On the Set

Hmmm....I'm trying to think of a good caption for this one. Any ideas?

What are you doing reading this post??

The polls are open till 7 PM today, so stop reading my blog and get out there and vote! (And then you can come back and read it all you want :)

-sent from my iPhone (driving down Flamingo Road on my way to the polls)*












*Calm down, I was at a red light.

You asked for it...

I've gotten several requests to post this, so here is last week's giving video, in all it's satiristic glory. Enjoy!

The Anniversary Post

Here's to the woman who makes my life sing. I love you, amor!

The Equation

Multiply this by n, and let n be equal to every other week when we forget to close the bathroom door upstairs, and the result is that our local dry cleaner knows us by name.

A Good Read

Every now and again, I find a good quote that I like to sit and marinate on for a bit, and occasionally - in my better moments - apply.

This week's quote is sponsored by the Christian Classics Ethereal Libray (notice the groovy link up there.)
Peep this:

Wherefore, if you see another sin openly or commit a serious crime, do not consider yourself better, for you do not know how long you can remain in good estate. All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself.

Some thoughts are able to find more traction in my head than others, and this is definitely one of them. Appropriately enough, the person who brings it to mind more often than anyone else is Stephanie.
If my fiancé has taught me anything, it's that I am way more selective in my personal application of Scripture (specifically in the area of good relationship practice) than I could have imagined before I met her.

For all you non-euphemism people out there, that basically means that I have lots and lots of room to grow. Maturity, Spiritual Leadership, Not sticking my foot in my mouth, you name it, and I probably need to work on it. Seriously, there's no cure for an overinflated estimate of yourself than spending large amounts of time with someone you're going to marry. It drove me nuts with frustration at first - I like getting things right the first time - but it's slowly starting to settle on me that learning how to love Stephanie is going to take at least the rest of my life.
This is a comforting (and slightly frustrating) thought.

The tricky part in all that, of course, is maintaining the understanding that I haven't arrived yet, and that I probably never will (not perfectly, anyway).
After all, the times I've landed myself in the worst messes were when I'd allowed myself to forget that. Which is why that quote is so helpful to me. I need reminders of my frailty, my tendency towards being Mr. Stupid rather than Mr. Right, not so that I'm beating myself down all day, but so that I'll be in the kind of frame of mind that will allow me to see and appreciate Stephanie for all that she is and even for what she isn't.
Knowing that I'm frail allows me to:

...approach her with gratitude, because I'm reminded that I'm hanging in here still by the grace of God and of Stephanie.

...focus on loving her PERIOD, rather than trying to "fix her" so she can love me better (which, by the way, doesn't work. Trust me.)

...realize that I need lots of and lots of prayer, because Mauricio is a bit of a dork and needs help.

...be ridiculously happy when I do get things right, because, now I know that it's proof of progress rather than a confirmation of how I think I have it all together.

Anyway, more on that later...the eyelids are getting heavy and I'm waking up in four-and-a-half hours to go get buff for my wedding.

Peace!

The finished product!

...and here is the end result of all the work from last week.
Apple Motion rocks...

Reason Mauricio loves Stephanie #124

I woke up this morning and found the following text message:

Jan 10, 2008 2:46 AM
On my way home...I know ur asleep but just letting u know ur on my mind



...I think she likes me. :)

Weekend Preview

We've been learning stuff this week!
Phil has been training me in the art of motionography, and so far it has been pretty sweet!

That being said, here's a preview of where we're headed with this weekend's giving video. It's way in the skeletal stages, but trust me, it'll look sick when we're done...sigh...I love my profession...

Adventures in Community

Okay, the pictures first, then the props.

My home group rocks.
Something really amazing and altogether unique happens each week when Stephanie, Heidy, Carson, Luis, Javier, Ryan, Matt, Jeff, Stacey, Stacie, Aimee, Leah, Aaron, Josh, Pablo, Eryn, Diana, Will, Evan, and I (and whoever else joins in) get together each Monday night; the best way to describe it is to say community happens.

Let me give a rundown of tonight, for example.
We started off like normal, all jokes and hugs and catching up with each other on what's been going on since the last time we all hung out, and then launched right into the meal. A little while later we were sitting together, everyone sharing about the kinds of lessons we all had learned in the past year. By the time we'd finished singing together in some acoustic worship (which is often the best kind) and talked over the second chapter of Ephesians, we'd been together for almost two hours, and no one was ready to leave.

That is so cool.

Anyway, I don't mention all that to talk up how great we are (tonight also included a neat little discussion on how none of us are all that important, but God loves us anyway), but simply to point out that community, while risky and very intimidating at first, is well worth whatever effort you have to go through to achieve it.

Trust me, it is. And while you're in the trusting mood, trust me again when I say that it is work.
Anytime a group of people get together, there are going to be issues, and we've got our fair share of them; what I love about us, however, is the fact that in spite of all of that, we're still here, and we're still committed, and I'm grateful for the grace that allows a group as diverse and weird as we are to grow together and to spend time asking the important questions.

that being said (WARNING: SHAMELESS MINISTRY PLUG AHEAD), if you're involved at all at Flamingo Road Church and you're not involved in a small group, then this is me wagging my finger at you and clicking my tongue in a very disappointed way. Shoot me an email or check out our website if you need info.

While I'm at it, if you're not plugged into a ministry, you should join one. Like the video team. We're amazing and we work for a guy named Heredes. With a name like that, you know it's got to be good. Also, according to this very blog we are dead sexy video men. Word up.

Okay, I'm done with the plugs. It's time to knock out.
The video team is going to the gym tomorrow morning at 6 AM, and I intend to stay awake for the duration of the work out.

Peace!

As I suspected...

81%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Arrrrrr!

So...we're here, about 140 days or so away from the big day (aren't you excited??), and it occurred to me that I haven't really talked about anything directly wedding-related in quite some time.

I've decided to share the theme of our wedding with you. Yes, you, dear reader.
the theme of the Sanchez-Tinoco wedding will be...PIRATES!


I have to admit, I was a little perplexed when Steph first informed me that this was what she wanted as our theme. The first image that popped into my head looked pretty close to the photo on the left over there, so reconciling that with the vision I had in my head of holy matrimony (which did not include George Bush with an eye patch) was a problem at first.

Fortunately for me, however, I'm learning to walk in the liberating truth that Mauricio is much happier when Stephanie is happy, which simplifies the decision-making process quite a bit in the wedding planning department.

...I'm sorry. I was momentarily distracted by that picture. I'm the one who put it there and I still think it's hilarious.

Arrrr!!!!

www.tinocosanchez.com