a day at the beach...

finally, a day off...this past week was ridiculous...good...but ridiculous...i worked until 8 or later 6 out of the 7 days last week...and two of those days it was until 10...so ya...a day off was much-needed...i went to laguna today and just spent some time reading a book that i've been putting off..."sex god" by rob bell...i have to admit, i had a little bit of a hard time getting into it...i put it down because i was getting frustrated...i'm almost certain that it was due to my tiredness and spent brain...i have this idealic view of rob bell...everything interaction i have had with him...whether it be in person, on video, or in book form...has been awesome...and since i was having a hard time reading the book right now, i thought i better put it down or else risk shattering my rob bell dream...haha...

so i switched to a novel and just relaxed...i realized something while i was there today...everyone looks smarter at the beach...haha...have you ever noticed how when someone is walking down the beach looking at the waves, they look smart...everyone looks contemplative...like they are deep in thought about the world or life or something...maybe they are pondering the cure for cancer or the latest social activism craze...or i guess its possible that maybe they are thinking about something as trivial as what they will eat for dinner that night...or how hot the girl was that they just walked by...or how they need to lose weight (that's what i ponder when i go to the beach)...no matter...they still look smart...all of them...i wonder if i look smart at the beach...

it's been a great day off...

peace 2.0...

this weekend was peace 2.0 at saddleback...peace is saddleback's revolutionary method of mobilizing and utilizing christians in mission work...it stands for "promoting reconciliation", "equip leaders", "assisting the poor", "care for the sick", "educate the next generation"...its a holistic approach to serving the least of the world...this weekend pastor rick spoke about the next phase of peace...i was amazed to hear that, in the last 4 years, 7400 saddleback member have gone on a peace trip...7400...wow!!!...

as i was listening to rick speak this week, i was thinking a lot about my recent trip to zimbabwe...i cant wait to go back...i feel like there are some relationships that i made there that i havent done a very good job of fostering since i moved to ca...i need to reconnect with those...i would love to be a part of helping saddleback establish a strong presence in zimbabwe, like they have in rwanda...i wonder how i go about helping that happen?...that might be something that i check out soon...

we (the staff) had to be at all of the services this weekend...it made for a long weekend...but it was actually kind of fun...the community aspect was great...and it was just cool to feel the energy around saddleback...especially on this big weekend...austin summed it up best...he said "every weekend i just leave so excited...its so fun"...i feel the same way....if you've never visited saddleback, you should come soon...you've got a place to stay...

till next time...