Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

Ah... Lover Boy and those irrepressible images of Chris Farley dancing his heart out.

But, alas, that is unrelated to my post other than to provide an apt title.

Allie and I had a very busy weekend all around. Allie worked a little later than usual on Friday night, so we went out for a nice dinner followed by a little shopping for the baby. We arrived home at about 9:30pm only to find that the power was out in our entire neighborhood due to several severe storms earlier in the day. With no electricity to provide us with entertainment, we went to bed early hoping to wake up to the flashing red LEDs of an unset clock.

That never happened, at least not during the night. We each woke up several times to the sounds of work crews out and about trying to fix the problem, but the electricity remained off.

On Saturday morning, I went into a recording studio with our church's worship director to work on tracks for his upcoming CD. Allie stayed at home, powerless, until about 2:15 in the afternoon. I finished up around 9pm after a full day in the studio and headed home. I know that doesn't sound like much, but neither the power outage nor the studio work should have lasted more than a few hours, and they felt like they consumed the whole day.

If Friday and Saturday were busy, then Sunday was a complete blur. After church we hurried out to a bridal shop to get Allie fitted for a bridesmaids dress for a wedding in October. We rushed home, changed, and headed to Winnetka for Libby's (the 5-year-old Allie takes care of) ballet recital. As soon as that let out, we drove further south to babysit three young boys for one of Allie's work friends. All of this went better than anticipated, but we were worn out by the end of it.

I'll include one picture from the ballet of which I am particularly proud. Great job, Libby!

Who?

For the second year in a row, Allie and I had tickets to the Cubs game for Memorial Day. The Cubs won 3-1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers, led by 7 good innings from pitcher Ryan Dempster and home runs by first baseman Derrek Lee and third baseman Aramis Ramirez.

The real highlight of the game, however, came during the top of the eighth inning with the opposing team up to bat. The starting second baseman, Jeff Kent, lead off with a single. The Dodgers manager then substituted in pinch-runner Chin-lung Hu.

Judging by the lack of uproarious laughter at Wrigley, I think only the PA announcer and I got the joke.

Birthday Hijinks

Four birthdays in a week and only one blog in which to celebrate them...

What to do...

Unfortunately, I don't have too many recent photos of any of these guys (at least not many that I haven't already posted) so I'm digging deep into the vault.

May 14: my best friend Dan



May 20: my old roommate Matt


May 20: my Dad



May 21: my brother, David



[Editor's Note: Apparently May 21 is one of my coworkers' birthdays as well. I don't have any pictures of him. Then again, he doesn't read my blog.]

Fast Track

I'm beginning to secretly (and not very seriously) suspect that I'm on the fast track to a management position. Over the last month or so, I've spent an average of at least two days a week at corporate headquarters, and at least half of all of my working hours in meetings. This week, I'm finally crossing that magical threshold and spending parts of three days at HQ, all in meetings. With any luck, by the end of the year I'll be delegating my work to underlings and making decisions solely by some mystical combination of experience and whim.

...Before we even asked

A little more than a month ago, our church elders told the congregation about a budget shortfall of more than $40,000. They had carefully looked over all of the numbers and determined that although we didn't have the projected income to meet the church's needs, they could not find any unnecessary programs to cut. We needed to come up with the money.

In response, they called the congregation to participate in a day of prayer and fasting the first weekend of April. However, they were very clear in their instructions: the purpose of our prayer and fasting was not to determine for ourselves how we were going to fix the problem, but rather to bring our need before God and see how He intended to provide for it.

This morning, the elders again came before the church, this time to share with everyone how God clearly responded to our need. Back in 2002, a church member had died and left $50,000 to our church. Due to some legal issues, the money has remained tied up since then and never been given. The church leaders were only recently made aware that this money even existed. After some work, all of the roadblocks were cleared and on April 4, the week after our elders spoke to the congregation, and the day before the fast, the check was finally written. Without knowing our church's situation, instructions were given not to cash the check until April 9, the week following the fast. Even after our church tithed on the check to pay into our missions fund, there was more than enough to cover the $43,000 needed to complete the budget.

"So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.'" Genesis 22:14

Transformation

In some ways, this past week feels like it has flown by (mainly at home), and in other ways it seems like nothing has happened (mainly at work). I suppose those ideas are not mutually exclusive, so for now, that's the best I can think of to describe it.

Allie has been doing better in the last few days. She's still a bit tired, but has (generally) been feeling better. She had an appointment last Friday and everything still looks good. We're only at week 11, but our little one is now the size of a large lime and apparently danced and wiggled through the entire appointment. Allie can't feel it just yet, but Sam put on quite a show during the ultrasound. Personally, I'm hoping that this means we have a drummer on the way. We tried to get a good ultrasound picture, but Sam just wouldn't hold still.

I wrote a few weeks ago that I wanted to explore the parallels between spiritual and physical life. I still intend to do that, although much has happened to distract me since then.

I guess for starters, we find at least one place in scripture where Jesus talks about spiritual life in Him as being "born again," so for practical purposes, I will use birth as a major milestone in both realms. I am quickly learning that there is a LOT that happens in the physical world before birth. Seeds are planted. Those seeds have to unite with a willing and fertile recipient. That in itself is a miracle. There is tremendous and continuous growth from something that barely resembles a person (as one book put it, if you saw it coming at you in a dark alley, you'd high-tail it in the other direction) into something that is already becoming beautiful. Even at this early stage, Sam has a good heart, a brain, hands and feet. Although our little one has not yet been born, Allie and I have the responsibility (privilege!) to nurture them, protect them, and make sure they are able to grow throughout this process and long afterward.

We find almost the same things occurring during the early stages before someone is born again spiritually. Seeds are planted, and one of them lands on a heart and a mind that God has opened. That in itself is a miracle. From there, the person begins a period of growth, asking questions, looking for evidence, thinking about God perhaps for the first time, or beginning to finally understand Him for who He is. At this point, the person may not resemble a "Christian" in any way that we would be able to identify, but God is moving them towards beautiful redemption. Their heart and mind are changing and preparing to be renewed. The part of the Christian or discipler is to nurture them and help them grow throughout this process in anticipation of what is to come. The transformation has not yet occurred, but they are on their way.

Celebrating a Quarter Century of Excellence

Happy Birthday, Sarah!


What's a big brother for if he can't post a weird picture of his sister on his blog for her birthday?


Also, I don't know if I ever officially apologized for it, but I'm sorry I made you eat Play-Doh. Hopefully this makes it up to you.

Old Friends

I became aware of the band Caedmon's Call during high school when they had several songs on the local Christian music station. Although pop-savvy, they had a folksy sound and honest lyrics that made them stand out in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) scene. I saw them in concert the first time nine years ago, during the fall of my freshmen year of college. At that time the band had been together for seven years, but only experienced "mainstream" success with two albums. They were young. They were talented. They were rock stars.

Within a couple of years, the band joined the already declining worship-band-wagon and recorded several albums that did not impress me musically or lyrically. Gone were their roots of guitar-driven introspection and hope, replaced by simple chord loops and repeated choruses. As much as I'd always enjoyed their music, I just couldn't get into their new watered-down CCM pop. Like many, I blamed this on their parting ways with talented band member and songwriter, Derek Webb, who decided to pursue a solo career and audiences of less than a dozen members. On that point, if nothing else, I can relate to him.

In the years that followed, Caedmon's Call released four studio albums and two "greatest hits" discs, all hits, but none of them worth listening to. Derek Webb released four studio albums, all of which sounded fantastic even if they never cracked the Billboard charts.

Fast forward to 2007.

After years of traveling their own musical paths, Caedmon's Call reunited with Derek Webb for their new album, "Overdressed," and the ensuing tour, including their stop in Chicago on Saturday. Derek Webb opened for his old-and-current band-mates, then joined them for a two hour set consisting of many old songs, many new songs, and (thankfully) only handful from in between. In 1999, the band was playing to some of the biggest crowds they'd ever seen, filling auditoriums like college gymnasium where I first saw them. Now nine years later, they were again playing a sold-out show, though the venue this time probably only held 300 people. In an ironic twist, I imagine this was one of the biggest audiences Derek Webb has entertained during his solo career, but one of the smallest as a member of his old band.

They put on a great show. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, reminiscing about the old times and catching up with what they've been doing since. After many years apart, it was good to see them all again.

Derek Webb

Cliff Young

Danielle Young

Andrew Osenga

Knocking on Heaven's Door

Most of you, my loyal readers, will remember the previous trouble I have had with the United States Postal Service. Today, I had a couple of much more pleasant encounters with them.

This morning, I went to the post office to apply for a US Passport. Having completed my taxes about two months ago, the fact that today was April 15 meant nothing to me until I arrived at the building at 9:00am. The line was not yet out the door, but was still 15 people long despite having four stations open. Fortunately for me, the passport window was at the opposite end of the building with no line. I slinked past all of the frustrated customers and stood patiently until one of the employees came over to help me, well ahead of many of the other customers. It felt very Calvinist, seeing the powers that be choose to extend grace to me while others suffered. I had my picture taken, filled out a few forms, paid my fees, and left before most of the people in line had even moved.

My other pleasant encounter has come with some of the "humorous" mail I have been receiving at home. I thought I'd hit the jackpot last week when we received a generic mailer from Red Man addressed to the "Adult Smokeless Tobacco User" in our household. I thought maybe I'd send that one back with a note saying that he doesn't live here. I couldn't do that with today's mail, however. It's addressee?

"Jesus (or Current Resident)."

Coming soon to a blog near you

About four years ago, I was but a lowly supervisor (read: only employee) for a coffee shop in Evanston. During the summer months, I would routinely have half an hour between serving customers. Realizing that I could only wash the tables and clean the espresso machine so many times, I took it upon myself to keep a book and notepad on-hand to pass the time.

One afternoon, alone with my thoughts, I began to meditate on the way that God often parallels the spiritual world, which we cannot see, with things in the physical world, which we can readily observe. Jesus himself often taught in parables so that his disciples and followers could learn truths about His kingdom from the things with which they were already familiar. Scripture is still the best source for knowledge of God, but I believe that in His creativity He ordered the world in a way that we could also learn about Him and the spiritual realm.

I filled the front and back of a sheet of paper with thoughts about the parallels between birth, growth and maturity in the physical and spiritual realms. Jesus spoke of being "born" again. Several authors in the New Testament exhort believers to become "mature." From what I observed, every major stage of human development can also convey some lesson in our spiritual growth. In the weeks that come, I plan to explore this subject in depth.

1173 Words

Allison is pregnant! We found out just before Easter, and Allie has had a couple of doctor's visits since then to confirm that everything is coming along well. We're obviously very excited about the news, and thinking through everything we need to do to prepare. Allison is picking out strollers and high chairs, and I'm trying to make sure we can afford it all.

FAQ:
Due date: middle of November (hard to pin down, somewhere between 11/7 and 11/18)

Boy or Girl: We won't be able to find out until the end of June. Yes, we will be finding out.

Name: Nahum Jeremiah for a boy, Naomi Jezebel for a girl, Sam until we know for sure
[EDITOR'S NOTE: These names were intended as a joke, but my sense of humor just before midnight is not as sharp as I would like to believe. Apparently these names were slightly too plausible to be considered humorous, and most of my readers understandably took me seriously. I don't have anything against anyone named Nahum, Jeremiah, Naomi, or Jezebel, but we won't be using those for baby names. See the comments section if you still have any questions. The real names we are using are locked in a time delay safe that, coincidentally, is set to open in about 7 months. Also, because all of this is written inside these little bracket thingies, I don't have to update the word count for the title of this post.]

Health: Mom and baby are doing fine so far

Work: Allie will be taking time off around the birth, and will return to work at the beginning of next year. One distinct advantage of taking care of children professionally is that she will be able to take our child with her to work when she returns.

Happy Meal Grace

Tonight I observed several children eating Happy Meals. I should qualify that statement by saying that they eventually ate their Happy Meals, but spent the first 20 minutes of dinner playing with the "prizes" inside. As I watched the food grow cold and the children's fascination with the plastic trinkets, my mind drifted to the grace of our God.

In many ways, I treat God's grace like the prize in a Happy Meal. The first time it appeared, it was a big deal. It was a surprise- something unexpected and wonderful accompanying my daily sustenance. Here in the midst of the ordinary was something so completely unique and exciting that everything else stopped while I tore open the packaging and explored its every facet. As I began to see this reward as the pattern, however, my surprise turned to expectation, and I began to believe that I deserved it. Lack of expectation led to complacency, and complacency led to boredom. Before long, what I once considered to be of the highest value was discarded, and perhaps worse, I outgrew my sense of wonderment at it all.

Lord, forgive me for looking at your grace as a cheap pleasure, only to be used and forgotten. Help me to receive it like a child and to continually be excited by its newness.

A Different Perspective

Two completely different ideas today. Same theme.

First, the photo above shows the same tree as the one I used for Jed's photo shoot, just from a different perspective. I tried repeatedly to get the contrast set up just right using a series of filters on my computer, but my software was acting buggy. It showed me one thing on-screen, then saved it a different way entirely. This is as close as I could get to what I really wanted.

Second, I prayed a dangerous prayer this morning, asking God to help me learn what it means to love my enemies. (In truth, it was more like, "Please teach me this without having to practice it at all. A theoretical knowledge should suffice. Thanks.") On my way to work I began to meditate on Romans 12:14, which says, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."

As I thought about the nature of blessing and cursing, it occurred to me that each is two-fold. To bless someone, I can do kind things for them and I can ask God to do kind things for them. Likewise, to curse someone I can do unkind things to them and I can ask God to do unkind things to them. To love my enemies and to bless them, a good starting point may be to look at them from God's perspective and simply ask Him to be kind to them, leading them toward himself. Having prayed that, I shouldn't be surprised at all if and when he tells me to be the one to act kindly toward them. The combination of asking for God's kindness and then showing kindness to my enemies is frightening and intimidating, but that's His way. In light of Easter, I can begin to see the way His love is revealed when God acts kindly toward His enemies.

God Quit

Don't worry, friends. This isn't a leap into apostasy. God Quit is the new album from my friend, former band mate, and best man, Jed Brewer. (Available now at his website, http://www.jedbrewer.com/godquit, as a free download.) Having lived with him for several years and heard him playing the guitar at all hours of the night, there's very little musically that he could do to surprise me, but he's done it. This album is some of the best music I've ever heard from him or anyone else.

In this collection of nine songs, Jed explores the depths of God's love that we usually have difficulty wrapping our minds and hearts around: God not only loves those who are abandoned and hurting, but identified Himself with them. He does not fit into our American Sunday School perception of a God who loves us by giving us more than our neighbors and doing what we ask. In "Blessed Are Those Who Have Nothing To Show For Themselves," Jed reminds us that "God... will be known for who He is," regardless of whether we get it or not, and our misunderstanding of Him does not equate to unfaithfulness on His part.

Musically, this is a smart, accessible album with some wonderfully nuanced performances. Jed has grown significantly in many areas, with vocals, keyboards, and guitars woven together to create a melodic tapestry. Every song fits in both form and function to make this his most cohesive work to date, yet the listener does not get beat up with the same sound on every song.

My favorite tracks at the moment are "The Easy Part Is Hard," "God Quit," and "You Never Spared Yourself," but do yourself a favor and download the whole thing.

...As a Bee

Allie and I have been quite busy over the last couple of weeks. [Together: "How busy are you?"] Last night was the first (and only) night this week where we were both home at dinner time. To celebrate our extra time together, we ate barbecue sandwiches and then napped for about 2 hours.

I recently switched project groups at work, so I've been learning new skills. Instead of tools, I'm becoming an expert on electric motors and ventilation products. So far it's been a good challenge, and I still like the people with whom I'm working. It's also kept my working slightly longer hours, but still not as long as Allie works each day.

Allie has also been keeping busy with the kids she nannies for, along with a lot of extra babysitting. The family's youngest boy turns 2 on Saturday. (He was about -6 months when we started dating.) He's already learning to WRITE his alphabet and likes to draw on everything, so you can imagine how hectic Allie's day is.

With Easter and Spring Break coming up, we're hoping to spend a little more time relaxing. We'll see how that goes.

Can He?

Allie wasn't feeling very well tonight and went to bed early. As I was taking my contacts out, I lifted up a simply prayer, "God, can you please help her to feel better?"

Before the words could even come out of my mouth, I realized that this was the wrong prayer because I already knew the answer to my question.

Yes, God can.

Whether He will or won't do something is an entirely different question, but that's for Him to decide. God is always the right one to hear my plea because like no other, He can handle it. His power is always great enough. He can and will do what needs to be done. It may sound like I'm playing semantics here, but knowing that God is capable is a very comforting thing. I don't have to call God's abilities into question in any situation that may arise.

"Reflections," or "Winter on Round Lake"

Happy March, everyone!

Here's hoping that the next month brings warmer temperatures and less snow. Until that happens, here are a few pictures taken on Round Lake last weekend.

This is the same tree that I photographed in the fall.

Stay warm and drive safely.

Eclipse

On Wednesday night, February 20, the entire Chicago area had a perfect, clear view of the lunar eclipse. The moon was about 3/4 covered when Allie and I got home from work, and I didn't really have any choice but to grab my new camera and telephoto lens to see what I could come up with. I've only attempted photographing the night sky once before, so this was a fun experiment for me.
Besides the traditional shots, the camera produced some beautiful, though unexpected, results:

A funny thing happened on the way to the tollway

Yesterday morning, Chicago was able to see the sunrise for the first time in several weeks. Allison and I got to enjoy it together.

From a ditch.

Just before getting on the tollway, we were traveling eastbound in the lefthand lane. I was following the car in front of me at a "safe" distance, but needed to merge into the other lane within about half a mile. I spotted an opening and put on my turning signal. In the time it took me to begin turning the wheel, the gap in the other lane began to narrow as traffic slowed down and the car in front of me came to a quick stop. I put my foot on the brakes and the anti-lock device kicked in without slowing us down at all. In a split second, knowing that I didn't want to be in an accident or have to deal with the insurance companies, I decided to bail out. I pulled the steering wheel around hard to the left and my tires found traction just in time to angle the car through the bank of plowed snow and ice and down into the ditch separating the two directions of traffic.

We came to an abrupt, but not instantaneous, stop. The car kept running, and Allison and I were both fine. Unfortunately, the car was entrenched in the snow deep enough that we weren't going to get out on our own.

As we pulled out our phones to inform our respective employers that we would be at least a few minutes late, a police officer pulled up behind us to block off traffic and offered to call us a tow. We gladly accepted the help. She went back to her cruiser and Allison and I sat back to wait. We tried to make ourselves comfortable and watched as the sun began to peak over the treetops and fill the cold, clear sky. I sipped my coffee and put on my sunglasses while Allison pulled out her makeup bag. It was a strangely calm feeling to be sitting there, not able to do anything to help our situation, but still knowing that someone was taking care of everything.

We continued to watch the roads while waiting for the tow truck to arrive and listened to the radio to see if we would make the morning traffic report. (We did!) I pondered a dozen scenarios in my mind to see if there was anything that I could have done differently and decided that my course of action was the best. In the span of about 20 minutes, we watched another two cars touch bumpers, a 4-6 car pileup going the opposite direction, and at least two other cars spin out while trying to stop. I don't want to say that I was happy to see so many accidents and near-misses, but I guess I took some solace in knowing that I wasn't the only victim of the slick roadways. The city was already out of salt for the winter, and was laying sand instead. At only 10 degrees, that just couldn't keep the roads from freezing. (A quick note about so-called "black ice": this is a terrible and misleading name. It should be called "invisible ice.")

The police officer came up once again to tell us that the tow truck was on its way, but that it was "stuck in traffic." With the officer blocking one lane of traffic behind us, I could guess why. Nonetheless, it arrived soon thereafter. The driver was quick and helpful, and in a few short minutes we were out of the ditch. We thanked and paid the driver, then got on our way.

Everything was cleaned up almost as quickly as it had all begun, with the only lasting mark being the 6 foot wide channel cut into the snow along the side of the road. It was not at all how the morning was supposed to unfold, but I was reminded how much I love my wife by the fact that we could both take it in stride and laugh at the situation.

I'm looking forward to the many miles that still lay ahead of us.

Wrong holiday

It's almost Valentine's Day, so naturally it's time for me to finally post a few pictures from Christmas. My brother was home from Africa, and my parents picked up my Grandpa Griffin from Michigan.

Normally we save the bows for the cat, but my dad seemed to enjoy playing with this one.

The cat's name is Griffin, too. No relation.

I voted today

As I'm sitting at my desk listening to a Christian talk-radio program this afternoon, the hosts are naturally discussing the presidential primary elections being held in many states today. Wisely, they are asking their callers not to tell who they're voting for, but rather what issues are important to them.

Sadly, the only issues anyone has mentioned on this Christian station are abortion, the sanctity of marriage (i.e. preventing homosexual marriage), and occasionally illegal immigration. How is it that Christians in America cannot think of anything else to talk about than these two or three issues? I'm not saying that these are unimportant issues, and don't have clear moral direction in scripture, but it seems that Christians have a relatively narrow focus when it comes to selecting a political leader, always believing that the right candidate will eventually be able to bring America back to being "one nation under God."

My problem with that is, well, that's not what Jesus did. Jesus came to be with the people he was trying to save. He got to know them. He loved them. He did not come to legislate morality or overhaul the government. He intentionally avoided taking up a role in government, even when the people tried on several occasions to force it on him. The world already had the law at that point, and it was powerless to save them. Jesus built relationships and served people, and by his life and death (and life) brought real change.

"...A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified." (Galatians 2:16)

"After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, 'Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.' Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself." (John 6:14-15)

I say all of that to say: Vote for a good leader. Vote your conscience. Vote to put the best possible people in office. Just don't vote thinking that it's the way to bring America to God. God uses real people for that, not politicians.

I love my job

Yesterday, we lost a water main for our building.

With no running water, we also lost use of all of the restrooms in our building. No flushing, no washing hands, no rinsing out my bowl after finishing breakfast- nothing that required water. Many of my coworkers visited the local McDonalds over the course of the morning for a cup of coffee (the cafeteria was also closed) and the promise of working facilities.

By lunchtime, we had contracted with an outside service to drop off several port-a-potties inside the building, along with manual hand-washing stations. It was somewhat ironic that on the same day our CEO was ringing the bell at the NYSE, the employees in our building were just looking forward to having running water again. As crews worked to repair the damage, my coworkers and I found ourselves questioning why we were working under such conditions.

The reality is that that's the business we're in. Our job every day is to help keep other businesses, schools, hospitals, etc. up and running even when things happen unexpectedly. For us to do anything else in our own situation just wouldn't make sense. In retrospect, I'm glad we have companies like us around.

Today everything seems to be back to normal. The water is running, the toilets are flushing, and we're all quite relieved.

NOTE: The postings on this site are my own and not the Company’s.

Haiku

Single digit high
Feels even colder with wind
Chicago winter

Some Time Passes

Very little has happened since my last entry, except that college football has ended and the NFL playoffs have begun. With all of the teams that I care about eliminated, I will probably end up watching the Super Bowl for the commercials, like most years, laughing at a few and making sure that I know all of the new slogans and catch phrases when people in the office start quoting them in the days that follow.

It occured to me that today is only the 11th day out of the last 26 that I have worked, thanks to a combination of holidays, vacation days, and sick days going back to December. Tomorrow will be the first time since the week before Christmas that I have been in the office on four consecutive days. I know it's only been two weeks since New Year's, but that already feels like a long time ago.

Allie and I had a discussion a couple of nights ago about why anyone would buy books today when our library has such a good selection. We came up with three reasons, and the first one doesn't really count:

1. The book is a classic and it looks good to have on your shelf.
2. The book is one you plan on revisiting several times.
3. It's a book you plan on loaning to friends.

On the right-hand side of my blog, I've added a short list of books that I have enjoyed reading or plan to read soon. I realize I may not be breaking any new ground with C.S. Lewis and a couple of children's books, but they're all good if you can pick up a copy at your library. I'd buy all of them.

A day unlike any other

One day each year, and only one day, I root for Ohio State.

Tonight is Ohio State's annual trip to a bowl game. *Sadly*, three out of the last five years this event has been the BCS National Championship game (2003, 2007, and 2008). I have to keep reminding myself that what's good for Ohio State on the national stage is good for the Big Ten, so, "[Sigh] Go Bucks."

Having grown up in Ohio, many people naturally assume that I grew up as an Ohio State fan. Short of reminding those people what happens when you assume, I've come up with the short list of reasons that I am NOT an Ohio State fan, except in January.

1. My parents and extended family are from Michigan. I may have been born in Ohio, but my roots are in Wolverine country.

2. The John Cooper era. During my formative years, John Copper was 2-8-1 against Michigan, making it much easier to root against Ohio State than for them in the big game.

3. I attended Northwestern University.

4. Over the last three years, Ohio State has outscored Northwestern 160 to 24.

5. Ohio State has a completely unrespectable mascot. "Look out! It's a... Buckeye?"

6. Nothing fails to inspire confidence in an academic institution like emphasis of a definite article. "THE" Ohio State University. Players on athletic scholarship must be able to correctly spell it before graduating or entering the NFL draft.

7. Seriously... a Buckeye? I hate to say it, but even Wisconsin wins in this department.

I wish Jim Tressel and company the best of luck tonight. More than that, I hope that they show up to play instead of falling flat on their face like they did last year. Please, Ohio State, bring one home for the Big Ten.

Nothing Special

This Sunday I'll be playing electric guitar in the band at church. This is no small deal, because I usually don't play any form of guitar more than twice a year, and I certainly can't claim that I'm particularly good at it. Fortunately, that doesn't stop me from trying!

Playing in a worship band requires a peculiar balance, especially on an instrument where I'm not my best. On one hand, I want to do an excellent job because God deserves our best worship (in all aspects, not just music), but it also helps to keep me humble because it will be a small miracle if anything good comes out of the speaker. It's a lot harder to be proud when you know you're nothing special.

I think that's one of the things that makes God's grace so great. If I try to honestly compare myself to Him, I'm less than "nothing special". At any given time, there are more than 6,600,000,000 other people alive on earth, none of whom even come close to God's perfect majesty. The fact that He knows us and loves us can only be a testament to His greatness, not anything I can attribute to myself.

Better late than never, I guess

Some of you may remember my recent open letter, describing how the US Mail managed to lose two different gifts. In a bizarre and truly unexpected twist, BOTH of them were delivered on December 31 to their respective destinations. My mom ended up signing for her tickets more than two weeks after the concert and I just took possession of my wife's DVD after it made its way through our building's mail system. I'm glad that both eventually arrived, but I have learned a couple of things:

1. If something gets lost in the mail, make as much noise as you possibly can. My packages were missing for three weeks and then magically reappeared in the system less than three days after I started emailing the post office regarding their disappearance. I have little doubt that if I hadn't said something, my packages would have been "lost" forever.

2. FedEx everything anyway. I sent a package to my sister in Pennsylvania at 5pm the Thursday before Christmas. I shipped it using FedEx Ground, their cheapest option, since "timely" delivery didn't matter as much to me as delivery itself. It arrived that Saturday, about 36 hours later, with three days to spare BEFORE Christmas.

On a much lighter note, Allie and I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's with our families and friends. We enjoyed seeing the Hoskinsons, Griffins, Grahams, Millers, and Beavers. Whether we'd been planning it the whole year or just at the last minute, we had a great deal of fun with all of you, and we look forward to seeing you and those we missed as soon as we can.

Generation Gap

I had an awkward interchange last night after dinner. While browsing my parents' digital cable lineup, I saw a Christmas concert that I wanted to watch. Unfortunately, it was on one of the "premium" channels that they do not receive.

It went something like this:

Me: "Barenaked Ladies on TV! Rats... it's pay-per view."

Mom: "What?!"


(For the record, it really was the band.)

A Friendly Holiday Competition

It almost sounds like the beginning of a bad joke or an even worse reality television series: "What happens when five teams of engineers are asked to come up with their own table centerpieces for the annual Christmas luncheon?"

The tool team responded to the challenge with the beautiful tree pictured above. We started with old copies of specifications and glued them to a 4-foot cardboard trunk. Next, we fed fiber optic cables through the base to add lights and color. For decoration, we added icicles (drill bits), ornaments (miniature tape measures), and topped it off with a stuffed Tigger in a handmade angel costume, complete with a copper halo. (Tigger is the unofficial mascot of our group, since we were founded in the Chinese year of the Tiger.) We finished it off by garnishing the base with greenery and a few personalized stockings filled with million dollar bills and candy canes to bribe the judges.

We finished in second behind the team that built a working fountain with red and green water.

Maybe next year.

An Open Letter

Dear United States Postal Service,

I am writing to you as a wholly dissatisfied customer. On two occasions since Thanksgiving this year, you have lost packages that were intended to be Christmas gifts. One contained tickets to a concert last weekend (it's now too late), and the other contained a DVD for my wife. Neither have been delivered, despite being mailed two to three weeks prior to my writing this. Both were sent with delivery confirmation numbers which I have provided to you. You have told me that delivery confirmation numbers don't allow you to track the packages until they are delivered. Alas, since they haven't been delivered, it appears we are chasing our tails.

As far as I have been able to tell, both items should have passed through your central Chicago sorting facility on their journeys. This is the only place where they both may have been, so for the sake of my conscience, I am assuming that they are there, comfortably sitting next to each other in their own little bin marked "Christmas Presents We Are Not Delivering This Year". My boss, who lives near that office, told me that they were hosting a public open house this afternoon to show off their systems and efficiency at the peak of the holiday season. Regretfully, I was unable to attend. I'm sure it would have been informative. Perhaps I would have even seen my own mail in its own little bin.

While your correspondence has been friendly over the past few days, I must inform you that I will no longer be requiring your "services". I have found that processing my bills electronically has been much more timely and efficient than receiving them through your offices, and several other parcel services go so far as to guarantee that my packages will be delivered to their recipients. I find both of these options quite helpful. If you intend to add those services at any time in the future, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Adam

P.S. Thank you for delivering the gifts from my sister and her husband and my grandparents. Those were quite unexpected surprises.

P.P.S. Please feel free to lose the junk mail you so faithfully deliver any time you'd like.

Ye Olde Englishe Christmasse Feaste

Last night, some friends from church invited Allie and I along with another family to attend "Ye Olde Englishe Christmasse Feaste" at a high school in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I can honestly say that it was one of the most fun and enjoyable Christmas events that I have been to in years.

As the name would imply, the entire evening is set to transport the guests back in time several centuries to a grand banquet hall just in time for the Christmas feast. Ye Lordes and Ladyes are served a full seven course dinner while being entertained by ye singers, ye jesters, ye tumblers, ye pipers, ye dancers, ye thespians, ye swordsmen, and ye jugglers. It's an incredible production carried out almost entirely by a high school cast.

The choir performed nearly two dozen carols throughout the evening.

The jesters kept spirits light in the hall. Here, we see several forming a human pyramid, which toppled over moments later.

The food was probably as good as the entertainment.

Throughout the evening, the jesters tried to steal food from the Lords and Ladies. A few succeeded.

The choir continued singing after the feast as well.

The jesters assisted in the singing of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by acting out each of the gifts. This is one of the seven swans.

At the end of the evening, the dessert of "Ye Flamyng Puddyng with Custard Vanylla" was served.

We had a very fun time and best of all, the carols and narrative of the Christmas story stayed focused on Christ in addition to being entertaining. It was a great reminder of all we have to celebrate at Christmas.

Infamy

Emmanuel: God With Us

Since the beginning of December, I have been searching for Jesus.

One of our neighbors has a Christmas display in their front yard complete with Santa Claus, his reindeer, snowmen, candy canes and brightly colored lights. I can assure you that it's quite festive. Jesus even makes an appearance in the yard, but after our recent winter storm, all you can see are Mary and Joseph staring down at the drifted snow.


I thought it was an interesting metaphor: Jesus came at Christmas but ended up being buried by the season.

I have seen other displays where Jesus is attended by reindeer rather than cattle, or where snowmen, Santa Claus, and the Nutcracker guard the baby instead of the wise men. Jesus has begun to keep some strange company at this time of year, not at all like the porcelain manger scene above my parent's fireplace.

With the voice of past generations I want to lament that Christmas has become too commercial. Then again, maybe this isn't that far from how Jesus lived when He came to earth. After all, He did associate with the kinds of people we didn't expect Him to, and He went to great lengths to keep people from promoting Him for the wrong reasons. On more than one occasion, He warned people not to tell about His miracles, lest the masses try to use His power for their personal gain. Is it worth putting Christ back in Christmas if all it means is a boost to the economy? Is this the only battle that Christians have worth fighting?

In his book, The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne talks about a homeless group he lived with in Philadelphia. For Christmas, a church sent them a carton of microwave popcorn, not thinking about the fact that homeless people typically do not have electricity, let alone a microwave. The local mafia who were more familiar with their situation sent bicycles and coats for the children. Who do you think showed them greater love? Without associating with someone and understanding their needs, it's difficult to love them.

When Jesus came to earth, He demonstrated love by associating with us and getting to know us. Understanding our greatest need, He gave us Himself. Maybe we should welcome Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph to the manger to remind us to love the real people around us.