Manowe

Rest, deck time, rest, Hope Garden, rest, trails, rest, deck time, rest...
that pretty much somes up my time at Manowe this weekend. It is one of the greatest places on planet earth to hear from Jesus. My head was swirling before I went and now it's stopped. I needed sleep and got it. I needed answers and got them. I needed Jesus and He showed up. Imagine that! It was most excellent!

I went back up there today to shoot some footage for tomorrow. There's just something about that place!

Karissa

Just got some pics from Karissa. She was in our youth ministry for years and is now a missionary in Malawi, Africa. I am so proud of her. She's gone way out of her comfort zone and taken it to whole new levels. Here she is with one of her Malawi friends.

Slow that Train Down

A friend gave me a great piece of advice that has been ever so helpful. It's one simple line that packs a punch, here it is ... wait for it ... wait for it .... "slow that train down". Slow that train down when you're sleep deprived and you can't think straight, sleeplessness only complicates things. Slow that train down when you have a influx of huge amounts of emotions you don't know quite what to do with. Slow that train down when you want to jump to conclusions faster than you can think logically. Slow that train down when... I'm not a counselor, but I've used that line with two other people and she just gave it to me.

Today at Oasis was a day of wonderful surprises. My pal Tristan stopped by and hung out. We reminisced about the days when he used to run the band and him, his sister and I would stay up talking to the early hours of the morning talking about anything and everything. I'd make him call his mom before he went home to let her know he was on his way and he'd always try to pass the buck to me. He's all grown up now, but some things never change. He went home about 1:00 a.m. Seems we still have a lot of stuff to talk about. This time we exchanged his sister, Karissa, for Chris. Karrisa is in Malawi for a second six month mission trip tour. Good times.

I had some parents stop by and give me an encouraging card and a gift. They waited in line for 20 minutes as I talked to a group of girls and a group of guys who wanted to chat for awhile about some stuff. The mom's words, "it's been on our heart to do this for awhile and it seemed like today would be a good day". Timing = perfect! I was deeply touched and totally encouraged. This card...after an appropriate time on my desk will be kept in my special encouragement file under "God's timing perfect, funny how He works that way".

I love this picture

I normally take HORRIBLE pictures, keeping my eyes open is a miracle in any of them, but this one I like. It was from Second Saturday last weekend. One day it will make the wall of fame. My prediction, at least three of these young ladies will play some serious college basketball one day. My other prediction, along with scores of other GCC students, all of them are and will represent Jesus well.

I asked Ashley who would win if they played their moms (who are ridiculously amazing) and she thought her and her friends could take them. Now that would be a game to watch...and record!

10 Years Today

Today was the day I crossed over into a new decade. I started getting paid for what I love to do ten years ago today. How does the saying go, "find a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life" ... something like that. While the last few days have been a mental and emotional overload, youth ministry is still the love of my life. Great, great days are ahead. I think this weekend we got a taste of it. My family and I went to the 5:30 service, but chose to give up our seats for the house was packed.

Everything is easier with friends

I hate to workout where you go round and round on a treadmill, even with the new attached TVs it's boring to me. However, I love to play just about any sport known to man (or woman). I've been playing basketball for about two months now and, even though my pinkie hasn't recovered from week one, I absolutely love it! With the exception of a 5 minute break, we run from one end to the other for over an hour. It's sweet. Initially, I was fighting for every breath, but after about week two everything was good. What it's done for my mind is amazing as well. The group of women that I play with are fun, amazing and without drama. I'm enjoying getting to know them about as much as I enjoy playing. New friends, good times.

Wow – who changed the light bulb

Did you ever have something you couldn’t quite figure out or put your finger on, but then all of the sudden you got it? Like you had a 60 watt light bulb action going and all of a sudden someone exchanged it for 120 watts. That’s what happened in one split moment in the car going over to the Marriott after a great, but very long, day. What I realized takes a huge weight off my shoulders, but saddens me at the same time. I’m not sure what to do with this new found realization, but will figure it out in time and a whole lot of prayer.

This is what my day looked like:
8:30 a.m. Up and jumpin’ – I hate mornings, always have and always will!
9:30 – 3:00 All day meeting – On a “helpful” scale of 1 to 10, a strong 9.95!
3:00 – 4:00 Checked the Oasis stats that should be showing on email reports. Done and to the amazing Dave!
4:00 – 6:00 Worked on a project I was bent on starting and completing today – Finally!
6:00 – 6:45 Previewed service for tomorrow night – It’ll be a hoot!
6:45 – 9:00 Went to Ruby’s silent auction, got the bids up on a number of them, helped sis clean up (she totally hooked Ruby up with a great conference room) – Go Back2 Back! I will now have a Ruby Moyer wall of fame if I ever find a new house – two paintings and picture.
9:00 – 9:30 Went to see Karen and Bob at Memorial Hospital – both of Bob’s mom and dad are in at the same time – heart attack and possible pneumonia.
9:30 – 11:00 Had dinner with Karen and Bob at Steak and Shake – I love loyal and long-time friends
11:00 – 5:00 Processing a thousand things going through my mind while I finalize some Oasis stuff.
6:13 a.m. Still serious stuff spinning through my head, it will have to finish spinning tomorrow (or I guess, that would mean later today)

Bye, bye Gateway and Dell, make way for the IBM ThinkPad

Computers and me do not get along. I'm convinced there must be magnets in my fingers or something...maybe the Diet Mountain Dew flowing through my veins is really liquid Krypton and has an adverse affect on computers. Ed, in the IT department, is more positive. He thinks I must be doing something pretty amazing for the Kingdom and the Devil tries to derail me through my computer.

First, the Gateway died a slow death (after being wiped clean and having everything reinstalled 3 times), then Dell #1, then Dell #2. I treat them nice, honest I do. They work great for awhile, then they get slower and slower and slower, then they begin crashing and crashing and crashing. You would not believe how many hidden temp files (or whatever they're called) I have from crashing. Today, when I booted my computer, my pal Phil couldn't believe I still couldn't get to my email 10 minutes after hitting the "on" button.

Fortunately, I only needed to get on for awhile this morning, then I shut that thing off for the very last time and traded it in for an IBM ThinkPad. IT is convinced there is no way this thing is going to die on me. I hope they are sooooooooooo very right!

Roxanne and Dan

Roxanne and I have been prayer partners for over a decade. She loves her brothers fiercely. I cannot even count the times we prayed for her brother Dan. He won a huge battle with alcohol around two years ago. This weekend he came to GCC...and totally LOVED it! It was kind of funny actually, Corey was telling me today how his brother kept thinking "he's talking to me, he's talking to me" when Mark spoke. Tonight, Roxanne told me Dan thought the same thing. What a great weekend for all, especially a couple of brothers.

Just Under the Wire

Next weekend is a BIG weekend at Granger Community Church. It's when we take our first offering that will go toward the MyLife campaign. I was having a hard time looking forward it knowing that I hadn't completed my Come Together campaign pledge yet. I can come up with a thousand excuses why, like I didn't think I'd spent over a grand in December making improvements to my house in order to sell it. However, in the back of my mind, a commitment is a commitment. If you say you'll show up, show up. If you say you'll do it, do it. If you make a promise, figure out a way to keep it. No one should ever have to ask or wonder if something is going to get done that you said you'd do. In my mind, if I can't be trusted to make good on my commitments, that's a huge statement about my character and integrity (of course, there are those rare exceptions, but even when you have to back out of those, there is a way to do it right). So all of that left me wondering and praying, "How am I going to pull this off?" As God would have it, the tax check came in the nick of time! Come Together is OFFICIALLY paid off! Now, I can get stoked about next week!

Nothing Beats a One-on-One (or two) Done Well

I went out to lunch three times today.

The first one was with an amazing group of friends that I do lunch with every Thursday. I absolutely love it and the conversation - we talk about the Bible, life, struggles and ministry, in addition to venturing down 100 rabbit trails each week. Today, we talk about how some friendships are seasonal, you have them for awhile and then you move your separate ways. You're still friends, but the calls and gatherings become less frequent. There is nothing wrong with that at all, it's called life. However, I love the few that you do life with - no matter how chaotic, messy or beautiful life has been. It's both refreshing and necessary.

The second one was a one-on-two with a former Oasis student. When she got into high school she made some classic mistakes. We lost touch for awhile, but now she's back. She's making better choices. It was a great time. Her son, Trenton, is adorable. I hope she gets back into church for his sake and hers. She's an amazing young lady.

The third one was a one-on-two with a current Oasis student. She's a 13 year old who writes and speaks like someone twice her age. I was worried about her because of something I read, but didn't really know her that well. Before I talked with her mom, I wanted to get a feel if it was a "bad day" kind of thing or something more serious. So, I asked her and her Eagle's Nest (breakout group) leader to join me for a Coke. I knew having her Eagle's Nest leader there would make the both of us feel more comfortable . . . and I was so right. Turns out after about an hour, I found this young lady to be bright, fun and totally amazing. We talked and everything is good. I told her I had to tell her mom about what I read, because if I was a mom, I'd want to know. At that point, I could have gotten any reaction. But, like I said, she's amazing and was ok with it. Turns out, she has one amazing mom and a pretty cool little brother too.