Cadre 2 of 9 Done!

I'm convinced the Cadres are pretty much one of the best things this side of heaven. We finished the second one of nine (I thought it was eight, but it's nine) at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning (right before the airport runs began).

The dyamics of each one are different, all great, but different. My friend, Rachel, from Arizona was part of this one so I especially enjoyed it. My favorite conversation was with Joe Lee (seen below with Jeanne). We talked all the way back from the field trip about minsitering to African American youth. He works for a Granger/Willow/Saddleback style church in Maryland that has a large percentage of African Americans. I laughed when he called them Saddleblack. He's brilliant in so many ways. Our conversation was so incredibly helpful in regard to the culture I am ministering in now. I'm grateful for the open and honest questions he allowed me to ask.

I've been working for Jeanne over four months now. Her brilliance continues to "wow" me. Even when she fielded the last question at 3:30 a.m., the wisdom that flowed out of her was incredible. Words cannot express how fortunate I am to rub shoulders with someone of her caliber on a daily basis. By the way, my red face in my picture below is not an indication of high blood pressure, but is a true sun burn. We had the "Pumpkin Bowl" on Saturday and I fried my face. Getting a sunburn in November, without going on vacation, was weird. However, it then turned friged last night and felt more like Indiana.

This is an interesting stat, it took 87 people to spoil 40 youth pastors for two ridiculously full days. I love it! The Cadre for second year members is in seven days, better get back to work :)