adam feldman blog

a time to play

Perhaps one of the biggest "blind spots" that I have as a pastor is intentionally carving out time to have deep, rewarding "play" time. Earlier this week my planting coach, Stan @ Pathways Church, asked me a challenging question having to do with whether or not I was intentionally taking time to "play." Later that day my friend Bruce @ Cornerstone Church challenged me to think about "play" as one of the important and yet overlooked things that I do as a pastor because it keeps me in a healthy state of mind.

So, yesterday Kim and I took the day off and spent its entirety together. (Thank heaven that Bubbie and Grandpa Feldman are in town!) We started the day at a coffee shop--journaling and reading the Bible together--followed it up with sushi for lunch, a bit of wall climbing at Earth Treks and a brief jaunt to our local REI. What a rewarding time together!

Over the years I have gotten better at taking time to "play," having gotten burned out a time or two. My bi-annual soul.breaks (sabbath/solitude) aid in keeping me fresh spiritually, but I tend to neglect the fine art of "play." Friday was not only an amazing time to connect with my wife, but secondarily served as a time to keep me fresh.

happenings

Yes, I'm still here! Life has been rather busy as of late, but I'll be getting a break later this month when my bro preaches a two week sermon series on discovering/engaging worldviews. It'll be as cool as it sounds!

A few happenings:

• Abby is finally sleeping through the night. We've had 2 weeks of uninterrupted nights. Praise God! She is also sitting up by herself, eating in a high chair, scooting around the floor (backwards only) and growing hair.
• Metanoia is rockin' and rollin'. We've got one new Community Group established and hope to see two more later this month. Additionally, one of our Life Transformation Groups is "pregnant" and getting ready to multiply.

Alright... time to get some work done...

focusing on the grace of God

Resurgence held their annual conference in late February of this year. I was unable to attend, but watched the conference live via their free webcast of the event. At the time, C.J. Mahaney's message, "Pastoral Character & Loving People," impacted me, but I didn't realize how much until yesterday. It was one small part of his message that resonated in my head and bounced out in my life. He said (my paraphrase): "Stop looking at all that is not happening or that is going wrong in your church, and focus on the grace of God every day."

Yesterday God cleared the clouds and revealed to me multiple ways his grace is at work in our church. I had grown frustrated over the past month looking for God in a way that he just wasn't working, but he was/is still here and working mightily. So, I sat in the Hollow and journaled the evidence of God's grace all around me. It was quite the encouraging moment.

Resurgence has the video of C.J. Mahaney's sermon online for free.

six months!

Abby turned six months old today. *sigh* It seems like it was just yesterday we were rushing home FROM the hospital to watch the UGA/Florida game. Of course, six months of Abby means that I'm at least 12 months older due to sleep deprivation and sickness. But, man, oh, man is she worth it! Little girl, if the interwebs are still around when you're old enough to read, I hope you read this and know how much daddy loves you!!

earth day @ caribou coffee

In honor of Earth Day today and as a way of promoting sustainability, Caribou Coffees nationwide are giving away a free tumbler today with the purchase of 1 pound of one of their five Rainforest Alliance coffee blends. I confess, it made me take the 15 minute sojourn to the closest Bou in Owings Mills so that I could grab a pound of Mahogany (an excellent dark roast), a cup-o-joe, free WiFi and a free tumbler (all pictured in sepia via the iSight on my MacBook Pro).

Take that, Starbu^%$!!

the wear-down factor of a baby

As I type, I am getting over my third cold this season. I hardly catch colds--only caught one last year. Interrupted sleep patterns, always "on," inconsistent bedtime/wake time--all symptoms of the "wear-down factor of a baby." Abby had a cold last week which made for a few rough nights and a needy little girl during the day. Thankfully Mamita and Papi Price were in town and handled a few of the late nights! Then, right after Abby got over her cold she began teething, which made for even more zombie-manifesting-sleep-deprivation-nights.

*sigh*

Incidentally, Kim succumbed to my cold last night. That makes for two parents who feel "blah" at the same time again.

But, hey, it could be a heck of a lot worse! We're still lovin' on our daughter. Needless to say, the wear-down factor is most definitely worth it all!

one semester spanish spanish love song

Okay, my friend Katie, a high school Spanish teacher, told me about this video. It is ha-sterical. Basically, the song is written only with vocabulary you would learn in your first semester of Spanish. (A little humor for your Monday.)

Here 'tis...

best tasting sermon illustration ever

Metanoia started walking through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) in January of this year. The past two weeks were spent discussing being "salt and light." When Jesus said his disciples are "salt," he referred to us as preservation agents in a world decaying from sin. True, salt is a spice used for flavoring, but in the context Jesus originally spoke the vast majority of the people could not afford such a luxury. Salt was pragmatic--it preserved meat from decomposing.

At the end of the sermon I pulled out a raw steak and physically rubbed course Mediterranean Sea salt into it. The point being (well, several points): raw meat is disgusting and so is sin (are we sickened by sin?), salt rubbed into meat gets dirty and so ought Christians as they engage the world, salt prepares the way for preservation and Christians prepare the way for the Gospel to preserve our world, salt in a salt shaker ain't no good (you get the idea here)...

Later that afternoon, Scott broiled the steak and we partook of my sermon illustration (pictured). I must say it was really good and also the saltiest piece of meat that I have ever eaten! We were drinking water the rest of the afternoon and evening. Lesson: rinse your sermon illustration before eating it.

• "Salt sermon" mp3 - Become: Influential
• "Light sermon" mp3 - Become: Transformational

chopped!

Kim has been talking for a while now about donating her hair to Locks of Love, and, well, yesterday she did it! She got 10 inches of her hair cut, leaving her with a new fun, bouncy hairstyle.

The day before she got her hair cut we took several photos of long-haired-Kim with Abigail. Here is one of them. I was really impressed with the lighting that day and the front lawn was looking really green--ultimately making for a sweet, colorful photo.

BLOGDAY 5!

And so today I begin my sixth year blogging...

Peace and coffee to all...

• First post ever: April 2, 2003 (admittedly, not much to look at)
• First blogday: April 2, 2004 (complete with a shiny-head picture of me and a list of my favorite posts from year 1)
• Second blogday: April 2, 2005 (written in ATL's Hartsfield airport... a horrific, nightmarish day where Kim & I bounced from terminal to terminal from 5:00am to 8:00pm... argh)
• Third blogday: April 2, 2006 (not much written on this day--just the beginnings of this list!)
• Fourth blogday: April 2, 2007 (original post made in Tununak, Alaska)
• Fifth blogday: April 2, 2008 (a year of less words, a post of less words)