Quick post.

I know I’m terrible at posting, so please excuse me.

For those of you who actually check my blog on occasion, thanks for checking in.

Here are the most recent updates our lives:

1.  Taylor is Pregnant.  We found out in June (the morning we left for Vegas) that she was pregnant.  She’s healthy, baby is healthy, and baby is due to arrive on March 3^rd.  I’m scared, but excited.
2. Taylor and I went to Vegas this summer for vacation.  I got to see Garth Brooks (my favorite singer) while we were there.  We also ran into Kaley Cuoco (Penny) from The Big Bang Theory, and took a picture with her – nice girl!  We stayed at the Bellagio (ballin’!) and I lost $60 at Blackjack….yeah, yeah…I’m not much of a gambler.
3. We are replacing the floors in our house (to get ready for the arrival of baby) and we’re getting carpet and laminate hardwoods.  Very excited about that!  I’ve already redone the guest bathroom floor.
4. Went to help clean up Joplin for our mission trip this summer after the tornado.  Awesome, life-changing trip.  Very blessed by that.
5. I started P90X again today, and I’m ridiculously sore….  here we go…

Be blessed.

I’m going to pretend like there hasn’t been 5 months since my last blog post.  Thanks.

So, last Friday (March 11^th) was a big day for me.  It was a day that I had looked forward to for about the last 5 months, maybe 6.  It was the day that Apple launched their new iPad 2. 

Being the good husband that I am, I asked my sweet, darling wife if I could buy one.  Much to my surprise her response was, “Sure!  If you want to save your money and spend it on an iPad that would be great!”  She seemed genuinely excited for me to buy one – with my money.  So, around October (about the time of my last post, ironically) I started putting away some money in order to buy an iPad. 

Now, fast-forward through Christmas, several trips to the Apple Store, researching the iPad and the iPad 2 into the ground, and annoying my wife everyday with, “Should I buy the old one, or wait for the new one” type questions and we finally arrive to Friday April 11^th – iPad 2 launch day.  By this point I had saved up enough money that I could purchase any of the now 18 options of iPad that I wanted.

Apple had announced that the iPad 2 would be available for a nationwide launch at 5:00pm local time across America.  Apple also announced that the iPad 2 would be available for purchase at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, AT&T, Verizon, and Sam’s Club – as well as any Apple retail store.  Since I had already stood in line for an Apple product (iPhone 4) on the day of its launch I decided that I did not want to do that again.  I decided I would go to Super Target in Mansfield, TX and use my new Red Card (Target Credit Card).  When you use your Red Card in Target you automatically save 5% on your purchase.  So, naturally I decided to buy my iPad 2 at Target, use the Red Card, and save some money.

I arrived to Target at 1:00pm on Friday March 11^th to ask the manager if I could even use the Red Card for this purchase.  They assured me that I could, so I sat in my truck for a few hours reading (waiting) for the 5 o’clock hour to roll around.  At about 3:00, I went back inside Target and was the first person in line – I was poised to get exactly what I wanted.  Every employee in Target’s electronics section knew why I was there; they even asked me which one I was buying.  At 4:00pm, they handed me a ticket saying that I was #1 in line.  At 4:25pm, a gentlemen comes into the store and tells those of us who were in line that Target doesn’t actually have their shipment of iPad 2’s in the store, and that we should go somewhere else to buy our iPad 2’s.  I turned to the guy working the electronics desk, and he sheepishly confesses to me that they don’t actually have the shipment yet, but they anticipate that it will arrive at any minute.  At 4:30pm the electronics department gets a call and this same guy tells us that they will not be receiving their shipment by 5:00 – and they’re blaming it on Apple.  Of course…

I was hacked!  I ran out of that store and went to the nearest Wal-Mart I could find.  The manager comes out at Wal-Mart to ask us which iPad 2 we all wanted, and by the time they asked me which one I wanted they were sold out of that model.  I left and drove to the nearest Best Buy.  There was a line – probably 50+ people deep and the guy in front of me purchased the last iPad 2.  So I left and we to the AT&T store – they were sold out.  I went back to Target and now they’re saying they won’t even receive their shipment until Saturday – most likely Monday.  That was it.  Target had messed me over.  By this point the nearest Apple store had already sold out as well.  I was very, VERY upset.

I went home and spent the evening sitting on the couch with Taylor.  She was so sweet.  She kept apologizing to me, and I did everything in my power to not let it ruin our evening together.  Around 8:00pm, just for grins, I called the Best Buy just to ask if by chance they happened to have any iPad 2’s left.  The manager said no, but told me if I put $100 down toward one, when their next shipment came in I would be guaranteed one.  So I hop in the truck and head to Best Buy, only to find out that option wouldn’t be available until Saturday morning.  On my way home I called another Best Buy (again just for grins) to see if they might happen to have any left.  I nearly came out of my seatbelt when I heard the lady on the other end say, “Yes.  Actually we do.”  I asked her if any of them were the 64gig WiFi only in black.  She came back on the line and said, “Yes, we have two.”  I said, “I’ll be RIGHT there!”  I drove straight there, and bought the last 64gig WiFi only iPad 2 in black that they had.  I also bought a smart cover (which is AWESOME by the way).  I then went home and Taylor and I laughed hysterically while we played with the Photo Booth app before heading to bed.  In spite of Target’s deceitful ways, it wound up being a great night.  Thanks Best Buy!  You saved the day.

Target, if you’re reading this post, I want you to know how very frustrated and upset I am at you.   I wanted to spend my money at your store, I really did.  Why were you dishonest to me?  Why did you lead me (and the other people who were waiting to purchase an iPad 2 at your store) to believe that you had your stock when you knew you did not?  Why were you not forthcoming immediately and say, “We don’t have our shipment yet, but we anticipate it will be here any minute” and let me decide if I wanted to chance it or not? I don’t understand that!  I could’ve spent my time in line anywhere else, but I chose your store and you were dishonest to me.  You can guarantee that I’ll never bring my business to your store for any major electroincs purchase in the future.  You messed up, and now you will lose a customer.

Best Buy, if you’re reading this post, I appreciate that you handled the launch with class.  Even the manager of the Best Buy in Mansfield told me that they hadn’t receive as large a shipment as other Best Buys in the area – which lead me to call the other Best Buy.  When it comes to major electronics purchases in the future, you can bet that I’ll be at your store over any other store because I know you’ll treat me right.

Apple, if you’re reading this – yeah, I spent my money on your device.  You probably don’t care how and where I spent my money – but a pre-order option for the iPad 2 would’ve been nice.  Just sayin’…

Ok, I’m done.  I feel better now.  Thanks for reading.

Last night in class we (Taylor and I) tried to tackle the ever elusive topic of dating with our youth group.  I call it ever elusive because the label of “dating” seems to change every couple of years.  When I was a teenager it was called “going out” – even though, for most of us, we didn’t actually “go” anywhere.  The generation ahead of us called it “going steady.”  I learned last night that today’s teenagers define dating digitally.  Facebook status updates from “single” to “In A Relationship With _________” is more appropriate signs of “dating.”  Also, communication is primarily started through Facebook, and then moves into texting each other.  It was interesting to me that when I asked them, “So, when does the face-to-face conversation actually occur?”  They responded with, “Skype.”  Very interesting.

Our purpose on Wednesday nights this semester have been to try and find out if truth actually exists and, if so, what are the impacts of truth for our lives?  Because we all live in a postmodern world – we are all bombarded with the idea that truth is relative.  Truth is something that is defined by the individual, for the individual.  In teenagers culture, and mainstream culture in general, it is socially inappropriate and unacceptable for one person to push his truth onto another person, because the truth of the one person may not line up with the truth of the second person.  We tend to shy away from making absolute statements, and we even label the people who do make absolutely statements as being either incredibly conservative or incredible liberal.  That’s the basic influence of postmodern thinking in our world, and it is intensified in teenage culture.

So, back to the dating thing.  Last night, Taylor and I wanted to begin a conversation with our youth group about the truth of dating.  What is the purpose of dating?  What is your role (as the male, or as the female) in dating?  When you begin a dating relationship, what is the goal?  And finally, what function or role does sexuality play in a dating relationship?  Obviously these topics are far too deep to be able to cover in a 1 hour session with our youth group, but our goal was to get the conversation started, and bring a level of truth to an area of conversation that often is left up to the teenager to decide.

If you knew me at all in high school, then this part will make you laugh.  Taylor and I started by sharing our dating experiences.  I went first.  It took me about 5-7 minutes to describe the kind of person I was in high school when it came to dating.  Long story short (and yes I actually counted it out yesterday) I had a different girlfriend all the time.  I counted at least 21 girls in about a 6 or 7 year span of my life that I dated in some form or fashion.  There was lots of laughing.  It was fun.  Taylor on the other hand took 30 seconds to say, “I’ve never dated anyone but Lance.”  We make quite a team.  We are the opposite ends of the dating spectrum.

Taylor and I spent some time talking about the 5 Love Languages.  They are Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Quality Time, Physical Touch, and Acts of Service.  Each of these is a way of communicating and receiving love.  We talked about the importance of knowing what your love language is, but also the importance of knowing what someone else’s love language is.  We feel like the truth about love is that everybody wants love on some level – the problem is that we often don’t know how to effectively and healthily communicate love.  If teenagers can grasp what their love language is, they can have more meaningful friendships, relationships with their parents, and relationships in regards to dating because they can say, “I feel most loved when…”

After that, we talked about the effects of communicating in love languages in a dating relationship.  If two people are effectively communicating their love languages, attraction will increase.  Plain and simple.  The truth is, that is how we were created.  If we are effectively communicating and receiving love with the person that we are dating the attraction level will increase.  The danger in that is that a dating relationship is different from a marriage.  We were created by God to take our attraction and desire for each other all the way to sexual intercourse; that’s how God created us.  It’s not wrong to feel that attraction and have that desire for someone you date.  It’s not wrong to want to go farther with someone you’re dating – or someone you may be “in love” with, because we were all created to want to go all the way.  So, how far is too far for a dating relationship?  That’s the million dollar question that all teenagers want to know.

 In social science there has actually been a study that gauges the level of intimacy we share.  The gauge is like a ladder.  This is how it goes:

Ladder of Intimacy

Eye to Body –> Eye to Eye –>Voice to Voice –>Hand to Hand –>Arm to Shoulder –>Arm to Waist –>Mouth to Mouth –>Hand to Head –> Hand to Body –>Mouth to Breast –>Hand to Genitals –> Sexual Intercourse

I actually got 12 students standing across the front of the room that each represented one rung of this ladder.  I started on the Eye to Body end and worked my way up to Sexual Intercourse explaining what each rung meant.  Then I asked them, starting with sexual intercourse, “Is this ok to happen in a dating relationship?”  They said, “No!”  I stepped down to Hand to Genitals and asked, “Is this ok to happen in a dating relationship?”  They said, “No!”  I stepped down to Mouth to Breast and I asked, “Is this ok to happen in a dating relationship?”  They said, “No!”  I stepped down to Hand to Body (which is defined as touching parts of the body that would normally be covered by a bathing suit) and asked if this was ok in a dating relationship and they said “No!”  I stepped down to hand to head and asked again, “Is this ok in a dating relationship?”  Then I got a resounding, “Yes!”  At that point I stopped and looked at them and I said, “Here’s your line.  The truth of the matter is that those things (pointing toward the way of sexual intercourse) are reserved solely for a marriage relationship.  However, when we think in terms of ‘Where’s the line so I know how far I can go without getting in trouble,’ we wind up going over the line.  We were not created to stop once we get going on this ladder and we can’t just shut it off once we get to this point.”

Taylor then got up and talked about how a marriage is a covenant relationship, and how that type of relationship is different from a dating relationship, and because marriage is a covenant relationship it has its freedoms, blessings, and rewards.  A dating relationship isn’t a covenant, because dating relationships come and go – and that’s why we shouldn’t go beyond that line in our dating relationships.  When we go beyond that line in our dating relationships we share our most intimate relationship in a relationship that isn’t committed (or covenanted) for life.

We wrapped up class by reading 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 where Paul is telling the church that it is God’s will that we be sanctified by avoiding sexual immorality.  God’s command is that we have control over our bodies and our desires.  That passage goes on to say, “He who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God…” (verse 8).  The truth in dating is that God wants you to be self controlled.  The truth in dating is that God wants you to avoid sexual immorality, not because he wants to deprive you of looking, or touching, or sex; but that he wants you to trust in his plan for marriage.  Just like we get to enjoy freedom, and blessing, and reward in a covenant relationship with Christ – we get to enjoy sexual freedom, blessing, and reward in the covenant of marriage.

It was a great class.  God is good.

Well, its overreaction Monday here in Cowboy Nation (according to the local media – namely Randy Galloway) but, it’s also overreaction Monday in Lance Nation as well.  Here’s what I mean…

Overreaction #1 – Cowboys Stink!
I’m not going to lie; I had high hopes for this team this year.  I completely bought into the hype that this Cowboys team could actually be the first team to play in a super bowl that they were hosting.  I guess that was the overreaction.  After yesterday’s loss to the Chicago Bears, I’m becoming rapidly aware just how big an overreaction that was.  The past two weeks I’ve sat in my living room, glued to the Sony flat screen screaming, “You’ve GOT to be KIDDING ME!!!!”  The frustrating thing is that I’ve yelled that in opposite extremes of emotions.  I’ve yelled that in utter disbelief of Miles (s’Miles) Austin making unbelievable catches.  I’ve yelled that in amazement at Dez Bryant’s rookie abilities and the potential future he has in this league and on this team.  BUT, I’ve also yelled it as I watched a game winning touchdown get taken away because of a holding call that was reminiscent of pee-wee football blocking.  I’ve yelled it in disbelief at a fumble right before half-time because of a brainless play called by Romo?  Garrett?  Philips?  The unfortunate thing is that none of them know either!!!  At which, I yelled it again!  I’ve yelled it at interceptions!  I’ve yelled it at pathetic kickers!  I’ve yelled it at real estate agents who ruin the game for me (more on that in a second)!  It’s frustrating!  It’s frustrating because the team seems to be so talented.  The team seems to have all of the pieces, yet they can’t get anything done. 

In spite of all of this, however, I’ve not washed my hands of the Cowboys yet.  I’m still hoping that they’ll pull one out next Sunday, and go into the bye week 1-2.  If that happens, then maybe – just maybe – they won’t wind up 8-8 or 7-9.  Hopefully they can get it together and salvage the season.  No one had faith in the New York Giants in 2007 going into week 3.  The Giants had two losses, one of which was a division loss in the season opener (ironically against Dallas), going into week 3.  As I’m sure you know, the Giants won the Super Bowl that year, but going into week 3 people were calling for Coughlin’s job.  Sounds similar in Dallas this year…week one loss to a division opponent on the road, followed by a loss in week two where they found themselves 0-2 and needing to dig out of a hole.  Lots of similarities…

Now, I’m not saying that the Cowboys will win the next 14 games straight and wind up 14-2, but it’s not unrealistic to think this team could go 10-6, squeak into the playoffs, and hope to have success for the second straight year in the playoffs.  I’m just sayin’ – it’s not impossible!

Overreaction #2 – We’ll NEVER find a house to buy!
Taylor and I feel incredibly blessed that we’ve been able to sell our house in NRH.  God has totally blessed the situation, and he brought us wonderful buyers that we know and trust.  It’s been absolutely amazing!  However, today it’s hard to not overreact.  We’ve looked at 17 houses in the last three weeks.  We’ve spent the last 3 Sunday’s looking at houses all afternoon and coming away not liking most of them.  On the second week we spent a grand total of 2 minutes in the first house we looked at before we walked out.  It was a foreclosure and it was a wreck!  Worst house I’ve ever seen in my entire life.  The only houses we have liked have either been outside of our price range or have been taken out from under us with other offers and contracts.  The other small percentage of houses we’ve looked at, we like but just don’t quite make us feel like we love it.  We feel like if we bought this house, or that house, that we’d be forcing it to work rather than loving it.  We know God has a plan, but today is overreaction Monday and today it feels like we’re NEVER going to find a house to buy!

Quick story – this past Sunday we looked at a gorgeous home in Arlington just north of 287.  It was corner lot house in a very new subdivision that had just about all the features we were looking for.  When we pulled up there were signs in front yard that said, “Open House! Come on In!”  We knew that meant we were going to have a selling agent that was going to bug us while we were there, so we were prepared for that as we got out of the car and walked up the driveway.  Now, at this point in the afternoon the Cowboys were in the second half of their (what I now know to be) loss to the Bears, but I’d not seen any of the game, or heard any score yet.  I was waiting until I got home to watch the game on my DVR (you can already see where this is going).  We walked into the front door and were greeted by the agent.  The exchange went like this:

Us: Hello.
Wayne: Hello, I’m Wayne – the sellers agent.
Us: Hi, Wayne it’s nice to meet you.
Wayne: Have a look around.  I’m just watching the Cryboys in the living room.
Me: OH!  Well, don’t tell me how it goes because I haven’t seen the game yet, and I’m going to watch it when I get…”
Wayne: It’s 20-17.  That’s why I called them the Cryboys. (with a goofy smile on his face)
Taylor:  REALLY?!?  Are you SERIOUS?!?!

Wayne completely cut me off in the middle of my asking him to not ruin the game for me to tell me the score and that they were losing.  We’d not even been in the doors 30 seconds and we were ready to walk out the door (our agent included).  Taylor actually turned to me right in front of him and said, “I’m sorry he ruined it for you, baby.”  We were pretty upset, and to be honest, might’ve been very interested in the house but he completely turned us off and we just wanted to leave.  Sellers, if you’re reading this, your agent cost you a potential offer.  This could probably qualify as overreaction #3, but since it occurred on Sunday it doesn’t count…plus I mentioned it in overreaction #1. 

So, that’s my overreaction Monday.  I’m sure I’ll get an earful on the truck ride home this afternoon as I listen to Galloway antagonize the fans of the Cowboy nation.  Should be a fun ride home.

This Generation Part 1 from Student Life on Vimeo.

This video is all about teenage culture and a study that was done on 3,ooo random teenagers from the US that attend church.  This is not specific to teenagers in Churches of Christ, however, in my opinion, this is as close to what I see going on in teen cluture as anything else out there.  I hope that if you’re watching this, and you work with teenagers, it changes how you view them and the world that they live in.  I hope that you see the need to be intentional about how you act, what you say, and how you live your life – because they’re watching.  They want to know how to live out this thing we can Christianity, but they don’t know how and they need us to tell them.  I hope that if you’re a parent and you’re watching this it gives you some perspective on how you can help your teenager develop their faith.

Teenagers are seeking truth – and if we don’t give it to them, they’ll never find it.

Our flight landed on Friday night at about 9:45 PM from our mission trip to the City of Children in Ensenada, Mexico.  It was phenomenal!  I had a blast while I was there.  Special thanks to Lance Malone, Brian Lea, and the folks from Tennessee who planned and prepared everything for the trip.  I feel blessed to have served along side you all and look forward to serving together in the future!

We flew out on Saturday morning July 3^rd on the first flight to San Diego, California.  After making a quick layover stop in Albuquerque we were on our way to San Diego.  I’ve never been to San Diego before and was shocked when I stepped off the plane (in my shorts and t-shirt) to 68 degree weather!  I couldn’t believe it!  68 degrees in the middle of the day in July!  We loaded up our stuff on the charter bus and went to Seaport Village for lunch.  Seaport Village was a neat area with boardwalk, shopping, and restaurants.  After spending a couple of hours there we went back to the airport to pick up our friends from Tennessee.  Once we got them loaded up, we headed for the border.

I don’t know if you’ve ever crossed the US/Mexico border before on a charter bus or not, but our experience went like this.  We pulled up (in the bus lane – praise God for the bus lane) and one person from our bus had to get out and push a button that triggered either a red light or a green light.  If we were to get a green light, then the whole bus would pass through – no questions asked.  If we were to get a red light, then EVERYONE would have to get off the bus, get their luggage, and go through the line one at a time pushing the button.  If you got a green light you could walk through to Mexico.  If you got a red light, they searched EVERYTHING you had with you.

We got a red light.

So we all got off the bus, grabbed a bag, and one at a time pushed the button and crossed the border.  A few of us had to have our luggage checked, but it was no big deal.  About 15 minutes later we were on our way to Ensenada and the City of Children!

Once we arrived to the City of Children and unloaded, we were served a delicious dinner of fish and shrimp tacos Baja style.  They were amazing!  We finished the day with a bilingual devo with the teens from the City of Children and it was awesome.  The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and had a worship service with the children.  Lance Malone preached the sermon and he did a fantastic job (especially since he was asked the night before if he’d preach).  Later that day was spent touring the facilities, playing with the kids, and getting ready for work week.

Monday started our work week – and boy was it work.  Our group was split into four work groups and each group was assigned a daily task.  One task was called City Work – on that day we did manual labor work for the City of Children (dig holes, pour concrete and set poles in the ground for a tarp to go over a slap of concrete).  Another task was Kitchen Patrol duties & Babies – on that day we served food at all the meals, prepared the food, and cleaned the dining hall.  We also spent time with the babies and toddlers that day.  Another task was Outside Work – on that day we went out, into Ensenada, and did manual labor for the Church in Colonia 89 (namely pour concrete).  The last task was Outside Benevolence – on that day we spent the morning visiting the homes of the folks who attend the church at Colonia 89.  It was a very humbling experience.  After we were done with that, we spent some time in Ensenada eating lunch and shopping in the tourist district.

For four days we rotated through these four tasks, and we each were able to serve in all four ways.  It was very exciting, humbling, and rewarding.

One thing that changed my life while we were on this mission trip was seeing the poverty that these people live in.  I can’t even do it justice to try and describe it to you.  I don’t mean any disrespect, but if you’ve ever seen District 9 – the area of Colonia 89 reminded me of District 9.  What amazed me and changed my perspective was the joy and peace that those people have in their one room house.  They live in spaces as small as 20 x 20…that’s it!  One side has beds and the other side has a sink and a table, and they’re as happy as they can be.

The City of Children mission trip made it safely across the border and we are now in San Diego, California.

We are stopped for lunch at Mission Beach for lunch. We will be at the airport by 1:30 and our flight leaves at 3:10 PT. We will arrive to Love Field by 9:15 PM CT.

See you all soon!

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We have had a phenomenal week here at the City of Children. Let me apologize for not posting all week. We have had an incredibly busy week.

I happy to tell you that we’ve finished all of our projects. We have served food to nearly 40 families, and we have fallen in love with the kids here at the city of children

We will be leaving tomorrow and are scheduled to arrive at Love Field at 9:15 PM. Once we are state side tomorrow I will post again with details.

Please pray for our safety.

God bless.

Lance

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We all arrived safely yesterday around 3:00 PM local time (5:00 PM Texas time). We had a wonderful first day, including a bilingual devo with the teens from the city of children. We are about to eat breakfast and have a worship service with the kids. Pray that God blesses our trip.

I’ll post more through out the day.

-Lance P.

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