GO CUBBIES!!!!!



Hat's off to the Cubs tonight! You showed the Marlins what you're made of! Keep it up!!!

QUOTE

"There's a difference between being busy and being productive."
—Kristen Lippincott, Curator, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England

CUBS - BURRITOS - MORE READY THAN YOU REALIZE

I feel sick. For dinner tonight, I had a burrito from a tiny little burrito joint called Boca Burrito. The actual burrito was bigger than the restaurant itself. I can't go to bed in this condition, so it will probably be a very late (and loud) night.

Cubs won tonight, for which I'm very happy about. My hope is for the Cubs to face the Red Sox at the World Series. Here's the weird part about all of this - I am NOT a baseball fan, yet I am just shy of being fascinated with these games. I think that just knowing the history behind the Cubs (in addition to the fact that I live in Chicago) and the Red Sox has energized by baseball enthusiasm. No, let me think of a better word... It has "birthed" interest in me about baseball. Birth is better than energized. You can't energize something that's not already there.

We are beginning a new series Sunday @ The Orchard called "More Ready Than You Realize". It will be a four week series based on the book by the same title written by Brian McLaren. The "jist" of the series is going to be about redefining evangelism in the context of our current (postmodern) culture. In other words, how Christ followers can better relate to, respond to and ultimately reach those who are a part of our "sphere" of influence and beyond.

It's going to be a great series, as this is a topic that has been burning in my heart for quite some time now. What it all comes down to is this - In our postmodern context, I have to EARN the "right" to speak into someone's life. Sort of like that old John Maxwell quote, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." Gone are the days of "Hollywood" preacher land or "I'm better than you" Christianity. It's time to wake up and smell the Starbucks coffee and be real and authentic with those who need what we have - which is not a bigger ego or a nicer car or a bigger home - it's grace. Pure and simple.

ELISE AND HER NEW BICYCLE!

We celebrated Elise's December birthday a little early so that she could get some use out of her new bike! It's her first and I think she likes it. We couldn't figure out why she was having a hard time riding it until we looked down and realized that the training wheels were not touching the ground. YIKES! So after some adjustments to the seat, tires, training wheels, etc... she was done and ready to go inside. So - we'll try again in a few days with the "bike thing".

EVER HAVE A HARD TIME SAYING THANKS?

Let's face it. Sometimes "thank you's" can be somewhat challenging to write, especially when you're writing your Aunt Beatrice to say "thanks" for those socks she buys you every year at Christmas time. Well, Leslie Harpold has written an article that might be helpful as you figure out how to show gratitude via the written note. Check it out here.

GO CUBS!!



I can't let too much time pass before saying congratulations to the Chicago Cubs winning their first postseason series victory since 1908! Hats off to Kerry Wood and the rest of the hometeam. I think Chicago (the city) is about ready to explode right now. I'm thinking World Series - Cubs VS. Red Sox. I think this would do to baseball what the Bulls did for Basketball in the early 90's. Plus - both the Cubs and the Red Sox need to move past the "curses" they've been carrying for way too long...

Ok, now I can stop acting like I'm a big baseball fan.

GO CUBS!!!!

IF IT'S BROKE, FIX IT

2 links to click on:

1) Article by Seth Godin in Fast Company Magazine about seeing what might be broken in what we do and how to fix it. You can click HERE to read the article.

2) Check out www.thisisbroken.com. This site is described as, "A new project to make businesses more aware of their customer experience, and how to fix it." Fun site - until you see your "idea" listed on it...

CONGRATULATIONS TO AARON & MEGAN LINK!


(Myself w/ Megan & Aaron today @ the wedding)

Congratulations to Aaron & Megan Link who got married today (Sunday) in Wheaton, IL. I had the privilege of officiating their ceremony. It was outside - beautiful day, except for the bees that were trying to attack everyone.

I met Aaron at Starbucks in Geneva (my second office) - where he works. Several months ago, I invited him and his fiance, Megan (she works @ Starbucks in Aurora) to The Orchard - they began attending and next thing I know, I was asked to officiate their ceremony. They are a great couple - Megan sings opera and Aaron plays guitar. It's awesome watching God work in their lives.

Best wishes Aaron & Megan!!!!

WIRED

I knew this was going to happen... It's 12:13am and I am wired. I have to be up at 5:00am and I'm not tired...one bit. Tonight I went to a wedding rehearsal dinner for a couple whose wedding I'm officiating tomorrow (Sunday). The rehearsal dinner was scheduled to be at Emilio's Tapas Bar in downtown Wheaton, but the reservations got messed up, so all 50 or 60 of us trotted across the street to Gino's East Pizzeria. If you're from Chicago or know a lot about Chicago, you will know that Gino's serves up an excellent deep dish pizza.

The best part of the evening was going table to table and meeting a bunch of people and hearing their stories, etc... I met people from Iowa, Ohio, Tennessee and Colorado and heard a variety of accents. I even met a guy who was hit by a car while riding his bike........7 times! That's right - 7 times. I met another guy who crashed his motorcycle into a car going about 40 mph. He was pretty proud of that one.

Afterwards, I went to Starbucks to add some finishing touches to the wedding ceremony. One of the things I did tonight during the rehearsal dinner was hand out a card which asked this question, "How do you make love last?" I compiled all of the cards and threw a bunch of their quotes into my wedding "message". My hope is that this will add a fun twist to the ceremony. The best answer of the night: "Lots of Viagra and Prozac". LOL!

So while I was at Starbucks, I ordered a 3 shot grande skim mocha. It was about 9:30pm and now I'm wired. So I guess I'm getting what I paid for. And actually, the longer I stare at this computer screen the more tired I get.

Tomorrow I'm leading worship @ our 1st service and then leaving for the wedding. Then I'm coming home and SLEEPING. Then, around 8:00pm we will turn on TLC and become hypnotized by the $100k Trading Spaces special.

Well, before I bored you to death I better sign off. Goodnight blogger friends. Happy Sabbath.