Mike McClenahan

We arrived Thursday afternoon to cold and rain. It’s been raining since Tuesday. There is snow on the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon to the north and there was snow in Jerusalem. It rained all through the night and a storm was forecasted for today. We rearranged our itinerary today to avoid the rain, and except for some morning showers we had clouds but no rain. It made for a beautiful day for Capernaum, Mount of Beatitudes, River Jordan, Caesarea Philippi and boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. //  A few hightlights: Amy and I walked/ran down to the town of Tiberias and the promendade. It was a brisk morning with a beautiful sunrise over the Sea of Galilee. I'm impressed again this year by the natural beauty of this lake and the sunrise that Jesus and the disciples would have seen 2000 years ago. It's a great way to start the day. // After breakfast we began with a stop at the Church of Multiplication in Tagba, which commemorates the loaves and fishes in a church with...

I changed my blog tagline tonight. No longer "almost grandfather" to "grandfather." We got the phone call Thursday morning at 2:30: water broke, at the hospital, three weeks early… So we packed a few things and drove up to Verdugo Hills Hospital in the same labor and delivery floor where our twins were born June 26, 1987. We met a nurse who has worked there since the mid-70s and she remembered Dr. Smith who delivered them. The doctor told us to settle in because this is going to be a long wait. First child... he's early... everyone knows... We went to Starbucks across the street to get some work done, cancel appointments, and send out emails. Amy and I tried to nap in the waiting room, making up for the lost sleep and biding our time in the "long wait." Six pounds three ounces, nineteen inches and was born at week 38. He's beautiful. As we held him he didn't make a peep. No crying, no fussing. His eyes were open, just taking everyt...

But what I would like to say is that the spiritual life is a life in which you gradually learn to listen to a voice that says something else, that says, "You are the beloved and on you my favour rests."... I want you to hear that voice. It is not a very loud voice because it is an intimate voice. It comes from a very deep place. It is soft and gentle. I want you to gradually hear that voice. We both have to hear that voice and to claim for ourselves that that voice speaks the truth, our truth. It tells us who we are. That is where the spiritual life starts - by claiming the voice that calls us the beloved. Henri Nouwen

Friday Amy and I rode our bikes to Del Mar, then walked on the beach. The sky was clear, the tide was out, and people were walking along as if it were the fourth of July.  As we walked we saw our long shadows on the sand. As if were on stilts, our images were stretched in front of us. It's a great picture of Christmas time: sometimes we are stretched too thin, not enough of us to go around. But our worship celebrations were awesome; worship band, children's choirs, candle readers, chancel choir, carol singing, and messages in song and word of Jesus' birth. I love this time of year. It's worth the effort to provide a time of celebration for the church family, their friends and family and our community.  It's also a great picture of the New Year: thinking of how our lives reach into 2012, anticipating the birth of our grandchild, having two married sons, continuing to grow and experience ministry and life here in Solana Beach.  This prayer from Northumbr...

Advent is a time of watching and waiting. Paying attention and being patient help us to see the beauty of a moment that otherwise would have been missed. Yesterday Amy and I walked on the beach and saw a dark, stormy sky. As we walked the sky changed: just a hint of color below the clouds, a flicker of light on the horizon, then a fiery ball, and then a full blown firestorm of light. We stood there amazed along with others along the beach. If Advent is a time of watching and waiting, what might we see if we stop and look? If we pay attention to what God was doing in the midst of our ordinary walking, celebrating, decorating, or worshipping during the season? Below is a prayer that asks for God's blessing as we watch and wait for the coming of Jesus, the light of the world.  -- God of the watching ones, give us your benediction. God of the waiting ones, give us Your good word for our souls. God of the watching ones,  the waiting ones, the slow an...

This is a letter from a couple in our church who had a "life changing experience" during our ten week message series  I preached through  Luke 10:1-12  entitled  Sent Together . "Steve and I have been in a place of transition in our housing situation since 2005. It has been a long, drawn out painful period of time. After being homeowners for over 30 years, we found it necessary to rent for the past 3 years since coming to the San Diego area and have been anxiously awaiting the time when we could feel settled again and find and purchase a home again and stay put and to leave the feeling of things being "temporary" behind once and for all.   We are currently living in a very small condo/apartment and thought originally that we would be here for only 4 months.  Four months turned into 18 months very quickly.  Apartment living has it's challenges and I must admit that we had not connected with anyone living around us and have done like everyone e...

fresco from the catacombs of San Callisto, Rome (2nd-4th c) May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.   2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 May the Peace of the Lord Christ go with you wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness and protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors. Northumbria Community Morning Prayer The LORD bless you     and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you     and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you    and give you peace. Exodus 6:24-26 Receive the blessing of God the Father Almighty who created us in love, that we might be for the praise of his glory; the blessing of God the Son, who died for us and rose again t...