The Non-Essential Adventures of D'Art
Boston Pics
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I have posted some pictures I took while in Boston. You can click on the pictures on the right or go directly to my Flickr page by clicking: HERE.
Enjoy.
I made it Home.
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Sorry I didn’t write anymore when I was in Boston, well actually I had this conversation with myself. I said self, why are you blogging while you are in Boston? Because it helps me process what’s happend in the past day, I replied. Stop processing and start enjoying the city self, then when you get home, you can process. So that’s what I did. I’ll be processing for a couple of days, I’m sure. Until then I will run you though what I experienced in Boston and some of the things I got to do.
- I toured Fenway Park! Awesome.
- I went to the Celtics game. And sat snugly between a couple of other guys, but they were drinking so I don’t think they noticed the 300 lb. guy sitting next to them. Celtics lost. Sad.
- I met with Hank and John a couple of the pastors from Reunion Church and got great insight. They allowed me to ask a lot of questions and hear first hand about Boston and the spiritual climate of the city. They are the real deal.
- I saw Paul Reveres House
- I hassled some guy selling tickets at the Bruins game. I got him to sell me the ticket for cheap, then decided not to go, he cursed me, a lot.
- I rode the subway everywhere, it was fun to people watch
- I eavesdropped on a student walking through Harvard Yard talking to his mom. He used the biggest words I have ever heard, in one sentence. I decided that my kids will go to Harvard.
- People in Boston hate New York sports teams. In fact there might be a total distain for anything New York.
It was a great trip. I’m looking forward to what happens next. Boston is an incredible town that needs Jesus.
Observations about Bostonians
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Here are a few things I’ve noticed since being in Boston. I’m sure they aren’t all true, but who knows….they are just my observations:
1. There are a lot of pretty people here.
2. College students are everywhere.
3. If you are old, you are white, and look wealthy.
4. Everybody seems to walk faster than me.
5. Bostonians love their iPods, everyone is listening to something
6. I have never seen so many people read the newspaper
7. The subway has some pretty interesting adds. I learned today that you can get $1,100 for donating sperm!
Those are my totally ignorant observations of Boston, after all I’ve been here for 24 hours, so I must know something right?!?!
OK, I’m off to see more of the city. I’ll post again tonight. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow, so that would be cool, after all…Some snow would be nice.
Greetings from Beantown!
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Beantown?!?! Nobody said anything to me about Beantown!?!?! I apologize, you are correct, you didn’t get the memo because I didn’t send one.
So just a quick update on what is happening with the Strickland family. Some of you have been asking what’s going on, so I wanted to give you a heads up. This is the really abbreviated version of the past couple of months: Happy. Sad. Happy. Breakthrough. Blindsided. Numb. Upset. Bored. Waiting. Angry. Silent. Excited. Scared. Boston. That’s it in a nutshell. Maybe later I’ll expound on the entire sequence. But today let’s talk about Beantown…aka, Boston, MA.
I left Charlotte, NC this morning at the butt-crack of dawn for a flight to NYC then on to Boston. I arrived in this beautiful city a little after 11:30am. I figured out how to take the subway close enough to my hotel, got checked in and headed out to see what Boston was all about. Now I’m back at the hotel planing my day for tomorrow.
So you say, great you are in Boston, but why?
Basically, to see if this is where God wants us to be. Kind of a loose answer I know, but that’s all I got. For the past year or so, I’ve been hearing God say a couple of things, one is Boston, the other is some nonsense about planting a church. Scary exciting! But any ride with Jesus is bound to be an exciting one. Pray for me. I’ll be in the city until Friday when I come home. I’ll be exploring job opportunities here and just trying to listen for the Heartbeat of God.
God, if you want us here, make it happen, we are willing.
…Stay Tuned
Some things are just too funny!
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I was surfing the internet, and came across this picture. It was just too good to pass up.
BIG NEWS!!!!
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Coming soon. I’m not exactly sure what the big news is yet, but it has got to come soon!
Give More
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I believe that my world is a bit to consumeristic. I’ll prove it to you. I have some things on my wish list right now that include the following: iPhone, New Furniture, a Job, iMac, second car, vacation, and to cap it off a 47″ LCD TV. I want all theses things just for ME! I have no place on my top 10 list for anyone else but me. I want it all. I bet that you want it all too. I have myspace, facebook, and a blog, all tributes to me. I even check these websites daily to see how many people are reading my stuff. I want to prove my point…every sentence in this paragraph started with the word I. I am selfish.
These things aren’t bad within themselves. But when the greed of selfishness overcomes the joy of giving, things take a turn down narcissistic ally. Now I still want all of those things, and I’ll probably even get a few of them. But this year I want for my focus to be more on giving than receiving.
Here is my list:
Five things I want to give away in my lifetime.
5. A New Car. Someone once gave me a car. Actually last year someone gave me a car. It wasn’t new, and it needed some work, but it was a car. I know what a blessing having that car is, so one day I want to be able to bless a family with a new car. Something they can take care of and drive for years without worrying about that monthly payment.
4. A Job. To be apart of God working though someone else’s life would be amazing. To help someone achieve a dream would be amazing.
3. Vacation for a Family. Could you imagine the look on that hard working dads face when he was told that someone had given him a week in the Caribbean for free?!?! All expense paid. Man that would be awesome.
2. Money. I give it away everyday, but usually its for my own good. I want to give more money to the church, to the hungry family, to the YMCA, to help buy shoes for kids in third world countries.
1. A House. I told Kellie about a year ago that I wanted to be able one day to give a house away. And I wanted to give it to a struggling family in the ministry. Someone who has worked hard for the little he has. But still follows the Lord. That would be simply amazing.
Love More
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When I first started thinking about what things I want to change this year, this one kept coming up. Love more. Who couldn’t use more love? And really, how hard could it be to love more? Easy right? That’s what I thought, except this thought then ran through my head, and I suddenly didn’t know if I wanted to “Love More” this year:
To “Love More,” you must “Hate Less.”
I admit I liked the idea of Loving more, but to Hate Less required more of me than I was willing to give. I at first wanted to ignore that principle, and post some nice list that would score points with my wife, and maybe tonight I could “Love More!” After all isn’t that the goal of loving more? In my case unfortunately not. So below is a list of what I hope to love more this year, and my list of what to hate less. The second list wasn’t easy. And I guess if you made a list like that too, it wouldn’t be easy either. Give it a try.
Ways to Love More this Year
5. Show love by spending more time with my family. It’s easy to say, but for some reason tough to do. This year, I want to enjoy my wife and beautiful girls.
4. Intentional Love in Tough Situations. When those tough times come, it’s easy for me to loose my cool and not love.
3. Spread Love. Be infectious in spreading the love of Christ to those who have been blinded by the Evil one.
2. Prove Love. By spending more time in the Bible. I’m not sure if that would “prove” anything, but you get my drift I hope.
1. Make Love. Self explanatory.
Now for the tough List
Ways to Hate Less this Year
5. Forgive. We have all been hurt…probably this year. I know that there are people in my life that I must forgive. I don’t want to. Those people have hurt me. Deeply. But this year if I am going to love more I must hate less. And this is a start.
4. Forget. As hard as it is to do, I have got to force myself to forget. Replace hateful memories with loving memories. As much as I want to forget everything, I can’t do that, I must remember so that I will never do what’s been done to me.
3. Let it go. Just typing this blog is bringing back people into my mind that I hate. I know we aren’t suppose to hate anyone, but if I’m completely honest with myself, I do hate some people. I’ve got to let that go. This blog isn’t letting it go. I start tomorrow.
2. Cry. Be manly, or womanly and cry. There is release in having a good cry.
1. Look Forward. Stop dwelling on the past. It’s not going to get you anywhere.
Hate kills Love. And for me to love more this year, I’ve got to hate less.
Tags: cry, forget, forgive, hate, intentional love, let it go, look forward, love, make love, prove love, show love
Live More
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Ten thing I want to do this year to “LIVE MORE”
10. Whitewater Rafting with my closest friends. Now, I have been whitewater rafting before, but it was almost 6 years ago, and I remember how incredibly fun it was. Let’s do it again!
9. 50×50 In-n-Out with Richard. I’m a big guy and this isn’t going to help the health factor this year, but it’s been talked about for a while now, and it’s time to produce. Richard, get ready, 50×50 is coming.
8. Take a spontaneous trip more than 300 miles away from home. Like a spur of the moment trip to NYC, or a hey we have a couple days, let’s hit Disney. These tend to be a bit more difficult with children, but hey it’s more of an adventure that way.
7. Geocaching. I have friends who talk about this, and I think that I would dig it, so this year, I’m going to throw down a C note and buy that hand held GPS and start geocaching. For those of you who don’t have an idea what it is, the best way I can explain it, is it’s like hide-and-seek on crack…for adults.
6. Drop some lbs. I know its such a popular resolution, but it’s time. I tried last year to do the whole Body for Life deal, but at the time Life was just……sorry, no more excuses. Target weight for D’Art in 2008: 240 lbs.
5. Go camping with my family. Kellie and I have braved the woods before, but never with kids. This year might just be the year to take the family on a nice tent camping trip. The girls would love it….hahahaha.
4. Play more. Hide-and-Seek, tag, flag football, volleyball, lawn darts, red rover, basketball, lacrosse, Rook, Phase 10, spoons, speed Uno…
3. Regular Date Nights. The last couple of years, Kellie and I haven’t regurally gone out on Date Nights. I think it’s important and necessary. I love that girl. Date Nights = Living More!
2. Enlarge my circle of friends. I want to share this life with people I truly care about, and the more true friends you can do that with the better.
1. Enjoy the Mundane. It’s easy to enjoy the quick times, and it’s easy to gain from the hard times, but the mundane seems to get forgotten about. I believe that the mundane, while comfortable, can suck the life out of living, if you let it. Or it can be a place of intentional growth and life. I choose that one.
Tags: camping, date night, friends, geocaching, mundane, play, pounds, rafting
