A couple of weeks ago we stopped at Sonic to get a couple drinks. The carhop handed Tracy and me our drinks, and we discovered that Sonic for two is not going to last much longer . . .

Ian: That’s Daddy’s pop.
Daddy: Yep. This is Daddy’s.
Ian: Where’s my pop?

It’s pretty much the cutest thing ever.

And it’s one of the most profound things, too.

He starts (in a barely audible whisper) with “Dear God, thank you for this day . . .” and then proceeds with a long list of thank yous: “Thank you for Mommy; thank you for daddy; thank you for O-wey (his baby brother, Owen); thank you for Caleb (his best friend); thank you for . . . .” pretty much anyone he can think of (with several more mentions of Caleb).

Tracy and I were talking about how his entire prayer is “Thank you.”

I want my prayers to be more thankful and less about me.

Dear God, thank you for Ian!

Just got done transferring Larry Norman’s “In Another Land” to CD. I was fortunate enough to find it and “Only Visiting This Planet” on cassette several years ago. When I saw that Larry had passed away, it made me think about those tapes and the fact that at some point, they won’t be playable anymore, thus I am archiving them so I can enjoy them for a long time to come.

Larry was a very talented musician who doesn’t get enough credit for his contributions, but I’m sure the Christian music industry will find a way to make money from his death even as they shunned him during his life.

I think I am just beginning to understand mine. I still feel like I have a ways to go before I totally understand myself, but with the help of the Word, a close group of friends and family, and an amazing wife, it is becoming clearer.

According to the Color Code, I am a “white” which means the core motive that drives me is PEACE. This can exhibit itself in many ways, some good, others not so good. It makes a lot of sense to me and explains to me why I do a lot of the things I do. I’ve also come to the realization that God has not gifted me to be a “creative” (although I do create, and think that we all have a piece of that in us), but rather my gifts allow me to be what I call an “editor.” I feel like I can look at a project or situation and fine tune it or find ways to do it better. I’ve lately come to really embrace that. It’s freeing.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, I’m continuing to grow and learn more about myself and more about the specific tasks that He has gifted me to do in the Kingdom. Very cool!

[My friend Josh is also talking about this a lot on his blog.]

I’m interested to see how a church might be able to use this.

Put your music on a sampler that you and others on the CD then sell at your shows, thus a huge cross-promotion kind of thing. This is the kind of stuff I like to see happening.

Yesterday, we finally opened our new worship center. The atmosphere was great, all the technology seemed to work (at least, what was installed), and the baptistery was even ready in time for Betty to be baptized during the service. That was the best moment of the whole morning. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to do baptisms in the service; we’ve had to wait until the end of the morning and then show them on video the following week.

All the hard work and long hours were worth it. It was strange to only have two services instead of five, but definitely OK by everyone. I’m glad to be through it, but there’s still some work to be done.

Here are some pics that Gary took.

I just continue to pray that he would grow into a man of character, integrity, and grace, and that I wouldn’t waste one second of time I get to hang with him. Love you, Bud!