Summer Lovin'

One of the reasons that i love summer so much is that summer has become my time to dream. Last year at this time i was dreaming of the day God would deliver me from the place where i was being taught lessons on humility, courage, and perserverance. This summer i find myself delivered. Delivered to a great place where Lane and I are both happy, where we have friends, where we just feel altogether better about life. I am still learning to let go of pride, to have courage, and to perservere, but things are going pretty well. That being said, it is summer and so here are the things that i am dreaming about.

1.) Running: Right now my plan is to run a 1/2 marathon this fall. Late October. Then on to the big dog- a full marathon in early 2008. (No really, I'm serious.)
2.) Creatively- I have so many things to think through right now, what to do, what to call it, how should it look, what should it sound like, what do we do when we get there, if we do will it be good, can we last?
3.) California- I want to go so bad, I just can't stand it some days.
4.) Starbucks- it just hit me, i need some caffiene.

Anyway, off to the coffee shop. And to dream.

holla.

what a weekend...

this weekend was an unusual one to say the least. lane and i went out on our date and decided to head out to midtown atl. for a little flying biscuit action. however, when we arrived we found that we were in the middle of the atl. gay pride weekend festival that was going on all around us. we didn't want to be ignorant enough to leave so we stayed and learned some pretty invaluable lessons from our new friends. things like...

1.) ALL generalizations are bad. (notice the pun.)
2.) people don't want to be treated equal, they want special attention.
3.) everyone is asking the same question: "will you love me for me?"

* all of this to say that it was fun. so much fun that i don't think we will ever try it again for fear of being disappointed in the amount of fun that we wish we were having.

:: also this weekend we had a great leaders meeting. so cool to be in a place where you don't want to kill youself after meeting with your volunteers. they are the coolest people in da world.

- finally, had much moments of LOL with Jeremy yesterday. could be one of the missing pieces to our team. only time will tell.

holla.

new product produces high levels of lol

my fav. new product for middle schoolers...

http://www.stupid.com/stat/BFSP.html

Generational Effections

my mom came in to visit and hang out with me and my wife last night. so weird for me that my mom and i are friends who hang out...anyway. this morning at breakfast she said something that struck me and made me think. "i just love being a parent to an adult child..it makes it all seem worth while, like i did a good job." this made me think, i wonder why we only measure growth in the immediate, rather than in the long term life effect. my parents surely had a number of reasons to think that they had failed, or that they just got a bad draw when i was in MS and HS. but the effect of parents and leaders who decide that there truly is power in long term perserverance is amazing. i know i have studied a lot lately on generational sin, and the affect one generation has on another, but today was the first day that i thought about the positive implications as well.

free stuff

today is june 21.
important for a couple of reasons:

1.) the day after my wife's birthday
2.) the first day of summer
3.) the longest day of the year (most sunlight, least darkness)
4.) beginning of higher hotel rates and gas prices
5.) national flip flop day

* if you go to tropical smoothie and are wearing flip flops you get a free smoothie today.

why do bad things happen?

last night was one of those nights when i felt really uncomfortable with the sermon. it was our first week of "what's up with that?" and the first week's question was "why do bad things happen to good people?" i think that my final conclusion is that i am not 100 % sure why bad things happen to good people, or why good things happen to bad people. the only thing i am sure about is that it is up to me to trust God no matter what happens. i think i communicated this to the students but i am not sure. does anyone else ever feel that? uncomfortable because what you said you were going to preach didn't really materialize in your own life?

that being said, i am really impressed with our new group so far. it is amazing to see how moving 50 8th graders out and moving 50 new 6th graders in can change the dynamic of the whole scene. this will be cool to watch.

i keep forgetting

last thought, i promise.

my good buddy jason is a new dad, and is awesome. little carson in so cool that he makes anyone want to have a kid.

here he is...

happy birfday

also- the love of my life, lane, is turning 24 tomorrow.

how cool is it that i am blessed with the most amazing woman alive.

what's up with that

our new series kicks off tomorrow night. called: what's up with that? 4 burning questions that MS students ask...
just a thought, but i wonder if sometimes we are asking junior high questions that we want to know or are they asking really impressive questions. i'll be updating throughout the month.

creative team-work

i love getting together with the creative team to tackle a new idea. last night we got together at cafe stella (cool vibes man!) and planned out the rest of the year's sermon series. it feels so good to share the weight and brunt of the creative end of the ministry. many props to everyone for letting their creative juices flow!

those 23 and older...thank your lucky stars..

check out this e-mail i just got from a friend on my birthday...

People over 23 should be dead. According to today’s regulators and
bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, probably shouldn’t have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, and
when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention the risks we took
hitchhiking.)

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special
treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it,
but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one
actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode
down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the
bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were
back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. No cell phones. Unthinkable!
We did not have Play stations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at
all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal
cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms.

We had friends! We went outside and found them.
We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were
no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame
but us. Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned
to get over it.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and
although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did
the worms live inside us forever.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s home and knocked on the door, or
rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who
didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Some students weren’t as smart as others, so they failed a grade and
were held back to repeat the same grade. Tests were not adjusted for any
reason.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem
solvers and inventors, ever.
The past 30 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how
to deal with it all. And you’re one of them!

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors?

back and black (and blue)

got back from camp last night. amazing!! it is always cool and refreshing for me to spend a week just with my ms kids. always amazed to see what they can do when they let God unleash in their lives. saw some great life decisions made and had the privelige of walking through the plan of salvation and seeing some students come to Christ. Chase was a great experience...even though i didn't have cell phone or internet for a week. (man, am i addicted) my favorite part of camp is always seeing the quiet kids become the ones who just will not shut up...ever. hahaha. anyway, i am so proud to be called to ministry. there is not a better job in the whole stinkin' world. just had a great birthday day with my wife. she is my fav. all that to say glad that the brusing is over and that i have time to let my now older body heal.

Camp Crazy

Years ago I did a camp for a church out in Memphis that was a Junior High Camp. They called it Camp Crazy. Now I think I understand why they did this...not because the camp was crazy for the kids, but crazy planning in the part of the youth ministers. That being said, i am so psyched about going to camp next week. Tomorrow we will go up to set up our stage and all that other gooey stuff and then we leave after church on Sunday. Can't stinkin wait.