about 11 or 12 years ago, i started meeting weekly with a group of five guys for accountability. we met on my front porch, every single week, for four years. two guys moved at one point or another, and two more added — so we had a total of seven guys at one point or another.

well, five of us just happen to be at the nashville convention. some of them hadn’t seen each other in 7 or 8 years. i hadn’t seen some of them in that or close to that. we had a great 2 1/2 hour catch up today, talking about what has happened in our lives in the past 10 years, and how god has walked with us. what’s so cool is that all five of us are still walking with god and serious about our faith. one, a former caltech phd candidate, is now a high school science teacher in lafayette, indiana. another, a former JPL rocket scientist, is also a high school science teacher, but in rural illinois. a third is a youth pastor in irvine, california. the fourth just moved from portland, oregon, to tulsa, oklahoma to pursue love and a new job. and then there me, in san diego.

what a kick to be together after all these years. none of us had kids then; three of us have two of them now. all of us were employed or volunteers in junior high ministry then; all of us still work with teenagers in one capacity or another. what a gift.

today was a freakin’ rollercoaster ride: amazing times of worship with crowder (and a beautiful time of prayer with the band before they rolled out to drive all night for waco); great listening to doug pagitt on the main stage — it was just a blast for me to have a good friend giving a general session talk; and david nasser did a great job tonite also; we also had an attendee who found out at the end of the first session that her husband (not here with her) had suddenly, and unexpectedly, died today; and i got some personal news (sorry, can’t blog about it) that was pretty tough for me emotionally, and has created a small pocket of fear or unknown or concern; sharing the stage with the stunning prinjcess zulu from zambia was amazing — she is one of the most amazing people i know.

so hangin’ with ye olde homies was great, and much else was great. but i’m tired.