Freebie Family

Lately the Henslee family has been looking for opportunities to be together while spending little or no money....just plain ol being creative and not feeling the need for the dinner and a movie fix.

We're trying to wipe out our debt and so we've taken measures to keep from overspending so that we can get out of debt (including the house) sooner...rather than later. Thankfully, we've been given several gift certificates. One of which was to Starbucks. Mmmmm, although my coffee snob friends prefer Double Shot Coffee at least Starbucks is as they say, "consistent mediocrity." All I care about is that they all make my tall organic carmel macchiato right. The whole coffee-nazi of the aforementioned Double Shot Coffee company is an altogether different post in and of itself. Good stories there....I digress...

Anyway, I have been really enjoying making time with my family to talk about the now, the future, and the, "why didn't we do that?" philosophical dialogue. Rachel and I have been so busy lately with vacations, business trips, and an upcoming mission trip, that we HAVE to have these meetings in order to keep ourselves sane. What are some of the things you do to keep yourself sane? What do you do with you family on a regular basis?

NashVegas

Well, part of my job is to help out my counterparts in a certain region of Lifechurch.tv campuses. I've had the joy of being at the Wellington, FL campus to help the launch there. Edmond and Stillwater are both here in Oklahoma so they're easier to visit. But, since its launch, I've never been to the Hendersonville campus. This past weekend I got to hang out with Brandon Frazier a lot. He's the Worship Pastor there and frankly is doing an amazing job! Even with first time band people who've never heard of Lifechurch.tv, they were freakin great! I mean, c'mon...it's Nashville.

Anyway, got to help Branflake out with his new ProTools rig and some ground work on Reason. Both programs can be overwhelming at first, so I just dumb everything down for myself....who needs to re-route the path of the vocoder to a splitter, then to a gate, and a flanger anyway? These are a couple tools we use to create audio loops with and use on the weekend experiences.

In the down times, I got to explore Nashville a little bit. We went downtown and had chips and salsa, while overlooking the main street where all the bars and clubs were. I laid eyes on one of the first locations of the Grand Ole Opry....the Ryman Auditorium. I'm not the biggest bluegrass or coutry fan, but this piece of music history is pretty cool.

Here are some photos of my trip...

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Second Life Funnies

Here's a funny video about what it would look like in real life (RL) if we acted the way we do in Second Life (SL)



If you don't know what Second Life is...then it might not make much sense. Here's the wiki for it (LINK)

Lifechurch.tv has a SL campus. We've already seen people give their lives to Jesus while attending the SL campus. Our staff participates in it and interacts with people in SL.

Check out a post on Swerve about it here. (LINK)

Quality Time, Schmality Time

After attending a seminar of sorts the other day, I have been wrestling with a new concept for me. Up until now, I have always thought I should give a lot of energy to making my life balance look pretty even. By this I mean, I could spend time working, but as long as I just hung out with my family that would be okay.

I also pondered the fact that I am very deliberate when it comes to work. I try to really think through all the day's/week's decisions that had to be made. What I've realized is that I don't give the same thoughts and concerns with my time at home. I am not planning like I plan at work. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!!!???!!!! I'm not saying I'm an inconsiderate jerk or anything, just that I have placed more intentionality on my time at work.

So, I spoke with my wife and asked for her help in identifying ways that I can be more intentional at home. Man, if anyone has any good ideas....I'm ALL EARS!!!

Fire Away!

Inside Out

Today I went to Oklahoma City to participate in our new hire orientation event called Inside Out. We've (Lifechurch.tv) been doing this for a little while now and every time a new staffer goes through it, a little part of me wants to check it out. (It wasn't around when I was hired.)

The whole event encapsulated the different areas of focus of Lifechurch.tv and introduced everyone to the people within those ministries. Our Directional Leadership Team spoke to us and really elevated the vision of everyone there!

What I noticed is that I was able to not get caught up in all the "new" aspects of Lifechurch.tv that a new staff person would encounter, and really hear the heart and intent by what the presenters were saying. I've been a part of the church for over 5 years now and I've been amazed at what God has done! After today, I can't wait to see what He's got in store for the next 5 years!

The Mayan Riviera

So, Mexico is not into WiFi in the resort area. I had hoped that I would be able to update the blog daily, but alas....I have to wait till I'm back here in good ol T-town. So here goes...



Mexico; where the people come to bathe topless, drink umbrella-less drinks, offer you trinkets, and make quesadillas with goat cheese. It is also a place that has the most beautiful beaches that I have ever seen. If you want a beautiful tropical vacation just outside the U. S. and A., then Meh-hicko it is!



We stayed at an all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya. This is part of the Yucatan peninsula and was originally home to the Mayans. I mean, the land was...their..home....NOT the resort. Anyway, the accommodations were very nice. The mini bar in the room was fee, I got free house shoes, free drinks, free food, free catamaran excursions, free snorkeling, but best of all......FREE SOFTSERVE ICE CREAM! Good times.



We went with a couple that we have been friends with for a long time. Todd Craig is a close friend of mine. He lived through being my roommate in college and we became close friends staring with being co-counselors at Kanakuk Kamps. He and his wife Stephenie went with us and we have that kind of friendship where he and I get along, she and Rach get along, and we like each other's spouses too....rarely happens!



All we did was lay on the beach, swim at the pool, fall asleep in hammocks, eat, watch live shows with a little too much butt cheek showing, eat, snorkel, eat, rent hobiecats, eat softserve ice cream, and we also ate a bit too. Here are some pictures of our time at the beach.



Enjoy...

Here We Go Again!

Yes, we are traveling again. This time without the little guy. Rachel dropped him off with her aunt and uncle. (Rach's late mother's sister.) Yep, I have never felt this way before! I had this really weird feeling that was altogether new this morning as I drove away from my house to work. We've left him before but with each other. I've been out of town, and she's been out of town...but never at the same time without Ezra! I didn't know if it was a combination of fear, worry, and sadness or what! Whole new bag of emotions with the kid!



Anyway, we packed up his entire room almost and sent it along the way. Now we're barely packing anything for ourselves for our trip to the Mayan Riviera with our friends Todd and Stephenie Craig. I'll blog more about it in the days to come. Here's a picture of the beach from that area! This time we're without the kiddo and no family!



I'll keep you posted!



Here's where we are: LINK



Here's what it looks like: