Ok so I’m not sad to admit that there are a few technology companies that I really like. Apple of course and a new favorite Google. When I say new I don’t mean that I’ve just been introduced because I’ve been a fan for a while. New to me in that I’m currently reading the History of Google. Who knew how smart and how big a dreamers these guys are. I’ll post more this weekend after I read the book fully. I think I’ll title the article “What the Church can learn from Google”

Last night Danielle and I saw Switchfoot play in Dallas.

The night started out with us lost driving through Deep Elum looking for a place to eat. Randomly we saw Tim Foreman walking the streets. We talked to Tim for a bit and then went to eat. Apparently it was a popular spot because more of the band was in there.

I should point out at the start of this that I have been a Switchfoot fan for a long time but that I’m not one of the obsessive ones. I just happen to have worked for Jon and Tim’s dad and with Chad’s dad at my last church. The first time I saw them play was probably 12 years ago at a Youth Specialties convention.

Ok back to the story.

The last time we saw Switchfoot was at the House of Blues in San Diego. We’d taken a bunch of kids from our youth group and it seemed like we knew about 1/2 of the people there. It was a good vibe and felt like we were a part of something positive. A couple months later we went to the BroAm surf comp and they played on the beach. Those two events pretty much summed up life in San Diego. Beach, surf, friends and Jesus all rolled into one.

This last fall when it looked like God was saying that he had a different plan for our lives it was really tough. We were very open to wherever God wanted to send us and I am convinced that Dallas is that place. Everything here is so good for my family and for my ministry. It’s a great fit. But, we really miss San Diego. This weekend was already hard as I was feeling depressed. I miss the feeling of being home. I miss knowing where the great coffee shops are and I really miss the beach. The show last night brought those feelings to a head. John was singing a song called Yesterdays and at one point Danielle turned around to me with tears in her eyes.

I think what it is really is that in San Diego we just fit in. My lifestyle of youth ministry, flipflops and coffee was normal there and I felt a part of the community. As much as I like Dallas right now we definetely don’t fit it. It’s hard to describe but I know that it is going to take a while to feel a part of this community. The hard/good part is knowing that we are committed to being here for a long time. I honestly feel like God was saying that this is where he wants us to be for the long haul.

Ok enough sappy Lars time.

Today I was driving around and I realized that I have only filled up the gas tank in my car 1 time this month. Crazy thought after filling it up at least once a week when I lived in California. I should calculate how much I’m saving and buy myself something pretty.

Danielle sent a beautiful picture of her and the kids out to all of our friends to let them know a little bit about our new life in Texas. Here’s what we got back. Thanks to Brian

Yesterday I drove for about an hour through New Orleans on the way to the Airport. I was struck by something which made my heart hurt. The nicer areas of the city have already been rebuilt. Nice neighborhoods look like they did pre-Katrina. But, the poorer neighborhoods are definetely having a harder time rebuilding. Their are still thousands of FEMA trailers parked in front of homes which have not been renovated at all.

We spent a couple of days roofing houses and although it felt good to accomplish the task it was weird to roof a house that was completely gutted inside.

Yesterday I had one of those great youth pastor moments. We were on a bridge in the middle of Louisiana and ahead of us there was a huge accident. We managed to go down the up ramp and ended up at a rest stop. They were passing out maps with three possible alternative routes. They were labeled “Direct”, “Scenic” and “Xtreeme.” All of them were roughly 16 miles long which would take us around the accident and into Baton Rouge.

So I was a conflicted Youth Pastor. I assumed most people would take the direct route. I thought that scenic sounded more interesting but of course you can already guess what we one we took.

Xtreeme equaled 16 miles of dirt roads along the bayou. We headed out in the middle of the swamp land. Hauling down a dirt road is where memories are made. I’m glad I made the choice. At one point I did think about how I was going to explain this to AAA if I got stuck.

It’s times like that I’m glad that I do what I do. I could have taken the safe routea and known that I was going to get where I needed to go, I could have choosen the route that had the most things to look at but we chose the route with the most excitement and I’m glad I did.

11 hours later we finally made it to New Orleans. Last night was a sleepless night in a huge room with too many stinky high school boys.

Driving through Louisiana listening to country music. Boy has my life changed.

I’m heading to New Orleans with the high school group for a couple of days to do some Katrina relief projects. Since I’ve never been to there I’m pretty excited about going. It’ll be good to get to know some more of the students and leaders.

In my continued saga to learn how to manage life in a new state I am now stuck with relearning how to get auto insurance. My agent of 11 years just told me that when I move to Texas they can’t represent me anymore. So, I’m stuck figuring out how to go about getting set up with new policies. It’s a lot of work.

What I’ve learned about my new church so far is that the beginning of the month is a busy time. Lot’s of meetings with committees and staff. Good stuff though.

Sometimes I find things pretty ridiculous. This move to Dallas for example has been amazing yet ridiculous to think about how God moved me from the beach to the midwest. Today in the mail I got a flyer for our next door neigbor who’s home is for sale. If you’d like to move in next door to us you just have to pony up $5,758,000.00 Yea, so our neighbors house is a little bigger than ours. But, pretty funny to think about as a youth worker that I live next door to a house that nice. I don’t even think we’d get through the doorway for an open house.