Blogger's Block - A Trip through Randomville

I certainly don't have writers block, because I have written quite a bit in the last couple weeks, but the blog has not seen much of the fruits. Here are some things that are going on in Will's world:

• I just turned 35. I don't feel any different.
• Boston Legal is back on. I can't count on an hour of intelligent TV every week.
• Alisha and I are going on vacation. Soon and very soon.
• My family bought me an iPod for my birthday. One of my friends from college got the same gift for his 35th birthday. It must be the thing. I really love it because I am very lazy about music. I have A LOT of cds, many from my radio dj days, but they just sit in a cabinet. Now they are slowly being loaded into my iPod so I can listen to them again. I spent 11 years on the radio, I don't need to listen to it anymore.
• I am trying to figure out what to do about our cars. Yes we have a child, but we are dog family. The dogs go with us places. The dogs go on vacation. You can't get two adults, one baby, and Labrador retriever and one slightly hyper cattle dog in a Honda Accord. (Unless I lie in the trunk - which isn't very comfortable - or really legal)
  
• In case you were wondering, as far as I can tell, Randomville is not really a place unless you count web addresses as places.

peace,

will

An update on Val

I just receive a link the electronic version of an article that will be in the forthcoming Witness (the newspaper produced by the Southwest Texas Conference) about our very own US2 Missionary Val Borhauer

Corpus Christi UM Continues Life of Mission Service

peace,

will

Lord, I was born a traveling man

I am not traveling far this week, but I will have a change of scenery on Sunday. I agreed a while back to be a guest preacher for worship at Sinton UMC this Sunday. The nice part about being an associate is that I can actually be away on Sunday every so often and see how the rest of the planet works. It is fun to just go to another church and worship, but it can also be a lot of fun to preach at someone else's church once in a while.

There is something radically different between preaching to one's own congregation and preaching to someone else's. When I stand up at Grace, I look at and see people that I really know. I see people I have studies with and prayed with. I see people I have gotten to know through a time of grief or great joy. I see people I have struggled with over important decisions in the life of the church. I see their faces as I preach and I see their faces as I prepare. As I am writing each sermon I see faces and think, "how will _______ hear these words after what she has just been through?" "How will these words of Jesus sound to ___________ who has just come back to church?" There is a whole new level of depth to preaching when the faces and voices of the congregation become part of how a read and relate to scripture.

So, on Sunday, I will be preaching blind, which will be interesting in its own way. It does take some pressure off.

peace,

will

Sermon - Listen and Read

This Sunday's sermon is now posted:

Sermon #29 - Passion and Compassion - Text
Sermon #29 - Passion and Compassion - Audio

peace,

will

And.... go!

I am getting started on an active week that will take me to Kerrville and back and then back to San Antonio. After taking the summer off, my covenant connection group starts meeting again this week. Later in the week, we will be in San Antonio for a hearing about Joshua.

It is weeks like this that my laptop and cell phone are especially valuable. They will enable me to get my sermon and the bulletin done for Sunday.

This morning, before I leave for Kerrville, John and I will be meeting with Rev. Don Nations who is in Corpus Christi to get the district started on the Congregational Transformation Process. This is an attempt to jump-start our dying churches and revitalize the churches that are simply in maintaining mode. I am looking forward to sharing his energy and ideas.


Have a great week. I will send some cool Kerrville air your way.

peace,

will

Take Me Out to the Ballgame... and give me box seats

Like most kids, Joshua's first baseball game was in the luxury box about 15 feet from Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. Thanks to some wonderful hospitality, (Thanks Tom and Nora!) Joshua got to spend the evening in comfort and style. And thanks to lots of loving arms who wanted to hold him, Alisha I got to watch a lot of the game. (Thanks Lisa and Nora and Jim and Kathy and Mike and everybody else who took a turn.)

Big thanks to the Corpus Christi Hooks for giving us a win too! 6-3 against the Midland Rockhounds. Excellent!

peace,

will

By request... more randomness

Here are some things that are going on in my life, in no particular order.

1. It seems that there is a giant water leak under the house we live in. Here in Texas, water pipes are often built right into the slab that the house is built on. This is really cool except when they break. Fortunately we have a really great plumber who is going to fix it without actually tearing the house down, or even kicking us out. I first noticed the leak because as I walked out of the bedroom into the hall, the floor was hot. Not being a structural engineer, I had no idea what that meant, but I had to figure the floor is not supposed to be hot. Indeed, there was hot water leaking in the floor.

2. Our foster child, Joshua is very cool. He is at a wonderful age where he learns something spectacular every day.

3. Joshua, Alisha and I are going to a Corpus Christi Hooks game tonight. (That's baseball for you out of towners.) Fortunately, for our first game with a little one, we will be in the Whataburger box. So, go get a whatachicken or something to say thanks.

4. We have a new back yard. The church trustees came by a couple weeks back and put a bunch of new dirt back there and Ed, one of our members has been making flower beds and a new terrace. He brought sod this week and it is starting to look lovely.

5. Today is not horribly hot here and I am thankful for that.

6. The new season of House started last night. I am totally hooked on that show and I am really thankful for my DVR so I can actually watch it.


That's enough randomness for now.

peace,

will

When there is no news to cover, why not cover the news?

With wars and rumors of wars, pandemics, genocides and poverty of staggering proportions around the world, it is good to know the journalists are on top of the truly important news: other journalists. It seems that Katie Couric's debut on the CBS Evening News is more than just news, its breaking news, reported on before the show was even over:

Couric Makes `CBS Evening News' Debut

I hope this doesn't take any time away from coverage of the Ramsey case.

peace,

will

Getting Excited

Tonight is the first night of this year's class of Disciple Bible Study. I have to tell you, this class is one of the best parts of my job. Something absolutely amazing happens when people meet together to study the Bible. I always enjoy Bible study, but it is especially powerful with such a diverse group many of whom have never really studied the Bible. The transformation that takes place in just a few months is mind boggling.

I also love what I learn each time. Disciple is such a well designed program that even after going through it five times and despite the fact I have a masters degree from seminary, I still learn new ways of understanding scripture each time through. Some of that comes through the curriculum itself, but most of it comes through the power of reading scripture in a group.

Off I go to sharpen pencils and stuff!

peace,

will

I'm Official

The following either proves that I am now a reputable, official blogger, or that a long Labor Day weekend has given me too much free time:




















peace,

will