My new friend part II

Stopped by Chuckie's spot again today. I saw his cart with his cans tied onto it. He was sitting half behind it. I'm not sure what he was doing when I walked up but I had to lean down kind of close to get his attention. I said, "Good morning, Chuckie." He looked up and realizing who I was, said, "Man, I told you, I'm getting out of here. I'm leaving." I said to him, "all I wanted to say was good morning." "Ok, fine, good morning." And I walked away.

It's hard sometimes to hold back and be satisfied that good morning is about all I can expect right now. I want to say more. I want to do more, but good morning is almost too much for Chuckie to take. I don't know why, but he makes it clear I'm not going to get any further right now. Patience and discernment--that's what I need right now.

Baby stumbles, Baby stumbles.

New blog

So at long last, my friend, Jocelyn, is now blogging. After holding an interesting theory that blogs would eventually lead to downfall of actual conversation (Friend of blogger: "Hey, how are you? I haven't seen you in a while" Blogger: " Well, if you'd read my blog you would already know. Just read it, then I'll tell you anything I haven't already posted"), she has given in and started her own blog. She's started very strong too with a great quote from Nelson Mandela. Her blog is appropriately named Indirect Communication. Check it out.

Chuckie

So I made a sincere blunder this morning. Across the street from our office, there's a homeless guy who has a nice little setup at the end of an alley. He's obviously been there for a while. Before I left the city, I prayed that the Lord would allow me to continue to have relationship and reach out to those on the street because it really was the best aspect of a sometimes difficult situation there. So I've been passing this guy almost every morning coming from the commuter rail and I've been feeling really convicted that God had answered my prayer (and not even made it difficult--this guy was literally on my way to the office) and I haven't done my part.

So I went over and introduced myself today before coming to work. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Good morning
Him: Good morning (not looking in my direction, then sort of looking out of the corner of his eye, wondering why I was awkwardly still standing in front of him)
Me: My name's Drew. I work across the street at The Salvation Army
Him: I'm all set. I'm just waiting on someone who owes me some money and then I'm going to be out of here.
Me: I'm not trying to bother you. I've just seen you here and wanted to say hello.
Long pause
Me: I'm Drew. What's your name?
Chuckie: I'm Chuckie.

Here's where it went south, with a question that had been perfectly routine and acceptable at Central Citadel:

Me: How long you been on the street?
Chuckie: (walking away) Now get out of here. I don't need no FBI, checking on me. Get out of here. How long you been on the street? mumble mumble mumble (into the corner of the building)
Me: (to myself) You moron, what are you thinking, walking up to a stranger in an alley and asking him how long he's been on the street? What right do you have? None anymore. You're no longer the pastor of a homeless congregation, therefore you have to build credibility, not think you're entitled to it.
Me: (to Chuckie) Listen, I'm going to go. I crossed a line there.
Chuckie: That's right you did and you didn't even notice.

I pray that this is installment one of a conversation that can continue. But if you're a person of faith, could you pray for Chuckie today?

The girls

These pictures were taken on Sunday. We got out on the lake with the girls and some other families from camp. It was nice to be out on the water, with the temps so high and the air so sticky lately.
Here's Riley with her friend Lily. I think Riley looks remarkably like her Auntie Heather in this shot.

For this one, we told Sydney to smile and it's a little hard to see, but she put on the most incredible sneer. It was really hilarious.

SYDNEY HAS TAKEN HER FIRST STEPS! It happened in the camp office. She has taken a few more since. It's just amazing to watch her progress. She also has 2 more teeth bringing the grand total to 4, so she should really start

Spam just keeps getting weirder

Ok, I know that companies just buy random email addresses and send out their spam, but I got an email today from Bowhunter Magazine. I mean these people know nothing about me, but what have I purchased, what sites have I been visiting, what surveys have I filled out that would lead anyone to believe I'm interested in anything being offered by Bowhunter Magazine? Surely if they lined up 100 guys and picked out 90 to whom they might send information regarding a magazine that covers the latest advances in bowhunting equipment and techniques, I would be left standing against the wall with the 2 blind guys, the 3 granola pacifists, the left-handed guy, the wicked fat kid, Jared from Subway and Napoleon Dynamite, just like when people were being picked for kickball at my elementary school's recess.

"You know, like numchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills."

Back in Boston

Ok, so I've now been here for a week--over a week in the area, a week at work. It's really a little strange to be here. At moments, it feels so normal to be here. At other times, it's surreal, almost like the last year never took place at all. It's very strange. Quite a bit has changed here and yet, obviously most things are very much the same.

My job is new, which is probably a good thing as far as the surreality goes. I'm working through the curriculum that I will be using in the fall. My job is lay leader & discipleship development. Sorry to the non-churchy folks who might be reading this, I'm sure that last sentence didn't make a lot of sense to you. Basically the goal is to increase non-ordained regular, working people who are volunteer leaders in various aspects in their Salvation Army churches in Massachusetts.
I have my own office, an experience I was only granted once before for 10 months as an assistant principal. This office is smaller than that one, but I have a great view. I mean, look, there's a castle. Who else can boast a castle view?

Jen is in her groove at camp, much more comfortable in that setting than in the big city and the girls are really enjoying themselves. Riley comes home with a new song every day and gets all the attention she can handle. Sydney is on the verge of walking and she's really coming out of herself seeing people other than her sister and her parents daily.

I'm reading a lot which I enjoy.

This is a terribly boring post, but I guess it's really more for me than for anyone else.

Happy 4th of July

For those of you who know Nakia, I just wanted to post this to let you know what she's up to this summer. This is her celebrating independence day. The picture does no justice to her fro. It's huge.

Goethe Quotation

"Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be." - Goethe

CS Lewis on God's Will

"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done' and those to whom God says, 'All right then, have it your way.'"

Epic 2015

If you have about 10 minutes, you should check out this short film on albinoblacksheep called Epic 2015. Basically, it's a somewhat entertaining, a little unsettling view of what could happen very shortly with technology currently available through amazon.com, google and blogging. It contains the humorous sentence "and Googlezon.com was launched." That sounds funny. Check it out.

Where has all the worship gone?

Go here for a great article about the state of worship music today. Penny for your thoughts.

Only in NY

Nuff said.

West Village

So tonight I officially begin my bachelor week in the city. Jen & the girls are already back in MA, so I'm on my own. Now normally when Jen's out of town, I don't do too well. Or at least I don't too much. I generally eat garbage (popcorn as an appetizer with ice cream as the main course), I don't sleep too well and the housekeeping spirals out of control. Oh yeah and I have this habit of watching poorly-acted-exact-same-plotline-low-budget movies on Lifetime. But I'm detetmined to do something with my last 10 days in Manhattan.


So with no real plan, I headed down to the west village tonight. Washington Square Park. Wow. Within 10 seconds of entering the park, I had one person offer to hustle me in chess and someone else offer me a dimebag. At the foot of 5th Avenue, this park is the meeting place of NYU students, homeless drifters, artists, musicians of every ilk, savvy tourists and just about every other eccentic you can imagine. It is New York in exaggerated, almost caricature form. Beautiful Europeans videotape a guy washing his clothes in the fountain. A shmarmy, athletic white guitar player accompanies a couple of black drifters singing Very Superstitious. One drifts away, the guitar riffs on and the lyrics morph into an improvisation about getting ready to go to church. Two brothers play catch under the famous arch where Harry dropped off Sally among so many other movie moments. Up 5th Ave through the arch, the Empire State Building is illuminated all white.


I felt like I could just sit there for 3 hours and be satisfied with the experience, but I also wanted to see more of the village so I wandered around--art galleries, gay bars, vintage shops--a hodgepodge of the highly hip. The Village is different from the rest of the city as the grid doesn't hold rein down there and streets intersect at crazy angles in a way that feels more Boston than New York.


So in my wanderings, I found myself not far from the river. Should have figured this but Hudson River Park is offering Sunset on the Hudson--a free concert series on Friday nights. Saw a guy there named David Ippolito. He was pretty good. Did a combo platter of covers and his own stuff. But more than the music was the fantastic vibe. Can't imagine much of a better atmosphere than sitting on perfect grass with bare feet listening to acoustic music sitting on a peninsula/pier as the sun sets over the Hudson on a warm summer night. People even humored him and sang along--The Beatles' Revolution, Shower the People You Love With Love. It's just a really fun way to spend the evening.

Definitely better than popcorn, ice cream, and the jealous husband returns to take revenge on...oh forget it, you know how it ends.

Napoleon Bagpiper

So this guy (who looks an awful lot like Napoleon Dynamite) was playing in the subway station near our place. I was listening for a while before I realized he was playing There is a Redeemer by Keith Green. I thought that was pretty cool. Plus, it's not every day you see a bagpiper who is like 14 feet tall playing in a subway station.

NONSEQUITIR -- Lowered Expectations

Click on this Nonsequitir comic to enlarge it. I thought it was pretty funny.

Click your BACK button when you're done if you want to return to the blog.

Bride or jilted ex-girlfriend?

I've been thinking a lot about people that I know who have left the church. It strikes me that the church as a body doesn't do well in relationships with people who have left the fellowship. So it raises a question for me:

If the church is supposed to be the Bride of Christ, why does she act so much like a jilted ex-girlfriend when someone leaves?

Fight Club

I just watched Fight Club for the first time in a long time. This isn’t going to make any sense, but the fact that it’s one of my favorite movies is really not a recommendation to watch the film. It’s pretty dark and I don’t really think it’s good for your soul, but the message is conveyed very eloquently if not always in a positive way. One of the quotes that resonated with me, perhaps because we are confronted with all of our possessions going into cardboard boxes and totes right now is this:

“What you own ends up owning you.”

How true it is, that we make decisions based on our possessions sometimes to the detriment of interpersonal relationships, our relationship with God, our giving to those truly in need. I might have felt poor wandering around the wealth of SoHo the other day, but let’s face it, all of us who find ourselves members of middle class America are insanely wealthy in comparison to most of the world. If we have the time and capacity to blog or read blogs, we're probably not worried about our next meal. So for what it’s worth, a thought for the day from your pal Tyler Durden.

Deep Fried Oreos

Phil and Sarah Laeger are in the city this weekend and we headed down to Little Italy and SoHo yesterday afternoon. No sooner had we come up out of the subway when we realized that a street festival was going on on Mulberry. Apparently it was the Feast of Saint Anthony because a small, but loud parade went by us and indicated as much. But that's neither here nor there. What is significant is that right at the front of the street fair was a zeppoli booth that also had one of the most delectable treats I've ever experienced--the deep fried oreo. It's really hard to describe what it tastes like when you take a cookie that's cream filled drop it in dough and then drop that in a fry-o-later and then hit it with some powdered sugar. Wow! There really is nothing richer or sweeter or probably worse for you. But they taste absolutely incredible.

Phil and Sarah had not heard of, let alone experienced deep fried oreo bliss so we all enjoyed packing on some pounds with some cholesterol packed goodness.



SoHo was incredibly crowded as it's a holiday weekend. But we were able to go to Phil's church, otherwise known as Station A, the SoHo apple store.


It's just the craziest clean white techno store. Employees wear shuffles around their necks. There is a "genius bar" where fashionably dressed and coiffed apple employees answer your questions. There's a full-on theater style interactive classroom. The line to purchase was incredibly long. We would have stayed longer, but Phil was drooling all over all the shiny white and silver apple stuff. It was kind of embarassing really.

A New York Minute

One of the things I'll miss about New York is the fact that you simply never know what you're going to see every time you step out the door. We caught this shot when we were out walking on 2nd Ave last week.

Perfection of a Newborn

Psalm 139
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

We went to see the very newborn daughter of our good friends, Eliza Russell-Pritchard, last week. Joe and Christine went in Wednesday morning for a routine visit at 9:30 and Eliza was born by 4pm that day, with a total of 30 minutes of pushing from Christine. It was not reported whether Joe did any pushing at all. Eliza's a peanut at 5lbs 6.5oz, but she is absolutely perfect. It is amazing to me to view the debut of God's greatest miracle--life and in such a pure form. There is nothing more life-affirming or, I think, God-affirming than the birth of a perfect little child. A blessing and a promise and a miracle and an awe-inspiring challenge all bundled in those ubiquitous pink and aqua striped hospital blankets. Perfect.