A New Couch

This past week has been incredible. While I feel like I'm usually able to piece together a few different themes/reflections in my writing, I'm just going to have to resort to a list...

Friday
-Jay Stringer, Cherie, and I prayed/conversed at our place. Jay and I hit the streets... uh, street... that is, Aurora. We hopped on the 358, jumped off so Jay could get some coffee, and stopped at a convenience store to by our friend Don a pack of Marb Reds. Back on the bus, up to Don's motel. We talked. Walked a bit, met a fabulous little woman who said, "my rock n' roll name is Catalina", and then we stopped in to see our friends at two motels.
-Attended the Leadership Development Network gathering at Romio's. Ate pizza. Talked about creation. This group is made up of people doing ministry with the Christian Reformed Church in the Seattle area.
-Cherie and I went downtown to the Key Arena where we heard a conversation about music, media, and compassion between Dave Matthews, Anne Curry, and the Dalai Lama. This conversation was a part of the Seeds of Compassion event that was going on in Seattle last weekend. After this odd trio finished talking, there was a benefit concert in which Death Cab for Cutie opened for Dave Matthews and his longtime friend Tim Reynolds. Como se dice 'beautiful music'?

Wow, this post is already getting long...

Saturday
-I officiated an outdoor wedding in a stunning locale on a day with a record temperature - like 75 degrees or something.
-Met up with some friends for a cookout and some volleyball. Continued the festivities at our place.

Sunday
-Sanctuary in the morning followed by lunch with friends.
-Over 30 people threw us a baby shower in the afternoon.
-Began a new phase with Awake as we gathered in the back room of a cafe on Aurora. This time together was energizing, restful, and healing.

Monday
-A lengthy conversation with a friend who has Buddhist leanings sandwiched by reading and finishing a fabulous new book called The Tangible Kingdom.

Tuesday
-Attended "An Evening With Rob Bell" hosted by Off the Map. I have lots of respect for Rob Bell and have been significantly impacted by his proclamation of Jesus and the kingdom of God. Rob started Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI in 1999 - the same year I moved to that city to go to college. I have read his books, watched his Nooma's, listened to his podcasts, and heard him speak on multiple occasions. Because of this exposure to him - and the fact that I know people who've worked with him and been his neighbors - I probably know way too much about him (or, more likely, think I know a lot about him!). On this occasion, I actually met Rob Bell in person. This meeting was ripe with potential for me to play the fool (i.e., I could have said, "Uhh... this one time I was at my friend's house and I, like, saw you walking and we made eye contact..." or "And this other time my friend, like, talked to you in this hot tub and stuff..."). Well, fortunately, it didn't go that way. Instead, we had a brief conversation along with some friends of mine about leadership. And although what he said was quite simple, it really made an impact on me (I'll save reflections on this for a later date). By the way, I found out at this event that Rob Bell and the lead pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, Don Golden, are coming out with a book this fall called, Jesus Wants To Save Christians. Read the description of the book, especially the last sentence!
-Doug Pagitt was also a part of this event. Doug is the pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis. Cherie and I talked/laughed with him and asked him about what it was like to meet Desmond Tutu (he was also in town!) and the Dalai Lama.

Wednesday
-I stopped by Don's place again. His social worker showed up so we had a conversation about Don's care - and Don's motel roommate/caretaker who has Steven Segal's hair totally flipped out at me because he feels threatened by the questions I'm asking. In other words, the best situation for Don may not be the best situation for Don's caretaker who's compensation is a spot in Don's motel room.
-I joined a group of amazing people from the Aurora community as we hammered out the final details of the Aurora Avenue Action Agenda that we will present to the mayor next Wednesday.

Thursday
-Jay and I had our weekly meeting. We dreamed about Awake. We went out for Chinese and walked Aurora/talked community development with Jeff Littlejohn.
-Cherie and I bought a couch.


For the two of you that made it all the way to the end of this post: There were some pretty amazing names in this post. Gifted people, celebrities, movers and shakers. I sincerely hope that you've been exposed to some of them, learned from them, and wrestled with their music, ideas, and messages. If you haven't, I think you'd be impressed and blessed.

But I think you'd be even more impressed and blessed by the people who's names I haven't mentioned and the people who have no website link.
I know I am.

These are the people I get to share life with on a daily basis.
These are the people who will get to sit on our brand new couch.