I saw happy feet tonight. It made me want to dance. 
Archive - November, 2006
Cold and thoughtful
Ok it’s been cold here lately. Not cold like Pacific Northwest snowing and everyone is sliding their cars around Queen Ann cold but still cold. Today I was sitting outside at Starbucks in my customary short sleeve button down shirt and flip-flops and I was so cold I had to go inside 
This is a very busy time for me. The end of the semester means lots of assignments due. Danielle and I are also flying up to Seattle for three nights. We’re doing something we’ve never done before in leaving all of our kids at home. Anneliese has never gone more than 1 night with us gone. But, with an amazing mother-in-law (yea I said it) and some great friends we feel like it is the right thing to do. We’re going to get some great sleep and an enjoyeable weekend. It’s sort of a 9.5 year celebration for us.
Tonight I’m home. Every Wed Danielle leads a small group of Senior Girls. I stay home with the kids. It’s one of those great nights as a dad where we don’t do much besides take baths, lie on the beds together, wrestle and watch t.v.
But, enough about me.
Knuckling Down
I’ve got a major paper due in a couple of weeks. This time I’m specifically researching the 20-something generation and how the church needs to change in order to connect with them and retain them. This is a little different from my last couple of papers because I’m starting to get very close to my actual dissertation research project. It also gives me a chance to read a great variety of authors from all different backgrounds. I’m looking forward to the reading and research for this one. Sitting in a coffee shop right now.
Uggghhh I’m Full
Thanksgiving is over. Nothing like gorging on food, sleeping and then driving 6 hours back to Castle Rood. Just got home. Funny that back in the day after a long road trip I just wanted to be active and go do something fun. Now I need to lock myself in a dark room and make the bad memories go away Nothing like a road trip with 3 small kids to make me tired. It was really fun though. Yesterday we saw dolphins playing with sea lions. We were up in San Luis Obispo with Danielle’s side of the family. Really great people and I enjoyed being around them.
Spongebob
It’s 8:30am and I’m watching Spongebob with my son Kaije. At some point today we’re going to get in the car and drive to Ventura. Tomorrow we’ll drive to San Louis Obispo for Thanksgiving. I like family road trips. For all the “are we there yets?” and my daughter screaming in my ear there are just as many great memories.
A great day
Over the years I have begun to realize that I have a number of friends who I pretty much only hang out with when we are at Youth Group activities. I know that this isn’t a problem that is I have alone. Many friends who work in the church have the same issue. We all have these amazing people in our lives that we spend tons of time with that we don’t see outside of church.
I’m trying to break that mold.
Yesterday I went rock climbing with two friends. John and Dave. Both work in the Youth Ministries at our church but yesterday we went out as friends. We had originally talked about bringing some students but I am so glad we didn’t (even though I love students). It was just nice to be albe to let our guard down and talk as adults who are trying to figure things out. We had a great time exploring a new place together. It was hot (real hot) as in over 85 degrees and we had a long hike to get to the rock. It was uphill and we were wiped out when we got there. But, it was fun and our friendship seems like it deepened.
Why the Cohort model works.
Just over 1 year ago I started a D.Min program at George Fox Seminary in Portland. Now I don’t live anywhere near Portland so most of the program is online. Our cohort is made up of 18 students from all over the world. There are about 6 of us from the west coast, quite a few from the midwest and Canada and two from Africa. We meet every Monday morning with our professor Len Sweet for an hour long chat on a book we have been reading. Then throughout the week we read and post on some discussion boards. Once a year we travel up to Portland for 5 days of class. So much of what we are learning this year come from our interactions as we talk about how we do ministry in our context. I’ve really enjoyed the program.
Yesterday four of us met for dinner here in California. It was great to get to be with those guys. Three of us live pretty close and another friend was down for business. This model works and I would recommend it at the D.Min level.
Now if I can just talk someone into writing my dissertation. Don’t they sell those in the back of Rolling Stone?
