Wow, So much has been happening in my life right now. I'm about to get married in a few weeks to the lovely Tiffanie Paige and have been living in the beautiful state of Tennessee for the last few months. Life has been crazy with wedding planning, remodeling a house, starting a new job and design company, and getting plugged into a new church.  Not much time left to do non essential past times like, um, blog...

But with things starting to begin to wind down for us, I'd like to get back into this whole blog thing. In fact TP and I are thinking about combining our blogs into something new. We're calling it "Traveling at the Speed of Life." 

It will probably look a little different than our current blogs but it'll be in a somewhat familar format. We are also wanting to maybe do some video blogs and other content as well. When we are ready to launch well make sure to post a link to it on our current sites. This also marks an end to my current blog, "Brewing, theology and things of a culinary nature." I thinks this has served it's purpose and it was a great run. I hope it's  been encouraging to those who've followed it. I'm excited about what the future has in store for TP and I and I hope this brand new blog will a cool record of our new lives together!


Jw

Hey for those that didnt know, I was briefly in TN and GA this past weekend for a quick trip before school started. I had such a blast it was great! I wish I could have hung out with everyone but there was just not enough time! Fourtunately, in 4 months that won't be a problem because I'm moving to Chattanooga! Its been an interesting journey making the decision but I think its definitely where the Lord is leading me to go. I'm currently working on getting my transcripts in order so I can finish up at UTC in a couple of semesters. I'll keep ya'll updated.

So on the plane ride home last night I read this verse in my Bible while I was killing time. Its from Ecc 9:7 "Go,eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do." As a disclaimer I should point out that I'm not into taking one verse and building an entire world view out of it, but this verse has been resonating with me in light of several convos I have with TP and others over the last few weeks. The main thing I keep going back to is what it looks like to live well?

Am I doing it?

Do I find joy in the meanial and the everyday things I do?

Am I living life with others in a way that brings them joy?

Another thing that I've been thinking about is that God approves of what we do! And the cool thing is its not necessarially because of what we do but because of what he has done for us through His son Jesus Christ. When we are living out our relationship with Christ we will want to live life in holiness, even through our struggle with sin. It reminds me a lot of Augustine's quote "Love God and do as you please." So many times we struggle with this idea that we can fall out of God's Will based on something we do. I just don't think thats biblical. If we are living out our relationship with Christ then he is pleased by the decisions we make,( the exception of course being when we sin) So that gives us SO much freedom to live life, being joyful all along the way. How awesome is that?

So in between doing laundry and school stuff I thought I'd post a little sumthin, sumthin. Ususally when I do the whole blog thing, I have a set topic or idea in mind and have an idea of what I'm going to say, but today I think I'm just going to wing it.God has really been challenging me on a lot of things recently. Specifically, on what santification, community and on His Character as it relates to those two things.

In regards to the first thing, it seems so many of us want to have an "experience" with Jesus Christ. Usually this consists of a going to a conference, a retreat, or something and getting a "spiritual high" at the end. Then a couple of weeks later after we've processed the experience, we look foward to the next time we'll experience something similar. I think theres also this frustration for some of us when we experience God in a powerful way like that and then go back to our everyday lives wondering why we don't have those experiences everyday.

While those experience are incredible important to our growth as Christians, I'm finding that so much of the Christian life is the daily process of Sanctification in our lives. In 1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter talks about how the process is created by the Holy Spirit producing obedience in the hearts of those who believe in Jesus Christ. I think the flipside of that, is that God wants to have a daily relationship with us as well. He doesn't wait for us to come to Him on the mountaintop, but wants to be with us throughout our everyday experiences! How amazing is that?!

I think the process also relates to how we connect in community. So many of us think that as long as its just me and Jesus that everything else doesn't really matter, but that is just not the case. The way we connect with one another greatly effects the way we relate to God and vice versa. Think about what Jesus said are the two greatest commandments. First we should love God, but secondly we must also love one another. I think without being in some kind of community you can't properly do either one of those. Now just to be clear, I'm not saying go to a megachurch and get to know everyone there. I would actually argue that community starts with at least two people and grows from there.

I started going through Acts yesterday and one of the first things you see is what authentic community looks like. Look at 2:42 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." When I read this I see 4 things that define what authentic community looks like: 1) The teaching/preaching of God's Word, 2) Fellowship 3) Hospitality 4) Prayer. All four of these things are so important especially in our culture today. If we don't do this are we not in community? I'm honestly not sure. I definitely lean towards no though.

Anyways seeing that this is post is becoming a little long winded I might post a part 2 later on this week. Here are a couple of final thoughts:

1. Are you living for a spirtual high or are you working through the daily process of sanctification in your own life?

2.What is the process looking like in your own life?

3. Are you comfortable just having a relationship with Jesus Christ or are you in authentic community with other Christians?

4. If you are in a strong community of believers, in what was are you personally encouraging those around you?

So if you've been following my Twitter or Facebook feeds you might have seen that I've recently started working on a concept album called Postmodern Hymns. The project is based around the idea that there are some great hymns out there with amazing lyrics but unfortunately dated arrangements. I'm basically trying to update the sound and still keep the message of the songs the same so that a new generation can discover some great music with solid theology. It's an ambitious undertaking but it's something I'd like to do...

Here's a tenative track listing:

1.Be thou my vision
2.Beautiful Scandalous night
3.Before the Throne
4.Come Ye Sinners
5.Nothing but the Blood
6.Come Thou Fount
7.All Creatures of our God and King
8.Arise my Soul Arise

9.Praise to The Lord, The Almighty
10.Oh Lamb of God
11.Amazing Love
12.Holy Holy Holy
13.Oh for a THousand tongues to sing
14.Oh the Deep Deep Love of Jesus
15.Oh Worship the King
16.Thou Lovely Source of true delight

So I am not someone who likes to jump on fads. I didn't get an iPod when they first came out. I wasn't into the myspace/Facebook craze at first. I only now am seeing how OS x is superiour to Windows in almost every way. So when I signed up for my twitter account, at first I asked myself "what's the point?" Most of my friends are on Facebook so it seemed kinda dumb just have a site that basically did what Facebook status updates did with less ammount of characters ( about 140 including spaces) But the more I used the more I realized that it's an amazing window into the world of people in my region. People are so willing to share what's going on in their own lives. It's really quite amazing. For those of us who are Christians, it's a great tool for understanding the local culture we're immersed in. You can see the popuular 3rd places that people socialize. You can see the music and enterainment that people are into. You can also see the issues that people struggle with. It's so much information and it litterally can be accessed from your fingertips. If we are serious about reaching people in our own particular contexts, then we have to understand our local cultures and not just western/eastern culture as a whole. So I seriously recommend getting a Twitter account, even if you don't plan on using it for personal updates.

SO Its been about a little more than a month since I left California, ( which henceforth shall be called Purgatory) and after coming back to CLM's kitchen here in Indiana, its been interesting comparing the experiences. Here are a few lessons I've learned:

First, stress does not ever go away in a kitchen, no matter how well its ran.  The important thing is how you deal with it. There are always going to be factors that you cannot control, so you are just going to have to get over it.

Second, focus on the stuff you can control. Like it or not being a sous chef means that the majority of what the guest experiences during service is all on you, good or bad.  If you burn that piece of chicken, or run out of food, that's no ones fault but your own. So don't let it happen!

Third, work with a purpose.  Why am I doing what I do?  Is it for my glory or God's? Am I a hard worker or just lazy ass? Do I work hard even when it seems pointless? That last question was an especially difficult question for me to ask when I was in Cali.  When you work with a purpose its makes any job, even a tedious one, more focused, and I think easier.

Lastly, Font of the house service is the number one priority.  As a guy that is more comfortable being behind the scenes instead of front and center, this a difficult thing for me to do. During service I'd rather be on a grill than checking  the food line. But as a leader you gotta be able to put yourself out there, so that you're ensuring that the guest is having the best service possible. You can't do that in front of a fryer.

I've been  thinking a little bit about the kitchen crew I left in Cali. How are they holding up? What impact did we leave with them? Have they used any of the lessons we taught them or have they gone back to the way it was before we came?

Its also been cool being back at CLM. The kitchen crew is solid, professional, and really cares about what they are trying to do. I've also got a lot of positive feedback from the staff. Its a culture shock but a good one!


One last note, I'm sorry for the lack of updates, I keep getting people asking about what my plans are for the fall, and so Ill take this opportunity to set the record straight.

1. I'm not going to be in TN this fall like I originally thought. To all my TN friends I'm sorry for giving out more false hope! To all my NWI friends, um lets hang out?
2. I'm attending PUC in August, and in the spring I'll either be at PUC, UTK, or PU in Laffeyette
3. Obviously, I'm still working at CLM for the time being, if/when things start slowing down, I'll be working (hopefully) at restaurant in the area.

 

So tonight was my last shift at Pine Summit. I couldn't have had a better experience ending my time here. We menued out Pork Tenderloin, Italian Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Normandy Style Vegtables and Wheat Rolls. I took charge of the proteins and made special marinades for both meats. I slow roasted the pork for 5 hours at 275 and grilled the chicken on a flat top grill. Both turned out great, so much so that the group gave us a standing ovation!

Now I share this not primarily to toot my own horn, but to say that, despite what the higher ups might think, I feel like every meal that I have served has been a great experience for the guests I've served. And tonights meal has vindicated any doubts I've had about my performance.

But more importantly than my performance, the main lesson I've taken from my experiences here is that a good meal can enable people to get more out of their Retreat experience and grow closer to God. And at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. In a service environment, by definition, it isn't about you, it's about who your serving. In a christian camp environment, your serving not just the guest at the camp, but also Christ himself. It's very humbling thing to think about.

Well, that's my rant for today. In other news Elyse is flying in tomorrow and I can't wait! One week of hanging out and then Im off to TN for a couple of weeks!

Layers
J



Ps I figured out how to blog post from my itouch...this changes everything.