stevenbush.org

we’re still in roach about to head out. GPS says 7:27pm arrival. that means with lunch & dinner stops we will get there around 10pm. there is nothing like wasting 10.5 hours of your precious life riding in a van & listening to guy & chad quote movie quotes. here’s to road trips. i cant wait to get home & see my wife.

so we’re still in roach, mo this week. the only thing in roach, mo is a gas station that closes at 6pm & a fireworks stand connected to a camping trailer. brad, the camp director, wanted to take us to lunch today so we had to drive into Camdenton (the nearest town) which is 15 minutes away. once we arrived to the great metropolis of Camdenton we decided to eat at a local mexican food restaurant called Senor Peppers.

i again know what your thinking…”bush, there is no good mexican food outside of texas” and i would normally agree. i was even very skeptical upon entering, but upon leaving i was a fan. it was some great tex-mex that really hit the spot. chicken fajita quesadillas all the way…good times good times.

however while we were there we realized that senor peppers had some pretty unorthodox & loco signs. here are a few that we saw. however if you are in roach & you want to see these signs for yourself you will have to take a gamble on when Senor Peppers is open. apparently they are open from 11am to CLOSE. make any sense to you?

also if your eating at this awesome tex-mex restaurant in the middle of the ozarks missouri then you better hope that a fire doesn’t break out. if a fire does break out & the entrance is blocked by flaming queso & boards…then you will have to take your chances with the emergency exit windows. i thought i was sitting near the emergency exit of a boeing 747.

be sure & open the blinds before you go jumping through…

we are about to finish up week 5 of camp. we have 3 more to go, and the summer will be over for us. it’s been an incredible summer so far. God is really doing some cool things in the lives of these students. It’s been great to see the transformations that have taken place.

with the end of summer means the end of our 2 month long road trip. the map above is what we have left. we leave roach, mo & go to murfreesboro. from murfreesboro to cedarville oh…then back to murfreesboro. from murfreesboro to panama city beach, fl…then back to murfreesboro. 2,233.18 miles to be exact. that’s almost 37 hours of straight driving. fun times…fun times.

what’s the longest road trip you have ever taken? where did you go? how long did it take you?

it’s official…after 5 great years of calling Nashville home…the bush family is moving back to Texas…Austin, TX to be exact. Austin is my favorite city in Texas. I always told Maris that the only way I’d move back to Texas is if we lived in Austin. Well, now we get the chance to move to Austin, and we’re taking it. To say the least…Maris & I are super excited about this next transition in life.

I will be helping Aaron lead worship at the Austin Stone on the sunday’s we’re in town. I can’t wait to be able to get plugged into this church on a weekly basis. Especially a church where God is really moving & doing something. Being connected & serving in a local church community is going to be healthy for my spiritual, physical, & mental well being. i can’t wait to see what God has in store for Maris & I there.

On top of leading at the Stone I will also be traveling with Aaron to do things outside of The Stone. I can’t wait to see what comes out of our experiences of leading on a weekly basis at our home church. I think it’s going to have a powerful & positive impact on how we lead out on the road.

I also have some big dreams for my photography. I want my photography to be able to be used to really make a difference in this world. I’m not sure what this will actually look like…i guess that’s why they call them dreams. So i plan on focusing alot of time & energy into perfecting my skill & taking every opportunity i can to fire the shutter. i also want to build some kind of studio that will allow me to get creative with lighting in a controlled environment. more to come with all of this.

out of all of the things going on…the thing i’m excited about the most is raising a child with my beautiful & wonderful wife. Maris & I are so close in this adoption, and we couldn’t be more excited & anxious. I can’t wait to see Maris as a mom…she’s going to be awesome! I can’t wait to have August home. I can’t wait to see him or her make their first attempts at crawling. I can’t wait to be there to hear their first words. I can’t wait for the day that this child will be able to climb into my old truck with me & take a drive out into the Texas Hill Country. To ride with the windows down…as the wind blows our hair…and the sun sets…talking & dreaming about how we can change the world together. that’s what i’m excited about.

the house is on the market, and our things are mostly packed. come august Maris & I will pack everything into the back of a big yellow Penske…load Sarge onto a trailer…and head south to start a new chapter in this thing we call life.

Exciting times in Bushland.

you can hear us, SPUR58, live tonight at a studentlife camp. they will be broadcasting the entire service online tonight. so if you’ve never heard what we do…you can check it out. it starts @ 7:00pm (central time) tonight. they’ll be doing this for the next three nights.

i’m also excited about tonight because they asked me to talk about my experiences with Compassion International. i will be interviewed by someone here on the Studentlife staff. i love getting the chance to speak about Compassion. they do such amazing stuff. pray for me tonight…that my words will be clear & that I will do justice in portraying the awesome ministry of Compassion. Pray for these students & leaders that their hearts will be moved & that they are moved to action.

i apologize for the late notice…you can click here to hear it live.