Welcome back to chaos . . .

I got back yesterday from a quick trip up to Seattle to see Michelle, our new house, and the friends that she's been staying with. It went by very quickly, but it was a good trip. Obviously, seeing Michelle is never a bad thing for me, but it was refreshing in some other ways, too.

I spent a couple of hours with some folks from a small church that's close to where we'll be living - they are looking for a bi-vocational pastor. We're kind of in a getting to know each other phase to see if there's a good fit. Stylistically, it would be out of our comfort zone, but there are some other aspects about it that make it attractive.

Michelle and I went to a worship gathering at Harambee Church, south of Seattle. We had met their pastor, Mike, a couple of years ago at a church planting bootcamp - super smart, good guy. The church did some awesome Advent readings and creative expressions. The Christmas carols that the band played were artistic and clearly heartfelt.

Alas, I have returned to this place, and the many tasks awaiting me. It's looking like my landscape project will finally be finished by the end of the week. That's probably wishful thinking, but I know I'll have a lawn and some plants to enjoy. Pretty exciting stuff.

So I just heard part of a public radio interview with a couple of guys who made a film about the politics of evangelicals in America. I had already been contemplating whether or not I would fall into the category of evangelicals, and I think this may have tipped the scale. While I may hold a majority of the same doctrinal and/or socio-political positions, it seems that I am increasingly out of step. For one thing, I'm not Republican. I know, I know, Jimmy Carter isn't either. For another thing, I don't believe that the best approach to "being salt and light" is through political campaigning and power grabbing. Also, I struggle with the degree to which the category's definition seems to change depending on who's got the microphone. There are times when I hear someone speaking in very simple terms, and I think, "Yeah, that's me. I guess I am evangelical after all." Then there are other times when I hear one of the major voices of evangelicalism in the media, and I just shake my head and walk away.

More than anything, the label lacks value. Again, simplicity in following Jesus will do far more good than trying to define myself or anyone else for that matter.

Cool, very cool. I was able to book a flight up to Seattle to see Michelle and our new house for next week. It's an unexpected pleasure - it was hoped for, but didn't look realistic. The best part is, thanks to some travel points on the credit card, we don't even have to pay for it.

O.k., time for a very quick update. We had a good Thanksgiving. Michelle came home and we got to hang out a bit, which I guess is saying something, given the commotion of family gatherings and gettings things in order to move. Heck, we even chiseled out some time to see a movie. Sadly, I had to put her on an airplane on Monday morning.

That's especially sad given that yesterday was our 8th wedding anniversary. I'm pretty sure that the marriage manual says something about spending anniversaries together. That was hard. We went out to a nice restaurant last Saturday to celebrate, which was good . . . but somehow hanging out with the dog didn't measure up yesterday.

Our house purchase seems to be going along smoothly. We came to terms with the sellers on the list of repairs. Now we just need a loan.

I'm learning how money oriented my thinking still is. It's too easy to think I don't rely on it when there's enough to go around.