in progress.

so the neatest thing happened on wed. night. the last three_30 middle school event was underway (6:01 starts wed!) and we were on the very last episode of the gospel journey series. for those of you out of the loop, this is a neat reality series that puts people of 7 or 8 (i can't remember) different faiths in a house in maui for a week and they live and debate who is right. to say the least, it's been an eye opener for me and my kiddos. try it out. and be ready for tough questions!
anywhose, i snagged a seat in the back at the sound table to make sure everything transitioned smoothly and to make sure the sound was right. sitting in the very back offered the neatest perspective. for a couple moments, it was almost as if i couldn't hear the video at all. to give you an idea of the room, we're on the 2nd floor and have no shades on the windows at all to give the room sort of a loft, NYC, downtown feel. i also think it helps them to see part of our city when they're there so they can be reminded of why we meet in the first place. the sun was almost down and the lighting played the neatest effect over the students. from the back of the room, the light settled right over the kids. it completely stole my attention away from the tv's and God reminded me of the beauty of my calling. the fun of my calling. and the absolute importance of my calling. i get to tell kids the gospel. wow. for maybe four or five minutes, i felt Him remind me of how wonderful He really is. and how blessed i am that the gospel was made known to me. when i was their age, there was a guy named brooks who was an intern at my church back home. i never went to anything and pretty much hated everything that had to do with church. really. i remember screaming at my dad for telling me to get up and go. but this college kid would call my house and leave messages inviting me to come everytime. i'll never forget that. i never ever called back. not once. but he kept calling. now that i believe, i'll never forget the way brooks treated me. i owe that to each kid in my room. he modeled the gospel to me...and on wed. night, He gave me the sweetest reminder of the gospel and the privilege it truly is to teach it. i get to teach the gospel. i get to teach the gospel. i get to teach the gospel! i'm joyed at that thought. i love to teach. i adore every part of it. before i go on for hours, i just wanted to share with you guys what happened on wednesday so that maybe it will encourage you to be joyed as well. it's community. i truly believe that Jesus is who He says He is. and that changes me every day.

on sunday we start our brand new sunday morning. rufus will be there. this could be interesting!

g


ps...today would be a good longboard/rollerblade at mt. lubbock, matthew. just sayin. or we could
go here...

and catch these...



psII...dulin...you are a goofball...i had fun this week.

rufus y'all.

tgif.

last night was a bit of a late one. i was asked to help create a new business type card for the university ministry. it turns out if you want to be creative and inspired at the same time, listen to cory asbury. seriously. just put the song "where i belong" on repeat. nod to gies and matty for showing the way on that one. i hope garner, pronounced "gardener" likes 'em and uses 'em. he now owes me 1st row tickets for the oklahoma game this year or a plane ride home to watch the dores knock the snot of ole miss or georgia. either one works. thanks gardener!


this is from our second trip to noah's. i have so many shots from this trip and i think this laughing shot might just sum up the entire trip. i found it this morning and had to put it in black and white. why? because b/w is my favorite. it's why i got into photography in the first place. it's classic. anywhose, this trip might have just been the most fun i've ever had. top 4 for sure. no joke. 3 belize trips and now noah's. i laughed 'til it hurt so many times. thank you optimus, elle, mclovin, odie, gandolf and matty for a trip i'll never forget. and optimus, you do look like phelps in your spandex pantalones. and mclovin, thanks for showing us a huge part of the gospel in the way that you were so incredibly patient in teaching all of us your craft. i can't wait for the trip this fall. it was an honor to stay awake all night, every night, while you snored like a train in your little Orvis snob sweatpants.

rumor is there's an 80's roller skate party tonight. i'm off to find some hammer pants.

love you guys.
francisco

and dulin...you never called in a coffee break this week. i'm going to kick you in the tailgate.

over.

do work son.

this is the first print off the photoshop press for the new school year. you can't see it, but it's got a nifty white border. it's currently sitting on the nice lady's desk at fast signs. monday is the due date. i just thought it was time to change some things up in the good 'ole middle school room! new artwork is like opening a great christmas present. you just stare and smile. unless of course you hate what you've just gotten your hands on and then it feels like tube socks and whitey tighties from the weird uncle. think about it. or not. ewww.

this photo is being blown up to massive proportions and will be hung behind the stage. it's a great reminder to me and hopefully my kiddos that Christ tells us that he's living water and He invites us to know Him more and more each day. He wants me (and you) to trust that He's got us and i happen to think He smiles big when we have the kind of faith that propels us to jump rather than merely peeking over the edge of the board. i've simply gotta trust him with everything. hold nothing back. go big or go home right?

trust.

i want this shot to be the illustration of how i live everyday. i think that would be a life well lived.

okay...i'm off to some goob's burfday party. mint chocolate chip ice cream cake from baskin-robbins? yes! it's the gift that keeps on giving.

until it runs out.

g

ps. it ran out. pretty popular cake. so worth it. happy burfday kid. you have what it takes.

game wardens and a wedding.

it's been pretty busy around here lately, but we've found some time to do a pretty good amount of fishing. the disciples did it. and so that makes it okay. right? well...it's okay by the texas game wardens if you have a license. AHEM...phil and steve. i wish tyson and i had taken pictures of the boys in the back of the game warden's squad truck. hilarious. and of course, by hilarious i mean very serious. life and death. the guys did note that there was a monster automatic machine gun in the truck. "oh it's very spiffy!" way to be aware of your surroundings boys. and then we were late for church. the kind of late where when you open the door and all the sunlight from outside suddenly floods the sanctuary and everybody turns around. including all pastors. yeah...umm...we're pretty sneaky. fun stuff. all in all, a pretty interesting sunday afternoon. the pics above are from saturday and sunday night. kudos to the trusty iphone for the shots. the sunset was ridiculous on sat. night. great time to just sit and be in awe. good stuff...except for the fact that a baby duck hit my fly and started screaming like crazy. i was scared to death. it was so loud and people were staring from the other side of the lake...that's how loud the little guy screamed. the only thing i could think to do was reel him in and try to pull out the hook. anybody ever reeled in a baby yellow duck? did i mention his entire family was watching?!?! seriously. there were probably 10 other baby ducks and then the mother duck. she just sat there. i'm sure she was horrified but she composed herself surprisingly well. moms are just engineered like that i guess. anyhow, i pulled him (or her...how do you know with ducks?) to within about three feet and then he/she jerked so hard that the hook flew out of it's mouth. the little guy returned safely to it's family. i went and changed my shorts. God is good.

sunday night a bunch of us went back to the scene of the crime and some kid ended up catching all the fish. what a goob. needless to say, senor and phil and i weren't the happiest of campers. the gals screaming for the ducks to come close probably didn't help much either. but we laughed a lot and that's a great night in my book.

and now to the future. my best pal joshua gets married to the sweetest girl on saturday in tulsa. i think it's in the middle of the state somewhere. becca is truly a gift and i'm so glad the Lord put them together. check out their story here. they just fit and God's gonna get a lot of glory out of those two. josh is the type of person that looks out for everyone else and speaks grace and hope into other people. now, the crazy part is i'm heading up there with the pam, the charla and their flock and i'm rooming with josh and devin during the weekend. it's time to party. i've known dev since youth choir and he makes me laugh harder than most. the guy's just a joy to be around. josh and i drove 13 hours (it was supposed to be 8 or 9...oops) to his wedding last summer...from upper ohio somewhere to southern tennessee...just in time for josh to play and me to stand in my required spot. it was a great wedding and weekend. you gotta love the south. truly, one of my favorite memories in life thus far. dev's the wedding photog for the weekend. check out some of his stuff here. the guy can shoot. i'm getting out the trusty camera and i shall attempt to document the whole weekend. maybe even video. should be neato. maybe dev can teach me some stuff.

we get back super early on sunday morning and then i head back out to colorado for a week. i'll bring a camera this time too and maybe we'll all catch bigger fish.

psalm 34! oh how he loves.

g


a tip...pronounced "a teeeep" - it's become very fun for me to pretend my text messaging magically transforms into a cb radio. you get to say fun stuff after your message like, "over" and "10-4 good buddy" and "what's your 20?" and many, many more. if you have any good ones, let me know. you may think i'm an idiot and that's fine because God told me this morning that i'm His favorite. well, it was something like that. anyway, it just makes me laugh out loud every time i add "over." to the end of a message. just try it. seriously. stop being a text snob and try something new.