The Frozen Tundra

This past weekend I (brian) was blessed to travel from the winter weather in Houston to the Twin Cities...and the frozen tundra. I mean seriously, when I left H-town it was 75 degrees and when I arrived in Minneapolis/St. Paul is was 17! Yeah, I couldn't feel my face. For those of you who now live in a warm climate...I'm sure you know what I mean.

I was honored to share in an amazing day with a close friend of ours, Matt Blackford. It was a day that he would commit his life to Amy and I was honored to sing a couple of songs for that amazing moment. But the wedding was not the only thing that I did while in the North.

Weddings can be expensive. But, Matt and Amy had found me a host family to stay with. How can I say this...they were awesome! As soon as I arrived in the Twin Cities, Tom and Patti picked me up from the airport and gave me a quick tour of the St. Paul area. We quickly returned to their house and I was able to find some extra clothes (I know what many of you are thinking...and you're absolutely right...I'm a wuss). After about 20 minutes Tom, who is about 6'3" and 240, laid his big paw of a hand and said, "Pastor, we're going to a wine tasting and you're coming!" Now, I was happy to oblige. We went to a quaint little store and tried several wines(eight in all), and left with a couple for the evening. As we were leaving the wine house, Tom laid his big paw of a hand again on my shoulder and said, "Pastor, have you ever had oysters?" "No" I replied. "Well, we're havin' oysters and you're havin' some." Alright, now I don't know how many of you have ever had oysters...but I put a number of them down, and right out of the half shell (for those of you who've never had the joy...think wet mushroom that tastes like the sea), but of course that came with another bottle of wine. Then, dinner was to start. Another couple came over and wouldn't you know it...they brought wine. We had oyster stew and several bottles of wine. Needless to say, I felt like I was in Europe once again! Tom and Patti were incredible hosts are the epitome of Hebrews 13.3 which says, "Do not neglect to entertain strangers..." To Tom and Patti...THANK YOU!

I was also able to visit with some very dear friends, Josh and Gail Brecht. I traveled with Gail for a year in a Christian rock band. We haven't seen each other in probably 4 years. As a musician, every once in a while you come across someone and you think, "yeah, she's got it." Well that's Gail and her husband Josh. They've since started a band called Fuller Still. If you have a chance, check them out. Much love to you both.

Below are the pictures from the weekend. I hope you enjoy!

Well, friends...we have made another trip in the wonderful state of Texas. That's right, we actually got out of Houston and headed to the State Captial. Does everyone know where that is?? All you Texans aren't allowed to answer.

Brian was asked to preach at Concordia University, Austin at their 9.08 chapel. It's a student led chapel held on thursday evenings at, you guessed it, 9.08. We were invited by Ted Doering (the son of our Senior Pastor), who has become a close friend. It was a joy to visit with him, eat at Pei Wei, and enjoy the tea at Mozarts. As a part of preaching, Brian was asked if he would lead the worship team. He, of course, was overjoyed to play...go figure, Brian overjoyed that he gets to play music. Who would have thought? The worship team was awesome and they all did well. It was fun for Brian to be able to mentor others in service to the church. Kudos to everyone involved.

For those of you who are reading and attended another Concordia (you know, the one in the corn field), it's still the best. For those of you who didn't attend Concordia Cornfield, we're sorry. Someday everyone will realize that Seward is the place to be...unless it's Friday! Anyway, we really did enjoy our time. It was unfortunate, but we weren't able to stay more than one night and missed our opportunity to be tourists in Ausitn. We did drive by the state capital building. We're hoping to get back soon and spend some more time there.

Just as a ps, we want to thank Nate and Mindy for opening their home. It was awesome to see you three. Much love and peace.

A St. Louis Wedding

We made a trip to St. Louis this past weekend for the wedding of Meghan and Tim, friends of ours from our church community here in Houston. We were blessed to be able to attend the wedding (all while seeing family who live in St. Louis...we love you guys) and Brian did the wedding. That's right, it was the first official wedding performend by the new pastor, and as far as we know, they are married. Everything was signed, nobody passed out, they said "I do"...so, we think it took.

A perk to the wedding was the reception. I know what you are thinkng, "isn't that the perk of most weddings?" Well, yes...but this reception was held in Busch Stadium!!! In fact, you almost forgot that you were in the stadium until you went into the restroom (there's only so many places with that many toliets lined along the wall). It was awesome...their pictures were on the jumbotron for all the city to see. We ate toasted raviolli (it's a St. Louis thing...if you've never had it...you need to), spring rolls made by Tim's mom and Grandma's risotto. Need we say more??

The pictures are for your enjoyment! There will be more to come about our time in St. Louis...

Under the Boardwalk

So we decided to take the afternoon to ourselves. And what better to do then go see the bay. Now, for a number of you, the days are slowly getting colder (we're jealous, by the way), but here in Southern Texas the days are still warm (when we say warm we mean in the 90's). So, with the afternoon off, we decided to drive down to Kemah, Texas.

Kemah lies right on the edge of Galveston Bay. For those of you who don't know, Galveston Bay is rather unique since it is both fresh water (the San Jacinto and Trinity River, plus the ship channel via the Buffalo Bayou) and salt water (the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean). The Bay has some of the best shrimp in the US, and at the right time of year, one can see dolphins swimming out front of boat.

Well, a number of years back, someone decided to renovate Kemah and create a boardwalk; complete with Amusement rides, restaurants, shops and plenty of seagulls. We spent a quite afternoon enjoying the ships as they came in from the bay, pelicans flying to and fro, and little kids playing in the water fountain (yes, Brian jumped in as well). We had dinner at a small Mexican restaurant on the bay (which we barely ate any of...the portions were huge) and then headed home, but not before stopping by NASA. We didn't have time to visit Johnson Space Center but we saw it from our car. There's always next time.

Enjoy the photos!

It's Moving Time

Greetings y'all! The time has come. It's hard to believe really. Moving to our first call has always seemed so far down the road. But no longer: we move on Saturday to the lovely state of Texas. Now, for all our friends and family who are worried that we will catch whatever disease it is that forces all people from Texas to exclaim their state better than any other...don't worry. It's nice...but it isn't better than every other state. And for those of you who are worried that we'll turn to the Stro's? Really don't fear...they're worse than we are this year!!!

All things considered, it has been a joy to see the ways that God decides he wants to use His people. Have you thought about how God is using you where you are?

A Little Jaunt in England

As many of you know, Erin and I will soon be heading to Texas. But before we could there...we were privileged to attend a conference in Sheffield, England with two of our close friends David and Ally Saxe.

In preparation for the work that we'll be doing in Houston, we wanted to experience the DNA of St. Thomas' (go to the website if you want to know more about St. Thom's) in Sheffield. What an awesome time. We stayed with members of the church in their homes for the entire week. It's always wonderful to sit over some tea (think black tea with milk) and chat about what God is doing in the lives of his people. Sean and Alison were incredibly wonderful to Erin and I. And we just want to say hello to Joshua, Issac and Lydia: the three children who allowed us to invade their home for a week.

The week was full of all sorts of adventures: including a walk through the peak district (which, if you have ever seen the newest version of Pride and Prejudice, is where Keira Knightly stood overlooking the valley), time at Chattsworth (which is owned by the Duke and Duchess of Yorkshire and was used in the film as Mr. Darcy's home), plenty of time at English pubs, and even an afternoon at Starbucks. The best part of the week was spending time at the two churches and learning from others who want to see God's kingdom come. Cheers to the incredible staff at St. Thomas'!!

Below you will find all sorts of pictures from our trip. You will note that there is one picture that appears to be nothing but fog...that's what it is. A great view of Sheffield...wouldn't you agree?!?!