Monthly Archive for December, 2009

Before I left for work this morning, I was contemplating writing a post about how bad 2009 has been to me and many I am close to.

Once I arrived at work this afternoon, I figured out the exact details of what I was going to write about my crappy 2009.

Midway through work this evening, I was smacked upside the head by the Lord while on my lunch hour.

I could have sworn it was audible because there was no one else in the room, but I still remember the words the Lord gave me as if it happened yesterday (because it’s 2:04 a.m. and technically it DID happen yesterday):

“It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, it matters where you are and where you will be.”

At first it sounded like a horribly confusing Confuciusism, but once I thought more about it, the more it made sense.

If I look at it from the completely selfish, moronic and insolent way I was looking at it earlier, then woe is me for having been laid off from the job I enjoyed most, being unemployed for months and then finding a job in retail, and for my journalism career being at a standstill for the foreseeable future.

However, if I see it from the viewpoint that the Lord shared with me earlier, the Nickelodeon Roundhouse theme starts to play in my mind and I begin echoing the show’s tagline, “we could go anywhere from here.” I half meant that as a joke, but seriously, I can go anywhere from here — the Lord has blessed me by bringing me home to the Northwest with the familiarity of home and the camaraderie of friends, a job in which I am being paid just about as much as I did at the N-L, a roof over my head, money in the bank and a strong faith in Jesus.

I should have mentioned the faith in Jesus part first, because that’s the only thing that has brought me as far as it has. And honestly, I think the Lord has spoken to me in some of the strangest situations and places…the homeless gentlemen I chatted with near the Lloyd Center MAX station on two occasions earlier this fall/winter come to mind quite clearly.

An objective rewind through 2009 will show three major low points of my personal life. That’s huge because I have gone years in between periods of “bottoming out,” so to speak, and to have it happen three times in one calendar year is something I don’t look back on with any amount of pleasure…however, in those three low points the Lord was there to guide and give wisdom, comfort and peace. My faith has been strengthened and emboldened.

For example, when I lost my job at the Springfield News-Leader on July 8 as part of a corporate downsizing, I had been foretold by a spiritual mentor here in Washington state to be prayerfully anticipating a major event in my life that would bring about a big shift in my future. They said it wouldn’t be easy and I wouldn’t enjoy it, but if prayerfully prepared, the Lord would show me what to do. I received a yellow packet upon meeting with the executive editor at the N-L, and it was dated the same day that the person had shared with me what they felt.

God Himself definitely knew how to get a hold of me, and while that day wasn’t easy, I still remained optimistic because I knew the Lord was at work.

I sit here typing this out on my desktop computer in my still-unfurnished apartment in Vancouver, Washington, and even at this very moment I don’t know what tomorrow brings, much less a week from now. All I know is that a week from now adds one more digit to the number of years Anno Domini. That’s it.

While I look back on 2009 as an extremely uncomfortable and painful year in many respects, I also review it as a year of tremendous growth in maturity, faith and spiritual discipline. And when I look forward to 2010, I realize that the future will be greater than the past.

So 2010, hurry up and get here already. I can’t wait for your arrival.

For all the right reasons, of course.

Over the last few years, I’ve really been trying hard to scrounge up ideas for hosting a consistent Bible study that won’t bore the pants off the participants AND that can be interacted with via the Internet.

I think I’ve finally found a means to accomplish what I’m going after here, and it’s pretty simple.

It’s been on my heart lately to get an informal Bible study and prayer session together for myself and friends in the local area who would like to join. The key is that we wouldn’t host it in anyone’s house; instead, it would be in public venues such as coffee shops or small food joints like maybe a Chipotle or a Panera location. The idea behind this is to make the gathering mobile so people in neighboring towns would be able to join as well…for instance one week we can hold it in downtown Vancouver, the next week Camas, and the week after that even trek up to Kelso. Maybe we can hold it in people’s homes every once in awhile, but the goal is to hold a public gathering that is inviting to everyone who happens on by it. Even those we would consider strangers are most welcome to join.

Knowing there will also be a decent number of people who won’t be able to join us in person, my goal is to offer a podcast of the weekly Bible study over the Internet so people can download or listen to an MP3 of each gathering. Networking over the Internet is just as vital as networking in person in today’s world.

As for the Bible study itself, it’s non-denominational and there are no hidden agendas. Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal…come as you are. Unity was one of Christ’s main themes and it is our mission to uphold that.

After prayer and thought about the Bible study, I came up with a name. I’ve used the name Firestorm before in various ventures that I’ve begun but I feel this is the best venue to use it. Fire spreads rapidly and instantly changes whatever it touches…much like God Himself and our lives. Thus the name, The Firestorm Sessions.

I’m planning the first Firestorm Session for the second week of January at the Starbucks on 162nd Ave. in northeast Vancouver. If you’d like to join or would like to host one sometime, please drop me a line.

My schedule at work is such that the middle of the week is my weekend so I have to make the most of it each time it rolls around. So on Wednesday, I took the opportunity to drive on up to Longview to visit with my friend Ryan, check out a few stores, and see how my hometown decorates itself over the holiday season.

It was good to catch up with Ryan as I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years. We caught each other up on how our lives are going and discussed ministry as well. The venue for our meeting was the Intermission Coffeehouse on Ocean Beach Highway across from Fred Meyer (they took the old camera shop that was there and converted it into a really neat place). The people there were great and the food was awesome as well.

I must make a note that Intermission is a small piece of the revitalization of Longview. If you search my blog, you’ll find posts speaking of previous trips to Longview in which I had noted that the city is starting to revive itself in a sense again. I don’t live there and I don’t have a good pulse as to how things are on a day-to-day basis in L-town, but it has MUCH more to offer now than it did when I was growing up across the river. That is encouraging to me, and I’ve always maintained that someday I want to move back there. I don’t know why, but I do.

I was going to visit my grandmother’s gravesite at the Longview Memorial Gardens on Mount Solo, but I arrived shortly after the place had closed and was unable to find her grave by memory. I’ll head back next week and try to find it again.

The Three Rivers Mall is on a close deathwatch, as it has been for a few years now. It’s filled with chintzy mom-and-pop stores, the food court is 3/4 of the way empty, and the anchor stores are holding on because they have nowhere else to go. In an encouraging twist, The Father’s House church rents space inside the old Emporium each Sunday for their worship gatherings. Why I went to the mall I’m not sure…I guess I’m waiting for the time that old mall has the plug pulled from its life support system. It was only really good in the 90’s and once Emporium shut down, the mall never recovered.

I drove around Longview and Kelso looking for Christmas light displays and to my dismay, there were WAY fewer lights up than I remember. The economy sucks and people are penny-pinching, and if that means no Christmas lights then I guess that’s what’s gotta happen.

I also drove to the Kelso COGOP and thought very long and hard about attending their Wednesday night Bible study. I didn’t see anyone in the parking lot five minutes before 7 p.m. so I pulled away. I guess it would have been awkward if I were the only one there.

The weather was nasty all day, and it made it nearly impossible to get out and take photos. Especially so because my lens cap disappeared somehow.

It is really good to see Longview/Kelso getting back into decent shape, and I hope and pray good things for the people who live there. Especially my friends.

I guess a major reason I have not been able to get into the holiday spirit over the last few years is the mere fact that I have spent every Christmas since 2004 away from my hometown — where all the Christmas magic happened during my youth.

I can remember sitting at the house in Rainier watching Christmas movies night after night and anticipating the annual tour of light displays that we would do every year. Local businesses buzzed, people displayed random acts of kindness, and it even snowed once in awhile.

Longview had some excellent light displays too. Civic Circle, Lions Island and Commerce Avenue all come to mind. Not to mention a neat little trip up Cascade Way every now and then to see the nicer houses light up for the holiday.

I spent Christmas 2005 in Iraq and played football with some of the soldiers and airmen on an abandoned grass helipad. Christmas 2006 was spent in Oregon with my ex and her family…and Christmas ‘07 and ‘08 were spent with the family in Missouri.

This year I am back in the Northwest…not quite Longview, but I do have easy access to my hometown. I will be heading there later this morning to try to re-capture some memories of holidays past and get that holiday spirit once again. I need it since I won’t be able to spend Christmas with the family this year.

If I could have one thing for Christmas, I would gather the family together and spend a week at the old place up Fern Hill Road leading up to Christmas. Just for old times’ sake.

Life changes quickly, but Christmases with my family here in the Northwest are memories that won’t fade out anytime soon. I would give a substantial amount of anything to make just one more happen again.

I know it won’t anytime soon, so I’m doing the next best thing.

See you in a few hours, Longview.