Sundays are beautiful days

Yesterday was great.  After church I gathered with a smattering of PCA peeps and Covenant students to go on a float trip.  In Missouri when you go down a river, whether it be on an inner-tube, canoe, or kayak, it is referred to as a “float trip”.  When you move to a new place you have to acquire the lingo.  Anyway, I rented a kayak for the day and floated down the Meramec River.  The kayak was a sit-a-top which is really quite cool.  They tip more easily and take on lots of water, I tipped once.  I had a great time with two old friends and many new ones.  All in all, it was a great day.

Satisfying Evening

Last night after packing up stuff to move to Norfolk, I traversed back to my old neighborhood and hung out with the Zach’s, who have been my favorite neighbors.  Paul started a fire and we sat on the deck, drinking a bottle of wine that we confiscated from our friend Lou’s wedding.  Bianca was there.  We talked about doing this very thing, and I so wanted it to really happen.  I will definitely miss the community of my neighborhood when I move to St. Louis.  Here’s to the Zach’s!

I will be staying in their home in the coming weeks.  We may have to recreate the evening.

 

Still a kid.

I got a birthday card in the mail today from my grandma.  Inside was a crisp $5 bill.  I will always feel like a kid when I get money in a birthday card from my grandma.

Why I like movies

A few moments ago I finished watching a movie, the title is unimportant, and I recalled what it is that makes me love movies . . . it’s that I find the parts of me that are missing, hidden beneath the obligations, roles, assumed expectations.  I watch movies and I want to be more me, I want to be more honest with people, to touch their lives with words and actions that will impact them for a short moment or for a lifetime.  I want to be courageous, I want to be whimsical, I want to make a mark.  The characters in movies inspire me, in both their strengths and their faults, their victories and their over-dramatic sorrowful walks on dark rainy nights down lonely streets.  They inspire me to breath deeply and experience my life, not just let time go by.

Reflections on the Sabbath

I have been processing the purpose of the Sabbath, how I should spend it, what it’s about, that sort of thing.  On Friday night I attended a Sarah Groves concert at a local Seventh Day Adventist church.  Their sabbath starts at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday.  Before Sarah was introduced, one of the students welcomed us and wished us a happy Sabbath.  The feeling I got was one of rest, of an invitation to join with others and rest, a reprieve from busy.  There is an unspoken commitment amongst the SDA folks to rest together, corporately.  It seems that most Sunday Sabitarians pick and choose their own rules, very individualistic, no accountability to resting, no intentionality to rest and observe a day for the Lord.  I want the Sabbath to mean something, but I want it to mean something corporately for me and the local Body with whom I worship.  I’m in process, and today I rested.

Is it fall yet?

kayak at sunrise

On Memorial Day we arose early and took our kayaks to a lake nearby my aunt’s place. We paddled around drinking coffee as the sun came up. Amazing.