Deurty

R I V E R : getting emersed in the current of God's vision. The River is almost here! This week is a BIG week of getting ALOT of stuff accomplished. I will need to be focused like a laser on multiple areas to get it all done. I am excited to get working toward the River season of Watermark. I enjoy vision and casting vision almost more than anything. The River gives us an opportunity to refocus on the vision and actually putting skin on it individually and corporately. Going to workout... then a meeting... then gathering resources for Sunday's talk... then putting together staff agenda for tomorrow... then working on evaluations for myself and staff... then putting together the River Packet text... then writing an article about the River for an all church newsletter... then... we'll see if I have more time. Tonight at my folks for dinner. Yesterday was a great morning with fellow Watermarkers. I met a few new couples. Cool! Then great time with the Breed...

My son is evil when he has no nap. A trip to Meijer is a trip to the seventh level of hell. Actually, not that bad, but I am whipped from wrestling him. His saving grace is that I totally love him and he is totally cute. In fact I just smiled thinking about the little dude. I take back everything I said. On to something new... hmmm... Well Iraq is voting. Cool. I hope it goes well and is a major victory for the people of Iraq. They updated the version of the online game I play: BZflag. It is pretty cool. Let me know if you downloaded it and play. Tomorrow is the day off from my diet. I got some of my favorite chocolates and frappuccino and CODE RED Mt.Dew! (PS - I have lost about fifteen pounds since I started.) Also, I wanted to load on a MIDI of one of my favorite songs, "Enjoy the Silence." by Depeche Mode. Enjoy the Silence Tomorrow is the gathering and then hanging with our buddies the Breedens. Food, folks and fun. All I ever wa...

The wife has landed! sd

I just got back from watching "The Aviator." Wow, that film was haunting and inspiring. Haunting because of the Obsessive compulsive disorder and other demons Hughes faced, but inspiring because of his grand vision, absolute surrender to his dreams and huge driving personality that made things happen. Good movie. I just cringed at all struggles... I felt a lot of pity for him. Vicki is returning tomorrow! (Or I guess today since it is super late or early or whatever you call it.) We all have our deals, sd

I took Kory's music style quiz and here are the top three music preferences I have: 1. Techno 2. New Wave 3. Old School Rap I guess this reflects my love affair with New Order, Depeche Mode and the other very British bands... It is weird to think that I will be listening to these bands on an "oldies" station when my kids are teens. Lunch with a friend, liife group tonight and trying to get some traction on the message. Hanging with the kids has been fun, but I am ready for my wife to return!!!! Bust a move, sd

Wow. I am either tired (from playing Mr. Mom all week) or brain fried (from a week of assessment) or uninspired (from a feeling of brain lathargicness) (is that a word???) or I just am feeling like a nilla wafer... no frills...no chills...no spills (except my son spilling milk and crying - really!) So - I live through the day and work hard and press forward and remain faithful... We have staff evaluations in the next few weeks. I gave out some evaluations for people to fill out on me and I await the insight and self awareness I will gain. Do you have people who will tell you the truth ??? (and they care for you.) So - anyways - um - I forgot why I blog. :) I know I will be jazzed sometime soon- but for now - this is life too and it is underated. deurty deeds sd

The mullet is gone. I have been sporting a shaggy all over with a mullet hair (lack of) style for the past few monthes and it came off today. Michelle did the world a favor and mop to the floor where it curled up and died while singing a Michael Bolton song.... "I said I loved you, but I lied..." Anyways - this past weekend was swell. The gathering was a great time of connecting with people and hearing how God is working. I also was reminded of how people around us go through struggles and pain. Anyways - off to prayer at the Boeve's! :) Billy Ray eat your heart out, sd

I added links to some fellow church planter's churches under the "Churches" link. Jesse's is called: "Crosslink" and Rob's is called "Keystone." I shoveled the driveway today and there is a TON of snow. Oh to be in NZ where it is warm right now... oh to be in Australia where it is even warmer!!!!! Great catching up with the family! I need to work my booty off when the kids nap,,, The greatest invention for snowy days is hot chocolate. sd

...and then the leprechaun abandoned the old irish dude and came and took over his body... Anyways - this is one of the fellas I hung out with this week. I hung out with a bunch of phenominal people. I have not laughed as much as I did this past week in a loooonnngggg time. Basically, what we (11 of us) did, is evaluate 9 couples who were looking to discover if church planting was something that may be a good fit for them to lead. The days started at 7:30 am and ended always after 1 am. The camp was horrible, but had the charm that comes with the history of life change in spite of poor facilities. :) (That was a crappy sentence.) Anyways - we evaluate and watch the couples in all kinds of situations, scenerios, testing, interviews, etc... In the end we either recommend people to plant now, plant maybe later, or their best shot is probably not planting. Vicki and I went through this process in the fall of 2001 and were radically impacted by it. I saw my wife come a...

I am back. One week in Frankfort, IN at the church planters assessment center. Very cool experience, but NON STOP DAYS and NIGHTS! No free time and little sleep, but very rewarding. Just thought I'd say hello. I'll post later. sd

I have nothing to say, but hello and isn't it good to be breathing. Autumn starts soccer (indoor - obviously) tomorrow. Weird. Leadership is more spam than glam, sd

I am in the middle of working on my message and took a break to say this about TRUTH. TRUTH is huge, but it is simple. TRUTH is simple, but it is not simplistic. Huh? sd

Congrats to Ked and Amelia on the birth of their daughter! Ilania Marie Rhodes.... the next onPO!NT protege! Enjoyed the weekend. Relaxing... My workouts have been going well. I feel like an idiot going to the gym. At least I got some new shorts. I was going with long khaki shorts and ratty shoes. Now I go with my cheapo athletic shorts and MTA Pro Tennis shoes! That's right! I bought Meijer Thrifty Acre Tennis shoes. When I was in middle school I went with my dad and picked up a pair of MTA Pro hightops for my basketball season. I liked them and they fit in the budget I was given. I got to practice and my teammates made fun of my shoes. I felt embarrassed and was frustrated that I had gotten the MTA Pros. So fastforward twenty years and I am proudly walking out of Meijer with my shoes. MTA Pro is blazing across the box and I was proud of my bargain! This is a history crashing moment. Long live the cheap unattractive shoes! :) We focussed on Life Groups and ...

I am someone who lives in relatively predictable phases. The cycle goes like this: June- Aug: I am positive, excited about growing and learning, reading, relational and gaining vision. Sept.- Oct.: I am implementing vision and busy. I take on a lot and have good energy. Nov.- Dec.: I am developing patterns that cause me to drift from initial direction. Feeling tired and not relational. Jan.- Mar.: I am refocusing the health of my life with God. Reprioritizing. Recapturing the heart of the vision. Apr. - May: I am excited that summer is coming and I have a new boost of energy. I begin to dream about next steps. Do I just give up to this? I am trying to know this about myself and put some disciplines in my life that will counter some of the lull in my spirit. But, I still need to learn more about this pattern and find ways to move past it or use it in a focused manner. How would this change my calendar? How would this change m...

I hung out with some church planters from Ukraine today. To read more about them you can visit my dad's blog (Dave Deur). As they shared their stories I was challenged by God's Spirit to get back to the core of who I am and what God has called us to do. I think that there is a lullaby song that is played in the hearts of the church that causes it to be lulled to sleep. Anyways, it was a very meaningful time. I will blog more about this when I get some time. Tomorrow is going to be a big meeting day. My diet and work out routine has gone good. Three days down. PS - I hung out a bit with the silverback (Wade H.) He listened to my audio post and was pleased to see that I ate grapes as a snack. Thanks for the accountability oh silverback! Gonna go - one of my favorite shows is on: "Lost." sd

Today I begin my journey to find myself beneath the skin and flab that have been collected over the past year. I hope I am in there somewhere and that I will have something to blog. :) Tomorrow is a big meeting day. Wally did great speaking this Sunday! I had an opportunity to apply the message today. Getting dirty (or in my case: deurty) sd

You can observe video from the tsunami here . Incredible. I think one of my goals in this new year will be to add more thought provoking content. My blog started that way and now it has become a bit of a personal journal. I guess I want to keep it real and add some other stuff. Then again I just may too tired to do that. :) 2005 and I am alive, sd

Happy New Year! 2005! We enjoyed going to our life group party tonight. We did an 80's theme. I had the peg legged jeans, collar up shirt, middle part, long in the back and had a weak mustache. I took on the imaginary persona of Todd Haverdink. (I do not know a Todd Haverdink understand that it is totally random and I made it up. However the name fit me well and the town of Hamilton came to mind.) It was a great night! My goal in 2005 is to get into healthy shape. We are talking about serious weight loss. I also want to explore how to increase emotional and time health. I have been thinking about listing five things I want to do in this year. I need to think about it and then I'll post it. (For example: I want to get certified in scuba diving.) I had an awesome day today and much of my good feelings had to do with the most amazing weather today! Mid-fifties! We even caught up on some of our lawn work that we missed out on in the fall. It is a interesting...