It's my life!

God has blessed me with such an amazing son ... We wrestle and growl and play with motorcycles all day long ... it's my life!

weddings ...

I'm the wedding guy ... here's a shot from Drew and Julie's wedding a few months ago!

skim boarding and sewer tunnels ...

my family and I just walked the Pier in downtown San Clemente ...

every year, we spend a week of family vacation on the beach ... we eat Pedro's tacos, build sand castles in the sand, and sit around in glorious hot tubs ... life's a beach ... tonight, we took a family walk on the Pier ... we watched surfers and ate pink cotton candy ... my kids nail cotton candy like champions ... pure sugar rush to the head ...

last night, Sean Gafner talked me into a late night skim boarding adventure (Sean always has some crazy idea) ... we hopped in the car around 10 o' clock p.m. and went searching for the nearest Walmart to buy a skim board ... since most of the beaches are closed at night, we parked in a dark parking lot and walked through a sewer tunnel to the ocean ... we finally arrived around midnight ... we didn't have board shorts, so we skimmed in our boxers ... late night boxer midnight moment with Sean ... priceless!

we skimmed the night away in the moonlight ... I'm hooked!

a long day ...

woke up late this morning (saw Coldplay at Sleep Train last night) ...
spent a few hours at Starbucks drinking coffee (reading Acts & Ephesians & 1st Samuel 30) ...
ate pizza ...
met with Emily and talked about the Stirring Kids ...
signed a few checks ...
responded to almost 130 emails (grateful for typing class in high school) ...
Red Robin with Matt and Erica parsons ...
life group at the Gafner's (steak & potato salad) ... I love our church ...
met with Darby Anderson about 'the Way' ...
called my wife in Sacramento ... (I miss my family) ...
watching a film about a cop who chases down bad guys with a gun ... (yep) ...
keeping up my blog reputation ...

poets, prophets, and preachers ...

I just spent the past weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan, soaking up the Poets, Prophets, and Preachers, a conference hosted by Rob Bell of Mars Hill, Shane Hipps, author of Flickering Pixels, and Peter Rollins, author of How (Not) to Speak of God. When I found out about this conference, I knew I had to be there. I bought a plane ticket the next week. Sometimes, you just know you've got to be there.

The heart of the conference: Reclaiming the Art of the Sermon

Here were some of the session titles: (provoking to say the least!)

The Original Guerilla Theatre (Rob Bell)
The Story We’re Telling (Rob Bell)
Returning to the New: An Introduction to Tranformance Art (Peter Rollins)
How Technology Shapes the Sermon (Shane Hipps)
The Fig Tree and the Failure of Language (Rob Bell)
Fumbling Around with Your Radar (Rob Bell)
For Those With Ears to Hear: Parables and the Lost Art of Provocation (Peter Rollins)
You are the Medium (Shane Hipps)
The One Thing I’ve Never Heard Someone Talk About That Has Changed Everything For Me (Rob Bell)

I took 15 hard core pages of notes ... I leaned forward in my chair 3 days straight ... my head hurts, but my spirit is alive ...

More than anything, I have a wider lens through which to read the Scriptures ... I have a new set of questions as I approach theology ... I have a new passion for teaching and preaching ... I have a renewed love for God's story ... (and I have a great idea for our Fall series) ... just wait and see ...

my girls ...

here are few new pictures of our girls ... Alicia (4 months), Adiah (4), and Ava (6) ...

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 ...