Thursday, February 12, 2009
changing things up.
Hello Friends. I am changing things up. I am moving blogging addresses.... please change the bookmark on your browsers... head over and check this place out. more will be coming soon as I get a chance to update everything. check back often at the new place. lets dialogue suckas.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Micky D Sweet Tea.
Yet... another simple gesture of random kindness that made my day. I got a text during class, "Where will you be in exactly 10 minutes?"
I replied, "Baker 3. Why?"
The response: "Good. See you outside Baker in 10."
Standing there... feeling like a prostitute on a street corner as I watched what seemed like the entire campus walk to and from class pass me with glancing eyes.
In the distance I see a car coming towards me with a large white cup being held out the drivers window... without even stopping the exchange is made... a large Mickey D Sweet Tea.
The mystery driver. My roommate.
Blessings.
abe
Sunday, February 08, 2009
AJ's Diner.
In a pure moment of genius... we have decided to open a diner. Yes. That's right. James, Taylor, Adam, Andrew, and myself have decided to put our skills together to start a diner to serve our friends and to make new ones. AJ's Diner: Breakfast After Dark is open Saturday's from 10pm till whenever the crowd decides to mozy on home in Adam's apartment. It really is pure genius. We buy the food, we invite anybody and everybody we see and know to come join us... we cook it and serve it (yes... Adam and Taylor are our full-time waiters) and we fellowship...We have a little jar on the counter for donations if our customers feel so inclined to help cover the costs of a delicious meal.
Positions:
Abe - Head Chef: in charge of homemade pancakes and eggs cooked the way you like
James - Associate Chef: in charge of cracking eggs, toast, and the occasional piece of french toast
Andrew - All time dishwasher
Adam - Head waiter/General Manager
Taylor - Associate waiter
The really awesome part I wanted to share with you is this... James and I were in the grocery getting the goods for the eventful evening. We had a cart load and were heading up to check out. I ran into a guy I know heading towards the front of the store. His name is Vince and he has two kids in Campus Life... a 6th grade girl and a 7th grade boy. Vince is a great guy. After talking with him for a few minutes and catching up on his life, he asked if we were heading to check out. We said yes and he replied, "Great. Give me your cart." We were like what? No we got it. He then said, "You hang out with my kids all the time and are serve as a positive role model for them... its the least I can do." I pridefully declined.... then he said, "No. You don't understand. Got bring your car up front. I'm getting these for you. Have a great night."
What could we do?
So... we handed over our cart... at first I tried to fight him... amazingly it was very hard for me to accept his generosity... I don't know why... but it was. Regardless... it was an awesome gesture... one that is greatly appreciated... and a humbling experience. It was just a little glimpse of how we are supposed to live i believe...
Anyways... we were able to start the diner with no start up costs and were able to bank the money we made for next weeks diner and community. What a great and simple blessing.
Peace love and small children.
oh... and we got hats... haha! ballin! (the writing really isn't backwards... its just what the webcam does to writing... lol)
Positions:
Abe - Head Chef: in charge of homemade pancakes and eggs cooked the way you like
James - Associate Chef: in charge of cracking eggs, toast, and the occasional piece of french toast
Andrew - All time dishwasher
Adam - Head waiter/General Manager
Taylor - Associate waiter
The really awesome part I wanted to share with you is this... James and I were in the grocery getting the goods for the eventful evening. We had a cart load and were heading up to check out. I ran into a guy I know heading towards the front of the store. His name is Vince and he has two kids in Campus Life... a 6th grade girl and a 7th grade boy. Vince is a great guy. After talking with him for a few minutes and catching up on his life, he asked if we were heading to check out. We said yes and he replied, "Great. Give me your cart." We were like what? No we got it. He then said, "You hang out with my kids all the time and are serve as a positive role model for them... its the least I can do." I pridefully declined.... then he said, "No. You don't understand. Got bring your car up front. I'm getting these for you. Have a great night."
What could we do?
So... we handed over our cart... at first I tried to fight him... amazingly it was very hard for me to accept his generosity... I don't know why... but it was. Regardless... it was an awesome gesture... one that is greatly appreciated... and a humbling experience. It was just a little glimpse of how we are supposed to live i believe...
Anyways... we were able to start the diner with no start up costs and were able to bank the money we made for next weeks diner and community. What a great and simple blessing.
Peace love and small children.
oh... and we got hats... haha! ballin! (the writing really isn't backwards... its just what the webcam does to writing... lol)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
catholicism.
Lamott had a Catholic friend growing up. She spent a lot of time at her house with her family. Her friends Dad would always come home drunk and beat her mother.... they would both go to sleep crying... but wake up in the morning with the smell of bacon and eggs cooking downstairs and her friends mom and dad sitting together on the couch reading... then they would go to church... Everything was perfect Sunday morning. Bizarre to me... but this is all Lamott knew about the Catholic Church... She just assumed that is how all "Catholic Dad's" acted... She loved Catholic Church... she loved everything about it... she didn't know much but church made her feel good.
Reflecting later on her view of God... She explains her perceptions:
"Looking back on the God my friend believed in, he seems a little erratic, not entirely unlike her father-- God as borderline personality. It was like believing in the guy who ran the dime store, someone with a kind face but who was always running behin and had already heard everyone of your lame excuses a dozen times before... This God could be loving and reassuring one minute, sure that you had potential, and then fiercely disappointed the next, noticing every little mistake and just in general what a fraud you really were. He was a God whom his children could talk to, confide in, and trust, unless his mood shifted suddenly and he decided instead to blow up Sodom and Gomorrah."
"No one in our family believed in God-- it was like we'd all signed some sort of loyalty oath early on, agreeing not to believe in God in deference to the pain of my father's cold Christian childhood. I went to church with my grandparents sometimes and I loved it. It slaked my thirst. But I pretended to think it was foolish, because that pleased my father. I lived for him. He was my first God."
The last sentence has rocked my world lately. It brings me to question who my first God was... who and what my god's are... the things that I trade daily for an incredible love and unconditional relationship.
It really is an incredible journey... and quite the testament to a saving grace. It's been a good read so far.
Thoughts?
Peace and blessings.
Abe
Reflecting later on her view of God... She explains her perceptions:
"Looking back on the God my friend believed in, he seems a little erratic, not entirely unlike her father-- God as borderline personality. It was like believing in the guy who ran the dime store, someone with a kind face but who was always running behin and had already heard everyone of your lame excuses a dozen times before... This God could be loving and reassuring one minute, sure that you had potential, and then fiercely disappointed the next, noticing every little mistake and just in general what a fraud you really were. He was a God whom his children could talk to, confide in, and trust, unless his mood shifted suddenly and he decided instead to blow up Sodom and Gomorrah."
"No one in our family believed in God-- it was like we'd all signed some sort of loyalty oath early on, agreeing not to believe in God in deference to the pain of my father's cold Christian childhood. I went to church with my grandparents sometimes and I loved it. It slaked my thirst. But I pretended to think it was foolish, because that pleased my father. I lived for him. He was my first God."
The last sentence has rocked my world lately. It brings me to question who my first God was... who and what my god's are... the things that I trade daily for an incredible love and unconditional relationship.
It really is an incredible journey... and quite the testament to a saving grace. It's been a good read so far.
Thoughts?
Peace and blessings.
Abe
vitamin c and zinc.
hello friends.
how are we? i pray all is well in your spheres of life and influence.
I have been on a reading kick lately. haha. I know... imagine that. novel idea.
I have started two books... the first is Anne Lamott's "Traveling Mercies"
and the second is "A Severe Mercy" by Sheldon Vanauken and C.S. Lewis.
Both have treated me well... I am going to focus on Lamott's "Travelling Mercies" in the next few posts.. I use the plural form of post because I hope to write consistently.
This is quite an interesting book. It is the Lamott's story of her life... growing up to the present. It is quite humorous and brutally raw and honest. Lamott talks in depth about her struggles growing up, her addictions to dope, cocaine, alcohol, and sex. She openly and honestly shares from her heart about how painful her life has been. Through it all... she claims she has always had faith... just never practiced it. She always knew there was something bigger than her self... but she was too stubborn or too drunk to let Christ pierce her life. Eventually she got pregnant by a man she never knew. Her friend encouraged her to get an abortion so she did. A week afterward she had not been sober since the abortion, lying awake in her bed she talks about and describes this presence/person/force come into her room and sit at the foot of her bed. Thinking this illusion was from the alcohol and cocaine.... she tried to shrug it off... but it would never go away. She later recognizes and loudly proclaims it was Christ who came into her room to sit with her and console her by his presence... This is the short jist of the book so far... It is quite interesting and openly raw... which is quite refreshing.
More to come.
Blessings.
Abe
how are we? i pray all is well in your spheres of life and influence.
I have been on a reading kick lately. haha. I know... imagine that. novel idea.
I have started two books... the first is Anne Lamott's "Traveling Mercies"
and the second is "A Severe Mercy" by Sheldon Vanauken and C.S. Lewis.
Both have treated me well... I am going to focus on Lamott's "Travelling Mercies" in the next few posts.. I use the plural form of post because I hope to write consistently.
This is quite an interesting book. It is the Lamott's story of her life... growing up to the present. It is quite humorous and brutally raw and honest. Lamott talks in depth about her struggles growing up, her addictions to dope, cocaine, alcohol, and sex. She openly and honestly shares from her heart about how painful her life has been. Through it all... she claims she has always had faith... just never practiced it. She always knew there was something bigger than her self... but she was too stubborn or too drunk to let Christ pierce her life. Eventually she got pregnant by a man she never knew. Her friend encouraged her to get an abortion so she did. A week afterward she had not been sober since the abortion, lying awake in her bed she talks about and describes this presence/person/force come into her room and sit at the foot of her bed. Thinking this illusion was from the alcohol and cocaine.... she tried to shrug it off... but it would never go away. She later recognizes and loudly proclaims it was Christ who came into her room to sit with her and console her by his presence... This is the short jist of the book so far... It is quite interesting and openly raw... which is quite refreshing.
More to come.
Blessings.
Abe
Sunday, January 18, 2009
anberlin.
hello friends.
in a split second game time decision on friday... my roommate and i and a few friends decided at 4:00pm to drive the over three hour drive to grand rapids, mi to make it to an anberlin concert at 8:00... one of the better decisions of my life. we arrived with time to spare and got seats no more than 30 feet away from the stage... dead center. couldn't have worked out better.
the concert was absolutely amazing. phenomenal. great. you get the point. one of the best... if not THE best show I have ever been to... the song lineup for those who are avid fans was as follows:
Disappear
Never Take Friendship Personal
Paperthin Hymn
A Day Late
Adelaide
Unwinding Cable Car
The Resistance
Hello Alone
(*Fin)
Dismantle Repair
The Feel Good Drag
Encore: Godspeed
phew.... it was incredible.
And yes... i forgot my camera in my truck. unforgivable.
in a split second game time decision on friday... my roommate and i and a few friends decided at 4:00pm to drive the over three hour drive to grand rapids, mi to make it to an anberlin concert at 8:00... one of the better decisions of my life. we arrived with time to spare and got seats no more than 30 feet away from the stage... dead center. couldn't have worked out better.
the concert was absolutely amazing. phenomenal. great. you get the point. one of the best... if not THE best show I have ever been to... the song lineup for those who are avid fans was as follows:
Disappear
Never Take Friendship Personal
Paperthin Hymn
A Day Late
Adelaide
Unwinding Cable Car
The Resistance
Hello Alone
(*Fin)
Dismantle Repair
The Feel Good Drag
Encore: Godspeed
phew.... it was incredible.
And yes... i forgot my camera in my truck. unforgivable.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
ski patrol.
so... as i was thoroughly enjoying my time in the CO shredding the mountain gnar... I may or may not have been hitting the mushy powder on a closed off run deemed an "avalanche zone" and gotten in trouble with ski patrol and got our lift tickets jacked and then got on a lift and had to jump off because we were "stealing services" and possibly chased down the mountain by ski patrol yet again... i'm just saying... it might have happened...
here's to the memories.
here's to the memories.
no apologies nor any excuses.
hello friends.
here goes an attempt to blog on a fairly regular basis. i really haven't felt the "call" to share anything with you all... so instead of forcing it i just retired for a bit... a sabbatical if you will.
let's see... life is great. its grand. its wonderful. its beautiful. its fantastic. i'm alive and i am so thankful for that gift... all too often i take for granted that i was given the chance to wake up yet again.
the past couple months have been really nice. life has slowed down a bit.
the rest is copied from my monthly personal update letter i send out through YFC. i think it gives a nice little picture of where i am at.
Hey Guys!
Merry 2009! The Holidays were filled absolute enjoyment. I was able to return to Michigan for a few weeks and spend some much needed quality time at home with my family and also a bit with my friends. It was splendid and I loved every second of it. The last 10 days of the holiday break were quite magnificent. I spent them in middle of the Colorado Rockies with a bunch of friends from my summer at Noah’s. Most days were spent skiing pristine mountains such as Copper, Breckenridge, and Monarch while the “days off” usually involved a lazy morning of coffee and community ending in a little snowshoeing along the Arkansas River or up Cottonwood Pass. The time in Colorado was incredible and I cherished every moment. Like usual, it was darn near impossible to return to Indiana to a full load of classes and homework. Such is life…
Let me be honest for a few sentences. Campus Life towards the end of last semester really became a burden. It no longer was a passion. It was simply just a job. And I hated it. I didn’t hate Campus Life, no I love Campus Life and what it is. But I truly hated how it had become a job and nothing more. I can’t tell you a specific event or happening that caused this collapse, but I can tell you it was a slow fade. So… I ended the semester fairly frustrated and discouraged.
Through the frustration, however, I was really able to work through some things. I prayed for a new rekindled passion for these kids. And amazing how this works sometimes… I got what I asked for. I woke up one morning thinking of all these new games and events we could do and I continually was thinking about kids all day. I haven’t been able to get those kids and that school out of my head for the past week. I am so excited to get back at it. With perfect timing like usual, I have been bombarded with just loads of encouraging emails and notes and those have meant the world. I have no idea where we are headed this year… but that is all a part of the beauty of it. We shall see where He leads.
So I leave you with this, a few encouraging thoughts for you and me in this next year: “Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the things you did. When facing a difficult task, act as though it is impossible to fail.”
“'To get something you never had, you have to do something you have never done.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.’”
2009… Wow. Time flies when your having fun. I LOVED 2008. I truly did. It was great. Full of memories I will never forget. And the question that begs to be answered now, “What could possibly be in store for 2009?” The year of 2008 rocked my world. Can it get better? The answer is a simple and resounding, Yes.
Be blessed! Don’t forget you’re alive.
Peace and blessings friends.
abe
here goes an attempt to blog on a fairly regular basis. i really haven't felt the "call" to share anything with you all... so instead of forcing it i just retired for a bit... a sabbatical if you will.
let's see... life is great. its grand. its wonderful. its beautiful. its fantastic. i'm alive and i am so thankful for that gift... all too often i take for granted that i was given the chance to wake up yet again.
the past couple months have been really nice. life has slowed down a bit.
the rest is copied from my monthly personal update letter i send out through YFC. i think it gives a nice little picture of where i am at.
Hey Guys!
Merry 2009! The Holidays were filled absolute enjoyment. I was able to return to Michigan for a few weeks and spend some much needed quality time at home with my family and also a bit with my friends. It was splendid and I loved every second of it. The last 10 days of the holiday break were quite magnificent. I spent them in middle of the Colorado Rockies with a bunch of friends from my summer at Noah’s. Most days were spent skiing pristine mountains such as Copper, Breckenridge, and Monarch while the “days off” usually involved a lazy morning of coffee and community ending in a little snowshoeing along the Arkansas River or up Cottonwood Pass. The time in Colorado was incredible and I cherished every moment. Like usual, it was darn near impossible to return to Indiana to a full load of classes and homework. Such is life…
Let me be honest for a few sentences. Campus Life towards the end of last semester really became a burden. It no longer was a passion. It was simply just a job. And I hated it. I didn’t hate Campus Life, no I love Campus Life and what it is. But I truly hated how it had become a job and nothing more. I can’t tell you a specific event or happening that caused this collapse, but I can tell you it was a slow fade. So… I ended the semester fairly frustrated and discouraged.
Through the frustration, however, I was really able to work through some things. I prayed for a new rekindled passion for these kids. And amazing how this works sometimes… I got what I asked for. I woke up one morning thinking of all these new games and events we could do and I continually was thinking about kids all day. I haven’t been able to get those kids and that school out of my head for the past week. I am so excited to get back at it. With perfect timing like usual, I have been bombarded with just loads of encouraging emails and notes and those have meant the world. I have no idea where we are headed this year… but that is all a part of the beauty of it. We shall see where He leads.
So I leave you with this, a few encouraging thoughts for you and me in this next year: “Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the things you did. When facing a difficult task, act as though it is impossible to fail.”
“'To get something you never had, you have to do something you have never done.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.’”
2009… Wow. Time flies when your having fun. I LOVED 2008. I truly did. It was great. Full of memories I will never forget. And the question that begs to be answered now, “What could possibly be in store for 2009?” The year of 2008 rocked my world. Can it get better? The answer is a simple and resounding, Yes.
Be blessed! Don’t forget you’re alive.
Peace and blessings friends.
abe
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
abscess.
I'm becoming much more of an introvert. Regardless. Here is some Truth I have found/rediscovered lately.
"Here is where we begin to let the Spirit of God reveal to us aspects of our inner being that have been invisible to our view but that now we begin to see as hindrances to our growth toward wholeness in the image of Christ. God is very gracious in revealing these things to us, not all at once, but only as we are able to deal with them… We think that we are holding nothing back, and that we are not clinging to ourselves or to anything else. We should rather die than hesitate to make a complete sacrifice. But, in the daily round, God constantly show us new areas. We find in our hearts a thousand things, which we would have sworn were not there. God only shows them to us as he makes them appear. It is like an abscess which bursts. The moment when it bursts is the only one that horrifies us. Before that we were carrying it without feeling it, and we did not think we had it. However, we did have it, and it only broke because we had it. When it was hidden, we thought that we were healthy and quite as we should be. When it breaks we smell the stench of the pus. The breaking is healthy, although it is painful and disgusting. Each of us carries in the depth of his heart a mass of filth, which would make us die of shame if God should show us all its poison and horror. Self-love would be in an unbearable suffering. I am not speaking now of those whose hearts are gangrenous with enormous vices. I am speaking of the souls which seem honest and pure. We should see a foolish vanity which does not dare to come out in the open, and which stays in shame in the deepest folds of the heart. We should see self-complacencies, heights of pride, subtle selfishness and a thousand windings within, which are as real as they are inexplicable… At this stage God begins the process of disclosing to us those deep festering sores of our being in order that we may offer them up to God through the disciplines into which we have been led for their healing."
_Mulholland
Invitation to a Journey
"Here is where we begin to let the Spirit of God reveal to us aspects of our inner being that have been invisible to our view but that now we begin to see as hindrances to our growth toward wholeness in the image of Christ. God is very gracious in revealing these things to us, not all at once, but only as we are able to deal with them… We think that we are holding nothing back, and that we are not clinging to ourselves or to anything else. We should rather die than hesitate to make a complete sacrifice. But, in the daily round, God constantly show us new areas. We find in our hearts a thousand things, which we would have sworn were not there. God only shows them to us as he makes them appear. It is like an abscess which bursts. The moment when it bursts is the only one that horrifies us. Before that we were carrying it without feeling it, and we did not think we had it. However, we did have it, and it only broke because we had it. When it was hidden, we thought that we were healthy and quite as we should be. When it breaks we smell the stench of the pus. The breaking is healthy, although it is painful and disgusting. Each of us carries in the depth of his heart a mass of filth, which would make us die of shame if God should show us all its poison and horror. Self-love would be in an unbearable suffering. I am not speaking now of those whose hearts are gangrenous with enormous vices. I am speaking of the souls which seem honest and pure. We should see a foolish vanity which does not dare to come out in the open, and which stays in shame in the deepest folds of the heart. We should see self-complacencies, heights of pride, subtle selfishness and a thousand windings within, which are as real as they are inexplicable… At this stage God begins the process of disclosing to us those deep festering sores of our being in order that we may offer them up to God through the disciplines into which we have been led for their healing."
_Mulholland
Invitation to a Journey
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