lepeaus-big fun!

we returned sunday afternoon from our vacation and family reunion in fremont, michigan. dave loves, loves, LOVES, fremont lake. he spent many summers there as a child and would give anything for time at the lake-even a 35+ hour car ride with two dogs and a baby. crazy right? but, i do have to admit, i've fallen in love with the lake as well.

the lepeaus have been getting together for a family reunion every two years long before i joined the family. (i'm not completely sure when they started, but i know dave was a kid) i have been to a total of two and have thourghly enjoyed both of them. it has been so much fun watching the kids in the family grow up-and now that i have my own it is even more meaningful for all the cousins and family to spend time together.

while at the lake, dave and i were able to steal some time together away from the family and beniah. since i am an introvert, my mother in law is constantly encouraging me to take time along-and i love it! its wonderful not to feel guilty for sometimes being a party pooper. but because of my time alone and my time spent with dave i have come back refreshed and rested. we celebrated our 3rd anniversary while on vacation. it is crazy to look back and see how much we've grown in just three years. we drove through the night taking turns driving over two days to get to and from michigan. and when dave and i would start to get frustrated with one another we were able to take a step back, acknowledge that we were both stressed and sleep deprived and move forward. i'm not sure we could have done that three years ago!

here are some of my favorite pictures

eric has fallen in love with tubing. here is him with daddy-and loving every second.

beniah, pooped from the "birthday party"

fun on the floating dock

aunt susan and b

retired

christe retired some of my old t-shirts today. i fought hard and won a couple back, but still a sad day none-the-less.

anyway, heading to denver tonight, then chicago tomorrow night, then michigan monday morning. all with the baby...so pray for us.

one year today

today marks one year of blogging for christe and i.

in celebration, 12 of my favorite posts:

• kickin' it old school
• loving life
• time to man up
• is it bad i think this is funny?
• new heights
• a star is born (link doesn't work for this one any more...boo kold)
• socialism for the rich?
• beniah's first bears game
• a lion chaser is born
• top 5 talks
• preacher man
• proud to be the wife of...

24

today my wife is 24 (sorry, not a post about the tv show). because it is a special day i thought i would take a minute to share a little about her and the things i appreciate...also because i never finished my mothers day post about her, oops.

christe made a request late last week pertaining to her birthday. "can we eat in on my birthday and give the money we would have spent on dinner to someone in need?" this request sums up the type of person my wife is, on her special day, the day in which everything is supposed to be about her, she wants to deflect the blessing on someone else selflessly.

my wife is someone who questions her ability to mother and then shows endless patience and love in raising our son. time after time i watch christe entertain beniah as he giggles uncontrollably. she is the type of mother i prayed for before i was married. someone who is smart, college-educated and passionate, but humbly serves coffee because that also is the best way to serve her family.

for those of you who don't know, christe is an introvert. unfortunately for you that means her energetic side comes out most often when we are alone, when she dances and bounces around the house when excited or hears a favorite song. when she jumps on me, wrapping me in arms and legs then slides down me like a firemens pole. this is the christe that give me energy.

my support when i am down, my helper and friend. someone who cares more for others than she cares about herself. thank you for all you are. happy birthday!

no perfect people allowed

creating a come as you are culture in church by john burke

are you a pastor, an elder, a small group leader? do you play or do you ever hope to play any part in any christian ministry? this book is for you.

no perfect people allowed breaks down the barriers that keep the current unchurched generation from church by creating the right culture that leads people to jesus.

i understood prior to this book that the no. 1 thing in america keeping people from christ was christians, but burke eloquently explains that it doesn't have to be that way, he offers practical suggestions to deconstruct barriers and supports those suggestions with compelling real life stories.

the section on "tolerance" stood out to me, specifically chapter 7 what about other religions? tolerance litmus test Q1 and chapter 8 how do you feel about gays? tolerance litmus test Q2

i couldn't possibly pull all the good experts from this book like last time, (this book is at least 3x's longer). what i will do it give you a taste from the first chapter and a taste from the last...then go get this book.

• "What do a Buddhist, a biker couple, a gay-rights activist, a transient, a high-tech engineer, a Muslim, a twenty-somthing single mom, a Jew, a couple living together, and an atheist all have in common? They are the future church in America!"
• With every new culture since, the church has wrestled with how to stay true to the message of Christ without putting cultural barriers up that make it difficult for people to turn back to God. And what we have experienced in our come-as-you-are culture is God's Spirit using the soil we've plowed and watered to cause amazing growth in people."
  

becomeing the answers to our prayers

prayer for ordinary radicals (love that subtitle)
by shane claiborne and jonathan wilson-hartgrove

excited to say i finished book one on my summer reading list!

i would consider it an unorthodox book on prayer, but in reality it was not only a book on prayer but action, politics, community and gaining spiritual wisdom. a very unique read with some great stuff to offer, a book i would recommend.

here are some excerpts that stuck out:

• "Prayer is not so much about convincing God to do what we want God to do as it is about convincing ourselves to do what God wants us to do."
• "After seven years times seven--on the fiftieth year--[Israel] were to declare a Jubilee. Debts would be forgiven. Land that had been sold would be returned to its original owner. Prisoners would be set free. Once in every generations, the playing field would be leveled as a guard against injustice in the beloved community of God's people".
• "The love that makes a community, is the willingness to do someone else's dirty work".
• "Sometimes it is easier to wash the feet of prostitutes than it is to wash the feet of the people we live with each day--the people who get on our nerves, don't do their dishes and expect us to pick up on their passive aggression (and certainly we don't do any of those things). One of the most radical things we do is love the people we live with, day after day, mistake after mistake."
• "Communities that strive for perfection are always weeding out the imperfect people--until there's no one left".
• "We have to stop promising people life after death when what we are all really asking is if there is life before death".
• "One of the ironies we noted about the whole situation was that many evangelical churches that are passionate about sharing the good news of Jesus with all people were equally passionate about bombing Baghdad and eliminating Saddam Hussein. It seemed that we had to go be with the Iraqis if for no other reason than to show them by our presence that not all Christians wanted to bomb them."

also, being a book on prayer, the authors sprinkled different prayers throughout the book as side-notes, mostly by saints or some prayers offered in the bible, but this one as my wife noticed stuck out amongst them all.

• "Dear God, please make all the poor people rich. And the rich people poor. Then bring us back to a medium so we will take better care of each other. Amen".

- ten year old boy

a "year" in review

my life as a teacher moves in peaks and contractions as far as busyness. this last year seemed to be one long peak.

i just got back from our graduation marking the end of an eventful year (sidenote, tim bee was the keynote speaker and was very good). the following are some of what filled up the last nine months of my life:

• my first year teaching high school and prepping for three different classes
• coaching two different volleyball teams
• the birth of my son in august
• joining the elder board at my church which we planted in september
• staff sponsored a christian club at academy
  
• took over running small groups along with my wife in april (sign up here).
  

overall i would say a very difficult but successful year. i made it through teaching five classes five days a week, focusing most of my energy there in planning (about three hours a day), unfortunately this left very little energy for the actual students, maybe the one thing i will regret most about my teaching year. my varsity volleyball team went 20-5-1, missing state by two points in game five of regionals, something i believe may have turned out differently if i could have mustered more energy in that area of my life during the fall.

taking care of my son was maybe the most tiring part of my year but also most rewarding. he has yet to know what it is to sleep through the night.

being on board at revolution has been amazing over this last year, planting a church in september with twenty-some people after an extremely difficult period and watching it flourish into an authentic community that broke 100 in april has been truly rewarding.

with all that said, i laugh when people say, "it must be nice having the summer off". its true, it is nice having the summers off after squeezing 12 months of work into nine and only getting paid for nine. it is nice having summers off until you realize your salary only covers nine month and you need to work over your "vacation". it is nice to have summers off because if i choose i can take a breath, and with that breath this is what i hope to accomplish.

• a quiet time in the bible five days a week
  
• read at least six book
• finish painting the guest room that has been left undone for the last two years
• spend quality time with my son
• revamp my geography class
• be as prepared as i possibly can to take my volleyball team to state and lord-willing win some games
• coach somewhere between 4-9 camps
• take two weeks of real vacation with the family in michigan
  

i learned this year that i hit a max. i learned i want to be great at a few things, my relationship God, my family, my teaching, my coaching and my church leadership. i know five things is pushing it, but i consider myself a high-capacity person. i want to be a person that can be counted on and relied upon to do these things well.