ken castor

Castor Monster Mash Video

My wife, Kathy, made this crazy jibjab Monster Mash video of our family for Halloween. Hilarious! Nothing too spiritual about this except that it celebrates our family. Thought it was worth sharing. I didn't know I could dance so well! I especially love Benji's werewolf smile!

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5,479 DAYS STRAIGHT!! I'm an ironman!!

FIVE
THOUSAND
FOUR
HUNDRED
SEVENTY
NINE

That's my best mathematical guess at how many days Kathy and I have been married.  Every day since March 5, 1994 I have been married to my wedded wife.  That's awesome!  It's like I'm Cal Ripken!  Never missed a day!  I've been showin' up for work and gettin' the job done.  Through the better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and in health.  I have loved, do love, and will continue to love my wife.  Happy Anniversary, Kathy!!

BETTER- That's been most of those 5,479 days.  Most every day has been better.  We are very blessed!
WORSE- Very few have been worse.  But even on those "worse" days we have been secure in one another.  I know God has pulled us through a lot of things... and I'm so thankful, Kathy, for your constant faith and abiding love!
RICHER- We've never been "wealthy" compared to many western standards, but we have always had what we needed and have been often blessed with much more.  That goes for more than money... That includes joy and abundance of life too.  I'm grateful to be blessed in this way so that we can bless others.
POORER- We've had only a few poorer days... Of course, Kathy has sacrificed a lot so that I could pursue more education... (Almost done!).  I got pretty sick of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches in the early years.
SICKNESS- The worst of the worse days and best of the better days somehow seem to be in times of sickness... and sometimes it's intimately both worse and better all at once.  The crushing stress of your spouse's illness... the fear of what could happen... can bring a sweetness alongside the bitter suffering.  I'm not sure that I've ever felt such an acuteness of love and life as I have during the times of sickness.  But please... let's not have any more times like that!! : )
HEALTH-  I have the privilege of meeting with many couples in preparation for their weddings... and I always try to point out how important it is to vow to one another your faithful love during times of health.  I think most marriages, if not checked, will embrace complacency during times of health.  Sometimes a good shot of sickness is just what's needed to remind us of what we could lose... or to turn off our selfish/inward button for a while.  Kathy... THANKS for loving me in times of health!  Thanks for loving me today... a health-full time.  I cherish that. 

Now... let's go on a date!!

chinook

  Introducing Chinook... the new addition to our household!  She's 1 year old... some kind of huskie/collie/shepherd mix.  Chinook has an amazing temperament and is great with the kids. 

fun in the sun/snow

There is not much better than 12 degrees celsius and a couple feet of snow on the ground.  Can anyone say "Snowball Fight!!!"  Our son Zachary had a blast blasting his dad this weekend!!

fresh start

I've been away visiting my parents down south this last week.  The photo is of my boys (re)teaching me how to enjoy life to the full.  We're all back home now and ready to start 2009.  I pray this year will be a fresh start for our family... for our faith... and for the mission we have.  As I say often, I really value those who read this blog and those who engage in the posts.  I look forward to growing with you this year.  Blessings to you!

oatmeal rant

Bluragh!! Bluragh!! Bluragh! Bluragh!  I can't stand my alarm clock.  Not sure why I haven't gotten a new one.  Perhaps because the one I have is so effective in nearly killing me awake.  It carjacks me out of my deep, restful slumber.  That awful "BLURAGH! BLURAGH!" digital annoyance bluraghing in my ears.  The alarm clock doesn't even have a nice sounding radio.  And I hold bitterness against it every day.  What a terrible device.  A machine that wakes people up from the rest(oration) their body needs.  Argh.

So I now try to race the clock.  I try to wake up before the alarm.  I usually lose this race... but I'm training and preparing.  I'll set the alarm with determination-- praying for the strength to arise early and turn the mechanical nightmare waker off.

Which begs a question... when the alarm goes "off" in the morning... why do I have to turn it "off"?

Anyways, now I find myself right now making oatmeal for my son.  I've poured in the oats and water and set the timer on the microwave.  Now that crazy radioactive appliance is laser-ing my brain with it's "beeeeep... beeeeep... beeeeep... beeeeep..." - just waiting for me to stop writing this little post.

What does this have to do with following Jesus?  Well... obviously I need a change of attitude today.  Even in my grumpiness I understand I'm not living a transformed life in this moment.  For when I live in reaction to all the bluraghs in life, I often live with exhaustion and frustration from just trying to keep up... just trying to respond to the stimulus and timers around me.  Perhaps today I need to take a deep breath and begin to live in readiness.  For when I am prepared, I seem to rest more, to laugh more, to smile with God more, to enjoy life more... and strangely... to enjoy waking up more.

photo Friday

How about just a simple picture today... perhaps a reflection on being a Jesus Follower anywhere at anytime... I took this photo of the Temple Bar area of Dublin... where Kathy and I enjoyed a couple days this month.

reactivate

Dan, Laura, Kathy and I are spending some time in Belfast this week for Reactivate at Orangefield Church and Community.  Orangefield is hosting this conference with speakers from all over the UK... and me.  I'm speaking Wednesday-Saturday during the youth sessions late in the evenings.  Looking forward to telling stories about the Boston subway, Brad Pitt, upside down living, and "Thuthan."  We're looking at Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and John 13.  I'm pumped to spend this time with Kathy and to see Dan and Laura in ministry action too.  Dan is our worship leader for hub... he's going to be doing what he's so gifted to do as well as helping with some devotional ministry for the Youth for Christ staff of Northern Ireland.  It'll be so good to connect with Steve and Rebecca McCready and so many of our other friends there once again.

We're also thankful for the many people who are caring for our home and our kids while we're away.  May your time be rich and fun and safe!  Can't wait to get home and hug my kids already! 

And in case you missed these, here are the two wee promo videos we made for the conference.  Enjoy!

remembering 9-11

Seven years ago, we lived just over an hour from Manhattan.  The church I worked in was on the border of Connecticut and Rhode Island, near a nuclear submarine base in Groton.  I remember going into the office and somebody commenting about a plane hitting the World Trade Center.  I turned on the TV, watched in horror as smoke billowed from the first tower, just as millions had begun to do that morning.

Then the second plane hit.

I had a mentoring call scheduled with my dear friend, Bill Armerding, who lived in Vancouver.  I called him shortly after 9am, 6am his time.  I said, "We'll have to postpone our call."  He turned on the TV too.

I called my wife... strangely worried that I might not see her again.  The silly thing was that she worked just down the street... but nobody could figure out what was happening.  It's a remarkable thing how in this tragic moment I just wanted to be with her.  Being apart from her at that moment seemed very wrong.

what i like to do

So here I am doing what I like to do: teaching with a whiteboard.  James Smoker took this photo at our hub kickoff on Sunday night right as the dry-erase was in full swing... and I was loving it.  The diagram is of Romans 16, which also serves as a metaphor for our organizational / missional structure through the hub.  It was a good night... Hopefully the first of many this year where God collides with us.