Lord of the Flies Saturday mornings

It's becoming a Lance family tradition.
Sunday-Friday we're up at ridiculous times to run or take kids to school.
Seriously...who decided it makes sense to start pre-school at 7:30?
But Saturday's are a different story.

On Saturday its Lord of the Flies, anything goes, survival of the fittest.
Alyssa and I stay in bed as long as physically possible. Today it was 9!
Kids come in 38 times yelling about breakfast..."someone punched me"..."the play room is on fire"
Our response stays consistent..."work it out, go back to the playroom."

Promise we are good parents 6.5 days of the week.
As parents of three you need a morning that you can be a little selfish.
I should write a parenting book :)

When you finally get up you have to change your mindset.
You have to be ok with 4 things you value being broken and a healthy layer of milk and cheerios coating the floor.

The rest of the day consists of special breakfast, wii games, playing outside, reading, naps, friends, and general tomfollery! It's our Sabbath...it's what we do.

Do you have a day of rest?

How does a church keep its street cred?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
There are so many things that I'm thinking through operationally as a church coming into our new space that it makes my head hurt. And with every policy and procedure and system and staff position and line item I wonder how you keep that thing that keeps you real and raw.
As a church...how do we keep our street cred?

Is this what Death Cab felt like as they were poised to release Plans on Atlantic?
Four albums on Barsuk and all the street cred the world had to offer...indie status up for grabs...no more ep's...no more individually signed vinyl...no more shows without ticket master.
Plans was an amazing album but now everyone knew about their indie darlings.
They lost something even though they gained so much.
All the die hard turned their collective noses up.

Ultimately I'm not worried. We're not selling records. We're trying to follow Jesus as a community in Redding. We're committed to loving and making disciples...that's not gonna change.
Don't worry...I'm not planning on purchasing a tie or shaving or covering up tattoos :)
I just wonder all the implications on moving into a space and growing.
Growing is healthy. Putting out albums that the whole world can enjoy is awesome.
But everything comes at a cost.

Maybe I'll have to plant a church out of a bar and call it the Postal Service :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts...be nice!

Here's to never selling out...

Fluffing the sheets

I committed to getting healthy in November...it's almost March.
I've reached a lot of goals but there is one that I'm most excited about.
Most people celebrate getting back into a great pair of jeans...being able to accomplish a physical goal...for me it's one thing...
No more fluffing the sheets!
When I'm out of shape and my shirts are tight I'm constantly pulling up the bottom of my shirt to re-adjust it so it doesn't stick to my body all weird...fluffing the sheets.
I had a realization today that I'm in a shirt that was really tight four months ago and now I'm contemplating giving it away because its loose. I haven't had the re-adjusting nightmare recently and I'm celebrating today.
So many reasons to put off celebrating...I'm not exactly where I want to be...I can totally improve. All true statements but in the midst of the process you have to appreciate the journey.
Celebrate today.
What milestone have you reached?
Get stoked about it!

Treasure moments

I woke up this morning and realized how fast things are changing.
Being the dad of 3 makes you look back and realize that seasons change very quickly.
I'm really wanting to treasure the moments I have right now in my life and write them down so I remember them in the future.

Things I realized this morning:
- Mo will not always climb into my bed with his ice cube feet that find my stomach at 5:30a.m. and lay on top of me and find a way to breathe his awful breath into my face.
- Sofia will not always stick her tongue out and act like shes dying every time we can't understand what she is saying.
- Zeke won't always look at me with a goofy smirk and tell me he loves me 13 times a day.
- Moses will not always fall asleep right next to his door so that you have to bump him with the door 10 times before he wakes up.
- Sofia will not always dance her entire way through dinner. I won't always have to sneak a bite of chicken into her mouth as she's twirling and spinning.
- Zeke will not always decorate every square inch of our house for holidays. He will not always build bow and arrows and fans and peel the paint off his walls for no apparent reason.

All these days will pass. That's why I blog and tweet. Cataloging, remembering, and writing down is a discipline that God has implemented from the beginning of time. It's so easy to forget. Life moves so fast. Treasure the moments!

Kings

Grabbed some coffee today with Joey from the band Kings.
Met the band about a year ago. Had them come out to play for Erase the Dark.
They led worship at the Stirring.
Amazing band. Amazing guys.
If you haven't heard their music you need to buy their album right now!
Joey brought me a shirt today that I will be sportin' tomorrow!
Jeremy produced their album at the Soundhouse...always epic!
Support great music. Spread the love.

What to you tell yourself when you're running?

What's the interior dialogue that keeps you going?
My last two runs have sucked. Today I walked the last mile home and felt like I was going to die. I feel like I've hit a mini wall. My weight loss has plateaued. I can't seem to break 170 and running is feeling like death.

I thought I'd share some of my internal screaming at self and see if there are some things I'm missing. I need some good one liners to keep me going.
Here's my usual self conversation:

- If you keep moving you will get there eventually
- At the end of this you'll have burned 600 calories.
- At the end of this you'll be able to eat 600 calories!
- You're not going to do anything else active today...keep going
- Sometimes I yell at myself like a drill sergeant calling myself all kind of things I shouldn't share on my blog :)
- If you keep going it's really unlikely that you're going to die. 10% possibility.
- Sometimes I trash talk myself. Go ahead and stop...go home and bury your face in an ice cream tub...that 25 lbs. you just lost will look amazing hanging from your love handles.

Not sure if some of those are helpful thoughts but it's all running through my dome and certain points in a run. What's your thing? What keeps you going? I need some help.

Let me have it.

The Sunday Takeaway

Thoughts...behind the scenes...bloopers

Love the set this week...so much joy.
First song was new. No idea what it was called but it was awesome. If I were a bettin' man I'd say it was called Deep Waters.

Child Dedications in the morning were awesome. So much new life in our church...love it.
Something special about the Stirring surrounding these families committing to be a part of the journey for these little ones!

I got up and called a bank shot! That was crazy. I had a dream the night before and then God started speaking to me about what he wants to do and the dreams he has for us as a community. We are preparing for $145,000 offering to pay for some of the expenses in our new space and it was clear that God was saying we weren't dreaming big enough. $145,000 is a manageable and well thought through amount, but I was reminded that God's dreams don't have budgets! So we're asking for the whole thing. Let's pay off the whole building before the first day we move in. Nothing is impossible with God. 2.25 million. I'm calling it...bank shot! We need more testimony of God doing the impossible not people celebrating manageable budgets.

Nate's message was so needed for our community. We are trying to build a culture where every dating and married couple are surrounded in community, covered by older couples, and have a plan. I think it created great language for us to ask every couple that comes into our church. Don't disappear in your dating. We don't want a like, unlike option to your engagement on facebook or an invitation to your wedding as an event. We want to be a part of the journey.
From the first date to the final breath couples should be deeply planted and protected in community. (that's without my notes but I'm pretty sure after 3 gatherings I have it memorized :)

Funny moment: Nate talking about the next series we're starting and he says the church is in Deep Shift! Everyone is cracking up and he's playing it straight like he has no idea...classic.

Favorite moment of the day: Josiah leaving his keyboard at night, grabbing his mic and gettin' his joy of the Lord on! It was awesome. He brings much needed joy to our church.

What a great day.
I'd love to hear your takeaway!

Hat guy

I've been looking for one of these hats that would fit my dome for a long time. Tonight I found one. When you're bald you are faced with the reality of head accessories. Especially when you have basil cell carcinomas cut out of your nugget!
So I've rocked the short bill Fidel Castro hat, the cowboy hat, the fedora, and the full wrap around flip cap, your standard run of the mill flex fit baseball hat. Adding something new to your arsenal can always be scary...so I'm wondering...can I pull off being this guy??? The Irish cab driver meets Tiny Tim. Let me have it.

Light the Letter

There is a story being written in the world...
And we are here to shine a light on it...

Light the Letter

Working on what we'd really like to say as a band.
There's a lot of bands in the world.
Very few have something to say.
Even fewer are shaping the future of our story.
We'd like to try. Why not?

Don't write music if it can't change the world...
That's just noise...and we have plenty of that!

The good ol' days

Prepare yourself for a nauseating trip down memory lane...Don't worry, I don't do this very often!

Everything in my life right now costs a lot of money.
- I'm overseeing a 2 million dollar project at the Stirring, getting us into our new space.
- I'm building teams for a 5K run and walk fundraiser that we are looking to raise $50,000.
- I have a monthly grocery bill that's inching toward $500.
- I just spent $30 on a haircut for a dog that I don't even like.
- I own a aqua blue Toyota Echo that has a salvaged title :)

I just found myself reliving the days that we would put $2 of gas in Aaron's bug and drive to Newport for the day...eat a budget meal at Bakers for $2 and go see the Prayer Chain that night for $3. Seems like a long time ago. Livin' in my parents garage, eating all their food, mowing lawns so I could scrape together enough money to go to shows and buy crappy guitar gear.

Now I have 2 mortgages and 9 columns in a ledger for my savings account (thanks mom).
Just a different time in life.
Trying to enjoy every season!

17 years

Valentines Day marks the first date for Alyssa and I 17 years ago.
I was 17 she was 16.
I came straight from baseball practice to a Valentines party our church was throwing.
It was one of those random throw people together nights but I rigged the system to spend the evening with Alyssa.
The rest is history. We were on and off for 5.5 years before the wedding bells rang.
We've shared a lot of these days and I've gotta say the last two days have been tough to beat.
Alyssa is the best...period.
I could write a book about it but that says it all.
I could not love her anymore than I do!
Thanks for 17 unforgettable years babe!

The Sunday Takeaway

I started a consistent Monday post last week about my Sunday Takeaway.
I spoke this week so I'm not going to do a takeaway on myself...that would just be weird.
Emily wrote a blog with a pretty sweet recap...check it out.

So here's some behind the scenes madness from the day:
- if you didn't notice we crammed 3,498 things into each gathering
- worship, offering, covenant, Barbers, Kingdom Healing conference, We love campaign w/ video, me speaking, and Aaron sending out. It might not seem like it but we work really hard to be clear and flow. We cut 17 things out. It's a busy season for us.

Funniest moments:
- Luke came up to me at the end and told me it wasn't my sweatband or orange shorts that were distracting...it was my crazy white legs! Amazing.

- Comments my beard left about my message on Facebook. I have no idea who started a profile as my beard. Little creepy, kind of hilarious.

- Giving a message on stage with a "Club Cougar" sign behind me...awkward.

Greatest moment of the day:
- Got a facebook request from someone I just met yesterday. This was her status today: "I made a public commitment to God, Jesus and The Stirring today! I feel so fantastic and I’m so excited to be part of this family!"

I'd love to hear your takeaway! Long live the roosters!

Moths and Rust

Today we had another garage sale. Crazy that we accumulate enough junk to constitute one of these a year!
The last post in my blog before I started it back up a couple weeks ago was on Sept. 26, 2009 and it was about our last garage sale. Here's what I posted:

There's somethin' about garage sales that always brings you back to reality.
You're giving away a driveway full of crap for quarters...and these are items that had great value to you at one point in time.
Today we made $75 and baked in the sun for hours as we watched our treasures slowly make their way into the back of pickups and minivans.
We should all have garage sales to remind ourselves that it's all just stuff...and at some point a weird guy with a fanny pack is gonna bargain you down to $1.50 for an item that you paid $100 for five years ago!
Here's to moths and rust.

I ran a marathon

It took me 2 weeks but I did it :)
Mon, Wed, Fri, Mon, Wed, Fri:
4,6,4,4,4,6 (those were the miles in case you wondering)
28 miles in 2 weeks.
Don't know how anyone does that in a day.
Gluttons for punishment.
Amazing to me that I had never really run over a mile a couple months ago.
I'm actually enjoying this at times...don't tell anyone.

Speaking on Sunday

So I went running by myself on Wednesday morning in the complete darkness on the Clover Creek trail. I was terrified.
God showed me some things.
I talked about those things with Nate.
Now I'm gonna share those things on Sunday at the Stirring.
Here's a hint in the form of key words...
Friends, elderly women with dogs, roosters, machete's, 9 irons, and experience
Come to think of it, that's a great title for the message.
If you want to know more...show up Sunday.
Life Together.
Running in the dark...

My buddy Sean...

You ever have those moments that you wish you could jump into someone's shoes for a few days to give them a break from crazy pain or a situation they are going through?
Over a week ago my buddy Sean Gafner got a brutal surgery to fix his crazy sleep apnea. I just got through a series of text with him and he's still in incredible pain. I'm feelin' pretty good right now and I would totally pull off a switch-a-roo for a few days if given the chance. I hate seeing him so hurt and discouraged.
Sean's one of those once in a lifetime friends that was a gift from God when I came to Redding. God knows what you need when you move 10 hours away from all your family and friends to take on a new job in a new community. He's one of those guys that I would do anything for but when there are things that are out of your control, like painful surgeries, it makes it hard.
So for now I'm setting an alarm on my phone for 90 minutes after every time he takes his codeine. That's the time when the meds start to wear off and then there's 2.5 hours of hell. I told him I'm sending inspirational texts that will rival the speech from the movie Rudy.
Anyway...before this post gets too weird with man love, thank God for the family and friends that God has placed in your life that you are willing to bear burdens with. Because you know sometime in the near future you will need the support of a great friend!

I like blogging

I'm finding the value in discipline.
Most things of value take time.
Our world is in the business of quick.
Blogs take to long to read...Facebook
People can write a paragraph in Facebook...Twitter
When 160 characters gets to cumbersome...prepare for grunts
I should market that now...could be worth millions.

I like blogging.
It forces me to be aware of my day.
And if I wasn't aware through the day it gives me a moment to look back.
I'm convinced that days and weeks and months and years can be forgotten.
Write in a journal...start a blog...get it on paper or electronic equivalent.
God was always telling his people to remember.
Don't forget...don't let you kids forget...set up some stones...eat some bread...drink some wine...do something to trigger your memory.

I'm glad I'm back at blogging.
I'm going to find a way to finish my book.
I don't want to forget.
God is good. He's good every day.
It helps to chronicle the journey.

Don't run with dogs!

Today I hit my normal 4 mile run with Sean Baxter on the flat side of the Diesel Horse Bridge.
One added element in the mix...Sean's crazy dog Gunner.
Sean was pushing his daughter Stella in the jogging stroller and I was holding on for dear life.
It didn't help that there were 94 people on the trail with 58 dogs that Gunner wanted to get to know better. My biceps got a bigger work out than my legs because I was pulling with everything I had the whole time. Double work out.
Moral of the story. Run really early in the morning when you can let your dog run free and scare the insides out of the one other person on the trail that is up at that time. There's really nothing like a white object coming at you at 30 mph in the dark and hearing the dog's owners yelling something that sounds like "gun."
Good times.

The Sunday Takeaway

I'm working through consistent posts that I'd like to become staples for the new blog.
I'm thinking about a weekly post about our Stirring gatherings...don't hold me to it.

- The Sunday Takeaway: I sit through 2-3 gatherings every week for the Stirring. We put a lot of time and prayer into what happens on a weekend. The Sunday Takeaway will be the notes in my moleskin that have stars next to them, or something special that God did, or a behind the scenes look at something that went down, or something hilarious that happened that most people didn't see. Here's my takeaway from today...

Jenna and Ashley did a great job leading worship. Ashley shared a testimony of God healing her legal blindness at the 11am gathering...super powerful...felt like it built a ton of faith in our family.

The funny moment of the morning was Nate backing up and almost bailing over the stool that we always set up in the middle of where we speak. I sit up front and watch Nate dance around it every week. This week his calculation was a little off. He played it off nicely :)

Nate taught on hearing God's voice in community. Encouragement, wisdom, words of knowledge, and prophecy. He's taught on spiritual gifts before and I think he has given the most solid teachings on the subject that I've ever heard. Here's the quote in my moleskin with the star next to it. It context of talking about words of knowledge, Nate said, "God gives us words of knowledge for people because He wants them to know that He knows." That was really powerful for me. Something I shared at the end of the gathering is a prayer that I made at the beginning of the year. I told God that I wanted to be faithful with every word that he gives me this year. Even if it terrifies me I want to be obedient when God gives me his heart to share with others. One thing I know about the kingdom of God is that when you are faithful with a little you can be entrusted with more. I want to be faithful with every prompting of the spirit in my life.

At the end of the gathering I prayed for a man that I met last week that is deaf and has brain cancer. It was an amazing moment to join his wife in tears and translation as we brought his situation before the God of the universe. Nothing is impossible with God.

Great Sunday.
I'd love to hear your takeaway.
Until next week...

My life right now

Schedule....schedule....schedule.
Times, dates, subs, volunteers, meetings, design, budget, finishes, sound, lights, video, kitchen, seating, concrete, toilets, sinks, colors, lights, signs, landscape, communication, fundraising, strategy.
Lately I feel like I'm going a little crazy.
I just feel like someones going to come into my office one day and I'll be covered in sticky notes, with string and notes posted over every square inch of my office like in Beautiful Mind. I'll be in the fetal position in the corner sucking my thumb.
If that happens please don't take a picture and post it on Facebook...that would be a bummer.
What's your life like right now?

Questions I'm asking myself and my team

I saw some questions on someone's blog earlier this year. Grabbed a few and thought they were great. I asked our staff these today. Thought they were really helpful.
I'd love to hear some of your answers:
- What's one thing this year that you are asking for that is impossible without God?
- What is one skill that you would like to improve on this year?
- What are some goals you have for yourself this year? Physically, spiritually, relationally, and creatively

Here's some of my goals:
- Experience life weighing in the 150's (159 will do...I have 12 pounds to go)
- Run 600 miles this year (about 12 a week)
- Read through the bible, and my six C.S. Lewis books
- Reclaim a sabbath every week with God and family
- Lead well into our new space
- Take a fat vacation with Alyssa after the church moves into our new space
- Record on album
- Finish a first draft of my book

I have more but some are a little more personal. What are some things you want to accomplish this year!

First Impressions

So if you read one of my last tweets you heard about my interaction with some kids at Zeke's school. I went to pick up Zeke at the playground and a kid pointed at me and said to his friend..."look, it's a hobo!"
I thought it was amazing and laughed harder than I have in a long time but it got me thinking about a few things. What parents talk to their 2nd graders about "hobos?" It's not like I was carrying a stick over my shoulder with a bandanna tied around it with my 3 earthly possessions inside of it. Hobo...hilarious...who uses that word.
Then I started thinking about first impressions and what the world sees when they see homeless people. If a kid on a playground can look at me with my amazing facial hair and think I'm homeless I can only imagine the looks and stares a person on the street gets every day. Not things you think about all the time but it definitely got me thinking.
There's a person made in the image of God with a story and a family behind every sign and probably deserves more than a finger point and a snap judgment....
Or it could just be your short bald pastor with tattoos with a beard that a squirrel could live in!
You never know.