Mantime

You've got to have it sometimes and when you become limited to yearly get togethers, one must creatively make up for lost time.

We did.

8 great friends and a photography studio. Indeed, we spontaneously found ourselves in a studio taking what turned out to be hilarious photographs for several hours.
I love this group of guys. We're all so very different from one another, yet the depth of our affection is a reflection of each others radical commitment to serving and loving one another through Christ. A comedian, worship leader, professional photographer, counselor, academic, community center director, youth pastor, and teacher.

It's a joy to witness the flourishing of friendships over the years, and to participate in one anothers' journeys and dedication to our respected disciplines and fields.
Gotta love mantime.

30 days to live

Jim and Maralyn were missionaries in Europe from 1998 to 2007, teaching at a university in Belgium and more recently Finland. Maralyn was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrigs disease) and they decided to return home to both retire and battle this illness.

Over the last year, Maralyn has chronicled her journey with ALS and as her doctors reports and physical symptoms continued to worsen throughout the year, her online thoughts became more challenging and inspirational.

In her most recent post, she shared her doctor believed she has less than a month to live.

I would encourage you to read through some of her stories, in particular her most recent post on going through the process of knowing you're going to die within a month.

It's amazing.

CLICK HERE

Bellini Syndrome

I walked outside and saw the nativity looking quite sad: the two magai appeared cold as they huddled together. The other magai keeled over from thinking the frankincense was a glass of wine. The camel upon staring at Mary and Joseph for two solid weeks decided enough was enough.

It made me think of our view of our own interpretations of the birth of Christ.

No matter how much we might not like to acknowledge it, the incarnation of God in human form occurred in exceedingly ordinary circumstances. Jesus was born a poor, rural child caught up in the global politics of Caesar Augustus and the Roman consensus to number everyone in the empire.

Bellini was an artist in the 16th century who painted several portraits of Mary holding Jesus using mellow tones enthroned in a gilded atmosphere, typical of the best Renaissance work. It was obviously not painted to replicate the real nativity, but rather was a symbolic representation of the importance of Christ's birth. It can't help but occur to even the most casual observer that the church even today sometimes suffers from the 'Bellini Syndrome'.We still want to assist Jesus by making him grander, more saviorlike, than he really appeared, and in doing so we domesticate him. Even today we want to wrench him from the pages of the New Testament, where he is presented as a real man who suffered and died and rose again. And yet, the incarnation remains an offense of monumental proportions.

Theologically, the idea of God presented in human flesh is absurd enough, but as if to emphasize that the incarnation calls for action, not just reflection, God's human manifestation occurs in an extradordinarily ordinary way. From our perspective, we assume that God's arrival on the earth ought to be accompanied by the kind of strange goings-on that we depict in nativity plays: cows that never pop, a baby that never cries ("no crying he makes"), magais' camels settled in the stable.

Michael Foster said this: "The one thing that we can't bear for Jesus to be is ordinary, for his ordinariness invites us to follow him by providing us with a template of how to master the art of living and become more like our Creator, even as an ordinary human being. His ordinary beginnings were in fact extraordinary."

Traditions: new and old

With the pace of change all around us, it's always refreshing to come home to Naperville where much remains the same. The town itself has grown dramatically over the years, with new stores and houses popping up every year that we return, but some things never change.

Like....

My father picking me up at the airport with my smiling nephews. Going to Portillos. Mary and Joseph in the front yard of 649 N Eagle street. 649 N. Eagle St. The warm welcome from my mother. Dollar gifts to each family member. Game night (Moods) Christmas Eve. Laughing. Snowstorm in Chicago. Doing all your shopping on Christmas Eve. Wrapping the gifts together in the basement, sometimes asking the person you're wrapping a gift for to turn away. Brunch at Father-in-law with Cinabon. Sausage egg and cheese. Gift-giving by age. The same family picture. My brother-in-laws arbitrary gifts (this year a bowls to children). Mother-in-laws tenderloin sandwiches. Winning in settlers expansion pack. Winner of game gives to favorite charity (this year to The Well in Thailand). Hugs. Goodbyes.

What's been new:

Extension cords and magai making their journey towards Mary and Joesph. The neighbors asking why the magai are a block down the street. Sledding with the nephews. High-School reunion. A niece that looks like Cindy Lou Who. Going to the Zoo with the nephews. Pregnancy tests. Banana hammocks. T-shirts that say "rarry rocks". Birthday cake for Jesus. No gifts at mother-in-laws. Mother-in-law breaking the no-gifts rule. Son-in-law happy mother-in-law broke no gifts rule so son-in-law can purchase clothes.

I love our traditions both new and old, I love the ability to realign with family, I love spending time in prayer Christmas morning, I love celebrating with my wife, I love stability and things that don't change, I love giving, I love receiving, I love Christmas.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

Dave and Kate

Coach Ed

Untitled from David Schmidgall on Vimeo.
Kate and I arrived in Chicago to a frigid -5 degrees. I went to watch my Dad coach his 8th grade basketball team this morning with my nephew.

My Dad taught for over 35 years and in that span coached several sports, including badmitten, basketball and tennis. I've never witnessed a team of boys whose understanding of their skill level was so far removed from reality. It must be difficult as a coach to walk the fine line of first explaining to kids who think they're good that they aren't, then getting them to then become coachable enough to positively change. I had this thought: when you admit to a weakness, you're often times the last person to recognize it. Scary thought.

Watching him reminded me of how good he is with seeing potential in students. Despite their inability to dribble, pass or shoot, he continues to work through the fundamentals with them.

It's a good memory you know you'll share with family in the future.

Pop Culture Fill

The bad news is I waited two hours for the back specialist to look at my lower back at Georgetown University Hospital to give me all of 5 minutes of his time. Good news is researchers say that it's safe to heat plastic containers in a microwave.

Yes, I devoured Good Housekeeping magazine because that was the only thing available. There was a nun sitting patiently when I arrived, but she viciously snagged the only other magazine, Sports Illustrated. I'll be honest, there was nothing vicious about her actions, but that certainly would have been a great photograph of her and I reading Good Housekeeping and Sport Illustrated.

Kate and I don't watch television, so I now have to rely on random delays in the doctor's office, or waiting in line at Target to read up on anything new. Did you know that Jon and Kate plus 8 is the highest rated show on TLC? Over 24.6 million viewers/week! And oh my gosh Jen is so jealous of Angelina and her children. Bradgelina's house looks like a nursery at the UN.

Despite the wait, feel great about this doctor who is apparently one of the best back surgeons in the States. I need to get an updated MRI and run through some physical therapy before any real decisions are made with surgery.

Just another day at the doctor's office.

red, white and blue

With tears in my eyes, I witnessed 701 people representing 104 countries become US citizens in a ceremony held here in DC today. One of them happened to be Dairo, the leader of our spanish ministry here at NCC.

It was the largest single naturalization ceremony in history for Washington DC. As each person stood, they would wave their US flag with such intensity and appreciation. Each represented a story of perseverance, some overcoming tremendous odds and marking this day as a celebration of freedom.

These people, some with only the clothes on their back, came to the US looking for a better life, to unite with family, to have the freedoms we citizens that were born with these unalienable rights take for granted all too routinely. I quietly reflected on the blessing it is to be a part of an idea that all are created equal; there are no second-class citizens.

So cool to watch my fellow citizens sing the national anthem for the first time.

I see more Jeep Wranglers

Got to sit with Mark Batterson, our lead pastor and author of Wild Goose Chase, and talk about goal setting.

I enjoy sitting down with leaders when it's off the cuff and unpolished. I actually get more out of that stuff than well-prepared speeches. Anyways, he took us through his year-end process and had some good food for thought. Here were the notes:

Why set goals?

It all comes back to the reticular activating system.

The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is a set of nerve cells in the brainstem that regulate alertness and attention. We are bombarded by thousands of stimuli every second--different sights, sounds and sensations. It is the job of the RAS to regulate which stimuli you pay attention to and which stimuli you ignore. It is the filter. The RAS determines what you notice and what goes unnoticed.

This is how it works: When I purchased a Jeep Wrangler, that created a category in my RAS. Out of nowhere, the amount of Wrangler's on the road seemed to triple in quantity.

That is the function of the RAS. You didn't have a category for your car before you bought it. But once you made the purchase or drove out of the dealership, you had a new cognitive category.

How do goals fit in?

Goals create cognitive categories. And you begin to notice anything and everything that will help you achieve that goal.

Bodil Jonsson said, "Everybody has internal scouts. If you've just learned you're pregnant, you'll see women with big bellies and parents with baby buggies everywhere. If you've started thinking that the spot on your back might be malignant, you'll feel it rubbing against your shirt all day long. A person's perceptions are guided to a great extent by his scouts."

Goals are internal scouts.

Great quote: "When it comes to the future there are only three kind of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen and those who wonder what happened."

promo video

Finally created a 1-minute promo video from a wedding shot in Scotland.

I don't like to push this on the site, but tis the season to get engaged. If you know of anyone who recently got engaged, send them over to my updated site.

Check it out!

if there was one thing you wanted.....

We celebrated our staff Christmas party in fashion down at the riverside in Georgetown. It happened to be where I had taken Kate for dinner following my smooth proposal over 4 years ago.

Good food, good fun, good people. Kate and I love being a part of this staff. You get everyone in the room and start to recognize all the talent that exists within a single team. That's a testament to the leadership and the kind of people they attract.

The game we played was guessing people's ultimate single wish.

If you had a single wish, what would you wish for?

Mine was completely true: a lifetime, unlimited air-travel pass.

perhaps this is the year

Helped with the live nativity that we do every year. Always attracts hundreds of kids, though I think the guys mask their intrigue with the animals, particularly the llamas with their children, love those animals.

The live nativity by no means replaces my parents nativity set that's been up since before I was born. In just 8 short days, I'll be driving down Eagle street with sweet Mary and Joe sitting patiently in our yard.

My brother and I have always talked about setting up the wisemen way down the street hooked up with a bunch of extension cords. Each day, we'd bring them closer to the manger.

Perhaps this is the year.

try it

You know you're having some authentic ethnic cuisine when you and your mate are the only two white guys in the room. It was all Ethiopians.

Washington DC has the largest diaspora of Ethiopians in the US. That means there are loads of restaurants that serve my favorite food in the world.

John Hasler, who's leading the massive missions trip to Ethiopia this year and myself had a meeting today. Why not meet while dining at Habesha.

Here's a tidbit:

The cuisine takes on different attractive personas, registering searing intensity (with jalapeño peppers and mitmita sp?, a hot chili powder), manliness (lots of beef and lamb chunks) and familiarity (collard greens and lentil). But its most endearing quality is that it must be eaten with fingers. The handiwork is done with injera, a brown, spongy, sour pancake-like bread that is served in folded sheets neatly heaped on a plate.

The eating process begins by tearing pieces from the sheets, placing the tatters between your thumb and fingers and pinching bits of doro wat (spicy chicken)into the bread before slipping the bundle between your lips.

Descriptive enough? Try it.

heroine addicts and style guides

Had a great meeting this morning with someone who is an executive producer over at National Geographic. So cool to hear a few of the stories from the on-site locations. One of their first experiences in doing an assignment abroad was working with heroine addicts in Oslo, Norway.

She shared of this intense internal dialogue that goes on when you're developing films with dark subject matter such as capturing people injecting themselves with heroine. Your natural instinct is to respond, to help. You must not intervene, however. That is the difference between making a good or excellent film; emotional attachment, loss of perspective, lack of vision.

Felt like I was in class for a few hours. She brought along a bunch of materials they use in early stages of development, such as style guides and beat sheets.

Following in line with the vision and leadership at NCC to empower people to pursue their God-given passions, it has become part of the strategy to form a team of media professionals in film and television here in DC, and begin building mobile media teams to explore new ways to communicate what God is doing throughout the world.

"girl" event

Had our Girl event yesterday and thought it was a win on a number of levels. First, the flow was steady all four hours. We were debating on whether to show the film once and have a presentation, or spread it out and let people view the film at different times throughout the day. Thought the turnout was better than we expected.Second, the response was fantastic. So much positive feedback from the layout of the room, the atmosphere, the quality of photography, and the film. Third, product sales. I don't have the final figures, but we far exceeded what we expected to sell. The Well, as part of their approach, makes and sells products to generate income for the women coming out of sex slavery. Bags, purses, jewelry, cards; these were all on display and saw a cluster of people purchasing the entire time. So pumped to email Jim Larson, the founder of The Well, and let him know how good the response was and that additional financial support is on the way.Fourth, follow-up. Ran into a number of photographers and filmmakers who expressed a sincere interest in getting involved in future projects with aone:eight. It was my prayer, that if we pulled together a night with excellence, we'd get people with passion and giftings in the area of media and communication, to come along side and begin to build a team. I think last night was another big step forward.Excited to continue to build missions here at NCC. Right after the event, we had a meeting for the Ethiopia trip that has over 40 committments! I love this momentum.

the (un)impressive tree

Some friends of ours had extra tickets to the annual White House Christmas Tree lighting event. People apparently camp out the day before the ticket sales to get in.We both had a lot of work to do and were reluctant to even go. So glad we did. It's easy to forget we're 15 minutes from the White House, so participating in an annual event that attracts thousands was a no-brainer. Not a life-changing experience, but one of those where you're glad you did it; hugging on my wife, overlooking the White House and Washington Monument and listening to Christmas carols. Just wish they would have had Mariah Carey bust out "Holy Night" off her album. I can listen to that one year-round.

President Bush gave his obligatory speech, then pushed the button to light the Christmas tree. Needless to say, it was a bit anti-climactic. The views were worth it though and the weather was perfect.

post-modern stained glass

Everything is an experiment.

On past trips abroad, teams have taken hand-held camera's and edited a highlight reel. Fun, but the joy is limited to those who were on the trip.

For Thailand, we said let's take another step forward and bring a high-end camera and capture a short-story that we can share with the other 1400 people that didn't go. There were significant limitations, mainly due to the fact that we didn't fully know what we were going to be doing or experiencing. In hindsight, would have filmed it completely different. That said, some really good footage has turned out and we're creating a 15-minute film to show this coming weekend.

In our planning retreat, we decided to take it to the next level and plan a 40-minute film in Ethiopia. We'll be on the ground in March, 2009. Really anticipating this early planning stage. Got some great news today: a producer for the National Geographic series "Explorer" has agreed to consult with us in the production of this film.

Film, we believe is post-modern stained glass.