dinner

I had a great night tonight. I ate at Fusion with a friend and what had incredible potential for an awkward evening, wasn't that. It was fun and got less awkward and more pleasant as the night went on. On our way back after dinner we realized we weren't done with the evening so we went to Lake Ella and walked and then shared a hookah and tea at Aladdin's Sheesha Cafe.

So I go to bed tonight with a smile. Hope you're smiling too.

time warp

Over the past few weeks I have had several moments that have been odd. Odd in the most amazing way possible. It feels like I become entirely pulled into a particular moment and I am focusing on that moment in Time. It is a moment straight from "Waking Life", a Holy Moment. Everything surrounding the book I'm reading, or the person I'm talking to, or the activitiy I'm engaging in turns dark, and all I see is the glow and energy focused on the Moment. It is very other worldly.

I had two experiences like that this past week/weekend. The first was on Thursday. Sad from missing Watermark's "Maundy" service I attended Saint Louis Catholic church in Miami with my best friend Aly. This was their traditional hand washing service. At the front of the church stood people holding bowls filled with water. The community lined up and dipped their hands in the water and then turned to the person next to them who was holding a towel and allowed that person to dry their hands, then took the towel and dried the hands of the person behind them. When I approached the bowl I dipped my hands in and turned to a young girl, no older than 8 years old. She kindly and softly dried my hands. She had the sweetest smile and you can see the simple joy she took in this moment. I smiled back as I took the towel from her and spun, ready to dry the hands of the person behind me. I fumbled with the towel to make sure I dried their hands efficiently. Then I looked up and saw an older woman reaching her hands out to me. I went from having my own hands dried by a young girl to drying the hands of an older woman. The towel was draped over my hands as if I was about to toss a sheet of pizza dough into the air and she laid her hands in mine. With my free hand I wrapped hers in the towel and laid my hand under and on top of hers, patting them dry, but more holding her hands, as if to say, "It is well". She smiled at me and squeezed my hands, thanking me. A few moments later when the hand washing had ended and the priest asked everyone to give each other the "sign of peace" she walked up to me and hugged me. She smiled. And I saw God working. I don't know what He was saying but He was comforting me. It was almost like a time warp between a young child, so innocent and gentle, to an older woman, wise and kind.

The second moment was on Saturday evening at my friend Travis' wedding. After the ceremony, which was beautiful, nearing the end of the night, I stood by the waters of Miami Beach smoking a cigar with my two friends Josue Blanco and Daniel Villa de Rey. Standing there enjoying our cigars and laughing I looked passed my friends and saw a group of older Cuban men standing in a similar circle, laughing and smoking cigars as well. I smiled as everything except them and my friends turned dark. That group of men is me in a few years. I enjoyed seeing myself and my friends in a few years.

It was a wonderful weekend and although the sorrow of missing out on what my community was doing in Tallahassee affected me, God made Himself known and clear, reminding me of the hope we have in Him.

the days and nights are long

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,
When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on
Don't let yourself go, 'cause everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes

Sometimes everything is wrong. Now it's time to sing along
When your day is night alone,
If you feel like letting go,
When you think you've had too much of this life, well hang on

'Cause everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts. Don't throw your hand. Oh, no. Don't throw your hand
If you feel like you're alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
When you think you've had too much of this life to hang on

Well, everybody hurts sometimes,
Everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes. So, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
Everybody hurts. You are not alone

4 Hats

Today the Tallahassee Democrat posted a review. on Fusion Cafe, Watermark's new home. It has also become our favorite meeting and lunching place since we've moved our offices one block over from it.

I have yet to go out there for dinner, but will probably be there tonight for dinner, so go and support a brother. Their food is delicious!

something's out there

In a dark room in a corner of the city of Tallahassee a boy sits at his crowded desk lit only by faint glow of his laptop and a small lamp. He sits and he sighs deeply thinking on the events of the day. Nothing monumental or earth shattering occurred, but the sense that the presence of God is thickening the air he breaths and consuming everything we walk past so nonchalantly fills every cell in his body. Tonight he sits and realizes that there is something bigger than all of this. He leans back and smiles.

This evening Watermark had its first service in Fusion Cafe, a great new restaurant owned by one our friends, Robbie Joynt. Robbie is, to me, teetering on the verge of man crush, because he has been so helpful in directing us and guiding us step by step to the success of the Coffee Pub. He also offered up his restaurant for us to gather for worship on Sundays.

Anyone who knows me knows my lack of organization, and as B-Mac pointed out in A New Kind of Christian, we tend to make God out to be bigger and better versions of ourselves. I see God as a creative Genius. And I tend to see him as a bit unorganized...not in a lack of control kind of way, but in the way that one would look at a Van Gogh painting. Up close there are globs of paint seemingly isolated on a canvas of swirling chaos but from a distance it becomes a masterpiece of organized beauty and power. Tonight I feel like I stepped back and saw globs coming together.

I met a brother from this family we call our faith named Michael. He stumbled upon our blogs and simply sent a note of encouragement to me and to RJ through them. RJ and I talked about how awesome it is to see God working throughout Tallahassee and that we can find friends like Michael who feel this desire to be true disciples, true Talmidin. It is very exciting because I found someone who is as in love with Robbie Bell as I am. (Now THAT is a man crush!) Well, Michael joined us for worship tonight and it was great to meet him. Although I sadly didn't get to chat as much as I would have liked with him we found more connections than I ever would have imagined. We both know Michael Mears, who is currently director of CCF. I am really looking forward to getting to know Michael more and sharing in this journey with him because, if God is the creative Genius I believe he is, then he has given us all a canvas, a blank sheet of paper, a musical instrument, or some way to paint a picture of our spiritual journey, and we are to share our art, our lives with those around us. I look forward to hearing his art and sharing my own. God is good and he is connecting the dots in Tallahassee and it is great to be listening and being a part of it.

check out Michael's blog and say hello while you're at it.