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June 11, 2011 in Encouragement, Life, My Story, Personal Development with 10 Comments

And just like that, here we are again.

Today is the 11th Anniversary of my 25th Birthday. Do the math. Celebrate good times, come on! I tend to bounce around in the introspective zone often, and what better time to do it than on your birthday.

While the past year has certainly been hard, I have seen God use relationships, situations and struggle to weave a tapestry of hope, redemption and purpose throughout the last 365 days of my life that leaves me amazed.  The invitation and challenge through all of it has been to find hope in what looks hopeless, to find purpose disguised as adversity and to find life in what appears to be dead. It has not always been easy, and it was more often a choice than a feeling, but I have done that.

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Full Circle

May 31, 2011 in Community, My Story, Relationships, Service with 9 Comments

(l-r) Blake Bergstrom, Tyson Harnar, me

I am in Joplin, Missouri with a team of 40 volunteers from Cross Point, my church in Nashville. We came here on a mission to provide on-the-ground support and aid to the people of Joplin in the wake of the the single worst tornado to hit the United States in over 60 years, leaving at least 139 people dead and entire communities completely devastated.

Today our team split up and was able to serve a lot of people across the city, including knocking out many projects that were a huge help at the church where I grew up, as well as helping my brother and my aunt, whose home was completely destroyed. Here’s a video of my buddy Carlos trying to describe the scene at my aunt’s house when our team first arrived to help.

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Why Joplin Matters

May 25, 2011 in church, Community, My Story, Service with 9 Comments

I was born in Tyler, Texas, but we moved to Joplin, Missouri before I was turned 1 and spent the next 26 years there. Make no mistake about it, I am from Joplin, Missouri.

I grew up in Joplin. I learned lots of ropes in Joplin. I got my foundation in Joplin. I went to 3 area schools there. I have a mother, brother, grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins that live there. Some of my best friends live there.

The first several chapters of my story were written in Joplin. I didn’t start in Nashville. Much of how my life has evolved and the person I have become have strong ties to the 26 years I was a part of the local community of Joplin, Missouri.

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My Altar

April 21, 2011 in Faith, My Story with 14 Comments

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of a significant moment in my story.  One year ago yesterday was my first day on my then new job at Starbucks.  The morning after my first day, I was overwhelmed, afraid and clueless as to what was happening in my life. That morning I wrote a blog post called “Learning How To Die.” I know, dramatic, huh?

But it was real, and I was learning how to die… to who I had become.

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Pastor Barbie… One Year Later

April 13, 2011 in Community, Faith, Leadership, My Story with 0 Comments

Pastor Barbie

One year ago today, I wrote a blog post called “Pastor Barbie & Pulpit Culture“. It was an analogy and observation of having grown up in church, where I was in my life and how thankful I was to have encountered Cross Point Church and the culture there. It ended up being the 3rd most popular post on my blog of 2010.

At that time, I had absolutely no idea that 5 months later I would actually be on staff at Cross Point and have the hands-on opportunity to help create and shape the very culture that impacted me so much when I first came to Cross Point in January of 2010.

I now get to talk to people every single week, sharing my story and about Cross Point’s very brave and courageous culture that has reshaped how I see the role of the church.  More than that, I get to look in their eyes, see it connect and invest in and be a part of their story much in the same way others were for me a year ago.  Looking back over the past year in that context is extremely humbling and I have nothing but gratitude for the journey.

That’s all I have to say today. I just wanted to share that and, if you haven’t read it before, give you a chance to read Pastor Barbie & Pulpit Culture.

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