KIVA

want to encourage anyone who reads this to check out www.kiva.org. these people are doing some great work all over the world. you should read up on the site about it - as my retelling will simply not be sufficient. your $25 can go along way when paired up with several others to make a real impact on people's lives. so, take a second and visit. let me know what you think.

Cleaning Up

Serve God, Save the Planet - title of the book being studied and read by our VC house church in Norwood. So far Maurie and I have stepped up our recycling, screwed in a couple more compact flourescents, considered a composting program and otherwise attempted to stop wasting and start cleaning up our time, lives and immediate surroundings. We are working on an energy audit - how many kWh of electricity do we use in a given summer month - while trying to figure out how to use our dryer less. Some of the changes come easy - lightbulbs for example - while others are a bit more challenging - giving up on the idea of the brand new truck I think I need. At the start of the process we are motivated and excited. I'll update you later to see if things have changed in the months to come.
Getting to know the good folks at Vineyard Central has been a blessing. Simple house church is something we look forward to each Tuesday. We shall see where it carries us - we are trying to stay wideopen to hearing God speak into our lives. So far it's been a bit quiet - but I am not convinced I know how to listen. In October we will begin Praying the Hours in the hopes of disciplining ourselves more. We are also engaged in some cohort mentoring with couples in the area. In general, we are cleaning up - both our internal lives and our external world.

IAFF Local 48

Early June our contract expired with the City if Cincinnati. Therefore, I have been working without one for a few months now. However, we have a contract on the table and the last day of voting is today. I am heading down with my drill school mate Justin Campbell to vote 'yes'. The changes to my career would be significant - as a junior firefighter with only two years experience on the fire companies I can be 'made regular'. This is something I would have had to wait another two years for under our current contract. No more traveling for me! Along with a cost of living raise and some other benefits - it seems like a good deal.
The bigger reality is that I have to go back to work on Sunday. I have been off for over a month and have the beard to prove it. But it will all come off and I will don my fatigues and doubtless head for an ambulance.
A post about our vacation to Michigan coming soon.

an interview with Riley Jo

quick week-two update. neither one of us is working - gotta fill the time somehow. enjoy

an interview with riley jo

a nap

they say, 'if she is a sleeper then she is a keeper.' well our riley jo is here to stay either way - but she is a sleeper as well. maurie and i have been resting like we haven't rested in quite some time. going to bed early and rising late - with minimal interruptions from our newest hanauer. i am off work for the next several weeks and maurie will not return to the council until october. friends and family have been instrumental in our recovery - bringing blessings of food and conversation. we have ventured out for coffee and haircuts, but not much else. today we did have an appointment with riley's doc - great guy who brought even more good news. she is eating well and gaining back weight quicker than expected. so, all is well here in cheviot, ohio. if you call and we don't answer - we are probably taking a nap.

for her uncle ben

YouTube - riley jo

"I have intended more."

Spent the weekend listening to Neil Cole speak on the Organic Church movement in mid-Ohio. Allen Coffman was up from Tennessee for a workshop on raising up organic leaders in Columbus on Saturday. Sunday was in Dayton with Allen, the James family, Maurie and myself. The focus was on five-fold ministry from Eph. 4.11. Our time was well spent and I thought and learned quite and bit.
Since I last wrote, much has occurred in my life. Riley Jo is but days away and we cannot wait to meet her. Maurie and I decided to leave our church home in order to join and/or plant some home churches. We had mom and dad out for coffee to give them the news and then met with the elders to tell them as well. As you can imagine, it made for difficult conversation and some more of those conversations are yet to come. However, we trust that God will provide all that we need to live the life that He has called us to. The workshops this weekend were a large blessing to us and came just in time. We are in a wilderness of sorts and hearing God's voice is becoming vital to our lives - more vital than ever before. Along those lines, I am actively seeking out a mentor and someone I can be a mentor to. I hope this search will not last long and that I can get to work on myself and my relationship with God.
Work is flowing right along and there is nothing new to report. EMS runs to make and fires to put out. Simply trying to listen as never before.