Life In Written Form

Writer Retreat

At the end of October, the worship dept at Lake Pointe outside Dallas held a writer's retreat. They were nice enough to invite myself, and a few others to join in. Three days were spent at an awesome lake house sharing and stretching with some great people. We're praying for songs that are birthed from a worship leader perspective that speak to the church. Here's some pics.

Joel, Me, Austin

 

Everybody

 
Gotta have a shot of these...

Took these down to the game room for some ping pong and blackjack.

I love my son

Journey Franklin

Vanessa, Noah and I went to church today. We've been going to Journey for a while now, and because of the service time (10am), it's been hard to always stick to it because of Noah's nap. Lately he's not needing his early nap, so that's not an issue anymore!

Some friends of ours from Texas have moved here, and they're checking out churches. We met them there today. Every part of the service was so good, from the music to the pastor's words. Maybe I locked in more because I was seeing things from a visitor's eyes. It looks like they're excited about attending here, so I'm pumped to have friends going to our church.

There are a lot of new things happening here, and we think we've found a small group to attend that has child care, so that's awesome. We've been taking the little guy to nursery, and aside from finding him chugging down another kid's bottle, it's been good.

The focus of the ministry here is on service. Every Sunday, a different small group goes into the community and gives their time serving in some way. This allows for more space, so as we grow, we won't have to build or expand services. Such a good idea!

As we get more plugged in, I'm sure I'll be writing more about it. There are some things that can't be covered in a tweet, so I'll use this space to go into detail!

James and Elysha

This past weekend I drove to Texas to sing in our brother James' wedding. It was great to see them so happy and excited about what's ahead. Though Vanessa and Noah didn't get to make this trip, it was good to see family and catch up. Our mom happened to be driving through Dallas Saturday night, so we met at Joel's and had pizza. It was awesome seeing Allison and the kids, I only wish Noah could've played with them and Judah. We'll have to wait until the holidays.

Next week the three of us are headed to Colorado to see my parents. I'm sure Vanessa will be taking amazing pictures and there will be some stories to tell. Hopefully none of them involving horrible plane experiences with the little guy!

London, Baby

My brother and sister-in-law are heading out to London today to do some mission work. Be praying for them! He'll probably spend a lot of time trying to spot Liam and Noel.

Just kidding. We usually talk almost every day, so it will be weird not to. I know he'll have many great stories though. Looking forward to hearing them, and about their second leg of the trip in Italy. Be safe, little bro.

Christy Nockels' Life Light Up Review

 

Check out my review of Christy Nockels' debut solo project for sixstepsrecords, "Life Light Up," for hearitfirst.com. This record is still in rotation here at the house. Love it.

Worship Leader Mag features "Greater Still"

One thing I've always loved to write is music. "Greater Still," a song I wrote with my brother, Joel, has been included on Worship Leader Magazine's Song Discovery Disc this month. The song is part of Awaken Movement's ep that we're using to spread the word about the ministry. 

There's some big things on the horizon for Awaken, and it's exciting to see how it started and where God is leading. Go to Awaken and find out more.

June

Not too long ago, summers were spent traveling around each week and leading worship at camps. Ah, camp. Sweaty, bug-infested, blah food serving camp. I do kinda miss it every now and again. I'm excited to be able to go to Austin for a week in July and experience it again. It gets me excited to think that Noah will someday spend a week away from home, and get to live it for himself. Will he love camp? Will he be one of the kids calling home on the first night crying to come home? I hope not. I hope he jumps off the van, grabs a bunk and heads to the creek to throw rocks. I hope he sings his heart out with the band. I hope he takes showers. And, I hope he experiences God there like so many others have before him.

I want to see that. Come to think of it, maybe I'll be a sponsor. He won't have to miss home because I'll be there. I'll go through it with him! Oh man, I'll be that Dad. Is that a bad thing?

Story Time

For the past few months, Vanessa and I have been taking Noah to the Nashville Public Library for story time. It's held in an amazing section of the building donated by Mike Curb, and it houses a little theater that feels straight out of a children's book. Two characters read to the kids, and take turns with puppets. After the show, we head out to the courtyard complete with huge fountain to eat lunch. We're usually met by Mandy and Bennett, and it's always a great time.

Today I figured I'd take Noah to the Spring Hill Library for story time, and let me tell you, all story times are not created equal. I can look past the fact that the room is a box with overhead buzzing fluorescent lights. There is no castle from which a red fox will be telling us the word of the day, in Spanish, no less. But there are some things I just can't forgive.

Today's reader started by saying 'Margaret, the usual one, is out this morning.' The woman proceeded to open a book and ask the kids on the floor one by one what somebody was doing on the page. A) This isn't reading a story, and B) quit playing to the older kids, lady. She then explains that she couldn't get a sitter so her kids are with her today, and apparently her youngest has attachment issues b/c she screamed while mommy was reading some lame book I can't begin to remember one thing about. Grandma was even there, and must've had enough with the baby wrangling, so she walked to the front and plopped the screamer in mom's lap. Not distracting or anything. I looked at Noah throughout, and I can't recall a more glazed look over his eyes, almost like he was thinking "I can't read, and I could do a better job than this chick."

Fast forward to craft time, which consisted of decorating doorknob hangers with glued-on shapes and markers. Perfect, I got him bathed and dressed cool all so he could have his first experience with Elmer's glue. We wrapped things up after affirming  to our crafty Mom across the table, 'Yes, his name is from the Bible, and no, he's not building a boat.' She was a real comedian. 

We were stopped at the door by a volunteer who asked Noah, 'Do you want a stamp?' I said, 'Sure, knowing he already had marker and glue all over them.' She repeated to Noah's face, 'Do you want a stamp?' Like, at least two more times. I was like, 'He doesn't say YES or NO yet, so just put the dang stamp on his hand!' Something to that effect, anyway. What a morning.

I'm scrounging up for the parking garage, Nashville Public Library, we'll see you next time.

JJ Abrams

 

I haven't been able to catch the last few LOST eps, but decided to watch the season finale last night. I'm so glad I did. I realize JJ Abrams is surrounded by talented writers and producers, but I gotta give credit to him for simply knowing how to champion and oversee good entertainment. We've been watching his stuff since 'Felicity' and even managed to enjoy 'Mission Impossible III,' which was hard to do in the height of Tom Cruise's wacky scientology tour.

Tonight, I'm headed to see 'Star Trek.' Never been a fan, I grew up with 'Star Wars' and thought it was an either/or deal. I'm not interested in nitpicking the movie for how close it sticks to the source material. I really don't care. I just want to relax for a couple of hours and be thoroughly entertained. I have a good feeling I will be.