Over the next few months, I”ll be taking trips to Philly, PA, Wilmington, Delaware, So Cal and Nor Cal, Haiti, South Africa and Zimbabwe and back to NC. No doubt, I will add more travel as opportunities present themselves.

Seth Godin, in his latest book Linchpin reminded me that most people who succeed, don’t have a plan b. They go all out, and pursue a dream! I think Necole and I feel the same, we have no plan b, no other dream, HELP is our final destination as we pursue to rescue orphans, restore their hope and renew their communities!

Everything is on the table, there’s no looking back. We are doing what we’re both called to do, and we will do whatever it takes to succeed.

Which means a lot of travel, times away from the kids, saying, “hello” and “goodbye” to friends. I love it and hate it, but I have to do it.

Tom Davis and I were discussing this one day last year in Austin, I asked him how he deals with so much travel. His reply: ‘It’s my sacrifice to the Lord, for the orphan.”

Doing something good, or great, will always require uncomfortable moments, times of aniexty and stress that are hard to fathom.

But greatness is found in the willingness to live uncomfortable, so to comfort, I say, “goodbye.”

For the orphan, and the glory of Jesus!

Necole and I have decided to move to Raleigh, NC next month. We are so happy! We will open up another office in Raleigh for HELP and build partnerships in the Southeast to help rescue and restore orphans.

Jeff, Scotty and John will still run the local HELP in Austin. I’m also working on some other partnerships in Raleigh. We hope to move by the end of July. So please pray for us to sell or lease our home.

We are definitely taking steps of faith. Please pray for us! In the next day or so I will blog in greater detail about the move. Until then-shalom!

My friend John was from my neighborhood. We were not best friends but he was really close to some of my new best friends that were now Christians. It gets complex because these new best friends used to be enemies, but that is another story!

Long story short I begin to hang out with my friend John a lot. I vividly remember one night we stayed up talking about Jesus. John was a gangster who had done some really bad things and really did not have much of a future. But he was a dad, so he had something to live for.

After talking about Jesus all night, my friend was trippin that I was a Christian-he simply could not comprehend this new reality. He came to youth group a few times and I desperately prayed for his salvation.

So on that evening he made a promise to me to be open to God. He also made a promise to me not to hang on the avenue-a violent place where every gang from Stockton would chill on Friday and Saturday nights. I dropped him off at football practice that morning…It was the last time I saw him alive!

He broke his promise…I’m still mad at him…I received a phone call at 4AM. My friend Jose was frantic on the phone, he asked me if I heard about John, of course I said I had not. He preceded to tell me that John was killed in a drive-by shooting on the Avenue just a few hours earlier.

Why did my friend break his promise? I’ll never know the answer to that question. I was so distraught, angry and mad. I made a promise that day to never live that kind of life again. My 11 year-old nephew was already in prison because he shot someone, both of my cousin were in prison, my brother was in prison and multiple friends were in prison.

A few months later I was speaking at a church. This little girl pulled on my pant leg, I looked down at her in complete confusion. Lucky for me, her grandmother came to my rescue. She picked-up the little girl and introduced us…It dawned on me that this was John’s daughter and this was John’s mother. These stories are common in Stockton, CA. It is what it is…But I still believe it does not have to be that way!

I remember being at a neighborhood party one evening. This dude was setting on the couch. He was in my neighborhood, but he did not belong. I was motioned to come into the back-room by some friends. They told me that the dude on the couch was the dude who killed John. WTF…serious? They asked me if we should take him out, then they remembered that I have a new life and they asked me to leave so I would not get involved.

I looked at them with a sense of desperation, these dudes had no mercy at all if they did not like you. I asked them to promise me that they would not seek revenge…I put them in a bad predicament. I went out of the room, introduced myself to the dude on the couch, John’s killer. I told him the story of John, how he was killed…This guy knew I was a preacher, I told him it would be wise to leave…He thanked me and left!!!

Rarely does a day go by without me thinking of my friend, the shooting and the images of his daughter that still haunt me to this day. I hope and pray that our conversation about Jesus-His love and mercy, made an impact on my friend…I hope it led him to pray to God, seek forgiveness and find hope. I will simply never know.

I say all that to say this: We live in a broken world that is looking for hope and love, they are looking for God’s people to live out the Kingdom in real and tangible ways. That night I spoke to my friend, I had no clue that three weeks later I would be attending his funeral. The time is now, the call is vital and action is required…People are waiting for hope!

BTW: This may be the first time I’ve ever shared this story in a public setting in 15 years. I’m trying to be better at sharing my past and allowing God to be glorified.

So last night my Macbook had a massive heart-attack. I saw the vaunted folder with a questions mark.  That is not the sight one wants to see when they restart their computer. This is my 3rd major issues with Apple in 6 years. So I knew how this would go down. I made a quick appointment with the Genius Bar for the next day and I was not worried about the process. 

So this morning I arrived at 8AM at the Apple Store. By 8:30 I had a new hard drive. If I would have backed everything up properly this would have been no big deal. But, I didn’t, therefore I lost some key data including a lot of homework that is due this week. *yikes* 

For many of you non-Apple fans, this is why we love this company. Not every story always works out this way. But, I knew the company would take care of the problem in timely manner. There have been times that I had to wait for a certain parts to arrive, but for the most part I know I can trust the process. 

So again props to Apple, while I do wish they would create better hard drives that don’t crash as often, I’m thankful that when something goes wrong they help solve the problem.

I sent an email to a friend who has a great church in Raleigh, asking him to help me think-through this process. Through some conversation, we finally got to a point of “Hey, why don’t you move to Raleigh and open an office here and the team in Austin can continue to run the office there.”  If HELP has influence and partners in Texas and also in Raleigh (Atlanta to DC) our ability to grow quicker and do more would be substantial. Plus, those two regions are vital in the non-profit world. 

So of course I spoke with Necole and she was ready to move asap. (we love and really miss NC and we would love to raise our family their long-term). And, we still need to identify a key leader for the West Coast, maybe, 2010 or 2011 we will open yet another office. We potentially have some amazing church partners in Austin and in Raleigh. But there are some downsides. So, we’ve been in serious prayer mode that past few months and really just waiting for God to speak clearly and open some doors if he wants us to move. We love our life in Austin, we love the city, our friends etc. God has been good. Our main goal is really HELP. What’s best in the long-run?

If we move it will be this summer, but at this point it’s simply not clear, so when folks ask what we’re doing, we just can’t answer that question yet. Hopefully we will be able to soon. Our desire is to be in Raleigh this summer, yet we are in waiting mode in the meantime. Please pray for us, pray for direction and guidance-we need it!

Necole and I spent the majority of yesterday evaluating our present situation and discussing the future. We feel like we have two key windows in life:

Next 12-15 years:

We will still be SOMEWHAT young. How do we want to spend the next 15 years. After these 15 years I will be 50 and headed to the so-called second half of life. (not sure how that works, since I don’t want to live to be 100)

The Next 15 years: (these are not in order)

1. We deeply want HELP to thrive and make a significant impact. I don’t want to say we are fighting global poverty as much as we want to help leverage the local church that lives and does ministry in communities that deal with poverty. I just spoke with Steven last week and it looks like we’re going to invest in a church planting/business building vision in Cape Town. I feel like I’m getting a greater sense of clarity and focus for HELP. More to come in 2009.

2. Church Planting will be our key passion. I see HELP and church planting as one. It’s hard for me to separate the two in my thinking. I wish I could, but it’s just not possible. My wife feels the same way, which I love. We will either church plant or be involved in another church plant. Not sure when or where. I do have a vision for this.

3. Kids: We really want to spend as much time as possible with our kids. Life is fast and we want to embrace every moment so we can shape them and create memories.

4. Community: By nature we love to build communities. Its natural for us. We have great friends across the globe. We live in a day and age where many people don’t have a community to love and cherish-how sad!

5. Health: As we get older, health is more important then ever. We simply want to be active, spend time with our kids and community outside doing things that bring life to mind, body and soul.

6. Experience: Again, life is short and there is so much to do and see. We would love to spend a summer in Africa and Europe with our kids before they go to college. But more than anything we want to experience life and enjoy the journey, we don’t want work to dominate us and we forget that life is also about playing.

7. Missional: No matter what we do, or where we do it. We want the mission of God to be the foundation of our lives. What does it mean to see the Gospel lived out in every aspect of who we are and what we do. How does the fame of Jesus be the ultimate end-game in every endeavor.

8. Business: Necole will start a new biz in 2009. We want her to work part-time. The good thing about part-time for her is she can make a full salary. So that is helpful. We want her to be able to spend more time with the kids and have a flexible schedule so we can travel more and enjoy life.

As we move forward and pray for wisdom and direction, these are some of the key elements that we will focus on.

Today I wanted to share a recent personal struggle that many of us face. Which is balance. No doubt balance can be robust and very frustrating. At this point in time I can’t find a rhythm to eat healthy, workout, take care of the kids, read, pray & study, get things done around the house and live in community and find proper rest.

For me much of this stems from having two kids in school and my wife works full-time. I watch my kids everyday from 3-5:30PM. ( I try to work) I get up @ 6AM to try and get ahead of the game. But many days I just can’t get everything done.

Most Americans feel the same way. Not enough time and/or resources to find a healthy life balance. I think this is the biggest challenge in our culture. Missional living (being sent to love and serve our domains) seems so good to many, but most of the conversations I have go like this “I’m busy, life is busy, no time to rest, etc.” Being missional can seem so abstract. 

No easy answers to this imposing question. What do you do to balance life? I could really use your help. Or do you also struggle with the same issue?

• Wife is at the doctors determining the severity of her tumor and schedule her surgery. 
• Kenzie may have a kidney issue and goes to the doctor next week. Which of course I just found out she will be sedated. Err..
• Lost my wallet.
• Wife’s car had 3 flat tires-cause one is not enough. 
• Red Sox blew the game last night. Hard to sleep after that. 
• Just spoke to a friend who’s life has gone sideways. Freaking stupid-I love that dude and I’m praying that God brings shalom and restoration. (you know who you are -don’t give up and you always got a place to stay in Austin)

Tomorrow marks another big transition as my daughters embark on a new school; they are so excited. I would do anything to slow down time, but it’s not going to happen. Life is like a wild ride, it’s quick and you better live the life you desire before it’s to late. 

For me tomorrow is a symbol of change. I must find a new rhythm that is more focused and productive. I spent a lot of time in summer struggling to process some deep passions and dream big dreams.

Big dreams mean nothing without focus and hard work. Preparation is the difference between those who see their dreams come to life and those (me) who continue to dream.

Preparation separates the wannabes from the doers, those who have passion from those who act on their passion. I think if we want to see dreams come alive we got to get in the ring and start swinging. 

Summer is time to reflect, relax and enjoy life. Fall is time to focus and take care of business. 

Can’t wait for tomorrow.

I know i”m not healthy when this happens. Here are some common symptoms:

1. My prayer life SUCKS. Kinda like right now. 

2. I’m worried about stuff-usually this has to do with vision and mission. Decisions need to be made and I need to hear from God, which is hard if you’re prayer life stinks. 

3. Eating poorly. Which I’m doing. 

4. Not working out. You got it. I’m not working out at all right now. 

I hate getting in these ruts. It stinks, but I know it’s only for a season and I have to learn to endure. 

So if your in a rut-you’re not alone. Hopefully that makes you feel better.