no comment

I admit, I am a self-centered blogger ... I hardly ever comment ... someone recently confronted me about my 'no commenting' trend ...  

yes, I read all my friends blogs ... I read about Shannon's work ... I read about Dan's family ... I read about Anna's cleaning ... I read about Patrick's lazy saturdays ... I read about my wife's crazy days ... I read about Jeff Yoder's pancakes ... I read about Amy's meals ... I read about Emily's photography ... I read about the Stirring Mom's outings ...

I read them all ... you are amazing bloggers ... every one of you ... 

I just forget to comment ... but, I'm realizing there's more to life than just blogging ... there's commenting ... which is half the blogging fun ... so, please leave comments on my page ... I love to read them ... 

and by the way, this is my son Asher ... we're becoming friends ...

rain

I'm writing a new song ... I have the chords, but no lyrics ... verse: f, f/am, f/b, f ... chorus: am, f, c, em ... bridge: (I can't give that away) ... don't steal it ...

some songs come overnight, while others are written over years ... a few years, I wrote a song called 'send your rain' ... it was late one night ... I couldn't sleep ... I drove to the church and climbed up on the grand piano ... in my boxers ...

 

it was 3 o 'clock in the morning and it began to rain outside ... the first rain of the year ... so, what do you do when it rains outside? ... yep, you sing about the rain ... so, I wrote a song about the rain ... 'send your rain, I am ready' ... 

I mean, come on ... every great songwriter writes a hit song about rain ... 'rain down' (delirous) ... 'rain' (the Beatles) ... 'who'll stop the rain' (creedence) ... 'louisiana rain' (tom petty) ... 'rain' (madonna) ... 'purple rain' (prince) ... 'chocolate rain' (tay zonday) ...

you can't stop the rain ... I'll let you know when I finish this song ...  

the burn

after two years, finally 'the burn' ...

april is a burn month ... I purchased a burn permit ... I raked all the leaves and sticks and logs in my backyard into one ginormous pile ... I called up a couple friends (Christian, Kendell and Brent) ... my burn friends ... in fact, when I invited Brent to 'the burn,' he thought I was talking about smoking pot ... nope, just burning some leaves and branches in my backyard ...

check out my wife's amazing pictures ...

the good old days

every once in a while, I remember the good old days ...

the blue geo storm

red robin

celebration (the pillars)

the train tracks 

smoking in Jeff Yoder's backyard (once)

the east way apartments

forgetting to invite Curtis Stein to my wedding

exit san francisco

kicking dave reichle in the stomach

dating my wife

the counting crows

thank you for sharing this moment with me ...

blogging 101

as we sat in the airport terminal, dan lance and I conversed about 'blog life' ...

as most of you know, I'm new to the blog world ... I lost my blog virginity a few months ago ... my wife and dan lance pressured me into it ... I can't say no ...

dan lance is one of the greatest bloggers ever ... so, I asked dan lance, what makes a great blog? ... why are some blogs so 'captivating,' while others leave you 'bored' and 'depressed?' ... how come some blogs 'rake in' the comments, while other blogs seem to be a waste of cyberspace? ... how come some blogs move your heart, while others give you a headache? ... and the questions go on ...

and so, from my conversation with dan lance, here are the key ingredients for a great blog: (please feel free to adapt for personal usage and blogging)

1)  a great blog must always include an endearing reference to one's spouse ... such as, "I love my wife," or "my husband is very romantic," or "my wife is the best cook ever, I love her enchiladas" ... and if you're not married, blogs must include an endearing reference to a parent or perhaps a teacher ... "my mom is friendly," or "I would never be who I am today without my third grade teacher" ...

  

2)  a great blog must include pictures ... especially pictures of children, family outings, adoption, weddings and/or a homeless person (preferably holding a sign) ...

3)  a great blog must always mention Jesus, God, church or life group ... for example, "church was amazing Sunday night," or "when our pastor Nathan talked about greed tonight, it really rocked me," or simply, "I love Jesus" ... this always works ... 

 

4)  a great blog must always includes a list ... people are drawn to lists ... (I'm not sure why: ask Dan) ...

5)  a great blog is a daily blog ... to quote my friend dan lance, "the greatest bloggers blog daily" ... in the early years, it was difficult for dan lance to find time to blog daily ... but now, dan lance blogs at least 4 times a day ...

I hope this is helpful ... as dan lance always says, "if you aren't blogging, you aren't living!" ...  

honeymoon story

back in Orlando ... it's been a few years ...

my wife and I flew here eight years ago for our honeymoon ... amazing ... the beach ... the Florida keys ... alligators and dolphins ... oh yeah, and Disneyworld (where grown men dress up as Pirates and Mice) ...

a quick honeymoon story (don't worry) ... as a wedding gift, my father bought us 4 days and 3 nights at this romantic resort called the Aisle of Bali (in Orlando) ... huge rooms ... hot tubs ... Margaritas ... heaven on earth ... and you won't believe what happened next ...

one afternoon, my wife and I were hanging out in our room ... my wife 'just happened' to glance out our window toward the parking lot ... she turned to me and motioned toward the window ... "is that your dad?" ... I ran over to the window just in time to see my dad pulling his suitcase out of his rental car ... yep, my father was staying at the same resort ... unbelievable (and a bit awkward) ...

so, that night, he took us out to dinner at Bahama Breeze ... why not? ... it's only our honeymoon ...

what was my father doing in Orlando, anyways? ... I never asked ...

they forget your name

I'm writing from a condo in Sacramento ... my wife and I brought the kids down here for a couple days, just to get away and spend some time with my parents ...

as a family, we need that time away ... pastor life gets crazy ... it never ends ... there's always something or someone grasping for our attention ... and it all seems so important and urgent ... and even though we enjoy living this call on our lives, my wife and I need that time alone ...

over the years, we have struggled and worked hard to find a healthy rhythm for our family and marriage ... time with God ... time with each other ... time with our children ... and at the same time, carrying the weight of a growing church community ...

a few years ago, my dad taught me something so profound ... my parents pastored a church for over 25 years ... my father spent most of his life leading and caring for and giving himself to this church community ... 5 years ago, my father resigned from this church to pursue a calling to encourage pastors ... 6 months after resigning, my father called the old church office to speak with one the pastors ... the secretary didn't even know his name ... even after pastoring a church for 25 years, they forget your name ...

the point ... there's nothing more important than family ... and even though God has called me to lead and encourage the Stirring community, I cannot serve my church at the cost of my wife and children ...

my first calling is to God and to my family ... and so, in 25 years, when everyone else forgets, at least they'll remember my name ...

my wife's enchiladas

this morning, I devoured Acts 3 ... 

I love the book of Acts ... so many amazing stories of these first followers learning how to live and breath this Jesus life ... when I read the book of Acts, I find myself so drawn to the heart of God ... 

in this story, Peter and John are cruising up to the Temple to pray ... at 3 in afternoon ... this crippled man asks them for some money ... they're broke ... so instead of money, they pray for this guy and his leg gets healed ... 

Peter says, "silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you, in the name of Jesus Christ, walk" ... and Peter takes him by the hand and lifts him up ... that's it, and the guys walks ... and he praises God ... 

and so this week, may God open my eyes ... as I'm moving so quickly from here to there, I want to see the crippled ones all around me ... the discouraged ones ... the fearful ones ... the desperate ones ... the ready ones ...

and God, give me the boldness to take them by the hand and lift them up ... use me ... this is why I'm alive ... and may the world see Jesus in my life ... and may they praise God ... 

there's nothing I enjoy more than living this life with God ... and my wife's enchiladas ... 

  

the burn pile

I woke up early ... at 9 a.m. ... because life is too short to sleep in ...

I took my wife on a date to the gym ... curls and bench press and crunches ... healthy and romantic ...

a couple hours later, I traveled outside with my rake and boots ... as most of you know, the month of April is a 'burn' month ... with a 'burn permit', you can burn leaves and sticks and piles and wood ... my backyard is a 'burn pile' waiting to happen ... if you've been in my backyard, you know exactly what I'm talking about ... I spent about 3 hours today raking branches and leaves into a ginormous 'burn pile' ...

and then suddenly, a wind storm all around me ... wind and clouds and thunder ... apparently, it's not wise to burn massive piles of leaves in a wind storm ... so, I'm officially canceling the burn ... yep, the burn is off ... bummer ... I guess there's always tomorrow ... the 'burn pile' isn't going anywhere ...

tonight, a couple friends are coming over for a quaint BBQ ... in a wind storm ... perfect ... the one night we throw a BBQ ... tri-tip, potato salad, iced tea, wind and lightning and tiny dirt tornados ... awesome ...

this has been the best day of my life ...

don't be that guy

it's Sunday evening ... came home from the Stirring ... ate some noodles ... my wife and I watched the Assassination of Jesse James ... I'm a huge brad pitt fan ...  

dan lance spoke tonight at the Stirring ... he spoke about carrying weight in the family ... the God family ... church is more than just a chair ... it's so easy to just come to church each week and sit and listen and leave ... to be 'that guy' ... but God calls us to contribute and carry weight in the family ... 

this is such a difficult message for the American church culture ... we're so used to the comfort of our chairs ... I mean, could you even imagine what would happen if an entire community of Jesus followers actually began carrying weight together ... but this is so foreign to most Jesus communities ...

in fact, the whole American church structure isn't helping ... Jesus began a movement of love and compassion and healing and justice ... and 2000 years later, we've turned it into a weekly church service ... unbelievable ... we've tamed the Son of God to fit our American rhythm and lifestyle ... bummer ...

and this is why we will speak and shout and fight for family ... we are family ... we cannot give up on God's dream for family ... a family who loves and forgives and shares and sacrifices ... a family who shows the world what God is like ... 

thanks Mr. Dan ...

the longest week

this has been the longest week ever ...

last night, we hosted our first ever 'music, art and film festival', erase the dark ... amazing ... the art & photography, the films, the songwriters, the h'orderves and everything else ... I can't wait for the next year ... I already have an idea for a film ...

this morning, I woke up around 11 o' clock ... perfect ... spent time with my family ... met the Gafner's for lunch at La Conquista (spanish for 'really expensive lunch menu') ... quickly drove over to Patrick's birthday party at Jon Miller's house ... great party ... delicious ice cream sandwiches ... 

we finally came home to take a nap ... watched this Barbie Island Princess movie with girls ... great plot and soundtrack ... met the Lance's at Angelo's Pizza for pizza ... took a walk downtown to walk off the pizza ... 

came home ... put the kids asleep ... and I think I'll read one of my new books ... this has been the longest week ever ...

erase the dark

yep, 3 more days ... most of this week, I'll spend every waking moment getting ready for our festival ... this is the first year, but I'm hoping we can pull it off ...

just a few reasons to come Friday night ...

wesley jensen & friends ...

kim walker ...

man in the water ...

simplicity ... 

the silent auction ...

not to mention amazing food ...

I've heard a few songs and seen a couple of the films ... I'm excited to see the creativity and to be more and more involved with children in our community ...

Ava ran up to me this evening ... she said, "I know what Erase the Dark" means ... I replied, "what?" ... she said, "There was darkness and God said, 'Erase the Dark' and the dark was erased, and there was light" ... I said, "that's right!" ... even she gets it ...

 

the longest blog

in this blog, I'm competing against Amy Coverdale for the longest blog ever ... her longest blog ever is 796 words ... 3 ginormous blogging paragraphs ... 2 delicious pictures ... let the blogging games begin ...

I woke up this morning ... I took a shower and brushed my teeth ... the sun is shining bright in the sky ... I can hear my Chihuahua's barking outside ... it's monday morning and it's good to be alive ... this past weekend was probably the craziest in my life ... my wife left for the Stirring women's retreat ... she took little Ashdaddy, but left me with the girls ... fortunately, my mom came up for the weekend to help ... on Friday afternoon, I filmed for a couple of hours for 'man in the water' ... friday evening, I drove over to Sean Gafners house for poker ... I spent some time with the guys ... I ate amazing Carne Asada Tacos ... I drank Iced Tea ... I lost five dollars ... I came home ... that night, I worked a bit on a film for Sunday night ... on Saturday, I woke up ... I spent time with my daughters ... I climbed into my Tuxedo ... I drove to the Episcipalian Church for a wedding ... I drank a Red Bull ... she walked down the aisle ... they said I do ... I said, I now pronounce you husband and wife ... I drove home ... late that afternoon, I filmed a couple more scenes for 'man in the water' which premieres this Friday night at Erase the Dark, our music, art and film festival ... I'm stoked about this festival ... it's been a dream for a few years, and finally we are doing it ... we've got at least 6 films and 6 artists performing ... don't miss it ... back to my weekend ... then Saturday night I ate dinner ... and then I spent some time with God ... praying and getting ready for Sunday night ... late that night, I finished the Jon Miller video for Sunday night ... then I went to bed ... then I woke up Sunday morning ... I ate breakfast and hung out with my daughters ... I drove to Risen King Community Church ... I announced Erase the Dark and passed out fliers both services ... at least 50 different people said, oh yeah, I'll be there ... we'll see ... then I drove home ... ate lunch ... spent some time with my wife talking about the Women's Retreat ... amazing ... over 40 women on this retreat ... I could not imagine ... but I hear it was awesome ... I'm already planning our first ever Stirring Men's Retreat ... all you can eat Carne Asada Tacos ... all night poker ... rock climbing ... fist fights ... all night risk (for those who get knocked out poker) ... more all you can eat Carne Asada Tacos ... more rock climbing ... more fist fights ... I'll never forget what happened a couple of years ago ... we were at the Perry's cabin for a retreat ... during the middle of the night, Juan snuck into my room ... and while I was sleeping, Juan flipped my mattress off my bed, with me in it ... and so when I woke up, I was in the middle of the air ... I landed on the ground and rolled into the wall ... freaky ... I wasn't happy ... an hour later I was tucked back in bed ... I fell asleep ... they did it again ... I don't want to talk about this story anymore ... I'm getting more and more upset ... anyways, coming soon ... the first ever Stirring Men's retreat ... this is so much fun ... blogging and blogging and blogging and competing against Amy Coverdale in the blogging Olympics ... I will not give up ... my fingers are numb ... my hands are getting tired ... I'm drinking a Red Bull ... but I will not give up ... I've worked hard to get here this morning ... to compete in these games ... two more paragraphs ... you can do it, nathan ... just keep typing ... don't stop moving those fingers across that keyboard ... cheering ...

seriously, this morning's breakfast was delicious ... I made bacon and eggs and toast and moons over my hammy ... real simple, check it out ... all you need ... a bag of Costco bacon ... lots and lots of bacon strips ... yummy, yummy bacon ... 6 eggs ... white eggs, not brown eggs ... the bigger the better ... a toaster and bread ... place the bread in the toaster ... very, very gently ... don't burn your little fingers on the toaster ... turn the toaster to medium high, and when the toast pops out, don't be alarmed ... it's ready ... 1/2 lb bag of ham ... pre-heat oven to 300 degrees ... place bacon and ham into the oven for 30 minutes ... until they melt together in every way possible ... then microwave the eggs for 6 minutes ... until yellow and runny ... place the toast on a plate ... carefully drap bacon and ham on top of toast ... then drizzle eggs upon the top ... moons over my hammy ... amazing ... makes 4 servings ... if you want, sprinkle 1/2 a bag of grated cheese on top ... I call this moons and cheese over my hammy ... also, some like it with less eggs ... only microwave 3 eggs ... I call this 'half moon' over my hammy ... great for grandpa's and grandma's who eat less ... and if you're allergic to cheese and eggs (bummer), then just eat the bacon and ham on the toast ... I call this 'hammy' ... and if you just want eggs, then just eat eggs ... I call this 'moons' ... and you can eat this for breakfast or lunch or dinner ... the kids love it .. the wife loves it ... the neighbors love it ... jeremy coverdale loves it ... pretty much a 30 minute meal ... yes, a Nathan Edwardson recipe ... one of my favorite ... one day, I may publish all my recipes in my very own cookbook ... this blog is taking forever ... keep typing ... you're almost there ... one more paragraph ...

My wife gave me some money today to get my hair cut ... she's amazing ... I love my family ... so I went to Amy Endecott to get my hair cut ... she is crazy ... good crazy ... and had this idea to give me a mohawk ... the haircuts that mom and dad refused to let you have in middle school ... but, now I'm 30 years old ... if I want a mohawk, I can get a mohawk ... bring it on ... I know this blog has gone on for a while but I have just one more story to share ... it's one of my kitchen stories ... just last week, we discovered a tribe of army ants living in our kitchen ... thousands of ants living right our nose ... my wife went Nazi on those ants ... seriously, she spent almost all day slaughtering an entire village of ants ... king ants and queen ants and baby ants and army ants and other bugs with wings ... these little winged creatures have been flying around our kitchen for weeks ... I kept asking, what are they and where are they coming from ... unbelievable ... seriously, I can't feel my fingers ... I feel like I'm typing a marathon ... one more lap ... one more sentence ... one more word ... 

this is now the longest blog ever ... 1,064 words ... 

saturday afternoon

yep, that's me ... the guy in the tux ...

it's 2:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon ... everyone else is either blogging, mowing their lawns, drinking coffee or taking a nap ... but not me ... 

I'm climbing into my tuxedo ... I'm straightening my tie ... I'm drinking a Red Bull ... I'm on my way to the Episcipalian church ... yep, I'm the wedding guy ...

it's 2:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon ... here comes Amanda down the aisle ... she looks amazing ... the pipe organ sounds divine ... tears everywhere ... I do ... I do ... Lewis kisses Amanda ... short and sweet ... clapping ... the pipe organ wraps it up ...

it's 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon ... back in shorts and flip flops ...  

the blogging Olympics

allright, it's on ... the first ever blogging Olympics ... I'm competing against some of my blogging friends ... 

I'm competing against Jeremy Coverdale for most creative pictures on a blog ... he may have that new camera and photoshop skills, but I'm throwing down ... I don't even need photoshop ... it's all about the eye ... and lighting ... and a couple of other things ... I can't give away my secrets ... 

I'm competing against Erica (my wife) for most humorous blog ... she's so witty, but not for long ... in just days, she'll be out of blogging business ... 

I'm competing against Amy Coverdale for longest blog ... and recipes ... I can blog for over an hour straight ... I can blog 8 paragraphs in a row ... it's on ...

I'm competing against Dan Lance for most blogs in a day ... what does that guy do all week? ... just sits around and blogs? ... this isn't Riverside, Dan ... 

I'm competing against Billy Brown for most demented & disturbing blog ... enough said ...

I'm competing against Anna Moseley for most blogging confessions ... so honest ... so real ... but you're going down ... down town ...

I'm competing against Emily Faulknor for most pregnant mother pictures on a blog ... I've got 4 pregnant mothers lined up already ... rock 'n roll ...  

I'm competing against Kari Burrell for most Japanese children pictures on a blog ... I think she got all those pictures online anyway ... it's easy ... just google Japanese children ... images ... then throw 'em on your blog ... done ...   

I'm competing against Meghan Edwardson for blogging twice a year ... 

some blog for fun ... some blog for community ... I blog to win ... let the blogging games begin ...   

my wife

i met my wife in college . . . she drove a 1991 blue Geo Storm . . . sexy . . . and on top of that, she's hispanic . . . unbelievable . . .

we met in Psychology class and quickly became study partners . . . and you know where that leads . . . yep . . . actually, I think she was using me for my smarts . . . i don't want to brag, but I graduated Simpson University with high honors . . . i'm kind of a big deal . . . seriously, i'm a Simpson legend . . . they named one of the dorms after me . . .

anyways, my wife . . . one night, I took her on a date to the railroad tracks over the river at Caldwell Park . . . we walked out across the tracks . . . hearts pulsing . . . if you've never done this, go out and do it tonight . . . it's highly illegal, but worth every minute of it . . . if the train comes, run as fast as you can for your life . . . this is true love . . .

i so quickly fell in love with erica . . . even though some of my best friends (dave reichle and john klein) tried to talk me out of dating her, i knew erica was the ONE for me . . .

there's just something sexy about a blue Geo Storm . . .