Jo, Caden and I spent Friday night at Vineyard’s Fall Family Fun Fest… or whatever they call it. The highlight of the night was watching hundreds of people evacuate the building because of a fire alarm. Most just walked straight out to their cars and left. We stayed put at the inside playground and watched it all through the large glass windows. I told Joanna, “There no way it’s a fire. Someone just pulled it.” But now I’m convinced, there’s no better way to watch all your time, effort, preparation, volunteers and money for an outreach go down the drain than to have someone pull the fire alarm. They lost 75% of their crowd in 5 minutes.

Saturday, I got to hook up with my good friend, Bryan from Atlanta for lunch. He’s up speaking for a men’s conference at New Life Church in Gahanna. I love the time I get to spend just bouncing ideas off him.

Spent the evening at by brother-in-law’s watching the OSU v. Penn State Game and waiting for my sister-in-law to go into labor. I’ll be an uncle (again) here shortly.

Then I’m off this morning to D.C. for the AAP meeting. That the American Association of Periodontology… in case you were wondering.

Spent the last few days in the Big City - Chicago.

I’m here for a seminar that my company is putting on.

I also got to hang out with my new friend Scott Hodge. I was able to ask him a ton of questions about The Orchard, leadership and church in general. We had a good time.

Next time you’re in Chicago, make sure you hit Chicago Pizza Oven Grinders. Scott recommended it. They take a pizza and cook it in a pot pie shell and then flip it upside down on your plate. The one-pounder almost killed me.

We also had a good staff dinner at Viand’s. The smoked gouda lollipops with chimichurri sauce were pretty amazing.

Then I drove home on Friday night with my boss… instead of flying. There were too many tornados the day before (40 in the U.S.) Just wanted to be closer to the ground.

I finally get to watch the first episode of The Office this year. Just trying to kill some time at CMH before I head to Newark.

“Guess what. I have flaws. What are they? I don’t know.

Occasionally I’ll hit somebody with my car.”

So there’s this really wicked looking monument right in the middle of the city between the castle and Waverley Station called the Scott Monument. If I was ever going to have a monument named after me I would want it to look like this.

Seth and I took a great morning run and climb up Arthur’s Seat, a famous mountain/hill/look-out point in the middle of the city. You start off close to sea level and climb to almost 1000 ft. The view was amazing - Edinburgh to the west, the Firth of Forth to the east.

This is a shot of us at the top. We were the ONLY people in shorts and short sleeve shirts. Everyone else had coats and scarfs on and were pointing and laughing at us. It was probably 45 degrees at the top.

The view of the city from the top with Edinburgh Castle in the background.

Hollyrood Park surrounds Arthur’s Seat and has some pretty cool views as well.

I got the chance to meet up with Duncan for lunch at our hotel.

I first met Duncan through his website and then through the Q conference in Atlanta back in April. I told him then that I would be in Edinburgh and would love to have lunch with him.

Hopefully, we can meet up again in NYC for Q 2008.

Thanks for lunch and the Scottish hospitality Duncan.

It’s kind of cool to walk out of your hotel and look at a medieval castle.

So we’re here in Edinburgh. When I say we, I mean myself and my brother-in-law, Seth. You can catch him in this picture… in front of our hotel… I think he’s smelling the flowers.

I’ve been gettin some heat about not putting anything up on my site… I’ve been thinking about a return to the blogosphere.

Anyway, I’m sittin at CMH getting ready to head for a week of business in Edinburgh, Scotland and then a short personal trip over to Ireland to visit Shane.

Maybe I’ll put some pics up.

I’m headed down to Longboat Key, Florida early tomorrow morning on business. Should be a fun trip. I’ll get to hang out with my brother-in-law, eat some florida grouper and maybe… maybe get some running in.

I sold my bike this weekend.

I’ve had it up for sale the past few weeks.

To a guy from Portsmith.

I got up early on Saturday to take it for one last spin.

I can get lost in a crowded room pretty quick. Something about a group of people in a small space that brings out my insecurity. My relational claustrophobia begins to creep in and I am immediately aware of my inadequacies and short-comings.

“I wish I was better at… Maybe I should start a conversation with… I wonder what they would think if…”

So many conversations. The room is full of stories and energy and laughter. It becomes so loud.

What I love about Joanna is that I don’t have to talk above the crowd.

We don’t have to talk so loud.

From one end of the room she glances at me. From my corner of the room, my eyes catch hers.

There’s a whisper.

A gesture.

A wink of the eye.

And I am engaged in this conversation… with her… above the crowd.

I don’t wonder what she is thinking. I don’t second guess the expression of love I sent across the room. It’s odd, but there’s this one woman who has the power to put me completely at ease.

I connect with her.

Across the room.

Above the crowd.

I’m heading off to Wisconsin this morning for most of the week. I’m staying at a retreat center and just taking some time to chill. I’ll be out of touch most of the week.

Joanna and I have been in the middle of a transition for the past several months. We have decided to take some time off from the grind of ministry and church life. I resigned my position as an Assistant Pastor at The Church at Polaris in early February. It was an extremely complex decision that had been in my mind for quite some time. And it was probably the toughest decision I have ever made.

I turned 30 last month and although it is not a mid-life crisis point or anything like that, it did serve as a great reflection point. I have been in this career for 10 years. Joanna and I have been married for 10 years. There are some things were are very happy about in our life and there are some things we are not happy with at all. I know if I blink, I will be celebrating my 40th birthday and most of this stuff will have not changed. So we decided to make some decisions that we believe will be the best for us and our family. These next 10 years will be the most critical for Caden and our other children. I only have one shot at being a dad.

So that’s the scoop in a VERY simplified version.

Since that time, we have been working through what a new “normal” will look like. We have been heavily involved in ministry since we graduated from high school. Needless to say, this is an awkward time. I am going to go back to work for Paragon Management. I was a part of this company for a few years on a part-time basis when we first moved to Columbus. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to go back and be a part of that.

So… there it is.

After 8″ - 10″ of snow, a half inch or so of ice, we had a Level 2 Snow Emergency in Franklin County where I live and a Level 3 in Delaware County where I work.

Finally… I get a snow day!

Jo and I just returned from our week-long vacation in Florida. We stayed at a condo just south of Clearwater, which is outside of Tampa Bay. It was definitely the most secluded beach I have stayed on. It was a good week… and a good change of pace.

Here’s the view of the Gulf from our balcony.

Gettin’ ready for the big game tonight. The rematch.

How do you get ranked No. 2 in the nation after loosing your superstar quarterback? I heard it took a lot of money to get that little number in front of their name.

It don’t matter. They won’t be number 2 after tonight.

Caden and I always spend Fridays together so Jo can get a full day of work in.

Here’s how our day usually goes:

7:15 AM - Wake up & eat

7:45 - 8:30 AM - Read books & play with toys

8:45 AM - 3 mile walk

9:45 AM - Breakfast (bananas and oatmeal)

10:00 - 11:45 AM - First nap (Dad gets a break)

12:00 - 1:00 PM - Play time and pack up to leave the house

1:00 PM - Lunch (yummy, yummy squash; we actually ate in the car on this day; Caden still has squah all over his face.)

1:30 - 3:00 PM - Lots of stops, including the Half Price Book Store, Trader Joes and… of course…. Starbucks

3:30 - 4:30 PM - Second nap

5:30 PM - Mommy’s home and takes over!

Joanna and I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary tonight with dinner at Hyde Park (compliments of her thoughtful family).

It was ten years ago from yesterday that I married my best friend. I’m so glad we made that decision and decided not to wait any longer.

This poem from Margaret Atwood titled “Habitation” reminds me a lot of these last ten years. Sometimes I feel like we are just learning how to make fire.

Marriage is not a house or even a tent
it is before that, and colder


the edge of the forest, the edge of the desert
the unpainted stairs at the back where we squat outside

eating popcorn


the edge of the receding glacier where painfully and with wonder
at having survived even this far


we are learning to make fire

This is awesome. They use it to haul kayaks and rafts.