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| Grandpa MetzMy grandfather turned 80 years old Thursday.
He rocks. This is my Dad's dad. The funny thing is, that if you were to ask my family to talk about grandpa Metz, all of them would have various stories that may be alike and may be very different. He is something else. When I was a kid he would have me stay over at his house. He would cut my hair the day after school let out for the summer - shave it all off like a Lipnicki kid. He would let me ride on his mower with him. He had a red Speedex. I will never forget when he let me drive it (mow his grass). He always sat in "his" chair. He chewed tobacco, drank beer, and was able to make most people laugh. He was a kind gentle man who could also put a boot on you if he needed to. His hands were working mans hands. He always had room on his lap for his grandkids. He loves me. I know that. I know that he likes me too. Grandpa isn't much of a religious man. He has told me he believes in Jesus and that he was baptized as a young man in a river in West Virginia. I don't know if he reads the Scriptures. I don't think he goes to church because he loves God and His people. But, you know what, I think that he knows God. I think that God knows him. He may not be as acquainted as most people would like people to be. I have asked him if he thinks he'll go to heaven and why and he mentions Jesus. I wonder if he ever sits around and wishes he didn't "waste his life". I would like to think that his legacy will not have to be "Andy Metz; hard working, takes no bull, beer drinking man". I hope people will speak of his love for people and maybe we will find a diary that speaks about how much he loved Jesus. I hope that when my grand children speak of me that they will know that I loved Jesus with all of me.
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| Here we goI am sitting in my new office. Writing this on my new computer. Glancing at my new phone. I am overwhelmed. Two years ago, yeah two, I was preparing for my "last" youth camp, getting ready for Boston and thinking through being a church planter. Now, I am thinking about how we will do youth camp here, how I can engage a new culture, build relationships with parents and youth, get to know my new pastor. I am a youth pastor again. I really feel like this is what I was made for. I am excited about the possibilities that lay ahead and I am contemplative about my experiences that rest behind me. From PCB to Texas, I have learned so much and I really desire to apply what I have learned. My goal for Xanga will probably to try to journal through that. I think that will be Xanga's purpose in my life. I have other blogs for other things but Xanga will be my dump site for how things have shaped me and how I am processing that.
In other news...
I finally heard my mother's voice on the other end of a phone line. I wished her a 'Happy Mother's Day'. There was some crying and she said she was sorry. I hope that she will want to talk to me again. I think I will try to write to her.
We cannot be more excited that we are here. It is exciting to see things taking shape and to feel the pressure of calendars and programming and the idea that I may have to put together another "LOCK-IN" (weird). I hope that you are praying for the kids God has placed in our lives - they are going to need it!
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| Back in ActionMy long Xanga hiatus is officially over. I like Xanga and it's simplicity.
We are gonna move to Alabama. It's kinda weird when I think about the journey thus far. I think what in the world is happening when I end up in Alabama? God's Sovereignty.
There is so much to all of this. So many emotions and so many things that I have been praying about and thinking through. I find that it is uncanny that I had to move to Texas to get some clarity on what I needed to be doing. What God has called me to do. How I need to be living my life.
I still love Panama City Beach and her people.
I still love Boston and her people.
I have to follow Jesus.
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| TEXASSo I live near TBN now. Yipee. Pray that I get a job soon, otherwise I will have to sell a body part.
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| The no Use XangaNo one I know writes anymore.
With that being said, I think I will write. God has been at work in me
to change me and shape me more like Jesus. I have learned a great deal
being here. God put in us so much while we were here as well.
I am learning humility and how to except that I often times rely too
much on myself. That I need to listen to the Lord and to wise counsel
(Prov 15:12). I am believing that the Lord is bringing me back to
student ministry. The land of Orange Illustrations and all nighters. I
have learned from some past mistakes and want to grow in a healthy way.
I have learned that I need to stop hiding under the covers. That I need
to let God pull those covers back and stop being the "Lump" (thanks Rob
Bell). God loves me, no matter what. And that I love Him and want that
no matter what not to be an issue. I am discovering that sometimes
"waiting on the Lord" is really waiting and being patient. I think that
to start a revolution, you need to be intimate with the Revolutionary
King Jesus. That living a life worth living starts when no one is
looking. I am learning that I am really a legalistic Pharisee who needs
to get the log out of his own eye. Which means not being the lazy dead
man of my past. I think that I can do great things. I mean Christ can
do great things in me. I just want to be where God wants me. I don't
feel at peace being here. So pray for us that God will show us what to
do. Here's to the Future.
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