So it isn't quite day three of my week of Thanksgiving...but, hey, I got excuses.  My grandfather (mom's dad) finally passed away after battling cancer for a little more than a year.  Just when we thought he had beat the system and statistics he took a turn for the worse... worst to be exact.  His troubles progressed rather quickly over the past few weeks.

 Despite this loss in our family, I can't help but thank God that his grace is always upon us.  That, no matter who we are, where we are or what we are up to, we are never too far to experience the saving grace of our God.  It simply amazes me...

 But, aside from this amazing grace, I'm thankful for the jobs that both Sara and I have.  In this time of economic uncertainty I am thankful that I have a consistent place of employment.  And beyond that, I'm thankful that I am called to serve in full-time ministry.  I love seeing people experience the love of our God and helping them to take their next steps in/toward Christ... whatever those may be.

 Sure, it's not always peaches in church ministry.  But, I am so thankful for the opportunities that God has blessed us with in this work.  I can't complain a bit...

 Also, before I get outta here, I ask that you pray for the Owens family.  While I've not ever met them in person, my prayers are with them as they deal with the reality of their son's disease.  So, yes, please pray for them.  I can't imagine their situation and what they are going through...

 Blessings...

I realize that I missed my "day two" of a week-long series here at two10eleven. I had a very early morning this morning as I had to run to the hospital to be with one of our fathers from the church as he was having an emergency quadruple bypass.  I never knew 2:45 AM could roll around so early...

 So, I'll cut right to the chase.  For day two I am thankful for music.  Isn't it amazing how God has created us with the creativity of music making and enjoying.  There is just unreal about the way music can connect with one's innermost self and soul.  To stop and think about it truly amazes me.

What is it about music?  Some like only a certain genre while others enjoy most of it all.  I am one of those.  I tend to like them all...  Country, rap, classical, West African, Thai, reggae, jazz, R&B, "Christian" and non...

For me there is something magnificent about the way I can see God, feel God and hear God through a lyric or score.  And for that, I am thankful...

I'll leave you with this clip of an Arlo Guthrie song I heard yesterday while driving home from my dad's house for Thanksgiving dinner.  Yes, I even like the creativity of this song...

So, what are you thankful for today?

So, obviously it has been a bit since I've graced your internet presence.  I'm busy, yadda yadda, but hey, we're going to try something here...

I want to share with you a week's worth of what I am Thankful for.  We'll see how it goes.  I figured that since Thanksgiving is all but here, I should spend some time saying thanks.  Feel free to join in as you feel led...

Tonight, on the eve of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for a supportive, loving family.  My parents were divorced at a young age.  In fact, my mother had me during her Senior year in High School.  Surpisingly, my life was way too similar up to that same point.  It's by God's grace that I didn't find myself in a similar situation.

My parents, despite their divorce, have always been relatively close.  Both have since re-married and we've all spent afternoons on Dad's boat on the lake, gone out to dinner and even come together to decide how to punish me when I smashed mailboxes during my freshman year in high school.

 Never have they not shown love for me.  Sure, my family isn't perfect.... far from it in fact... but, we can't deny the fact that they love me and want the best for me.  Dropping out of pre-med my first semester in college strained my relationship with my dad... but I never second-guessed his love for me.  Moving to my dad's house during that same freshman year in college strained my relationship with my mother... but I never second-guessed her love and her longing for the very best for me...

So, tonight, the night before the official Turkey Day...  I thank God for my loving, supportive parents...

What are you thankful for?

(by the way:  I now have freedom to use this font above now that Brad has done a redesign on his site.  Thanks Brad!)

 

I can't deny the fact that I am glad this election race is over.  It has been a brutal, divisive,  and nasty race.  I've had my spirit crushed, argued with friends and nearly lost my job (kidding....kind of) due to this election.

I voted on my convictions and what I felt led to do between myself, God and that voting machine.  It breaks my heart today, after a great night with friends last night watching the election coverage, as I read responses on Facebook, blogs and Twitter about how the United States is going to hell in a hand basket.  The saddest part is that most of these responses come from Christian friends and collegues who feel led to "speak out"... although it seems they are speaking from emotions and ignorance, which is sad.

I read today on a pastor friend's blog that he had a friend of his come into the church today to announce that he was leaving the church because my friend had voted for Obama and couldn't attend a church where the pastor voted for Obama.  This breaks my heart...

I'm glad the election is over.  Now, can we stop this nonesense and come together?  Can we come together to pray for our next President?  Please?

One of the best posts I have read today comes from Brad Ruggles.  Please go and read it.  It'll mean more to you than this post...

How can we come together?

I sit here tonight having had full intentions of getting to bed as soon as The Office was over.  Yet, for the past (nearly) 4 hours I have been sitting here flipping channels on the TV and getting lost somewhere between Gmail and Facebook on the web.  I know, how lame is that!  Tell me about it!  My wife is in bed and would love to snuggle with me (at least I hope that would be the case); yet, for the last 5 days I have yet to get to bed before 2 AM.

It's not that I don't want to go to bed.  I have nothing to stay up for...  It's just that my body doesn't seem to want to slow down.  Somewhere around 7 PM each night I catch my second wind and up I stay until now.  I'm still waking up at the normal time.  But that means I am just getting less sleep... as if it were really needed?!

So here I sit.  Up, at it, awake, tired but not sleepy... for night number 5.  Anyone got any pointers?

Over the course of the past few months I've managed to lose nearly half of my readers here at two10eleven. It's because I have been crazy busy and have put efforts towards things other than this blog.  If you are one of the few left around here, thank you.  I really appreciate it.

Today was one of those "God days" for me.  As I sat in our Executive Pastor's office talking about the next month's plans, I realized something once again.  For the past few months, every thing I have done at the church has been under my own ability...my own talents...my own time...and my own will.  Seldom have I truly turned to rely on God to help me.

I now find myself tired, burnt out, pissed, lazy and short with people.  I can't deny the fact that God has been molding me the past few years and prepping Sara and I for Thailand.  But, I don't believe He ever wanted us to do this alone.  So, back to God I squirm...  repentant, sorry, ashamed and tired.

God have mercy on us...

One another note, Sara and I are now less than two weeks away from our trip to Thailand...and, honestly, I feel like we need it more than ever.  This past weekend we had the opportunity to talk with perspective missionaries at our denomination about the challenges, blessings and craziness of missionary work.  And, despite the stress of not having the weekend to last-minute prep for KidStuf, it was sooo refreshing.  We can't deny the fact that God has built us for missions work, for traveling and for sharing our hearts with other people...

We so look forward to getting away for a few weeks.  We look forward to once again experiencing the land that we love.  I look forward to getting to know my wife once again... 

It's been crazy lately...  But God is at work...  Probably as much on us as He is through us...  But, hey, I'll take it...

Hey all, a while back I posted a couple of times about Sara and I's photo shoot at HU, our alma mater.  We helped them with a little promo and offered ourselves as a story and a photo.  They took advantage of it...

 

 

 To check it out, and please do, go to  http://www.huntington-youniversity.com and click the blue guy "Leverage" then select "Brook and Sara Sarver" in the left menu and check it out.

Yes, we are the "lounge singers"....

Adam ought to feel real proud. I haven't posted in about a month...and here I am, tagged. So the idea is this:

1. Post these rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 6 people at the end of you post
4. If you tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag.

My six random things are:

1. I beat box...kind of. There is always a beat or three going through my head.
2. I bite my fingernails. I can thank my mother, who while raising me was a part-time college student and bit her fingernails as she was stressed and delt with being a 4.0 student while also being a mom. Thanks Mom!
3. My first car was a 1988 Le Sabre. I blew up the engine in about 5 months after driving home late one night try to make my curfew...
4. I wish I could have been European. I have a sick fascination with European accents. Don't know why really... I'm just a fan. And I wish I could speak with a thick Irish accent. ...Maybe someday...
5. I love trying something new.  Whether learning a new software program or a new trade or honing a new ability.  I'm up to try about anything...
6. My first name is Michael.  I go by my middle name, "Brook".  In Kindergarten there was another Michael in our class and my teacher asked if either of us had a nickname we'd like to go by.  Being the outgoing kid I was I answered by noting that while I didn't have a nickname, I did in fact a middle name that was seldom used.  So, I started going by Brook from then on.  Now, that's basically the only name I answer to...except my photography MichealSarver :: photography and credit card bills...  oh, and my grandmother and Aunt still call me Michael Book.

Exciting stuff, I know.  There.  I did it.  Thanks for the tag, Adam.  But why did you have to push so hard?  I think I have a bruise!

My six are here:   Sara, Carrie, Adam, Matt, Greg, +1 of you who respond below......

First off, to all of you who have thought about us, prayed for us, talked with us and met with us over the past couple of months, Thank You! We wouldn't have made it here without you...

It is crazy to think that summer is now over. Ok, it isn't technically over yet, but it sure feels like it. The cool air in the mornings as the sun rises later, the yellowing of the soybean fields, the starting back to school and the chopping of corn silage...not to mention football season. But where did August go? As I sit here I cannot recall a single thing in August. I feel as though I must have been a zombie the entire month...in a deep sleep walk through work and life.

Yesterday we kicked off our new Family Ministries that we have been working so hard this summer on....and God showed up. Despite months of preparation, we still found ourselves unprepared. Despite lots of excitement in our church families, only a relative handful chose to volunteer. Despite studying lines for hours on end, I still managed to forget them...only to ad-lib over half of the production (which is ok as long as the person next to you is able to play off of it). Despite all of the things going "wrong", God showed up. Through months of preparation we were able to reach out to our kids in a new way. Through lots of excitement a handful of families invite new families and kids to our church. Through studying lines for hours we enable parents to take their shared experience with their kids home with them. After all...what happens at home is more important than what happens at church.

And through all of this mess, late nights, long days, no sleep, no alone time, not eating, living on coffee, painting, building, my wife turning into more of a roommate than a soul-mate (yeah, it was that bad at times...actually, most of the time it was that bad)... Through all of this mess, God showed up, not only to our church family, but me personally.

After working 99.5 hours last week (which actually is what I worked) a normal Sunday afternoon would be to take a nap. Instead, I ate a late lunch with Sara (steak on the grill) and spent an hour responding to email, Facebook and Google Reader. Then, it was back to work. I can't explain what happened during that hour. God renewed my Spirit in a blink of an eye. My entire attitude changed, my heart changed and my physical body felt replenished.

I can't explain it...and I don't know why. But I felt closer to God. I went down to the church as Sara rested on the couch (a much needed rest for sure. My wife rocked during KidStuf!). Despite "earning" and afternoon off, I felt led to get ahead a bit and prep for next week. The perfectionist in me didn't want next week to turn out like this week. Not to mention that I had 9 months to plan for our first KidStuf and UpStreet...now I only have 6 days to plan for the next...

So, thanks for your prayers these last few months. Hopefully I can stay on top of this blog now. I've got things to share... So, has God ever showed up to you in a different, refreshing way?

So everything we have worked for in the past several months is about here... Meaning, that now all of the emotions, stresses, joys and pains of it all is also here. Last minute prep work, endless lists needing attention, 1.6 billion things to think about: volunteers, A/V cue sheets, last minute light design tweaking, memorize lines, don't forget UpStreet, eat something, don't forget about the bills, make time with Sara...if only for a minute or two, delegate, dictate, plan, prepare, produce, write, read, sleep, print, mail, call, laugh, cry, sick, sleep, eat, prep, read-through, brainstorm, dream, sleep, daydream, imagine, realize, fax, drive, edit, shoot, 4Before, sermon, worship, kids, school, partner, delegate more, explain, cast, pray, read, pray, sleep, dream, pray more, puppy, stage decorations, nurseries, buy, pay, purchase, bills, stress, anger, joy, tired, full-filled, empty, interesting, overwhelmed, under-appreciated, over-appreciated, worthless, dumb, brilliant, worth-while, games, Thailand, missions, lonely, blog (seldom), completion, soundtracks, Once, wife, Olympics, The Office (daily calendar), early, late, new, refreshing, old, same-old, unbelievable, honest... etc. etc. etc.

It's been a crazy summer. Thanks for letting my explain it via commas....