Can't this thing go any faster?

Jennifer, our secretary at the church, was telling me what water skiing is like. I've never been and at some point may like to try it. Although, my moves on the ski slope have proven less than graceful. But Jennifer is a bit of a daredevil. She's even jumped out of a plane before! She did have a parachute though. So, I thought she'd love to put those two activities together.

Beach Bonfire Party

We had a great time last Friday night at our beach bonfire party. Much thanks to Dave Short and Gary Leming who got down to Bolsa Chica by 6 AM that day to make sure we had our own fire pit. They go fast in the summertime and we just didn't want to have to cart a microwave out there.
These pics are just barely a sampling of the folks who joined us. We had somewhere between 30 to 40 people. The light was fading fast by that point so I only snapped a few. But I have to say that I just love the one of little Noah fighting sleep in James' arms.
(Much thanks to Margaret Hammond who sent me some of these pics!)

The Contemporary Service Band

Wow, am I thankful for these folks. This is our Contemporary Service's Band and they make -not only a joyful -but also a beautiful noise. Starting from the top left...Jonathan Pintoff on bass, Tyler Leming on trumpet, Gary Leming on trombone, myself on piano and vocals, Tiki Pasillas on drums, Lauren Leming on flute, and Matt Short on trumpet.
Jonathan Pintoff is a full-time professional musician who is in demand and travels quite a bit. In fact, he just got back from a conference in Washington D.C. He also plays stand-up bass.
Tiki Pasillas is also full-time and is often on tour with Marc Anthony and/or Jennifer Lopez. In fact, if he can't be with us on a Sunday, he's usually in South America with them. Recently he had to miss because he was doing a taping on the Late Show in New York. (!) You can check out his website at www.tikipasillas.com.
Sometimes I am just amazed at the blessings God has brought our way.
Gary, Lauren, Tyler and I have played together for many years. Gary has played trombone in church practically his entire life. Lauren and Tyler were very involved with their high school band doing field shows and even marching down Main Street at Disneyland at one point. Tyler also played with a jazz group at Long Beach Community College. And it has been so cool to have Matt jump into the mix. He's got some awesome experience with his school's jazz band.
One that's not pictured is Ginny Vaughn who plays the synthesizer. At the time of this photo, she was suffering for Jesus in Vail, Colorado on vacation. (Keep her in your prayers.)
Also, when Tiki can't join us, we often have Chris Wabich on drums. He is considered to be one of the best steel drum players in the country. He even makes them. I hope to get him to play those for us at some point.

Psalm 33:1-4 "Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does."

Happy Birthday

Today is Tyler Charles Leming's birthday. He is 23 today and the theme for this particular celebration is golf. His folks got him some left handed clubs and you can see how professional he looks. Just check out that follow-thru.
I'm so proud of this guy. He works at Wells Fargo and seems to be climbing the ladder pretty quickly. I'm thinking any day now he'll drive home a stage coach. He's an awesome trumpet player and helps us in the band on Sunday mornings. Lately he's also been helping out by giving the announcements.
My claim to fame here is that I am his uncle. So glad to be too because he's one of the funnest persons on the planet. Happy birthday Tyler!

Quality For Life

I went shopping for clothes the other day and a tag on a Haggar shirt caught my eye. See if you can tell which of the following descriptions this bachelor would be most excited about: Stay Crisp Shirt, No Iron, 100% Cotton
But as I read on down the tag, I became intrigued. This is a first. I've never been intrigued by a shirt tag before. This is what the rest of it said...
Haggar, Making Things Right
Quality For Life, Guaranteed As Long As You Live
Shrink Resistant
Unbustable Seams
Unbreakable Buttons

Wow! What a guarantee! It almost makes me want to challenge it and see if I can break a button. Like when I was 7 years old and my Mom saw me with all my little 45 lp records spread around me on the floor. She said to be careful not to sit on one or it would break. Once she left, it was a duty incumbent upon me to test her theory. Turns out, she was right.
While I love the sound of Haggar's guarantee, I'm almost sure someone somewhere could find a way to break a button. Maybe one of those power team guys. But they are certainly good at what they do and I am enjoying the shirt. What actually does meet the guarantee they make is the armor of God. We tend to forget that we are in a battle and that a soldier never goes to war unequipped. Let's be sure to clothe ourselves each day with armor that is guaranteed for life. It's shrink resistant, with unbustable seams and unbreakable buttons. And, by the way, it'll protect us in the war zone. It's quality for life.

Ephesians 6: 11-17 "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Happy Anniversary, Gary and Sheri!

Today is Gary and Sheri's 26th wedding anniversary. I remember their wedding like it was yesterday. My mom made her wedding dress -which was the same style that Lady Diana had worn for the royal wedding. But Sheri's train wasn't as long as Diana's -which I believe was the length of 3 football fields. The first time she tried the dress on I commented on how beautiful she looked. I suppose a little brother doesn't usually do that but she just looked like royalty herself.

For the ceremony they asked my dad to sing "Sunrise, Sunset". Now that I think about it, that was probably kind of cruel. He couldn't do much more than cry into the microphone that day. But he did it on pitch.

All four of my grandparents served communion to everyone in attendance. Gary's pastor, and the president of our organization at that time, Orvel Taylor, performed the ceremony. When he had Gary and Sheri kneel, you could see that Gary's sister, Elaine, had written "Oh no" on the bottom of his shoes in red nail polish.

My mom played the piano and Gary's mom played the organ and I was one of the ushers. At the end of the ceremony the bridal party was so excited that they ran off to the other room with the bride and groom -forgetting that there were people waiting to be dismissed from the church. I was practically running down the aisle to escort parents, grandparents, and other family members out individually.

It was really an amazing day because it was like a family reunion. And it was the last time that we'd all be together. However, it was also the start of something new. They were off to California. We lived in Seattle at that time but eventually followed them down. They are so fun that we just couldn't live that far away. And, of course, eventually there were two more fun ones thrown into the mix. Two little bundles of joy that still give me hugs every time I see them -even though they've grown up. But it all started with this day. Happy Anniversary Gary and Sheri!

Hiroki Kuroda

Gary and I went to the Dodger game Monday night and witnessed Hiroki Kuroda throwing a one-hit shut out against the Atlanta Braves. As the game proceeded you could feel the atmosphere growing thicker with anticipation. Gary was beginning to wonder early on if it could actually turn into a no-hitter. He said he'd never personally witnessed one before.

Then you could see that the entire crowd was beginning to wonder the same thing. With each pitch and strike came thunderous applause. When the Braves finally got on base, everyone felt disappointed for Hiroki...but certainly not disappointed in Hiroki. He received a huge ovation at the end of the night when he tipped his cap.

It must have felt good for him to sense how everyone was wishing for his success. That's how it is in the kingdom. Sometimes I get the feeling that heaven is cheering us on. I told Gary that I hoped Hiroki could rejoice that night over his success and not obsess over the one hit that got away. It's so important that we do our very best -but let go of the failures, the things that have hindered us in our lives, so we can continue to "pitch" our very best until the game is over.

Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."