. I've enjoyed that look they get on their faces when they "get it". Anybody who has ever taught anything knows that feeling. Well, at times it's been difficult transitioning between talking to college students all week about this stuff, and then talking about it with 6th graders on Sunday mornings. Some mornings were easier than others, but still never easy.

Well, instead of a big final exam for the confirmation students I decided to do a one on one meeting where we discussed what they learned, did some role playing, etc. In one of my meetings I got the chance to just talk with one of my students, a really sweet girl. She told me a story about her best friend from school and how she's not Christian, but she "sort of is". She said it with an almost "I hope that's okay, Vicar Todd." sort of voice. I told her that it was wonderful, that that's a great oppurtunity to teach her friend about Jesus. She smiled, and she said that she does all of the time, and then she went on to her "way" of teaching/witness. Her friend doesn't have parents who practice any sort of religion. Maybe a little bit here and there of this or that (like a religious buffet of sorts). She said that she has gotten her friend to come to church with her at Christmas, and a couple other times, and my student said that she always lets her friend know that "Christianity is the best, because of how much God loves us. It's way better than any other religion...it's all about love." In some ways entirely too simple, in other ways way more powerful than anything an adult would dare say. I think that my lone commenter from the last post said it well. Whether it's with kids or adults, our witness needs to be truthful. Not pushed. It needs an open ear, but most importantly it simply needs the voice of our hearts no matter what they sound like. People can tell when we're not being true to ourselves.

I think that the older I get, the more I overanalyze how I witness to people, when in reality, all I need to do it give a voice to my heart. That's why we study the word and share our faith amongst believers. This is one of the reasons that God wants us to have a close relationship with him...so we can be those "letters of recommendation" to the world whether they are written with Microsoft Word or with Crayola. The important part is to speak our heart...with emphasis on the speak part.

you make the call...

2005-05-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

So what does the witness of a 6th grader/middle schooler to a non-Christian "look like"? What should we expect/teach? Let me know what you think. I'll have more later.

Humboldtized

2005-05-26T10:23:00.000-05:00

So yesterday was a lot of fun. Very hot. I think it was at least in the low 90's out there. It's nice to be back in the 50'/60's again (I think I've been Humboldtized...I can't take the heat, the cold, or that big ball of fire in the sky that people keep calling the "sun"). We're looking forward to tomorrow because it's the Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race. This is where people build sculptures that can travel on roads, sand, and across the bay. It's supposed to be some huge international thing. Take a look at their website and make sure to read over their rules...they're pretty funny. It should be a lot of fun. We'll have to supply some pictures when it's all over.

2 years

2005-05-25T09:50:00.000-05:00

Beach Bumbs
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

So on this day, 2 years ago, Sarah and I got hitched. I told a couple people at work that today was our anniversary, and I heard such comments as "Oh, you guys are still wet!", "It's still new.", "This is such a fun time for you two!"...and I think for the most part they're right. I thank God for my wife who I've been married to for YEARS (well, just one year...and another one, too). Sorry this isn't a wedding photo. I don't have any wedding photos on my computer, and I didn't get around to scan any in. Just imagine me, without the hat, and Sarah in a white dress, and this is just like all of our wedding photos. I'm sure some of you out there might have a digital shot or two of our wedding. If you do, then please send it to us. We'd appreciate it.

Today, I'm not going to work this afternoon and Sarah and I are going out to Willow Creek and Gray's Falls. We haven't been to the latter, but I've been told that it's incredible. Willow Creek is this quaint little town East of here on the Trinity River where Bigfoot lives. No, not the monster truck...that's North County...Sasquatch. We're gonna go check out some waterfalls, have a picnic, and enjoy the 80-90 degree weather of Willow Creek (yeah, even though it's only 40 minutes away, it's about 30 degrees warmer).

I also want to thank all of you family and friends who read this. Most of you were there, and most of you helped us out a lot that day (and in the two years since). Thank you all for the love and support you've given us these two years.

thanks God

2005-05-24T09:58:00.000-05:00

So I just got off the phone with Sarah. She got a flat tire. Yeah, I know, it sucks. She drops me off in the morning and then heads down to her job at College of the Redwoods. As she left I noticed that one of the tires looked a little flat. I went running after her, but, alas, it was too late. She was already too far away. Well, I got into the office, trying to think of what I could do. Maybe, in my sleepiness, I was just seeing things. Maybe it was all in my head. Well, a few minutes later, she called me here at work. She told me that she was at this lumber yard right off on Hwy. 101, a couple miles from church. That was a little bit of a relief because it just so happened that a friend of ours who goes to church here works there. So I told Sarah, "I think that it will take me a while to walk there, and I don't think the bus will get me all that close to you either." Sarah had to be at work soon, so I prayed that God would just place Mike there at this early hour (7:00am). So I found the Yellow Pages and called the lumber yard and asked for Mike. The guy on the other end said "Mike's indisposed right now, can I take a message." Praise the Lord! I told the guy who I was and he said that Mike was helping Sarah. Thank you God for putting Mike there. I know that this may not sound like that great of story to some of you, because either I should have realized the flat earlier or Sarah should know how to change it herself. Well, neither is the case, and I think that this is one of those times that God just wanted to show me that He DOES provide and take care of us. Sometimes it takes situations like this for us to realize it, and all I can say is "Thank you, God, for taking care of us. You are always there...even at a lumber yard on a major highway...keeping us trusting in you."

writer's block

2005-05-19T09:35:00.000-05:00

So I just spent the last 4 minutes starring at this computer screen. I've been thinking of a great story to tell, question to ask, or share a lesson I've learned, but nothing's coming. I think this is a reflection of my past week+. You see, I have to preach this weekend, and it's "Trinity Sunday". While this is an interesting topic, all that I've been able to write has been quite dull and boring. You'd think the Trinity would be an easy topic to preach on...well, not really. Oh well, maybe I should spend less of my creative energies on this post than I am right now. I hope all of you out there in blogland are doing well. I promise I'll have something better next time.

oregon pics

2005-05-16T02:23:00.000-05:00

the two of us @ klammath lake
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

Here's one of the pics from our recent trip to Oregon. This is a view from the dock at the cabin in Rocky Point. That is Klammath Lake and the Cascade Mountains in the background. We had a ton of fun, and there's a bunch of pics on our photo site. Just click on this one to check out the others. There's some pics of Crater Lake, our new car, and a couple from Ashland. This was an amazing vacation. I highly recommend Southern Oregon to anyone looking for a getaway. It rocked. I could have sat out on this dock for hours, watching the birds fly by, beavers swim by, and fishermen pass through. We hope to go back before we leave.

mmmm....coffee

2005-05-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

So these past few evenings The Path (the campus ministry I've been working with) hosted a coffee house for students being that this week was finals. We had Organic, Fair Trade Coffee, Tea, and Hot Cocoa all for free. It was socially concerned and environmentally friendly out the wazoo. We also had some of the ladies in the congregation bake some goodies for us. It went until midnight everynight (actually, usually about 1am...I guess I'm just a sucker for last minute crammers). It went so well. We even had our own regulars who came almost every night. I got to know a lot of students this way. It makes me wonder why we didn't do it earlier. Well, regardless it was awesome, and I know the students really appreciated it. I think half of the people who came also learned that "there's a church up there" which nobody thought was true. For those of you who have been here, you know that this church building is in the best and the worst location on the face of this planet.

Well, regardless, I'm tired, even though I've drank more coffee this finals week than any of my finals weeks ever. Sarah's tired, too. She was a trooper, though. I would take here home about 10:30 each night and then I would go back for the remainder. All in all, it was fun. It's actually kind of nice hanging out in a finals atmosphere without having a single thing due or a test to take. I guess from the beginning of finals I felt like I had "finished all of my assignments and took all my tests".

Sorry there hasn't been any posts in a while. I know I promised some stories from the last couple weeks. Don't worry. I'll get to them. This is the first time I've had more than five minutes at a computer in at least a week.

so much

2005-05-05T10:19:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since we've posted. We apologize. I has been somewhat eventful around the Niebling household lately...here's the lowdown...
-Todd got his glasses (finally)
-We got the chance to spend last weekend with Pastor Jim and his wife up at her family cabin on Klamath Lake in Southern Oregon (more on that later).
-We bought a new car. The Saturn was crying out for help the last few months. We bought a 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer. We got such a great deal. The Saturn was going to need more work on it that it was really worth, so we decided to take the leap. We'll put up a picture and a short post of the event soon. Let me tell you...it was an event.
-Sarah and I did a lock-in at the church. Always fun...always exhausting.
-The semester at HSU is winding down which means...HURRY UP AND DO MORE MINISTRY... QUICK, BEFORE ANYONE LEAVES. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE!!!!!!
-Looking forward to the things happening this summer (Youth and Family Camp, Whitewater rafting, Sarah's parents and Micah coming for a visit, and the end of July when we go to some friends' wedding in Sacramento and afterwards going on a whirlwind camping trip of California).

Sorry, about the bulleted post. We'll put up more stuff soon.

Last Word

2005-04-28T12:10:00.000-05:00

There. I have it. It's mine (Sarah's). It's the last word. Now the subject of the broken glasses is CLOSED.

Blind Rage

2005-04-28T09:31:00.000-05:00

Dude, Whatever! Sarah doesn't know what she's talking about. She doesn't even know what a Full Nelson is. Go ahead, ask her. She has no clue. I think she's got a screw loose if she thinks that's the real story. Don't worry everybody...we should all still love her even though she's lost it. That whole story must have been what was going through her head as she hard core raged on me. Everybody knows that I don't give the People's Elbow...if I wouldn't have turned the other cheek (or...ran into the bedroom crying) then I would have hopped on the top rope and jumped off of it like Jimmy Super-Fly Snuka did in the Old Skool WWF. It would have been on! But alas, I was heartbroken. Sarah was just so mean...it just hurt so much that I couldn't bear to fight after her massive attack.

Todd is full of it

2005-04-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

That's right. Todd's not telling the truth. Here's how it all went down. We were sitting on the couch, killing some time watching TV (the Food Network, I believe). All of a sudden Todd starts to attack me. "Your're going down!" he says. He takes the pillow and begins thwapping me in the head. And then he forcefully throws off his hat and glasses on to the floor, to show he's serious. The glasses hit the floor and break in two. He then gives me the People's Elbow. But little did he know I was capable of putting him in a Full Nelson. And that's how it all went down - with Todd pinned on the floor by a girl, screaming for mercy.

A week and a half?!?!

2005-04-26T10:23:00.000-05:00

In my last post I forgot to tell you all an interesting story. So I was sitting on the couch the other day (Thursday to be exact). I was minding my own business, going over my notes for what I was going to say at the Sexuality Conference, and what happened. KERPOW! BAM! THWAP! I was stunned. Something just popped me upside my head. My glasses were broken. I looked to my side and what did I see? Sarah, standing over me saying, "Take that! What you got? What you got?" She was pointing, laughing, and taunting me. Needless to say I ran into my room crying because my glasses were broken and Sarah hurt my feelings. She just kept laughing at me and taunting me. I have no idea why she did it. I guess sometimes she just likes to demonstrate her awe-inspiring strength upon those weaker than herself. Well, she felt sorry for me, and the next day she took me around glasses shopping and the selection out here is garbage. We finally ended up at Costco. The prices were cheap and the glasses look nice (even though not the highest of quality). We made an appointment for an eye exam which I needed b/c I hadn't had one in quite a while. Saturday I had my exam, we then picked out the glasses, and I was expecting the lady to say that I could pick them up in an hour or maybe the next day. No, she says, "Okay, you can pick them up in about a week and a half." What!?! A week and a half? I must have had a crazy look on my face b/c I was dumbfounded, b/c ever since I can remember I've been able to get glasses in an hour. It's like if you were to call for a pizza and you expect them to say "It'll be there in 30-45 minutes." and they say "It'll be there in about a week and a half." I guess they have one sight in Washington where they put together all of their glasses. Whatever. I think all I said for the rest of the day was "A week and a half?!?!!!" over and over again. So yeah, we're still waiting, and I've learned my lesson. If I think Sarah is going to deck me, then I need to take off my glasses and get into the fetal position.

busy...just like we all are

2005-04-26T10:07:00.000-05:00

Not too much exciting going on right now. I'm just trying not to stress out over all of the end of the year stuff that is planned. Got a lock in Friday, going to Crater Lake afterwards for the weekend, doing a coffee house for the university (w/ free coffee), rafting with the youth, preaching, etc. etc. etc. etc. I'm excited about all of them. Just a lot to do still. Pray that somehow, each of them would not just be fun, but be a witness of Christ.

Sexuality Conference

2005-04-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

So last night was an interesting one. I was asked to be a part of a conference on campus that is co-sponsered by a couple of the Christian groups on campus and the Queer Student Union. Sound interesting? Well, it is. Last night was the opening workshop. It was an open forum called "Hot Topics" where we had a panel of two Christian and two non-Christian experts in the field of sexuality/psychology/counseling and they fielded questions from the audience. Before that, the Christian groups decided that there should be apologies on behalf of certain Christian groups (those who have not shown Christ's love to those who have been abused or mistreated, for those who have been a part of sexual misconduct, not listening when there was a need, etc.). The one I got to do was apologizing on behalf of clergy, youth directors, elders, and any leader in the church participating in sexual misconduct (both through action and inaction). Man, it was intense. Standing in a room filled with 50+ people who are, for the most part, not Christian/anti-Christian/angry with the Christian church and that's why they lelft and apologizing for something that I didn't do but something that some Christians have done. I usually don't get that nervous, but this was definately not one of those times. I actually felt my knees shaking. It was great, though. We actually had people clap when we were done. I know, it sounds strange, but I took it as them saying "your forgiven". We even had people come up to us (there were 5 of us who apologized) and thank us b/c they thought that all Christians were hypocrits.

It was great to hear open dialog between Christians and non-Christians. There are so many myths out there (on both sides), and it was awesome to see many of those myths dispelled last night. Keep those leading the workshops that are going on today and tomorrow in your prayers. Pray that the Christians who are leading the workshops would be a strong witness of who Christ truly is, this gift of our Sexuality that God has given us, and how he helps us protect that gift.

I used to feel like Ashlee Simpson...

2005-04-20T10:20:00.000-05:00

I think Cory hit the nail on the head and Sarah helped God hit me on the head. On a long walk with Sarah yesterday, she helped me realize something. I have been limiting me while being out here. I need not to focus on myself doing ministry. Rather, I think that ministry happens when we all have a deep understanding of self, and can translate that effectively into God's desires for his ministry. I have also had a wee bit of a shadow complex since I've been out here trying to supercede anything my predecessor did. Well, who cares. I guess what it comes down to is that I (and the rest of us...though most of you may have a better handle on this than do I) must know my strengths and weaknesses as God's creation, and be able to ask God to harness those strengths while working out the weaknesses. Failures in ministry happens. Sometimes it happens and we need to simply "dust off our sandels and move on to the next town", and sometimes we have to apologize to God for getting in the way. Either way, ministry can only be done through prayer and study of the Word. Then, and only then, do we have an even slight grasp on God's desires, capabilities, knowledge, and most of all...His love.

tools of learning

2005-04-19T09:40:00.000-05:00

One of the things that has been on my mind lately has simply been this experience out here as a vicar. I've been asked what the hardest or most difficult part of being out here is, and it's not the distance from what is familiar (that's always a good thing for anybody), it's not the lack of a strong Christian presence in this area, nor is it the insane gas prices. I think the hardest thing for me this year has been myself. You see, I didn't care about church when I was growing up. In fact, I would pray often that something would happen that I wouldn't have to go on Sunday. By the time I was in high school, I resented church and only found benefit when I saw my friends there. Okay, we won't go into any of that now....I've never really had a strong ministerial model. I didn't decide I wanted to work in the church until I was almost done with undergrad and the Sem certainly doesn't provide me with that. I guess my point is this. I guess I get tired of learning through failure. This isn't an ego thing either. I'm tired of ministry not getting done due to my inexperience. This isn't about my supervisor either. He's awesome. We're simply very different guys who have different jobs here. If any of you church workers out there have any advice for the first year guy, then feel free to speak up. I'm not talking theory here. I understand theory up the wazoo. I'm talking about practical stuff (motivating members, creating a successful program, how to properly lead a Bible Study, just knowing how much I should just "go ahead and do it myself b/c otherwise it won't get done" vs. "equipping equippers".) If any of you have any advice I would love to hear it b/c this tool is in need of proper practical learning.

what stinks in here?

2005-04-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

So Sarah told me that I need to share this story with all of you out there in blogland. Keep in mind...this is not my story...just one I thought was good enough to share. Get comfortable...this may take a while.

So at the Pastor's Conference last week I had the oppurtunity to hear this guy talk about missions. He's a pastor who does outreach to Muslims in Detroit. He told this story about when he was just about to finish up at the Sem. His wife worked for a company (we'll call her Jessica and him Frank). Well, Jessica's boss thought she did a great job, so one day he gave her a bonus. Two free plane tickets anywhere in the continental U.S. Well, it was November and they lived in Fort Wayne, IN, so they thought that they should go somewhere warm: Southern Cal, Florida...well, they decided to go to this small town in Texas (let's call it Livingston...I can't remember the real name). Frank convinced Jessica that they needed to go to this town because he really wanted to meet this author that he really respected and inspired him to become a pastor (we'll call him Gene). Gene was a guy who did mission plants all over the South and wrote a number of books. All Frank knew was that on the back of a couple of the books it said that this guy lived in Livingston, TX. He also knew that this might be his only chance to meet him since Gene was quite old.

So after a fair amount of convincing, they booked their flight and took off. They flew to Dallas, then hopped a small commuter flight to Tyler and then rented a car and drove then next couple hours to Livingston. They got to the town and Jessica had no idea that Frank did not make an appointment to see Gene. In fact, Frank had never even talked to Gene before...he didn't even know his address. All he knew was that the back of his books said that he lived in Livingston, TX. His wife still completely unaware of all of this, they stopped at a gas station and he went inside to look up this guys name in the White Pages. He was nowhere to be found. He asked everyone in there. They had never heard of the guy. They ended up driving all over town asking people if they knew this guy and where he lived (Yes, his wife finally caught on). They figured that this town was small enough that they would run into someone who knew him.

They finally ran into a lady who said, "I don't really know him, and I don't know his address, and I can't tell you how to get there, but all I know is that he has two stone lions on either side of his driveway." Encouraged, the couple pressed on and they were ready to give up when they started praying and asking God to guide them to this guy's house, and before they knew it, they turned the corner and there were two stone lions (Yes, his wife had been trying to convince him to just turn around and go back to the hotel). They drove up the long driveway and pulled up to the house. The front of the door had this guy's name on it. Frank was so excited. He was just about to meet the guy whose books he admired for years and who inspired him to become a pastor.

His wife looked at him with that look that only a loving wife could give which meant, "Now What?" He knocked on the door, but nobody came to the door. He knocked again...still no answer. His wife gave him another one of those looks. She told him that they should just go back to the hotel and make the most of the weekend. Well, Frank wasn't going to back down so easily. He convinced her to wait just 5 minutes. As she counted down the seconds, a van pulls up into the driveway. It was Gene!!! He was with his wife and their son. Their son took them grocery shopping.

Well, Frank's wife gave him another one of her "Now What?" looks. Frank knew that he had to at least get into this guy's house. He just HAD to talk to him. So Frank said, "Jessica, help Mr. Lewis with his groceries." She reluctantly obliged her husband. So...they helped the couple bring in their groceries which brought them into the kitchen. Jessica looks to Frank with one of her now famous looks, and Frank said, "Jessica, help Mrs. Lewis put away her groceries." She, once again, reluctantly obliged her husband mostly because she was scared that she was about to get kicked out of these people's house.

Frank wandered on in to the living room where Gene was sitting and reading. Frank started going on and on about much he loved his books and how big of a fan he was and how he inspired him to become a pastor and on and on and on. Gene turned to Frank and said, "What do you want?" seeing directly through Frank's brown nosing. Franks said, "I'm about to become a pastor. I'll be done with Seminary in the Spring and I have one question for you. If you had one prayer for people like me...guys about to become a pastor...what would it be?" Gene turns to him, takes off his glasses, and says, "I pray that you would dangle over hell on a string for 24 hours." Frank, a little taken aback. His first inclination was to say "Well, to you to, jerk." But, of course, he refrained. He soon realized what Gene meant. Gene went on, "I would pray that the stench of hell would stay in your nostrols for the rest of your life. I want you to know how horrible it is that people would spend an eternity without Christ. This is my prayer for you."

I wanted to share this story because I think Gene hit the nail on the head. We forget what heaven and hell really are. We forget that hell is a reality. We do need to keep that stench of hell in our nostrols our entire lives, because it is only when we do will we be truly motivated to reach out to the lost. To reach out to those who don't know Christ at all. For us, we are confident in our eternal life with Christ. That confidence and that life is intended for all of mankind. Not just for us, and those sitting next to us in the pews. It is for everybody. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this. I'll try and keep the posts shorter, but I thought that this was just a story that needed to be told, even though it wasn't mine. It's still a great story, with an incredible message. To all of you out there, I hope that the stench of hell stays in your nostrols for the rest of your life.

don't feel so bad

2005-04-11T12:59:00.000-05:00

do you want my soul w/ that?
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

So, of course one of the thing on everybody's minds as of late is the ever rising gas prices here in the states. What makes it even better is that there really isn't any REAL purpose behind those prices. I'm with you all when I get frustrated over the ridiculousness of price of gas now. What gets me even more frustrated is the fact that whenever news outlets talk about REALLY high prices they go to LA or may Hawaii or something. Well, they need to come up to Humboldt County...specifically Arcata (which has the most expensive gas in Humboldt). I think that we're about 30-40 cents higher than LA or Hawaii. This was a picture we took just on Saturday. This gas station is the closest one to church. No, it hasn't been altered. This is an ACTUAL photo. Needless to say we're at the point where we stopped getting angry and just started laughing at the gas prices.....well, it is still a little frustrating. Hopefully this will comfort the rest of you out there.

A Job Well Done

2005-04-08T11:03:00.000-05:00

So, I (Sarah) am sitting at the front desk working at the College of the Redwoods Library (hey, it was all I could find for a job) And there are four buckets out in front of me catching drips from the ceiling, not to mention a plastic bag over one of the computers placed unfortuantely under a leak in the roof. Each person who enters the library makes a comment as they walk around the buckets.

It gets me thinking about the lack of quality we often find today. From mass produced clothing that wears out quickly to computers that somehow gets bugs before they are even a year old to this leaking roof that was built only two years ago. Are we still taking pride in our work? Are we doing the absolute best job we can? Or is everthing so easily discardable and replaceable that we are not taking the time to do the job right. I think too often I slack in giving my all. I'm very lazy and wonder if the work I do really makes a difference.

But recently I have been asking myself, "Am I doing the best job I can growing in my faith or sharing my faith?" Again, the answer is...no. I'm slacking off on the work God gives me. I walk right past opportunities he puts before me - chances to pray for others, chances to serve others, chances to build relationships, chances to know Him more. The roof on my faith is leaking and all I seem to be doing is putting more buckets out to catch the drips rather than properly fixing the problem.

You'd think God would give up on me by now. But that's the awesome part - He hasn't and isn't and won't. He continues to show me areas in my life that I need to give to him. He meets me where I'm at - full sin and laziness and apathy. He puts a new song in my mouth and recharges me for the opportunities he presents me with. He's my roofer, patching up the leaks. And soon he's gonna replace my roof altogether.

But let's not slack off - let's do this job right. Here's a great verse:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by a such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverence the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith... Hebrews 11:1

I'm back

2005-04-08T10:40:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the delay in posts, but I've been gone since Tuesday at a CNH Pastor's Conference. I was planning on emailing and posting while I was there, but when we got there I found out that it cost $9.95 to get internet access in my room. $9.95!!!!!! That's ridiculous. You'd think that in a hotel that charges $100 a night and doesn't offer any sort of complimentary continental breakfast that they could at least give us internet. I can get a whole month on internet for that much. If you're ever in Santa Rosa, CA, I don't recommend the Doubletree Hotel. You might get a comfy bed, but that's it.

Anyway, it wasn't a horrible hotel. Just overpriced. Good thing I hardly had to pay for anything. The past few days have been awesome. The whole conference was geared towards making the district missional. Honestly, it's been a while since I have been spiritually refreshed at an LCMS function. For those of you who might get frustrated with our Synod, just know that things aren't the same everywhere. I used to get so ticked off at the LCMS because of all of there "navel gazing", but being out here I see things differently. There aren't theological hang ups, worship wars...just mission. I think it has to do with being surrounded by a lack of Christianity that those in the Midwest just can't understand. You really do realize that you are surrounded by people who will spend an eternity without Jesus, and man, let me tell you...that is all the motivation any Christian needs to get your but in gear and reach out to the lost on a macro or individual leval. It doesn't matter who you are or how qualified you think you are...just do it! If you are living completely in the Gospel then you will not fail, because all you will be able to share is Gospel.

Sorry, I'll stop preaching. I'm sure you can tell...it was an enriching time, and I'm glad I went. I'm also glad to be home. Sarah and I really enjoyed our recent visitors (both my whole family and then Kaite), but it's also nice to hang out with Sarah again. I'll write more about Katie's visit later. We got some cool pictures, we had a great time, and we miss her, too.

Sarah and Brad @ Mussel Rock

2005-03-31T10:02:00.000-06:00

mussel rock
Originally uploaded by tboneandclay.

So as I had promised earlier, here is yet another picture of Sarah that I am posting due to her lack of posting. She claims that she has nothing to say, but we all know better than that.

This was taken at Patrick Point State Park (Mussel Rock) when my brother was visiting last week. You can see him right above Sarah's knee off in the background a little. Enjoy!

Who wants to be counter culture with me?

2005-03-30T20:40:00.000-06:00

So Jamie's comment made me think. You know, I think that there are a number of arguements towards not wanting your minister to have piercings, but claiming that it's "counter culture", I don't think, is one of them. Christianity is counter culture, Jesus was counter culture, even Martin Luther was counter culture. I'm not saying that we should all go out and get pierced (though I'm also not saying that we shouldn't), but I think that as Christians we shouldn't get hung up on this kind of stuff. It is stuff of this world. I accept people people who make other worldly choices that differ from my own, but I am in no place to judge them because of their choices. Well, whatever. I guess our church needs to do a better job at teaching people that God actually does love people who are what some consider "counter culture".

Have a Blessed Easter....Ya Creep!!!

2005-03-28T13:05:00.000-06:00

So after the final Easter service yesterday I was feeling pretty good. The service was nice, my sermon went well, and as I stood at the door with my supervisor he gave me a high five. I thought that was pretty cool because he's not really a high five kind of guy. As I stood at the door I thanked people for coming and wished them a Blessed Easter. Pretty standard stuff, right? Well, about half way through the "line" one of the members of the congregation introduced me to her brother and her sister. Don't get me wrong. I like this lady. She's around 80 years old and sometimes she lacks a "filter". Not the coffee variety. More like the kind that have between our brains and our mouths. She often lacks a little tact referring to the good ole' days and how people now suck. Never really being all that insulting, because I don't think many people put a lot stock in what she says because it's often just that ridiculous. Well, after she introduced me to her siblings she pointed further down the line at her other brother. I can't remember his name.

Well, he shook my supervisor's hand and they shared niceties. No big deal. I shook his hand and said "Happy Easter!" I may have made an attempt to say something to the effect of "So, you're Elina's brother, welcome." He looked at me like he had to let something off of his chest that has been there for all 70+ years of his life. He looked at me and said

"WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS?!?" as he pointed directly at my ears.

I responded with "What?"

"WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS IN YOUR EARS? YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE A MINISTER."

"They're earings. What's wrong with that?"

"YOU'RE A MINISTER! ONLY CREEPS WHERE THOSE THINGS. YOU LOOK LIKE A CREEP WITH THOSE THINGS ON! WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE A CREEP?"

"Sir, I'm not going to talk to YOU about FASHION." (note that his CAPS are for yelling...mine are mearly for sarcasm) (we won't go into the outfit that he was wearing)

"WHY ARE YOU SUCH A CREEP?!?"

"I'm not going to talk to you fashion...if you want to talk about something else that's fine."

Well, he shut up about my earings without even allowing me to get into a good reason why I have them. All of my comments were me speaking over what he was saying. He then went on to yell at me about the fact that we had a crucifix up in the santuary. This cross is roughly one foot tall and is overshadowed by the eight foot tall one that floats over the altar. He went on to yell at me saying that this was a Protestant church and Jesus belongs off of the cross. I told him that in order for Jesus to rise fromt the dead he had to hang there first. It's still appropriate and relevant. He continued to yell at me, getting up in my face about this stuff. The lovely conversation ended with me letting him know that he didn't have to come back if he didn't like me or the cross. That's fine with us. He responded with the ever so intelligent hand swatting air signifying "Aw, fooee". It was a little upsetting at first and then this little old lady named Frances, who rairly says a word, looked up at me with a confused look. She looked at him, then at me, and said "What's HIS problem? I guess he's not Lutheran then?"

Well, this lovely conversation brought one thing to my head. I guess this guy didn't listen to a word of the sermon, because my entire conclusion was about how this message of Jesus risen is for everybody wasn't clear enough. Apparently Jesus isn't to be talked about or to by creeps like myself.

It didn't ruin Easter or anything. Did bug me a little though, but later on that afternoon I got to go on an Easte egg hunt with one of the families in the congregation and I scored TONS of candy. I think Sarah is right when she says that some good chocalate can solve most any problem. Happy Easter everybody....even you creeps.

good friday

2005-03-25T09:57:00.000-06:00

There isn't much going on out here. I have to preach tonight, and I have to get ready to preach on Sunday. Pray that all will go well, and that I won't get in the way too much.

Thank you Jesus for all that you did on this day. This is definately a Good Friday.

who likes their burger extra smokey?

2005-03-23T09:57:00.001-06:00

Unfortunately my family left this morning. We had a lot of fun while they were here and both Sarah and I will miss them. I will miss staying up WAY too late trying to finish a season of ESPN NFL 2K5, winning my arguements with Sarah b/c my brother would always blindly agree with whatever I say (no matter how wrong I was), sharing coffee with my dad in the morning, and both my mom's and my brother's facial expressions while Sarah and I tried to describe Euchre to them. All in all it was a great visit despite the weather and my feable attempts to burn down the apartment.

Last night I decided to use my super sweet grill pan that Sarah got me for my birthday. I was going to make "special" burgers. They were awesome! I stuffed the meat with homemade Garlic and Herb Butter mmmmmmmmmmmm.....butter. Well, what I didn't factor in is that both burgers and butter can be pretty smokey stuff when grilled. Our exhaust fan sucks hard core and before I knew it the smoke alarm was going off, we were opening windows and doors, killing the bugs that flew in, cleaning up spatter grease from the burger spraying its moist juiciness all over the place. Brad and Sarah ended up just ripping the smoke detector off the ceiling. The stupid thing wouldn't shut up.

I did learn a lesson, though. Garlic and Herb Butter Burgers are better off cooked outdoors, in a very well ventilated area....and sometimes....smoke detectors are hard wired, so you gotta rip the stupid thing off of the ceiling to get it to shut up.