Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Tsunami Disaster

67,000 people dead in Asia ... and those who search and rescue and not even close to being done. The count is sure to rise. I cannot even wrap my mind around something as devastating as that.

It's so easy to be indifferent because this tragedy affects people on the other side of the world. Until a couple of days ago I would have butchered the definition of tsunami on a multiple choice test.

I was watching CNN a on Monday and they had a clip of a dad carrying his young son who had died in the tragedy. All I could do was hug my daughter ...

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Coffee in a car … literally.

Last week I stopped at Starbucks on the way home from Houston. I really enjoy good strong coffee and for reasons not relevant to this post, on that day I hadn’t had my normal caffeine consumption quota. So I was really looking forward to a strong cup of Christmas blend.

It kinda ticks me off that during the holidays, all Starbucks brews for “coffee of the day” is Christmas blend. At least during the other 10 ½ months there is a variety. Sumatra is my all time favorite “coffee of the day” and it is the least often served. I should quit whining and buy myself a pound of Sumatra and just brew it at home.

But on this day I braved the traffic in Pearland and made it to the Starbucks on 518. It was super crowded with holiday shoppers and after standing in line for a while listening to people order half caf non-fat frapawhippedcreame non-coffee dessert drinks; I ordered a cup of Christmas Blend and a oatmeal cranberry mountain bar for me and ordered a Chai Latte to take home to Andrea. The coffee smelled really good and I couldn’t wait to get on the road and take a drink. I was having one of those massive cravings that intensified the closer I got to moving beyond the smell and onto the consummation of tasting the strong coffee.

I pulled out of the shopping center and got behind a lady at the red light who was in her convertible with the top down screaming at the top of her lungs at every driver who was, in her estimation, an idiot for being in her way. She was one of those “as a matter of fact I do own the road” kinds of people. I thought it was funny enough to watch for a while. I was holding my cup of coffee in my free hand and due to the distraction hadn’t taken a drink. I decided I should set it down until I could get on the highway so that it wouldn’t be such a distraction. As I set my cup down I was watching the lady who was still screaming at people using words a discipleship pastor cannot type into his blog, and I missed the cup holder by a mere fraction of an inch and dumped the whole cup of black coffee all over the front seat of my car and my blue jeans and a book I had on the floorboard and on a business card notebook – it was everywhere.

I was not a happy camper. I was already behind schedule and out of pocket change. I was in traffic and was not about to go back and brave the line at Starbucks. All I could do was drive home and eat my oatmeal cranberry mountain bar and sniff the smell of heaven in a cup … well … not in a cup anymore. Now it was heaven all over my floorboard.

Sometimes what I want the most seems in my grasp, but my clumsiness and fascination with the irrelevant details around me puts it out of reach. Maybe I didn’t need that cup of coffee anyway. Some parts of some days stink, even when they smell like coffee. At least Andrea enjoyed the Chai.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

20 miles

I ran 20 miles yesterday morning. It was cold, it was ugly, it was brutal, but I made it. Hopefully at the end of the day on January 16, 2005 I will be able to say the last three words of that sentence.

The 20 miler was the longest run on this marathon training program. One of my goals for marathon training was to at least make it to the starting line and barring some freak accident I'll make it, so I am happy. Now all that is left is a three week taper, and to run and finish the race. I have no other goal. No time goal, no one to try to beat except my mind.

Snow?

Snow in Lake Jackson Texas on Christmas morning ... how strange is that?

This will be a Christmas my kids will never forget.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

I'll be back ...

Someone emailed me yesterday and asked "have you quit blogging?" Which surprised me that they noticed. But no I haven't retired from blogging forever. It's just that blogging has been a low priority in the list of priorities and there hasn't been much in my head worth blogging about anyway (not that there ever is).

Like Arnold though, "I'll be back." (Read with an Austrian accent)

Friday, December 03, 2004

The Lost Art of Living

the cross neither jewelry nor icon nor charm
the cross held a lover who died in my arms
under the weight of the hammer I held
the space between heaven and everything
spanned
and the lost art of living was found again
when the cross became loving and Christ became friend
- ben pasley

Sports?

The sports world has gone crazy. The dramas are overshadowing the games and it makes all of it almost unwatchable - from fights with the fans to steroid use.

I’m amazed. Mainly I’m amazed that people are surprised at the recent news that confirms some athletes have used steroids. I usually give people the benefit of the doubt, but it takes a lot to surprise or shock me anymore. Haven’t we all had this sneaking suspicion that the sports records that are broken lately are broken with the help of chemicals?

Check out this article about the Balco founder --> Link

Well it’s off to a minor league hockey game.... Go Aeros!

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Teaching Big and Teaching Small

I’ve thought quite a bit lately about what it means to be a teacher. I have always enjoyed teaching, but most of my teaching experience is in a small group setting. It hasn’t been until recently that I have taught in front of a large group of people with a more formal delivery style. What I do in on Sunday mornings is very different than what I do in a Home Team (small group) at Brazos Pointe Fellowship. In a small group I am more a part of the learning experience rather than driving the learning experience – I am just a participant in the conversation.

Maggi Dawn is an Anglican priest and Chaplin at King’s College Cambridge in England and she teaches in the college context. Here’s what she says about teaching in a large group setting:

“In a lecture you stand six feet above contradiction (or down in the safety of the auditorium stage); you are in control of the material, you prepare beforehand, you say what you have to say and no-one gets to ask you anything.”

Sometimes that’s what Sunday morning feels like … “six feet above contradiction”. And that is why I like teaching in a small group setting as much as a large group and sometimes more. Listen again to Maggie Dawn this time about the small group setting:

“…you talk for a while, and then other people pile in. They discuss … They ask questions that range far and wide; great questions that would take twenty minutes to address properly, or sometimes aggressive questions based on an adverse reaction to a text. In a class(small group), the teacher is just as likely (perhaps more likely even) to learn something new than the students.”

To be in a small group is to engage with fellow travelers in this journey of life as a follower of Jesus; it's to understand others and be understood. It's to engage other Christians so that you can more readily engage the world around you.

Teaching teaches me and that’s why I like to teach. But my hope for those of you who listen is that you would engage as a fellow learner, and if you ever think “I don’t know if I agree with Tommy”, then nail me with it. I may not come around to your way of thinking but I would love to have the conversation.

Again from Maggie Dawn’s blog; she quotes someone named Joseph Joubert:

"To teach is to learn twice."

“Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love the truth.”

For more from Maggie Dawn click here -> link

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Oh, Christmas Tree

We went as a family and picked out a skinny Christmas tree tonight. It was an all time record short time. Jakeb grabbed a tree and said “How about this one?” And we all said, “looks good”. The Stunz family agreed on something, quickly, from the beginning (a first).

Then we got home and things changed. Tori and Jakeb got into an argument about the lights on the tree. Tori thought the tree should have all white lights, Jakeb thought the lights should be colorful. His position was that colorful lights are better for when you wake up in the morning and turn them on (Jakeb still has a sense of wonder and awe at Christmas). Tori thought all white lights would be “cool”. So we had a family vote. Jakeb rallied the troops and he, Anna and I formed an alliance and voted Tori off of the island…. Okay not really, she’s still on the island but the Christmas tree has colorful lights on it.


Have a Heart

Caution: running post ahead. If you are sick of reading about my running you can skip this next post.

At the beginning of last year I read John “the penguin” Bingham and Jenny Hadfield’s book Marathoning for Mortals. In it they said that most people, given the correct training, have the physical ability to run a marathon (26.2 miles). The reason most people don’t run one is because they don’t have the heart for it.



This morning I was perfectly physically capable of running the eight miles my training schedule called for but my heart wasn’t into it. I got out anyway and when I was finished I was glad I ran.

I’ve sung this same tune here before, but today it got me to thinking about choices in life in general. Running is such a mental pursuit, just like life. If I could just make up my mind that I will do the hard thing and make the best choice rather than taking the easy way out and choosing the thing that will destroy me.

"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!”
Deuteronomy 30:19

I have the capacity to make the right choice; sometimes I don’t have the heart for it.