MetroMonk

Just wanted to give me friends and family an update. Felt like a blog post was more appropriate than a long Facebook status post.  After 13 1/2 years of marriage Liz and I have decided to separate. Truth is, we separated for about a month or two earlier in 2016 to different rooms in the house and started separating our accounts even then. After long discussions and some change of heart we decided we didn't want to pursue that route and "moved back in" with each other right as the summer approached. We started seeing another counselor, our third, and put some serious effort back into our relationship, and we really meant to make it all work and thought we had both let issues, that we were both holding onto, go. We were doing fine, until we weren't. As some of you already know, none of this stuff just happens overnight. We went back into "separation mode" back in November and have been in separate rooms since.  Very recently I moved out and currently live ...

Duke Chapel (Durham, NC) Whether it's a chapel space, a coffee shop or a yoga mat- find your sanctuary. Tired, fighting a cold, Head a little heavy, It has been a long week, Chores need to be done, Finances are low, Need more sleep, But things need to get done. I am here.  Distracted, Sitting, Breathing, Sipping, Thinking, Worrying, Chest tightens, My vessels constrict, Why am I here?  My eyelids are heavy, I take a breathe. My lungs fill, My chest collapses.  I took a look around  and I settle in. I am here.  And here I rest.  My yoga studio The coffee house chatter is loud, But I hear music. The choirs of angels singing. My shoulders relax. I can feel each and every breath. I am falling. Falling in a trance.  I come to you Father, again and again. You are my resting place, My sleep.

2 Things: 1. New AshWednesdays Vid is up 2. Bull City Cigars got the "Best of the Bull" award for August given out by local blogger Katelyn Phillips. Check out the feature here:  Best of the Bull Tweet

There are just certain things to know about what to do and what not to do in a cigar lounge. Someone has got to speak the truth, right? #AshWednesdays. Stay Ashy Friends! Tweet

Tweet I copied and pasted this right from google images This is an artile that I contributed in my church newsletter (I often write in the church newsletter. I find it's a great way to communicate ideas to my local context as well as establish myself a thought-leader). I just thought I should post it here. I don't usually do that, but I figured since I spent the time to write it then I should post it in other places as well.  Smartphones i what n church. That’s I want. I would love to see people snapping photos of churchy things and sharing them all over the World Wide Web. Hashtag the heck out of church (i.e. #JesusisRad or #Jesusismyhomeboy), choose whatever # you’d like.. Snap it, edit it, flip it, put a filter on it, tweet it, retweet it, post it, comment on it,  blog it, vlog it, review it, record it, check-in, pin it, do whatever you’d like but share, share, share! It’s 2015 people and this is the world we live in. We live in an iOS8 world, why do we...

Some people don't know this about me, but I have recently been sustaining a video series called "Ash Wednesdays." It's all about the cigars.  Posted here is the latest video.  It is a fascinating culture. I would love your comments. Heck, reach out and let's grab a stick and enjoy that together. Peace be with you.  Thanks for stopping by.  Tweet

A Cigar. You ever smoke a cigar? I meet a lot of folks whom tell me that they enjoy a stick on occasion. And I get that. It's a special occasion and some folks treat themselves to the largest tobacco stick they can get their hands on, makes sense right? Right. That said, I am a cigar smoker. Not the occasional smoker either, but "humo frecuentemente." As in, I enjoy sticks on the regular. And, while I am at it, let me take a few lines to say that smoking cigars IS NOT the same as smoking cigarettes. Not all smoking is created equal. Cigarettes are much worse than cigars as far as "junk"goes. They are cut with so much other fillers, impurities and other chemical garbage. Cigarettes taste different too. I have no intention on alienating cigarette smokers out there, but someone has to call a spade a spade. The two, cigars and cigarettes, are like comparing apples to oranges. Scratch that, because neither are healthy. Let's try that again. Maybe the co...

Tweet Every time we're out on the scene with cigars in our hands we meet the coolest people. It's never ceases to amaze me.

taken from pinterest With the advent of Advent, the church calendar marks a change in season. We enter into a season of waiting, expectantly, for the arrival of the Messiah, the Christ child; Emmanuel, the Lord with us. Outside, the leaves change and fall to the ground as the chill of winter settles in. Nature’s growth comes to a halt. We pull the sweaters out, and put the gloves on; we are zipped, buttoned and wrapped; ready for a new season. As fall disappears and winter enters, we Christians also enter a new season. A season to pause in hope for the long-awaited Messiah - Christ our king, born from heaven, ushered in through Mary in a stable. We prepare for the Messiah that had long been prophesied about in the Scriptures, the Messiah, for whom the Jews had longed. It is a season of waiting and preparation. Yet we live in a society that abhors waiting. Instant satisfaction is our mantra - fast food, 4G, DVR to fast forward through the commercials. Imagine a wor...

Though my world may be in pieces, my morning coffee hour is my anchor. Everything and everyone changes. People come and go. Money comes and goes. Situations change for better or for worse, but my coffee is always warm and his spirit is with me.