These weeks are flying by! Lacey is starting classes at her new school on Monday and I am so proud of how she is throwing every effort she has at this new job. (Super proud husband here.) I am helping her in the classroom today and I am excited to lead worship at Clairemont Emmanuel this weekend. Always fun to team up with my dad. Now, some links:

• National Geographic released the winners of their Traveler 2012 Photo Contest this week. Below is my favorite photo of the week:

(Photo by Ken Bower/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

• Have I already mentioned how pumped I am for the new Lakers roster? Dwight Howard on top of Kobe, Steve Nash, Ron Artest & Pao Gasol?! That photo is just ridiculous.

• Keiran said it best: "Samsung owes Apple one Instagram." I'll probably never try to get in any legal battle with Apple.

• Here is a great story FastCompany featured from my friend Bob's new book, Love Does. Check it out here.

• The blood, sweat, and tears we have put into ZenCash are starting to pay off. Fun to have this feature released.

• Everyone has been watching Charity: Water since they set the bar so high in conveying what they do as an organization with their media. They released a new home page this week and they definitely met the level of clarity and simplicity they've done so well with.

• Holiday Matinee is not only a great blog, but they have the best mixes. Their August Mixtape is fantastic.

• It is inspiring to get a glimpse into lives of people who craft things with their hands: thosewhomake.com

• This week, two of my favorite companies (Evernote & Moleskine) announced they are combining forces. I carry both of them with me essentially everywhere I go to record notes, ideas, quotes, thoughts, etc. I am interested to see how this notebook turns out.

Keller is a fantastic thinker and I highly recommend The Prodigal God to everyone. Below are a few of my favorite quotes and a quick though…nothing too in depth. There are other people around for that. :)

“The father is saying…You are not going to earn your way back into the family, I am going to simply take you back.” {pg. 23}

“In the same way, religious people commonly live very moral lives, but their goal is to get leverage over God, to control him, to put him in a position where they think he owes them… . If, like the elder brother, you believe that God ought to bless you and help you because you have worked hard to obey him and be a good person … you are serving as your own Savior.” {pg. 38}

// So often I am the elder brother. Well, I guess in reality in relation to my siblings, but also subconsciously feeling like I am owed something for being “pretty good” (as silly as that sounds) when God owes me absolutely nothing.

“When you realize that the antidote to being bad is not just being good, you are on the brink. If you follow through, it will change everything: how you relate to God, self, others, the world, your work, your sins, your virtue. It’s called the new birth because it’s so radical.” {pg. 78}

I hope these sit with you today, whoever may be reading. Allow grace to envelop you in a whole new way today.

In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. – Henry Longfellow via Billy Knox

Life is like a tennis match: the one who serves well seldom loses.

Always be better than you were the day before.