After checking out Mandy Conforth’s hip beetle, I have to confess that my 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme lacked mojo. I tried to make up for it with the Pioneer hi-fi tape deck, a pair of Rockford Fosgate 12’s in the trunk and fuzzy dice, but you just can’t make up for a flaking and cracking doodoo brown paint job.

As there are no photos of me and said hooptie, I found one online. Keep in mind though that my car had wire hubcaps and no t-tops. Nobody wanted to ride with me. Ever. It was very sad.

What did your ride look like?

[HT: Mandy Conforth]

It seems like every 6 months or so I want to quit blogging. Then 6 months or so later, I decide to start blogging again.

Let’s hope I’m not developing a habit here.

So, for those that care, The Tone Guru is back in business!

We have so much to catch up on.

What’s on your mind, friend?

Tomorrow, October 8th, is my 31st birthday. I’m well on my journey away from my twenties, which I’m ok with, but it bugs me that now all of my milestones are measured by tens, meaning, let’s not talk about a party until 40. Goodbye 20’s, hello black balloons in the distance!

I’m actually staring out the window as I type waiting to be picked up by Fred McKinnon, as I was offered the rare opportunity to fill in on lead guitar today at Saint Simons Community Church. Our second car is in the shop, and Brooke certainly doesn’t want to get up at 6:00 today.

On the topic of second cars, please see Nooma - Rich and Shane Claiborne’s Irresistible Revolution. We’re aiming to give up our 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT Convertible. Just typing that out makes me covet my own stuff.

It has been awhile since you and I have had a chance to chat, hasn’t it? You probably thought that I didn’t want to speak to you anymore. That’s not true! You and I are friends and friends should talk. I’ve been so busy with work and school and school and work that I find it outright nauseating to sit down in front of the computer for pleasure. I get so distracted by the 8 foot tall stack of bills piling up on my desk that I can’t seem to make time to relax anymore. If I stop spinning the work wheel for just a second, it may all come crashing down on all of us. And then where will we be?

The most frightening thing in my life right now is that I sort of forgot why I went back to finish my degree in the first place. It seemed like my business was picking up, classes started back, and my business fell apart.

I find myself having to intentionally breathe deep breaths at least once every fifteen minutes or I pass out. There’s a Rob Bell Nooma video about that. We should watch that together. By deep breaths, I mean that I have to make a God-connection quite often or I start to trust my own momentum and think that I can live apart from Him.

My worship confessionals stopped for a very intentional reason, by the way. Someone I served with didn’t share my passion for constructive criticism. My heart was to be critical where it is critical, but that was interpreted as being divisive. These comments might be interpreted as being divisive. I don’t look for fault in things, but I certainly can’t overlook the obvious. In ministry, and in life in general, some prefer to spend their days like so:

Something that I used to meditate on that have popped back into my mind:We must constantly beware that the work we are doing for God does not interfere with the work He is doing in us.

“Sleep. I never get enough. Always waking up tired.” - Riley Armstrong

Time to get some sleep.