tooshie totes

hey there.

wendy jo & i met for the first time in 7th grade.  we were those jr. high school sweethearts that made you sick to your stomach.  the truth is:  our cuteness has been known to make even our own stomachs turn.  80)


there is no doubt that knowing somebody for nearly 25 years comes with some really good times...  but it also comes with a handful of difficult days.  we have had to learn along the way that real love is quite stubborn.  working through the difficult days is the only way to discover and enjoy the really good times.


another crazy thing about knowing someone for about 25 years is the way we get into each other's heads.  finishing each other's sentences becomes second hand.  we can look into each other's eyes and decipher a paragraph of thoughts.  it's just freaky!  i can come home with a surprise, but she figures it out instantly.  and i can quickly tell that she's onto me, and she picks up on the fact that i know she knows...  [makes it kinda hard to pull one over in our house]

but for as long as i have known wendy, she has been one creative chica.  in fact, one of the coolest parts of my day is seeing her latest creation.  she is currently putting all of her creative juices into tooshie totes.  you can check out some of her goods on etsy.  i'm not a girl, but if i were, i would totally be into this junk.  besides, our kiddos would really appreciate the business.  =)

_that's what matthinx.

p.s.  today makes 15 years & 9 months of being hitched to my best friend!

my friend steve

check this guy out:  steve parsons dot net

hey there.

God knows.

He always knows!

it never matters what we've been through, or even where we've been...  God knows how to reach us with His relentless love.


it's like when a stranger from the other side of the planet shows up to worship with you at church, and then he sings a couple of songs that God uses to bring you crashing to your knees.


steve parsons is a funny guy.  i really think you'd like him.  his humor is perfectly dry, and his sarcasm is perfectly dropped.  he's not some pre-packaged squeaky clean plastic christian.  he's real.  he's been there.  but He is madly in love with God as he follows Jesus in real life.  and i haven't even know him 24 hours, but we are kindred spirits.  his lyrics are honestly raw, leaving no room for excuses:

one truth can set a man free, lift him up out of the dark, give him a reason, give him a new song to sing. one Man nailed to a tree, paying the price of a new beginning.  love is His answer and life is the gift that He brings.

i want to care without a stony heart.  i want to love and never lose the spark.  i want to go illuminate the dark.  and i want to, want to love.

[from 'one life'  _  written by steve parsons]

 check this out:  i attended central bible college with danae rutherford, who married steve parsons [singer/songwriter from the uk], who was invited to attend a conference in estes park colorado with eugene peterson [the beast behind 'the message'], and then got in touch with paul church [college friend & current pastor], to finally minister to the body of believers at dakota ridge assembly [where i just happen to attend].  you can call all of those details a tangled mess of happenstances, but i would simply call you crazy.


thank God for working all things together for the good!


_that's what matthinx

the do-over

hey there.

before the great wii, before the xbox, before psanything, even before running water...  we had atari.  it was back in the old days when 3D graphics weren't part of gaming.  some of us remember a time when our video games didn't come with pre-packaged imagination.  we primitively manipulated our pixelated icon across the tv screen, and sat amazed.  it was magical!

one thing has never changed though:  the reset button.  honest gamers will admit to using it more than they were proud of...  but we were thankful to have one more chance to beat the machine.  one more chance to figure out the things we had missed.  one more chance to execute the perfect game.

i'll never forget the long wait before the system was able to reboot.  it seemed like an eternity.  such wasted time.  we had more important things to do than just sit there waiting...  like fixing what we did wrong.

life is like that sometimes, and we find ourselves waiting to reboot.


thank GOD for HIS relentless love!

_that's what matthinx

star date fail

hey there.

i'm not a good blogger.

this thing is supposed to be a consistent log of my life.

captain kirk would not be impressed at all with my star date logs.

i've thought about this for a couple of minutes, and i think that my biggest blog blocker is the marriage of facebook & twitter.  140 characters is way less intimidating than an endlessly open page.

and this brings me to the creatively cool journal that my wife made for me.  it was a 15th anniversary gift.  she hand cut the leather binding. she individually ripped the coffee stained pages.  and she sewed it all together with love.  '8-]  i absolutely LOVE it!  and in the last 4 months, i've made one entry...

did i mention that i'm not good at journaling?

i've got things to do.

i'll star date later.

-pm@

laughing my way to a better marriage

hey there.


i get to hang out with mark gungor this weekend, and i think i'm gonna like it a lot.  just look at him!  my kind of guy.


wendy & i are joining 300 to 400 others tonight and tomorrow morning for a marriage seminar that promises not only to be a blast, but also to help our relationships become better.  it is through events like this that i have discovered the key to a fulfilling life.  it's actually very simple:  WORK ON IT!  we will never experience life to its fullest until we commit to living our lives on purpose.


quick question:  what are you doing right now to become the person you want to be?


learning to love,


-pm@

p.s.

if you're in the mount pocono, pa area, and are ready to laugh your way to a better marriage...  come join us!  registration begins at 6pm for this marriage-changing event.  [singles are welcome to join us and start working on a great marriage early!]  

pocono community church

2770 memorial boulevard

tobyhanna, pa  18466

pure

hey there.

today was the first day of february, which prolly has to be one of my top ten fave months of the year  [...letting that last statement sink in...]  the reason being:  as a student ministries pastor, it is when i get to focus all of my attention on relationship and purity issues.  [put simply:  sex]

there is no question that this topic is exciting, controversial, and sometimes even uncomfortable to talk about.  but during the pure series, we are going to discover that sex is one of God's greatest gifts to us.  the key is to remain pure.

i invite you to come along for the ride if you live in the area.  we meet every wednesday night @ 7pm just north of mount pocono, pa on highway 611 at pocono community church.  we'll be looking for ya!  [if you can handle it...]

-pm@

so far, so good...

hey there.

welp, we're working on our third day of the new year now.  and just for the record, twenty-ten is treating me just fine.  the truth is:  i'll be leaving on a cruise to the bahamas today with my high school sweetheart.  WORD!

on january 7th of this year, wendy jo and i will have been married for 15 years!  WOOHOO!!!  every new year serves as an excellent immovable marker when we can take stock of where we've been and where we're going.  but 2010 especially gives me a chance to reflect on the love God has given to wendy and i, what it has taken us through, and where it is leading us next.  i am so thankful for the unbelievable history that we've shared together, but can hardly wait for the unimaginable future ahead.  i'm looking forward to the things that God will reveal to me when i quiet myself before Him in the coming days of this new year.

next time you see me, i'll have a better tan, and a better plan.  how about you?

[pm@]

violated

[posted first on february 1, 2009]


hello, my name is matthew and i’ve been thinking...

the pocono community church family has spent a ton of time preparing to move into our new building. every detail has been carefully considered... anything from which trees to clear off of the lot, to which color flecks to include in the different carpets. every step brings more excitement, as we get closer to actually moving in. now, after all of that, how tragic would it be to learn that someone had come in and single handedly destroyed the new building. every class room had been vandalized with graffiti, every bathroom sink had been broken, every piece of video or audio equipment had been stolen. how hurt and violated would we feel? think about it... then show up for our underground services in february. we will connect our relationships to these strong emotions about the building. you won’t want to miss it! trust me.

[pm@]

baby, don't hurt me

[posted first on february 1, 2008]


hello, my name is matthew, and i’ve been thinking...


the centuries are full of stories, and thousands of books have been written. everyone is desperately trying to figure it out. it seems to be elusive. it slips just out of reach the second we think we can grab it. the whole world is wondering: what is love? (baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more...)


so, for the next 40 days, we will be taking a close look at love. here’s the thing: God has already told us that He is love! the only way we will ever scratch the surface of understanding love is by growing deeper in our relationship with God. join us as we discover authentic love!


[pm@]