The Friday Five: 09JAN09

1. My amazing family – I’m consistently blown away by how amazing my wife and kids are. Erica is so beautiful on the outside, that sometimes you can forget how beautiful she is on the inside too. Except I rarely forget, because I get to be with her every day…something that is more rewarding than anyone will ever realize. And my kids…man, they crack me up. They have such good hearts and they love to have fun. I’m so thankful for them. They make leaving work on a Friday that much more special.

Speaking of my amazing family, our friends Katy and Dan were with us last week, and Katy took some amazing pictures of Erica and the kids (I was at work). Katy’s going into business in upstate New York as a photographer, and I’m guessing she’s going to be very busy. Here’s one of her shots…

2. On WomenMusician Shaun Groves wrote up a great little piece on the value of a woman that’s worth reading. Here’s a snippet, talking about Eve in the Garden: “Naked. She stands bare before him, untainted by corrosive self-doubt injected by magazines and peers. She has no peer. She has no ideal. She is pleased because her Maker is, confident and prized because she is His.”

3. Grab the Mic
– I’m looking to book a few speaking engagements this year. Why would I want to speak? Because I enjoy communicating, because I feel like I have some gifts in that area, and because it will help me build a platform of people who know who I am and (hopefully) think I have something worth saying. I’ve got something in the works right now for Texas next month and for North Carolina in the fall, so we’ll see what happens. They both could fall through, or they both might work out. But if you think your church, men’s group, college group, or youth group might be interested in bringing in a new speaker to entertain and inspire them, stay tuned. I’ll give more specifics in the coming weeks.

4. Happy Birthday C! – Today is my brother in law Chad’s birthday. I think he’s 31 today. He’ll always be younger than me, but I’ll always have more hair…so it evens out. Aside from being my wife’s brother and being one of my good friends, Chad is also the worship pastor and main multimedia dude at our church. He does an amazing job with both, and as I’ve said on here before, it’s an honor to serve under him as a guitar player on the worship team. Thanks Chad, hope you get a new Breedlove for your birthday!

(here’s a pic I snapped of our worship team practicing when we used to meet in the gym. Chad’s on the far right, Nate is on keys, Jon is in the drum cage, Paul is on bass, and Tom and Tim are on electric.)

5. My Dad can Solo better than your Dad – Check out my pops rocking the lead guitar solo on “Hotel California” a few weeks ago. He plays in a garage band (literally, they meet in a garage) and they almost never play out. But, they were invited to play at a birthday party and according to party goers, they did not disappoint. Special bonus: The video was shot in Night Vision because someone didn’t know how to use a camera!

(and if you made a deal with yourself years ago that you would never again under any circumstances, listen to Hotel California – which is understandable – then skip ahead to the 4:00 mark to catch his chops…or just go to the 5:30 mark to hear his last few notes and the rousing applause he gets) Love ya dad, great job!