one month to live

it’s january 28th, 2009. do you know where your new year’s commitments are? did you resolve to “make all things fine in 2009?”

one of my best next-things has been involving myself with a group of six other women who gather weekly to deal with real-life issues in the context of a book study. our new-year’s book choice is “one month to live ~ 30 days to a no-regrets life.” at first the title sounded gimmicky – and i hate gimmicks. The premise of the book is that most of us live in denial that we’re ever going to die – and thus we live our days in mediocre ways, always telling ourselves that there’s plenty of time to get our stuff together. readers must pretend we have only 30 days to live. now after the 11th day of reading, journaling, discussing and working the material i’ve discovered there’s freedom in the process.

everyone in the group has committed to flesh out each day’s reading/journaling in no less than a half-hour a day… writing notes and answering questions IN our books – getting messy and honest and saying how it really is. the authors (kerry and chris shook) claim that healthy things grow so we’re simply focusing on getting healthy.

the four parts /principles in the book that explore individual health are:

• live passionately
• love completely
• learn humbly
• leave boldly

my favorite “epiphany” in the first part came from this quote by howard thurman, “don’t ask what the world needs. ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

winter's gifts

people often ask me how my husband clark is doing – having been seriously injured in our motorcycle accident back in august. good news is that clark is doing well - and now sports three titanium plates in the left side of his face. a not-so-special effect of our recent frigid weather, however is that clark’s face gets uncomfortably cold. heidi (seen here w/ husband andy) made him a special face warmer that helps keep her dad's face warm. for all you knitters she used a soft wool – rib stitched on a circular needle. it’s been a welcome gift of love.

temporarily escaping the cold weather, clark left early this morning for the gulf. he’s leading ginghamsburg’s 47th mission team as a response to continue rebuilding following the hurricane katrina devastation. the team will watch the inauguration from new orleans.

Listen to Heidi’s storytelling about her dad, ‘Priceless.’

God is good, all the time.

champions for the arts

each winter nancy beach and the willow creek association pull together a group of 30 "arts champions" chosen from all the over country to participate in conversations around the use of arts in the church and our call to ennoble, connect, equip, and refresh church artists. last week we met in orlando and brainstormed how to best accomplish this purpose in the context of a stressed economy when outward mission is still so very critical.

while most of our churches tend to swing the pendulum wide, the truth is that the gospel is both attractional and missional. jesus used compelling storytelling methods - while lifting up the great needs of all God's children across the world. i want to be part of a church that greatly understands the need for both - and invests itself in the passionate and relentless pursuit of making disciples through the combination.

willow always treats us to an inspiring field trip during this gathering- this year's being EPCOT. thanks nancy and team - for including all of us in the adventure. visit www.towardwonder.com for information on this year's arts conference - inspiration and innovation on a much larger scale.

transformations and fresh starts

everyone needs a fresh start in some area of life. i love the idea that yesterday's failures don't have to be today's extra baggage. i love that we don't have to be stuck in same-'ol, same-'ol... and that God's grace is ever prodding us towards the new thing, the fresh start, the way where there seems to be no way. it's why i love makeover projects. fresh looks cause us to view our lives in fresh ways. UNSTUCK!!! (hey, i think there's an upcoming message series at ginghamsburg on this very subject...)

i've been part of a mini-makeover team (husband clark, friend robin, + kim) who in the last year have transformed my brother's 7-room coffee house in granville, ohio in our "spare" time. i most recently recovered four chairs to finish one room. see the photos at the bottom of this post- a glimpse into the new look at www.riverroadcoffeehouse.com.

recently a couple from ginghamsburg -walt and debbie toney- offered up a large amount of pottery to be sold and profits go towards THE SUDAN PROJECT. the potters who made this pottery already had their work featured at river road... so we struck up a deal to sell this larger amount right there at river road. it's a win-win-win scenario. my brother gets added inventory (which was needed), the toneys get to give a larger gift than they'd orginally planned, and the people of SUDAN will benefit greatly in the end. God is good!