It’s been a pleasure to work closely with my friend Kary Oberbrunner on the new website (YourSecretName.com) we are launching on March 15th. Your Secret Name is the title of his newest book, which comes out in September but is available for pre-order on Amazon.com today. A few of Kary’s friends have donated over $6,000 worth of prizes that will be given away throughout the day during the March 15th Online Launch Party, including an Apple iPad! Not sure why you wouldn’t want to RSVP for free!?!

Check out the awesome video below, created by Josh Franer, featuring the song “Stay” by Robbie Seay Band and available on iTunes. You’ll see a few individuals labeled with Given Names the world has handed to them. Kary’s book and a test that will be available on the website will help each of us look into scripture and recognize our Given Names, and discover who God has created us to be. See you online on March 15th! There will be giveaways and online events happening throughout the entire day. This book is already touching lives, and it hasn’t even been released yet. Great job Kary!

Thought it might be fun for my online friends to see the great group of folks that we have on our church staff (Vista Community Church), through these two online videos from our staff putt-putt party today. I’m on staff 10 hours / week at the moment, and am enjoying hanging out with them more and more each week. It starts off with Pastor Mike getting us up to speed on the turn between holes 9 and 10, and ends with a nice shot by Jen Morgan (our missionary who is leaving this week)!

PRAYING for the protection against our adversary for the staff. PRAISING God for the abilities and hearts of each member of the team.

My woman served me a tasty lunch today, thanks to this recipe from ThePioneerWoman.com. If you think you have lots going on, I’d suggest jumping over to The Pioneer Woman’s site and being overwhelmed. I thought I was bursting at the seconds! If there is one thing that I take away from other bloggers like her, it’s the obvious fact that they are not conceited. Think about it……why would some prideful person go through hoops just to share a recipe their husband (her “Marlboro Man”) likes? It’s not so that you can think she’s the bomb, but you have the opportunity to take something with you!!!

And it doesn’t stop with the recipes. Her blog(s) also include Confessions, Home and Garden, Photography, and Homeschooling. It’s no shocker that she was listed as one of the 25 Best Blogs of 2009 by Time Magazine. I’m going to subscribe to her Photography posts today for sure! If you’re a blogger or are holding onto something that someone might benefit from, let’s all learn a lesson from her on being transparent. We haven’t been given everything we have just to cling to it. Thanks to her transparency, and my wife’s cooking talent, we have energy to get through the rest of the day! Long live The Pioneer Woman!

PRAYING that we all learn to give something new as we grow. PRAISING God for using the humility and transparency of others to challenge us.

I haven’t done this before, and I’m really looking forward to it! You care enough about me (or just what I say) to stop by or subscribe. I’d like to ask each of you to answer five questions, and get to know you by reading your response via your comments. So here we go!

1. Do you blog , and if so – where?
2. If you could switch professions, what would you pursue?
3. What would you consider your greatest talent / gift?
4. Which musician / band would you want to see in concert if you could get tickets?
5. Who, besides family, has impacted your life most / is your hero?

Thanks in advance! Pass this onto a friend / someone that might enjoy it! PRAYING for my daughters – that God would give them understanding while with friends at school. PRAISING God for giving us the parents He did – that prayed for us.

We had the privilege of hanging out with Jack and Kaye MacKay while passing through Texas on the 52 Zoos in 52 Weeks tour. God’s amazed us with who (and how) He has let us meet while on the tour. Before we stopped by we knew of the amazing custom engraved tiles that Kaye has been creating for close to five years. They’re a hot topic in the blog world, and have even recently been added to the catalogs of LifeWay bookstores. We had the privilege of touring her shop and seeing where she puts all of her talents to use. What’s most impressive to me is that she customizes many of them as personal gifts, and her personality is unique for that kind of a working relationship. She’s extremely approachable and offers a great product, so it’s no wonder she’s staying so busy!

So why am I asking you to help her out? She’s going to continue to blog over here, but her and Jack approached me about giving her Engraved Euniques website an upgrade. While we’re designing the new site (will be live very soon), she’s offering a giveaway to those that make suggestions or comments to this post on the current design and how it can be improved. I really feel like letting you see the new design, but I’ll be sure to post about it when it goes live. In the meantime, her site is still functional and I definitely urge you to comment or even purchase a gift from Kaye today!

PRAYING that God will get much use out of the new Engraved Euniques website. PRAISING God for connecting us with the MacKays. They are a God-send!