What Did We Do in DC?
Several people have asked me what we did and what we saw while in Washington DC last week. So, here it is:
Sunday: We rode Amtrak from Raleigh to Alexandria. Then, we took the Metro to Maryland to spend a few hours with some friends who now live there.
Monday: We toured the Washington National Cathedral and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Tuesday: We toured the White House, the Old Post Office, the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and the Capitol.
Wednesday: We toured the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Then we met some friends who were traveling through this area for lunch at Union Station. We then walked the Mall with our friends through the World War II Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial. They had to leave then. But, we continued walking to Georgetown Cupcake.
Thursday: We toured the Library of Congress, the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the Pentagon.
Friday: We toured the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and Ford’s Theatre. (We were planning to go to Mt. Vernon, but I started feeling bad, so we decided to skip Mt. Vernon for a shorter day of museums.)
Saturday: We stayed in our hotel room to rest, while the Henry’s (our friends who traveled with us) visited Arlington National Cemetery.
Sunday: We are traveling back to Raleigh via Amtrak.
So, that was our vacation in Washington DC. We saw and did alot of things, but there were so many more things we could have seen or done.
(Can anyone identify the location of the picture attached to this post?)
Washington DC and Blogging
As many of you know, my family and I are in Washington DC with some friends. We’ll be heading home tomorrow – Sunday. But, there’s another connection between Washington DC and my blog that many of you probably don’t know.
I started blogging in March 2006 (March 21, 2006, to be exact). But, over the next few months, I did not publish posts regularly. Between March 21, 2006 and November 17, 2006, I only posts 86 blog posts. That means I published a blog post about every 3 days.
But, in November 2006 (almost exactly four years ago), I attended the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society meeting in Washington DC. At the sessions in the annual meeting, I found alot of “blogfodder” to write about. Since that time, I’ve only missed publishing a blog post on a few days, and I normally publish more than one post per day.
I don’t know that I will always be able to keep blogging like this. But, for now, I plan to continue. I appreciate everyone who has read and who continues to read my blog. I also appreciate everyone who chooses to interact through the comments here. You all make blogging worthwhile.
(By the way, the picture attached to this post has nothing to do with this post. It was a profile picture that I used on this blog for a long time.)
A Tale of Two Sanctuaries
I suppose that I should have put the word ‘sanctuaries’ in quotes in the title of this post. I’m going to talk about two buildings, and I don’t believe that either one of them is necessarily a “house of God” or a place that is more holy that any other place.
In fact, as I told a friend who was with me yesterday, we are the sanctuaries… but I digress.
As many of you know, my family (and some friends) are in Washington D.C. Yesterday (Monday), we visited the National Cathedral. I can understand how the gothic architecture was intended to inspire and instruct (according to our docent). I’m not sure that I completely agree with the understanding of God that is communicated by that architecture. But, I can understand the purpose.
Many see this type of architecture as holy and inspiring and sacred. I understand that, and I do not fault people for feeling this way… not at all.
We also visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Know that people are created in the image of God and seeing how far so many have fallen is also awe inspiring to me. The grief and pain and death to so many by the hands of a few and those who followed them “religiously” spoke volumes to me about God as well.
I really don’t have much more to say about either structure or the purpose of either structure. As I visited the National Cathedral, I could see a certain picture of God. As I visited the Holocaust Museum, I could see another picture of God.
I think both pictures are man-made… and I want to know God as he is.
Traveling and Friends
Our family is traveling to Washington, D.C. But, this trip will be a little different. While this will be a family vacation (and, as homeschoolers, also educational), it will also be a “friends” vacation. What do I mean?
Well, first of all, we’re traveling with another family. We’ll be spending alot of time together over the next few days.
Also, we’ll be meeting other friends in the D.C. area. One family now lives near D.C., and we’ll see them for the first time in several years. Another family happens to be traveling through the area at the same time, so we’ll get to see them also.
Finally, another family is house/pet sitting for us while we are gone.
So, while this will be a family vacation, it will also be a vacation that is all about friends.
(We took a “friends” vacation to Disney World last year, and we love spending vacation time with friends. You should try it.)
Greek Study Club Update
A couple of months ago, several of us began meeting on Tuesday evenings (from 6-7 p.m.) to study Greek. From time to time, someone asks me how the study club is going, so I thought I would give an update here.
Three people started meeting with us who had never studied Greek before. Four other people joined us who had already studied Greek. The new learners began by working their way through Learn to Read New Testament Greek by David Alan Black. Meanwhile, those who had already studied Greek agreed to being translating 2 John.
The beginners are slowly going through their beginning grammar, taking their time so that they understand the material. And those who already know Greek? While we’ve talked about 2 John, we’ve primarily enjoyed helping the new learners.
For example, last night, three of us took turns teaching the beginners how to parse verbs and translate simple sentences. It has been great fun teaching and learning together.
If you are interested in joining us, you can. Anyone can start at any time.
Amtrak Suggestions?
Soon, our family and some friends are traveling together via Amtrak. For most of us, this will be our first extended train ride. Well, “extended” in the sense of “longer than a ride at an amusement park.” We’ll be riding the train for about 5 1/2 hours.
Since this will be our first trip, I was wondering if any of my readers had any tips or suggestions for riding Amtrak?
(By the way, our train will not have a dining car.)
Putting People First
Often, on this blog, I write about the importance of understand the church as people – not the organization or structure or leadership, but people. Since the church is people, we should focus on people, putting people ahead of any of our plans or programs or anything else.
Last week, some friends of ours modeled this for us.
Dave and Bonnie had planned to take our daughter Miranda and another young lady to the zoo. As I told Dave, I was so appreciative that they wanted to spend time with these teenagers. It makes so much difference in someone’s life (especially a young person’s life) when they have close relationships with many mature followers of Christ.
In the days leading up to the trip to the zoo, our family started passing around some type of virus. My son, Jeremy, and my wife, Margaret, got sick. Then, on the morning of the zoo trip, Miranda got sick. (So far, I haven’t gotten sick yet.) (UPDATE: Yep. You guessed it. I got the virus a couple of days ago after a wrote this post.)
We called Dave and Bonnie that morning and told them that Miranda was sick and would not be able to go to the zoo with them.
We were very surprised when they called back a few minutes later. They had called Miranda’s friend, and they had all decided to postpone the zoo trip until Miranda felt better. Now, they plan to go to the zoo next week.
Remember, Dave and Bonnie and Miranda’s friend had already planned to go to the zoo. Everything was ready, and they still could have gone. But, they decided that Miranda was more important than their planned trip to the zoo.
So, they changed their plans for Miranda. They put people first.
It’s not always easy to put people first. Often, we put alot of time, energy, and perhaps money into making plans and into organizing projects and programs. But, for the church, people must always come first.
We must be willing to set aside any of our plans or organization or projects or programs if we determine that we need to serve people in a different way.
Remembering our time in Nicaragua
A few days ago, I ran across a journal that I kept when our family and several other friends went to Nicaragua to work with a church there. That trip was just over six years ago. I thought I would share a few excerpts from this journal.
In this post, I’ll share a few thoughts that I wrote down the day before leaving for Nicaragua:
We leave for our trip to Nicaragua tomorrow. Everyone is excited, and we are physically ready. But the conflicts at church during the last two weeks have been mentally, emotionally, and spiritually draining… and distracting…
I must remain ever listening, but especially on this trip. Strange places, sounds, smells, language, faces, customs – but God is the same. He is the constant that must hold by attention. If I focus on other things, here or there, then I will not listen and I cannot obey…
I wrote this the day that we left for Nicaragua:
The Lord has focused my mind on Him. All of the distractions have faded. Now, I must check my focus continually…
Anything good that happens this week will come from God. I cannot manufacture changed lives. My goal – my prayer – is that I live uprightly before god, and that I present my life to Him as a tool that He can use for righteousness.
Therefore, I must not worry about the path – the plan, the schedule. Those are in God’s able hands. At each moment, in each circumstance, I must ensure that I am walking in obedience. Everything else is up to God.
(The church that I mention in these excerpts is not the church that we are part of now. Unfortunately, those “conflicts” did not end well.)
2500th Post
This is my 2500th post. That’s right, I’ve written and published 2500 posts, beginning with the first post on March 21, 2006.
So, what am I going to say in my 2500th post?
Nothing.
(I mean, seriously, I’ve written 2499 other posts. Read one of them.)
Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting.
Speaking at a Pastors Breakfast
When you read this, I’ll be returning from (or have already returned from) speaking to a group of pastors at an associational breakfast. I was invited to speak by one of the pastors after he read some of my blog posts about elders in the New Testament. Specifically, I was asked to speak on some aspect of shepherding in the New Testament.
I decided to speak on “Serving as Leading,” primarily from Luke 22:24-27.
I’m excited about speaking to this group for several reasons. While I know that these pastors probably disagree with me about many things, we share the most important thing in common: We are brothers in Jesus Christ, with God as our Father, and are mutually indwelled by the Holy Spirit. I’m expecting to learn from and be encouraged by them.
Also, two dear brothers are traveling with me to the breakfast meeting, which is about 1 1/2 hours from our house. So, besides the time at the breakfast, we’ll have three hours (while traveling) to talk and laugh and share. It should be a great time together!