keeping up...

...barely.

Busy days. Nothing new in that...just busy. Actually, there is something new. I think I've shared how my work computer has been a pain...for the most part of the past year. I've tried everything and consulted with very good computer geeks to try to help. Nothing helps. When I'm in the middle of an email or writing, it will just freeze. Then, when I reboot, it has saved only the stuff from about 5 minutes prior.

I've gotten pretty paranoid about the whole thing. Write a though...push save...write a thought...push save. This has helped me not loose much work. Until Saturday. It froze. I rebooted it. I went to find my work. It only had what I started with about 2 hours earleir...nothing that I had been saving!!! A whole new level of fun...

But someone at Northwest, who heard my cry, came through with a new computer for me. What an incredible gift! not only did they give me a tool for my work, but they gave me peace of mind...ahhh...trust can be restored...a little at a time. I'm still a little leary...waiting for it to freeze. But since Tuesday...it's been great! What a gift...

Relationships are like that aren't they? I didn't intend to go anywhere with it, but I was just struck as I was writing. We cruise along in our relationships, then something freezes. Happens once and we live with it. A few more times, and it's annoying, but we don't toss it out. Over time, we learn to accomodate...if I just save this every 30 seconds, I'll be fine. But then, because we didn't tend to the issue when it was smaller...wham! We loose two hours of work...or 5 years of our life.

Even when we move on to the next relationship (if that one didn't get fixed), we have a hard time trusting. It's a totally different person, but we still find ourselves saving and backing up more than the typical person. It takes so long to learn to trust again.

And then we do. What a gift! Not just the gift of a new friend/wife/husband/fill-in-the-blank...but the gift of trust. What a gift!

Peace,

Matt

you know it was a tough day...

...at home, when you walk in and see the family sitting down for dinner.

And dinner is popcorn.

On plates...

Love you, Babe...

the Challenge...

Dan, one of the guys I work with, just came back from several days at the International House of Prayer (IHOP...yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...). It was a pretty cool experience for him. Someone there mentioned that if a person reads just 10 chapters in the New Testament per day, they will read the whole NT one time each month.

I've never thought about that much. I try to read every day, but just pick books and read a little bit. But to read a whole ten chapters...that seems easy enough. So I'm giving it a whirl. Just think how much more a person will know God after a year of reading the NT every month.

40 chapters a day will do the whole Bible every month...we'll see.

Tonight was daddy night...a good time had by all. Izak is totally into helping at nighttime now. He used to play in the tub for a hour...now he wants to jump right out so that he can help with Levi's bath. He actually is a help...he gets the little tub set up, runs the water (usually a little cold), gets the diaper and jammies ready. And when I need Levi's blankie from the living room, he's down and up in minutes. He loves to help...

Here's to MSU in the finals! But I have them beat by Duke...couldn't be that unrealistic! Go MSU. Unfortunately for my wife, she won't be able to watch Michigan play (snicker, snicker)...

Peace,

Matt

God's Spirit...

At Northwest, we're heading into a conversation series looking at the Spirit of God, often called the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. It's been fun for me to do some reading on this subject. I confess that I haven't put much focus on him...I've done more writing and thinking about Jesus or the Father. But the Spirit is just as much God as Jesus and the Father are...not sure why I've "neglected" him, but...

Tomorrow, during our gathering, we're going to unpack Acts 2 a bit. I should probably take a few weeks on this one passage, but we won't. There is so much there. Some pieces that came together for me are:

1. Pentecost was a Jewish festival to remember the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sanai. Interesting...on the Acts 2 Pentecost, God gave out the mark of his New Covenant...the Spirit. And it wasn't to just one person up on a mountain, it was to many people right in the heart of heavily populated city.

2. Pentecost is 50 days after the last Sunday or Passover. Never stopped to ask where the name came from...pente...fifty...seems simple.

3. "Last days" as Peter talks about (quoting Joel, the OT prophet), isn't about the end of time, it's about the event that took place with the coming of the Spirit. The sun to darkness and moon to blood...those are images of a monsterous event...the historical shake-up of power.

Before this time, God revealed himself to only the Jews...they were the religious power. No longer. Now God is for everyone.

Before this time, Satan exercised his power in this world. We see Jesus coming against that power throughout his life on earth. Now, through the power of the Spirit, all Christ-followers have the ability to come against the power of Satan...he no longer rules unopposed. Much to flesh out on this one, but it's huge...

So what? What does this mean for me?

That's the Spirit that's in me! I am a part of God's plan for this world. I have the gift of God in me...through his Spirit. I don't contain all of the God, but I have the fullness of God in me. I am not Him; He resides within me. I have the fullness of God...in me...

Yet I so often choose to live within my own strength. It's my wisdom. It's my strength of character (yeah, right...). It's my intelligence. I lean into these things. And though God made me who I am, I find rich, meaningful, powerful life only when I tap into the power within me. His wisdom. His character. His knowledge. His strength. Then I have life...

I'm excited about this series on the weekends. The Spirit is God's gift to us. I hope to grow in what it means to live in that reality.

Peace,

M@

change of plans...

Usually I roll with changes pretty well. For some reason, I didn't roll with this change too well. I think it means a couple things:

1) I need to get away. At least a couple times a year, I need a road trip. I love to drive and change scenery. It's an important part of my soul care. I find that I get drained when these don't happen.

2) I need time with my wife. We work so hard during the day and the evenings, that it's hard to get enough time to get through the tactical stuff to the heart stuff of relationship. 10 hours on the road with her was going to be one of those times...

but alas...it was not to be. Lib started with the fever and we just couldn't risk her getting worse during the night with a sitter...not fair to have a sitter wake up a doctor or head to the ER if the fever gets too high. So I stayed home with the older two and Heidi went to IN with the youngest. Aunt Lo stayed with them during the day so that I could work a bit. Then we went to Outback together and the kids did great! Now it's quiet, Lo is gone, and the night is mine.

I like my family together...not apart. I guess that's a good thing.

Peace,

Matt