Why Here? Why Now?

Okay, I've come to the conclusion that resistance is futile! I have ignored every "friend request" on Facebook, am very poor at returning text messages and have refused to setup an IM account. For the longest time, I have not had any interest in blogging, though I love to write, journal, reflect my thoughts on paper. On average, when I look at my cell phone, regardless of the time, there are four to six voicemails waiting. Emails come in so quickly that if I don't respond immediately, it gets pushed down the page until I completely forget about it. So, I ask myself, why become even more accessible? It is a question I have wrestled with for years, and today I am dipping my big toe into the water of this self-exposed, self-imposed public arena.

Why? One Sunday morning, I announced to the 400 or so adults in the congregation that my family and I were leaving the next day for a 16 day trip to the People's Republic of China. My mother invited all her children and grandchildren to accompany her to visit family on both sides and to expose our children to the rich heritage that makes up one-half of their DNA. Both my sister and I married Caucasians and we both have three daughters. Since returning, we've been deluged with questions about the trip. I thought about mass emailing out a lengthy reflection on the trip, but that seemed way too inefficient. (Nobody would finish reading it before it got pushed down the page and out of sight.) We've already setup a bunch of dinners, coffees, get togethers with some, but more are sure to come.

So, out of necessity and efficiency (you feel the engineer in me, don't you?). I created my first blog account so that I could reflect thoughts on the trip and anyone could choose to read or not to read. I am a pastor, after all, and if I'm going to publicly announce things that pique the interest of hundreds, I should be willing to supply some kind of medium for which that piqued interest can be satisfied.

There are probably a few other thoughts that will find there way onto these pages not necessarily related to our trip to China, but definitively related to being a pastor. The thoughts are already stacking up in my head. I am a little concerned about where this blog experience is going to take me. I kind of like it, already. Anyway, here goes!