a reminder from Rick...

WHO JESUS CAME FOR
By Rick Warren

In my study of Gospels, I made a list of the people Jesus came for:

Jesus came for the chewed up, crossed off, crying out
The dropped out, edged out, fizzled out, and freaked out
The have nots, the held back, hung over, and knocked around

He came for the left out, the loaded down, and looked over,
The locked up, led astray, laid off, and let down
The messed up and the mixed up

He came for the passed over, the picked on, put down, pinned down,
and pushed around

The ripped off, the run down & the run over

Jesus came for people who are screwed up and shrugged off,
The shut in and shut out
The smashed up, the stacked against, and strung out

Our Savior came for the torn up, thrown away, and the turned off

Those who are used up and walked over,
The washed out, the worn out, the wiped out, and the written off

He came for you. And me.

23 services...5 locations...4 days...check it out on fox news

big bear...houston...africa...oc

big bear...i went with my small group guys last weekend up to big bear for the chi alpha retreat...good stuff...challenging messages...good relational time...my guys are graduating soon...cant believe that...im anxious to see where they go with things over the next couple years...i used to feel such pressure, as a mentor, to make sure they succeed...now i dont feel that way anymore...i think i've realized that there really is little i can do to influence once they move on...i just trust that everything i've poured into them will come to surface when the time is right and they'll be ok...got two feet of snow in big bear...beautiful...left early before it got too bad so we didnt get stuck up there for a week with no food...fun times...

houston...i'm headed there tomorrow for a little r&r with my best friends...i cant wait...and i get to meet little gabby!!!!...she hasnt met her uncle danny yet, and thats a damn shame...so now we'll fix that this weekend...she's beautiful...i cant wait to hold her...mandy sent me an email this week..."liza, danny, mandy, and ed together again...all is right in the world"...agreed...thats what its like when you get together with best friends...all is right...cant freakin wait!!!!...

africa...finalizing plans for rwanda right now...june 29-july13...three teams with three student team leaders who are vets at rwanda...orphan team...medical team...documentary team...its gonna be legit...god is providing in unexpected ways...i'm really really stoked for this trip...i cant wait to return to rwanda...and i cant wait to take these kids...good good stuff...

oc...life is good...summer is coming...which means the beach is gonna start getting full of tourists...thats ok...its fun to people watch...my nephew is coming out to visit soon...mom and dad and sis are coming soon too...its all good...i kinda like my life here...ya...

thats it for now...till later...

today...

today i was on my way to work and re-lived how stoked i was during the first few days i moved out here...i was driving to work...it was 75 degrees...catalina island and the ocean was in the rearview mirror...a snow-capped mt. baldy was in front of me...and i was headed to disneyland for the day with the team...does it get any better?...still so stoked to live here...

till later...

rwanda...again...

starting to finalize plans for next rwanda trip...12-15 high school students...three teams...one medical, one orphan care, and one documentary...super talented student leaders for each of the teams...small group dudes going...june 30-july 12...cant wait...training meetings...kids getting shots...tickets to buy...about $60,000 to raise...its gonna be sick...i'll keep you posted on the progress...

till later...

goals...

i had a great meeting on friday with my boss...i had laid out the '09 annual plan and wanted some feedback on it...we talked about some goals for the new year, and it was really exciting to see her support and energy getting behind where i wanted to take the local hiv/aids initiative...i think its gonna be a fun year, and today i found myself in a really thankful place for the job that i have and the blessings i experience through it...

i started thinking about the importance of goals...i used to think that the significance of a goal lied in its ability to provide direction and focus to our everyday lives...i know this is an important piece of goal-setting, but as i was reviewing my goals for this coming year, i felt like maybe there was something more to it...after i thought about it for awhile, i realized i was right...there is something more to it...

goals show us where we've been...david c. mccullough (a pulitzer prize winning author in the late 1700's) said "history is a guide to navigation in perilous times. history is who we are and why we are the way we are"...in order to set a goal, you first must examine where you've come from and where you currently are...there's so much value in asking tough questions like "what are the significant experiences in my life that have brought me to where i am today?"...who i've been and who i am are the two best predictors of who i will be...the past has real value in our lives and, when we take time to reflect on it, only then can we honor it by learning from it and allowing it to shape us into who we WANT to be instead of allowing it to CONTROL us into someone we probably dont want to be...

as i was thinking about this, though, i started doing what i do a lot...i started talking myself out of this line of thinking and started thinking that reflecting on the past is dangerous and can cause us to get stuck...i mean, how many people have you met that are so stuck in anger about the past, habits that started long ago, or simply cant move forward...another famous author, george bernard shaw, said "we are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future"...i loved this quote because this is where i was landing with my thinking about goals...

goals are powerful...they move us forward...they're the tangible expression of our hopes, dreams, and visions for our lives, businesses, relationships...but the power of goals doesn't lie only in the hard work that is done in reflection and review of where we've come from...the real power of goals lies in the sense of responsibility they give us for the future...the inspire us to actions that help us live out our responsibility...the focus us and remind us that we are not responsible for everything and everyone...and they help us see those around us who are moving in the same direction- those who have similar goals- and connect us to something way bigger than ourselves...

just thought i would share that little nugget of deep thought...haha...

till later...