We want to show you how the wizard is growing, so here are pictures from the first four months:

Month 1:	Month 2:
Month 3:	Month 4:

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.

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.

I am looking forward to this dvd. It comes out the fifth of november, and i might have a little party to watch it. The noomas are great and generate a lot of great discussion, but this thing is long. I heard it was really good, and plus he uses a giant whiteboard. I’m a math teacher, so that just seems really, really cool to me. Anyone go see Rob on this tour or know anyone who did? I think Louie went, but I can’t remember. Anyway. Yeah. I’m stoked.

I just finished Donald Miller’s book Through Painted Deserts. It was a pleasant read and reminded me why I loved Blue Like Jazz. His style weaves honesty with creative prose like few others I have read (note:I’m not very well read). His books read so quick, and they take you to a place where you try to go but can’t. That contemplative, need to figure things out, but for real this time, stop just living and start living sort of place. And on that note, I saw this post the other day. That’s right. Blue Like Jazz the movie. Weird. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or not. We’ll see.

I really enjoy things that can be accomplished in one day. My wife and I hung some canvases on a freshly painted wall in our hallway. The best part? It was quick. It freaks me out a bit when I get up at night to relieve myself and the house looks different. But then we were looking at old pictures from our first Christmas in our house, and there were so many differences that it felt weird seeing how many things we now think of as always being there. Click on it for a bigger shot, or come over and look at it in real life. Just call first.

Coming home from my stint at Junior High Camp means putting away a ton of camp game paraphernalia, like pool noodles, 60 padlocks, 600 dominoes, some stop watches, and some play dough. But it also means sitting down in the comfortable spot on the couch and catching up on what the Tivo caught for us while we were out. No commercials, no surfing, just vegging out in front of the TV. One of my new personal short-lived favorites is Studio 60. The characters have stories that make them human. It’s been canceled, and I’m pissed. Not enough to actually join a message board or anything drastic like that, but I really did like the show. The ‘Christian’ character Harriet Hays, played by Sarah Paulson, had an interesting scene with Danny Trip, played by, Bradley Whitford. Danny is about to lose a fiance and a daughter in one night, and she is going to teach him how to pray. He leaves the chapel because he feels it’s wrong, and makes some valid points to why it is wrong, but in the end, he caves. All alone, on his knees, in the middle of a hospital. It hurts so good. I wonder at the awkward portrayal of Harriet as a christian, and how it is received by people at Focus on the Family or Christianity Today. Not enough to actually go look for it, but if I stumbled upon it, I think I might read that article. Either way, it’s been a good one season show. I’d buy the DVD’s if I were you, but if you don’t want to cough up the dough when they come out, you can borrow them from me.

my friend Louie posted this on his blog for a friend of his, but I agree entirely.

At the Elev8 trip to Pirates 3 in San Diego, we killed some time in the Mac Store:

David Crowder * Band has a music video. There has been all this to do about squirrels on Dave’s xanga site, and I guess this is why. It’s pretty creative. At least Saturday Morning worthy, if not standard rotation in an after school slot. Enjoy.