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Introduction To The House of Carr
Introduction To The House of Carr

Elbow Rubbing

Just in case you're curious, I have a new title. I am now the Chair of the Parents and Young Families Committee of the Cincinnati Mayor's Young Professional Kitchen Cabinet. I think it'll take two sides of a business card to fit all that.

I put in a resume for this new group that Mayor Mallory was gathering to act as a sounding board and made it on; he's looking for some ideas from a demographic the city has struggled to maintain. I was told that I was the only member of the faith community to apply for a position, so I think I'm the token minister. The committee's job is to explore what isn't being done and what should/could be done to make it a better place. I'm passionate about Cincinnati and think this will be a great opportunity to make some connections that should benefit our church.

We'll see how it works out. I've already had a couple meetings about it this week and will have a few more in the week to come. My first executive committee meeting with the mayor and twelve others felt like an episode of the Apprentice with me playing the role of the guy who gets voted out first. It's a relaxing feeling to be a room with a bunch of go-getters and not feel the need to be overtly impressive. While everyone else was wearing their suits and power ties, I had a blazer, untucked button shirt, and denim jeans. I'm so Gen X. They can't handle the truth.

Even made today's paper. You can check it out here.

Poet Tree

Didn't get to go to the Fountain Square reopening on Saturday, but I have been tracking the controversy concerning a poem by local poet Nikki Giovanni. Giovanni sounds Italian, but she's African-American [I usually don't bring up the race of an individual, but I think it's pertinent to this story]. Giovanni was asked to prepare a poem about the city to set the tone for the new Fountain Square. In the midst of praising the city's attributes while using "I am" statements, she said the following about our African-American Secretary of State, "I am not a son of a bitch like Kenny Blackwell." First, Giovanni's poem "I Am Cincinnati" was just dumb. I swear, it wasn't worthy of middle school English. Read the entire text here and tell me I'm wrong. Here are some other lines that Giovanni dropped in this poem:

"I am Findlay Street market." "I am the best 3-way chili in the world." "I am Montgomery ribs."

And my personal favorite,

"I am the Cincinnati Western and Southern Tennis Championships, though I am played in Mason."

If these are the best lyrics that a Cincinnatian can pen about our wonderful metropolis, then we're screwed.

I have no problem with her calling out Blackwell. Work your free speech, lady, it's America. But find another venue; using a family/community oriented even to roll out your personal politics is tacky. And, while you're at it, find another medium. You're giving poetry a bad name.

Organizers of the event said they received the inspiration for this poem from Maya Angelou's poem at Bill Clinton's inauguration. Giovanni is no Maya Angelou. No one knew who this lady was before her poem. And now, they'll only know her as the loon who called the gubernatorial candidate an SOB.

You Never Know

We were exhausted last night so I didn't bother to stay up and watch Arizona finish their drubbing of the Chicago Bears. And while watching the kiddies today, I hadn't seen that the Bears overcame a 20 point halftime deficit to win the game. Crazy. I did smirk when I saw that Neil Rackers missed a 40-yarder that could've won it for the Cards. That's the Neil we grew to love . . . er, despise, here in Cincy.

Wore'd Out

Tim and Mandi had their little boy late this morning. They called us at about 2:30am to ask if they could drop of Kasey and Tyler. So we had an early morning camp-out in the living room. It was fun having them play with Kaelyn, but incredibly hectic. Major props to y'all who have 3+ kids. They're with us again tonight and will hang with us until tomorrow afternoon. And since Tuesday is Kelly's day at work, it's me with three kids. St Anne, save me and I'll become a monk.

Jaxon [cool name] is the eighth niece and nephew, with a ninth hopefully coming next week. And with Kelly's brother getting engaged last Friday, there's no shortage of family news.

She's One!

No, not Kaelyn; she just turned eight months last week. It was a year ago Monday that Echo Church was officially started. I'm not quite sure how to describe what we've been through this past year, but it actually feels like we gave birth to two children [although Kelly swears her pregnancy was more painful]. Even though we're still scratching for every inch, I've absolutely enjoyed this past year. I wake up everyday thankful that we're here. But this experience has definitely stretched our faith. I won't lie: I was scared to death a year ago. I didn't want to fail, which was always kept me from jumping into a church plant. We left security for uncertainty. And, honestly, if you had told me that this is where we'd be after a year, I'm not sure I would've done it. And that's precisely why I'm glad I didn't know. This is a long term investment. We're not blowing out the doors today, but we're gaining momentum. Thirty years from now, no one will remember year one.

And that's why, as I have been with Kaelyn, I've been trying to enjoy every minute of Echo's infancy. I enjoy getting to build closeknit relationships with our core group. I've appreciated additional sanity since leaving Panera at the beginning of the year. Could've done without the hepatitis, but even that was a learning experience [I learned having hepatitis sucks]. It's a good journey to take.

And now, time to name drop.

So to those of you who helped us embark on this journey, thanks. Dave&Bev, Anthony, Jen, Jaime&Melinda, Mark&Heidi, Paul&Carol, Jeff&Martha, Lindsay, Bill&Betty, Brad&Tammi, John&JoLynn, Sandy, Justin, Dave&Melissa, Mike&Nikki, Jeremy&Bonnie, Sydney, Brian&Krista, Dan&Rhonda, Jeremy- you all made it possible for Echo to start.

To those local church leaders I've had the pleasure of interacting with this year [Mike, Aaron, Russell, Markus, DG, Benji, Heidi, Bill, Scott] as well as those online [Tim, Michael, Bob, Tadd, Chad, Bob, Ben, Dave] thanks for the encouragement and for keeping me sharp.

To Emily, Shawn, Jim&Cindy, thanks for being a part of our original core group. We miss you, but are excited about where God has taken you.

And to those current core Echo'ers [Aaron, Dorota, Tim, Larry, Dale, Melissa, Rachel, Nate, Tim, Jessica, Tye, Andrea, Bud, Adam, Dylan, Kelly&Kaelyn], all those who've been coming recently, and all those friends and family who have supported us throughout the year with presence, prayer, and encouragement [especially those whose names I've accidentaly omitted], my deepest thanks and respect. God is definitely good. And you are proof of that.

Let's see what He does in year two.

And to bring this full circle, here's a picture of the little girl from Echo's birthday weekend:

A Brand New House

This is where things get confusing. Beit Carr is now more than a blog; it's a full website for the Carr household. For those of you getting my posts via RSS feed, you noticed nothing new. And if you access this blog via beitcarr.blogspot.com you missed it as well. But for those who type in houseofcarr.com, you've seen the changes. At houseofcarr.com you can get some extra info and pics of me, Kelly and Kaelyn. I'm also going to try to put up some short family video clips to keep people interested. It's a work in progress, but I'm excited about what we've got so far.

Thanks to Brian Coates for helping me get this up and running. The site design was all done in iWeb for Mac and was extremely simple. Not sure how it looks in other browsers, but let me know if you notice anything.

So from now on, if you just want the blog, go to beitcarr.blogspot.com [do yourself a favor and get an RSS reader like Google's]. If you want the full enchilada, go to houseofcarr.com.

Good night, now.

Ouch

Kelly's at the dentist so it's me trying to get Kaelyn to take her mid-day nap. I have the presidential news conference on in the background and I have to admit it's painful. I honestly believe that W is an intelligent man, but he comes off like a small-church deacon running a business meeting. No wonder The Daily Show has so much material.

Just an example: he referred to his office as the "o-VAL office," stressing the second syllable instead of the first. It was extremely southern, if not hick. He also continually called it the "Korean PeninSHula." I'm all for being personable, but it's not very comforting when discussing possible nuclear war.

It just reminds me of the whole Bill Clinton fiasco. You can get away with a lot if you can speak well in public.

Buy The Numbers

Because I'm all about this proposed gambling initiative, check this out from today's Enquirer:

"Ohio's Office of Budget Management issued a scathing report that estimated the take from the slots would be less than half what proponents think. The office estimated that the slots would reap $1.1 billion annually, with $486 million going back to Ohioans.

"While the lower projection would cut scholarship funding to $324 million - the office said the measure would severely under-fund treatment for addiction. It cited a Cleveland State University study that estimated new casinos would spawn 109,000 gambling addicts that would conservatively each need $3,500 worth of outpatient treatment - costing a total of $381.5 million."

9 Minus 9 = Dead Kitty

Ah, the weekend that was. So many good things happening but what to share today? How about the tail [pun intended] of the slain kitty? I will warn you that animals were harmed during the creation of this blog post, so some of you might want to skip this one altogether. But I must tell the story, nonetheless. Played a little flag football on Saturday morning with some people I met through our soccer league. After the game, I returned home and parked my car on the street. I walked around the back of the car, took some items from the passenger side, and went up to the condo. As I walked in, Kelly asked if I could hold Kaelyn so she could get something upstairs and I obliged. After a couple of minutes I stood up and peeked out the front windows to notice a dead feline laying in the grass area by my car door.

I knew I didn't run down Garfield, but I asked to Kelly to confirm my case; Kel is able to see me pull up and would've noticed if I had run over the cat. She said wasn't guilty. And I knew the cat wasn't there when I got out of the car because I would've remembered walking over a kitty corpse.

This left me in a bind: it was still morning but soon the sun would be shining on the cat; leaving it there wouldn't be a good idea. And I knew that calling the city wouldn't bring a response until Monday [if it all]. It was up to me to give the cat a proper burial.

Going outside I confirmed that the cat had been run down. And I could tell that the tire tracks didn't match my own, so again I would be innocent in a court of law. But the whole thing didn't make sense. How did the cat get there? I can't imagine someone would've run it down, get out of the car, picked it up, and threw it by my car door [although the North Koreans are doing crazier things now a days]. I would have to think that the cat was hit and managed to make it to the other side of the road before breathing its last. That's one determined cat.

Because of the cat's moxie, I decided to name it Gilbert, for the street it attempted to traverse before it died.

I won't divulge the specifics, but services were held this past Saturday with burial by the city of Cincinnati's Solid Waste Management Department.

We never knew you, Gilbert, but we're sure you were a swell cat. If only you knew how crosswalks worked, you might still be with us today.

You will be missed.

No Spin Zone

Here's where we're at: Ron Luce of Teen Mania [if you've never heard of him, imagine Tony Little but hyped on Jesus instead of exercise] is sounding the alarm that we're in a post-Christian culture and that Christian teens are choosing the ills of society over Jesus. His claim: "we're losing" and need to get in gear or the future is lost. Ron, Ron, Ron. Where to begin? First, thanks Captain Obvious; we've only been in a post-Christian society since the 1980's. Second, of course teens are choosing the ills of society over Jesus; they always have and always will. That's what you do during your formative years: you do everything you're not supposed to do so you can tell the next generation what they're not supposed to do. And third, we're not going to lose. Read the Bible [and keep your dispensational bent* at home with your Jolt Cola] and you'll discover that Jesus will win regardless of how Chicken Little you want to get.

I know I'm supposed to be on the same team as this guy but I have a tough time accepting this warning from him. His whole ministry is based on drawing tens of thousands of teens to weekend experiences where he takes advantage of a spiritual high to get kids to commit to decisions that they aren't able to persist with. Of course he's going to be crying wolf here because it directly effects his success rate.

Perhaps the actual problem is that the type of crusades Teen Mania supports is dated and is no longer attractional to the average Christian teen. Luce's response to the crisis "is to replace MTV’s wares with those of an alternative Christian culture, so teenagers will link their identity to Christ and not to the latest flesh-baring pop star." But creating such a sub-culture doesn't solve the problem. It just links their identity to the latest flesh-baring CHRISTIAN pop star and still doesn't create the necessary link to Christ. I hate to echo what I just wrote about the local gambling initiative, but there is also gold in the hills of the Christian sub-culture and many stake their living on it.

Listen, it's not that I'm not concerned about our kids, but we have to stop these ridiculous means by which to reach them. The vast majority of Christian kids aren't going to abandon pop culture for CCM. And do they have to? Why can't we stop lecturing to them and teach them how to live as a Christian in this culture? Why can't we challenge teens to go deeper in their faith so they can own their faith?

Stop blaming the world and take responsibility for the ways we [the church] have failed our youth. Instead of giving them substantive spiritual formation we gave them cotton candy, a promise ring, and a pat on the butt as they enter the real world. For two-thousand years of history, Jesus has been enough. Why do we think we have to reinvent the wheel?

Newsflash to the alarmed: things are going to be OK. Jesus assured us, "from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it" [Matthew 11:12]. So don't lose sleep over this. There are better days ahead.

*I'm pretty sure that Luce's ministry holds to dispensationalism which is interesting because this theology is centered on the idea that the world will get progressively worse, culminating in Jesus' return. So if this is your eschatology, shouldn't these stats be a cause for celebration rather than alarm?

Desperate

Money drives the world. And people will do whatever they can to get their hands on it. Case in point: I just had a person knock on my door [better than kicking it in] with a petition in hand. "How are you doing Mr. Carr," she began, entering into her spiel and I stopped her.

"How do you know my name?" I asked. "I have a list here," she showed me and I glanced down to see it was the Issue 3 petition; that's the gambling issue in Ohio.

Before she said another word I told her, "Sorry, I'm very angry about this issue and there's no way I'm signing your petition" [read my previous rant here]. She seemed a little surprise but I did tell her it was nothing personal as I know that this lady is just a hired petition collector; she's trying to make a living and doing the best that she can. Too bad she's being used by a group that cares nothing about her but is drooling over the millions they could rake in if this issue passed.

We're almost a month away from election day and these turds looking to profit from legalized gambling have pulled out all the stops. Do you realize the investment that it takes to send petitioners door-to-door? It's not cheap. And not to mention that they're doing it here in Walnut Hills which, overall, is an impoverished, undereducated part of town. That's tacky.

I think they're screwed. That's why it's come to this.

BTW, one of the more interesting things I've learned about this issue is while the proponents' website is www.ohiolearnandearn.com, the opposition was able to acquire www.ohiolearnandearn.org. Genius.

I Might Be A Jerk . . .

. . . but let's be truthful here. I laughed out-loud when I read the following on a church's website:

"We believe God sovereignly placed us inside the loop of I-275 in an area with wonderful racial and economic diversity."

The local area being discussed? Kenwood. If you're familiar with Kenwood, that's not quite how I would describe it's racial [white] and economic [affluent] diversity.

Whatever makes you feel better.

If you need me, I'm just slummin' in the belt-loop.