the Herald

I must admit that I am usually not a big fan of our church’s offical publication, the Herald. I usually don’t find much value in reading it. Often, I simply scan it for pictures of friends or articles that jump out at me. Unfortunately, not many articles catch my attention. This month was different. I was drawn in by the article Statements of Faith & Beliefs (pg 12-14). At first glance it is nothing more than a statement of basic Christian beliefs about Christ. For me, however, it represents much more. My young adult friends and I often discuss where our church fits in to the larger Christian community. We often struggle with the fact that at times it seems that our church doesn’t stand for anything or it is at least difficult to define what it is we do stand for. Other churches seem to have it easier in some ways by simply telling people what to believe. Personally, I love that our church allows us to freely explore our beliefs. Still, I think a few statements from the world church affirming some core values will go along way for some in answering the question “what does your church believe? I am very excited that the church’s first statement is about Christ. In my discernment about re-designing our worship service at Troy, I have been filled with the sense that our worship needs to get back to being about Christ. On any given week, worship has some elements about Jesus but the service is also filled with many other things that are more for us than for God. I firmly believe that no matter how we worship or what our exact theology is, if Christ is at the center of what we do as a church, then lives will be transformed and our church will flourish. As I continued on through the Herald, I came across an article written by my sister-in-law Julie (pg19). It was a wonderful expression of Christ’s meaning in her life. I echo the sentiment Jesus is our friend, brother, and savior. That’s exactly the message we need to take into the world. I feel so blessed to have Julie as a sister. It’s so wonderful to have family (obviously my wife Sarah included)who share my passion for serving Christ. I’ll leave you with words from our president Steve Veazey, “In response to the question about what we believe, whatever else we say, our answer should obviously always begin and end with, we believe in Jesus Christ.”

the “Jan”

Have you ever noticed that the vast majority of our moms all have similar haircuts. You know the look; it’s short with minimal style. A woman usually gets this haircut somewhere in her 40’s or 50’s. An unscientific poll taken of my young male friends all agree that this hair style is not at all sexy. This hairdo is named after my friend John’s mom. She has had this haircut for many years now and there is no sign of change anytime soon. The name “Jan” is also perfect because the generic nature of the name matches the hairstyle it represents. It can be applied to any woman with that cut, just like you refer to someone as a Jane Doe or John Q Taxpayer. The apparent advantage of this style must be in the minimal amount of effort it takes to get ready in the morning. John points out that his mom’s routine is always the same “curl, curl, curl, brush, brush, brush”. Perhaps it’s for this reason that other woman perpetuate the spreading of the “Jan”. It’s not uncommon for a woman to tell another woman sporting a “Jan” that it looks cute. From a male point of view, I feel that the appearance of the “Jan” in some way signifies that woman throwing in the beauty towel. It’s like at that moment they’ve given up trying to look sexy. The “Jan” from time to time pops up in younger woman too. It looks even more out of place on them. You can all think of a few woman who have unsuccessfully tried this look before their time. There are even different variations of the “Jan” including the “Spikey Jan”,the “Messy Jan”, and the Jan with longer bangs. (see Teri Hatcher’s picture above for example) Unfortunately, they are all one step closer to the one true “Jan”. I will concede that a few woman look better with shorter, more Jan-like hair, but they are the exception to the rule. The vast majority simply look better in a longer style. I fully understand women in this stage of life wanting an easier, more maintenance free style. However, let’s be honest and not pretend it looks good. I wonder what hairstyle our wives will universally wear. I can only hope that it will not be the “Jan”. Through a little education and honesty we can all do our part to prevent this from happening.
 

project runway

 Ok I am admitting a guilty pleasure I have even though I may be the only guy in america watching this show.  Sarah and I watch project runway every week.  Last night was another example of reality show injustice.  The task each designer faced was to create an outfit out of waste from a recycling plant.  One of my favorite designers, Alison,  was sent home even though her dress was much better than Vincents.  His dress could be made by any kindergarten class in the country. (see above photo )His model couldn’t even walk in it.  Besides he is such a tool.  Sarah and I consistently think he is the worst and needs to go soon.  Hopefully next week. 

torn finger ligament

 

Well last weekend I jammed my finger playing football.  It didn’t seem like much of an injury at the time.  I kept playing for a couple of more hours and even played kickball that night.  the next morning my finger was huge and discolored.  My boss examined it and decided that i have a torn ligament.  That means I have to wear a splint on it for 2 weeks and possibly tape it after that.  I am learning to write and type using different fingers. You would be amazed how much you depend on your index finger on your dominant hand to do stuff.  It is already getting better.  the swelling is much less, the color has returned almost to normal and the pain is minimal.  I’ve included a picture for your viewing pleasure.

new music

Now that I have jumped into the iPod nation, I have come to the realization that I must have stopped listening to music sometime in 1999 or 2000. That never dawned on me before. My only current music is Christian stuff. A guy from our church who is 19 came over and brought a bunch of his music. I am finding all kinds of songs that I have heard before that I didn’t know the artist and lots of stuff I never even knew existed. Right now I am in a phase where I like rap/R&B. I know the words are at times terrible but I am enjoying the beat. Nelly has some cool songs, I like “ridin’ dirty”, and Shakira’s “hips don’t lie”. Christian music is still my favorite and I will always love Poison and other 80’s tunes but I am broadening my tastes a bit. You should try it too.

old guys (and girls) win

Today after church we played touch football. I invited several of our young adult friends and a few Sr high kids. Worship was great, we caught lunch and headed over to the park to play. We decided to break teams up into the over 25 (old team) and under 25 (the kids). I’m happy to say we won 8-4. I guess we aren’t too old yet. In fact our eldest member Mark was one of our best players. It was tons of fun and I hope we can play again soon.

life is burritofull

I had lunch at Chipotle today. It is soooooo good. Sarah and I were thrilled when they started popping up here in Michigan. Eating there always makes me think of our time in Kansas City and our friends who still live there. We miss you guys. Think of us when you inhale your next burrito bowl.

San Francisco

Julie’s blog made me think of cool places that I have been. Last Spring I went to San Fran for a medical conference. It is such an amazing city. Tons of great food, culture, public transportation, and parks. Of course, it helped that all my meals and travel was paid for by the hospital. We even went to a Giants game and I got to see Barry Bonds play which was cool. My personal favorite highlight was biking across the Golden Gate Bridge. I’d love to live out there if I could take my family and friends with me. Even if we all wanted to, none of us could afford it. Housing costs are insane. There are very few places to live under 1/2 million. I guess I’ll just visit sometime. I definately want to go sometime with Sarah in the future. You are all welocme to join us.

movie review: karate kid quadrilogy

Saturday while i was moonlighting I had the chance to watch a couple of the karate kid movies. I received the boxed set last year for Christmas. I had forgotten how much I liked them. I’d even go as far as to say the original is one of my favorites. It’s an uplifting classic story with cheesy karate. You could say it is the perfect 80’s movie. The second one where they travel to Miyagi’s home village is also very good. The third movie is in my opinion the worst of all 4. At this point Daniel was chubby and the story was much weaker than the previous two. It should never have been made. I was surprised that I didn’t hate the Next karate kid as much as I remember. For those of you who don’t remember they made a movie starring Hilary Swank in Daniel’s role as Miyagi’s student. I did find it funny that many of the “high school students” in the movie seemed even older than Luke Perry did on 90210. If you haven’t seen these films in a while, give them a second look.