New Staff Photos!

The new staff photos and bios are up for this year’s INN staff.

Busy week

It will probably be a quiet week on the blog, as I am busy wrapping up my Whatcom Land Trust web design project this week, in preparation for the return back to full time at the INN next week.

Check out the new pictures on the right side from my sister Lora’s graduation this last weekend. What a happy family!

A Death of a Blog

Let’s face it, if you’re visiting the site today, you are probably surprised to see a new post. For that, I’m kind of disappointed. I haven’t really spent much time writing over the last few months, what with a busy end of the year at the INN and the start of summer. So, I’ve made a conscious decision to "kill" this blog. That’s right….twenty-three as we know it is going to go away for a while.

I hope you’re not too saddened by this news. But, I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I want to give some space for the death of a blog, as well as hint ever so slightly at the prospect of a rebirth. Have you ever heard the myth of the phoenix? Let’s leave it at that and we’ll see where it goes, ok?

I’ll plan to keep this blog active until the middle of August or so, giving just enough time for everyone to get the news. If you are interested in any further developments, rising out of the ashes, please send me an email or leave a comment and I’ll be sure to keep you posted. Thanks!

Addendum:

Because of all your great comments, I’m going to try to imagine up some new ways of working on this site before I throw in the towel. I’m still not thrilled about paying $10/month for this when I could design a nice, free template on WordPress. But, this TypePad setup is really familiar, and I really like what I’ve heard from all ya’ll about keeping this thing going.

Here’s the deal: I’d really like to hear more about what you’d like to hear about on this blog, so please let me know what I can do differently (besides post more often, Sean), post on more, post on less, etc. For my part, I’m going to work out some new designs and see what I can do with this setup to freshen it up a bit for the fall. Sound good?

Seth

Day Off/Web Design day 1

The INN office is closed today for the long weekend and because we had our Spring Retreat last weekend, so everyone is in need of a break and some rest. This means I’m free and I have time to start diving into my summer web design project: the Whatcom Land Trust.

Today I’ve been hopping around town between meals with friends and wi-fi spots. I’m excited for a summer of working on this new website project. It will be a complete redesign and development of their current site (www.whatcomlandtrust.org). This means there will be many days spent around downtown Bellingham, sampling a variety of the towns best coffees, bagels, and donuts. I’ll be riding my bike into town to offset the calories and the sitting all day. I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on how the project goes, as well as other fun summer stuff.

Reflections by the wayside

Hello. My name is Seth. You might not remember me, but I used to write on this blog quite a bit. However, the last few weeks (months) have been very busy, and I haven’t had the energy to spend much time writing. So, I thought I’d apologize for all my "Weekly Reflections" that have slowly gone by the wayside and all the witting little musings I’ve ignored. Hope you’ll forgive me and still read this occasionally.

I thought it might be appropriate to catch everybody up on what’s happened with me over the last few months, things I never blogged about or wished I could have but just didn’t.

1. I’ve opened my own business – Seth James Thomas Web Design. I may have written about this a little, but it’s official now, I even have a client for the summer. Woohoo!

2. Stacy and I almost bought a house. Really, like we went almost all the way, money down, inspections, the whole deal. That was pretty fun (trans. "stressful").

3. I went to Vancouver on a mission trip with the INN. I wrote a lot about that, so check back a few posts or check out the "Missions" tag on the right.

4. The INN year is winding to a close, which means we’re already getting ready for next year. Small group leader interviews, summer internship interviews, and a Senior Staff search. I’ve heard a lot of great stories from students about why they love the INN, why they want to be involved, and how God is showing them ways to do just that.

5. I’ve used a BBQ indoors and planted my first tomato on our deck.

See, there’s a lot that’s been going on. There’s been plenty more, but I can’t remember all of it. This is all to say that I hope to get back into the swing of things, writing about life, faith, doubt, and the dancing tension that I feel I’m living in as I grow this year. Most of the time I don’t even know who’s out there reading along (besides Sean, who claims he reads every day). But, I’m gonna try to be back. Here goes.

Business as usual

Today our nation experienced the worst shooting massacre in it’s history. The rampage at Virginia Polytechnic marks the deadliest campus shooting since 1966, where 16 people were killed by a gunner at the University of Texas. This also comes during the week of the 8th anniversary of the Columbine shooting in Colorado on April 20, 1999.

Not to sound jaded or cynical, but while the government has issued their patented "we grieve for the losses of today" statement, they continue on with business as usual. Which means: turning our attention to Iraq, to larger spending bills, away from domestic issues. Instead of taking time today to reflect on how to respond to such horrific violence as a nation with an inward focus, President Bush has proceeded as planned to discuss his reasoning for a "clean" Iraq war supplement, bringing in more money for more troops for the war.

Now, normally, with the disasters that have wrought the last 7 years in America, our President has jumped into "don’t let them (the terrorists) stop us by changing the way you live" mode. So, is that what we do today? At 11:00 EST we hold a press conference to encourage Congress to bring a clean bill with no end-of-war deadlines to the table, all about Iraq, when just a couple hours before there was the most violent shooting attack in America’s HISTORY?!? "We must have resolve, we must not relinquish our fight, blah, blah, blah."

Maybe I’m being overly critical. I guess I’m just struck by our resolve to fight terrorists abroad, where there are dozens of deaths every week, but the lack of focus the government chooses to give when there is blood on our own soil. Our own people are killing each other every day, but we’re more interested in our foreign relations to turn our attention and deal with it.

Back Home

We made it home safely yesterday, across the border, and back into Bellingham after a great week in Vancouver. Thank you for all the supportive prayers this week.

As you might have noticed, the "tour de Blenz" sort off fell of after the third day, so I’m going to try to go back now and write a bit about each of our days up in Vancouver and post them in order. Stay tuned to those updates.

Weekly Reflection – 2/11/07

I’m taking a week off from writing. Lots going on. I’ll be back soon, don’t you worry.

Lost: Season 2

Just got back from the INN staff retreat. Stacy’s in full swing at school. It’s the weekend though and it’s time for:

Today’s stress is brought to you by the letter “R”

Funny how the smallest things can shape our days. Today, unfortunately, it was only a single letter. We got back some brochures from the printer today, announcing the new business I’m marketing, only to find the following headline in the text: "Reserve You Next Meeting." (Ahh, if only the letter ‘r’ had decided to join the party).

While a minor disappointment in the grade-ole scheme of things, this sets my heart to racing and stresses me out. What do we do? Send them back? Who overlooked this? (Me). What will our potential clients think? I could not believe that I’d made another mistake.

I think I’m often overly hard on myself when it comes to messing up. I take my job seriously and I invest a lot of feeling in what I’m doing. I am very proud of a job well done and I’m often distraught when I find I’ve let someone down or made a mistake.

I was watching a clip from ESPN’s Baseball Tonight at the pub this evening, showing a shortstop screwing up on a routine ground ball. He looked pretty dejected in the seconds following. That’s how I felt. But honestly, what else can I do but just keep on moving. I have to know that I will make these mistakes. He will miss ground balls again. Pitchers will hit batters in the head with the ball. Outfielders will loose the pop-up in the sunlight or run into each other. Even the best. I will probably misspell something, forget to say thank you, have a late bill payment, or get a speeding ticket. It teaches me that I’m not the only one who’s not perfect and that I’m going to make mistakes.

Is there grace for the mistake makers? Yes, I know that God will look down and say, "Get up and try again." No worries there.

Do we offer each other that same grace? Less often than we should and often much more sparingly than people need.

These mistakes are healthy, they keep me humble. And how I choose to deal with it is really what says the most about me. I’m going to keep working hard, trying to make those things happen less and less. But I’m comfortable introducing myself to someone with the disclaimer that I’ll probably let them down or forget their name or under tip them or whatever…

May I be able to offer the same Grace that is offered me and the same Patience I don’t deserve but receive.