Thursdays for me are bitter-sweet. In some ways they are really nice because all of the planning that goes into my Wednesday nights (see previous post) is done. The hard part is I usually have so much I need to get accomplished on Thursdays so I can enjoy my day off on Friday. To add to the mood of my Thursdays, this is all our trash day. For the past couple of weeks, my routine of mowing our lawn each week has been thrown off. Some of this is due to weather, but most of it has been thanks to the busyness of summer in the life of a youth pastor. On the weeks that I do get to mow, my trash can is pretty full by the time Thursday rolls around. Since I haven't been able to mow, however, we have had very little trash to get rid of the past few weeks. As I leave for work, I have looked the trash cans in my neighborhood and seen full and sometimes overflowing cans. The sight of their garbage makes me feel like a failure for not having more to be collected by our trash crew. Then I was reminded of a sermon I heard about a year ago by Louie Giglio. He spoke on how we as Americans consume so much that we never consider that amount of waste that we are producing.
Even though I have never been a huge environmentalist, I do wish to take care of God's creation while I am alive. I do my best to not waste food, water, etc., but it isn't always my first concern. Thinking back on our trash day, I felt better about not having an overflowing trash can. Part of me felt like I was paying for a service that wasn't being fully used. I am in no way judging my neighbors because there are many times when I take full advantage of our trash collection. The lesson I have learned and am still learning from trash days is to be careful not to be so wasteful. Not only do I tend to create unnecessary waste, but I also do not need to be consumed with this world. I also find it amazing our something like taking out the trash can teach me a lesson about a loving God. I'm so glad that He uses the simple things in life to teach my simple mind.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Lost Without Lost
Here I am wondering what I'm doing starting a blog. Am I just doing this to keep up with the latest trend? Am I doing this to fit in? Part of me says that it will be fun while part of me just views blogging as another "thing" to add to my crazy to-do list. This past summer I had the opportunity to speak during one of our Super Summer sessions. The topic I was speaking on brought up the point that as leaders, we have to rid ourselves of anything that might hinder us as we lead. While we all can think of the bad things in life to get rid of (time spent online, time spent watching TV, just being lazy, etc.) we also had to realize that there are a lot of good things that can hinder our relationship with God. My fear is that this will take away time I should be spending with God, but my hope is that I will be able to use this free resource to express what I am learning as I grow closer to God. As a dad and a husband, I will naturally use this as a place to talk about my family, but I also hope to use this as a way to deepen my relationship with the God who created me.
From the title, you may already know what I'm talking about or you may have no clue. For the past couple of years I have held to a tradition on Wednesday nights. As a youth pastor, Wednesday seems to be the busiest day of the week for me. Sure, Sunday's can be pretty hectic, but since I am responsible to teach on Wednesday nights, I spend a great amount of time preparing for and conducting Wednesdays. After getting home from church, I usually just want to veg and not do anything. Enter one of my favorite TV shows into the picture: LOST! From the first episode of Lost, I was hooked. Being that Lost is on Wednesday nights, I have for the past couple of years finished church on Wednesday nights, helped put Emily to bed, and watched Lost. It is something that I look forward to since I am able to unwind from a long day at church. Even though the summer months do not include new episodes of the TV shows I watch, I am usually so busy with youth ministry activities that I don't have time to watch TV. So, I don't mind getting my Lost "fix" if you will.
No big deal until you find out that your TV show will not be starting until February of 2008. There goes my tradition. To be honest I really miss coming home from church and being able to watch Lost. I have tried to replace it with other stuff on TV, but it nothing else does the trick. Part of me knows that this is silly and the show will start next year and part of me feels bad for allowing something other than God to draw so much of my attention. I am not saying that watching Lost on Wednesdays is a bad thing in and over itself, but I do know that I must balance my desire to watch a TV show that will end after about 45 minutes with my desire to spend time with God. He is truly our greatest treasure and nothing this world has to offer can compare to Him. So, while I may feel "lost without lost," I am never lost because I have eternal life through Jesus Christ.
From the title, you may already know what I'm talking about or you may have no clue. For the past couple of years I have held to a tradition on Wednesday nights. As a youth pastor, Wednesday seems to be the busiest day of the week for me. Sure, Sunday's can be pretty hectic, but since I am responsible to teach on Wednesday nights, I spend a great amount of time preparing for and conducting Wednesdays. After getting home from church, I usually just want to veg and not do anything. Enter one of my favorite TV shows into the picture: LOST! From the first episode of Lost, I was hooked. Being that Lost is on Wednesday nights, I have for the past couple of years finished church on Wednesday nights, helped put Emily to bed, and watched Lost. It is something that I look forward to since I am able to unwind from a long day at church. Even though the summer months do not include new episodes of the TV shows I watch, I am usually so busy with youth ministry activities that I don't have time to watch TV. So, I don't mind getting my Lost "fix" if you will.
No big deal until you find out that your TV show will not be starting until February of 2008. There goes my tradition. To be honest I really miss coming home from church and being able to watch Lost. I have tried to replace it with other stuff on TV, but it nothing else does the trick. Part of me knows that this is silly and the show will start next year and part of me feels bad for allowing something other than God to draw so much of my attention. I am not saying that watching Lost on Wednesdays is a bad thing in and over itself, but I do know that I must balance my desire to watch a TV show that will end after about 45 minutes with my desire to spend time with God. He is truly our greatest treasure and nothing this world has to offer can compare to Him. So, while I may feel "lost without lost," I am never lost because I have eternal life through Jesus Christ.
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