This evening dreams came true

Tonight Emma wanted to have a dance party. So, Amy and Emma got dressed up in their finest digs and we got some streamers, shut off all the lights and got out the flash light. Amy wore a black dress and Emma wore her Cinderella dress. So what do you do when your girls want to have a dance party? You put on some 80's metal. I, without even thinking about it put on Shake Me by Cinderella, one of the finest rock bands of the 80's and the girls danced away as I shook the flashlight and dropped confetti.
It was 5 minutes of fun that I couldn't wait to share. Good times, and let 80's metal and my beautiful girls rock on.

Cars with Emma

Last night Emma and I went to the community center as they were showing Cars. It was fun to be there as a few of my other friends were there with their kids. The thing that was fun about last night is that Emma and I agreed to pick out each others clothing. She looked great as she didn't really keep her end of the deal, but complained until she got to where what she wanted and then thanked me for picking out such nice clothes.

I wore a pair of pants that I have not seen let alone wore in years. I also got to wear a shirt that I used to like, years ago. She finally picked out some nice steaming hot wool socks for me to wear and to top it all off a pair of gag underwear that I bought as a funny gift last Christmas for Amy. This is the 1st time they have been worn and I am now fully convinced that thongs/g-strings are not for me.

Lent

We are in the second day of Lent and I am encouraged by this time set aside to focus on my savior Jesus Christ and His life and sacrifice on the cross for the world. For me I want these next 40 day's to be a season where I purposefully press into Jesus and His heart for me and the nations. In years past I have spent the season of Lent soley focusing on me and my journey and my relationship with Christ. While this is important, I feel that I was missing a necessary ingredient, that being the nations.

Christ came into this world to seek and save the Lost. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." -Jesus-
I want to focus on the sick, the orphan, the widow and the broken. I want to know and own God's heart towards the injustices in the world. This season of Lent I want to spend growing not in selfishness, but in prayer and intercession for others. I believe it starts with me, but it cannot stop there.

I encourage you to take this time, this season to purposefully journey with Christ in whatever way works best for you. I encourage you to sacrifice something for the next 40 day's and replace it with a focus on Christ. If you are looking for a time to reflect and a guided journey though the season of Lent you can check Richard Dahlstrom's daily posts.

Youth Retreat

This past weekend I had the privilege of speaking at a Jr. High/High School retreat at White Pass. It was a great time for my family and I as they came along with. I felt lead to talk about areas of injustice such as the water shortage in Africa and Night Commuters. I didn't want it to be just another spiritual high retreat where we talk all about us and how we need to be more spiritual and what we need to do to be closer to God and be better people. We hear that all the time, and as true as it is, there is more to it. I wanted people to look beyond themselves and get involved in something more. I also wanted to make awareness of what is going on Globally that is on God's heart. So many times I feel like we are trying to make it us and God, but what about them? The majority of the retreat was spent focusing on that.

There was a beautiful response from the youth as many of them made commitments to pursue the things that they are passionate about and in turn make the world a better place. I challenged them to sit with the outcast, pursue there passions, care about the poor and commit to something. I pray that they would not just come away from this retreat feeling good about themselves and then fall away from things after a month or so, I pray that this time would be different. I am thankful for what Jesus did and that he used me as a part of it.

We also played some killer tackle football in the snow.

Seattle Times Survey

The Seattle Times recently did a survey to see if students could go 3 day's without their music or mobile phones. It was interesting to read that not one student could do it. Here is the article for you to read.

Four days unplugged? LOL ... RU crazy?

It's tough tuning out in today's world. Just ask a dozen communications students at Seattle University who recently attempted a 96-hour "media deprivation" experiment: No listening to iPods or car radios. No checking e-mail. No chatting on cellphones. No surfing Web sites such as MySpace.com or Facebook.com. No watching "Desperate Housewives" or "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

The experiment originally was supposed to last a week, but it was scaled back when the students protested. But even four days was too much — each of the students cheated, some more than others. Which perhaps proves professor Mara Adelman's point: The art of alone time is increasingly lost in our hectic, frazzled, wired lives. Adelman believes her new upper-level course "Restorative Solitude" is unique. It explores the importance of quiet time for clarity, creativity and spirituality, and touches on techniques ranging from long-distance running to meditation. It also explores the darker side of solitude: loneliness and isolation.

Students spend time in each class trying such meditative techniques a slow walking and focusing in on breathing, and they complete projects examining various aspects of solitude. Seattle University, with its Jesuit underpinnings, offers a range of liberal-arts courses that attempt to mesh academics with spirituality and well-being.

Before attempting Adelman's media diet, students kept a log of their consumption. On a typical Thursday, junior Blaire Babcock, 21, found she checked her e-mail five different times, turned on the TV three times, checked her phone messages twice, browsed Facebook.com once, and once listened to her radio while jogging. "After reviewing my media log I noticed that I compulsively check my e-mail and phone messages for a fear that I will miss something. I found that I become anxious before I check my e-mail," she wrote in a course paper. "I turn on the TV as soon as I am up or return home. I enjoy the background noise but I rarely give it my full attention. I'm often multitasking." The diet came as a revelation to Babcock and the other students.

"The silence was deafening," said junior Cheryl Lee, 20. "You have to get comfortable with just listening to yourself and your thoughts because there's nothing to keep you distracted." Lee and the other students said they felt better able to concentrate and discovered they had more free time to spend reading and doing homework. For those born before 1980, "LOL" is Internet jargon for "laughing out loud." :)

Lee also found one unexpected benefit. Because her CD player didn't start blasting the moment she turned the key in her 2005 Toyota Corolla, for the first time she noticed an unusual rattling noise in the engine: "like there's marbles inside a box and someone's shaking the box." She is planning to consult a mechanic. Lee said her undoing came with her cellphone, which she switched to vibrate and mostly left at home, but which she couldn't face turning off altogether. "There's some things that need to still be communicated via the cellphone," she said.

Cecile Andrews, a guest lecturer and author of the book "Slow is Beautiful," told the class recently that it seems people across the U.S. have ratcheted up the pace of their already crazy-busy lives.

"It's a bizarre way to live," Andrews said. "It just doesn't work."

I recomend you try this little experiment one weekend or even for a day. One of the things that I am thinking of giving up for Lent is Music. I have done this before and filled my head with teachings, or pod casts or prayer. It was great to do and refreshing. Try it.

Half Way There

According to the United Nations, more than half of Africa's population lacks access to clean water. That's three hundred sixty million people. A couple of my friends decided to do something to change this horrible statistic. They came up with a t-shirt idea that can bring clean, pure water to villages in Africa. They are calling it Halfway There The reason for the name is that half of the African population is still in need of pure water. What they are doing is selling these t-shirts (they are not sleeveless as the picture shows) to people and all the proceeds goes towards drilling wells in Africa.

My friends home group came up with the idea and now Mission Adventures is behind it as well. God is definitely behind what these guy’s are doing. When they went to their fabric guy to see how much it would be for shirts he told them that he had to make a profit, so his profit is going to be $.01. Then they went to the printer and he told them that they only needed to pay for the ink. Finally they went to their web designer and they told them they would put the page up for free. This is amazing.

When I read in the scripture about what God wants from us I see a lot of things. The one thing that I feel that we miss a lot though is where it talks over and over again about being active in our faith. Looking after orphans and widow's (James 1). Showing mercy to others (James 2). Caring for the sick and visiting the imprisoned and feeding the hungry and clothing the naked (Matthew 25). Christianity is not just about growing in the Lord and having a good quiet time and telling people about Jesus, although these things are part of it, but it is also about caring for Gods people.

I encourage you to go to the site and see about purchasing a shirt and being a part of something bigger than yourself. I realize there are lot's of ways to get involved in injustice issues, so if you are doing something already thank you. But if you are not doing anything you can start here.

Thanks.

Pray for Uganda

I read this in the BBC last week. Please take a moment and read this and let your heart be stirred. If you know anything about what is going on in N. Uganda and are praying for them over there I pray that this would encourage you to keep praying.

Justice in Ensenada

I am sitting in a room in Ensenada Mexico involved in a Mission Adventures training program. Myself and a few of my friends are running an introduction to Mission Adventures mini conference for 20 YWAMers from 7 different nations. I was able to talk a little bit about training sessions. As a part of the Mission Adventures program we have teaching sessions that these leaders are responsible for leading or facilitating.

I talked about areas that I am passionate about, specifically the areas of worship and injustice. As I talked I could feel passion and rage building up in me. Passion as I am very passionate about justice and worship, and rage as I realized that many people are not challenging there youth to rise up to something greater then themselves. I feel that growing up I was told that being a Christian is about reading your bible, prayer, going to church, personal growth and fellowship with other believers. While this is true, it is not enough and it is definitely not the only thing that Christ called us to.

We are called to love Jesus and in response to His love for us we are called to feed the poor, cloth the naked, visit the sick and take care of the needy.

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Matthew 25:24-40
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

I wanted to encourage people to make the progam they are running reflect the things that they are passionate about in life. To own the program and lead youth into something that is bigger than them. I love that God has given us a challenge and a calling. I am glad for the opportunity to be involved in that and bring it to others.