family, escrow and chuppah ...

I'm in the blogging mood ... so much going on in my life and marriage and family and church ... where do I begin?

My wife is simply amazing ... we've been married almost 10 years and I'm more in love with her than ever before ... our children are growing up so fast ... Ava is getting smarter and smarter every day ... this week, we introduced her to the world of Monopoly ... she won ... it's on ... Adiah dances in this Hawaiian costume every night ... so cute ... Asher is such an amazing kid ... I couldn't imagine life without my son ... and now we have little Alicia ... she's almost walking and has the most beautiful eyes ...

as far as the Stirring, today we went into escrow on the building we're purchasing ... it still seems unreal ... we've been praying for a space like this for years ... I know this is God's dream for us, and God loves to see His dreams in the hands of His children ... God is so good!

Over the next three weeks, we're wrapping up our series Under the Chuppah ... we've been talking about love and romance and dating and marriage and sex ... all the good stuff ... with all the confusion, divorce and brokenness when it comes to relationships and marriage, I'm convinced the book Song of Songs is more relevant and needed today than ever ... we're calling this generation back Under the Chuppah and into a life of freedom and purity ...

it's late and I need sleep ... blog on!

Oh Canada!

we just spent the past 8 days on family vacation in Canada ...

what a glorious week in Beautiful British Columbia ... so green and so peaceful ... there's nothing like the smell of cows and hay in the morning ... we spent time with our grandma and cousins and uncles and aunts ... we watched movies ... we ate Sushi ... we took the kids to Dinotown (a mix between Kid's Kingdom and Disneyland, but more like Kid's Kingdom) ... we walked on the beach ... we have such a generous family up in Canada ... they fed us and loved us and blessed us ... thank you so much ... go Canada!

by the way, if you didn't know, I'm half-Canadian ... I told that to the lady at the border and she laughed at me!

I know this sounds crazy, but one of my favorite things to do on vacation is to visit other churches ... we visited a Canadian church 'Peace Portal' on Sunday morning ... we sang the song Oh Canada to begin the service ... it just happened to be Canada day ... the message was powerful ... just months ago, the pastor lost his wife to cancer ... she was an amazing woman of God ... he talked about the importance of community in moments of pain and death ... how do we encourage and come alongside people in the most painful moments ...

that night I went to an underground Youth Church movement ... there are over 1000 youth meeting weekly to worship and seek God ... they meet in five different cities ... they're not connected to any particular denomination or church ... it's just Canadian youth who want to reach their generation for Christ ... amazing ... the gathering was raw and real ... one of the youth shared his testimony ... just a few months ago he was dealing drugs, and then he met Christ, and now he's one of the young leaders in this movement ... he shared his story and then we prayed for each other ... God is moving in Canada!

on the way back, we spent an evening with Steve and Renee Swinburne in Bellingham, WA. ... we love the Swinburnes ... they fed us pasta and sent us off with fruit snacks and coffee ... I drank a quadruple shot Iced Caramel Macchiato and drove 12 hours straight back to Redding (with only one speeding ticket) ... 70 mph in a 60 mph zone ... 60 mph on I-5??? ... what the heck? ... Steve warned me about the Washington police and how they're out to get those speedy Californians ... I should have listened to him ... bummer!

now I'm back ... I've missed my country and my bed ...

Happy Birthday Asher ...

Happy Birthday Asher ...

2 years old and you're the man ... riding bikes and throwing balls ... handsome little guy, just like your dad ...

I pray for you every night, that you would grow up to be a man of God ... that you would love Jesus and follow Him with your whole heart ... I know you have a great call on your life and I will pray for you and encourage you until I see you walk in that great calling ... you're a marked little man and I can't wait to see the bold man of God you will one day become ...

and please stop beating up your sisters ... that's not cool!

Adiah's first song ...

tonight, my 4 year old daughter Adiah wrote her first song ... my kids are great song writers ... it must run in the family ...

most people don't know this, but almost everyone in my family has incredible musical talent ...

my grandma plays the accordian and keyboard ...
my other grandma plays the tuba and the piano ...
my grandfather plays the trumpet and sings ...
my father plays piano, guitar and writes songs ...
my mom plays the guitar and the piano (and coordinates weddings) ...
my uncle plays the banjo ...
my brother Benji plays guitar and enjoys country music ...
my wife sings and plays the recorder ...
my daughters are songwriters ...
oh yeah, my brother Jeremy wrote a couple of songs in a rock band (I think they won some MTV contest) ...
and I played the trombone in high school ...

anyways, here are the lyrics to Adiah's new song:

I love you Jesus
Please come with me to Disneyland
Please help my birthday to come really fast
I hope my birthday has cupcakes and cake
I hope Spring comes fast

Chorus:
I love you Jesus
I love you all the way to the moon and back

I love you Jesus
I love you everywhere
I love you to the sun
I love my baby sister Alicia
I hope she grows up fast

there's no place I'd rather be ...

I just wrapped up the craziest and fullest few months of my life ...

I finished a challenging theology course in my Masters program, brought our 4th child Alicia Amy Edwardson onto the planet, tackled a thick series on 'Heaven' at the Stirring, and we just hosted our first 'When God Dreams' Conference ...

It's been such an amazing few months ... my daughters bring me so much joy ... my son can beat up your son ... I'm enjoying spending time with my brothers and their wives ... my parents are so encouraging and generous ...

I love our church ... our church is the bomb ... I'm not talking about Sundays, I'm talking about the people ... the people who serve and the people who love and the people who worship and the people who encourage me and hold up my arms every day ... the ones who carry ladders and speak words of life and put courage in me ... that's the church ... thank you for being WHO God has CREATED you to be ... I'm proud to raise my family in our church ...

I just spent the last hour hanging out with my wife on a couch ... there's no place I'd rather be ... I'm fried and ready for bed ...

it's a great time to be alive ...

I'm stoked about the next few months ...

Easter and baptisms ... I get to baptize great friends ...

Catalyst Conference in Southern California ... it's gonna be sweet!

When God Dreams Conference ... our first Stirring Conference ... crazy!

Family vacation to San Clemente ... our favorite family vacation spot ... skunks and the beach!

Summer ... we love summer!

It's a great time to be alive ... and to have four kids and a mini-van!

i lost my voice ...

I'm not sure what happened ...

I took a quick nap yesterday afternoon after the Stirring, and I woke up sounding like a seal ... my voice almost completely gone ... my kids are sick, so maybe I'm on the verge of a massive nasal and viral disease ... or maybe I just have a little cold ...

last night, Dan Lance rocked it at the Stirring ... we're in a series called 'I am Jonah' ... Dan talked about how God uses Jonahs ... prideful, racist, depressed, disobedient, and suicidal people like Jonah ... and if God uses Jonahs, God can use you ... go check out the podcast later this week ...

today, I'm hanging out with my family ... playing Tinker Bell Old Maid with Adiah and trains with Asher ... our newest one, Alicia Amy is healthy and dark ... all she does is eat and poop and poop and eat ... it's boring, it's her life ... we're heading off to Barnes and Noble for a family date ...

this Thursday night, I'm speaking at the citywide LYNK gathering ... I'll be speaking about the need for fathers and mothers in the church and in our city ... we don't need more outreach programs and rock concerts and youth groups to reach the young people in our city ... we need fathers to embrace their father calling ... we need mothers to embrace their mother calling ... period ... this has always been God's heart ...

Alicia Amy Edwardson ...

just got back from the hospital ... I've been drinking those 7-up and Cranberry juice drinks all night long ... amazing ...

Alicia is so tiny and beautiful ... she weighs 7 pounds, 6 ounces and looks just like Adiah ... dark hair and dark eyes ... her eyes are wide open and she just stares at me wondering, "who's that crazy guy with the crazy hair?" and "why are they letting him hold me?" ... she has long Edwardson toes and fingers ... tomorrow, I'm going out to buy her a guitar ...

Erica is resting and hopefully coming home tonight ... she's my baby making hero ... everyone needs one ...

this afternoon, I'm taking the kids up to meet their baby sister ... they're stoked ... I'm not sure if Asher knows what's going on, but he's excited anyways ... it's a great day to be alive ... and to have a full quiver ...

hasta la vista creepy floating baby ...

my Valetine's ...

it's Valentine's day ...

I have the most beautiful Valentine's in the world ... I asked my daughters to choose a special Valentine's restaurant to go on a special Valentine's date ... yep, they chose Round Table Pizza in the mall ... we're off to eat pizza ... and then we'll walk around the mall looking for heart shaped candy, doing our best to avoid creepy older men and high school gangsters ...

Happy Valentine's day ... enjoy every minute of it ...

the greatest cartoons ever ...

I'm hanging out with my family ...
It's sabbath ...
We're watching Tarzan, one of the greatest cartoons ever ...
I've only seen it once, but I love it ...

I can't believe I waited so many years to watch Tarzan ... where have I been the past ten years ... and I hear it's based on a true story ... gorillas raising a man to be a gorilla ... amazing ... and Tarzan meets Jane and they fall in love ... she teaches him to speak ... he shows her a 'whole new world' ... what a great story ... that's my life ...

Tarzan and Finding Nemo and Shrek and the Incredibles ... genius ... I can't wait until my kids grow up and we can watch big kid films ... like Goonies and Zoolander ... but until then, let's watch Tarzan 3000 times ... bring it on ...

50 days ...

I'm not sure what to write, but I have to draw attention to the creepy floating baby on my blog page .... 50 days and counting ...

we've been changing diapers and filling sippy cups for almost 6 years straight ... I can't remember a time when kids weren't hanging on my pant legs ... I can't walk down the hallway without stepping on a barbie or a plastic chainsaw ... they always forget to flush the toilet ... I've watched Finding Nemo 468 times ... and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world ... (except the nasty diapers) ...

this week, we begin our Spring Life Groups at the Stirring ... I'm teaming up with Bill and Jill Randall to lead a leadership group for the next 13 weeks ... over the years, both Bill and Jill have had such a deep and profound impact on my life ... they have encouraged me and challenged me and shaped me to become the man, the father, the husband and the leader that I am today ... I am so grateful for their voice in my life ... and now we get to spend the rest of our lives shaping young leaders who will shape the world ... there's nothing on earth I would rather be doing ...

in our life group, we'll be focusing on leadership, calling and character ... we're reading through portions of the New Testament as well as the book 'Next Generation Leader" ... I'm stoked about the young men and women who are apart of this group ...

anyways, watch out for dirty diapers and plastic chainsaws ... it's my life ...

60 days ...

what the heck? ... we're having a baby girl in 60 days ...

so, my wife and I just bought a Toyota Sienna mini-van ... 33,000 miles ... amazing condition ... steering wheel ... four beautiful tires ... CD player ... seats 8 adults and 14 children ... yep, we're mini-van people ... and we're stoked ... I drove it all the way home from Sacramento with a huge smile on my face (listening to Coldplay and Radiohead) ... I'm a proud mini-van dad ...

it's the first car we've bought in over 10 years ... crazy ... we're thinking about throwing a party in the mini-van for all our friends with children ... dancing and music and twister in the mini-van ... everyone's invited ...

anyways, I'm still freaking out about the 60 days thing ... that's just a few weeks ... hospitals make me sick and dizzy ... props to doctors and nurses and janitors and anyone who spends their lives in hospitals ... I couldn't do it ... my stomach gets weak ... I throw up in mouth and pass out ... I get dizzy and punch myself in the neck ... I go crazy and use those rubber gloves for balloons ... then someone tackles me on the ground and they drag me out on the street ... this has never happened, but you can imagine ... yep ...

anyways, I love my kids and I can't wait to meet Alicia ... happy new year ... it's past midnight and I'm a bit delirious ... blog on ...

creepy Santa ...

the other night, we were walking downtown and we came across Santa Claus, just sitting there bored ... yep ... no crazy long line of kids ... no elves ... no cameras ... no Santa sign ... no hype ... plain old Santa ... just sitting there all by himself ... bored ...

when Ava saw him sitting there, she ran up to sit on his lap ... creepy ... some old man in a Santa costume downtown ... passing out candy canes ... talking to my daughter about Barbie and roller skates ... what am I supposed to do? ... it's Santa ... I felt like tackling him on the ground and ripping off that fake beard ... and shouting, "you're not the real Santa because I saw the real Santa in the Mt. Shasta mall!" ... and then I'd run off with his beard ... but I didn't ...

at this point, my youngest daughter Adiah is terrified ... she refuses to sit on Santa's lap ... thank God ... instead, she runs up and grabs a candy cane and runs away ... amazing ...

yep, Christmas Eve at the Cascade ... Wednesday night ... 5 pm and 7 pm ...

I spent some time today reading through the Christmas Story and praying about the gathering tomorrow evening ... I'm stoked ... Garrett Viggers and Jamie White are leading worship ... we're showing a couple of our Stirring films ... and Bill Randall and I are reading the advent Scriptures ... sweet ...

this Christmas, may we know the peace and joy and love of God ... and whatever you do, don't sit on Santa's lap ... it's a trap ... grab a candy cane and run ...

90 days ...

90 days to go ... 4 kids ... what the heck?

We're stoked about this little girl ... a few weeks BEFORE we knew we were pregnant, an older lady prayed for me at the Stirring ... she encouraged me and then prayed for my family ... she asked, "how many children do you have?" ... to which I replied, "3" ... she smiled and responded, "you've got another child on the way, a little girl and she's a special one" ... I laughed to myself ... not another child, and for sure, not another girl ... a couple weeks later, we found out that we were pregnant ... and yep, a little girl ... tampons and periods and boyfriends and lipstick ... my future ...

I'm so blessed to have such an amazing wife and family ...

family vacation ...

finally, family vacation ... I'm sitting with my beautiful and rambunctious daughters in a condo in Bend, Oregon ... we've been watching movies and searching the woods for baby tigers ... we found a baby tiger cave, but I think the tigers were sleeping ... we'll go back later to capture one and bring it back to Redding ... every family needs a pet tiger ...

this morning, I slept in until 10:30 am ... walked along with river with my parents ... ran around with my son ... drank a protein shake ... and tonight we're going into town for dinner ... and then I'll introduce my son Asher to the world of hot tubbing ... as a family, we love hot tubs ... and tonight my son will become a man ...

market street manor ...

around noon, I threw my family in the Oldsmobile and we cruised down to the Market Street Manor ...

we joined up with the Cables, the Stirring and the Bridge Community Church to encourage and bless the families living downtown in the Market Street Manor ... moms and children and families and soup and smiles and cookies ... amazing ... we love God, we love each other, we love the world and we love the least ... that's church ...

I love bringing my kids with me ... Ava was asking so many questions ... "why are we eating soup?" ... "who are these people?" ... Ava wanted to make a cameo on my blog ... she writes, "we gave clothes to kids and people ... we gave food, too ... we ate lots of soup" ... (ava's first blog) ...

on the homefront, our whole family is sick ... headaches and runny noses and achy bones ... monday morning, we leave for our family vacation to Bend, Oregon ... I can't wait ... hot tubs and bears ... that's the life ...

friends and wheelbarrows ...

yes, I've just purchased 10 yards of playground bark and they're dropping it off at my house this Friday morning ...

so, I'll need a couple friends and wheelbarrows ... we're wheelbarrowing 10 yards of bark into my backyard so my kids can fall off the playground and not die ... if you care about my children, please give me a call and respond to this blog ...

seriously, I think we can knock it out in a couple of hours ... anyone available around 3 p.m. this Friday afternoon? ... I'll buy some ice cream sandwiches ...

ava louise edwardson

every day, I realize HOW much Ava Louise is just like me ... she looks like me ... she talks like me ... she has legs like me ... she remembers like me ... she smiles like me ... and she runs like me (unfortunately) ... have you ever seen me run? exactly ...

and just the other night, I realized that she eats like me ... food can't touch other food ... mashed potatoes can't touch peas ... fruit salad can't touch meat ... beans can't touch the bread ...

a few nights ago, she asked for a bowl for her salad ... she's 5 years old and she already NEEDS a bowl for her salad ... yep, me ... anyone else super obsessive when it comes to food touching food? ... probably just me ...

4 days, 13 hrs, 36 min, 36 secs

today, staff meeting was great ... we prayed for each other ... we encouraged each other ... we drank coffee ... God has blessed me with such a great team ...

4 days, 13 hours, 36 minutes and 36 seconds until we plant our Sunday morning church plant ...

tomorrow, a few of us are taking a roadtrip to Sacramento to pick up some stuff for the for the church plant ... Ikea and Guitar Center ... two of my favorite places on earth ... I could live in Ikea ... couches and beds and toys and upscale cafeteria food ... and huge elevators ...

I just spent an hour wrestling with my 3 kids ... bucking bronco ... pillow fights ... dog pile ... just a few of our crazy games ... Ava and Adiah attack me like little midget ninjas ... and when I'm trapped on the ground, Asher bites me in the nipple and laughs at me ... I'm screaming in pain ... and then Adiah pile drives me in the neck ... and Erica's laughing ... and Ava sneaks up behind with a plastic shovel and stabs me in the back ... apparently, they've watched Nacho Libre one too many times ...

just found out that Rob Bell's new book just came out ... Jesus wants to save Christians ... amazing ... my brother Benji just picked up the last copy at Barnes and Noble ... I'll wrestle him for it (if I can use the plastic shovel) ...

asher's first fight ...

I just wrapped up the craziest weekend ever ...

Friday night ... Sigur Ros at the Greek Theater in Berkeley ... life changing ...

Saturday night ... the Myriad at the Cascade ... glorious ...

Sunday night ... the Stirring ... just finished our vision series ... it's official ... we love ...

so, this morning while I was working out at the gym (chest and back), my son Asher fought his first fight ... he's the man ...

Adiah told me the story on the way home ... this bigger kid stole Asher's green truck at least 100 times ... Asher stole it back ... and then the bigger kid pushed Asher ... Asher stood his ground ... then this bigger kid took Asher's head and smashed it against the ground ... the 'child care' lady ran across the room and grabbed the bigger kid by the arm and threw him in the corner for time out ... Asher screamed a bit, found his green truck, pulled it together and got back to the playing ...

I'm proud of my son ... one day, he'll be that bigger kid (like his dad) ... don't mess with the green truck ...