BST's Blog

Working intensely on Pepperdine stuff. We are looking forward to being out there with the ZOE family and seeing all those wonderful faces of people we love. I have to finish up by tomorrow so I can head out of town tomorrow afternoon.

We had a great dinner at my mom's house last night. A Texas BBQ place in Nolensville has the best Texas BBQ I've had since moving to Tennessee 10 years ago. It's called El Tejano or something. Amazing.

It was great to be at my mom's house. I hope the girls will build memories of going over there. I spent a lot of time at my grandparents' house in Hamlin, TX (where my mom is from). I have lots of fond memories of creaking floors, old carpet, soft chairs, juice glasses from the 1950's left over 20 years later, my Granny's old floral apron she'd always wear, "Post Toasties" for breakfast, greasy hamburgers from the local diner, watching Hee-Haw on Saturday nights and more. I want my girls to have memories like that.

Coupla funny notes on the girls...

Ella likes doing the "this little piggy" thing, but that piggy never goes to market. He goes to TARGET.

Maddie is learning to persuade. For some reason she feels the need for Ella to feel the same urgency to "dress up" as she does. She'll set out a nice princess dress for Ella and then proceed to convince her of the benefits of wearing said princess dress. It's always a hoot.

I love that Ella calls Maddie "Sissy". I know I've said that before, but it's so cute to hear her call Maddie her pet name.

There are so many cute things that happen all through the day--as all of you with children know. I just wish I could remember more to write down! Maybe we'll have some good stories coming back from the beach that don't involve Sheryl giving birth. For the love.

One of the benefits of these praise team meetings I have been having for over 3 months now is the interaction and shared dreaming. One of our team members suggested we have section leaders. After considering it for a while, I appointed section leaders this week. I am really, REALLY excited about this. These folks will serve in more of a relational role than a musical, although all of them are highly qualified to serve in that way too. Each person will help me keep track of the people in that voice part, they'll send weekly emails of encouragement and prayer requests, they'll plan nights out for all the sopranos or whatever the case may be. I think it will be a very good community building thing for us. It's hard to keep track of 70 or so people in the way I want to. This will help.

I promised to provide the name of the book that has really helped on planning Emergent Worship. There are two workbooks published by Abingdon Press. One is called Worship Feast, 100 Awesome Ideas for Postmodern Youth (Order# 0-687-06367-1). The other is called Worship Feast, 50 Complete Multisensory Services for Youth (ISBN# 0-687-06357-4). Call 615-749-6421 to order. Hope that helps. While the title suggests these are for "youth", they are very adaptable for all ages. I think you'll find them helpful. Also, be sure to check out Dan Kimball's website at their church Vintage Faith.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!