I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the greatest people as a youth pastor.  I could go on and on about a lot of people, but of my four years here in San Diego, there has been just one who has clearly been through the storm the closest with me. 

Sarah and I have cried together, laughed together, broke a sweat working on projects way past closing time together, counseled students together, had coffee, lunches, solved problems, and traveled to two foreign countries together just as a quick starter list.  She has truly been like a sister to me and a great friend/comrade in ministry.

Saturday was her wedding day and it was a joy to watch.  She married Daniel, another mutual friend on our staff at Journey who I’ve spent less time with in youth ministry, but have just as deep a respect for nonetheless.   Anyway, in the threat of rain on a misty day on the coast of San Diego and in a friends backyard later that night, the two of them chose to start their lives together before family and friends. 

Their story is a roller coaster of love and despair and hope and faith that made the day all that much more special.  It was such a great day to watch and such a wonderful thing to see God’s redemptive work pictured in this young married couple.

I had lots to do before the wedding and didn’t bring my camera out of the car, but I did snap some at the wedding rehersal as Shannon directed things a few nights before and then I busted it out again at a smaller reception they held afterwards. 

So three cheers for friends in love and here’s some photos as a toast to a long life filled with great risks and wonderful stories of God sightings as you daily love one another. 

here’s some from the rehearsal:

and here’s some from the hundreds of candles that lit up the walk ways and tables at the reception:

and here’s some of the two lover friends on their big day, saying thank you to parents and saying hello to a new life together:

It’s both weird and beautiful to be in the desert and see it so lush.

Weird…

As I have walked around in an extremely nice resort in the Palm Springs Valley for the last 2 days, it is a little disturbing outside. We are in a desert Oasis due to the modern ability to pipe in massive quantities of water to create vacation destinations. There are places all around the world that don’t have water to drink and even our state is complaining about a water shortage and we evidently still have enough water and money to pump into the desert for water features and lush green massive golf courses so the rich can have a beautiful playground in what would otherwise be a barren landscape. It’s really crazy, and perhaps even wrong.


Beautiful…

On the flipside, it shows the power and beauty of water. When you take a place that is literally void of plant life and you pump into it water, you get beauty. Water is powerful like that. It has a MASSIVE influence and ability to change lives and landscapes.

Need proof? Try this view of the valley from the top. The hills and main expanse that are predominately brown are “natural”, the green belt in the middle is what happens when water is “piped in”.

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you, I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. – Psalm 63:1

Oh God, may we seek you like water in a desert landscape and may we manage our use of the physical water you have given to us as an act of worship.

Couple of times a year I get the chance to teach in our “main service” at journey. It’s always hard to find the time to do it with all the other ministry stuff going on and the extra prep it requires, but it is something I enjoy doing for several reasons:

1. I just enjoy it.
2. It helps student ministries to have a voice in the “big church”.
3. If I don’t tank it, it increases confidence that our ministry is worth sending a student to.
4. It stretches me.

Anyway, last Sunday was the last time I got to take my turn at bat in the main service and without any commentary on it, here’s the link if you wanna give it a listen… but you’ll need some imagination and some time, cuz the visuals from the message will not be there and well… I opened my trap for 48 minutes.

Here’s the link if you got an hour to kill.

Memorial Day started with bill paying.  Yuck.

But then we went to the park for a photo shoot with Sarah Tolson in the clothes we bought for the family in Africa.  Super excited about seeing those pics…. but I don’t have them yet.

In the meantime.  I can show you the ones that followed as we headed to the Hammonds (whom we have been bonded with forever as we adopted our kids together and journeyed to Africa and back for the month of January) for a good ol fashion pool party.   Becky and Billy started taking swimming lessons last week and I cannot believe how much they have changed in 3 months.   From deathly scared of dogs, animals, and water to diving straight into the deep stuff and greeting strange dogs. 

Anyway, good weather, laziness, and good friends and family makes for a good day to celebrate the lives of those who have died to create the country I call home and has given me so much of the privileges I have. 
 
Here’s some pics of the day. 

My cup is overflowing with joy and blessing. I have zero room to gripe.

A year ago, I had no idea who Becky and Billy even were. The honest truth is they were nameless and faceless children on the planet for us. Today, they have been in our home for 3 months and yet they are very very much a part of our lives and very much our children. They are healthy, learning to swim, love their family, and are a joy to get to know and parent. I am so thankful that God even lets me do this. It is a crazy blessing to parent all 5 of our kids- in the good and the not so good times.

But today was definitely ridiculously good.

We had family come from all over the state to meet them and enjoy them with us. Some local friends who have been a part of the adoption process joined us too.

Some highlights of our day were

• Having some friends dress up as “Dora and Diego”, the theme of our party.

• Having friends pray over our family as we did a formal dedication of them to the Lord today along with friends and family as part of our “tribe”.

• And just a general all around blessing of watching two kids have the greatest day ever. they just had so much fun and were so excited that their birthday was here. They have been counting down the days for the last 24. Oh boy was there some anticipation in the air… which speakin of air… here they are getting some air way up high on a totally fun inflatable we rented for today.