Anticipate the Symphony

Rest

2011-09-09T07:33:00.014-07:00

Almost two years into my job here in Hutchinson, one of the greatest challenges has been the pace that things run at in a bigger church. I have often found myself tired, grumpy, uninspired and struggling to get things done. And then there are the bad days...

To help correct that and keep me and my family sane Shiloh and I have been working toward me finding better space away from church and work. I want to be in youth ministry for a long time, so I need to find rest in Christ and with my family regularly.

To that end, last weekend we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Oklahoma. It is one of the most restful places on the planet to me. And I came back with some new energy and decidedly non-grumpy attitude.

A few pics and a video:

30 Days- August

2011-09-01T05:00:00.002-07:00

I have decided to give myself 30 day challenges each month to help gain some self-discipline and to do things that interest me or would better my life. I will tell about each of these after they are done.

This month I gave up all non-water drinks. Including coffee. Coffee. For a month the very smell of that wonderful drink has driven me crazy. Even though it's been incredibly hot, I have wanted just a sip of the java. Or two sips. Or maybe just an entire pot. But I reminded myself of my goal and I waited. Until yesterday when my 30 days were up. I went all in with about 32oz of coffee between 815 and 915 yesterday morning. At first, things were fine. I enjoyed the taste and smell and the small caffeine kick.

Then trouble came. I started feeling a little dizzy. Things started to move around the room and I had a headache. What was my good friend coffee doing to me? Was it punishing me for ignoring it for so long? I hadn't thought coffee grounds could be angry, but now I knew differently. I trudged through an afternoon meeting feeling terrible and waited for the effects to wear off.

In the end, I feel like this 30 days taught me that I rely way too much on coffee (or pop) to keep me going and that I need to drink it occasionally and not every day in copious amounts.

And. And. And.

2011-08-03T07:38:00.002-07:00

After writing my last post, I was reading through it before publishing and noticed that almost every sentence started with the word "and". I went about trying to correct it and wondered if it said anything about me, other than my total lack of care for some of the most basic rules of writing.

(Kinda like the word "and" with the quotations around it up above. Why are you supposed to put the period inside of the quotations? I think that is stupid and doesn't make sense, so I don't do it, unless the period was already inside the quote.)

I decided that what it maybe says about me is that I live a run-on sentence kind of life. I move from one thing to the next, never quite finishing one place before I have to be at the next. Things just keep going and going and going and going and going. And at (dang, there I go again.)

At some point, I have to stop and find time for punctuation in my life. I run right past all kinds of questions marks, periods, and exclamation points just because I am in such a hurry to get to whatever is next. My contract at the church offers me one personal retreat day a month. I've been a pastor for about 90 months of my life. I think I've taken 4 retreat days. I think 3 of those totaled about 6 hours all together. So really, in 7.5 years of full-time pastoring, I've taken 1.75 out of a possible 90 retreat days.

No wonder I can never stop. So, this month, a retreat day it will be. Mark it down on your calendars. August 22. I'm going to stop, be still, remember, listen, and spend time with the One who gives me life.

And then these sentences can just go back to being my inability to follow basic grammar rules.

Prayer Promises

2011-08-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

I have always tended to be the type of person that tells people that I would pray for them. And then never does. I think I kinda figured that was ok. My thought was that next time they faced whatever they were facing, they could find strength and encouragement in the fact that I said I was praying.

Did I mention that I'm a moron?

I recently decided to stop saying "I will pray for you" to people unless I meant it. Unless I was going to enter into life with them and be a part of whatever was going on. And to take the time to pray with them when we were together.

Surprise! God has been showing up in those relationships and places with amazing regularity and power. And not because I can be such a source of strength and encouragement, but because God is strength and the source of all encouragement. He is our strongtower.

I'm glad he loves morons and keeps giving chances for me to learn about, know, and serve him!

Story, Signs, and Sacred Rhythms Chapter 1

2010-08-18T12:35:00.003-07:00

How's that for a headline grabbing title! Oh wait...

I just started reading through Chris Folmsbee's new book, Story, Signs, and Sacred Rhythms. At the end of each chapter he offers reflection and discussion questions. I thought I would reflect here, and if there is anyone around for a discussion, let's discuss!

1. What are some of your current frustrations with youth ministry?
I am frustrated by the "me-centered" nature of youth ministry. I feel like I spend a lot of time making kids love church and God by making it fun and relevant. Then, when they graduate high school and church isn't always those things, they lose interest. And I'm pretty sure that's because it shouldn't be about "me" in the first place. Also, a new frustration in a bigger setting is the feeling of competition between youth groups. If we aren't awesome, then students will go to wherever is. I don't think this makes for very effective youth ministry.

2. What encourages you about the current state of youth ministry?
People are asking questions and longing to do things differently. I am continuously encouraged by different ym blogs and ideas, and I am encouraged by the openness to share ideas in public forums.

3. In what ways do you see yourself advancing a limited view of God to students?
We talk a lot about the love and grace of God, but not a lot about the judgment of God. We tend to talk about the parts of God that are easy for students to understand and not wrestle with the ones that not all of them can immediately comprehend.

4. In what ways are you helping your students with an unlimited view of God?
Getting outside the doors of the church and experiencing a God who can't be contained, rather than learning about a God who we can put into any box we wish.

5. Do you agree with the statement: "Youth ministry is a theological endeavor"? Why or why not?
Yes, I agree. Youth ministry has to be theological (without being stuffy) because otherwise what is the framework for students to build a life of following after Christ on? If youth ministry is boiled down to do's and do not's, it is too easy to abandon those lists when things are hard. But a good understanding of God and the Bible gives something to hold onto and to filter life through.

6. In what ways are you currently helping your students develop context and meaning for God's mission? How might you do better?
Our junior high ministry just spent the spring semester going through the story of God (using these two resources and combining them) and discovering why the stories of the Bible matter to us today. I also try to give practical application for how whatever we are talking about matters to what students do on a day-to-day basis.
I could do better by not trying to boil everything into a lesson to learn, but give students the tools to learn and discover meaning on their own.

Chapter 2 to come soon!

Vertical in Bolivia trip blog

2010-07-15T11:15:00.001-07:00

Head over to verticalinbolivia.blogspot.com to follow our high school mission trip to Bolivia.

Dreams

2010-06-25T10:02:00.002-07:00

Had a dream last night that just now, at 11:59 am hit me like a ton of bricks. I was teaching students and telling them that they needed to be ready to follow anywhere God would ask them to go. I was passionately pleading with them to go into the uncomfortable and risky places that God is most certainly calling them to go.

After that the dream switched to me in bed waking up with God or an angel talking to me and telling me that my family had to move to somewhere next week and leave behind our nice, comfortable life in Kansas. I was horrified! I blinked to try and make it all go away and, when it wouldn't, I begged God to change. Certainly not my family, and not so soon! Give me 10 or 15 years and then, sure, call us to a new place. And if it could comfortable and easy, all the better. The begging continued, the call did not change.

As I sit and remember the dream, I don't remember the place and I am not sure there was one. I don't think that is really the point. I am still confident that God has my family in the place he wants us to be. But, I do think he is calling us to go into the "uncomfortable" places of youth ministry to offer hope, love, and redemption.

A few months ago Don Miller posted this blog about asking ourselves "What if..." questions. And as I have thought and prayed and listened to God, it became clear to me that one of my what if's involved releasing my fears about being inadequate as a youth pastor and using who God made me to be to love students and their families without reservation or fear.

And, you know what, I'm scared of how God might show up in that particular "What if's" of my life.

What might it mean for my family?
What could it mean for my security and comfort?
Will it just drain me and hurt me?
Does it matter if it just drains me and hurts me?
Can I really trust God when I struggle to trust me?

I don't know the answers to all those yet, but I want to follow the Holy Spirit as it leads, wherever and however that may be. I am more and more certain that wherever I am, it's supposed to be crazy and unpredictable and hard and beautiful as I see God do his thing.

May we all find those places.

Happy 1st Birthday Havily

2010-05-06T06:50:00.002-07:00

(Havily enjoying some birthday cake at her party)

I am so thankful that God has given me the privilege and responsibility of being the father of this sweet and opinionated little girl. As we celebrate her 1st birthday, I am thinking about this verse that I pray defines who she is:
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1 John 3:1
Father God,
Thank you for Havily and all the things she is teaching me and will continue to teach me about myself and you. Help her to see your goodness and love for her and to identify herslef in that great love. Amen.

Lessons from Carsen

2010-04-29T19:26:00.003-07:00

Our church is collecting books to send to the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona and we asked the twins to each grab 3 books to give. Carsen ran to their room and emerged a few minutes later carrying 4 books including 2 of his absolute favorites. I asked him if he was sure if he wanted to give those books away while thinking that he certainly had some books he didn't like or that were beat up a bit that he could give away. And then he informed me that he knew other little boys with no books would really like those ones so he wanted to send them to him. And then I had thoughts about being a cheerful giver and that giving should cost me something. So I looked at my 4 year old son and said I was proud of him and walked away thanking God that Carsen has that giving spirit in him and praying that I wouldn't take it away from him with my concern for what is right or proper.

Today his sister lied to me at dinner time and her punishment was to be the last to get cake tomorrow at Havily's party. Then Carsen intervened and reminded me just how undeserved grace can be. He told Kennedy that he would go after her in line and be last. He was completely willing to take her punishment on himself to show her that he loved her and to alleviate some of her sadness at the punishment.

What a great kid. I am blessed by being his dad!

A Froggy Sort of Day

2010-04-18T14:07:00.005-07:00

Was out trimming the yard yesterday when I saw this big ol' frog down by the pond. Carsen and I got a nice close look. In the first photo you can just see the outline of my reflection in his eye.

I'm in love

2009-05-07T21:20:00.002-07:00

Havily

2009-05-07T06:59:00.004-07:00

Havily Susan Blasdel

Born May 6th 10:17pm
7lbs 3ozs 20ozs
Mom and daughter are doing great.
2:30- Went to hospital
4:30- Water breaking
5:30- Seocnd best part of the day aka epidural
10:17- Havily makes her entrance with plenty of crying

Thanks for all the prayers and to the Swinbornes for having two squirrely twins spend the afternoon and night.

Contentment

2009-04-19T21:13:00.003-07:00

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13

Allow me to brag about my wife for a moment.

Shiloh has passed the point of being pregnant and moved into the realm of very pregnant. She is a little over 37 weeks pregnant and we are both so excited to meet our new daughter. Now, the part to brag about.

My wife has had lots of questions from people lately about how bad she must want to be done with being pregnant and get the baby out, and how much she must be suffering. Today she told me that she felt like women were encouraging her to be frustrated and discontent with the idea of being pregnant for 3 more weeks. And then she said, "Why should I be discontent? I am completely content with being pregnant and having a baby in me for three more weeks"

We tend to see verse in Philippians as referring to really hard situations, like having no house, or barely having enough food. But my wife reminded me today that to complain about the mundane or everyday is stealing the glory away from God and making life all about me.

Thank you Shiloh for showing me things about following God. I love you. And I'll work on being content...

Post Surgery Pics

2009-04-15T23:34:00.003-07:00

A couple pics from Kennedy's thumb surgery last week:Kennedy got this tutu from our friend Lyndsay who made it for her as a get well gift.Carsen hanging out on the sofa with Kennedy.

Ephesians

2009-04-15T13:30:00.002-07:00

I'm super-excited to be starting to teach through Ephesians tonight at youth group. My prayer is that students will catch on to the idea that their identity as students, children, friends, workers or whatever else, must be found in Christ. And, that being found in Christ changes everything...

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Ephesians 1:7-8

Worship

2009-04-14T08:08:00.002-07:00

I have been working hard lately to help students understand and experience true worship of God. Through singing, prayer, service and interactive nights of worship, I have tried a ton of different things. But this morning I was struck that for all the time I put into planning worship, I might be missing worship on the approach. I am reading Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight and he had this to say about worship:

Worship happens when I comprehend (1) who I really am before God- a love-violating sinner, (2) how faithful and gracious God is to his sacred commitment of love for me, and (3) how incredibly good God is to open the floodgates of that love to me. (pg 50)

I think a lot of times, in youth group and our main church gatherings, our worship starts at number 3, or at best, number 2. The goodness and love of God is amazing, but it won't change how we (or students) respond to God unless we realize how undeserving of it we really are. Songs and times of repentance and mourning over sin must be a part of youth ministry!
(and no promises that my blog drought is over!)

here

2009-01-22T09:43:00.002-07:00

"But I suggested that maybe it's not that there is not enough here to live for, just that here is not enough."
David Crowder

sigh

Kennedy's Solo

2008-12-22T10:35:00.003-07:00

Last night was our church's Christmas program. Kennedy had been singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain" all afternoon, so I made her promise to sing it as loud as she could that night at church. Here is what follows:

My favorite part is when , in her embarrassment, Kennedy hugs the little girl next to her. The program as a whole went a lot like that, at least with that first row of kids. Every little girl showed us her belly button and Carsen mostly tried to make sure no one took his spot. And he liked when they got to sit down.

toilet humor

2008-12-16T12:11:00.002-07:00

A few kid quotes from the last couple days:
Our newly remodeled bathroom upstairs has an exhaust fan. Kennedy likes it to be on when she is in there. On Sunday here is what she told Shiloh:
"Hey mom, I want to turn off the poopy light." Yep, we have something in our house that is now called a poopy light.
On Sunday Shiloh was cleaning the bathroom. Carsen came in while she was cleaning the toilet. He looked inside the toilet and exclaimed, "Mom, Jesus wouldn't like that."

Also, I'm pretty sure with blogs you're supposed to make a big deal out of "milestone" posts. This is post #100 for me. Yeah! If I made money or something from it I would give away a Wii or a car or something. Instead you'll have to settle for this rambling little paragraph!

Suffering

2008-12-03T15:02:00.002-07:00

"Relational ministry presupposes suffering; when we are called to go, we must give our very selves to others, for this is following the Crucified." -Andrew Root

This semester has been a semester of learning the truth of the above statement. It's nice to plan great events and small groups and have lots of fun in youth ministry, but the students I come into contact with are not always having fun anywhere else. Or maybe the hate the very idea of God. Whatever the case, it leads to the need to enter into the dark places of their lives and just be there. And for me, that's hard. But through the Holy Spirit I'm learning and changing. And getting amazing opportunities to love teenagers as Christ loves them.

Good Parenting

2008-12-01T13:49:00.002-07:00

Although it won't lead to great grades on color tests, I'm proud to report my sons view of colors as we looked at the neighbors Christmas lights on Friday night:

Me: Carsen, what colors are the lights?
(Correct answer: Red, blue, green and orange.)
Carsen: I think there's red, green, blue and Broncos.

Go Broncos!

Preschool

2008-09-04T05:30:00.001-07:00

Yes, you read that right, my little, tiny, just-born-yesterday kids started preschool this week. They are going two days a week and giving their mom a deserved break while they go learn some sweet stuff.

Getting ready to go in:Kennedy loves her Spiderman "pack-pack." She picked it out and thinks it is the greatest backpack a kid could ever have. Carsen says his is a mommy lion because he has a little lion stuffed animal that he sleeps with at night.

Communion

2008-09-03T16:01:00.002-07:00

I have been asked by my pastor to lead communion the first week of October. He wants it to be creative and different (and he really means it.) I have a few ideas, but I would love to hear some thoughts on creative ways you have taken communion before. Comment away!

Be Creative!

2008-08-28T13:55:00.002-07:00

Continuing in the tradition of such great Christian products as the "A bread crumb and a fish" shirts made to look like abercrombie and the massive number of bands that decided to be Christian versions of Creed 8 years ago comes this. Christian Guitar Hero. It makes Christ look cheap to knock off the world for Christian consumption. And we are no safer from sin if we insulate ourselves from the world than if we embrace the fact that God put us here. We sin because we are human and we are fallen, not because we play fake guitar to a song by weezer.

Christians need to step up and create out of the creativity and beauty instilled in them by God, not by the creators of guitar hero.

end rant

Chickmunks!!! (or this post is for Bonnie)

2008-08-25T11:18:00.011-07:00

The last week of July we spent a week in Breckenridge with Shiloh's parents. It was the perfect way for us all to reconnect after a month apart due to my many trips and working on the house. Pictures follow:

Kennedy doesn't wear glasses, but she found these and thought they looked fantastic , so should put them on and proceeded to have a hard time walking.We went to a place in the mountains where you could feed the chipmunks out of your hand. Carsen loved it. He would call out "chickmunk" in a high pitched voice and wait for them to come and eat. Kennedy would stand and watch for anything moving. If it got within three feet of her, she would yell "chickmunk" at the top of her lungs, throw the sunflower seeds at it and try to get away. Needless to say, there are no cute pics of her feeding the chipmunks
We went one morning to the children's museum. Kennedy decided she wants to be a doctor when she grows up so she can dress in pink. Carsen would have gladly spent the rest of his life catching magnetic fish off of the floor.

Planning

2008-08-13T12:41:00.002-07:00

I had my fall planning and dreaming meeting with my volunteers last night and we had a great time! I was so encouraged just to hear their continuing passion to serve and love students as well as to talk through the things they saw as successful and not so much last year. We kick off our fall programming two weeks from tonight on a new night. I can't wait to see how God meets students and staff this year in the youth ministry.

Loving People

2008-08-08T10:59:00.002-07:00

I recently read an article in Spin magazine about hip-hop artist D'Angelo, who is trying to make a comeback after going through multiple alcohol treatment centers. Here is the description of one of his friendships:

While they've since patched things up, Thompson has continued to keep his old friend at arms length.
"It's a fear thing on my end," he says, sighing deeply. "I'm afraid I'll lose him. If I'm there and I lose him, I'll have those feelings of guilt, like, 'What could I have done to save him?'"

And now here's the description of Jesus and his love towards us:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:31-32

I am so thankful that Jesus comes for us wherever we are at and loves us right there. I pray I embody that trait as I minister to students.

Shen Bible Camp

2008-08-07T13:19:00.009-07:00

In late July I got to go to Shen Bible Camp near Tok, AK. I took a few students and we served 10 to 14 year olds all week. The camp had no running water or electricity, and the bunk "beds" were just pieces of plywood. Very rustic. But it was a great week being away from the internet and tv (but I really like running water, it's always bad to be too far from that, esp when you are sharing a room with 10 and 11 year old boys.) My students jumped in and did a great job leading devotions and games, sharing testimonies, being playgrounds for rowdy kids and whatever else they were asked.

One of my youth group kids, Jake, got baptized at camp. It was raining, there was no sun and we were all huddled closely together to stay warm. Talking with him about why he wanted to be baptized and then watching him be baptized was one of the highlights of my week.

Plastic+Lake water+soap=homemade waterslide. I didn't go on it, I think it was maybe 45 out that day. In fact only the three littlest boys went and the rest of us chickened out.Four Mile Lake, where camp is at. Every camper had to hike 1 mile into camp because you can't drive anything but ATV's in.

Dune Jumping in Alaska:

Soccer Camp

2008-08-06T11:13:00.006-07:00

Carsen is doing a soccer camp all this week at our high school. In his own words, his favorite thing about soccer camp is "kicking" and he likes the "big blue men" (the coaches). I'm pretty sure he's a future MLS superstar (if those really existed!)

Prayer for Students

2008-08-05T11:41:00.002-07:00

I haven't been together with students on a Tuesday night for almost an entire month because of mission trips, camp and vacation. But tonight I finally get to be back with them. Here is the passage I've been praying for them today:

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

Fireworks

2008-07-04T09:15:00.006-07:00

I went to our local fireworks show last night here in Lander. Our church had a bbq in someones backyard and we watched from there. It just so happens that the guy who did fireworks for the Salt Lake Olympics lives in our town, so we have the best fireworks in the whole state in our town of 7000. Lots of fun. I wish my wife and kids could have been there with me.

The Final 3o seconds:

Funny Facebook Email

2008-06-30T19:45:00.002-07:00

I got this email in my facebook inbox today:
Did steal a fly rod from you about 8 years ago?
That was all. And the answer? Yep, he did, sorta, and I loved that fly rod. Maybe I will get it back now?
(really he borrowed it and then we never reconnected for me to get it back)

Euro2008

2008-06-20T14:19:00.003-07:00

I've been taking in Euro 2008 in the afternoons when I have time and have seen some incredible finishes and goals in the last few weeks. Croatia-Turkey is currently shaping up as one of the most exciting 1-1 games I've ever watched. And maybe it's just the accent (I am secretly mad at my parents for not living somewhere where I could grow up with a sweet accent) but the announcers are much better for soccer than for NBA or NFL. Anyways, there are still quite a few games left, every afternoon on ESPN. For me, it helps that I'm on vacation.

2008-06-19T12:45:00.002-07:00

First off, apologies are due to my blog. I'm not mad at you, and if you'll have me back, I'll try to do better and write more often. So very sorry.

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:4-6

I need to remember as a youth minister that God carries the work in a students heart on to completion. I'm there to love, encourage and challenge, but not to work the actual change in the heart.

Home Remodeling

2008-05-07T07:21:00.010-07:00

This last week marked one year for us in our first house. Mostly I hate our house because it steals any and all free time I get, but I can see a time in the very near future were we won't live in the basement and I will really enjoy what we have. On to some pictures of what we've been doing. You can go here to see some older pics of the remodel.

This was the least fun window to replace. And I did this one by myself. Up and down the ladder all afternoon! Our upstairs has 9 windows and because I have very generous friends, I only had to do three of them by myself, which was a huge blessing.
Jordan (my brother-in-law) came out and gave me a ton of help in January. We hung drywall in the bedrooms and refinished the bedroom and hallway floors. The picture below is after one pass over the floor on the right and nothing done on the left. After three or four passes we had a nice looking floor. Somehow I managed to not get any pics of the finished product and now it's all covered up with plastic and cardboard to protect it. So you'll just have to wait. But it really looks amazing.

This is the hole in the floor that my wife fell through in January. Her brother was helping me refinish floors and hang dry wall and we had taken out the floor grate and were just working around it. Shiloh chose to try to levitate over it instead, and through it she went into the water heater room. Luckily all she received was a scraped up hip. Here brother said she was there and then when he tuned around she had just vanished! That hole is now recovered with the grate as well as filled with plywood supported by a few 2x4's.

A few guys came over and helped me replace our ginormous 9 foot long window and finish hanging the drywall. To make the new header fit into the wall we had to use two car jacks to raise the ceiling up just a tad. Let me tell you, there is almost nothing worse than hearing the entire roof of your house creaking all around knowing you have to make it go just a little more. Big thanks on this day to Al, Richard, Jerry, and Josiah.

My dad helping pour and finish the concrete pad for the new shed

Our new shed all finished. I also built shelves and a workbench inside. My friend Daniel helped me for an entire Sunday afternoon and evening to get this thing up. I think it took about 25 man hours in the end

This last weekend I pulled the siding off of the house so it can be resided this week and next. The guys that are doing the siding are also building us a new front porch for a sweet price. Along with all this I got to jackhammer the front two steps off the old concrete porch. One piece of advice: DON'T EVER USE A JACKHAMMER. IT'S NOT FUN OR COOL. IT JUST BEATS YOU UP HOUR AFTER ENDLESS HOUR! Obviously, I enjoyed the jackhammering.

There are millions of little things that get done but that never get a picture taken. We replaced the screen door, I installed cable boxes, Shiloh has painted for hours, we planted grass and a tree and the list goes on and on. Finished pictures to come this summer!

Why my pastor is the coolest

2008-05-02T09:44:00.002-07:00

This morning my pastor wanted to let me know he made coffee in case I wanted some. The following exchange ensued:

Richard: I made coffee if you want some.
Me: Cool, thanks. I'll go get my cup.
Richard: Oh and we're out of creamer, so I took some ice cream out of the freezer to let it melt.

So we're having our coffee with ice cream this morning!

April Showers bring...

2008-05-01T08:42:00.004-07:00

May Snow? Although really it was April snow that brought May snow, which I really, really hope doesn't lead to June snow.

New Volunteer

2008-04-22T13:51:00.002-07:00

Tonight I have a new volunteer staff person starting at youth group. I am so excited! First of all, she is a she, and that has been hard to come by in our ministry. Second, she has a real heart for the girls in the youth ministry. And last, she is the best looking volunteer I've ever gotten to work with! (I was going to post a picture, but blogger won't let me right now, so to end the suspense, the new volunteer is in fact my wife!)

Family Core Values #1

2008-04-21T14:10:00.004-07:00

During Sunday School at church (where else would it be, I guess) we have been talking about our churches core value of "Building Strong Families." The teacher has encouraged us to be coming up with core values for our families and so, away we go.

#1: Love God

Jesus said it well in Mark 12:30: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." I hope my family lives this out together, individually, and through involvement in Christ's body, the church.
Together
We try to spend time talking about things we are seeing God do in our lives (or maybe what we want to see but aren't). We spend time talking with the kids about God and read through Bible stories with them. As the kids grow I hope we can openly and honestly talk about faith and life and doubt and God all together. I definitely struggle to lead this one in my house. I spend a lot of my job doing this very thing for a bunch of students and get lazy with my family. But I am a work in progress and God is full of grace.
Individually
Pretty obvious, I hope my relationship with Christ is not all that tethers my wife or kids to Christ. I pray that Shiloh will be continually drawn to have depth in her quiet times with God and that my kids will make the decision to follow Christ not because I do, but because they fall completely and totally in love with who he is.
The Church
God gave it to us to live in and know him better. It's easy to get disgruntled with the church (I have spent way too much time there) and just quit being a part of it. Love it or hate it, think it should stay the same or change radically, I hope my family always is a part of what God is doing to and through the church.

#2 to theoretically come tomorrow. Also, as this is about family I plan on showing off the cuteness that is my kids pretty much every time I post.

What do you think? What is a core value that guides your family?

Proud Dad

2008-04-18T08:30:00.003-07:00

This morning as we were getting ready for the day Carsen came over and sat on my lap. He looked at me and then started chanting, "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" four or five times and then he went on his way to the next thing. At least he's learning something good from me! Hopefully I show him what it looks like to follow Jesus as well as I've taught him to love the Jayhawks and Broncos.

Casper

2008-04-04T22:19:00.002-07:00

2008 has been complete and total insanity for my family. Our house is slowly moving toward finished, Shiloh is still teaching and I'm still staying home with the kids while she teaches and then trying to work 40+ hours a week. So this weekend we decided to run away for a night and go to the metropolis of Casper, WY. (Seriously, there are almost 50,000 people here, I tend to forget such large numbers of people can live in one place.) We have had a great day of being a family with nothing to do but spend time together, no drywall to be done or papers to grade. I wish we could convince ourselves to do this more often. I can't wait for tomorrow and more time with my family!

Rock Chalk

2008-03-20T08:12:00.002-07:00

GO KU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Revenge

2008-03-14T09:55:00.003-07:00

This weekend I am preaching in church on Romans 12:17-21. It's kicking my butt! I want revenge in some way, shape or form on those who hurt me. But this passage commands me to not only lay aside all thoughts of needing revenge, but it calls me to love. To love so much that those who have wronged me are convicted of their need for Jesus and repent. That's a lot of love, and most days I probably don't do that real well. But that is the greatness of Jesus and his love, it can do that.

17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"^[d]says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."^[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Totally Wired

2008-03-07T14:16:00.002-07:00

I just finished "Totally Wired" by Anastasia Goodstein. It's purpose is to educate people about how teens are using the internet. Lots of basics, explanations of social networks, IM, technology use in schools, and so on. Now, I'm sure this book would have been awesome if I was scared of computers, but since I'm not, this book told me a lot of things I mostly already knew. So all in all, a book I would only recommend to those who are fearful of computers and how dangerous they are, or to parents who see their kids on the internet all the time, but have no idea what they are doing. If you just want to know everything about youth culture, check out Anastasia's blog, which as a youth pastor is a must read every day.

Funny Video

2008-03-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

This made me laugh today:
http://view.break.com/462103 - Watch more free videos

Guitar Strings...GRRR!

2008-02-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, in preparation for leading worship yesterday at church, I decided to change the strings on my guitar. For those who don't know about changing guitar strings, when you put on a new set, they take a little while to "settle in" and stay in tune. After changing my strings I played for a while and things seemed to be in good shape. The next morning at practice some minor re-tuning was needed but no big deal. Then service came.
On the first song my 'b' string seemed to be a bit out of tune, so I re-tuned it and went on my way. But after each song it was more and more out of tune. I tried to play only low strings or adjust the fret or two during the song, but mostly it just sounded terrible. By the next to last song my 'b' string was dropping a minor third (down to G# or as bad as it could possibly make my guitar sound) after just a few strums. One of the women helping sing that morning stepped up to the mic and said something to the effect of it being good that God hears the praise of our heart, out of tune guitars and all.
After finishing, I went and removed the string and put it right back on. Problem solved (although I still don't know how the first time I put the string on things went so badly). Just a good reminder of what is important as I lead worship times and youth group things. Our hearts have to be offering all of ourselves to God.

Teens Need Adults!

2008-02-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I've gone post crazy! Two in a day!

I just read a blog post over on YPulse about the dangers of growing up in the suburbs. Basically, the thought is that suburban kids have higher rates of drug and alcohol use than inner city kids. Here is Anastasia's conclusion:

The article points to the need for more adult interaction with teens -- I don't think this has to be just parents, but what cities often offer that suburbs don't is a bigger sense of community and less isolation. My sense is that teens who live in cities do interact more with adults than the kids getting wasted on the golf courses....

I hope our youth group here in Lander is a place that is providing opportunities for those relationships between students and adults. I know relationships with adults had a huge impact on the choices I made as a teen. Just a good reminder of the importance of building relationships over making things that are flashy or cool just for the sake of being flashy or cool.

Utah Symphony Orchestra

2008-02-08T10:06:00.001-07:00

Last night Shiloh and I went and heard the Utah Symphony Orchestra here in town. It was a nice evening out and the music was excellent. But as always, something much funnier happened during the performance (otherwise, why blog about it?)
Sitting in the row in front of us was a family with four kids. Their girl, maybe 9 or 10, thought the first half of the evening was the worst thing she ever had been to in her entire life. First, she tapped one of her brothers on the shoulder and pretended to yawn to show how boring this all was. Then came my favorite part of her act. She used her right hand to form a gun and put it up to her head and took the shot. Now that is all well and good, but she used her left hand on the other side of her head to show her brain blowing out every time she pulled the trigger. Occasionally she also would add sound effects. "pow" "bam" and other explosion related noises. Hilarious! She spent the second half of the night pretending that she was the conductor, which was mostly a distraction from hearing the orchestra play Beethoven's 7th Symphony which they did in amazing fashion. Also, the conductor had incredibly bouncy hair, my wife and the high school girls sitting behind us all said so. And best of all, it was a night out with my wife!

HA!

2008-01-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

At youth group on Tuesday night I asked students to answer a couple of questions so that I could share the answers with parents to hopefully spark conversation and open up dialogue. My favorite answer of the night:

Q: What is the biggest thing your parents don't understand about you?

A: That I keep my room dirty so I don't have to look at my ugly carpet.

It's a Marathon

2008-01-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

I was talking this morning with one of my youth volunteers over breakfast about the Dalai Lama. I had just read that when the current Dalai Lama dies, the powers that be will re-find him when he reincarnates as a baby. They will spend the next 20 or 30 years educating him on his past lives and training him to be a spiritual leader. Obviously I don't agree with the whole reincarnation thing, but I love the view of how things happen. They realize that history is long, and great things can take a long time to accomplish. So they spend a couple decades getting ready for each generation. In my experiences of church in America, we usually go for the quick payout and want immediate results. The Bible, however, models something different.

John the Baptist's whole ministry was one of preparation.
Moses wandered and wandered and wandered in the desert.
Jesus spent 30ish years preparing and 3ish years ministering.

And then this afternoon I came across this quote from Mike Yaconelli:
Jesus knew hurried disciples become ex-disciples. Modern youth ministry needs to understand our mission: planting, watering and waiting... in other words, unhurried discipleship. Jesus knew, and so should we, that discipleship lasts a lifetime.

In other words, this May when seniors leave the youth ministry, I don't need to be concerned that they have met some predetermined criteria for having been successfully discipled. I do need to be concerned that they are equipped to continue on the journey of knowing and following Jesus for the rest of their lives.

In your place of ministry are you willing to be a preparer if that is where God calls you to be and leave the results and the time line to the Holy Spirit?

Driving Your Phone

2008-01-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I was putting together a toy kitchen set that my kids got from their grandparents for Christmas. Being the responsible male I am, I was occasionally glancing at the directions. As I looked, I saw instructions for cleaning the toy phone that came with the kitchen. I decided to read that section, as it seemed pretty obvious to me as to how to clean a little toy phone that has batteries in it. Here is what I read:

Directions for Cleaning Phone
Slightly dampen a cloth with water or mild detergent solution and wipe surface. Never submerge in water or spray liquid directly on steering wheel.

And that's when I realized why they had instructions, I didn't even know the phone had a steering wheel! And until I find the steering wheel, I am going to be watching my kids very closely to make sure they don't submerge the steering wheel in water. That sure was a close one!

Prayer

2008-01-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

"Lord teach me to know you more, to love you more and serve you more faithfully in my life"

-St. Ignatius

January 246 Minute

2008-01-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

If your interested, the youth group newsletter is available over on my churches website. Make sure you have adobe reader installed. And if you want an email about when the next one is available (mom) just leave a comment with your email and I'll add you to the list.

WY to KS (or how to make two one hour flights into 16 hours)

2007-12-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

December 22, 2007 in my life:

4:45 am: leave house and drive to riverton airport

6:15 am: take off from riverton
7:30 am: arrive in Denver, find out our flight has been moved up 40 minutes to 10:07am. That means less sitting in an airport!

9:30 am: Board airplane in Denver
10:00am: Get off airplane in Denver because there is blowing snow covering the runway in Wichita that should be fixed in 30 to 40 minutes.
10:40am: Still sitting in airport.

11:30am: Finally breakdown and buy lunch ($23 for two sandwiches, a hot dog, a drink and three bags of chips)

12:30pm: Still waiting. Our kids have formed their own little playgroup with others who are waiting.1:30pm: Still waiting. Why did I leave my dumb laptop on the plane? And all my books? Why did I believe "30 or 40 minutes?"
2:30pm: Kids passing out in chairs and on the floor, I still wish I was smart enough to have grabbed a book, or my ipod, or even a piece of string when we got off the plane.

3:30pm: "Good news Wichita, we can go!" comes over the speaker followed by cheers. Everyone is immediately in line to board the plane.

4:00pm: We take off with the warning that if things get worse in Wichita we are coming back to Denver so we don't have to spend the night in somewhere like Lincoln, Nebraska (that was what our pilot said, it was great and it made my day. I can trust a guy to land on ice if he recognizes the problems of having to spend a night in Lincoln)

5:05pm: We land in Wichita. Everytime the pilot hit the brakes you could feel the plane start to skid sideways. That was a tense landing followed by cheers and clapping when we stopped. Someone should have filmed it for a sappy movie. We are now on Central time, so it is 6:05p.

7:00pm: We finally get off the plane. We waited FOREVER for the plows to make it possible for us to get to the terminal. I think they were playing some wierd plow truck drivers game of tag.

8:30pm: I see Kennedy's bag come out and hold it over my head as it is the first one from our entire flight to make it to us.

8:45pm: Our stroller comes out and we leave the airport, quickly.

All in all, a crazy day with my family, but considering the circumstances, a good day. United employees where helpful throughout the day and tomorrow we do the whole thing again to get to Florida. Except I'm mostly sure it won't be snowing in Florida.

You Know You Live in Wyoming When... #3

2007-12-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

you step out the door for a 7am meeting all bundled up for the cold, realize it's almost 32 degrees and decide you can just wear a light jacket.

2007-12-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

I just read an article by Kenda Creasy Dean titled "Getting Out of God's Way: Freeing Our Inner Theologian." It's a long article, but if your involved in trying to help people be more like Jesus, you should check it out. Dean writes specifically from a youth ministry standpoint and she challenges me to look at whether or not I plan events with the cross of Christ in mind or not. I have the tendency to want to succeed in ministry in a way that is tangible, like having more students or being able to say we had a certain number of visitors during the semester. And so I plan events accordingly, to get students in the door and make them think church/youth group is fun and cool. A quote from the article:

"Young people are never won to Jesus because we did something that worked. They're won because God has laid claim to them, wooed them in Christ, loved them enough to suffer for them, died on a cross, rose from a tomb, and has called them to lives of sacrificial love as well."

Or in other words, I need to make sure I am approaching ministry with the idea that I need to show kids Christ however they will let me. They need the truth. And I need to stop worrying about whether or not I can plan an event that will get that 8th grade girl that visited last month to come back.

p.s.- I am sure a thanks to Dan is in order for pointing me to that article, but I can't really remember. Ummm, so, thanks Dan for maybe pointing out that article, and if not for that one, then for all the other ones you've pointed out that I haven't blogged about.

Kobe on Leadership

2007-12-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was taking in some NBA action on TNT while the Lakers were playing. I really like watching the Lakers if only for the fact that Kobe Bryant might doing something you've never seen before every time he touches the ball. This game, however, was not going the Lakers way. Halfway through the 4th quarter they were down by more than 20 and Phil Jackson, the coach, took Kobe out rather than risk him getting injured in an already lost game. A very obviously frustrated Kobe went over to the bench where two teammates waited to greet him with fives. Rather than acknowledge either of them, he turned around and proceeded to sit on them! He wanted that seat and forced his entire team to move to grant his want. Kobe is one of the best players in the NBA and the leader on his team. At that point, his leadership style said, "I will get what I want for me, the rest of you don't matter except in relation to what you can do for me." Here's what Jesus said a leader is:

"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

I hope I lead like Jesus as I try to guide students into lasting relationships with our Creator.

Sin

2007-12-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight I spent time talking with a student about their struggle with sin. They were telling me how much they hate having to deal over and over with the struggle to follow God instead of the world. It's not the first time I've had this talk with this student. Over and over they are dealing with the ugliness of sin and the desire to see it disappear from their life. This student is struggling to see the promise of 1 Corinthians 10:13:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

As I spent time praying for this student tonight, that he would see God's plan for him in this situation clearly, I was struck by one thought above all the rest: I hope all the students in my ministry spend time wrestling with sin like this one student is. I hope they learn to hate sin and it's effects on their lives. I hope they never give in to sin being a normal, okay part of their lives.

My prayer for my students tonight:

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes though Jesus Christ- to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

Coolbaugh

2007-11-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

Go read this.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-28T08:13:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went and spent thanksgiving with family in Colorado Springs. My parents and siblings came from Wichita and we had a great time. Of the many things I am thankful for, the people in these pictures are definitely right up at the top. Johnny and Emily we missed you! Kennedy is sitting in my lap to tell all of you who is in each picture:

Jeff and Noelle (upon learning Noelle's name, for a while everyone was no-name. I was nodaddy, there was no-aunt Brit, nopappa, etc. Funny stuff)

Gamma and aunt Brit (mom, I'm over here with the camera)

Jeff and Yeah (Sorry Cornel, I don't know how your name became 'yeah')

Silly Mommy

Uncle Ryan (I'm not sure if it's the macarena or the chicken dance, but ladies, get in line)

Papa and Baby neigh (the little stuffed horse in the foreground. Apparently Kennedy and her brother don't count for much in this one!)

mommy and aunt Brit

Yack and Jeff (yeah for staying with a chiropractor)

Carwah (Carsen) Nahwee (Natalie) and Yack sleep (Natalie is getting in some good practice for the arrival of little Cassandra sometime in the next month or so)

that Eddy Me and aunt Brit

Ummm, Kennedy is tired of our name the people in the picture game, so she is watching Little Einsteins instead. This is Noelle, my mom and Bonnie preparing some of our amazing food. We seriously ate huge, tasty meals all weekend. And Jack, the pancakes were tasty! Can't wait for next time.

Salt and Light

2007-11-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

I am sitting right now in Wildfour Bakery working on the December newsletter for the youth ministry. At the table next to me 3 older ladies are sitting and talking up a storm. By a storm I mean there is not a half-second pause between talkers anywhere in sight. Right now they are talking about (I don't mean to listen, but...) how unfair jails are because they are too nice for people and need to have worse conditions. They have spent most of the last hour talking about different seasonings for food, ice cream scoops, and how to rearrange the furniture in their homes.
Now, to clarify, I think it is entirely wonderful that these ladies enjoy one another's company, and I find no fault in the things they are talking about. This post isn't really about them, it's about me. I wonder, if when I am out with my wife or friends, we talk about things that would seem so trivial to those that can't help but hear our conversation. Not that we can't talk about sports or music or kids, but are those conversations filled with love, and do we ever get to the bigger, eternal things? Do the people that sit near me leave thinking how glad they are that they do/do not know me, or do they leave wanting to know more about how great my God is?
Jesus had this to say:

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16 NIV

As Christians, we must be salt and light in this world, it matters for all eternity that we live out the teachings of Jesus. It all leaves me to ask myself, "How am I seasoning my world with Jesus?" How are you seasoning yours?

P.S.- they are talking about whose responsibility it is to make sure kids get up on time for school, and it is a pretty heated debate, pretty funny!

You Know You Live in Wyoming When... #2

2007-11-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

The following things happened in your neighbors yards the past two weekends:

Your neighbor was boiling an elk skull cap in his backyard to remove the rest of the meat, skin, cartilage, and/or brain goo so it could be mounted.
The next Sunday, one of your other neighbors lets you come over to see the 4 goats and 4 turkeys he is keeping in his backyard. As you look and talk to your children about the animals, he informs you he is moving them today to get them out of the backyard. He is going to go ahead and just keep them in the freezer. Bonus Wyoming points if your wife was outside working on something while the goats were bleating their last sounds!

Sorry, no pics of the the goats or turkeys! And keep in mind, we live right in the middle of town, this is just the way it works up here.

John Mayer Song

2007-11-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

If you like good music, and well, who wakes up saying, "I hope I hear some terrible music today," then go hear John Mayer's new song "Say" that was written for some movie. The song is under an entry for November 16. Good times.

Snail Mail

2007-11-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight at youth group we were talking about spending our lives on eternal things of God rather than temporary things. I asked students to write down one way they could live for eternal things this week, put it in an envelope and address it to themselves so I could send it to them as a reminder in a couple of days. Afterwards, as I put the envelopes in my office, I flipped through and found that about 2/3rds of the students hadn't addressed their envelope in a way that would get it to their house. Some of them put their address in the return area, some left off parts or had it out of order, one even included their phone number, but no city, state, or zip. When one of my volunteers guys and I were talking afterwards, he mentioned to me that many of the students had probably not addressed a letter any time recently, they do all communicating through cell phone or the internet. It has me thinking tonight about the ways in which I relate to students that misses them completely b/c we live in different worlds. I will be spending some time this week considering how I communicate and what things I hold to be true for all people that might not hold true for a 7th grader anymore. I want to lead them nearer to Christ, not confuse them by talking about things like VHS or cassette tapes!

Old School

2007-11-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I spent some time watching a few students play basketball at the junior high. It was a fun time and both Lander teams won big. As I was leaving a few 7th grade boys were looking for someones picture in the sports team photos from throughout the years. One boy asked, "Is it right here?" To which the other boy replied, "No, that's way old school, we have to go all the way down the hall." I looked up to see what years they were looking at, and much to my dismay, they were looking at the 92-93 season, also known as when I was in 7th grade. Nothing like some seventh grade boys to make you feel old.

Seth waiting for the jumpball

Jonah and Travis dropping back to play D

Travis getting ready to box out

Normal Life

2007-11-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

A week and a half ago the phone rang way too early for a Saturday morning. It was my mom calling to tell us that one of my aunts had died that night. We spent that day in a fog of tears, phone calls, and wondering why. On Sunday we decided to head back to Kansas for the funeral. Shiloh arranged subs for her class and I made calls and emails to cover things for my week. And on Monday, off we went. We spent a week with family just spending time together and talking about my aunt and all the memories we have of her. She left behind a 5 yr old son and a 7 yr old daughter, her husband, and an entire 3rd grade class. And she was good at being all those things, great even. And now, 10 days after she died, I still wonder why, knowing full well that we may not ever get an answer that satisfies our hurt here on earth. And I try to get back to normal life. It's just that normal life is different than normal life before the phone rang too early last Saturday.

You Know You Live in Wyoming When...

2007-10-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

You're at a dinner with people and one of them starts a story by saying, "I knew this girl from back east, I think North Dakota or Minnesota..."

For those who live past the Mississippi, I really don't think most Wyomingans consider you part of the USA, or at least a part of the good portion. Sorry!

Memorize It?

2007-10-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading this post by Seth Godin about finding information. His basic argument is that it is more important to be able to process information to make good decisions than to just have everything memorized. And, in many ways I agree with him. Having so much information at our fingertips lets us not memorize nearly as many things as we used to. I have kids in the youth group who have to get out their cell phone to figure out what their home phone number is. If it's in their pocket, why memorize it? But, there is (at least) one BIG exception to this new world of just look it up when you need it. The Bible. We must memorize it, and not because it isn't easy to find online, it is. BibleGateway.com is one of my best friends, but memorizing Scripture is vital to our life as Christians. The Psalmist puts it this way:

I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11

What are you memorizing?
What is being hidden in your heart?

Spaghetti Night

2007-10-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

We had spaghetti for dinner last night and most of the family decided to eat it. One of us decided to wear it.

Anybody want a kiss?

We're going to the 'ship!

2007-10-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

Numbers that are exciting tonight:
6-4
4-0
21-1
In the entire series, the Rockies only trailed for two half innings! I literally, until maybe a week ago, thought the Rockies would never make it to a World Series. And now, COLORADO ROCKIES 2007 NL Pennant Winners! Go Rockies, make it 25-1!!!

Food Drive

2007-10-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

This week for youth group we jumped into some cars and drove around different neighborhoods asking for food donations. I wanted to get students actively involved in doing something for someone else, and this seemed like a good idea. We have been talking about slowing down enough to see who God is, what he is doing, and who he has put around us. Tonight we did that by foregoing games and every other "normal" part of youth group to go love others. My group had a great time and I loved hearing students talk about enjoying serving people. One of my junior high boys asked me if we could go around once a month collecting food! In just an hour we collected about 280 pounds of food with 15 kids. Imagine the difference a church could make if everyone took an hour a week to serve their community!

The New Office

2007-10-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks new offices were completed in our church. My office will no longer be referred to as a "closet" in the blueprints! Very exciting happenings. A few weeks ago during Sunday school, a couple of high school girls told me how boring and white the new offices were, so I told one of them to go pick me out some paint and we would paint an accent wall. So today was the day of the painting. Much brighter than I would have picked on my own, but I like it and had a great time painting with Becca.

Bambi

2007-10-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

My kids don't get to watch much tv, but the time they do get, they would love for it all to be spent watching Bambi. For whatever reason, they love that movie. When we go out and about in Lander and see a mounted deer head (which is almost anywhere you go, the local appliance store has multiple heads in it, and my senior pastor's office has a nice mount) Carsen always points at it and in barely contained enthusiasm proclaims "BAMBI" over and over until we leave. At which point he takes the time to wave and say "Bye Bambi." Thank you to miss Nancy for the movie, we might wear it out soon! Here are a couple pics of them zoning out and enjoying the greatest movie ever made in their 2 year old minds.

Romans Bible Study

2007-10-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

My guys small group is going through Romans this fall for our study. This week we looked at the beginning of chapter 2 and had some great talking about what it means to be a verse 7 man rather than a verse 8 man.

7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

In the end we talked about how we start our days. Do we give them to Christ from the time we wake-up, or is he an afterthought sometime during English or history class. So we decided to start our days with prayer this week. To pray that we will be about God's glory, honor, and immortality, rather than our own, each day. Along those lines, here was the Celtic prayer for the 4th day of the month:

PRAYER OF ABANDONMENT TO GOD
Father, I abandon myself into Your hands. Do with me what You will, whatever You do, I will thank You, I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only Your will be done in me, as in all Your creatures, and I'll ask nothing else, my Lord.
Into Your hands I commend my spirit; I give it to You with all the love of my heart, for I love You, Lord, and so need to give myself, to surrender myself into Your hands with a trust beyond all measure, because You are my Father.

I think I'll be praying that prayer each morning for a while for myself and for each of those guys.

Technology

2007-10-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

Our projector broke last week. It is only two years old. The wiring inside that provides power shorted out. This is not the end of the world, the projector will be fixed in a few weeks and we will eventually get it back, and if not, we will buy a new one. But for tonight it's a bummer because I can't show video on the big screen for my lesson. Oh well, the students will have to live through what it was like to be in high school way back in the mid 90's.

ROCKTOBER!

2007-10-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

Rockies: 9
Padres: 8
13 Innings

The Rockies finished the season 13-1 to finish an incredible run to the postseason. I remember the last time the Rockies were in the playoffs, 1995, when I still couldn't drive a car and the first baseman was some guy named Galarraga. Well, now I've had my share of tickets and the Rockies are playing in the LDS against the Phillies. Clutch hitting in the bottom of the 13th beating up the all-time major league saves leader, Trevor Hoffman. Jamey Carroll came through with the sacrifice fly to score Matt Holliday for the winning run. After lots of depressing years (I also cheer for the Royals), finally, a reason to watch postseason baseball.

Go Rockies! Beat the Phillies!

Lead Tests

2007-09-28T09:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to the hospital to get the kids tested for lead because we have a whole in our wall that may or may not have grown since we moved in, so we just wanted to be sure. Shiloh took Kennedy in and things went fine and Kennedy got a little cat for her bravery. When I took Carsen in, the lady taking the blood put a tourniquet on his arm. He looked at her and in the most pitiful voice imaginable said, "Help me, pleeeeeeeease." Kim (lady taking blood), who also goes to our church, gave a knowing "I'm sorry, it will be over soon" kind of look. I almost started laughing, but instead pointed out the Shrek poster and we got through the rest of it without incident. Man, kids that can talk are funny!

Baseball in October on Colorado?

2007-09-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

GO ROCKIES!!!!!!!

See You at the Pole

2007-09-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to our high school at 7:30 to pray with students for the national See You at the Pole Day. We had about 30 students there, which is about 5% of the school's population. The junior high was right at about the same percentage. My hope and prayer is that those students have the opportunity to share about this morning throughout the day. How awesome would it be to have 10% of the school there next year! The coolest part of the morning, at least for me, was seeing the new principal, Mr. Sparkman, standing at the flag pole, praying with students for a few minutes. What a great way to start a day!

Art Show

2007-09-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

I drove up to Dubois this morning to enter my first art show. I am equal parts excited by this and terrified. I have always been a bit afraid to put things I do in front of other people in case they don't like it. But enough of that, I enjoy photography a lot and we'll see how I do. Oh, and the leaves are all changing up around Dubois, just beautiful. Sorry, there are no pictures because I had the kids with me, and they don't take real kindly to my stopping to photograph scenery.

SNOW!

2007-09-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was September 24th. It snowed yesterday. 2 inches. I don't really like snow. Especially in September. It's all gone today. Yeah sun!

More Remodeling Fun

2007-09-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

We're almost done putting in insulation and I thought I should share some more pictures. Windows, drywall, floors and bathroom fixtures yet to go. Then we can start the kitchen.

A look at my amazing wiring abilities. Also known as my ability to follow the directions of those that actually know about such things.
Here is our bathroom. Lots of work still to do in there.

Shiloh hard at work stapling up insulation.

Here is our future kitchen with the little partial wall all framed in.

For the ladies reading this blog who care about such things, here is the color for the kids room, with trim included for your viewing pleasure.

Wild Hogs

2007-09-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

Shiloh and I watched "Wild Hogs" last night. With the exception of the highway patrolman scenes, we both thought it was pretty funny and was a much needed laugh in the middle of our remodeling craziness. William H. Macy's character, Dudley, at one point needed some help with some dance moves. What he said made me laugh, only because it describes me perfectly, just ask my wife, or go dancing with me.

"The music moves me, it just moves me ugly."

Happy 2nd Birthday

2007-09-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Carsen and Kennedy turn 2 today and I am so thankful for the gift that they have been to Shiloh and I. Two years ago today I was freaking out about my ability to be a dad. Funny how you just kinda figure it out as you go. Carsen and Kennedy, I love you both!!!

back to blogging

2007-09-11T15:16:00.001-07:00

After an insane last few weeks, I guess it's about time a write again. A quick rundown of the haps:

Shiloh started working part-time at the Christian school in town two weeks ago and I've been staying home in the mornings to watch the kids.
One of the elders from the church and our pastor have been helping me do the wiring and plumbing in our house. Wiring is basically done. Plumbing is about halfway.
Been putting in insulation and hoping that our windows come in this week so we can get those in.
My wife is a painting machine!
Youth group started up again for the fall and we've been doing a series called "Living in an iWorld" and talking about slowing down life to see what God has for us.
Labor day weekend we had church family camp. It was a great time, but as with all great church events, incredibly tiring.
We took Carsen and Kennedy to the high school football game last Friday. Lander lost, but on Saturday Carsen couldn't stop talking about seeing football. (I'm working on getting him to say, "Go Broncos")
We had (at least to me) a cool young adult Bible study last night where we sang a bunch and just shared some of what God has been teaching each of us. Good times.
Kennedy has decided it's fun to "steal" our noses and then put them back on. Hilarious stuff, I'm telling you.

Raising Trees

2007-08-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

My parents gave Shiloh and I a tree as a house-warming gift a month ago. We went to our local greenhouse (Sprout's) and picked out our tree, a tartarian maple. Our only other tree is one that a deer decided to root on a couple winters ago and it has never quite recovered. So we are very excited to have a healthy tree on our property. We strategically placed it to give our house some good shade in the summer, the only problem being that it is nowhere near tall enough to provide said shade. And, really, it won't be for quite a while. It is only supposed to grow 6 inches a year, which means when we pay off our 30 year loan, the tree will just be reaching it's full height. But there is nothing to do other than take care of the tree, protect it from deer, prune it and give it enough water in our dry summer heat.
Now, the reason for writing about trees: I think youth ministry, or even following Christ, is a lot like us planting a tree. I always want and hope for students to "get it" right away and become mature disciples of Christ. Often I don't really want to have the patience to go in small steps. I want the 7th graders to get with what's going on and follow Jesus completely by their second week of youth group. But then I think about our tree. It's a process to maturity and it truly takes time and energy to disciple a student. Hurrying it along only creates shallow, flavor of the day Christians. I have 6 years with these kids, I want to make the most of every one of those, not just the first two weeks.
So, here's to a lifetime of deliberate, purposeful, good, rich (and sometimes slow) spiritual growth for me and our youth group.

Pancakes

2007-08-18T08:27:00.001-07:00

A word to all of you out there: Getting your tonsils out is not as much fun as everyone made it seem as a kid, even with all the ice cream and jello. After 10 days of tears and mostly just misery, Carsen is feeling better. He's had a good week and is a completely different kid than before the surgery. He acts happier and more comfortable than before. In general, before surgery, he ate like a mouse. If we had pancakes, he maybe would eat half of one. This morning he ate almost four and had some bacon. We're looking forward to his pants starting to fit any day now...

Church Stress

2007-08-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

I just read a great post on Dan Kimball's blog about stress among pastor's. Here's a great reminder that he included:

I try never to forget that every volunteer in the church has jobs every day that they commute to, have their own set of pressure and stresses, yet make the time to volunteer in the church in their free time. Volunteers are stuck in commuting traffic in the early morning after a late night out at the church. They don't have the option to stay home a little longer in the morning after a big event or late night out at the church building, as a pastor can choose to do so.

It reminded me to be praying for my volunteer's in our youth ministry and to say thank you to them this week when I see them. Josiah and Daniel (and everyone that helps out when we need food/drivers/a house/kitchen sinks) you are a great blessing to this ministry and to my life. Thanks for all you do and the time you spend investing in students' lives.

A Tornado in Wyoming

2007-08-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon Shiloh and I were enjoying a few nice quiet moments while our kids played happily in their room. We assumed they were playing with their legos or maybe reading a book as they usually do. After it was quiet for a little too long, we went to see what was going on. Here is what we found:
For those who want to know, that's all the clothes out of their dresser that they can reach. Right after the picture, they finished pulling down the rest of their books and dumped a bunch of picture cards all over their room. They had out all the stuffed animals they could get to and were just kinda rolling around in it, like when Scrooge McDuck used to swim in the Money Bend. I can't wait until their really capable of making a mess!

Thank you Video

2007-08-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is a quick video thank you from our kids to the youth group at two rivers for the new swing set.

X Games

2007-08-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen it yet, here is video of Jake Brown crashing from 45 feet up in the air at the x games this weekend. I was watching on tv when it happened and told Shiloh I thought I might have just seen a guy die on live tv. After a quick commercial break he walked away from the ramp on his own power. His injuries were pretty minor even, a broken rib, a concussion, a bruised kidney and I think something to do with his lung. BUT HE WALKED AWAY FROM THIS!!!

Back Home

2007-08-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

We are back home from Carsen's surgery and he is sleeping for a while. He had a rough time with the anesthesia and the doctor told us he stopped breathing and they had to do it for him for a few breaths. But Dr. Fischer and the nurses did a great job taking care of him and doing the surgery. He seemed pretty scared when they brought him back to us, but he sat with his mom and slept for a while until his oxygen level went up and his heart rate returned to normal. After that he drank some juice and we headed home. I ran and grabbed his meds at the pharmacy as well as a bunch of ice cream for him to eat the rest of the weekend! Thanks for all the prayers.

Surgery

2007-08-03T05:19:00.000-07:00

We leave in about ten minutes to drop Kennedy off at her friend's house (thank you Lindsey and Anita!!!!) and then we head to the hospital for Carsen's surgery. I'll post again once he's out and done. The doctor says we should be home by noon. So unfair that he has no idea anything is even happening today...

Tonsilectomy

2007-07-30T16:56:00.001-07:00

We found out today that Carsen has to have his tonsils removed. The doctor said his tonsils are so way too big for his throat that it is kinda like he has a bowling ball in his throat. He goes under the knife this Friday morning. We have to be at the hospital at 6:30am and they will put him to sleep and then 30 minutes later or less, he will no longer have tonsils or adenoids. This is a whole new part of parenting. When I was a kid I always wanted to have my tonsils out so I could eat ice cream and jello all day for a while. It doesn't seem quite so exciting and fun when it's my kid instead of me. We have to completely let go and trust someone else to give him anesthesia and make things all better. The goal is that it will allow him to start eating better and get rid of his snoring at night.

Yeah for Monday!!!!!

2007-07-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Someone in my church just gave me a Fender Stratocaster and a Vox Cambridge 15 amp. Them's good times. Pics to follow...

Busy Week

2007-07-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy week with a team of 50 students from Two Rivers Church in Tennessee staying at our church and doing ministry out on the reservation. This morning I took a bunch of them caving and we had a great time. They built a building for a couple on the rez to use as a church, ran a VBS and built the kids at our church a new swing set. It has been great spending time with them and seeing them serve God. My parents were also here all last week and part of this week and we had a great time seeing them and working on our house. And now, some pictures:

A fun new sand box from Grandma and Grandpa

The kids enjoying the new swing set at church

Dad

2007-07-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

My dad announced last week that he is resigning from the church where he is the worship pastor in the middle of August. At this time he is not planning on continuing in pastoral ministry. It is weird to think that my brother, sister and I will no longer be pk's. My dad has been a pastor (and had his beard) since before I was born. Through growing up as a pk I really appreciated my dad making time to be at my events and also not putting too much pressure on us kids to be certain stereotypes or anything. Even though "I love you" was not a normal part of our conversations (especially in jr and sr high) I always knew I was more important than my dads job and that he did love me. As a church employee and dad, I hope my kids can someday enter adulthood with as much respect and love for me and my ministry as I have for my dad. Whatever he ends up doing, I'm excited for him and this new part of life that my parents are entering into. Oh, and not only was he a good dad, but he pretty much has the grandpa thing down, to:

And dad, while things are changing, I have never seen you without a beard! Just think about it:-)

Rose Bushes and Bad Soil

2007-07-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my wife and I took a trip over to the local greenhouse to look at flowers and see our friend Griff. After much looking and deciding, my wife decided we should buy a couple rose bushes to put in the planter behind our house, as well as a few other nice flowery plants. When we got home it was decided that she would go to school and spend some time preparing for this next school year, and I would plant our new purchases. So, I went and got the shovel and shoved it into the ground to start digging my hole. The problem was that after the first 4 or 5 inches, our nice soil became rocky, hard to dig through soil. There was about a foot of this soil and it took me a little over an hour to dig my two small holes. As I dug I realized I needed to replace the bad soil with good soil, otherwise our plants were going to have a hard time keeping any water near their roots. I went and bought some good soil to fill in the holes and planted the roses and now hopefully we can keep them growing (and not have to plant any more large things in that overly rocky area).

It all reminded me of the parable of the sower that Jesus tells in Matthew 13. We have to be asking God for opportunities to introduce people to Jesus who are ready to hear about him. We also need to be making sure our own hearts and minds are staying healthy and open to God and his leading.
Some of our new flowers:

Live for Jesus

2007-07-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

The theme this year at camp was "Live for Jesus and don't turn back." Our theme verse was Luke 9:62: Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." The first night our speaker talked about King Josiah in 2 Kings 22-23. He talked about the finding of the book of the law and how that changed the way Israel existed because Josiah realized who his people were supposed to be worshiping. Josiah went around and destroyed altars to other gods. But he didn't just take them down, he burned them, ground them to dust and then spread the dust in a cemetery. Josiah wasn't just saying to stop, he was saying to the Israelite community that SIN IS DEAD and we will have worship of the one true God and no other gods. He dealt with sin to bring his people back to God. One thing Keith said at the end of his talk really hit me for my own life and the way that I challenge students in their own walks. He said, "If it keeps me from God, if it hinders me from following, get rid of it!" I think too often I try to manage the big things in my life and in ministry and let little things slide, but those small things are just as big of a hindrance to following Jesus.

Matthew 16:24-26

24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?