Steve and I returned this afternoon from a weekend conference for middle school students through the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. A good friend of ours and myself were the speakers. We had a great time, and the camp was a beautiful place to get away to for a couple days.
“A Bit on Fear, Part 4″ is coming soon!
Monday afternoon Steve and I returned from a four-day foray to Ohio for his sister’s wedding, his grandmother’s 90th birthday, and some overall family visiting time. We had some of the smoothest air travel anyone could hope for, and enjoyed the fruits of choosing to travel on a national holiday (our flight home was nearly empty). But now we’re back and I’m reading again, and therefore blogging again.
Sorry for the long silence. Steve and I have returned from vacation, I taught a conference, we enjoyed hosting a friend for a weekend, have begun the process of saying goodbye to some of our other friends as they prepare to move this weekend, and, well, much more. But life is working towards the normal end of the continuum right about now. Hello. You’ll be hearing more from me soon.
Tomorrow Steve and I head out for our first real vacation. I say real because, well, we’ve never gone away for more than a weekend without some external impetus, such as a wedding, a funeral, or a lengthy holiday celebration–and when we have taken those weekends, they’ve all been to places within a couple hours driving distance from home. But this year marks our third anniversary and I’ve completed my master’s–so we decided to splurge and take an entire week for ourselves on the other side of the country. And we have nothing planned for when we arrive. The guttural “Ahhhhhhhh” of relief is starting to release…
Late Sunday night I returned from a week long foray to Chattanooga, TN where I saw my younger brother get married. This is the cause of my blogging hiatus, but I’ve returned now and appreciate anyone who’s been willing to stick with me at all.
I’ve been on this earth for roughly a quarter century and to my conscious recollection, I’ve never seen a real, live camel–until today. There was no way I could’ve fashioned my expectations to prepare myself for the sight as I rounded the bend. I was on my groggy way to meet a friend for coffee this a.m., driving down a fairly normal road on my normal drive to have a normal morning get-together. But then, there it was. A camel. On the side of the road. In a school bus, his head lazily hanging out the emergency exit at the back while chewing a mouthful of delight. He (or she, for all I know) took brief account of my zippy little red car and being extremely unimpressed, blinked very slowly and turned his head away as I drove by. He seemed aware of my shock, amazement, and confusion and did not seem in the mood to oblige my perplexed perusal. And then my encounter passed as abruptly as it had arrived in my life whilst I drove on to my morning destination.
Over the past year I’ve been frequenting various theological blogs that focus on articulating the Christian faith in irenic, scholarly, and faithful ways. Some write book reviews, some publish sets of propositions related to Christianity, some explore philosophical concepts in light of Scripture, others are forums for discussion. Those most influential in my own developing interest to blog may be found in my Samaritan Well section. The Codex section serves as a place for links to journals and other online publications that pique my interest. In the Upper Room Crowd section, I’ve linked to the blogs of influential people in my ‘real’ life who have impacted my understanding of God’s character and goodness.
My hope for this blog is that it will be a place for open theological dialogue and the excited exploration of God’s self-revelation. For more on the philosophy behind this blog, click on the Full Stature tab to your upper-right. For me about me, Mel, check out the 1:1 link next to Full Stature.
My college roommate Emily just gave birth to her and her husband McGee’s first child, a little boy affectionately called ‘Jack.’ I remember in one of my first doctrine courses in college learning about the concept of imitating God and bringing honor to him as his image-bearers. My professor argued that the act of birth is one of, if not the, most worshipful acts that any human can perform. That God delights in life, and when we are bringing new life forth from an overflow of love that we are communicating something about God to the world that can be said in no other way. So cheers for new life and new birth that reminds us who quickens us and tells the world of a love that suffers through pain for the sake of an irreplaceable relationship.
