postmodernpilgrim

spending holiday season in Michigan, the state shaped like a mitten. it has been cold, snowy, rainy, foggy, and warmish since i arrived on Christmas day to join my wife and kiddo. my wife is a Michigan native (Michigander) and we make a yearly retreat to the frozen tundra (or closest thing to it for me) for Christmas and New Years. it has been fun spending time with my wife in her natural element and seeing friends and family. happy holidays to all three of you who follow the blog. here is the most recent documentation of growth (three weeks and counting). this new year, in addition to my previous claim at making 2009 a year of growth for me, i am adopting one more resolution or habit: to pray daily for peace. i am not attempting to make any type of political claim or move here, just to genuinely act on my desire to see peace break out all over the world. a close friend and confidant of mine continually echoes the contemplatives with his advice, "If you want to truly affec

recently attended College Union's Refresh 2008 at the Woodlands UMC in The Woodlands, Texas. This is an annual convergence of UM campus/college ministers organized by College Union, a conglomeration of UMs currently in ministry on college campuses or with college students/young adults. my wife has attended this conference in the past and raved about its impact on her ministry so i decided to attend along with her this year. i went in with relatively no expectations, still coming down from my NYWC high. i was not disappointed. this conference was truly refreshing in a number of ways. first and foremost, it was compact. held in The Loft facility at Woodlands UMC, general sessions, small group sessions, and worship was all located in one building which made it remarkably easy to remain focused and connected btwn events. The Loft also provided free wi-fi (which was not a feature at NYWC) which assisted all those in attendance connection with the larger communities they are a pa