The Resolutionless New Years

Happy new year! This year neither Michael nor I made resolutions. Instead, we made it a goal to try to better ourselves throughout the year and be better people at the end than we were at the beginning. As Michael said, there's no point in making a new year's resolution if you don't lead that kind of lifestyle to begin with. So this year we're going to be more generous, as well as more conscious of our spending. We want to love others as Christ loves them, and be deliberate in our actions. We have tried to that this last year, but want to be even more intentional and deliberate in our actions this year. We want it to become a lifestyle, not just a resolution that we make one day and break the next.
Oh, and just a side note, I must say I am a bit annoyed at the fact that it's been too warm that we couldn't go snowshoeing yesterday. We would have had to drive all the way up near the resorts, which we didn't want to do! Who would have thought I'd be annoyed by warm weather??

Blog Comment Day

It's a strange coincidence that just after I admit feeling anxiety (in the comment section of my own blog) about commenting on other people's blogs, John Smulo posted this idea about Blog Comment Day. Go to his site and see why he's doing it, let him know if you're going to participate! (I'm going to be posting on there for the first time... it's a good first step!)
This special day for commenting, weirdly enough, gives me just enough courage to venture out and comment on people's blogs that I read and love, but never comment... but now I have to choose which blog I'll grace my presence with! So go and comment away to 5 blogs (2 you've never commented on before)! And leave some love here in the meantime ;-)

The Case of the Blog Identity Crisis

I'm having an identity crisis. I started this blog because I had so many ideas and thoughts running through my head and I wanted to share them and process them here. I wrote about life, and about church, the Bible, Christians, and theology. But as my life has calmed down a bit more and become a bit more routine, I find that I have less to blog about. This may be because of less material and not being around people who question things and make me think (actually, I'm pretty sure that's a huge part), but it may be that my life has changed and I'm in a different place than I was when I started this blog.
But what do I do? I don't want to solely write about "Christian-y" things, but I also don't want to just write about my life-- I don't do that much that anyone (including myself) would want to read about. The first post would be this: "I sat at work today. I didn't do much. Mark told me he is running checks on Wednesday. I got a free water bottle. Michael picked me up to go to my parents' for dinner. The end."
Do things change when you have children, because you can speak on your child and how you raise them? I thought getting married would create more to talk about with marriage philosophy but I find that I read more about what other people think than I do any personal processing. I know where I stand, so I don't have much to process about. I don't feel conflict about it-- I actually read more and get more emotion evoked by others who are in the more traditional camp. But I don't want this blog to be all about bashing others' views and pointing out why I disagree with others. That just sounds boring. If it's applicable to something in my current situation, I might talk about it, but it definitely can't be my focus. I don't have kids, so that's out of the question. I have a niece, but we don't see her that often, and I also don't think anyone wants to hear about my thoughts on someone else's kid...
So I'm here with no motivation and no clear direction. Has blogging for me come to an end? I know of maybe two or three people who read my blog who aren't related to me (and even the ones related to me aren't avid readers). But is a large audience my focus? Why even blog in the first place?
So I guess this is my explanation as to why my blogs lately have seemed to lack "oomph" and passion... because I don't know what passion I have to give. I will be thinking about this more and maybe even trying out a new way/reason to blog, or just write when something is on my mind. I really don't know. But I know that blogging has led me to "meet" new people, interact with them and get to know them, as well as really process how I'm feeling/thinking about something, or just sharing what's on my heart. So, those of you who do read my blog, bear with me and I will soon figure this all out. (And a big thanks to those who do read and comment-- it really means a lot to me. And if you're a reader and have never commented, please, let me know you're there-- I'd love to get to know you!)
Thanks for the patience!

Missing Emergent Churches

Last Sunday at church, Michael had the honor of singing with the worship band. (He wouldn't let me take any pictures...) He was asked to sing the song "Fix You," by Coldplay as a solo because the key was too high for the worship leader. At the second service, he got a standing ovation! (It was weird because our church rarely claps after any song.) He absolutely blew them away! I was so proud of him. (I think he sang it way better, but that's my biased opinion... ;-)



So after that performance, our worship leader asked Michael to join him in playing for a conference that was being hosted here in town. Not thinking too much of it, he agreed. Well, it turned out it was an emergent conference where Tony Jones and Doug Paggit (sp??) were attending. (I shook Tony Jones' hand... there's my "emergent" claim to fame ;-) We were part of an emergent church, and had missed it. The church we go to now is somewhat emergent, but there are aspects that are missing that we really enjoyed. So it was so refreshing to be there and get to experience an emergent community again. It took a little getting used to it again, but once we did it was a supernatural experience. They had about 6 prayer stations set up, and each one spoke directly to something that was going on in my life. It was awesome!
After that was over, we discussed how the friends we are making at church are good friends, but we don't always see eye to eye on issues. Needless to say, we are definitely the odd couple out. In emergent groups, our way of thinking and living are "normal," not different or weird. We tend to butt heads with our friends who are not familiar with "emergent ideas" when it comes to ideas of missional, community, love, and church. Although we love our church and will continue attending, it was very apparent that we should get hooked up with the emergent cohort in Denver. Exciting! I'm sure I'll see some of you around!

Loving without Prejudice-- Guest Blog

I was honored to write a new blog for Jason Clark's blog again! Check it out HERE. I wrote about how we need to look past our prejudices and love and get to know the people in our lives and community. Check it out and feel free to comment away!! :-)