Stardate: -316232.2

Another week goes by, and somehow without blogging. All my good intentions to blog more often somehow don't amount to much except keeping up with the one-a-week pattern.

What happens in the meantime? My life is more interesting than I let on in my blog entries, I think. Certainly it has its highlights -- umpiring, refereeing, moving and job change. But the real substance of interest in my life has to do with friends and relatively mundane events. With reconnecting with my half-brother Jason. With holding his son, my six-month-old nephew. With hanging out with Bethany and J.C. and Vjera & Eddie, with meeting new people and becoming a regular at college/career group. With singing on the worship team. With knowing people who understand (and even occasionally appreciate) my sarcasm.

Perhaps most of all, being at a place in my life where I can dream, and move, and learn, and pursue God in ways I haven't before. Life should be dynamic and challenging, and in some ways, for the first time in my life, it actually is.

Stardate: -316212.85

I had to do a second baseball game behind the plate last Thursday, which made my legs even more sore this weekend. Today my game was rained out and rescheduled for tomorrow, probably optimism on their part that the weather will be better tomorrow.

On Friday/Saturday I moved out of my parents' house and officially into my half-brother Jason's house, where he and his wife and their six-month-old son live. I'm staying in the guest room. I'll be paying them rent and hopefully get to know them better.

Having officially quit Alvord-Taylor as of just over a week ago, I'm wondering how hard I want to try to find another part-time job to do. I have a fairly consistent gap in my schedule from about 8 AM - 3 PM on weekdays, though I don't want any job that conflicts with late afternoons, evenings, or weekends. I'm also picky about what type of work that I do. This time, preferably something that is a new experience of sorts; something unboring, challenging, and perhaps including interaction with people to some degree.

Stardate: -316199.86

After a couple middle school basketball games the past two days, which were easy, I had a baptism by fire today during my first baseball game. I got thrust behind the plate.

Pretty challenging for a new umpire, and a lot of pressure knowing that I'm the only one who can call balls and strikes. I think I did pretty well on that and stayed consistent throughout the game. However, I did have a couple close plays at home, one of which I think I botched, and another that I got right but probably called too quickly.

They were a lot of runs -- 20 combined? 25? Hard to say, since umpires don't keep track of the score. Two and a half hours. My legs are sore after going down into a plate stance and back up all game.

More than just the basics though, today was about more than that. It was an initiation into a culture that I've never been involved with firsthand before. I didn't get the opportunity to play organized baseball. It's a sport that is still old fashioned, devoid of technology, no whistles for the officials, and played out in an open field.

As much as I love basketball, I can see how baseball can be addictive in its own way. I'm glad I have this opportunity.

Stardate: -316183.03

My friend J.C. and I took a trip to Portland on Monday to visit George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Now, I knew from looking at the website that GFES is no ordinary seminary. But I wasn't quite expecting what I found.

I found a place that is truly multi-denominational, where it is an everyday occurrence for a Lutheran, a Presbyterian, a Pentecostal, a Methodist, and someone who claims no denomination at all to agree to learn and dialogue together while preparing for ministry to people both in the pews and on the margins. I found a place where academics and practical ministry collide, where all students are challenged to examine what they believe, center on Jesus, and truly follow Him. I found a place that emphasizes both spiritual formation and biblical knowledge. A place where the older learns from the younger and the younger values the older and vice versa. A place where the professors engage in discussions with the students rather than just lecturing all the time, a place where the pastor challenges the skeptic and the skeptic encourages the pastor. I found a place where people work to learn with their minds, and learn to love from their hearts. I found a place where the dean is a church planter, and the faculty have some pastoral ministry experience. A place where both the traditional and the progressive come face to face and don't condemn each other, but realize that both are needed and valuable. A place that fully supports the movement of the emerging church in its quest to relate to an increasingly postmodern world, yet critiques the very theology that is its basis. I found a place that provides flexible schedules and course options to serve the individual student, yet ensures that no student will be isolated or unknown, rather connected with the whole body of the school in some way.

In short, I found a place that matches my vision for the church, will challenge me to continue learning and applying God's word and love for people, and encourage me to walk fully in who God has called me to be.

I found a place that I hope to start attending in some capacity in the fall.

Stardate: -316175.17

Another busy weekend, and some notable highlights emerged:

• Spending three hours in the gym at Thurston High practicing umpire mechanics, calls, and footwork with a mix of veteran and rookie umpires
• Finishing said umpire clinic with them using me as a guinea pig to show that 90% of the game umpires itself (they had me turn my back and make out/safe calls by sound only, and I got 9 of 10 right)
• Riding my bike across town to do a Kidsports basketball game during an absolutely gorgeous Saturday afternoon
• Arriving at said Kidsports game only to find out that there were already two referees there, both insisting that they were scheduled, so I left and took advantage of the situation to take photos of the sunset
• Going on a walk on Sunday afternoon with Vjera & Eddie, and Bethany on Amazon bike path
• Again joining the regularly scheduled program at Christ Fellowship's College/Career Group, after missing multiple Sunday nights due to basketball referee meetings
• Feeling very at home at said CCG meeting, with a group of young adults who are nearly as sarcastic as I am (and loving the Lord doesn't hurt either)

Hope you're enjoying the weather and whatever free time you have as much as I am...