NOT ONE LESSON

Place: Midtown Bowl, Atlanta.

At $32 a lane per hour, we bowled two games and three frames as fast as we could. Alden gave the bumpers a run for their money, which made for a nice back-beat to the already stellar set list the alley was playing.

WE HEARD:
Midnight Oil
INXS
REM
E.L.O.
Billy Idol
Cindi Lauper
…and some others I can’t recall.

Family Nights anyone? What do you do?

E.L.O. goodness right here.

1. Nano (Red)
2. Shure ears
3. Lotion
4. Phone charger
5. Camera chord
6. PC power cable
7. A random battery
8. Throat Coat tea bag
9. Chapstick
10. Gum
11. Hand sanitizer
12. Checkbook
13. Thumb drive
14. Notes from last night’s leadership meeting
15. Sunday morning punch list
16. This week’s to-do list
17. Train / Bus card
18. Bus schedules
19. Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
20. ROOTS Journal from this month’s sermon series
21. Sharpie, 2 pens and a highlighter
22. Sermon journal
23. Bible
24. Phone

NOT PICTURED: Canon Power Shot G9

What’s in your bag?

PICTURE: Midtown station, 12:15pm

For the most part, the platform in the midtown station is a cold, uneventful place. It has a stand-offish vibe. No one talks. And no one sings. Ever. But this kid broke the seal. I heard him from the top of the stairs and the tone was nice. I hurried down to the landing with enough time to take this picture and to hear the Ben Harper influence in his music. Three minutes later he boarded his train and was gone. It was a nice between meetings break. Music in a subway station is about as good as it gets.

Cool train song here.

Where are the best street singers in your town?

Just when I was about to type the words “everything they play here at Caribou sounds like the Shins,” the Shins started to come through the speakers. It’s another BLINK moment for me. I should start adding those up and writing about them.

It’s Saturday morning, 7am. Normally, I’m on the bike, spinning through the city. But not today. Today is our annual Easter Egg Hunt at the church! My job is to set up the inflatable moonwalk jumpy thing before the kids arrive, and it’s a sure thing that I’ll “try it out” as well. So I thought I catch up on some review and coffee, all sound tracked by the IKEAish indie music in the background. Oh, for Shins goodness, go here.

WHAT’S YOUR SATURDAY MORNING RITUAL?

Everyone hold your breath: MARTA is in trouble. The state won’t step in. It never has. It’s one of the largest transit systems WITHOUT state funding. Craizness. To “save money,” they might close down on Fridays. Or is it really to save money? To me, it sounds like a message they’re sending. And it might just work. Putting half a million students and commuters back in cars could be wild. We’ll see.

And it’s official: I need a sermon-writing partner.

PICTURE: From this week’s work journal. Initial to-do notes go in here. Easter sermon made the list!

Sometime last year, I wrote these words on the blog: I read. I pace around. I write. I talk to myself. I talk to imaginary people. I draw. I pray. I sit still. I look out the window. I sometimes start over. Sometimes I walk away. I type. I print. I memorize. Internalize. Own. Stand up and share it.

Not much has changed. Sermon writing is still a mystery to me. I took everything my college offered on the discipline and I still struggle to make ends meet. It’s okay, though; I love the art.

MESSAGE PREP SCHOOL:

With Easter being this weekend, I’m obviously excited about the message. I love the passage but feel as though I’m jumping ahead and trying the get the notes finished before I let the passage finish it’s work in me. That’s the most important thing when teaching the scriptures. The word of God most grow in me first. To quote an old professor of mine from college:

“Do not let the pulpit drive you to the Bible,
but let the Bible drive you to the pulpit.”
R.J. Kidwell

EASTER MESSAGE PREP KIT

So here we go.

The resurrection.

I’m excited (and nervous) to talk about it this weekend.

Without it, following Jesus is kind of silly, like those people at Disney World who believe in the “magic” of the park. I’m not unaware that from the outside looking in, the church looks strange and off-centered to believe in such a thing. I’ve heard everything to counter the thought of a resurrection from the dead, and have even had trouble myself at times. We all have.

So I’m preparing for Easter Sunday. It’s a big day, for sure. I don’t really feel adequate to give it much play, but I will. I’m thrilled to give it a go. To quote the old hymn: “This is all my hope and peace.”

Sometimes I forget what I keep. Most of the things I keep are just little “I was there” reminders. Most amazing about these two items are the PRICES. $17.50 to see U2? Wow.

(Purchased old-school at Turtle’s Records, after camping out, of course)

I’m taking a break from driving, at least for a trial period. My whole life takes place in a 4 mile radius anyway, so I thought I’d give it a try. It started on Valentine’s Day evening when, coming back from Dailey’s, our train broke down at the Arts Center Station. The doors wouldn’t open. The A/C was weakening. People were getting edgy. Out of towners were starting to worry. (See this post for more explanation) After 30 minutes the doors opened. We surfaced on the street above and caught a bus for the last few miles home. My son loved it! On the train, you don’t really see anything, except those tunnel lights going by the window. But he was all about the bus.

So anyway…

Deciding not to use my car or scooter for a while, I reloaded my breeze card for the week and studied the bus schedules on Sunday night. I even wrote out a cheat-sheet. Here’s yesterday’s report:

7:10 – Caught the 25 right on the sidewalk of our building

7:12 – Got off the 25 at Phipps and waited for the 23

7:15 – Caught the 23, rode it all the way to Caribou Coffee

7:20 – Caribou Coffee for planning and prep for the week

8:15 – Caught the 23 (north) to the office

8:20 – Got off the 23 at our church building!

9:15 – Staff mtg

10:10 – Programming mtg

11:15 – On the train to midtown for a mtg

12:30 – Off the train, back at work

5:14 – On the 23 (north) heading home

5:25 – Off the 25 in front of our building

6:15 – Walked to Borders Books for a mtg

7:50 – Walked home

At some point this week, I’ll ride the BUC, the free bus here uptown.