I'm looking at my hands right now. There are wrinkly places where there didn't used to be. I gazed at the bends of my inner elbows and the skin is wrinkly there too. Certain hair folicles have lost their ability to retain pigment as they used to. Shucks...certain hair folicles have seen a cessation of existence. Productive ones that is.

I just tried growing out my hair for about the last two months. Let me tell you....that was a stinking exercise in futility. I had a receding hairline since it all started back in college. I thought I was set and was just going to have to deal with it as that. Now the receding areas not only are meeting from left to right and vice-versa, but the emerging hair island on front and center sports a newly balding streak in and of itself. So I thought I'd dye it, as in the olden days. It turned orange. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Bald is beautiful again.

I am trying to rectify my own bodily changes with those around me, with my own sense of my place in the Kingdom work. I am trying to figure if I am just a wrinkle in the face of its ever-present, ever-breaking newness. I fear those with whom I have invested myself in deeply see my spiritual wrinkles, tire/bore of them and long for thicker, more vibrant colors. In such were vestiges of promise; times now bear a different, stranger fruit, promising neither certainty nor total abdication....I change; people change. Am I still wanted? Does God still want me? Do I still want myself?

And yet, I want to go for it all. I want to lay aside encumbrances and thrust into a faith unknown. But I won't go it alone. Things got scary a year ago when it became clear that this kind of life in the Kingdom ACTUALLY COSTS US OUR LIVES! I shared that vulnerability with people I love and I think I shooed some away. Maybe I layed too much on the line. Maybe I opened up too widely and prematurely projected expectations belonging only to myself and no one else. That's kind of why I feel like the chubby kid in dodgeball who gets pelted first and stands alone in the "out" line.

You can't manipulate people to journey with you. Neither can you settle for tag-a-longism to count for diligent Kingdom work, the kind you can share with a confidante and the kind who will enter into the deep and the mystery. And hanging on the wispy triumphs of yesterday will sink you as well.

It's amazing how the cares of the old world and spectres of the defunct easily trail us all off the path. How cruel it is that we can't ascend the lofty ideations we held in faith when the things of God were new while the devils sit victoriously reticent. And from those shadows bellow even greater temptations to further cement what we said we'd never become.

I possess a certain indigence of spirit at present that neither inspires nor witholds. It's not an achievement and there are no worthy holdings here. These words probably ring quite an advertisement for self-aggrandizement, but they help to shape the hollows and core out the marrow.

It's a threshold for sure...for life, for self, for church, for community and for all ideations about them. I just feel more alone sometimes now than ever before. And some who gave all before now float in a boat of whimsy where I may be concerned.

I am back from North Dakota and the trip was quite fruitful. I ate my first buffalo burger with some initial intrepidation, but was pleasantly surprised. It tasted like a really good lean cheeseburger. The Bismarckians were also intent upon setting the world's record for the largest snow angel on the day I arrived. We drove by the capitol building to see the fun.

The convention folk were quite hospitable and engaged with what I had to share, which was very encouraging. They are good, solid people with a heart to see God reach people there. The people and the possibilities for the Kingdom of God there more than warrant my prayer for them.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN...
I'll hop on a plane again Saturday at 7am, flit to Minny-Apple-Iss and jostle over to Bismarck, North Dakota to speak at a new church plant and make a presentation with some other planters at the Dakotas Baptist Convention. It's going to be really sweet.

Think of me, if you will, as I'll be in the air again.

SOME MORE SNOWSLEETFREEZINGRAINRAIN

ALL IN ALL...THIS STORM IS GOING TO CREATE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMSACRS THE FCST AREA. ANY SHIFT IN TRACK EVEN OVER A SHORT DISTANCEWILL LIKELY IMPACT PCPN TYPE AND DURATION AND RESULTANT SNOW/ICEACCUMS IN ANY ONE LOCATION ACRS FCST AREA. AND AS MENTIONEDABV...DO EXPECT SIGNIFICANT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMS. THIS SURE LOOKSLIKE A STORM THAT WE MAY END UP COMPARING WITH PRE XMAS STORM IN2004 AND THE VALENTINES WEEKEND STORM IN 2003.

That's the 438 PM EST SUN FEB 11 2007 Forecast Discussion out of the the Wilmington National Weather Service office. Here's the graphical cut of the latest watches/warnings:

















Most people really don't appreciate the incredible difficulty in assessing and forecasting a winter storm. There are literally millions of parameters and myriads of scenarios that could happen that affect whether or not someone sees one kind of precipitation. Moisture fetch, air flow patterns, snow-to-liquid ratios, thermal profiles, isentropic lift and many other issues play into the prognostication.

Most people rely upon popular media outlets for their weather information at some point. Often, the information that comes from there is colored by the pressure to secure ratings. Add to that the anomaly of human perception and attention to the details of forecast products.....many of which are embellished by hearsay and pessimistic attitudes that detract from rapidly changing forecasts and conditions. By the time the event is underway, the expectations of some as to what should be occurring might be based on false perceptions and old forecasts. That's a big reason why weather forecasting gets such a bum rap. If you really want to know what's going on, log onto your local NWS forecasting office and read the forecast discussions. These offices are not competing for viewer ratings and are not prone to drama. And they do admit when they make mistakes.

All in all, the comparison to this upcoming storm is to the pre-Xmas 2004 storm and the Valentines Day weekend storm of 2003. That particular wording in a forecast discussion is significant, given the typical, laconic style of forecast discussion texts.

WITH KILN RADAR INDCG IMPRESSIVE RETURNS 30+ DBZ ACRS
SWOHIO AND EXTENDING NW BACK INTO CNTRL
INDIANA...EXPECT HVY SNOWWILL CONTINUE FOR NEXT SVRL HOURS.

QUICK LOOK AT CROSS SECTIONS ALSO INDCG THATBEST LIFT COINCIDES WITH MAX DENDRITIC GROWTH ZONE OVER NEXT 3-5HOURS. THIS SHOULD ENABLE A CONTINUATION OF HVY SNOW WITH 1-2 INCHPER HOUR SNOWFALL RATE WITH SNOW TO LIQUID RATIOS AT 15/20-1 INTHESE AREAS INTO THE EVNG.

And with that excerpt from the 4:16 p.m. forecast discussion out of the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, I believe a man could sleep rather well, if not conquer many of the world's problems.

Officially at Dana Drive in Oxford, we registered 6.5 inches. If'n ya don't believe me, this pic will get all up in yer bizness. Because my camera stinketh, I'll have to tell you that the ruler is 8 inches long.

Now that's what I'm talking about. As of 1:55 a.m., EST, we are under a Heavy Snow Warning with a potential of 3-5 inches through early Wednesday. Just about freekin' time.

Of course, since I am wanting it, it won't happen (I am currently working on a personal theodicy of weather). It is a balmy 0 degrees here in O-town, with a heat index of....well.....0. Just thought you'd want to know. You just didn't know you wanted to know.

Back from DFW from a fruitful summit. I am learning much from some people/churches about what it means to be missional. Whatever the term "missional" means to whoever, granted, it's an easier thing to talk about than to do. Folks like Mission Arlington are doing it. And they are doing phenomenal things while keeping it simple.

I guess we be getting ready for The Feast of Saint Patty-boy in March. Should be pretty swell.