So Valentines Day came again and I’m reminded of that fat little guy with wings that shot me in the booty with that arrow. Correction, I actually believe that he had to shoot my wife since she’s so easy to love, but enough with the sappy stuff. This year we decided to do things a little different. You see I believe that we need to bless our brides on Valentines Day however, just as Evan Courtney said earlier via twitter:

“Valentine’s Day is only for the chumps that haven’t done anything for the last 364 days. So they try and make up for it.”

So I try to do things throughout the year to honor her (and not just when I get in trouble either). So on sunday I bought my wife some flowers, not roses, just a colorful bouquet of fresh smelling goodness. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that Cupids day was lurking just around the corner. But riddle me this batman, does anyone else notice that things get a little ridiculous around valentines day. Yeah I know call me a cheap skate but for the bouquet I got on Sunday was $7.99 today that same bouquet was $39.99. Sometimes I think we become so used to the way consumerism works that we don’t even realize or notice the drastic measures they take to get our money. I digress, the reason for this post is simple my wife came home tonight to what I thought was a pretty nice dinner. Some pasta salad and Apple Almond Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with a glass of her favorite Apple Cranberry Sparkling Cider. Tomorrow morning she’ll wake to the breakfast me and the boys will prepare. French Toast, Freshly Stirred (they’re 8 & 6 that’s the closest we’ll get to squeezed) orange juice, Sausage and Hash browns. Not to mention the Anointing of the french press that will be thoroughly enjoyed.

As I was purchasing the ingredients for the Valentines Feast i noticed some candy bars being scanned. You see my boys felt it necessary to throw some candy bars in the mix when I wasn’t looking. When questioned they said “but it’s mom’s favorite“. So needless to say that along with the kit kats they threw in for themselves they made the cut. After putting away the groceries, I had a chance to catch up on some of the blog posts still sitting in my reader when I read an amazing post by the creative guru Brad Ruggles when my kids so the accompanying video. That’s when our Valentines Day gift got interesting. Moved by the idea that every 15 seconds a kid dies from not having clean drinking water, resulting in over 6,000 kids a day they decided that they’d like to donate in their mom’s name. So off to the bank we went where they each withdrew some money out of there accounts. So mom gets home to candles, dinner and an e-card saying that the boys donated in her name and that some kids are gonna get clean drinking water for the next 20 years. Needless to say Mom was moved to tears and I couldn’t be prouder…

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

A few years ago while at a conference I heard a pastor say that “Christians don’t speak lies nearly as often as they sing them” For most people in the room that statement probably flew right by them drowned out by the religious AMEN’S (Not that all AMEN’s are religious but I just think there is a problem with a shout and no application, I’m just saying!). However, it’s a powerful statement when you think about it. All those times I sang of giving it all to Him when in reality I was withholding pieces or rather chunks of my heart. Trying to pretend that I had given into the idea of complete surrender and abandonment. Ever since then the lyrics to the songs that I’m singing whether in my heart or at the top of my lungs have taken on a whole new meaning.

Today was no exception! I got to the office early this morning to just spend some time in prayer and straighten up the office. I turned on the computer logged in, & went to newspring.cc to view this past weeks message and enjoy some worship. A couple of songs in they began singing How He Loves Us. I’ve sang this song over and over again but today something hit me when we got to this line

I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

I can honestly say it was more than just the lyrics, it was the passion in which they were sung as well. The concept of not “having time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us…” moved me. It moved me deep within. It moved me to desire to make it more than a concept but a reality. We all have regrets, we all have things that we wish we wouldn’t have done, but we don’t have to live with those regrets fueling our lives. I think alot of times the things that hold us back are far smaller than we make them out to be. The lyrics suggest that when I’m thinking about the way he loves me I no longer have the time to maintain these regrets. I love that! The very definition of “maintaining” is to keep in existence or continuance; preserve; or retain. I don’t want to preserve these regrets or retain the guilt, shame or condemnation that is associated with keeping these things alive. When were consumed with the reality of His love for us it will motivate us to see more, do more and ultimately be more, thus leaving us empty of the spare time it takes to focus on or breathe life into our regrets. Consider this statement that Paul makes to the Ephesian Elders:

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:24 (ESV)

Of all people, Paul could have some regrets. Some theologians believe that it was him that those that martyred Stephen looked to for the go ahead. A person whose life prior to meeting Christ was lived to destroy those that professed Christ. Now he’s saying look nothing else in my life matters as long as I get to finish the course that the Lord has given me. I don’t have time to put value or breathe life into these things any longer. I believe when we truly capture the reality of His love for us we will have no choice but to be absolutely consumed with His mission for our lives.

Lord I want to be completely consumed with you’re love for me. I’ve leaned on my love for you for far to long. I’ve tried to love you through my regrets and today I no longer want to spend the time or energy “maintaining” these regrets keeping these things alive. Help me to be consumed with the mission you’ve given me for my life & family to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

What’s New?

• Well Thanksgiving came and went.
• My wife’s as hot as ever.
• The red cups at starbucks brought the normal smile on my face. While the folgers in my office let me down once again.
• Christmas is just around the corner and things are as busy or busier than ever.
• Coaching Soccer for some cool 1st & 2nd graders.
• Can’t wait to finally meet these cool people next month in Seattle.
• Did I mention I know nothing about soccer.
• Starting to get a little more settled in the new digs.
• I’ve never dreamed more about the future than I have as of late. Can’t wait to see what this brings.
• Monday’s have become my favorite day of the week.
• Just about finished with my reading list for next year. (of course this is always open for suggestions)
• I got to looking the other day and have about 14 unpublished posts sitting in my drafts folder. Need to get this place cranking there are so many things zipping through my head.
• Loving how God’s breaking stupid things off of my life.
• Got our family pictures done for the 1st time in 10 years & love them.
• On that note! Just wanted to say thanks to our friends Phil & Jessica over at StoneCastle Photography for shooting our family pics a couple of weeks ago.

That’s it for now! So click on the image above and go take a look at our new family photo’s.

First of all let me start off by saying that by no means am I making fun of or making light of this situation (okay maybe part of me is) but I always knew it was bound to happen. Let me offer you a little background my wife consistently sends me those email forwards like many of you get. When she gets home and I’m cooking dinner she’ll come in and ask me if I read that cute little email she sent me. It’s always followed by a long pause and then “NOPE!” she then asks “Well, why not?” to which I reply “Because, I deleted it” Now before you get all feisty on me just hear me out. Call me stupid if you like but I’m not buying the fact that if I see someone driving down the road with there lights off and I flash my lights at them that they are going to shoot me. Nor do I believe that Bill Gates, Microsoft or anyone is going to send me $5 for every person I send this email to in order to test there new email tracking system. I have plenty of other time killing things i can do on the internet that are so much more fun than the million other things out there. But after reading this this morning I just had to post it:

Oregon Woman Loses $400,000 to Nigerian E-Mail Scam

The worst part of the whole deal is she kept sending money & her poor husband.

Like I said there are two bits of “PURE” Randomness today! Thanks to Randy who also posted this video this morning. I just had to follow suit and place it here for your viewing pleasure. So here it is!

Just sitting here in the office before church browsing through some photos we took yesterday at a wedding we were at. Anyways I thought I would throw these up there as I here the sound of my wife leading a congregation into worship and our kids are getting set in there classrooms. Man I love my family!