Spring in the Ozarks

A list, from Jeff Houghton, of signs it is spring in the Ozarks...

1) Your lawn has flowered. It will eventually look like grass, just not yet.

2) Your neighbor has busted out the cut off jean shorts you had tried all winter to forget.

3) You hear your tree gently weeping as it blossoms remembering how beautiful it once was before the various ice storms.

4) The fragrance of spring's rebirth wafts into your home as you open your windows. That smell is then overrun by the scent of cooking meth as your sketchy neighbors also open their windows.

5) An abundance of woodland creatures prance about moments before they are hit by an ironic Jeep Liberty.

6) The guy who flips you off while making a left turn into Bass Pro seems kind of friendly about it.

7) Battlefield Mall starts selling weird crap in the parking lot again. Anyone in the market for a rug or fine art?

8) Breathing out of your nose feels like trying to use a hose with a family of squirrels lodged in it.

9) Artfest + Rain

10) It's sunny and warm and raining and cold and hot and sleeting and fire advisory and flash flood warning out today.

If you don't have anything going on Friday night (5/7/10) you should head down to the Skinny Improv theater at 10pm for the Mystery Hour with Jeff Houghton. It's a late night comedy show, that looks a lot like Leno or Letterman, but with local celebrities and local bands instead.

You can also check out Jeff's blog HERE.

Authenticity

A question has been weighing on me lately...

-- Who is the real Tim? --

I am kind of frightened at my inability to answer it.

When no one is looking, who am I? The question scares me a bit. I can be a master of many roles... and each role is determined by my surroundings. I wear masks that change as the scenes around me change. But doesn't that mean there is a core, a real person that is me who is able to don the variety of masks? Wouldn't that make sense?

I hope so.

But if there is, we haven't spent much time together lately. And it is my goal to start spending time with the real me...

Are you afraid to be yourself?

Do you even know who that is?

Luke 12:7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

TOMS Shoes: One for One

Appreciation

God has given us, for some reason, life.

Our appreciation of this gift is the appropriate form of worship.

For example, you receive a gift from your father. A very nice gift. Let's say, you wake up on Christmas morning, and you go outside to grab the newspaper (I have no idea if they even deliver the paper on Christmas - do they?), and as you bend down to get the paper, you notice that parked in your driveway is a brand new BMW convertible. Your dad stands behind you, and he says that the car is yours.

I think there is a key questions to ask in this situation, and the questions may get at some of the angst we feel... How do you respond to your dad in an appropriate way?

We all want to live the "Good Life." But the "Good Life" has at least two tenants: to be thankful, and drive the car. Yes, you could ding the BMW, or get a ticket, or any number of less than ideal outcomes might happen. But relax! It's Christmas! Enjoy the gift, and use it well!

Perhaps this is as close to praise as a lost humanity can get.

Shake The Dust

Diversity

At first glance, I don't find myself too diverse.

I'm a 6'0", 180 pound white dude with blonde hair that lives in Springfield, MO. One of the least diverse areas I've ever lived in.

So, to say the least, I do not find myself very diverse. And there is nothing wrong with that... because I am blessed to be where I am at in life.

As I grew up learning leadership skills though, I've always valued diversity immensely! Specifically in this area, I not only value diversity, but I've always tried to see it out.

One of the ways I've tried to seek out diversity is through reading... except I hate to read. But I love learning, so because of that I find myself being forced to read. And what I read usually has some diversity to it.

This book above, Miles To Cross: A Spiritual Journey on the Open Road, has a very diverse agenda to it, and I appreciate it.

Mike Howerton discovers diversity in an unusual journey. The book follows him as a college student through Europe by train, America by motorcycle, Britain by hitchhiking, and Central America by any means possible. This is a book with an authentic narrative that reveals a stepping-stone journey to faith. A raw experience which today's generation can identify with.

As a Director of Youth at Schweitzer, if all I read was student ministry books, I feel like i'd become a one-track leader. I believe we become better leaders by engaging a more diverse learning/education process, like Mike Howerton did in his book.

Practice Makes Perfect

This is a DCI Snare solo from the Independent category at the 2004 championships. This solo got Ivan Pacheco 1st place.