The Lowedown

December 8, 2016

What Pop Culture Tells Us About Millennials

Every fall we’re inundated with a slew of new TV offerings trying to gain our viewership in an attempt to become the next hit show.

Every fall, there are a slew of new TV shows to sort through.

This year’s fall and midseason lineup of new shows features the regular assortment of legal dramas (Conviction, Bull, Notorious and Doubt), along with a number of spinoffs of other hit shows (24: Legacy and The Blacklist: Redemption), not to mention a few reboots (MacGyver and Prison Break) and a surprising number of shows based on popular movies (The Exorcist, Frequency, Emerald City, Lethal Weapon, Taken and Training Day). And of course, you can always count on Fox to throw in an animated show that targets an adult audience (Son of Zorn).

One of the new sitcoms that I’ve been watching is called The Great Indoors, and stars Joel McHale (from the hit sitcom Community) as Jack, a renowned outdoor adventure reporter who takes a desk job with an outdoor magazine. He struggles not only to adapt to life indoors behind a desk, but also to understand his staff of millennials who write about outdoor adventures that they never actually experience.

The show is fascinating on many levels as it portrays many of the stereotypes of millennials that we’ve heard through the media and research.

The Great Indoors is a new sitcom airing on CBS that takes a peek into the lives of Millennials in the workforce.

Of course the humor and the settings are not always family friendly and the caricatures of millennials are often exaggerated, but there is often some truth to the portrait of millennials that the show creates.

For example, in a recent episode, when a feature story idea goes completely off the rails, Jack tells Clark (the Millennial who is responsible) that “to call this situation a dumpster fire would be an insult to flaming piles of trash.”

A dejected Clark responds by saying, “I knew it. I just wanted to be a great journalist but I stink.”

Sensing an attitude of defeat, Jack tells Clark, “You don’t stink at journalism. You just stink at knowing what your actual talents are because you’ve been over-praised and under criticized.”

Clark suddenly has this realization that it’s actually good to live in reality because only then can he fulfill his true potential.

Millennials need and want to know what they’re good at. They want to know what their talents are and how they can make a difference in their community. They want to live with purpose and meaning.

All of our research on Millennials, along with our own personal interactions, confirm that Millennials want input. They want mentors who can influence them and help them manage life and grow personally, spiritually and vocationally.

But after college, there often is no intentional plan or program to help Millennials with their personal and spiritual development.

Millennials want input. They want mentors who can influence them and help them manage life and grow personally, spiritually and vocationally.

We hope to change that here in Orange County. After the first of the year, we’ll be launching our Leader Development groups, which are aimed at providing some key ingredients to help Millennials thrive spiritually and live missionally in today’s current cultural and professional environment.

We hope to help Young Professionals understand themselves better. We want them to know what they’re good at and how God has uniquely wired them. And we want to challenge them to use those unique gifts and talents to help advance God’s kingdom purposes in our community and around the world.

Please pray with us and for us as we continue to move forward with some of these new initiatives. We covet your prayers and are grateful for your partnership with us.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that the NBC show This is Us is by far our favorite TV show of the new season. With it’s positive portrayals of family, fatherhood and adoption, it’s a show that draws you in and tugs at your emotions. Check it out and let us know what you think!

November 30, 2016

Life Lessons from Our Dog

About a year and half ago, we decided to get a dog. His name is Scout and he’s a rescue dog that somehow made it out to California from Arkansas. We think he’s a coon hound.

Growing up, I can never remember a time where we didn’t have at least one dog in our family. And yet, in all the years since I moved out of my parent’s home, we never had a dog in our family, until Scout came along.

2016-scout-0888 — Jen refers to Scout as the Notorious D.O.G. because he destroys things, like these potted plants in our courtyard.

A dog may be defined as a living, breathing tool of destruction. The list of things our dog has destroyed seems endless. He chewed up a wicker lounge chair as well as part of our back yard flowerbed drip system. He chewed up one of the lights in our backyard fountain and he’s dug enough holes in the yard that you might think we have gopher problems.

We now have a hole in our screen door that our dog assumes is his own personal doggie door, giving him freedom to come in and out as he pleases.

And of course, now that we have a dog, whenever we start to make plans to do things, we have to ask, “What are we going to do with the dog?”

In the spring, we left the dog outside for the day while we left to attend one of the boys track meets. We returned to find the destruction of most of the potted plants in our courtyard.

And yet, through it all, it’s hard not to love the guy. He’s excited to see us whenever we come home and he doesn’t hold a grudge when we get mad at him.

Recently, Jen enrolled Scout in an obedience class in the hopes of correcting some of his bad habits, like jumping on people when he gets excited and pulling on the leash when we take him out for a walk.

The trainer often talks about the need to correct the dog when training. It made me realize that life is often like dog training, with plenty of correction that leads to obedience and hopefully, transformation.

The first thing the trainer taught us is that the dog should not get ahead of you when walking, but should stay on your left. This is the “heel” command.

I think this is what the Bible means when it talks about keeping in step with the Spirit. It’s really a marching term. Yet, like my dog, instead of heeling, I often get ahead of the Holy Spirit and seek to venture out on my own, often in a direction that’s different than where the Holy Spirit wants to lead me.

The second command the trainer taught us is the SIT command. When we’re walking the dog, he should automatically sit whenever we stop. But when other people and other dogs are around, Scout gets easily distracted and sidetracked.

I realize that I often lose focus just like Scout. I often get sidetracked from the things that are most important and the things I’m called to do, and it often gets me into trouble.

The third command we learned is the STAY command. When we tell Scout to stay, he’s supposed to stay in that posture (whether sitting, standing or down) until we tell him to come. When we first introduced this command, Scout couldn’t stay for more than about 5 seconds. But eventually, we were able to work our way up to 5 minutes.

I realize that I’m often just like my dog. I can’t stay where I’m at for very long at all. I’m impatient and I have a hard time just resting, thinking and waiting to hear the Master’s voice. More often, I move to action before I’ve clearly heard the Lord tell me to move.

The last week of training, the instructor held a contest, awarding points to each dog based on how well they obeyed all of the commands that had been taught through the course.

Amazingly, at the end of the contest, when all the points were tallied, Scout was declared the winner! He was even awarded a trophy to recognize his accomplishment.

It was a reminder to me that when we learn to Heel, Sit and Stay and we follow the Lord’s lead and command, we bear fruit in the form of character transformation and also ministry blessings.

Thanks for being a part of our journey, where the Lord is still training us to Heel, Sit and Stay.

Please continue to pray with us that the Lord would transform our hearts and bless our ministry as we seek to minister to Young Professionals in Orange County!

October 4, 2016

A New Coaching Perspective

This morning on The Today Show, Tom Brokaw shared a video segment on the latest workplace trend, WeWork, a communal office space, which, not surprisingly, is a trend that is being driven by Millennials.

The Four minute video can be seen here on Yahoo, but it was something Brokaw said in the post-piece discussion with the other Today Show hosts that caught my attention.

He said that “this [Millennial] generation is changing everything that we have taken for granted over the years. Often they change jobs. Between the ages of 20 and 31, they’ll change jobs SIX times. They don’t want a permanent [work] place.”

In our limited experience in meeting with Millennials, we’ve found this to be true. The Millennials I know are very transient and seem to be changing jobs or moving frequently.

I can’t say for sure what’s driving this need and desire for frequent change, but one thing that I can say, is that Millennials are concerned with and often confused about their calling, which may contribute to frequent job changes.

In just the past few weeks, Jen and I have met with several Millennials who’ve all asked similar questions, such as, “how did you know you wanted to do what you do?” Or, “how do you determine your calling in life?” Or, “how do I know if this career is right for me?”

Brendan Porter moved to Southern California to start a LaCrosse business. God had other plans. Brendan now serves as the South County Director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and is working to impact the lives of high school students like my own twins, Jacob and Joshua.

These life questions are rooted in a deep-seated desire to make a difference in the world. Millennials want to make a positive impact on others yet they often don’t see how their job is directly contributing to any positive change.

Part of our vision in working with Millennials is to help them integrate their faith and work, understand God’s calling on their life, and learn how to advance God’s Kingdom purposes by serving in their community.

A big role we have is that of a coach. But my understanding of what it means to coach others is being challenged through some of the professional learning we’ve been pursuing.

You see, when I think of a coach, I tend to think of my Little League Coach or my high school wrestling coach. When I think about those coaches, there was a lot of instruction and teaching, which makes sense because those coaching scenarios largely involved skill acquisition.
When I think about coaching Millennials, I tend to think about imparting my wisdom, experience and expertise to those who are less experienced. My tendency, then, is to give advice and suggestions to help others move forward and make decisions.

Jen and I are reading a book that has challenged that thinking somewhat. The book, The Coach Model, suggests that the role of a coach (a life coach) is NOT to give advice or make suggestions. Instead, the coach’s role is to listen, ask questions and empower others to be equipped to think through and handle situations on their own.

The author makes the case that God is already at work in the life of all believers. Though all believers have the Holy Spirit, not all believers listen to His voice and know how to respond well. Coaching integrates a discernment process that empowers others to learn to seek and listen to God’s voice in their own discernment process.

In a sense, our job is to help Young Professionals mature spiritually in such a way that they become more and more reflective and dependent on the Holy Spirit as they seek to overcome obstacles and meet the demands of life.

It’s a different coaching perspective, but in the end, Young Professionals will be empowered to discern GOD’s calling on their life, instead of simply adopting the desires and calling that others may have for them.

Once a person understands their calling and their passion, lives are impacted and communities are transformed. This is our hope and prayer for Orange County.

Please pray with us and for us as we learn new skills and coaching paradigms that will enable us to more effectively minister to Millennials in Orange County and release them to advance God’s Kingdom purposes throughout our community!

August 15, 2016

The Impact of Passion in a Leader

How does a leader maintain his passion?

This was just one of the questions that was presented at the Global Leadership Summit (GLS), an annual 2 day leadership forum sponsored by Willow Creek Church in Chicago, where some of the greatest leadership minds in the world present their thoughts and experiences on what makes an effective leader.

This year, Jen and I attended a satellite location in Costa Mesa to listen to speakers such as John Maxwell, Alan Mulally (former CEO of Boeing and Ford), Patrick Lencioni, Chris McChesney, Bishop TD Jakes, Henry Cloud, Melinda Gates and others.

Bill Hybels is the pastor of Willow Creek Church and the founder of the Global Leadership Summit

My favorite talk was the opening talk by Bill Hybels, in which he talked about the Lenses of Leadership.

Hybels’ opening line is that when a leader gets better, everyone wins. A leader moves people from here to there (a preferred future). But how does he do that?

Studies have shown that a motivated worker will outperform an unmotivated worker by as much as 40%. So clearly, motivation is a factor. But how do we motivate people. Hybels said that the highest factor in motivation is to work in and around a passion-filled leader.

So the question remains, how does a leader get and maintain their passion?

Pastor Hybels said that passion is usually derived from the mountain top of a beautiful dream or from the valley of frustration with something that completely outrages you.

Dr. Henry Cloud demonstrates the importance for a leader to have real connections with others.

Hybels said that there are three ways a leader gains and maintains passion: First, read passionate authors. Second, be around passionate people. And third, go to places that fill your soul.

Over the course of the two days, I found that my own soul was getting filled as we heard from passionate leaders who shared wisdom from their years of experience.

Dr. Travis Bradberry is the author of the best selling book “Emotional Intelligence 2.0”

Jen and I hope to continue to fill our passion bucket through some of the books we picked up from Global Leadership Summit keynote speakers. Jen will be reading a book by Erin Meyer entitled the “Culture Map” while I picked up “Emotional Intelligence” by Travis Bradberry.

Please pray that we would be leaders who are passionate and able to motivate those around us to move toward our preferred future – one where Millennials throughout Orange County are connected to and experiencing Jesus fully and who are mobilized to make a difference for Him at work, at home and throughout their community!

July 14, 2016

Two Views of Freedom – The Amplified Life: Part 2

The Washington Monument in the foreground with the U.S. Capitol building in the background

Freedom.

It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Probably because our family just spent 5 days in Washington, D.C. on our first real vacation in 3 years.

As we walked around the city, touring the museums and visiting the many monuments, it was a reminder to me that we live in a pretty incredible country, where we’re free to pursue our vocational and financial dreams as well as express our religious convictions.

Seeing the World War II, Korean and Vietnam War memorials was a reminder to me that many have given their lives fighting not only to maintain our freedom but to secure the freedom of others.

Seeing the Lincoln Memorial was a reminder that not everyone in our country has always experienced the same level of freedom. And seeing the spot where Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, coupled with the tragic events we’ve witnessed in our country over the past few weeks and months is another reminder to me that the struggle for freedom and justice is ongoing and not always equitable.

The Lincoln Memorial, a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States who helped abolish slavery and preserve the Union, is one of the most popular sites in Washington, D.C.

We had the chance to visit the site of the Museum of the Bible, which is currently under construction and set to open in the Fall of 2017. While we live in a “free” country, it is the Word of God that truly sets us free.

As I think about freedom, God’s Word reminds us that we’re spiritual creatures on a spiritual journey. Paul said in Ephesians that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

What does it mean to really be free?

The popular view in our culture is that freedom means that I’ve been released to do whatever I want without fear of punishment or remuneration from others, especially the government.

Jesus’ picture of freedom is much different. According to God’s Word, we become free when we’re released from the bondage of sin. We don’t become free to do whatever we want, but instead we become free to become the people God intended.

The Amplified Life is a life of true freedom, where we’re free to experience Christ fully and live for Him.

Left: An artist's rendering of the Museum of the Bible. Right: under construction, the Museum of the Bible will open in Fall 2017. — **Left:** An artist’s rendering of the Museum of the Bible. **Right:** under construction, the Museum of the Bible will open in Fall 2017.

Where the American view of freedom is that the shackles of oppression have been discarded, allowing me to live for myself and do the things that would provide pleasure and satisfaction for myself, the Biblical view of freedom is one in which we’ve been liberated from the bondage of sin, which frees us to experience God fully and serve Him and others.

The American view of freedom involves external physical forces (such as people and governments) keeping us from the pursuit of our own personal happiness.

The Biblical view of freedom is that there’s an internal spiritual problem that keeps us from loving God and others.

Our hope is to become the people God desires us to become and to help Young Professionals experience the Amplified life – one in which real freedom is experienced through an authentic, personal relationship with Jesus.

Thank you for prayers and partnership which give us the freedom to pursue the calling which God has given us. We are truly blessed!

Note: Click here to download the pdf version of the Lowedown.

Barbara pictured in the center, was our usher at the Washington Nationals game.

June 1, 2016

The Amplified Life

When you think of “Orange County”, what comes to your mind?

Some people think of the beaches or world-renowned surfing. Others think of sailing or yachting in Newport Harbor. Still others think of iconic locations such as Disneyland or the old El Toro Marine Base.

Whatever your experience is with Orange County, one thing is certain – it is diverse. It’s diverse culturally as well as geographically.

SaddlebackSnow — South Orange County’s Santiago Peak tops out at over 5600 feet.

Within 30 minutes of surfing or sailing, you can be hiking on a trail leading to a snow-capped peak of over 5600 feet.

Whether it’s surfing, sailing, hiking, biking, shopping, entertainment or sports, there are no shortage of activities in Orange County for the adventure seeker.

Many Millennials who live and work in Orange County are looking to satisfy the longings in their souls with the experiences that the “OC Lifestyle” provides.

The nature of people is that we all want full and meaningful lives and we generally pursue those things that we think will provide the meaning and happiness we desire. For many, that means long hours at work seeking to climb the corporate ladder. Or it means getting the right car or living in the right neighborhood.

In John 10:10, Jesus said that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Jesus offers the kind of life we really want and were created to experience and He declares that He’s the only authentic source of real life.

Hiking in Black Star Canyon on a Spring Weekend.

As we reach out to Millennials in Orange County, we recognize the desire that Young Professionals have to experience all that life in the OC has to offer. Our desire is that Young Professionals in Orange County would experience “the fullness” of life that Jesus offered – to experience life at “full volume.”

Jesus offers a life of meaning and purpose by knowing Him intimately and experiencing the spiritual life for which He created us. We refer to this as the “Amplified” life, a life of spiritual adventure where Christ is amplified in us so that His love might be amplified through us to those around us.

Orange County is an awesome place to experience the amazing beauty and diversity of God’s creation. But all of the adventurous opportunities that exist here in “The OC” pale in comparison to experiencing God Himself.

Jen meets with a couple of young engineers for lunch at The District, a shopping and entertainment center located in central Orange County.

Our hope is that Millennials in Orange County would experience an amplified life, where Jesus Himself is the source of adventure and excitement in their life, even as they’re surfing, hiking, working or whatever.

We’ve created a website: ocamplified.com to help connect Young Professionals in Orange County. Check it out and let us know what you think.

And if you know Young Professionals living or working in Orange County, let us know. We’d love to meet them, connect them to other Young Professionals and do our best to help them experience the Amplified Life – the life of adventure that only Jesus can provide.

April 5, 2016

Life is Like a Track Meet

About a month ago, I attended my very first track meet ever. I honestly never paid attention to track except for watching some of the Olympic events on TV. Even in high school, I gave no thought to our school’s track team. I couldn’t tell you whether we had a good team or a bad team or even if we had a team. I was a wrestler and running and jumping and stuff like that wasn’t my thing.

Jacob passes the baton to another runner in a relay race.

But now that our twins, Jacob and Joshua, are running as freshman on the track team, Jen and I have been introduced to a whole new world.

If I had to describe a track meet in one phrase, I’d say it’s “organized chaos.” Unlike team sports like soccer, basketball, football or baseball, a track meet features multiple events that are all happening at the same time. Runners are racing while jumpers are jumping and pole vaulters are vaulting while discus throwers are throwing.

Though it seems like each event is disconnected from the rest, in actuality, each event can earn team points toward the overall team score. So even though the distance runners aren’t aware of what’s happening with the sprinters, and the sprinters aren’t aware of what’s happening in the field events, each group within the team is working toward scoring points for the overall team score in an effort to win the meet.

I thought about how life is like a track meet. We all have many different areas in our lives that often feel disconnected. We have work, family, friends, neighbors, church, youth activities and school activities, not to mention our personal hobbies and online communities.

2016-MV-0139 — The 100 meter sprint ends in a photo finish

Like a track meet, it’s easy to see each of these areas as distinct and separate from the others. John Ortberg, in his book The Life You’ve Always Wanted, says that the great quest for people today is to achieve “balance” with all of the disparate segments of our busy lives. But the problem is that this desire for balance often leads us to compartmentalize our faith. We think of a pie chart with 7 or 8 slices that each represent different areas of our lives. This paradigm encourages us to think of matters such as “finances” or “work” as non-spiritual activities. It keeps us from realizing that God is interested in every aspect of our lives, not just our “spiritual” activities.

The idea of “balance” implies that we’re trying to make our lives more manageable and convenient and lacks the notion that my life is to be given to something bigger than myself, just as the track meet is more than the individual events but the larger team goal.

The goal as Christians is not “balance” but integration – what Ortberg calls a “Well-Ordered” heart. As we work with Millennials, our desire is to help them see that Jesus wants to be completely integrated into every aspect of their lives. We want to help them live for Jesus and express their faith in every area, whether it’s at work, or with their friends, or with their family, hobbies or finances.

Instead of seeking “balance” which sees our main problem as external – a disorder in our schedule or season of life, living a well-ordered life sees that our main problem is internal, and we need Jesus to be actively involved so that we might experience true transformation from the inside.

Thank you for your part in our chaotic lives and for enabling us to pursue a well-ordered heart while encouraging Millennials to live in such a way that Jesus is fully integrated into every area.

The Trabuco Hills boy’s Track & Field team is currently ranked #1 in Orange County.

Check out this link from the Orange County Register: http://bit.ly/1UTwxX5

February 29, 2016

Empty But Full of Promise

Recently, I came across a tweet from the Orange County Register that illustrates the spiritual condition of Millennials in Orange County. The tweet linked to an article and said, “Empty, but full of promise: Look inside some of O.C.’s most spectacularly vacant buildings http://bit.ly/20HXpXW.”

The article highlights 3 vacant Orange County buildings, each of which, in it’s own way, depicts a spiritual reality of life in Orange County.

One of the buildings is brand new and is one of the tallest buildings in Orange County. From the top floor one can get an amazing 360 degree view of South Orange County. Yet this building sits vacant, devoid of life.

A second building highlighted is the Bay Theater in Seal Beach. According to the article, this theater was the favorite spot for Steven Spielberg to watch a movie while he was a student at Long Beach State. Yet this historic theater, a memorial to a bygone era, shut down in 2012, giving way to more modern multiplex stadium theaters.

YMCA Building in Santa Ana, California — The YMCA building in Santa Ana was built in 1923 but has been vacant for over 20 years.

The third building highlighted in the article is the YMCA building in Santa Ana, which has now been vacant for more than 20 years.

So what do these buildings tell us about Orange County? What’s the spiritual connection?

I thought about the new modern building with it’s stunning panoramic views. From it, you can see the ocean, the mountains and all that life in the OC has to offer. In a way, this view represents how many Millennials live life here. Many will give their lives trying to make it to the top, achieving the kind of success that would allow them to experience everything that the OC has to offer. But inside, there’s no life. It’s a fleeting pursuit that cannot deliver the kind of fulfillment and purpose that we all desire deep down in the pit of our being.

The Bay Theater represents the simplicity and purity of mid-20th century America. Progressive thinking and technological advances have brought with it the desire for more. The desire for bigger and faster has made us busier and less connected, which has unwittingly deprived us of what many of us need the most – solitude and the opportunity for personal reflection.

The third building in the article is the Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) building in Santa Ana. Built in 1923, this building has been vacant now for over 20 years. Ironically, this building represents the post-Christian culture in which we now live. Once a mainstay of the community, shaping young men to live lives of character and influence, this building stands as a relic to the influence Christianity had at one time in the community.

Millennials are the largest segment of American culture and yet they are the least churched. Sometimes referred to as the “Me” generation, they long to experience life to the fullest and see the world changed. Yet as a whole, they’re spiritually empty inside. Imagine if we could reach this generation for Jesus and tap into their potential for a lasting impact on our communities, our country and the world! Millennials are truly empty, but full of promise.

Thank you for partnering with us and praying for us as we seek to reach Millennials in Orange County so that they can achieve their true purpose and fulfill the promise of their spiritual potential!

January 11, 2016

Shamrock, UFC and LinkedIn

Last summer I received an e-mail regarding a film that was soon to be released online entitled “The Greatest Fight”. Intrigued, I clicked on the link (www.thegreatestfight.com) and soon learned that it was a documentary on Ken Shamrock, considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of the modern UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).

Immediately, my mind was flooded with images and memories of a guy named Jerry Perez, whom I had met nearly 20 years ago while I served with Cru at Fresno State. What made me think about Jerry is that he was really into the UFC. Those were the early days of the sport, actually, and it really hadn’t achieved mainstream status yet. But Jerry and his family watched every UFC pay-per-view event as they were broadcast, and had recorded every one of them onto VHS tapes.

Jerry was a student I met on campus while sharing my faith. Our paths crossed and I had the privilege of leading Jerry to Christ and helping him with his initial growth in the faith. I wrote about my experience with Jerry in a newsletter, which you can read about at: goo.gl/inuVkr. Jerry and I connected because we had both been wrestlers in high school and it was Jerry who introduced me to the UFC world.

One weekend when Jen was out of town, Jerry came over early in the day carrying a stack of VHS video tapes that included every UFC pay-per-view broadcast since its inception just a few years prior. We spent hours that weekend watching the entire history of UFC fights and it was there that I became acquainted with early UFC legends such as Royce Gracie, Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock.

The website for “The Greatest Fight” explained that the film is a window into the struggle Ken Shamrock experienced as he came to the end of his fighting career. But more than that, the film shows a larger story emerge, “one where a man’s total identity is being changed.” I realized that the movie was really about the spiritual changes that Ken Shamrock experienced.

Watch Ken Shamrock’s testimony on the 700 Club

I thought back to Jerry Perez. The last 6 months that Jen and I were in Fresno before moving to Davis to start Cru, I began to see less and less of Jerry. He was working to make some extra cash and didn’t seem to have as much time for Bible studies and on campus meetings. One of the last times I talked to Jerry I remember him saying something to the effect that while he appreciated the time I had invested in him over the last year, he had decided that the Christian life just didn’t work for him. To say I was bummed would be an understatement. Over the years, I would think about Jerry from time to time, but I had no real way to connect with him.

But when Jerry came to my mind last summer, I thought, “maybe he’s on Facebook.” A quick search revealed that he WAS on Facebook but his profile was configured in such a way that I wasn’t able to initiate with him. I then wondered if he might be on LinkedIn, which is sort of a Facebook forum for business professionals. I quickly located Jerry on LinkedIn and was able to send him a message. To my surprise, Jerry responded within an hour or so. We exchanged several messages back and forth which led me to think that perhaps Jerry had not given up on God as I had thought all these years.

Jerry and I meet for the first time in nearly 19 years!

Over the Christmas break, our family was able to travel together outside of the SoCal area for the first time in 2 years. We spent several days in Fresno visiting Jen’s family and the first day we were there, I arranged to have breakfast with Jerry.

It was amazing to connect with Jerry after almost 18 years and see that he’s married, with kids, involved in church and seeking to follow the Lord as he looks to get involved in the local Gideons chapter where he lives. It was a very nice Christmas gift from the Lord.

Thanks so much for your prayers and partnership with us, which have allowed us to help people like Jerry make life-impacting decisions that lead to true spiritual transformation!

January 2, 2016

2015 – The Year in Review

Well, 2015 is officially in the books! It’s been a challenging year in many ways as we started out with Jen being in the hospital for a week. But God is good and we’ve been blessed in many ways. Jen has been slowly improving since her condition was stabilized in February and there are many fun memories to revisit – from the boys starting high school and excelling at Cross Country, to getting our first family pet, the boys flying on a plane by themselves for the first time, to seeing friends & family members we hadn’t seen in a while.

Here’s a 2 minute video glimpse of 2015 for the Lowe Family. Have a Happy New Year and here’s to hoping for a blessed 2016!