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I love me some Vivanno but has anyone else discovered the instant after effects. I've had enough now to know that the scoop of fiber they put in that bad boy is pretty potent. Mix one with an Americano and you have a deadly combination...so I've heard!
Alright it's been over a week. He's gotten past the Mic Jagger, Gary Coleman look. He actually has his eyes open every once in a while and he's starting to have some expression. Who do you see? Moses definitely has my left elbow. Other than that I think it's all Alyssa. Let's hear it...
177.6 this morning.
At the beginning of summer I weighed 194.5
My goal was to get to 175 by the end of summer.
I've got 10 days till August is over...it's on.
I wore some size 34 jeans tonight that were cutting off my will to live 2 months ago and they were falling off me tonight...that felt good. I hadn't wore jeans in forever for obvious reasons but it really let me see the difference.
I will see 175 by August 31st...mark my words!
Here's some of my favorites. Go check out the rest of Emily's work.
Here's my favorite family pic
This picture sums up the family picture experience!
Who's the guy leaning against the purple wall with his thumb in his pocket?
This pic puts the rock in revrock!
Don't mind my sons Dumb and Dumber hair cut.
Zeke was awesome today at Kindergarten...praise Jesus!
He's an amazing kid...never a dull moment...he keeps me on my toes.
I was in meetings from 10-5 today talking about moving into the fall and church planting with our leadership at the Stirring.
To say there's a lot going on right now in my life doesn't quite paint the picture. Not complainin'...I'm lovin' it!
Moses isn't sleepin' much at night.
Up in the mornin' to hand out backpacks and supplies to students and gift cards to teachers at Cypress Elementary...it was amazing...so excited about the ongoing relationship we have with them...the kids were freaking out!
Went from there to Zeke's orientation to Kindergarten...what the heck my kid is in kindergarten! He flipped out for 35 of the 40 minutes we stayed. Screaming and crying. All the other kids chill...hanging out with each other...I'm trying to shove donut holes in Zeke's mouth so he'll stop crying...hopefully tomorrow looks better.
Drove straight from there to have the end of Moses' wiener cut off at the doctors. (What point was God trying to make with circumcision?)
That was the crazy half of the day.
Got home...ate lunch...said goodbye to Alyssa's family...we all crash for nap.
Swim with Zeke.
Rosetta comes over with some pasta shells for dinner...out of this world...amazing Rosetta!
Kids in bed early.
Contemplate the severity of three kids...unbelievable!
Emily Faulknor took some shots of us pre-Moses.
Here's one of the shots. I'll post some more...they're amazing.
I haven't had anyone take pictures of Alyssa and I together on purpose since our wedding.
I know I have some San Diego folk that read this blog.
If you ever need some great work look up Emily. She's moving down there soon.
I've gotta start writing some music.
It's in my bones and when neglected I start going crazy.
There's nothin' really going on in my life right now :)
Seems like a great time to start!
Lots of visitors today. Steve and Karen were heading back to Riverside from Oregon and they stopped by for a little bit. Micah and Elizabeth stopped by on Micah's trek to Canada. Tonight Alyssa's dad, her sister and her two kids are coming up for a couple of days. Full house at the Lance casa! I think it's amazing that everyone that comes to visit has a blog. It's a new pre-requisite for being my friend!
I've really wondered through this process of having a baby the natural way if things would be different in my feelings towards my kids. I know people are skeptical of adopting because they think it might be harder for them to bond with kids that didn't actually come from them. Here's my thoughts so far...
I think I bonded quicker with Zeke and Sofia then with Moses. Please don't get me wrong...I couldn't love my little guy any more than I do and the birthing experience was amazing. But given the circumstances surrounding the adoption of Zeke and Sofia, it just feels different.
Zeke was a miracle baby in every since of the word. We had been trying forever with no success...going to foster kid training...and get a call out of nowhere, and we become parents in a day. Zeke was born 2 lbs. 11 ounces and had to stay in the hospital for 2 months before he came out. The joy of having a baby and the agony of watching his fragile life come to health brought us so close to Zeke that our connection was overwhelming.
With Sofia we traveled across the world twice to make her a part of our family. And the trip along with the paper work was about as stressful as anything I would wish on anyone. By the time she was actually ours she had every piece of our hearts!
The whole pregnancy was really weird for us...we didn't know what to expect...and then all of a sudden we had a new little dude as part of our house! It was work and worry (mostly on Alyssa's part) but it just didn't have the same weight that our adoptions had.
Moses is amazing and I feel closer to him every day and can't wait to see how he will fit into our crazy family. I just thought it was worth saying that adoption is the real deal! Every parent in the world should adopt or take in a foster child or support others adoptions if they're able...that's my opinion. It is a beautiful picture of what Jesus did for us.
That blog title is gonna bring a bunch of weird creepy dudes to my blog that are going to be really disappointed.
There is something about having a baby that makes it perfectly acceptable to talk about things that in normal conversation are completely inappropriate.
I can't tell you the amount of times in the last three days I've talked about boobs, merconium, and lady parts. You've gotta check the link to merconium on Wiki...sweet pics!
Well we are finally home! After a few days of talking about everything anatomy and baby I had to get out. I found Nate and Derrick for lunch and we talked about forklifts, Nascar, and Chuck Norris...much needed.
Having three kids is amazing. I was just hanging out on the ground playing with all three wondering how I will ever be able to give each enough attention. It's gonna be a fun ride.
We had some of the crew from the moms group show up yesterday and the Flecks brought us some Jamba (sorry no pic). Jamba is the ultimate hospital food. Thanks for the visits!
I promise I'll have blogs that aren't about babies in about 14 months!
This post = Most links ever in a blog.
Side note: I'm gettin' rid of creepy floating baby. He doesn't know what to do after he counts to zero...it's been a fun journey weird little guy...I hope you bring joy to many other expecting parents.
Alyssa's mom Gloria came by with the kids yesterday and Nate and Erica brought us some Jamba. I love to see Moses in the arms of our friends and family. Get used to it kid...we believe in community around here!
They need to come up with new words to describe my wife. I don't know how I could love her any more. The little dude she's holdin' is pretty cool too!
Alyssa said the Gary Coleman pictures were unacceptable so I posted a couple were Moses actually looks cute. The second one is the classic Lance furrowed brow...he nailed it!
Sean and Rebecca came by and brought some gumbo and jambalaya that has changed my life. Thanks guys.
Thanks for all the blog love and text love and email love. I've been showing them all to Alyssa...we feel very loved.
We have to stay at the hospital till Wednesday morning because there are some special antibiotics that the baby needs. We appreciate the prayers!
Does he look a little like Gary Coleman to anyone else? I just see him in that first picture sayin', "whatcho talkin' bout Willis?"
Moses Everett Lance emerged into the world at 4:59am this morning.
Alyssa's water broke yesterday at 4:10pm...minutes before the Stirring. I was at the Stirring and left within 2.5 seconds of the phone call.
Moses is 7 lbs. 15 onces, 20 inches long.
Alyssa rocked the labor...she's my hero!
Moses and mom are doing awesome. If I were Alyssa I'd sleep till Christmas.
What a little miracle...I seriously can't believe it.
It hasn't come close to setting in yet...I'm still delirious from no sleep and crazy contractions and ridiculous pushing.
Watch out world...you have no idea what this little man is going to accomplish.
God is awesome!
...why isn't Moses?
No contractions today.
Nate wants him to wait till Monday so I can help out tomorrow at the Stirring...awesome.
Sorry for the boring update!
nope!!!
Jumped in today.
Reminds me of the scene in Cattyshack when Bill Murray picks the Baby Ruth out of the pool and takes a bite...good times!
We are having Hack fest tomorrow. If I'm not havin' a baby I'm gonna be out there...should be a blast! I wanted to thank my family, The Grove, Jim Ramsey and Dana Evans for supporting me. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. This church plant is going to be amazing, and you all are playing a huge role in that. Thanks again.
No blog yet Jim? Seriously!?!
I'll keep everyone up to date so I don't have to send out a million text everyday. Last night the contractions slowed down. Alyssa is feeling good but bummed that it still might be awhile. I'll keep ya posted! Alyssa's mom made it into town last night which was a big relief for us. Having family here for us now is huge. Thanks for taking the kids yesterday Rebecca for the false alarm...you guys are awesome.
Thanks for showing me this Steve.
This is my daughters favorite song and this made me laugh so hard I almost shot a macaroni out of my nose!
We were at the hospital this morning. Alyssa is having mild contractions every 3-4 minutes and is dilated to 3cm. They said we had the choice to induce today or wait till it happens naturally...we opted for natural. The baby needs antibiotics four hours before he comes out so that is why they were thinking of inducing. They think we're really close.
So we are waiting. The baby is super low and they think he's comin' today or tomorrow so we'd appreciate your prayers. I'll light the blogworld up with Moses pictures as soon as I have them. I wonder if I could sell the rights of the pictures to People magazine like Brangelina and make millions by exploiting my new baby?!
Just so happened we had two of our favorite couples in the world in Redding on the same day. Great time of hanging out and catching up. I was going to post some pictures with Trav but I couldn't handle the pressure of dealing with the traffic that would jam up my blog to see the one and only! The Dunlaps and the Osbornes would be close friends if we lived down the street or across the world. So good seeing you both!
Don't let the picture sway your decision...I'm not biased at all.
What is the first song that should pass through the ears of my son...Moses Everett Lance as he emerges into the world? I wasn't able to do this with my first two kids but Moses is going to start things off right.
Let's hear it...
Welcome to the Jungle (G & R)
Let's get it on (Marvin Gaye)
Blame it on the rain (R.I.P)
It's the end of the world as we know it (R.E.M.)
I've already got my thoughts but I want to hear yours!
I'm pretty sure it's been there for the last month but I was just glad that no one moved it when the smoke rolled into town. That would of been really weird. Great Sabbath today!
Rest
Family time
Operation Baby Preparation commenced! OBP as I like to call it.
Alyssa is 90% effaced...2 cm. dilated...whatever the heck that means.
Just got my new license. Makes me feel a little better about not quite being 175 yet! I look pretty stoked in the top pic. I had probably just eaten a twinky or something! The bottom picture was last week and she snapped it half a second after I stepped on the line. I wasn't even looking in the right direction.
I used to play guitar for hours a day. Not so much anymore. Yesterday I was up at 6:30 to get to Risen King by 7:30 to practice for leading worship. Led for both services. Got lunch with my family...put my kids down for a nap...drove right to the Stirring to practice...played guitar for both services at the Stirring. My fingers feel like they are going to fall off. Back in the day I could play for a month and a half straight without stopping and be fine. Now one full day of playing and I'm done.
Alyssa left the Stirring last night a little early because she was having cramps/contractions. She's never done the pregnancy thing so she really doesn't know what a contraction feels like. When people saw us leaving 47 people came up to me and said..."IS IT HAPPENING???!!?"
Sorry to disappoint folks.
Soon and very soon.
in Nate's backyard.
put together their kids playground that makes your kids playground look stupid. I don't care if you actually live in the trees at Kids Kingdom....stupid!
Blisters.
Farmers tan.
It was a great time of hangin' with friends and turnin' wrenches!
Dude stuff!
One of Alyssa's random shots of our kids...I dig it!
Too much goin' on right now!
Baptism, putting together Disneyland in Nate's backyard, practice with the worship team, leading worship at Risen King, getting pre-approval for a loan, signing a ridiculous amount of paperwork, playing guitar at the Stirring, having friends come into town, planting a church, hackfest, designing shirts, handing out backpacks at Cypress school, life groups, being a dad to the two kids I have right now and being a husband.
Thursday looks good...wait till Thursday Moses.
The only question I really have is what is going to happen to creepy floating baby? Is he going to burst out of his cyber womb and helplessly float off the edge of my computer screen awaiting me to cut his cyber umbilical chord? I hope so...that would be amazing!
Side note...
Baptism tonight was epic!
15 new followers of Jesus immersed into the family...I love it.
We got to pray with each of them before they went under...that's what I live for!
179.2
Finally in the 170's!
If you're just reading this, I have a goal to be at 175 by the end of summer. 4 MORE POUNDS...4 MORE POUNDS. (As I'm writing that I'm chanting it like they were for Bush when he got re-elected...4 MORE YEARS)
I started at 194.6
Here's the secret...pay close attention.
Last night we took family pics and prego pics with Emily. Can't wait to see em'. I rocked some serious Zoolander poses.
As we're heading home we decide to go see the Dark Knight with the Gafners. Cassie and Guido were watching their kids at their house so we added our kids to the mix.
We're running really late and we haven't had any dinner...it's 8:45pm.
We raid the Gafners pantry...granola bar...goldfish (not real goldfish...the small orange ones that you eat!)...and fig newtons.
We get there in time to see Sean buying all of us a huge popcorn to share. The girls each had two bites of popcorn and Sean and I killed the rest...washed it down with a huge Sprite.
So there it is folks...the secret to weight loss success...none of the books are going here because it's just too out of the box, but trust me.
Random snacks from your friends pantry, enormous bags of popcorn, and tons of soda...that's the secret!
And make sure you eat it really late.
Tell the world...I'm ready to make my millions.
Here's my two cents about The Dark Knight sense I haven't seen any posts about that movie :)
Awesome.
Loved Joker and Two face.
Batman's voice was a little weird and creepy.
Go see it.
I'm starting with Joshua.
I read this today.
Joshua 3:3-4 "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.
That spoke to me huge this morning.
What a call to leaders to be led by God. I really feel that we a taking people to a place they have never been before. I want to make sure I have my eyes on the Lord!
Spoke last night at the Stirring
Slept in till 8
Went back to bed at 9 for a nap
Played outside with the fam...
it was nice out for the first time in forever...no smoke
Lunch
Grocery shopping
Nap
Swim
Chipotle
Skype with both parents
Movie
Great day of rest...slept more today than I have in forever
...than my stupid dog that can't control her bladder. Every time the door bell rings I have two choices. My dog runs to the door with frenzied excitement. If I pick her up she pees all over me...If I open the door she jumps all over the person that has come to see us and I'm yelling at them the whole time not to pet her. If they make the mistake of touching the dog they are going home with yellow flip flops!
It's an amazing way to great people that have never come to your house. They thought they were coming over for dinner but they open the door only to get yelled at by the host to not touch their dog. Welcome!
Plus the fact that the dog has unloaded her bladder on a daily basis right outside of our front door. I should probably wash that off. The Redding sun is drying up some sweet urine cakes out there. Such an inviting scene.
So remember next time you come over...jump from about 10 feet from the door and try to land on the welcome mat...Scarlet has only peed on that a couple times...and no matter how cute you think my dog is...don't ever touch her for the first 10 minutes you see her.
House rules.
Anyone want a dog?
...because that is what we do 2 weeks before we have a baby! It's right on the corner of sketchyville and a nice neighborhood...perfect. It's a really cool house...could be going up for a short sale so we might put in a ridiculous low offer...see what happens...they say short sales take awhile...you think they'd consider changing the name...we'll see.
I just walked into the Redding DMV fully ready to punch someone in the throat and yell at someone at the top of my lungs. To my wonder and amazement it was a pleasant experience. I have a history of losing my salvation at DMV's but Redding has changed everything.
I walk in on a Friday at 4:30pm. Last day of the week. Everyone is probably ready to kill people. But no...
Lady at the first desk...nice...friendly...gives me more information than I need.
Stunned I sit down...10 minutes later I'm talking to another nice woman behind the desk...I'm looking for hidden cameras. She sends me to a 3rd lady that is the nicest yet...takes my picture...gives me provisional license and I'm on my way.
I honestly had no words. I just had a fully enjoyable experience at the DMV. Kudos Redding Department of Motor Vehicles. Your love has covered a multitude of morons!
Last week at the Stirring I saw a guy that I've met twice before and have talked to for a total of about 4 minutes. I felt strongly like I should ask him to hang out this week sometime. So as he was leaving I asked him if he wanted to talk sometime. It was weird...I never do stuff like that.
Tonight we had coffee...talked about life, doubt, struggles, Jesus...it was awesome.
It was one of the most refreshing conversations I've had with someone in a long time.
So glad I got a little uncomfortable and actually made the effort to talk to someone I barely know. So many times we stick to the 7 people we know at church or any group setting and we forget what it's like to be the new guy in the room that doesn't know anyone and doesn't know the rules. Tonight reminded me why I was put on this planet. Not to play it safe...but to join with people in their journeys towards Jesus.
I had four amazing conversations with people today...Starbucks, Yaks, Togo's, and Starbucks. I only drank two Americano's. Today was a good day!
My last weigh in I was at 182.0
Two weeks...
No change!
I saw 181.6 for a brief moment in time but I'm back at 182...bummed.
I told Billy on Sunday that I've gotten away from writing things down and that I was going to start on Monday. Didn't do it. I'm going to start today...someone call me at the end of the day and ask me.
For me to lose weight I have to write down every single thing that goes in my mouth through the day. The problem with doing weight watchers for a long time is you know it really well so you think you can calculate everything in your head. The problem is I can keep track of points that way but I always cheat when I don't write it down. Writing gives me discipline. I'm back on it.
I said 175 by the end of summer and I will achieve that goal. I'd like to be 170 but I'm gonna shoot for something that is doable. Feel free to ask me how I'm doing when you see me. Thanks Billy!
Does it seriously say 19 days!
I think he's off by about 3 or 4 days based on what our doctor says because she says Alyssa is due on the 13th. But who cares what the doctor says...I'm trusting babystrology.com
Creepy floating baby is always on the money!
The doctor said Moses was pretty low on Monday. I have no idea what that means but supposedly lower means he can't wait to jump into the heat and smoke of Redding...so we'll see!
Any tips for the last couple weeks that I'm not thinkin' about?
I've done the kid thing a couple times but none of them have shot out of Alyssa. Our last kid came with crossing borders in foreign countries and bribing them with lots of American money. I'm new at that whole birth thing and I feel like I have no clue what to do. I'm pretty good at wingin' stuff but I'm not sure if that's the best policy when it comes to having a kid. Help!
Nate and Meg are on vacation this week so I got the office to myself. It's usually a mad house in here with Nate and I sharing an office and Meghan right next door. I find that I'm talking to myself because no ones around. I'm sharing through Ephesians 5:21-6:9 this week. It matters how we treat each other, act in our homes, and carry ourselves at work. The world is watching! Paul tells us to live worthy of our calling. Put off the old, put on the new. Be light in a world of darkness by living a spirit filled life. Then he gets as practical as he possibly can. Here are the most basic relationships you find yourselves in: friends, husbands and wives, parents and children, and work. The way you conduct yourself in your most day to day relationships really matter.
It's crazy that the submission piece is the thing that everyone gets hung up on in these verses. The whole passage is pointed at men. It wasn't any big news in that culture that women needed to submit, that kids needed to obey or that slaves needed to work hard. The revolutionary piece is that Paul was calling the men out to submit and love their wives, treat their kids with respect and treat their slaves fairly. Women, kids and slaves were property in that culture. The verses that would have blown peoples minds were all the ones pointed at the men not the women. I'm gonna unpack it a little more this weekend. Any thoughts?
Sleeping in
Taking walks
Reading books
Swimming
Talking to family through a computer...thanks Skype!
Playing baseball (in the house...while moms out...ssshhhh...don't tell)
Naps
Good eats
Hangin' with friends
Can't wait!
Shane Claiborne is out talking about his book "Jesus for President." Here's an interaction that happened at one of his gatherings. I liked it. What do you think?
Reporters often ask folks leaving our presentations funny questions like: "Young evangelicals are the swing vote in this election... has this evening affected how you are going to vote in November?" I heard one person say beautifully, "That's the wrong question... the real question is how can we become the change we want to see in the world TODAY and not just hope that every four years we can elect politicians to change the world for us." May it be so. May we continue to become the change we want to see in the Church and in the world. Enough donkeys and elephants - Long live the LambMy thoughts: It wasn't legislation in Rome that turned the world on its ear in the first century. It was a bunch of crazy followers of Jesus, led by the holy spirit, living out radical community and generosity, moving willingly into persecution and martyrdom. A handful of people that held up a different "way" to the world. The world was forced to listen. No guns...No abuse of power...no lobbying to special interest.
We are doing a series in October and don't be surprised if you see this picture again...amazing!
I've got a good handful of you comin' to hang out on my blog on a daily basis now...I enjoy the community, the back and forth, the spewing of ideas. I'd like to see if we can actually use the muscle of this blog for good.
Our church, the Stirring is launching its first church plant, hopefully in the fall. We are funding the whole plant ourselves. We'd like to cover all the start up costs by raising money from friends and family. We have 30 of us that are doing a fund raiser called Hack Fest. It's 30 dudes, golfing 100 holes, and asking people to sponsor per hole. Each person has committed to raise $1,000.00
I've already got more than that but I haven't even tapped the power of the blog world yet. There's over 100 of you out there that are going to read this today. If you each sent me $10 we'd have another $1000. If you each sent me 2 million dollars we'd have 200 million dollars!
We believe this is how God is calling our family to grow in Redding. We don't desire to grow bigger under one roof. We want to spread out through the city, empowering more leaders, sharing space, and making more disciples in the way of Jesus. One vision, different campuses. WE LOVE. WE MAKE DISCIPLES. That's what we're about!
Sound interesting...start praying for us...send money!
Make checks payable to The Stirring at 3468 Bechelli Ln. Ste E - Redding, CA 96002 and put Hack Fest in the memo. All contributions are tax deductible.
Please pray about supporting us. Thanks!
I thought I would start a series of posts for my blog buddies that are battling the bulge. (I promise I'll stop using words that start with B...I don't know what just happened!)
I am a weight watchers guy myself. It's not a diet, you just learn to eat good portions. The things I look at in nutritional facts are calories, fat, and fiber. They have a point calculator that takes those numbers and turns them into points. I am allowed 24 points a day for my age and weight. When you are active during the day it gives you more points to work with.
So here's my thought...I've been doing this for over two years now and I've come up with quite a few must haves. You know, the food you can eat that is awesome and low points. Well I just stumbled across Skinny Cow. They have a whole line of deserts but I really like the ice cream sandwiches and they are only 2 points. I love ice cream and the slow churned stuff is pretty low in points but I don't trust myself to just scoop 1/2 a cup. I only give myself a small mug but I find a way to pack a pint in a mug! Now it's your turn. Help a brotha out. Got any low calorie, low fat, high fiber goodness? Hook me up! More to come.
I'm working on being content in every situation but its difficult. Here's the things on my list that I'm realizing right now I'm not content with.
1. My town house. Not because its not nice enough or big enough. Its awesome. Its almost too awesome. I'd rather be in a place that frees us up financially more to help people and buy food that isn't so crappy. (side note: why is it more expensive to eat healthy?)
2. My phone. The iphone has officially done it to me...I've got at&t envy!
I keep all my own appointments and am constantly scheduling and getting back to emails so I broke down when I moved up here and got a Blackberry. It's awesome. I could probably be getting by with my old Razor and a little organizer but how cool would that be? The iphone at this new price has me wanting to put my Blackberry on ebay and drop Verizon like a bad habit.
3. My weight. I guess its ok to want to be healthy but I'm not content in my own skin right now and that kind of sucks.
4. My job! Just kidding Nate...just wanted to make sure you were still reading this thing!
Areas I've grown in contentment
1. I love my bucket of a car! 2o00 Toyota Echo (sea foam) The air gets cold 5 minutes after you arrive at your destination...love it!
2. I love my guitar gear! That's a first. I've spent my whole life trying to acquire that next thing with guitars...I'm satisfied...my tone rules!
3. I love my family, my friends, my church and Redding. Totally content with where God has me right now...I love that!
What are you not content with right now?
The prez is comin' to Redding tomorrow. I'm gonna make my way to Air Force one and see if he'll sponsor me for Hackfest. I heard Bush is pumped on the Stirring's first church plant so I'm thinkin' I can get at least 20 bucks out of him. Keep your fingers crossed!
Today I was reminded of my tendency to be a ding dong. I made some remarks in the last couple days that sat wrong with a friend and they let me know. It was brought up intentionally...it was straight to the point...I left understanding how I made this person feel...and I was given a chance to talk about my feeling on the subject.
I love the community I'm surrounded with at the Stirring. Everything is current. I piss you off and you let me know, I have a chance to apologize and we get over it and move on. No built up bitterness towards anyone...no walking on egg shells...it's how things should operate!
Staying current and being honest should mark every Christian community but it doesn't. As we are being transformed more and more into the image of Christ we need to be speaking the truth in love to our brothers and sisters that have signed up to follow Jesus. It should just be a normal part of community. Why do we shy away from confrontation? Thoughts?
I can't imagine what Joel Osteen feels like getting to talk to that many people every week. It's taken me a couple years to get this voice. I'd probably be trying to do something big like stop the wars in the world and start feeding hungry people and maybe getting some folks to care about the earth...just a couple ideas. When my blog is reaching 40,000 a week it's on like Donkey Kong!
And Joel while your at it...use your influence in Texas to get the Astro's back in those jersey's from the 80's...classic!
Drove to Sac this morning to pick up Zeke after 10 days with my folks in Riverside...he had a blast. My mom got his hair cut and he kind of looks like Loyd from Dumb and Dumber but it's all good. It's awesome to have him back. We picked up a bed for Sof at Ikea because the crib is going to Moses. Sofia and Zeke are officially sharing a room. Sofia fell out of her bed tonight...glad we got that out of the way in the first night.
The countdown is on...27 days...crazy!
I put the 3rd car seat in our Vue tonight so we would start feeling the weight of what the heck is happening to us. It's starting to become real...wow!
I'm a dad with a car that has three car seats...when in the world did that happen?
This guys blog is awesome. He pairs up some well known pastors as superhero's. Thought it was fitting with the conversations we've been having at the Stirring.
So yesterday morning I got a call from the manager from the place we're moving into and she tells me we don't qualify! Five days of jumping through every hoop on earth to get in...she says the whole time that everything is perfect...she actually told me she'd call in the morning just to tell me that everything was ready but instead I got the shut down phone call. She fought for us but the person that owns the place wasn't havin' it for some unknown reason.
SUCKS!!!
Felt like someone kicked me in the teeth. Alyssa and I had both really come to agreement on moving and we were stoked. Alyssa's mom was flying out to help us pack up the house. We down scaled a bunch of stuff and started putting things in boxes. Super frustrating. I guess we are supposed to be here longer for some reason. Oh well.
I was talkin' to some dudes about Ephesians 4 and 5 yesterday and we got on the topic of greed. God is really calling us to be a family that is marked by generosity. Somewhere along the line that distinction has been really blurred in the church. When the church is really living out its call in the world it is always subverting the predominant trends in culture. When the culture is calloused and immoral sexually, the church should be showing the world through our relationships and marriages what God is like. When the culture is angry and hates and demeaning towards segments of society we should be a refuge of reconciliation and love. I think the one that's really hard for us is greed. When the culture around us is bent on more and is never satisfied we should be sharing our stuff, balancing injustice, bringing people into our homes, not living in excess, and living out of contentment.
I gave the example of the goal of our living situations in the US.
If you're poor and living in the ghetto you are most likely living in an apartment. More than likely you've got some extended family living with you to lower the bills. People are always around and in your business because of the close proximity. The goal is to move out of that situation and get into a house and to lose the extra family or friends living with you. Preferably a house with a garage that's attached to the house so you can pull in and not have to deal with neighbors. The goal after the first house is the second house that is bigger and further away from neighbors because you need your space. Then you're looking for the huge house in the gated community and now someone needs to know 4 digits to come see you and a guard gives you the "once over" if you look a little shady.
Greed breeds isolation. Our desire for more drives us further away from people. The American Dream is a joke and has nothing to do with living in the way of Jesus. Jesus said he's going to prepare a place for us in his fathers house. (John 14:1-4) That is wedding language talking of a groom that goes to add a room onto his fathers house to bring his bride back to. Only the Father can tell the son when the room is ready. Then the son goes and brings the wife to live with him and his family. Living in real community is what eternity is going to be like. I have a feeling "mansions" are going to have no place in the new heavens and new earth. I'm pretty sure we'll know our neighbors and be close to each other. Wouldn't it make sense for us to start practicing for eternity now? Just some thoughts. What do you think?
Satan
The anti-christ
Kirk Cameron and bad eschatology
The nature of evil
Hell
Nah...Let's tackle "the rapture" that'll be fun. Ok so I might get into some Kirk Cameron stuff.
If anyone starts getting crazy on this post I will shut it down...fair warning. I just want thoughts...not attacks.
For those of you that read my blog and aren't steeped in church culture...the rapture is a made up name that the church came up with to describe what will happen at the second coming of Jesus. There's some trumpets, Jesus appears, (I Thes. 4:16-18)we are zapped up to heaven in the twinkling of an eye (I Cor. 15:51-53), and people that don't know Jesus are avoiding un-manned, out of control cars on the freeway and then the world blows up. There are some variations to that train of thinking such as: tribulations, 1000 year reigns, I'm not gonna get into all of it. I have been refining my thoughts on this subject for my whole life.
Ultimately I believe Jesus is coming back!
How he decides to do that is his business. If I've got it all wrong I'm ok with that. If I end up chillin' on some clouds with a harp but I'm with Jesus...I'm good. I don't think that's what the Bible teaches but I'm not arrogant enough to think that everything I think about God is spot on. I've refined my positions on a ton of things so I'm open to growing and refining more.
I really like what N.T. Wright has to say about "life after life after death." Revelation 21:1-5 talks about a new heavens and new earth that we look forward to and God's dwelling with his people. He's written two amazing books that get at this. Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope. Here's a little taste from Surprised by Hope (122)
Most first-century Jews, and virtually all early Christians believed that history was going somewhere under the guidance of God and that where it was going was toward God's new world of justice, healing, and hope. The transition from the present world to the new one would be a matter not of the destruction of the present space-time universe but of its radical healing.That's the hope that I'm looking forward to. What are your thoughts? Be nice.
I THINK WE'RE MOVING!
Not back to Riverside...sorry mom.
About a block down the street.
We're ironing out the last details.
We qualified for some apartments that hook you up based on your income...God bless America!
We will save a bunch of money a month which will be awesome.
The only problem is I can't find a pause button for creepy floating baby.
We're moving in the last month of pregnancy...at least it wasn't 118 degrees today...oh wait...it was!
It's a three bedroom...smaller than our place now but all we need.
No garage...that will be interesting.
We've been married for 9 years and lived in 8 places...my wife is amazing!
1. Parkwest apartments (much love to Azoulay ct. Good times with the Yoders)
2. Grandpa's house (during the Ember days)
3. Linwood (built in 1914...hands down coolest house ever)
4. Rangpur (stupid house...way too big...trying to build my empire...learned my lesson)
5. Palm (lived on a freeway next to tweekers...killer fireworks show...added 800 square feet...good times)
6. Mt. Diablo (great house...still renting it out)
7. Sunset Oaks townhomes (it's been a good 6 months...we'll miss the pool...Thanks for getting us in Don)
8. Shadowbrook apartments (here we come)
Stay tuned for details of when. I will put out a shameless announcement to get people to help. Don't worry...it's supposed to be really cold in a week!
My life is hilarious.
182.0 this morning
That's down 1.4 pounds since the last weigh in...12.4 total pounds down
It's going slow but I'm stoked that it's still comin' off
I didn't write anything down the last couple weeks, I'm gonna get back on that.
Sean and I passed up some rice crispy sample thingys this morning at Starbucks.
It's easier to say no when you're with a friend that's trying to say no too.
Gotta get back on the bike. Next week is supposed to be less hot (and smokey I hope)
Here I come 175...I'm gonna own you!
I was driving to work this morning (refuse to bike when it's 115 degrees outside) and I saw this guy in a huge truck with his finger in his nose up to the knuckle. He was really going for it. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. As a turned the corner I felt this strange urge to jam my finger in my nose...it was weird. It was like my finger just knew what to do when it saw another finger serving its whole purpose being thrust into a nostril.
So here's my question...I know yawning is contagious, but what about picking your nose? Anyone else ever experience this? Am I alone?
Side note: There's a lot of crazy stuff going down right now with RevRock and I can't get myself to blog about it yet so I'm leaving you with everything my brain can handle...fingers, knuckles, and noses.
Side note...I've used the word knuckles more in the last few days then I have in my entire life time.
Pray for us...we've got some decisions to make...all good stuff...don't worry!
The Dunlap's have officially entered the blog world. Go give them some blog love.
When we left Riverside these were two of our hardest goodbyes.
Love you guys! Keep the blogs comin.
This is part one if you're late to the conversation.
Here's the final question you have to ask yourself when you enter the realm of shaving your arms...what do you do with the knuckles???
I shave my arms because my arm hair is like Sherwood forest and my tattoos become unrecognizable under the fury coat.
I usually shave my arms about once a month with the clippers. You always get to the end and ask yourself...do I leave the knuckle hair?
It looks kind of weird to have baby smooth arms and fury knuckles so I went for it today!
I am also now convinced that I should never make important decisions when I'm grooming because I think of the strangest things during these moments in my life.
Until next Sunday...
Tonight we are getting into Ephesians 4.
Last week Nate started the chapter but spent the whole night talking about verse one. We talked about three words in the verse: live, worthy, received. Podcast should be up soon. It was awesome!
Tonight we are going to talk about the type of church we want to become.
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.Everyone's a minister. God has placed you in your family, your neighborhood, your job, your city for a reason. Live out that calling in every way possible. The only reason we have leadership in the church is to empower and equip all the other ministers through the week. We spend a good portion of our week trying to replace ourselves. We want to be known for our team, our community, not our superstars. (Maybe that's why God hasn't given us any superstars but a bunch of messed up, goofy followers of Jesus!) If you had to give us a grade at the Stirring for our "teamness" (an amazing word that I just made up) what would you give us and why? We are trying to grow in this area and we'd love to hear your feedback.
Our fan is two feet from our bed cranked on high.
Our ceiling fan is on high.
I now share my bed with a body pillow and an almost 8 month pregnant wife.
I had a dream last night I was in the Wizard of Oz and my house was being taken away in a tornado but I woke up and it was just the wind storm that I now call my bedroom.
What's awesome is that Redding hasn't even shown its full fury yet. Bring it on July and August!
Saturday July 12th, 11-1:30pm
Mom's show up with their kids at 11am at the Nazarene church.
We're taking portraits of the moms with their kids that we will print off and give as gifts.
Mom's leave the kids, we have a crew that will spoil the kiddos.
Mom's carpool with another crew that is taking them to Tierra Oaks for lunch...our treat.
While they're gone we got a crew that will be washing and detailing their cars.
We have 6 moms right now and we can take around 10. Know a single mom that needs some love? Send em' our way.
I can't think of a harder job in the world then raising your kids by yourself. We want to be the kind of community that takes care of our single moms!
Our hope is that this one event will turn into long term investment in the lives of these families. We want to be a church that is known for our love...anyone down to help?
My mom leaves tomorrow at 6am and she's takin' Zeke for 10 days.
He's gonna be rockin' swim lessons, VBS, chillin' with family and Riverside friends.
He'll get spoiled out of his mind.
It's gonna be really weird just havin' Sof with us. She's gonna be super bored. No one beating her up every five minutes...what will she do?
It's gonna be the longest that we've been away from Zeke...it will be strange...quiet...and not as much fun!
In just over a month we'll have 3 so we will take a long deep breath for 10 days and prepare ourselves!
My parents are driving up and we'll meet them in Sac on the 14th.
Does that countdown seriously say 39 days till the baby comes???!!?
I just threw up in my mouth.
Tasted like bloomin' onion.
At least there's no other stress in our life right now :)
I don't know if that smiley conveys sarcasm but it should!
I'm starting to take sign ups for baby sitting.
Our kids are super easy :)
There's that smiley again.
If you'd like to hear the podcast it's right here. Paul shares his story then prays that we would understand God's love that surpasses knowledge. Thoughts???
Alyssa and I realized something weird as we were out at coffee last night. We were actually having time to talk and think without kids and it was amazing. We realized we should probably finalize the name for the baby and we are going with Moses. Unless Jesus wakes us up and tells us we have to name him something else.
While we were on the subject of Moses we started talking about the amount of people that are so excited to see who he will look like. We've had countless people ask us, "aren't you so excited to see who he's going to look like?" It's weird but neither of us have thought about that at all. This might we the weird piece of having two adopted kids but it hasn't crossed our minds at all that there is a pretty good chance that this kid is going to look a lot like both of us. Is that weird?
Most people are like, "oh I hope he gets my eyes, and her hair, etc..."
We just honestly thought about it for the first time last night and thought that was kind of strange. The only thing I hope for my son is that he gets my wifes looks (without lookin' like a chic) if that's possible, and that he gets my hair, my height, my humongous forehead, my two bottom front teeth that are yellow because they got the enamel knocked off of them when I was a baby, my crazy chest hair, and has good skin for tattoos! If he gets all that I'd be stoked.
What's funny is that both of our kids already look like me.
God is pretty hilarious though...I bet Moses comes out and is the one kid in our family that looks nothing like us...what if?
