"He Calls Them Each by Name" by Elisa

I sometimes find myself thinking of God as if He were like a mere human. I project my own limitations onto Him, the Creator of the universe. And He says to me, “Think outside of the box. Suspend your preconceptions about me. Let me help you.” And He reaches down, lifts me out of the box, and gives me a fresh perspective.

Last night was one of those times. As Blaine, the boys, and I were lying in the front yard, gazing up at the brightly starlit mountain sky watching a meteor shower, this verse came to mind: “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them each by name” Psalm 147:4. Even though I know better, a part of me says, “That’s impossible, it can’t be done! Nobody has ever been able to count all the stars!” But Isaiah 55:8 says, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”

This morning, with thoughts of last night’s spectacular light show still fresh in my mind, I read Psalm 33 in my daily reading in the One Year Bible. My spirit leaped for joy as I read verse 6: “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.”
I was filled with awe and amazement that God would have orchestrated that very verse for me to read the morning after a meteor shower—a small glimpse of His greatness that He was delighted to reveal to me. And He reveals Himself more and more every day as I walk with Him, just as He promises He will do with anyone who asks with a sincere heart.

In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me.” He is a gentleman. He doesn’t barge the door down. He extends the invitation to dine with Him, but it’s up to us if we choose to accept it. If He loves His creation and He calls the stars each by name, how much more does He love you?

"A Place to Live In" by Elisa

Earlier today I had a chance to chill in my favorite comfy chair upstairs while the boys occupied themselves with a game of "Upwords" (it's like Scrabble for kids). After getting home late last night from a day in the sun at Newport Beach and having to wake up at 4:30 in the morning for work, I just wanted to be lazy today and hide from the sun a little bit. I began daydreaming as I looked through the big window to the tops of the swaying pine trees outside against the blue summer sky...it was as if they were reaching up to God, thanking Him. And I was overcome with awe and wonder at God's creation...flowers and trees that have such intricate detail and beauty, that are stamped with evidence of a Designer. I began to think that it's so sad that people could think that all of the order and beauty that surrounds us in this world was the result of an accident, or an explosion, and that all of it just evolved over millions of years. Order is not the result of chaos. I kept thinking about that statement "Order is not the result of chaos." I had my Bible on my armrest because I wanted to read something in Matthew and my thumb had been resting on some "random" page while I was lost in my thoughts. I came back to reality and looked down to see that my Bible was opened to Isaiah. My eyes instantly became fixed on a verse at the bottom of the page. The words practically jumped up off the page at me. It was Isaiah 45:18...

"For the LORD is God, and He created the heavens and the earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos."

I was blown away (once again)! But especially by the last part of the verse: He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty CHAOS." His creation reflects His plan and His love! I love this quote from CS Lewis:

"Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning." :)

The Mountain’s Got Talent

My student “recital” this year, called “The Mountain’s Got Talent” (after the original “Britain’s Got Talent”), was a everything I hoped it to be.

It featured 40 of my students, including my boys Aaron and Sammy, performing 23 numbers. I actually hate to even use the word “recital” because people involuntarily yawn and roll their eyes just hearing the word due to having endured excruciating ones in the past. So let’s call it a student concert, with most students playing as part of bands I piece together just for the show. I get professional backup musicians (this year Steve and Tyler Smith) to pad whatever bands I don’t have enough student personnel or talent to fill. As their teacher, I’m part of almost every band, on various instruments and vocals (my motto is “You’re never alone on stage, unless you want to be.”).

Here’s Sammy with his band “The Flying Monkeys”, smiling and performing the opening number, “I Love We Will Rock’n’Roll You” (a Queen/Joan Jett medley).


Here you see video footage (by John McIntosh) of the Flying Monkeys featuring both drummers—Sammy age 6 and Colby age 6, two guitarists—Trevor age 9 and Riley age 8.


Trevor and I also shared vocals on this number, which set the rock’n’fun tone for the enthusiastic, packed audience.


Next up, Aaron brought the house down with his synthesizer orchestra rendition of the Darth Vader theme “Imperial March” with me accompanying him on drums. I could kick myself because I didn’t have video tapes in my bag, so I don’t have any footage of it, but at least in this picture you can see how much fun he has doing his thing.

Earlier that morning, he looked over at me during a pause in our rehearsal and, seeing the look on my face, said “What?” I answered, “When you were born, I never thought we’d be doing this together!” Obviously I’m lovin’ it.

The set covered a wide variety from Bach to Jimi Hendrix. I hope to collect more videos clips and pictures from students and put them together into a video montage with better sound eventually, but for now, enjoy this taste....

Momentous Occasions

(Sammy left, Aaron right)
The boys had their AWANA awards night on Wednesday June 3. (If you don't know what AWANA is, visit http://www.awana.org/). The boys worked hard all year to earn every bit of recognition they received. Aaron got the final plaque for Sparks and will be moving up to TNT next year. Great work!

Katie Cornell graduated from high school on Saturday June 6. She actually mentioned us as having an impact on her life as her first Sunday school teachers from way back when she was in the 1st and 2nd grade when we were quote "young" as she said. She also mentioned Arich and Syble Harrison as having had a profound impact as her 5th and 6th grade Sunday school teachers in getting her to be daily in the Word (Harrisons, I hope you're reading this!). Doesn't Katie look beautiful? We still see her as the little girl in our class.

(Photo by Cristina Diaz)
There was a youth going-away-party for the Crossons at the Dunn's house on Sunday, June 7. Here you see the youth all laying hands on Geoff and Nicia (they're in there somewhere!). It was a bittersweet time filled with laughter and tears and seeking the Lord.

After a similar time of prayer at CCLA services, we had an official church party. We will miss you, Geoff and Nicia!

Mountain Harvest Concert

A bunch of churches on the mountain got together and put together a concert and outreach this past Sunday at Center Stage in the Lake Arrowhead Village. It featured some local talent and the incredible blues harp (harmonica) player Darrell Mansfield, who is also the Blues Hall of Fame Ambassador to California (who knew?). I was actually supposed to lead a group in it, but through a maze of complications and extenuating circumstances I couldn't do it. Maybe next time...

Simple Pleasures & Feats of Skill

We decided to head out to Big Bear on a whim this afternoon because we’ve been getting a bit stir crazy laying around sick. We made it just in time for the movie “Night at the Museum 2” which is a fun kid flick. After the movie we headed over to a park where the boys got to let loose, and where we took the video footage. Ah, the simple pleasures of life…it’s great to live in the mountains on days like this.

On to the feats of skill. Strangely, both of my boys have learned a fear of monkey bars due to the structure at our church being so high off the ground. A month or so ago, I really wanted the boys—particularly Aaron—to get over this fear (Sammy still has the age excuse). After trying to encourage Aaron in various ways, I was about to give up when I struck gold—or greenbacks, that is. I offered Aaron a dollar if he could get from one end to the other. Not only did he do this, but he soon traversed an impressive “triple section” monkey bars. The best dollar I ever spent! I didn’t get footage that day, but you can see Aaron’s abilities from today on bars (and trees). Sammy demonstrates more of his usual friend-magnet skills and all-around wonder boy charm.

Speaking of feats of skill, I was three for three throwing chocolate chips into the mouths of Elisa and Sammy across the table at IHOP, where we ate tonight. Surprised everybody including myself, although there was no one else there to witness it. Have you ever eaten in a restaurant where you were the only people there? A nice treat with pampered service and no cause for embarrassment. Ah, the simple pleasures of life…

Tae Kwon Do with Mr. Moss

Aaron and Sammy have been doing Tae Kwon Do with Mr. Moss (Robert Moss) on Friday for about three months now. The boys are "best bubs," so I'm not too worried about how things may escalate between them in future years with the skills they are acquiring.

Mr. Moss and I have discussed a guitar-lessons-for-tae-kwon-do-lessons arrangement so I can learn privately. Until then I'll have to stick with my usual "Scottish martial arts" (mostly head-butting and kicking 'em when they're down).

Happy Birthday Dad and Sammy

We had a little shindig for my dad and Sammy's birthdays (they share the same birthday) plus my mom's too, which was earlier in the week on May 18. The party was held at my dad's condo's pool clubhouse. We were supposed to have some live music as well as jukebox music pumped in via laptop but the local wi-fi was mostly inaccessible. So it ended up being almost all live music in the form of me singing and strumming with miscellaneous party-goers joining in on the guest mic. So with the ailing wi-fi making me hurry to provide the music, I did not delegate anyone to take any pictures or video (duh!) despite the fact that I had both types of cameras. All we ended up with was two poorly taken pictures taken just before the party disbanded, one blurry, and the other one clear but with some people's eyes closed or not looking. J.B. Skogstrom and Laura Goglia came by, as well as our former neighbor from Spruce Street, Kathy Nguyen-Walker. Also a call from Mike Magana blessed my dad. A nice time.


Back Row L-R: Mike Sharret, my dad's friend Dixon, Nancy, Dad, Kerry, Carl, Mike, Sharon(Mom), David, David's wife Carrie. Front Row L-R: Aaron, Elisa, Sammy, Blaine, David's daughters Shaylin, Savannah, and Sascha.

Fishing with Uncle Steve - Using Guns

When Elisa's brother Steve makes a promise to the boys, he keeps it. He was supposed to have come up a week or two earlier to take the boys fishing, but was stopped due to work. So I'm sitting in my studio giving lessons on Wednesday afternoon and what do I see but the roof of Steve's vintage BMW drive by. A great surprise--in all the daily rush we'd forgotten he was coming.

These pictures show the boys having a good time fishing the next day with Uncle Steve at nearby Lake Gregory (although they had better luck at Lake Arrowhead and Grass Valley Lake the previous day). Steve is a true fisherman, unlike "Cheetos for bait" Daddy.

Elisa took the photos. All I had to do was compile them into a short video and add music. I don't have to own the copyright to put an improvised acoustic rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" on the video, do I?

Oh, there aren't really any guns involved. I just thought more people would watch the video than if they just saw plain old "fishing" in the title.

Legoland and Sea Life Aquarium

For my mom's birthday (and an early birthday present for Sammy), we went to Legoland. My brother Michael was out from Texas for the first time in about three years, so that was a nice addition that he came with us. Legoland is fun, particularly for kids say 12 and under. Or if you really like Legos, which can build a surprising array of objects. There are actually a few good rides, but the big surprise was the Sea Life Aquarium they have there (extra $$$). I've been to more than a few aquariums over the years and this one is up there. Here's the gist of the day.

In case you're wondering, I did do the music--just a quick guitar jam for the action and then some synth ambiance for the aquarium, all on the fly (so nothing to brag about). Anyhow, I've been getting copyright infringement notices on other videos where I used other people's recordings, and they've threatened to close my account. You'd think they'd consider it a privilege to have their songs on our amazing videos, geez!