(not so) daily thoughts

Moving Sale

2008-06-04T22:05:00.002-04:00

Photos on Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/joshfrank/tags/movingsale/

from Jillian:

In anticipation of moving sometime in the near future, and in the hopes of simplifying our lives a bit, Josh and I are hoping to get rid of some of our possessions. Prices are negotiable.

Treadmill (Proform) - bought new January 2006 for $450-ish. It's still in top-notch condition, though at the moment it *is* a little dusty (hence the top-notch condition!). Asking $100.

27" TV - Asking $30

VCR - Asking $10

Dresser with mirror - This is old, but in good shape. There are two places where the stain is worn off ( I think I spilled a dab of nail polish remover when I was young), but otherwise, it's lovely. There are 6 main drawers, one small drawer, and two smaller drawers that are kind of 'hidden' behind a door. Asking $100.

Daybed with trundle - this is old, but still fully functional. We have the two original twin mattress that came with it. One goes on the top bed part, and the second goes on the metal trundle part and slides underneath the bed. Asking $100.

Full mattress/boxspring/head- and foot-boards. This was new as of 2002. It's all in excellent shape. The head- and foot-boards are wood and iron. Asking $100.

My 5-piece dining room set. Bought new in January 2007 from Raymore and Flanagan for $1500. Asking $850. (For those of you who haven't seen it, it's huge... both wide and long. It's kind of farmhouse style-made of wide wooden planks and stained an oak color. The chairs are all wooden-no cushions-and the chair back is curved. They're pretty dang comfortable.)

An assortment of DVDs and CDs. Asking $5/DVD and $3/CD and $10/DVD season of tv shows. I'll attach a list of our DVDs to this email. I'm in the midst of compiling a CD list... if you would like to look through them, you're more than welcome to. I'll forward the list along asap.

If you know of anyone who is just starting out or anyone who might be interested in these items, please forward this post on to them.

Thanks a bunch!

Love,
Jillian, Josh, and Jude

Pentecost Project - Going Public

2008-03-24T23:36:00.002-04:00

This is something I've been chewing on for a bit; with the help of a few friends, it looks like it's coming to fruition.

Hope on over to http://pentecostproject.wordpress.com. Join the Facebook group. Consider how you or your church community might join in.

And let me know what you think.

Get Up, Stand Up

2008-01-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

Read my post on Jude's blog over here.

Our boy is getting big - and fast.

Twitter

2008-01-24T00:46:00.001-05:00

Dear God, I think I just gave in. Twitter = iamjoshfrank

Snow is Cold, Dad!

2007-12-13T22:18:00.001-05:00

Snow is Cold, Dad!
Originally uploaded by josh_frank.

Snow day!

More photos (from our snowy adventure to get hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookie ingredients, as well as from recent random photo shoots around the house...oh, and the trip to the Pumpkin Patch back in late October) are up on Flickr.

This * is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

2007-12-11T21:42:00.000-05:00

One Action at a Time

2007-12-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

Doing some housekeep re:e-mail this evening, and found this sitting in my Inbox with a Star. Helpful words at any time, especially one when I'm feeling overwhelmed:

People say, "What good can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?" They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time. We can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment. But we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transform all our individual actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes.

- Dorothy Day, from Loaves and Fishes (via a Sojourners Verse & Voice e-mail, Sept. 4, 2007)

Photo Update

2007-11-13T19:46:00.001-05:00

More photos of Jude are finally up on Flickr - from the day he first rolled over, his baptism, and a couple of random picture nights around the house (including showing off one of his Cubs jerseys).

Check them all out here.

I Wonder...from inward/outward

2007-09-21T14:28:00.000-04:00

I experienced a few things at FreeSpace nearly 2 weeks ago that I have wanted to write about. I simply haven't made the time.

For now, another entry from the inward/outward blog:

Source: Pilgrimage, An Exploration Into God, by Ivor Smith-Cameron

technorati tags
broken heart manifesto

Love Your Enemies

2007-08-30T21:33:00.001-04:00

Jillian, Jude and I attended a peace vigil for the Iraq war on Tuesday evening. Here's a shot of Jude in his Mei Tai baby carrier and the sign I made (thanks to Thomas Knoll for the broken heart image).

It was an interesting night. The first sign I paid attention to was one held by an elderly lady sitting on her walker/chair. It said, "Make soup, not war." Nice.

It was interesting to see people's responses as they drove by. Many more people honked or gave us the peace sign than yelled demeaning/confrontational things. But really, people seemed to try to avoid eye contact with me.

One bold young man was stopped at the red light with his girlfriend in the car. He looked at my sign, looked ahead, and then stood up through his open sunroof and shouted, "George Bush is the shit!" I smiled while his girlfriend shot him a look, shrunk down in her seat, and gave me a timid smile while mouthing the words, "I'm sorry."

Another young man yelled as they pulled away from the light, "Our enemies hate us!"

It reminded me just how polarizing and counter-cultural the Gospel really is. It really isn't a rational thing, is it? To go the extra mile; to turn the other cheek; to be a leader washing people's feet. But this is just part of what it means to follow the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Help us to love well, Lord. And help us to love the enemies in our own day-to-day lives as we proclaim Your message of love and reconciliation. Amen.

technorati tags
broken heart manifesto, bhmt07, iraq war

broken heart manifesto: entry 01

2007-08-27T04:14:00.000-04:00

my friend thomas has posted the brokenheartmanifesto and i think it's really, really great.

in light of my decision to not just try to follow his efforts but instead joining in as a signatory, here's my first offering:

tonight was the last night of my 2 youth groups' "summer park nights" at the field of the local elementary school. a good turnout for us this summer (7 kids + me = a decent game of kickball); one freshman boy was having his birthday party tonight, so he invited his friends to come to the park first. brilliant!

while we threw around a football waiting for others to arrive, a group of skateboarders showed up at the other end of the park. there were at least 5 or 6 guys, all high school age. i noticed they had a few frisbees and a football (we have played ultimate a few times this summer), so i suggested we should maybe see if they wanted to join in.

everyone kind of stuttered and stammered. i was a bit surprised how fearful they seemed. nobody thought it was a good idea to approach this crowd. i let it lie, and we started our game.

i asked the group 2 more times while we played. the other kids had descended the hill to the opposite side of the long playing field and were casually tossing a football and their frisbees. still, my crew did not want to invite them over. one girl said, "i know it would be the very christian thing to do." but even with that realization the answer was still, "no." a few of my kids had overheard someone saying something about stolen cigarettes, and they also seemed to think it was a crowd that i could walk up to and ask for some weed.

part of me wishes i had made the decision as the youth group leader to be an example and walk over and invite the other group to join us. another part of me wants to respect where my kids are at and find some way to make this a teachable moment without causing them too much anxiety.

so much for "no one else will love for me."

suggestions?

technorati tags
broken heart manifesto, bhmt04

More photos - finally

2007-07-30T21:26:00.001-04:00

We just doubled the number of photos that are in Jude's set on Flickr. Go check them out.

He's growing like crazy; he just might have my dad's tall genes. Jude is now over 25" tall - that's in the 95th percentile for 9 week old babies! He now weighs in at 13 lbs 4 oz (75th percentile) and his head is 15 1/2" in circumference (25th percentile - perhaps he'll be able to wear fitted hats with consistency, unlike me!).

The last 9 weeks have been whatever cliche you want to use - it's unbelievable. Jillian and I can't really remember life before Jude, and we're totally okay with that!

Anyway, enjoy his photos and leave some comments, too!

26 days

2007-06-17T02:19:00.001-04:00

FathersDayBrunchCloseup.jpg
Originally uploaded by josh_frank.

More pictures up on Jude's Flickr set with more to come...

This one is from the early Father's Day breakfast Jillian and Jude treated me to at one of our favorite fancy-pants restaurants - the Firegrill.

Stuffed Apple Cinnamon French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, OJ and coffee...not a bad breakfast!

Best. Feeling. In. The. World.

2007-06-01T08:15:00.001-04:00

STA71951
Originally uploaded by josh_frank.

What I've Been Up To

2007-06-01T07:56:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy week and a half since Jude's been born. On the home front, we have:

been to the chiropractor 3 times (and boy do I feel great!)

driven 90 miles to Quakertown for our first well-baby visit at the doctor's office (he's gained back almost all of his weight after the typical, initial post-birth loss)

gone to Nay Aug Park

shopped at Babies 'R Us and 2 different Target stores

visited Jill's family in Exeter/West Pittston (twice - once as a bathroom/nursing stop on the way back from Quakertown)

stopped in at both of my churches' offices for both a bit of quick work and to show him off

been to Starbucks twice (for my youth groups' Thursday night get togethers)

generally, done too much...but it's been good

Professionally, it is also a busy time of year. What I have been/am still working on:

taken the Jr./Sr. High group to a minor league baseball game

organized a Youth Sunday service for Presby (6/3)

begun organizing a Youth Sunday service for Epiphany (6/10)

lining up volunteers to help clean-up after the Epiphany church picnic (6/10)

tracking down adult leaders for the Jr. High Service Learning Trip to Heifer Farms in August

making multiple calls, getting checks written, sending out mailings, organizing final details for the Sr. High Mission Trip to Philadelphia (6/17)

doing some more brainstorming for the '07-'08 "program year" (hate that expression)

starting to line-up senior high help for Vacation Bible School

lending a hand to the Relay for Life team (6/9-6/10)

Not an exhaustive list, but you get the picture. That's my latest update. Remember to check out Jude's Flickr set. New photos added this morning!

Something a Parent of a 4 Day-Old Would Say

2007-05-25T05:35:00.001-04:00

First Trip to Nay Aug
Originally uploaded by josh_frank.

Praise God for 5 straight hours of sleep last night!

Jude Isaac - May 21, 2007

2007-05-24T14:53:00.001-04:00

STA71886
Originally uploaded by josh_frank.

He's here! More on Flickr.

Lots of calls and e-mails have been/need to be made. Hoping to write something much more substantial in the next few days.

For now, I'm reveling in being a first-time dad!

Living an Alternative

2007-04-25T09:30:00.000-04:00

technorati tags
elizabeth o'connor, kingdom living, moral imagination

This is one of the greatest challenges that I am trying to understand - not just in my head, but in my life:

The world may be fearful and anxious and weary, but we are not weighted by that world. We are following One who has unfathomable resources and One who makes them available to us and who says, “You must set new norms for life so that people can see what life can be.” This is your task. Your primary vocation is to enter into covenant relationships with others who have also met this Christ - to be that new society into which others can be drawn.

Call to Commitment

inward/outward

Thank you, Transmission...

2007-04-11T09:12:00.000-04:00

technorati tags
easter, easter at avalon, emerging church, transmission

for being an inpsiration.

Though I may never be a part of a cooperative Easter service created by an emerging liturgical community, a group of Jewish storytellers, sex workers, artists and dancers at a former-Episcopal-church-turned-night-club, seeing people following in the way of Christ pull this together helps to keep me alive. In many ways.

I've been following Transmission's blog for a few months now, and I am so very glad I did. You will be, too.

Check out pictures from their Easter service here and here.

Reason 737 of 1,342,819 I Love My Wife

2007-04-03T09:25:00.000-04:00

technorati tags
monasticism, thomas merton, writing

Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton
on the Vocation of Writing

Yep, my wife surprised me last night by telling me she added Echoing Silence to her Amazon order of 2 books about baby stuff. How cool is that?

One of the really amazing things about my wife is how much she supports me; my dreams, my pursuits, my interests, my hobbies - even if she doesn't really understand them or they don't resonate as deeply with her, Jillian is right there encouraging me to pursue them, to dive deeper into them, and to revel in them.

For that, wifey, I say thank you with all my heart.

Now, where to fit this on my "To Read" shelf...kidding! When this comes in, it will probably be the next thing I read.

last.fm

2007-04-02T22:22:00.000-04:00

technorati tags
last.fm, music, social networking

Finally checked out last.fm today. So far, I'm really enjoying it. I've been feeling in the mood to get back in touch with the music scene of late. I'm not sure, but it may have something to do with the new glasses. Yeah, I can't help it; I want to be a hipster.

Anyway, I was sitting in the computer lab office in the library at Marywood, and after watching some YouTube videos on a fellow youth minister's blog, I found myself with my headphones in and nothing playing through them. For some reason last.fm popped into my head, and I went and registered. I've been happily listening to streams of music based on "artists similar to" and "tag" off and on most of the day. This was particularly helpful while I tried to catch up on some housework this afternoon. Jillian and I even had it playing while we sat down for dinner tonight.

If you're interested in free streaming radio, check out last.fm. If you use it, let me know so I can add you as a friend, then your listening preferences can help inform mine and vice-versa. Drop me a comment here.

Nice Blog Design

2007-03-27T10:40:00.000-04:00

technorati tags
blogging, youth ministry

A quick post to point out a slick blog design. Check out Addison Road. I like the use of pictures to categorize posts, but I wish there was a key to the pictures/categories in the sidebar. I've been contemplating learning the WordPress platform lately; not necessarily to move my blog onto it, but as a tool in the web design belt. I'd love to explore a bit more the practical uses of blogs and their easy-editing/-posting tools as a way to build low-maintenance, low-cost websites for businesses and organizations.

By the way, if you're interested in some design work, either website building/renovating/overhauling, or graphic design for print media (logos, letterhead, business card, promotional materials, advertising, etc.), let me know. I'm extremely reasonable and negotiable.

Iraq War Anniversary - A Call for Peace

2007-03-19T18:37:00.000-04:00

technorati tags
thomas merton, pacifism, peace, sojourners

More from Sojourners and their Verse and Voice daily e-mail:

Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.

Today marks the 4-year anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. Jillian and I had planned to attend a Vigil service for peace this evening on courthouse square in Scranton. But now it is snowing and with a swollen ankle (and pregnant belly), Jill isn't feeling up to it. Frankly, I'm exhausted and am glad to stay home. At the same time, I had really hoped to go. I've never been to a protest or rally, and I want to lend my voice, my presence, and my prayers to this issue. I suppose that's one reason I have a blog.

It is my prayer this evening that those who lead find a way to end armed conflict and to work towards lasting peace - in Iraq and around the world.

Prosperity and the Church

2007-03-16T19:52:00.000-04:00

technorati tags
agnosticism, atheism, pantheism, prosperity gospel, sojourners

Take a guess who, and more, when the following quote was made:

It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity.

Think this sounds like some mamby-pamby, tree-hugging, bleeding heart liberal from the 21st-centruy? Think again.

Frederic D. Huntington in Forum Magazine, 1890

Thanks to Sojourners and their great daily e-mail offering called Verse and Voice.

Be the Change

2007-03-15T14:54:00.000-04:00

technorati tags
abolitionist, youth ministry, zach hunter

Zach Hunter, author of Be the Change: Your Guide to Freeing Slaves and Changing the World was featured on ABC's Good Morning America this morning. You can catch the 5-minute clip here.

My 2 youth groups are meeting on Thurday nights to read this book together and discuss it. A Starbucks recently opened in Clarks Summit (the first coffee shop in that community open past 7 p.m.), so we're meeting there for our book group. The original idea was for it to be a Lenten book study and to do at least 2 chapters a week, but we're getting a lot out of reading the chapters out loud together and taking time to thoughtfully discuss them. So, more than likely, we'll be reading this book well past Easter. The kids say they're fine with that; they'd rather slow down, have us take our time, and really dig in.

If you think a book written by a 15 year-old kid based on his efforts to end modern-day slavery is too specific for you or your youth group, think again. While Zach does share about his own story, the book is organized around chapter themes like "Inspiration," "Community," and "Courage," to name just a few. The main emphasis so far seems to be to write about and encourage kids his own age to find something they are passionate about and to let them know they can do things to change the world.

Not bad for a 9th grader, eh? I'm no paid lackey for Youth Specialties, but I've found the best prices for this book there. If you take a look around, you'll find discounts on 5- and 10-packs of the book. I didn't find those deals during my initial order and I think I overpaid, but you'll get 25% off of the retail price if you order the 10-pack (single copies are 15% off the retail price currently). I ordered 10 copies to start, and put in another order of 10 this past week because the kids are so interested!