It will be three weeks tomorrow since my wife gave birth to our second child, Gavin. The last few weeks have meant some serious adjustments for our family. We knew those would be coming but I guess we never know exactly what they are like until they happen. I am thankful that my job has allowed me to have three weeks off to spend time with the family and help with some of the many adjustments.

The center and hope of the universe. Come…..

I have been watching my yard grow this Spring and it has been really rewarding. There is someone great about caring for something and seeing it grow. For example one of my bamboos is shooting like crazy and it is great to see how quickly it is growing. This morning I gave our daughter our first raspberry of the season to eat. I think that there is a connection between God’s desires for people and caring for creation. I think that God wants us to delight in creation and to live in such a way that we help creation, not destroy it. I am glad to hear that more people are gaining consciousness of how fragile the Earth is.  We have a long way to go, myself included. ..

Like I said earlier I have really begun to enjoy bamboo. It has made me think about the way life works. For example bamboo has a shooting season and a growing season and then it rests. The following year it goes through the cycle again and gets bigger and stronger. It is such a rapid grower that it will take over a yard if not properly pruned.  I feel like sometimes I am not good and resting. I would like to be more aware of the seasons of life and go with the flow rather than fighting things.

I think that is has been almost a year since I have posted. It seems about time since I wrote something. Life has been very interesting since the last post but that is too much to go into. Suffice to say that my latest interest has been in the planting and growing of bamboo. It is a beautiful plant and makes a great privacy screen. I wonder if anyone else grows bamboo???

Some years ago there was this show called “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” where they showed people’s cars, yachts, vacation homes etc.. to help us get a sense of their lifestyle. I am not sure that really was their whole lifestyle. I have a hunch that a person’s lifestyle while it includes economics is certainly more than money.

It got me to thinking what is a lifestyle? I know mine has changed since I got married and since we had our daughter. What makes up a lifestyle and is there anyone’s lifestyle you try to emulate? What are your thoughts?

Lately I have been thinking about the different people I admire. When I was in college I really admired a climber named Charlie Fowler. What I admired about him was the freedom he had to climb. Some 12 years ago he climbed almost fulltime and took photos of some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. Not only did he climb fulltime but he was so well rounded in that he climbed all styles (trad, sport, alpine, big wall etc…) well. I liked the idea of being free, well rounded and out in nature.

Currently I have come to deeply admire Francis of Assisi. I deeply admire his love for the poor and his willingness to surrender himeself to Jesus and therefore to serve the poor. I admire the deep joy that marked his life and the way he lived a life of prayer. I really admire that he didn’t live his life in alone but that he lived in community.

 Who do you admire and why?

 

I finally got to go climbing yesterday. I have only been sport climbing once in the last two years. I have done some mountaineering but haven’t really been on the rock. It was great to finally start to climb again. I didn’t climb great but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was picturing it. Hopefully this will become a regular habit this summer so that I will be ready for the Pioneer Route on the Monkey’s Face in August.

Yesterday I went out to lunch with our staff. We ate at The Spunky Monkey Bar and Grill (124 2nd Street SE, Auburn, WA 98002.  Phone: 253-804-9567). One of the first things I noticed was the decor. The place has a tropical or jungle theme which is fun and unique. The way the booths and tables were set up certainly lendeds itself to privacy which is a nice touch.

The selection of food includes but is not limited to burgers, salads and pizzas. Most of the people in my group had a Caesar salad, the Caesar wrap or a burger. I chose to have the pizza. My pizza was the small pepperoni. As a pizza goes it was okay–there was little pepperoni and what was there was under the cheese. The pizza crust was average. I am told however that the Ceasar salads are better than their pizza and they are one of the main reasons to eat at the Spunky Monkey.

An odd thing happened while we where there. The server came out and said she had accidently added two extra milkshakes to the ticket and wondered if anyone wanted them. One of the other staff members and I said we would drink them. Interestingly enough both he and I were under the impression they would be free since they were made by mistake. When we received our bills however we noticed an extra $3.50 added to our tab. I chose to pay the extra since I figured they must be hurting for business.

Overall my experience was below average and so I give The Spunky Monkey 2 stars out a possible 5. I am not likely to return soon.

 

 

The text for this Sunday is Acts 2:1-21 which is the account of the Holy Spirit being poured out on God’s people in a new way. The Spirit’s coming in a new way is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made shortly before his ascension “but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now�(Acts 1:5b).

  

As a kid growing up in primarily mainline churches I learned little about the Holy Spirit. I remember one sermon where the preacher said something like “the Spirit is mysterious and therefore we can’t know much about the Sprit so we better not try�.

  

For those of you brought up going to church I am wondering what you were taught about the Holy Spirit growing up? For those of you not brought up in the church what have you been taught or heard about the Holy Spirit?

  

I have a few more questions but I would like to start the discussion with these questions and add more as the week progresses.

  

Jon