Archive for December, 2011

I decided not to do a Christmas letter this year as I didn’t feel like I had enough exciting news or fun anecdotes on 2011 to mail out, but more recently decided I might as well still do a blog update for the year in review.  This will be more of interest to friends and family, so casual blog readers and those just stopping by via Google searches may want to skip this post. I’ll have more blog content up sometime in January.

In a lot of ways 2011 was an intense year, mostly due to experiences and surprises in life and ministries. (Nothing earth-shattering happened, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll be disappointed in this post!)  But while it hasn’t been the easiest year, it hasn’t been bad. A lot of new things, learning opportunities, and otherwise just a bunch of “everyday” things. I can’t complain!

January:

I don’t remember anything particularly exciting that happened in January so I’ll just share a photo from that month.

February:

Referring back to Facebook statuses as I don’t remember a whole lot from February. It was a short month. Apparently I did some home repair tasks, went skiing at Mt. Crescent (didn’t go to Colorado this time), and biked across south Lincoln on a warm day…

March:

Went to North Carolina for MTW training and became Associate Staff. Completion of this training meant I was certified to lead, or assist with, MTW ministry and mission trips.  After training I also took a vacation day and saw Cherokee, NC, Asheville, NC, and Greenville, SC.

April: 

Beginning of another Cubs season… maybe this is the year!  (It wasn’t.)  I also attended the first college game at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, which has definitely been an upgrade for the local sports scene. If only we could get a full-time professional team to play in it…

Most of my Facebook updates in April seemed to be political in nature. That probably goes with having a small business and April 15 being tax day…  though around that time I also led a Sunday School class at church based on “When Helping Hurts” and “Prosperity and Poverty“.  Had a lot to think about while leading the class since many of the topics related to the ministry I do with MTW.

May:

The main thing in the month of May was preparation for the summer ministry trip to the Native American Reservation, which I organized and led this year as the previous MTW representative had retired, and I was now MTW staff. A lot of work went into following up with local contacts, determining which work opportunities would best meet local needs, and working on team-building within my group from Omaha.

My sister Emily and I also went to the Omaha area’s other new baseball stadium, Werner Park, in May. Unless you are under the age of 12, there’s no doubt TD Ameritrade Park is the better facility of the two.

June:

MTW Ministry on the Reservation!  From June 4 to 10, I organized the fifth-annual week of service on the Reservation.  Applying principles from “When Helping Hurts”, we sought to work for those who couldn’t help themselves, so as to not contribute to problems by taking away individuals’ opportunities to benefit their own families.  This was a partial success; some we got right, and some we didn’t.  These proved to be learning experiences for the future. Our team mission statement and goals were: ”With humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” (Phil. 2:3) “Working as one team to meet one another’s needs, and to bear one another’s burdens, so that each person [is] free to best fulfill their given roles and callings.”

On June 14, I got to see Mumford and Sons perform live!  And on the 16th, I got to hear Ron Paul speak!  Also “survived” a severe storm at the College World Series later in the month and attended the CD release concert of a local band whose lead singer also participated in the ministry on the Reservation.

July:

Got another opportunity to preach at Grace Reformed Church; addressed the topic of adoption & sonship (from Romans VIII) in a sermon on July 10, which is linked in a previous blog post.  The topic of sonship was also the theme of the 20-Somethings study at church; this was my second time through so I hosted and co-led the discussion this time around. Very eye-opening once again!  Also in July, the ministry team had another opportunity to go up to the Reservation to help with a carnival during Suicide Prevention Week, and we presented to the congregation what we had done in June with a multimedia show that lasted over an hour and a half!

July was a stressful month partly due to things pertaining to the ministry on the Reservation.  We started to see some behind-the-scenes things involving the effects of our own actions (although well-intentioned), as well as observing another group’s behavior and the impact that had in the community. As interim leader of ministries there with MTW, until a full-time staff member was hired, it made for a lot to think about in evaluating ways to ensure we did as much good as possible with as little harm as possible (preferably none at all).

A recurring theme for me throughout the month of July was seeing God’s grace and healing in the middle of a lot of brokenness. This was the subject of many Facebook posts and blog articles throughout the summer and fall.

August:

Spent part of a week in Colorado for a family reunion with some relatives on my mom’s side of the family.

On August 20, we also went back to the Reservation to put on the third annual “Back to School Picnic” there.  Another highlight in August was getting to hear Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken at a house show concert!

September:

I spent Labor Day weekend in Chicago with a friend. Though this was clearly not “the year” for the Cubs, they at least beat the Pirates!

Later in September I completed the house exterior painting project! It “only” took me two months, working a little at a time, but it was nice to get it all finished! I didn’t drastically change the color — still bright green — but it looks a lot better now! I also repainted the living room; just a few “house maintenance” tasks crossed off the list!

Every few weeks in September, October, November, and December I returned to the Reservation for kids ministry. A couple times I went with a family member, but otherwise went alone. That aspect was discouraging, but it has still been good to go and participate.  A goal in 2012 will be recruiting and/or rebuilding a ministry team.

October:

My sister Carly and I went to Lawrence, Kansas in early October to hear the band Downhere perform. We’d known about them for the last few years, but it was an interesting concert as this occurred right after lead singer Marc Martel surged in popularity (to say the least) after his Queen tribute band audition!

I saw every Omaha Nighthawks home game at TD Ameritrade Park, in what hopefully wasn’t their final season but probably was…

Also enjoyed some nice fall hikes in October — Cunningham Lake became a favorite hiking spot.

At the end of October I realized I’d need to get a different car. The engine had started to make a rattling sound and wasn’t going to be repairable except by a costly rebuild, and the mechanic and I agreed it wasn’t worth it…

November:

…so November opened with car shopping. I was able to get a good trade on my car, which surprised me, so I acted quickly and bought another car on November 2.

I also celebrated another birthday in November (it really was okay, though I admit I haven’t been all that thrilled about some recent birthdays!). So yes – that went well and while I don’t feel any different being another year older, it’s another trip around the sun, and many new experiences and opportunities to grow in grace. So that’s all good!  There were a few events in November such as a quick trip out to Hastings for one game of the state volleyball tournament and a drive up to Oakland, NE on the 4th.

My sister Carly surprised me with tickets to a show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for my birthday — more on that under “December” though!

Overall, November wasn’t a very good month. One thing that happened was I had to go in for an emergency root canal before Thanksgiving, which was painful… on the wallet, not to mention physically.  But I’ve kept busy with work for clients, including quite a bit of new business, so that’s been a blessing!  And in some recent events I really have come to experience God’s grace even more… it’s one thing to know it as a “heady” theological concept, but entirely another to live it, internalize it, etc. I’m not saying I’m any where near a “pro” at that, just so we’re clear — but it’s a start. I’m thankful for the writings of people such as Scotty Smith and Walt Wangerin, whose books have been very encouraging!

At the end of November I won a Tim Tebow jersey at Old Chicago! As a Broncos fan, I wasn’t really “sold” on him at first (back when Kyle Orton was the starter), but the wins don’t lie and now the playoffs are within reach!  I will add that I find the current controversy over Tebow (even such that I have been heckled while wearing the jersey) to be ridiculous… this might be the subject of a future post. For now, GB² (God Bless and Go Broncos), to borrow from Tebow’s Twitter updates!

December:

I finally was able to get a ticket to see the Nebraska volleyball team play at the Coliseum!  That may not seem like a big deal but in this state it’s often harder to get volleyball tickets than it is to get football tickets! (Yes, sporting events and concerts are some of my preferred forms of entertainment and thus may be the high points of any given month…)

On the 17th I went to the Reservation again, and participated in the Christmas event for the kids there! They had a lot of fun!  By this point things have been worked out there as far as my status, and plans for future ministries are being made. While I am not going to be repeating the leadership role I had this year, I’ll be continuing as associate staff and will have more of an advisory role.

Carly and I spent December 18 and 19 in Nashville, Tennessee!  We saw Andrew Peterson’s presentation of “Behold the Lamb of God” at the historic Ryman Auditorium. It’s been a tradition to go when he has been in Nebraska each of the last few years, but this year he didn’t have any Nebraska shows on the tour.  So Carly bought tickets to the Nashville show.

We stayed on “Music Row” just west of downtown and got to see a very “hipster” neighborhood, also full of many recording studios and rather non-hipster huge publishing and licensing companies.  Another highlight of the trip was going to a coffee shop that now houses a small “Rabbit Room” store.

And now that brings me to the present… where it’s December 23rd and I still have one Christmas gift I need to go pick out, so I’d better get to that! Here’s hoping all of you family and friends that will see this are doing well this Christmas season. So thankful for all of you!  Since this will be publicly viewable I am not posting contact info here but you know ways you can reach me.  Look me up on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, or Tumblr.

“Glory to Jesus, ancient and strong; giver of love and the theme of my song…”

Merry Christmas!

-Joel