Category: Uncategorized

for the handful of friends that have stumbled upon this blog – you are invited to join me in Cedar Rapids, IA for a little flood recovery work, July 6-11. right now we have a team of about 17 adults and youth, but can make room for a few more. can’t make it, but want to help? we’re going to need money and supplies as well and donations are always welcome. contact me for more info.

i found out today two of my friends from college, courtney and emmy ball, may have lost their home to the flooding in cedar rapids. courtney is the co-director of the Matthew 25 Ministry Hub, which is a project he and his brother clint have started in a pure leap of faith, and as i’ve said before have already done some amazing things. if you could keep courtney, emmy and their children Anyssa and Aidan in your prayers i know it would be appreciated.

i’ve gotten better about reading seth godin’s blog on are more regular basis (thanks to scott). and thought this one was especially good.

seth offers this thought that i probably should remind myself of every day:

“The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all.”

i’ve been in northern michigan on vacation and away from tv and radio for the past week, so i’m just getting caught up on the flood situation in iowa. naturally my mind went back to 1993. based on what i’ve seen this seems to be much more extensive, especially for cedar rapids. for those who have asked, all my family members in iowa are doing fine. several friends from college are now living in the cedar rapids area, and i don’t know if/how the flooding has impacted them. (in one video i watched, i did notice that the apac building in cedar rapids, which is where i worked as a dj for kdat, and now also houses krna (another radio station i worked at) was flooded).

amy and i are actually scheduled to take the youth on a mission trip to cedar rapids in july, where we are going to work with the Matthew 25 Ministry Hub. a good friend, clint twedt-ball has been doing some amazing community based ministry there, but i found out today their office is currently under water. my hope is to still go, but my guess is the nature of our work will be significantly different than what we planned 6 months ago. i have some ideas brewing in this regard, but need more info before i say more, though i will offer a plug here – if you want to donate some money to an organization that will actually use it to help people, please go to the Matthew 25 web site and make a contribution.

i know prayers are needed, especially because many of the people most effected by this flooding are those who are the least financially able to handle such a disaster. may God be at work in us and through us, entering into the hearts and lives of those who are impacted by this latest disaster.

“Faith is rooted in clarity, not certainty; magic is rooted in certainty”
-Doug Anderson

can be found here
a powerful reminder of the progress that’s been made, and the work still to be done.

thanks eric!

Jim Wallis: “… political leaders in Washington have changed America less often than social movements have. America is signaling it is hungry for change again, and we will need to build the kind of spiritual and social movement that can deliver on that hope. Last night, Barack Obama said, “it’s also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it.” And he’s right; it is really all about us.”