So, I’ll start here: I’ve still got a lot of questions. Good questions. Questions about why I am working in ministry. Questions about what I am supposed to do to serve students every day. Questions about how I’m supposed to live out my own faith in the midst of leading others. And plenty more.

They’re honest questions that come from honest moments of seeing faith lived out in mine and others’ lives (Honest, being the key word, doesn’t always mind “tastes good” or “feels nice”. Sometimes, it means “uncomfortable”, “hard to swallow”, and maybe even “true”). One of the coolest things about the work I get to participate in at the INN each day is simply being someone who listens and watches people work out what they believe about God. I get to meet with students who are struggling with where they’ll go after school’s over. Or new students, excited and eager to know what the whole college experience will be like and, for some, asking things like “where will God be in all of this?”

I asked that question myself as I began my time at Western Washington University, about 8 years ago. One of the biggest fears and insecurities I faced as I left home for school was wondering whether or not I would be the only person looking for God in Bellingham. Not like I had this unreasonable expectation that no one believed or followed Christ, but rather, a question of whether I would actually find anyone I could share in my own journey with. I wondered if I would have anyone to talk to. Anyone to experience the good and bad of faith with.

I see the same look in many of the faces of people I meet on Tuesday nights or around our offices or at programs throughout the week. I see a desire to know and be known by other people. And I think it’s not simply in the way we all desire to have friends and find connections with other people. I think there’s a real thirst to know and experience life with people who you can ask the tough questions with. To be known on that level with a community of like and unlike minded people. To not be surrounded by peers and classmates and yet be alone in what is the ongoing journey of faith.

And so, as I continue confront questions of faith and direction, I am comforted to know those people who come along in my life to offer dialog and support. And as I look at the questions I’m asking, I’m also comforted to know that I work with others who ask similar questions and who are similarly passionate in providing a space for students, who like me, 8 years ago, needed a place to air them out.

It was recorded, so I hope to have something to put up on the blog in the near future, for the viewing pleasure of those interested. That’s pretty fitting for a talk focusing on our iLife, right?

1. Tonight, my Dad is getting officially sworn in as the new City of Mukilteo Fire Marshal. We’re heading down tonight to watch the ceremony. I’m very excited and very proud of him. He’s been in the position for about 6 months and he’s great at it.

2. I’m speaking at the INN. Tomorrow night’s my first chance to speak on a regular-year Tuesday night. I’ll be speaking on how Christ is Lord of our iLife – our internet, blog, Facebook, cellphone world. Should be fun. It’s weird to be working on a talk about a topic that students really are experts on. I’m focusing on putting some of it in perspective in relation to our “actual” lives out from behind the computer screen. Should be interesting…

3. The beer brewing has begun. This week I’m finishing up my very first batch of home brew that I made on my own. It’s a Belgian Abbey ale. And, I’ve got a second batch planned to be brewed this coming weekend.

Obviously, there’s more going on. the INN is very busy this time of year. Stacy’s still plugging away at her master’s program and still keeping those kids in line in 4th grade. I’m doing little web design pieces here and there, looking forward to the summer when I plan to do more of that. Life up in Bellingham is good.

That’s what’s going on. As I work on my talk, I check myself with each and every web interaction I engage in, so as not to be hypocritical and to remember how Christ is Lord of all I do.