Category Archives: Life

Twenty-Eleven

Posted on by
1

End of the year recaps are so hard. I am not even going to try to hit everything or even do a month by month review. I will just hit a few items as I think of them. Hopefully we can be a bit better at posting through-out the year, but no promises. Ok, here we go:

Community
We have been a part of a community group for a few years now, but in February we were able to start our own. We started in our small one bedroom apartment with about five people and quickly out grew our space. We now meet at the home of three single guys who very graciously host about 20-25 people every Thursday evening. I could say more, but it deserves its own post…

Mars Hill Church
Stephanie and I continue to serve at Mars Hill Church Downtown Bellevue. You can usually find us in the Mars Hill Kids area. In April we were honored to be installed as deacons. Summer had us making a couple trips down south to help plant Mars Hill Portland. They officially launch January 15th. In October the Bellevue church relocated to the John Danz Theater in Downtown Bellevue. Things have exploded and I am continually humbled to be part of God’s amazing work at MH BEL.

Homecomings
My Grandma Pat Kasowski and Grandma Shirley Schoenberger both went to see Jesus this year. It was a tearful and joyful reminder that life is short and only one thing matters. I am eternally grateful for their legacy. They both loved Jesus and it showed. I am glad that I will see them again. The party is going to be awesome.

Maximus Onesimus
Our furry friend was evicted from our apartment complex (under false accusations I might add). We took a road trip to Boise and he stayed behind with my family. He has a nice backyard, a couch cushion to sit on and a lot of attention, so he seems to be doing quite well.

Marriage
Steph and I celebrated two years of marriage on October 10th. We were able to head down to SoCal and enjoyed some great family time, sunshine, beach and In-N-Out Burgers. We are continually grateful that God brought us together. We have been reading Real Marriage in preparation for the upcoming sermon series at Mars Hill and we can’t put a higher recommendation on the book.

Looking ahead
We are both really excited to see what is in store for twenty-twelve – I am sure it is going to be awesome. For now, you can head over to the About page and find links to our Twitter and Facebook profiles as we are pretty good at wasting time posting over there. Happy New Year!

A minor note: I had some technical difficulties that lost the first awesome draft of this post. This was my quick rewrite this morning on the bus. Excuse the grammatical abomination.

Intentional Mornings

Posted on by
Reply

I used to start work at 7am. Not being a morning person meant that my mornings were very frantic. I considered it a successful morning if I was able to get out the door and to work on time. I didn’t like it. My schedule changed to working from 8am-5pm and I decided to keep my regular routine of getting into Seattle at 7am, so I could have some time in the mornings to read, enjoy some coffee or maybe even exercise. This has been very nice, but I was feeling like my mornings could be a little more productive if I was a little more intentional. It is easy to waste an hour in a coffee shop – I want to put that hour to good use. I came up with the following schedule for myself (Warning: cheesy titles ahead – it’s the way my brain works – sorry).

Everyday
On my bus ride into Seattle I usually read whatever book I am currently reading – usually on my Kindle. Once in Seattle at about 6:40am I spend about 15 min reading the Bible. I have been in Proverbs and Job lately, but am going to get back on a regular reading plan soon. This one from Downtown Cornerstone looks great.

Missional Monday
There are a lot of people in Seattle. This in my morning to spend talk to one (or more) of them. Those who know me know that I am not exactly an outgoing social butterfly, so this day can be a challenge. It has however turned out to be something I look forward to on Mondays. So far the people I have talked to have been the first person that asks me for money. Very interesting conversations to be had about needs, wants, and Jesus.

Tune-up Tuesday
This is my time to look at the days and weeks ahead and do a little planning. This is time to make sure my calendar is up to date. I can also quickly go over our budget and goals and see how we are doing. Also a good day to schedule meetings for the week ahead with my peeps.

Worship Wednesday
This is time to stop and praise God for who he is and what he has done for me. This is something I have always struggled with in the past. Well, not even struggled with – just straight up neglected. For the first time in a long time I have actually been praying for others and seeing God at work through it. It is amazing. I usually spend this time at the SAM Olympic Sculpture Park. It is a great place to walk around and enjoy God’s creativity in creation itself and through others creations. I will have to find a good alternative once the rain returns…

Theology Thursday
This day is my day to read and study. I am currently reading Erasing Hell, by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle. I also like to go over my notes from Sunday’s sermon and pray in preparation for community group on Thursday evenings.

Follow-up Friday
Friday mornings are set aside for following up and reaching out to the peeps in my life. If you are awaiting an email from me you may see it Friday morning. This is an area I am trying to grow in. Basically you will see me in the coffee shop typing out something or getting social on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc…

My days are not completely set in stone. I am not afraid to mix it up here and there (a good morning snuggle session with my wifey is always nice), but this is a helpful template for me. It reminds me of all of the areas I need to grow in and keeps me from getting too comfortable and lazy in areas that I tend to favor. Like my great grandpa used to say, “everything in moderation.”

Note: I am still trying to figure out the exercise part. That will be another post I guess… Until then I have baseball.