last year in a nutshell

last year was a trip. there were some very large things that happened in my life that have changed my course significantly, but for the better I hope.

1) i'm having a baby - if nothing else, this will derail my life as i have known it. i talked to the baby in sonia's stomach the other night. i felt like a fool for a minute but kinda hoped for the opportunity to do it in person soon. :)
2) divorce - when you are not the one getting divorced, there is more good than bad that comes from the experience. i think that our relationship (me & son) has grown stronger because of learning from other peoples mistakes, as well as taking our relationship and its vulnerability seriously.
3) divorce part 2 - those growing pains hurt.
4) the gathering - we began to meet this year as the gathering. it has been a tremendous blessing in my life to be a part of something like it. it has challenged me to think, and to stretch myself. it has also helped me to work through and un-learn some things about church. i love going to the gathering and i love the people that are there. we are growing in community together, and i feel blessed to have those people as family.
5) renato - rey-rey moved out of our house in late october. the experience was great, and i learned a lot from it. i feel like we forced ourselves into testing the limits of our willingness to help people by allowing someone into our home. i am glad that we did it.
6) i'm an uncle now - isaiah's pretty dope. i saw him awake for the first time this weekend. i thought he was still in the sleeping stage, but apparently he just gets sleepy when i'm around. :)
7) college ministry - son and i are now officially retired from youth ministry. we were talking the other night about how we are definitely irrelevant to high schoolers now. we can't do what we used to do anymore. but we do seem to connect with the college students, and being with them and learning from each other has been great. i have seen a lot of growth in them, and i am excited to watch it happen. i am encouraged by them all of the time. they remind me about why i got into ministry to begin with...
8) baptism - i baptized someone for the first time this year. realistically, this is more significant for me in ways other than what you might imagine. that act doesn't make me a better leader, a better christian, or a better person. it doesn't solidify or enhance my "position" in the church. but there is something deep that happens in the pool that i can't explain. i feel like i was able to take part in something very amazing and beautiful, and i felt honored to be a part of it.
9) friendships gained - i gained many new friends, and took it to the next level with others. community is no longer a buzzword for me. i feel like i have reached the place where the rubber hits the road and didn't punk out. i am an open book and completely committed to community.
10) friendships lost - it's too bad how things happen sometimes. how friendships become collateral damage. i feel like i lost a friend, but it was even worse than that. i realize that that person was never really my friend. so in reality, i lost so much more. one thing is having a friendship and then parting ways. yet another is realizing that it never was.
11) friendships tested - forgiveness is not an easy thing.

all in all, i feel like god took me to a new level of maturity this year. like i learned to buckle down and decide who i was, and how i would live the gospel.

i am the church. koo koo kachu (c) the beatles