Dave and Mica Tan are great friends to Amy and me and are in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. I encourage you to check out their website to read about their story of adoption and to learn how you can join them in prayer and with financial support. An added bonus if you donate (tax-deductible through Lifesong for Orphans) is that Dave will custom make you a paracord bracelet or key chain!
Visit www.thetanfam.com
I have been in southern California for a couple days and have had the pleasure of experiencing the famed LA traffic. I had an interesting thought while sitting in traffic this week that relates gridlock to my walk with Jesus.
I thought, while sitting in the middle lane of a 3 lane hwy, my walk with Jesus is a lot like gridlock. I want to follow His will, but I see the other lanes of traffic moving past me on either side. Then in a sweet turn of events the outside lanes slow and my lane speeds by. Inevitable is the fact that minutes [if not seconds] later my lane slows to a crawl and once again the other cars are speeding by while I sulk about not being in one of the moving lanes.
I think this was Jesus trying to show me that contentment is the best way to fight those doubts of “am I in the right lane”. If I am able to trust Jesus has the perfect plan for my life I don’t have to play the rat race. There are many things that come my way that try to draw my attention away from the perfect will of Jesus, but only lead to more frustration.
My charge to you [and me] is to seek contentment in Jesus. His will is not always clearly visable, but when we focus on Jesus He will give us that peace that we seek.
I have been in the Santa Clarita area for quite some time in the last 2 weeks. I have not really eating at many local hot spots. However, that changed this week. I met with a family early this week and they recommended La Cocina. The chips/salsa were pretty good [I still prefer Sal's] but the tacos were pretty darn good. I would have to say the Al Pastor were some of the best I have had anywhere.
For lunch today I used Yelp to help direct my destination. I found the Urbane Cafe. It was a nice little joint that was packed when I got there at 1:30pm for lunch. They offer sandwhiches and salads that are all freshly made. The unique thing is that all the sandwiches are made on freshly brick oven baked flat bread; my wife would really like this place because the flat bread was delicious. I ordered the Fiesta Chicken sandwich that is topped with pepperjack, chipotle mayo and a black bean & corn salsa. Another cool thing is that all the sandwiches come with a side salad topped with a great balsamic vinegarete, feta and mangerine oranges. This was a nice change from the traditional fries or chips. The meal was very fresh and healthy tasting which was just what I was looking for. I would highly recommend stopping in if you are passing through Santa Clarita during lunch or dinner.
River Valley Church has been walking very slowly through the book of John. This last week Pastor Gordon taught from John 15:12-17. The main topic was love and the fact that we are commanded to love. On the drive home my wife and I talked at length about what this love looks like in our lives.
”This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
We came to the conclusion that it is easy to show love in the good times, but we things are going south how do we respond? What are situations in your life that are challenging the way you love? Are there conversations you are avoiding? Does this show the love that Jesus is describing in John 15?
Saw this comic on xkcd.com today and it made me laugh
The reality is really sinking in that in a mere 15 days I will be a husband. Not only will I be a husband, but I will have a wife. This is a crazy thought that after 27 years of being single, God has brought along the perfect woman for me. I can’t wait to start this journey with Amy!
We met with Dave Obwald this week to talk about the details of the ceremony and got to talk about the verse we wanted. We chose a passage from Philippians 2.
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
We both want our wedding to be one that shows the beauty of God’s glory, mercy and grace. I think this passage in Philippians does this wonderfully and also sets a great foundation for a marriage to build on; even though it is not the traditional 1 Corinthians 13 wedding passage 
So with Amy moving out of her apartment last weekend, I inherited the animals at the house. This has definitely been a big jump in responsibility, but they are fun to have around. Well they are all fun except for Reilly, the cat. She is an inside cat turned outside because we can’t have animals inside the house we are renting.
She has made her new home under the house [we have a raised sub-floor] and doesn’t really like to come out for anything. I have crawled into the sub-floor access point twice to try and get her out. She came once and then the second time I was able to coax her out of one of the vents. All in all she is kind of annoying, but I share this all to share this picture. I took her for a walk around the backyard so she can get familiar.
Ellie and Harrison are quite the pair. Yesterday they ran through the
sprinklers and rolled in the dirt. Harrison then thought he should be allow inside.
We bought them a little kiddie pool for them to cool off in.
Needless to say, they love it.
