A Radosevich Project

Monday Shorts

• I haven’t watched a Super Bowl in years. The last one I can remember was in high school. It’s just not high on my list of things to care about. Now soccer is another story.
• I found out this weekend that you can listen to podcasts in itunes at a faster speed so you finish quickly. I first thought, “so I can listen to more stuff.” Then I realized that it would mean I would have even more random things clogging my brain. No, thanks.
• Strawberry Soup is on the menu this week. Ask Emma what it is. I just know I like it.
• I feel like reading a Vince Flynn thriller. I haven’t read one since high school. Know any good ones?
• I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends later this week.

Shakespeare and Star Trek: Live Long and Prosper

On our date last night, we talked about Shakespeare (we’re weird, I know)-what we had read, what we liked, what we hated. And we talked about how knowing some Shakespeare is necessary because his plays and poetry have influenced so much of western culture-even pop culture. Emma told me about the number of words that Shakespeare coined that are now real words. I told her about innuendo that we get from Shakespeare (my mom would say, “that’s Joseph alright”).

I watched the latest Star Trek earlier this week (Emma watched some until Ellie’s bed time), and there was so much that made me say, “So that’s where that comes from.” I’ve never watched a Star Trek movie or tv episode, but I knew the names, quotes, planets, back stories, etc. We also talked about Christ-figures in the movie and how even if they may not have been there on purpose, it’s diffficult to tell a story in the West without them.

I love truth. I love facts. But it seems that people share stories most. It’s our common language.

Reading Less|Doing More

I’ve been reading a book a week for over a year now, so reading is my go-to topic when I don’t have something else to blog about. But right now, I’m slowing down on my reading.

I realized the other day that reading can get in the way of finishing my projects. I can use books as a way to stay busy, but not necessarily productive.

So now, I’m still reading, but not at the pace I’ve been reading. I’m trying to finish up a teaching project I’m working on, and after that I hope to finish a writing project I’ve had going for a year now.

What can keep you busy but not productive?

Shorts on Feb 1

• Why is February spelled so oddly? We don’t pronounce it FEB-RUE-AIRY.
• I finished Believers: A Journey in Evangelical America this week. And started Robert Chapman: A Biography.
• Emma and I lay in bed one morning this weekend debating who would be the best actors in a film version of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. She wouldn’t agree that Gary Oldman (think Sirius Black) should play Peet the Sock Man. Or that Emma Thompson should be Nia, the mother. That’s the kind of thing we do and one reason I love life with her.
• Ellie thinks I’m a superstar. She loves it when I’m around, and that can make mom jealous. But she loves her mom too.
• One day we will get a minivan. Emma has no choice in the matter. Car seats and car doors don’t play well together.

Small Is (Not) a Bad Word

• “As popular as the giant seeker churches have become in the evangelical world, fewer than 15 percent of all evangelical church-goers attend them. More than half belong to congregations with fewer than three hundred members.” Believers, Jeffery L. Sheler (pg. 122).
• What do you think an extraordinary work by a church planter/pastor consists of?

  Mike McKinley: Faithfulness.  What’s extraordinary about ministry is not necessarily the size of the church or number of converts, but the progression of the Gospel through “ordinary” means.  When a church preaches the Gospel faithfully to the world around it and people are being built up in their faith and growing in grace that’s extraordinary.  It may not be immediately satisfying to our egos, but it is the amazing plan of God to spread his fame. Link

• “Smaller churches can have significant, eternal impact.” Harvest Bible Fellowship

4 Relationships

1. Brother-I love being a brother. I’m afraid I’ve always been a better older brother than a younger brother. But for two years, I lived near my older brother and his wife(y) and got the chance to be a younger brother again.
2. Friend-Being a friend doesn’t come naturally to me. I have to work at it, but I love it. My main rule as a friend is to make time and set aside money to hang out with people. I’ve been blessed with better friends than I’ve earned.
3. Father-This is a new world to me, but I love it. And I think it suits me.
4. Husband-This is now my most important relationship. It takes everything I’ve learned in my other relationships and more. But the payoff is sweeter.

*photo by anyjazz65