Valentines Day

I saw this over at Brad Cooper's Blog and I agree completely with it...


Got any gift ideas for Valentine's Day? We do. from Angel Mission on Vimeo.

Once upon a time...

Every good story book starts with "Once upon a time..." or at least something to that effect. We exist inside of time, restricted by the moment and living here and now. Looking ahead is mere conjecture. Looking behind, reminiscing. Here is where we exist. Here can be a place full of love, joy and peace. By peace, I mean the peace that moves beyond the situation to the place where there is faith that the resolution will be the best possible. I strive toward that place. That place where there is no past, everything washed away. That place where there is no care for the future. The place where the moment is so filled with love that there is no where else I would rather be. I see my past and wish I had chosen differently, but realize that it is key to who I am. Who am I? Well, once upon a time... I met Jesus, and nothing has been the same.

Refalling in love

A relationship is a complicated thing. There are ebbs and flows to communication and conversation. Some days are on and others just feel a little off. However, at the end of the day the Love is always there. It may just be a matter of refinding it.

Over the last several months I feel as if I have been in the "a little off" area with God. I pray, I give, I do all of the things a good Christian is supposed to do, and yet there is something that seemed to be lacking. I would go through the motions... And that was it, going through the motions. It was as if all of the things I was supposed to do held no meaning any more. My heart began to search. To quote Paul in his letter to the Romans, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." I can honestly say that this is how I had been feeling (note the tense of it all).

It was this week that things changed. I don't know what happened, or how to explain it but things have changed. I am more over worked and stressed out than ever, but I have something on the inside that is renewed. I have refound the love for the Creator of the heavens and the earth that I seemed to have lost for a brief time... I am refalling in love.

yesterday, today, and tomorrow...

Every so often I find myself sitting back and just taking it all in and I realize in that moment that there is so much that I want, and yet it seems to be just out of my reach.

Yesterday my best friend got married. It was a beautiful and hilarious moment. I was his best man and I was truly honored by it. I got to drive a Cadillac with butt chillers, and enjoy watching a few of my friends dance to music one only really hears at weddings. It was a great night, and yet at the end of the night while driving home I found myself listening to one song over and over; "Oh, It Is Love," by Hellogoodbye. I'm looking forward to the day that I get to dance with my wife on that day. I know, I'm a guy and I should be tough and not so mushy, but I can't help it.

Today, I looked inside my self and saw just how much of a better man I can be while listening to pastor Nate speak at Rev this morning. It is a message that I know and have heard a thousand times and I know just how true it really is. I know that I have stuff to work on, and I am. I thank God that His grace is so big.

Tomorrow... Who knows. I'm probably going to get bogged down in the daily happenings that make my life so insanely busy, but I hope not.

My prayer is that I would live tomorrow, and every day after, as aware and in tune with the God that is ultimate reality as is possible.

It's been too long

It seems to always happen... Life that is. Just when everything is going just fine, I decide to shake things up. Over the next few weeks I have midterms, a bachelor party that I am organizing, I am moving on to a new job with Houlihan's and working on freelance projects galore.

In order to accomplish all of this I have employed several things to help me out.

1. iCal- Tracking event notes and todo's are very easy in this little calendar app.
2. TaskTime4- A great time tracking app that allows me to track my time on various freelance projects.
3. Google Docs- whether it is writing a paper for class or putting together an invoice for a customer I have found that a Google template will get the job done quickly and effectively. I especially like Google Docs for the fact that I can work on any machine I like and not have to worry about uploading the document to a thumb drive.
4. Mind Mapping- This is one thing that I have recently discovered. It is not really a program or app, but rather a concept. I noticed that the way I think is not in standard outline form and therefore this is a great tool that helps me get things on hypothetical paper.
5. iPod Touch- I can not even begin to tell you how this item has helped me. From scheduling events to presenting mock-up websites, this little device has saved me many sleepless nights.

What do you use to help get things done?

Neue!

I regularly visit RELEVANT Magazine's website and listen to their podcast. Well, today they added an excellent resource called Neue. Neue looks to be a great resource for ministries that are looking to expand their horizons. The content seems outstanding and the articles and blogs abound. If you are into creativity and looking at things in a Neue way (like what I did there?) then head over to Neueministry.com.

Creativity Unleashed

I just had a great lunch meeting over the weekend with the world renowned author of therathfaction, Ben Rath. He said something that I thought was quite a bit more profound than maybe even he realized. His statement was something along the lines of, you never know how much you have in you until you have a situation that pulls it out of you. This I found to be quite true in my own life right now. I am currently in the midst of yet another transitional season in my life that has left me with a bit of a lump in my throat and butterflies in my stomach. There are so many things to discover and realize, and yet there is so much being drawn out of me that I had no idea was in there.

I remember hearing a speaker recently say that we are all creative geniuses, we just haven't released it yet. I didn't consider myself creative until the last few years, but I am noticing that I have huge creative potential. Now, before you go thinking that I am just prideful, or arrogant, I must say that I would not have even an ounce of life if it weren't for my God. He is the source of all creativity. He created the heavens and the earth and he created me in his image.

So, on to the unleashing.

A few questions I have been asking myself:

1. What am I learning?
Creativity cannot be present without growth and exploration. I am constantly parousing the internet looking for some interesting and entertaining forms of expression. A few good sources; Digg, popcandy, Relevant Magazine, and MIT opencourseware.

2. Who am I helping?
Whether it be in a job, hobby or volunteering expanding my circle has been a huge catalist for getting my creative juices flowing. I love brainstorming and thinking about new ways of doing things. Currently I am working with Revolution SM in designing stage backdrops and leading students in creating videos that both inform and entertain.

3. What is new?
Just like good bread, if an idea isn't used it'll go stale and moldy. Now, a good dose of penecillin is a good thing, but it has to be refined. So I try and stay away from the green fuzzy stuff. There is a constent streem of fresh ideas and media out there. Just take a look at Revision3.

4. How can I make it happen?
I am the type that likes to see a finished product without having to worry about every single detail. I have attempted to surround myself with people that can enable me to expand my ability to get things done. Use people only to help them to reach their full potential.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, there shall be more to come.