Monday Mind Dump (8/29/22)

• Hey! Been a minute...

• Fuse has been such a highlight over the years — for our church, my family, and me personally.

• This weekend didn't disappoint.

• Students were excited, the music was a blast, each group did a service project, our pastors met them for lunch on Saturday at restaurants across the east valley, and I got to share from the heart about my friend Jesus (watch it here)

• Normally we host a small group at our home, but this year we hosted the speaker, Xavier Salazar, and his sweet family.

• He's a good, young leader from Scottsdale Bible Church and it was fun to spend some time with him (I was the chef and chauffeur for the weekend).

• Hank and Mary especially liked entertaining Xavier and Ana's three month-old, Dominic.

• Those kids have plenty of confidence — asked to hold him within the first five minutes of meeting them.

• Uh, "No," crazy five year-old boy, "You may not hold the baby." 😆

• I also got to explain to Xavier why Nope (the new Jordan Peele movie) is really good.

• (if you watch the movie through the lens of "creating spectacle," I think it makes a lot more sense)

• Speaking of watching stuff, Molly and I just learned that Scrubs is now on Amazon Prime — it's a quirky show that we used to love and we've been rewatching it.

• Learned about it from Josh Watt when we were hanging out with him and Aubrey last week in Flagstaff.

• Along with the Watts, we spent a few days with Jon and Tree Demeter, who lead the R/Peoria congregation, as well as Gary and Margaret Mayes, who have been friends and mentors to us for a while.

• The Mayes led us through some really fun conversations related to marriage and then spent the last morning speaking and praying blessing over us.

• Incredibly life-giving.

• Not only was it great connecting with those couples and with Molly, but it was also a big milestone for our family — for the first time, we left the kids home alone for a few nights.

• We had a good bit of help from some friends with Hank during the day, but then our new driver took the reigns in the evening and they all did great.

• Or at least they aren't telling us what went wrong.

• Felt like a big step for all of us.

• Seems like a lot of the "fall rhythms" are kicking in for most of the families we know.

• Same for us — especially around stuff the kids are doing (sports, plays, church, work).

• We have to do some real work to stay on top of it without it consuming us, putting us on edge, and draining the life out of what should actually be a fun season.

• Here are a few things we're trying...

• A weekly calendar sync conversation... who's doing what, who's driving where, what's most important.

• Adjusting my weekly work rhythm... since I have a flexible schedule, I try to arrange it so I can be home at the most stressful times.

• Revamping our approach to the weekend... we're viewing Saturday as a day to rest through play (with some basic household chores) and Sunday as a day to rest through worship (I rest more on Saturdays than Sundays)

• Saying no to some things that would be fun... just can't do it all, and that's OK.

• Trying to stay relationally close and connected as a couple... this podcast has been a wonderful help in the last few months.

• Leaning into some life-giving hobbies... for me, it's cooking, movies, and sports stuff.

• Last spring we ran ourselves a bit too ragged, so we're hoping this fall has a better pace to it.

• Well, I've got some other fun things I'm working on that I'll have to share about another time.

• Have to get back to it.

• Like most weeks, I'm navigating some fun stuff and some heavy, painful stuff.

• Pray for me if you think of it.

• And pray for yourself too... we all need the Lord's strength.

• (Many folks have asked how my dad is doing in his recovery from tongue cancer... it seems like last week things began to improve... we're praying it continues.)

• All of life is all for Jesus.