A creative Christmas

The madness has begun. Black Friday has come and gone. The barrage of sales, ads, and gimmicks have only begun.

I don’t know about you, but I am ready to take back Christmas. 

My wife and I have decided to celebrate Christmas different than we have in the past. Typically we like to buy each other and our families a number of gifts. The 1st year Liz and I were married I think I spent something like $300 on her (that’s a lot of money for us folk). I can remember in recent years being disappointed because I did not get what I wanted for Christmas. I know, I am disgusting. 

This year we have decided to change our way of “doing” Christmas. We will be celebrating the birth of Christ in a new way this year. For the first time I feel like Christmas is not about what I get, but it will be about what I have already been given. We will be giving gifts in a new creative way. We will be giving more of ourselves, our talents, and helping others in ways that meet some basic needs. We are joining the Advent Conspiracy. 

I will be going through a series with our youth group about Christmas. We will be joining the Advent Conspiracy. 

The message of Christmas is simple and beautiful. God sends his Son into the world to live among us. He gives the greatest gift a person can ever receive. I hope we can all celebrate Christmas this year in a new and fresh way. Watch this video for a little perspective. 

Join the Conspiracy. We will be giving our money as a couple and a youth group to blood:water mission. Join us and let me know what God does.

Celebrity Rehab

I don’t know if you have seen this show or not, but I have watched a few of them. It might be just a guilty pleasure, but there is something about this “reality” show that is different for me. There is a realness when it comes to someone detoxing from drugs.  The body does some funky things when you stop giving it some of those drugs. This season has the likes of: Steven Adler (drummer of Guns n Roses), Jeff Conway (actor), Tawny Kitaen (former model), Amber Smith (a model), Sean Stewart (Rod’s son), Gary Busci (actor), Rodney King (LA riots), and a girl from American Idol. I have to admit that I am impressed with Steven Adler and Rodney King, they have been through some crazy stuff but both seem to have good hearts.

While I was watching the show the past couple of weeks I could not help but to notice the common theme in all the patients lives. They all have parent issues. This does not come as a surprise to me, and I am sure that you aren’t surprised either. It solidifies the importance of family to me.

I have always been a big believer that the role of the father is soooooo important in the family sturcture. Not only is the father extremely imporant to be around, but they must be involved in the lives of their children. Naturally we gain much of our identity through how we believe how our fathers view us. This gives fathers a great responsibility.

Father.

I know of a Father who desires to give me my identity. I know of a Father who loves more than we will ever know. I know of a Father who looks at his kids and beams with pride.

What a task. Being a Father.

If nothing else, the show just builds the arguement for the importance of the parents in their childrens lives. My heart goes out to those people who were handed down a legacy that is missing any good. Dads – you have quite the responsibility. Take it seriously. I would hate to see your kid on Celeb. Rehab talking about YOU! ( i don’t really know any celebs though)

Speechless

Go here to watch this video. I found it on this blog, but I had to show this one off. 

It is worth your time!

Good Day, Good Year

Today was a good day. It was weird at times, but very good overall. I turned the big 28 today. (why do we say big before any number??? seriously, think about it. the big 15, the big 21, the big 25) 

Anyways, the day started off with a trip to House of Refuge with my buddy Joel. We did some odd jobs around the place and helped some nice old ladies with some boxes. It was cool being there and getting to know more about the campus. 

Then I went to BJ’s to enjoy my favorite beer, Piranha Pale Ale. It’s good stuff and I figured that it was my b-day, so I was going to enjoy a yummy beer. Then I went to Krispy Kreme and got a free half dozen donuts. I am not really big on donuts, but they were free. Then I made my way over to Joe’s BBQ in Gilbert for my free birthday lunch. It was delicious! After that I went to my parents house and hung out with my old man and my bro. I beat my bro in ping pong a ton, well maybe not a ton. After that we all went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. That was also delicious. 

Good Day. I got a tickets to the Suns game tomorrow night, which I am stoked about. I got Rob Bell’s new book, Jesus Wants to Save the Christians, gift cards to Dillards, starbucks, and Barnes & Noble, and 2 new shirts!! Way more than I deserved or needed, but Awesome! 

The last year of my life has been good. I feel like my marriage is stronger now than ever. I have learned so much in school. I have experienced some major ministry highs and lows. I have made some new friends. I have kept in touch with old friends. I went to Europe and had an amazing time. 

In the next year I know that there are going to be some big things happening. Changes. We hope to start a family! I know, it’s crazy! I am not sure that I am ready to be a Dad, but who is? I am most excited about getting to know my Lord on a more intimate level. I hope that I can look back on 28 and say that I fell more in love with Jesus. That is really what I want my life to be about. Jesus. 

Cheers to 28  

(crap, I am now officially in my late 20’s)

sad but true… sometimes

I love coffee. And I love Starbucks. I love funny videos too.

Thursday thoughts

I had some random thoughts today. 

1. Why is it that whenever you work out you always feel really good afterwards, but working out is still really hard to get excited about? I love working out, or at least the feeling afterwards, you know the feeling of accomplishment, but it is still so hard to do. 

2. It seems that you either love or hate Starbucks coffee. I happen to fall on the side of Love. I have talked to plenty of people that say the Bux (starbucks) has horrible coffee. I say to that: “WHAT???” I had a cup of coffee today that could have been the worst $1.73 that I have ever spent. I will not say where from, but it was nasty. The bux has some good coffee, I am especially fond of the new Thanksgiving Blend. 

3. The office was off tonight. Not the content, but the dubbing. The audio was a little behind. Did anyone else notice that? (it was still awesome, I just didn’t look at their mouths)

4. It was way to HOT for Nov. 20th. grrrrrrrrr

Litigation vs. Listening

Last Saturday my Professor threw out an interesting thought. I have been chewing on it for a few days and I was curious of other peoples thoughts on the subject.  

Today we live in a culture that is so concerned about proving that we are right, that we have little time for actual listening. We become very defensive when someone has an opinion that is different from us. In my opinion, listening is one of our most difficult actions for us to do. We can hear people all day long, but do we listen?

We have become so divided in our culture, that our primary goal seems to be to make ourselves heard. Sometimes our voices need to be heard, we need to speak out. I believe in speaking out against injustice. How do we balance that with listening?

This last political season was a tough one for me. It seemed that every conversation that I was involved in there was something missing from it: Listening. I was just as guilty as anyone else. I was done hearing people talk about this or that, I wanted them to hear my point. It was my turn to tell them why they were wrong. I was certainly on the other side too. I was involved in the litigating processes, not listening conversations. 

I hope that we can come to the realization that we must become united. We must learn to listen. 

Litigation vs. Listening. 

What are your thoughts? What are your experiences with this idea?

Family Medical Update

If your not aware what is happening in my family let me give you a brief update: Mom is going through chemo right now, and is kickin’ some butt. She has had like 5 treatments and is back at work for the most part. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in Sept. and had surgery on her right lung. She will be doing radiation after her chemo treatments. Besides shortness of breath and fatigue she seems to be doing much better. Going back to work 3 -5 days a week has been the best thing for her. I don’t know how she handles a class full of 4th graders while going through chemo treatment, but that’s just my mom. She’s kind of like a ninja, except she can’t really do any cool ninja moves. 

While all this was going down, we forced my dad into the doctors office to get some chest things checked out. To our dismay they found a similar spot on his lung too. Talk about crappy news. Well today we got the results from his test and:

IT’S JUST SCAR TISSUE!!!!!!

Wow, what great news for our family. We didn’t expect to here that news, but we are all super relieved that the test came out that way.  So I just want to thank you all who have been praying for us. It means more than you know. No matter the results of our tests, we believe that God is good. It’s just nice to get some good news like that. So thank you. Continue to pray for my mom, she is doing good, but we still have a long road ahead. 

Oh, and in case your curious, the life insurance people got back to me and I got the best health rating!! Just in case you cared.

I can’t make this stuff up

I was in the library today doing some studying. As I was sitting at my table a gentleman that I know was cruising the magazine section, and we began a conversation. At that point in my time I decided it was time to pack up the books and call it a day. We began walking to the exit, when the goods came out. 

Here is how the conversation went from there:

Guy: Oh, here’s what I was looking for (picking up the Guns & Ammo magazine). I have to get stocked up before Osama Bin Laden gets in office. He is gonna ruin this country. We are going to go down the toilet. 

Me: You think? 

Guy: You kiddin me. He’s a terrorist.

Me: I don’t know about that. He claims to be a believer.

Guy: Thats a joke. Don’t be fooled. He believes in Muslim. Osama Bin Laden. 

Me: I’m not so sure about that. Well see you later.

Guy: Terrorist

This guy says he follows Jesus. I am sad.

Invisible Children no more

If you know me at all, you know that I have a huge heart for the organization Invisible Children. Well this past weekend I had an interesting experience with the whole IC movement. I went to a screening assuming that there would be some IC Roadies there, because I had some merchandise that I had to return to them. Well, no Roadies, but only a group of people eager to help the movement in their local community. So I stayed and watched the film anyways, and I actually sold some merch for IC.

I still get goose bumps when I watch the movie. It still tugs at my heart in ways that I can’t explain. Let me be really honest and  transparent for a moment.

It kills me that we have it so good here in the U.S. and there are millions of people everyday without food, water, and a bed to sleep in. I don’t see how we, as the most powerful nation in the world, have turned our backs to this situation. We have knowingly and purposefully looked away as millions have been displaced or killed.

What can we do? The film ask for us to give 3 things: time, talent, and money.

I don’t want this to be a guilt ridden post. I don’t want it to seem like I am just lettin’ off some steam. (even though I am) I don’t just want us to give an extra $25 this month to a good cause. What I long for in my own life is real change. I am just as guilty about spending money in useless ways as anyone else. I enjoy a starbucks on a daily basis, I know it’s ridiculous, and yet I ask for others to change.

Here is what I think I need: accoutability, partners in a new lifestyle, people who will walk with me in not living up to the status quo, others who are willing to make their voice heard, and mostly just people to share life with. If I am totally honest, that is what Liz and I are missing most in life.

This post is kind of random and does not seem to have a real flow, but I hope my heart is heard.