Men

What's the deal?!?!

Why are you all so confusing?

Bedskirt

Have you ever ironed a bedskirt?

I ironed a bedskirt last night. It was one of the most tedious things I have done in a great while. I took it out of the small package expecting a few creases where it had been folded, but found instead a very starchy fabric with enough wrinkles in it to occupy an entire night.

So my evening ends in sacrifice to an iron and a bedskirt, not to mention a slight extension of it being a wrestling match between my mattress and myself. Have you ever tried to take a full mattress with featherbed and sheets on top of it and stand it up by yourself? It's not as easy as you'd think. Then, after laying the bedskirt perfectly in place on your bed, you will try to put the mattress back where it belongs, only to find that you have to slide it back on, thus ruining the position of the bedskirt you just laid so carefully in place and returning a few of the original creases back to it's form in the process.

In thinking of ironing out those blasted creases in my bedskirt, I think of myself often trying to iron the creases in my life. I use cosmetics to mask blemishes on my face, clothing to cover my imperfect body, and masks of untruth to cover my prideful character. Then along comes some huge "mattress" of my life that needs moving, and everything gets out of place and wrinkled again, the ironing doing little good at all.

So what is it worth? Well I would have to say "What is it worth to YOU?" Are ironing out the creases important enough to stake your time on it? Your family? Your relationships?

Is it true that important values in our lives often suffer when we focus so closely on our own imperfections?

Catalyst

So I guess the original plan of this web log has been derailed just a bit for the simple reason that I don't post very often. This soon to change, though! I have had numerous pleas to return to the writing board, so here I am.

Also derailed was my original plan to have this be the update station of my life. It has turned into my creative storyboard where I can outline all the ideas that cross through my mind each day and deserve some creative attention. This entry, though, is dedicated to those who are craving to hear the details of my days here in Atlanta.

Last week I was priviledged to be part of Catalyst, a leadership experience put together by INJOY that I shared with 8,500 people, including a few collegues from Bethel Sem and pastors from Brookfield. A two and a half day event covering topics pertaining to the next generation leader, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen. The Gwinett center was as large as any indoor stadium I've ever been in and was soon filled with the voices of John Maxwell (who I actually MET that night), Andy Stanley, Chuck Colson, Erwin McManus, and John Eldredge (who I did get to ride in an elevator with). :) The way that this "convergence of next generation leaders" was run was ridiculously impressive and made me thankful that I, working at Growing Leaders, am a part of the INJOY family. :) I shook a lot of hands and met a lot of people that just may become better leaders because of the wealth of resources Tim has to offer.

Overall, the 3 day experience took me from 6:00 am laptop drop offs to 9:30 pm worship sessions, and was one of the greatest things I have ever gotten to be a part of because of a job I've had. Life right now is still a bit confusing and a tad unsettled, but every day I am receiving some sort of Divine confirmation that this is where I'm supposed to be...

Fog

The fog here is amazing.

I never really thought that I would refer to fog as amazing, or beautiful at that. There was one instance when I was driving home from the Cities and most of the drive was after dark, and there was this gorgeous fog in the valleys along the side of I-94. It was almost as if I could touch it if I would have been out there, as if someone had just taken it out of a basket and placed it where it was supposed to be. It was a thick, tangible fog that settled in the pockets of the hills of northern Wisconsin, creating a magical feel on an ordinary drive.

My travels in Suwanee, Georgia have now been graced with a bit of magic as well, just as the sun comes up each morning. There are patches of fog that seem to hang in the air, masking the elevated tree line and making it appear as a painting, dusty and shadowed with a hint of gold as the sun colors each branch that morning. I noticed this same fog slowly brushing the wild flowers and autumn grass of a field, each piece of this nature changing from green to red to gold as the morning wakes.

It's things like this that make a really long drive in really bad traffic at 7:30 a.m. really... fulfilling. It's as if I've been placed in that car, in that exact spot, just to notice the fog of the morning. And isn't it amazing that we can believe that our God does things like that, just to slow us down every once in a while...?

For fog I am thankful.