a few weeks off

Blogging can get confusing. Why do I blog? At first it was therapy, literally an online journal, a way to vent. But then it became a forum. People began to read it and so I began to write about the topics I was truly passionate about. For me that usually revolves around social justice and this quagmire we call “church tradition” (see, I’m passionate, I used the word “quagmire”). For some reason I didn’t feel that my personal life was an appropriate topic anymore. For some reason I didn’t feel that this blog was mine.

A friend recently wrote the following on her blog…

“I commend all of you soldiers/activists in the church, whole-heartedly. It takes balls to man up to that.(Sorry mom, but I had to say it). Bless you indeed.”

I’m very aware of the fact that people are reading this blog. People that I don’t even know. And I want to make it worth their while. But sometimes living involves long stretches. Long stretches where the “lesson learned” is a few weeks, or even a few months off. In the meantime you’re just on the journey and there’s not much to say besides “I had an English hamburger today, and boy did it suck” (sorry mom, but I had to say it).

So if you’re reading this post and wondering where the word is on the state of the church or life in a refuge community, I’m still a few weeks off.

This past weekend was Youth Councils. And boy are my arms tired!

Two ladies came by the project last week in need of assistance. They said they were refugees and needed food and clothing. I asked where they were from. They said, “Dublin”.

Olyvia is a blessing and the scariest thing ever. Sunday night we’re watching an American football game together (she’s a huge fan) when I look down and happen to catch her looking up at me. All of a sudden it hit me that I was her dad and that I was not just babysitting. That’s absolutely crazy! By the way, when you see your wife as a mother, you fall in love with her all over again.

One of the students studying youth ministry with us this year is from America and brought his motorcycle over with him. He’s managed to get in good with one of the local Turkish motorcycle clubs and has been riding with them. Now THAT’S incarnational ministry! I’ll be adding that word to my list of “most overused new church words” soon.

Guess that’s it from West Green Road.
Tim