Random Days

Did you ever have one of those Ramdom Days. I don't think today could have been more scattered. Here's just a few of the things I did today (sis, this post is for you since you are my biggest blog fan and like to hear what's going on in my life)...

Proofed and recommend changes to an ad of ours that will appear in Group.

Worked on the Exhibitor Package for NYLC ‘09

Authorized the purchase of a projector and screen in the Kids Church Room.

Celebrated with our Children’s Director about curriculum we’ve selected that is AMAZING! Took a few minutes to be a coach.

Sat in on a mortgage refinancing meeting. Learned a lot, but now have a lot of work to do. Could save us thousands a month, so it will be worth it!

Talked with Jeanne about a monthly newsletter to launch in March. Selected a format that we both liked. I’m pretty stoked.

Saw that one of my favorite MC kids is back (ok, they are all my favorite). When I found out his mom was here, I decided to go downstairs just to tell her how AMAZING her son is.

Found out one of my junior high MC small group leaders needs to be moved to another group because they lost theirs, found out another one won’t be back in the game until December because of knee surgery. Ughhh! It’s all good … it’s all good.

Answered Cadre emails.

Worked on ramping up the next three Cadre groups totaling 100+ (including two from Canada). Going through the acceptance process, sending out the emails, answering the questions, processing the payments and getting everyone on the same page can make your head spin. Glad I had an administrative assistant all summer, so very sad she left … we laughed a lot together. Need the next one to get here asap.

Talked and dreamed with a friend on partnering on some pretty big stuff that I’m trying not to get too excited about, but it’s not working. In all honestly, it makes me want to do back flips. I believe the Cause, the King and the Kingdom will be advanced because of it.

Talked to a great friend about her new job. She’s helping girls get out of prostitution in downtown Phoenix. Did you know the average age for a girl to get into prostitution in AMERICA is 12? That’s nuts. God has taken everything she’s gone through, learned and loves and put her in a unique job opportunity few people are qualified for, much less want. I am so proud of her!

Talked with my sis about her new job. She loves it but feels like her head is about to explode. Told her it took me a year to get comfortable and not feel like I’m behind the eight ball in my new job. I told her it wouldn’t be any fun if we could master our job in a month.

Talked with Chris about Source and YLC edits. Can you say, I am sooooooooooo glad she’s on our team. Thank you Jesus! Pure gold.

Called a couple of youth pastors back.

Remembered where my sleeping bag is … good thing, Second Year MC Retreat this weekend … oh yeah!

Walked 3 miles.

Let Me Not Grow Deaf

We get thanks you's from Cadre members often ... I pray my ears never become deaf to their gratitude, not because of ego but because I always want to remember that what we do is important. We're fortunate we get to hear the "thank you's," most in the trenches of youth ministry don't. One of the guys wrote today...

I want to thank you so much for all that you have poured into my life and my student ministry this year. The cadre came at a perfect time in my life and gave me the extra passion and fuel that I needed to push forward strong on this incredible journey called Youth ministry ... What you are doing , no one else is doing. Please don’t ever stop.

That's my prayer for youth worker's across the nation tonight, "please don't ever stop ... it's important!"

We're a little behind the eight ball on promo, but the website and promotional pieces should be done this week. I'm sooo very excited about NYLC '09 Epicenter! It's March 30-April 1 in Dallas ... turn around twice and it will be here.

The NYLC ’09 Line-Up...

Jeanne Mayo – YLC and YP of Oxygen (my boss, friend and hero)
Ed Young – Senior Pastor of Fellowship Church
Greg Stier – Dare2Share
Judah Smith – Generation Church/YP of City Church (AMAZING!)
Craig Gross – XXXchurch.com
Chris Hill – Speaker and Author
Mark DeVries – Youth Ministry Architects and Family Based YM
Reggie Dabbs – Speaker / School Assemblies
Joel Stockstill – YP of Bethany World Prayer Center
Richard Crisco – Senior Pastor of Rochester AG (Top 5 Influencers in my YM world)
Dan Hunter – Seven Ministries / YP at The Oaks Fellowship
Jay Mooney – National Youth Director
Monty Hipp – C4 Group
Josh McDowell – Speaker and Author
Pat Shatzline – Mercy Seat Ministries

I love the diversity, at NYLC 09 we have…
2 senior pastors
4 youth pastors
1 who rips it up evangelistically
1 who knocks it out of the park when it comes to school assemblies
1 who specializes in family ministry
1 who is not afraid to talk out loud about what no one likes to talk about...pornography
1 who oversees the entire youth ministry of a denomination
1 guy who has been around forever and stood the test of time
…gifted leaders, speakers, authors,

Without even realizing it, we’ve got different…
Ages covered
Denominations covered
Ethnicities covered
Giftings covered

Some of these people are as different as night is to day. I love it! ALL OF THEM ARE AMAZING, but the thing I personally love most is that we have four youth pastors and two senior pastors speaking … people in the trenches everyday trying to figure out how to grow people (and themselves) spiritually in their walk with Jesus.

If all that weren't enough, we have about another 40 people doing breakout sessions including yours truly.

Post Marathon Brain Jello

Jeanne, my boss and friend, never wants anything for her birthday, except one thing ... help around the house right before the Cadre's start up. So, even though her birthday was in July, the gang went over there on Tuesday and we went on a 9 to 5 cleaning frenzy to try and clean up all the dust from the painters, tree limbs from storms that have rolled through this summer and whatnot. I was toast afterwards, so I went home and crashed around 8 and woke up bright-eyed around 2 a.m. I came into work at 2:30 a.m. and left the next morning at 2:30 a.m. ... it was a 24 hour marathon. Is it possible to stay focused that long? I think I gave it a pretty good shot. I got a ton accomplished; however, it's not without cost. Today my brain is jello. Maybe I'll try another Diet Dew for a kick start.

Scars Are Tattoos With Better Stories

I was having lunch with Corey and Debbie today and, as usual, it was awesome. Corey and I are about as different as two people can be, but through time, maturity and/or overcoming insecurities and head games, I think we've really come to appreciate our "differences." It's easy to appreciate similarities, but "appreciating differences" is a whole different ballgame. Hands down, without a doubt, Corey and Debbie make me better.

I heard myself saying at lunch, in reference to different but similar situations, I wonder if God sometimes allows things to cut so deep because He wants a scar to remain that we will remember forever, that in the end might actually catapult us into the future in a way we would have never imagined. I'm not saying that's His first choice for us to learn by, but too often some things fade away too easily because the personal affect on our little world is limited (like a nice Sunday morning message about feeding the hungry and clothing the naked that ends as you pass the Section 8 housing on your way home or drop clothes off at Goodwill).

I remember a shirt I bought after I nearly drowned white-water rafting that said, "Scars are tattoos with better stories." Isn't that that truth, we have some outside scars on our body that all we have to do is look at them "to remember." Could it be the same on the inside, all we have to do is think of them "to remember" ... to remember "to do" something every day of our lives or "never do" something again as long as we live. It's an interesting thought. It doesn't fit into a nice theological box or a pretty little package, so it kind of hurts your brain to think about all the ramifications if it is indeed so. Things are not always so clean cut are they?

mooreforthemoney.blogspot.com

I am all about student ministry ... ok, maybe not "all", maybe only 4/5ths. The other 1/5th of my job is to lend some of my knowledge of finances to the accounting department. Well, I passed the CPA exam 18 years ago around 1990, did auditing work from 1987 - 1997 ... and from then on it was nothing but student ministry. So, I've been out of the financial loop for over a decade. That's a really, really long time. Plus, auditing is a whole lot different than accounting.

I needed a coach, so I called on a friend from GCC, Dave Moore. Dave is brilliant at finances (and an amazing water skier). Words cannot express how helpful ... and patient ... he always was when I'd be working the middle school budget at GCC. He coached me today on the balance sheet pieces I was struggling with. I texted Jeanne afterwards and said, "he helped us a lot ... a lot, a lot." I am grateful. Plus, it was fun laughing today over some of the stuff we used to have "discussions" about.

I was excited to hear that he is blogging about "church finances." You can go to his blog at mooreforthemoney.blogspot.com. He's also now linked on the side of my blog ... "Dave Moore".

Welcome to Youth Leader's Coach Chris Infalt

God truly kissed me today when I was able to hire Chris to help me on a mammoth job I am working on with Youth Leader's Coach. She will work part-time getting Source and Youth Leader's Coach digitialized. I then have a gazillion other projects lined up right behind it. Chris, as I sat here this afternoon training you, I kept thanking Jesus over and over again. I sooooo believe in you and what we get to do ... together ... for the Cause, the King and the Kingdom. Thanks for saying "yes." You will put feet to the dream and lives will be changed ... forever! I couldn't and wouldn't want to do it without you.

No that doesn't mean she will be moving to Atlanta. All the work can be done from her home in Indiana. The power of the Internet is making this world real small.

They will suck the life right out of you

There has to be some simple explanation, like when we eat Thanksgiving dinner why we want to take a nap (I forget what the name of the stuff is in the turkey that makes you want to do that, I just know it's there). For me, this same phenomenon occurs after all-day meetings. We had a NYLC meeting in the board room that went from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., pretty much non-stop. It was a GREAT meeting, but immediately made me feel like I needed a nap afterwards. So, I took one. Now, and only now, after a nap do I feel ready to dive in and get some real work done. All-day meetings, all-day conferences and turkey will suck the life right out of you ... but they are all good for you ... go figure.

ADHD

I loved, loved, loved watching Michael Phelps take the gold again last night. In part becasue he's an amazing athlete, but mostly because I can only imagine what it must have been like going through childhood labeled as an "ADHD kid." Having done youth ministry for 15 years, I've seen enough kids with ADHD go through their early years. Often times, they would drive my leaders nuts. Shoot, sometimes they would even drive me nuts. However, they always did and will hold a special place in my heart. Partly because the world seems to want to write them off. I suppose that's my heart for the underdog.

Over the last couple of week, I've helped in on Children's Church and have seen some of those ADHD kids bouncing off the walls (and when your services are 2 hours long, they bounce a lot). I was reminded of a kid years and years ago with Sheila in Kingdom Kids. I so wish I could remember his name. What I do remember is that half the time this kid's head would be where his tail end should be in the theatre seats. Then one day, Sheila had him sit next to my nephew and help him run sound (which at that time meant he pushed play at the appropriate times on the cassette player). After that, we never had one single problem with him ... ever. It got to the point where my nephew didn't even need to be there, the 3rd grade kid just ran it himself. I guess the lesson with Michael Phelps and this kid was just keep looking for the niche. It's there, you just have to discover it.

Act Your Way Into Feelings

My AA and I were tackling the good ol' question of "Do you feel your way into action?" or "Do you act your way into feelings?" While it would be great if there was clean cut answer, we landed on "it depends." However, we leaned more toward "You act your way into feelings."

She's been given the directive, by me, to ask every day, "Did you walk last night?" She is horrible at asking, unless I didn't walk then she miraculously ALWAYS remembers to ask. She says she is only horrible because when I do walk, I'm so quick to tell her I did that she doesn't have a chance to ask. She's probably right.

I decided to walk 1-3 miles every day a couple of weeks ago. I did great out of the gate but have found when I'm home in Indiana or have friends in town I get dereailed ... not their bad, but mine. Anyway, I've been back on track the last four nights. I'm proud to say I did 3.25, 3.1, 3.4 and 3.5 miles respectively ... some of it even jogging. Here is what I've quickly figured out. So far, even on day 4, I've never "felt" like getting on the treadmill ... not once, not even a little bit. But after I made the CHOICE to walk/jog, I can't top the feeling when it's all said and done and I'm dripping in sweat. You would think after the previous experiences, plus the last four nights of feeling great after the action, the feeling to get on the treadmill would come first. I don't know if it ever will, but boy was it a strong reminder of "CHOOSE (key word) to do what you know to do and the feelings will follow." Now, if only I could apply it to a few other areas of my life.

My final thought with this whole question is "If you act your way into feelings" then what does that mean in regard to the way we do church today...anything? Should we be doing more of some things and less of others? Secretly, I'm kind of getting tired of sitting in the pew/chair/seat (don't judge me, I know teaching is muy importante). I wonder if anyone else is?

NYLC: March 30 - April 1 Dallas, TX

Is it Disrespect or a Devine Appointment? It Depends

Tonight was awesome, I wish I could have been there for more of it. During worship, I had tell a couple of the middle school girls behind me to quiet down. I then spent the rest of worship time looking at a side screen, so that I could keep one eye on the words and the other one on them. Then, it happened. I turned my head for a second in the transition to Jeanne speaking and the girls were gone, like lightening. Somethings in youth ministry never change, do they? I checked all the bathrooms, upstairs, downstairs, the elevator ... eventually found them outside with one of the boys playing basketball ... go figure. However, it lead to an incredible conversation with one of the girls at the end of the night I would have missed had she not skipped out.

Then, Cherry and I took another student home. I was asking him how his first couple of days of high school had been going. He said his mom was thinking about putting him in private school because of the gangs and the Dekalb schools not being the best. I asked him if he thought that would be a good thing for him from his point of view. He said "for his education, yes ... for his friends, no." I asked him what he wanted to be when he got older. He said an architect. Cherry then ask if he ever sketched, he said "yes, but not on paper." I said, "On the computer?" He said, "no." Turns out he is a graffiti artist.

I think sometimes when kids goof around or fail to have a ride home, it's not so much their bad, but God's way of nudging us to listen a little closer and take a few precious minutes to speak into their lives things we wouldn't have thought to say if they hadn't messed up.

AWAKEN

Tonight was AWAKEN, a city wide gathering we put on at the Tab. It was amazing. The worship band knocked it out of the park ... they totally brought it. I was so proud of them.

Pic 1: Jay, our sound guy, behind the board. He is is quickly growing to be like a little brother. He marries Missy in May. I've never seen dating done so well. I'm proud of them.

Pic 2: A distant view of the band. We talked about racial unity tonight. Our band reprsents that well, it's evenly distributed between blacks, whites and Simoians. They care for each other well and look, love and live beyond skin tone.

Pic 3: Ashley, Mckenna and Cherry (my AA). These were 3 of my top 5 MC girls I connected with this year, probably because they all have a rebel streak that runs pretty deep. Chris would tell me it's the same one that resides in me ... maybe that's why we connect so well. Watch out world, as they continue to bring it under the leadership and lordship of Christ, there is no telling what they can accomplish for the Cause, the King and the Kingdom.

Pic 4: Neftaly Leonidas and Daniel Kimani - two of my favorite middle school students (ok, I say that about all of them) in Oxygen. Both are spiritually wise beyond their years, but then again one is a Leonidas and the other a Kimani ... nothing more needs to be said, no surprises there.

Pic 5: MC and Oxygen guys. The little one is Angel, who broke his wrist a month ago doing a flip at Oxygen. Tolu (aka Roy) and Hoi (right side, in front of and behind Angel) are the Simoani brothers in the band. Rey (middle back) is one of the most amazing small group leaders in the world. He knows how to take care of students. The guy on the left of Rey is James. If he grows up a bit, he will be a significant player in the church world today. I get the privilege of helping him grow up this year.

Facebook, Texts, Calls and Visits

Today I was reminded about the power of the touch, if even for a moment. It was my birthday and, while I'm not a big fan of calling attention to myself, if you're on Facebook it does it for you ... the ripple effect that transpires from it is incredible and contagious.

I've appreciated the gazillion Happy Birthday's I've received on Facebook. While some were expected, I've gotten some from others that's surprised me. I am so grateful. They meant A LOT ... A LOT, A LOT.

The texting has been awesome too. They started long before my head came off the pillow this morning.

The phone calls were extra special as well.

This morning I spent with my sister, niece and mom hanging out at Einstein's Bagels in Indy, then jumped a plane to Atlanta in time for Oxygen. I love my family!

I walked into my office and was greeted by wall-to-wall balloons, streamers and a Happy Birthday banner ... along with a ginormous basket of all the junk food I like and a boatload of Diet Mountain Dew to wash it down with .... I don't need any of the junk food, but yummmm. I will definitely be sharing. Between the junk food and Karen's chicken I had at the party on Monday, I will have to be doing a lot of walking in the coming days.

My 02 kids sang Happy Birthday twice ... first the old fashion way (which was way out of tune), then a new cool modern day version (where they had the harmony going).

It's been a great day and a great way to start off 44 ... even if I don't feel any different than the day I turned 34.

Back Home in Indiana

I decided to make a spur of the moment trip back to Indiana for my friend's, Ruby, fundraising/vision casting event, along with several birthdays - Ashlyn's (my niece), Kira's and my own.

It was an amazing, whirlwind, couple of days. Ruby's event reminded me what an incredible woman of God she is. I am grateful to be able to call her friend.

Then yesterday some friends and I got together. It grew from a handful of previous Bible study friends to a bunch of pals. I absolutely loved it! Karen whipped up her famous Chicken Doris and good times were had by all.

The pic above was the calm before the storm. We spent the last hour together awaiting an intense storm that never really materialized, but it was fun watching the audio and light show God was putting on and listening to the Tornado warnings go off together.

Now I'm off to Indy with my mom and sister for my flight home and some more time with my niece. Lovin' every minute. Thanks for all who made the last few days AMAZING!

Atlanta's Best Kept Secret - Margaret Mitchell House

I have some of my most favorite people in town - Karen, Wendy and Hilary. We all just finished a scrumptious dinner of stuffed shells that Karen cooked me for my birthday dinner (a couple of days early). Hilary just cut my hair and is cycling her way through some of the MC gang now.

Yesterday, we were deciding what touristy thing we were going to do. I've been to the Coke Plant/Museum, the Aquarium and Stone Mountain a gazillion times, but was willing to take one for the team if they wanted to go there. Instead we hit the Margaret Mitchell House. For those who might be wondering who she was, she wrote Gone with the Wind. While an amazing book and movie, stuff she did behind the scenes were even more incredible. Here's some random cool facts:

1. After the book came out, her servant/friend came down sick. She thought she could cash in on some of her fame and get her treatment at Grady hospital. But because her friend/servant was black, they refused to treat her. So Margaret donated the necessary money to get an emergency clinic set up at the hospital to serve both the blacks and whites.
2. She also paid for 50 black young men to go through med school ... I think there are scholarships in her name yet today.
3. She helped raise 65 million for the Red Cross.
4. She never bought a house or nice new car with all her riches, but chose to live in apartments.
5. She did not enjoy being famous and was incredibly humble, but loved parties.
6. She wrote the book backwards (last chapter first).
7. The "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a da@#" was actually a line her first husband used on her when he left her ... except they added the "frankly."
8. As a young girl, her mom got her into the women's suffrage (right to vote) movement.
9. She tried to keep her book a secret. When a publisher first approached her on it, she denied she was writing one, but eventually gave him it.
10. A great quote, "In a moment of weakness, I wrote a book."

I think the Margaret Mitchell house is one of Atlanta's best kept secrets when it comes to tourist places to visit.

Disciplines

Disciplines ... I am so random that I hate 'em, but I need them ... so here is my commitment

Goal: 3 miles walking/jogging and 3 Bible chapters every day
Acceptable (ie I won't beat myself up if I do at least this): 1 mile walking and 1 chapter 5 out of 7 days.

I'm 3 out of 4 days hitting my goal and having a great time.

722

Went to 722 tonight and it was AMAZING. There were three surprises.

1. Phil Wickham showed up to lead worship. Mike introduced me to his music a couple of months ago and I've loved the guy ever since. Sitting fifth row center stage made it that much more sweeter. Charlie Hall is up next month. I love Atlanta.

2. For the service, Jarrett Stevens interviewed Margaret Feinberg. I'm ashamed to say I've never heard of her ... I know, I know ... where have I been? Looks like she was at Northland last week. She was off the hook. She's written The Organic God and Sacred Echo, among others. I think after I get done with Crazy Love and reread In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, I'll pick one of them up. Next month Dan Kimball is up, author of "They like Jesus but Not the Church".

3. At the end, Jarrett announced that 722 was ending. The reasoning being that they didn't feel like 722 was uniquely providing something that no one else was providing. While they love the service, it felt like it it was just becoming another option. It sounded like September might be the last month, but I'm not sure about that. They are praying and seeking God for what's next.

Staff Retreat Continued

We're still on the MC/YLC/Oxygen staff retreat...

What I've loved most is the mentoring/coaching Jeanne has done throughout the last couple of days. Here are just a few of the great quotes I've heard.

• In the absence of a great dream, pettiness prevails
• When you are busy rowing the boat, you don’t have time to rock it.
• The heaviest burden to carry is none at all.
• The President of the United States has no more hours in his day than we do…same with Jesus.
• The more busy and demanding the season, the more important it is to have rituals. Without the rituals, negative emotional energy gets darker and deeper. Negative energy begets negative energy.
• I have learned on the journey of life that I am far better at times to be a little lonely rather than filling the lonely spaces with the wrong relationships.
• Getting the negative residue (I like that word) off of your life after you end wrong relationships can take awhile.
• Be careful of living your life at a frantic, hectic pace. Speedboats go fast but are shallow on the lake. The minute depth comes, speed goes down.
• Lives lived frantically are easily forgotten.

We have also read and discussed a couple chapters out of the book "The 4:8 Principle" by Tommy Newberry. While it doesn't seem super profound, the way it pegs human behavior and reminds you to do what you know to do is brilliant.

Mountain Top Experience

Pictures will follow, but right now I am sitting high up outside on the deck of what has to be a million dollar house/cabin overlooking the Smoky Mountains (I think that’s the mountain range). It is absolutely gorgeous. We are having what I call marathon sitting sessions planning Master Commission Atlanta’s 2008-2009 year. They are long, but every second is well worth it. So far, the ten MC and YLC staff have…

1. Reflected on what went right/well last year.
2. Talked about what we could improve upon.
3. Updated the handbook.
4. Talked about roles, responsibilities and expectations since we’ve had some staff changes.
5. Reviewed and discussed the budget.
6. Figured out all the “big rocks” when it comes to events and put them on the annual calendar.
7. Figured out 2nd and 3rd year portfolios (various assignments and roles).
8. Dreamed about and cast vision for the upcoming National Youth Leader’s Conference March 30 – April 1, 2009.
9. Put AC families together.
10. Figured out RA’s for the apartments.
11. Determined the weekly schedule and teaching blocks.
12. Ate four dinners that were to die for. Each team is trying to out do each other and those eating get to reap the rewards.

Last night Jordan lead devo’s and Nick worship. Both did an amazing job. Two of the questions Jordan asked were “How is love best shown to you (kind of like, what is your love language)?” and “What imprint or signature do you want to leave on the hearts of our students?” Words can’t express how “real” we got with each other.

I’m pretty excited about the upcoming year, there is a new level of unity in the team and a strong desire by all to be more than friends, but family.

I’m going to go hang out with Jesus, later my friends. I love you.

Francis Chan

Sweetness...just checked out Francis Chan's video blog and found out he has a new book out called Crazy Love. I sooo love Amazon's One Click.

Great Blog Posts

Being the Director of Operations for Youth Leader's Coach, Executive Director for Cadre, Director of Middle School, Financial Analyst for the Tab, the voice for the Technical Arts and having a few other random responsibilties that would make your head spin (at least it does mine), I like to randomly send the variety of staff I come alongside some of the great blog posts I come across. Normally, I try to give them one or two a month, but came across two amazing ones this week.

Here's the one from Ed Young (this was especially pertinent since we cut housekeeping 37 hours per week last week)

Here's the one from Tim Stevens (I've heard "it's not my fault" blame shifting all too often over the last few years. I hate in particular when I hear it come out of my own mouth.)

A Day With Students

This summer has afforded me a little more hang time with students since the "home team" has the ball and MC is on the bench so to speak (actually, just away doing ministry on their home fields across the nation).

Today I spent part of the afternoon with Nephtaly and Martha, incredible students going from 8th into 9th grade. On our way to lunch, Martha talked about how Andrew had taught that cliques hurt our 02 group awhile back. She shared how his teaching came to life when she was on a retreat last weekend with another church and spent the first part of it as an outsider looking in. It's cool to see a teaching take hold, isn't it?

After picking up Nephtaly, we did lunch at Panda Express and talked openly about anything and everything, including race (Nephtaly is Haitian, Martha Mexican and the very white Hungarian/German me), old youth pastors, the difficulties of going from the ghetto to very middle/upper class neighborhoods, etc. Nephtaly has some dreams for the youth ministry I hope to help unleash.

When I got back to the office, Eric and Chris came in and were hanging around in my office. While I know it can be time consuming, I love what it says when a student, especially two guys, feel comfortable enough to come plop down in your office to talk. While some would be irritiated by it, I am grateful. After sharing stories, Eric had a great idea for an event and got the ball rolling to get the info and take it to the team.

What I loved most today were the eyes to see that God gave me. I've been on the sidelines in youth ministry a little bit over the last year just trying to figure out what the heck I was doing in a new city and a new position. It's good to be back in the trenches. Listening to the students' dreams and strategizing a little on how to achieve even the little ones is refreshing. It's amazing what students can accomplish if someone will give them a little time and help them get their feet pointed in the right direction.

Yellow River and a Mother's Prayers

After a really late night of painting, I was up early this morning to go hang out with some middle school kids at Yellow River. Honestly, I don't really want to know why it's called Yellow River. It can't be good.

Good times were had by all, but what I loved most was the coversation about Jesus. Junior Leonidas, one of our high school leaders, is annointed/gifted/not sure what you want to call it, but off-the-hook. Maybe I don't know him well enough yet, but I've never met a high school kid like this one in all my years ... no joke. I attribute his AMAZINGNESS to his parents. There are nine Leonidas kids and they are all incredible. I told his older sister that their mom should write a book. You can produce one great kid, maybe two, with a little love and luck ... but to produce nine means you've got something going on that others need to know about. She began to tell me stories. The one that grabbed my attention is about their mom's prayer life for her kids. The sister laughing talked about the times she would wake up with her head half saturated with annointing oil from her mother's prayers the night before. Evidently their mom frequently prays over them while they sleep. Now maybe that sounds extreme, but if you met these kids, you'd have "buy in" for sure.

Anyway back to the conversation with Junior... he was talking about a Bible study Corey, our worship leader, had done that marked him. I asked him what Corey had said, partly because I was curious, mostly because I know if we reiterate something, it helps to seal it inside of us. Well, a couple of students were around when he was telling the story and it lead to an incredible conversation and questions about Jesus. Loved, loved, loved it.

Praying for Favor

The last couple days have been a whirlwind...

Thursday we were on a conference call with Cadre Epic and Richard Crisco. He is easily in the top five most Godly people I have ever met. He oozes Jesus like no other person I've ever known.

Thursday night we had a board meeting ... where I am the "voice" for the Tabernacle's financials. Vicky and Sobrina do all the work, I just am the financial interpreter. It's definitely one of the places where I feel the favor of God. One of my 02 kids who has a dad on the board said to me the other day, "my dad says you're really smart." I told him that I wasn't, but just work hard so it looks like I am. I remember Jeanne saying one day that she prays for favor with people ... she must pray for her staff to have that same favor as well. I feel it.

Jordan and I were writing emails back and forth at 4 a.m. He was working on NYLC and the MC retreat and I was working on Cadre and this month's Youth Leader's Coach. It's funny, most wouldn't classify either of us as morning people ... but really, we're just REALLY early morning people. It sounds more noble than night owls, doesn't it?

Today we were on the line with Cadre Litmus and Prestige where Jeanne was talking about conflict resolution. Her wisdom was billiant. I loved a couple of lines in particular ... like "Don't drop a bomb when a sling shot will work" and "We tend to rule overselves with our heart and other people with our head. We really need to reverse it and rule other people with our heart and ourselves with our head."

In between the calls, we held a NYLC meeting and celebrated Jeanne's birthday. Can't say we don't pack our day.

Tonight Cherry, Alisha, Tolu and I painted my new office a cool shade of green and gray ... ok, the grey look more like white than grey, but oh well. I think painting on all those mission trips burnt me out on the whole thing. I will be glad when it's done.

Tomorrow our 02 group is going to the river...should be fun...then more painting and moving stuff into place.

Sunday morning Cherry and I are hitting up either Northpoint or Jentzen Franklin's church. Hopefully afterwards I will be able to knock out this month's Source and YLC. They are AMAZING as usual ... The Three Chairs and Seven Daily Success Rituals.

Monday we are off to the mountains for our week long staff retreat. REALLY looking forward to it ... could use a change of scenery. Somehow before we leave at 9 a.m., I have to get a power of attorney signed, nortorized and sent off so we can seal the deal and close on my dad's house. Should be interesting since I absolutely detest mornings.

Broken Records and Broken Wrist

The good news...we had record attendance at our 02 Small Group tonight.
The bad news...one of our little guys broke his wrist doing a back flip outside before service.

The other good news...the guy who cut off his toe last month put a shoe on that foot for this first time today. It was officially sown back on and is healing well.

A Time To Pray

Spent some time praying tonight, as always there is reason to talk to Jesus.

Tonight I talked to Jesus about Camp Adventure. A boatload of kids are there and, for many, if not all, it will change the trajectory of their very lives. Many will mark there spiritual journey by Camp Adventure July, 2008. I prayed the kids would have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to feel. I prayed for the counselors to have enormous amounts of strength, courage, compassion, wisdom and love.

Tonight I talked to Jesus about Alissa and Nate. I was at their wedding in Pennsylvania this weekend. It was absolutely beautiful. They are newlyweds and in love, just beginning this journey called marriage.

Tonight I talked to Jesus about a friend's home life ... that restoration would occur ... for if it doesn't, a train wreck is inevitable and all will be left scarred ... if not already.

Tonight I talked to Jesus about our week long staff retreat in the mountains just a few short days away. We need His dreams, His heart and His wisdom for the 80, 90 or 100 plus students that we will have an opportunity to breath life into beginning just a few short weeks away. We need a sense of urgency and awareness to be all and do all we can for the cause, for the Kingdom, for the King.

Tonight I talked to Jesus about my dad. The waves of grief are further apart but they still come. While driving, I seem to be hitting the steering wheel a lot less these days, for that I am grateful ... and so is my car.

Tonight I talked to Jesus about those He put in my sphere of influence. I prayed for continued favor. They mean the world to me.

Finally, I talked to Jesus about my great niece Sarah ... that she would grow up strong and a princess warrior for Jesus.

Going Once ... Going Twice ... Sold

Good news ... my dad's house is sold ... even greater news ... it will close within two weeks.

Bad news ... it went too cheap ... even worse news ... what in the world will I do with my junk in less than two weeks. SNAP!

Bugaboo Creek Steak House ... Good Times

Today we celebrated Vicky's birthday (a little late since I was in Dallas last week) at Bugaboo Creek's Steak House ... great food, great company ... two thumbs up. The dead heads of bison, moose, deer and whatnot made it a hunter's dream. The fact that the bison talked was a definitely a bonus.

He Needed Some Help Up

Perry Noble had a great post here.

Alex in Ecuador Drinking Chonta Chicha

Alex left MC Atlanta to do missions work all around the globe. He is currently working in Ecuador. We got this email from him late last night ... I love emails that make you laugh out loud.

Listen... Interesting story today.... I learned that the Shuar Indians are somehow direct descendants of Jesus... They can walk on water... well, maybe not on water... but on mud for sure... We hiked up to a waterfall today.... and it was QUITE THE HIKE!!! A couple of hours of hiking... in the mudd.... and I put two d´s on there... because it was quite intense! There was a pregnant lady... and two old women carrying their babies on their backs in a sling that were guiding us... Listen, if I had my baby on my back... he would have died at least five deaths!!! But not them... They weren't even dirty!!! Me on the other hand... I have never fallen so much! It's like I lost all sense of balance.... They took us to a few waterfalls up on this mountain... where they live and walk every day!!! And we were told that it would take around 20 minutes... Let´s try about two and a half hours...

But the waterfalls were beautiful... I got some great pictures.... and then they decided that rather than hiking back up the muddy hill that I practically SLID down instead of walked down.. they decided that we would blaze a new trail!!! Right through the heart of the jungle... Luckily I had this guy behind me... about 17 that was holding me up and picking ants off of my feet and legs... This was QUITE the sight to see!!! There were about three men in the front with machetes and a rifle... I figured they were going to get us deep in the middle of nowhere, strip us butt naked and then cut our heads off... but I think that we were far too entertaining for them to mess with us... Let me just say... it is quite humbling to be far outdone by a pregnant lady... and two ladies carrying babies... (by the way... BOTH of which were nursing the whole time!!!) but we eventually made it out.... and I am alive... But let me just say that I feel EVERY BIT OF 32 YEARS OLD TONIGHT!!!) My whole body hurts... And nothing quite works like it should!!! I may have to come back to the states on a stretcher... lol...

As we were walking back, one of the ladies asked... Why the heck did you want to come to these waterfalls when there is one only a 20 minute walk from the car... That's right... someone got confused and thought that we wanted the intense trail... All I had to eat was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... and by the time I got to the car, I was ready to PUKE... But guess what was waiting for me... That´s right... a big hearty gourd of Chonta Chicha... and I mean this stuff was thick... and stringy... and warm.... (in case you don't know... Chicha is a drink where the women chew up a vegetable - this time Chonta... and spit it into a vat and then let it sit for a few days... and WAH LAH... a beautiful drink) I had one sip of that and KNEW that it was not going to stay down... so i smiled, wiped the slime from my lips and politely handed the gourd back to the wee little Indian...

So that was my day... Exciting, I know... Don't be jealous!!! :)

But I say all that to say that it was worth it all! It was truly a great day...
Love ya'll!!!
Alex

Dad's House

My sister called and told me we got an offer on my dad's house today. Pray that it goes through! Then, pray that I figure out what to do with all the junk I'm storing in the garage (small stuff considering my brother and sister have had to maintain the house the last seven months). Then, pray it can close without me coming home to Indiana to sign paperwork. It has the potential to close within three weeks.

NYLC 09 - The Deals Have Been Sealed

We are back from our whirlwind trip to Dallas. Here's the stuff the team accomplished...

• Toured both the facility and area. Cedar Hills (just on the boarder of Dallas) is becoming a booming suburb. The outdoor mall areas that will be complete by then are absolutely gorgeous.
• Met with the facility and administration of Trinity and checked on a gazillion details
• Met with the audio/video/lightening guy, Jeff, to figure out exactly what equipment we have to work with
• Ate lunch with their student ministries and MC staff. Great people.
• Double checked the seat count in the auditorium
• Checked the site line from every corner of the auditorium
• Counted every possible parking space
• Took the dimensions of the stage
• Measured the gym and counted the outlets for the vendors
• Got the maps and dimensions of every room available in the main sactuary, childrens building, school and student center - besides the general session, we have six super sessions and 45 breakout session, so we need every room and every chair
• Met with countless sals reps for hotels and set up hotel contracts with a number of them
• Met with some local restaurants
• Stopped at the visitor's info center to establish connection and get free stuff
• Shot footage and pictures of the church and Dallas for promo video
• Established connections with two of the primary audio/media/lighting rental companies

All that and...

Celebrated Alisha's birthday at some Mexican restaurant downtown that was let's say "interesting"

I had the most horrible headache the first night, comparable only to the one I had in the early 90's after the first day of the CPA exam

Got up at 5 a.m. to take Jeanne to the DFW airport to catch a flight to New Mexico. Dallas has to be one of worst airports in all of America to navigate the first time through. We needed to pick up a rental car after we dropped Jeanne off and it took us a half hour to find the place. We followed the signs and kept ending up in the return area. We asked the AVIS person how to get where we needed to go and her words were "Go straight and ignore the 'Do Not Enter' sign and it will take you to the lower lever." Go figure. The good news is that once in the airport it's relatively simple and the flight took off on time.

We laughed a lot. What a great team.

NYLC 09

I'm posting from the Hilton Gardens somewhere in or near Dallas. We scoped out Trinity church today. What an amazing facility. What amazing hosts! When we were choosing a facility (actually in an affluent suburb call Cedar Hills) we knew we wanted three things ...

1. We wanted to be in or near Dallas
2. To have the conference in a church if at all possible
3. The seating capacity needed to be near or over 3,000

Trinity's seating capacity is only around 2,500. While we had another facility lined up over the 3,000 mark, we opted for Trinity. Why? Because of the size of their heart. They want us there ... big, big time and you can feel it. Here's some examples:

1. They are shutting down their Christian school for three days so we can use the entire facility (brand new less than a year old sanctuary, children's building (old sanctuary), school with full gym and original sanctuary (youth building)). I'm sure they will make it line up with some normal spring break in order to make it all happen.
2. Matt, their Master's Commission director, spent the entire afternoon with us making sure we got the tour to beat all tours.
3. Their facilities people are off the hook. They copied floor plans, parking layouts ... you name it. You can tell they are "for" the Kingdom and not "for" making sure things never get messed up (by never getting touched). Big deal. If you don't have facilities on your side, you are not in for a good time.
4. Countless other little things.

It reminds me how VALUABLE it is not only with conference locations, but in life ... TO BE WANTED! Lord, help me be intentional about helping people to feel that as well!

Anyway, besides the Trinity staff, the other amazing notice of my day was our staff. Jordan, Sterling, Jay, Alisha and I joined up with Jeanne today. She was speaking in Dallas at Christ for the Nations and is then heading to New Mexico to speak a gazillion times over the next couple of days. As we were all flying, driving, talking and doing lunch. I couldn't help but stop for the moment and take notice of the "feel" of our team. Words can't adequately express that moment for me. It was a deep sense of love and we are "for" each other. Those words are cheap to say, but are loaded with meaning when done right and well and translated into actions, attitudes, words and deeds. I'm excited for NYLC 09, before it felt like it was in some foggy place a long way off, but now we're rolling.

March 30 - April 1 NYLC 2009 Dallas, TX

Leaving on a jet plane ... at 5 a.m. tomorrow. We're spending three days scoping out Dallas, the home of Jeanne's National Youth Leader's Conference 2009 (March 30 - April 1)

Source and Taxes

Last night at midnight I finished up this month's Source (MOMENT OF TRUTH) and Youth Leader's Coach (HOW TO STAY A CHRISTIAN WHILE DOING MINISTRY). Hands down the hardest Source to date. Normally, they take me two days of my month, this one took me every bit of five. It's an absolutely AMAZING one, but between the bumpy audio I had to keep taking back to the boys to fix and the 25 pages of leader notes, fill-ins, message transcript, drama transcript, human video transcript, discussion questions and leadership lesson ... I could vomit ... no seriously vomit.

Fortunately they have more of an eternal value, but Sources and YLC are like taxes ... hard to do but once you get them done the highlight of your day is dropping them off at the post office/fed ex. I just did a little dance and ate five miniture Reeses in celebration of their send off. May I never listen to those AMAZING little audios ever again.

I Will Care For You As You Care For Others

As Oasis grew, I remember the transition from caring for students to caring for leaders. It was a tough transition for me. I love hanging out with and impacting students; however, me, myself and I (and a few others) were unable to impact as many as I could dream of impacting. So, my role changed over time. While I would have my couple dozen kids who would capture my heart and even some of my time, I had to correct and redirect how I was going to lead. More time needed to be spent investing in leaders than students (almost sounds wrong, doesnt' it?). My mantra in my head (I just came up words to it) would be, I will care for you as you care for others.

That's what the Cadre is all about (and multiplication for that matter). While long distance we can't care to the extent that someone in closer proximity can, we're basically saying ... youth pastor, we will help (of course, hopefully along with their local church...but it doesn't always work that way...good grief, you should hear the stories) care for you as you care for others. Once again, knowing we all need to be loved, cared for and appreciated ... regardless of age, income or status.

When does it get sticky? When someone walks out from your umbrella of ministry. Does that mean you stop loving or caring for them, absolutley not! However, for some it might look different, for others you were meant to "do life," well ... "for life." It's tough isn't it? Relationships ... your relationship with God and your relationships with others ... there is no greater thing in the universe, but my oh my, what a constant wrestling.

Burden of the Lord

Ok, I know that sounds super-spiritual, but I don't know of any other words that best fits a conversation that Jeanne and I had on the way to the Annointing Service for Master's Commission a couple of weeks ago. I've been reflecting on it ever since.

Basically the conversation, in my own words, went something like this ... You can have a phenomenal leader, but if you place him/her over an area they don't necessarily have a "burden of the Lord for" it will be hard for them to thrive (and the people they minister to) . It doesn't mean they won't, it will just be more difficult. For example, if you place a discipleship wired person in more of an evangelistic position ... or if you place a person that best ministers to college students in a middle school position ... it will be difficult.

In some regards, it's the essence of the necessity for shape based ministy, but puts more of finger on what I see as I help work with youth leaders and pastors. It's kind of like the ministry fails to have a heart. It also explains why sometimes I see someone who doesn't have much in the way of a leadership gifting, but they have the heart or the burden of the Lord for an age category or area of ministry. I'll look at them, and in my fleshy judgemental spirit, try to figure out why their group is thriving ... maybe not all it could be ... but undeniably thriving nonetheless. Ideally you want the heart and the leadership. I'm not sure which is more important, but I've found leadership I can teach, heart I cannot.

Bucket List

For our Prestige and Litmus Cadre conference calls last Thursday, we were on the line with Earl Creps. His topic was "The Bucket List: Things I wish I had known about ministry when I was young." He was brilliant and made me start to think, "What would my bucket list include?" Some serious thoughts popped into my head, like "Statistics impact the brain, stories impact the heart. Remember to capture and retell the story." One funny thought was, "If a kid in your ministry cuts their toe off (or any other body part), don't forget to put it on ice." What's on your bucket list? ... Great question, isn't it?

Youth Ministry ... No Greater Job in the World

This year I have seen an incredible amount of transition ... great, wonderful, amazing, hard, challenging transition that has resulted in me absolutely loving the south. Because of the amount of time spent taking care of youth pastors and learning a new job/area/systems/culture, less was spent on taking care of MC students and middle school kids. While that won't change considerably, now that I've got the job/area/systems/culture relatively figured out, I will definitely achieve a better balance. However, as I was reminded in a text today, you and I are still preaching even if we get the opportunity to share very few words.

One of my favorite female MC students this past year texted me today...
"I just want you to know that there were a few key people this year that made a huge impact on my life ... not by talking to me or any of that but by me watching the integrity and character they had from a distance that made me want to be better ... and by far you were on of those people. Thank you for that!"

Another middle school student back in Indiana, whom I love dearly, had a rough weekend. Via email, I was able to share a couple of thoughts on how to deal with someone who wounds you when you can't or are unable to share it face-to-face. I gave this simple advice...

"1. Write down my feelings (just like you did).
2. Pray about it and sleep on it overnight (maybe two nights). Sometimes in anger, frustration and hurt we initially say things harsher than we really want or mean to.
3. Sometimes I will throw the letter away in the morning because I was too emotional the day before. However, if I think I still need to send it, I re-read it and tweak the wording.
4. I ask someone else that I trust and feel has huge amounts of wisdom to read it and get their advice and input.

That's about it. I go through the four step process because words are so powerful (the Bible say they have the power of life and death). Once said, I know they are hard to take back, so it's really important to say them carefully."

I don't know if my few words of advice helped, but when I think about trying to navigate the waters of adolescense alone, my heart breaks.

So, we need to learn as much as we can and share as much as we can (and, a given, pray as much as we can). I will never forget the advice Ginny and Mel gave me about what they learned along the way with their own kids. Ginny said her son would write down what he was feeling when he was angry and fly it down to her in a paper airplane. Mel said she and her daughter kept a journal in a drawer so her daughter could write down her thoughts uniterrupted when she was angry, then Mel would write back ... uniterrupted. What wisdom ... glad they didn't keep it a secret, I've used it a gazillion times when talking with parents.

What a privilege it is to impact the next generation. I don't want to ever take it for granted or do it without intentionality ... even if I only have a few moments.

Sue-Happy World

I'm a news junkie, this just came over the net...

Parents Fear Accompanying Students on Trips After Accidental Death Award

She didn't consider another possible consequence: getting sued.

A nearly $700,000 verdict against a chaperone of a cheerleading trip to Hawaii is enough to give a chaperone pause, said Cleary, of Cincinnati.

"Whether it's a trip to the zoo with the first grade or a trip to China with a group of high school students, there's always an anxiety," she said. "I'm responsible for someone else's child."

Add legal liability to the equation, and, "I definitely think it could impact some people's willingness to chaperone."

The Hawaii verdict came in the case of an 18-year-old high school student who fell to her death from a Maui hotel balcony.

Read the rest of the story here.

Being in youth ministry and living in a "sue-happy" world, it makes me wonder what we need to be doing to protect our youth leaders ... additional training, insurance, age requirement for chaperoning, etc.?

What's My Line

Granger has one of the coolest mission statements ever ... "Helping people take their next step toward Christ ... together." It doesn't get any better or clearer than that. It's so cool, it's fun to see how many churches over the years have borrowed/used it themselves (if you google it, a few pop up). I don't blame them, it's brilliant.

A couple friends and I love to dream, it's good for the soul. They've asked me what I think a great tag line would be for a church. Haven't put much thought into it, but it might look something like this ... "Cultivating Family and Awakening a Passion for Christ." In my mind, both sides of the "and" are loaded ... much easier spoken than achieved. Thanks to Jeanne and Rob, that's my DNA, not sure if it's for a church, but fun to think about.

Texting ... How did we ever live without it :-)

Exactly one year ago I was too cheap to pay for texting because I couldn't see the use. Today, I would find it hard to live without. My guess is that I send and receive about 50 a day (absolutely nothing compared to the average teenager). I am floored by the amount of communication that takes place between conversations, emails, texts and phone calls each day. Sometimes it almost feels like "communication overload." No wonder it's hard for many of us "to be silent before the Lord."

MC Atlanta Graduation 2007-2008

Last night was Grad night for the MC Atlanta 2007-2008 students. What a journey it's been. In some ways, it feels like these students walked in the door yesterday, in other ways it feels like we've been doing life together forever.

I remember the first week they were here, when Jeanne told me how I'd get a kick out of seeing the difference between the day they walked in vs. the day they walked out. She was so right. MC Atlanta is like a character development and leadership microwave. It's a place where you come face to face with yourself and make the choice on whether you want to grow and chip away at the junk in your life. It's a place where you get to have your own mini-youth group in the form of 02 groups and put on elaborate retreats that put most to shame. It's a place where an emphasis on prayer is made every day from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. It's a place where work ethic is both taught and caught. Above anything else, it's a place where passion is awakened ... a passion for Jesus, family, life and purpose.

It's been a great year ... summer without them will be hard. After the graduation ceremony, we ended the night by going over to Jeanne's to hang out and have communion together at midnight.

God is good ... all the time.

Wow ... A Serious Illness, A Severed Toe And An Indiana Funeral ... What A Whirlwind

So... just to wrap my mind around and record a few things...

Oxygen started at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday night with pre-service prayer as always. I felt like I was having some hard core time with Jesus. Just a few minutes after praying for the kids, ministry and MC students, I think I figured out why....

Ten minutes after service started, at 7:30 p.m, I was pulled out. A friend let me know that one of the kids, who has captured my heart, has a life-threating illness that she will have to live with the rest of her, probably shortened, life. I won't go into details, but big time serious and big time heavy. As I went back into worship, looking at the backs of the heads of my middle school kids, tears came at the thought of the junk some of hem have to go through, some of it of their own doing, most of it not.

Well, after worship, we went to the MC apartments to have a pool party to celebrate the end of the year with the MC students instead of our normal 02 Small Group Night. I am not there 5 minutes when...
Rey says: "Judy, I need you to come here."
Me: "Sure Rey, what's up?"
Rey: "Al cut his toe off."
Me: "Like his toenail, right?"
Rey: "No, his toe."
Me: "Are you serious?"
Rey: "Yes."
Me: "Where is he?"
Rey: "Over here."
Me: After taking a look at it, "Yep, he sure did. Let's get you to the hospital buddy. How did you do that?"
Al: "It got slammed in the bathroom door."
Me: "Where is the toe?"
Al: "In my sock."
Me: "Where's the sock?"
Someone gets Al's sock for him.
Al: "Shoot, it's not there."
Me: "Ok, let's look for your toe."
Desi: "Judy, is that it?" (pointing to this silly putty look piece on the floor)
Me: (after flipping the silly putty over and seeing a toenail) "Yep, that's it."
I gather it up and we head to the hospital.

Rey gets Al in the wheelchair (Al is calm as a cucumber and finds looking at his foot interesting). I hand Logan the toe. They go inside to get checked in while I get the bloody tissue out of my car. I crack up to find that someone had given him a feminine pad to absorb the blood (the blood wasn't actual bad, nothing compared to a head wound). My junior higher self thought that was brilliant and creative, but still giggled about the whole thing. Mental note, it worked much better than tissue.

Al's parents (who are amazing) get there. We hang another hour and they let us know it's cool if we want to go back to the party since the kids are staying overnight. Normally, I wouldn't leave, but considering what the other kids saw, thought that was best.

I go get morning food for the girls, drop it off. Find the girls are doing great. Call Andrew and find the boys are great too. I call Al's mom to see how he is doing and his little sister answers (she's probably around 9).
Me: "Noelle, is your mom there?"
Noelle: "No, she's in the hospital room with Al, but I can go get her."
Me: (Thinking she is probably busy) "No, that's ok. How is your brother?"
Noelle: "He's good. They got the toe all cleaned up and sewed it back on. But then the nurse pushed too hard on it and it popped off."
Me: (Thinking she doesn't have the story right, but find out the next day she did) "That's not good."
Noelle: "Do, you want me to get my mom?"
Me: "No, she's probably busy with your brother. Just tell her I'm thinking about and praying for Al. I'll call back in the morning."
Noelle: "Ok"
We hang up

I hang with the girls until 1 a.m., then say my goodbyes and go back to the apartment to grab my bag to head out to Indiana. Bob (and Karen...some of the most amazing friends in the universe), lost his dad this week. It's been a long couple of weeks for them and I want to show up to the funeral. I couldn't get any flights in that would get me there on time, so we get creative. Mike loads Scott's car up with the stuff he has to take home at the end of the week. Since they will have three vehicles in Atlanta with their parents coming down for graduation, I offer to drive one of the cars home a couple days early. Other than Loretta and Chris, no one knew I was coming. The way Scott's car shakes when you break, I wasn't sure if or when I'd make it.

I get on the road and 1:45 a.m. and need to be in Indiana and showered by 1 p.m. It's an 11 hour drive and I have had no sleep. I drive and make it to Kentucky but have to sleep for a few ... 27 minutes to be exact, of which I jolt awake ever 9 minutes because I think I'm still driving and fell asleep at the wheel.

I get to Indiana at 12:45 p.m. and to the funeral home around 1:45 p.m ... stay for the rest of the viewing, service and dinner afterward. We leave around 7:45 p.m., go and buy me a dress for the graduation ceremony, drop off Scott's car, drop off baby Sarah (who has been chillin with us for a couple of hours) and head to my sisters.

I go to bed at midnight and get up an hour later to drive to Indy to hit the airport to be back in Atlanta by 10:45 a.m.

Some people have said, "Why did you make the drive? That's insane."

My response, "When I left Indiana, I had to decide what relationships I wasn't willing to give up. While there are a few others I try very hard to keep, there are five families that I think God placed in my life to do 'life and death' with. The McFarlands are one of those five families that I will do everything I can to be at the key moments in their lives ... marriages of kids, death of key family members, etc. That's why."

Even after explaining, they have a bewildered look on their face.

While I don't know if I was fully present ALL DAY yesterday because there were moments I could feel my emotional and physical exhaustion from head to toe ... I know I tried.

MC Atlanta 2007-2008

I am so proud and so sad. Tonight we had a closing annointing service for the MC ATL students in Athens. One of the many thoughts that went through my head was, I wish we had one of these every couple of years in Oasis. It was powerful.

It has been absolutely stunning to watch these students grow this year, right before my very eyes. On the way down to Athens, Jeanne and I were talking about the trasformation we've seen of a few in particular. Their stories are off-the-hook.

I'm sad because they leave at the end of the week... some just for the summer, others who are off to college, youth pastor positions, and other adventures, for good. My question to Jeanne tonight was would you ever want to do life without them (a Master's Commission). She said "no way." I would have to agree. After experiencing it over the last nine months, I couldn't imagine it either. It's hard to live up close to 87 people (Jeanne and I talked about that too), but the rewards can't be touched. I have fallen in love with these kids.

A Crazy Week

Wearing a lot of hats this week...

1. YOUTH LEADER'S COACH OPERATIONAL DIRECTOR. I just finished checking the edits the boys made on the latest Source, Recovering My Cutting Edge, and Youth Leader's Coach, Coaching a Pleasure-Driven Youth Culture. As usual, Jeanne's brilliant. However, not so brilliant, is the fact that we only offer them on CD. Our summer goal is go digital with the current and future resources, as well as the 180 back issues (all the way back to 2001). I want to break out the skits and illustrations as well. Honestly, the stuff is amazing but we need to get it out there better. The way I look at these resources is this ... if we can help youth pastors prepare a great service more easily, it frees them up to do the one thing we can't do for them long-distance and that is to get out from behind the desk and go love on their kids.

Jeanne and I are also together tomorrow to come up with a plan of attack on some new resources I think will be helpful to youth pastors.

2. JUNIOR HIGH DIRECTOR. This week is our last small group night with the MC student leaders ... Desi, Rey and I (the "Home" team) for the summer middle school students then take over. So, it's a pool party on Wednesday with the students and the entire MC gang, then the three of us will put our heads together and come up with the summer plan. I'm itching to get more strategic. I think we can do that this summer.

3. CHURCH FINANCIAL ANALYST... at least that's what I call myself. I consider this part of what I do my gift to the church. There was a need and I could fill it. I don't do any of the daily accounting grind, but analyze the data and trends ... and prepare and monitor the budget. I represent the accounting department at the board meetings. I thought I'd totally hate it, but actually totally love it. We've got a fun group of guys on the board (yes, old school, all guys except Jeanne...I am in the south). I've helped to bring some stability to the department, so I've got their favor which is fun. It's kind of a rewarding little side job except for this week. I looked at the numbers so long, my head is swirling ... no seriously, I think I could puke even though I brought good news.

4. NATIONAL YOUTH LEADER'S CONFERENCE CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WITH JORDAN. It's official the conference will be in DALLAS MARCH 30 - APRIL 1, 2009. The theme is EPICENTER. I am totally stoked that Ed Young will be among the speakers. I am a BIG fan. I've got to do some pre-planning for out scouting trip out there later this month.

(On a side note, I heard a Jentzen Franklin message tonight ... he's amazing! I never heard of the guy before I moved down to the ATL. He's doing a youth confernce in July at the Gwinnett Center with Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, Ron Luce, Delirious, Jeremy Camp, John Gray and I think Steve Fee. It's 89 bucks ... I think I should go in the name of research :-)

5. MC ATLANTA. The MC students graduate this week ... all 80 or 90 of them, I always lose count. it's a week long event full of dinners, ceremonies and surprises. I do not have a direct role to play on a daily level, but do play a pretty decent indirect role. Thoughout the year, they've been on at least one, most of them serveral, of the CADRE teams I run. Plus, I took 19 of them on a mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico last month and oversee the eight who help lead in middle school (kinda, I've been pretty pathetic this year, hope to get better). I'm pretty tight with about 1/2 of them, but love them all dearly. Scott and Mike are graduating this week and I'm so stoked to be able to spend time with the entire Infalt family who get in on Thursday.

6. CADRE OPERATIONAL DIRECTOR. The advances are over for the year and all we have left is a couple of conference calls :-( However, we're getting the apps in for a new round of youth pastors. 196 have gone through at least a year of Cadre, over half two years. With another 70-80 new Cadre members expected this year (35-40 in each of the two new groups), it will bring the total up to around a 270. Nearly 90% of this year's first class indicated they wanted to do a second year. If that plays out, we might have to do two second year Cadres (vs. the normal one) as well ... should be interesting. I don't have to do anything with Cadre this week, just make sure the girls are getting the nomination and acceptance boxes out. I will always heart the Cadre.

7. TECH SUPERVISOR. I provide a little, and I do mean little, oversight to the boys in the tech area. I love these guys, they're like lil brothers. Basically I'm helping them learn what to say "yes and no to" and to develop teams in order to get their priorities accomplished. They're so good, they used to just say yes to everyone and it resulted in a lot of dropped balls. They are fun and we are a fun team. Plus, I help get them some of the stuff they need ... that makes them real happy. However, we've been CRAZY busy doing a gazillion other things and haven't had time to meet weekly like normal. Hopefully, we'll slip in a lunch this week. Especially since one of them got engaged tonight and we need to celebrate ... as well as knock out some important stuff ... like how to back up one very vulnerable server.

With all that swirling in my head, no wonder I can't sleep tonight.

Are you too busy?

Jeanne shared this story this morning in church today.

The picture above was taken by Kevin Carter in 1990, a freelance photographer whose pictures appeared in Newsweek, Time Magazine and US World. While out on assignment in the Sudan, Kevin walked upon this three year girl who was crawling on her hands and feet towards the medical and feeding station just one kilometer away. Behind this little girl, a vulture waits.

The story goes that he snapped the picture and jumped quickly into his jeep and sped off to his next appointment. Tragically, his next appointment was only four minutes away. But in the midst of his busyness, he didn't think he had enough time to do anything to help the little girl.

When Kevin arrived back to America and had the photograph developed. The picture of the girl and vulture appeared in magazines and newspapers across the country. It captured the essence of the tragedy in Sudan. Kevin eventually went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for the picture.

This story, however, has a tragic ending. Only a few months after receiving the Pulitzer Price, Kevin continued to be haunted by the fact he had done nothing to help the dying little girl. The traumatizing thoughts and images tormented him so deeply that he ended his on life.

Now, that's what the story says, but who knows if that's exactly the way it goes ... stories get so twisted on the internet. Maybe it wasn't the little girl, but simply the result of the countless scenes of horror that he captured through the years of being an acclaimed photographer that made him want to end his life. Regardless, the picture is priceless and begs the question, "Are you one who will simply walk on by those who are physically or spiritually hurting and/or dying ... or will you simply walk on by? My personal, honest, answer to that question ... both, depending on the day. My prayer is that God would give me eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that acts. He's still working on me.

I love you.

The Animal Kingdom

My family is a sucker for the animal kingdom. Above is a pic of my sister's greyhound, Scooby (aka Cosby). Can you tell by the picture this dog is spoiled? He has it made. Everytime he goes outside and comes back in, he gets a bone. On occasion, Scooby will get something call Frosty Paws (ice cream for dogs...what in the world???) ... I wish someone would reward me with ice cream for going pee ... ok, maybe not. Despite having greyhound farts that can clear the room, this dog is loved.

Jenna and I's new roommate is Oliver. He is an adorable 6-8 week old kitten of a stray cat the MC students in the apartments has adopted. My furniture and my body are his personal jungle gym. The cat is a riot to watch. After he does a few flips off the couch playing, he loves to pass out on my neck ... go figure.

The Fog Has Cleared ... Maybe

Over the last couple of years I've felt like I've been in a bit of a fog ... honestly, not a real think one, but one nonetheless. Tonight while waiting eight cars deep in the drive thru line at McDonalds for a diet Coke (seriously, all of Dekalb county is at McDonalds at 1 a.m), it cleared a little ... or at least I think it did. Time will tell. More later ... maybe.

Vacation

I have photo's of my vacation, but of course left the SD card at home. It was nothing spectacular, but was totally wonderful nonetheless. I spent the first half of it at home in Indiana, hanging out with family and friends. I love them both...so very much. I barbequed with friends (actually Bob barbequed, we just ate), did church and Applebees with the family, watched baby Sarah with my sister, went and saw the 12:01 showing of Indiana Jones with some friends and family for fun, met up with Jeremy at Barnes and Noble, took care of some business/appointments and a couple of other things in between it all. Like I said, nothing very adventurous but fun nonetheless. I had a whole list of people I wanted to spend some time with, but only made it through half the list.

Actually ended that portion of my vacation at Oasis on Wednesday night after DC's invite. I totally had a blast and actually ran a small group of incoming 6th graders girls. One of the questions on the discussion sheet was "What is one thing you think would make Oasis great?" (or something like that). They said the expected for incoming 6th graders ... roller coasters, water rides, celebrities, etc. I then had them lean in, waited for the silence, and whispered ... "You know what makes Oasis great?" They all thought I was going to say something super profound, but instead I just whispered, "you do." They giggled. I told them that Oasis could have all that stuff, but if they didn't show up or they didn't have friends who truly cared about them there too, it wouldn't be any fun. They really are truly what makes it great. I then challenged them to dive in ... go to camp (guaranteed it would be the best week of their summer), told them to show up to Second Saturday, and anything else they could be a part of. It was great seeing all the students and leaders of days gone by. They're amazing as always.

I cut home in Indiana short to head back to Atlanta for some alone time. I always wanted to be that person that got recharged around people, but finally got honest with myself and admitted I need to withdraw to recharge. While I love being around lots of people, it doesn't recharge me. In the ATL, I spent a lot of time reading, hanging out on my deck, chillin' by the water at Stone Mountain and my apartment's pool, journeling and praying.

Tried to end vacation by filing my taxes and getting my license plates today, but good grief ... neither Turbo Tax or the State of Georgia likes me. Turbo Tax actually calculated my Indiana State tax wrong (nothing like paying for a service and getting the wrong bottomline and having to do it by hand anyway). And the State of Georgia, one word...UGH! First it was the DMV run-around a couple of months ago (honestly had to go there 4 or 5 times to get my stupid license changed), but now I'm on my third time at the trying to get plates. Seriously, I wish you could see the stack of paperwork I've accumulated ... title, old registration, driver's license, utility bills from Indiana, rental contract from Georgia, emissions inspection and proof of insurance... But oh no, not just any proof of insurance ... insurance cards don't work, declaration page doesn't work if it's over two month's old ... honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what works. Right now I'm thinking which is worse, the run-around which will drive me insane and cost me tax money .,.. or ... an improper plates ticket in the event I get pulled over. I guess I'll keep trying ... you know what they say, you don't want to get pulled over in Dekalb county. The lesson in the deal is for me to quit waiting until the last minute to take care of personal junk. To top the day off, I owe Uncle Sam $1,148 (so much for the Stimulus check and state refunds). I've never owed, so didn't think it would be a big deal to not make the April 15 deadline ... forgot the small things like no longer having mortgage interest to deduct...oops.

The Shack ... Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity by William P. Young

Eugene Peterson says, "this book has the potential to do for our generation what John Buyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!" While that might be a little bit of a strong comparison, the book is really, really good. Read it! Especially, if you've ever gone through a tragedy and didn't know how to wrestle through it in your head and heart. While I hate to read because I immediately get tired the second I start, I love to learn ... so I read a lot ... slowly. Read this whole book in a day.

You would be insane not to read this stuff

Mark Beeson is blogging the stuff he is learning out at Saddleback. You'd be insane not to read the stuff.

Here's a couple of my favorite quotes from the last post.

I love those moments. For me, it is a personal sweet spot. A time of crisis allows the reconsideration of previously held assumptions. - Erwin McManus

In my book I wrote of a God who allows good people to die in towers. We should be aware, in those moments when everything is unstable, we have opportunity to help people wrestling with crisis. - Erwin McManus

Hitting the Pause Button

I feel like I've ran at Mach 5 for over a year. So, right now at this very moment, I am hitting the pause button. Over the next seven days, I have three agendas...
1. Hang out with Jesus.
2. Hang out with family (including my great niece, Sarah, below)
3. Hang out with friends.

The Grand Finale - Cadre #9

After Wednesday the 2007-2008 Cadre Advances will be all over ... we will have closed out Cadre Advance #9 for the year. I have crazy emotions about it ... I'm happy and sad all at the same time. Sad because it will be all over and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the advances. Happy because I really need to focus on some product development, National Youth Leaders Conference (NYLC) and junior high stuff. I'm ready for a breather. Besides that, turn around twice and October (Advance #1 for 2008-2009) will be here.

Looking forward to June when Jeanne, Jordan, Alisha and I fly out to Dallas to scope out NYLC stuff. The speaker line up is going to be OFF THE CHART.

ATF comes to the Tab

Acquire the Fire was supposed to be at the Gwinnett Center this weekend, but for some reason switched arenas at the last minute and is at our church. It feels like a flashback into time. I think the story went something like this, Mark took one of his kids one year, then told Rob, then it became a GCC tradition. We did ATF's for years. For those, like me, who went every year it became a little too predictable and a little too easy to take jabs. For those who didn't (i.e. the students we served), it became a moment in time for them to point back to and say it was ATF ____ (insert year) where I gave my life to Christ or rededicated my life.

A year or so ago, I stopped the jabs. I decided that when I lead as many people to Christ as Ron Luce, I will have the authority to speak on whether I think what he is doing is hitting the mark or not. Until then, I will cheer him on. May the thousand or so students here this weekend truly "Acquire the Fire."

Another thing good for the soul ... Basketball

It's midnight and I am drenched in sweat. I know this is sick, but it feels great. Two nights in a row, Cherry, the dorm room boys and I played serious games of knockout. It's knocking me right up the side of this valley I'm in, which is a good thing. It's either the basketball, some great worship tonight or this natural made dietary supplement I started two days ago.

Tonight, Oxygen tore it up. It was testimony night, which consists of worship, a predetermined person from each 02 group who shares their testimony (voted on by the 02 group at the retreat) and a scene from the drama. We rocked out tonight and at the retreat to this Deluge song written by Jonathan Stockstill that is my new favorite...

Take this offering that I bring
Humbly I fall on my knees
To proclaim You're everything
My life's nothing without You
Take my hand and lead me through
You are my sustaining love

I live to worship You
I live to worship You

Here I am worshipping You
With all I am, worshipping You
I'm bowing down in spirit and truth
With lifted hands worshipping You.

We're not ashamed of You
We're not ashamed of You
We're not ashamed of You

I'm gonna worhsip You forever
I'm gonna worship You
I'm gonna worship You forever
I'm gonna worship You

I'm rocking to the song as I type tonight, but it sounds so much better live.

Things that I keep forgetting that I need to stick on a Post-It to my forehead...

1. Everyone wants "a hero" and "to be a hero."
2. Kids, and people too, need to be hugged (appropriately of course). It melts hearts and breaks down walls. Chantelle and Steve would laugh if they knew I wrote that.
3. Sometimes when you say or hear "I love you" (and it's not your immediate family) it feels awkward, weird and/or cheap...you know what I mean? Around here they've mastered it so it never feels that way. I'm still working on it. My boss probably tells me she loves me out loud at least two times a week and writes it at the end of every email. It's good for my soul and I know it breaks down walls as well. I probably will take a couple of jabs for this point, but I'm ok with that. I think the church has bought into some of the lies of the enemy and let him rob us of the power in those words.
4. Relationships take T-I-M-E ... a freakish amount of it. You can't skip that step even if you want to. The only relationship microwaves I know of are mission trips, retreats and camps.
5. People want to be heard, even if it's just for a few moments. They also want to be appreciated. They want to know someone is listening and someone cares. This one I've got down most days.
6. I learned this in the Cadre three years ago but need to forever remember it. I don't want to run or be a part of a youth group. Youth groups don't last beyond high school. I want to be a part of a family. Family will always trump dazzle.
7. Gossip is way too easy of an abyss to get SUCKED into. I'm pretty convinced people do it because their life is so boring there is nothing else to talk about.
8. I am going through a faith crisis right now that I will conquer, but pretty much bites. Me and Jesus need to spend some serious time together and duke it out ... yes, I did just say that and yes, I know I will lose that fight but at the same time win if you know what I mean. It reminds me that there are probably others walking around with their game face on. I know there are appropriate times to "suck it up," figuring out the balance in all of that is complicated. I need to learn how to help people be "real" but at the same time avoid unproductive rants.
9. Insecurities will burn a hole right through you if you never disarm them.
10. It's impossible to accomplish something you've never started.