This is a video shown at the Church Planters Conference I was at in Orlando last week.  It was banned from being handed out at the conference because someone said something about the video not mentioning women… sad.  It’s a great video from one of my heroes, Mark Driscoll.

Well, for those of you who didn’t know, I was gone this week.  I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Orlando at the National New Church Conference.  I then hopped a plane, flew to Chicago where I was delayed for an hour, and then flew in to Reno for yet another conference.  All-in-all it was a good week, but it’s good to be home.  I’m tired… I’m going to bed.  It’s my birthday and I have that right.  Goodnight all!

So a friend of mine and myself went down to this killer studio the other day to record our world-changing first CD.  This is what happened (I’m the bald one)…

Well, here I am.  Sitting in a comfy chair at good ‘ole Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (or swibitz as we call it).  I got out of my 2:25 class (at 3:40) and it’s just not worth driving home in all the traffic to only get to be there long enough to upset the girls that I have to leave again to be back here at the school by 6.  So, here I sit.  In a comfy chair at good ‘ole swibitz.

But this gives me time to just sit and reflect on life as it stands at this moment.  Life has a tendency to get put into fast foward sometimes.  That’s how it seems right now for me.  I haven’t seen my wife for any length of measurable time since January, or so it seems.  Let’s go through a typical week in the lives of the Vaughn’s.  Monday mornings Rennee gets home from work around 7:30am.  I, by then, should have the kids ready to go to school and the sitters.  She get’s home, I get in the car with the kids, drop them off at the sitters and head to work.  Rennee goes to bed and sleeps until about 2:30 or 3.  She then gets up, gets dressed, goes and gets the kids from the sitters, goes and gets Bryce from school and then takes the 4 kids to Bryce and Kyla’s swimming lessons.  I then meet them back at home around 5:30 (remember, we’re only on Monday here).  We have dinner together and we then begin our evening twin ritual of feeding, bathing, and puttting the kids to sleep.  By that time we are exhausted and we go to bed… having said maybe 10 words to each other during all this (the kids are telling us all about their day, we’re fighting with the kids, etc).  Then I wake up around 5:30 am on Tuesday, go to school until 4, get home around 4:30-ish, while Rennee has had the kids all day at home.  I then get home and do homework… if I feel like it.  We then start our evening twin ritual all over again.  Bed.  Sleep. Up at 7 on Wednesdays, I go to work at 8, and don’t get home until around 9 or 9:30 that night (we have internship class that night at church).  By the time I get home Ren has had it up to her eyeballs with screaming kids (she had swimming lessons again this day) so she goes to bed (the kids are usually asleep by that time).  Bed.  Sleep.  I wake up around 5:30 to go to school… repeat Tuesday schedule.  Friday is work, I come home, we have our small group that night, so we go to the Brazilians house (or they come to ours… which adds an additional stress to Rennee.  4 kids = dirty house).  We get home and go to bed.  Saturday is house-cleaning day.  So we do all our laundry, dusting, vacuuming, etc.  Rennee takes an afternoon nap, we eat dinner and she heads off to work for the weekend.  We won’t see her again until Monday afternoon where we start all over again.

Now, in the meantime, I’m taking 12 hours at school (4 classes:  Biblical Interpretation, Old Testament Focus Study, New Testament Focus Study, and Church and Empires).  I’m also being the administrator for Glocalnet (network of church-planting-churches) where I just do whatever they need me to do… which is growing daily.  I love my job which makes it harder for school.

Next week I fly to Orlando for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  I then fly out to Reno for another conference on Thursday and Friday.  Saturday is my berfday.  This will be the first birthday I’ve spent with my parents in 5 or 6 years.  Pray for me next week.  Pray for my Pastor, Bob Roberts, Jr.  He’s speaking at this conference and has several meetings while he’s there. 

How rich are you compared to the rest of the world?  Ever wondered?  Now you can know!  This is a cool tool I found.  It’s accurate to .096!  Pretty cool stuff.  Go HERE if you want to see more!

This is just a small portion of one of the most famous modern-day sermons.  This is very powerful and well done!

Well, for those of you who keep pesterin’ me about what the babies and kiddo’s are up to, here ‘ya go.

EmmaEmma is up on all 4’s now rocking back-and-forth (not going anywhere… just rockin’, that’s my girl)

AnnaAnna is not too far behind Emma in the crawling arena.  She’s starting to get herself on all 4’s, but can’t seem to get all the way up like Emma can.  That’s ok.  We can only handle one crawler at a time anyway.

BryceBryce is in swimming lessons.  She was moved from level one last week all the way to level 3.  She’s an awesome swimmer and I’m trying to talk her into joining a swim team sometime in the near future.  Unfortunately, she’s a lot like her Daddy and we like our comfort zones.

KylaKyla is in pre-k swimming and loving every second of it!   Unlike her Daddy, she’s is perfectly comfortable with the unknown and wants to risk it all!  You got to keep an eye out for this one… she’s gonna take Nascar by storm one day soon!

Yeah, I got my tickets to the gun show!As for Ren and me, we’re hanging in there.  I have 4 more weeks of school before I’m done for the semester!  If I survive with my gpa intact it will be a miracle from God Himself.  I’m working 25 to 30 hours a week, going to school full-time, and trying to still be a good Dad and Husband… failing miserably at all of the above, but trying nonetheless.  I’m going to miss a week of school from April 23rd to April 28th (Happy Birthday to me!) for two Church Planting Conferences.  One in Orlando, and the other in Reno with a brief stop in Chicago.  All in a 5-day period.  I’m going to have to get used to all this traveling for work stuff.

My WomanRennee is working weekends still at Baylor Grapevine and staying at home during the week with the kids.  She’s awesome!  I couldn’t have asked for a better mate (and she’s hot too)! 

If you haven’t watched the videos from the previous two journal posts, do so now.  They are VERY worth the time! 

Happy Belated Easter.  We had a good easter weekend.  Friday evening we had two Good Friday services which was an experiantial communion service with a bleeding cross (yes, the cross was actually bleeding juice into a glass goblet… it was cool).  Then we worshipped our Easter service on Saturday evening, where Bob spoke on true transformation.  Sunday morning most of our neighbors hid easter eggs (in the freezing Texas weather) and then we went and had breakfast in our neighbors’ home.  We had fun.  The following video is incredible.  Yes, it really is 9 minutes long, but WELL worth the wait.  You just have to see it to believe it.

This event happened 4 days after we left Hanoi.  Just my luck, but I’m very excited it happened anyway!