Chips N Dip

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I thought I would share a few mexican food moments and memories.

Los Arcos - Lots of cheap combination #1's and Speedy Gonzales at the only mexican restaurant I think existed in Boone while I was in college. Why did ice cold coke taste so good with that food?

Fish Tacos - My friend Dave McIrath made delicious homemade fish tacos one year for my birthday! Totally scrumptious. Since then they have been one of my favorites.

Chuy's and Blue Goose - 2 of our favorite Dallas joints. Something about Mexican food in Dallas....so so good.

Calahan's 1st Beer - ok, ok, not really....but we do have a picture of him grasping a Shiner Bock at Chuy's as a 3 month old.

Homemade Salsa and Guac - Kelly does the guac, I do the salsa....yummy!!!

Pilo's - Some random border town mexican joint in south Texas. We ate their twice while on a mission trip. I remember that the flank steak fajitas were insane. Or maybe they just tasted so good because I was with 30 high school students in the middle of nowhere waiting for a hurricane to pass.

Back-2-Back - Eating at the The Blue Goose on consecutive days on a recent trip to Dallas. Special thanks to Mo and MK for making us get the Sopapillas. Unbelievable!

Tonight - Dinner at Corona's. The food wasn't that great but the experience was tremendous. Free necklaces, t-shirts and hats. Cinco de Mayo has instantly become a favorite holiday in our house.

Viva La Mexico

Thine not Mine

I regularly go through phases where my prayer life is not what I want it to be. What do I want it to be? Honestly, I am not even sure I know. I do desire to have a continual growing dependence on God. One that causes me to always be thinking and communicating with Him. One where others needs are on the forefront of my mind and my own agenda fades away. But sometimes, even when that may be happening, I feel like all is not right.

Over the past few years, one tool I have found to be a regular help with my communion with God is a book entitled, The Valley of Vision. It is a collection of Puritan prayers. Reading these rich declarations of dependence has driven me to echo and own them for myself. They are filled with a robust appreciation for the greatness of Christ and the neediness of mankind. Below is the entry that gave the book it's title. I hope God uses it to stir your soul as well:

Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,

Though hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see you in the heights,
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold the glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen in deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy star shines;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

Preaching to the Choir

A few weeks ago I was fulfilling my mr. mom duties of folding and putting away clothes. I was a bit surprised to see Calahan standing at my bedroom door as I had recently put him to bed (the rule is once in bed, you stay in bed). Before I could scold him and demand he return to his room, I noticed the curious look on his face and immediately knew something was up. With an outstretched hand he beckoned me to follow him. As we entered the hall, I could hear the voice of my daughter. As we drew closer to her bedroom door, the muffled tones turned to clear words filled with energy and passion. Quickly I realized what had caused Calahan's state of uncontrollable laughter. Before I proceed, you need a little more context.

As I was tucking Harper in that night, I told her that she could read in her bed for a while before going to sleep. In response, she asked if she could talk instead. Not really understanding what my creative, right-brained daughter meant, I simply said "sure Harper you can talk for a few minutes."

So....now back to the story. Here is what Calahan and I heard that night:

Harper - "Now, you need to understand that God wants you to be kind and compassionate to everyone. Do you know why? Because He made everyone and it makes him very mad when you are not nice to the people he made. And you know what else? You are disobedient and sinful. And God loved you so much that he sent Jesus to die on the cross for you to take the punishment for your disobedience."

Unable to control myself any longer I pushed open the door to find my daughter leaning over the edge of her bed with her finger extended towards her two American Girl Dolls. Yes, I am certain that Mia and Josephina got saved that night. If not, there is absolutely no hope for them. I'm not sure what is more haunting, the fact that my 6 year old theologian was preaching at inanimate objects or that she obviously takes in everything she hears me say. Regardless, I know I can never hear a gospel presentation again without that precious image coming to the forefront of my mind.

Stirred Up

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

7am - 10pm.....that is a typical Sunday for me. I usually have an hour or two at home but most of my day is spent at church. If I'm not careful, it can become nothing but work for me. In one sense, it is work. I am a pastor. That is my job, and I get paid for doing the responsibilities that require such long days. However, I don't want Sunday to be a job for me. I want it to always be a time where I can encourage and be encouraged by my time together with the church body.

The author of Hebrews says that we need to meet together to "encourage on another." Today I was encouraged by:
* hearing the Scriptures taught
* singing songs of adoration to Jesus
* celebrating Communion
* talking with others about how they are being used by God
* listening to high school students talk about their faith
* talking to my Son about what he learned at church
* watching the many different body parts function as one moving unit

I am thankful for those words as they are a constant reminder that no matter how exhausting Sundays may get, I know that my soul needs to be encouraged in many different ways, by many different people. And in that I have a role to play as well, whether I get paid for it or not.

Short-n-Sweet

The Short - I woke up with a stomach virus! My day has spent migrating between the bed, couch and bathroom. My diet has consisted of a steady dose of saltine crackers and watered down Gatorade. Mustering the energy to flip open the lap top and bang out a blog entry is a very tall feat.

The Sweet - Harper scored her first career soccer goal today! This is her first attempt at playing a sport (sorry, cheerleading doesn't count in my book) and I wasn't certain that a goal would come. However, she has steadily improved and seems to be loving the game. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see it but having her tell me all about it was pretty special. I hope there are many more to come in the future.

Hard to believe that it's just day 3 of my challenge and I'm already experiencing a major road block. Oh well, here's to pushing through.

So, short-n-sweet.....there it is.

Wait

It's just about lunch time as I write, and already, life for the Keevers has been turned upside down (oops, maybe a poor choice of words). Early this morning, Kelly woke up with a bad case of the stomach virus. Since that time, our day has been a chain of mess-ups, changes and cancelations. Here is a sample of the day we didn't expect:

Dad had to do Harper's hair = She has to Wait for another day to wear it the way she wanted.
Trip to BP for a coke for Kel = Wait for 3 people to have a ridiculously long conversation
Scheduled golf match = Wait for another day (hopefully as beautiful as this one)
Getting a prescription from the doctor = Wait 2.5 hours just to have him call it in
Pick-up at Pharmacy = Wait, Wait, Wait because they can't find the order
Scheduled plans with friends tonight = Wait for another time
Trip to Allendale tomorrow = Wait for another time

So you get the picture. Wait! Wait! Wait!

The Psalms are filled with verses that command God's people to wait on him. When reading the sacred literature, I routinely blow past that word, not fully grasping what it meant to the original audience or what application it may have for me. Quite honestly, I'm not very fond of waiting (see above). I mean who is? Our society has pampered us with instant access to just about anyone or anything anywhere. Fast food restaurant, delivery services, cell-phones, and the internet have done a great job of masking the harsh reality that exist for all creatures. Over the past few hours a quote from my seminary professor Dr. Jeff Bingham has been rattling in my head. "Every time we have to wait should cause us to worship." The fact is, God alone is exempt from waiting. He created life by speaking it into existence. He heals wounds and diseases. He calms storms. And all in an instant! God is not bound by time. It's just one way we are distinct from our creator.

Instead of getting frustrated, upset and even angry over waiting, I want waiting to remind me that I am just a creature. And that no matter how technologically advanced our society becomes, I will always be bound by such limitations. But God isn't, and he never will be and that brings reason to worship our creator.

So this afternoon, and hopefully in the future, I will worship while I wait.

30 for 30

Ok Ok! I know the title is not original. Hopefully you have had the pleasure of enjoying one or more of the entertainment nuggets airing on ESPN as part of their 30 for 30 documentary series. Some of today's best filmmakers use their gifts to highlight some of their favorite sports characters, moments and events from the past 30 years. Whoever came up with this idea is a genius. These hour long episodes are truly fascinating and clearly reveal how filmmakers really can make or break a story.

However, my 30 for 30 has nothing to do with ESPN, the past 30 years, or today's best filmmakers. No, mine represents a personal challenge. Over the past 6 months I have struggled with the motivation to maintain a consistent blog. Now, in my defense, I am regularly being asked to contribute to two other blogs (http://gracechurchscpastors.blogspot.com/,http://unafide65.wordpress.com/) which have become a bit of a distraction. But with that said, I want to offer up no excuses and find out for myself what I really think about the world of blogging.

So, here is the challenge that I have given myself. I am going to do 30 blogs in 30 days! Why you might ask? Because I want to commit wholeheartedly in an effort to see if it's really something that I like to do, want to do, and is beneficial for both myself and others. Although there may not be an entry every single day, the goal will be to have 30 blogs by the end of 30 days. Hopefully, by the end of May I will know more about myself, my desire to write and blog. And as is the case with all thing in my life, I hope this challenge in some way, draws me closer to God, gives me a better understanding of the gospel, and points others towards Christ.

Good night. See you tomorrow!