Here's Mud in Your Eyes

One of the best things about my current job is that I was able to meet Brian who has become a really good friend of mine. Brian goes to a small, conservative church of Christ here in San Antonio. Once we found out that we were fellow CofC'ers we have had many long conversations about church, the Bible, and life.

Brian and I have a similar sense of humor so we crack each other up a lot, but we have had some pretty deep conversations as well. For some reason, we both instantly felt comfortable enough around each other to hold each other accountable and to be able to challenge each other on anything. We agree on a lot. We disagree on a few things, but we're ok with that and in fact some of our disagreements have produced the most growth in thought and faith in us.

I'm not sure where he heard this, but yesterday Brian called me up (he recently accepted a job across town with another branch of our company) and asked if I had ever heard a certain theory about Jesus healing the blind man by putting mud on his eyes. Neither of us had encountered this theory, but after some thought, it is certainly plausible. Remind yourself of the story quickly:

John 9 True Blindness
1Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?"
3Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. 4We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. 5For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's Light."

6He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man's eyes, 7and said, "Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam" (Siloam means "Sent"). The man went and washed--and saw.


Weird. That has always struck me as weird. I'm sure the guy was all excited when Jesus was showing compassion on him during his monologue preceeding the actual healing. Then all of a sudden, Jesus spits in the dirt and rubs it on the guy's eyes. I'm sure he was really appreciative of that.

Now remind yourself of this passage real quick too:
Gen 2:7
GOD formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive--a living soul!

So why did Jesus rub dirt and spittle on this poor blind guy's eyes? Well if we're made of dirt anyway, is it out of the realm of possibility that Jesus bent down, spit into the dirt to make mud and right there on the spot created organic, healthy eyeballs to put into the man's eyesockets? I don't think so. I know it sounds a little outrageous. It sounds like overkill. Certainly Jesus didn't need to form actual eyes to heal this man.

But he might have. The same divine man that walked on water and turned the water into wine might have decided to go retro and get back to the basic method of creation: turning dirt into flesh.

I guess it doesn't really matter. Either way, God was glorified through a miraculous healing. And the people there in that time, along with us today, are amazed by His power and compassion.

Move dates

The move dates are more solid now:

Feb 21 - Last day of work
Feb 22 - Movers pack stuff
Feb 23 - Movers load stuff
Feb 24 - Travel to MS
Feb 25 - Movers deliver stuff
Mar 1 - Official first day at Meadowbrook

That means our last Sunday at Northside will be Feb 19. It's sad to be leaving Northside, but we are very excited about the move. Yesterday was probably my last day to lead worship at Northside. It was nice to be able to lead my Northside family before the Lord yesterday. I pray individual hearts encountered His heart.

Between our two worship services we held a Ministry Fair, which I think went pretty well. Northside is making a concerted effort to get everyone involved in some form of ministry. I think that's a great goal, and I hope that everyone at the Ministry Fair was able to volunteer for at least 1 ministry.
___________________

You may have noticed my new blog template. The old template was a template I had tried to doctor up, but pretty much just messed up. I never really liked it. I'll just keep this one simple.

I'm again going to try to post more often on the blog. Obviously during the move I may be out of touch, but hopefully I won't have 2 or 3 week gaps in between posts anymore.

I Am Sam

I'm not usually a Sean Penn fan. I think he's a pretty good actor, but most of the movies he has been in aren't usually movies I'm interested in. "I Am Sam" was another movie I didn't have much interest in. Dixie put it in our Netflix queue (I highly recommend Netflix) and within a few days it showed up in our mailbox. I sat down to watch it with her so that we could send it back and get a better movie.

Turns out, "I Am Sam" is a terrific movie. If you have kids, you should watch this movie. In a way the film shamed me. I generally think I'm a pretty good dad, but this movie reminded me that my children are precious, and all they need is love.

With three little ones under the age of 5, I often catch myself looking forward a couple of years, when we'll no longer have diapers in the house; when everyone will be speaking somewhat intelligibly; when everyone can feed themselves, dress themselves, wipe themselves, bathe themselves. Sometimes our chaotic, sleep-deprived lifestyle seems like it will be vastly improved in a few years. How dumb. This time will include many of the highlights of our life. I need to remember that....hopefully I'll remember some of these life highlights in spite of all the sleep deprivation.
_________________

I'm playing poker while I blog....haven't had a good hand in awhile.

_________________



In other news, we did put a contract on a house in MS last weekend. We are really excited about it. It was a long hard search and right before we were going to give up on the last day of our house hunting trip we found the perfect house...perfect in all but one way: it was way out of our price range. It was a forsalebyowner house and we didn't know the price when we first went to look at it. We loved the house but then found the price was just too high for us.

Our realtor called and talked to the owners and they said they were pretty desperate to get rid of the house. Basically, they had had some rough life circumstances and were about to lose the house to the bank. They told us to bring a reasonable offer and they would consider it. I wasn't so sure that our offer was "reasonable", but they accepted it and we'll be closing on or before Feb 17th. More on the move later... ttfn

Sold!

Great News - we signed a contract on our house last night. This is contract #2. The first contract we had was with some friends at church, but unfortunately they aren't going to be able to get out of their lease. God blessed us with 3 or 4 potential buyers that were waiting in the wings in case there was a problem. We reached an agreement with the first person I called on the list. Dixie is taking all the paperwork to the title company today, so we just have to get a date for closing and we'll be done. We are relieved that getting it sold has been so easy. It's obvious that God is taking care of us!

We are leaving to head to Jackson tomorrow to start looking for a house there. We've talked to a realtor who goes to church at Meadowbrook and she has already sent us several listings. She seems very helpful. We are looking forward to the trip. We're going to drive instead of fly which means it will be a long trip, but I think it will be so much easier in the van. Sam and Carol have offered their minivan which is a little bit bigger and it has a TV in it, so that should help make the trip a little more bearable. We are hoping and praying to be able to find a house quickly so we can move right in and not have to put our stuff in storage.

I'm also going to lead worship at Meadowbrook on Sunday. I put together the service a little quicker than I usually like to, but I think it will be a meaningful time of worship and focus on prayer. Jerry Neil, the preaching minister at Meadowbrook, is beginning an 8 week series on The Lord's Prayer, which I think will be a great renewal and inspiration to dig deep into our prayer lives and ensure that our lives are within the will of God. Our first official Sunday will be the 6th or 7th week into the series. I think it will be a great study.

Dixie and the kids have all been fighting colds this week and last. Dixie has the worst of it right now so we are hoping she is better for this weekend. I'm also hoping I don't get it.

Isaac had his 5 yr old check up this week. He did great. He had to get 3 shots in his legs, but he was very brave. Jaylie had to get her 4 month shots too, so Isaac told me that if Jaylie could do it, then he could do it too. I feel like I've been so busy with the house and making arrangements for the move that I've lost some time spent with the kids. I need to make time for them even if I'm busy with the transition. When we get to Jackson, Isaac will go to the preschool at church, which means he can just go with me to work in the mornings and I can walk him down the hall to his classroom. Then after school, I plan to take him out to lunch before I bring him home. I'm really looking forward to this special time I'll have with him. He'll only be in school there for 2 or 3 months before the summer break. Next year will be kindergarten for him, so I plan on really treasuring those couple of months.

More later...

Crazy weekend

What a crazy weekend.

Friday Dixie and I went to see the Spurs beat the T'Wolves. That was a treat! It's fun to go to the games.

On Saturday we had a couple appointments to show the house, but the first people never showed up. By 11:30 in the morning we hadn't had a phone call or a showing and I was getting depressed. I shouldn't have worried. At noon people came to look at the house and then we had non stop traffic in the house from noon till 4:30. I think we showed it to 4 different parties, and a realtor came by to visit with us (i.e. offer to sell it for us), and while we were trying to show it we had probably 5 or so calls about it. I felt better about it after all that. Also, it turns out that a family in our LIFE group would really like to buy it, so we might be able to work that out. We'd love for them to have the house, so we're going to try to hold it for them, although we've been told by two people that they are bringing offers tomorrow. In any case, it looks like we are going to be able to sell it ourselves which will save us a ton of money. It's funny how just as I started to worry about it, the Lord provided.

Then Sunday came around. I went to church at 7:45 for praise team stuff. Dixie and the kids came to class and second service. Then we went to Johnny Carino's for lunch with Sam and Carol. Oh my goodness it was a long lunch. It took about 20 minutes to get a table. That's not a huge deal, I guess. We looked at the menus while we waited for a table so we could order as soon as we sat down. We always tend to rush at restaraunts because the kids only last for so long before they get really restless. Our food took about 45 minutes to get to the table. And, when it finally got there, my pizza was wrong. Come on, Mr. Carino, you need to do better than that. Of course by this time the two little ones were way overdue for their naps and they were pretty miserable. We finally made it out to the van and the battery was dead. Ugh. Sam gave us a jump and we got home by about 2:30.

On the way home we listened to "Sweet Southern Comfort" over and over again. That's all we listen to in the car right now. Isaac thinks it is great that a real song mentions Georgia, San Antonio, and Mississippi - all places where we have lived, live, or will live. The fact that his Uncle Brad wrote the song doesn't really interest him - he just thinks it's cool that he knows those placenames. Ha! Isaac knows the chorus to the song. I tried to get him to call Uncle Brad and sing it to him on the phone, but he wouldn't do it. Roll Tide Roll! (Does the version they play in Austin say "Hook 'Em Horns" instead of "Roll Tide Roll"??)

We checked the answering machine when we got home hoping for more interest in the house and to our surprise, we had 6 messages already. We showed the house 3 more times Sunday afternoon. And two out of the three are planning to bring offers tomorrow. We'll see...

Anyway it's been busy.

As I embark on this adventure the Lord has set before me (both the immediate future of moving to MS, and the longterm adventure that we call "life") I am getting really excited.

The Shawshank Redemption is one the best movies ever made. I think my excitement and hope can by summed up by Red's narration as he is riding the bus to Mexico to join his friend Andy after he has finally made parole:

"I find I am so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free
man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain...I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend
and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope." - Red

Or, more personally...

I find I am so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man in Christ can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is certain...I hope I can make it across the Jordan. I hope to see my Savior and be wrapped in his arms of love. I hope His light is as bright as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

And these three things remain: Faith, Hope, and Love....I long for the day that we will no longer have need of faith and hope, and love will completely envelope us.

EL

For Sale

Well the house is officially on the market now. We are going to try to sell it by owner for a little while. I've got it listed on a couple different websites that point lookers to a website I made for the house. If we don't get a great response, we'll end up listing it with Alan, a realtor at church. Actually the sign has been in the yard less than a week and we've already shown it 3 or 4 times and have at least 2 or 3 appointments to show it this weekend. A couple people seem to be pretty interested so we hope to get an offer pretty soon.

__________

Dixie and I are going to the Spurs game tonight!! It's always a blast to get to go to a game and this will probably be the last one we see in person for awhile. It's also fun that Sam and Carol are watching the kids so we'll have a good date. The boys wanted to spend the night over there tonight, so that will be fun for them. We'll need to go get Jaylie after the game, though.

Last year I only went to 1 game and they lost. Of course. The Spurs only lost 3 home games all year and naturally they lose when I'm there. The Spurs are playing the Minnesota Timberwolves so it should be a pretty good game. I'm hoping for a win. If they lose tonight, I might start to think I'm a jinx for them.

GO SPURS GO!!!

__________

Dixie and I saw "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" on New Year's Eve. It was pretty good. The book was better. I thought the movie would have been greatly improved if they had left in the dialogue between Lucy and Mr. Beaver when Lucy first hears of Aslan. She says something to the effect of "He sounds dangerous and wonderful all at once. I can't wait to meet him." I thought that was one of the highlights of the book.

Have a good weekend!

Christ is Lord in 2006!

Bloggers, I hope 2005 was a joyous year for you. I know, though, that some of you did not have a joyous 2005. I hope 2006 will bring you blessings beyond what you expect. However, I'm sure 2006 will be a disappointment to some of you. No matter how much we prepare and plan, life can sometimes throw us curve balls. As we journey through this life that we mark by calendar years, let us remember the one thing we can be sure of: Jesus the Christ is Lord! Jehovah God is our creator and the pursuer of our souls! God gave us this life, and He gives us an ever lasting life as well.

I could stand to lose a little weight. But my New Year's resolution is to renew my devotion to my Lord; to completely submit to Him; and to be an active part of the incarnate body of Christ, that we call the church. I ask each of you to hold me accountable to this resolution.

I know God has great things in store for all of us this year and beyond. I hope and pray that each one of you can have God's peace in your lives and experience all His rich blessings.

May 2006 be the year that we hear the trumpets and see the Lord of Lords and King of Kings riding on his white horse, ready to call us home.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! AMEN!
Rev 1:5,6

For His Glory,
EL