Month: December 2008

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tapestry in '08

as i write this, instead of doing the studying that i should be doing, ’08 has 10 1/2 hours left in it. before the year ends i wanted to say “THANK YOU” for being a part of what GOD has done this year in and through tapestry. this is what i know HE has done:

  • started a group from scratch that desperately wants to wants, love, and enjoy HIM that didn’t exist before (i.e. tapestry).
  • developed a witness in point of a group that firmly believes in CHRIST and yet demonstrates that belief in a firmness of love and loving acts.
  • provided water to 300 bearers of HIS image in diriamba , nicaragua.
  • changed the way some in point celebrated HIS birth/incarnation.
  • raised just under $800 for clean water through advent conspiracy at tapestry.
  • led one lost sheep publicly back to HIM.
  • established a relationship with forsaken people in nicragua that will lead to them being redeemed by the ONE WHO became forsaken to claim all of us.

and this is just the stuff that i know of. not bad for only 15 weeks of the year. i can’t wait to see what HE will do through all of us in ’09.

later today, just for the fun of it, i’ll write couple of the things that i believe GOD is doing to do in and through tapestry in ’09. but right now i need to get back to studying jeremiah.

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ted talks

i meant to include this in yesterday’s “thorn birds” inspired random thoughts post but i forgot to do so. so here goes.

if you are not presently regularly listening to the ted talks, then you should stop what you are doing right now and go subscribe to them via your rss reader or podcast aggregator. they are consistently good. obviously i don’t always agree with them but only an idiot sees truth and wisdom in just the things he/she agrees with. the ted talks are one of the regular podcasts that i listen to and i am usually very thankful for that.

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random thoughts while watching a chick-flick

after a couple of days of having a stomach bug i have started and finished studying for the day. i am now watching the second episode of “the thorn birds” with pam and i thought that while we watched this thing i would post some random thoughts and events that aren’t big enough for a full post.

  • the main priest in “the thorn birds” is scum. not because he gives into fleshly desire but because he puts his own selfish ambition before the family of the woman he loves (albeit a creepy sort of love) and then says its for the love for GOD. several parts of the miniseries have upset me but that lack of justice has been the worst thus far.
  • as a family we usually go see a movie on CHRISTmas day. we were too sick to go this year until today. we finally went to see “bedtime stories” today and we were pleasantly surprised. i usually have mixed feelings on adam sandler movies but i do respect the fact that he generally has many of the same people in each of his movies. it’s pretty cool when people genuinely enjoy working together and therefore do on multiple projects.
  • i’ve recently been turned onto a blog called “presentation zen“. it’s about simplicity in presentations and it’s quite good stuff.
  • i’m an idiot – just wanted to get that out there for everyone to know. how could i have been in youth ministry for nearly 20 years without realizing there were pro ana (pro anorexia) web forums. these are basically support groups for teens who want to help each other be anorexic. i probably can’t be blamed for 15 of those years because i’m not sure they even existed (at least not in an organized internet manner) but i should have known over the past 5 years. i’m sure i probably read something about it somewhere but it didn’t stick with me. poor sick kids trying to help each other stay sick. it’s a great, big, stupid world.
  • i am presently wearing a t-shirt that pam gave me for CHRISTmas. it says “go curling … get stoned.” it’s hilarious.
  • i’ll be in NOLA january 12-14 for class. this means i’ll be busy from 8am-4pm each day but i’m open to dinner afterwards with anyone whose interested. of course, i will not have a vehicle so you’ll have come to me or meet me somewhere that public transportation can get me too.
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missing it

last week after polling everyone who is active in tapestry the group kind of decided that it would be best not to have a gathering today. it made perfect sense because there was a really good chance that eric and natalie were going to be the only people there. so we canceled today’s gathering. of course, that was easy last week, especially when i thought the terrell family would be in alabama anyhow. now it’s reality and therefore my thoughts are a little different. it’s the first sunday night in fifteen weeks that i am not spending the evening worshiping with the wonderful folks of tapestry. makes me a little sad. of course, that sadness will disappear tomorrow as i start work on next sunday’s tapestry.

i am also VERY THANKFUL that my sickness happened on a weekend when we weren’t having tapestry. up to this morning i felt like complete crap. up to three hours ago i felt like i might feel better sometime in january. it’s amazing how fast pam and my recoveries have been. yet there is no way i would have been able to do the setup work necessary for tapestry. there are usually plenty of other people that do everything but that would not have been true tonight. the hardest thing i’ve done today was walk the dogs and that left me needing a nap to recover.

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the week in tweets – 2008-12-27

  • @eLP88 – genetics? in reply to eLP88 #
  • Just got back home from eatting after Tapestry and discovered that I have won the extended family fantasy football league. Go me! #
  • Currently Browsing: http://tinyurl.com/8zpkeb – interesting but sad article on modern slavery. #
  • Taking some more cold medicine and heading to bed. I have to rest up for a one horse open sleigh ride with Pam tomorrow. #
  • We are perplexed at the failure of Shalom to materialize because we forget the role we play in its birth. #
  • @KenNichols – that’s great. classic. in reply to KenNichols #
  • @meganckelly – it’s -9º in Point right now 😉 in reply to meganckelly #
  • I declare myself to be an Arminist or a Calvinian and that settles it. #
  • http://twitpic.com/vdff – Just got back home from taking Pam on a one horse open sleigh ride. It was very cool. #
  • Packers vs. Bears – Come on Pack! Redeem yourself and skin the bears. PLEASE! #
  • @ppolnaszek – which team’s farve jersey? in reply to ppolnaszek #
  • The Pierces introduced me to the wonders of the Whirly-Pop popcorn popper and I am very thankful for that – http://tinyurl.com/3oekzy #
  • http://twitpic.com/vk6j – band concerts shouldn’t be at 7:45 am #
  • The biggest problem with our prayer is not the absence of GOD’s presence while we pray but the absence of our own presence while we pray. #
  • RT @tiffany_d_smith – “Christ does not want nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible.” C. T. Studd #
  • Finally picked up Pam’s CHRISTmas gift while there is 3 inches of unplowed snow on the road. Rough driving. Now heading home. #
  • grapevine faith’s football team showed the world what a matthew 25 type of football game would look like – http://tinyurl.com/9dlddr #
  • @ppolnaszek – oh i love monkey bread. pam made some last week. btw, happy CHRISTmas. in reply to ppolnaszek #
  • fun doing the advent conspiracy kind of thing with pam and i’s gifts – she handmade me a packers throw quilt (very nice). #
  • http://twitpic.com/we1x – it’s even worse when you have to disassembly before you even reach the “some assembly required” part. #
  • the oldest son is now down with the stomach bug – pam and i are taking bets on which one of us gets it next. #
  • @ysmarko – white castle is good but i prefer the southern version – krystals – http://www.krystal.com/ in reply to ysmarko #
  • http://twitpic.com/wx0j – oh yeah, my parents gave us a Dwight Schrute bobble-head. Oh cool are my parents? #
  • http://twitpic.com/wx2b – oh yeah, my parents gave us a Dwight Schrute bobble-head. How cool are my parents? #
  • the third Terrell is not vomitting – it’s Pam. #

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family traditions

i hope CHRISTmas day has been fun for everyone. i have personally really enjoyed tapestry’s  involvement in advent conspiracy. part of this is because i love new ideas for celebrating and experiencing things. it really effected pam and my’s gifts for each other. i also love traditions that have happened for year after year. therefore, i thought i would share a couple of the terrell family traditions.

  • CHRISTmas eve we do the following:
  • read the CHRISTmas story from the second chapter of the gospel of luke
  • typically we go to our church’s CHRISTmas eve service, though since tapestry is so new we didn’t have a CHRISTmas eve service this year. this means we bounced around trying to find one in point that fit our schedule for the evening.
  • we eat a supper that is composed of appetizers – each family member picks the one that they want to contribute to the family meal.
  • the kids open two gifts. it’s the same gifts each year – a new pair of pj’s and a new CHRISTmas ornament. this year’s pj’s were monty phyton based and the ornaments were simpsons based.
  • we watch the movie elf before the boys go to bed.
  • CHRISTmas day involves the following:
    • we have homemade pastalaya for lunch. it’s simple and everyone likes it.
    • naptime – it’s not manditory but it happens. pam and the cats do a particularly good job of following this tradition.
    • we go to the theater to watch a movie – this year CHRISTmas eve and CHRISTmas day have been spent with noah vomiting so we just watched fred claus at home. this was not quite the same thing as going to the theater but it was a decent substituted being as the boy felt like death warmed over.
    • i place a box of chocolate covered cherries in pam’s stocking – this has been happening since our first year of marriage and i’m actually pretty sure that i gave her some each CHRISTmas that we dated beforehand (which is 5 CHRISTmases).

    so i’m wondering what traditions you all have?

    the pj's the ornaments

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    a matthew 25 type of game

    gainesville players showering their coach
    i don’t usually think that many sports events bare much of a witness to faith. yes, i know that a lot of games have john 3:16 signs waved in front of the tv and fingers point to heaven after points are scored but i seriously doubt that such actions convey much concerning the gospel (i’m talking about waving the sign not the scripture itself). yet i have finally read about a sports game that is a dramatic description of CHRISTian faith. you can read about the game on life of reilly.

    the story is concerning grapevine faith school that decided they were going to split their fans in half and cheer for their opponent, gainesville state school, a maximum security correctional facility for 12-19 year olds. the kids on the gainesville team have finished at least half their sentences, are passing their classes, and have had no behavioral incidents. that enables them to join the team and play 9 away games with no cheering fans and no realistic chance of winning (they were 0-9 this year). grapevine coach kris hogan decided to change that and convinced parents, fans, and cheerleaders to seriously consider cheering for gainesville. they not only considered it, they adopted it whole heartedly. read the story it’s amazing.

    in the 25th chapter of matthew JESUS tells the sheep that HE has just invited into the inheritance HE has prepared for them that HE is doing this because they visited HIM when HE was in prison. i think one day HE’ll be telling these fans that they cheered for HIM when HE played football.