2016 odds and ends

So a little housekeeping first.

When I started this blog back up I was hoping to bring you weekly updates on Tuesdays.
As you can tell that has petered out a bit. The main reason is that I now work 40 hours a week and have no internet access (save at the library).

As I learn a new rhythm to life, I will find a consistent time to get these updates up for all (two) of you who wish to keep reading them. Until then we will just have to go with "whenever I can find time, and hopefully once a week at that"

Not only am I bailing on my schedule; this week's update is a series of thoughts, some connected, many not.

In Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, Linus drops his blanket (for the first and only time) when he quotes the words "Fear Not" spoken by the angles in Luke 2. Whether this is intentional or not it is still a pretty cool thing.

Trader Joe's has become a real job, but a good one. I don't always want to go into work in the morning, but I always enjoy myself when I do.

Abraham was a liar. 
His son Issac played favorites with his children.
Issac's son Jacob was a schemer, liar, and played favorites among his sons.
However, Issac's son Joseph shows forgiveness to his brothers (who were liars and schemers).

He breaks the pattern of selfishness found in this family. His actions keep his family safe and preserve the line of Abraham-the one to whom God had promised would become a great nation.


So where did Joseph learn forgiveness?

In Genesis 33 Jacob and his brother Esau (who had been harmed by the lies and schemes of Jacob) reconcile. Present at this event is Jacob's son Joseph.
The first moment in this family's history where peace and forgiveness are extended is one where Joseph is present for. This event will echo out in the actions of Joseph later in time.

My niece is pretty cool. She smiles and makes non-crying noises now. On Christmas Eve she was quiet and awake as I read How the Grinch Stole Christmas to her. She doesn't know this yet, but that is now our annual tradition.

The family enjoyed the gifts that I got them (Smash-Up) and it has been used several times since.

I got to see Star Wars VII on New Year's Day with my brother's mother-in-law (still not sure what that makes us, other than family)





--Serving Him alongside all of you, just from further away
--Jesse Letourneau

Train of Thought 2013

Well boys and girls we have come to the portion of the show where I have run out of prepared blogs, and don't have one cohesive thought for today's entry.  So instead you will get some nuggets that have been rattling around in my head (I will let you decided what the nuggets are comprised of)

• I notice when I am content (not happy, not even joyous, but content, I sing  more) 
• The songs that get stuck in my head are never full songs, they are usually just a verse or a bridge.
• Although lately I have been singing "Jesus Loves Me." 
• When I was in high school, the worship band for the youth group did a rearrangement of "Jesus Loves Me"  This is the version that is stuck in my head.
• While I love "Jesus Loves Me" there is one verse that we sang that has a horribly theologically inaccurate verse in it:

                Jesus loves me when I am good
                When I do the things I should
                Jesus loves me when I am bad
                Even though it makes him sad
Now, I know that there are verses that speak of the Lord grieving over the sins of His people.  And I know that we are called to NOT sin so that Grace by abound.  But idea that my day to day actions, that my "being bad" somehow makes Jesus sad, that my mistakes, and slips, my willfully wrong actions, are on the same scale as a nation that has run after idols seems off to me.

God is not sad over my sins, He is grieved over my sins.  Not because He "misses me" or is upset we don't spend time together.  He is grieved because his beloved child is spending time/taking actions that move me away from what is good for me.  “When I am bad, I am making choices that exchange my connection to the love of God for actions that cloud, distort, cover, and blur the reality of God's love.

• I was offered an internship last week.  This internship was an outstanding opportunity, and would have fulfilled academic requirements as well as provided spiritual growth. I didn't get it.  However, I know that God has my best interest in mind.  He will lead me to the experiences that I need both practically and spiritually as I trust him to continue to mold me into the person he is making me.
• I am 37 and way too old to still be caring about movies based on comic books
• I am looking forward to seeing Captain America 2
• I think I am too excited for the new Agents of SHIELD television show
• I am  looking forward to seeing Bob and Becca in a couple of months
• I get to fly to Houston to spend time with my brother and his Sara, as well as my mom who is also flying to Houston
• Greek is harder than Hebrew
• After next week I will have completed one of my three classes for this semester-giving me even  more free time than I currently have.
• I should find things to do with this time other than watching New Girl on Netflix.
• I will be spending some of this time watching New Girl on Netflix
• Things I am not too old for: laughter, even at stupid things; rest; reading a good story, even if the main character has superpowers or lives on a distant planet; simple pleasures; simple joys; simple dreams
• Things I am too old for: playing basketball against 25 year olds, fast food and/or too much dairy; staying up past 10pm
• Things I will be doing on a weekly basis this semester: playing basketball against 25 year olds, eating fast food (and upgrading from a soda to a milkshake), staying up past 10pm
• I have been blessed by my relationship to many people over my 36 years of life.
• I will do my best to write more than a list next week

--Serving Him alongside all of you, just from farther away

--Jesse Letourneau

For my own amusment

So I have been at LAX fro roughly 12 hours now. I am flying standby. I am not complaining. I was able to get a friends and family ticket super cheap. That allowed me to go home and see friends and family. It allowed me to start 2012 in the place I began 2011. It allowed me time to reflect on 2011 its ups and downs, and to begin to embrace the change of that year and the challenges of this coming year. There is a blog or two in all of that.

But for now I am simply writing a blog for my own amusement. The next flight to Chicago doesn't leave for another 30 minutes, and I need to keep myself occupied in that time cause I have been here-as I said for 12 hours, and am getting quite bored.

Here is a list of some things to bring with you when you might have to spend more than 10 hours in an airport. Not just what you needs for a 10 hour day by yourself, but what you might want for ten hours in an airport.

In no particular order:

#1 Noise cancelling headphones
The ambient noise changes just enough that it is really hard to block it all the way out. I have a Bible, a computer, and a year of growth and change to process and I couldn't find a place where I could hear myself think.

#2 A really good book. Not the new book you are trying out, not a text book to get ahead in your reading. That book that takes you away. That book you can read a 1,000 times and its still new. I wish I had one (or more of those now.) I could really use a portal to Narnia

#3 Snacks-or a gift card to Mc Donalds

#4 If you are a video junkie, Music and Movies-along with those noise cancelling headphones.

#5 Journal/sketch pad/camera

#6 A single lightly packed carry on. Seriously, check the rest of it. You don't want to be lugging around multiple bags all day

#7 Comfy shoes and a pair of clean socks.

#8 a toothbrush and deodorant

#9 Layers

#10 A traveling buddy

#11 a since of the moment, an ability to reflect on the past, the ability to be "alone" in a crowd

#12 a time piece

--Serving Him alongside all of you, just from further away
--Jesse Letourneau

train of thought

So random tidbits,

My car battery died yesterday, hopefully that is all it is and not the alternator (getting that checked out today).

I am in Occidental for a length of time that will require only one more haircut.

Obedience is hard, but it is easier than faith.

Ping pong balls only go missing on my days off.

From the outside it is possible to see what could be, but it is not easy from the outside to see what is.

I have learned more than I thought was possible this year.

There are days I feel like I have forgotten more than was possible.

I don't think I will have closure to my time here at Alliance, because what I have learned was only the prologue for what God has for me in Chicago.

I NEVER thought I would pursue being a pastor.

I never thought I would move somewhere without a job lined up.

I don't know what state I will be in, but I know where I will be Thanksgiving weekend (at a theatre watching The Muppets).

All the plans I once held dear

I now count as loss

Hoping/Needing/Always Needing to be taken back to the cross.

I never in a million years thought that from where I was I could end up here.

I have no idea how what I thought I wanted and needed didn't come to pass, and have no idea how much better God's plan for me is.

I need to find an excuse to drive the Gator one more time.

--Serving Him alongside all of you, just from further away
--Jesse Letourneau