Random Thoughts on a Friday Night

• Sara and I spent a good part of the day outside. We raked the back yard (last week I raked the front) and uprooted a few thousand tiny maple trees that have sprung up everywhere. Then we spent a couple of hours removing sod and tilling soil, preparing some spots to the left and right of our front walk where we'll eventually plant some flowers and herbs. It feels really good to get your hands in the dirt!
  

• I've been watching pieces of the live stream of General Conference now and then, and I have to say, I find the whole thing quite puzzling. Petition 81,000-something-or-other... Calendar item 1100-and-then-some... page 2,149 in the DCA... I'm sure all that is really important stuff, but I do have to wonder, did God intend for the church to become a bureaucracy? And I wonder.... Whom would Jesus exclude, really? Is there hope for our church? What would we need to do differently to truly focus on being the Body of Christ, seeking first the Kingdom of God?
  

• Tomorrow we're participating in a Potato Planting Party, sponsored by Cultivating Community, an organization that uses gardening to empower youth and then donates the vegetables it harvests to low-income families and elderly persons living in public housing, who otherwise might not have locally grown, organic produce.
  

• Sunday is my grandfather's 92nd birthday, and we're headed to his birthday party following worship. I don't recall that I've ever been with him on his birthday. Should be a good time.
  

• We went out for ice-cream tonight with friends. Mmmmm...