A Year in Retrospect

Hmmm. What to do for New Years Eve? I say sleep. Sweet wonderful sleep. As I'm now off United Parcel Smashers, I no longer have to get up 2 in the morning for the next month. Just two more days of Bullseye Corp and I'm home free. Monday morning, I hop on the plane for Kansas City for my four week long sabbatical. Pray for the flight that we have decent weather and no terrorists with smokebombs in their pants.

Christmas was good. Had a little get-together with my immediate family, and then later my relatives. Got food, money and a new game Jade Empire. I'm just glad the season is coming to a close and getting ready for a new decade.

Thought I'd at least blog about my life for the last year or so. There was so much to learn, and since the beginning of the year God pulled me out of discouragement and brought me to new places. Still it's been a bit dry spiritually and I am counting the days till I visit an outpouring of the type I haven't seen in years. To be honest it sounds almost unreal, like something that was in the past. I've got to see this for myself.

I'd actually planned this coming trip since the beginning of last year. I love the city of Portland, but I needed a change of pace. Which is interesting as freespirits seem to flock to pdx when they need a change in life. But hey, a conservative midwest culture might do me some good. As long as the house of prayer is there, I'll be fine. I want to be where people are hungry for the presence of God, like I used to be years ago before I got so cynical. Where the arts are finally emphasized in Biblical way and not a cheesy copy of the world. I guess a lot of things going on during a dry season were in preparation for the things to come.

So about this year, well I'm trying to remember. For some reason even at 33, months ago seems like ages ago as I feel like I'm in another stage of life. Where do I even begin? Went to the coast a couple times, Eaglecrest, Mount Saint Helens, went shootin' a couple times, Silver Falls in winter, checked out the usual falls around the gorge a few times, caught a sunrise at Crown Point, camped near Mt Hood with church, went fishing on the Columbia, got pro-tools, wrote a couple good songs, got a mandolin, got my eardrums blasted at a Motorhead concert, got a new tat, and started taking up a martial art. And of course worked my usual two jobs and helped out at church.

For some reason the tat surprised some people, though it's not as big of a deal as some might think as I already had one from the year before. But there is a lot of personal meaning for me as well as my influence from a fantasy novel. Call me weird, but that's how I express myself. It has the coat of arms of an elven king in The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, a diamond type frame with a harp and torch. Below is written the elvish letters for "linde lomesse" which means "song in the night".

One major change was the interest in martial arts, which also came as a surprise to people. The usual sports might not be my thing, but I'm realizing personal fitness shouldn't be ignored. Tae Kwon Do can be pursued intellectually from the foundations, steadily growing step by step with practice and expressing yourself, the same way one might learn a musical instrument or an art...and I wanted to be able to kick butt. Self-defense, fitness, confidence, and discipline are all good things, and it's fun as well. It's certainly better than sitting around getting a beer belly. Make sense? Now that I think about it, the question is why wouldn't anyone want to learn this?

As for church we had a great year. Promises were fulfilled in individual lives and also God brought us together with another church in Camas and we've become one church with the same heart and vision. New faces blended in just fine with each other, and it's hard to imagine life as just the southside anymore. We now have many worshipping singers and musicians with great hearts and a lot of talent. I don't have to feel like I carry the worship team anymore. In fact in a lot of ways they carry me these days.

Pastor is hoping I'll get new songs during my sabbatical. I'm definitely for that, but mainly want to focus on God and get things in order spiritually. You know, get a good perspective as I grow. And if songs come they come, all the better.

So that's all for now folks. Have a great New Year!