Wedding News & More!
My wedding officiant work is kickin’ in once again! I recently won the 2011 Brides Choice Award from WeddingWire.com which was very exciting. I’m so thankful for all the couples I was able to work with in the last year.
I just got back from vacation and found out about a new site for advertising on. As a result, I’m also now posting my services on Thumbtack. If you don’t know about this website you should check it out. If you have a business that you’d like to advertise you REALLY should check it out. It’s easy to use, functional, and it’s free!
The Story…
talk about text.soul.culture. this album is the perfect mix of the three. enjoy.
Page CXVI Hymns…
if you are like me you love the hymns and the richness of the lyrics [no pun intended]. if you don’t know about these guys you should check them out at www.pagecxvi.com
but for a good taste enjoy this live stream of the newest hymns album.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for your presence in my life over the last year. 2010 has been a good one! I’m very excited to see all that 2011 has in store for us all. Wishing you all the best in the new year!
enjoy…
The Sauce
People always ask me about my homemade Italian red sauce or Pomodoro sauce. Honestly it is so easy that people almost don’t believe me. The key I always tell them is the ingredients. Particularly the tomatoes and the olive oil. I found this article recently comparing canned tomatoes and thought it was really helpful and something others might find helpful too. And don’t forget to note that Sclafani Brand Tomatoes are some of the very best!
Click here to see the link: Canned Tomoates | The Battle of The Best
enjoy
Veni Emmanuel
enjoy
i love this translation of James 1:2-5. this has been a real encouragement to me lately!
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. James 1:1-5 The Message
i love the phrase “your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.” i really believe in the idea of being authentic, not fake, and honest. and the truth is my journey of faith has not been one that i would ever describe as easy. as a counselor and pastor i am constantly challenging those i serve to “put their faith out in the open and to let people see their true colors.” it means share your doubts, tell the truth – life is hard, asking for help, etc. having lots of changes where I work, having had knee surgery, my wife having surgery, things being tight financially, along with juggling a 4 year old and a 2 year old, can make you wonder what in the world is going on some times. i’m thankful for my past that reminds me of God’s faithfulness in the midst of other past difficult hard times. it reminds me that God does provide and protect. and it reminds me that in the moment God is brewing something up for the future that is exciting. i hope this text finds you well and gives you some encouragement as it has to me. the truth is in the midst of the hard and the difficult there present with it is also the wonderful, exciting, and great things that are happening.
God help me to see the both and.
and help me to continue to walk humbly, moving forward with you!
Amen.
Advent Resources
The two resources that I put together for my church to use for the 2010 Advent season are available for free download. Feel free to use them and share them with others.
peace
click here to download
VOTE FOR ME!!! {if you want that is}
Hello all!
I hope you all are well. I am writing you because it appears that my efforts to help people experience a fantastic wedding day has been paying off. I have been nominated for Evening Magazine’s Best Of! I am writing to ask if you’d consider voting for me. The last two years I have won awards from Wedding Wire, Martha Stewart, and Seattle Bride Magazine…what an honor! I sure would love to add this to my list of accomplishments. .
Voting time is from now through the beginning of October.
So, if you are so inclined, please stop by the Evening Magazine site and vote (1x for each email address ;)…and tell a friend to do the same! I know many of you have not seen me do a wedding, but you do know me and my character and could say if you’d recommend me to someone for officiating there wedding. If you feel like you can say that then you can vote and if you know friends or family that could do the same please spread the word!
To vote…just follow the link and click VOTE and follow a long. It should only take a few minutes!
VOTE FOR SEATTLE WEDDING PASTOR
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for your consideration of voting for me. I hope you all are well, feel free to call or email anytime if you have any questions about this or if you’d just like to get together.
Most of all, thank you for supporting my work!
mess of me…
this rocks!
beautiful…
have you all seen this video yet? it is amazing! enjoy!
Annoying (but very funny) mom sayings…
http://youtube.com/v/A0ZpuA8_YYk
happy mothers day to all the moms!
Treat your momma right!
http://youtube.com/v/JvSCZpZpww8
happy mother’s day to all the mommas!
messy spirituality pt.01
i find that in my line of work you see the messiness of life coming at you in every direction. and yet at the same time you can enter a church and in general everyone seems to have everything all together and figured out. this always makes me wonder “what’s the deal with all of this?” when it comes to being authentic the reality is we(people made in the image of God)are messy. we are people who are committed one day|moment and lazy the next. we serve and we are selfish, we love and we hate, we worship God and we worship ________. we are messy, inconsistent, erratic, lopsided, imperfect, and unfinished.
over the next who knows how long i hope to blog some more of my thoughts on this as i go through this book “Messy Spirituality – God’s annoying love for imperfect people” by Michael Yaconelli. It is a book I have read a number of times and have always found it challenging, encouraging, and thought provoking.
here are a couple quotes to leave you thinking…
“spirituality is not a formula; it is not a test. It is a relationship. Spirituality is not about competency; it is about intimacy. Spirituality is not about perfection; it is about connection.”
“The way of the spiritual life begins where we are now in the mess of our lives. Accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of spirituality not because the spiritual life will remove our flaws but because we let go of seeking perfection and, instead, seek God, the one who is present in the tangledness of our lives.”
“spirituality is not about being fixed; it is about God being present in the mess of our unfixedness.”
stay tuned for more…
grace and peace,
r
food…it’s not fair
So I don’t know about you all, but there was a time for me when i could eat anything and as much of anything that I wanted and had little to no negative effects. my metabolism was great. these days not so much. i’ve been trying to be wise with the foods i eat and the amounts of it that i allow into my body. the truth is i have a pretty typical italian man body that is moving into a later stage of life which basically means it all goes to my stomach. lame! to all this i say…
it’s not fair!
enjoy!
Being Missional in Seattle…a conversation with Eugene Cho
Tomorrow CC is hosting Eugene Cho for a conversation on what it means|looks like to be missional in Seattle. He is the pastor of a great Church called Quest.
I know for a while I have felt a great need for the church as a whole to start re.thinking how they/we go about doing church. Moving to the idea of being the church vs. doing church. I will save you from my soapbox for now, but all that to say I’d love your prayers for this conversation to go well. And by well I mean that is simple pushes us all in our thinking and helps us ask some good hard questions about what it means to be the church.
Here is a cool video clip about quest that has Eugene in it.
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2230510&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
An Invitation to Quest Church from Quest Church on Vimeo.
Enjoy your Friday!
r
i’ve seen it all…
so for the last two months the crew has been great at bringing friends to our happenings. one girl in particular has been so cool. asking lots of great questions, energized, eager to learn, and just great at meeting people. anyways, she asked me an age old question that i get asked all the time. especially now having over 15 years of experience in youth work. the question was about “why do you do what you do” and what i would add to the question that is typical is the word that follows the question. “still” well this video is not only funny, but also true. i have seen all of these and so much more and it is hard to imagine me not doing this kind of work.
i hope this video answers some of the questions and provides you with some laughter!
new U2esday!
so the new u2 album is out if you didn’t know! it is very different from other albums, but that is what I love about this band. i think you will find it needs to marinate a bit in your soul as you listen, but in the end you will find some jems.
also if you want to download the album for only $4 then you need to go to AMAZON.COM and hit the “digital download – mp3” section and you can follow the add. I did it already and am currently enjoying!
hope you do too!
peace,
r
a panel conversation at MHGS
i have the privileged of being a part of a panel conversation tomorrow at Mars Hill Graduate School for a class taught by Dr. Chelle Sterns – an amazing woman, teacher, theologian, musician, and member of CC the church that serve. I feel very honored to have been asked and am excited to be back at the school that has been so influential to my life, ministry, and practice. I will share more about this after tomorrow!
* mhgs photo by Patrick Love
* dr. Sterns photo by Colleen Taylor
thank you all!
So I know I have been asking for some votes for the local magazine Seattle Bride that is taking votes for the best of 2009. I’d still love your vote for best of wedding officiant. it has to be done by february 15 and it only takes a minute and it would really mean a lot to me and the work that i do.
Just click here to vote! SB.best.of.2009
i found out the other day that another website that i’m on for weddings called Wedding Wire and Martha Stewart Weddings did an internal survey of brides/vendors and I won the 2009 brides choice award!
Thank you all for your support thank you clients and vendors that I’ve worked with you all have helped make my job a joy!
TEXT | SOUL | CULTURE 