ROCK THE VOTE!

As we approach the end of the year (can you believe it?) I had a brilliant idea (or at least it was brilliant in my mind). I am now only five posts away from 200. In honor of the new year and so many posts, I'd like to make a request. If you have been reading my blog and like it (or even if you don't like it all that much), now is the time for you to give feedback. Take a few minutes and look through my archives (located on the left of your screen) to find your favorite post. When you have made your decision, post your answer in the comment section of this post. I'll tally up the votes and post a "best of" list on the 200th post.

Let the voting commence!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

RECHARGED

Steph, Gab, and I spent a few days with my great friend, Blair Fowler, and his beautiful family. We had such an amazing time relaxing and catching up with each other. Steph and Courtney (Blair's wife) talked "shop" about nursing stuff, Gabby played with Brock and Ollie (the kiddos) quite a bit, and Blair and I got to watch a lot of football! Here are a couple of pics of where they live:




After having been with the Fowlers for a few good days, we headed up to Borger to visit my folks (I'm still looking for some good pics of them, so bear with me). Please, if you think about it, say a little (or humongous) prayer for my dad. He's every bit of 90 years old, and his body seems to be breaking down more and more every day. As he struggled to get up out of his chair and to the bedroom to put his shoes on, he looked at me and said, "Son, I bet you never thought you'd see me moving this fast, huh?" At least his sense of humor isn't breaking down.

I ended up preaching in his place this morning because he didn't have the strength or energy to get ready for worship service. That's very unlike him. I mean, we're talking about a man who preached his own mother's funeral. We're talking about a man whose doctors told him to stop preaching and he refused. It kills me to see him so feeble. Please pray for him and for my family.

Now that we've gotten a little Sabbath and are recharged, it's time to finish the year strong! I hope and pray that your year finishes strong as well. Dig into the Word and keep your mind open to its guidance. All the best!!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

GIVE THANKS

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
(1 Chronicles 16:8)


Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
(Psalm 100:4)


Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.
(Psalm 107:21)


But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1 Corinthians 15:57)


Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate... and Thankfulness!

ENOUGH

Are you content? Do you have all you need? What else do you want?


Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

41-13

Although this post is a couple days late, it's not too late to get your guns up!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

SIMPLE PLEASURES

I love watching Gabby get so excited about staying in a hotel room. Ever since she found out we were staying at a hotel this weekend, she has been planning what she wants to do, and it's adorable. When we first got here, she claimed "dibs" on the drawers because she loves unpacking her bags. Since then, she has been on top of everything, including the schedule. She was the first one awake this morning (five minutes before the alarm), so she quickly jumped in the shower...before she realized there was no bath soap in the shower! So she went to the front desk to ask for soap, extra towels, etc. Now, at 8:35 AM, she's watching Saturday morning cartoons on the nice hotel flat-screen, waiting for us to be ready so we can go eat breakfast before we have to leave to go to the venue for today's concerts.

It's the simple pleasures that make life so much fun!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again

On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again





On the road again
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends
Insisting that the world keep turning our way and our way

Is on the road again
I just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again
And I can't wait to get on the road again



© 1980; Full Nelson Music

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

SEE YOU IN SAGINAW!

For those of you who didn't know, or haven't been paying attention to the calendar, or don't really care either way, I wanted to let you know that the group of knuckleheads (and the 2 old guys) pictured above will be performing for the last time this year on Saturday and Sunday. This Saturday, we'll be at the Saginaw Church of Christ in Saginaw, TX. This will be a unique day for us. We're doing two concerts that day: at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM.

Then, on Sunday, we'll be heading down to Riesel, TX for a 7:00 PM concert. This concert was recently added as a community concert, so it's not on the Acappella website event calendar, but I'm sure people could find out where the concert will be if you ask around. The town is just the right size to find these types of things out easily!

If you live anywhere near either of those places and would like to see us (and meet Roo & Goo), this is a great opportunity!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

JUST BE YOU

My little girl loves this song. She's been singing it for the past few weeks now, so I thought I'd share it with you. I hope it speaks to you (both male and female) in a way that will touch your soul and open your eyes to what God has in store for you.



Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

YOU GOT A FRIEND IN ME

Friend 3: Brandon Scott Thomas
- I don't really know Brandon very well, and I don't have a hilarious story about him. What I will say is that he is a special guy and I'm glad to call him brother and friend. For the few of you who may not know, Brandon is one of the best worship leaders I know. He has been leading worship with the Zoe Group for over a decade and is still doing a marvelous job of leading people to God's throne. It's because of Brandon and people like him that I know so many great worship songs. What a wonderful way to express your passion for Jesus! Last year at the Zoe conference in Nashville was the last time I got to worship with him, but I look forward to it again someday, whether here or in heaven.

It also helps to know that Brandon is a Texan and, even though he went to my rival college (Abilene Christian University), he's still a Longhorn fan, so that takes him off the hook for being a Wildcat!

Sadly, Brandon recently celebrated his 40th birthday. If you get a chance, stop by his blog and give him some love. I'm sure he could use it!
I guess time flies when you're having fun...
Love ya, Brandon!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

FRIENDS: HOW MANY OF US HAVE THEM?

Friend 2: Bryan Hackett
- I had to find the very best pic of Bryan that I could find because, besides my wife and Jesus, he's my very best friend! That wasn't always the case, though.

I'm a year older (and taller) than Bryan. He started school at WT my sophomore year and we got off to a horrible start! I'll give you the ten peso version. See, there was this girl (you know it's either really bad, really funny, or both when the story starts with "there was this girl.")... I had been dating this girl for a while at this point and she and I had gotten pretty serious. Bryan comes in as this freshman scum and immediately falls for her. Thus began the feud. Nobody won!

Over the next couple of years, Bryan and I played in the band together and sang in various ensembles together. Apparently, we couldn't get enough of each other. The problem was that we couldn't stand each other! He hated me, I hated him. We even stood next to each other and sang "praise" to God... and wanted to strangle each other!

It had ended up that the girl I was dating dumped me, he went after her... and failed, and we were both bitter. Bitter at her for not wanting either of us, bitter at each other for having gone after her, just plain bitter. Then, Bryan's junior year, along comes Susan. She swept him off his feet. It was the first time he had ever confided in me about anything, "I really like her, Rob, and I hope she likes me, too."
"Go for it, Dude. What's it gonna hurt?"
(Can we say, "Worst soap opera ever?!")

Twelve years later Bryan and Susan have a fantastic marriage and two beautiful children together, and I have the best friend a guy could ask for. Love ya, Bry-guy!



Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

I'M ALIVE!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

DON'T BE TALKIN' 'BOUT FRIENDS...

Back in the early 90's Acappella released a song called "Don't Be Talkin' 'Bout Friends" which, as you can guess by the title, addresses the way we speak of our loved ones when they aren't around to hear it. I got to thinking about the song and I said to myself, "Self, you should talk about your friends when they're not around... in a good way, of course!" So I'll talk about my friends and if they're your friends, too, you can add your two cents (or ten pesos, whatever floats your boat).

note: These are in no particular order...except that I was thinking about them in this order.

Friend 1: Blake Bergstrom
- Blake is a great dude! I really don't know him very well, but he's the type that can make friends with a fence post and have the best stories to tell about their adventures together.

I met Blake for the first time back in March when Spot (my old truck) died. Steph and I were looking for a vehicle for me and she found one on craigslist that looked like it could be good. I called the number and got voicemail...from a guy with a whole lot of energy! I immediately thought, "Youth pastor. He's gotta be a youth pastor." He called me back and wouldn't you know it...he is a pastor! Since his name wasn't on the craigslist ad, I had no idea who he was. Come to find out, he's the new campus pastor of my sister-in-law, Ashley's church, Cross Point - Nashville. Steph and I had seen him preach for the first time at Cross Point just a few weeks earlier. How crazy is that?!

In talking more with Blake, we found out he had recently moved to Nashville from Oklahoma (which was kinda weird because we were trying to decide whether we would move to Oklahoma or not). We asked him what part of Oklahoma he came from and he said, "Oklahoma City." And I, being nosey, asked, "What part?" His reply, "Edmond." That's when I knew this car was meant for us.

So, I went to test-drive the car. He had it all clean and ready to roll when I showed up. He handed me the keys and said, "Take it for a spin and see what you think." I did. As I was pulling out of his driveway he turned to me and said, "Hey, I don't know if you know who I am..." I cut him off and said, "Yeah, I do."

Yes, I bought my car from that guy! You're welcome. Love ya, Blake!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

Good Stuff

I was reading some of the bloggers I follow and came across this Brandon Scott Thomas post, this Trey Morgan post, and this Blake Bergstrom post. I consider all of these guys my friends and brothers, although I have very little relationship with either of them. If you don't read any of these guys, give them a try. They just might challenge you and make you laugh out loud all at the same time! And we need that in our lives lest we shrivel up and die!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

Who Would Have Thought...

...that a Lamb could rescue the souls of men?


Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

Who Would Have Thought...

...that they would win 10-3?



























Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

My Book List

I have always enjoyed reading... except, of course, most of my textbooks when I was in school. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to get back to reading on a regular basis, so I have become zealous for the written word again.

I've got an interesting (at least, interesting to me) list of books that I am currently reading and planning on reading in the near future.

I am currently reading Wild At Heart by John Eldredge. I read it back in '05 or '06, so I'm re-reading it now and learning a lot about myself and how my life has changed since my marriage. I'm also learning how to love and serve my family better now; that's always helpful.

Once I finish that book, I plan on finishing Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs, finally starting His Needs Her Needs by Willard F. Harley, Jr., and re-reading Every Man's Battle by Arterburn & Stoeker, and Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey. I know these books may sound boring to some of you, especially if there are younger readers of my blog, but these books are exactly what I need right now.

I am also in the process of reading through the Bible in a year again. This year, my translation of choice is the English Standard Version (ESV). My in-laws bought my wife and me matching ESV Study Bibles for Christmas last year and they have been extremely helpful to us in our walk with Christ. I've also been more interested in the Holman Christian Standard Bible and the New Living Translation this year.

How about you? What books are you reading or planning on reading? What Bible translations are you liking these days?

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

And I Quote... (a double-shot)

"I don't want excuses, I want performance."
-Roger Sharp to the Mustang High School drum line after having had enough








"I'm gonna try to say this in the most manly way possible, but you smell delicious."
-Zac George to a dude after a concert in New York









Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

I Want...

I've been hearing that phrase a lot lately, and it got me to thinking, "What do I want?"

Some people want security, some want freedom, some want easy, some even want difficult.
Young people want to be older while older people want to be younger... again.
Americans want the latest gadget, Africans want the next meal.
The wealthy want more, the poor want any.

Is there something you want that you "just can't live without?"
Is there something you want that will change your life?
Is there something you want that you know you can't have?

What do you want?

I'll tell you what I want later...

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate