happy happy joy joy

ok, i need to catch you up but first - merry christmas. i hope all who read this have a great time with family and friends and hopefully a few days off work.

where to begin...

i had been really waiting to see where God wants me to plug in to the church that i have been attending and it seems that i have found the place. i will be part of the lighting crew and will be learning Final Cut Pro to hopefully help with videos one day. it is real exciting to see the things that this church body is wanting to put in place. part of me really wishes that the creativity of TSC and the finances of NLC could come together and do some great things. then again i guess i was a small part of the creativity of TSC and i will do my best to remember the great fun things that nathan, amy, shannon, stacy, lora, carl, regina, mike, reggie, kerri, wade and many others did. it is real exciting to be in the place that new life church is in right now. they are really hungry for spiritual things and God is coming alive in so many ways there. i just can't wait for the next few years to unfold.

hmm, that is the most exciting thing that has happened to me so all other things are hard to remember.

my dad is coming into town on monday. i am really looking forward to seeing him and spending some fun time together. last time he was here was when i moved to AR and that wasn't such a fun time. things will be much simpler on this trip. i can't wait.

i saw the trans-siberian orchestra in concert last night. it was really good. if you have a chance to see them then i would recommend it.

that's about all for now. have a good Christmas.

PAX

blessed

i had a very nice weekend. I was able to attend worship at my church both on sat evening and sun morning. i really like my church and they do an excellent job of making you feel welcomed. i am back in the mode where i wish everyday was sunday so i could go to church. i haven't felt like that in years and i really like it and hope it never goes away this time.

a little down under worship

ok, so we have all known about darlene and her worship team at hillsong and how annointed they are but i actually bought their latest worship dvd just for a change. actually my church here in LR is doing much of their music, so i thought why not. i must say that its pretty good. it looks like they have taken some cues from their hillsong united counterparts and have cranked up the volume, the lights, the sound, and especially the foggers. it made me want to jump the next flight south of the equator and join in on the fun. it was really refreshing to watch it. i just hope that i can get some time at reggie's house to listen to how good this can sound on a real sound system.

PAX

my roommate

ok, so i don't exactly have a roommate but i did purchase a new iMac and it really seems to have a personality that i love. i promise i won't re-mention all of the wonderful things it does, being that i am probably the last of the clan to convert from PC. well, from what i can tell...all those things are true.

well - i do have to say one thing - the mac does what i need and so far it works flawlessly. i saw my sister this weekend who had created a wonderful slide show in windows movie maker and i am so sad that now she cant really do anything with it without having to convert and convert and convert it to some other program so she can run it on a dvd player. now i know there is editing software for PC out there, but i'm talking the built in stuff. mac just has it all there. i have already burned my first dvd and it looks better than anything i have ever created.

oh well...off to try to help my sis out. maybe i'll get her a mac for christmas.

I'm down on my knees again tonight
I'm hoping this prayer will turn out right
See there is a boy that needs Your help
I've done all that I can do myself

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel all right?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place somehow
See, he's not just anyone
He's my son

Sometimes late at night I watch him sleep
I dream of the boy he'd like to be
I try to be strong and see him through
But God who he needs right now is You

Can You hear me?
Can You see him?
Please don't leave him
He's my son

part of Mark Schultz's song "He's my son"

restoration

yesterday driving down the road listening to a worship cd i noticed that one of the songs on it was one of my favorites. in fact it was one of those songs that i thought i'd never be able to listen to again because of memories and feelings and such attached to it. finally when i broke down and played the song i realized that the version on the cd was excellent or at least i liked it better than the original. i then came to understand what the father means when he begins to make all things new. now before i write anymore please understand that my life is still crap. i have no desire to be all rosey and fake and say that life is once again perfect because i found a church and a song. i have always been frustrated when believers make a big display and say that EVERYTHING is perfect now. baloney. i do think it is ok to say that life sucks less than it used to and i will give that credit to God.

my point is that i have been pretty vocal with some of you in regard to my frustrations with God lately. that's just me trying to be honest and to work out my own salvation. in order to be true to that i also want to say that i believe that the Father is starting to return to me some of which has been taken. maybe a song is not much or a church service is not much but it is a start. i honestly believe that the restoration of my life is beginning. i don't know what that really means or how long that will take or anything else. i just want to say that i believe the process is starting and i want to honor God in that recognition.

happy tuesday!

church, life, new...New Life Church

well it seems that with 8 months of church shopping behind me that i have finally found a place to belong - www.newlifechurchonline.com. it is actually the church that i found on the Internet before i moved here...just for whatever reason i never visited there until just now. tyler has been there all this last week at vacation bible school which, before you throw up, was done in Fear Factor style and was actually quite organized and as profesionally gross as the TV show. at the end, the winning coaches had to consume what was supposed to be a cochroach milkshake, although i didn't care to verify the contents. i wish there had been something like that when i was his age.

also last night i went to a service of theirs called elevation. it was an 8pm service (now where have i heard that start time before?) and it was a very large warehousey room with standing room only, full of college kids all singing, jumping, and so on. the thing about it was that i wouldn't want to change a thing about it. yeah!! as far as the candles...they are just for the picture...the place was completely minimalistic except for the sound system which was large and very well engineered. goodie!!!

have a happy monday.