where we live

See that dot just off the west coast of FL - the black circle with an "H" in it? Yep - that one barely south of the little islands. We were on that beach just last night! Should be an interesting week ...

feels like home to me

I had an interesting chat with a fellow church member the other day (actually I do not know where his/her current church membership is). (S)he said that one day (s)he had gone back for a visit to Covenant, second time since our split, and was sad because both times, it no longer felt like "home". This person went on to say that New Hope "doesn't feel like home yet either". For this person, the sanctuary was what made the church not feel like home at New Hope. I imagine that the only thing which has really changed about Covenant's sanctuary is the people in it (and the numbers), so the difference there intrigued me.

I started thinking about why New Hope does feel like home to me. It is obvious that it quickly felt like home to my children (considering that Covenant is the only church home they have ever known--Michael was a baby when we came here--I kind of expected them to be sad to leave, but they weren't). Why is that? I certainly don't think the building is homey. Is it because the programs have moved over? That may be part of it, but I doubt it, because those of you who know me know that I am happy to tear a program down to its core elements to strip out what doesn't work, and we have been doing that. We started in the new building without programs, actually, and are only now getting ready to start them up for the fall, some with pretty major changes.

The conclusion I have come to is that what makes New Hope feel like home is not the location, the building, or the programs: it's the people. My family moved to New Hope--my church family--and because of that, New Hope feels like home. We could have met in a gymnasium, like some other New Wineskins churches have done, and as long as the people came, it would feel like home. I think this has been true for a fair number of us. I know of at least one family which was not planning on coming to New Hope, but is now here, and I am reasonably confident that their presence can be traced to the fact that the people they loved as part of Covenant's body have come over, too. As a church, of course our first loyalty and allegiance must be to God and his glory, but I think many of us choose our church because we believe it's important to be part of a community. And that community, those people, become family, and family is what feels like home.

So, does New Hope feel like home to me? The building doesn't, I confess. But when I sit in that building on a Sunday and see my family in the pews around me, then I have to say that yes, I am at home.

one reason i love the olympics

i was in the kitchen making some sticky buns for tomorrow morning, when I looked out and saw Elanor jumping on the couch, saying ...

"Go, United States! Go, Go, United States! YEAH!!! Mommy Mommy - our country just won the game! Yeah United States!"

wonderful. And all the athletes are household first-and-last names to Caroline with her impeccable diction. I love it.

a quick look

I thought I'd pause mid-year to share a few things I've read lately that have left a huge impression on me. So here they are!

The End of Memory by Miroslav Volf is one of the most amazing works I've read: rich, humble, personal, wise, and utterly hopeful. If you ever wonder about or struggle with issues related to forgiveness, justice, and painful memories: take and read. I don't want to sound like a sop, but I cried when I read the last page. That says something for a theology book!

More than any other book so far this year, Surprised by Hope (By N. T. Wright) has caught me firmly in its grasp. This book has fired my imagination. I have often felt that Christianity is not about going to heaven when you die but I haven't had the words or concepts to express what I want to say instead. I do now. Thanks, Tom - the energy and life you put into this exploration of the basic, historic Christian message is extraordinary.

Thank you, Jim Collins, thank you. I needed to read this short book right now. Your words at the bottom of page 14 and the top of page 30 rocked my world. I need to get to work.

Happy Reading!
grace and peace,
Andy

when faced with a choice...

Hypothetical situation: you take your children to SeaWorld and are trying to decide which Shamu show to take them to. Without knowing anything about them but the names, which one would you go to: "Believe" or "Shamu Rocks"?

I really hope you answered "Shamu Rocks". Because I can say with confidence that the other show is about the cheesiest thing I have ever ever EVER seen in my life. It is also mostly a video show, with very little actual animal performance. "Shamu Rocks", however, has got to be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my entire life. It's fun, it's exciting, and it's awe inspiring (the things these whales can do is just staggering, and to think that they can do it with timings and on command.... just amazing).

It's a night show, so I guess it would be a long day if you were there all day already, but it is one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen. Guess where the kids and I went yesterday?

pictures and words

I wanted to share some more pictures from my recent backpacking trip as well as give you a sense of what I was thinking the whole weekend. As we hiked out on Sunday, I hung back and just gazed at the world. These are the words that came to mind (with a nod toward GMH). Bear with me - it's been a while since I did any poetry.

Glory be to God for gray granite spires slicing the skies,
For rivers’ roaring rush into valleys spread wide in water-welcome,
For pinnacles that pitch into broken boulders scatter-strewn in streams.
He shines in radiant shafts of light slanting on the peaks,
In shadows and shades dancing darkly down couloirs and chutes,
In silver-shine reflections in the dusk-and-dawn hours on lakes.
He speaks in flaming flowers crazy with color,
In hushed hallways of barren bristlecone pines,
in foaming flows spilling silver into meadows and glens.
And all around sighs the singing speech of a world a-tremble,
strung with pleasure and passion and power,
whose ever-altered appearance only serves the Reality
from whom, in whom, and to whom are all things.

where i've been

 

Kearsarge Pinnacles and Kearsarge Lakes Basin, Kings Canyon National Park