Day 8 - Ceramics

Cool plate that I made. Glaze came out totally different than I expceted.

My first time throwing on the wheel.
Cj's vase that she gave me. I glazed it for her. I didn't expect that she would give it to me.

more

Cool red abstract piece. Hand formed.

even more

This was the second pot that I did on the wheel. The teacher helped (did 90%) of it. The sprial in the bottom is kinda cool.

Day 7

I’ve missed a few days of posting.  But there hasn’t been anything to post about.  Wondering if God will really surprise me in the next 30 days.  Last few days have been dull.  Wishing I had someone to talk to.  I feel so alone.

Day 4 - Hillsong/Joyce Meyer

Today’s surprise happened at a Hillsong/Joyce Meyers Conference in Indianapolis. Brian Houston is so cool. Too bad so few people know about him here in the States. (I could have skipped Joyce Meyers.) The surprise had nothing to do with anything anyone preached on. I was a little ADD during the praise and worship set and was looking around at everything else. What caught my eye was the fact that the tech person putting up the words to the songs, was having problems keeping up with where the band was going. Why, I’m sure your wondering, was that something God would show me? I do the same thing at my church. I was cool for me in that I got to see that even the big boys have oops. I’ve been having a hard time not panicking, and kicking myself, when stuff goes awry during service. I know that God doesn’t expect perfection, only my best. But sometimes I can spend a lot of time beating myself up for small things no one else probably even noticed. I’ve been working on dealing with that a lot lately.

Another surprise happened when we broke for lunch. There was a lady in front of is line that asked where I was from. (I was local to this event.) She had driven 3 and a half hours from Chicago to come to this conference and was with someone that had driven over 7. She said that she talked to someone else that was from Chicago, only to discover that they knew someone in common. It was one of those “it’s a small world” moments.

It’s been a long day and I need to be up early tomorrow. So it’s off to bed I go.

Day 3

Nothing of note today.  Did get an interesting quote though.
“Attitude is 90% of your DAY it will make it or break it.”

Only surprise today was find out I have extra work to do for service Sunday.  Yippee. Not.

Day 2 - Gray Daze

“Surprise me, God.” 3 unassuming words and yet so dangerous. Nothing of great note. Today has been a whirlwind of emotions. Got up and was running late as usual. Got to work only to deal with a never ending pile of paper work. Did get it 90 percent done today. Started it yesterday. Highlight of the morning was an unplanned run to Starbucks. I can’t stand coffee, but if you can get them to make a steamer right, the Pumpkin Spice latte is to die for. They got it right this morning. So I figured I’d give another shot tonight before I ran to church for a meeting. They screwed it up. Coffee, yuck. And a venti to boot. Some day I’ll learn to drink it before I leave the store. Wouldn’t have helped tonight though. Our Starbucks is new and they are really slow. By the time I got it I only had a few minutes till I had to be at church. Oh well.

The weather is all gray and drizzly. It matches the way I feel right now. Depression is trying to creep back in. Trying to stay positive. I just want to shut off my brain. Looking for peace. Still haven’t found it. Questions keep flying in. Wondering what’s next. Where are we all trying to get to? Is this faith thing really worth all the work? Why is it that the “church” the last place people want to be? Why can’t we “church” people break loose of the club mentality? Church isn’t for those of us who are already there. The “church” is supposed to be people reaching out and caring for everyone. Not just those inside 4 walls on a Sunday. We all want the “lost” to find Jesus. But if Jesus is in us, and he is a shepherd looking for the lost sheep, why are we waiting for the sheep to wander to us. Looking for something lost implies action. Sitting in a pew week after week is not action. Actually, I don’t think the “lost” are lost. We (church goers) are the lost ones. God has moved and we are all sitting around wondering when he is going to come back. He’s not. He’s out looking for the lost ones. Which is where we should be. I don’t mean to get all theological, as I am no theologian. Food for thought though.

"Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"~Truman in the Truman Show

Day 1

Nothing much to note today.  Hardest thing is remembering not to try to force God’s hand by asking him to do things.

Surprise me, God

There's a new book out called "Surprise Me – a 30-day faith experiment" by Terry Esau. The idea is…"every day, for 30 days, you pray and ask God to surprise you. "Surprise Me, God." Nothing more, nothing less. Three words. Not asking for something in particular. Not giving him our list. Not presenting our agenda. Just inviting him to barge into our lives in any old way he pleases – to crash into the busyness of our schedules and mess with it. Every day you record your thoughts and activities." The good, the bad and the ugly. It's "Reality Spirituality." That's the gist anyway. The big thing is to blog your journal entries. It's kind of a way to publicly show that faith can be messy.

I've kinda started this experiment today and I'm waiting to see what happens. Stay Tuned.