Words from Pastor ANdrew
Remember
I hope this week has been filled with times of rest and reflection. I hope that you are finding time to celebrate with those you love and remember the Christ child being born. It is always funny how fast the year goes and around October we start to think…
“oh man, it is almost time to file my taxes…”
Winter is Coming
Did you know winter doesn’t begin on November 1st. Or on Black Friday. Or on December 1st. The first day of winter begins on a day called the winter solstice or midwinter. This date is either December 21st or 22nd. That day, right before Christmas is the day winter technically begins.
You Win Some…
This week we began Advent. At our dinner table we light a candle around our homemade advent wreath, read scripture and reflect upon the idea of waiting with expectation in this season.
New Eyes
I recently got contacts for the first time. Don’t worry, I’ve been wearing glasses for over 25 years and decided now is the time to try something new. Truth be told, I didn’t wear my glasses very much when I first got them in the mid 90’s. It was only to be able to see in class or at the movies. I was always able to successfully pass vision tests for license renewals and I could get away with only wearing them every once in awhile. But I distinctly remember the first time wearing them and feeling like it was incredibly disorienting. What was previously out of focus was now oddly clear…but I wasn’t used to it, so it actually felt off or incorrect. Hence why I didn’t wear them very often.
Selah
It’s not uncommon that we like to play misery poker. We try to one up one another with our health problems, our family drama, how ridiculous a co-worker is, how unreasonable an in-law is, how terrible our day has been and on and on. This one upping to see who is more miserable is really a terrible way to pass time…and unfortunately this is something most of us will do left to our own devices. I have had conversations with my kids where their day is a bit off…and they immediately start looking for how difficult school is and how mean the bus driver was and how they don’t have a certain piece of technology…and on and on. Many of us start at our worst…and look for things to get worse. We start down and go downward.
To Restore
I recently borrowed a pressure washer from someone. When I started to rinse off an area on the side of my house that had mud and grime, stuff started to come off that I didn’t even know was there. Stains that had tinted the grout around the bricks. Dirt that had found its way into the crevices of the exterior of the house. And more stuff started to fall away from the cleansing water that I didn’t even realize was making my house dirty. I felt so accomplished after I finished one side of my house…that I started to work on the fence.
Fake Fall
We are living in fake fall. It’s not real fall. Fall doesn’t start until…wait for it…Thursday, September 22nd. That is a month from now…and yet we are in the midst of fake fall. Pumpkin and cinnamon things are sneaking into our grocery carts and coffee orders. Our pineapple and coconut have been prematurely traded for pumpkin and chai. People are growing out their facial hair…maybe that is just me…and assessing their flannel and boots. We claim an 85 degree morning that is overcast as that cool fall air. We see (and buy) apple orchard soap, fall farmers market candles, and crisp autumn morning wax melts. Just for clarity, all of those things smell lovely as soap, candles, and wax melts…but they smell nothing like the actual thing. Apple orchards smell like…well…I’m not sure what they smell like…but probably not cinnamon apple sauce soap.
Cloffice
I have an office at home that Sarah built into a closet. It’s my “cloffice”. It’s a thing on Pinterest. Google it. Now the nice thing about having a “cloffice” is that it doesn’t take up a ton of space, it isn’t an eye sore, and I can close the closet doors and it disappears. The bad thing is, I can close the closet doors and it will disappear.
Waiting
No one has ever described me as a yard guy. No one has ever come to me to ask for gardening advice. I have never been described as having a green thumb. Now, you might describe Sarah that way, but definitely not me. When Sarah and I bought our first house I in Kansas City it had a yard…but I did not have a lawn mower.
Come To The Light
We have this awesome old Jeep. And by “old” I mean, 1992. And by “awesome” I mean it has some serious issues. I knew when I got it that it had some problems…but I love it and if I’m honest, I love the attention it gets from other people. It’s one of those vehicles that people see it and either think, “that thing is awesome!” or they think, “is that thing street legal?”
Remember
I hope this week has been filled with times of rest and reflection. I hope that you are finding time to celebrate with those you love and remember the Christ child being born. It is always funny how fast the year goes and around October we start to think…
“oh man, it is almost time to file my taxes…”
Winter is Coming
Did you know winter doesn’t begin on November 1st. Or on Black Friday. Or on December 1st. The first day of winter begins on a day called the winter solstice or midwinter. This date is either December 21st or 22nd. That day, right before Christmas is the day winter technically begins.
You Win Some…
This week we began Advent. At our dinner table we light a candle around our homemade advent wreath, read scripture and reflect upon the idea of waiting with expectation in this season.
New Eyes
I recently got contacts for the first time. Don’t worry, I’ve been wearing glasses for over 25 years and decided now is the time to try something new. Truth be told, I didn’t wear my glasses very much when I first got them in the mid 90’s. It was only to be able to see in class or at the movies. I was always able to successfully pass vision tests for license renewals and I could get away with only wearing them every once in awhile. But I distinctly remember the first time wearing them and feeling like it was incredibly disorienting. What was previously out of focus was now oddly clear…but I wasn’t used to it, so it actually felt off or incorrect. Hence why I didn’t wear them very often.
Selah
It’s not uncommon that we like to play misery poker. We try to one up one another with our health problems, our family drama, how ridiculous a co-worker is, how unreasonable an in-law is, how terrible our day has been and on and on. This one upping to see who is more miserable is really a terrible way to pass time…and unfortunately this is something most of us will do left to our own devices. I have had conversations with my kids where their day is a bit off…and they immediately start looking for how difficult school is and how mean the bus driver was and how they don’t have a certain piece of technology…and on and on. Many of us start at our worst…and look for things to get worse. We start down and go downward.
To Restore
I recently borrowed a pressure washer from someone. When I started to rinse off an area on the side of my house that had mud and grime, stuff started to come off that I didn’t even know was there. Stains that had tinted the grout around the bricks. Dirt that had found its way into the crevices of the exterior of the house. And more stuff started to fall away from the cleansing water that I didn’t even realize was making my house dirty. I felt so accomplished after I finished one side of my house…that I started to work on the fence.
Fake Fall
We are living in fake fall. It’s not real fall. Fall doesn’t start until…wait for it…Thursday, September 22nd. That is a month from now…and yet we are in the midst of fake fall. Pumpkin and cinnamon things are sneaking into our grocery carts and coffee orders. Our pineapple and coconut have been prematurely traded for pumpkin and chai. People are growing out their facial hair…maybe that is just me…and assessing their flannel and boots. We claim an 85 degree morning that is overcast as that cool fall air. We see (and buy) apple orchard soap, fall farmers market candles, and crisp autumn morning wax melts. Just for clarity, all of those things smell lovely as soap, candles, and wax melts…but they smell nothing like the actual thing. Apple orchards smell like…well…I’m not sure what they smell like…but probably not cinnamon apple sauce soap.
Cloffice
I have an office at home that Sarah built into a closet. It’s my “cloffice”. It’s a thing on Pinterest. Google it. Now the nice thing about having a “cloffice” is that it doesn’t take up a ton of space, it isn’t an eye sore, and I can close the closet doors and it disappears. The bad thing is, I can close the closet doors and it will disappear.
Waiting
No one has ever described me as a yard guy. No one has ever come to me to ask for gardening advice. I have never been described as having a green thumb. Now, you might describe Sarah that way, but definitely not me. When Sarah and I bought our first house I in Kansas City it had a yard…but I did not have a lawn mower.
Come To The Light
We have this awesome old Jeep. And by “old” I mean, 1992. And by “awesome” I mean it has some serious issues. I knew when I got it that it had some problems…but I love it and if I’m honest, I love the attention it gets from other people. It’s one of those vehicles that people see it and either think, “that thing is awesome!” or they think, “is that thing street legal?”