Third Time is the Charm
This was what baptism was meant to be, how it was supposed to feel, what it was created to communicate. It’s designed to be one of the most monumental days in life, a watershed moment. For me—at least this time—it was.
Minutes From the Top
About two thirds of the way up, I noticed a dark horizon to the north. My stride lengthened; and I pushed the pace just a tad, then more then a tad, then to breathless. Thunder. Victory stood at the top with me on the pinnacle boulders.
(un)Dressed for Success
I should be used to this. We all should be. But I’m too weary and wary to take it anymore: the concept that we dress up for God (that we can impress him).
Sacrifice of Praise
As I sang these words, I struggled to say them. Something inside me pushed me to lift my arms, as the Psalmist requests—as my spiritual heritage condemns as “vain glory.” I pushed through my trained restraint, raising my fists above my head, almost victoriously.
TimPossible
“I’m going to miss this place.”
“Me, too, Tim. Me, too.”
Eiffel Power
Like Farrell’s Harold Crick, I have lived for the past few months with the premonition that my life is at least somewhat scripted, that I have a choice to embrace destiny or pretend with a sense of control. I have talked to invisible ears, asked questions of ‘the omniscient third person.
Christ-centric Communion
It’s like all of the fundamentalist litmus tests: they take the elements of superstitious monasticism they can abide and chuck the rest as non applicable. They rip the temple curtain at their point of perforation.
Reading Into My Writing
I love most of my life. I love living it and talking about it. Reminiscing on my progress shapes big, colorful hopes for the future.
Legends of the Fall
I’ll bask in the glow of retrospect and well-timed photographs. I’ll keep the ease and simplicity to me and Timmy, the recollection to a grand story.
Rating the Rush
Timmy and I ranked the adventures of our excursion in four categories: intensity, excitement, physical exertion, and nausea. You might be surprised by some of our responses.
That First Step
I spent a quick thought about what a job that must be to hang off a 63-story ledge and take pictures of people like me. Then I was falling.
Wheels Up
So, as I savored the expectancy, I now begin to savor the reality.
The Real Insomnia Culprit
Stupid, no. It’s calculated risk. Like a Brett Favre throw: if he threads the defenders, it’s gutsy skill; if it’s picked off and taken to the house, he’s a careless gunslinger.
[D]Evolution of the Pulpit
That pulpit, then, becomes the wall between a certain spiritual have and the have nots. I remember the spiritual place I felt attained by the times my dad lent me his pulpit, a sense of worthiness either doled or earned—sadly the antithesis of what that place should generate.
$6.99 Cargos and Reversible Fears
I hope that, as I grow into adult-size courage through spiritual direction and life experience, my childish stunts in New Zealand might make me deliberate less and do more.
A Welcome Fear
What if the view from a parachute changed your perspective forever?
Spaying Aftertaste
It’s as uncomfortable and predictable as Bob Barker telling you to spay or neuter your pets: the Hollywood ending. And, apparently, directors have watched too much Price is Right.
Überkart
I prefer to get more than I paid for from my vehicle—to get more from my journey than the miles.
What Melody Is Your Parachute?
Who knew there were more than a dozen different songs out there respectively titled, “Parachute”?
Can You Hear God’s Voice on MTV?
Too often, I demand my birth rite, my share of my heavenly inheritance. The joke’s on me, though, as I get closer and closer to taking God’s freedom to the pig pen. I’m the chunky chick exposing her immaturity to the watching world.
Whining Wannabes [A Quicker Clicker]
I’m amused by the concept that income from inside the house would magically be more profitable than from an office or sales floor in town.
Psalm 5
Until then, I’m glad for the people and classes that, like tonight, require me to introspect. I can’t wrestle with these concepts unless aware of them. I cannot grow toward a truth without the lesson and path.
Home Boys With a White Board
It got me to thinking about what ‘church’ in America would look like if more churches operated this way.
Capturing Our Imaginations
Hopefully the DVD we put together will compensate for the holes in our blurting storytelling and will guide the imaginations of those we leave behind.
Regularly Scheduled Maintenance
You wouldn’t need revival brimstone, trained evangelist clones, or any other superstitious legalism. And I wouldn’t be nervous to bring my parents with me to my new church that doesn’t either.