Outside the Pigeon Holes

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I am a loser! And proud! I came in dead last, along with Teresa and Steve in the 99th Annual Thanksgiving Day Race. Knowing that coming in first would be futile it became the goal to be that last ones across the finish line. And so we were. We hooked arms with the 3 other people coming in last like Dorothy and gang and headed across the finish line. Lofty Goal reached! And if you think it's easy, it's not! Just when you think you're last you look behind and there are 6 people who have somehow lagged further than you. It takes strategy to be last! Here are some fun pictures. Video to follow! Teresa, Theresa and Melanie The catalyst - this whole thing was his idea. My back and legs aren't so sure they're happy with him. But I am! The view from the gathering place. Theresa was the official number attacher. Headed to the starting line. Look at the sea of people already lined up! Apparently there was a nudist colony that participated in the event. There were random clo

All this for material goods...And during a season that supposedly celebrates the birth of Jesus... http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20243367,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

One of my favorite preacher-people is Bill Johnson...He says "Wake up each morning and ask 'what are we going to today, Lord?' then go to bed each night with blood on your sword". If anyone is up for some pain here is a prayer challenge inspired by my friend Elizabeth... For lent one year she took the "pray for your enemies" scriptures and applied them to herself... Everyday she prayed for Osama Bin Laden. She said it was very hard to do this. Here is the challenge: -Select one person. It can be someone you know or someone you don't know but that you have issue with (like Elizabeth did with Bin Laden). - Each day for one week, pray for them. If no one comes immediately to mind, ask God to bring someone to mind... Here are the guidelines: 1 - Pray with the heart and mind of Christ ( 2 Corinthians 10:5 ). Remember there isn't a person we lock eyes with that Jesus didn't die for...His heart is love. He is love first and foremost - it is what

Sketch was at the vet's office on November 11th. He had a growth on his chest. The vet found that it looked suspiciously enough like a mast cell tumor that we scheduled surgery to have it removed. In my circle of Jesus freaks, we believe that God has empowered us to do what Jesus did. And Jesus taught that instead of just asking God to do stuff for us, we should use what He has equipped us with and "speak to your mountain"...I have done this in the past and each time I have seen the fruits of it. Maybe not immediately in any dramatic earth-shattering on-the-spot miracle, but when I stood facing the mountain of being laid off from my job a couple of years ago I told that mountain to move and it did. A year later I was called back to the job and employers I love. So, for Sketch I prayed everyday. I put my hand over that ugly thing and commanded it to die. I prayed for it to shrivel up and fall off (any 80s movies fans know where I got that line??!). Earlier this week I loo

I've been married for 5 and a half years. The bulk of those have been spent trying to right what went terribly wrong somewhere early in year two. Last night I took a step that leaves both of us reeling. In a moment of insanity - or maybe sanity - after another 4 hour conversation rehashing the same stuff we always do, I said "I'm done. Unless you can convince me that this is the biggest mistake I could make in my life." For me this means removing my rings and living as if we are going our separate ways. This means no backing down. No fearing. No lolling back into comfort and allowing us to live in stagnation just because it's easier than facing the big split. That's a merry go round we've been on for far too long and it hasn't done either one of us any good. I hate this. I hate it. Hate it. At the same time I feel a weird, queasy sense of relief. I don't know what this will look like in the next weeks and months. No clue. I don't know what I am

It's fall...My least favorite season of the year. Even the happy bunnies in my head which usually look something like this: Look something like this: Due to some stuff that God and I are working through in my own soul, I felt the need to ditch doing family stuff for Thanksgiving this year. I didn't know what I would do. But the thought of putting on a happy clappy family face for Thanksgiving wore me out so I resolved to find something else to do whether it was hole up somewhere with a book and burrito or go away for the day. Then my friend invited me along to a 6 mile walk on T-day. I don't like to be outside in the cold. But it seemed like it would be warmer amongst friends than by myself. So I registered. http://thanksgivingdayrace.com/index.php Join us!

This gets a big Dan WWWWWOOWWWW... What a weekend! It was awesome, it was awful, it was amazing and it was a wild ride! Talk about a roller coaster. But I learned a lot and grew a lot and I am still processing. The Sozo folks from Bethel Church in Redding, Ca. are gifted teachers and administers of emotional/spiritual healing. I went on Friday to be in the "hot seat" for a Sozo with somoene from the Bethel team. This was good because it gave me a chance to see them in action. I was able to observe how they work, see what I did and did not like in how they did things and decide what to do and not do when we are ministering here. It was very confirming to see that they work very similarly to how we do on our Sozo team. YAY! And now, a few pictures from the trip. First of all, I needed a travelling companion. So I kidnapped a Horgan Gnome. He's the one who always moons us as we exit their house. So I called him "Gmoony". Here he is with my kidnapping accomplices. C

Just me. Just some music and God. And a little ceramic friend I kidnapped. Hoping for some awesome learning and to meet new friends! Pics forthcoming!

Today is a day that will, if it goes as predicted, change the course of our country and alter the very fabric of the ideals of our founding fathers. Socialism will begin to be introduced into our lives. I recently heard this summary: Socialism is the step between capitalism and communism. Because I am a Christ follower I have likely been seen as a hypocrite because I stand against the principals of socialism as a form of government. After all, socialism seems to be all about sharing. And God calls us to share. I love sharing. But the United States government was not designed to do what individuals and church communities should be doing. The founding fathers did not intend to make the government a social problem solver with laws and rules that mean to make things "fair" but that wind up infringing on basic freedoms. Communism is: 1. a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a

Religion is what you have left when th e Sp irit leaves the building -Bono The 80s rock star has it right. Don't get me wrong, I love beautiful buildings and I like traditions. They are great. But too often the building and the tradition, the routine of "doing church" become what church is. But the church isn't supposed to stop there. Jesus walked out what God intends us to walk out: A life full of love and of power. Anyone who believes the words of Jesus to be true IS the Church because they have been indwelled with the Spirit of God. I am the Church. I am walking around with God inside of me. No, really, I am! The God who created all that is in the earth and in the universe, The God who spoke the world into being. The God who raised Jesus from the dead. His Spirit resides in me. That ain't just pretty talk or a neato metaphor. It's true. The more I allow Him to show me, the more I understand this to be true. It's not something I can argue someone into