Friday, February 21, 2014

The Wanting In The Waiting


I just found this on my computer. Not sure when I wrote it.

"The wind chimes clash together in an un-united melody, a sound so unsettling yet so beautiful that my ears can’t help but listening
Her high-heeled gait breaks through the sound of the tea kettle singing as she walk down the stairs towards me.
Her hand brushes my shoulder as she walks past. Click, clack, click clack
There’s a bird outside my window singing the prettiest tune to the lilies about how wonderfully dressed they are.
The reassurance of a promise long ago given.
Fear not my child, your father knows exactly what you need.
The radio played a sad song but no one was around to cry.
Wedding feasts contained laughter but no body danced.
The street preacher is calling for repentance while a man tv is asking for my money
And somewhere a baby cries for the very first time, bringing a smile to it’s mother’s face
There’s a violent storm raging in my heart
The thunder speaks louder than all the words of man
But I’m still waiting for the whisper that is your voice
To speak truth and peace into my soul
There’s a crack in the window that turns this blustery day into a summer breeze
But it’s January and the wind is cold
Set my soul on fire, like California in the summer"


Friday, February 14, 2014

FREE DE LA SOUL!!!!

I was going to blog about the law that just passed in Kansas but it's Friday. And it's Valentine's Day. So not hatred today! Just love!

And what could be better for this Friday than spreading the love of hip hop!

For a limited time De La Soul is offering their entire catalog for free!!! No joke! FREE!!!

Why are you still reading my stupid blog? Go get some free music!

http://www.wearedelasoul.com/

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Man Fail?

So Tide released this commercial...



It's kind of funny. It made me chuckle. It apparently ticked Owen Strachan off. Strachan had this to say about the ad...

"I will say, though, that the “Dad Mom” concept is a “man fail” in my view."

And I'm super offended by this... 

Strachan declares that men should be out working and bringing home the bacon and women should be where God has placed them... In the kitchen and in the laundry room. 

It's 2014... Maybe I'm "too influenced by the culture around me", but this kind of thinking is really damn primitive. 

I do the laundry at home. I cook dinner 50% of the time. I clean the dishes often. I cleaned our house the other day to get things ready for small group. Does that make me less of a man? 

Look, I haven't been able to find a full-time job in four years... I would love to be able to go to work all day and be the one bringing home the bacon, but I'm not. And that probably wouldn't change the dynamic of who does what in my household. I'd still probably do the laundry. Why? Because my wife has a lot more clothes than I do and I just need to laundry at a rate that is significantly higher than she does. And I'm man enough to my own damn laundry! Who did Strachan's laundry before he got married? 

Why does doing laundry, or cooking and cleaning equal a man fail? Aren't there guys who just enjoy doing these things? Can't a guy work from home and have more time to do the laundry? Why is being a stay at dad home such a bad thing? Can't each marriage define the roles they take as a partnership? Can't that look different for each couple? Why are we branding a couple's decision as a man fail? Because he stays at home? Didn't maybe God design different people to hold different roles? Isn't it oppressive to tell your wife she has to be the one at home taking care of all the household chores because "It's God's design?" Does that sound like God? 

It seems backwards to me... If doing laundry makes me a failure as a man, I'll just continue to fail. Besides, my failures are why I need Jesus... ;)


Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Paper.Beats.Rock - Steady

I've been listening to the new ep from Paper.Beats.Rock today. Loving the ep. Catchy ep, full of rich instrumentation. It's refreshing. And I love the band's idea behind the ep.

"In a world of highs and lows, we have found steadiness in God and His grace alone. Our experience leads us to believe that human beings are not meant to be the foundation of hope. We’re too emotional, too instinctual, too inconsistent. One doesn’t have to look too hard to see a broken world and a broken way of thinking. This EP looks to move from the unsteadiness found within humanity into the steadiness found in an unchanging, unconditionally loving God."

Check out the ep http://noisetrade.com/paperbeatsrock/steady

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

OkDoThis

Amanda downloaded the OkDoThis app onto my phone while we drove to Alabama for Christmas. And it's pretty much sat there dormant. But I've been pushing myself to use it and try and spark some creativity in my life. Just find a do and take a picture. I've learned a couple of things...

1. I take terrible iPhone pictures. And I'm ok with that... It's a phone. Sure, I've taken some nice shots. But when I'm trying to be all artsy on my iPhone, I fail.

2. Taking pictures of random stuff as prescribed by someone else, doesn't get my creativity flowing... Not photographically. I had an idea I'd been kicking around for a little while and it's started to take shape over the last couple of days. My juices have gotten going. Not sure if it's app related or not, but hey... Something happened.

OkDoThis is fun. You should give it a spin!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Safe?

"See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you." (Exodus 23:20)

Life is tough and it doesn't always feel like God is with us, or keeping us safe. I read the verse above and just pondered on it for a moment. The NIV version says "I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way." I like guard better than safe. 

Because the Israelites journey into the promised land wasn't going to be safe. It hadn't been safe. They'd already fled from Pharaoh and had been in a battle where they took casualties. And that was going to be the first of many battles that Israel would go through. And they had to fight to claim the promise God had for them. 

But God was still there. He was guiding them, preparing the place he had in store for them. And even though the road was going to be tough and it would feel like God wasn't there at times, He was still guiding them and keeping them "safe".

Don't lose heart. God is preparing the way, and He's got your back.