Monday, October 29, 2007
i never thought i'd say this, but
i'm tired of traveling.
in the last four weeks, i've been to new york (a few times), new jersey (a few times), utah, wyoming and ohio. this week i'm going to texas, arizona and colorado.
i'm ticked that i'll miss the special service on friday night at nvmc, but what can i do? i'll be a few miles up in the air. if you're going to be there, party hard for me!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
updated linkage and simple request
if you scroll down a bit and look at the column on the right you will see a new section called "nvmc blogs". if you attend nvmc and have a blog that i don't know about, email me at cnoe at nvmc dot tv and i'll add you.
also, my stat counter says that i have around 600 people who read noefool.com daily. but not nearly that amount comment. so... if you're reading this, please leave a comment and let me know who you are. if you just leave your name and location then i'd be happy.
thanks!!!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
it's beginning to move
one of the most vivid memories i have of my brief time living in south africa was drawing a picture one day for a fellow student named melissa. i drew a picture of a huge rock larger than anything around it. at the bottom left of the rock i drew a stick figure of a person pushing the rock. (nobody ever said i was picasso.) the caption read "melissa pushing the rock".
sometimes in life we're just called to push the rock. our muscles grow and we become stronger when we continually press against a stationary object. we sweat and grunt and bleed, but we're doing what we're supposed to do.
but what happens when the rock begins to move?
i feel like the rock i've been pushing for thirteen years is beginning to move and to be quite honest, i'm scared out of my mind because i've learned to be comfortable in my position of pushing. so now i'm afraid i'll let everybody down. i'm afraid i'm not strong enough. i'm afraid i'll embarrass those around me because i won't be able to control the rock.
i could go on and on about what i'm afraid of, but at some point i have to stop and recognize that my weakness is exactly the quality for which He is looking. my weakness gives Him the opportunity to prove Himself strong.
we can only know the power that He holds when we truly see how deep our weakness goes His strength it must begin when ours comes to an end He hears our humble cry and proves again
His strength is perfect when our strength is gone
you know you're special when
your niece tells you that she loves you more than satan.
i can feel the love.
Friday, October 26, 2007
two years
today is my two year blogging anniversary. it's hard to believe i've been doing this for two years now, but it's true. so happy anniversary to me!
impacting generations
tonight i had the privilege of going to queensbridge, the largest public housing project in the united states. it's comprised of 96 buildings, each being six stories in height. in other words: it was intimidating to this boy from kentucky. and did i mention i went after dark?
i visited an urban children's pastor who is a friend of mine from college. and wow. the team of workers was amazing. one guy whom some of the kids called "pukus lucas" is only 19 and moved here from switzerland to minister to inner-city children. he's a missionary to america. he's a missionary to america. take a minute and let that sink in. he's a missionary to america.
i have a new respect for my friend and the work being done in NYC. as it was so appropriately said tonight, "they're impacting generations."
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
terrorist attack training
the men in blue of NYC were having a "preparedness exercise" in times square last night. more police officers and cars lined up than i've ever seen in my entire life. made me feel very safe.
until. i took the subway back to brooklyn. i didn't see one police officer the whole 7 block walk from the station to the hotel.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
my tribute
so i laid down a while ago to get some much needed sleep, but no such luck. i normally can't wait until sunday rolls around but i'm honestly dreading tomorrow. not because of church, because it will no doubt be incredible and lives will be forever changed, but because i will be attending the funeral of my friend.
ms. A was a character. i first met her in february 2003 and she didn't like me. i didn't like her either. we eventually became cube-mates at work and learned to respect and appreciate each other. the times we went to lunch together were always hilarious. she had a story for everything and everybody. she knew more about federal law than i could ever dream of learning. whenever i had a question about a complicated case, she'd be the first one to which i would go. and she never steered me in the wrong direction. never.
i only hope people will remember me half as fondly as i remember her now.
here's to you, ms. A.
caught (almost)
i'm blogging from the apple store in the mall. i feel like i'm going to get caught at any moment.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
an interesting day
driving a rental car in NYC is not fun. especially when you're there for less than 12 hours total and don't have the opportunity to "learn" the area.
mapquest lies. nj 139 east does not become 12th street in jersey city.
i had a great view of the statue of liberty and ellis island during my meeting today. way cool.
while waiting in the security line to come back to louisville, i got a call that one of my friends died today. not cool.
so tonight this little thing came over and stood beside me. bent over. stuck her butt out. then she proceeded to fart right on my leg. she ran away as quick as she could and laughed and laughed and laughed.
i wouldn't have been more proud if she were my very own.
an authentic title
i read blogs via a reader instead of clicking on links. it's a simple way of reading a gazillion blogs. but what makes it interesting is that if somebody posts a blog, then deletes it, it still shows up in my reader. this can make for some very interesting posts.
like one from this weekend. the title of the deleted post was "chute happens". i wish it had not been deleted just because the title of the post was brilliant.
this morning i drove over the mountain from harlan to hazard. (yes, as in the dukes of...) my folks complained that i was a city driver and we were in the country. in other words, SPEED UP!
my sister and i showed her husband and children where we went to school, where we played, where we ate every sunday for six years. we also visited the site where i was run over by a truck.
i honestly thought i'd be ok going back there. but i wasn't. i tried my hardest to not let the family know how much it got to me. but man. it really got to me. i was thinking about the retired police officer who literally saved my life. i was thinking about what it must have been like for my parents to see it happen. i was thinking what my life would be like now had it not happened.
rough day.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
where i'm at this weekend
where the sun comes up around 10 in the morning and the sun goes down around 3 in the day and you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking and you spend your life just thinking of how to get away
you'll never leave harlan alive
Thursday, October 11, 2007
why i blog(ged today)
i'm procrastinating blogging right now to keep from having to search for my 2006 tax information.
not fun.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
transformation(s)
on sunday's post below i talked about how nvmc loved and He brought them in. the video below is only a snapshot of what happened. watch the entire video, from beginning to end.
you'll hear the story of a family whose 13 year old son accidentally shot and killed himself. you'll hear the story of a guy who was addicted to $5000 of cocaine a month, was gay, and was only a phone call away from getting hormone replacement therapy and a sex change operation. you'll hear the story of.... well, you'll just have to play the video and see for yourself.
Monday, October 08, 2007
bumper sticker on a buffalo
utah: this is where i am right now. it's cold too. and i love the cold.
i've seen all kinds of mormon's today. they're everywhere here. and they all wear name tags that say "Brother Jones" or "Sister Smith" and below that is the flag of their country of origin. just in the few hours i spent in downtown salt lake city today, i saw people from brazil, hong kong, japan, germany, latvia and a few countries i didn't know of.
mormon's don't play. they take evangelism/missions seriously.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
we love, He brings
every sunday after i get home from lunch, i get online and read postsecret. this is the website of a man who simply started a blog asking people to write down their secrets on postcards and anonymously send them to him. this site has had almost 100 million visitors to date. 100 million!!!. some secrets are funny. some sad. some raunchy. some make you blush. some make you want to call the police and warn them about the anonymous submitter. but all of the secrets have one thing in common. they're real. they're authentic.
church today was unlike anything i've ever experienced in my life. so often people come to church and put on their happy face, clap their hands, take notes during the message and pretend to be alright. a man puts his arm around his wife during service, but raises the same arm in violence against her when they're in the privacy of their home. a cocaine addict is singing You're all i want, You're all i've ever needed all the while thinking about how quickly he can get out of church to get his next high. a girl with an addiction to pornography is struggling listening to the preacher because she keeps wondering how he'd be in bed.
but that didn't happen today at nvmc. people were real. they were authentic. why? because an atmosphere of love, acceptance and forgiveness has been created. they trusted the body of believers enough to share their stories without the fear of retribution or condemnation. and their stories were a.ma.zing.
and that's what it's all about. people being real, being authentic, being loved, being accepted, being forgiven. it's about loving people to Christ. it's not our job or responsibility to "bring" them to Christ. we do the loving and He does the bringing. john 12:32 says "and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."
today nvmc did the loving and He did the bringing. and it was incredible.
simply incredible.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
confession
now i want a tattoo. and to get my nose pierced (again).
