A thirsty soul

So I guess this is more of a book review than a blog post, as I just finished reading Donald Miller's "A Million Miles in A Thousand Years" this morning, essentially it is about how the author lives, writes and edits his own story while living it (for the actual overview of the book, find it here). Quite honestly, it started out a wee bit slow for me, but because I've been so richly rewarded before with his writing, I plodded through, until at last the book poured forth with the poignant, humorous and insightful thoughts that I thoroughly enjoyed and will certainly re-read.

Here's one of my favorite excerpts:

"...I felt the way I hope God feels as he writes the world, sitting over the planets and placing tiny people in tiny wombs. If I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story, and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, Enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you. I've wondered, though, if one of the reasons we fail to acknowledge the brilliance of life is because we don't want to be characters in a story because characters have to move and breathe and face conflict with courage. And if life isn't remarkable, then we don't have to do any of that; we can be unwilling victims rather than grateful participants."

Like other books he's written, it's a commentary about his experiences, but he confesses that many times he's had to force himself into having an experience, not just the bigger feats like hiking the Inca Trail or cycling across the country, but things like getting off the couch and walking the dog or calling a friend to get together and catch up. I think we can all relate to that on some level, and can certainly agree that the most memorable memories are ones that we create and experience together in a relational way, the way God intended. I'm thankful to each of you for being a part of our "story", and here's to making the best of it!

Oh What A Beautiful City

As my wife said in her last post, we’re looking to move locally in the next few months. Going through this process has highlighted to me how much I truly enjoy living in Southeast Michigan – and that, over the past ten and a half years, I have become a Michigander. I’ve lived in North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Ontario, but I consider Michigan my home.

Being a Michigander means more than drinking a Vernor’s and eating Better Made potato chips (BBQ flavor, of course) while making a Michigan Left on my way to a Tigers game. It means enjoying the four seasons, the changeability of the weather, and sunny summer days without humidity. It means finding beauty in the kind of buildings they don’t make any more while finding regret in the condition of many of those buildings. It means living in a place large enough to have all the advantages of a big city while living in a friendly place - where people will let other drivers cut in and those other drivers wave back in appreciation.

Sure, things aren’t perfect here in Michigan. Our political leaders of all parties have failed the state – how Michigan needs a strong leader like Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels! The city of Detroit is particularly dysfunctional, fed in part by those who use racial divisions for their own gain. And the state of our economy is well documented. But even given that, I don’t want to live anywhere else.

This week I had to drive down to Brownstown Township for work. The drive back to the office up I-75 takes you past the oil refinery and the heavily industrial area at the junction of the Rouge and the Detroit rivers. And then you reach the crest of the Rouge River Bridge, and presented to you from left to right is the skyline of the city of Detroit, culminating in the Renaissance Center on the Detroit River, the Ambassador Bridge, and the city of Windsor.

Last month we went to a performance of “Woodward Wonderland”, a celebration of Detroit’s holiday traditions performed by the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit. The opening song is the Christmas song “Oh What A Beautiful City.” Looking at the city of Detroit presented before me from the Rouge River bridge, I can’t help but think to myself, Oh, what a beautiful city!

Be a neighborly neighbor

The other night we were talking about neighbors and how nice it would be to land somewhere where we got along with the neighbors (we're hoping to make a local move in a few months so we can get into a bigger house),  actually I think I said that I thought it would be great if we could meet the neighbors before we decided to buy a place :).  I also said that I hoped they would be the kind of people that I could borrow a cup of sugar from, and the hubby replies "who even does that anymore when you can just run to Meijer's at any hour??" and I said "me!". 
 
True story, almost two years ago I actually called my neighbor and asked if she could spare the remainder of the sugar that my recipe called for, as I was making a cake for my co-worker's birthday the next day.  It does seem kind of silly in retrospect, but I just needed a little, and I remember it wasn't too late at night (8:30ish?) but because I thought I had all of the ingredients I was literally in the middle of making the cake and simply didn't feel like getting into my car and running to the store.  Also I'm guessing that I was likely in some not-so-stylish version of my home comfies (read: stretchy pants).  My neighbor was probably a little surprised by the request, but was only more than happy to oblige.  That plus I returned her plastic container a couple days later with a teeny little flowering potted plant in it (remind you of the bundt cake scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding?? LOL) and it was a pleasant neighborly interaction all the way around.  When I first moved in I was a single gal and her husband had given me both of their cell phone numbers, in the years past she has watered my flowers when I was out of town, and he once helped fix my garage door. 
 
Also a couple months back one Saturday morning I realized that the car pulling out behind me followed me throughout the short drive to the yoga studio, and after class I introduced myself to the driver who said that he and his wife (who he specifically mentioned was Korean, huh?? :) and daughter had recently moved in across the street from us, and now when we see them out for a walk, it's an easy hello.
 
I'm not going to pretend that I'm always in the mood to engage in neighborly chit-chat, but there's probably no doubt that befriending people in your close environments can make all difference.  In the winter it can be hard to muster up much more than a friendly wave, but as soon as the warm weather hits, I'm going to be sure to introduce myself to our new neighbors!

 

Mid-week funny

This hilarious pic showed up in my inbox this week from my brother-in-law with the subject line "Time to cut these guys off".  Oh, my dear niece & nephew, they are always good for a laugh!  (And no, I have no idea where they were or what they were doing - who cares?!?  It's just darn funny :).

Help for Haiti

As coverage continues on the devastation following the earthquakes in Haiti, many stories of hope have arisen through the tragedy.  I got an email last week from one of my contacts in the Detroit office of the American Red Cross, and she shared the story that a man came in on Friday to donate $100 towards their relief efforts - only unusual in the fact that his coat was duct-taped, his shoes had holes and he took the bus to get to their office!  May our hearts be broken by the same things that break God's heart, and may you feel moved to help your fellow man in need in whatever way you are able, even if just through prayer. 
 
P.S.  You can text "Haiti" to the number 90999, and after you confirm the reply text that is sent, $10 will be added to your next cell phone bill and donated to the International Red Cross for relief efforts in Haiti.

Today is special

We've all heard these kinds of "tips for living", but the reality of it is that some of them are actually things we should follow in our daily lives, despite how hard it can be to live up to them!  No doubt you also received some motivational-type resolution list email forwards from others starting out the new year, but I thought this one was good enough to share. 

HANDBOOK 2010 Health: 1.       Drink plenty of water. 2.       Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar. 3.       Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.. 4.       Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy 5.       Make time to pray. 6.       Play more games. 7.       Read more books than you did in 2009 . 8.       Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day 9.       Sleep for 7 hours. 10.      Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile. Personality: 11.    Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. 12.    Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment. 13.    Don't over do. Keep your limits. 14.    Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 15.    Don't waste your precious energy on gossip. 16.    Dream more while you are awake 17.    Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.. 18.    Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness. 19.    Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others. 20.    Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present. 21.    No one is in charge of your happiness except you. 22.    Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.  Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime. 23.    Smile and laugh more. 24.    You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree... Society: 25.    Call your family often. 26.    Each day give something good to others. 27.    Forgive everyone for everything. 28.    Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of  6. 29.    Try to make at least three people smile each day. 30.    What other people think of you is none of your business. 31.    Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.. stay in touch. Life: 32.    Do the right thing! 33.    Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful. 34.    God heals everything. 35.    However good or bad a situation is, it will change.. 36.    No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up. 37.    The best is yet to come. 38.    When you awake alive in the morning, thank God for it. From another list I picked out a couple of faves as well:   -Make peace with your past, so it won't screw up the present. -Overprepare, then go with the flow (this is something I personally like to employ at work!) -Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.   And lastly, an excerpt from our biblestudy reading (1 Corinthians 15) that we laughed at this week "Bad friends ruin good habits."  How true, so why are we so reluctant to let go of bad friends?  Well, here's to being good friends this year, folks!

On Unclehood

This weekend, as we were watching our niece and nephew, Kieran told me, "Tito Bart, you pretend to be my uncle." I told him that I was his uncle, and in a brain fart, told him that "Tito means Bart."

Tito means uncle in Tagalog, and I am proud to be Kieran and Tanith's uncle. When I first met them, Tanith was only five months old, and Kieran was two. Kieran turned five this past week. Tanith sits in my lap when I read a book to her, and l beam with pride when Kieran looks out the car window and spells the name of the gas station. My wife met him at McDonalds, and his first question was, "Where's Tito Bart?" I'm so glad that I've become a part of their lives. Happy Birthday, Kieran!

A church - with a steeple!

A belated Happy New Year to all!  It never fails that coming back to work after the holidays is a big drain on the brain, whew.  I'm trying to just be thankful for a job to come back to!
 
On a much more joyous note, on Sunday we had our first service in our official capacity as the occupants of the newly-acquired and first permanent building for our church, Genesis, in the Church on Main formerly known as the First Baptist Church of Royal Oak!  (Pictured is the new sign, the Olive Branch is the still-affiliated daycare that is run in out of one section of the expansive 40,000 sq ft facility.) The short version of the backstory is that we have been a portable church since the beginning and after the pastors cultivated some relationships that seemed to be coincidental (we know now better!) we are now proudly stationed in Royal Oak just north of downtown on Main St in a beautiful brick building - and, yes, it actually has a steeple that you can see from a distance as you approach Royal Oak. 
 
The Barton & I served as greeters at one of the entrances and got to welcome many of the attendees, which included a mix of friends new & old and several folks who joined us from the former First Baptist congregation that we have yet to meet formally.  When we arrived early to pray with the rest of the greeters, worship team and pastoral staff, the energy in the place was palpable.  I personally shed a tear on more than one occasion that day (and got an unsolicited tissue handed to me by our pastor's wife, thanks Carmel :)!  So on top of the usual promise that a new year brings, I'm hopeful that we can capitalize on that energy and all take up the challenges ahead that will come with caring for a new building and continuing to nurture our church body.
 
Thank you, thank you to our God, my faithful Father, your faithfulness never ceases to amaze and humble me...