reyes-chow :: FAITH

Happy birthday to me . . .

Here I am squeezing a post in before Robin returns with seven little girls for my middle child's birthday sleepover.    Robin pulled trampoline duty and I got the house and dinner prep.  Yes, my birthday is just one day after the middle one so for all intents and purposes, I have no longer have a birthday.  That's cool.  I get my toys throughout the year - and then lose them - and life is pretty good.  Still, I am grateful for the well wishes over on my FB Wall.  Thanks for the luvin'.  Please know that you all help me to truly understand and experience the breadth and complexity of God.  Pretty freaking awesome if you ask me. 

Now off to cook chicken nuggets and tater tots.
Yeah, we know how to throw a party ;-)

Happy birthday to our junkyard piglet

How the frak* did Middle get to be seven?  We used to call her "Junkyard Piglet" because she has always been small and cute, but don't underestimate her, she is a scrappy one.

* Robin and I have been watching Season 3 of Battlestar Gallactica.  Oh how I missed you Six.

My unintentional technology desert

I had to sit down and have one of "those" conversations with Eldest yesterday.

Me, "Honey, I have some bad news."
Eldest, "Yes, dad?"
Me, "I lost our iPod."
Eldest, "Daaaaaaad?!?!?!

All-in-all she handled it pretty well.  She paid for half of the iPod so we will figure out how to make it up to her beyond the clothing, food, shelter and love we already provide on a daily basis ;-)

But that is not the worst of it as the iPod was only part of a bonanza for someone who does not mind using the tech fruits from another's labor.  I somehow, someway lost my "Man Bag" last week and it has not turned up.  I posted something on Craigslist and have retraced my steps through every cafe and dive that I have been hanging out in.  No dice.  And while there is always a chance a good samaritan will turn it in or it is simply buried under a pile of something in our house, I think my stuff is gone.

ipod 80, gone
digital camera, gone
flip video camera, gone
chrome bag, gone
bravado for never losing anything, destroyed

And while these are only possessions, I am feeling pretty sucky about the whole situation.  All that money, all that technology, all that fun.  Gone.

Bummer.

Just take your day off already

TODAY - my theoretical turned hypothetical day-off -  I am not:

• plugging in
• engaging in moderator stuff
• thinking about MBCC
• working at my kids' school

Today is for ME ME ME ME ME ME!

I was in a meeting this week and the devotional question for us was, "What relationships in your life have you been neglecting because of your busyness?" 

Get in line.

I am not complaining.  I have made my choices and I like the pace I have been at the last few months.  I have been able to stay just this side of crazy and it has been incredibly energizing and joy-filled.  But . . . the next few months will only intensify as the Moderator journey heats up, MBCC finalizes its facility situation and, oh yeah, the family needs tending ;-)  In the midst of it all, I know that the relationship I have neglected the most has been my relationship with God.  I used to slip in a movie, tackle a home project, and generally make good use of the flexible pastor schedule.  Lately there has not been the easily identified Sabbath moments, so I guess I have to rip some Sabbath time from the claws of the accomplishment monster and rest.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, You have heard this before when I tried to unplug for 24 hours and then tried to justify the way my time is scheduled, but this time it's for real, at least for this week, God is-a calling and I am-a answering.

So after a movie, some yard work, a little reading and a big ol' nap - see you on Saturday!

Oh wait, how do I find movie listings again?

Adventures of a semi-vacation

Today we are leaving for Disneyland.

No, you are not crazy . . . we were JUST there.

We return this time with my mom, step-pop and niece, Ava!  That mean momz will have all four of her grandbabies with her.  Hopefully she will get all weepy with joy while we are standing line.  How embarrassing ;-)

I thought about not bringing my computer and totally unplugging, but then figured, "yeah right" it's not like I am going on some outbound mission trip or hiking in some backwoods part of the world.  We are going to have to google some directions at some point for gosh darn sake.  More justification you ask?  I also didn't want to go through that freak-out stressful time before going on vacation.  I have a few things to do for church, but would rather just take a few minutes on Wednesday PM to take care of them rather than cram one more thing into the prep day.  Yeah, I'm hooked.  But in a good way ;-)

I'll probably blog a bit here over the week, but will mostly sit back, relax and be further sucked into the evil empire we know as Disney.

And the reading list for this trip:

• Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
• Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business
• The Overlook

Quit shoving food down your pie hole

As many of you know, I have been on the whole dieting thing for the past four years.  Roller coaster does not describe it well enough.   Both for health reasons as well as generally wanting feel/look healthy, I remain committed.   Dieting is not easy as I LOVE food and as I like to say, "I am not a foodie, I just love food."  I know I can do it, I know it feels good when I drop a few pounds, but I also know that prime rib and a baked potato are goooooooooooood.  As part of my determination to start up YET AGAIN this Monday, I have set a little remind for myself.  Thanks to Leslie who pointed out HassleMe I now get this little reminder from myself every once in a while.

Wish me luck!

My "Day Off" - Creativity or Justification?

Okay, so it is Friday AM and I am sitting in a cafe here in SF about an hour before my first meeting of the day.  Due to people's schedules, my schedule and my lack of a complete 24-hour day off from church stuff, I once again, am working on what is supposed to be my day off.

What follows is not a whiny rant about how oppressed the poor pastor is because he doesn't get a weekend.  I don't feel burned out, I don't feel tired, abused, taken advantage of, taken for granted, etc. 
So this leaves me wondering, "Have I discovered the new "Day Off"?" or am I simply justifying my own need to accomplish tasked, be perceived as busy, yada yada yada.  Or like most things, maybe a little of both?

Abut 18 months ago - whew how time flies - had taken to trying to unplug for 24 hours straight.  While it was not as difficult as I thought it would be, it was also not all that fulfilling.  Just meant that I had to be that more uber-pressured into getting things done by Midnight on Thursday.  Not sure what exactly I was expecting, but no big release of stress, no huge discoveries of self, just unplugged and unable to look up movies without spending 50 cents on a paper.

So here I am on my non-day off day off and feeling just fine.   The main reason I am okay with this is that I feel like I accumulate my day-off through out the week, and that fits my pace, life and personality just fine.

On to the justifications and perspectives in no particular order:

• Handled well, there ain't nothin' better than a pastor's schedule.  The non-structured nature of it all could eat you alive, but it also offers a flexibility that one can find in very few other professions.
• I am really not as busy as people would like to think.  EVERYONE is busy, life is chaotic and I feel like I have a good handle on juggling all the balls that God has tossed into my life. 
• I don't feel like I am working all the time.  I try to keep my actual church work time to about 8-10 hours a day, but that is hard to gauge - see next item.
• My life is one big chaotic swirling blended mix of who I am.  Now I know there are dangers of blurry boundaries, but really it makes no sense to be on something like Facebook and use the brain energy to decide it this interaction is "Personal" or "Professional" . . . I just decide whether it can wait or needs to be addressed right away.  I liken it to the idea that having a pager or mobile phone ties you to the church.  Hint: Don't answer it if you don't want to. You have the power.
• I feel like I let things drop, fail or not happen as they need and/or pick up the pace and dive in as the situation dictates.
• I am getting better at delegating church stuff, though it is still hard.
• I am able to spend time in my children's class room - yesterday's post - and be at their dance classes each week and go on most field trips. How awesome is that?
• I can do household errands/chores when all you other shmucks are at work shackled to a desk ;-)  Costo on Tuesday afternoon, here I come!
• No one as MBCC really likes to meet during the day: except other pastors of course.  With an overabundance of traveling consultants, doctors, teachers, desk-types, etc. at MBCC my weekday face-time needs are pretty low.  On the other hand my online connections and late night meetings are at a premium. See Pastoring in My World.
• I steal away to see a movie during the day, shhhhhhhh.
• I have taken to signing off at 10:00pm, so Robin and I have at least an hour of time together to catch up sans kids while watching reruns of The Family Guy.  There is at least one boundary in my life ;-)

So how does this play out during the week?  The best I can here, is how i figure "other" stuff eats into what i would think are traditional work hours.

• + 4 hours - Child Activities
• + 4 hours - Personal Errands/Chores
• + 1 hours - Movie or other "me" thing
• + 5 hours - blurry personal/professional online crap: blogging, Facebook, yelping, etc.
• = 14 Hours a week

Uh oh, now they are going to find out I am really a slacker.

So there you have have it, all justifications maybe, but nonetheless the reality of my day off.  I don't have just one or two solid days off, I have an accumulated couple of days off every week. Justification for being a workaholic, maybe, but just maybe a new way of living in the midst of a three-child-having, young-church-pastoring, urban-techno-geek-being, attracted-to-shiny-things reality that is my life.

I guess the real test will be how my family, friends and church look back on these times and reflect on what they have seen and experienced.  Will they see Bruce #1, a great dad/father/friend who truly found peace in the midst of chaos, or will they see Bad Bruce, just another workaholic pastor that lost sight of what was important in life.

Monty, I hope I am taking door #1.

Ten RCP Family updates

So . . . the pods have been taken away and we are now pretty much living in the land of boxes!  But we are getting closer to semblance of normalcy.  Here are a few randomocities.

• Being unsettled sucks . . . I am just sayin'  We are pretty much DONE will all of the transitions, mentally at least.  We do know that light is at the end of the tunnel.  Way the heck down there, but at least we can get to the stove, we're all sleeping on mattresses and the coffee maker has been found.
  
• Apologies to all those on whom I have flaked, been snippy with or otherwise was a jerko.  No excuses other than the aforementioned, "Being unsettled sucks."
• Ev's parents broke down and let her purchase 1/2 of an iPod.  We bought the other half since SOMEONE lost his on a recent plane trip.  Curses that it was bought just a week before the new ones were announced AND we had it engraved so no returns.  Oh well.
• I met this great guy from Twisp, WA who bought my motorcycle sight unseen.  He flew down, hopped on the bike and we bid farewell to dear old Trixie Triumph.  The girls were sad.  My spiritual director pushed me a bit getting rid of one of my spiritual practices, but was placated as I explained it was just a break and another bike will soon be part of my life.  Nothing, after all, is like riding!
• Listening to iTunes this week: Shakira, Maynard Ferguson, Slavic Soul Party, Richard Cheese and Bell Biv DeVoe.
• I now have HSM II playing constantly in my head.  It apparently sooths the savage beasts in the morning as they wake up, in the afternoon when they are picked up and in the evening as they go to sleep.  You ARE the music in me!
• This Sunday, MBCC is having a town hall meeting to talk about the future and our facilities.  A very exciting time me thinks!  If you are connected to MBCC and have not filled out the online survey, please do so RIGHT HERE.
• We love IKEA.
• RCP Family Garage Sale, September 29th 9:00-4:00 at our new place.  Feel free to bring stuff.  We are going to try and get our neighbors to join in!  Lost of great crap treasures to be had!
• We have great friends.  Wonderfully quirky, thoughtfully grounded, authentically snarky, full of contradictions and a tad bit cynical, but we love them.

Thanks for the continued prayers.  We would invite you over, but unfortunately boxes still take up most of the space that we would otherwise hold extra oxygen.  Christmas maybe?

perro maloliente malo

κακό δύσοσμο σκυλί
나쁜 냄새 나는 개
mau aroma acossa
壞有臭味的狗
Schlechter übel riechender Hund
плохо вонючая собака
悪い悪臭がする犬
dårlig lukt hund
كلب سيّئة كريه رائحة
den stinka dåligan förföljer

Now I don't know how many of these translations of "Bad smelly dog" are correct, but boo to the bad smelly dog that lived in the apartment before us.  The plan was to have the carpets cleaned of ode to pooch by today, storage pods delivered tomorrow and unloaded and unpacked by Labor Day.  Drat and double drat . . . Steam cleaning, fully aired out and we can still smell the dog.  So the debate rages on.  How bad to we want to get into the new house.  Poor Ab just wants to be settled.  Could we live with the smell?  Yes, that is how bad we want to get settled . . . can we live with the smell?  So . . . new plan.  Storage pods still get delivered tomorrow, carpet ordered and measured on Friday and installed on Tuesday.  And, yes, move in NEXT week.  O joy.

My List of 10 Things

Just yesterday I received two similar posts, 10 Things to do Before I Die from Wayne and 10 Things to do to Improve Your Blog Karma from Rohit.   Like the previous "5 things you didn't know about me" thing there must be a "List of 10 things" thing going around.  And hating to be left out of the party, I figured what he heck, let me come up with my list of ten . . . Read on if you dare.

Now what will my list be . . .
10 most awesome muppets
10 ways to to look like you are working at a coffee shop
10 ways to shame your children while seemingly being a good parent
10 Cheesy "Chick Flicks" that I totally cried at
10 Ways to prove to haters that I still have testosterone after said movies

Aw, heck with it, "10 Random Things That Have Been in My Head" and in no particular order.

1. I love family // yesterday I had dinner with my cousin, Tiffini, and her beau after she spent the afternoon mallratting with Annie.  It is always fun to help further explain the intricacies of family systems to one who was not raised in said family system.  Hey, if you can't laugh at your own dysfunctions how will we keep ignoring them?
2. When blogging turns ugly // Damn, this sucks.  Brian Bailey tells the story of a blogger who has had to shut down because of death threats.  If you proceed to the the bloggers explanations, be warned that some of the stuff is graphic.  I guess it is bound to happen, but man, what is this about?!?!?!?
3. What does a yellow light mean? //  While "researching" for sermon clips, I ran across this clip from Taxi.  Quite possibly the funniest TV gag EVER.  It is the episode when Jim takes his driver's licence test.   It is five minutes long and builds up speed.  You will giggle in your head at every traffic light. [YouTube Clip]
4. So you think you're hip? // As part of my Doctor of Ministry program I am studying these people called the Cultural Creatives or Creative Class.  Mostly they are, well . . . YOU!  So as soon as you/we/I think we are these very cool with-it independent thinkers.  Guess again!  We are merely lab rats - although trendy, progressive-minded lab rats - for the sociologists, advertisers and church planters to manipulate and mold.  Case in point, Richard Florida's blog on the Creative Class of which he is "The Guy" - The Creative Exchange.  LOVE IT!
5. Even good transitions are hard. // What happens when the church one serves starts to grow even a little faster than one thought it would?  Hmmm . . . let me think, you run away and hide amidst the onslaught of administrative and pastoral duties . . . oh no, that's not it.  Oh yes, we are proactive and we talk, think, pray through stuff.  So at the end of this week I will recently have had Coffee Conversations - why do I capitalize that? - with 18 leadership and members about our growth and how not to stifle it.  For those churches on the way up or down in size, here is a MUST READ Alban Institute article on Church Growth Stages.  Invaluable.
6. I claim my dorky old-schoolness. // Yes, my 20th HS Reunion is coming up this year, but so what!  I love my MTV!  As a continuation of my sermon "research" I bring to you for your listening enjoyment and old school loving: Lakeside's [Fantastic Voyage] // Chaka Khan [Through the Fire] // Young MC [Bust a Move] // DeBarge's [Rhythm of the Night] // and before the principal nixed it, the original theme for my senior ball Freddie Jackson's [Rock Me Tonight]. I can't imagine why he felt it was inappropriate ;-)
7. It is a cult, because Wired says it is.  // Last week I posted two entries [#1] [#2] on this weird world of the Apple Macintosh "Cult."  Thanks to DJ Chuang who sent me this NY Times article Apple Cult Becoming a Religion and the Cult of Mac blog from Wired Magazine, I now know that I am correct.  Oh well, drinking our own kool-aid as they say . . . ew.
8. Quiet is over-rated. // With Robin, Evelyn and Abigail in France [See Blog] [See pics] and Annie with my mom, the house and life are eerily quiet for most of the day when I usually am with them.  Then comes the night . . . nope, still quiet.
9. Mid-terms are for losers. // I still have a paper that I have to write that I am disparately avoiding doing.  Of course today is really the only day to do it as I packed the rest of the week with aforementioned Coffee Conversations, meetings and other random church activities.  Hmmm . . . wonder if anything good is at the movies?
10. Play Ball!!!!! // Only six more days until Major League Baseball's - the only true American sport, that and competitive eating BTW - OPENING DAY BABY and only 13 days until the Oakland Athletic's Home Opener.  Oh yeah and just 12 days from the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, of course I remembered ;-) . . . hmmm, I wonder what position Jesus would play?

Damn, there is a lot of useless crap rolling around in my head.  Enjoy!