Preposterousness

I'm not going to say much, but just to let you know that this space might be a teeny bit quieter than it has been since it burst forth like a supernova in January. Maybe.  I'm undecided. It might get noisier as I suddenly start sharing even more.  But it's way more likely to get quieter. Or stay the same. Anyway... Diane and I have been in a weird part of life for the past year or so, and we're about to enter a transitional phase with considerable change afoot in the Goodwin household.

There'll be :

tears laughter excited nervousness nervous excitement sadness happiness grief joy and a whole host of other emotions and stuff surrounding the changes that are coming. Tonight our Connect Group will be praying with us. Accountability partners are great. We're sure this is right (and I say we like this is a joint blog I know, but...it kinda is...at least until Diane's actually starts), but are equally sure that some of what we have to do isn't the way we want it to be. The end result will be the same, but the path is not our preference. God has made this clear, even though I (we) didn't (don't) want to listen. But it's not about me. Could I be any more cryptic? #Prorably - I'm known for my crypticosity (ha! take that!) So while we're dealing with "stuff", I want to hear from you something that is the exact opposite - light, fluffy, celebratory, joyous. Preferably something that will help with the laughter bit I noted above. Fire away, make me laugh Hint: I'm an easy laugher.  Even if I end up rolling my eyes, I'll still laugh.

At church last night I tweeted from the service for the very first time.  I'm not sure if I'll do it again. On the one hand, it is a really good way of sharing a key point (and it got re-tweeted a few times, so I'm thinking others tweeps thought it worthwhile too). On the other hand, it's hard to make sure I only tweet the point and don't get caught up in a cool twittersation.  That's me lacking discipline though, so I should probably stick with it and just learn the art of anti-distraction ;) So, the thing I tweeted that my Pastor said in last night's service, now presented in more than 140 characters, was:

God is the source of our supply.  People (or the world) are channels.  If a channel closes, you need to remember that the source is still open.  Don't get distracted by the channels opening and closing, focus on the source.

That's fairly paraphrased but if I waited and listened back to the service (like Diane does many times a day as she edits it for TV), then it would never make it on here. It's really REALLY easy to lose focus of what's important, particularly at the moment as the world slips into the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.  But, and using another pastorism from Harbourside, we have a financial Christ : so focus on Him for your supply, not where you've become accustomed to getting it from. Really easy to type a few words about that...it's a lot harder to actually do it. So tell me - how do you feel about twittering during church? or how do you feel about the source/channel analogy? Go on then, comment on both if you must...

The other day I noted that it had been a while since I posted about work. Sure, these posts don't exactly generate a lot of comments, but then again, the only ones which really seem to are my attempts at vlogging with Diane and my reflections on worship.  Neither of those are really about me.  Hmmm... Anyway, an update on work: 1. I still work 2. It still provides us with finances 3. I'm still working with the guy from this post on his current funkiness, which is going 'well' 4. I'm trying to be more focussed on work, even though it's not my passion...so dealing with the guy in 3 up there is actually helping me in that. 5. I'm incredibly grateful for the amazing amount of flexibility I have in my work.  I basically run the company (that's not big-noting, just statement of fact) and have the support of the owner to "re-organise" my hours so I can be part of this. So while this may not be my first choice of career, the blessing of work cannot be overstated.  Thank you, work. Your turn now: How is your family provided with income? Do you love it? Why?

So over the past few days, I managed to convince Diane (her blog is coming...) to join me in presenting a little tiny snippet of our story in our inimitable style . (Trust me, it's inimitable...you'll find out if you try). We spoke a lot without really saying much. Or did we... This got me thinking about some discussions, blog posts, tweets and just stuff in general that have been floating around lately.  Don't freak...it's ok; I do that sometimes...

Authenticity refers to the truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions.

This is taken from the header of Wikipedia's summary on authenticity.  It barely touches the surface, but I don't think it intends to go deep...there's a lots of pages below to navigate.  But read the Bible first. And maybe this too.  I'll stop with the reading links now.

It's easy to hide behind the written word, it's much harder on film.

Yes, I know there's always the actor factor to consider, but I'm no actor, so what I see in those videos reflects more of the real me than you could ever get in my writing.  I think it creates a better connection than just having my words here in various fonts. Of course, it may have the effect of completely alienating people too...but I'd rather have any illusions of who I may be shattered early in my (blogging) life.  I like me, and the me I am becoming, despite the occasional pain of the journey.  God is bigger than the pain, and how I deal with it determines whether I dive deeper into Him, or just stay dog-paddling on the surface of His immensity. An unexpected side effect of all this is that I'm now examining every area of my life and minimising the possibility that someone might be getting the wrong impression of me.  Starting last night at our church pastoral leaders meeting, continuing today at work (speaking of which, it's AGES since I did a 'work' post...), and ending...when I die I guess...! I'm tired of the fascades I see so many around me wearing.  I want real. Jesus is real : imitate Him And yeah, more videos will follow...but for the moment, here's us... now... real. What do you mean you didn't know we were Mogwai martians??