there's a parable in this somewhere

Story from our new abode:

When the builders installed the shelves in the linen closet in the second bathroom upstairs, they apparently hammered a small nail through the wall and into the pipe that connects the adjoining shower head to the water supply. After construction, the house sat empty for three years.

Then we moved in. Then we used that shower. Then water leaked from that nail-pierced pipe through the wall and onto the downstairs ceiling.

Then plumber came, found the tiny nail hole in the pipe, and fixed it.

Then Handy Man Dan came, sawed a hole in the ceiling, ran a huge fan for two days to dry up the moisture, and will return to replace drywall, spackle, and paint.

Good thing: the owner will have to pay for this, not us.

I can't help but see so many analogies, though. One careless hammering of a nail three years ago will lead to thousands of dollars of repairs now. And had we not caught the water spots, it could have been mold damage, and much more expensive.

Figuratively speaking, how many times does a small, careless "nail hole" that never gets resolved (or even gets forgotten about) do massive damage years later? The applications of this story seem endless.

Tribute to "Fish House"

Here's a list of people that I can think of who were once core members of the Fish House, and have since moved to another city:

Justin & Jennifer Clark & kids (Cincinnati)
Joe & Debbie Boyd & kid (L.A.)
Adam & Shirley Mercier (Phoenix)
Shad & Sherry Matheny & kids (San Francisco area)
Dave & Amy Carder & kids (Iceland, then ???)
Steve & Jules Col (east coast somewhere?)
Samantha St. Ours & kids (Lousiville, I think)

I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few. And now, John Matuszak is in the midst of a three-month assignment in Iraq. Then there were the Dunfields, until Tim got a worship leading job at the Crossing. Wow. This group has been either the best "sending" church we've ever had, or the group with the most bad luck and sorrow we've ever had, depending on how you look at it.

I went by last night to visit the few who are holding down the fort. I thought I would be delivering a condonlences message, and helping to pick up the pieces. Yet I found a very few faithful who were too busy being the church with each other to allow me to interrupt with such nonsense.

Just reminded me that when the church is God's people on God's mission with each other, its pretty darn hard to defeat her. It takes more than scattering. I guess that's what happened as Acts as well.

At any rate, this concludes my tribute to Fish House, or whatever that community (or its scattered offspring) might be called these days.

Moved, & other stuff

We moved. Moving teaches one . . . not to move. Yikes. We love the new place and the new neighborhood, but moving is a pain. Even when you use movers. We rushed through the packing process, which keeps one from taking full advantage of one's movers. And that leads to an extreme case of not being able to find anything. You can only live so many hours when you can't find anything (spoons, tootbrushes, you know the routine). We've found most everything now. We even took an hour away from the chaos to walk the new neighhborhood last night. It sure is nice out here in the foothills. Peaceful and relaxed. And we have an unexpected great view of the strip from all of the upstairs bedrooms. I'll post a photo as soon as we find the camera.

Exams are upon me once again. The next two weeks will be filled by that. It's amazing how much a mind can absorb in a very few days when it has to.

Since classes are over I'll have a few evenings to visit some house churches I haven't been able to hang out with for awhile.

A little more move venting, just for fun. I called Cox several days before the move and asked them to come connect our internet at the new house on our moving day (last Thursday), and disconnect our old service at the old house the next day, on Friday. I cleverly thought this would ensure that we didn't have a lapse in service. (insert evil "I'm in control" laugh here). Plan backfired by incompetent new guy at Cox. First, after hanging up from my clever phone call, I tried to go online to discover that my internet had been instantly disconnected. So I called Cox again (call #2). Later, Rebekah discovered they had disconnected her e-mail, which led to call #3. Then, we moved. I reconnected on Thursday and everything worked beautifully. Greg relishes in his control!!! Then on Friday, you guessed it, new service was disconnected along with old service. Call #4 to Cox. Clever Greg tells them to go ahead and reset our e-mail accounts because he knows that will eliminate call #5. Cox #$%^ that up anyway, leading to call #5. Lesson learned: there is no way to get out-of-control people to play along with my schemes to stay in control. Give up!

Venting over! We really do love the new place.