Yesterday Josh turned 17 years old! I'm such a bad dad/uncle/photographer - i didn't take one single photograph! (I also worked 2 shifts yesterday).

Today, Hope went to her first day as a 2nd grader.

Today, Eddie went to his first day at preschool.

Photos below.

Tomorrow my brother is having his first baby (ok, his wife is, give me a break).

Life is fun and busy!

Life has been really odd (and stressful and confusing and painful and so on) since we closed the doors to Axis.

Since we stepped away from ministry, we've asked the question, "What now?" over and over and over.

I've sent out close to 30 resume's for ministry positions in town and across the state... no takers. What Now?

I've applied at 15-20 restaurants for a server position. I got one job (part-time lunches) only to have the restaurant totally shut down 6 days later.

I now have a part-time job at the same restaurant that my wife works at (that's an interesting dynamic). But still it's part-time and mostly lunches (obviously there's more money to be made at dinner).

We contemplated moving out of town, but we can't come up with a good enough reason. Side note: Hawaii comes up most often as a viable location for a move.

On a personal prayer retreat that I took in April, I felt like God was talking to me about clouds. I was reading in Exodus where the Hebrews wouldn't pick up and move until the cloud moved. If you remember the story, it was a cloud by day and fire by night. When the cloud moved, the Hebrews moved. When the cloud stayed, the Hebrews stayed.

I really felt like God was speaking to me about not going anywhere... until the 'cloud' moved. It was a caution for me not to get too wrapped up in my own 'good ideas' but to sit back and wait to see what direction God would take me.

So, we've stayed in Fresno. We have part-time jobs waiting tables. We're not going anywhere until the cloud moves. No matter how green the grass looks somewhere else (like Hawaii), God has asked us to camp in Fresno for the time being. I'm learning to be OK with that.

Part-time jobs mean part-time sized paychecks. It's simply a miracle how we've paid our bills since we've let go of Axis. A miracle, I tell you.

At the beginning of every month, Sarah and I sit down and look at the finances. We budget for every conceivable expenditure. Every month since March, we've faced a significant shortfall. Some months look like we'll be behind $500 and some months have looks as grim as $1,000. But God does a miracle every single month.

We got money back from the IRS. We got the "Stimulus" check. People have given us random 'free' money. Someone even paid our rent one month! I got the opportunity to shoot footage and be an actor in a short film (I still can't believe I got paid!!!) I've gotten a couple of photography jobs. Currently I'm developing a website and making a video for a construction company in town.

My point is that God has supplied just enough money for all of our needs.

On my prayer retreat in April I was reading about the Manna that God provided to the Hebrews. God would supply just enough food for each day. The Hebrews weren't allowed to hoard. They weren't allowed to stress about next weeks meal. They simply had to accept God's provision each day. Each day, His provision was new.

God is supplying for my family every single day. Each day His mercy is new for us. Each month we are looking forward to see how God will take care of us... because this month looks like we'll be $800 in the hole.

Since the close of our church we're constantly asking God, "What's next?". Currently our answer is "Clouds and Manna". We're watching for the Cloud to move and we're picking up our manna everyday.

Daily, I am finding God's divine imprint in my life. I hope you can see God's work in your life everyday.

Initially, I took this photo (see below) for a magazine called "Asian Restaurant News" (the issue will be out in August).

I uploaded it to my Flickr account.

Yahoo.com Mexico picked up the photo from my flickr account and used in on their front page.

Guess how many people viewed this photo yesterday. Seriously, throw out a guess.



Now ask me how much money I've received for the use of this photo. Answer: nada.

Here's the latest "we don't want you letter".

Hi Joe,

Thank you for your willingness to correspond with us
regarding the position of Worship & Youth pastor. We have received
information from a number of qualified, committed persons and have sought to
consider each one prayerfully.

At this time God has led us in another direction. We
trust that God will continue to lead you as you seek to serve Him.

In Christ,

I am beginning to wonder if God wants to me to be in vocational ministry at this time.

Stay,
slow down
or go?

Sometimes it's hard
to know what
to do.

My friend Daniel Rhoten has written, directed and produced (and edited and filmed and so on....) a short film for the fine folks at the SBC.

I was privileged to get an opportunity to act and shoot some of the footage. Below is a promo for the film. The music is by Paul Haugen.

I play a church planter struggling financially and emotionally... it's ironic type-casting.


Bright Hope for Dark Days CMO Trailer from Daniel Rhoten on Vimeo.

Just thought I'd share a few of my favorite shots from my son's birthday party this last weekend.

Tomorrow my youngest turns four. I love him deeply.

Below are a few shots from today's photo shoot for a magazine called, "Asian Restaurant News". I took these at Helen's Gourmet Chinese Food in N. Fresno. Apparently, the magazine is going to feature them on the front cover. That means if my photos are good enough, I will have a photo on the front cover of a national magazine! That would be pretty cool.

Anyway, Helen was an amazingly nice lady! She sent us (Josh helped me) home with a bunch of food that I shot, which was helpful because Sarah hadn't been able to prepare dinner. The food was GOOD! They've been in business for 13 years, so I think the restaurant is doing something right. If you stop in for lunch or dinner, tell Helen that Joe says, "Hi".