11 March 2009

Life in the Fast Lane

Once again, my blog updates have fallen victim to the Tyranny of the Urgent.  Our lives have had so little margin since the beginning of the year that 'normal life' seems a distant reality.  We just can't seem to slow down... and in some cases, it appears we don't want to.
For the past several years we've used the analogy of having a revolving door installed to our flat to accommodate the coming and going of all our visitors.  Never has it seemed more appropriate than now.  Since December, we've had house guests every month... usually multiple guests per month, and it looks as though that trend will continue until at least August.
In addition, we have and host more dinners, meetings, birthday parties, baby showers, gatherings, and general hangout times than we've ever done before.  Yes, that includes when we had apprentices/students filing in and out on a weekly basis for 3 years.

The thing is, this exercise of hospitality is simultaneously life-giving and taxing.  We can honestly say that each of our house guests have been a blessing; they've been encouraging, helpful and gracious - playing with our kids, babysitting them, and helping out around the flat.  In most cases, they simply jump into our routines with us.
As good as it's been to host these great folks - friends and family - we're loving the family time that we're getting for the next couple of weeks.  Our girls are so used to having folks in the house, that when a bathroom door is closed or the curtains are drawn, they call out for the guest they think is responsible for that.
It has been good, however, to really concentrate on giving Gabrielle and Isabelle our undivided attention.

Aside from the hospitality, Jasheen and I have some pretty exciting things in the cooker right now, not the least being a new missional endeavor for me.  I've taken the point on a project that would see Mosaic launch and indoor skateboard park in the city of Glasgow.  In a place that sees so much rain, this could be a great place for local kids to skate during the cold, winter months.  We anticipated the park being built and ready by the end of the year, but research showed that the project will take much longer than that.  In addition to acquiring the necessary funding for the park, we also need time to find the right facility and get all of the certifications and permissions needed to launch and operate such a business.  It will be a business.  It will need to be at least profitable enough to cover the costs required to keep it open.  No margin, no mission.

I'm in the process of raising a team of folks to help with the administrative legwork for the project - not my strongest suit.  Jasheen has been vital to much of this on the front end.  Her business knowledge and experience has really helped me grasp a realistic timeframe for this endeavor.  We're praying about how all of this is going to come together, but one thing I would LOVE is if someone would catch the passion and vision of this project and take a year of their life to join us over here and commit to the project until it's ready to open.  But that's just a dream and prayer of mine.

In the meantime, I'm continuing to serve at Mosaic and Jasheen continues to be supermom and piano teacher.
The girls are growing so fast.  At 3 1/2, Gabrielle is still a relational dynamo... making friends hand over fist at nursery school.  Isabelle turns 2 this month, and she is doing well to keep up with her sister in all their playful adventures.

I will try to be more diligent in keeping the blog current.  Several folks have been encouraging me to write a book (subject of said book is still coming together), and some of the most important exercises for writing is... well, writing... and reading.  I'm going to try and write a little everyday, perhaps in blog posts, and perhaps in my own journal.  Either way, it should help me keep up with the blog better.