How Many Things to Update?

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How many things can a person update in one life time?

Myspace.com
Blogger.com
Facebook.com

This is getting ridiculous.

Although I must say I like Facebook | David Trigueros a lot right now. We'll see how long that lasts.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

How to Respond to Challenges

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God shapes me during times of illness. I guess he does that in all of our lives. Think of Job during his on going losses, think of Martha during her brother’s death, of Peter’s mother in law, and the little girl’s parents to whom Jesus said, “she is but only sleeping.” That was tough to hear.

I don’t like it when my wife is sick, or our children are sick or anyone I love is sick, it scares me. Yet I know this is one of those two or three things in my life that God uses to grow me into His child.

The others are:
1. Illness
2. Things I don't know how to do
3. Unresolved situations

All these things cause anxiety in me, stress and a feeling of overall lack of control. I don’t like to not know how to do something, or feeling unloved or feeling like I’m not good enough. I don’t like having to compensate for this attitude by being more than I am. It leads to burn out and resentment even bitterness which leaves me vulnerable to making stupid decisions.

How I respond:
1. So I pray and I keep working at it, and I trust God and I get nervous and
2. I write about it and I pray again.
3. And I work, and engage life and do what I can to keep going and
4. I take breaks and play music and sing to God.

When life throws me into those moments of weakness, I usually retreat and run, that’s how I cope. But instead, I am learning to be the hero my wife needs me to be, the knight in shining armor, her rescuer and helper.

So today, instead of sleeping all day while she’s not feeling well, I will engage, help her out, and do some work. This is what’s best for me and for her.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

A Recession That is Coming

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Is there a recession coming?

Mortgage Problem
Unemployment at 5%, highest in last two years
$100/barrel last week

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

Driscoll, McManus...Comparison

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Podcasts I'm enjoying:
1. Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, CA (listening to his December 2007 Christmas series)
2. Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle, WA (listening to his message from the "Creative ChurchConference, May 2007")

Erwin - Passionate, creative, relational, challenges Christians not to be judgmental, preaches acceptance, can come across as wishy-washy, not enough of a fundamentalist, traditionalist.

Driscoll - Quotes Luther, harsh, bold, passionate, fundamentalist, preaches against moralism as a substitute to the Gospel, can come across as ego centric and critical, but in love with Jesus and the Gospel, not religion or moralism.

What I learned from both of them:
1. Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his message of grace and mercy
2. Christians often get in the way of this simple message
3. Love for those not yet followers of Jesus

Great examples.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

What I'm Listening To

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Enjoying these days:

1. Over the Rhine, "All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue" from "Snow Angels", "Later Days" from "Good Dog Bad Dog". Amazing vocals, great songwriting, so moody, I love it!
2. The Frey, "Vienna", "Heaven Forbid" from "How to Save a Life"

About Over the Rhine:

"Look no further than the lyrics to this track for what animates Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, the married couple at the heart of Over The Rhine: “I hope this night puts down deep roots / I hope we plant a seed / ‘Cause I don’t wanna waste your time / With music you don’t need.”

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

Looking Back and Ahead

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It's the night before 2008 and all through the house
The little ones are sleeping and my wife and I are watching Hannah Montana on TV at Times Square.
Next year I'm doing a rave: blue hair, blue drink, strobing lights. Can you imagine it?


So what did 2007 bring?

1. Doing Things Together With My Wife. Rachelle and I stopped doing things on our own, which brought a lot of disconnect between us, and we learned to do things together - mow the lawn together, go to IKEA together, drop off the children together, make dinner together, do the dishes together, etc. etc. This has brought a new level of intimacy, honesty and oneness to our marriage. It's probably the biggest change in my life ever. It is because of this that #2 could happen.

2. We left our church Bethany. After 15 years on staff at Bethany (21 attending for my wife) God called us to leave and trust Him for the future. We feel excited and nervous but as Abraham (Genesis 12), we believe God asked us to leave and follow Him in faith. We feel He has promised to guide us and lead us into something amazing. Our desire is to change the world for Jesus.

3. No one in my family died, was in the hospital, or got crazy sick, which is a first in the last 5 years.

4. Great Shape. Even through quitting and learning a lot about myself, I continue to work out 5-6x/week, lifting weights, running, abs, and eating healthy (5 years).

5. I am not Special. I am Special. I saw myself at my worst this year, in self, and at my best, in Christ. I used to think I was something special on my own. That is false, I am hopelessly lost. I used to think I was not very special, but I am. In Christ I am uniquely made and a gift to Him and this world by His grace and power.

6. Made some headway in my issues with Anxiety. I have dealt with anxiety my whole adult life, but this year, I began to pray that God would heal me of it. He hasn't totally, and maybe He never will, but I do feel more in tune with the cure to anxiety - realizing I can't control my life and realizing that I can't figure things out without God's help.

That was a full year.

My goals for 2008:

1. Write. I love to write and I think I'm pretty good at it. I need to write a book, I have no idea what it will be about, but I have tons of material. I want it published by NavPress or someone like that. My goal is to eventually write 10-12 books.

2. Work with Mike Silva in Nicaragua/Latin America. Mike is an evangelist and friend of the family. When Mike preaches, people come to Jesus. He has invited me to lead worship with him world wide.



3. Work among Latinos together with Rachelle. Both my wife and I feel part of our new call is to work among Latinos together. My wife is not Latina, but speaks fluent Spanish and loves the culture and so do I. I also feel called to worship and the arts, developing young leaders, reaching postmoderns and living missionally locally and globally.

4. Love our new church.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

What Does a Man Do?

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So what does a man do the day after Christmas?
1. You Tube his son (4) on drums
2. Laundry
3. R' to Target at 7am (me, home arbitrating new stuff and who gets it when)
4. Did I mention the drums, LOUD! In our Living Room! Can you say sound paneling?
5. Water backyard
6. Work day on Saturday, things seem to break (and not get fixed) during the holidays right?

Hope your Christmas was great. Probably one of the best moments was adopting a family on 7th and Lime Ave in the LBC. We brought over $500.00 of new toys, clothes, ham I baked myself, a Christmas tree and carols. This was my wife's vision and heart.

Ten of our family members went to their one bedroom apartment, to visit Carinna, an immigrant single parent coming out of gangs and her 5 children ages 9 to 6 months. Her niece, teenager, is also staying with her during Christmas (here from Mexico). They both spoke of being abused as young girls by their parents and how they struggle forgiving them.

I spoke to them from John 6 of Jesus being the Bread of Life, of Him being our forgiveness, of the grace and mercy of our God. I told them that we hope the gifts would remind them of the love of God, that God knows everything and yet loves them no matter what. She kept saying how tough it is to forgive. We can't even imagine. She had tears in her eyes.

We listened to them, loved them, prayed together, our children playing with theirs as one family. They spoke mostly Spanish, but the language didn't matter, we were there in the Spirit of God and love.

I learned so much that night, that even beyond "giving" to a family in need, that the message of forgiveness and grace is what they need most. The pain in Carinna's life is evident, and no church or pastor can heal her, only the grace of God can and time.

And those gifts in her house, now opened, her children perhaps moving on to the next thing, represent more than gifts. They represent the grace of God and the forgiveness of God offered to her.

I don't think Carinna has yet experienced this forgiveness, but in a way she experienced it that night as our families in Christ, offered love and acceptance to one another. It wasn't just us giving to them, we all gave to one another. The rest is up to God.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

Crowder at the Wiltern

Hello,

First act, the Myriad, good alt rock
phil wickham was ok.
Waiting for mr. Crowder. He'll rock it.

Davidt

In Rainbows, Radiohead Review

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Radiohead has been up and down for me through the years. Sometimes they're too intrinsic, sometimes I realize how influential and primal they've been to bands such as Coldplay, Sigur Ros, Keane and half the "British-alt" sound out there.

I started following them when "OK Computer" came out about 10 years ago. At the time, I saw them at the Greek Theatre and they mesmerized me. Then came "Kid A", "Amnesiac" and "Hail to the Thief" and I was off the bandwagon again.

Now comes "In Rainbow"....a CD (or I should say an MP3 download off their website for any $ amount) and all I can say is that I'm back on the bandwagon. Wow.

You know what I like about this album? It's accesability. This album has simple hooks, catchy intros and endings, while maintaining that Radiohead emo/atmospheric sound.

Take for example "Weird Fishes...." what a great guitar/drum/bass intro with the chord progression taking you places for 16 bars before the vocals come in. Wonderful. Then he sings "In the deepest ocean...." I love it.

"Nude" is an old song of theirs from what I hear, but what feeling as the strings, revolving synths and simple snare/hh/kick groove come in. Then the vocals come in with a haunting melody as the bass line kicks in. And something about going from a minor chord to a major chord in two measures that just works.

"Bodysnatchers" is just a great jam. Sounds like the old "U2" Vertigo/Pop/etc. which is a throwback to that 60's scratchy classic rock and roll sound, David Bowie and the Doors all wrapped into one.

"Faust Arp" sounds like a song from the 70's, like the "Mama's and the Papa's", but more haunting. "Reckoner" is awesome, I love that acoustic guitar lick with the "thrashy" snare, bell and tamborine sounds all creating a sort of gypsy-like feel, until the bridge comes in and it all quiets down to just vocals and guitar. Then back to the groove. This is probably my favorite track on the album.

"House of Cards" is a beautiful song, nice intro again with a layed back guitar progression and simple groove behind it. Great vocals, nice melody. "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" is a favorite as an acoustic guitar player. It has that major to minor chord thing again which is classic Radiohead and a tight groove behind it. "Videotape" is a piano/Coldplay type song which perfectly ends the evening.

The whole CD flows as one from track to track, it's a journey, a circular path, but still one to walk. A CD you want to listen to as a whole.

Overall, I enjoyed this album.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

On our way to dmb if we survive

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On the park and ride bus to the hollywood bowl on a date with my wife to see Dave Matthews, big fan. But we think the bus driver may be drunk!

UPDATE#1: We made it. Now waiting at the ATM machine to get some $ to rent binoculars! Yeah, cheap seats. No matter. I'm with my baby.

UPDATE#2: Going home, amazing show. Dave is a machine.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

Changes That Have Made a Difference

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Over the last 6 months, I have made some changes in my work habits that have reduced stress, increased my time with my wife, provided more focused time with our children and provide better boundaries between work and home.

1. Cancelled Texting. Completely shut it off. Not only is it off, I called AT&T and asked them to take it off my phone completely. This has given me more privacy, becoming available to people at work through email and cell but not texting. Texting was killing me, it was non-stop access to me 24hrs/day. No longer.

2. Close email App on days off. On my days off, I'll still blog and be online, but I don't open Apple Mail, Google Mail, nothing. This way I'm not tempted to send or read email, because once that happens you know what comes next, my mind is on work things, aways from my home or whatever other things I'm into at the time (resting, painting, exercising, reading, etc). This has been a hard thing to do, it took me about 2-3 weeks to detox, but I can say I'm now offline on my days off.

3. No email on Saturday nights. There's nothing worse than reading a nasty email the night before Sundays (at least for me as a pastor). Too many times I'll read an email, nasty or just asking for this and that and I'm off the deep end, working it, thinking, wanting to kill someone or myself. So on Saturday nights, I don't check my email. Instead, I focus on my own work for Sundays, reading, praying, late night prep at times, etc. But this is me time, God time, serving the Body time, versus distractions through email.

4. Daily focused time with my wife. Both of us are busy, she is a teacher I work at a church, we have three small children, life is hectic. But every day, most of the times at 7:30am, my wife and I talk for 20mns or so. We talk about our feelings, about our to do's. We'll ask questions such as "how are you feeling today?", "what do you want to talk about?", "what do you have to do today?". For my wife, on the days she works, it slows her down, giving her time to drink coffee while sitting down with me versus in the car, while on the phone with the babysitter, rushing to work. For me, it's focused time with my wife, to talk, to bear all, to be one. It's the best part of my day. Some couples call it "couch time", other's "coffee break," whatever it is, it's something we're doing and is bringing us closer than ever.

These things are simple, but if you're like me and have been addicted to email, texting, etc. etc. there's a price you're paying, and I was paying it. That glazed look while everyone's having dinner, that "aha, aha...." while my 6 year old is talking to me, or worse yet stewing over a work issue. Or just simply checking out during the night time routines - dinner, putting kids to bed, all the other little things that mean the most to my wife and our children, all because I am online, texting, answering emails when I should be focused on my soul and my home.

These changes have increased my "home focus" time by 5-6 hours/day, or 40-50%. No joke. I feel better, more focused, more relaxed, more balanced, more godly, more centered, and when Sunday comes I'm more ready to give it my best.

After all, I believe my soul, my wife and children, are still to be my #1 focus.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

Where I Pray

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This is where I pray, worship, think, cry, laugh. Back yard, guitar, under a tree, family running around.

Peaceful.

Have a great day,

Into the future,

davidT

How I Eat

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Today is a good (and typical) example of how I eat.

To bring everyone up to speed, I am into fitness. I eat 6 small meals a day, lift and run/abs 6x/week. I've done this on a weekly basis since 2004.

I used to weigh 220lbs. now I weigh 185lb. I had no muscle tone, felt sluggish, ate pizza, ice cream, sweets, chocolate, anything and everything and felt terrible, my BP was 140/90, my cholesterol was high, went to the chiropractor weekly (not a bad thing btw), I was a mess.

Now I have strong arms, tight abs, strong legs and chest, firm back, I'm in shape. I feel amazing, have energy all day long, can't remember the last time I had to visit my chiropractor (abs and deadlifts are great "back-breakers"), my BP is 110/70, my pulse and resting rate are low. I have run a 5K and came in 10th place in my age category. I feel strong, I look great and younger than ever. I am committed to this for life.

I started with Body for Life in 2004, did Arnold's Body Building Program in 2005 and Dave Draper's Fitness Program 2006 to current.

So anyway, back to today:

Eating
Breakfast - Oatmeal (whole oats), brown sugar, non-fat milk. Together with 45grams of protein (Pro-Complex) in 10oz of water.

10am snack - Power Bar, water.

Lunch - Grilled Chicken Burrito, no guacamole, no sour cream, wheat tortilla, no chips, no nachos. water.

4pm snack - Low fat Cottage Cheese (1c), 1/2 c. Non-Fat Yogurt, string cheese, water.

Dinner - Baked chicken, rice, steamed broccoli (no butter, no sour cream, no salt).

9pm snack - Protein smoothie, 45grams of protein, sugar-free frozen strawberries, 1/2 a frozen banana, 10oz non-fat milk, ice, in a blender.

Exercise
Lift, 1 hour, Chest and back
Abs
Run, 20mns

That's a typical day. I'm not perfect, I'll eat pizza once a month (or twice maybe), I'll snack on wheat thins and string cheese or have non-buttered popcorn at times. My body is not perfect by any means.

I just eat healthy, exercise daily and feel great.

Want help? Ask me. Someday I hope to become a certified personal trainer to help people get in shape. This is both psychology and physical. I've already had 4-5 people commit to a similar program just by talking to me about it. The proof is in my commitment to it.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

Now Is the Time

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Ok, so now I'm doing it....probably not until Nov/Dec, but at $399, the iPhone is a steal.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT

Done With Dancing

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I'm waiting for the SuperLiga 2007 futbol final tonight at 8pm and the commercial for the next "dance show" comes up. I'm done with dance shows! Anyone else?

It wasn't that great of a show to begin with, celebrities with no rhythm paired up with over the hill dance has-beens looking for a final big break. Enough already.

What else?

1. Little David (4) near cracked his head open tonight on the bathroom sink. In fact, he did, bled all over the place, but it stopped and he seems fine. We're watching him closely, but so far so good. I held him while he bled, my legs shaking while I held a rag to his head. He had "cradle cap" where he bonked, which made the whole thing worst.

2. Can't wait for the SuperLiga 2007 final tonight, 8pm and it's on regular TV, we need cable bad!

3. I will probably not lift tonight, usually I lift at 7pm after I help put the children down. But with the game, and the trauma of David's head injury I will lift tomorrow. I will do 15mns of abs in a few minutes during the game. Last week I lifted 3x and ran 3x, abs 5x, eating very well. I'm feeling better each week.

4. Today was just an overall emotionally draining day. Tough meetings, long conversations, some big decisions that I made today and now the follow through is coming and then the accident. I can't wait for that game!

5. Reading, "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Nouwen, "Ruthless Trust" by Manning and "Ragammuffin Gospel" also by Manning.

6. Meditating on Psalm 40, "waited patiently for the Lord...", Psalm 52, "return to me the joy of my salvation...." and Colossians, "the invisible God..."

7. Listening to, United "Came to My Rescue", Crowder "For the Glory of It All", Snow Patrol (Snow Patrol has some amazing haunting melodies, really feeling them these days).

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT