What I did on my SUMMER STAYCATION

Well, it's almost come to a close. A great two weeks ending with Labor Day weekend. I will return to host Sunday Night at PCC tonight and rejoin the La Tartine crowd-then back in the office Tuesday. But I wanted to do a quick recap--for my own reflection--and if any readers care to know how "productive" I was the past two weeks. Wink, wink.

So, let's see. If this were the first day of school and I was assigned an essay on how I spent my summer Staycation it would be:

Sleeping, sleeping, and more sleeping. Mind you that "sleeping in" with a toddler consists of 7:30 am, and when my wife takes the early shift, I got to 8:30am. (Quite a difference from the "good ol' days of waking at 10am!).

Spent lots of time reading and watching movies--another post on that soon.

Good times of journaling and enjoying my new spot-a bistro table which I bought to journal and read in the forest-----our backyard.

Lots of organizing and more unpacking-Finally have some, I repeat, SOME organization in the garage from our mid-summer move which we still have about 10% left to finish.

and lots of trips around our great Bay Area with my awesome, little family!

Pretty much no time on facebook, no email, and only two times blogging-and I rarely answered (or returned) phone calls promptly. It was a much needed break!

Here are various pictures from my STAYCATION!

Needless to say, I soaked in so much time with my daughter. She is a blast. Her little personality is so fun and she has tons, tons, tons of energy that make me feel old, old, old!


Isella got a chalkboard and has started following in her mom's footsteps already. She's got the making of a teacher. It's so cute how she draws and gets proud of herself for reaching high. She always wants us to draw balloons.



Below is her 1st painting experience at the San Jose Children's Museum.






In her animal sound variety show, she's now picked up the HOWL of a wolf. ARROOO--OOOH-OOH-OOOH


My wife Wendy made some great hamburgers and I got to grill them out! Sooo Good. And yes, I do wear that chef's hat. learned a lot from my 8 years of restaurant experience: It's all about keeping the hair out of the food- and a chef's hat looks better than a hairnet.



Time well spent.

imix..while enjoying time off

God continues to speak to me through music. Do you ever just find yourself weeping while you you listen in your car or on your ipod? Whether by myself or in a crowd of people it doesn't matter-when I am centered on God he can reach me, settle me, and move in me through music. I create this mix on the heels of summer. Post interns, sans crazy summer pace. I am tired, exhausted really, but thankful. I am enjoying time off, being with my family and without any real agenda or appointments. It's nice to decompress. This mix tells the story of the summer and moving forward. Will you stay the same or will you change? Will you choose to act the show or live the life? I hear these questions posed to me and now I turn them to you through these songs. I dedicate them to Autumn ( a great musician and enjoyer of music who shared some of these songs with me), the summer interns, and Rashell--who waited patiently for this imix. Lets live live prayerfully, Biblically, and authentically with no secrets--as a way to thank God and honor Him.

Break Time! What a summer!

Hey Community--

Just communicating to you all that I will be taking a break starting today for two weeks! I won't be around much and will not be online at all (facebook or email) in an attempt to prioritize family, rest/recoop, and really hear and connect with God!

I truly love our church family and being a part of what God is doing here in Redwood City. What a crazy, cool, busy summer we've had.

Highlights include:

The 1st Deep of the Summer at the Fallon house before Ben left for turkey and we "communed" with Afghan bread and juice.

Azusa Pacific's original play JOE in our worship center

Worshiping with Shane Claiborne and the bay area's finest Christ-followers in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral in July

Hotwater weekend's amazing musical guests, togetherness in general that weekend praying and sharing God in August

Baptisms

Seeing Tori come to know God

Interns and their interactions in our church family

Small groups at Red Morton Park

Mercy Cafe-an outstanding third year (bigger and better)

Street Church

Our Stand worship art on Sunday Nights

and

Dance party glow stick action on the campground & fellowship hall

Seriously a great summer!

Thanks to all of you who served and participated in making this a freaky deaky rad season of life and community!

Well, now the summer is over and it's back to La Tartine on Sunday nights! Our Discipleship nights will start back up at our (the Gap) home in September and we'll resume the Deep again--all dates TBA! Pleas consider partnering and serving Tuesday or Thursday nights with Street Church (www.street-church.com) we really need people to be a presence on the street to love, pray, serve food, and talk with people about how they are loved by God!

I'd also love to encourage you to consider being in a small group on TUESDAY NIGHTS! I'd like to start a new monthly gathering on Tuesday nights at 6:30 for all men and women in small groups to be together--more to ocme!

more info/dates when I see you next or on our website or my blog!

TILL then I leave you this challenge

BE A LIVING AND SERVING COMMUNITY
BE A LOVER OF GOD AND ONE LOVED BY HIM INTIMATELY
BE PEOPLE OF PRAYER, PRAYING WITH ONE ANOTHER REGULARLY
BE THE CHURCH WHO KNOWS AND SHARES THE WORD
BE MEN AND WOMEN OF INTEGRITY, AUTHENTICITY, PURITY AND NO SECRETS


God Loves You,

Tony

Update on Glory Ruth

Please keep praying for Glory. This is from her Dad:



I just came home from visiting Glory. she seems to be progressing very well. thank you all for your continued support and prayers. below is a report from Glory's nurse and case manager if you are interested.

One day at a time
Sid


Developmental Care Plan
Glory

Competencies:
Glory is able to attain a steady heart rate, good oxygen saturation and pink color when she is handled, as well as during her quiet time in the isolette. She was positioned on her side with her arms and legs flexed an tucked in close to her body. As Glory moves about in her bed she attempts to selfcalm herself by bringing her hands up to her face and mouth, and by clasping her feet together. At times she pulls her arms and legs in closer to her body for a more secure feeling. Glory also make soft mouthing movements on her feeding tub, which is a sign of hunger,but is also a way for her to calm herself. During alertness she raises her eyebrows to show an interest in socialization.

Sensitivities:
Glory is sensitive to activity around her bedside, with sounds within the nursery, and to handling. She generally breathes at an irregular rate with some retractions seen beneath her rib cage. As she is handled her retractions become deeper and her breathing is faster, but at times she has pauses in her breathing. However, her oxygen saturation remains stable throughout. Although Glory's color is pink, she has an underlying yellowish color (jaundice) to her skin. During handling she becomes slightly mottled in color. Glory exhibits a lot of twitching of her face, body, arms, and legs, both during handling and when she is quiet. This is fairly common for premature infant and should decrease as she stabilizes her breathing, and gets bigger. Glory squirms and stretches, using jerky, flailing movements. She extends her arms out in front of her, as well as spreads her arms wide apart. She also extends her legs and pushes against the blanket. However, she usually tries to pull herself back together by bringing her arms and legs back into flexion. Glory fussed a few times with handling, but generally stayed in a quiet state.

Recommendations:
Thank you for placing Glory in the covered isolette to protect her from environmental stimulation. Position Glory with her arms and legs flexed and tucked in close to the midline of her body. Bring her hands up to her face, and bring her legs together to allow her to self-calm herself. For Glory to touch her own face is the most calming thing she can do for herself. Place her well down into the fold of the snuggle-up to give her close, firm boundaries to push against. Bring the straps of the snuggle-up over her arms and hips to bring he boundaries in closer for a more secure feeling. When placing Glory on her tummy, use the prone positioner to allow he to drop forward for more relaxed shoulders. When handling Glory use frequent handcontainment, by placing one of your hands over her head and the other hand over her hips an legs. Provide this containment prior to handling her to prepare her for a change; during handling to help keep her calm and well regulated; and following handling to help her smoothly transition into deep sleep. Once she is relaxed and going back to sleep attempt to leave her alone until she needs to eat again, or until she needs you to attend to her. Use slow, deliberate motions when handling her, allowing her to set the pace of the care she receives. Encourage the parents to participate in Glory's care, as much as tolerated. Allow them to kangaroo hold (skin-to-skin) each day for extended periods of time to help develop a closer bond. Encourage them to talk to and touch Glory when they visit as their touch is a more loving touch, rather than the working touch of the staff. Provide support and encouragement to the parents as they welcome Glory into their family.

G. M, RN,BSN
Developmental Case Manager

HWW 2008

Hot Water Weekend August 1-3, 2008.

I love my job.

Vacation Vacation..oh, How I love you

So right after our amazing HOT WATER WEEKEND (8/1-8/3 VIDEO TO COME IN A FEW DAYS)--The Gap fam jetted four hours up to the mountains! There is nothing like a vacation in a place with no cell phone reception (our cabin has almost zero!) that helps you relax...a little bit at least. You can only do so much relaxing with a toddler, can I get an amen from any parents out there?, We have from 11:30-1:30 every day and then from 6:30pm on to read, nap, watch movies, etc. Otherwise from 7am on we are chasing our little girl around the cabin or hanging at the beach trying to keep her from swimming out into Lake Tahoe. (She is a total water baby. What is it with kids that don't care how cold the water is? I feel like such a wimp! She always wanted to stay longer in the water than I did and I would have to take her out--with tears in her eyes!)



BUT...thanks to grandparents we DID got some solo time outside of the normal nap and bed time schedule. Wendy and I actually got to have some time to be together alone at the beach (and access to wireless internet thanks to Pops' laptop). It was great.

It's been all too short though. A small 5 days, which extended to 6, we were loving it so much. (Although I am looking forward to a 10 day staycation--vacation while staying at home to close out August)!

So, tomorrow morning I will be headed back home to the last Sunday of Mercy Cafe and the last Sunday with our interns. We also will be celebrating baptisms on the lawn at 4:3o pm, too.

This next week is intense as we close out the summer and say goodbye to our summer interns. It also means all the fall planning for our young adults will come out next week, too. Stay tuned for dates of retreats, the deep, and discipleship nights, etc.

I will produce one more VLOG for the end of the summer. PS. No one one the "Starbucks contest." There really is one less Starbucks..and it was the one in Albertson's/Lucky's! 7 left in RWC, now.

More soon...

Please pray for GLORY RUTH

This special little baby girl belongs to God! She is 2 lbs 1oz and was born (around) 3 months (I think) early to a family (fellow pastor Sid & Linda) in our church family. Please pray for her to be healthy, and for God to show is miraculous power--to amaze people and show HIS glory and power!!

God, I believe in your power. I know you can heal. I know you can breath your life into this child. You made this baby you formed all her days. Please in the powerful name of Jesus show your love and show your grace to her parents and siblings!!!!

Raise up your people of prayer God!

Amen