Proclaiming the King

I finally got the star working again. Four days after Christmas.
It's about time.

Subtle Changes

I don't know why I felt like writing an explaination...

I've rearranged the sidebar on my blog.

I found that I actually use my blog as a starting point for frequent connections on the internet. I don't always get to use my own computer to connect to the internet. This just works better for me.
So I've pushed my archive down to the bottom because I rarely use that. (Though I am surprised at how much I do use it.)
I actually updated my reading list. And moved it to some more obvious locations.
I updated my listening with a few links that will let you listen to streaming songs. You can listen to Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward in the complete She & Him Vol. 1 album for a limited time on Merge Records. Check out www.sheandhim.com for a very fun website. I love the mouse-over on the main illustration.
And, I've brought my friends up toward the top, mostly so that I don't have to scroll down when I'm looking for the latest thing that has been written.
I added the little Folllower Icons, faces of people who subscribed to my blog.
I added the ability for you to comment on the blog without having to open a separate window.
And, I added some reaction buttons for you to check on each posting if you want to let me know what you think of what I'm writing. I don't know how long I'll keep that.

Feel-good, Romantic Comedy?

Not quite.

I somehow forgot that nearly all dog movies are tear-jerkers.

I still enjoyed it, and The Fox and The Hound is one of my all time favourite movies.

But, still...
I was caught off guard in the theater tonight.

Creme de Menthe

and a little dose of inspiration


Maybe someday I'll spend my Christmas doing something like this.

Until then, I'll be enjoying every second of time I have with my family.


Merry Christmas!!

Mud Football

Happy Birthday Rachel!!

It rained yesterday, so we headed out to the Hidden Valley Middle School mud puddle/field for a little fun in the mud.

old Friends like bookends

I spent the night next to my favourite books. Books that I had been slowly gathering since childhood. Most of them much older and dustier than I am. Books that had been tattered and torn long before they ever found me. Some are a hundred years old with slanting script indicating their first Christmas appearance for the delight of a young child, or an introduction by GK himself to the Bleakness of a House by Dickens. Many of the books still retain their colored dot that helped them find a home.
I couldn't sleep last night after I had climbed up on my bunk bed so close to the highest shelves on my wall. It's nice to find old friends that still keep me company when I can't sleep. Just reading the titles and feeling the shapes brought back floods of memories. I don't know if I could have handled the memory of smells had I ventured to open more of them.
Squeezed between Quotes of CS Lewis by Jerry Root, Homer's Odyssey, Jane Eyre, and Aurthur Miller's Essays I found a book that fit my mood. It was one of the younger books that I own. It's just a book of poetry by a singer/song writer. I reread almost the whole book. Skipping just a few poems.

Here are some of my favourite:

The Road

I have just
           caught a glimpse
of what my life
is to become
for a second I could see
       around the curve
and wondered where you were
your bright face
          no longer
beside the road
your hands
         no longer lending
themselves to familiarity

I saw Love
in the rear view mirror
with its red skirt
about its knees
       trying
to catch up
and before the curve
swallowed itself again
I remember
           thinking
There is all this love
but nowhere for it to grow
each second continually
devours the next
and we're moving too fast
for it to fasten
its roots
to the wind





I Guess What I Wanted Was

I guess what I
wanted was
to hear

you'd stay with me always.

I guess what I
wanted was
to see

those hands vowing
never to leave my own.

I guess what
I wanted was
to know


I am not loving in vain.






You Are Not

you are not
the brave soldier

Neruda's sons
Chave's brother

you are not
the dark horse
heart filled
with all the weight
and compassion
your hardships
have won you
you are not
driven by the need
to free all people
from meanness and
loveless abuse
        I know you
you are asleep in your church
on Sunday afternoon
looking for god
in answers you seek
through others
instead
of being the answers
you are praying for peace
but unwilling to be it

praying for mercy
but unwilling to give it

praying for Love
but too busy
making sure you got your own:
     a good job
     a good girl
all the trimmings you are
entitled to
all the bells and whistles
that are meaningful
but only to those who possess
a heart most common


~Jewel Kilcher~

Friday's at the Pearsey House

I discovered this cryptic note fixed to the inside of my parent's front door this morning.
It made me very afraid to venture outside on Friday.

In Bakersfield

I hear they have great music.

Working From Home

or How I Brought Rich Baker Home for Christmas




Got to love the Parent's house. A warm fire, a ceramic Christmas tree, a 60" LCD monitor, and Final Cut Pro. What else could you ask for when you have to work from home?

Hmm, yes, some hot tea with cream and sugar. Rebecca brought that down just minutes later.

More PNG photos

New Photos of our Papua New Guinea Trip

She

What fire and ice

do so entice

that melt the flames

and block the ice!

I'm Dreaming of

Hume, CA

Sad that I still will never have had a White Christmas.
But, at least, I'll be home for Christmas.

San Francisco

Click for more of the postcards from our 30 hour road trip to San Francisco.

(You'll need Adobe Flash)

I woke up to Winter

Lightroom Gallery of Photos

My favourite music.

The Violet Burning, my favourite band since... high school? Wow. I'm excited to check out this new album. I'll let you know, when I get a chance to listen. 

But for now... see for yourself:

Just released a 2008 Christmas Album, for free, to download, for you and your friends.

http://www.thevioletburning.com/

Thursday Night in San Francisco

Sometimes Heaven Is Closer Than You Think

There's a place off the coast of Scotland that the locals call "Iona". It is commonly referred to as "a thin place". It's a place, like many where people claim that there is not much between you and God. The veil that separates this world from the other world is thin. 

I've always thought that, if nothing else, that's a really cool thought. God is always there, or here. But, we are not always aware of His presence. There are moments and places where that awareness is reality. 

I was feeling that today. I would have said, "for no particular reason." But, after a little reflection, I realized a few things. First, I live in a thin place. Hume is a place that God has set apart for His work. Everything about this place is designed to make God as known as possible, from the natural beauty and awe-inspiring landscapes to the faces and words that are shared with each person that comes through, even every video that I make. Second, the room that is my office used to be the prayer room, built on the back of the original chapel building. It's a small, upstairs room with a pitched ceiling that comes down nearly to the floor on both sides. 

Today we prayed.

It changed my day.

The Bible: Illuminated

Visit the site
Check out the Supporters

Why does this sound so exciting to me?

Cruise ship stranded in Antarctic

23:20 GMT, Thursday, 4 December 2008
A cruise ship carrying 122 people has run aground on the Antarctic coast, the Argentine navy has reported.

Is there something wrong with me that I long for this kind of adventure?

Yesterday was my "Sabbath" day. It's a day when the organization that I work for pays me to take a day to spend time alone seeking God. They provide each of us with one night and the whole next day in a room in one of our fancy lodges. I didn't want that. Instead, I chose to spend mine outside in the forest. I drove my truck up above the Huckleberry rock crawl, parked it and hiked up and up about five miles until I reached the top of the peak on Park Ridge, past Panoramic Point. It was a 200º view towards the east at around 8000 feet. I spent the night in just a sleeping bag on a tarp under the stars. It was beautiful, and the sunrise the next morning was the most spectacular I have ever seen. The temperature dropped probably close to zero, and I was wakened by a mountain lion sniffing around me in the middle of the night. I don't think I've ever been so scared. I read Psalm 19 and 104 out loud when I woke the next morning. I spent the day reflecting on my fear, and what it really means to trust God with my life. "If I believe that God is in control, then why is my heart beating so loudly right now?" I read through the Gospel accounts of Jesus' times alone with His father. What does it mean to depend on the Father for everything? To know His word, to obey His word, to love Him, to love my neighbor.

I loved the whole experience. I would do it again if I could.