An Invitation to the Prodigal God Series

Dena's Surprise

Can you spot the foreigner?

Collected some sea glass yesterday.

Finding the green pieces among the millions of stones & pebbles was easy.

The greenish blue pieces weren’t terribly hard to find either.

This is one of the best beaches I've ever seen if you want to find enormous 

quantities of sea glass ... and it's a 5 minute walk from our house. 

Among the millions of rocks & pebbles, the glass pieces seem few

and far between, until they start to add up in your pocket.

Then, among the millions of rocks & pebbles,

one white one stood out.

I pocketed it with the pieces of glass.

My pocket filled quickly, and as it did, 

I thought of that one white pebble.

Surrounded by glass, mostly green with a bit of blue.

Imported out of its comfortable majority of stones,

Suddenly isolated. 

Different.

Jostled, engulfed, immersed...

Standing out like a…

like a pebble in a sea of glass.

East doesn’t just meet west here…

it engulfs and overwhelms it,

it rarely pauses to consider your presence.

When noticed, there are stares, comments, laughter,

and the occasional bold child who wants to show off his three English phrases.

I no longer feel the difference by skin color alone, 

but rather by something almost chemical.

Picture how we think...

Living is simple.
Life is complex.

Words have such power,
yet pictures turn "pow" into "DY-NO-MITE!"

a guy who gets to dress up other peoples wordsWe just watched Tim Burton's delicious visualization of
R.Dahl's Chocolate Factory...
we laughed,
we drooled,
we oompa'd and we loompa'd
(this part gave me nightmares when i was a kid)

I dreamed aloud that my kids
(each more graphically talented than i)
would one day turn some great book into some great film.

I began to feel that gloom again,
the one that always says I've got nothing
of value to say, or write, or create...

Countdown to Simplicity

Simplicity as a standalone life-goal can actually get rather complicated.  (Note the failure rate of new year's resolutions to "simplify my life")
When simplicity is embraced as part of a package deal however the fruit can be sweet (not that I have much experience yet in this, but I like what I've tasted thus far)

In a month we'll be back in California.

"Well Done!"

(from my English Chapel 9/30/09)

Matthew 2:14-30
14 JESUS SAID: “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them...


Today I would like to continue with the unofficial theme of the week, which has been reflecting on the ministry of our president Dr. Sung-su Kim.
This parable is often misquoted and misunderstood but I think it applies to what we have seen and experienced this week.   We all want to hear the master say WELL DONE. 

Hello From Busan!

Yeah this is where we live.
We're movin' on up...
to a deee-luxe apartment in the sky...

perspective. on grace.

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes Grace comes in the dress of perspective.
She smiles but her eyes reveal sadness.
She cries but the tears taste like joy.

What does grace, freelancing as perspective look like?
sorta like the yin and yang...
even when things are bright and cheerful
there is that black spot of doubt...
even when things seem black and hopeless...
there is that spot of light.

Lil' Brudders... sure grow fast!

2005 Master Lim with Joshua & Caleb
Originally uploaded by nederdave

Hard to believe this was less than four years ago! Joshua and Caleb started learning Tae Kwon Do in the fall of 2005. We've seen lots of growth - physically, relationally, mentally, etc. - and Master Lim has been a constant source of challenge and encouragement.

Lim just recently returned from Korea himself where he made a special trip to Busan to find a suitable TKD studio where the boys can continue their training. Joshua just earned his black belt in June and if they manage to keep in shape this summer we figure Caleb will be testing for his black belt sometime while we are in Korea.

NederNews 07.18

The first edition of our MissionYear Updates!

purpose-less

Purpose?
We're all supposed to have one.
Preachers are supposed to preach.
Evangelists share the gospel.
We are to do these things effectively
... while seeing everyone
(rich, poor, beautiful, ugly)
... the way that Jesus did.
today... right now... i don't feel it..
i've lost my purpose.
and feel i've lost my way.

"Lord have mercy on me, according to your unfailing love"

Image via Wikipedia

Bridges
&
CityScapes

Where we're heading ~ Busan, Korea.
Some things will look very familiar.
Others... not so much.
Let the adventure begin!

Image via Wikipedia

NederKids crack me up.

at GG Park ~ on our 20th Anniversary
June 10, 2009

GRACE for a web-building NOOB!

ack!
ok - when they SAY that it's website building for dummies...
they really DON'T mean to insult us...
but...
then there are those of us who struggle just to pay attention long enou...
OH LOOK A PUPPY!!!!

:)

THE NEDERHOOD FAMILY PAGE is up ... finally ... at

www.nederdave.com

Mission On My Mind...

we're less than two months away from our departure
for the greatest adventure our family has yet experienced.

we have been invited to korea ~ i will be teaching seminary
students at kosin university and deb will be teaching english
at the nearby maritime university.

our mission year is described in more detail on the page below:
www.nederdave.com

the scarlet grace...

todays blog inspired by my dear friend amy.
who mused through the impulsive media of instant message...
that churches are easy enough to find,
but grace, lovely grace, is so much more elusive...

we can't help but look for her,
indeed, every religion, every human heart secretly longs for her,
but she often eludes our grasp.
indeed she ALWAYS eludes our grasp.
for she was meant to be experienced, not experimented on.
appreciated for her beauty, not bottled up and dispensed by man.
she may take hold of us,
but how could we ever hope to keep her to ourselves?
(better yet why would we even try?)

grace reminded amy of the cry from Scarlet Pimpernel...
may i paraphrase?

we seek her here.
we seek her there.
we churchies seek her everywhere.
is she in heaven?
is she gone without a trace?
that damsel, elusive grace!

i propose a new secret society.

the league of "scarlet grace"...

grace notes

Yancey says: "A composer of music may add grace notes to the score. Though not essential to the melody–they are gratuitous–these notes add a flourish whose presence would be missed. When I first attempt a piano sonata by Beethoven or Schubert, I play it through a few times without the grace notes. The sonata carries along, but oh what a difference it makes when I am able to add in the grace notes, which season the piece like savory spices."

~ from "What's So Amazing About Grace"

blog think takes over

OK now it's getting weird.
Like when you buy a new car and suddenly you start seeing your same car everywhere...
It's the same with blogging.
I had no trouble ignoring the pressure to blog for the last few years.
I told myself I just had too much else going on.
Now that this blog is launched and now that at least 5 people have looked at it,
there appears to be no turning back.

Grace

grace makes beauty out of ugly things

grace, personified

I'm kind of glad that U2 did not
make a video of this song (yet).
But the lyrics have inspired
several fans to mash up some
thoughtful images to go along.
This one I thought was a little
choppy and a bit preachy but
still beautiful.


"grace" lyrics by bono...
Grace, she takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace, it's a name for a girl
It's also a thought that changed the world

And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

Grace, she's got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She's got the time to talk
She travels outside of karma, karma
She travels outside of karma

When she goes to work
You can hear the strings
Grace finds beauty in everything

Grace, she carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips between her fingertips
She carries a pearl in perfect condition
What once was hurt, what once was friction
What left a mark no longer stings
Because Grace makes beauty out of ugly things

Grace finds beauty in everything
Grace finds goodness in everything

The Schwaggin' Wagon & Freelance Grace

Image via Wikipedia

I was kidnapped by the Schwaggin' Wagon and it was the ride of my life! Mix one part Guerrilla Love-fare plus two shakes of Flash Philanthropy, and you've got the Schwaggin' concept just waiting to explode.

I'll be sharing more about these guys in the days ahead but I'm supposed to leave for vacation in a few hours, so I shall be brief(er). My whole encounter with the Web 2.0 Expo may seem to be crazy blind luck to some... but I detected a great deal of divine intervention last week, and now I just need the discipline to write about it.

Special kudos to Kyra who convinced me that I ought to be blogging with all my spare time (my wife will thank you i'm sure) and to David who casually mentioned that if I'd have been some corporate cheese I would have been paying them all biggus buckus just for privilege of sitting in a pimped out van with such a prestigious group of consultants. Thus, inspired by Team Schwaggin' I shall begin this, my 3rd or 4th attempt at exposing myself online.

What I especially loved was that these 2.0ntrepeneurs sacrificed their time that they could have spent networking on the expo floor to do something good for kids and for the planet. They literally jumped in to an idea with no guarantees of how it would be received. By the end of the show I'm quite sure that they had more positive media coverage than most of the big players on the floor who spent skadillions on slick promo fliers and fancy swag. You may call that good karma, I call it freelance grace.