My Bachelor Party: an epic weekend.

This past weekend marked one of those milestone moments in life.

I celebrated my last moments of bachelorhood. Translation: I had my bachelor party.

The weekend’s activities were kept secret from me and I found myself struggling with not knowing what was next. But I enjoyed and kept my cool as the weekend progressed.

Big shout out to my best man-JON!! And Groomsmen-Joel and Wes that planned and executed so well!

The weekend did not contain strippers, drunken debauchery or body part shaped cakes. It was filled with INTENTIONALITY. My brothers did an incredible job at making sure I was 100% spoiled rotten. It was a weekend with good food, good friends, a new experience (paddle boarding in Newport –way harder than it looks), a good movie and worshiping together on Sunday morning. I can’t begin to explain the joy it is to know that these guys KNOW me.

They knew that I wouldn’t want to make a fool of myself or to disrespect Angela and dishonor God by succumbing to the traditions of bachelors gone before me. They knew what would bring a smile to my face and joy to my soul. It is good to be loved and supported by such good men.

I did not have a favorite portion of the weekend because everything had importance and was fun in its own way.

Some of the highlights of the weekend:

• Awesome men.
• Incredible Food
  • Sahara Falafel
  • Tacos
  • Breakfast burritos
  • Awesome coffee shop with awesome Turkish coffee
  • Guatemalan black beans
• Adventure
  • Paddle Boarding in Newport Harbor
  • Going to a carniceria (meat market) owned by a Palestinian guy that was quite a character
  • Driving with a Turkish cab driver otherwise known as Ben
  • Watching an interestingly good movie with some good French press coffee and Garlic naan
  • Don’t judge the combo. Hollllla.
• Intentionality
  • Being given words of affirmation and encouragement. Being prayed over and spoken blessing to.
  • Being taught to just RECEIVE. I was not allowed to pay for anything, clean anything, do anything, I was made to just SIT, ENJOY and VERBALIZE absolutely anything I wanted. This was probably the hardest part of the weekend.
  • Worshiping with some of the guys on Sunday morning at church. Such a great close to a great weekend.

Needless to say the weekend was awesome and this blog is definitely more for me to be able to reflect on in the years ahead. But I figured you might enjoy a glimpse into the wild world of Bachelor parties. Thanks to everyone who made it happen and thank you Jon for making sure it was the perfect weekend for me.

Less than 2 weeks before the big day people…WOAH! Marriage, here I come!

Goodbye 2011

This morning I read a post from Relevant Magazine asking a simple question.

“What was the most important moment of your life in 2011?”

The responses were incredible.

People got engaged, married, lost loved ones, had babies, got sick, got healed, lost jobs, got jobs, restored relationships, destroyed relationships, got saved, quit addictions. YOU NAME IT, IT HAPPENED.

I often forget that in my “rough day at work” someone else is having a much more difficult day. The husband that kissed his wife goodbye for the last time but has no idea what is coming.

Also, on the flip side of my hard day I can rejoice with someone who found that life is growing inside her belly or that an addict has gone another day without giving in to temptation.

Life happens.

all day. every day.

I am grateful to have life today.

So what was the most important thing that happened to me in 2011?

The seemingly obvious answer is that Angela and I got engaged! That was a pretty awesome day- April 23 @ 6:15pm both of our lives changed forever.

It was an awesome day.

My life was changed forever because the most incredible woman I know looked at me with a smile so big, eyes open wide on the verge of tears and a shaky hand telling me “yes, yes, yes, I will marry you”.

It was the most important day of 2011 not just because a wedding is on its way but because two people chose to love each other in the midst of not always being nice and neat.

2011 was pretty awesome, but also tough, lots of ups and downs. But God was faithful and a constant through it all.

Highlights of 2011

• Getting engaged
• Got a plane and traveled through Cambodia and Singapore
• reconciling with my dad
• Fell in love multiple times with an incredibly beautiful woman
• Paid off all my credit card debt
• Discovered the power of my story
• Found healing in so many areas of life
• Was promoted to a new position
• Made some really awesome new friends
• Tried new and incredibly delicious foods
• Celebrated sobriety from addictions
• Encountered God in new and incredible ways.

Woah. That is just SOME of what happened. Thank you God for your faithfulness and thank you in advance for the amazing things that are coming in 2012.

I could celebrate her over and over forever and ever.

Birthdays are so very special.

They are the time when people gather and celebrate the life of someone who is important to them.

There are food, gifts, laughs, hugs, kisses, sweet memories and goodies to share.

It’s an extremely intimate and vulnerable experience to be celebrated.

We should have birthdays more than once a year, hey?

This weekend I had the privilege of celebrating my girl.

She is an incredible gift to me and I could NEVER totally show or express to her how much she means to me.

I know it’s ‘her day’ but let me be honest about how much joy I get from all the preparing, buying and executing of her day.

Watching her open gifts, eat good food and basque in the love that is showered upon her is my favorite thing

Her eyes light up a certain way that I just can’t explain when you get ‘it’ just right.

Those eyes. I love those eyes.

They have the power to tell me so much.

I am so thankful for you Angela.

You are my favorite person in the whole world!

I look forward to celebrating many many more birthdays together.

I could celebrate you over and over forever and ever.

I love you my babe.

Sending my dad away debt free.

This morning I had breakfast with my dad.

I have not had a meal with him in probably almost 10 years.

We have not had a meal alone together since…I can’t remember having one.

Why now?

Well about three weeks ago while I was driving home at night God clearly spoke and asked me to call him.

I told God that He was crazy.

He asked again a few nights later, I told him the same thing, He told me that He wasn’t crazy, but that He was God. He reminded me that His thoughts are higher than mine, His ways are higher than mine, I can not understand his WHY but I can trust in His WHO. He IS God, He is good and He is, was and always will be.

So I called my dad. It was late, probably around 10:30 pm and I had obviously woken him up when I called. I didn’t mean to call that late, but I kept putting it off and next thing you know the phone was ringing.

He was very confused as to why I called but was so pleased I had. The whole conversation lasted maybe two minutes but it was a successful step forward.

Shortly after that interaction I heard God ask me to ask him to have a meal together.

OK, now THAT was crazy.

Well, after fighting every reason why that was a bad idea…2 weeks later I called him and asked him if we wanted to get together.

So, we got together for breakfast this morning.

As I drove to the intersection we had agreed to meet at my hands were sweating and shaking and I thought I was going to barf. Was he going to show up?

Sure enough, there he was waiting for me looking almost as nervous as me.

Our greeting was awkward, the drive to my house somewhat pleasant and then we got home and neither of us were sure what to do next. So we DID something because we obviously weren’t ready to sit face to face and talk. So we cleaned out my car and changed the oil. That was great – we had something to do but were still in each others presence. Awkwardness gone!

Shortly thereafter we moved to sit at the table and eat our breakfast burritos.

THEN it happened.

We got to talking about the elephant in the room.

He thanked me for inviting him to eat and almost instantly burst into tears.

He shared about his life and struggles.

He apologized for very specific moments in which he hurt me.

For the first time in his life he owned up to the damage he caused.

I was speechless.

I couldn’t do much but just see a broken man in front of me and be overcome with the knowledge that without Christ, I am as hopeless and destitute as he.

We cried and talked and he asked if he could hug me.

I gave him permission and Jesus was there in the thick of it all.

I told my dad that I forgave him and told him that I was sending him away today from me completely debt free. He doesn’t owe me anything, he has no need to strive to give me anything. He is free. Debt paid by Jesus. Done.

He looked at me with disbelief.

It is incredible that in what happened I thought he would feel a lot lighter and ‘free’ but what happened was sort of the opposite. I felt free. I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

I was sending him away debt free but I was also being set free of the sin of unforgiveness.

So there we sat, two grown men, eyes red and puffy, free of debt from eachother, sharing a meal. I know Jesus was there because all of this would have been impossible without him.

Our drive back to drop him off at the intersection was very different from the drive to my house.

It was good.

So, that was today.

Looking forward to doing that again, sooner rather than later.

Thank you Father for helping me love my dad.

Dad, thank you for helping me learn more about Jesus; love and forgiveness.

 

Thankful for the lessons learned.

Last night the men from my church got together for our quarterly Mens Meat Night.

It’s a night where the guys get together and enjoy mountains of meat and hang out.

There is something really incredible that happens when men gather around the Gospel.

Last night we were privileged to hear from three incredible men within our community share about “Jesus, a man and his work”.

It was such an encouraging time for me, considering I was pretty bummed to get there late because I work far and got out of work later than normal. I was not a particular fan of my job that evening.

The whole night was incredible but there were two things that stuck out for me and I have continued to think on them over and over.

1. The Bible mentions “work” for the very first time in Genesis 2. We read that God put Adam to work in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of it. This was BEFORE the fall. So work was a part of Gods original design for life. We were designed to WORK.

This was really encouraging because sometimes work can feel like a curse and so counter productive to what I want to do with my life. It can feel like just a paycheck in order to pay off student loans. I have dreams and desires for long term work and ministry, but I am set in a place and position right now for very specific reason and purpose. This time is just as important as what I really see myself doing long term.

2. Jesus was a carpenter for around 17 years. He worked very hard for many years and I am sure carpentry could feel like a waste of time considering all that He foreknew He would be doing.

Whaaaaaaat?

I knew Jesus was a carpenter, but it never really hit me that Jesus WORKED.

Before His ministry went public, he worked.

It is really encouraging to know that!

Work is important!

Acquiring wealth, status, etc is NOT the goal.

However, the discipline of working is of great importance.

I am so grateful to be surrounded by men who openly talk about their frustrations, fears and failures in all areas of life.

I may not always like my job for various reasons, but I know I am supposed to be there because I am learning about patience, compassion, commitment and dealing with stressful situations.

So here is to a new day at work and taking what I learned last night and putting it into practice.

A million butterly pushup leg kick things? No problem. Bring it.

I sincerely dislike working out.

It has to be one of the most difficult things for me, not because it’s actually “difficult” but rather because I feel so inadequate and insecure.

I have found that insecurity and feelings of inadequacy are so paralyzing and can cause us to not do so many things that we want to try.

Well last night the insecurity bubble popped!

It all started when Angela and I went to homegroup last night, we go every Tuesday, but this Tuesday was quite different. For those who are unfamiliar with what a homegroup is, please let me explain.

Our community at church gathers in various homes throughout the area on different nights of the week and people from the church find a night that works for them in a home that is close-ish to them and commit to going for 10 weeks at a time. We get together and talk about life, God, hang out, pray, eat, laugh, laugh, laugh, sometimes cry and listen intently to the Father.

Basically, we walk out life together, and sometimes life is gross and messy. But the beautiful thing is these people are not scared of messy. I mean, yes, they are human and sometimes we have disagreements or differing points of view, but together we are a beautiful mosaic. The craftsmanship of an incredible maker.

So ALL of that to say, we went to homegroup.

The wife of our homegroup leader had a dream the night before and felt like God wanted her to share it.

It struck deep to my heart; because it was a very specific question I had been asking God and he answered it. So I was on the moon ecstatic about Gods confirmation and love.

 Well as we were about to leave a family that totally ROCKS mentioned they were going home for night #2 of P90X which is a crazy exercise routine.

*insert feelings of insecurity and shame again*

*crap*

I felt like God was telling me to go, but I kept making excuses in my head like: I am in my work clothes, I am tired, its been a long day, its so late, I need rest, I don’t want to impose upon their exercise time, what about their personal space?

Well just as soon as I had talked myself out of it, I hear from Angela’s mouth, “We should go!”

Inside I was screaming “SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”.

The next thing I know I was asking our friends if we could join them!

Without hesitation it was an immediate yes and suddenly Angela and I are in their living room, in our work clothes about to embark on this crazy routine.

It started quite easy and within minutes it was hilariously horrible.

But we kept going as best we could and laughed at ourselves and each other.

I felt free to look completely lame.

Maybe it’s because there was a freedom to do it wrong, pass gas, burp, and fall or not do it exactly how the crazy man on the TV was doing it.

It was a lot of fun even though it may not have sounded like it amidst all of our grunts, random #$%$# and completely uncoordinated movements.

Sometimes we crashed into each other, did the wrong move and wanted to give up but encouraged eachother to keep going.

It was a cool picture of what “doing life together” really looks like.

Kinda messy, uncoordinated, real and raw.

Tonight we will embark on night #2 of P90X with them and are thrilled. It will not be without its pains or difficulties, but when doing it with friends who are real and super fun the time KINDA seems to fly by.

So here is to another crazy night of uncoordinated pain and fun!

Pancakes and Arabic Lessons

Yes, its true I have not blogged in a long time.

Life has been a little crazy, but today i am enjoying a day off!!!

So on my day off, I made pancakes. Absolutely delicious pancakes.

But something happened as I began preparing the pancake mix.

I had a “moment”.

I stopped preparing the mix, sat on the floor and smiled.

Didn’t think pancakes could do that did you?

Well, it brought up memories of my time in Buraimi, Oman going to Arabic school.

Why?

Well, there was a little market around the corner from my apartment. It was a hole in the wall and was about as big as my closet.

During my time at school I was on a really tight budget.

So when I was at the market I bought things that were cheap and easy to make.

That didn’t always work out so well, since the apartment I was staying in had the WORST kitchen ever. There was NO air conditioning in the kitchen, no working window and it was the size of my bathroom. Let’s remember that I was there during the summer and the Middle Eastern heat does not relent.

I resorted to food I could make in the kitchen that was fast, filling and cheap.

Well as you probably guessed the food of choice was pancakes.

I could buy a box of pancake mix at that little market for double what we pay in America, but it lasted for many meals. Breakfast, lunch and most dinners= pancakes.

No syrup since I couldn’t find any, but just pancakes and butter.

I had completely forgotten how many pancakes I ate while in Oman until this morning.

So this is my ode to pancakes.

You have been good to me and brought back so many great memories.

Thank you.