Our family was recently honored with a visit from our good friends, Raul and Candice Figueroa (Fig-er-o-a). Raul serves as youth pastor of Grace Harvest Church in Moses Lake, WA. Candice homeschools their growing family. All 6 kids are delightful, vibrant and secure in the love of their mom and dad. As a father of 3, I appreciate parents who discipline their children. Great job, Raul and Candice! When are you coming back? : )
A few of the bloggers I highly respect post a photograph every Friday. This week Kevin Cawley's great shot along Vancouver's Sea to Sky (Highway 99) made it to my wallpaper. The picture above was taken with my new Treo 700p.
Sunday afternoon I hopped in a 2006 Honda Accord EX (Carbon Bronze Pearl) headed for Portland, OR. A good friend of mine, Quinn Crandell, needed a set of new wheels for his lovely wife, Deidra. After meeting Quinn's family and delivering their new sedan the two of us headed for Kennedy School McMenamins to meet up with one of my best friends, Frank Martinez (right). The Martinez' put me up for the night afterwards. Monday, Frank and Quinn took me golfing before dropping me off at PDX to fly back to Moses Lake. Thanks, guys!
I'm in a ranting season. Regarding the church I'm in deconstruct mode. I'm provoked regarding the discrepancy I see between the biblical bride of Christ and the image I see on Sunday mornings. I realize that blood was shed for this beauty but I have a very tough time with her current digs: building campaigns, CEO style leadership and program-based ecclesiology. Sometimes I think that if it all came crashing down we would be better off. What if, for instance, we stopped the Sunday morning show of 2 fast ones, 2 slow ones, and an entertaining message? Would we survive? Are we slaves of our own agendas and vision statements? I'm zealous for the bride of Christ. I have an image I can't get out of my mind. I picture her spotless, refined, classy, elegant, resourceful and radiant. I hear the "unforced rythyms of grace" leading our leaders. I guess I'm looking for a city who's Builder and Maker is God.
Paul Loeffler (above) is a good friend. Last night after worship practice he took me out to Starbucks and burped me. I needed to unload. All this stuff gets pent up inside till I feel like I'll explode. We talked for about an hour and I vented big time. This season would be much lonelier without bros like Paul.
John Van Deusen (left) is a teenager with a vision. Our family had the pleasure of hosting the Blue Tree Recording artist last December while he was in Moses Lake playing at the Noon Moon Coffee House and Desert Bar. His playing was raw and passion filled, even extraordinary at times with thoughtful lyrics. It wasn't surprising to learn that John's band, John Van Deusen and the Lonely Forest, made it to the finals of this years Experience Music Project (EMP) Sound Off competition. Sound Off is the Pacific Northwest's biggest battle of the bands for musicians 21 and younger. To get to this point the band had to win their respective semifinal round. Now it's down to 3 bands. The prizes are huge. The finals are tomorrow! John, we're rooting and praying for you guys!
Have a great weekend everybody!
(UPDATE: 02-25-06)
Props go out to the band, the families who supported them, the fans, and EMP! Support the band Labor Day Weekend at Bumbershoot 2006 in Seattle!!!
Continue reading "John Van Deusen in EMP Sound Off Finals" »
Saturday afternoon came with an unexpected email. I learned that Justin Ross, a fellow blogger, and wife Nicole would be in town Sunday visiting Nicole's grandmother. We were fortunate to be in town so they could stay with us. We talked till midnight about the Seahawks, politics, family, jobs, ministry, church search committees(lol), jobs, and more. Monday morning we had a warm beverage at the Noon Moon together and learned more about each other's families and upbringings. We introduced the Ross' to Paul Loeffler, our local Youth Dynamics Director who gave us a tour of the facility. Our time together came to an end at Pastor Doug and Peggy's home for a short visit. It was cool to finally meet the Ross' in person. We hope to have more opportunities to hook up soon. Perhaps at Tall Timber?
Justin is the Youth Director of Whidbey Presbyterian Church in Oak Harbor, WA. His blog, Let Wonder Replace Worry, is one I enjoy reading regularly.
Friday night our family enjoyed the hospitality of the Abonyi family. Brenden and Chikodili love God passionately and it shows. Fellowship was sweet as Brenden shared that the Lord was speaking to him regarding his foundation in Christ.
The Abonyis are from Nigeria and one of the cultural distinctives they miss most is the sense of loving community of their Motherland. Chikodili told us that a typical Nigerian neighborhood has an "open-house" feel. Home to home roaming is the norm and you aren't expected to call first! Just come on over. They've discerned an isolated loneliness here in the United States with our emphasis on materialism. In Nigeria "stuff" isn't near the distraction it is here because most people have little. This makes relationships much more valuable and life much simpler.
While our younger two played with the Abonyi girls in the family room our 16 year old, Cassia, talked about some of her experiences as a home school student. We had a wonderful time and hope to hook up again soon.
Driving down to Portland, OR on New Years Eve Deea reminded me that it had been an entire year since our last trip out of town as a family. Wow! A year can pass so quickly these days. We usually get out more as a family. The year was a bit unusual with the girl's trip to South Korea. We also hosted some Korean's in our home. So the year had an international flavor even though it was mostly spent in our small east-central WA town.
The couple above are our good friends, Frank and Dawn Martinez. Their beautiful family hosted ours for our second annual New Years celebration. December 31st is Frank's birthday so we celebrated that as well. Much laughter. Tiger Woods PGA 2006. Grizzly Man. The evening of the 1st was spent at Kennedy High School McMinamins. This is an awesome spot. A renavated high school turned restaurant/inn/bar/theatre. Great memories!
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