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You may not know that The Huntons (my wife and I) have a family blog as well…this is the kinda of fun stuff we got goin on over there!

Adler is down for the count, so Kristine and I get to enjoy a little ice cream, some vino, maybe a little Grey’s Anatomy and the office…pretty good stuff.

Adler was, if I do say so myself, super Cute tonight. He was playing his little heart out with Sadie (who seemed to feel a little awkward about it, but rolled with the punches..IE – hitting on the head with a spoon). It was so fun, especially when Adler used Sadie as a jungle gym and climbed over her repeatedly. As a guy who loves pictures, and taking them, I’m pretty ashamed of myself for not capturing it…live and learn….live and learn.

Tonight is Young Life…Tonight is the first time, this year, that I’m giving the talk, so pray for me. I don’t really get nervous in most situations…I’m a good interviewer, I played music in front of people for a long time…but something about trying to give High Schoolers (who may or may not be listening) a little nugget of Jesus to take home a chew on, does make me a bit nervous. I’ve prepped and all that jazz, so it’s really just about enjoying being in front of kids. I pray to be funny, I pray to say the right things, and most of all I pray to be led by God with my message. Anyway…

I’m not a math wiz, but I do know that 1 + 1 = (heart).

I basically dreamt this up last night, thinking about Kristine. yeah, sappy…sorry, but she’s cool and I know that God added her and me together so that we could get a glimpse of what His love looks like for us.

I know that I typically use “Stevo’s Latest Music Reviews” to attempt to introduce you to someone you may not have heard of yet…you see it’s what we, in the corporate world, like to call a “Win-Win”…you get new music and I get to feel like I’m the cool guy with the solid music recommends. Well, this time, I’m aborting that mission and simply going to tell you what you need to go buy. You’ve probably heard of this band, but you may not know that the new album just came out today… so, without further ado:

DAVID CROWDER BAND – “THE REMEDY”

Every album that DCB drops is a growth from the previous album. There is always the vibe of DCB, but they constantly try new sounds, new directions, and honestly it tickles my musical funny bone in the best possible way. This album is more “worship” oriented than the last couple, but the pieces of music are all really solid. You should buy the album because it might melt your face and cause you to spontanteously flash rocker “bull horns”!!! (see below for example)

YOUNG LIFE has started. This is older than the post below, but I just got it up on my computer. I’m ridiculous, but I guess that’s kinda what being a YL volunteer is all about. This was our “YL Olympics” to kick off the year and get kids excited. Since Kristine couldn’t make it…her clothes made an appearance on me.

Last night was the first official CLUB for YL at Riverwood HS. It was really fun, and it’s so cool to see the veteran kids and the new kids get “Jacked UP” for some Young Life. We took Adler with us, so it was fun for the kids to see the big guy and to love on him. A great time overall.

One of the games we played involved tying a baloon around one ankle and then hoping around to try and stomp everyone else’s balloon. It was pretty fun to watch, and Adler clapped the whole time. But…..of course…..at the end of club, someone decided that it would be fun to play again…only this time, you had to tie the string around BOTH ankles, so that you were hopping on both feet, as though you were hog tied…I remember thinking to myself….”Self: someone will probably get hurt in this game”

In typical fashion – me.

During the game, as I came down from my soaring heights of a jump, one kid jumped upward and his SKULL became like an arrow in the night, set to kill a helpless rabbit, and found its resting place square on my nose. ‘CRUNCH’ was the sound we heard. Eyes filled with water and that hot pain filled my face…felt great. Well, I don’t think my nose is broken, but it is a bit swollen, as evidenced in the picture above.

I love YL!!!

This is a question that was slapped in front of me at church yesterday. We typically attend Buckhead church, but this Sunday we went to another church we like called Trinity. The pastor spoke on dedication to Christ and the fact that we can’t truly follow God if we don’t put him front and center in our lives. This is hard enough, given life/responsibilities/friends/job/finances/etc/etc.

The sermon sort of spiraled, not off topic, but in a different direction, when he talked a bit about how modern day church is typically going in 2 bad directions:
1) the legalistic church…I don’t think I need to elaborate
2) the “safe” church.

The “safe” church he described was more about the way that many modern day churches preach on Grace and the fact that it’s free for everyone, and to the level that I think of “all you have to do is “Admit, Repent, Commit”. His perspective was that Grace is seen as “TOO Easy”, that we’re softened to thinking that all we have to do is say we’re sorry and all is forgiven, we have a clean slate, and no matter what we do, we are covered. The problem with this is that there’s no emphasis on devotion to God.

God wants our devotion, period. He’s not asked us or to never sin/mess up again, because he knows that this is impossible for us, however, he does want for us to follow him, above everything else (because this is where/when God can work through us). So, although Grace IS FREE for everyone to decide to ask for, it does cost us our life, right? I mean, how can we expect the Bible’s descriptions of Grace (and Mercy and Love for that matter) to be true, if we do not also expect that the part about “laying down our nets, and following Him” to be true as well?

what do you think?