DiscoWest Worship

For the past 9 months or so, each Sunday evening I would gather with 20-30 adults and have a time of worship - we called it DiscoWest (Discovery West). But this evening is different & a part of me is sad. Those were some really great times of intimate worship & I will miss them. But most of all I will miss the people - that's what really makes up the church. It's one of the coolest things to lead 20-30 friends in worship - to help them connect with God and leading them to follow after His lead.

One of the songs that stands out to me the most (we sang it fairly often at DiscoWest) is Salvation is Here (Joel Houston). Below are some of the words:

God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
And I don't care what the world throws at me now
I'm gonna be alright

Hear the sound of the generations
Making loud their freedom song
All in all that the world would know Your name
It's gonna be allright

If you ever have the opportunity to make it to a DiscoWest worship service, I'd highly recommend it. But in case you live just a little too far away (like Auburn, AL for instance) here's a little taste of DiscoWest worship. Enjoy!

5 Years and Counting

This May we celebrated our 5th year anniversary (wow, it really doesn't seem like 5 years - time has really flown by!). So in celebration we traveled to Victoria, BC and spent the night. We rode aboard the Victoria Clipper (which I would highly recommend) and stayed at the James Bay Inn (a quaint little hotel with some nice charm).

Some interesting things happened along the way. As we were getting off the bus at the local gardens, we heard someone call out our name. It took me quite by surprise (we were, after all, in another country) when I turned around to see our good friends Paul & Mary Mabry who we hadn't seen in over a month - very unexpected. We ended up seeing some of the city together and enjoying some great seafood.

The next morning proved to be quite the adventure as well. It turns out that Victoria was hosting a sailboat race that same weekend. I had the bright idea to go out to the coast and watch the start of the race. Several miles later (on foot) we finally arrived (honestly, it didn't look that far on the map...). By then we had worked up quite the appetite and fortunately (so we thought) they were serving a pancake breakfast. So paid for our tickets and jumped in line - this is where the "fun" began. Apparently they were having trouble keeping the grills lit, so we ended up waiting in line for over an hour. This would have been okay if it hadn't been right on the coast with winds around 30 miles per hour. By the time we finally got our food, we were so cold that it was all we could do to stuff the food in our mouths as fast as we could to get out of there (and to top it all off, we pretty much missed the whole race while we were standing in line for the pancakes - oh well, at least we got some good pics).

Fortunately, the rest of the trip turned out much better & we ended up having a great time. So just remember, if you ever travel to Victoria, beware the pancake breakfast - other than that I'm sure you'll have a great time!

This is a picture of the sunset we enjoyed on the way back (you can click on it to view it full screen).

a few changes

So many of you by now have heard that we have had a few changes lately. The biggest is one is that I stepped down from my role on staff with our church. While there were many factors that played into our decision, we ultimately believe that God is preparing us for something new. We're not quite sure what that is yet, but we are excited as we look towards the future. We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we continue to seek God's will for our lives.

We promise to post more updates here as soon as we know.

Any Crowder fans out there?

the Shadow Proves the Sunshine

Lately this song by Switchfoot has been playing in my head.

The lyrics state:
We are crooked souls trying to stay up straight,
Dry eyes in the pouring rain, well
The shadow proves the sunshine
The shadow proves the sunshine

Two scared little runaways
Hold fast till the break of daylight where
The shadow proves the sunshine

Oh Lord, why did you forsake me?
Oh Lord, don't be far away
Storm clouds gathering beside me
Please Lord, don't look the other way

I'm a crooked soul trying to stay up straight
Dry eyes in the pouring rain, where
The shadow proves the sunshine
The shadow proves the sunshine

Yeah Yeah, shine on me
Yeah Yeah, shine on me
Yeah Yeah, shine on me
Shine on me,
Let my shadows prove the sunshine

Sometimes life gets tough and the light at the end of tunnel gets hard to see. We have trouble seeing God at work - we might even question if He is there at all. But even in the midst of the toughest times, we can be sure that He is at work. Maybe the only proof we have is to look for the "shadow" - the evidence that there really is a big God - that we are not alone.

I love the last line of this song - "let my shadows prove the sunshine." That's my prayer, that the shadows in my life would prove the "sunshine" for someone else out there. Perhaps that makes everything worth it.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Spring is a time for rain in many places and Tacoma is no exception. I have to say that I'm thankful for the beautiful daffodils and tulips that are sprouting up in the yard. But, I am tired of rain! It just feels soggy around here! Maybe it's because "it rains 9 months out of the year in Seattle"--to quote a line from a famous movie (Sleepless in Seattle).
I suppose we have to have the rain in order to fully appreciate the beautiful, sunny days here (when Mt. Rainier is in full view). And I guess that applies to other parts of life too...we won't fully understand or appreciate all of our blessings until we struggle and are reminded! Thank you God for all of the seasons...even the challenging ones!

the joys (and pains) of home ownership

As I write this, Michael is downstairs banging on a pipe and attempting to repair a clogged drain...we've been without the use of our kitchen sink for 2 days now. And the responsibility falls solely on us--no landlord to call for help!
Also today, we began painting our living and dining rooms. It was a little bit of slow progress, but fun to be able to personalize our home. A big thanks to our friend Amy for all of her neck-breaking help today!
So all of this home repair has me thinking...what have we gotten ourselves into?? But, it also has me praising the Lord for his many blessings! Thank you God for providing us with a great house that is just what we need--warm and cozy, with plenty of space for Ellie to run around! May we never take our blessings for granted!

the power of a smile

Smiles are simple, yet there is just something about them that makes them quite powerful - they are infectious. A smile can brighten an otherwise dreary day.

Lately we've been nailed with a series of snow storms that pilled our yards and roads with a significant amount of snow (disclaimer: this comes from someone raised in Georgia). Something about the snow just makes me smile. Maybe it's the anticipation of sledding down snow-covered hills at speeds otherwise not quite possible. Or maybe it's a holdover from the days of getting to miss out on a day or two of geometry. Whatever the reason, I love snow.

Granted, it might not be the most fun thing to drive around in (it certainly makes the commute longer), but it makes me smile. I'm not talking one of those fake smiles, but the real deal. (By the way, test your smile-spotting abilities here).

What makes you smile?

Passion '07

Busy time of year...no vacation days left...half a country away...wish I could be there...

Well, now I can, at least in some respects. Passion is streaming their conference from Atlanta this week. Each session will be available for 24 hours - some really amazing things happening there. I'd encourage you to check it out if you get a chance - you won't be disappointed.

Watch it now.

Merry Christmas!

It's a little after 7am on Christmas Morning & I am currently waiting for my two girls to wake up to join in the Christmas festivities. It's given me the opportunity to reflect a bit on Christmas and its meaning. "For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6, NLT). It is so easy to get caught up in the stuff of Christmas that we forget the deeper meaning. I really like this passage from Isaiah - imagine what it must have been like to hear this in the midst of a very dark time - to know that a Savior will one day come to redeem all of mankind. A simple child, born in a manger - and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This is our God.

These are my thoughts this morning as I wait for our house to be transformed into world of excitement, wonder, and Christmas cheer. In the meantime, I thought I would share a little from our Christmas experience this year. These pictures are from the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. We went on Saturday night with a couple of our good friends (Aaron & Amy) and my parents. Ellie had a great time looking at the lights (they had lots of glow-in-the-dark animals outlined in lights). One really cool display was of the Tacoma Narrows Bridges with Mount Rainier in the background - very creative (for those of you not from Tacoma, they are currently building a second bridge to span the Tacoma Narrows - in the picture it is the one with the cables lit up). They did a really good job replicating the bridges - even leaving off certain sections of the bridge that aren't quite finished yet.

Sleepless Night

Last night was one of the those nights were sleep just seemed to escape me. I managed to get in about an hour and a half of sleep before I was awakened by our daughter. She was having a rough night (I think her leg was hurting) and had trouble getting back to sleep. Finally after some Tylenol she was able to make it back to dream of her new Pooh bear toy. Unfortunately, by this time I was wide awake. I fought it for a little while but finally decided to give up.

After doing some brainstorming and putting some thoughts down on paper (of the electronic variety), I headed over to my favorite photo site - Flickr. I enjoy flipping through and looking at the variety of pictures. Typically, I look for pictures to use as backgrounds for songs for our worship services at our church. It kind of serves two purposes: our church gets some cool new backgrounds and I get to browse through lots of photos - something I enjoy doing. If you run across any cool images, let me know.

Here's one I like:

Email updates

We've set up a GoogleGroup for those that are interested in being notified by email when a new posting is made to our blog.

Instructions: (this will take 1-2 minutes)
Visit our group's webpage.
Click on "Join this group"
Login to your Google account (gmail, calendar, etc.) - if you don't have a google login, you'll need to create one.
Decide on what format you would like to receive the email in (digest, full, or abridged).

That's it. You're all done!

By the way, I've changed the settings so that you don't have to login to blogger to post a comment to our blog (sorry to all those who attempted to do this in the past - it should be easier now).

the new blogger

We recently switched over to the new beta blogger (operated by Google). Not too much different - a few changes here and there, but it is easier to add different elements now (such as tags, links, etc.). You'll probably need to update our address in your feed reader - the addresses are below. By the way, if you're looking for a good feed reader, I'd recommend Sage. It's a plug-in for Firefox and integrates really well.

Here's a screen shot of what it looks like:

When you click on the icon for Sage, it pops up a sidebar that shows the blogs you subscribe to on the top with the individual postings below. When you click on the refresh icon (located at the top of the sage bar), it checks for any blog updates and lets you know it's new by bolding the text. Also, the magnifying glass next to the refresh icon searches a site for a new feed. So, if you are visiting our site (mike-tina.blogspot.com), you can click on the magnifying glass and it will automatically grab our feed so that you can subscribe to it. It makes life much simpler.

New Feeds for Mike & Tina (either of these will work):
http://mike-tina.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
http://mike-tina.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Green Eggs and...

I've always thought this was simply the clever title of a book created in the mind of a rather famous "doctor," but about a month ago I heard about chickens that actually laid green eggs - and sure enough, they do!

This morning, Tina, Ellie, and I got to enjoy some of those green eggs (thanks to our friends Mike & Cindy).

I gotta tell you, they were pretty good - although it was odd knowing that we were eating green eggs. If you get the chance, I'd highly recommend them - much better than the store-bought.

Here's a nice "after" picture to see how they turned out (we were making breakfast burritos - very tasty).

good times

Well, we now have a 2-year old on our hands! She is full of life, energy, and opinions! She has opinions about which clothes and shoes to wear, what to eat and drink, which blanket to cover with, and the list goes on...
We had a fun birthday party for Ellie. Here is a picture of Ellie chasing her "Elmo" birthday balloon.

Birthday girl!

Well, today is Ellie's 2nd birthday. We'll be having a party with some friends tomorrow. I don't think that Ellie really understands how this day is any different from yesterday or tomorrow! But, it is special to me! It's hard to believe that two years have gone by since our precious little one stole our hearts (even before she was born). I remember during my pregnancy Michael would get out his guitar and sing to her. She would always move and kick a little more when daddy sang to her :-).
On the day of her birth, Michael and I both cried as we heard her first scream as she emerged from the womb. She has been such a joy in our lives. Her sweet voice and laugh keep us smiling. What a blessing from God to have her! It's a continual adventure, figuring out how to be good parents to this little girl, reflecting God's love to her. What a privilege (and responsibility) parenting is!

A little more settled?

It's been a busy and exhausting week as we've been working and trying to unpack and get settled in our "spare" time. But, things are starting to take shape around our new home. We've discovered in the last few weeks how much "stuff" we own (this reality hits hard when you have to pack and move all of it!). But, we're enjoying our new place! A big thanks goes out to our great friends who helped with the move (and childcare) last weekend (Aaron & Amy, Tim & Carlie, and Mom)--you guys are awesome!!

The Wired City?

Supposedly Tacoma is considered to be "the wired city." Something about the miles and miles of cables & fiber optics buried beneath our city streets and suspended in air from numerous poles around town (I'll have to check with my good friend Randy Sherman who is responsible for several miles of those fiber optics). Well, it certainly hasn't been the case for our house - at least not for the past 4 months.

But we're back and man does it feel good. It's surprising how much we use the internet. For awhile there, we had no real connection to the outside world. We didn't have internet, we didn't have phone (well, at least not a landline - we'd never cut off our precious cell phones), we didn't have newspapers, and we didn't even have TV. We were a bit out of touch with the world around us - which for awhile is really not that bad. It was pretty quiet around our house (short of the almost-two-year-old singing and playing games), but it was good.

But with the purchase of our new house, we decided it was time for our self-imposed exhile to end. We've decided to ante up and get the internet fired back up at our house. Hopefully, that will mean we'll be able to post a little more often...we'll see how that goes (there's something about home repairs that makes me think I won't have quite as much freetime as I had thought).

So from the perspective of our new home, Tacoma has gotten a little more wired and we've gotten a little more connected. Ahhh...this feels good.

Sawdust, Sawdust, everywhere!!

Well, it has been a very busy weekend of pulling up carpet, sanding down the wood floors, applying stain to the wood, and coating with lacquer, but we're almost finished with the floors! We are waiting right now for the first coat of lacquer to dry, then we'll apply the final coat and voila...we're done! The floors look beautiful and this will soon be worth all of the effort!

It's ours!

Well, today Michael and I went to sign the mountain of papers to make the house officially ours! As of tomorrow afternoon, we will be first-time homeowners. We were both nervous on the drive to the escrow office. But, we have to say that the homebuying process has been very smooth (and pretty easy) and we feel very blessed for that! I'm sure that is because other people have been working very hard on our behalf!!
Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement! For those in the Northwest, we'll be having an "open house" once we get settled in. For the rest of you in the country...you're welcome to come and visit anytime!