Next Thursday we will be hosting an event called Stories From Africa. Click the link for details.
Steven & Amy will be sharing a bit of their experiences while in Africa the past two years. Looking forward to that.
Also, Kyle Lent will be performing after the conversation. You won’t want to miss him.
Props to Charles and Crestview for hosting the event. They have one of the best “church” coffee shops around.
Can’t wait for this event.
My friends Steven & Amy will be hanging with us in Austin next week. They are missionaries (he may kill me for using that title) in Africa and they work with Servlife.
They are doing some great stuff in Sub-Sahara Africa. Anyhow, I’m trying to set up some meetings-it will be a great time to hear what God is doing in Africa and maybe find some practical ways that you and your church/ministry can help.
So if you have time to hang and grab some coffee/lunch-please let me know.
Last night we dropped off the girls at the in-laws and headed downtown to get some grub at Shady Grove. We had an unusually cool night. Which is rare in these parts this time of the year. So hanging outside was great. After Shady we headed to Spider House Patio Bar and Cafe. They had two DJ’s and the atmosphere was simply awesome. Lot’s of conversation, music, drinks and food.
I’ve got to hit the gym hard next month. My “healthy” eating has been flushed down the toilet the past few weeks. So many great places to grub-it’s ridiculous.
BTW-Football starts soon. WOO HOO!
This is an open invitation to all local Austin folks-tomorrow night Necole and I are heading to Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas (183) to see The Bourne Ultimatum at 7PM. If you wanna go let me know, I would recommend you order tickets online-tonights show is already sold out.
Hopefully I’m not sick tomorrow night 🙂
So, this has been one of the best weeks of ministry that I’ve had in a long time. Why you ask? Because I’ve spent time with people and not locked in some office dreaming about ministry or doing some lame to-do list. I suck at that stuff!
I love vision-casting, dreaming, planning, sharing and pouring into people. It’s just so freaking vital that we pastor types spend time pouring into people and helping them on life’s journey.
Sample of my week: I preached Sunday, hung with our Africa missions team last night, met with Com Group leaders today, studied theology with Jeff and Bedwell yesterday morning at Starbucks, meeting with some folks tonight to train them to take over our greeters ministry on Sunday and now I’m getting ready for an outreach that we are doing next Tuesday in E. Austin and I also get to prepare a message to speak next Sunday. I
love it. Rock on!
So last night we watched Josh Blue perform at a local comedy club. Man this cat is so funny. We laughed so hard. It was a fun night where everything worked out well. Good seats, lots of laughs and lots of community.Of course all things must come to an end right? The Ashdown’s are leaving Tuesday for Cali. It always strange to think of J & Amanda living in Sac-town. I know God has lots in-store for them. I think its time to hit up San Francisco with the Ashdown’s and Nussbaums and of course Tre. I miss all those guys. Tomorrow I’m speaking at church. For whatever reason my message has been quite tough to grasp. Kinda of strange. Thank God I can rely on Him and not me.
Necole’s birthday was this past Tuesday. So tonight we are heading out to Mozart’s for some coffee and dessert. After Mozart’s we are going to catch Josh Blue at a local comedy club. Heard this dude is awesome. Looking forward to hanging out with friends, celebrating Necole’s old age and watching some comedy. I need to laugh 🙂
Starting Saturday I will take a mini vacation. It’s going to be good to hang with the family and pup, do some hiking, eat good food and enjoy life a bit.
Usually when folks find out I’m from Cali, they ask me what I miss the most…Hands down I say the beach. I love Austin, but man I just miss the beach.
Tuesday we are going to head to South Padre. I just hope I like it. By no means am I expecting S. Padre to be Cali or NC (NC beaches ROCK BTW!) but I just need to hear the sound of the ocean, feel the salty breeze and enjoy the eternal rolling of the waves.
For all my Cali, NC, & WA peeps-PLEASE NO COMMENT 🙂
A few months ago I created a Virb page. I always hated Myspace and I have mixed feelings about these social networking sites. But I also love to connect and get to know virtual friends.
Plus Virb just rocks. The layout is simple and clean and they allow for some coding so you can really create a great site. Too bad I suck at coding 🙂
So if you Virb let me know.
Being a type A kinda dude. I’ve always had a hard time trusting in God’s sovereignty. On one hand I truly think some folks use sovereignty as an excuse for poor leadership and decision-making.
But the past year I’ve seen God’s sovereignty. Yesterday I walked into Seattle Best Coffee. They had a huge picture of the Puget Sound with a ferry trolling the waters. I miss that sight. I miss my friends in Seattle.
But I gotta tell you. I can’t believe how things have worked out here in Austin. I love the city (just wish I could live in Seattle every July & August), I love my job and Necole’s job is doing great. I really feel like I’m taking the next steps to increase my leadership potential.
And to top that off. Necole’s parents, sister and future brother-in-law are moving to Austin. They are looking for a house today. A few months ago my future brother-in-law was asked by his company if he wanted to take over in Austin. Of course he said yes. He needs to hire some folks, so he hired my father-in-law and they are going to build the business here in Austin & San Antonio.
I say all that to say this. Last summer when we left Seattle. We struggled because we wanted to be close to family. But we wanted to live in Austin. (not Dallas) We felt God leading us here. I’m glad we came 🙂
Sometimes we have to learn to trust God in the darkness. Faith comes in times of struggle and pain. So when we emerge out of that season. We are stronger, we understand God’s voice and how he moves. We simply just become better more focused disciples.
Life is not perfect. I would give my left arm if Tre, the Nussbaum’s and the Ashdown’s (I’ll throw in the Pellet’s also) lived in Austin.
God is good. Sometimes it’s really hard to see the “goodness.” Bailey asked me the other day why parents have to so hard on little kids. Sometimes I say the same thing to God.
I told Bailey it’s because parents know what kids need. I think God says the same thing.
Simply Missional 