monkinabus: blog of derek dominguez

Big Thanks to Luke for the Blog Banner

I want to give a shout out to a good friend of mine Luke who whipped up the new blog banner for me for monkinabus.com ! Thanks Luke ! I appreciate you and our friendship. Luke's blog can be found here. Check it out.He has some great thoughts and needs to share them with us all more:)

Never again....

....will we go hwy 5 to get home from. We pray for those in the accident ahead of us. We have been stopped in this parking lot for two hours now. We've seen three ambulances, four tow trucks, 4 highway patrol cars, and numerous emergency vehicles go by. I wonder how much longer until we move?

After The Break

    I took a break from sharing here. At one time I thought seriously about deleting it. I'm happy I did not. It records some type of journey I've experienced over the months. Last week I realized it was time to think about writing here again. It ties into the actual title I named the blog to begin with.

    At the time this blog was created I was driving a '68 bay window bus. The name of the blog came from an email address I nabbed at Gmail in 2001 when we were living in Dallas. Back then I longed for to be back in Santa Cruz, cruising in a VW bus, and with a longboard in the back. The '68 is now gone and has been replaced by a '66 Panel. It sometimes has a longboard in the back.

    I'm still a wannabe monk. Meagin says I"m getting more introverted in my "old" age. Not sure what to think about that. I think she is right.

"monkinabus" is slowly fading away

    I haven't posted for some time now. Mainly because there are many things going on within the Dominguez clan and it has been hard to keep up with it all, let alone share it with friends, family, and the small group of people who may read the blog here. Also, the "monk" descriptive of this blog no longer captures who I am in essence and the 1965 bus still exists, but is losing it's appeal to be driven like it once did. With new directions in life comes letting go of past things. With what is ahead of us I've felt the urge to blog anew. Not about some identity I wish described me, but just about who I actually am.
    God is in the midst of changing lives, desires, and passions. He is doing this work in us as a family at the moment. In the coming months I hope to share when the timing is right and when I do it most likely will not be here at this blog location, but at one where it's no longer defined by the tradition of a wannabe "monk" who happens to have a fondness for vintage VW's. At that time this blog will cease to exist, but I'll post where we will be sharing how God is breathing a new vision in our hearts and birthing new life in us. I'll hopefully be posting our new blog site in the next few weeks. But then again maybe not. He may just say to me, "Meh....be done with it." We shall see.

Maya's First Road Trip

    We are headed out today for a week of road tripping. Our final destination is going to be the Lake Forest area in Souther California so I can attend the Global Summit on AIDS & The Local Church at Saddleback Church. We are also looking forward to spending some time with dear friends along the way like the Weybrights and the Esparzas. We are also excited to see the Myhills for the first time since we left Dallas and to hear more about how God is continuing to move significantly through World Orphans. We're working in Disneyland as well to celebrate Tate's birthdays. So, it will be a fun but busy little trip.

Just a wee little break....

As some of you have noticed I took a break from blogging. I've had much to say, but just haven't felt the need to share it publicly. This will soon change and I'll be back at it again soon.

A Good Day

A good day is waking up to fresh brewed coffee. Walking with the family and close friends to the Aptos Farmer's Market to buy organic, local and fresh fruits and vegetables for the week. Doing the chores around the house. Cooing at Maya and having her smile at you. Running errands on my bike with Tate on the back while she screams and has the wind blow in her hair. To sit on a wall and eat an ice cream with your eldest daughter and talk about the meaning of life. That's a good day I would say.

The Day Has Come, Ode to Chaos

I'm a professional. A professional mover. I break things. I get frustrated. It's tiring, sweaty, lame, and that's what we'll be doing for the next 48 hours. But heh, there is no one to blame but me. I like creating stress and chaos.

An Unfinished Life, An Unfinished Bus

    I'm sure some have wondered why this blog is titled "monkinabus." One of those reasons is because for a time I was a "wannabe" monk but soon realized I wasn't cut out for it. The whole married thing kinda of gets in the way. But, there is a fresh wind blowing in our country to pay attention to the movement of the Spirit in re-learning how to follow Jesus in the every day rhythm of life and at the same time to embrace the tenets of the cloistered life. In my daily life I desire to embrace the historic values of monasticism in my day to day life without having to detach from the messiness of culture and people and in this sense to embrace a "new monasticism."
    I also on the other hand have a fondness for vintage volkswagen's, but not just any. I love buses, particularly what are called "splitties" or buses built before 1968 where the front windshield is actually two windows as it is "split" in half by a metal support bar. This makes it possible to install safari windows which are seen in these pictures.
    It's taken three years but the infamous vw bus some of you have heard about and thought was just a rumor is actually rolling down on the road. It's registered, insured, and I've been behind the wheel of it to at least get it up to the parents house for it to live under a car cover and car port until we get through this move. It mechanically is done, but still has interior work to finish up. I want it to be done and complete now, but like my father has aptly said about classic cars is that "they're never in a sense ever done." Part of the enjoyment is the process itself in restoring and working on them, seeing something slowly progress and come to completion.
    As I was thinking about my bus at least being drivable and my father's words it struck me how similar my spiritual life is to the desire to see my bus fully complete and restored. Often times I want my life to be whole, fully restored and complete now. Not tomorrow. Not next week, but today. I don't want to have to go through the hard restorative process of the soul work, often needing to take place for wholeness and full restoration to be completed. I want my own interior world to healed and at peace. Yet, I know it is a process and it takes time. I'm just thankful God himself is the restorer of my soul as I plod ahead, following after Jesus. In the year to come as I tinker away at restoring the interior of my 1965 bus I know there will be plenty to ponder about the own interior restoration needing to take place in my own life. Thus, the adventures of a wannabe "monk" in a bus continue onward. It sure was fun finally driving it down the road and I'll post more pictures when I get the chance. 

You Know You've Got One of These

    A drawer, but not just any drawer. It's the infamous clutter drawer. Every place we've lived we've had this place living in one of the drawers of our kitchen. It just seems to collect all of the random things. The items not finding a home somewhere else. I bring this up because at the moment our whole house tends to look like the drawer as we are looking to move once again in the next week. It's only been six months since we moved last. I'm not really looking forward to cleaning out this drawer or moving in general. If it goes like it has in the past it will be one of the last and will be dumped whole into a black garbage bag until we get into our new place. We are hoping this will be the last move for us for some time, but you never know.