Serving With A Smile

My boss has been blogging about service lately. This week he's doing a series dedicated to customer service. Check it out HERE.

To me this is a big deal. With my band at church, we've really been focusing on engaging people in the lobby between experiences. Some of them have gone out of their way to talk to people and seek out new people to strike up conversations with. This has been cool to watch! We recently had someone that works at another Lifechurch.tv campus come and visit ours. I asked them if they noticed anything that stood out to them. They told me that they were amazed, because they have never seen any other campus' band come out into the lobby and engage people like our band did. That made me feel SO proud of the guys (and gal) that I serve alongside!

I wonder what ways we could serve people that we come in contact with, and at the same time, not make them feel overwhelmed by us? I'd love to see what your thoughts are. Be sure to check out Craig's Swerve blog at the link above.

It's a Dirty, Dirty Job...Butt Someone's Gotta!

Okay, so...not the best title to start off with. But...my kiddo is now eating veggies. He's got a good routine of: Nursing, then rice cereal, then veggies. For those of you who don't have kids, this will be a lesson? (I know I put a question mark there.) For those of you who have kids, then you'll laugh at me.

My kid has been doing this funny thing lately. In the middle of whatever he's doing, he'll get a serious look on his face. It's almost like something is worrying him. Then his face turns red, and he makes these terrible grunting noises. This is my new signal that I could replace the guy from Dirty Jobs because I'm about to perform a task not unlike nurses in hospitals. Yep, I get to clean my son's derriere and experience the after-effects of his grunting. I know this is a gross post, but man....I feel like my mansion in heaven gets bigger with every diaper changed....my wife's is going to be freakin huge!



'Nuff of that!

New Place In Town

So, normally we (Tulsa) get all the newest and greatest restaurants before the Oklahoma City area. Unfortunately that was not the case with the fabulous "The Cheesecake Factory" It opened up tonight. Rachel and I met our friends Todd and Stephanie (you might remember them from the Mexico trip.) We thought about dinner and a movie, but the whole experience took us nearly 3 hours. Yep, that's a while, but it's worth it!

I'm excited...more reason to grub.

Running It Off

So, I've been jogging lately. I try not to let it show from the pictures I post, but I've got what doctors like to call, a little bit of a weight problem. I get bear claws lodged...wait...sorry, I'll stop quoting Tommy Boy. Anyway, Aaron Swensen is our Lifegroups Pastor at the Tulsa campus. He and I became friends before he came on staff, when he and his wife attended our Lifegroup. He is an avid runner and we have been meeting in the mornings to run a 5K. Now, let's put some things in perspective. I have never figured out why people run long distances. I just found out that Aaron is training me to run the Tulsa Run in November which is a 9 mile run. SUCK!!!

As it is, we run the trail in Broken Arrow that weaves alongside the Creek Turnpike. This will help me on stage by giving me more stamina, allowing me to breathe better, and just plain get some of the fat off. So, here's some pictures of where we run n' stuff. Feel free to give me feedback or advice on my running skills.

Here's where we run...





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How Do You Do THAT?

So, I've got my pretty black MacBook. I honestly love it. The transition from a PC to a Mac has been fairly seamless. BUT, notice that was a BIG BUT...in order to make sure all my pictures, movies, files, and music made its way safely onto my new Mac, I've spent a lot of hours checking...and re-checking....and then checking one last time. I closed the lid of my Dell for the last time today. Man I hope I got it all...hmmm, does this expose my lack of organization? It mustn't...surely. Okay, I'll probably not blog any more about the Mac...it's obnoxious to you lowly PC users! HA!

My MacBook

There's this guy. His name is Damon Hudson. He's been all sorts of things at lifechurch.tv but currently, he is the Tech Team Leader at Lifechurch.tv. Yesterday, Damon brought me a hand-me-down. Not like the ratty old jeans with the nasty grass stain hand me down...but a Black MacBook all ready for my use! I am excited to retire the Dell and begin my new endeavor as a Mac enthusiast. I hope you're ready...here comes the creativity....now, does anyone quite understand entourage?

Yep, I Must Be A Germ-a-phobe

So, here's the situation. We're on a bus, traveling from San Jose to Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica. It's raining and traffic is at a standstill. Out of the blue, I've got that terrible feeling. One that nightmares are made of. Yep, the gurgling that won't stop until it's satisfied. Nope, I'm not talking about hunger. It's that, "you better clinch or else" kinda feeling that stops you in your tracks.

Now, I'm trying to remember the phrase..."Donde Esta El Bano?" I ask our guide to find the nearest rest stop and run into the restaurant looking for the "hombre" sign. Once inside the bathroom (which I was told was a clean one,) I discovered that the toilet was so close to the urinal, that once sitting on it, your knee had to rest on the side of the urinal. This didn't set too well with me. So, I applied an absurd amount of toilet paper (which you're not allowed to flush....nasty) to the end of my knee so that it didn't have to touch the side of the urinal.

I must say, since having gone on these trips, changing several diapers a day, and liking animals, I encounter a lot of germs. I'm not as much of a germaphobe as I used to be, but if you were in the situation that I was in...you'd have done the same.

Back In The Saddle

I'm not sure what that means...other than a reference to a long cattle drive. Anyway, blogging in Costa Rica proved to not be as easy as I had hoped. It's really interesting how I tried to take my "connected" life and keep it that way in Central America. I didn't take my journal with me because I wanted to blog about everything non-personal. With sparce internet connections...a Dell laptop, and sweltering heat and humidity...blogging was more than a challenge.

Next time, I'll bring the good old pen and paper.

Rainforest Zipline

So, we did this two days ago. Our team went in the mountains of Costa Rica and went through a canopy tour of the rainforest. To do this, you have to strap a harness on, and cross 14 traversements and hang out 60 feet or more up in a giant tree. We saw three-toed sloths, toucans, and heard howler monkeys. This was such a great moment to really see some amazing topography and see flora and fauna that you never get to see in the states. God is truly in all things and is made known through his creation. Just for fun, here are some shots and an introduction to the team while on the zipline. ENJOY!

Viva Costa Rica!

We're officially in Costa Rica now. After a harrowing journey from the States we arrived and took a bus down to Puerto Viejo. On the way down, I was unmercifully mocked for my tid bits of knowledge of local coffee plantations that for some reason or another, none of the ticos (local Costa Ricans) know about! Here's some pics and video from our trip so far! Enjoy!

Meet Fugee

This is a story of my dog Fugee. He came to us a couple of years ago. One day my wife told me that there was a semi with 100 dogs and 200 cats coming in from New Orleans! (This was during the Katrina disaster.) Reluctantly, I went with her to foster a dog. I assured her that there would only be Pitt Bulls and there were a lot of those. However, one dog stood out to me. I had a Rottweiler as a kid and there was a huge Rott in a cage itching to get out. He licked my hand through the cage and we decided to bring him home.

He didn't have a name. They found him wandering the streets. He was emaciated and starved for attention. We decided to name him Fugee because he was a "re-FUGEE." Yeah, clever...our youth pastor came up with that one.

Since then, he has put on the pounds. Topping off around 100lbs. He wants to be everywhere you are. He'll move from room to room when you do. He minds fairly well. I taught him to sit, lay down, fetch, and to shake. He has become a permanent part of our family. Whenever I'm out of town, he sleeps in my spot to make Rachel feel safer. (He's a freakin 100lb Rottweiler!!!) When we brought Ezra home from the hospital, he immediately started protecting him from friends that would come and visit, the vacuum cleaner, and the cats. He gets in between new people and Ezra, and won't let the vacuum cleaner (which he is terrified of) get near him.

The sound in the video is a little off. He doesn't have ESP, the audio is a little behind the video.

So, nothing profound. Nothing spiritual. I just wanted you to meet my dog Fugee!

I'll Do It Myself!

Man, lately I've been preparing for an upcoming mission trip to Costa Rica. Yes, we'll be at the beach. Yes, we'll be suffering for Jesus. Now, I am co-leading the trip and we're breaking it up into two parts: construction and music. Yep, you guessed it...I will NOT be leading the construction phase! Here's what I've been dealing with...

I've secured a band, entailing one bassist, one guitarist, and one drummer...wait, make that four drummers. What I mean is that I have secured four separate drummers and all of them have backed out on me. The most recent was only two weeks ago! So, I'm relying on a relationship I started to build with a local in Puerto Viejo named Charlie. Charlie is an old rocker! He is a larger than life character and Charlie doesn't know Jesus.

So, should I be afraid that I don't have a drummer? Or should I instead be looking at this situation and thank God that He has got something brewing? I'm gonna go with the latter. Be praying for me and for the team if you get a moment. Pray for safety in traveling. Pray for relationships that we've established to be deepened and that we would be able to share Jesus with those who don't know him! I'll post pics soon!