Change…Change…and more change

This post is an attempt to begin reflecting on the massive changes that have happened in my life in the last three years.  As I move forward, I need to spend some time going backward.

At this time 3 years ago, our lives began to move at warp speed.  It feels like we have lived ten years in the last three and my face is still flapping in the wind.

Even looking at the exterior changes is quite dramatic:

• At this exact time 3 years ago, Danielle and I became parents….and nomads.  We gave birth to Hannah and moved across the country to Pasadena, CA to start seminary.
• In the first year, we took a job as Residential community coordinators at Fuller, became active “staff” members with Mosaic, Danielle started a program in Life-Coaching, I started a new ministry with Mosaic (Hope Sports), and I switched my degree track to a double master’s program in Theology and Cross-Cultural Mission.   We also got pregnant again.
• In our second year, we had Shiloah, I finished my first degree, and we headed of to Raleigh, NC to finish my second degree while seeing to start a new ministry with CRM and create a life together.
• Last summer, we moved across the country, reconnected with family back on the East Coast, sold our house in Williamsburg, bought a house in Raleigh, and then I went to Kenya for two weeks to help orphans.
• Then, things got a bit messy….
• This past year felt like we lived 8 of the 10 years in one.  After a long year of struggling with our new role with CRM, we just rented out our house, packed up our stuff, moved it into my parent’s garage, and we are transitioning into a new role in Student Ministries back in my home town.
• We also just found out we are pregnant again and we found a new house in Roanoke.

To sum up the box score:

3 years:  2 kids, one on the way, 2 master’s degrees, 3 major moves, 2 cross-country moves, 1 international adventure, 1 house sold, 2 houses rented out, 2 houses bought, tons of new friends, left friends we loved in three different places.

Wew…I’m tired just writing all that- and that doesn’t include the personal and spiritual changes we’ve made either.  I’ll leave that for another post.

What is more distgusting?

Yesterday, I had two unusually disgusting life opportunities.  You can vote on which one you would rather do.

My wife is out of town with the kids so I can finish my final paper for my 2nd to last Fuller course without a problem, and I have taken the opportunity to tear up the bathrooms and re-tile the floors in my spare time with the help of my trusty friends, Nate and Su-Min.  To re-tile the bathroom, you have to take out the toilets.

Did I mention our house was built in 1950?  I’m not sure if the toilets have been deeply cleaned in almost 60 years…….I need to sanitize my entire body.

But wait, it gets better.

Opportunity number 2-

My neighbor, Erin, dropped by yesterday with her son, Kai.  We love our neighbors by the way and they often just stop by to hang out for a bit.  Well, yesterday- Erin says with a strange look on her face- “Corey, I have a strange request- can you help me out?”

So, I said- sure, what is it?

She then said something very surprising– “I have a dead muskrat or beaver on my couch, can you help me get it out….”

So- the question- would you rather get a small, indistinguishable animal with its guts fully exposed off of your neighbor’s couch or clean 60 year old toilets?

Communitas

This is a great video from communitas in New Orleans. They are doing great R&D work for the church down there.

As I watched the video and saw all the people that like Jesus but don’t like church, the question kept coming to mind: What if we invited people who are alienated by the church to help  Christians see what it would look like to follow Jesus?  It seemed like they have a pretty good idea what Jesus is about, and maybe they could help us learn what it means to follow Him.  Rather than trying to just convince people about God, we need to invite people to participate in God’s heart.

Schrute for VP

This may not be the best way to make a political decision, but if McCain is serious, I’m in.

This is exactly the kind of change we need in our country.

Please Read this Book

If you are a follower of Christ or interested in the possibilities of Jesus’ message, please read this book. Regardless of the kind of church or ministry we are in, this book will be encouraging and inspiring. Hugh writes with a great depth of insight that comes out of failure, experience, and the perseverance to not give up the hope in the new possibilities of Jesus’ kingdom. As a consultant, mentor, and church-planter, he does not recommend cookie-cutter strategies or programs to grow our ministries, but tangible practices and habits that will grow our souls by leading us back to the heart and mission of God in normal life and relationships. I stayed up until 1am last night because I couldn’t put this book down. I had to finish it.

Another book I would recommend that I read recently is Jim and Casper Go to Church. Everyone interested in Jesus should read these books.

Tangible Kingdom

Here’s a promo of a book that just came out by a couple CRM staff in Denver on creating incarnational -missional community. Matt and Hugh lead Missio within CRM which mentors church planters while they have the option of earning a masters at Fuller seminary. Their community, Adullam, is doing some great stuff in Denver.

New Friend

I had the privilege of spending a couple hours with Hugh on Thursday. I am hoping we can get to be better friends and partner together in tangible ways in the future. He has an inspiring calling and gift from God in his ability to serve and build relationships with people who are homeless.  I have a lot to learn from him.

You can find more about his ministry here.

In our conversation, I was most encouraged by hearing the joy he experiences in his calling.

Thanks for what you are doing and your reminders to the church that mission happens best through relationships, and is as much about our hearts as it is the people we are connecting with.

Grease Ligthning

My car passed the test. I made it to Williamsburg and back last week free of charge! I was pretty amazed that I didn’t have one problem with the car.

I will say it is a little messy to pour the grease in the tank that we installed in the trunk, but it was well worth it as I passed the signs….

I did probably leave a bit of Chinese wanton smell behind me, but that’s fine by me.

Great Pictures of Raleigh

In the Arts and Living section of the News and Observer, they ran a great article about the changes happening in downtown Raleigh right now. They mentioned a blog from John Morris that highlights the life of the city. It’s got some great pictures of the new building projects, night life, and arts in our home.

Overall, I’m really excited about the growth of Raleigh, and hope that it becomes an even more dynamic place. Most surveys I’ve read recently include Raleigh as one of the top places in the country to move because of the low cost of living and amount of job opportunities. Over the next 15 years, I think Raleigh is going to experience tremendous growth. I’m excited by the possibilities.

My hope is that Dorothy Dix becomes a central park area (mostly because I live 2 minutes from it), and that the city becomes more aware of how to improve South and Southeast Raleigh for the people that live there. In my short time here, I’ve already heard that North Raleigh gets a dispraportianate amount of the cities’ funding. For instance, I heard of a multi-million dollar swimming facility going into North Raleigh, whereas a major hub of Southeast Raleigh’s community life (including a public pool and memorial to MLK, Jr) has yet to be improved despite years of promises. With the continued influx of post-modern younger people into the city, I hope that we do not gentrify the poor out of their communities in our quest for improvement.

Does anyone know where we can find out more information about the cities funding in relationship to different areas of the city?

I’d like to find out more specific statistics rather than just piecing news articles and conversations I have together.

I converted

This winter, I bought an 82 diesel mercedes with the intention of converting it to run on veggie-oil once it got warmer. Today, thanks to 12 hours spent with the saint known as Gary Wisler, my dream has become a reality.

I am no longer dominated by foreign oil. I have converted. It’s official.