Well it has been awhile since I’ve posted here. And since that time, a lot has happened.
I took a family vacation to the classy land of San Diego where we saw Shamu and the other caged Zoo animals– lots of 
walking but lots of fun. Shortly after that I went with the fam back to East Tennessee to visit the in-laws and chill in the raging Southern humidity– ugh. It was steamy, but the fellowship & food was great (and greasy– not the fellowship).
After returning I spent most of the month reading. I was able to finish the following books; all of which I recommend: The Furious Longing of God, Patched Together, Working the Angles, & Forgotten God. Now I’m re-reading Sacred Companions, and starting Praying the Psalms. Scroll over the titles for a mini-review. Reading has definitely become a renewed passion.
In addition to reading, my writing times have been revived. I have finished the outline, intro, and a few chapter or two (almost). It’s slow going with the schedule I keep and the creative space it requires. I hope to have a pretty rough draft by the end of the year, but we’ll see.
At Big Valley, we are finishing up an in-depth look at the Book of James on Sunday nights in Catalyst. It has been a great study as well as an extremely convicting one. There is no doubt that the scripture can grip the heart like no other work of literature ever. If you get a chance, come and listen to the conclusion this weekend and go back and podcast the rest.
Of course, there has been riding too (sounds like writing, but very different– ha!). I finished the LIVESTRONG ride in in 
5:47 (which was about the same time as last year). That was shy of my 5:30 goal, but for doing the ride by myself with no shared drafting efforts I felt good about it. And without a doubt, I have watched tons of TOUR de FRANCE (bummed that it’s not quite the Tour de Lance this year though– go Schleck!). Hands down, cycling announcers Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are the best announcers around.
And finally… the whole first week of August will be spent cycling from the border of Nevada (near Lake Tahoe) to Monterrey, CA. I will be serving with the Brigade Summer Camp ministry as a spiritual coordinator for a group of five guys; mostly high school and young adult. This is a trip where we will have SAG support so I don’t have to carry all my equipment on the bike like last year (YAY!). It’s going to be quite a bit of climbing but our longest day of 108 miles will consist of 7000′ of descent (whew!). This will be a great opportunity to be a shepherd on a road bike– combining two passions; not too shabby.
So, needless to say, life has been a whirlwind. However, in the days to come, I hope to be a bit more active in this digital realm. Come back tomorrow for a look at a fun visual experiment called Pictio Divina!
Later…
This past week was such a great week; probably the best week of the year actually. My beautiful wife planned a wonderful trip to the Santa Cruz mountains area. We stayed at the