Monthly Archives: April 2009

Only the faithful readers have been checking kingdomtravelin lately (and all they get are the latest Twitter post. In fact the daily count, I just discovered, is in the single digits! That is because of the lack of posts in the last few weeks (note the calendar on the right). See, its been a busy, busy time of normal end of school year stuff… and then there is the transition… and that means that my willingness to do meaningful reading has been virtually curtailed. It’s like, at the end of the day, I just collapse. So, sadly, the blog has been reduced to a recording of experiences, which is a small part of the mission of this blog. In fact, the reason I pump my Twitter onto the blog is to let my interested friends have a place to see some of what I am up to and am thinking. Thus the necessity of talking about experiences is lessened.

How’s the transisition going, you ask? Well, a couple of months ago, I wanted to finish strong. I wanted this year to finish as good as any and better than most. But I have run out of energy. All I want right now is to be done. But as far as the classroom is concerned, that is almost over. I have four more classes until I am a former teacher. At 09:40 this Thursday, the bell will ring and after 16 years of teaching high school, my last class will be over (starting Monday I am giving AP exams for two weeks). I am SO ready for that bell.

I’ve said a couple of times that I now understand why people give two week notices when leaving a job – I gave a four and a half month notice. It can be really hard to keep going when you know you are done. I’ve been compiling a mental list of things I will miss and things I will not miss at Covenant. In every organization and job have things which we faithfully do week in and week out which now as I go through these last weeks, some of it just seems like real nonsence. But nonsence or not, we dutifully accomplish these tasks because of the realization that there are people depending on us to do them.  In a meeting a little while ago, a colleague said I was worse than the seniors. He’s right. Have you noticed I’m rambling? Should I stop? or just say something meaningful finally? Can I rescue this post?

One of the great fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith is that Jesus is coming back. I no longer participate in the argument about when and how or get into the details surrounding the return, I just know that He will and I’ve often said, I wish He would hurry up. I like to say that I wish He would hurry up. But in the meantime we need to keep working as hard as we can for His glory. It has been said this way, “work like His coming is off in the distance, hope like He will come today” (I don’t know who said it) Maybe that is what I am doing now, working as hard as there is no end in sight, and hoping that the end will be soon. That is the hope of the faithful.

Thirty-Seven days and counting.

Spring time is here. This means travelin. Having been to DC, Philly and NYC since Easter days, we’re off to Roanoke. Posting is minimal on the blog, emailing is via the Palm so emails are short but I’m keeping up… I got a couple of great pics to post if I ever get on a computer. But I am Twittering and that shows up on the blog too so there are new thoughts in the Twittter link. I’m grateful for the technology.

Over the last couple of months, I have been thinking through vision and mission. I’ve prayed, read a good bit and had a lot of conversations, but it just never came into focus until last week. I was visiting a friend who said that a vision statement is a broad goal that is only attainable as God enters in and does it. This made real sense to me. Then I learned that one’s mission is a bit more ‘how’ oriented… that is, ‘how’ we seek to achieve the vision. This helped so much. It was like the camera came into focus. It was the ‘aha’ moment. Now, after several months, I am really beginning to understand more clearly the details of what my new calling is. I am looking with fresh eyes at the broad vision of what God wants to do.
With that in the back of my mind, I thought about the Hebrew Prophets and all thier talk about justice, these are like God’s vision statements. And I read the Great Commision several times last week, I saw it as a kind of vision statement: “go into all the world.”
Each of us needs to own that vision as followers of Jesus…. watching the Jesus Film last Friday, it occured to me during the scenes where He called the disciples, “Come, follow me” He said. That is my mission statement – to follow Jesus, into all the world.

This is a video from TED, you might learn more about TED as a place to listen to the ideas of others. This one is all time great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden… toward the end he begins to ramble about some bball specifics and that may not be the most compelling, but there is a point toward the middle (beginning at the 9:40 mark) when he talks about doing our best that is really worth the watch… enjoy and be reminded of some stuff you probably already knew…

two posts on the email and blog circuit that, since I really haven’t much to say, I will weigh in on… there the first is a dance act which was good… well, look HERE… think about the comment at the beginning about chasing the dream not the competition… I wasn’t so excited by the dancing, but that comment was amazing… 

but there is another, that is AMAZING, I actually heard about this this morning early as they talked about it on BBC radio, this one, will… well… just WATCH HERE and cheer for the underdog… oh, watch Simon’s face change…

don’t judge too quickly.