oh wait...is it really 2005?

My sister and I returned late (or early, depending on how you look at it) Monday night from MI. Katie's funeral service was beautiful. What an amazing life lived in such such a short lifetime. Yes, there were many tears; but really I believe it served as a reminder, a wake-up-call of sorts, to those in attendance. Life is short, and it really is our job as Christ followers to use that time doing the things that matter the most. It had been a long time since I had seen KP (Katie's dad) and Nikki. It was almost sureal. I'm not sure why I have distanced myself from those that had the most influence on my life...still sorting through that one. Nikki put her arms around my sister and I and softly said, "you're my family." I was glad we went. We were debating whether or not to go. I now know it was the right thing to do. I went up to KP and that was when I really lost it. I know he didn't expect to see me, his whole face changed. We just held eachother and said I love you. I have promised myself I will keep in contact with him. I have much to tell him about my life and the role he has played in it.
So in a way, the family, grieving, followed right along with a comment made about Katie during the service... you go there trying to minister to her and you get the blessing. Isn't that the way so many things are in life?

It's good to be back home though. I was able the last few days to spend some time with my mom. She is a great! We stayed up till midnight talking about life and the church. I won't embarres her too much here, but she really impressed me with her listening to and acting on something the Spirit directed in her life. So it was good to see her, but I missed my girls so much. I am so blessed to have them in my life. It's good to be home and cuddle.

Anyway, the last few weeks have really crept up on me. Today, as I was sitting making plans for worship for the next few months, it finally hit me that it's actually 2005!! I "knew" it, but yet it really hadn't sunk in. This is gonna be the year. I can't really explain it all yet, but I feel the Spirit moving in my life. Somethings have been happening lately, and I know God is trying to get my attention. Last week at the Elevate planning meeting, we were discussing this years theme EPIC. The idea came out of looking at our lives through "the directors cut" version. You know, you get a DVD and get to hear why the director did the things they did, why they shot that scene that way, what the intention was, etc. How cool would it be to actually hear the commentary as our life is happening? So that's where I am right now...trying to listen to His story as it unfolds. I probably won't get it (we rarely do) but I've resigned myself to enjoy the journey, even if I don't know the destination.

prayers for the Kirkpatrick family

This past weekend I was up in MI for a camp planning session. On Thursday evening, Katie Kirkpatrick lost her battle with cancer, at the age of 21. Katie was just married last week and on her honeymoon. Angela, my sister and I leave this afternoon for the funeral. The Kirkpatrick family played a huge part in our lives, more than they'll ever know.
Please be in prayer for us as we travel, but mostly pray for the family. They have been through more in thier lifetime then most families ever deal with. Yet through it all, they have remained a supreme example of compassion and grace.
"May God be merciful and bless us. May his face shine with favor upon us." (Psalm 67:1)

You can find out more on Katie's extraordinary life at www.katiekirkpatrick.com

late night scheduling...

Last night Angela and sat down to discuss the future of the Bruce family. Or at least that’s what the discussion turned into.

We’re still living forever away from North Central and trying to figure out what that all means, and scheduling time to just sit and talk is becoming more difficult. So we finally sat down last night after church (mind you, it was about 10pm by the time we got home and put Kyra to bed) to talk about our schedules and the future. Of course, being the dork I am, I had to get my PalmPilot in order to discuss anything having to do with a schedule! Angela has jumped off the dork-patrol ship and no longer uses her PalmPilot, instead she has stepped back in time with a small paper scheduler (don’t think I didn’t try to keep her on the light side of the Force! :-) Anyway, we’re trying to figure out which of us (if either) is going to go to Honduras this summer. We both want to go, but feel it best to not have both of us in a 3rd world country, away from our daughter at the same time. I thought this would be a good time for her to go, since I always get to do the good stuff, and it would be much easier while we only have 1 child…which then, of course, brought up the “when are we going to have another child” discussion. Now those who know me know I love kids, always have. But we didn’t really “plan” Kyra, if you know what I mean. Actually, I was pretty concerned when we found out we were pregnant. “I’m not ready, I don’t have our finances in order, I can’t change a diaper, I won’t get to have sex anymore, I won’t get to sleep anymore, I won’t be able to fly off to Hawaii on a moments notice for a romantic weekend just the two of us…” You get the idea. Basically all my thoughts started with “I”. Not that I was completely selfish mind you. I was genuinely concerned about some very real issues; but ultimately, He had a plan, and I had to jump onboard…the boat was gonna move forward even if it had to drag me as the anchor! Needless to say, I adore being a dad. Kyra turned out to be one of the greatest blessings in my life and has already taught me so much in such a short time. But back to the topic at hand…

ANOTHER KID! I was just getting used to this one. So we talked for awhile…unfortunately if we’re gonna have a baby anytime soon, Honduras would interfere with that. So where did we end up? I’m still not sure. We both talked openly about our feelings, but didn’t come to any conclusions. So we decided to go to other easier scheduling tasks…vacations. Here’s my goal for a vacation: The 3 G’s…Golf, Good food, time with my Girls. So Angela gets to research someplace we can go on a shoe-string budget. Feel free to comment with any ideas. (or if you happen to own an empty condo in Tahiti…oh yeah, you have to have a jet to get us there too :-)

On a different note… (yes that's the best segue way I could come up with :-) LOL
I’m putting together our worship gatherings this week focusing on Dreams. Since it’s Martin Luther King Jr’s B-Day Monday, I thought it timely to discuss our dreams for life and God’s dreams for us. One of the points we’ll share is that God places experiences, thoughts and dreams in our life to stretch and grow us. Mike, David and I are taking turns sharing different aspects of dreams, as well as hearing from some NC members as they share realized dreams, but I plan to end with the following prayer from the book “Designing Worship” by Kim Miller:

We have a dream…
To be a faith community that fully demonstrates the call of Jesus
Where people of all ages, gender, culture,
All backgrounds and economic status are welcomed;
Where God’s love breaks down the wall of racial barriers,
Personal preferences and preconceived notions about others.
Where we lay down our pride and prejudice,
Our fear of difference and our burden of sin,
And where we fully demonstrate the
Unnatural, unconditional, and undeniable love of God.
Together we say, “Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
This is our dream, Amen.

That’s quite a lofty prayer, but wouldn’t it be awesome if came true!?! It will one day. Praise God!

old friends and the colts...

Man, I just can’t seem to find the time to keep up with this blog. I’m making that one my new year’s resolutions! Today we got to visit with some old friends stopping through town. It was awesome to eat lunch with them and catch up. Angela and I were talking about how great it is when you have friendships that seem to pick up right where they left off. I have been privileged to have a few relationships like that. I thank God for that gift!

I was very proud of our Praise Team this morning. Due to our nasty Indiana ice storms, we weren’t all able to get together for practice and several of them had tons of stuff going on this weekend (some game or something :-); but they did a great job. 2nd service, we were thrown a curve-ball. One of our elders who was doing communion remarks thought it would really fit what he was going to be talking about to change our meditative song “Lamb of God” to “I Believe in Jesus” and “View That Holy City”; not your typical Communion songs! And you know, you should always listen to your elders :-) He was sharing that we have turned our time of communion from a celebration into a somber, alter event. Anyone who has read the book "Come to the Table" knows the premise. He's right, we have lost a lot of the power of the Supper. I hope we continue to look into ways to restore that amazing feast! A few of the singers didn’t know the songs, but we winged it, and it went just fine. (I’m actually the only one who messed up) I am thankful for their dedication to “roll with it”.

We just put Kyra down for a nap and I turned on the TV to see the Colts win. I depress a lot of people in that I don’t really care about the Colts, I’ve just never really gotten into football…one look at me and you’ll see why :-) I was actually surprised that as many people stuck around for church with the game going on. One thing I’ve figured out in the 7 years I’ve spent in Indiana…you don’t mess with Indy sports! They are taken very seriously. Whether it’s basketball, football or the race…if it’s happening, you can pretty much count on everyone’s’ mind being elsewhere. So thanks to all who stuck with us this morning…I hope you were as blessed as I was!
Anyways, I'm wathcing Kenny Loggins in Ice. Kind of an odd premise, a concert with ice skaters. I'm not a big fan of ice skating; but I LOVE me some Kenny Loggins! I've been a huge fan since I went to his concert in middle school. (yes, I liked K.Loggins in middle school, and no, I didn't tell my friends :-) He has written some amazing songs, but I think he has one of the coolest voices ever. He's just so unique. OK, he's ending with Footloose, so I have to do my best Kevin Bacon impression, I can't type right now :-)

Have a great week. God bless!