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RIOT Message Feb 2020 #2
RIOT MESSAGE Judges 7 So part two of a double header about dear ole Gideon. To hear the first message, go back in time and show up last week. š So letās catch you up in case you werenāt here- hereās the armies, camped out, gettin ready for battle. Gideon went all scaredy cat, and double triple checked that God was still God. Spoilers, he was. Now here we are, battle getting ready. Prolly some dude in a skirt going…
RIOT Sermon Feb 2020
RIOT MESSAGE Judges 6 Judges 6-8 6-7:23 first week How many of us have ever thought something along the lines of āI wish I could know that God is realā that heās on our side, loves us, has our back etc. I have. I think anyone being honest would say they have, right? Wether you donāt yet believe in Jesus, you wish you knew for sure. If you do, you wish you knew for sure. Like for sure. Sure. Who…
Wrote this for work
So this is my daughter Maddie. Sheās still pretty new here to the planet. Rather than spending my bio talking about me, Iām gunna talk about her, and what I want for her. I want her to grow up and know Jesus. I donāt want her to just know about Him, I want her to love Jesus in with the depth and genuine passion with which I love her. I want her to avoid my mistakes of rampant pride and…
My amazing wife
I have an amazing wife. I’ve always known this. Before we were married, before we had dated- I knew she was the one for me, the only one I’d ever want. And while there’s a great many things in life I regret or have done poorly, I’m sure proud of my ability to pick the most amazing woman ever. This recent time, with Baby Maddie running our lives, has been interesting, because I’m discovering even more new ways that my…
Musings on six weeks in
I’ve prayed to die more times than I can count. From about 14 or 15 onward, I’ve been praying somewhere between 20-200 times per day to die. I pray it as a song, in words, in moans. It’s been the one counterpoint in frequency to “I love you” said to my wife, and “I live to serve” said to everyone. But Maddie was born a bit over a month ago, and suddenly, once. Like not for one day, but one…
On the day of Maddieās birth
I wrote this: Maddie birth Surrounded by prayers of many who love us, not because of us, but because you brought them to us. Thereās a machine making easily hearable Maddieās heartbeat. All weekend long, through pain and through smiles and tome killing- in everything we hear, her heartbeat just keeps pumping away, marking the minutes and hours- the rhythm of our lives from here on out. Itās amazing to hear it so clearly and feel it so distinct. Praise…
Overwhelmed by kindness
I’ve sat down to write this post about 20 times. Each time, before I can finish, I have yet another occurrence to stop, ponder and start again. I’m quickly coming to the point of calling it overwhelmed in the best of ways. Natalie and I have our little Maddie coming soon, and there’s apparently a lot that needs to go into getting ready for a human life. Tiny little details, things I’d think of and things I wouldn’t. They stack…
Tidal Lines
Iām sitting on the beach in Cayucos California, at the yearly vacation we take with Natalieās family and I am shocked at how thankful I find myself. I have a wife I do not deserve, friends more kind than I could ever ask for. I have a job I am unworthy of. I have a God loves me. I have a God who loves me, how can that be a real? How is it even possible that a perfect being…
Small group
Getting ready for Great Escape 2019- summer camp with my high school small group for the 13th time. I’ve had great co-leaders and terrible ones. Small groups that loved Jesus, and guys who were just there to make out with their girlfriend. Decades of students leaving high school to go on and love Jesus with all the life they have, and some who leave to crash and burn. For whatever reason, I’m really looking forward to this year. Job-duty wise,…
Baby Maddie
Hey Kiddo… Man, even that feels odd- I haven’t settled yet on what I’m gunna call you. Sometimes it The Kid, other time TK for short. Kiddo, Maddie, Laney, Maddie-Lane- I’m all over the map. Who knows… I love you. Right now, you barely even exist- you’re just a dream and a bump in my mind and your mothers belly. You kick back when I give you a jostle, much to your mothers delight and then pain. Sometimes you’re moving…
Tiny Human
Holy crap, holy crap… holy crap. Some moments, you wonder what they’d be like if they ever happened. You wonder if you’d be excited, angry, sad, or what? Moments that transcend life as usual, and change the course of your thoughts and actions from there on out. I’m experiencing one of those now. But I’m always surprised to be an accurate assessor of self on the big things. I always wonder if this time I’ll be wrong, be timid where I…
Bahama’s year five / provision
It’s an interesting thought to me that so much of what I hold dear or find “normal” for goodness in my life, I know are in no way a given or granted to me. What I mean by that is that right now I’m typing this on a current macbook, with my iphone xs max sitting to my side, in my office, at my job, and when I get off work I’ll ride my motorcycle (one of three I have)…