A phone call from a friend with a lunch invitation when you are knee deep in cleaning out kitchen junk drawers is always welcomed. I am even embarrassed to write plural on junk drawers. A kitchen should really only have one, we have or rather had two and a half. One drawer did keep hot pads and trivets in it along with to go menus, Chapstick, Christmas light replacement bulbs and a sack of nails. Oh there is other stuff but I think you are getting the picture with this brief listing of items. Being the faithful friend that I am, I accepted the lunch invitation with my two friends. We met at Zoe's, I am loving the egg salad sandwich there. I can't help but think every time I order an egg salad sandwich, I think of Todd, Lisa and Mrs. Loopner from SNL long, long ago. ***And this is where I stopped to watch clips of Todd and Lisa. This doesn't surprise anyone that I never got back to the blog post****
After watching a little bit of old SNL clips, I started reading while waiting for Roy to get home. I stopped in at Home Goods after lunch yesterday. New idea of organizing the pantry and they have about the best on prices for storage type items. I also found a floor lamp that I loved but wanted Roy's opinion. I was taking a chance not buying it right then and there but knew if it was meant to be, it would still be there later in the evening. Stopped in at Sprouts to pick up dinner and a few other things and then returned home to finish up the drawers but not before starting a blog post and then picking up a new book and thumbing through it.
Earlier this year I bought a book at our church's bookstore, The Road Trip by Mark Sayers. An interesting read but I stop and start it, not sitting and reading chapter after chapter. Guess that is because it is a road trip book, and road trips have a lot of stops and starts. Several chapters are devoted to how the car and the resulting car culture changed from fifty years ago changed the landscape of viewing life from a more home concentric view to the constant open road of opportunity. Until reading the book it never dawned on me that sixty or so years ago no one would have given the thought any time to go to a church outside of the neighborhood. When Robert Schuller started the drive in church and had many guest speakers come, he saw the numbers went through the roof when Norman Vincent Peale spoke. This was a culture changer that has influenced us even in this age. Being driven by numbers and a positive, feel good message. The author asks the question can a line be drawn from the car culture to the always connected culture of today and he believes yes, a line can be drawn and linked.
The cultural changes can also be linked to, "Can You Judge a Book By Its Cover?" post I wrote several days ago. Until I read Andy Stanley's book Deep and Wide I didn't quite understand the why and what for multiple church campuses. He gave compelling and truthful reasons for expanding. Even when objections are raised for multiple campuses we are assured by the local church we attend that our church isn't doing this like everyone else' and unfortunately the response is, yes, you are. A couple of weeks ago I had lunch with a friend and she shared her church's vision for multiple campuses and it is very different and outside of the formula than what we are seeing now. I'm excited to see how this will happen and if their way becomes the formula in the future.
I also read about a women's ministry in another state that is doing less events and more hands on ministry. The story behind the change is, the women's minister realized she wasn't helping younger women by having table top events and the like exclusively. She chose several of the older women in the church she respected and admired, not necessarily her friends and not the usual ubiquitous types. Together, they prayed and studied and asked the Lord how to make this shift from the long time formula of women's ministry. It is a work in progress but I look forward to seeing how this will happen. It takes some time to get everyone accepting of change. The other night the brilliant thought came to me that women's ministry should be not one big umbrella type organization but there should be a separate division for mothers, singles, and women involved in the business world. I don't fit into any of those groups, so I wouldn't have to be involved. :)
Formulas are not bad in themselves. Look at Nicholas Spark and John Grisham. They have made millions writing in the formula that works for them. We the readers, love their style and come back again and again, but when we want to branch out there are other well versed authors out there whose narrative is very different and thought provoking. Starbucks has a formula but local coffee shops have found an eclectic vibe that can pull us away from the predictable flavors into an experience. That is how Starbucks began, personalize service and wanting Starbucks to be your third place after home and work. It was an experience and can still be but many have decided they want something more than the predictable.
And this is where I find myself, tired of the predictable. Looking for something more than formula. That means I have to look deep inside myself and see how I have fallen into the formula in my own life. Do I use the same devo? Am I having a quiet time in the same place at the same time? Am I really having a quiet time? And really, am I mixing it up a little. Mark Batterson says change of place + change of pace= change of perspective. Am I using God given gifts for His purposes? Do I think the direction I'm leaning toward is too small and unimportant or do I believe that it is important work?
Looks like I will be writing a part 3 to this post and the book cover post.
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