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2009 turns into 2010, and I wonder… will ‘10 come in nearly as epic as ‘09 did? I’m not much for big “year in review” posts, and I’m even less for “resolutions that I’ll break before February” posts. But I think this year deserves something of a tip of the hat. Here are the highlights:

April – Disneyland trip. This was the first of our 2 vacations this year – included a quick stop in Vegas, a full-blown Disneyland experience, a little Route 66 driving, and a stop in Santa Fe, which is a new favorite destination for us.
July – PNW trip – almost 3 weeks on the road, including much needed rest at the beach in Bandon, and wonderful time reconnecting with family and friends.

Also during the year, my freelance business made some very significant strides. In fact, as this year wraps up, it is our sole source of income. I never thought I’d be able to grow it into a self-supporting venture, but it seems that has happened, and I’m very grateful. That it supports me and allowed almost 4 full weeks of vacation… unbelievable.

It seems like this was the year that Colorado really became our home. The trip to the PNW was significant because in many ways it felt like a watershed moment for us. Because of various factors, it would have been easy to go back to Vancouver, get all misty-eyed, and decide to move back. But this time, on our drive home, it felt like just that – home. When we arrived, it was good to settle back into life refreshed, and with a renewed vision for what our life here is, and what it will become.

Then to top it off, a little bit of extra work came in around Christmas time which allowed us to enjoy and experience the holidays without the added stress of wondering where our rent money would come from. What began as a year full of uncertainty and stress, still ended with uncertainty but with a level of peace about where we are that we haven’t experienced in a long time.

So what does that mean for 2010? (Two-thousand-ten? Twenty-ten?) First of all, it means that as we approach the three-year mark since we moved here, we’re ready to make some pretty significant decisions that will affect us for many years. Decisions about when/where/how to plant a church. Decisions about how to move forward in business. Decisions about how we approach the kids’ schooling. Things are not the same as when we moved here, and we are not the same. (I’d be disappointed, in fact, if we were the same as 3 years ago)

So with that, since I don’t make “resolutions”, I offer the following as a bit of a preview of what’s to come for us. I’ll be interested and entertained to read this one year from now and see how off-base I was.

In 2010, we will begin our church plant. Not just the “process”, but the community of people will begin to form and we will start journeying together as we discover who God is calling us to be as a church, and how we can together live on mission.

In 2010, my business will take another step forward, finally settling into a company that can provide a more predictable income stream. Health insurance coverage would be a dreamy addition.

In 2010, we will welcome into our family Nick’s new wife-to-be, her 7 year old daughter, and their baby that will come into the world this summer. I have been asked to officiate the ceremony, and for this I’m extremely honored and excited. These events also will bring a stream of family visiting town, and we’ll get to see everyone then.

See, nothing resolute, just a forecast of what’s on the horizon. Like I said, 2009 was epic in our family, bringing travels, changes, growth, refocusing. It’s my hope that 2010 is equally as moving. I’m sure it will be, in its own way. Regardless, we will remember 2009 fondly, and look to 2010 with anticipation.

After a couple different exchanges on various Facebook profiles, I feel like I should be a little more complete on this issue. The issue is “Black Friday”. As one of my friends noted, just a few years ago nobody used the term “black friday” as a sales pitch… it’s been an unofficial name for years, and it was just commonly accepted that the day after Thanksgiving would be a peak day for retailers. Now, it’s part of advertisements. How long before printed calendars show it as an “unofficial holiday”? So what’s all the fuss about? It’s not like Black Friday is the one day of year that we go all consumerist and greedy on each other, right?

So let’s start with this: first, I in no way set myself above anyone else in terms of dealing with materialism and the fallout from wanting more stuff. In fact, it’s as big a deal for me as anyone else. That I’m aware of it doesn’t make me better, only aware. I want a better phone. I want a bigger TV. I want a newer car. And I have to face the reality that because I don’t have a ton of money doesn’t make me more spiritual, it’s just easier to not be materialistic when you can’t afford stuff. I shudder to think how much harder it would be if I had more money to spend.

I guess my objection is that on this one day – this single day in the entire year, we are expected and encouraged to spend inordinate amounts of money, because the SALES ARE SO GREAT… you’ll never beat these deals. And on that day, consumers spend enough money to make the year profitable for retailers. That’s why it’s called Black Friday – so it has a name. It’s not just another day of spending, it’s a day where the entire economy focuses on how much is spent, and if Black Friday is slow, retailers panic. It’s because of this that I can’t simply call it “another day”. It’s because the final tally at the end of the day is a magnified look at how much wealth is pushed around inside the borders of this country, in the name of “giving”. Add on top of that what we all know – most of what we “give” and “receive” could be classified as junk. Gadgets that will sit in a box 6 months from now, clothes we won’t wear (or won’t fit into), toys that break or lose the interest of the kids… I don’t need another coffee mug. I appreciate the thoughts of the person that buys me another mug to enjoy coffee from, but I have lots of mugs. I could probably use a different mug every day until Christmas.

See what I mean? It’s not just another day. It’s a day of hoarding. Yeah, we’re giving away all the stuff to other people, but it’s still hoarding, we’re just relocating the mess.

The estimated cost to alleviate the problem of unclean drinking water in our world is $10 billion. Some estimates say more like $20B, and I’m sure it’s an ongoing problem that wouldn’t be solved today and forever at that price tag. But when you realize that Americans will spend by some estimates $20B today – that’s twenty. billion. dollars. – that doesn’t count the rest of the shopping season, that’s just today, and that’s in an economy where people within our own borders are losing houses and going hungry at alarming rates – you at least have to stop and think. If every American who is shopping today spent half of what they planned on spending, then took the other half and dedicated it to the water issue, there would be a global impact unlike anything the world has ever seen, economically speaking. Would it solve the problem? Doubtful. Would it make such a major impact that the world would be forever changed for it? Absolutely.

So my point is not that we shouldn’t spend. I’ll be buying Christmas gifts this year. If you take this as a reason for feeling guilty, then you’re sorely missing the point. Only a fool turns away God’s blessings – feeling guilty about what He’s given us is a slope we’ll never stop slipping down. It’s why I don’t live in a hut on the prairie. How long before I feel guilty that there is a clean stream flowing by my hut, and lots of wildlife to subsist on? The point is that if we balance our viewpoint, and understand that all our resources, though given to us, are God’s, we can then approach life with a global perspective. This perspective says that we do live in a wealthy society, and by global standards we are all wealthy. It says that we can enjoy the blessings of being in this place – we can enjoy technology, abundant food, and clean water. But it also says that we have a responsibility not to turn our backs on “the rest”. The poor, the afflicted, the marginalized. We do a great job in our country of simply ignoring the unseen – and if it’s not right in our faces, it’s unseen. So is it possible to enjoy what we have? To buy nice things, to eat well, to give Christmas gifts, and to still willingly shoulder the burden for someone who can’t carry it on their own? I say yes. I say that if we look at things with balance, and not get caught in one extreme or the other, we can make a difference. I know that sounds like a cheesy PSA on network TV, but it’s true. That’s why I believe in what Advent Conspiracy is doing. Not because I think celebrating the Advent of the Christ needs to be repackaged, or that I think anything substitutes for sharing the love of Christ and God’s unmatched sacrifice with all who will hear – but because I think living with the entirety of God’s creation in mind is our responsibility.

Spend less – don’t stop spending. Go ahead and keep our economy spinning. But take time to consider whether there are better ways to allocate the resources we’ve been given.

We’re creeping ever closer to the end of this year… and what a year it has been. I know it’s a little early to do a “year in review” post, but mostly I’m just taking Thanksgiving to be glad for where we are, where we’ve been, and what we’ve been given. We went to Disneyland in the spring. We spent 2-1/2 weeks on the road to the PNW in late summer – that’s almost an entire month of vacation. I’m very thankful for that. Samuel Max (aka, our baby) turned 5 a few days ago… the picture is of me and Sam leaving the rec center on his birthday. I’ve had plenty of work to do, which hasn’t made us rich by any means, but week by week we get by and are consistently provided for. It’s hard not to be discontent with the fluid nature of not knowing how things will work out day by day, but it’s an experience that stretches our faith. And slowly, my businesses is establishing better means for keeping the bills paid, which in the end is really all I can ask for.

Much of my blogging effort has been going into ProSportsColorado.com… it’s a sports writing site, that we’re trying to lean more towards journalism than blogging. It’s been fun, and I’ve managed to put together a great group of guys that write and share my passion for local sports. It’s beginning to take shape of something that could be more of a business model than I ever dreamed possible.

I have lots of other things to write about, but for today, I just want to enjoy being thankful . . . for my kids, my wife, the abundant food, the beautiful mountains I can see from our house. And perhaps I’ll blog again soon.

The last post found me sitting in Bandon, enjoying the quiet and the ocean… from there it was something of a whirlwind. We left Bandon Monday morning (the 17th), and arrived in Salem late afternoon. It was fun to wander around some of the places we hung out when we were first married. We actually started by stopping in at the college (Corban – formerly known as Western Baptist). It was rather surreal to be walking around that place, particularly with three children in tow. We saw a couple of our old professors, then quickly moved on to downtown, where we grabbed an iced coffee and meandered about the town a bit. The evening ended up with a picnic at Riverfront Park with some old dear friends.

From Salem, we headed up to Vancouver – which set off a week of here to there bouncing about to see as many people as possible. The week was filled with soaking in all the things we love about the Northwest – all our favorite coffeeshops, restaurants, hang-out spots, and people.

The week in Vancouver was a little strange, because for the time I was there, I felt completely disconnected from Colorado life. It’s as if everything we had here was a million miles away. What is odd, was that I didn’t miss Colorado, at least not while I was away. It wasn’t until the drive home that I really felt reminded that Colorado is home now. It was great to see the mountains again! I think what happened is that being in the NW we actually experienced some true recharging. We didn’t get a ton of physical rest, but heaps and heaps of emotional, mental, and spiritual rest. Now that we’re home, I don’t feel a million miles from Vancouver – I feel reconnected with old friends, and refreshed by renewing those connections.

All in all, it was definitely an epic road trip for this family. 17 days gone – 5 of them spent in the car! – makes home a comfy place to be. From here, there is lots of work to catch up on, school for the kids, and the opening of a new chapter in the topsy-turvy story that God is writing for our lives. We’re making some pretty significant decisions over the next several weeks about church planting, and what our process looks like from here.

I’d love to talk more, but I have a lot of work that sat for 17 days that needs to be given some attention. Epic road trips aren’t cheap.

After a long three days on the road, here we are hanging in Bandon. We set out early Monday morning (which means we finally got the car packed and out the garage by 8am) heading north on I-25. We stopped in Laramie Wyoming at Coal Creek Coffee for a little pick-me-up. I had seen a couple of their baristas at the Mountain Regional Barista Competition, and they fared pretty well, so I was hoping for a fantastic coffee experience. What I got was an OK coffee experience, more like what I’d expect in Wyoming. I’m sure they have better work in them… but what I got was very average. Either way, we kept on driving, hoping to get to our campground by nightfall.

We drove across Wyoming. Then across Wyoming. Did I mention we were in Wyoming? It seems like forever when you’re driving across WYOMING. All. Freaking. Day. We ended up finding the campground, no thanks to GoogleMaps, which routed us to the wrong end of the lake putting us off course by 40+ miles. Once we got to the park, we pulled in, set up camp, enjoyed some New Belgium Sunshine Wheat (in a can!) while the kids enjoyed some A&W root beer, and watched the sun set over the Great Salt Lake. It was a very relaxing experience.

The next morning we got up and headed across western Utah and into Nevada. A quick early afternoon stop in Battle Mountain to see some of Priscilla’s old family friends and more driving, and we ended up in Reno just after dark. We checked into our room, and I wandered down to see if there was anything happening in the poker room. It was more of a poker “area”, with not a soul at the tables. Really, I just needed to sleep anyway, so we crashed for the night, then headed out first thing in the morning.

We drove across the Lassen National Forest in California, which took us along the edge of a pretty significant wildfire that had just been contained, then across CA-299, from Redding to the coast. That, my friends, is one windy highway. That’s windy, with a long “I”, as in ridiculous amounts of curves. Couple that with the constant construction stops, and the trip to the coast took all day. We stopped in Crescent City for pizza, then headed up 101 into Oregon, arriving in Bandon about 9:45pm.

It’s been since January of 2008 since I’ve been here… we were here over Christmas just 7 months after we moved. Priscilla was back the following June when Rena passed away, but that’s it. It’s not that I’m dying to move back – it’s just nice to be here after such a long absence. The air smells great, I can fill my lungs with rich, moist, oxygenated air again! So now we’re enjoying time with Priscilla’s family in Bandon, complete with tromping around on the beach. Monday we’ll head up to the Willamette Valley – a little time in Salem, poking around our old stomping grounds in Portland, and lots of visiting with friends and family in Vancouver. Then before you know it, it will be the 25th and we’ll be on our way back eastward to the other side of the Rockies. All in all, this is shaping up to be an amazing vacation. Disneyland was great – but not so relaxing. This will be some refreshing and recharging time – and will end up being the most vacation we’ve ever taken in one year before (25 days!).

Now to head off to Old Town Bandon where I will go in search of a proper bowl of clam chowder.

Normally I’d have some big apology for being such a terrible infrequent blogger, but this time the long hiatus was kindof intentional. Not in a “I’m abandoning my blog” sort of way, but in a “I am choosing to do other things” sort of way. I really did sit down intending to post more than once, but finally just gave in to the pressure and/or desire to put my energy elsewhere. That’s how I’ve felt lately.

There really is a lot going on around here, more than I’ll put into this post. It’s late, and I need to get to bed. I just spent a couple hours playing online poker with a friend from Vancouver… it’s nice that we can still play cards together, even if the cards are pixels instead of plastic or paper. Even better that it’s for play money.

The big thing is that I’ll be wrapping up my time as worship pastor at Jacob’s Well in order to proceed with church planting. Not sure where that goes in the short term, other than we’re going to be looking pretty hard at moving down toward Highlands ASAP. That’s exciting, in and of itself. More on church planting soon – it’s going to be occupying more and more time as the months wear on.

We’ll me making a trip to the Northwest in August. More details on that coming soon. And since the work that looked so steady has pretty much dried up lately, it’s going to be on a shoestring budget. The bright side is that we have plenty of places to stay/eat/mooch while we are there. I’m thinking about popping up a paypal donation button as well, just for fun.

Well– I do have more to say, but I’m sleepy. I’ll have to make this blogging thing a habit.

From Vacation 09 – Check in at DLH

After arriving at the Disneyland Hotel (henceforth known as the DLH), we were of course very tired. The kids were in a bit of shock, I think… and the coolest thing that could have happened, was while standing in the lobby waiting for me to check in, Goofy came wandering by. So immediately upon arrival, they got to meet one of the Disney characters. Sam attacked him with big hugs and they got pictures – click the link under the above photo to go to the album to see the photos.

From there we headed up to our 9th floor room. We brought in all our stuff, changed our clothes and got cleaned up (too many hours in the car!), and then headed down to explore Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is just a giant outdoor mall, with the centerpiece being the most enormous Disney Store. We had dinner at the ESPN Zone, then walked around looking at the various shops. We closed out the night with a swim at the hotel swimming pool (Neverland Pool, complete with Captain Hook’s pirate ship). Then it was off to bed to get ready for the next 3 days of theme park fun and over-stimulation.

Next chapter – first day at Disneyland.

From Vacation 09 – Breakfast in Vegas

So I gave up on live-blogging the trip because the whole process of photo-sharing and such was going to be a nightmare. So you can get it all in post-trip installments. Click the link above to check out the photo album from Day 1 of our trip.

On the way home from church Sunday, I called a very serious Family Meeting™. It was in this meeting that I sent the kids all over the house finding clues, which ultimately led them to a stack of Disney Admission passes. They were having a hard time getting the clue – until I finally broke and yelled “We’re going to Disneyland, and we’re leaving today!” Zoe actually did not believe me. Her exact words were, “That’s so not true, Daddy”. I was dismayed that my words were so easily brushed off as lies, but pleased that the surprise had been pulled off so well. I showed them the hotel reservation, the tickets, and then ushered them up to their room to pack their bags. At this point, they finally began to believe and much squealing ensued.

We got the car packed up, and headed up the mountains to have dinner with our friends in Gypsum. It was wonderful to see them again, and to spend some time chatting. As it got dark, we figured we should get going, and then proceeded down the western slope of the Rockies and into the desert. This is where having 3 drivers came in handy. I drove to Grand Junction, then Priscilla picked up there and drove to somewhere in Utah, then Nick took over and drove the rest of the way into Vegas. We were crossing the Nevada stateline at Mesquite about sunrise.

With the sun to light our way, we pushed through some Monday morning traffic and drove down the Vegas strip at 7am on Monday morning. The Strip is a quiet place that time of day. We found a place to park (illegally, I think, but suffered no consequences) and went into the Paris hotel where we ate at a little creperie. Nick and I ventured to the sportsbook and considered putting a couple dollars down on the Mariners to win the AL pennant, but we weren’t thrilled with the odds, so we escaped Vegas without gambling so much as a penny. We walked up and down the strip for a while to get the wiggles out, gawked at the casinos, and then hopped back in the car where I picked up driving duties again.

We crossed the Mojave desert, and as we approached Riverside (east LA), traffic started to pick up. It took me a few minutes to get my LA driving skills back in tune, but once I did it was bobbing and weaving at 85mph for the last hour of the trip. We pulled off the freeway to discover it was 105 degrees in Anaheim that day – not what we expected! But just as traffic was getting bad, we found our exit and pulled into the parking lot at the Disneyland Hotel.

Stay tuned for the next photo album and recap – checking in at Disneyland Hotel and exploring Downtown Disney.

There was much squealing, after some initial disbelief.

We are packed and heading out the door in approximately 15 minutes.

Next check-in will be from the Disneyland Hotel.

Here’s how it begins – I have to make it quick because I’m heading off to church in a few minutes.

When we get home from church, I’m calling a family meeting wherein I’ll be informing our kids that we’ve decided to go to Disneyland. Today. They’ll have about 2 hours to get their stuff together, and we’re out the door. California, here we come. Will try to photoblog when the opportunity arises.

I can’t wait to see their faces.