Charlie Dean’s Blog

Heard from around the Dean house:

Jennifer (as I’m walking out the door): Goodbye hot man.

Madox: Goodbye hot man.

Jaxon:  Mommy, you’re hot.

And also:

Me: Madox are you a boy?

Madox: No.

Me: Are you a girl?

Madox: No.

Me: Do you like broccoli?

Madox: No.

Me: Do you like beer?

Madox: I LOVE MILK!

(2, going on 3, is a HILARIOUS age!)

A couple days in my life:

• Yesterday; 7am breakfast w/ someone, haircut @ 10, lunch w/ someone at noon, meeting with a couple at 2, brainstorming with a ministry director @ 3, premarital counseling at 6, home at 7:30, read three chapters of a book for a discussion on Thursday…Couldn’t even stay awake to watch Conan.
• Today; 7am breakfast w/ someone in East Peoria, pick up van from body shop @ 9 [north of Pioneer Pkwy], meet w/ someone at Copper River @ 10, book discussion at Kelleher’s at noon, phone conversation with a friend who’s going through a rough stretch @ 2, meet two oldest boys off bus at 3:30, meet w/ River West team at 6:00 in Peoria, back to Brimfield for 3rd grade basketball practice @ 7-8:30.

So I’m sitting in the gym at Brimfield grade school, on a folding chair, responding to an inbox that’s overflowing watching 3rd-graders practice basketball.  And I’m spent…in a good way.

Worn out, exhausted…for all the right reasons.  And it’s good.

One last “looking back at 2009″ post.  This year was perhaps my best and worst Christmas ever.

I’ll start w/ the best.

I’ve had a lot of church experiences at Christmastime.  I’ve been involved in Christmas Pageants, Quiet Services, overblown productions, no church thing at all, etc.  For the last two years – at Imago – we’ve put a lot of energy into two things at Christmastime.  1.  the “rhythm” of the church liturgical calendar, and celebrating Advent for the four weeks leading up to Christmas.  2.  Seeing the Advent season as a season of “pouring out.”  (as opposed to Lent, which is more introspective).  So, here’s what had me excited this year.  (timeout: I hesitate, because some make take this as me bragging about my church, as if it’s a competition w/ other churches… it’s not, and I’m not.)

• Adopt-a-Block – some of our people went to 2 blocks in the south end and took every resident a plate of homemade Christmas goodies.
• Riverwest – we gave away 140 gifts to the residents of Riverwest – averaging about $50/gift.  The people of Imago are GRACIOUS & GIVING!
• Banquet – we fed 100 poor people a Christmas dinner on china, with a live jazz band and catered food.  It was a beautiful, beautiful event.
• Advent Conspiracy – stories of people beginning to think about more relational gifts.  And, we collected almost $6k, to dig a well somewhere in the world (I’ll be updating in a couple months, when we get news back about “our” well.)

and worst Christmas ever…

By the end of Christmas day, when I walked into our house, I was nearly in tears.  My beautiful wife was sick and bed-ridden, (beginning Christmas Eve) and was stuck in bed all day, so I was “single dad of four boys for a day.”  No big deal… I can handle the boys.  I was just sad to be missing Jennifer for the day.  It was the first time in 17 or 18 years that we didn’t spend Christmas together.  Blah.

But, missing the one you love, makes you appreciate the anguish of those whose loved ones are overseas, or who have recently passed away….