“Teaching Little Kyla…”
A series on Travis and Sarah’s journey of parental flubs, flaws, failures and accidental^ fortune.
Kyla now begins all her prayers by saying, “God, thank you.” That’s it. “God, thank you.” When is the last time that has been your prayer? Are your prayers prayed out of worry? Selfishness? How about gratitude? Thankfulness for the activity of God amongst his people.
When Sarah and I purchased Kyla’s bed to transition her from crib to awesome Malm from Ikea, I finished putting it together and Kyla looked up at me from a little less than a meter high and said, “Sank you, daddy.” She had a bed. And she was thankful.
Since then there have been a number of times that Kyla has surprised me in her simple statements of “thank you.” For what are you thankful? To whom are you thankful? Are you satisfied with what has been provided for you or do you normally feel ripped off? Like you drew the short straw. Like things never go your way. Or… like you deserve more? What gives us that sense of entitlement? What makes us so centered on having more? What keeps us from being grateful?
Is Kyla’s gratitude actually something that exists due to what she receives or possesses? How has she learned to be grateful? How do you exemplify gratitude and for what are you grateful?
^ There is someone(s) greater than me/us (a divine being and a community of people) that intercede with grace and giving.
I am not at Poets, Prophets, and Preachers (PPP) so I thought I would have a lot to say about it. My friend Matt Rawlings actually offered me a free ticket to the “conference”^ but I was unable to attend for several reasons (in no certain order):
>> I am on an interview committee here at MVNU that is meeting with a Resident Director candidate on Monday morning. >> I have a very busy academic year with more time off in the summer and wanted to set aside more time with my family. >> We are hoping to adopt and possibly purchase a home so I’m crunching down on the spending. Gas, hotel, and food would have been a few dollars.
From the middle of Ohio I have been keeping up with PPP. I’ve been reading all the tweets tagged with the #ppp09 hashtag and checking out a few blogs. I’ve noticed so far that at the first gathering, those commenting publicly all support that which is being discussed at PPP. Nothing that I have read has challenged the intitial teaching by Rob Bell entitled, The Original Guerilla Theatre. The positive perspectives may be fueled by the expectation of those attending. Many hours before the first session many were tweeting about anticipating their arrival in Grand Rapids. Others noted their excitement as they sat in the theater waiting to hear from Rob, who has obviously created a dedicated community of people who value his teaching.
In the Original Guerilla Theatre, Rob discussed the lost primal art form of the religious discourse. Those in attendance all tweeted the same few lines that apparently remained lodged in numerous cerebral cortexes. None of those lines seemed to be earth-shattering to me but centered on the theme that those giving sermons need to be more daring. It is not necessary for a spoken message to be safe and even resolved. Rather, those with ears to hear should be asking questions and talking more with each other in order to continue wrestling with the content. I would suggest additionally that those attending church gatherings seeking answers should alter their perspective. Knowing that the journey of following Jesus is a process of wonder and discovery, couldn’t it be more valuable to expect to leave with more questions? It is only our systems of modernization that make us think otherwise.
^I’m not sure that PPP is actually a conference. Well… I guess technically it is but probably not the typical churchy conference where the Youth Specialties tent is giving away free workbooks entitled something like, “How To Keep Teens Hooked: Staying Relevant for GenY.” JUST FOR THE RECORD: I just made up that title it may be the worst title for a book ever. I’m not sure which word is the worst, “How to,” “Teens,” “Hooked,” “Relevant,” or “GenY.”
Please select up to two (2) answers that best represent(s) your preferred form of being church. You may elect to choose only one option or you may choose two or none. Please be sure to add a comment to either explain your reasoning or state why you believe the survey is grossly inaccurate, mis-worded, and/or impossible to answer well.
“Teaching Little Kyla…”
A series on Travis and Sarah’s journey of parental flubs, flaws, failures and accidental^ fortune.
I have been considering getting a tattoo for way too long now. I need to just do it. The one thing keeping me from it is that I don’t want to be in the “everybody’s doing it / it makes you a trendy ‘with it’ emergent” category. If I do proceed to have a colored liquid substance commonly called ink injected/burnt into my epidermis I would choose to have some combination of either Hebrew or Greek lettering imprinted. I know Greek better so I am more likely to go with that. My current choices are as follows:
1.) The 5th chapter of The Gospel of Matthew in Greek text line after line across my shoulders and back.
2.) Same as above but down my side along the rib cage area.
3.) Alpha on one forearm. Omega on the other.
4.) ek statis in Greek (somewhere).
5.) splaxnizomai in Greek (somewhere).
6.) ekklesia in Greek (somewhere).
7.) “I heart Mom” on my shoulder inside a heart (ok, not really… just to clear that up).
Kyla has been learning the English alphabet. She is really starting to get it down and is not yet 2 years old. “J-K-L-M-N-O” is giving her some trouble but she nails the “P.” I’ve started to teach her Hebrew and Greek. She does well with “Aleph-Bet-Gimel-Dalet” and “Alpha-Beta-Gamma-Delta.” I was thinking about making up some flashcards for her but then realized I could simply use my tattoos.
Should I get a tattoo?
What should it read?
If you had a child age 13-19 who wanted a tattoo would you allow it?
Should I be teaching my daughter the biblical languages?
^ There is someone(s) greater than me/us (a divine being and a community of people) that intercede with grace and giving.
An extremely valuable response to the concept of community came to me via e-mail (many responses actually are via e-mail or phone calls from friends). A friend and mentor who shall remain nameless for the time being granted me the permission to use his response to my question, "What is community?" in any way that is "helpful to the conversation." He included the following concepts which I have adapted for consistent language and clarity. In my attempt at revision I was able to process to a greater degree what I hope to be interpreting correctly as the genuine thought of my teacher.
// Story ::
Stories preserve wisdom, share meaningful traditions, warn of impending problems, and create the back-narrative for moments which are "rights of passage. Without stories community is unattainable.
// Place ::
Even nomadic communities have a place. A place is a physical area with which to be concerned and for which a community is responsible. Followers of Jesus might understand the birthright and inheritance of responsibility (not to be confused with ownership) for place as stewardship. If a community loses its responsibility for place then it sacrifices that which keeps it grounded both literally and metaphorically.
// Connectedness ::
Community is relational thereby requiring purposed connection.
// Values ::
It is not necessary for those living in community to agree completely on an assorted number of issues; however, basic values are needed to retain trust in one another. A good question to ask is, What are the values of the community concerning economic development?
DISCLAIMER: The language of values may be burdensome for some as it carries negative perceptions and connotations due in large part to the tainting by political rhetoric.
// Conversation ::
Honest and open dialogue of a spiritual, political, academic, agricultural, and/or economic nature is critical to community.
// Commitment ::
Longevity in a place and with a people provides the fertile ground in which community can grow.
I had the pleasure of meeting with Dan Merchant briefly this evening at the ACSD conference. Dan is the writer/director/producer of the documentary, “LORD, save us from your followers.” I also attended the viewing of the film. I was entertained, confronted, and reaffirmed all at the same time. I am definitely going to be purchasing the film and hosting a screening as a part of the film forum of Oakwood Hall. I will also be meeting with Dan hoping that he may visit our community at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
The following trailer is somewhat vague and does not come close to providing a full representation of the movie. Please visit the website to watch more video clips and read more information.
I just found the video below online. A friend of mine wrote a curriculum for students transitioning from high school to college. He is now partnering with Josh McDowell for a conference on faith issues during transition. He took some clips in his living room a little over a year ago. Here I am talking about the doubt that I journeyed through while studying theology in college. And, yes, I still doubt. I still have a lot of the same questions that come to mind. Please give your response to the question to the right. |
I am not at 
An extremely valuable response to the concept of community came to me via e-mail (many responses actually are via e-mail or phone calls from friends). A friend and mentor who shall remain nameless for the time being granted me the permission to use his response to my question, "What is community?" in any way that is "helpful to the conversation." He included the following concepts which I have adapted for consistent language and clarity. In my attempt at revision I was able to process to a greater degree what I hope to be interpreting correctly as the genuine thought of my teacher.
