Go to the New Blog

I've decided to retire the blogspot. So go to the new and improved www.carenfog.wordpress.com peace out!

My New Favorite Thing

My new favorite thing is having something that I've written quoted back to me as good advice.

Also carving pumpkins, I like those too!

me in three months!

A Book Review and Dust on my Laptop

I just finished reading They Like Jesus but not the Church by Dan Kimball (who I haven’t really liked since I saw him at the National Youth Workers Convention, however Bill had the book on his desk and I was avoiding doing other things, so…). I did like this book, not really earth shattering for me, but it’s nice to have someone else articulate the things I am feeling. Here are some of my thoughts mixed with Kimball’s:

• The Church has to draw us in and allow us to be something we can’t be on our own. Not something we simply attend to or passively absorb.


• Christ is the center of the Church (the head of the body if you will) both in dogma AND form. The worship should be an unapologetic gathering of Christians, Christ-followers, or Jesus people, whatever title you prefer. I can’t overemphasis form and means here; they matter tremendously both in the ‘end product’ they create and they culture they communicate.


• The goal isn’t to get non-Christians to “go to church”, but to participate in the life of the church as a community. Perhaps, we should consider coming worship gatherings as a later step. This means we shouldn’t be gearing the worship gatherings to non-Christians, if that is the only thing we do that we can invite people to participate in we are in trouble.
• The Church is Jesus! We need to read the gospels a lot more

On a lighter note, why does my laptop attract so much dust? I’m sure there is a simply explanation involving electric fields and magnetism… maybe wikipeda has an answer?

Meditations on The Road

I've been going through a lot of fiction lately, the residual effect of three years of forced theological reading. The latest book I read is call The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The story is about a father and son in a post-apocalyptic America - pretty heavy stuff. I picked it up because it won the Pulitzer Prize this year. Parts of it are devastating, other parts are painfully hopeful.

I finished it last night and have been thinking about the book since then. In the end it is our love for each other, the goodness at makes us human, that separates us from the tide of chaos that consistently laps at the edge of our civilizations and lives. One of the books nameless characters says to the boy of his father, "She said that the breath of God was his breath yet though it pass from man to man through all of time."

We can't forgot who sustains us, who created us, who came to live with us in the world, and who call us to shine like stars. There are things we cannot do, because to do them denies and destroys our very ontology. Sin doesn't just separate us from God, sin separates us from ourselves.

Remember, it is the breath of God that fills us all.

Kill the Gnats!

The kitchen is infested with fruit gnats (I'm not sure what their offical name is). As I'm typing this they are hovering about, crawling on the two bananas and dish of rine wine vinegar and soap meant to both attract and kill them. The picture on right show the current sucessful of the trap.

Thanks for Margaret for helping me take the photo and being such a sport about blogging about gnats in her house. On a whole their house is spotless, very clean, no other bugs! I'm not sure how they got in, but they are going out!

If You Find Yourself Eating Too Many Milk Duds...

There is way to much candy in the CCC offices lately. Milk Duds, Kit Kats, M&M - I feel like I'm in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory - sans chocolate river. Perry especially needs to lay off the Milk Duds, every time I see him he has got a box in his hand. Food is not the answer Perry, if you are stressed out you should just take a swim in the pond, drink more coffee, sneak out of the office and watch a movie tomorrow afternoon with the Leadership Residents (3:10 to Yuma is supposed to be good). And remember you are not the catalyst, the Holy Spirit is the catalyst and the Holy Spirit isn't high in corn syrup and partically hydrogenated soy bean oil.

My First "War Eagle Moment" in Chicago

I have had my first Auburn alumni sighting in Chicago on Saturday at the Morton Arboretum. He had on and Auburn hat and the dialogue went like this:


Me: "Did you go to Auburn?"

Him: "Yes."

Me: "Me, too!"

Him: "War Eagle!"

Me: "War Eagle!"

Him: "Are you excited about the game tonight?"

Me: "Yeah, it's on ESPN2."

Him: "All right, War Eagle"

Me: "Bye."


I don't want to talk about that horrible atrocity of a game. It's good to know that the Auburn Spirit is alive and well, even in a place so far from the loveliest village on the plain. It's also good to know that those "War Eagle Moment" commericals the school does really do happen.



I'm including this picture from the Arboretum. It was beautiful! Though the mosquitos were life-threatening. Repeat after me: no West Nile virus, no West Nile virus...

Special thanks to Sher for bringing me along.

Periwinkle Blue

I went running today. I'm learning to go running instead of the variety of less healthy methods of dealing I tend to do when frustrated or anxious (shopping, eating, reading). I laid down in the grass afterward and looked at the sky, it was that periwinkle blue of earliest evening - the same color as the ceiling of my room at home. I loved that room, always so bright and sunny and Raffles (my dog) sleeping in the corner. It's amazing how a smell, color, or song can take us back in time, fill us with memories so strong it is like one of those daydream sequences in a movie. I wish I could go back to 15 or 18 year-old me and offer advice, some comfort. At least some stock tips and to wait to buy the iPhone after the price went down (I can't afford an iPhone, before or after the price change, so maybe that doesn't matter so much). It's memories like that, remembering who I was before, rembering how far God has brought me, wondering what 30 year-old me would want to say, that keep me going, that and the running.

Caren's Thoughts on Illinois License Plates

People in Illinois are crazy about their personalized license plates. I think that they cost the same as the random ones so everyone and the brother as "NO EZWAY," "METCALF 1" (there is no Metcalf 2, I asked) or whatever seven digit statement they can come up with proudly displayed.

They are like tattoos for cars. You might regret it later, (what happens if Hillary wins? Poor OBAMA license plate guy!)but you'll never mistake your white minivan for anyone else's every again.

Batman Movie Inconveniences Me

The next instalment of the Batman series is being filmed in downtown Chicago right now and I'm sick of it! Twice now I have not been allowed to walk down the street because of some "dangerous scene" taking place. This Saturday after going to the House of Blues, Megan and I were walking around and decided to go see Navy Pier... and we couldn't! Why? Because of a low flying helicopter stunt (okay that does actually sound dangerous). And a few weeks ago I had to go the long way to Union Station because of a bunch of GPD (Gotham Police Department) cars were driving around. When will the madness end???

Zoos, Blues, and Cardboard Boats

I know everyone out there is dying to here what I did this past weekend, so are you ready?? I went to the Brookfield Zoo, the House of Blues, and, along with the other Leadership Residents, David and Aaron, jugded the Stuco cardboard boat race in the retention pond outside CCC. How about that for a good time.

The zoo was great! We saw polar bears, gorillas, otters, hippos, monkeys, alligators, penguins, fish of various sizes and types, rhinos...The animals were so entertaining. I saw John Wasem Jr. at the House of Blues, and he does a great live show. The cardboard boat race was hysterical. Some kids put a lot of time into it, others just covered a box with duct tape. And then they got into the goose poop filled pond - yuck! Just a sampling of the interesting thing to be done in the Chicagoland area.

I Miss You!

Having recently moved far away from everyone I care about, I was thinking about what it means to miss someone. What is it about close proximity that heals the hole in our hearts that distance creates? Talking on the phone, seeing pictures and video, it all helps but nothing is the same as standing face to face, the same as hugs and kisses. So much of who we are is wrapped up in that need for closeness, both physical and emotional. Even as I create friendships here, my thoughts are often with leaving for New York, or with people back in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama (even Idaho). Why do I get to meet amazing people where ever I go, only to have to say goodbye? It's hard to be fully present here knowing I'll be saying goodbye in a few months. How am I supposed to keep doing this for an entire year? Arghhhh!! God is using this, I will be stronger, more loving, more pastoral, more of who I'm meant to be. Wow, this blog was kind of a downer, but it was very cathartic. Thank you.

Office work? Oxymoron?

I am currently getting no work done. Once again proving that the office is not the most efficent place to be. What I have done:

• watched three youtube videos
• talk to people (which could count as ministry)
• watch people shop for fabric online
• go to lunch
• write in my blog
• discuss the virtues of pleather furniture (Charissa)
• David mentioned "beaniebabies" a lot in order to make the list

Hmmm, maybe I should leave.

Don't Leave Tofu in Your Car Overnight

On Sunday we had a girls' night out beginning with dinner at my new favorite restaurant, Joy Yee. I had a dish called, "Japanese tofu and two mushrooms" (exactly what it sounds like, in fact, you can see it at the bottom of the lower picture) at it was amazing! After more food than any of us could eat, we headed over to the movie theater to watch Becoming Jane, a satisfying but depressing story of Jane Austen's early years, as imagined by Hollywood writers. The guy that played the lead was also in The Last King of Scotland and the Chronicles of Narnia which seems like pretty big genre leaps, but he manages to act has convincingly in all three: a faun, a naive Scottish doctor in Uganda, and a lovesick 19th century law student (with a British accent everything sounds good).

Anyway, back to the title of this entry. I forgot my leftover in the backseat of my car. It now reeks of garlic, mushrooms and tofu. It has been raining consistently so I can't put down my windows. I'm going to try putting drier sheets in the car tomorrow and hopefully that will help. If not, I can always leave a banana in the car, those always seem to overpower anything.

You Know What Assuming Does...

I wonder how much of the world's problems are cause by misunderstandings or simply different expectations. What for one person is the most important thing in life, can be inconsequential to another. What happens when those people interact, when they have to depend on one another? Someone gets hurt, someone gets blamed and neither side understands the other. I'm going through a bizarre situation like this, and while I can't go into detail, it is so frustrating to be misunderstood, to have assumptions made about you that aren't true. My priorities are in one place and theirs are in another and I guess I just have to leave it at that.

DuPage Demolition Derby

On Sunday night I went with some friends from CCC to the DuPage County Fair. It was reassuring to know that county fairs are the same all over the country. I could have easily been in Guyton, Georgia or Montgomery, Alabama as I was in Wheaton, Illinois. The food is the same, so are the booths selling t-shirts with dragons and scantily clad women, the plethora of goats, and the inordinate amount of people wearing cowboy hats.

The main attraction at the fair that night was the SOLD OUT demolition derby. That's right, people living in the suburbs of Chicago will pack out a high school-sized stadium to watch cars smash into each other... and now I can see why. That series of slow speed accidents was memorizing, pack with suspense. Which car will survive the longest? Is the liquid leaking out of the front flammable? All this is to say, if a demolition derby comes to town, put on your cowboy hat, grab the goat and go.

Brother Bear 2: Secret Bear Plot!

SPOILER ALERT. Warning this blog contains spoilers for Brother Bear 2.

I watched Brother Bear 2 the other day because the adorable children that I live with asked me too. Not a movie I’d recommend, the animation was nothing special and plot was painfully transparent to any veteran of the Disney genre (and I am thank you Aladdin and the Lion King). The main female character, a human, chooses to become a bear to live, assumably, happily ever after with her true love, another bear-turned-human. Why would anyone in her right mind choose to become a bear? Everyone knows that according to Steven Colbert that bears are the number one threat to us today. This is obviously a thinly veiled bear plot to lulled our children in to a false sense of security. Beware!

Taste of Chicago

Where can you find perogis, goat in coconut sauce, pizza, ribs, ice cream, frozen bananas, gyros, John Meyer, Kenny Rogers (Kenny Rogers look-a-likes) and the Budweiser horses all in one place? Taste of Chicago!! I went yesterday and it was awesome! The weather was great, the food was good and the crowds weren't too bad. It was a great place to people-watch. We walked all around the lake shore, saw the planetarium and aquarium, lots of yachts and goofly dressed people. Chicago is such an interesting and beautiful city.

Mastodon in Montgomery

For those of you who I haven't seen in a while, I've moved from Johnson City, Tennessee to Montgomery, Illinois! I'll be here six month doing a Leadership Residency at Community Christian Church. One of the highlights of the area is Phillips Park that features part a mastodon skeleton was in the 1930s, I visited it on my day off Monday - riveting. I'm going to revive my blogging for the sake of all those I've left behind. This move has proved to me that fake deer are popular everywhere (check out the latest youtube video for proof). I'm enjoying the staff and atmosphere here at CCC. I really miss everyone from JC and the perceived closeness to Atlanta and Savannah. Hanging out with a variety of small groups is helping me get connected with some really great people. Please, anyone with a southern accent call me, I'm terrified of talking like a Midwesterner!!