two good friends were married this weekend and asked me to write/read something for their big day. i was more than excited at the opportunity but more than nervous because they didn’t want to hear it until the actual actual cermony. yikes! (see text below)

all went more than well and it was one of the most memorable celebrations of life and love. congratulations, ryan and kelly. much love to you both.

My love for you is not enough;
It is not perfect, it fails you and it hurts you.
Sometimes it gets angry and does things it shouldn’t.
It curses and cries; it questions and it fights.
My love has limits and conditions.
It sees more imperfections than beauty, it tells more lies than truths.
My love is selfish and self serving; it is impatient and sometimes unkind.
My love for you is not enough to sustain the vow I’m here to make.

So today, I choose not only to love you with my love,
Today, I also choose His.

I choose to love you with a love from Christ that is pure and perfect; a love which gives without conditions and surrenders without expectations.
I choose to love you with His sustaining love when the emotions of today have passed and the harsh reality of our imperfections has returned.
I choose to love you with His sacrificial love by putting your needs ahead of my own, your desires before mine, and your dreams above my dreams.
In selflessness and submission, through the known and uncertain, I choose to love you with the unfailing love of our Father.
I make this choice not once or even twice. But as He continues to pursue me, I choose to pursue you in love each day and each hour and each moment for the rest of our lives.

As Christ laid down His life in love for us, I choose to lay down my life in love for you.
On my own, I will fail; my love for you is not enough.
So today, I choose not only to love you with my love,
Today, I also choose His.

Fifty People, One Question: Restored from Benjamin Reece on Vimeo.

we were hired to provide sustainability advising for a former electrical power plant redevelopment. the project was very similar to the type i did while in india. so although this is the first time we’ve done anything like this at brightworks.net. it fit me just fine. josh and heath took the first trip out for the charrette. when i returned from india, i did the design, josh wrote the report and then we returned to present the final product…. they didn’t have to twist my arm very far to get me to go…

see the photo set HERE

i’ve been told the month of september was the same length as it was last year and the year before.
i’ve been told it’s days were the same 24 hour period as the other days in the year. however, i don’t believe such claims.

never have i had more things happen in one month’s time…

+ moved out of the city
+ moved into the east bay
+ pulled an all-nighter trying to get work done so i could…
+ traveled to india for the second time
+ spent one week with my ‘indian family’
+ spent one week designing a new school and orphanage in india
+ ate a lot of indian food
+ sold $3,500 worth of photographs to support trip and project in india
+ worked 70+ hours in one week after returning
+ kicked off LEED projects for chevron, british aerospace and hewlett packard
+ designed a community center for the rural island of moloka’i, hawai’i (population 8,000)
+ traveled to hawai’i for the first time
+ swam in the pacific ocean for the first time
+ camped on the beaches of hawai’i
+ presented schematic design to moloka’i community center
+ fell asleep on the bart and woke up way past my stop
+ haven’t posted 365 in months but am still taking them
+ learned how much i’ve been ‘fighting’ in life
+ heard Him ask me to let Him fight for me
+ started to let Him.
+ found in the midst of the maddness, that i am
+ refocused
+ refreshed
+ revived

although i thank you, september, for the life and purpose you brought, let’s try to slow down a bit in october. i’d really appreciate it.

with my weekly concert update, my jaw dropped when i saw the boy band of my childhood on tour… in san jose… on my birthday. i have to admit, for a moment, the thought crossed my mind…

…in second grade, my mom wouldn’t let me go to the concert
as a 27 year old, she no longer has control…
but then i realized she knew better and my current music tastes would not allow such an atrocity.

so then i let the thought finish its crossing.
i’ll find something better to do on my birthday.