gray vs. glossy brown

The color gray sometimes bothers me. Of course not fashionably. But it annoys me when you look at the biggest thing in the environment and it's gray. The color makes everything monotone. The color of the leaves as they change to the crazy reds, oranges, yellows, browns, have to compete against the gray. The gray affects my mood, my efficiency, and ultimately it conflicts with my pursuit of joy. It definitely plays a factor, to see a never ending color of gray rather than that calm blue intersected with whites.

Lucky for me, I'm in a room full of brown-glossy paneling, literally. No wonder I never get anything done. Red carpet, brown shelves that look like the wall, at least the books bring some color to the room. Furniture that was considered comfortable in the 60s. A ceiling where counting the dots would take up the day. At least I will be efficient at something. I step into my office and I feel like I just walked into 1975. I've come to realize my joy is affected tremendously by color. Maybe Feng Shui was right, I need a color that spruces up my life. Amazing how a color makes the world of a difference. No wonder I turn all the music off while driving now, too many colors that engage me.

Motor City

This picture probably says it all regarding Detroit. As one person said it, "it seems like I'm in some kind of Zombieland (after his drive through the city)." Tamar and I had the opportunity to stay with some great friends in the heart of the city. They've planted a church there and are doing some great ministry for the Lord. We took a drive in my friend's 72 Buick Skylark, hoping to see an abandoned Buick like this one. He had seen it earlier and wanted to show it to me. The family who owns it was hesitant to show me because if they uncovered people may see it and steal it. Fear is evident in safety of lives. Fear triumphs trusting people. There's a cloud of fear encompassing the city.

Much like this car, there are hundreds and thousands of abandonment everywhere: cars, buildings, houses, etc. It was gloom to drive through. Detroit is a city that's crying in pain from the sixties. So my heart goes out to Eric and Keltie, Eric and Sarah, and Leon and Rebecca. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." My hope and prayer is that Mack Ave Community Church be that beacon of hope and light to a city crying. Then I came home to a community where I can sleep with my door unlocked. There's something wrong with that.

30

Time is crucial in a world when we want things instantly. Focus is necessary when we're distracted by so many things. Desire to endure is important when things mound up on our "to do list." Turning 30 is odd. It makes you wonder "am I living life to the fullest?" I hate cliches. But why are they so true? I need to make a priority to tackle the life long goals. You never know when God calls, societal jargon, nothing is really unique anymore.

What holds us back to do the things we always wanted to do? Is it just the mere idea that we have these goals? Or do we actually want to sky dive, travel, or personally go to a World Cup? They cost money. I want to experience for the sake of experiencing them and to know that I did them.

Withdrawals.

It's been two days and I'm already in withdrawal. It's amazing how much time I've wasted on Facebook. I 'deactivated' my account, in a sense I deactivated my involvement in the social circles. I don't know what bothers me more, the fact that I can't know what others are doing, or that they don't know what I'm doing. For some reason it made me feel 'cared or loved.'

The bitter reality is as I'm taking day 2 on, I was spending too much time on it. It sounds so cliche, but so true. It's amazing I've had more time to do other things, like actually concentrate on work. I've committed to not coming back till the World Cup starts. 5 weeks to go. It will be rough. But I will endure. The irony is we will endure from all kinds of things.

Bring on the challenge.

Beyond the brick walls.

In my life I've lived near many cities. Providence is up in the ranking of one of the coolest cities. Occasionally in the mailbox, we get this orange slip telling us to go and pick something up from the post office. It annoys me, because usually it's not something really important. Most of the time its mail that has bounced back. However I still have to make my way down to the center of city and pick up whatever that was undeliverable. About a 15 minute walk from the church to post office, through the center of this magnificent brick filled city.

Today I had the chance to go again. Luckily it's a nice day. It's amazing what you can experience outside the walls of the church. I had my headphones on, so I walked in my own world, but as I walked by some random people, I wondered where they were going or coming from? Why were they sitting on benches in the park? Why the girl insisted to smoke right outside her office building where it says to not smoke? Then I thought to myself, I chose to have headphones on, I chose to not talk to anyone as I strolled, I chose to not hear anything from anyone, I chose to remain not known.

Today being the day after Easter, I was bewildered that I chose to remain to myself after knowing and even preaching about the resurrection yesterday. The disciples didn't go back to their regular routine after they saw the resurrected Christ. They got to work spreading about Christ. And here I was leaving the confines and 'safe haven' of church and remaining to my own world. Very similar to other weekly Mondays, the day after church we're back to our own worlds, with our headphones on, wanting to remain unknown. Where's my work mindset? Gosh, Jesus has been resurrected, enough said. People I came across on my stroll, should at least hear it, if they didn't hear it yesterday. My boldness has turned into shyness? Beyond the brick walls of our church exists the world that needs to hear past the white colored headphones that Jesus has been resurrected. Imagine the impact I could have had if I just opened my mouth to the hundreds of people I saw walk pass me. Some maybe homeless, some sojourning through the Ocean state, and maybe some 'lost.'

making food while hungry.

I never thought I would be able to cook. Living in an ethnocentric world, the man never did anything or even ventured to go into the kitchen. However, I began my adventure by looking into the fridge and pantry.

Started with some chicken sausage, chopped onions, zucchini, and a can of diced tomatoes. Again my eyes looked through what we had and started throwing some things together. As that was being sauteed on the pan with some olive oil, I threw in some red pepper from Aleppo, salt, and of course it's significant other pepper. Added a middle eastern touch of cumin and garlic, and half a lemon squeezed for some more flavor.

The flavors were great. The juices of the sausage and the veggies blended so well. The spices of course brought the heat but it was pleasant to eat.

I was in a zone that I've never experienced.

zero three. zero eight. two zero one zero.

This is a whole new world for me.

I'm not the greatest writer.

So my descriptions may not be best by words but maybe through word pictures or through the lens.

An insignificant encounter that may be significant.

As I was sitting on an uncomfortable wooden stool, getting my phone fixed at Apple, an elderly man sat down next to me. He had an ipod still in the case. His tie matched his shirt. His teeth weren't the best things to look at. Very tall. As we sat, I waited for the techie to help me out, he waited to be oriented into the world of Apple. We started chatting.

Why not ask, because for some reason it looked like he was a newbie at the whole Apple experience, "Is that your first ipod?" "Yes." After the small talk of why I'm there-why he's there, etc. It actually felt like we were at a doctor's office. Anyway we began chatting about our professions, at the end of it he shared, "we have to take time to smell the flowers." Something that I remembered from a few years back, which I used to say and think.

I hope as you journey in life, you take time to smell the roses with the people around you.