whatsthebuzztellmewhatsahappenin'

1. The Annual Exodus is under way at the church. Each year between June and Septmeber we lose a bunch of people mostly due to job changes, graduation, marriage, moving, that sort of thing. Our church draws lots of twenty and thirty somethings which is a very traqnsient demongraphic, and given that most of our people are also quite educated, it means they are at the beginning of thier careers and are looking to move on, move up, or move away. It's a pretty bittersweet experience, as we hate to see peopel go for two reasons. First, because we like them! We grow close to people and it's always hard to say goodbye. Second, because we are still trying to reach and maintain critical mass with respect to congregation size at our new plant. Everything is two steps forward and one step back. But it's also very exciting to see ho God is moving people into positions of leadership and service alover the world (literally!) from our little congregation right here in central city Columbus. We get about 12 to 24 months with people at our church and in that time we fill them with the gospel as quickly as we can and try to give people a radically christ centered and grace centered lense through which to view all of life! So when people leave here, they think they are going to leave to be policemen, nurses, attorneys, mothers and teachers, students and doctors, scholars and astro-physicists. But they're only partly right. What they don't suspect is that they aren't leaving as much as being sent. And we're sending them as missionaries to the corners of the earth, with a radically grace centered perspective on the world that is absolutely upside down and backwards compared to every other view. At least that's what we're trying to do. Pray God brings new friends to us in the coming year even as he blesses our current friends in their new vocations and locations.
2. Charity is due in just six short weeks. However it seems she may have a disorder we struggled with in our first pregnancy. It wasn't very fun and is potentially dangerous for mother and child, though not so much if caught early and treated. This could bump up the delivery date quite a bit. So there's that.
3. Having our bathroom remodeled, our hot water heater replaced, new porch light put in, storm doors installed, uncovering the floors in the upstairs bedrooms to reveal beautiful hardwood floors some interior design genius covered forty years ago with grey linoleum tile, gave the dog a bath, re-organized my closet, some good people from afore mentioned church came oiver to landscape (while I napped!) and to help with the upstairs floors, and it got really really hot out this week.
4. A brilliant business idea I recently heard- For sale on hot summer days at various out door sporting events: frozen jock straps.
5. I have one beer left in the fridge. It's a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. My mother is always a little disappointed and uncomfortable when she comes to the house and I have beer in the fridge. I'm going to go drink my beer now. But what she doesn't realize is that every beer in the refridgerator is one beer not in my belly. Alas! I must go drink my last beer. Not because I want to. I'm only doing it for my mom. You understand.


"The selling of bad beer is a crime against Christian love." -- Law, the City of Augsburg, 13th Century