MLK: Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Yesterday while at Grace Harbor Church the pastor put together a mini-presentation with pictures and MLK's I have a Dream speech. It was very moving I think for the first time I was able to appreciate the civil rights movement.

Grace Harbor: I heard about this church from a friend, Paul Richards who is the area Young Life director. His friend, Greg West, is a local church planter at Grace Harbor (UMC). They've been around about 3 years. It was good to meet Greg and good to be in a service where we were comfortable. The worship was familiar and the Greg is a good communicator. You could really sense the idea of community from the people. To top is off Greg publically welcomed Heather and I and announced us as church planters. For a church of about 80 that is right down the street from where we are hoping to meet that is a very unselfish move. It was very nice and I felt very honored.

Recognize: I was sitting in Starbucks early this morning using my coupon, reading my bible and making some changes to my newsletter. A guy walks in orders his coffee and goes to put his book down. I notice that his book is a bible, I was a little surprised because I thought I was the only one that does their Bible reading in a coffee shop. He noticed me about the same time I noticed him and walked over to say hi. Turns out I met Gary, a youth pastor, when we were scouting out the area and area churches last summer. We had a good conversation and he encouraged me and when he was walking out about half hour later told me he had prayed for me and would be praying for me. He also told me to call him and we'd hang out.

You don't plan stuff like that. God does though.

From the Cup: Modern life is remarkable, but we’re still human beings with basic human needs. We need real community. We need satisfying and compelling work. We need health, play, love, and companionship. A century of remarkable technological advances can’t undo the millions of years of evolution that have made us who we are, and to pretend otherwise is to do ourselves a huge disservice.
-- Moby