It was two years ago this month when our team sat around a table at the Cheescake Factory and I had an idea. Everyone of us gets tons of Christmas Catalogs that encourage us to buy more things that we don't really need. What if we created a catalog that coincided with our missions projects and people could purchase goods in each area of the globe that we were working with that year. As a result, over $100,000 has been given to missions in just two years. We have just started our third marketplace catalog and I cannot wait to get started purchasing some gifts that really matter to the one who is receiving. Feel free to check it out and see if there is something that perhaps you may want to purchase. It's a great way to gather your friends, family, staff, and other networks too. You can come together and make a huge impact this Christmas from just one click!

Shelly and I will head out to Williamsburg during the last week of December for our family planning retreat. I view this as the backbone of our family. Every decision we make throughout the year depends on whether or not it fits the plan. We go into this with much prayer and anticipation. I For what it's worth to you, we plan and/or set goals in five different areas: Physical, Mental, Financial, & Fun. t has been a great way to track God's faithfulness throughout the year and identify where we are in the journey that we feel like God has called us to. A year ago we wrote down to make a decision whether or not to purchase a home or keep renting. We happened to moved into our new home this summer. A year ago we wrote down to finalize all details, board, mission, vision, branding, & contracts for our non-profit. We are so grateful to have launched in August and the organization is thriving. So as we look in to 2011 our hearts are encouraged and our faith is stretched to believe God to more than we could ever ask for, hope, or imagine. And oh yea, there are those things that happen throughout the year as well that you just can't plan for and God's faithfulness is always there to sustain you. Give it a shot this year. You can do it individually or with your spouse and children. You will be amazed at how much it helps you to stay focused and see God's hand at work in your life.

Have you ever notice how different you feel when reading a book in a stylistic coffeehouse with comfortable chairs and warm colors on the wall than reading a book in your office at your desk? Doesn't it also seem like you can day dream a little longer and more creatively in that coffeehouse or away at a scenic cabin with the fireplace going and the snow falling outside the window with a hot cup of cocoa? What am I saying? Environment is everything. Sometimes you have to step outside of the office to let the neurotransmitters go. A change of environment creates some space for creativity and imagination. I have been dubbed around the office as the "candle guy". For some reason I am so much more productive with the candles lit and the jazz music playing in the background. Try it sometime. Your environment is important to your productivity and creativity. Maybe you need to get out of the office for an offsite brainstorming meeting or reflection time? Maybe you need to add some paint to the walls and maybe some warm feeling decor? Give it a shot, I bet it helps. PS- Christmastime seems like the best time for this. The Christmas decor makes for such a warm environment dripped with imagination.

Thanks for your prayers. I am back in the office this week. We are full steam ahead in end of the year evaluations and new year planning. Some very cool opportunities are waiting for us on the horizon. I am not at liberty to share at this time but certainly will as time permits. I am healing well and should be 100% by Christmas hopefully. Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support. Keynote: seek the Lord, not opportunity. Opportunity inevitably comes after one has sought the Lord!

I wonder if we could create a new rhythm when it comes to holidays and birthdays. At the present and in times past these occasions tend to make us lean towards selfishness and have sent us on a mission to satisfy OUR needs. But, what if we used these occasions to satisfy the needs of OTHERS? After all, what needs do we really have? Are they really needs or just merely wants? If you look at the world around you you will see greater needs than that of your own. The beautiful thing is that you and I, we have the influence and the resources to provide some of those needs. So I say, why not? It starts by simply stepping out of your original mind set and or comfort zone and creating a new rhythm in your life to bring awareness and provision to the greater needs of human beings across this world. We can make an impact today. Instead of sending me a card or a gift, make a donation to provide clean water to a community in need. Since I will be completing my 28th year I thought it might be cool if you could give $28 towards the cause. 100% of your donation will go towards clean water. Lets do this thing! You can change a life today and celebrate mine at the same time


Check out my @mycharitywater campaign.  Help me raise money for clean water for my bday.  http://www.mycharitywater.org/givenow

In case you care, here is a list of books that I am currently reading. I always get inspired when I see what other people are reading so if this is helpful then so be it, if not, then so be it again.

Radical - by David Platt
Purple Cow - by Seth Godin
Forgotten God - by Francis Chan
Sun Stand Still - by Steven Furtick
Building Social Business - by Muhammad Yunis
I currently find myself reading through the Psalms in our Bible Reading Plan

Enjoy!

I was reading an article recently that shared a blurb from the American Census Bureau. It stated that last year Americans spent 41 million dollars on pumpkins most of them only to cut up and set by the front door. I wonder if it is worth us rethinking how we celebrate holidays. That is a sickening fact. It is time that Americans begin to rethink the celebration of our holidays and see how we can divert the usual monetary flow for the greater good of the world. Think about it. What if we created a holiday were one day every year we gave over 41 million dollars to provide clean water for the different countries in need which in return would prevent diseases and early deaths? What if we created a holiday were one day every year 41 million americans opened up their homes to orphans that had no place to go? In just a few years there would be no more orphans in this world. What if we created a holiday were one day every year we gave 41 million dollars to micro finance individuals to create small business in the less developed countries of our world and worked towards some sustainability in communities? I would love to here your ideas as well...you fill in the blank...what if we created a holiday were one day every year_______________