Monday, March 17, 2008, 12:04 AM

Michelle and I have had a few discussions, and after much thought, we have decided that it is the right time for us to put this blog on hold. It has served its purpose well, but now it is time for us to direct our energies towards other pursuits. We will continue to leave the blog up on the internet for a while longer as a memory of these last few years, but we have no current plans to make additional entries to it. Thanks to all of you for your loyal readership, and feel free to contact us anytime!

Paul

Monday, February 25, 2008, 10:15 PM

Hello out there in cyberspace!

Are you reading this blog? Now, obviously, you know that you are, but I don't know that you know that you are. Know what I mean?

Probably not. Let me try again.

Why I am asking is that Michelle and I have been talking about the purpose of this blog recently. Loyal readers may know that we set it up just before leaving for Minnesota in 2005. Not only did it allow Michelle to practice her new web design skills, but it served as a tool to allow friends back home in the Pacific Northwest to keep in contact with us. With so many people to track, it was simply easier to go the blog route, rather than trying to contact 100 people individually, or even worse, spamming everyone's e-mail boxes with updates.

Recently, however, we have both been finding it difficult to remain motivated. Now that we're back in the Pacific Northwest, we keep in communication with many people other ways, and this blog isn't a primary way that happens. We do think there are a few people in Minnesota that read the blog, but it's a lot less than the 100 or so people we were writing for a couple of years ago.

So, we don't want to waste our time blogging if no one is reading it, or (more likely) that the people reading it could be contacted in more direct, effective ways. So, if you are reading this blog, and want it to continue, let us know! Click the contact us link on the left and send us an e-mail, or give us a phone call if you know our number. If there are huge numbers of people still reading, then we'll keep posting! If there are only a few, then we'll just have to getting better making our own phone calls and the like.

Thanks for visiting this blog, and we hope to hear from you soon!

Friday, Feburary 15, 2008, 12:07 AM

What a busy couple of weeks! I had a great time as one of the featured speakers at the Western District Spiritual Renewal Event. We had nearly 100 people from northwestern Oregon show up and see how toilet paper can be used in games for spiritual formation. Yes, it's true, and no, don't ask. :-) I also gave the sermon at two of the three worship times at the Cooperative, which was challenging but satisfying.

For a break, I have been listening to the archives of Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me!, a quiz show on NPR that takes a comedic look at the news each week. It is very clever and is generally not mean spirited, which isn't something you can say about pretty much every other major news organization in the country.

Another fun thing on NPR is their exclusive interview with Cookie Monster, the legendary character from the children's show Sesame Street. Who doesn't like Cookie Monster?
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Monday, February 4, 2008, 5:39 PM

This is definitely going to be a busy week. I'm giving the sermon at all three worship times on Sunday at the COOP, as well as being of the featured speakers at the Western District Spiritual Renewal Event on Saturday. I run chapel for Trinity Learning Center (a preschool/daycare at First Baptist Church of McMinnville) on Tuesday morning, a clergy group meeting in Newberg on Tuesday afternoon (I go even though I'm not ordained--it's a long story), and I have a worship planning retreat on Thursday, in addition to all my normal week stuff like praise team rehearsal and eating.

My tentative plan is just to crawl under a pile of pillows, close my eyes, put my fingers in my ears, and hope everything will turn out OK.
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Thursday, January 24, 2007, 11:56 AM

This week, I'm on the bike, because Michelle is working a temporary web design gig in Portland this week. The weather here has been pretty cold for bike riding (upper 20s/lower 30s), but we stocked up on enough cold-weather riding gear while we were in Minnesota that it's not really that much of a problem. That is, it's not a problem as long as it stays dry. We get rain a lot more frequently here than in the Midwest, and on the rare occasions the temperature does get below freezing, the streets quickly turn into ice rinks. Not good for someone riding a road bike with skinny, slick tires.

So far, though, my luck is holding, and it has remained dry throughout the week.

I just started teaching a new class at my church. Well, co-teaching, actually. It is called "Christian History and Art". I teach the history part of the class, and an artist friend of mine brings in pictures of religious art from the time period I am talking about that day. It makes for a pretty lively learning experience, because I think history helps you learn about art (and vice versa).
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Wednesday, January 9, 2008, 6:06 PM

This week marks the end of three epic journeys.

First, Michelle and I have now completed reading all of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings...out loud. It took us seven months to do, but it was definitely worth the effort. The Lord of the Rings is one of the most important books of the 20th century, and it was a highlight of our time in McMinnville so far to get the opportunity to hear and discuss the entire thing.

Second, we also just finished watching seasons 4 to 11 of MASH on DVD. Michelle purchased the MASH complete collection for my birthday, and (in between reading the Lord of the Rings) we've been watching almost non-stop. I'll go so far as to say that MASH was one of the most important television shows of the 20th century. A lot of people must agree with me, because the final episode of MASH (shown in 1983) stil holds the crown as the most-watched TV show in history. 77% of the population of the United States was watching when the show went off the air for the last time. Can you imagine 77% of the population of the United States doing anything together like that today?

Third, the symbol of Linfield College for the last 150 years (the "Old Oak" tree), finally toppled on Tuesday. I can't say this is really tragic for me or anything, because the choice of an old tree for a college symbol always seemed kind of odd to me. However, that massive tree was there for the last 250 years. It "saw" pretty much every student that has passed through Linfield, and the longevity of the tree does inspire a certain kind of wonder and respect. Michelle and I went out last night to look at the tree, and noticed that a family of deer had taken up temporary residence among its huge fallen branches. I guess that's the circle of life for you.
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