Month: January 2009

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oakland

i have been focused on school work for the past 15 or so days and therefore i haven’t watched or read any news. when i’ve watched video on t.v. or computer my whole goal has been to zone out rather than be informed. so i didn’t know anything about what is going on in oakland until i saw some photos on brad’s blog and then saw a tweet from mc hammer (yes i follow mc hammer on twitter – do you have a problem with that?). so i decided to see a little of what is happening in the world. i finally saw the video of the police shooting oscar grant and i can’t see anyway that this will be a justifiable shooting. what in the world was this guy thinking? i don’t know a lot about what is going on and has happened. i’ve had my nose stuck in books about a world that existed 2,600 years ago, which ironically bares a great deal of similarity with what is happening within our present day. still with my limited understanding of the events i can understand the desire of some to riot though i would add that they are probably not helping to correct the problem at all. their violent response is more than likely just making the problem worse. that type of violence, even in response to awful violence, merely continues the circle and encourages more brutality.

so in my ignorance i have two things to say:

  1. please, please, please may the system do what is right rather than just trying to defend itself.
  2. sometimes it is a great, big, stupid world.

of course, i will freely admit that i am speaking out of very limited knowledge at this moment.

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dilemma

the library is supposed to be a quiet place, right? it’s supposed to be a good place to be able to think and work on a paper, if you needed to do such a thing, right? so my dilemma is would i be breaking the silence policy of the library is i take the guy who is sitting behind me and throw them out a window? i’m sure this would create a good bit of noise but certainly not as much as he is making at the moment.

a few minutes ago the person sitting behind me decided that the study section of the stevens point public library was an excellent place to start a boring cell phone conversation. when i say boring i mean ice forming boring. as boring as watching snails race. in the few minutes the conversation has lasted all they have talked about is how neither one of them is doing anything. argh!

now it sounds like he has decided to start playing yathzee while he talks on the phone. i’m guessing he is doing this to add some interest to his cell phone conversation. it has to be yathzee because nothing else could explain the constant noise of him dropping several objects on the desk he is occupying. due to the privacy barrier on his desk i can’t see what it is thatt he is dropping but really it has to be dice. this guy has decided that a good way for him to spend his wednesday is to come to the library to talk on his cell phone and play yathzee. i can’t believe it.

well, i’m not getting anything done on the paper i am supposed to write so i’m going to have to talk to mr. yathzee, throw him out the plate glass window, join him in a game or two of yathzee or move – the choice will depend upon his size and demeanor which i haven’t been able to fully grasp because of the privacy barrier.

wish me luck.

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if pigs could fly type dreams for tapestry in '09

dreams are good. at least i think so. tapestry began as a dream that pam and i had concerning being a part of a church that we thought 6 people whom we love would feel comfortable in. for a couple of years pam and i talked and prayed about such a church. one that was strong in it’s beliefs and yet open and loving enough that these friends of ours would be glad it existed (even if they disagreed with the church’s beliefs). eventually we became convinced that we had fallen into JESUS’s dream. tapestry isn’t there yet but it is definitely heading that way.

so once again i’ll say it – dreams are a good thing. therefore, i thought i would record a few of the more outlandish dreams i have for tapestry in hopes that maybe one day i will discover that they are the LORD’s dream too and therefore will be accomplished.

  • i dream that tapestry will have or have access to a building in downtown point that we can use as a “safe place” for people who have done a little too much pub crawling. there are 14 bars in a three block region of downtown stevens point. wisconsin also has the highest rate of dui’s in the nation. obviously abusing alcohol is a common thing around here. unfortunately such abuse often leads to poor and sometimes very dangerous choices. i would like to be able to set up a place where people can “detox” a little when they have overdone it, get some coffee, get a ride home, etc. and know that they are doing it in a safe place and experiencing GOD’s love. i saw something like this via sank*tuary and i think it is an amazing idea.
  • i dream that by the end of the year tapestry would grow to point that we need to begin planning to divide. the mindset of tapestry is that we want to grow to then split and form new churches. this means bringing new people into the kingdom of GOD but not having as our prime directive the increase our church’s size or power. organizations have a tendency to move from their original purpose to the motive of organizational survival and power. that’s not what we want to do. in ’09 i would love to reach the point where we can put all of our talk into action and start forming a new church that would reach people that tapestry has never even thought of.
  • i dream that tapestry could do 3 truly different worship gatherings during ’09. i mean radically different times that people would respond with “i never knew church could be like that.” when you get down to it most church services are the same in their structure. there are stylistic differences like music and speaking style but at their core structure they are the same. we say hello to each other, we sing a little, we listen to someone speak, we do announcements, and then we leave. if creativity is from GOD (and i believe it is) then every now and then a church gathering ought to be something truly new. i think this is harder than it seems. therefore, my dream is just three different gatherings. when i say different i mean a gathering that is not just different stylistically but is different in the manner in which we worship GOD (though not different in the WHO we worship). JESUS did things differently and therefore i would like to do the same every now and then.
  • i dream that tapestry would be a group of people that are so challenged by GOD’s word that sacrificial changes would take place within our lives. i don’t mean typical safe church changes. rather i hope that we have a couple of changes take place this year that are so sacrificial that we begin to think “maybe we’ve gone too far.” the type of sacrifice that requires GOD to show up or we’re in trouble. my dream is to see a couple of such dramatic sacrificial changes during ’09.

of course, there are a lot of other things that have to and will take place within and through tapestry (like being incorporated, working out finances, etc). yet the things above are dreams that i think would push us quite a bit to accomplish. those are the fun type of dreams.

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the first cut is the hardest

my ipod battery finally died last night. i was prepared for this and had already bought a new battery for it. i’ve had the battery for two months trying to avoid actually putting it in my ipod because i was fairly sure that i would destroy the ipod when i tried to put the battery in. last night was the point when i could no longer wait.

i remember my dad putting a sunroof in my brother’s car when kenny was in high school. dad mentioned that the hardest part was making the first cut because there was no turning back once you made that cut. that’s what it was like removing the old battery. this is because the plastic of the battery plug had deteriorated. removing it destroyed the plug. once the plug was removed it was a matter of putting the new battery in and it working or having an ipod brick to use as a paper weight.

i’m glad to report that the new battery works great and i am able to continue listening in my car on my functioning ipod to the podcasts i like.

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an eric by any other name

we have a wonderful group that normally leads the music each week at tapestry. heather, hilary, sarah, sometimes jackson, and the group of people they bring with them do an amazing job of leading us in singing to our GOD each week. they are great and a huge gift from GOD to tapestry. an additionally huge gift from GOD is eric glaze who is our regular musical sub. when heather, hilary, and sarah couldn’t lead us for a few weeks because they would be gone during the university break eric stepped up and took over the load. it was a great thing.

since we didn’t have tapestry last week (everyone who is a regular was going to be gone) i wanted to check in with eric glaze and make sure everything was still a go for him filling in tonight. we had talked two weeks ago so i was basically sure it was all good but i thought it was best to check just in case. unfortunately, with the family sickness i forgot to do it until yesterday. eric and i have always communicated quickly through facebook messages so i sent one to him last night. by this morning i hadn’t heard anything. therefore, i sent him a text message from my cell phone asking if he was still on. i quickly received a text back saying that it was too far away for him to make it back to point for tapestry. this didn’t make any sense to me since eric has an apartment in stevens point that he is preparing to be he and his fiance’s home (they get married this coming saturday). still i thought maybe he had gone somewhere else for the weekend and had become stuck where ever he was because of the icy roads. i understood but was still a little confused because eric glaze is a reliable guy. he’s not the type of person to leave you hanging. loosing a leader at the last moment is never a good thing but normally it’s not an earth shattering kind of problem because i know of several college students who can fill in on short notice. of course, when the university is out on break those college students aren’t around.

so i did the only thing i knew to do. i would love to tell you that i responded with calm prayer in assurance that GOD would take care of everything necessary. i wold love to tell you that but it would be a lie. there was prayer involved but it was panic prayer that came out while i was walking back and forth trying to figure things out. after all, we have to have music. right?

so i quickly started coming up with a plan b. this involved making a few desperate phone calls and trying to figure out if a bible study would work for tonight. while doing this i figured i should text eric glaze back and let him know that i got his message. so i texted back to him “ok stay safe and warm” figuring he was driving back to point on ice. that’s when the eric glaze that i had been texting all morning turned out to be eric landry. eric landy is a former youth in baton rouge, louisiana and obviously it would be a little too far for him to travel up to tapestry to lead our music (though i’m sure he would). that’s when i texted the correct eric glaze and he promptly texted back that he would of course be at tapestry.

i can’t believe eric landry played with my emotions like that.

SIDE NOTE – since the university is out of session tonight was “supposed” to be a low night at tapestry. instead we had 8 guests show up and a great group that really added to what was going on.

SIDE SIDE NOTE – i can never adequately express to those that setup and tear down each week at tapestry how much i appreciate them. they are the best.

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the week in tweets – 2009-01-03

  • is almost back among the land of the living. #
  • is going to be in NOLA January 12-14 and is open to eating supper with anyone who is interested. #
  • ate solid food for the first time in two days and now regrets it. #
  • If it skips snowing like this I will have Basset Hounds that could pull a sled in the Iditarod. #
  • “Are there times when mystery is more important than knowledge?” JJ Abrams, TED Talk, March 2007 #
  • I’m not sure why I am watching the Rose Bowl. I hate both teams. #
  • thinks the BCS has ruined the joy of new years day football. #
  • http://twitpic.com/z084 – not a bad place to work on a paper. #
  • @joshcausey http://twitpic.com/z2v5 – wow – i never knew you were a carpenter in reply to joshcausey #
  • I was busy working on a paper so I didn’t see the game but wow OLE’ MISS – way to go SEC! #
  • hmmmmm … BAMA? Where are you? #
  • @joecausey – joe you have to stay true to the SEC. otherwise, LSU just looks even worse. in reply to joecausey #
  • @DaddyGriffis – bingo we have a winning twit. in reply to DaddyGriffis #
  • is it beginning? PLEASE LET IT BE BEGINNING!!!!!! #
  • and now the offense is starting to play – sweet. #
  • in a break from the game i could use anyone’s help who knows of a good source for funeral urns for children – http://tinyurl.com/7metzm #
  • If only the 1st qtr hadn’t happened. Still the Utes were impressive #Bama. #
  • @meganckelly – be productive! unlike me 🙂 in reply to meganckelly #
  • @ppolnaszek – a broken heart? in reply to ppolnaszek #
  • @KenNichols – that’s quite cool. i’m stealing that one. in reply to KenNichols #
  • @ppolnaszek – a stubbed toe? in reply to ppolnaszek #
  • needs someone to volunteer for an illustration at Tapestry – I want to show what might happen to a runaway slave in the ANE. Any takers? #
  • @Joshross – is this in regards to being a volunteer? in reply to Joshross #
  • @Joshross – cool. if you had to lose a hand for the rest of your life would you prefer it to be your right or your left? 😉 in reply to Joshross #
  • @Joshross – cool – you might want to bring clothes that you don’t mind getting bloody and possible a tourniquet. 😉 in reply to Joshross #
  • @Joshross – have you looked at gander mtn for muskie rods? i know you posted this in Nov but thought you might still be looking. in reply to Joshross #
  • @eLP88 – pam is watching it right now. in reply to eLP88 #
  • wants to remind everyone that we will have Tapestry tomorrow – thus we will almost certainly have terrible weather. #

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cross country bindings

since pam and i were doing the whole advent conspiracy thing it was my goal to doing something relational, sustainable, and cheap for pam’s CHRISTmas gift. therefore, i decided to refurbish a couple of old, trashed cross country skis because pam is pretty pumped about the thought of being able to cross country ski through the 20 or so acres of woods in our backyard. so i took the skis to our local place, the hostel shoppe, and had them put new bindings on the skis and wax them down so that they would be ready for us to put them into action. of course, pam and i would need cross country ski boots but i figure we could use a little of money we would invariably get for CHRISTmas to purchase a pair of boots each (thanks mom and dad). i also figured we would probably buy these somewhere other than the hostel shoppe because their cheapest pair was $109 each, when i had seen other pairs on the internet for $39 to $59.

the problem with my plan is that the hostel shoppe is the only place in teh nation that continues to use the sns style of cross country bindings. every other place uses nnn style bindings. this means that almost all of pam and my efforts to buy cheaper boots have been thwarted because they have the wrong bindings attachment. we have one more place looking for $49 boots and if they don’t work we’ll be going back to the hostel shoppe. darn them and their binding monopoly.

SIDE NOTE – the hostel shoppe was very good and helpful. they just messed up my plan for cheaper shoes.

SIDE SIDE NOTE – tonight i sent out a email reminder to people that we would have tapestry tomorrow. i made in a joke in the email that since we were having tapestry the weather would be “fowl.” so apparently there are a lot of birds involved in the weather on tapestry nights.

SIDE SIDE SIDE NOTE – i should win major husband points because i just finished watching “the thorn birds” with pam.

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2008 CHRISTmas family newsletter

i meant to post this earlier but i forgot to do so. this is the terrell family CHRISTmas newsletter that went out with our CHRISTmas cards. most of you have probably already seen it. if you didn’t then don’t blame pam because it was probably my fault. i probably forgot to tell her that we received your CHRISTmas card or something like that. i’m good that way.

anyhow, here’s the link.

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need a little help

i need a little help – do any of my ministerial friends know of a source for a for good burial urns for kids?

after months of fighting against a resurgence of leukemia our neighbor’s 9 year old daugther passed away yesterday. pam and i spent some time with them tonight and they are having a hard time finding an urn that they believe would fit their daughter. obviously most urns are designed with older people in mind. they are open to thinking outside the box. if you have an idea please contact me and i will pass it on.

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looking back

i saw this on marko’s blog but it came from josh treece’s blog. anyway, it seemed like a good way to look back over the year.

1) What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

 

2) Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

  • most but not all of them

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?

  • some former youth

 

4) Did anyone close to you die?

  • yes

 

5) What countries did you visit?

  • nicaragua
  • minnesota 🙂

 

6) What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

7) What date(s) from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

  • may 18 – finished first marathon
  • august 6 – tapestry provided a village of 300 with clean running water
  • september 14 – TAPESTRY’S FIRST PUBLIC WORSHIP GATHERING

 

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?

  • these are both group achievements but planting tapestry & finishing the marathon

 

9) Did you suffer illness or injury?

 

10) What was the best thing you bought?

  • a bright yellow canoe – thanks mom and dad

 

11) Whose behavior merited celebration?

  • pam – becoming the most amazing professor ever
  • adam & noah – acting out the four things and adjusting so well to the late 2007 mvoe
  • the tapestry launch and worship teams – all of them are servants

 

12) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

  • a couple of pastors whom i am fairly sure bore false testimony against someone whose views they don’t like.

 

13) Where did most of your money go?

  • bills, diet coke, coffee, tithe (hopefully not in that order)

 

14) What did you get really, really, really excited about?

  • tapestry’s launch – i still gets goose bumps
  • family trips to chicago and milwaukee
  • smallmouth bass fishing with friends and family
  • wisconsin summers – there is nothing prettier
  • cheese and crackers with pam at night

 

15) What song will always remind you of 2008?

  • "the way i am" by ingrid micealson – it’s a pam thing

 

16) Compared to this time last year, are you:

  • Wiser? yeah, i think so
  • Healthier? probably a little but i was already into the running thing last year
  • Richer? far from it

 

17) What do you wish you’d done more of?

  • played basketball
  • cleaned the garage
  • bushwhacked the backyard

18) What do you wish you’d done less of?

  • watched tv when there was no reason too.

19) How did you spend Christmas?

  • sick

 

20) Did you fall in love in 2008?

  • nope, just continued to learn what real love is all about – i’ve been in love since 1987.

 

21) What was your favorite blog post that you wrote?

  • not sure if i understand this one? is it asking about my own blog or a post i read somewhere else? i’ll have to think about this one.

 

22) What were your favorite TV programs?

  • the office
  • lost
  • heroes

 

23) Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

  • i don’t think so

 

24) What was the best book you read?

 

25) What was your greatest musical discovery?

 

26) What did you want and get?

  • a church i could be proud to be part of and oh yes i got it

 

27) What did you want and not get?

  • cross country ski boots – couldn’t find the ones i wanted (i.e cheap ones) anywhere.

 

28) What was your favorite film of this year?

  • if it is just in theater then probably “the dark knight”
  • if first watching’s of dvd’s count then “into the wild”

29) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

  • i’m 41 and i curled and then hung out with my family

 

30) Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most?

  • wow – this one is hard. truthfully i distrust most celebrities/public figures.

 

31) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

  • whatever pam buys me – is that a style?

 

32) What kept you sane?

  • the family, the dogs, the running, and the fishing

 

33) Who did you miss?

  • the suite and honorary members of the suite

 

34) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

  • once you think you are finally dreaming big, stop, grab a diet coke, and realize it’s not as crazy of an idea as it should be so dream bigger still

 

35) What did you gain this year?

  • a reason to love sunday evenings
  • a lot of new friends
  • new missions
  • some great times with pam

 

36) What did you lose this year?

 

37) Who was the best new person you met?

  • i met a ton of amazing people in 2007 that i won’t mention here because this is about 2008. thankfully i met a ton of cool people in 2008 also. i’ll just mention a few
  • all the people involved in leading tapestry worship – heather, hilary, sarah, eric, jackson, and joel
  • perry polnaszek & jerrmiah mitchell
  • josh ross
  • josh jones

 

38) Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

  • have to do some research on this