We’ve had some requests for more sonogram photos, so I’ve put up more of those at the end of this post.  Also, the hilarity that was telling my family is now on youtube and right here for your viewing pleasure.

p.s.  i love imovie 08.

We started serving dinner on Thursday nights at the oroville rescue mission.  I know that when setting it up, the idea was to be consistent, but summer is the opposite of consistent (hot? no. sporadic.) tonight was the first night i got to go serve, and i have to say that it was awkward.  i like the idea of service, but i don’t live it.  i start to feel like the people there think that i think i am better than them, and that is probably because deep down, i lie to myself and tell myself things like that.

after we served them i sat down at a table with 3 guys.  one of them had a ninja monkey shirt (which was pretty cool), one of them had a broken tooth that he kept accidentally almost knocking out, and the other was named Blind Bob.  he was the oldest guy and he didn’t eat very much.  i didn’t know what to say or how to help them.  i felt helpless.

also, (i almost didn’t write this thought) i didn’t eat.  i don’t know why.  i actually lied and said i had already eaten.  i feel really bad and don’t even know what led me to lie in the split second question of ‘do you want to eat?’  i did.  i was hungry.  but i lied instead.  what is wrong with me?

today rhonda and i went to the hospital.  rhonda drank 32 ounces of water to make sure her bladder was full.  she thought i should have to drink more water as well because then i would feel like i was more a part of it.  anyway, she had to pee real bad.  and then we had our first ultrasound.  that’s right.  i’m gonna be a dad.  on february 3rd (ish).  oh.  and we affectionately refer to our child as the wizard.  it currently makes rhonda hungry and tired.  the wizard is also a thumb sucker.  it is 2 inches from crown to rump and .25 inches across the palm of it’s hand. we are the most excited.

I have to say that I am excited for 2 reasons. One is that I am going to Catalyst for the first time. I’ve wanted to go for a few years now, and I have finally decided to make it out to the east coast in October.  I am also really excited because Eric, my bro, is coming with me.  We’ve never really taken a trip together, so it should be good times.  The speakers I am most stoked for are:

• Andy Stanley - Environments.  The idea alone has redefined ministry for me.
• Craig Groschel - One of the most creative, out of the box thinkers I’ve found.
• Seth Godin - The Dip changed how I view life, and I wouldn’t be where I am without getting out of the cul-de-sac I was in.
• William Paul Young - Haven’t read The Shack, but enough people won’t shut up about it that I am now excited to hear this guy speak.
• Tim Collins - Good to Great, again, I haven’t read it, but everyone is raving mad about it. (mad in a good way)

We also registered for the labs, and there are a couple names that I have to drop here:

• Perry Noble - I really can’t get enough of this guy’s passion and transparency.
• Mark Batterson - Best book title ever.  His vision for DC is amazing.  God sized.
• Reggie McNeal - His six questions have been formational in our church, and he talks so fast when he gets excited that I can’t help but get excited.  Missional Community.  Good stuff.

It’s still a ways off, but I am so excited.

I was thinking a lot during my trip to Mexico about the Great Commission.  It is usually lumped into missions commissioning services.  Something along the lines or, “And Jesus himself said that we are to go into all the world.  So we commission you to go to Mexico.”  At some point I asked myself why in the world they don’t mention the second part.  The part where we are called to make disciples of all men.  It really started to get to me.  It was like they hadn’t quite figured out how youth mission trips to Mexico fit into the Great Commission, so they use it as much as makes them comfortable, but recognize that the long term effects of short term missions can be minimal.  I know it may sound harsh, but those are thoughts I had that led me to thinking about what it means to make disciples of all men.  I think it would be at least somewhat valuable to look at how Jesus made disciples.  Sometimes we get the wrong picture and it ends up looking like this:  (thanks to vintage21.com for this excellent video)

I thought a lot about what Jesus did, and I don’t want to reduce it too much, but I probably have.  Essentially, he did the right thing, and he invited other people to live with him.  Then, he just kept doing the right thing.  When people needed correction he corrected, but it wasn’t really as important as doing the right thing.  When they asked questions, he told stories.  When he had to, he used words like “Get behind me Satan.”  That was just that once though.  I think it is often debated what it means to make disciples, and it is better to be debated than to try to make them the way that jesus did in the video.  Perry Noble just posted a blog about this very thing, and I think he has at the very least a solid direction.  I love that they are doing everything they can to make disciples.  That’s way better than just whole heartedly embracing the first part of the Great Commission.