Bryan Turns 30!

Its a week full of celebration.

We kicked it off Friday at the Lakers Hornets game.

Spent the weekend in L.A. with family, eating amazing food and capped the weekend off watching the Lakers defeat the Spurs.

On the the big actually day we enjoyed a small dinner with family and bryan's accountability group at his parents house.Next, is our friends celebration on Sat. Just can't stop celebrating! Happy 30th Baby!

Disneyland with the Webber-Planks

We met Bry's family and cousins at Disneyland for a fun night of rides and fireworks in the rain.

Bryan Bakes for the 1st time

As strange as it sounds it true. His first attempt? A twist on his favorite dessert a tropical fruit coppler that was deeeeelicious! If he's making it, its gonna be good.

Final Four

A very sad day as UCLA played their last game...but at least we had fun together. Even had a special visit from Traci's new son.

City Uprising Day 1 - Bronx Beautification

Day 1 of City Uprising was awesome!

What is City Uprising? http://www.cityuprising.com/
Hosted by the Gallery Church, it's the gathering of college students from across the nation to spend 3 days serving New York city in tangible ways showing God's love and compassion. Monday 300 college students headed to the Bronx to spend time making it beautiful. Then we worshiped together that evening with Charlie Hall and hearts were prepared for the next day of HIV Testing.

My dear friend John Forbes shared his story of life in New York, and how there was no church he felt he could turn to when he learned of his HIV status. Instead it was only the Gay Men's Health Crisis that offered support, understanding and counsel on treatment. Today that is no longer true. The Gallery Church in New York City, has publicly declared that their church is a safe place for those who are HIV positive to come and pursue God in a community that is excited to be a part of that journey with them.

After the service, David Miller, AIDS Activist, Aaron Coe, Senior Pastor of the Gallery Church, and Brad Cruse, the Medical Professional who arranged testing sites, trained and prepared the students for getting the word out about the 22 free testing sites around the city.We went home expectant and excited to see what the Lord had in store.

City Uprising Day 2 - HIV Testing

What an incredible day...I'm still trying to get my head around what the Lord did today, but know I'll never be able to fully grasp what it means. I'm humbled, excited and somber.

Armed with nothing more than a card, free metro pass, and the compassion & love of the Father coming through in a smile or friendly greeting, 300 college students disbursed around the city during morning rush hour to advertise the free HIV testing at 22 sites around Manhattan.

I traveled with Kay Warren and a team of pastors to several of the sites through out the day. We visited the South Bronx and Harlem first. Each place we visited had full waiting rooms and reports of running out of tests and it was only noon. Now some sites only had 40 tests on hand, so at first it didn't seem like much....but any results were exciting.

Listen to this announcement by Aaron Coe about the final results....

We rejoiced together that evening and sang this song which is still in my heart.
Our friend David Miller shared his story and thoughts on the day. After over 20 years of intense effort, including over 200 arrests, he had never seen results like this. Moved to tears, he proclaimed how the power of the church in this effort was prominently displayed and laid down the charge to every student there to continue the efforts in their communities, churches and college campuses.
Next Kay Warren spoke, sharing her journey, how God broke her heart for those infected with HIV and AIDS and how it changed her life forever. She called others to a Dangerous Surrender, stepping away from the crowd, saying yes to God no matter what the cost and becoming His disciple. It was a powerful and wonderful night.

In awe, we prayed together for NYC, prayed for those who found out their were HIV +, prayed for those who learned they weren't HIV positive, prayed for the churches in NYC that the would join this effort and that the Lord's love could not be dismissed in that city.

Happy Birthday Julia!!

Julia turns the big 11 today, March 14th!

It will be a week of celebration, which started on Sunday at Disneyland. Happy Birthday Julia! We love you.

Peter joins Dad for a snooze.