My Worship Revolution

I recently finished up a week as the camp pastor at Royal Family Kids Camp Monterey Bay.  Royal Family is a national organization and our church sponsors the camp in our area.  If you are unaware of what RFKC is, it is a week long camp for abused and neglected children in the foster care system.  Check out the Facebook page for the cause. also.

I can't express to you what an amazing week it was.  Truth is, while I totally believed in what the camp does, I was only marginally excited to be involved this year, considering my schedule and what not.  I helped out in this role part time last year, but this time was much more involved, staying there with Rachel and Caleb all week long.  I am so glad I did.

To give you a glimpse of what it was like, I wanted to share with you a quick story each day this week from something I experienced while at camp.  A snapshot of a changed life, a tender moment, or a fun time.

The first one came literally minutes into the experience.  I was at the church when the kids arrived to keep them entertained.  One of the campers recognized me from last year.  She came to me and said, "Bobby, I still remember the memory verse from last year."  She then went on to recite Jeremiah 29:11 to me without missing a beat.  I was pretty impressed, but what she said next really got me for some reason.

"I read it every night before I go to bed."

We spend a week with these kids, and you never really know how much these scriptures and Bible stories impacts them afterward.  To hear that she has been able to hold on to that promise from God, that she has read that verse over and over for the last year…you can't tell me that week didn't have a profound impact on that little girl's life.  And she was back for more.

Well, first off, sorry for the lack of activity here at the blog.  The past couple of weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind.  I am now down in good ole Southern Cal for the Purpose Driven Worship Conference, so between that and trying to catch up, I foresee a possible flurry of activity this week.  (Yes, I used the word flurry.)

To start off that flurry I thought I'd start those questions y'all asked me with an easy one to answer.

Bet asked, among other things:
When are you going to have another kid (or adopt one)?

The answer…how about somewhere around February, we think?

Here we go again!  Truth is, I'm pretty nervous for the jump from one to two.  Thought I'd be excited sooner, but I realized I've become comfortable with one.

I mean, he's always giving us new challenges and laughs, but we pretty much know what to expect and I feel like we're at least doing a decent job at it.  This means a whole new ball of wax.

So for those parents of more than one out there…what should we expect?!  How was your transition from one to two?

One of the things I wasn't looking forward to before having kids was having to listen to kids music.  At a church I used to work at, my office had a door that was connected to a pre-school (not the church's).  I learned "I Am A Pizza" from that and it still tortures me to this day.

For the past several weeks it seems like a wake up singing songs from Sesame Street or Choo Choo Soul in my head.  Looks like I need to get this CD for Caleb:

HT: Chuckk Gerwig

Unfortunately, my wife and the short one are out of town today.
But through the marvel of maodern technology, I got my Happy Father's Day wishes from the kid.
Check out this video at my wife's blog.
(I really wish you could embed video from Blogger.)

That was awesome.
My kid is rad.
I love being a dad!!!

Last week I called it week 2.
But I guess since the first week was just a weigh in, it was really week 1 of weight loss.
Which would make this week 2.
Here’s what happened:

Oh well.
Check out how others did this week at the Ragamuffin Top Challenge.

2am.  Just got back to my hotel.  Random thoughts I thought I'd share before hitting the sack.

• Just got back from Fireside Coffee Lodge in Portland.  I think it's near downtown, but I'm not sure, cause I really don't know where downtown is.  So not sure.  Kari?  Cool place though.
• Portland.  Don't ever wanna move to the Pacific Northwest, but based on my last 2 visits over the past several weeks I really like Portland.  Cool city.
• In less than five hours I get on a plane to go back to San Jose.
• In about 8 hours I'm taking a CLEP test on American history in San Jose.  That's why I was at the coffeeshop studying.
• If I pass this test, I have a degree, completing my 11 year graduation plan.  If I fail, gotta pick another subject and do this all over.  Already failed this one once about 8 months ago.
• There were a lot of people in that coffeeshop for the middle of the night.  then again, it's the only one I could find open 24 hours.
• Ordered some practice tests a long time ago to study.  Comes with 3.  Told myself I just want to at least get half the questions right to feel ok about taking the test.  Finished the third test tonight, this morning, whatever.  60 right, 60 wrong.  I was hoping for a little more wiggle room than that, but hey, I guess sometimes you get what you ask for.
• So if you wanna say a quick prayer for my test if I haven't taken it yet, that would be sweet. 
• Hey, they just turned off the music in the lobby.  It was playing James Taylor – Whenever I See Your Smiling Face.  Good song.  That sucked.
• Oh yeah, old news, but before I go, this comment from Lori on this post from last time I was in Portland has to be the best comment ever on my blog.  I laughed out loud.  Maybe it's funny cause it's almost true.
• I was exhausted earlier.  My body still is, but I think the coffee did its job.  Whoa.
• I better get some sleep.  Gotta wake up in 3 hours.  Thanks for reading.
• Just say that prayer real quick, then you won't feel like that post was a complete waste of time.  Thanks.  Good night.

Being that it's late (or early) and I am tired, regardless of the caffeine, and slightly delerious, I will not be held responsible for any incoherent ramblings in this post that I will notice when I read tomorrow, or next week.  My apologies if you are now stupider for having read it.  Now that's really it.  I feel better.  My brain has dumped.  I hope that 15 minutes was worth it.

"I hope that we will continue to be able to look upon art and artists as one of the factors which can be used to draw nations together. . . . We need emotional outlets in this country and the more artistic people we can develop the better it will be for us as a nation."

-Eleanor Roosevelt

This post is part of todays Watercooler Wednesday at Ethos.  Go check it out!

So the next several weeks feel like they will be pretty darn crazy.  Here’s the lowdown:

This Week
Just took my wife and kiddo to the airport.  Bachelor for the week.
Flying to Washington with Ed to interview a potential Youth Pastor candidate.
Taking a final (hopefully…if I pass) CLEP test to finish the units for my degree.
Helping plan sermon series for the rest of the year.
Training day for Royal Family Kid’s Camp.
Trying to get worship sets planned, creative elements ready, and Life Group flows written for next 3 weeks ready because…

Next Week
Royal Family Kid’s Camp.
It’s a camp our church does for abused and neglected kids in the foster care program.  I’m the camp pastor this year so I’ll be out all week long.  No time for planning.

The Week After
Road trip south with David Thaw to Saddleback Worship Conference.  So for those who were wondering, yes, I’m going.  Hopefully we’ll be getting together with some old friends Sunday night.  And if you’re in the area and wanna try and hook up for a lunch or somethin, hit me up please.

And In Other News…
A little gift arrived in the office for me today!

Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection!!

Thanks a ton to our IT extraordinaire Michael Larson for the hook up on this baby!
InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Contribute, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, Encore.
Don’t know how to use most of those programs well.  In fact, a couple, I don’t even know yet what they do…yet.  But I can’t wait to learn!!  I’ll be makin some time for that!

How’s your month shapin up?

Stories have power.  Words have power.  And it doesn't take many.
With just a few words you can tell a huge story and invoke emotion.  Even tears.
Not sure you believe me?
Check out this video.

I saw that video at my friend Pat's blog.  I wasn't expecting to be taken by it.  Just thought I'd check it out.
Next thing I know, several of those pieces of cardboard made my eyeballs moist.

Stories have power.
I want to know yours.
I'll start:

FRONT: Found worth in pleasing others & working hard
BACK: Finding worth in pleasing God & loving family

Now you.
Be creative.
Share what God has done in your life.
What would your cardboard testimony say?

Today (Sunday June 8th) was birthday number twenty-nine, only one year away from twenty-ten!  As everyone so kindly reminded me all day when they heard my age.
“You got one more year!”  This was commonly heard.
Apparently life ends at 30.  Hehe.

A few thoughts and recap of the day for those interested:

Facebook Birthday:  Social networking can be great.  I had people posting Happy Birthdays all day long.  In reality, lots of them wouldn’t have without the ease of Facebook.  Some look at that and say it isn’t worth much then.  I, on the other hand, appreciate hearing from everyone and appreciate the ease it allows for in communicating.  So to all you who wished me a Happy Birthday on Facebook, thanks a ton!  I was surprised how much it actually brightened my day.  If you said it on MySpace, haven’t even checked it yet.  Didn’t occur to me til now.  You should be using Facebook instead anyway.

And that’s not to downplay those of you who called or sent snail mail.  Even cooler.  You get my point with the Facebook thing though.

Community Service:  Today instead of having our typical gathering, to end our Outflow series the church left the building to do service in our community.  So consider this my Worship Confessional as well.

We gathered and sang 2 songs.

• Stir In Me – an oldie for me, but only the second time we’ve sung it here.  It’s an all-time fave for me and I couldn’t resist eventually introducing it here.
• Be Glorified – A real oldie, but also one of my old faves and thought the words worked well for the morning.

From there we did a few announcements then organized to go.
I led a team doing yardwork and other maintenance for a couple neighbors right around the church.

Met 2 other neighbors while we were out.
One was very thankful for the work we were doing in his next door neighbors yard and said he was really glad we never moved as a church.  Glad to have us around.
Good to get to know neighbors and create a positive image!

Creative Planning:  I then spent from 1pm-4pm in a meeting planning creative elements for our next series, One Prayer.  If you haven’t heard about this series yet, check out the website!  over 1300 churches, over 787,000 people.  We’re starting a week late cause of our service weekend.  but hey, we’re Santa Cruz.  We show up late to everything and we like to be the rebels.

It’s been way too long since we’ve had one of these creative meetings for our services.  It makes a big difference and I am REALLY excited about plans for this next series.  The video teachings may be a stretch for our church, but if we can get past that, I think this series really has the potential to be the highlight of this year!

80’s Themed Surprise Party:  My wife told me we were going to Maggiano’s for dinner, then out to see Indiana Jones.  I was wiped and oddly looking forward to a low key evening.  I walked in the door and a bunch of people dressed funny yelled surprise and the party was on.  I’m a people person and an extrovert, so it didn’t take long to shift gears and have a great time.  A quick shower and a 5 minute 80’s outfit creation and I was ready to go!

Rachel, although apparently it way stressed her out all week, did a great job planning this without me finding out.  Unfortunately for her I do have “Spider Sense” and the thought breezed through my head for some reason as I was walking up the steps, but I still didn’t really expect it.

The house looked awesome.  As you walked in it said “Welcome Back To the 80’s” and had pictures of me as a kid in the 80’s.  None of our picture frames had our pictures in them.  They all had pictures like the Seaver’s, the Cosby’s, a 3 picture tribute for the King of Pop himself, Ronald Reagan, and Paula Abdul just to name a few.  Thanks to Shawna for helping her decorate all afternoon.

Our friends James and Jill hooked me up with a gift I’m totally stoked about.  My Nike +.  Really wanted this probably more than anything.  Will be great for my workouts.  Thanks guys!!

Another Friends Birthday:  And it just wouldn’t be right to finish this post without recognizing my good friend Jamie who shares the same day of birth and celebrated her __th with a different last name than last year.  Swing by her blog and wish her a Happy Belated Birthday.

Now, I’m really wiped!  And with that, friends, I’m hittin the sack!