From the 805

That is the area code in Santa Maria, CA where Charity's parents live!
We got into town on Tuesday making the 6 hour drive in 8 hours. We decided that was not too bad considering that Sophie only cried for like 30 min of that. She did really good. She slept the first part and then was over the car seat the second half.
Here are some pics of the trip so far
We went to this place just south of Pismo Beach where these monarchs come and land every year. I guess we got there about a month early, so there weren't as many as we thought, but it was still so cool to get see them!!!

Here is Sophie's first look at the Ocean... ok, maybe she didn't really get to see the Ocean, but I imagine that she knew it was there.













Sophie got this really cool deal that she sits in and I have to put this pic up cause I am fascinated with it!

Smile Time!

Sophie is just super smiley today!

Photo Booth

Charity just put Sophie in her Christmas dress options and since I was on the computer we took some quick pics. Here is the best one!
I guess we really do look a like! I am so in love with this little girl.

Todays Plan

I haven't blogged in a long time. Things have been crazy good. God is really stretching me in life right now. This quarter of school has been the most difficult for me. I am usually an A student just by default, which is hard for some people to understand and hard for me cause I don't have to study much (I am not trying to sound pompous). But with life the way it has been for us school has not come as easy to me.
Today and I am taking the day off to just get some school done. I have felt myself being a complainer lately about how much school I have to do (waaaawaaawaaa). I am sick of whining. I want to see God work through me and help me accomplish school so that I can be a better servant/leader for Him.
Here are my goals today:

• Talk to Mark Salazar, my best friend
• Finish 2 more questions on my final exam (that is means writing two 3 page essays)
• Take a shower (later)
• Go to the gym (if I get the essays done)
• Take Charity on a date
  

Advent Conspiracy

This is a great video, I think we will be showing this @ Explode in the month of December.

On my heart

Here is an email I just sent to our Elders asking them to pray for our High School Ministry, Explode. I feel like God wants to do huge things here. Will you please pray for us too?

Dear Elders,
I am writing to you to ask you if you will remember to pray for Explode on a regular basis. We have had some huge wins in the last couple months I really feel like God is moving in amazing ways.
This summer we, our adult leaders, made a commitment to pray for Hume Lake every time we ate for over a month. That was the most successful camp I have ever been a part of. We took more students than we have ever taken and more students made a commitment for Christ than I could have imagined.
From that time on God has really pressed praying more for Explode on my heart. I took Him up on that and prayed a whole bunch for Invite Night about a month ago. That night we had record attendance; over 180 students were there. Since then we have averaged over 100+ at Explode.
Will you please take the time to remember Explode in prayer and remember the lost students that we are trying to reach? I feel like God is doing something big; like we are on the cusp of something huge that is about to happen and I don’t want us to miss out on that. Pray for students to be a light on their campus, for small groups to engage students and for students to shine for Christ in their homes. I really think that we are in an amazing place right now.
Thank you all so much!

Call and Response

I wanted to share a link of a film that is coming to VEGAS - click here
I am sharing it with you because the film will be in Vegas starting on December 5th at the Colonnade. This film doesn’t pay for advertisement and relies solely on word of mouth. Its an humbling and heartbreaking loot at slavery in this world and as Christ followers I think its something that we all need to see and wrestle with. So as my friends, colleagues, and people of influence I say go see it and bring a person or two along or your entire small group along with you.

The man behind the project (Justin Dillon) has an incredible heart and I have heard him share how God has opened a million doors to get this filmed, produced, and in to theaters. It is not backed by any big motion picture organization.
Can I encourage you to check to see if it will be showing in your area.

Video Rap Announcement

This will make you pee your pants!

WOW

I just saw this on my friend Kristal's blog. I am pretty shocked just by seeing this! This is not who I want to/hope will be our president. We gotta pray hard tonight!

Tired...

That is usually the answer that I give people lately when they ask how I am doing (and I'm sick of it). I am feeling pretty bummed today. I feel slammed with school, work, ministry, and not being there for the family because of all this.
I had a great talk with a man I really respect, Rob Hall. I was asking him about school. I have been feeling pretty anxious about getting my degree done. On the other hand I have been convicted and asking myself: "Am I more concerned about the degree or the education?" The degree will be worth it, but the education will help me through life. I think this has just been one of those crazy weeks and this is me being honest.
Here are some things that I want to do this week:

• Leave the office on time
• Hold Sophie more
• Be on time for dinner
• Commit to being positive and not let this all get at me
• Spend quality time with God; especially reading my Bible
• Focus on what matters most

Thanks for praying for our family and this new stage of life for us!

Finished it up

Last week I finally got my side finished up. About a year and a half ago I started thinking about what kind of tattoo to get for Charity. I didn't really want to get her name on my body and she agreed with that. I decided to go with a heart, which represents her name: Charity. I wanted to get some roses around it because she loves flowers. The artist, Johnny Five, added the lock and key. I went and got the outline done last year in December. I was supposed to go back two weeks later to get it all colored in. Well, life hit and school have been crazy. Oh yeah, we had a baby too. So I finally made it up to Bad Apple Tattoo and got it finished. After 2 1/2 hours here it is. I love this tat!!!

Praying for our new president

For about the last week I have been super convicted to be praying for our new president. I cannot see the future so I, like most Americans, have no clue who the president will be. I do know these things though:

1. We need to pray for our new president
   
2. We need to pray for our country to be wise in voting
   
3. We need to pray for voters to exercise their right to vote

I feel like this is such a huge election year. My wife and I have already voted, so please pray for God to give you wisdom and vote!

Pumpkin Patch

So these pictures are much over due. Parenthood is the most amazing (time consuming) thing that we have ever experienced. Here are some pictures of our little adventure.
Sophie does look a little sleepy, I don't think that she has any clue what is going on...














She definitely loves spending time with her mom!