In what will hopefully be a return to normalcy for the sport of cycling, the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) began yesterday. For those unfamiliar with the sport, the Vuelta is one of the three "grand tours" with the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) and the Tour de France and lasts three weeks. I love the grand tours as there are usually so many stories that unfold over the course of three weeks and there are a lot of moments where heroes are born and legends are solidified. Unfortunately, over the last twelve months, they have also been the places where cycling's darkest moments have occurred.
Obviously, there's the whole Floyd Landis, Tour de France mess which followed closely on the heels of a Spanish investigation that cast doubt as to the integrity of several top riders that led to the decision, by their teams, to remove them from the race before it ever started. But, lesser known to the general sports enthusiast, is the fact that last year's Vuelta champ, Roberto Heras, underwent a similar experience. After winning the Vuelta, it came to light that he tested positive for a banned substance during the race, went through the court process and had his victory stripped from him and given to Denis Menchov who had finished second. Add to that the fact that this year's Giro winner (Ivan Basso) was implicated in the Spanish investigation and the three most high profile events for cycling in the last year all had a doping scandal involving the winner of the race.
My hope is that the Vuelta this year will be the first step in a new era of cycling where riders clean up, as much for the good of the sport as for fear of getting caught. The sport is one of great beauty where the achievements of the riders are amazing feats to watch. Unfortunately, the thought of always having to wonder as to the authenticity of the performances turned in makes it hard to enjoy a race as it happens. It seems that you have to wait until about two weeks after the race before you can really enjoy the results.
I have been a fan of pro cycling for almost 20 years and hope to be able to be so for the rest of my life. Hopefully the riders will make it easy for me by securing a clean future for the sport.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Maynard Ferguson Dies
Growing up as a young trumpet player (some of you probably didn't realize that is my native instrument), I couldn't help but be mesmerized by Maynard Ferguson. He was probably best known for the theme from "Rocky" than for anything else, but was much more than a one hit wonder. He was one of the most renowned lead trumpet players in the history of the big band, was a great showman with incredible range who attracted great talent for his own bands and was an active clinician and educator.I saw Maynard on a few different occasions and always left inspired to work harder and play higher. No, he wasn't the greatest jazz trumpet player I ever heard, but there was something about him that ignited the imagination and left me wanting to be a better player. I learned a lot from Maynard and the ensembles that he put together.
Maynard died a few days ago and, I have to admit, just thinking about his legacy makes me want to play again.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
More Mercy
I contacted Shel (the lead pastor Mercy Church in Sioux Falls where I applied for a part-time worship leading position with in June) yesterday to see where the church was at in its search process. Turned out, not too far. Shel said he was interested in getting together and we met for coffee this afternoon for about 90 minutes.
It was a good conversation (and good cafe breve) that covered the range from our calling to and from Hanfield, the needs of Mercy Church, the Christian Missionary Alliance, our mutual backgrounds as former classical musicians and a fair amount of ecclesiology.
The church received a few resumes from people that are already in Sioux Falls and they are interested in speaking with a few. Shel invited us to lead a rehearsal and service as the next step in the process which will hopefully happen in the next month or so.
Shel strikes me as someone that I can relate to and can be a little more straight forward with. I have the tendency to be a little too diplomatic at times and he encouraged me on a few occasions to just lay out what I was thinking without the filter. I also found that we have a lot in common in terms of ministry vision and values. I think Shel is a bit more studied and further down the road in most areas than I am, but I found that I clicked with almost everything he was saying.
He was open enough to let me know the pay the church would be able to offer wasn't much, but money is not my primary motivator in this at all. It looks as though I'd be able to work things around my shop schedule until such a time as the role would expand.
My prayer is that Mercy will find the person that is the right fit for them. If it isn't me, then I will still be thankful that I was able to begin a relationship with someone who I really respect and may cross paths with in ministry down the road. I'm trying (yet again) to hold things loosely. We'll see how successful I am as the process plays out.
It was a good conversation (and good cafe breve) that covered the range from our calling to and from Hanfield, the needs of Mercy Church, the Christian Missionary Alliance, our mutual backgrounds as former classical musicians and a fair amount of ecclesiology.
The church received a few resumes from people that are already in Sioux Falls and they are interested in speaking with a few. Shel invited us to lead a rehearsal and service as the next step in the process which will hopefully happen in the next month or so.
Shel strikes me as someone that I can relate to and can be a little more straight forward with. I have the tendency to be a little too diplomatic at times and he encouraged me on a few occasions to just lay out what I was thinking without the filter. I also found that we have a lot in common in terms of ministry vision and values. I think Shel is a bit more studied and further down the road in most areas than I am, but I found that I clicked with almost everything he was saying.
He was open enough to let me know the pay the church would be able to offer wasn't much, but money is not my primary motivator in this at all. It looks as though I'd be able to work things around my shop schedule until such a time as the role would expand.
My prayer is that Mercy will find the person that is the right fit for them. If it isn't me, then I will still be thankful that I was able to begin a relationship with someone who I really respect and may cross paths with in ministry down the road. I'm trying (yet again) to hold things loosely. We'll see how successful I am as the process plays out.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Miles
I looked at the odometer in the car on my way home from work tonight and realized that I put more miles on my bike last week than on the car. Even on a below average week (ride-wise) I still rode about 30 miles more than I drove. I still feel like I should be riding more...
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Another Door Closed
I had left one door open to the outside world (that is, outside South Dakota) by applying for a job at a large church near the Minneapolis/St. Paul area about six weeks ago. It was shortly after that when Amy got her job at USF and we decided to commit to Sioux Falls for at least one more year. I left the door open on the church job because it looked like a dream job for me and I was interested in seeing how far I could actually make it in the hiring process. I figured if it came to the point where they were serious about me (which I doubted), we would assess what our options were at that time.
Turns out, we don't have to worry about it. I got my rejection last night when I got home from the shop. Another door closed. While I'll admit to being a little melancholy about it, I'm not really all that depressed. I'm fairly sure that I'm not going to wind up spending the rest of my life working for scraps in non-ministry, non-music fields, but it sure would be nice to break out of that sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, I'll keep heading to the shop, trying to become the best bike mechanic I can be and enjoying not having to pay retail for my most expensive hobby. Speaking of which, I need to hit the road before work...
Turns out, we don't have to worry about it. I got my rejection last night when I got home from the shop. Another door closed. While I'll admit to being a little melancholy about it, I'm not really all that depressed. I'm fairly sure that I'm not going to wind up spending the rest of my life working for scraps in non-ministry, non-music fields, but it sure would be nice to break out of that sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, I'll keep heading to the shop, trying to become the best bike mechanic I can be and enjoying not having to pay retail for my most expensive hobby. Speaking of which, I need to hit the road before work...
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
14th Anniversary
Yesterday Amy & I celebrated 14 years of marriage by grabbing dinner and a movie while Amy's dad and step-mom watched the kids. I know...dinner and a movie is not that creative a way to celebrate, but the last time we had a chance to do that as a date night was exactly one year earlier, so it was a novelty for us.
We went to Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Action adventure for me, Johnny Depp for Amy. It was good, but not quite up to the standard of part 1. I'll wait to pass judgment fully until part 3 comes out since part 2 was totally a setup movie along the lines of The Empire Strikes Back. Some of the action sequences were a bit drawn out and there's a few implausible questions (i.e. plot holes) that I think deserve some explanation, but for the most part, we enjoyed it.
We followed the movie up with dinner at Sushi Masa, a Japanese place downtown, only about five blocks from home. The atmosphere was pretty cool with secluded feeling booths and dim lights. Our booth happened to be right across from the kitchen entrance though, so there was a lot of traffic where we were at. It was probably a good thing, because the food took forever to get to us. We also sat where Amy had a good view of the food prep. I think she was somewhat in awe of the lady doing the final prep on the sushi as she applied her craft. Our server was fairly new at the job and really was a nice guy and very polite. He wasn't so helpful in helping us order since he was a vegetarian, but we didn't hold that against him.
We do think we've discovered where the theater crowd works though. There were several obviously gay servers and we got to hear quite a bit from them as they were in and out of the kitchen. In order to avoid collisions, they would say, "Coming out." when they left the kitchen, which I thought was rather appropriate.
We ordered sushi and fried food just to cover the extremes of the menu and shared the two meals. This was only the second time I had had sushi and it was good for the most part. There really only were one or two bites that I could have done without, but I am firm believer in nothing ventured, nothing gained. We left the restaurant full but with no ill effects from our uncooked banquet. Amy said that it was not a place that she would go to on a weekly basis, but I would absolutely like to make a return visit at some point.
We went to Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Action adventure for me, Johnny Depp for Amy. It was good, but not quite up to the standard of part 1. I'll wait to pass judgment fully until part 3 comes out since part 2 was totally a setup movie along the lines of The Empire Strikes Back. Some of the action sequences were a bit drawn out and there's a few implausible questions (i.e. plot holes) that I think deserve some explanation, but for the most part, we enjoyed it.
We followed the movie up with dinner at Sushi Masa, a Japanese place downtown, only about five blocks from home. The atmosphere was pretty cool with secluded feeling booths and dim lights. Our booth happened to be right across from the kitchen entrance though, so there was a lot of traffic where we were at. It was probably a good thing, because the food took forever to get to us. We also sat where Amy had a good view of the food prep. I think she was somewhat in awe of the lady doing the final prep on the sushi as she applied her craft. Our server was fairly new at the job and really was a nice guy and very polite. He wasn't so helpful in helping us order since he was a vegetarian, but we didn't hold that against him.
We do think we've discovered where the theater crowd works though. There were several obviously gay servers and we got to hear quite a bit from them as they were in and out of the kitchen. In order to avoid collisions, they would say, "Coming out." when they left the kitchen, which I thought was rather appropriate.
We ordered sushi and fried food just to cover the extremes of the menu and shared the two meals. This was only the second time I had had sushi and it was good for the most part. There really only were one or two bites that I could have done without, but I am firm believer in nothing ventured, nothing gained. We left the restaurant full but with no ill effects from our uncooked banquet. Amy said that it was not a place that she would go to on a weekly basis, but I would absolutely like to make a return visit at some point.
Fall Colors
I was crashed on the couch just a bit ago when I noticed the first leaves turning their autumn colors in a tree across the street. It's entirely too early for that isn't it?
I think it's hitting me harder this year than most. I had hoped that this summer would be a transitional season for us, and it is in several ways. Xander is starting public school on Monday after home schooling for a year and Amy is starting teaching at USF next month. But I had really anticipated a change for me.
I have to admit that seeing the colors of fall today was sort of like seeing the departure time at the airport for the flight you were supposed to be on and realizing that you'd missed the flight. Is this all I'm going to be doing for the foreseeable future or will something finally break through in terms of meaningful ministry? I've been physically and mentally exhausted lately and feel myself getting more and more frustrated as time goes by. I have to believe that there is a purpose in all this, but I'm tired of looking for it.
Please God, open the doors that you've kept hidden and let me step into what you have called me here for.
I think it's hitting me harder this year than most. I had hoped that this summer would be a transitional season for us, and it is in several ways. Xander is starting public school on Monday after home schooling for a year and Amy is starting teaching at USF next month. But I had really anticipated a change for me.
I have to admit that seeing the colors of fall today was sort of like seeing the departure time at the airport for the flight you were supposed to be on and realizing that you'd missed the flight. Is this all I'm going to be doing for the foreseeable future or will something finally break through in terms of meaningful ministry? I've been physically and mentally exhausted lately and feel myself getting more and more frustrated as time goes by. I have to believe that there is a purpose in all this, but I'm tired of looking for it.
Please God, open the doors that you've kept hidden and let me step into what you have called me here for.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Little Known Facts (Matt's Edition)
Several friends and my wife have posted similar items in the last week, so I thought I'd follow suit since I feel like I should be writing something but am creatively tapped out at the moment.
Things you may not have known about me...
A) Four jobs that I have had:
1. Fourth Trumpet- Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra
2. Substitute Trumpeter- Colorado Renaissance Festival
3. Adjunct Faculty, Church Music- Indiana Wesleyan University
4. Bike Shop Mechanic- current job
B) Four movies I would watch over and over:
The Lord of the Rings- has easily overtaken the place that Star Wars occupied in my affection and imagination prior to the clumsy prequels
Batman Begins- finally, a movie that captures the mood and intelligence of the Batman legend artfully
O Brother, Where Art Thou- great movie with glimpses of redemption everywhere
Pirates of the Caribbean- A movie that completely exceeded my expectations for a movie based on an outdated park ride
C) Four places I have lived
Fort Leonard Wood, MO- my birthplace
Iowa City, IA- too young to remember
Fort Dodge, IA- also too young to remember
Shawnee Mission, KS- finally old enough to remember
D) Four TV shows I love to watch:
Lost- hooked since "The Pilot"
My Name is Earl- a smartly written show about stupid people. I don't think it is on solid theological footing though.
The Office- a smartly written show about a mundane office environment. So painfully awkward, yet so glorious.
Arrested Development- The most intelligent comedy in the history of history. Stop arguing with me, I will not be swayed. No, I'm sure yours is funny too, but... Did you even see Arrested? No? So it's your fault Fox cancelled its most creative program. I don't think I want to talk to you anymore.
Four Books I've Enjoyed Lately:
"Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell
"The Barbarian Way" by Erwin McManus
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien- I have a three-in-one edition and read it at least once every two years
"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" by Mo Willems (as narrated by Xander)
E) Four places I have been on vacation:
New Orleans- Freshman year in high school with Scott Jacobson and his family. Beignets and lots of jazz. Good days.
New York- Honeymoon. Sleep in, late breakfast, sight see, grab lunch on the town, late afternoon nap, dinner, show, home to bed. Pretty fun for a couple of kids.
The cabin in Canada- several trips to Grandpa and Grandma's cabin over the years. Once with Scott, once with my uncle Bob, once with Amy. Peace, rest, nature and fishing. I could go for some of that about now.
The mud hut on Lake Superior- several trips to the 10'x12' shack on Mom and Dad's lakefront property. Peace, rest, nature and trekking across the rocky shoreline for hours on end. The spiders in the potty tent influenced me to take daily rides to the rest stop a few miles up the road, so not all memories have that pleasant, dreamlike quality.
F) Four websites I visit daily:
www.cyclingnews.com- my homepage and favorite source for all things cycling
espn.com- for all of my non-cycling, sports info needs
Get Fuzzy- one of several comics that I visit daily
Blog sites of friends and family (okay so I cheated for that one, but I couldn't just name one could I?)
G) Four of my favorite foods:
Whatever Amy is cooking next (she's fabulous)
Prime Rib
Anything from Bob's Cafe & Carry Out in Sioux Falls, SD- Small lunch counter establishment with all of the requisite grease, aromas and great food
Whatever Mom is cooking next time we visit (also fabulous)
H) Four places I would rather be right now:Â…
I think this is where I'm supposed to be right now, but four other places I wouldn't mind being are:
The aforementioned Canadian cabin. I could use some serious decompression somewhere where I could just exist for a week or so without having to do anything.
l'Alpe d'Huez (the most storied climb from the Tour de France) I will go grind my way up the climb on a bike anytime I get the opportunity.
Checking out artistic faith communities like Ecclesia or Solomon's Porch to feed the desire that I have to minister to artists. It would be nice to feel as though I was getting closer to fulfilling that dream.
Things you may not have known about me...
A) Four jobs that I have had:
1. Fourth Trumpet- Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra
2. Substitute Trumpeter- Colorado Renaissance Festival
3. Adjunct Faculty, Church Music- Indiana Wesleyan University
4. Bike Shop Mechanic- current job
B) Four movies I would watch over and over:
The Lord of the Rings- has easily overtaken the place that Star Wars occupied in my affection and imagination prior to the clumsy prequels
Batman Begins- finally, a movie that captures the mood and intelligence of the Batman legend artfully
O Brother, Where Art Thou- great movie with glimpses of redemption everywhere
Pirates of the Caribbean- A movie that completely exceeded my expectations for a movie based on an outdated park ride
C) Four places I have lived
Fort Leonard Wood, MO- my birthplace
Iowa City, IA- too young to remember
Fort Dodge, IA- also too young to remember
Shawnee Mission, KS- finally old enough to remember
D) Four TV shows I love to watch:
Lost- hooked since "The Pilot"
My Name is Earl- a smartly written show about stupid people. I don't think it is on solid theological footing though.
The Office- a smartly written show about a mundane office environment. So painfully awkward, yet so glorious.
Arrested Development- The most intelligent comedy in the history of history. Stop arguing with me, I will not be swayed. No, I'm sure yours is funny too, but... Did you even see Arrested? No? So it's your fault Fox cancelled its most creative program. I don't think I want to talk to you anymore.
Four Books I've Enjoyed Lately:
"Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell
"The Barbarian Way" by Erwin McManus
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien- I have a three-in-one edition and read it at least once every two years
"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" by Mo Willems (as narrated by Xander)
E) Four places I have been on vacation:
New Orleans- Freshman year in high school with Scott Jacobson and his family. Beignets and lots of jazz. Good days.
New York- Honeymoon. Sleep in, late breakfast, sight see, grab lunch on the town, late afternoon nap, dinner, show, home to bed. Pretty fun for a couple of kids.
The cabin in Canada- several trips to Grandpa and Grandma's cabin over the years. Once with Scott, once with my uncle Bob, once with Amy. Peace, rest, nature and fishing. I could go for some of that about now.
The mud hut on Lake Superior- several trips to the 10'x12' shack on Mom and Dad's lakefront property. Peace, rest, nature and trekking across the rocky shoreline for hours on end. The spiders in the potty tent influenced me to take daily rides to the rest stop a few miles up the road, so not all memories have that pleasant, dreamlike quality.
F) Four websites I visit daily:
www.cyclingnews.com- my homepage and favorite source for all things cycling
espn.com- for all of my non-cycling, sports info needs
Get Fuzzy- one of several comics that I visit daily
Blog sites of friends and family (okay so I cheated for that one, but I couldn't just name one could I?)
G) Four of my favorite foods:
Whatever Amy is cooking next (she's fabulous)
Prime Rib
Anything from Bob's Cafe & Carry Out in Sioux Falls, SD- Small lunch counter establishment with all of the requisite grease, aromas and great food
Whatever Mom is cooking next time we visit (also fabulous)
H) Four places I would rather be right now:Â…
I think this is where I'm supposed to be right now, but four other places I wouldn't mind being are:
The aforementioned Canadian cabin. I could use some serious decompression somewhere where I could just exist for a week or so without having to do anything.
l'Alpe d'Huez (the most storied climb from the Tour de France) I will go grind my way up the climb on a bike anytime I get the opportunity.
Checking out artistic faith communities like Ecclesia or Solomon's Porch to feed the desire that I have to minister to artists. It would be nice to feel as though I was getting closer to fulfilling that dream.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Reimagining Spiritual Formation
About 18 months after buying the book, I finally finished reading Reimagining Spiritual Formation by Doug Pagitt and the Solomon's Porch Community. It's an interesting look at life at Solomon's Porch, an emergent Christian community in Minneapolis, MN.
The book includes looks at how spiritual formation happens at Solomon's Porch through worship, physicality, dialogue, hospitality, belief, creativity and service. Journal entries by members of the community are combined with segments by Pagitt and others to give some insight into the experimental nature of SP that serve as snapshots of what their community is like.
I think the thing that I appreciated most about the book was the way it steered clear of the "how to" approach to writing about a ministry and focused on the "why to" look for new methods and risk failing in the pursuit of living into the Kingdom call of life together. At no point does anyone say, "All churches should look like this." or even "More churches should look like this." Topics are addressed simply as "this is how we've tried to do this and why, but there may be better methods out there." I appreciated the honesty of failed experiments and the way that success was a shared commodity.
I doubt that if I were in a position to direct the future of a church that I would choose to tap into a lot of the methods of SP, but I would certainly return to this book to be inspired to dream big and risk bigger.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Friday, August 04, 2006
I've seen Suri Cruise
Okay, you know that I haven't seen the reclusive child of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. The fact is, I don't care if I ever see the child. I'm just puzzled as to why every time someone does fess up to seeing her that they wind up with a story on cnn.com.
Are we so hard up for entertainment that a child who's never done anything other than being born gets their fifteen minutes before fifteen months?
Are we so hard up for entertainment that a child who's never done anything other than being born gets their fifteen minutes before fifteen months?
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Update
We returned on Sunday night from Impact Summit senior high camp in Indiana where we took our sixth turn at leading worship. You can click on Amy's link on the right sidebar to read more about the trip, but I do want to say how great it was to get to do ministry in that setting again. We felt like we were able to pick up with the staff where we left off last year and it was great to play with Dave, Keaton and Jamin again and Kyle for the first time. Playing with Dave and Keaton was especially sweet since Dave was our first drummer at Hanfield and we share eight years of experience together and Keaton was a guy that I mentored before we left Indiana. I was really proud of the whole band since we didn't rehearse at all before Sunday afternoon and covered a fair number of songs in the course of one week.
While we were at camp, I had the realization that even though I had resolved in my mind to cancel our interview trip to Nebraska, I hadn't actually spoken to anyone yet. Letting someone know that you are going to withdraw your application when you've invested several hours of interview and conversation time is something that I believe should be done in person or at least by phone. No email or voice mail was going to do the job. I had tried calling the Senior Pastor the week before we left for Indiana, but couldn't catch him in the office. But, since I had made up my mind and attempted to call, I sort of forgot that I hadn't actually told anyone there that we weren't coming. Once I realized, I called the Senior Pastor and the head of the search committee to let them know. They were very understanding and I think we all have the realization that if God has other plans, that they will be better than ours.
There's really only one other job that I'm still in the running for outside of Sioux Falls. It's a large church north of Minneapolis that I don't really believe will offer me the job, but I am curious as to how far I might get in the interviewing process. We sent a tape today of some of our worship from camp. It was pretty low tech, but should at least give them an idea of what I'm like. I would be amazed if they actually want to interview me, but time will tell.
We continue to consider possible ministry options in Sioux Falls as well. There is one part time position at a church in town that we should find out more about in the coming weeks. Otherwise, there's not much going on here. I've been dreaming about the possibility of opening an artists' retreat center and bed and breakfast, but know that we couldn't afford to do that right now. Possibly a dream for another season.
Prior to leaving for our trip, I also had a chance to check in with my old team at Citibank. My friend Tory was finishing up his tour of duty before he is off to the far reaches of Illinois where he will endeavor to convert the heathen Illini in the midst of trying to earn a living to support his family. It was good to get a chance to see Patricia, Eric, Tory and the rest of the crew. I've missed them a lot, but haven't had a lot of time to reconnect since I left in April. Tory's shift ended at 4:30 that day, so I stuck around long enough to grab something to drink with him afterward. It was good to get caught up and we've been praying for him as he moves, begins to look for employment and looks for opportunities to plug in in ministry. Picking up and moving like he is might seem crazy to some, but it bears a lot of resemblance to what we did last summer.
I've been back in the shop for two days since we got back and can already tell that things are coming to a halt in the shop. A good deal of the bikes that we were doing work on are gone and there are fewer and fewer bikes to build. It will be interesting to see what we spend our time on in the off season (off for cycling at least). I was warned that things would be less busy and that commission would drop a bit. Thankfully, Amy's new job will cushion the blow a bit and I really have no idea how slow to expect things to get. In the meantime, I may go in tomorrow to build some bikes off the clock to help next month's commission check before all of the bikes are gone.
Things we're praying about: future direction with vocation and ministry, the Indiana house to sell (it's been on the market 16 months), Xander starting school, Amy starting her new job, the ability to move into a three bedroom place, Hanfield, New Hope Family, Mercy Church, Eagle Brook Church, numerous friends and family and God's glory to be revealed to us and through us.
While we were at camp, I had the realization that even though I had resolved in my mind to cancel our interview trip to Nebraska, I hadn't actually spoken to anyone yet. Letting someone know that you are going to withdraw your application when you've invested several hours of interview and conversation time is something that I believe should be done in person or at least by phone. No email or voice mail was going to do the job. I had tried calling the Senior Pastor the week before we left for Indiana, but couldn't catch him in the office. But, since I had made up my mind and attempted to call, I sort of forgot that I hadn't actually told anyone there that we weren't coming. Once I realized, I called the Senior Pastor and the head of the search committee to let them know. They were very understanding and I think we all have the realization that if God has other plans, that they will be better than ours.
There's really only one other job that I'm still in the running for outside of Sioux Falls. It's a large church north of Minneapolis that I don't really believe will offer me the job, but I am curious as to how far I might get in the interviewing process. We sent a tape today of some of our worship from camp. It was pretty low tech, but should at least give them an idea of what I'm like. I would be amazed if they actually want to interview me, but time will tell.
We continue to consider possible ministry options in Sioux Falls as well. There is one part time position at a church in town that we should find out more about in the coming weeks. Otherwise, there's not much going on here. I've been dreaming about the possibility of opening an artists' retreat center and bed and breakfast, but know that we couldn't afford to do that right now. Possibly a dream for another season.
Prior to leaving for our trip, I also had a chance to check in with my old team at Citibank. My friend Tory was finishing up his tour of duty before he is off to the far reaches of Illinois where he will endeavor to convert the heathen Illini in the midst of trying to earn a living to support his family. It was good to get a chance to see Patricia, Eric, Tory and the rest of the crew. I've missed them a lot, but haven't had a lot of time to reconnect since I left in April. Tory's shift ended at 4:30 that day, so I stuck around long enough to grab something to drink with him afterward. It was good to get caught up and we've been praying for him as he moves, begins to look for employment and looks for opportunities to plug in in ministry. Picking up and moving like he is might seem crazy to some, but it bears a lot of resemblance to what we did last summer.
I've been back in the shop for two days since we got back and can already tell that things are coming to a halt in the shop. A good deal of the bikes that we were doing work on are gone and there are fewer and fewer bikes to build. It will be interesting to see what we spend our time on in the off season (off for cycling at least). I was warned that things would be less busy and that commission would drop a bit. Thankfully, Amy's new job will cushion the blow a bit and I really have no idea how slow to expect things to get. In the meantime, I may go in tomorrow to build some bikes off the clock to help next month's commission check before all of the bikes are gone.
Things we're praying about: future direction with vocation and ministry, the Indiana house to sell (it's been on the market 16 months), Xander starting school, Amy starting her new job, the ability to move into a three bedroom place, Hanfield, New Hope Family, Mercy Church, Eagle Brook Church, numerous friends and family and God's glory to be revealed to us and through us.
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