Round The Ball: Lent – 2009

The last of my list of favorites from the year — just hours before we ring in 2009 here in London! I made a few really fun music discoveries this year I thought I’d share with you all.  Enjoy!  And Happy New Year!

-

1) Coldplay – “Viva La Vida” – I can’t remember what got me into this one, but once I downloaded it, this album pretty much became the soundtrack of our mild summer days here in London.  I will forever associate planning our 2008 InnerCHANGE Staff Conference with this album playing in the background.

-

2) Tom Wuest – “Rain Down Heaven” – Speaking of our conference, Tom Wuest and his simple, soulful worship music was one of the best elements.  We invited Tom, a friend of a friend, and he brought his family along for the week as he shared his music.  These tunes are nearly straight from scripture, wonderfully melodic, and have a great sense of Kingdom justice to them.

-

 3) Amy Winehouse – “Back To Black” – Aw, come on, she lives in our neighborhood, we have to listen to her!  Anyway, her music is a fun throwback to the rock ‘n roll of simpler times, and she’s got an amazing voice.

-

 4) Josh Garrels – “Jacaranda” - Big thanks to Esther Knicely for turning me on to this guy. His music is provocative, soulful, and stunningly innovative.  First “Christian” album I’ve listened to in a long time that didn’t immediately sound sickeningly, well, “Christian.”  Prophetic lyrics set to emo-indy-rock.  Amazing.

-

 5) The Postal Service – “Give Up” - One of those times I heard music I couldn’t ignore while in a coffee-shop, asked who it was, and immediately downloaded it.  Happy-sound with moody, esoteric lyrics.  Something about these guys is just fun to listen to.  And their band name has some significantly cool meaning as well, but I’ll let you explore that one on your own.

 -

 6) Jesse and Luci – “Live, 2008″ – Okay, this one’s not available in stores, but the kids and I worked for weeks on a little home-recording project that we turned into gift CD’s for their friends and cousins for Christmas.  Admittedly, the sound quality is bad and many of the 48 tracks involve Luci’s nonsensical rambling (we call it spontaneous spoken-word) . . . but these guys are just so darn cute and I’m proud of their hard work!

Continuing a series of mini-lists of “top favorites” from 2008 — today’s is a glance at some of my favorite reads from 2008.  These are in random order, and yes, the genre spectrum is pretty broad, so there’s something in here for everyone.

- 

1) Young, Restless, Reformed by Collin Hansen - I got into a bit of a theology kick this year and ended up curious about the new breed of young Calvinists I know.  Hansen is a journalist at heart, and ends up telling a story that is part sociology, part theology, and part personal narrative.  A good primer on the movement, and a helpful “who’s who” as well.

-

 2) Into The Silent Land by Michael Laird – Big thanks to the Rev. Rod Green for turning me on to this little volume on contemplative prayer.  It’s one of those short books thats so dense I can only read a couple pages at a time before I have to stop, chew, digest, and practice before continuing!  This guy not only knows how to pray, he knows how to write.

-

 3) Londonstani  by Guatam Malkani – A novel with one of the most surprising turn of events I’ve ever read.  It’s based here in London and the youth slang (and multiple expletives) sound like they’re straight out of our neighborhood.  Not for the faint of heart, so it comes with a qualified recommendation, but a very good glimpse into the world of young immigrant men in a neighborhood identical to ours in many ways.  (Mark, sorry it took me so long to finish!)

-

4)  Getting Things Done by David Allen – Not just another book on productivity or time management, I promise.  This guy may be a little bit over the top, but the concept is brilliant and the principles are sound.  This perspective (methodology) has really improved not just my workflow (when I’m behind a computer instead of with people) but my overall attitude about nearly everything.  Allen calls it having a “mind like water.”  Whatever . . . it works.

-

5) Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama - Okay, whether you agree with the man or not, he is going to be our next President, and is a very gifted writer.  I find his perspective on American politics in the 21st century refreshingly uncynical and at times, inspiring.  I’ve got no idea how he’ll govern the mess we’re all in right now, but the book is great and worth the read even if you totally can’t stand him.

-

6) The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay -  Hugh is a friend of mine from CRM, and he made a brief pit-stop for a visit during his international book tour.  Not only do these guys write a good book on building incarnational communities (being church in tandem with people-focused mission), they walk the walk.  There are a bunch of great stories in here — but in the end, it’s one of the best books I’ve read on how to intentionally just be with people.  They make it sound so darn easy!

I’m making a daily list of some key discoveries, moments and all around favorites for 2008.  For today, these are some of the new personal practices or habits I’ve picked up this year that I most benefit from.  In no particular order:

-

1) Keeping Track of Cash Expenses - We use cash way more here in London than we did in the US — and at the end of every month between the exchange rate and the wad of receipts in my wallet I had no clue where all the money was going.  After hearing a challenging sermon about money at our church (download the sermon by Rod Green here) I faithfully started recording nearly every cash expense no matter how small. Sounds like a pain but it’s a really easy habit to get into — and is such a better way to stick to a budget, track reimbursable expenses, and know what’s going on with our money.

-

2) Downloading Sermon Podcasts – Okay, speaking of that sermon, this year I became something I sort of always ridiculed in the past: a bit of a sermon podcast junkie.  I’ve discovered that a long bus or train ride, or a quiet morning in the park on a day off is a great time to listen to some though provoking, soul-nourishing sermons preached at other churches whose pastors I respect.  Who did I listen to this year?  My tastes are eclectic, so don’t get mad: Jeramie Rinne at SSBC, Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill-Seattle, John Piper, Erwin McManus at Mosaic, Rob Bell, and the good folks at our very own Christ Church.

 -

 3) Inbox Zero - This is going to sound impossible and some of you won’t believe me because you’re still waiting for me to reply to something, but I’ve tried to incorporate the wisdom of a guy named Merlin Mann at 43Folders.com who suggests battling the inbox bulge down to zero every day.  How does he do it?  Click on the link above, (and watch the full video if you’re really interested) but it’s basically about immediately doing one of five things with every email: do it, delete it, defer it or delegate it.  Seriously, it works.

-

 4) Backing Up – After a couple of heart-breaking and time consuming hard drive failures in 2007, we put an end to it and started aggressively backing up our data almost religiously every day.  I’ve gotten to the point where even when I’m on the road I back up to a small external hard drive just in case something happens to my laptop.  This routine was made dummy-proof and almost thoughtless with the addition of an ingenious invention by Apple – the Time Capsule, which backs up all the computers in your house wirelessly every hour of every day.  Now we will NEVER lose those precious pics of the munchkins again!

-

 5) Carrying my Own Bags - Okay, I’m probably late in the game here, but in the land of cycling everywhere and pretty much stopping for groceries every day because we don’t have a car, those plastic bags at the grocery store really add up.  I got into the habit of carrying a simple little fold-out bag that fits loads of groceries in it nearly everywhere I go.  Mine is made by Flip and Tumble and is a very manly color of black and grey.  Good for the environment, easy on the shoulder and back, and brownie points with my wife.  Need I say more?

 -

 6) What Are You Thankful For? - This one’s a simple one but one of the best soul-nourishing ways we are raising our kids.  Basically, every night at the dinner table we go around the table and everyone has to share something they are thankful for from the day.  The kids give really great responses — little windows into what’s important in their worlds — and we find a way to reflect on the day, end it on a positive note, and remember our Creator and Provider in the process.

 -

 Got any life-changing personal practices you want to suggest for our 2009?  I’m all ears!

If you’re just tuning in, I’m listing some of my favorite things from 2008 by category.  Today’s is all about one of my addictions, er, hobbies — the wonderful world of coffee.  Here they are in no particular order:

 -

1) Intelligentsia (L.A.) –  Thanks to Mark Smith for turning me on to this one — its down the street from them, near Echo Park in Los Angeles.  Its always fun to find a quirky cafe run by people who are really serious about coffee.  These guys roast their own and then serve it up one cup at a time, to order.  You can choose which single-origin bean you want and then watch them make it with one of their fancy Clover machines.  Also a fun place to take in the urban hip-ness of Echo Park.

- 

2) Monmouth Coffee Company (London)- A recent discovery for me, though the folks at Ritual in San Francisco recommended it for about a year before I tried it.  I love the feel of their shop in Borough Market, near London Bridge.  It’s got a classic old-world market feel, and the coffee is great.  They use the same one-cup filter method I describe below.  Great place to go have a conversation or read a book.

-

3) Nude Espresso (Spitalfields, London) –  These guys opened up two doors down from the office space I’m renting from our church.  That’s a very bad location for my pocket-book!  The staff are great, the coffee is excellent (they’re serving up Monmouth Coffee.)  This is the kind of neighborly coffee-shop experience you’d dream of — these guys are generous, kind, friendly to our kids, and just all around brilliant.  Here’s the proof: Richard closing down shop over Christmas but letting Jesse and I in for a hot cocoa on the house when he saw us passing by. 

-

4) One Cup Filter Drip (@ Home) –  Lets say your wife is pregnant and can no longer stand even the smell of coffee.  That means you might as well only make one cup at a time, cause ain’t nobody else drinking with you.  Well, with a one-cup drip filter, you can make an amazingly good cup of coffee just for good ol’ you!  Bluebottle Coffee in San Francisco sells the equipment (but you can get it anywhere) and gives really good directions for perfection on their site.  Click here!

-

5) Tea – That’s right — I’ve included tea on my coffee favorites list because nearly half the time this year I’ve opted for the leaf over the bean.  It’s just what we do here in England, and I’m actually learning to like the stuff.  It also helped that I voluntarily gave up coffee for a stretch while I was in prayer for a good friend battling cancer.  That fast, plus the prevalence of tea on this island we inhabit is turning me into a true convert! 

-

So, any good coffee suggestions out there for me? 

Well, the Advent blog was fun . . . and after taking a day off from the old blogging routine I thought I’d use the week between Christmas and New Years to share some of my favorites from 2008.  It’s a random collection — but I think you’ll enjoy it.  Or, at least, I’ll enjoy sharing it . . . Favorite Board Games to Play With the Kids

1. Fairy Snap – okay, don’t laugh . . . it’s a variation on the familiar card game “snap” — but with drawings of fairy princesses that you try to match to make a pair.  Luci loves it and asks to play it regularly.  We also created a variation of it with “spoons” where you grab a spoon from the middle if you make a match before anyone notices.
2. Mouse Trap - Jesse saw this over at another kid’s house and talked about it nonstop until we bought it for him (as an early Christmas present, mostly to get him to shut up about it!)  It’s all about creating a really crazy contraption that traps your opponent’s game piece.  More fun to set up than it actually is to play.
3. Candyland - okay, this is more of an honorable mention than anything else — we play it regularly, but it’s sometimes mind-numbingly simple.  I often find I want to rig the deck so one of the kids wins the ice-cream cone and gets to the end faster.  But its still great times with the kiddos.
4. Battleship - Jesse is pretty impressive with this game already.  We just got it for Christmas, mostly because we knew he wanted it and would be good at it.  Its a game that says its’ for seven year olds and older, but he’s already really good at it.  I like seeing how seriously he takes it too.
5. Settlers of Catan – Fair enough — this isn’t a kid game at all and I don’t play it with my kids.  But its a regular staple in the Prince household.  I play a weekly online game with a great friend back in the States, and we regularly have some of our local British friends from church over for a game.  One I’m counting the days until our kids can play!