"Where everybody knows my..."

Today, I am hanging out on North Post Oak in Houston.  I am getting ready to go my first ever design class for vehicle wrapping.  Maybe I'll learn how to turn my 2001 Buick Park Avenue into a hip and cool pimped out machine.  I left the house extra early because my car has an issue right now that a wrap won't fix.  It's something internal.  Because of that, I needed to allow plenty of time and I needed to drive where I could keep my speed up as much as possible.  Enough of that, but if you have a light going off in your head right now concerning my problem, please let me know.

I'm hanging at Starbucks.  There are several things I like about coming to Starbucks.  I've never been to this one, but it feels like I have.  It's a very personal place.  I walked in and they told me hello.  They had my personal selection of favorite drinks to choose from, and even the same comfy chair I'm used to back home.  No matter where I am, if I walk into a Starbucks, I feel a little more like I'm at home.

It's obvious why this is the case.  It's the same whether I'm eating at McDonald's in Mexico City, or shopping at Target in Southern California.  A Chick-fil-A sandwich tastes the same in Chicago as it does in League City, and a Q-doba burrito is a food of greatness in Charlotte, Minneapolis or Fort Worth.  Chain restaurants and other establishments are comfortable.  They may not all be expensive, but are they costing us more than money?

At first glance, I am grateful for the familiarity of a Starbucks this morning, but honestly, I would have much preferred a more local flavor - you know, the sort of Cowamunga's Coffee shop in Grapevine, or the Manhattan in Snyder, Texas.  These types of places let me into the place where I am.  I want to struggle with the culture and the location where I am, so that in the end I can rejoice with it as well.  I don't want to spend money on a great vacation only to come home feeling like I never really left.  I am one of those people, who while on vacation, will not eat at any restaurant that I can eat at back home.  This was much easier before we had kids, by the way.

One of the things I have learned this past year is that people do the same thing with churches.  We want the familiar.  We want the comfortable.  Not for the wrong reasons, either.   I often hear transplants say they are looking for a church "like the one back home."  I am not bagging on them for that.  I get it.  The sad thing is not our search for the familiar, but the church's all-too-often inability to provide something unique.  We seem to provide franchise churches well because the market will bear it up.  But my question is "Is this best for the Church?"  I am not proposing that every church go out and recreate the wheel, but I do believe that every church has a unique thumbprint to make on their community.  A couple of months ago, I was asked by a local reporter why we have chosen to do things so differently at The Springs.  I explained that if God has really called a dozen churches to our community then we have one of two options.  We must each play our own unique instrument or we should all gather under one roof.  I'm not 100% convinced that gathering under one roof would be a bad idea.  We have chosen to be different because we have other churches who are not.  Our friends at Clear Creek are experiencing great things and they started a campus in our back yard.  The music is great, the teaching is great, the kids' programs are great.  We could do a smaller version of that.  However, we would just be drawing water from the same well.  We have committed ourselves to being a different kind of church - where pastors aren't "pastors" and church is not "church."  It's not the easiest road to travel, but intuitively, it's the right road for us.

If you are looking for a church, like the one back home, you will probably not be satisfied with us, and that is okay.  We have enough relationships with other churches in our area, that we could probably help you find the one for which you are looking.  If, however, you are searching for something different...or maybe not searching for a church at all, come meet our friends.  We love Jesus and are committed to being more like Him and less like other Christians everywhere.  Sometimes, we swing and miss, and other times we hit it squarely, but we are real and honest and we really would love to meet you.

Gotta get to that wrapping class, now!  Ciao!

West Texas "Starbucks"

Five days in Snyder, Texas and I finally find my oasis in the desert.  I have located the small cup-o-joe establishment called "The Manhattan."  I love this place.  It's got art on the walls, it's on the town square, it's got a front porch with cable-spool tables and yard chairs, great music and great coffee-drinks.  It's got a local flair about it, but it could be in the arts district of Houston or the family-friendly downtown of Fort Worth.

I'm sitting and working a little and lo and behold a friend walks in and sits down and we share a conversation for about 30 minutes.  She leaves and I think to myself, "What a great third place!"  

"Third Places" are those middle-ground, neutral locations (not work and not home) where people have traditional gathered to converse and share thoughts and ideas about life, family, work and even spirituality.  They seem to be more available in larger populated areas, rather than rural communities.  I guess that is because they may not sustain the customer volume that is needed to maintain the business end.  For instance, i've been here working for almost 2 hours now and I have only seen about 10 people come into the shop.  At home, I see 10 people in Starbucks every 8 minutes.  It's just a volume issue.

I actually think I like the Manhattan better than Starbucks though.  It's a community place.  It's a neighborhood place, run by neighborhood people.  I feel at home with the urban feel when I'm inside, but I loved sitting on the porch gazing at the courthouse and seeing the 4x4 trucks pass by, as well as the painted store windows supporting the local Snyder Tiger football team.  Oh, how fresh.

IKE UPDATE:  I am going to be in Snyder for another 4 days, it looks like.  Not because I can't get into my house, but because I can't fly back to Houston with Graysen yet.  Rhonda and Garin are at my parents' home about an hour away from us.  We apparently have a little bit of shingle damage on our house, but that's it.  Our electricity is back on.  Rhonda is planning to go walk-through the house to see how it made it on the inside, but all indications are that we came through unscathed.  We may all be separated, but we are all safe.  Thanks to all of you who have texted or called to check on us.  We are blessed to have friends like you.