The Buchanans are Moving
My apologies to everyone who may be hearing this for the first time via blog. It’s is not the preferred or ideal way to communicate news like this but I do want to make sure that people are in the loop, especially those who we have walked with for the past several years.
Angela and I are officially moving to Orlando! After much prayer and counsel, we believe that the Lord is moving us into a new season of our lives. As many of you may know, my church, New Song Christian Fellowship, has graciously released me to work for Exodus International for the past year and a half. I am now at the point in my position that I can no longer continue to effectively serve Exodus long distance. As we began the process of considering this move with the Exodus team, the opportunity arose for Angela to also come on board and serve in the area of communications. As we processed this together and with our team at New Song, it quickly became apparent that the Lord was calling us to Orlando.
We have put our home on the market as of yesterday and we will relocate once the house sells. As this is a significant transition and step of faith for both of us, we covet your prayers. Please pray for the quick sale of our home. We believe that the Lord has a specific buyer and that He wants to reveal Himself through this situation. Also, pray for God’s grace and provision for us in this next season. We truly desire to find the home that He would have for us in this next chapter of our lives.
While we are excited about new beginnings, it is certainly a bittersweet experience. We have lived in Nashville for the past 15 years and we both love our church family very much. I will never be able to adequately express my gratitude to those at New Song who have had such an instrumental part in my spiritual growth. You have made an eternal investment.
We will be keeping everyone in touch with this transition and our work with Exodus International via newsletter as we will be receiving missions support from our church. If you would like to be on our mailing list, please let me know.
Thank you for the place you have had in our lives and we are excited to share this journey with you!
Blessings!
Jeff & Angela Buchanan
Crash-a-Rama Challenge
My friend Randy (co-worker and boss at Exodus International) is going to be attending this event this evening:
If you know Randy, then you know just how entertaining this will be for those able to witness it. In the spirit of the event, I’m sending Randy on a Crash-a-Rama scavenger hunt. Randy will need to bring back the following photos from the event.
1. Woman wearing a bandana kerchief-style halter top with a pair of wood-grain Candies. (Extra credit for more than one picture or a picture of a group of women dressed this way.)
2. A middle-age woman wearing a muu-muu and eating pork rinds dipped in Miracle Whip. (Food requirement waived via negotiation)
3. Kissing cousins Renegotiated for a couple just hanging all over each other in that “Billy Bob and Ellen Sue go to the State Fair” kind of way.
4. Five mullets standing in a row in the Corn Dog line.
5. A “post-gay” man eating a corn dog, bear claw, chased with a Bud Light.
6. A picture of Randy having survived this ordeal.
If Randy successfully can bring back all of these pictures, i will give him a $30 gift card to Starbucks. Let the games begin!
One too many “Nights in Rodanthe”
Last night was a “date night at home” night so we decided to get a pizza and rent a movie for the evening. Evenings like this are rare which can make it difficult to decide which movie to choose. After scrolling through our options, watching trailers, and going back an forth on possible picks, we decided to go with “Nights in Rodanthe.” Primarily because we like Diane Lane and the first movie we saw on our honeymoon was actually a Diane Lane flick (Under the Tuscan Sun). So, we got our popcorn, tea, and settled in.
remote
menu
press “On Demand”
scroll
press “buy”
confirm
title credits
regret
deep regret
shocked disdain
mocking hysterical laughter
anger at $4.99 rental fee
more mocking
praying for rapture to end human suffering
end credits.
Need I say more?
Actually, yes I do. This movie was cinematic ipecac (drug used to induce vomiting after accidental poisoning). I have never witnessed such needless, mindless, and pointless sentimentality with virtually no plot. To call it “sappy” would be a step up. The acting in this film was about as convincing and riveting as St. Millicent’s Parochial School for Girls’ 4th-grade production of “Dead Man Walking.” I can only imagine what directions the director was giving while filming this:
“Look sad.”
“Walk on the beach and look sad.”
“Read the letter, look sad and cry.”
“I’m not really sure what this scene is about but look sad, cry, rant a little, hug each other, and then look sad.”
All this to say, avoid this film! It will sear your soul void of any legitimate sentiment for those you love. This movie is bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
By the way,
Richard Gere’s character dies at the end.
I’m sorry but I felt that was necessary. You’ll thank me one day.
The Mac I Never Knew
Ok I realize that I haven’t posted for over a week but I have a good excuse. I’ve converted. Switched over. Gone to the other side. Yes, I am now officially a Mac user. It took a while to get my files transferred and my email and contact information converted while maintaining some level of work productivity. But, oh, was it worth it.
I have heard Mac users in the past tell me about the wonders of a Mac vs. PC. I would walk through an airport and see the clusters of stylish cases with their little fruit logos that would light up like a beacon of hope for a new world order. These Macinites would even seem to huddle together like nesting penguins and speak in strange tongues or “Mac-speak.” I thought they were evil. Part of a fraternity of devil spawn meant to suck me into their embittered web of Steve Jobs propaganda and deceit. Well, maybe that’s a little over the top . . . but I did think it was a lot of biased hype. You see, I was raised on PC and when I was doing database programming, PC was the only viable platform. But that was 6 years ago and things have changed. My wife will tell you that I can be a sucker for marketing so I have to admit the Apple commercials became intriguing to me. I would find myself peering over the shoulders of Mac worshipers and become entranced with things that were foreign to me such as speed and simplified menus. Finally the frustration of missing .dll files, error messages, constant start-ups and shut-downs, viruses, and program speeds that I could have rivaled with a chisel and stone pushed me over the edge. As my last PC began to take it’s last steps into the bright light, I said the words, “I___want___a___Mac.”
I powered up the strange little machine and what would follow would alter me forever. There are colors I’ve never seen and a screen so vivid I had to look away at first. All of my programs are waiting for me in a neat little line ecstatically wanting to be used as I briefly acknowledge their existence with the pass of my mouse. Then I’m introduced to “Spaces” and “Expose’.” I practically squeal with glee. Even my Office programs had features I never knew could exist. You close the monitor and it goes to sleep. You open it and it instantly wakes up! The list goes on and on.
But then I began to think of my life for the past 14 years. The pain, the suffering, the endless calls to tech support. I felt my heart grow cold. I could taste a bitter acidity as I realized . . .
I’d been lied to . . . . . . . . . brainwashed.
Bill Gates and his minions in their Seattle compound were one step away from having me selling roses at an intersection.
I had become a Microsoft Moonie.
Never again! Today, I apologize to Mac users everywhere for the intolerance and persecution you have endured. I am one of you and have always been at heart. You are my tribe. You are my people.
When It Hits the Fan
Ever have one of those weeks where it seems that if it can go wrong it will? Well, welcome to my week. It’s like attending a cow pie skeet-shoot and everyone yells “pull” at the same time and you’re left without an umbrella (get the picture?). I’m talking about situations that range from the usual daily drama to the legitimately justified crisis all the way to the “you’ve got to be kidding me” ridiculous scenarios that can only be resolved by pharmaceutical intervention (and no, I don’t mean me).
I certainly don’t want to make light of legitimate situations that are truly unavoidable and unintentional, it’s just the things that are unnecessary and can be prevented that are most challenging. But these things do happen and believe it or not, they have a purpose.
A few weeks ago, I felt that God was telling me to get ready for some stormy days ahead. Not exactly what I typically like to hear. But I realized that He was telling me so that I could focus and not become distracted. As I was considering all of this, I was reminded of the potential benefits that storms can bring (I realize I’m changing metaphors but this is a little . . . ahem . . . less delicate to work around).
Sometimes storms leave behind damage and destruction along with heavy rain. In the midst and aftermath of a storm, you can feel disoriented, confused, and depending on the situation, a sense of loss. However have you also noticed how clean the air is afterwards and how months of filth and dirt that have accumulated have been washed away? You often see on the evening news how, in the midst of wreckage and debris, people begin to come together to provide relief and assistance. There is a sense of unity that begins to form between people who were once strangers. There is a common purpose that moves beyond people’s preferences and provides an opportunity for their character to be revealed. It is during the rescue and rebuilding that heroes are made or discovered. Challenging situations that seem insurmountable can give us some of our greatest stories of faithfulness, loyalty, provision and friendship. No one likes going through a storm and having to wait it out. But you have to remember, they don’t last forever. They can just seem like they do. Next time you see storm clouds on the horizon, just remember that they can also bring great opportunities with them.
And as for things hitting the fan, . . . well . . . I’ll just leave it at that.