I lead a life group.

If you were to ask me to define what a life group is, I would have to say it's a group of people coming together to experience life together. It's a group of people who have said YES to community and NO to isolation.



There are 14 of us men on a spiritual journey together. Sometimes we study the bible. Usually we act like idiots. Always we challenge one another to bigger and greater things.



There is something about the regularity of a weekly meeting together. Every Monday evening around 5:30pm people start trickling in, and they typically trickle out around 11pm. I've been leading a group at my house for around 4 years now. It's been a huge mix of people. Men and women of all ages and backgrounds. Over time, we grew to such a large co-ed group that we decided to split off into a men's group and a women's group.



My wife has been leading that women's group ever since. We've both had other groups birthed off of our original groups too. And there's a reason for that...because we don't want to keep such an amazing thing to ourselves. This is something that needs to be shared.



You have to ask yourself some questions:

* Who is speaking into my life?
* Do I have people I can trust with my stuff?
* Who can I call at 3am when everything is crashing down?
* Do you fully know anyone?
* Are you fully known by anyone?
* Do you have others to lean on when you're too weak?
* Are you trying to rely on yourself for everything?



Now I fully realize that the idea of a group like this is a foreign thing. It shouldn't be. We are east of Eden in so many areas of our lives. The intention of this world has been off kilter for so long that we've come to a place in our lives where we never want to have true and intimate contact with other humans...and we're lonelier than ever.



Did you know that a Belgian work horse, when properly trained, can pull upwards of 8,000 lbs?

More interestingly than that however is the fact that two Belgian work horses, who have never worked together, can immediately pull upwards of 24,000 lbs. This is without training together. Have them work with one another for a little while and they'll be dragging over 32,000 lbs behind them in no time.

Simply by working together.



Are you a lone ranger? Do you try to do everything on your own? How is that working for you?

The end.

They're calling the nearly rainless storm we had on Sunday a Class 1 hurricane. This is Cincinnati, Ohio. We don't have hurricanes. We don't know what to do in these situations. But, we made the most of it. Here are some pics of the happenings.

At first it was just windy out:


Then debris started falling:


Things started getting tossed around:


That's when I started hearing the snaps:


Here's my neighbor's tree on my driveway:


80mph winds are able to uproot even the healthy trees:




Huge trees down on both sides of the street:


This little baby missed some cars by about 2 feet:




Zoinks.




The cool thing was how it brought so many in the community together:


The other cool thing is that I'm getting some serious use out of my chainsaw:




Although the house is messy, it still looks cool all lit up with candles. I'm glad our electricity is back on, but there's something special seeing so many kids outside playing on a day where there is no TV, no video games, no computer. If it weren't for the tragedies involved, I'd probably say I enjoyed this last few days. We're some of the fortunate who have had power restored to us. There are still around 500,000 throughout the greater Cincinnati area without power.



This may have been a once in a lifetime situation to be involved in. The remnants of Hurricane Ike and a cold front came together in such a way that we were hit harder than any time in Duke Energy's history for this area. Pretty crazy stuff.

I love coffee. Have I mentioned that before? With Java, I'm like a senior citizen when it comes to free samples at the grocery...I just can't get enough.



About six months ago a man came to me with a small baggie of contraband. It was wrapped in a brown paper lunch bag with my name written on it. As the words, "What's this?" began to leave my mouth, my hands made contact with the secret substance and my nose clued me in on what was inside. Before he even said anything, I knew it was coffee.

The aroma was so stout and confident...these weren't like other coffee smells I had come in contact with. As I opened up the paper sack, I could see that there was a small plastic sandwich bag filled with beautiful, dark-brown coffee beans. A masking tape label was displayed prominently reading: Roast City #1 - Guatemala

Glancing up from my surprise, he said to me, "I know how much you like coffee...so I figured I would let you try some of mine. I've been roasting my own coffee at home and I brought this for you."

This man is a coffee purist. While he doesn't have a lot of money, he definitely appreciates the finer things in life. He's developed an at-home method of roasting his own raw coffee beans that he orders online. This allows him to take part in a hobby, experience some of the finest coffee known to man at a much lower price, and share something he loves with people. Oh...and his at-home roasting method consists of a popcorn popper, open doors/windows, and lots of experience.

Thanking the man for the coffee I walked away and I didn't see him for a week. When I did see him again. He had another bag of coffee for me. It was also appreciated. When I saw him a week after that, he brought me yet another bag of home-roasted coffee that was out of this world in quality. At this I had to ask him, "Why are you bringing me coffee every week?"

He told me that he really appreciated all the things I did for people and that this was just his way of being able to serve me and say thank you. He told me that while he doesn't have much money, this is a way for him to do something of high value for me. Dollars permitting, he has brought me a small bag of coffee beans each week for the last six months. I've consumed every last bean.

This man is living out of excess rather than absence.

And he has no idea how much that means to me.

So...Ryan, one of our house mates, decided it would be a great idea to make Chili tonight. It was delicious. Don't get me wrong...it tasted awesome. The problem is the aftermath.

I ate a normal bowl of chili. My wife ate a normal bowl of chili. Most people eat normal sized bowls of chili, but Ryan ate 3 bowls of chili. Chili with black beans, chili powder, habanero, serrano chilis, onion, garlic, tomatoes, etc...you get the point. This man is a gas chamber. As pressure is built up in his bowels it is released abruptly at the dismay of all of us.

I'm seriously thinking of buying him some of these at this point:

http://www.under-tec.com/store.php

It's getting out of hand in here...and then he thrives off of the attention it gets him. I know I'm a man and I'm supposed to enjoy farts with the best of them, but even I'm getting uncomfortable at this point. Coconut Lime Verbena can only cover up so much.

Incognito
–adjective

1.	having one's identity concealed, as under an assumed name, esp. to avoid notice or formal attentions.

Some will always say, "Pics or it didn't happen."

Well...it happened. Ryan Doan is working at Starbucks and even though he has requested to work only during the day...they scheduled him for Friday and Saturday night from 7pm to 12:30am. This kind of injustice will often result in an incognito adventure.

Allison and I have gone incognito on many occasions. The basic idea is that you show up somewhere in public with disguises on. Trying to keep a straight face is a personal goal of mine. The payoff is when someone you know sees you dressed incognito. Priceless I tell ya.

Allison, Carrie, Ava, and I traveled incognito on Saturday evening at approximately 10:32pm. The photos tell the story.

Building relationships with people is easy. Let me rephrase that. Building relationships with people is hard. Man was not created to be alone. We were created for community and anyone you meet without that community inherently lacks much in the blessing department of this life.

I suppose building relationships can become easier, as it can be a natural outflow of the love we have in our hearts. But, to say it's an easy process would be somewhat deceptive. Here are some things I've noticed:

* We have to get over ourselves. If I submit to my introverted nature, I'm not willing to put myself out there for the fear of rejection or just plain laziness. Often I've experienced a great relationship boost with someone just by sharing something about myself against my better judgment. I'll typically err on the side of divulging too much information about who I am for the possible benefit of a sparked connection. It's tough, and it's scary, and sometimes it doesn't work out...but it's worth it. I can't tell you how many guys I've told something along the lines of "Yeah, I've really had serious struggles with pornography over the years." Only to have that guy call me a couple weeks later to start the process of getting some help.

* We have to reach further. My friend Lee has always commented on the painting of God and man on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It would seem that God is outstretched entirely reaching with all His might to make contact while Adam leans back casually, only to barely lift his left hand. Wow, what an effort Adam. This is not uncommon. There will almost always be a catalyst for the relationship and that has to be us. If we get ourselves into a place of thinking, well they don't even try to make this work...it's like a one way attempt. - YOU'RE RIGHT! They probably don't know how to make it work. Maybe they're shy. Maybe they haven't experienced good friendships and they're slow to trust. They need extra prompting and you're the person to provide it. We must be willing to sacrifice our pride for the amazing thing that will replace it.

* We have to do it again and again. When I'm shot down from someone in some way my inclination is to write them off. My heart becomes a little harder and I'm even slower to try again with someone else. It's been said that we must keep our hearts soft and allow our feet to become hard. A calloused heart is no good at all, but the callouses on our feet let us walk even further on this journey. Someone screwed you over? Forgive them. Restore the relationship as best you can. Release their throat from your grip. You put yourself out there only to be squished? Try again. Get creative and love them where they are. Put the ball in their court and let them know that you're there whenever they're ready. A soft heart and hard feet. The journey is the destination.

P.S. - I called my mom yesterday and wished her a happy Mother's Day. I've not done that in a few years. We talked for about 15 minutes and it was good.