random: sweater vests and ricky bobby

it's a beautiful monday morning from my perch here on my front porch, my clicking keyboard accompanied by the sound of triumphant birds, singing their little hearts out.  it's about as good a time as i can think of to sit down and pen some thoughts, but i've had little time to collect my thoughts into anything resembling a unified post, so i'll begin this particularly day with a one of my random posts, a sort of stream of consciousness entry into the far reaches of my subconscious.  please only enter if you dare.  it is a bit of a scary place. 

-we've had company this weekend, friends from michigan, and it's been wonderful to see them and spend some time with them.  i have particularly enjoyed some of the philosophical conversations we've been able to share, as i find those conversations sharpen me and stir my spirit.  great to have that. 

--last night we went to a great little art deco-style theater in downtown lewisburg, pa.  this theater, called the campus theater, doesn't show new releases but instead shows classic films from the past.  so last night we took the kids and we all went to see "the muppet movie" together.  it was awesome to see kermit and gonzo and fozzie and the gang on the big screen along with some great celebrity cameos.  it was a really fun night, and i'm glad we did it.  i will definitely go back there. 

--you know what's delicious?  papa john's garlic butter dipping sauce, that's what's delicious.  i'm pretty sure that when God gets too weighed down with awesomeness, God wrings some of the awesomeness out of the divine robes and papa john is waiting there to collect all the drops of falling incredibleness in large glass jars, which he then puts into those little plastic cups that go out with each pizza.  i love you, papa john.  you truly are like a papa to me. 

--saturday night i was able to enjoy the steelers in their second preseason game of the year.  it was a toned-down steelers experience, both because of the nature of preseason, and the presence of company in the house (shannon tells me not to scare off friends, if possible), but an enjoyable one nonetheless.  got to see the starters play for a little longer, and also got a great look at the guys trying to make the team, so it was a fun night. 

--ever since the kayaking "episode" last week, i've been on the receiving end of some playful kidding, including more than one barf bag from members of my congregation.  i think its great that after only 7 weeks or so, we are able to laugh together and be comfortable in that way.  i think it's going to be a great journey (if i can just keep down my lunch!). 

--i preached yesterday on jeremiah's call in jeremiah 1.  talked about how, like jeremiah, we are known, chosen and given before we are even born.  not in some cosmic chess match kind of way; nor in a pre-determined puppet-play way either, but more in a loving, creative, beautiful way in which each of us were carefully knit together by God, chosen for being a part of the story of redemption and love, and - from the very beginning - given to one another.  it's not fatalistic.  it's freeing and fundamentally based on our will to live in sync with it or to reject it outright.  but regardless of our decision, we are still known, chosen and given.  the question is what we do with it.

--orange is such an underrated color.  just sayin'. 

--late last night we caught most of "talledega nights: the ricky bobby story" and i haven't laughed so hard in a while.  the grace scene, while ridiculous, is an hysterically funny parody of some of what passes for prayer.  i'd like to see it again, but i was laughing too hard to hear everything. 

--i'm inexplicably drawn to sweater vests.  can someone help me out here: what does it mean about my personality that i have a strong desire to wear a sweater vest everyday of my life?  does this reveal some dark inner truth about my psyche?  is it somehow my parents fault?  please, all you amateur psychologists, lend me your uneducated opinions!

--for some reason, it seems that most of the birds have stopped their joyous songs.  the volume level has gone way down.  so either they all realized its monday and got depressed, or they went to work.  which is what i need to do.  so i'm out.  thanks for joining me on this quick journey of the random firings of the nerve endings in my brain.  have a great monday.