My Worship Revolution

It’s about to get a little warmer on this blog, y’all! 

Several weeks ago I was teaching our week on the elephant in the nursery and asked for your help.
In case you missed it, this series is about family and relationship issues that we know exist, but that we don’t talk about much.
I had such a good response to that one, I thought we could do it again, just to see what you wish you had known.  Luckily, I don’t have to tackle the topic at church this week.

This week is about the elephant in the bedroom.
Yup.  You guessed it.  We’re gonna talk about the taboo s-e-x topic.
Sex (big S) as God intended it and sex (little s) as the world perceives it.

Being married for 5 years now, I would say this is a topic that is a huge elephant and that many couples are left to figure out alone because discussing frustrations, difficulties, or just questions are frowned upon or just scary.

So, married folk.  (And non-married who apply.)
I’m curious.
What do you wish you had known about sex, or questions you still have, that was/were never discussed or shared with you?
What is the proverbial “elephant” in the bedroom?
Someone just might find out that they aren’t the only ones with that question or frustration.
And hopefully I won’t regret this tomorrow.

And feel free, once again to be anonymous on this one.
Be transparent and honest, but I won’t hesitate to remove any comments that are crass just for the sake of crassness.  I’m trusting that won’t be an issue though.

On your mark, get set, share.

On Nightline.
01.28.09

Say what you want about the guy.
I must confess.
I dig the dude.

I have a bunch of money in the form of iTunes gift cards from Christmas.
So school me friends.
What new music do I HAVE to be listening to?

(And if it's country, don't even bother suggesting it.  Sorry Kevin.)

Thought I’d embed a poll here to see what name you all think we should decide on for our boy who should be arriving in the near future.

Right now we have 2 very similar options.  Having a meaning behind it is kinda important to me.  Here’s the story on Caleb.  And now the names we’re tossin around:

There are the options.
The poll is below.
Now weigh in.
Just remember, it’s our kid.  So regardless of what you say, I still hold total veto power.
Unfortunately I think Rachel’s veto is more powerful than mine.

Yes, my friends, they still exist.
It's been a while since I've done this.
So back by popular demand.  Actually by no demand at all really.  Just thought I should do it again.
Got some video of the set this morning.
I'll post the songs below.  But for some footage and blow by blow commentary staring Caleb Genesis Marchessault, check out the video embedded below as well.

This is also part of Sunday Setlists at Fred's blog.

With Ed still recovering from being sick, I’m up to bat with the message this Sunday.  We’re in a series called “The Elephant In The Room.”  We’re focusing on family and parenting issues, especially some of those that aren’t talked about much.

What is the one thing that you wish someone would have told you that you never heard before having a child?

This post came out of a coffee I had with Ryan this morning.  We started talking about 24 and both agreed that the right decision for the president right now on this season of 24 is clear.  However, we disagreed on what that decision should be.  So that made me kinda curious to know what all of you would do in her position.

The short of it is this.  Imagine you are President.  There is mass genocide in Africa due to a major civil uprising, children are being kidnapped and recruited to kill, and thousands of innocent women and children are being killed daily.  You have troops ready to go in to aid the African government in putting a stop to the killing.  Now the terrorist leader that is responsible for the war has gained control to American technology that will allow him to kill thousands of Americans through air traffic control, power grids, and the likes.  He is ordering you to remove troops from Africa or he will begin killing Americans.

Almost a year ago I posted a recording of a song I had written for a service at CLC.  I used it for a songwriting workshop at Recreate and then invited you to give me your critiques.
To see that post and see what people had to say, check it out here.

Well, I reworked it just a little bit and then recorded it for our Christmas album.
Last year Randy said it would be interesting to hear copies of the song before and after receiving some critiques.  So here ya go.  The CD version starts with Rachel reciting Mary's words from the verse that the song came from.

Of course, there's nothing to say it can't still be made better.  (Hopefully I didn't make it worse.  Lol.)  So let me know what you think!
Here is both the recording from the last post, and right below it the new version of the song from the CD:

Rewritten Version

Literally.

As we pulled up to the house I could feel the nervousness in my stomach.  What is this guy like?  Is this gonna be awkward?  The door opened and next thing I know it was almost 3 hours later.

It was awesome hanging with him and his wife, Laura.   We had a blast chatting, getting to know each other, and letting Caleb go outside to play with the horses, goats, and chickens.  I might even be able to look past his total redneckness!  Country music, nascar, and cowboy hats!    Behold the pigs head that was hung the night before we arrived:

Meeting his family and being able to connect was super cool.  Strange to have somewhat shared experience and to be actually family with someone I’ve never known.  He is a Christ follower as well and is was cool to eat together and be able to pray together.  Looking forward to more visits with his fam as well as meeting the rest of the siblings in the near future.

So yeah, I know, Christmas was like 3 weeks ago.
But we just celebrated with our families last week.
Which means I can finally share a few of the gifts we gave that were birthed out of our focus on Advent Conspiracy this year.

The gift that I would say I was most looking forward to giving was one we created for both of our parents.  It was the most fun for me personally to put together and was one of those things we hope was meaningful for them to have.  We made extra copies and have been able to pass it on to some other family members who asked us for a copy as well.

We spent a bunch of time, with the help of Chris Gott (thanks dude!!) putting together our own Christmas album.  You can click to enlarge the inside of the cover below to see the details…track list, who played, etc.

And just for fun below that, you can hear the last couple tracks we laid down.  Including a little Merry Christmas from our whole family, 3 weeks late! 
Enjoy!

Little Drummer Boy

Silent Night