I love photography.  I started taking pictures in middle school with an old film camera from the WWII era, a pentax with screw on lenses that I bought at a camera swap meet as soon as I was old enough to learn the ropes.  I took a photography class in high school… back in the day when you had to go into a dark room and develop your own film.  

You can read more about this one on Time’s site here…. but it is evidently some crazy galazy pic.  It is NGC 6744, a galaxy located about 30 million light-years away— or 170 million trillion miles.  They claim that this is actually pretty nearby in cosmic terms, and of the galaxies in our immediate celestial neighborhood, NGC 6744 is probably the most similar to the Milky Way.   Of course it is.  Dang I feel small.  

This is the Puyehue volcano in southern Chile that erupted on Saturday, shooting a column of ash and gas six miles into the sky.  This picture and 13 more crazy photos like it can be found here.  Crazy stuff. 

I have been asked to write a book on balancing ministry on family life.  I had my first meeting about it today with the publisher.  I’m pretty stoked.

I can’t wait to share stories of my life where I got it wrong and a few places where I things turned out right.  But the truth is, in good and bad, I really love my family.  I feel really really really blessed.  I also was reminded as we talked how deeply I really want my family to know they come first.

Here’s some pictures from the latest events and my attempts to tell them as much with my time:

At a mens retreat, where I was the guest speaker and got to hang with my Dad and my oldest son TJ.   I also got to be with one of my best friends and my high school youth pastor too.  Love the generations and stories behind these pics.

At Becky and Billy’s 8 year-old birthday.  Billy went to inflatable world, in-n-out burger, and to see Kung Fu Panda 2.  Becky went to the American Girl store in LA to get a doll and take her to lunch. She’s super cute..

Jake played Tex in his school play.  I took my small group guys to go see him cuz it was a one night play and it was at the same time.   So myself and 5 high school guys went and watched a 3rd grade play before heading to pizza for the night.  Just trying to keep my family my top priority and modeling it with my students when I can.

Dang I’m blessed.  Love those kids.  Hope they know it.

I’m not sure

am I at peace in the midst of it?

can I be attentive to my soul?

am I fully present to God and others as I do life?

I hate saying no to good stuff.

Saying no to bad stuff is hard enough.  Anyone who has ever tried to kick a bad habit can testify to that.  But turning down a really great opportunity kills me and I think it is almost harder.  It’s certainly harder for me to justify.

I had a really great opportunity come across my e-mail today.  I really wanted to just say yes immediately.  Yes, I’d love to do that thing.  Only problem is, saying yes to too much can kill me too.  I know this.  But I’m not the greatest at doing what I know is true in this area.  I really want to just be a yes man.

But I can’t.

So, to that end, here’s how I’m trying to decide what to say yes to and what to say no to these days.  Perhaps these five questions will help you decide what is best too.  They are in no particular order:

1. DESTINATION:  Where do I see my life headed and will this opportunity move me further towards that goal?
2. FAMILY:  How will this affect my wife and family?  Can they go with me?  What else am I inherently saying no to if I say yes to this? 
3. MARGIN:  Where does this opportunity fit in the grander scope of my calendar?  Do I have the margin in my life to do this? 
4. MOTIVE:  Is saying yes to this opportunity about a calling from God or a desire for approval from people?
5. F WORDS:  how do I foresee that this could affect my friendships, my finances, and my faith?