Seeing the World

Welp, today was my last official day of responsibilities at Harbor Chapel. It was a somber, sad, exciting and hopeful day all in one. Wierd. It will take weeks, no probably months, to process my transition out of this role that has been central to my life for the past 6 years(w/SVCC and Harbor). Janny has her last day at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley tomorrow and then we have a few open weeks of no responsibilities or work! It will be an important time for us to slow down and process the past and prepare for the future. Especially in evaluating how our vocations are going to connect with our work/careers. Looks like a teaching credential/master's degree is leading the pack for me, while we are still very interested in starting or working at a local non-profit. We will see.

For now...We are going to continue to pursue what has been so formative to our perspectives and relational growth with each other...Traveling!! We found some ridiculous travel deals and will be leaving on Wednesday for Europe and the Middle East. I am really looking forward to stops in Ephesus, Corinth, Malta(where Paul was shipwrecked if I remember correctly) and Egypt. We are also going to spend a few days driving through Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

I will do my best to get some pics up of our travels as soon as I can. Hope all of your friend/family gatherings have been relationally rich and hopefully not to disruptive to the digestive system!

My Old Roomy

My old roomy and one of my best buddies, Ryan Mcrae, just left tonight after hanging out with us this weekend. It was a GREAT time. I didn't think anyone could love our little, cripple dog Harry more than Jan and I...I may have been wrong. Our couch held two males this weekend. Ryan and....Harry. Inseparable.

Jan and I are at a crazy spot in our lives right now. Weird, exciting, scary and hopeful all at the same time. The things we have spent 90% of our time being part of are all now ending: My work at Harbor Chapel in one week, Jan's work at Bernardus Lodge in one week, and we both FINALLY got our Bachelor's degree's finished in the past month. Now we contemplate Master's, credentials, neither or both. For now, we just look forward to getting our barrings and soaking in/learning our new community here in Santa Cruz. We are excited to experiment in new ways of living out community, church, service, work and lots of fun! Of course, it seems they are all connected anyway.

With most of our responsibilities wrapping up in the next week and no commitments until my next speaking engagement in the end of January, we are going to do some more traveling! We have found that traveling is something we greatly value for a variety of reasons. Especially since we are still holding out on kids! We will keep you all filled in on what we end up doing.

A Night of Reflection

Pic of Annual Broomball Trip


Last night was a night that Jan and I won't forget for the rest of our lives. As most of you know, we are stepping away from our role as Youth Pastor at Harbor Chapel as of Dec. 31. We have been part of that community for the past 4 years and last night they threw an incredible appreciation dinner for us. Not only did they serve one of my all time favorite meals, Lobster Bisque, but we were showered with some serious love.

It is easy for me to feel like I could have done a better job in my time at Harbor. Whether that means spending more time with students or leading in a different direction, etc...Last night, as student after student took the mic and shared memories of our time together, I was blown away by how much God has used what I often feel was so little. I rarely cry, not that I am proud of that, but since crying in my wedding ceremony(take that however you want!), I can only remember crying once. Last night, I couldn't keep it together. Jan and I were both a crying mess and at the end of night when we were handed the mic, I just about lost it. I squeaked out a few words that sounded like the voice of a 6th grader. Humbling, but very real.

As I reflect on it now, I realize that is exactly how it should have gone. Our time in this community was not marked by words...it was marked by action and relationships. No words needed.

Settling In

I will get some pics on the way soon, but Jan, Harry(our little dog) and I have officially made the move to Santa Cruz. We have really been wrestling with where to put down roots and begin to be better at integrating all aspects of life towards God's present Kingdom. Through much prayer, social research and vision for our specific role in participating in God's mission, we have wound up here in S.C.

We have been searching for a LITTLE place for about 2 months now and it has been miserable. Lots of hope, followed by lots of disappointment. This last week we stumbled onto a little one bedroom house with a sweet patio in Seabright. It is right between Capitola and Downtown Santa Cruz.

I just went for a bike ride with Harry in the warm sun and could hear the sea lions as we are only about 6 blocks from the beach. We are feeling VERY blessed and hopeful at what is in store for us here.

We wrap up our time at Harbor Chapel this next month, which is a very emotional transition as we have 4 years of memories and relationships there, and set our eyes on being the church right here in our new community. What that is going to look like is still to be seen, but we are looking forward to experiencing everything along the way.

Hooked Up

So lately I have been waking up in the mornings and looking at the ceiling which is only about 19 inches above my face. It is only 19 inches above my face because for the last year Jan and I have been living in a SMALL master bedroom of a home with 3 other people. Because the room is so small, I had to build a "loft" that is about 7 feet off the ground, so we could fit a couch underneath and have somewhere to sit. Anyway, it is easy to feel like we are lacking, poor or even get into the mentality of "things will be ok when we get this/that."

Back to waking up at looking at the ceiling. Lately as I lay in bed and prepare for my day I have been filled with gratitude. How many people wake up in a warm bed with a ceiling over their head? How many fewer people get out of their bed(or climb down a ladder in our case) and take a warm shower? How many people walk to their kitchen and CHOOSE what to have for breakfast? We are hooked up and I am very grateful. As my friend Mark Scandrette discussed recently, we are surrounded by a culture that embraces a mentality of scarcity or "we don't have enough." We are worried that we don't have this and we need to get that, rather than being grateful for what we already have been given.

Interesting that after God hooked up the Israelites with Manna that He told them to put some in a jar and keep it to look at so they wouldn't forget how well God had provided for them. I need to more often remember the Manna and not get so caught up with attaining the golden calf.

Quote of the Day

This is a great prayer in any situation, but especially in light of the worlds current social and economic chaos:

O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others; open my ears that I may hear their cries; open my heart so that they need not be without succor; let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong, nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich ... And so open my eyes and my ears that I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee.

- Alan Paton

Traveling in Old Cars

So, I have been waiting to post this blog until I downloaded some pics from our recent road trip, but I never seem to have the camera and my computer in the same spot at the same time. Oh well...

If there is a problem that could happen to a car, it happens to our cars. Janny and I(thankfully!) have AAA roadside assistance and between the two of us we get 8 calls a year. Our policy is about 8 months into the year and we have used 7 of our 8 calls. Anyway, most of the issues are with my old beater truck(we we were sharing for environmental, financial reasons), so we thought we would buy an old beater car that would complement the truck. We now have a 19 year old Honda Accord. It got in an accident about 10 years ago, so it is missing the side paneling and the keys often get stuck in the ignition, but this baby is running like a champ!

A couple weeks ago Jan and I decided to go on a road trip to have a couple days by ourselves and then head down south to visit a bunch of family and friends. It was a great trip...We got to sit under a tree for a couple days and read, just the two of us. Then we got to see new babies, Grandma's, friends and other fam. Good stuff. We drove over a 1000 miles in our 19 year old friend...other than one dead battery, no issues...amazing.

2 days after we got home we had to drive out to Sacramento for a speaking opportunity I had at the National Youth Workers Convention for a few days. It also was a sweet trip and full of insightful perspective and conversation. And yes...the car drove like a stallion.

Cheers to 19 year old beaters!!