"Complain," Pentecost Sunday, and a great weekend

It's Pentecost Sunday on the church calendar, and man, has this been the weekend that I needed! These past few days have been a real time of recharging and relaxing and enjoyment. After posting my previous blog entry, I had a bout of "blog regret"...which I've never dealt with before. I even thought about deleting the previous post all together 'cause it was too much of a downer or something. There's always a tension between un-edited honesty and mental venting (which I think is good), verses editing and intentionality (which is good, too) in the topics blogged about.

I really like the "How to Blog" article by Tony Pierce and have learned a lot from reading it. Pierce would commend my previous blog entry...here are a couple points from his "how to" list:

11. say exactly what you want to say no matter what it looks like on the screen. then say something else. then keep going. and when you're done, re-read it, and edit it and hit publish and forget about it.

15. don't be afraid if you think something has been said before. it has. and better. big whoop. say it anyway using your own words as honestly as you can. just let it out.

19. push the envelope in what you're writing about and how you're saying it. be more and more honest. get to the root of things. start at the root of things and get deeper. dig. think out loud. keep typing. keep going. eventually you'll find a little treasure chest. every time you blog this can happen if you let it.

So, I chose not to delete the previous entry. I felt that way as I typed, so it is what it is. Thankfully, I've felt MUCH better in recent days. As a bloggy palette cleanser, I offer this awesome live performance of the song "Complain" by one of my all-time favorite bands, King's X. This wonderful song is a brilliant sermon on counting one's blessings, and when I watch this video on this Pentecost day, it's as if I can see tongues of fire on the heads of Doug (bass), Ty (guitar), and Jerry (drums):

Okay, everybody sing along: "Complaaaaain, so much easier, comPLAIN, so much easier, comPLAAAIN, so much eeeeeasier!"

Ahh, that felt good.

Yesterday Dawn coordinated a carnival in our backyard for pre-school aged friends of Paavo ans Svea. My awesome wife's brilliance as a leader and educator and camp counselor was on full display, and everybody had a blast. I finished up the day going to a movie with my friend Steve...we saw "Grindhouse" at the bargain theater. It's a '70s-style double feature...the first half by director Robert Rodriguez was awesome, but Quentin Tarantino's second half was lame lame lame lame. I slept through the middle of the second feature. It was good for the soul to see a one-legged Rose McGowan shoot hoards of zombies with a prosthetic machine gun.

Got up this morning and helped distribute communion at church. I hadn't done that in years 'cause I'm usually playing music during distribution, or else wrangling my children. "The body of Christ given for you." That was my line. Came home and took a TWO AND A HALF HOUR NAP (yahooo!) with Svea, and then we woke up and I spent a couple hours playing with her. Today she learned to crawl...it was so cool. I was relaxed and happy and refreshed. Had four ham rolls and four cupcakes for lunch, and hit the road with Dawn and Paavo and Svea for a fun trip to the mall and Target, all while listening to King's X (same song as above..."Complaaaaiiin!") on the rocking stereo system in our new car. The addition of a Saturn Vue Hybrid to our family has been another boost in the good vibes of my week. Now I can go on tour with my guitars, amps, and boxes of CDs, AND bring the family along, too!

Tons of good stuff to look forward to in the coming weeks. Yes, there are ups and downs in everyday life. It's fitting at the start of this Pentecost Season that I feel a refreshing breeze blowing through the universe. "Oh day full of Grace" indeed...