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A Song for Anna Joy

This post might be a little long.. if you want to cut to the chase click here to buy a great song on iTunes to defray medical expenses for Anna Joy’s care.

Over the 2011 Christmas Holiday many of my closest friends were glued to the story of baby Anna Joy, a miracle from Heaven born with two serious heart defects. We prayed, we cried, we rejoiced, we prayed and cried and prayed some more. Through it all Anna Joy, while not of our flesh and blood, became family to hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.

Alissa and Matt Peppley (Anna Joy’s Parents) are the kind of friends I know I could run to if necessary in a crisis and they’d be there with arms and hearts Album art for Safe In His Hands open to help any way they could. It has been an honor to assist in the publication of this song, to pray and hold them up in a time of great stress and crisis.

A few days before Anna Joy was born, Kathy Kerber, a singer songwriter who attends our church, wrote “Safe in His Hands (a song for Anna Joy)”. In her blog Alissa mentions singing the chorus over Anna Joy. “Safe in His Hands” is a song of courage and faith in Jesus sung to a precious girl by a deeply loving mother.

If you were present at the memorial service for Anna Joy you’d have heard this song sung by Alissa. Our great friend John Burch, of SpiritBorne Productions, selflessly recorded the song with Alissa singing and Kathy playing piano for use as the background to a very compelling video of Anna and her family. We love you John! Thanks for the hard work and gift of your immense talent and scarce time. It is so very much appreciated.

From the beginning, Kathy Kerber intended this song to be given away just as God had “given” it to her; to be a blessing and comfort in a time of deep emotional turmoil. Alissa and Matt desire that this song encourage others as it has encouraged them. So, I approached my friend Matt Kees, Cofounder of Christian Musician Summit, accomplished musician and Producer to see if he could help us. My desire was in line with both Kathy and the Peppley’s, to see God glorified and encourage people. However, I wanted to go above and beyond and if possible get Kathy much deserved exposure and have the song published to iTunes and other media outlets. Matt Kees was the key to make that happen.

Alissa (top) and Kathy (bottom) recording "Safe In His Hands".

Matt arranged, performed, and recorded all the instrumentation then invited us up to record vocals at his studio in Puyallup. He answered many questions I had about the publishing process and was overwhelmingly gracious to us in every aspect of our project.

I confidently recommend both John Burch and Matt Kees for any of your recording needs. Matt Kees’ website is found here. John Burch’s studio can be reached here. (360) 866-2021

If you’ve read this far and maybe even followed some of the links then you might be wondering how to hear this great song. You might even want to help the Peppley family with medical expenses or possibly donate to charity in support of families and children facing similar hardship. Good News! You can do both at the same time. By downloading “Safe in His Hands” you get to be encouraged by the song while supporting a great cause. All monies received from the sale of the song go to cover medical expenses. When God blesses above that need with additional funds, those will be donated to other families in need. Click here or on the album art to purchase “Safe in His Hands” on iTunes and be a part of this amazing story.

Other places you can buy this song:

Amazon MP3, Zune, Spotify, all iTunes regional stores.

Alissa’s blog. Please read Anna’s story here.

 

Category: Family, General  One Comment
Burst Mode Video: Willamina Mud Drags 2011

Hey! Ever want to escape to rural America and experience real people having real fun? All the time! I was asked to join my sister in photographing the Willamina Oregon, Mud Drags on Jun 25th, 2011.

It was a blast! Roaring engines, flying mud, real people being themselves having a great time. It’s a real family event with people traveling in from all over the Pacific Northwest to enjoy the festivities.

The race was run by Total Destruction Racing at the request of the city of Willamina. The event is a fund raiser for their annual 4th of July fireworks. Also a great event!

I shot nearly 4000 images. Below is a video comprised of more than 3000 of them. Enjoy!

 

Something a little bit different.

Last Sunday I found myself standing at the viewing area of the Munson Creek Falls near Tillamook Oregon. This waterfall drops 319′ feet making it the tallest in the Coastal Range. More on how to get to the falls and the region can be found here. http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_245.php

I was riding my motorcycle and hadn’t packed a tripod which precluded me from taking a typical long exposure shot to “silkify” the water. Yes, I just made up that word, “silkify”, kinda has a ring to it! Since I find snapshots of waterfalls… um boring, I thought I’d shoot it doing something different.

Hoping to get a more painted, brush stroke effect, I decided to shoot a longer exposure while moving the camera to “blur” the image. I’ve shot images like this before with pretty much poor results.. it takes a certain skill to intentionally mess up an image and have it turn out great! I’d love your feedback on how you think this one turned out.

f/22, 1sec, ISO 100, Canon 24-105 IS L series at 58mm, EOS 40D - Click image to enlarge.

Adventure!

Today I went on a ride to meet a man doing something most of us would consider impossible. He’s riding from Canada to Mexico…. in a wheelchair.

James Barnett has Muscular Dystrophy but he’s not letting it keep him from experiencing adventure. His goal is to raise money to promote adventures for other wheelbound people. While speaking with him today I caught just a bit of his passion. James dreams of riders with diseases like his own along with others like Disabled Veterans wounded physically but still capable of living life to the fullest and experiencing adventure joining him on a ride of Route 66 or other shorter adventures.

Riding with James for a few miles wasn’t just an amazing experience. It was an adventure.

You can learn more and support James at his website Wheelbound.Org

Click the photo to see a handful of the images from the visit.

Category: General  Leave a Comment
Rising up of The Nations

I’ve had the honor of witnessing a fresh move of God within the Pacific Northwest Native American Nations. Elders and Chairmen from several Nations gathered on the Lummi reservation this weekend to claim back their next generations from alcohol, drugs, and all manner of sinful oppression. These proud peoples are boldly proclaiming God’s Word, are entering into relationship with Christ and are seeing a wave of The Holy Spirit move to heal relationships, addictions, and physical needs.

Thank You God for allowing me to be a part of what You are doing.

Section of a typical native blanket.

Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming!

It’s already the 13th of January 2011! How’d we get this far into the new year without me posting? I’ve been insanely busy. Busy doing what I believe is God’s work; prayer, spiritual warfare, ministry, raising my children and loving my wife. I’ve also been busy with distractions.. College Football Bowl Games, NFL Playoffs, entertainment. I know my God understands a bit of a diversion, I’m sure Jesus played catch with the neighborhood kids in Nazareth but do I really have to watch every episode of this season’s favorite television show? No, not really.

Along with many in my local church I am currently on day 4 of a 21-day fast. Each of these 21 days I’m not eating Breakfast or Lunch. Instead, I’m focusing on God and seeking His will for my life. I’m praying for wisdom, discernment, and understanding of Bible Prophesy, I’m interceding for my church, community, state and nation.

At this point I’m just shy of 20% complete with this fast. What has God been speaking to me? Bubbling to the surface so far is a need to be more deliberate about telling the story of redemption through Jesus and making sure that everyone knows that we are closer now than ever to Jesus return. The rest of this post will focus on how we can know when Jesus will return.

A few months ago I was invited to watch a video entitled Daniel’s Timeline. I was completely blown away by the mountain of biblical evidence available to us that I believe tells us when Jesus will return. I urge you my friends to grab a Bible, pen and paper, then click the link I’ve provided and really dive into this presentation. The teaching lasts about 2-hours but I suggest you set aside 3. You’ll want to start with prayer asking God to reveal Himself and to confirm in you if this is Truth or not. You’ll also likely want to look up many of the scriptures presented and read them for yourself.

This link is the complete presentation without interruption hosted by waytozion.org. You can also watch the presentation broken into chunks via the embedded YouTube videos below.

Friends, if this study is right, or even close to right, we are now living in the beginning years of the Tribulation. We must be ready and we must tell our friends to be ready and we must act in Love to lead others to Jesus before it is too late.

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Category: General  One Comment
Olympia Toy Run, 2010

Since 2006 I’ve participated in the Olympia Toy Run. It’s a great event bringing together 12,000 plus motorcyclists to donate toys and cash to the Salvation Army for distribution to kids as Christmas Presents in the region.

Last year my whole family enjoyed the event but due to Nut Cracker ballet and Church Choir rehearsals only myself and my amazing boy Brandon enjoyed it.

Our 7:30 AM departure welcomed us with clear skies and a temperature just above freezing. We met Erling Selsted, Teal Van Kirk and Dean Hoopes for breakfast at a local diner then made our way to the event. Parking at the diner was a bit of an adventure as there was still some black ice on the pavement but we managed without dropping the bike. I took some photos at the event which you can view within my Facebook Photo album. Motorcycle Stuff.

As usual the Seattle Cossacks Stunt Team performed as did the Tenino Drill Team.

Seattle Cossacks "Flower"

Seattle Cossacks "Flower", five guys on one vintage Harley.

I mounted a standard definition Flip Video recorder on my bike for the ride this year. Bummer that it slipped a bit and the image went a bit off-kilter. Regardless, it’s cool to see the ride from the perspective of my handle bars. Hope you enjoy it.

Abandoned Six Flags Video

This is crazy cool. Wish I could go and shoot stills.

Six Flags Magic Mountain: Roller Coaster Mecca

Magic Mountain has long been my favorite park simply because of the large number of roller coasters. Just announced: In 2011 it is getting better. Check out this cool video from Six Flags to see how.

“The Taxman Cometh”

I’ve never posted a political piece on this blog and while some may disagree I don’t think this is a political piece as much as it is a financial piece. There is a definite “Conservative” slant to this video most of which I’m in agreement with. Regardless of the perspective, I feel this is much needed information that many US Citizens are just not aware of.

On January 1st a great number of tax breaks allowed under previous Administrations will expire. The cumulative effect of this defacto tax increase could likely cripple our barely breathing economy. Can it be stopped? Yes! However, leadership in Washington must act as soon as the elections are over. Democrats in power or Democrats in a lame-duck session will be the ones that must make this happen as anyone newly ellected to Congress won’t be seated until the new year; after the taxes are in effect. Can Congress in the new year repeal? Possibly. It depends on if they are motivated to do so and if President Obama won’t use veto power.

I’m calling on all U.S. Citizens to contact both their Senator and Representatives to ask them to “Not let tax cuts expire”. If they do expire, 2011 will likely be a very rough economic year for everyone.