16959

this morning, before church, the quincy street crew (and a few random others) had the opportunity to hang out with shane claiborne and chris haw (they wrote this book, among other things, if you are not familiar with them).  if you know me, or have been a reader of this blog, you know i'm a bit of a fan of shane's lifework and thinking, which made the morning a somewhat momentous occasion.  and, in fact, it turned out to be a wonderful, encouraging couple of hours of eating breakfast and discussing kingdom things.

there were several special moments and awesome stories (for example, some of the kids in shane's neighborhood are getting close to college, so he went to Eastern, the school he attended, and asked them for scholarships for these kids...and Eastern granted them, which is incredible!).  but, the most encouraging words, at least for me and amy, came from chris haw.  

for years, i have heard (and seen), mostly from my parents, about the redemptive power of families and households (see Acts 11:14, 16:15, 16:31, 18:8, etc).  and i believe that what is often described as the "nuclear family" can have a tremendous kingdom impact, even in places like dorchester and, more specifically, quincy street.  

my former-idealistic-single-self thought that "of course married people can be a part of intentional communities and kingdom life in the inner city."  however, it's not that simple.  we've had a roommate since we moved to boston and part of that decision was purely economic survival in the city, but the other part of it truly was an experiment to see what it would be like to be married and live with other people.  and, it turns, this has been the biggest challenge of our young marriage.

chris had some good things to say about this.  he affirmed for us that having our own "space" was not selling out, or somehow a lesser form of community.  he also pointed out some ways that married people can be part of the rhythm of an intentional community, and that married people and families are absolutely necessary pieces of a qunicy street type endeavor.  amy and i walked away from that feeling relieved, encouraged, and inspired.  which is pretty awesome and totally worth getting up early on sunday morning!

16859 happy_valentine's_day

there are infinite ways that we can show love.  for some reason, our culture has chosen february 14th as an arbitrary date for celebrating love.  we also have chosen the color red, hallmark cards, boxes of candy, flowers, and teddy bears as the ultimate symbols for demonstrating our love.

there's nothing wrong with any of this, mind you (except, perhaps, for the ungodly amount of money spent on those items).  but this is not an anti-valentine's day post, just an alternative valentine's day story.

in fact, amy and i had a plan in place for our first valentine's day as a married couple (and the first where we've both been in the same geographic location).  we were going to go out for a night on the town: dinner, a brett dennen concert, etc.  we were both looking forward to it quite a bit.

on tuesday morning i woke up and immediately knew i was coming down with something.  turns out it was the worst flu i've had in a long, long time.  i seriously haven't been this sick in years.  i get migraines which are the worst, and i can get bad coughs at times which are also no fun, but this illness might take the cake.  it involved vomiting, head aches, body aches, chills, cold sweats, a fever, and tremendous amount of "not-right-looking" mucus in my head.  it was really bad.  i missed all work and community group on wednesday...went to bird street on thursday, and starbucks and bird on friday (probably not a good idea).  by the time i rolled up to our home on friday night, after working 10+ hours and feeling awful, i just wanted to pass out on the couch and not do anything until monday.

however, i found amy throwing up in the bathroom.  to make an already long and gruesome story shorter (and less gruesome) it turns out amy did not get my flu but has a hardcore ear infection.  (the doctor looked into her ear and immediately exclaimed: "wow, that's a bad one").  

our valentine's day has not been filled with teddy bears and little red heart shaped candies, but instead has had enough mucus and vomit and infections and drugs to last the rest of the year (not exactly hallmark card material).

when you get married you exchange vows, one of which is to love each other "in sickness and in health."  so somehow, i feel like our valentine's day experience is more grounded in reality than the card version.  and i kind of like that.  and in a weird way i have no doubt this is making us fall more in love with each other...and that is worth way more than a box of chocolates.    

16759

today sammy came downstairs around five o'clock, full of energy and excitement.  he held a ruler in his hands, tauntingly waving it about as he entered the room.  sam and aishah began to playfully engage each other, aishah trying to steal the ruler from sam's hands.

at some point, though, the ruler struck aishah on the arm which upset her deeply, more deeply than the moment warranted, in my opinion. 

"DON'T hit me," she said with firmness and conviction.

"He didn't mean it," said isiah, sam's brother.

isiah and aishah then exchanged words, words which became increasingly heated.  finally, aishah had enough.

"Shut up you faggot," she screamed.

obviously, the situation was now out of hand.  i took aishah aside, and sent isiah in the opposite directions.  they both sat and chilled while i took care of some other business.

"aishah," i said.  "what are we going to do?"

she proceeded to tell me that she "DOESN'T like to be hit."  hmmm...

we talked a while longer and, on her own, she came to the conclusion that she needed to apologize.  

at this point sam, isiah, and aishah were the only students left.  i sat the three of them down and said: "boys, aishah has something she would like to say."

aishah said: "isiah, i'm sorry i got so mad and called you a name...sometimes i get really angry and say things i don't really mean."

isiah said: "that's ok aishah...i'm sorry i got into your business."

sam said: "i want to apologize too...aishah, i'm sorry i hit you with my ruler."

the conversation continued...they talked it out, all on their own, with no help from me.  then they went and got a game and played together until their parent's picked them up.

and there you have another bird street tale of ugliness and beauty...forgiveness and redemption, third and fourth grade style.

16659

- more bird street stuff (see the previous post for a funny video)...

- we said goodbye to one our staff yesterday (shae is moving to a different site)...so this is what our groups have looked like over the last couple of months (sans a few kids)...

shae's group:

tiffany's group:

my group:

16559 king_of_the_bumblebee

- friday chess randomness

16459

too many thoughts for one post...i apologize.

- at some point in the next week or two i will have a major update regarding life direction to write about in this space...stay tuned.

- our community group continues to grow.  we are over double digits now!  (time to think about splitting, yikes).

- also, in our group we have some really fun new-christian/pre-christian types who bring a bunch of great energy and fresh perspectives to the table (one of our girls lied to her athiest parents about going to reunion at first...i love that!).

- i am having some really great conversations with ramon at starbucks.  our conversations have moved from film and making films to topics like religion and destiny and does anyone have the right to speak into other people's lives.  really interesting and fun.  we'll see what comes of that.

- bird street continues to be challenging in many ways, but i've experienced a recent break through with at least one of my students.  aishah's family is going through a nasty divorce right now and a lot of her anger over that got taken out on us.  she hated our program at first and did whatever she could to get written up/kicked out so she could go home, but now she has a turned a corner and is really enjoying herself after school.  which helps me enjoy myself too =)

- tuesday was also a big day at the school i work out.  it was very cool to see the kids get so excited about a national event.

- i am very antsy for baseball season to get underway.

- amy and i had our first experience of Boston University hockey (they are ranked 2nd in the nation in division I).  very fun!  they play in a beautiful arena, and hockey is such a great sport to see live.  however, we both felt very old sitting in the student section, wishing the dang kids in front of us would sit down and shut up.  

there's probably a bunch more to share, but i'll wrap it up there for now.

peace!

16359

- i love what manny has to say about today.  enjoy!

16259

i had an opportunity to share in church today about my experience as a "former pastor" joining a new church.  i enjoyed the opportunity and it gave me a moment to reflect on this transition as it has unfolded over the last seven months.

this has been a very unusual stage of life, but not anywhere as difficult as i had anticipated.  i think the main reason for this is that i love being married.  i was asked this morning to describe an "aha" moment as it pertains to leading community groups and my experience transitioning from staff to non-staff.  i think the biggest "aha" for me has been just how fun it is to lead with amy, as a team.  it is really, really amazing!

as much fun as i had in durango with ctk and as much as i miss it at times, i wouldn't trade anything for the opportunity to lead our funky little group of christ-followers in fields corner with my wonderful wife.  

so thank you john and tim and reunion for giving me the opportunity to reflect on that today.

(ps...if you want to listen, go here and download the podcast...i'm about 30 min in)

16159

- last night amy and i had the opportunity to watch "project: revelation," the short film i was in.  (see 15559 or this link).  i enjoyed the film and thought zack and ramon did a good job with this project.  however, it is tough to watch yourself act!  kind of weird actually.  more importantly, i think it was really fun to hang out with people who aren't a part of our reunion/sojourn circle.  their next project is called "success?" and i may help out in some role.  even if i don't though, this newest project has already sparked some interesting conversations about what it means to be successful.  i love those kinds of conversations and i am so pleased that my starbucks experience is starting to build some connections, relationships, and purpose beyond just some additional income.

- a couple of months ago i asked for some prayer regarding decision making and the future.  over the next weeks i'll be using this space to detail what that looks like for us.  so, stay tuned!  

16059 top_5_lists

2008 top 5 lists. enjoy...

Songs

1) A Milli Lil' Wayne
disclaimer: this song is totally inappropriate and vulgar. lil' wayne seems determined to do whatever it takes to ruffle feathers. but i feel compelled to make this song my number 1 for '08 (even if my wife thinks less of me) for the following reasons...a lot has been said recently about america entering a "post-racial" society (see the election of barak obama). progress has been made, sure, but we have a long way to go (witness several of my stories from conversations with my junior counselors at camp this summer). after hearing some of those stories the appeal of a lil' wayne makes a lot more sense...wayne is more punk rock than any rock band of the last ten years...finally, lil' wayne (and this song in particular) has been an ubiquitous presence during my six months in boston. i in no way endorse this song a something good and worth purchasing, but he is much easier for me to understand now than six months ago and that sort of learning is a major theme of the second half of my year.
2) The '59 Sound The Gaslight Anthem
asks the timeless question: what song will you hear when you die? more importantly it's just a great rock n' roll song.
3) Skinny Love Bon Iver
from a very quiet and very beautiful album (for emma, forever ago). a wonderful song on it's own and a great example of this band's sound.
4) Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love Coldplay
Coldplay did an interesting thing on their newest album (Viva La Vida). they smashed 15 songs into eleven tracks. this is the best example of that...a huge sound melded with an intimate moment...Coldplay is the best band at making you feel like you are in a movie.
5) Cath... Death Cab for Cutie
i love this song for one reason: the electric guitar sound (especially in the intro) is about the most perfect guitar sound i can imagine. it just sounds so pure and awesome...
Honorable Mention: Singalong by Phil Wickham
i always thought Dashboard Confessional's Unplugged album was what secular "worship" would sound like. Phil Wickham's Singalong is what Dashboard in a church would sound like...i loved it, thank you Phil.

Books (required reading)

1) A Community Called Atonement Scot McKnight
essentially this is a book that examines various atonement theories throughout theology and then proposes one that is "relevant" for today's emerging theologians and church practitioners. however, it really could be called "how to be a Christian." i could go on and on about how excellent this book is, but i think you should just read it. and then maybe read it again.
2) Tell It Slant Eugene Peterson
peterson continues to hit home runs with his "spiritual conversations" books. fresh perspectives on language, the book of Luke, and prayer. you can't go wrong with this if you are looking for something to provoke your thinking and breathe life into your praying.
3) Jesus for President Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw and Jesus Wants to Save Christians Rob Bell and Don Colden
essentially these are the same book but they go about the theme in very different ways...the theme being that christians, not government or politicians or policies, need to be the change we want to see (wait, didn't Gandhi say that?). anyway, they make strong cases against the church aligning too closely with the power offered by empire and urge us to find a "third way" solution to the injustices we see in the world. very good stuff.
5) Wide Awake Erwin McManus
really this should be a top 4 list because i read a lot of marriage/get your sex life off to a good start books, and not too many church/leadership/theology books. so, erwin gets on the list, even though i feel like i've read this book three or four times, because he is an old favorite.

Books (non-required)

1) The Fortress of Solitude Jonathan Lethem
i've already written about this book here, but just to remind you it is now my second favorite novel of all time.
2) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexie
funny and heart breaking...simply a great piece of writing.
3) The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. Carson Clayborne Ed.
i think i wore out several red pens marking this book up...should be essential reading for all.
4) Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich Mark Kreigel
one of the better biographies i've ever read. i had heard a little bit about "pistol" pete but i could not put this book down...a tragic tale, expertly told.
5) The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed our Culture John Battelle
i've talked about this before too, but again, as a reminder, this books tells a great story and also lays out a vision of the future that is both fascinating and scary. if you use a computer you should read this book!

Movies

I did not watch many movies this year...if you want to see a good top ten list see Willie's Blog. However, here a few movies that I did see and enjoyed:

1a) Juno
1b) Slumdog Millionare
i loved both of these movies...however juno i saw on the 4th day of 2008 and slumdog on 340th...so it's hard to say which i'd put first...both though will make you laugh and cry and celebrate the process of falling in love.
3) The Dark Knight
a good, but not great, movie (in my opinion). i saw it after it had been out for a while and lot of hype was already surrounding heath ledger's role in the film. he did not disappoint...one of, if not the most, creepy movie role of all time. i was disturbingly fascinated.
4) Gone Baby Gone
set in dorchester and raises many interesting questions about society. also, well directed, cast, and acted...what's not to love.
5) Cloverfield
one of the best theater watching movie experiences ever. i saw it twice and the second time did not disappoint. i hear they are making another one...i'll be there if they do!

Happy 2009 everyone! Peace

15959

- this is the last post for the year...well, actually, top five lists will come out some time before the new year, but "normal" posting will resume in '09.

- so, until then i'll leave you with this: the view from our front porch!

15859 christmas_tree II

15759

i'm not a big fan of the language of blessing that often gets tossed around in the church.  it feels inauthentic and comes off as an overspiritualization of reality.  that being said, there is the turth that God wants to bless us and he, in fact, does.  a few weeks ago our small group studied Luke 11:1-13 and we saw that God, our father and friend, wants to give us good gifts.

but i don't go around talking about God's blessing all that much.  

so, it's a little weird that this post is all about how much amy and i have experienced God's blessing in our lives these days.  but there is no other way to describe the last couple of weeks.  consider the following:

- we received an amazingly generous and unexpected inheritance that has allowed us to pay off debt and put some money in savings.  our budget is finally "right" and we have some extra money to do fun stuff with (like give it away).

- my car finally sold which also provided extra cash

- mcrae visited us and stocked our kitchen with food

- diana and her mother welcomed us into their home for thanksgiving and gave us fantastic food and a quiet place to relax and rest

i've personally never experienced anything quite like this, it's been a little surreal.  and so the goal is to try to be grateful and humble about the whole experience.  we have a lot to be thankful for!

hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. 

15659

behold mcrae...

15559

- shooting project: revelation

15459

updates and happenings...

- thanksgiving is upon us...amy and i will be heading to philadelphia to spend the holiday with amy's good friend (and now my good friend) diana and her mom.  should be a fantastic time.

- before that though, the great ryan mcrae will be in town on his way to vermont for his family's thanksgiving festivities.  it will be great to see the best man and show him around the town a bit.

- our community group is starting to find it's stride now...for a brand new group i think we are doing really well and already it's so fun to see relationships forming and a bunch of people turn into an authentic community that knows each other and cares for each other.  also, i'm so proud of our group for the way we've stepped up to help out quincy street with thanksgiving baskets.  everyone has been extremely generous.

- i became officially barista certified this week!  way to go steve.

- i'll be helping some friends shoot a film this weekend.  as it happens, i will playing the main character, which is kind of funny and fun.  check out the project and what these guys have done previously here: sentinel films

i think that's it...have a great week and happy thanksgiving.  peace!

15359

- pics of the week:

15259

there are about a million ways that i am proud of my wife but today i feel especially proud of her.  when amy started going to reunion she immediately became involved with sojourn and their partner ministry at quincy street (about a mile from our house).  it's been great to hear, and now see, her become part of the team doing ministry there, build relationships with the kids in the neighborhood, and, over the last couple of weeks, start tutoring Destiny.

last year she also had the opportunity to connect some fellow physical therapy students from BU with quincy street.  they've had a play day and also a gift program last christmas.  today she was able to bring eight students down to the neighborhood for another play day.  it was so much fun watching everyone interact with the kids (16 today, which is a great turnout), and it was wonderful to see the kids having so much fun.  

i am so proud of amy for introducing her classmates (many of whom could go through the whole program without ever having to think about dorchester, let alone visit it) to this neighborhood.  and, i am grateful that these students have made the effort to come down on these occasions and really get into playing with the kids.  

way to go amy!

ps. i am not so proud of myself for bringing my camera with no batteries, which means no pictures...dang!!!

15159

shameless plug: if you vote on tuesday, go to Starbucks, tell them you voted and you can get a free tall cup of coffee...

and remember that even more important than voting on november 4th is acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly on 11/4/08, 11/05/08, 11/06/08, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

15059

fun with beth!!!

- sam adams =)

- fall is here!

- fenway park

- harvard

- happy birthday nina!