1. A Bible (I mean, common, right?)
2. Extra Strings (I play D’Addario EXP Lights…play like Elixirs but cheaper)
3. Extra Drum sticks
4. A drum key (I use it more than you know.  Used it tonight in fact!)
5. Boss TU-2 Chromatic Stompbox Tuner (I never lead without it)
6. Lots and lots of pics (different sizes too in case my guitarists are out)
7. Extra 9 Volts
8. Sharpies
9. Gaffers Tape – Black of course
10. Used to carry Singers Grace throat spray for sick days but a bag of cough drops does the same thing and doesn’t dry you out like a desert!
11. Electrical Tape
12. NeedleNose Pliers (Have used them many times in crunch situations)
13. Screwdrivers (F & P)
14. String winder
15. An extra Capo

I hope this helps any of you worship leaders out there be better prepared to lead.  Any other things you carry that I missed?  I am always looking to add more stuff, I mean I am an Eagle Scout after all…Be Prepared!

Lead well.

I am coming up on my first month as a dad here this Saturday, October 3rd and I’ve been reflecting on everything I have learned and experienced in those first few precious days.  I thought I’d take a moment and share my top 20 list with you.

1. Being a dad is the best.

2. Your son will pee on you from any direction at any time if you are not careful.

3. When you go to Costco and use his car seat as a way to carry everything (with him in it), you will overheat him and turn him as red as a turnip.

4. Establish expectations of what dad does durring mom’s 3:00am feeding before 3:15am and you’re still sleeping.

5. My favorite face of my son is the “I’m the saddest boy in all the world” face.

6. I can’t get enough of falling asleep with him on my chest.

7. Try to remember your son can’t hold his head up.  Super glad he can’t sue me for whiplash.

8. He makes some really funny faces when waking up.  Have a lot on video and need to get more.

9. My son fits in my guitar case and looks like he feels at home there.

10. My wife gets mad at me because I don’t call him “Aiden”.  I call him “Baby” all day long.  Working on that one!

11. Meals are not as hot as they used to be.

12. The amount of sleep I get is directly correlated to how much my wife loves me that day.  Has nothing to do with Aiden.  Kirsten rocks!

13. Praise God for the swaddle!

14. Wow, 14 diapers a day!  Didn’t expect that one.  Also, right after he explodes, give him a sec, he’s not finished.

15. The month scale on baby clothing is a joke.  0-3 months…what?!?  That’s like me having pants that say 180-240 lbs.

16. His favorite thing to stare at is our ceiling fan.  Stoked we bought all those toys.

17. Bath time is awesome.  Super pissed to be naked in a bare tub then sooo relaxed once you pour the warm water in.  Fun to watch!

18. Tummy time is more fun for mom and dad then it is for Aiden…wait, that doesn’t sound right…still works

19. I am shocked at how much stuff I need just to go to Starbucks.

20. I am overwhelmed with the idea that I am responsible for this life for the next 18 years but am confident I can do it with Christ first and alongside my best friend and wife.

Well there it is.  And I thought I’d throw in this funny picture just for kicks.  I’ve titled it “Homie say WHAT?!?”.

So…my son, Aiden Taylor Van Peursem born September 3, 2009 at 7:28am 8lbs and 20 inches long.  It was quite a crazy story and I have told it so many times and expect to tell it many more so I thought I’d type it here to remember it for myself and to let you all know how Great our God is and the way he worked!

The whole thing began on Wednesday September 2, 2009 @ 2pm when our Dr. told us that Aiden could come that night if we wanted to induce.  We thought that sounded like a great plan and began to prepare!  My wife checked in and we got the cervidil going.  They examined her at 11pm, 2am & 5:00am and nothing!  So we began to pray that he would come so that we would not have to abandon the process and come back another day.  Be careful what you pray for!!

At 5:30am I was sitting at my wife’s side and the contraction of all contractions came along and peaked the meter for 15 seconds then released.  After watching my wife tremble and cry her way through it I asked her what the heck THAT was??  She said, “I dunno” and BAM another hit just like it.  Immediately after, she told me that she thought her water broke so I looked under her sheet.  Underneath her bed sheet I saw a huge amount of blood.  Not good.  I calmly said, “OK, great!” and left the room to go get a nurse.  Our nurse came in, took one look and said, “Uh oh”.  Then, it began.  Doctor after doctor came in to look at my wife.  All the while I am standing there asking them how my wife and son are and NOBODY would answer me.  All they said was, “You’re in a Hospital, the best place”.  Well, duh!!

The biggest problem was not the initial blood storm, it was that she continued to push blood with every contraction…not good.  My wife is crying thinking she is going to die, I am tearing and trying not to loose it and the phone rings…the Dr., for me.  I answer and this is what he says:

“I have been doing medicine for 26 years and have never seen what just happened to your wife.  She’s bleeding a lot and it’s not good.  She’ll be fine and I’ll be there in 5 minutes.” – reassuring…kinda.

5 minutes later the Doc arrived, gave Kirsten an exam and exclaimed, “This baby is coming out now!”  Emergency C-Section.  He tossed me a space suit and told me to get ready. They prepped Kirsten and off we went.  20 minutes later, Aiden was brought into the world.  He was perfect!  Great color, good lungs & a 9.9 on the Apgar!

My wife made it through great and went to recovery for about 2 hours.  I was with Aiden for a bit but then left him with the nursery because I was so dang worried about my wife.  They brought Aiden in about 30 minutes later and we were all able to bond as a family.  We got to our room and began our 4 day stay here at the hospital.

It was the most terrifying 2 hours of my life and ones I surely won’t EVER forget.  I prayed more then I can remember and God showed up HUGE!!!  We found out later that it was a prematurely ruptured placenta that was being passed before any dilation, labor or induction.  Not normal.  We were also told 2 days later that what happened that morning most likely was not a result of the drugs and would have happened anyway so could you imagine if my wife woke up to that @ 5:30am in Ventura needing to drive to TO?  There, my friends, is a blessing from God!

Our son is perfect and I can say that cuz I’m Dad .  I have cherished quiet moments with him sleeping on my chest or looking around responding to my voice.  It is truly a miracle and one that blows my mind every moment of the day.

We are still here at the hospital for a few more days.  We appreciate the many calls, texts and Facebook notes we’ve received from our friends, family and church family.  We love you all and are so thankful for the prayers you offered that night we went in.

Our God is big.  He is Perfect, Gracious and in Control.  We have been so blessed by this experience and look forward to sharing with you the many memories that we’ll share with him over the years to come.

With Love,

Matt, Kirsten & Aiden

For those of you who know me well, you know I play a Taylor 410CE Acoustic guitar.  So, yes, my son is named after my guitar.  A point which my mother thinks it good that I don’t play a stratocaster or a Yahmaha.  Any who, all is going very well with both baby and mom but there are a few great things along the way to tell you about.

First is how we just knew it was a boy.  Throw out your Chinese lunar calendars and your ring around the belly and go to your local grocer and grab a carton of eggs.  On Easter Sunday our family went to all sorts of lengths to color 2 eggs for the two possibilities: Blue for Aiden and Pink for Ashton (that would have been the girl name…we’re saving it).

We marched on out to the street and let fate decide through an egg toss.  We actually got quite a rally going until my wife dropped the hopes of baby Ashton all over the street leaving me to run around like a Charlie and his golden ticket.

That very next day we went to the doctor to see if the egg has told a lie and wouldn’t you know it. Truth!  I must admit, the entire time the doc is doing his thing looking for the sex of the baby I was rehearsing in my head what I would say to my wife if the screen popped up “It’s A Girl!”  Even though she secretly admitted to me later she wanted a boy .

What then followed I was not prepared for…3 hours of baby registry.  Here is my question: How did babies ever survive before a bumpy and 50,000 different types of bottles?  We were both so overwhelmed by the amount of crap that you can buy for a kid.  We did our very best as pre-parent as we are and headed home for the day.

It has been a remarkable process and let me tell you, Kirsten is a trooper.  With 2 back surgeries earlier in life, she puts up with a lot of discomfort.  She has never once thrown up even though she feels like it all the time.  One bummer though, she won’t eat chicken which puts a huge damper on our regular menu selection.

We have a had a great time telling our parents and our church family.  Thanks to everyone for all the support and we can’t wait to introduce you all to baby Aiden in just a few more months (Aug. 31st).

Since I was 15 years old, I have wanted a Tattoo.  It all began when I was a part of our hardcore band takedown playing shows at the Whisky A Go-Go, Ventura Theater and churches around LA seeing them all over the place.  My father told me that when I was 18 and moved out I could do whatever I wanted and so I just decided to wait.  I got into college and heard God’s call on my life to be a pastor and thus the tattoo went on the back burner.  It wasn’t until the last 6 months that my desire returned.  So, on Saturday we made it happen.  First of all I must say Jason Bradshaw at Golden Eagle Tattoo on State Street in Santa Barbara rocks.  He is a Christian guy who really has a great story.  He was kind to my arm and was totally patient with my weak self.  I recommend him to anyone!

The biggest question: “What does it mean?”  Well, it directly means : Greek for Not for men or man.  It comes from the last portion of my life verse Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”.  For me, Pride is my biggest struggle.  It has always been a part of my extended family.  I learned at a very young age to be the best at everything.  And then make sure you let everyone know you’re the best.  That formed in me a heart that struggled everyday to take away the Glory from God and place it on myself.

During my life, I have had several awesome men speak into my life some challenging words on my pride.  I’ll never forget the biggest realization I had at the Saddleback Worship Conference in 2005 with my friend and Pastor Carl Lodico.  We had been through session and session of Pastors speaking about how every time we step on stage we become the focus and it just wasn’t getting through to me.  That evening it sank in and I  just broke down realizing how many times I led in worship all so that I would be recognized.  It was awful.  That day I changed.  It is still the biggest struggle of my day to give the glory not to myself but to God.  So, my tattoo is a constant reminder to myself to still work with everything I’ve got but do it for the glory of God not for the praise of men.

So, the details of the tat.  It took about 30 minutes and yes it hurt.  It was wierd.  Sometimes it didn’t feel like anything but an annoying buzz andthen all of a sudden…it would feel like him dragging razor blades across my arm.   But despite bets against me from all my friends…I didn’t cry.  BTW, these great pics were done my my brother-in-law who lives down the street from Golden Eagle and came over with his bride to hang out and snap some pics.  Thanks Michael!  At this point I don’t have plans to get any more but hey…wouldn’t put it past me. 

Little did I know when I met Sara almost 3 weeks ago that she would change my life in a huge way.  She barely made it to our 9:30am service on February 1st to let us know that she was being evicted and had nowhere to go.  A little background…Sara is 70+, going blind and deaf and can hardly walk.  About 3 months ago her apartment company raised her rent to the point that it was $200 more then she made in a month leaving her with no money.  So what else could she do then stop paying the rent.  You guessed it, 3 months later she was given 30 days to leave.  That is when she came to us.  Her son died of cancer years ago and with only a daughter (who she hadn’t spoken to in years) she had nowhere to turn.

I spent the next 4 days calling every government, NGO and NPO I could think of and the best I got was a application for help with her eviction with a promise that it would be looked at in 6 months.  It was amazing to me how many people didn’t care that this elderly woman was about to be near blind, deaf and homeless.  I knew a simple grocery gift card wouldn’t do the trick and it was time for the Church to step in big time…and God delivered.

After finding no room for rent for under $700 a month in Ventura County I sat down in my Pastor’s office and after a good long prayer session said, “The only thing I think she can do is move to Bakersfield.”  The only problem was I knew Sara would be mighty ticked at me for suggesting that she leave her home here in Ventura.  I looked it up on the internet and found that she could stay in a nice senior community for about $245/month just outside of Bakersfield. Wow God #1:  Before I could pick up the phone, Sara called me up and said, “Pastor Matt, I’m moving to Bakersfield.  I found a nice place for $245 a month!”  Uh…what?!?!  That’s right.  The long lost daughter called her up randomly and told her she needed to move to Bakersfield.  So, her next question, “Pastor Matt, will you help me get there?”

So I went over to her house to scout out the apartment and I can’t describe what I saw.  In short, there was “stuff” head high though the entire place and a small little place of carpet where she slept, on the floor with only a blanket and her pillow.  As I walked around the apartment some neighbors heard the visitor and came to meet me.  Over the next 3 hours I recruited the neighbors as we cleaned and cleaned until Wow God #2: one neighbor asked me, “So, what do you believe about Jesus Pastor?”  That was my open door to bust out a sharpie and a cardboard box for a little impromptu Gospel Message.  That day was amazing but just the beginning of what God would do.

Over the next week I began to spend a lot of time at Sara’s meeting people and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning.  One day I asked her neighbor (We’ll call her Jane), “How are we going to get her to Bakersfield?” Wow God #3: Jane then let me know that she is from Bakersfield and her boyfriend and her would be happy to drive Sara up there if the church could pay for it!  No Way!!  Done and Done.

As the day drew near all the plans were falling in place.  Some local Nuns took Sara to court to be handed her final eviction date and Wow God #4: she was given full grace of the $4,000 she owed in past due rent as long as she moved out by March 6th.

I then had help to made several calls to Pastors in Bakersfield all to find Pastor Bill from Griffith Avenue Baptist Church.  Wow God #5: He agreed to find several members from his church to meet Jane up there to welcome Sara and help her unload the UHaul.  Yay for the Global Church!  So awesome.

When I went this morning to pick up the UHaul Wow God #6: the manager told me that when I rented the Uhaul, I got a price that should never be given to anyone but since I was quoted it, I would get it.  It ended up saving the church like $300.

This morning had a couple glitches but overall, with the help of several strapping young men from VCC, we got the UHaul loaded and Sara off to Bakersfield.  Wow God #7: As of 8pm tonight, Sara is at home in Bakersfield, resting in her newly found bed with new sheets and new pillows, the rest of her things in storage just down the street and a new church family to help her get acquainted.

When I met Sara, the only thing she could say to me is, “I just don’t know what to do?!”  At the end, Sara touched my heart more than she will ever know.  And it was God who knew exactly what to do.  When driving to her house this last week, God brought to mind James 1:27 which reads: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” The last 3 weeks, Sara opened my eyes to the things our Father loves; the Body of Christ coming around those who have lost hope.  I am so blessed to have had this opportunity to meet so many new people (many of whom I will see for the first time tomorrow in Church!!).  God’s work is far from over in this situation, I am just lucky God gave me the chance to see it happen.  Glory be to God!

Thanks so much for reading!

After about a year of searching and walking into dozens and dozens of homes, we were finally accepted into our first home in Ventura, California.  There is so much to say about this journey but I will only limit it to a few.  The first and most important is God’s faithfulness.  Truthfully, this has been a very challenging road for Kirsten and I.  Even though we trust God fully, there were many times we weren’t acting like it.  It is tough getting turned down so many times.  As we look back now…God saved us from some seriously bad situations.

One way we celebrate His faithfulness is remembering what we wanted when we began.  At the beginning of this whole thing our dear friend Carl Lodico (also our Pastor), told us to write out EVERYTHING that we wanted in our first home and to pray over it.  So we did.  Believe it or not, God provided all 22 things we wanted in this home.  How awesome is He!!

This last Friday we got through one of the last 2 main hurdles of moving into this home.  Our home inspection came back with pretty good news that nothing major was wrong that would cause us to walk away from the home.  This week we wait to get through the last hurdle…the loan.  So far we are pre-qualified and everything but you never know in this market.  We hopefully should know that we are 100% in by this Friday with an expected move in date of Jan. 17th!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and coming alongside of us on this journey.  Especially, our AWESOME realitor and friend Jorge Hernandez (who can be reached at Jorge4Homes@gmail.com).  Over the next few months we’ll post pics of our work on the place and everyone is more than welcome to come and help.  We never want to miss an opportunity for you to be blessed though serving .   Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Another problem I encountered was a “glubbing” sound as I poured the Jell-o mixture over the mouse.  That was his mouse filling with fluid.  Whoops.  Anywho, I put it in the fridge to chill and waited until the morning time.

Morning came and I was so excited to see the look on Carl’s face.  I got there early in the morning and started to transfer the mold onto a plate.  That didn’t work out so hot so I opted to just keep it in the bowl for the sake of it’s form.

Carl came in to work just in time, all to yell from his office, “Nice one Matt”.  It gave everyone in the office a good laugh which was all I was really going for anyway.  Another good prank at Ventura Community Church:)

The next weekend I went out to breakfast with one of my groomsmen Liam Murphy,  As our meal came to a close our waitress came over to tell us that an older man in the restaurant wanted to pick up our tab.  That led to a few minutes of discussion on what to do next?  Do we get up and thank him now or wait till it is time for us to leave?  We opted to wait until it was leave time and just continued our conversation.  A couple minutes later our waitress came back, put the bill back on the table and said, “My bad, it was actually the table next to you…sorry”.  How lame is that?!?  We were sooo close!

Lastly, I have been so happy to see gas prices drop so dramatically.  It not only helps me personally but also the church’s fleet of youth buses  that run day in and day out.  But, I just have to chuckle every time I see a gas station price board at all of those commercials to “get my MPG” or, my personal favorite, “The $2.99 gas guarantee”.  Oh well,  I am sure they’ll go back up.  Hopefully, for those folks, it’ll be within their 3 year guarantee window.

That’s it for me folks.  I’m going trap shooting this weekend so check back on Monday for some interesting pics of that bad boy.  Have a great day.