To enter the contest, simply answer this question:

What are you doing to fill yourself back up again?

That's it. Answer the question and you'll be entered to win these:

Nooma DVDs, if you haven't seen them, are fantastical. They are typically 10-12 minutes in length and they're great catalysts for deeper thinking. There will be a random drawing from your comments at 7am tomorrow...that'd be Wednesday September 24th of 2008.

One entry per person please...pinky swear.

Me = Zonked. Wiped out. Drained.

I spoke three times this week on the topic of Royalty...the second half of a 2-part teaching at Vineyard Westside. It's so strange because to teach gives much such an incredible energy and it brings life to me...I know I am supposed to be a teacher and I love to teach. However, after the initial high is over, I'm kaput. I went to "church" today and "worked" from approximately 7am to a little after noon. 5 hours.

And yet I feel like I worked a full 40-hour work week just today.

I think I'll take the day off tomorrow.

Have you ever recognized something that brings you life, but also sucks the life right out of you?

Staying up late didn't allow me to sleep quickly when I finally arrived at the mattress. As I lie there with my arms folded behind my head, staring at the ceiling, questions began to stir in my mind as they often do.

I wonder what everyone's up to back home?

How can I become a better husband?

What should I work on when I get home?

How can I aid in lives being changed...more lives, faster?

Why do You love me like You do?

Christ and the Kingdom of God are so very different than other mainstays in my life...in your life. As I take a break, a rest, a sabbath from certain things, it's my natural response to want them more. I take a rest from work, and soon I am restored and ready to jump back in. I take a break from people and community at large only to find a renewed desire for them. These are only for a season however, for if I take a long enough break...my desire for a reconnection will soon fade and my wanting will become distant and blurred. Eventually, the gap in my memory is filled in with new thoughts, desires, and relationships. What once was so familiar can become a barely-there impression.

It is not that way with Christ for me. I longed for God before I even knew who He was and any time I choose to run from Him I am pursued as by a Holy Bounty Hunter. The book of Colossians speaks of the mystery that is Christ. The mystery to me is that of all the things I've been into, of all the hobbies, and the fads and ideas I've had...this Christ has not begin to fade. He is not a reminiscence, rather, an existence in my heart and soul.

I'm pretty sure that my wife thinks I hate taking the garbage out. This is simply not so. Forgetful as I may be when it comes to refuse, I rather enjoy taking it down on garbage night. As a matter of fact, the more garbage we have, the more I enjoy taking it down. Tonight was a good night with copious amounts of trash. My peeps make lots of slops.

You see, my driveway is about 22o feet long. On average it's around 85 steps from the cans to the street. During these 85 steps my mind takes a vacation from the day and I seem to zone out into a world of clarity. I'm not sure why it happens when I'm taking out the trash, but I can tell you that I often take more trips than I need to.

Sure, I cold grab a can-on-wheels with my right and my left and carefully coax them down the long, broken-up, ghetto driveway and save a few minutes...it's just...I don't want to save a few minutes. Sometimes I want to escape into the land of the simple task. For me, taking down the garbage cans gives my mind an excuse to stop moving. I'm not sure if you've ever experienced this, but it seems that my mind starts working when it stops moving.

I'll have a problem that is racking my brain and I'm obsessing over it and I can't seem to let it go. It's totally consuming me...it just won't go away. Suddenly I'm moving waste from one point to another and I begin counting. Each step I take I count them off in my mind...one, two, three, four...one, two, three, four...one, two, three, four.

Somewhere in my mindless counting an image becomes clear. A piece of wisdom drops from above. Stars align, and a solution presents itself to me. Always to my surprise, an understanding of something is attained. It's stinky bliss.

I'm going to have to interrupt the irregularly scheduled blogcast to take a nap. I'm tired and I need 2-3 hours to study the insides of my eyelids.

I'm planning a post for tomorrow about things like murder and whatnot. You'll have to check back and see. In the mean time...I'll give you this opportunity to humor me.

Ask me a question and see what happens...you never know, I just might answer it authentically. Any question...come on...I know you've got something.

Any lurkers out there who read this blog and you've never shown yourselves...come on out of the woodwork! I want to get to know you!

Peach,
R