Jane and the gang

I took this pic of Jane and her brothers this past Saturday at the funeral dinner for their cousin Kathie. I'm glad I married the one without the mustache.

Funerals and travels and such

This was a long week. I was kinda sorta involved in one funeral earlier in the week, and I can't really say anything about it at the moment. Then Jane's cousin passed away and we had her funeral in Dixon, IL on Friday/Saturday. Dixon is, of course, the hometown of former President Ronald Reagan, but we didn't do any Reagonomics while there.

I will say this about the second funeral though... and I hate to be one to make cynical statements about funeral services, or pastors for that matter... but it was perhaps THE WORST funeral I have ever been to. The guy was totally detached; never even acknowledged the family; told stories - almost exclusively about himself; and that had nothing to do with anything; and just went on and on and on spewing Bible verses but never saying anything about how they applied to anything. It was horrid. I sat there with my head down wondering what in the world this guy was doing, and I almost jumped out of my seat and screamed "SHUT UP" several times. I looked around at everyone else, and it was like everyone was just sitting there. Nothing. It was the most emotionless situation I think I've ever been in. Very sad, because the person it was for was the total opposite of that. The only bright spot was that Jane's brother did a really nice job with the eulogy.

Traveling wasn't too bad. We went straight to Dixon from home, and we went on route 24, to I-39, to route 52. It took about 6 hours. We stopped for gas in Monticello, IN, and I've had this cut on my hand; I must have broken it open at the gas station because when I went up to pay I had blood all over my shirt. Fortunately I was just wearing the undershirt and hadn't put my nice shirt on yet (because of the drive). I just switched shirts in the parking lot. Unlike Jane who changed clothes while driving down the road. Oh, and after we left the gas station I looked in the rearview mirror and I also must have unlatched the trunk, because the trunk lid was flopping up and down.

After the visitation we went with 3 of Jane's brothers to the Candlelight Inn (or something) in Rock Falls. It was $12 just for chicken strips! It was a nice time though. Then we went out to her mom's old house and saw her other brother who had just gotten in from Colorado and was staying there. We stayed at my dad's, but we were just there to sleep. Which is good, because I looked at the thermostat and it was set on SEVENTY SEVEN DEGREES! I was sweating the whole time. Mom was gone to a family reunion or something.

After the funeral we left straight from the funeral dinner. I snapped some pics of Jane and her four brothers in the parking lot. It's not often that they're all together. They all kinda look alike now - except for Jane. We decided to come home on I-80. It CAN be quicker, but if traffic is bad and we get stuck it can be a lot longer. So we usually never take it. Traffic was actually quite good. We never had to stop once. We took 52 to I-39 to I-80 to I-65 to route 30. It took about 5 hours and 5 minutes. It was just over 2 hours from Valporaiso to home. There is an Applebees right along 30 (for future reference). Or, Merrilville has an Olive Garden right along 30, at that mall. Anyway, the worst part about this trip - other than all the stoplights on 30 - is that stretch between Joliet, IL and Gary, IN. And I didn't realize they were having the Michael Jackson tribute in Gary right when we went through. I especially hate that part in Joliet where it's a 45 mph speed limit, and everyone is doing 75. Not that I mind the speed, it's just so stinking curvy and there are so many stinking cars and semi's. But I always think of the Blues Brothers in that stretch, so that passes time. And... we only had to pay one 60 cent toll. I thought we used to have to pay more tolls. Unless I'm thinking of going further into Indiana on 80. I dunno.

I really didn't feel bad physically when we got home, but I was tired last night. Now... it's another week.

Mowing

I mowed again tonight. First time in 2 weeks. There wasn't really any grass, but I needed to cut the weeds down since we're having a picnic and show Sunday night. Took 2 hours and 15 minutes, which included stopping to talk with some folks. Mowed east/west. Had to mow around the cement mixer, and hopefully Les and I can get the patio poured in the morning before I need to head out to my second funeral this week.

The new bird bath

Here is a pic of our new bird bath on the west side of the house. The flowers are not in the prettiest of states right now, but we thought we better start taking a little better care of our bird friends, lest they fly the coup like our playboy bunny. Haven't seen him in a week or so. Actually, though, I've been wanting a bath for this area for some time. This one was a little more reasonably priced than some we'd seen, so on a cold July 1 evening we took the plunge.

One of the most difficult things

Yesterday was an interesting day. It started off well. Tom and I had a really good discussion about churches sharing buildings. It was mostly his ideas, but what if, rather than each individual church building a building for themselves - and to be used mostly just one day a week - churches went together and instead built "community centers"? They could all share the building for use for their services and whatever else they did, but they could also provide a place for other activities and businesses to be run. Each church could still have their own separate "gathering", but it would be just like a church that had multiple services. And, rather than everybody having their own, say, youth group... you just offered the building to the local Youth For Christ, and that would be the youth group for everyone. Or else you just combined stuff like that. Leadership training for combined staffs and leaders; teacher training for everyone's teachers; etc. Stuff like that. We talked about a place like the former Ossian Furniture building (which does have parking out back, btw). Anyway, it was all just pipe-dreaming, but... it was fun.

After that I tried to frantically catch-up with myself and get ready to have our worship gathering outside this Sunday. It's probably not that there's that much to do, but it's just a different routine from usual. And there are so many people that are going to be gone that I'm not at all sure who might even be there. Maybe it will just be me, so then none of it will really matter anyway.

It was after lunch that things went terribly, terribly bad though. I got a call from a woman in the church and she just said she "needed help." I blew the cobs out of the Buick and went to her house, because it's rare that anyone ever needs my help. I ended up driving her to the hospital in Marion, where her daughter had just been pronounced dead. Ugh. That has to be one of the worst things in the world - to see your children die. There were a lot of unanswerable questions, lots and lots of tension, and not just a few cops around (news story here: http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local_wane_wabash_wabash_county_death_investigation_200907021430_rev1). Very sad. She has a 17-ish son, who was there. What do you say to someone who has just lost their mother, or daughter? Man... that is humbling stuff.

Today there is a chance I might start on the back patio. We removed the old bricks the other night. I *think* a guy may be coming sometime today to frame it up, but I'm not sure. At this point it doesn't really matter much.

I have an egg sandwich to eat now.

Reading

Yesterday I finished Practicing His Presence by Frank Laubach and Brother Lawrence. I thought it was good. But I think I preferred the parts by Laubach over the edited works of Lawrence.

Now I don't know what to start on. I will probably jump into Reggie McNeal's Missional Renaissance. I imagine I've heard large parts of it, since I just heard him speak, but it looks good.

I also bought an older book by Reggie, A Work of Heart, that looks good. So if Missional Renaissance bogs down I may switch.

I also recently picked up Day By Day: The Notre Dame Prayer Book for Students. I've been looking through it off and on. Just a bunch prayers, but I like this sort of thing.

Or, I've had a desire to start in on Jesus For President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw too. Jane has been reading it and it sounds pretty good.

And there's a whole pile behind these just staring me in the face... ugh.

Church planting fears

David Fitch has an excellent post on The Three Biggest Fears We Must Face When Planting A Church / I.E. Seeding A Missional Community. I don't know that these would necessarily be my three biggest, but this is good; and the comments contain some heavy relevance. This is worth keeping around, and sharing. I think Fitch has some of the best stuff out there at the moment.

Speaking of which, Reggie McNeal also shared some brief thoughts on planting at our conference a couple weeks ago... stuff I've been thinking. I'm hoping he has more about it in his new book that I bought. It's along the lines of... it's time we started thinking about planting differently. Maybe we've created all the churches that are going to look like what we think of as church. Anyhew... happy July.

Review: away we go

Son Isaac is finally back to reviewing movies for Stereo Subversion. That's nice to see. And he wrote a nice one for the movie "Away We Go": http://www.stereosubversion.com/reviews/film-reviews/away-we-go-06-29-2009/. Sounds like something I would like.

It was a nice day

I actually had a good day yesterday. In fact, for as bad as last Sunday was (and it was one of the worst in awhile), yesterday was that good.

Last week was just a disaster. It was my first week back after 2 weeks of vacation; and I was completely off... it was a bad day in so many ways.

But yesterday was good. I changed up the order of service, and we took communion, and... you know, the Sunday service is not about me, but it just *felt* really good. Sometimes there's no way to describe it other than that. We shared Blessings/God-sightings, and they went on and on (and it was good stuff). I was really happy to be a part of my church yesterday.

Then in the afternoon Jane's class hosted 30+ women and children from the women's shelter for a picnic at the pavilion. These ladies are so nice. And I actually cooked the hamburgers and hot dogs. I think I made 45 hamburgers and 24 or 36 hot dogs. And it was an honor to do so. They seemed so happy to just come and play games and hang out in the country air. And the people from Jane's class are so great with them. It's a really neat thing they do each month.

After that we went in to the Rock In The Square (or whatever it's called) at Freimann Square in FW. We listened to a couple bands, hung out around the pool/fountain, and had a really nice relaxing evening among some increasingly familiar characters. I think many of these people are among the homeless we give underwear and coats. There was the guy with his lawnmower, the guy in the bathrobe, the guy with the laces up to his knees, and several other people I recognized. And lots of people with dogs, and on bicycles. The music was good too. I don't normally like Ska type music, but Unlikely Alibi was pretty good/fun. They made the trees dance. And I kinda liked the Tone Junkies, for a three-piece band. They had a neat "retro" sound. NOTE TO SELF: The guy from Guitar Exchange plays bass for the Tone Junkies (the guy with the white-walled motorcycle).

I'm sure this week will be terrible... But yesterday was nice. Really nice. Thank you, Lord.

Blood pressure

Bluffton wm. 126/75; 122/72

Mowing

I cut the grass today north and south. It took me about two hours and twenty minutes. I debated on whether to do it or not, because it was hot and it wasn't really all that long, but there is a family reunion at the pavilion tomorrow, and we are hosting the women's shelter out there on Sunday afternoon. So I'm glad I did it.

Most likely you go your way

"Then time will tell just who has fell..."

Did you know that Blonde on Blonde was the first double rock album of all time? At least that's what my notes from my Survey of Rock Music Styles class say. I stumbled across them yesterday.

The teacher also told us an interesting little story about the coining of the phrase "Rock & Roll." The roots of the term date back to the early 1920's. It was a blues term for "sex," or "having a good time." However, Alan Freed turned it into a musical style in the 1950's. In 1951 he started a radio program in Cleveland (which is why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is there) that played R & B on white radio for the first time. He called it the "Moondog Show." But three years later he moved the show to New York and there was a panhandler named Moondog who sued Freed over the name. So he started calling it the "Rock & Roll Show." There ya go.

100 most useful web sites

The 100 most useful web sites (according to MSN Money) are listed HERE. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/FindDealsOnline/the-100-most-useful-web-sites.aspx

New guitar strings on yamaha

I changed the strings today on the Yamaha FG-411E that I keep at home. I bet it's been years since they've been done. I put on a pair of Elixir 80/20 Bronze "polyweb" coating; custom light .011-.052. I don't like these Elixir strings for some reason.

I was on tv (DreamRiders)

I was on tv this past weekend. It aired on the Travel channel at 8 pm and midnight Saturday and 10 am Sunday (ch. 215 on our Dish). DreamRiders is "The true story of a father, a son, and a 4,000 mile journey in search of each other." You can find all kinds of information, as well as the awards it has won, at www.dreamridersmovie.com. About 1 hour and 45 minutes into the 2 hour documentary you can see me, our house, the church, and a glimpse of Jane. There is a link at http://www.dreamridersmovie.com/alexander.htm which just shows the part I'm in. They are riding by the church and our house, and then pull in at our neighbors family reunion. I'm one of only 2 white guys in the spot (besides the two bicyclers). I didn't even recognize myself, because it was a few years ago, when I had longer hair. I'm the white guy in a white t-shirt and tan shorts.

I remember this day - maybe 4 or 5 years ago. My neighber (Ken) was having a family reunion. He always invites us, and everyone else at our church, and there are bunches of people there all weekend. So we were partying away and these two bicyclers stopped in, and there was a mobile home with a film crew with them. They told us they were making a movie, and that it was a father and son bicycling across the country to try to restore their relationship. I had no idea if it was for real or not. But they hung out for awhile, and ate and talked with people. The funny thing is, my neighbor wasn't even there at the time, so he's not in the movie.

I've only watched the part from Ken's house, but Jane stayed up and watched the whole thing, and she said another interesting tidbit is that it was just before they got to our place that the father and son kind of had their first "break-through" in their relationship. So that's kind of cool.

Anyway, I appreciate Bill Roulston (the father) contacting me about it, and the special link he made for my neighbor and his family.