Here and Now

We're in the middle of our annual rummage sale here at the church. Mountains of stuff came in over the past couple of weeks -- and mounds of stuff are leaving in the arms of people who have dropped a few dollars for the items. It's a pretty good deal, of course, and our Allen Class and the kids going to the Pittsburgh Project really benefit from the sale. It's just amazing to me how much stuff people accumulate -- and how much stuff I accumulate, for that matter. I saw some really neat stuff, some junk, some collectables and some -- well, some stuff I'm really not sure what it is... It would be really neat if I could see who brought what stuff into the sale. What does the fact that they owned it say about them? What does the fact that they are giving it away say about them? Nah -- that wouldn't be any good, because I know the kind of stuff that I brought in. What it says about me is that I've received some pretty off the wall gifts... Of course, if I br

8:00 on a Saturday night. What would you normally be doing? Where would you be? Maybe a movie, or in front of the TV? Visiting friends or family, a late dinner, on the road somewhere? 8:00 on Saturday night isn’t prime time at my house, it’s unwinding time. The girls are in bed (probably) and the house has been tidied up (probably) and I’m ready to just relax and be quiet (probably…not). But this Saturday night was different. First of all, I wasn’t at home. Lori and I took four girls from church to a weekend youth event called Acquire the Fire. It’s a youth rally. It’s a call to youth to make a deeper commitment to Christ. It’s a day and a half of teaching and drama and music and worship. And, of course, it’s fun. By 8:00 on Saturday night I was ready to go home. The teaching had been great, the worship was incredible, the bands…well, the kids liked the bands (hardcore I don’t mind so much but I just don’t get hip-hop). We were maybe thirty hours into this weekend and I was just plain