This morning was a tough morning for me. From a stuffy nose, pounding head ache, stomach virus blah blah blah. I sat on the white thrown this morning like never before.

Nevertheless this morning was great. It was a bitter sweet morning for the LPC staff. We said goodbye to Paul and his crew. They venture off to Tennessee and work for God there. Paul spoke on Obedience.  Mike led worship this morning and totally bailed me out. I felt if I would’ve sang this morning, I would’ve threw up every verse rather then sing…Literally.

So I am taking a quick breather and packing my bags for Atlanta. I feel a little sad leaving my crew behind for 2 whole weeks. I love them so much but this is a building block for what God has for the Santoyo’s here in South Florida. Last night we decorated the house before I venture off. Diego was in awe of everything this morning.  I look forward to finally recording my best tunes and move the planet with them.Please keep an eye out for my fam while I am gone…Love you Reina, Love you Diego, love you too little bun…

I am feeling a little better we’ll see if I can sing tonight in Plantation Key. Please stay tuned on my blog page and twitter I will have updates from the studio Daily. So the story begins…

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So the time has come to begin what will be the biggest project we have ever taken on. Me, Alex and Brent which make the Saturn Project will venture off to a studio in Atlanta to record our much anticipated album. Our goal? To raise $500,000.00 for a missions project in Cambodia, and build an Arts School in South Florida. This is going to be an amazing movement. The cool thing is that “YOU” can be part of this movement.  For more information on how you can get involved go HERE.

So here is the awesome crew working on this project with us. Jeremy Larson, artist, song writer, composer, will be Co-producing our  album. Jeremy has  worked with bands such as, Mutemath, Shiny to Guns, Eisley and others. Check out his video HERE.

Chris Bevins will be engineering and Co producing as well. Chris Bevins holds a Bachelor’s degree from Belmont University, with a major in Commercial Music.  From 1999 to present, Chris has been a music professional in Nashville, TN, and has toured extensively as a member of the Dove Award-winning group Salvador (Word Records), and with other artists; such as Jaci Velasquez (Apostrophe Records), Rachael Lampa (Word Records), and Shepherd Hall (CrossDriven Records).  In the recording studio, Chris has
worked in the producer and engineer roles for the last 3 Salvador albums (So Natural,
Dismiss the Mystery, and Aware) and has earned 3 top-5 radio singles from those projects.

Our guest bassist will be Joshua Gonzalez also from the band Salvador. Stephen Morrison a Carolina Native will be featured as a guest guitarist on  few tracks, and Esteban” boogalu  Shedd former MC of the live hip hp crew Berto Ramon will be a special guest artists on our track “Silas”.

This is going to be a really cool project.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnqvjD7Kxs4]

What would it be?

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Great post on Busting Barriers with Mind shift Changes coutesy of Daver Fergusons notes at Catalyst one day.

Groeschel: Busting Barries with Mind Shift Changes

Last night before we tucked Diego into bed we told him “let’s pray, vamos a orar”, and he put his hands together ready to pray. It’s amazing to see my little guy responding in a bilingual culture and environment.  But what takes my breath is his love for God already. When we wake him up on Sunday mornings and say “vamos a la Iglesia” he smiles. When he hears the name “Jesus” he lifts his hands up and says ” praise Jesus.” Every night I pray with him, pray over him and pray for our family.

Last night I was up pretty late thinking how much I love God and all his blessings, especially my amazing family. Through thick and thin we will be there together. Wherever God may lead us, we will be there together.  As we lead here at LPC we will be there together. I guess these are just more random thoughts about my family. I wanna totally appreciate, love and cherish every single part of our journey as a family. We’ve seen drought, and have experienced the rain. We’ve stumble in the darkness but have found our way back to light. We’ve learned to open our eyes and hearts. We learned the hard way, but it’s made us stronger. We’ve learned that God has the final word in everything. We’ve learned that anything is possible. Better days are yet to come my friend. Tomorrow I will be a prophet on my blog. I will give my random thoughts and visions about our future, about life pointe, about tsp, about our family and whatever else i can see in my crystal ball.

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So life will change again. More diapers, more formula, tiny shirts and socks. The joy’s of a growing family. Reina and I had all of our kids named before we even got married. Today my heart races at the thought of meeting this next little one. I already starting writing a song about him or her.  We’re praying all things go well and the baby is healthy. Will it be a girl? Will it be a boy? I would love another little guy who will wrestle around with Diego and who can be his little partner and who can wear Diego’s hand me downs.  But I also love the thought of Daddy’s little princess. Not sure I am ready to be melted yet. So I hear that is what daddy’s girls do. I don’t really have a call on it, what God decides to bless us with is totally up to him and I know it will be great. I’m kind of hoping we’ll have twins though that way we knock everything out at once and close shop. “Dear God, please bless us in a”bun“dance and in hope that there will be 2 buns in the oven rather than just one.” These are the thoughts, hopes and prayers of a rookie father graduating to the next level. -fuser+

I remember being in elementary school and sending that secret note that read, “do you like me YES or NO?” Waiting for the answer seemed forever back then. I am glad to have moved beyond that question and the task now is answering YES or NO to other questions in life, Or simply  waiting on YES or NO to other questions and requests. One of my favorite composer Ruben Blades says ” decisiones, cada dia. alguien pierde, alguien ganan, ave Maria”.

Leading in ministry, leading the band, leading the family, leading leading leading is no easy task. You have to answer to tough decisions and make them as well. Recently had to pass on what seemed to be a great opportunity.  Moments like those you just have to trust that it is for the best and will make room for greater things already knocking. It is part of the growth process of an individual, a dreamer, and visionary. To discern what will benefit you and those around you, or calling something when you know it will not. Somethings may seem right, but may hurt you in the end. Others seem uncertain, but inside you know you have to. Those are the moments that I cherish. When that gut feeling kicks you in chin. It seems scary to make the call, but you know you have to. You totally trust God, jump in and see him work through that. The beauty in all of this is no matter what God will not get in the way of your decisions, but work through them. I love what McManus says in his new book. There are some things we are not meant to experience for ourselves, because that experience will kill us. He uses the example of Adam and Eve.   He will place things in our hearts, he will guide us through his word, but you and I chose which way to sail. The closer I am to him, the more I am stretched, I am challenged, the more I think like him, and more confidently make those tough decisions that this life will bring.

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We are counting down the days until we venture off to record our greatest musical project ever. Not “the greatest”, but our greatest. If it turns out to be the greatest, we won’t complain. We are gonna hide away into a studio somewhere in the US to record and write and if time permits, eat and sleep too. We’re teaming up with this GUY, this GUY.  We are also hoping to get this GUY on board! Send him a message and convince him HERE!!! We are excited about the team we have ready to do this!

People always ask me the famous questions, What does your band sound like? Are you a “christian” band? Who would you compare yourselves to? How many people are in the band? Are you guys signed? Etc. etc. etc. Well here we go.

1. I am not sure what or who we would sound like. People in the past have compared our sound to U2, coldplayish etc…We write and compose what we know, feel deep inside and in our mind. We want to believe we are unique in our own way…Go HERE, let me know what you think we sound like?

2. Christian band? What does that mean?  Individually we are each passionate followers of Jesus Christ and live according to his word. So, We are a rock band. A “Rock Band”, that plays rock music, that rocks the stage, writes great music, writes conscience lyric songs and connects.  Within all those creative elements, God is the Fuel that sets the stage on fire. You probably won’t hear a typical worship experience at our shows, but a whole new dimension of the revolutionary artistry Christ wired us with.See us live HERE!!

3. The band is composed of 3 individuals. Me, Alex and Brent. We are in the market for a bassist. No we are not signed and not sure it’s something we’d wanna do anyway…

Anthems for a broken world, is a movement that will bridge music and arts with global healing. No hidden agendas, no corporate suits trying to make a buck. It’s all about making a difference with the music. What if a melody could save a child? What if a song gave hope to a village? What if an anthem united a country? What would that project sound like? Anthems for a broken world. 2009. We have a huge task ahead of us, but we’re up for the challenge. Get connected, get involved. Are you game? and No, we are not pulling the plug anytime soon.

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Many have been asking what the heck goes down at the Santoyo’s crib, how we handle so much, and how we remain sane? Well, we are still working on the sane part. I try to wake up bright and early to have some devotion time, breakfast and catch up on CNN. Sometimes that happens, but sometimes it doesn’t. Working out continues to be a work in progress.  Diego is up bright and early most days. Whether he goes to bed early or not, he is up bright and early. We’ve always been people who stay up really late, hanging out, watching movies, playing games, etc, but parenting has changed that  a bit. Now with a 2nd bun in the oven I am sure things will change a bit more…But on the weekends we all still hang late!!! I try to be at the office by 830am. I have an 830am to 530pm schedule, but that changes too.  My week consists of getting all the creative arts and worship elements in place for Sunday, and future series, promotions and projects. Now that we have 2 sites, I have to do the same for our second campus. I am are working on building a team down there in the keys that can cover the workload and build new leaders as it is the case  here in Homestead. I usually get home by 545pm or 6pm. I have dinner with the family and depending on the day we’ll either have a movie night, go our for a drive, have life group, BBQ, go swimming, or maybe take a walk. I try and throw the football around with Diego, and wrestle with him to get him super tired and ready for bed. The kid has enough energy to power all of Miami Dade. I gotta say, Reina is wonderwoman-MOM. She is an at home mom right now, but she is trully a warrior. I don’t think I could survive a whole day with my son without the Momma touch!!! She deserves all the rewards of motherhood and some. She is an amazing artist and painter and soon she will venture into a new dimension of motherhood artistry and a  creative career…The weekdays are always full of things to do, left and right, but the weekends are our time to disappear as a family and chill!!! I try my best to shut off my phone and emails on the weekends and focus on us. It was tough at first, but its getting better.

We live in a house of dreamers. We are constantly planning, creating, writing, performing, and dreaming some more. We have tons of projects in the making, in the process and in the belly. Life is what you make of it. You take the good the bad, the pretty and ugly and you make it work. We have a saying at home that goes like this… “we can make it work!”. I don’t think we will ever be a normal family. We are artists, travelers, missionaries and visionaries in one. What keeps us sane? Sitting on our couch every evening and saying, “what a day”. I wouldn’t change anything about it!!! You tell me…what do you get when you mix a  pastor by day and rockstar by night with an amazing woman who is a painter/mother/designer? What was your guess on a day in our shoes?

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