To Florida and Back

A week ago today, we left for Dayton Beach, Florida. We survived the 20 hour car ride and arrived at our hotel located right on the beach. (I have decided that I would really love to live near the ocean someday although I don't know if that will ever happen.) Payton competed on Wednesday in the USTA Nationals. He placed second for his age group for tumbling and third for trampoline. More importantly, he had fun and it was a great experience. We spent the remaining three days just playing in the sun at the beach, in the ocean and in the hotel pool. The only odd thing was that Taylor was not with us, as she chose to go to summer camp instead. (Never underestimate the power of summer camp!) So it was just Cam and I and the two boys, but we had a ball even though we felt the gap of Taylor's vivacious personality.

We had a couple of little glitches - one, the saltwater in the ocean didn't quite agree with Graham, who must have swallowed more than a human should while body surfing the waves. Before long, he had projected the saltwater all over the pool deck and grew quite dizzy and disoriented. It was short-lived, and before we knew it, he was ready to hit the water again. The second glitch happened on the way home. We had agreed to pull a friend's newly purchased boat back home, and shortly into the trip, a couple of the trailer tires blew. A few hours and several helpful Wal-Mart tire guys later, we got back on the road and eventually got home safe and sound. Life is always an adventure! Overall, it was a great trip full of beautiful moments enjoying God's magnificent creation and celebrating life together.

Crazy Days

Okay, so the last week or ten days have flown by... I finished up my quarter for school (not without many late nights working on several papers!); we started phase two of a remodeling project on our house (the whole front was ripped off and it's a mess!); I had a wonderful weekend retreat with my entire family (24 of us - only 3 were missing - the photo is above); I'm officially launching a new ministry called Breathing Space with my dear friend, Amy (which is supplemental to my work with Potter's Wheel) and we leave tomorrow morning for Florida. Whew. Payton will be competing in the National Tumbling Meet in Dayton Beach on Wednesday, and we are excited for him. Taylor is away at summer camp in Wisconsin. Life is never boring, is it? None-the-less, I've been able to enjoy some quiet moments alone, some loud joyful moments with my kids, some replenishing moments with Cam, some hot moments in my house and some cool moments riding around in my air conditioned car.

I'm reading Rob Bell's newest book, Sex God, which is fabulous and I highly recommend it. I'd love to hear if any of you have read Rob's book and what you thought of it.

Talk About Worship...

I have to share about the coolest moment of worship that we shared as a family the other night... we were in Roscoe on our way home from Potter's Wheel when Cam suddenly turned the car around. I was kind of impatient with him (big shocker, I know), wondering what he was doing. Next thing I know, he had pulled into a cemetery next to a little church and stopped the car.

It was only then that I noticed the glorious sunset in the sky. Cam invited us to sit in silence and enjoy God's amazing gift of creation. Then we all sang "This is my Father's World" at the top of our lungs with Mars Hill's Worship CD (which, by the way, is the freshest, most Christ-centered worship music I've experienced in a LONG LONG time). We ended up getting out of the car, walking through the cemetery and talking about God and how grateful we were to be his children. I couldn't help but think about how I would have completely missed this entire memory if it weren't for Cam, who just has the gift of recognizing a moment and embracing it. Our family won't easily forget that sunset and the worship that transpired. May we all have eyes to see and the willingness to embrace God's amazing gifts to us.

The Worship Industry

For some time, I have been in the process of redefining worship. Today I ran across this short video by Brian McLaren that is definitely worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPRKCmYuCWA. I so resonate with the conflicted relationship he shares about with what the church calls "worship" when it is really a worship industry that produces prefabricated worship experiences. Have you ever experienced worship as manipulation or propaganda? Do you think there is a difference between worship and art? I would love to hear your feedback or experiences on this topic...