Dara and I have a precious friend that has recently given her heart to Christ. She is filled with intrigue and questions about God. Each question leads to another as she discovers the limitless love of God.I love her intrigue. Her questions sharpen my faith. She is helping Dara and I to dialogue about aspects of our faith that may have become complacent. Like in any relationship, intrigue is lost when you take things for granted.For example:Dara explained the idea of baptism with our friend a few weeks ago. She explained the symbolism of stepping into the water as a symbol of our old life...

I woke up this early this morning and began getting ready for my day. Max (5 years old) came into the room all groggy with his hair wildly positioned in every direction. He held up his arms for me to hold him. I love it when he does that. He put his head on my shoulder as he was trying to orient himself to the new day.He then picked his head up and looked me in the eyes and said, "Daddy, why do you look like a cool dad?"I melted.I love the way kids express their thoughts. I didn't quite know how to answer that one so I just looked back and said, "Because I am." :-)I love being Max's dad.

Dara and I are excited to pass along the news that we will be moving forward with our plans to plant a new church in Uptown Charlotte. Pastor Mike and I spoke last week and we believe that the time has come for Dara and I to embrace the calling that God placed on our life almost five years ago. Pastor Mike has expressed his excitement and support as his dream for Hope has been to be a church that plants other churches. This is truly a realized dream for both of us.When we initially came to Charlotte, we committed twelve months without pay to invest into Pastor Mike and Hope Church. God has...

I have been a pretty voracious blogger ever since the end of 2007. I love blogging. It's a way for me to process things and get my thoughts down and recorded. I love going back over the journey of the seasons of my life and re-reading what God has done. I love that others can go back and look at God's faithfulness if they so desire. It's all there. Documented for all to see.The past week has been an absolute whirlwind for Dara and I. So much that I have literally written down notes to myself that I want to blog about eventually. I will get back in to the swing of things soon!God is doing so...

Dara and I returned yesterday from Los Angeles. Amazing trip. I will return to the blogosphere in the next couple of days with a slew of things that we took away from an amazing trip.

I am spending today wrapping up loose ends and trying to get everything in order for our service on Sunday before the end of the day. Dara and I are leaving tomorrow for a trip to Los Angeles. We are visiting Tori and Jordan (Dara's sister and her husband) and some dear friends at a church plant in LA.So excited to get away for the week with my Dara. We don't get a lot of time away with just the two of us, so it's going to be a great week!

I remember myself at 22 years old. I was full of vision. Full of life. Full of confidence. I was full of doubt. Full of unknowns. Full of insecurities. I look back on that season of life and realize that one of the best lessons I learned was patience. God did not immediately answer all of my prayers for what I wanted to do for him. I needed to learn through the frustration of waiting.Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord."God has taught me so much about realizing my dreams. When I fix my eyes upon Christ, the moment I am in...

I know I'm really late to the party, but I just got on to Skype tonight for the first time. Dara and I spent some time video chatting with some dear friends of ours in Georgia. I'm so amazed at what we can do with technology. I know this isn't a new idea, but it was so cool to feel like our friends were in our living room tonight 🙂 Long live Skype (and whatever new technology is coming that is even more awesome).

I spent the morning caffeinating Charlotteans at Caribou Coffee today. I absolutely love working at the coffee shop. I love the time that I'm able to connect with my co-workers. I love meeting new people from our community and chatting with our regular customers.Another aspect of this job that I love is being in an environment where there are differing views on religion, politics, sports, fashion, life, etc. I think that truth is found in the tension of opposites. So when I engage in conversation with people that think and believe differently than I do, I feel that truth rises to the...

I try to read as much as I can in the arena of advertising and marketing. One of my favorite blogs is written by Seth Godin. I was reading his blog today and one part stuck out to me so much he was talking about the fact that we don't need to do what everyone else has done that was successful. Just because it worked for them doesn't mean it will work for us. Check out his thoughts:"Avoid obvious mistakes, don't follow obvious successes. Find your voice, don't copy someone else's."This line of thinking fits right into a personal calling that God has placed on my life. In many areas (not all),...