Thoughts....

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. This Wednesday (April 2) will mark four weeks since Sawyer Finn has arrived on planet Earth. Since then, I have played Pontius Pilate, began directing JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, spoke twice about SEX AND LOVE and LUST to our church's senior high youth group, and experienced the extreme rush of shopping with FOUR CHILDREN at both Target and Super Walmart....
It's been pretty hectic, not to mention that I'm preparing to begin Romeo and Juliet with my ninth graders.
I love my ride home. First, because I'm heading HOME!! But also it is a mental re-sorting time. A time for a little spiritual workshop. And I've been burdened by the attitudes of various people in my life. This was quickly attacked today when God reminded me that many of the sins and failures I point out in others reside within me. I'm quick to celebrate that downfalls of others but spend little time examining my own heart.

Micah 6 reads...
Verse 8
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

May I too ACT JUSTLY, LOVE MERCY, and WALK HUMBLY.

What Life Is All About....

Wednesday, March 5, 2008---7:13 p.m., weighing in at 7 pounds 13 ounces....

SAWYER FINN MCCULLOCH arrived in this world!

What an amazing blessing to see how God planned life to begin! It was an amazing day.

Ummm....Not Yet.

February 25, 2008

This was last night at about 1 in the morning. We thought THIS WAS IT. It wasn't. We were sent to Kmart at about 3:00 a.m. to walk the store. It is now 4:45 p.m. the next day. No baby. Tired wife. Tired kids. Grumpy dad.
This is life at its finest...you gotta love it.

A Little Rob Bell Love....

My lover is mine, and I am his.
Song of Solomon 2:16

I believe that this verse from Song of Solomon was the exact verse that was on Amber and my wedding invitations. I hope I'm not falling into the fate of so many men that forget things like...wedding anniversaries and birthdates and the date of the day that you became engaged...and....and....I'm in big trouble.
Today, for a Valentines Day visual prompt in my Creative Writing class, I'm showing one of Rob Bell's Nooma videos, FLAME. It may be a little risky for public high school, but I love the visual Bell gives on different types of love: "raya", "ahava", and "dod". It is sad that LUST has become more important than love. Many of my students, even my ninth graders, are very open about caving into the pressure to have sex before marriage. I love how Bell illustrates that there are different types of love that are vital upon each other in order to have a lasting, solid relationship. Jumpin to the intense level of physical love before establishing friendship and commitment (marriage) creates a relationship that has no foundation.
Pray for my class that God will use this visual lesson to challenge their ideas and views about the fullness and wonderment that we call LOVE.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day.

The True Self

Most of my weekend has been one that has reflecting on the TRUE SELF. Who am I? What has God created me for? I can look around and find the obvious answers...I'm a husband, a dad, a public school teacher, and it all makes sense. But within that life, where I claim to be a Christian, am I really a follower of Christ. I just watched Rob Bell's EVERYTHING IS SPIRITUAL dvd and love how he states that not just certain moments or certain aspects of our lives our "spiritual". Everything is spritual, but what is the quality of my spiritual life. Is it wasted on the "things of this world."

I thought about how I present myself, the Christian teacher, in my classroom, but I still manage to compromise the true relfection of Christ. I have myself convinced that I am the ULTIMATE, but I'm so far away from this. I am humbled by the revelations of God's spirit that I need to BE what I say I am.