Swamis and a big strawberry

Well, school is officially done for the 2008 - 2009 school year. It took a long time today to get 'checked out' of my three schools. To celebrate the end of the year, I went to see and sit in w/ my friend Zak's band called the Swingin Swamis. It was fun. Below are some pics from the gig followed by a photo of the dessert Mari and I had after the show:

31.4% of My Life Has Been w/ Jesus Christ

I was thinking today on the way to work, that on August 13th of 2009, I will celebrate 11 years as a Christian. That's 31.4% of my life. So for 68.6% I have been without God. Lately it has been a struggle reading God's Word regularly, which means I have been self-focused, self-sufficient, and not believing I need God's Word to renew my mind. Typically, these thoughts of neglecting God's Word lead to discouragement. But today the Lord revealed to me that He is at work. The Lord began a good work in me that He will bring to completion. The Lord didn't save me to have a certain amount of times in the Bible (although reading His Word everyday is a great way to be reminded of His amazing grace). God saved me because of His amazing love revealed on the cross of Christ where Jesus bore on Himself the wrath of God that I deserve. God is the great initiator ... He initiated my salvation 11 years ago. He has been faithful through the years to remind of how much I need Him, like the 31.4% reminder I received today.

Here is my prayer tonight:
"Lord, please work in my life ... renew in me the joy of Your salvation. Help me to be dependent on Your Word ... help me to see that I need You, and that without renewing my mind in Your Word, I will be prone to believe lies." Amen.

My Birthday, Roger Hooper Jazz Trio (Duo), Gene BBQ, HES Concert, Wolf Trap

This is a warning ... the following post is very long ...

My birthday was last Saturday and it was a full day ... the best part was Mari and I were together all day. We started the day by taking part in the walk downtown to support research for breast cancer. My sister-in-law Tere has breast cancer and we lost a good friend almost two years ago, Madonna, to breast cancer. Mari, my Mom, and Cleo and I walked the 5k together:

After the walk, we went to my brother's workplace, the Sitar Arts Center. We saw some of the students perform in an end of semester student showcase. We are a family involved in inspiring young musicians and artists. Because Sitar is located in Adam's Morgan, I wanted to stop by my old stomping ground, FELIX. I used to play @ FELIX every Friday night for about 3 months. I played percussion (Conga, bongos, tire rim, water bottle, and a wok) with a band called Traffic Jam back in 1998. It looks like FELIX is closing down. Goodbye FELIX, thanks for the memories:

After the walk and Sitar, we came home and took a nap. Once we were well rested, it was time to go play 'drums' for the University Park Elementary School production of WILL WONKA (UPES is one of the schools I teach Instrumental Music). Below is a picture of the set-up I used (you could barely hear the kids and there was no bass player ... that's why I used such a small 'kit'):

This is the pit for the show:

Once done playing drums, it was time to go to Cheesecake Factory w/ our good friends the Hills:



The next morning Mari woke up early (pretty amazing because of our crazy day) to make me breakfast. Pancakes, Meuslix, and tea. It was AMAZING!!!

After Church, I had the privilege to play drums w/ Roger Hooper. Not only was Roger instrumental in introducing me to Jesus, he is an amazing piano player. Normally we play w/ John Spiro on bass, but he had a family commitment that conflicted w/ the gig, so we were the Roger Hooper duo. Below are some pics from the Pastors College graduation reception:





On Monday, we had the joy to have dinner over at the Thompson's house. Gene was in town from SanFran ... he made ribs, Brandy made macaroni salad, I made chicken, and we all had great conversation. We'll miss you Gene:

On Thursday night I had my final concert for the year at Hyattsville Elementary School ... the students did a great job!

This Saturday I finally took Mari to see the Gipsy Kings @ Wolf Trap. Ever since I've known her she's been saying, "I'd like to go see the Gipsy Kings." Well ... 3 years later I finally listened. Here are the pics:







I love ending blog entries w/ my smiling wife.

Per usual, if you've read this entry I want to thank you for showing interest in my life. I hope you have a great week and become aware of the amazing grace of God available to us through Jesus Christ!

NEXT Update + Mom Random Pics

Life has been relatively busy since Memorial Day Weekend where Mari and I spent our three days off in Baltimore getting in touch w/ our inner Ninja. But when I say Ninja I mean a person who hands out free stuff at the NEXT conference. This year the NEXT conference was all about Jesus Christ: His Pre-eminence; His Incarnation; His Life; His Death; His Resurrection; and His Return. Mari and I learned a lot about Jesus and had a great time.

This is Sarah and Mike Thompson ... they lead the 'NINJA' team.

These are all the NINJA's.

On the last night of the conference, I sang "Pots 'n Pans" during our final NINJA supper.

My Mom has been taking a photography class ... she used a cool filter to make the wate look like it's moving. Good job Mom!