BIG NIGHT OUT ::: Valentines Night @ Mountain Valley Church
Who doesn’t like some love songs on Valentines Day? Well, there is something pretty cool about getting paid to sing love songs to my wife any day of the year, but on February 14th it’s quite the gig. When Mountian Valley Church called and asked if we would like to be a part of their Valentines BIG NIGHT OUT event, it was a no-brainer.
The event was geared to encourage couples in their marriages and relationships. An added bonus was that both my lovely wife, Pam and my son, Kieran got to play in the band. A couple other players from the church rounded out the band and they did a terrific job. We kind of got to be the ‘house band’ and play some fun romantic songs and background music to add to the vibe of the evening.
Song selection was fun because we chose from a wide stylistic range of tunes. We were targeting music that evoked a romantic feeling. This meant that the lyrical content didn’t have to be uber-lovesongish, the song just needed to make you ‘feel’ uber-lovey. (I guess uber is my word of choice for this post.)
We’re Good Christian Folk…We Eat At Chick-fil-A
And we eat at Chick-fil-A for FREE on Cow Appreciation Day. We printed out Cow Costume Kit’s from their website…cut them out…taped them on and WALAH….the family ate for free.
Great marketing idea if you’re willing to endure a wee bit of shame and silliness. We had a few curious glances in our direction as we walked from the car into the store, but it was all completely worth it.
I love my family! We tend to be perfectly fine with PDG (Public Display of Goofiness.) We’re also good with PDA, but that’s a topic for another blog post.
What kind of craziness is your family practicing this Summer?
Chapters
“What makes the better story? Do that!”
This little quote/motto has kind of become a life precept for me and a silly way that I get my kids and friends to do stupid things. When faced with even the most mundane situation, I’ll jokingly ask the question while basically implying that we should choose the unconventional and crazy in place of predictable and expected. You never call your friends to say “Dude, I just made a very rational decision.” Nope. You always call your friends and say “You’ll never believe what I just did?” and then hopefully laugh together as you tell some ridiculous story.
Then there are the other times. The choices we get to make (and some that get made for us) that have huge implications and massive impact in your life. The part of our story where one chapter ends….the page gets turned….there’s a big bold number at the top of the next page….and the new chapter begins. Many times this is when faith gets written into our story.
This week marks one chapter closing and another beginning for me and my family. This was my last week as the Worship Director for Living Streams Church. Easter was the last weekend that I would serve in that role and now we are looking to God for the “what’s next?” After many months of dialoging, evaluating, praying and wrestling to discover where the journey is leading, it’s clear to us and the church leadership that now is the time for a shift. Changes like this are always tough because of friendships and relationships. Changes like this can also be beautiful because God’s plan for us opens up and we get to chase after His calling on our lives.
We have no doubt that God brought us to Phoenix to serve at Living Streams Church for a very specific purpose and season. We love the people and staff at this church. We are so grateful for the life-long friendships we have established here, we are better people because of it. We also believe God has something exciting and new for us and for this church as we transition forward.
So now, the “what’s next?” I get to ask my question….what makes the better story? We’re gonna do that!
We’re going to make sure our story is one of faith. We’re going to watch and listen as God opens and closes doors in front of us. We’re excited and scared…full of anticipation and wrestling with self-doubts…believing truth and questioning the status quo…and somehow in all of it, we’re uncomfortably comfortable waiting. We get to teach our kids to trust in God and His plan for our lives as we engage on this adventure together. We get to live the story of God right now.
Bring It On!
November 28-29 Weekend Recap
My family and I were on vacation in California this last week. We spent the first couple days in Ventura, CA hanging out on the beach. Then we spent a couple days with our oldest daughter, Tia, at her new apartment in San Francisco. We drove to Chico for Thanksgiving and the last couple days of our trip before heading back home. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun because it was the first time in the past year that all 5 of our kids were with us. We enjoyed time with Pam’s parents, my Grandma and some great friends. It was an awesome trip.
While I was away, Luis Acosta and Jay Murphy led worship for our weekend services. I’m thankful for these guys and their willingness to jump in and help out when I’m not here.
Saturday’s Set:
Rain Down – E
Fire Fall Down – E
Hosanna – F#
New Doxology – G
Your Grace Is Enough – A
Sunday’s Set:
All Because Of Jesus – C
Happy Day – C
Everlasting God – Bb
Hosanna – E
Son of God – G
Enjoy your week!
Andy


