The Stegall’s are spending the New Year with us for the new decade.
Here’s a snippet Mark’s thoughts while we were on the road yesterday…
How was YOUR New Years?
… and…
What did you think 2010 would be like?
Tag Archive - Friends
Happy New Year
12.5 Hours…
… of love will get you this:
Man, I love Tam.
What happens to you when you are so exhausted that you become delirious?
Break-IN
Yesterday… I went to go pick up my son, Chance, from school.
Within 3 minutes, I received DM’s (Direct Messages from Twitter) from friends that said, “I think your Twitter account has been hacked.”
See these two:
Let me lovingly introduce you to… Jay McKenney (@jaymckenney) & Tyler Braun (@tylerbraun).
I am SO glad I take photos of EVERYTHING and keep them all filed away for moments such as these. These two wonderful boys “broke” into my house and had some fun.
To be honest, I probably deserved it from Jay. We’ve been pranking each other for YEARS. I’ve played PLENTY of pranks on him… including the all famous “TIN FOIL” incident… when a team of us tinfoiled every last surface of his office. It was epic. However… Tyler is a new player. He and his wife, Rose, were in our small group when we were at our last church and we’ve never pranked each other because they’re just so sweet. But apparently, Ty has been hanging out WAY to much with Jay.
Anyway…
I quickly logged on from my iPhone to see what was going on and saw these following EIGHT tweets posted. I tried to clear up what I could from my iPhone, but could only do so much. You can click on the photo below for an enlarged view (I’ve conveniently marked which ones were NOT mine and which ones were… Tweetdeck = Jay. Echofon = ME).
I quickly realized I hadn’t been “hacked”… but THEY were in my HOUSE. Ok… I didn’t know Ty was there till a bit later… but these tweets had “Jay McKenney” written all over them. I immediately called Jay. But he wouldn’t pick up. Of course not. Who picks up the phone when they are doing evil work? So, I called my neighbor, Laura… who by the way, is the WORST liar in the world… and figured it all out.
Chance and I rushed home and found our home VIOLATED!
While Jay was twitter-pranking and changing settings on my laptop (trying to steal passwords so he could do it from home as well… jerk), Tyler ran around the house and re-arranged as much as he could. He did good. We found:
- the couches turned TOWARDS the walls
- my earbuds IN my guitar
- the ice cream IN the fridge, not the freezer
- our bread IN the freezer
- candles that were once evenly situated, grouped in one bundle
- sheet music hidden
VIOLATED…
… but not for long. My vengeance is coming.
Oh… and I believe that God is blessing me at this moment. I have some pretty creative ideas… that’s the core of who I am… BUT the ideas that are stirring within me are SO AMAZINGLY fantastic right now that I know they MUST be from God Himself.
Stay tuned… no one knows when it’s coming… but when it hits — it will be UNMISTAKABLY glorious.
What’s the best prank you’ve ever played?
OR
What’s the best prank ever played on YOU?
Tam’s 39th
This past weekend, we went to down to surprise Tammy for her 39th birthday.
We (Cathi, Mark, Lynse, Kristen, Brent, Brian & I) planned this out a month for this… and this is what happened:
To view Brent’s view of the whole thing, click on this link: Tam’s Surprise
We love you, Tam! I’m so glad you were born 39 years ago… and so blessed to call you friend.
Alece Ronzino: I’m Exhaustulated
Meet Alece.
She’s real. She’s raw. She’s AH-MAZ-ING!
Alece’s story humbles me. Her mission inspires me. The example her life exudes pushes me to be more gracious, loving and prayerful towards others… even the ones who are not kind to me.
Thank you, Alece, for revealing your heart here today. I’m so humbled to call you “friend”.
—————————————————————
I was reading along in Isaiah when I tripped over this phrase: “You have not wearied yourselves for Me, O Israel.” I brushed off my knees and copped a squat right there. I knew exactly what God was talking about. And I knew I was just as guilty as Israel was.
After over eleven years in full-time ministry, I know full-well what it’s like to weary myself. I’ve put in the ridiculously long hours. I’ve juggled an impossible schedule. I’ve reached the point of burnout and lived to tell about it.
And as I fall in bed exhausted at the end of a long day week month year decade, my heart sighs, “I’m weary…”
If I listen closely enough, I hear God’s voice, ever loving and gentle. “But you haven’t wearied yourself for Me.”
Without even realizing it, I’ve been wearing my exhaustion like a badge of honor. My demanding schedule and ever-growing to do lists became my identity. As if fatigue is the mark of an accomplished missionary.
If I’m most honest, I wearied myself because I thought my value lay in my productivity. I mistook accomplishments for significance. I bought into the lie that busyness is the telltale sign of successful leadership.
But while I was getting stuff done, and even—by God’s grace—impacting lives, I was ultimately toiling for the wrong reasons.
The work of discipling young leaders in Africa is worth every ounce of my effort and energy. I want to tire myself out doing what I love. But I need to keep the motives of my heart in check. Wearying myself for some self-serving purpose is just plain tiring.
I want to weary myself for Him.
Then and only then am I strengthened.
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