As I mentioned in my previous post, I went with a group of friends to California to celebrate Janay’s birthday a couple weeks ago. After going to Disneyland we stuck around one more day to relax at the beach, walk around the Newport area, and then grab some dinner at the ‘Rusty Pelican’. Fun times and good memories! Below are a few more photos from the trip…also, click here for even more!

And here is one more for you…a little treat. Obviously I didn’t take this one…to busy being buried, not everyone can pull off this kind of modeling ;o)

After spending the weekend in Rocky Point, Mexico with Love God Love People I arrived home Sunday around five, and about an hour later was in a car driving to California. By the time we arrived at our destination in Newport it was around one in the morning. I was tired to say the least, but it was all worth it because I was lucky enough to be with some great friends calibrating Janay’s 24th birthday! Once we arrived the first night we settled in and tried to get some sleep before waking up early for disneyland. Now I have to say that I know Janay was pretty excited about going to Disneyland for her birthday, but I was right there with her in the anticipation. It’s been a good 12 years or so since I’ve hung out with Mickey on his turf.

We woke up Monday morning just a little later than we planned but still managed to fill up on donuts and coffee prior to heading out to the happiest place on earth. Once we arrived we didn’t waste any time.  By noon we had gone on splash mountain twice, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and a couple others. Throughout the day we continued to have a blast, our adventures included: taking ridiculous pictures, spinning the propeller top of a little boys cap in front of us, me trying to take a picture of a guy’s Nintendo jacket and proceeding to walk directly into a poll (then later having two encore performances of the same nature), passing time in lines by having sword fights with cat’s tail brush, and a handful of other random happenings.

The day proved to be a great one! After all of the rides (my favorites being Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain) we grabbed some realestate in front of the castle and enjoyed a great fireworks show. It was a blast being able to have such a fun filled laid back day, and especially one that is a celebration for such a good friend. And, it can’t go without mentioning that I throughougly enjoyed our multiple renditions of happy birthday to Janay…in lines, at lunch, pretty much whereever we could we made sure she didn’t forget it was her birthday!

Like I said it was a great day…here are some more pictures from our time at Disneyland.

It has been a busy weekend. It started with my first trip back to Mexico with Love God Love People since returning from Rwanda. I then returned from Mexico on Sunday night and left for California to celibrate a friends birthday. I’ll post soon about California, but first, I wanted to put up some pictures from the Mexico trip.

We went down with a small group for Augusts trip. It was nice. We were able to work on several projects including food ministries, construction and assisting another group that was down for the weekend. On top of that we were able to spend sometime visiting with some of our friends in Rocky Point. Families we know, ministries we have grown close to over the past few years, and individuals like missions Jim who do so much in that community.

On a personal level it was good for me to get back down and see the faces and lives that are the true motivation behind what Love God Love People has been trying to do in Mexico over the course of the past 2 1/2 years. I have been spending a great deal of my time since returning from Rwanda looking at what God has next for me. I’ll be posting more soon, but at this point there is a very real possibility of Love God Love People taking our next step towards our vision of building unity in Phoenix through providing missionary opportunities for youth and young adults by continuing what we do in Mexico, but also developing a training and equipping process to further equip youth with a holistic understanding of the Gospel and a holistic vision for how it is to be carried out. This step would involve a collaboration and possible merger with the City Initiatives department of Food for the Hungry. This is by no means complete but after a month of keeping people in the dark I wanted to at least put that much on the table. Like I said I’ll post more on that soon.

For now it was great to get back down to Mexico. Those there need love and support as much as ever before. With the crime in other parts of Mexico continuing to drive negative press, and the lingering worries from the swine flu, their economy is hurting more than ever. On the flip side I think God is using this lull in activity for us to reconsider how to best partner with the community there. If you would like to know more about how you can join us in walking with churches, families and individuals in Rocky Point, please let me know. And, if you are interested in going down to Mexico with Love God Love People our next trip is scheduled for September 18-20th. Click the LGLP banner at the bottom of this page to get more information on what we do there.

That’s it for now. Thanks to everyone who came down on the August trip, it was a great month, and a trip that was personally very beneficial. I appreciate the time you gave and all of your efforts, it is truly a blessing to be a part of!  Enjoy a few more pictures below, as well as a slideshow with pictures from the trip HERE.