You've Lost that Bloggin' Feeling

I did, and I have ... lost that bloggin' feeling.  I've not blogged since March.  I had a blog selected for Monday, March 12 entitled "The Point of No Return".  It was focused on my deck remodeling project at our house in Farragut. However, something else happened on that day that stripped my bloggin' feeling right out from under me (not to mention that "The Point of No Return" title would have been sooo inappropriate given the situation).  The Situation (NOT Mike Sorrentino) was ... I was moving.  It was not firm exactly where I was moving to, but I really didn't want to move.  My mother-in-law was dying of cancer, my wife was in the midst of trying to change jobs, my kids were thriving in school, I was not ready to leave the church I was pastoring, not to mention that we owned a house in the community (for only 3 years) and I knew it would be a beast to sell and come away with what we had put into it, AND I had just torn up the deck (it's hard to sell a house with a huge hole in the deck).

BIT:  It was a huge disappointment!  Over the next month I struggled to wrap my mind around what was happening (and all the while, we were playing, what I have termed it, "Secret Squirrel").  I still didn't know exactly where we would be moving, which made it even more stressful.  In the midst of the disappoint, the stress, the grief, the sadness, the secrecy (and even some feelings of betrayal), I lost that bloggin' feeling.

BITTER: This past Sunday I preached on Disappointment as part of our "A Fresh Start" worship series at Colonial Heights Church (that's where we finally landed -- I'll blog [maybe] about that).  It really was a sermon I preached to myself and allowed the congregation to hang out with me.  Our assignment was, "When the (pencil) Lead Breaks: Rise Above Disappointment".  And I asked, "How do you do that?"  I know the answer is "Don't Go It Alone: Take God with You" because God is always ready to calm us in the midst of our storm.  And then it hit me (really hard, I might add)!  I've not awakened the living Christ to my storm (the scripture was Mark 4:35-41, Jesus Clams the Storm).  It's been a process ... slowly adding things that connect me to Christ (centering prayer, spiritual reading, etc.) ... and removing things that I have allowed to comfort me (temporarily) ... so that I might, like the disciples, tap into that power which made them ask, "Who is this?  Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

BITTEREST: So, in the prayer style of the Righteous Brothers, my prayer is that I get that bloggin' feeling back (you can pray it with me) ...

Baby (baby), baby (baby),
I beg of you please...please,
I need to blog (I need to blog), 
I need to blog (I need to blog),
So bring it on back (So bring it on back), 
Bring it on back (so bring it on back).

Bring back that bloggin' feeling,
Whoa, that bloggin' feeling
Bring back that bloggin' feeling,
'Cause it's gone...gone...gone,
and I can't go on,
noooo...

Amen.

Well, I can go on ... blogging (or lack there of) is not the end of the world.  Be looking for the answer to prayer ... coming soon?