Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Before and After
One of the things I needed to do was get some bedrooms painted before the furniture arrived.
Cooper's favorite color is brown. I didn't want the entire room to be brown, but here are the before and after of Cooper's bedroom.
Cooper's favorite color is brown. I didn't want the entire room to be brown, but here are the before and after of Cooper's bedroom.
Father's Day
On Father's Day I woke up at 2am, by 2:30 I realized that I wasn't going to get back to sleep. It took me an hour to finish packing up and clean my way out of the house.
I went to bed at 7:30 that night.
I went to bed at 7:30 that night.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Quest for Clean - (update 3)
Well, I am almost done for today. This house is pretty empty and about as clean as I can get it. I will finish cleaning up our bath, then in the morning when I pack the las stuff I will vacuum our room and then it is off to Missouri. Where I need to hurry and paint.
So here are some pictures of our (almost) empty house.
So here are some pictures of our (almost) empty house.
The Quest for Clean - (update 2)
Now complete - The boys bedrooms, the boys bathroom, family room (main level)
Room I'm least looking forward to cleaning - laundry/mud room.
Also getting some laundry done.
Room I'm least looking forward to cleaning - laundry/mud room.
Also getting some laundry done.
The Quest for Clean - (update 1)
It is my last day in the house.
The movers are gone and now I am on my quest to clean the house.
I have just finished the basement and am now moving to the top floor. I hope tonight to have pictures of an empty clean house.
I know you are excited.
The movers are gone and now I am on my quest to clean the house.
I have just finished the basement and am now moving to the top floor. I hope tonight to have pictures of an empty clean house.
I know you are excited.
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Movers
So today the movers came, and now I am sitting in a pretty empty house. Tomorrow I need to clean and do paint touch ups.
I had planned on taking pictures to document the moving experience, but I forgot to get out my camera, so enjoy this graphic representation of what happened today.
This is NOT an actual photo.
I had planned on taking pictures to document the moving experience, but I forgot to get out my camera, so enjoy this graphic representation of what happened today.
This is NOT an actual photo.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Shutting Down
Tomorrow is the big day. The movers come so I am working on getting everything they are not taking out of the way.That means that after this post I will be shutting down the computer and moving it into the closet to get out of the way.
See you all when the house is empty.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The View from Here
So here is how our house looks right now.
The packers came today and packed the house from 8:30-3:30.
Greg Jensen came over today and helped me move some stuff around and get stuff together.
It has been a long couple of days. The movers come Friday, so I think I will go to bed early today. In the morning I will move everything that I am going to take with me to the furnace room and start patching holes. Saturday I should be able to do all my touch ups and last minute items and get the car loaded up to head to MO on Sunday.
Late to Bed, Early to Rise
So the post for the next couple of days will be short. I am trying to get ready for the packers that come today. I was up last night doing laundry and getting our phone/internet/cable bundle set up for the new house. We have a phone number now. I will try to get that information out to everyone, otherwise feel free to email me chadmwelchATgmailDOTcom.
I may or may not get to it before I leave MN. Then it will at least be until after Tuesday.
Val is in Illinois with the kids. I hope she is having a wonderful time getting the chance to be alone with the kids for a while.
I may or may not get to it before I leave MN. Then it will at least be until after Tuesday.
Val is in Illinois with the kids. I hope she is having a wonderful time getting the chance to be alone with the kids for a while.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Home Alone
So I am back in Minnesota. By myself. I will be here cleaning up and overseeing the movers. Then I will go back to Missouri and spend some time there alone painting and getting the house ready. Once the furniture arrives the rest of the family will join me and we will officially be living in MO.
I will write more later, but I have a lot to do and I am really hungry.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
First and Last Collide
There are a lot of last and first in our life right now.
One of the first is I ordered the first thing with our new address. I redeemed some Pamper's points. It takes 6-8 weeks, so I feel confident that we will be in our house before it comes.
Today was also a last for us. Our last small group with this group of people. We have been through several small groups, even tried leading a couple, but for the first time in that I really felt like we were connecting and growing through that. In a very short time we have truly grown to love this group of people and we will miss having them as a regular part of our lives.
So here are to the first yet to come and to the last that are quickly coming to an end. To both the joy and sadness that comes with any major change.
One of the first is I ordered the first thing with our new address. I redeemed some Pamper's points. It takes 6-8 weeks, so I feel confident that we will be in our house before it comes.
Today was also a last for us. Our last small group with this group of people. We have been through several small groups, even tried leading a couple, but for the first time in that I really felt like we were connecting and growing through that. In a very short time we have truly grown to love this group of people and we will miss having them as a regular part of our lives.
So here are to the first yet to come and to the last that are quickly coming to an end. To both the joy and sadness that comes with any major change.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
An open letter to the Quarry - on our last Sunday
It is hard to believe that we have been part of the Quarry for 5 years. We have seen a lot of things happen to this church and upon our move I find myself reflecting on this time.
Cooper has spent some of his most formative years in the church growing from a toddler to a boy. Lincoln was born during this time. Days after his birth was my first KidStuf with Michael.
I remember when we first started attending the Quarry regularly and Michael asking us if we came from a similar church.
The truth is that the church we left in Illinois was quite the opposite of the Quarry. It was an older church with an older building and the congregational makeup was older. It had a choir and sang from hymnals. We loved that church and there was one similarity we found between that church and the Quarry and it is why we called the Quarry home. Both had a people searching for ways to serve God and be part of His kingdom plan.
No matter what kind of music the church plays, no matter where it meets this is the one thing I hope and pray the Quarry never looses. Being a people continually searching out ways to connect to God and be part of His plan.
The truth is the style of music we do at the Quarry is not the style of music I would choose for a Sunday morning. But we cannot shop for churches the way we shop for a car. Looking for all the elements and features we desire and make us comfortable. If the primary reason you are at the Quarry is because of the music, or the preaching, or KidStuf, it is my prediction that you will not be there for long. Maybe a year, maybe 2, but something will let you down, something better will come along and you will move on. None of these things (the music, preaching) is bad, but they cannot be the reason you are at church.
This is one of my biggest fears with our emphasis on the Sunday service. It has been said that you win people to what you win them with. It is my fear that at times we are creating church consumers.
Anytime I have had concerns or suggestions about the way we function as a church, something coming from our pulpit or other areas of our church I have always felt comfortable taking those to the leadership. Sometimes they have lead to changes, sometimes not. I always felt my job was not to change the church, but to share my thoughts, observations and concerns to those running the church. I hope (although I am sure it has not always been so) that I have done so with humility and grace, knowing that I may be the one in the wrong.
No matter how passionate my concerns or the disagreements, I have always felt our leaders are seeking God in the midst. And we have always remained brothers and sisters in Christ.
I think it is very important that no matter the passion or the calling we feel from God that we are to see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ and love and serve each other. If we who claim to follow the Prince of Peace who work out our salvation with fear and trembling cannot get along despite our differences, then how can anyone get along? If we claim to follow the one that taught us to love our enemies and we cannot even love each other we will chase people from God.
This is one of the reasons it is so important to be part of each others lives. Our slogan (for lack of a better word) at the Quarry has been “We Do Life Together.” I used to joke that it should be something like “We (hope to someday) Do Life Together.” There are glimpses of it in our church and ironically for me, now that we are leaving I am as close as I have ever been to actually living that out. But it is vitally important that we keep that goal in front of us, striving toward it.
It goes against our very individualistic western culture and it is messy, but in the end it is part of what we are called to be. The church has a role in trying to make achieving it accessible to everyone and providing a framework and opportunities for it to arise. Ultimately, however, it is going to take the conscious choice of individuals to live this way.
So there it is. My thoughts and observations, my hopes and fears and my prayers for the Quarry. Know that any mistakes I have made or any problems I have caused along the way come from my own arrogance and other failings, but never out of a desire to see the church be anything less than an active and fruitful expression of God’s kingdom. The Quarry has left it’s fingerprint of the Welches, hopefully the fingerprints we have left on the Quarry have not smudged up the windows.
Cooper has spent some of his most formative years in the church growing from a toddler to a boy. Lincoln was born during this time. Days after his birth was my first KidStuf with Michael.
I remember when we first started attending the Quarry regularly and Michael asking us if we came from a similar church.
The truth is that the church we left in Illinois was quite the opposite of the Quarry. It was an older church with an older building and the congregational makeup was older. It had a choir and sang from hymnals. We loved that church and there was one similarity we found between that church and the Quarry and it is why we called the Quarry home. Both had a people searching for ways to serve God and be part of His kingdom plan.
No matter what kind of music the church plays, no matter where it meets this is the one thing I hope and pray the Quarry never looses. Being a people continually searching out ways to connect to God and be part of His plan.
The truth is the style of music we do at the Quarry is not the style of music I would choose for a Sunday morning. But we cannot shop for churches the way we shop for a car. Looking for all the elements and features we desire and make us comfortable. If the primary reason you are at the Quarry is because of the music, or the preaching, or KidStuf, it is my prediction that you will not be there for long. Maybe a year, maybe 2, but something will let you down, something better will come along and you will move on. None of these things (the music, preaching) is bad, but they cannot be the reason you are at church.
This is one of my biggest fears with our emphasis on the Sunday service. It has been said that you win people to what you win them with. It is my fear that at times we are creating church consumers.
Anytime I have had concerns or suggestions about the way we function as a church, something coming from our pulpit or other areas of our church I have always felt comfortable taking those to the leadership. Sometimes they have lead to changes, sometimes not. I always felt my job was not to change the church, but to share my thoughts, observations and concerns to those running the church. I hope (although I am sure it has not always been so) that I have done so with humility and grace, knowing that I may be the one in the wrong.
No matter how passionate my concerns or the disagreements, I have always felt our leaders are seeking God in the midst. And we have always remained brothers and sisters in Christ.
I think it is very important that no matter the passion or the calling we feel from God that we are to see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ and love and serve each other. If we who claim to follow the Prince of Peace who work out our salvation with fear and trembling cannot get along despite our differences, then how can anyone get along? If we claim to follow the one that taught us to love our enemies and we cannot even love each other we will chase people from God.
This is one of the reasons it is so important to be part of each others lives. Our slogan (for lack of a better word) at the Quarry has been “We Do Life Together.” I used to joke that it should be something like “We (hope to someday) Do Life Together.” There are glimpses of it in our church and ironically for me, now that we are leaving I am as close as I have ever been to actually living that out. But it is vitally important that we keep that goal in front of us, striving toward it.
It goes against our very individualistic western culture and it is messy, but in the end it is part of what we are called to be. The church has a role in trying to make achieving it accessible to everyone and providing a framework and opportunities for it to arise. Ultimately, however, it is going to take the conscious choice of individuals to live this way.
So there it is. My thoughts and observations, my hopes and fears and my prayers for the Quarry. Know that any mistakes I have made or any problems I have caused along the way come from my own arrogance and other failings, but never out of a desire to see the church be anything less than an active and fruitful expression of God’s kingdom. The Quarry has left it’s fingerprint of the Welches, hopefully the fingerprints we have left on the Quarry have not smudged up the windows.
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