The countdown

Two days left in Riverside. Yesterday I sang one of my songs to close out the Grove services. It was nice to be a part of one last thing at the church I've been a part of for so long. Tonight we are getting together with a bunch of friends to celebrate the New Year and say goodbye. Tomorrow we are having lunch with our families to celebrate Sofia's B-Day and say goodbye. Wednesday after lunch we are taking off. Lots of goodbyes, a couple loose ends to tie up, then Redding here we come! I'm ready to get into some "normal" life and get our kids into a routine. Staying with our families has been awesome, they've been a huge help. Alyssa and I went out to dinner last night and saw Juno (great movie). We haven't been able to do that in forever. (Thanks mom and dad). We will miss you all. I'll try to be consistent in blog world so we can stay connected in nerdland.

My son the mechanic

Zeke only watches one movie...Cars. He will quote you every line. And his new obsession is Legos. He makes these crazy cars every day. I go to help him and he makes me leave. He just sits in his room and comes out with these crazy things. I seriously think he's going to be a gear head or a mad scientist. Watch out world!

My bro

That's my brother Mike, his wife Becky and my daughter Sofia at Christmas. Mike turned 30 today. What the heck...I'm old. He kicked my butt like usual in golf today. I have great memories of playing golf with my brother. Neck and neck finishes, chip ins, long drives, good times. Usually it entails a lot of trash talk and me telling him how much I hate the Lakers and he tells me Kobe is the best thing since sliced bread. I don't know what that has to do with golf but it is a subject that never gets old with us.
Happy Birthday bro. I'm really proud of you. You and Becky are a great couple. I'll make sure we get tee times when we come down to visit. Have a great 30th year.

Movies???

There is a possibility that Alyssa and I will actually get away to see a movie in the next couple days. We haven't been to the movies in forever. There looks like a lot of good flicks out right now. If you've seen anything great that is a must see please leave a comment. There is nothing worse than not seeing a movie for 3 0r 4 months and then going to a dud. Help a brotha out!

My gramps

This is my grandpa. He is an amazing man. This was his second Christmas without my grandma and I know it's extremely hard for him. He's lived a great life and he's said on more than one occasion that he is ready to go. Whenever we get around a table as a family to have dinner he prays and it always moves me. My grandpa knows Jesus. When he talks to him you can hear the relationship come through. I hope at the end of my life my grandkids know that I have a real relationship with Jesus. One that doesn't just show up at church every week and pray at meals. But a relationship that gives my life away to my family and friends and the least. It's pretty powerful to have an entire family around a table that follows Jesus. Because you know it has a lot to do with the old guy at the end of the table and the prayers of his incredible wife. I know you'll never read my blog grandpa, but thanks for the example you've shown me my whole life of how to follow Jesus!

My son is a rock star!

This is Zeke's Christmas performance from last week. He is in the first row, fourth from the right on the screen. He's rockin' the argyle sweater and he's also the one that is squirming and doubling over. Two seconds after I stopped the video I ran up and grabbed him and ran him to the bathroom. He peed for 5 minutes then I ran him back and he didn't miss a beat. We were so proud of him. I love how he caps off his performance with thrusting half his finger up his nose. His last performance he stood up there and pointed out the lights and didn't sing a word. This time he sung every word and knew all the hand motions. I think he might have done even better if his bladder wasn't about ready to explode! He's growin' up.

The podcast is up

Go check it out if you get a chance. This was my first time sharing with the Stirring.

I didn't even notice...

Things have been so crazy I failed to realize I had my 20,000 visitor last week. That's pretty weird. Thanks for sticking with me through this crazy year. I'm so glad I started blogging because I had no idea what this year had for us. It will be fun to look back at all this in the years to come!

Crazy month

So the two weeks away from my family was nuts but this two weeks with them might be equally as nuts. I went from no wife and kids and hangin' with people every second to being at my parents all day with my family, my wife throwing up all day, and me taking care of two crazy kids. I'm really looking forward to Christmas and New Years with a bunch of friends but I long for some normalcy. I'm a pretty structured dude. This not having a house or schedule is starting to kill me. Sorry if blogs are spread out over this time. Life will get normal at some point.

Seriously...

cutest kid on the planet!

New Ink

Got the compass rose done tonight. He had it run behind the verse from Philippians on my arm. 2.5 hours of sheer bliss. This arm has been designated to tell my story and this compass is the next step in telling the story of my journey. God is definitely setting me in new directions and the emphasis of the compass is pointing north. 600 miles north to be exact. Redding...here we come!

Things I'm going to miss

Playing golf with my dad and my brother. I've been doing this since I was 12. My dad is an incredible golfer and my brother is usually a couple strokes better than I am. We love to get together and play golf. My dad is awesome. I'm 31 and I've still never paid for a round of golf in my life. It's been a great way over the years to get the Lance boys together and hanging out. Always good trash talk and competition. Today I shot an 87. I usually shoot in the low 80's. I didn't bring any of my stuff down from Redding so everything was borrowed today. It didn't matter. I had a great time. I'm sure i'll still get some golfing in when we come down to visit but I'm really going to miss getting out there as often as I have in the past. Thanks for the great memories dad. There's been a lot of life shaping done out on the links!

Back at moms and pops

I made it to Riverside about 4pm yesterday. Saw my family for the first time in 17 days...it was amazing. Couldn't believe how much I missed them. Now we're staying with my moms and pops till the 2nd of January. It's funny how you can be 31 years old, married, and have two kids and still find yourself staying with your parents for 2 weeks like it's no big deal. We stayed for month a couple years ago when we were fixing up our house. It's good to have family that will let you invade their lives at the drop of a hat. I'm looking forward to chillin' and spendin' time with friends and family before we head back.

It is finished!!!

God is awesome. This morning I'm packing up to head back down to Riverside until January 2nd. The only stress and loose end that we still have is that we haven't rented our house on Mt. Diablo. I get a call at 8:47am that says they have money in hand and new tenants move in on January 1st! Around the holidays is a terrible time to get something rented and we thought we were going to have to make another mortgage payment that we don't have. I am so pumped right now. And on top of all that I get to see my wife and kids in six hours. It's been a good morning.
And by the way, last night was awesome at the Stirring. Amazing response from people ready to take what we've been talking about and start living it in the communities that they are involved in. I am really blessed to be a part of the team up here! Can't wait to see the Riverside crew.

I can't believe they won!!!

These are my buddies, The Myriad. This is the front page of MTV2's website. What the heck. We just watched them on TV. They just won this contest out of 4000 bands. The last two winners have been Yellowcard and Taking Back Sunday. They are an amazing band and I am so proud of them. My band and these guys go way back. We have stories of shows and the road that should stay in a vault somewhere. Way to go guys! All of Redding was glued to the TV today.

New office dynamics

Here's our two room office that I'm moving into. Meghan works in the front room (first 2 pics). I'm sitting on a love seat with my mac in that first pic. That's where I've been working lately. The last two pics is of Nate's office. The last picture is a shot of my books in boxes and a chair. That's where I will end up. Nate and I are working out office dynamics. It's going to be awesome. It's crazy moving to a 2 room office from a 50 room office. We use laptops and cell phones...no network...no pc's (yeah!!!)...no phone system. Just three people in an office trying to follow Jesus. I love it!

Pumped for this Sunday

I get to speak at The Stirring this Sunday. I practiced in my front room today and I think the drywall got saved. I am so excited to share. I'm talking about the power in a broken and poured out life. Jesus calls us into a way of life around a table with bread and wine. He's not just asking us to remember, he inviting us to break our lives open and pour our lives out for others. I got so excited in my living room that I almost lost my voice. I haven't been this excited to share in forever. If you think about it, pray for me on Sunday that God would give me just the right words for this community and that we would except the invitation to this way of life around his table. Thanks.

I have a theory about pace of life

I've been trying to wrap my mind around why the pace of life is slower in Redding and I think I've come up with something. I think it has a lot to do with driving. In Riverside, everything is spread out. Getting from downtown Riverside to Orangecrest takes anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on traffic. Being in your car for 20 -30 minutes is usual. Traffic is a given anywhere you go. Freeways have 6 lanes and you are always conscious that it will probably take you longer than you think to get somewhere. In Redding, everything is within a 5 mile radius. All the freeways have 2 lanes and you can get anywhere at any time without a lot of traffic. Going places is less of an ordeal because you can count on how long it will take you to get there. It allows you to relax when you're getting ready. There's not a lot of road rage, because there aren't a whole lot of frustrating driving situations. Multiply this across the board to everyone in a city and you have a different take on life. Driving and traffic shape a culture. Being tense and rushed, even if it doesn't add a ton of time to your day, rubs off on the people around you. Anyways, just some things I'm learning about pace of life. I heard someone the other day complaining about traffic on Cypress st. I think it took them 3 minutes instead of 2 to get where they wanted to go. Hilarious. It will take me a while to decompress into this way of life but I am so ready for it.

What I've been doing with all my usual blog time...

Sorry, but video chatting with my wife and son is the only thing keeping me sane being away from my family. The blog love will resume. I got priorities!

No more peeping toms

My house officially has blinds! It only took a week. Check out the nine foot weeds in my back yard. And yes I have a view of a huge grove of trees, the local mountains, and I can see mount Shasta from my bedroom. Not to shabby.

Prepare for the gun show

Dang...I got some hairy forearms!
Joined a gym in Redding today. Just like Riverside...$12 a month for me...$9 a month to add Alyssa...and they have childcare for a dollar an hour...and it's month to month...I can quit any time. I had to refinance my house to go to a gym down south.
I'd just go outside and walk to work out but it's freezin' buns up here. I rode my Vespa for two miles today and I couldn't feel my feet for half an hour after I got off...good times!

Back in the saddle again

Tonight I led worship for the first time in forever at the Stirring...it was amazing!
I wrote this lyric a long time ago and it feels fitting tonight:

"Can you open up my mouth and let the song ring out that you planted in me the day I learned to breath? Can you open up my heart even if you have to tear me apart? It's like the first time that I felt the rain and there were no words that I could use to explain your love. Can you feel the rain?"

So excited about what God is doing in this community of Jesus followers. I'll blog more later. It's 12:35. I never stay up this late. I miss my family. If you see them around give them long hugs for me!

This made me miss my son

I read this on Andrew Jones blog this morning...classic...I could totally hear my son saying this because he refuses to say the Lord's prayer with us. This is probably what's going through his head when he hears us.

KIDS IN CHURCH
3-year-old Reese:
"Our Father, Who does art in heaven,
Harold is His name.
Amen."

What is going on???

Riverside weather for Saturday and Sunday

44°F

Cloudy
Wind: SE at 6 mph
Humidity: 100%

The last time it rained
in Riverside I was 9 years
old. I leave for 7 days
and it turns into the days
of Noah.

Sat

51°F | 34°F

Sun

54°F | 37°F

A good hour

I just spent an hour through video chat talking with the one girl in the world that owns my heart. Alyssa is so amazing and I miss every second that she isn't up here with me. It was so awesome to see her face tonight as we were talking through the computer. It's crazy the difference it makes when you can see someone as opposed to just talking to them on the phone. I could see her wiping the tears away when she laughs and I could see her great smile. The phone was just not cutting it the last couple days. It's been a crazy day...5 hours of waiting for internet but this last hour made it totally worth it.
Thanks AT&T...even though 4 hours ago I wanted to walk into your corporate office and go postal, you allowed me to spend an evening with my wife and not feel like I'm alone and 600 miles away!

Unbelievable...

2 days and 5 hours on the phone with at&t...
drumroll....
I have INTERNET!!!!
I need to go spend some time with Jesus letting him know that I'm still a Christian.
Off to the Christmas Stirring party...blog later.

The bacholer life

It's been really weird living in Redding without my family.

Normal rhythm of my life:
Wake up 6:30-7am (get kids ready)
Go to work
Come home (hang with Alyssa and kids)
Dinner
Put kids down
Hang with wife
Bed at 11pm

Redding rhythm of life:
Wake up 8:30-9am
Get something done on the house
Spend some time with someone from the Stirring
Have lunch with someone from the Stirring
Go by the office, hang with Nate
Try to find internet so I can video chat with Alyssa
Dinner at someone's house from the Stirring
Go to someone's Life Group
Watch a movie
bed at 12:30pm

I hate not having my family up here but it has allowed me to meet a ton of new people and meet with a bunch of Life Groups and leaders. Being in a house all by yourself sucks! I miss my wife and kids like you wouldn't believe. I need to accept that life is going to be weird till January 3rd. I get impatient, but there is a ton to learn during this time. I'll keep you posted as I find wireless around the city. Friday I get internet at the house! God is amazing. Someone needs to rent our house in Riverside...pray.

The Redding crew

The crew that came to help me unload and move in was out of this world. We were done in 20 minutes...they were amazing. The community at The Stirring is great. This picture does not include the 7 people that were upstairs installing our washer / dryer and putting together my sons bunk bed and daughters crib. Seriously...I feel the love. Our house is rad and totally moved in. I have a few boxes that I'm gonna leave for Alyssa because I'm clueless about some things, but it's all done...can't believe it. Thanks y'all!

How my trip started

Sorry about the lack of posts lately...the moving process has been pretty crazy.
Friday I got up at 3:30am and started my trek for Redding. Here's a picture of my Uhaul truck with auto trailer at the gas station. I felt like I took up a city block on the road.

So I filled up with gas...just in case you're wanting to take a Uhaul truck 600 miles...it cost $400 in gas...good times! I was a little out of it and I had 100 things on my mind...I crawled up in the cab of the truck...figured out my ipod that I was routing through an adapter...pulled out three feet slammed on the brakes...jumped out of the truck...ran around to the other side...and saw this...

That's right folks...I left the pump in and pulled it completely out...amazing! I went in and told the dude and he was able to pop it back into it's socket. But of course I snapped a pic for my blog peeps before we got it fixed. I don't encourage you to start trips like this. I am an idiot.
I made it to Redding in 10 hours. Not bad...I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to go 75 mph in that truck when you're dragging a car behind it but I couldn't help myself.
I'm here!