on the road again…

we left our church at 1:15 pm today. it is now 1:35 am and we just got to our rooms in lubbock. what should have been a 9 hour drive took just over 12 hours. this is the life of a youth minister. tomorrow morning i have to get up and drive one of the two vans for another 6 hours until we reach glorieta, new mexico. needless to say, im going to be tired, and really worn out before m-fuge even starts.

this will be my face for the next week.

i honestly cant wait for my vacation with my wife to portland. some good reading and stumptown
i need it sooo bad.

grace and peace.

a battle within…

where should churches stand in regards to the 4th of july?
should entire worship services be dedicated to this national holiday?
is it weird that i feel awkward singing “God Bless America” in a church service?

i am really torn. dont get me wrong, i am proud to be an american, but my allegiance lies somewhere a little more important.

“my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it’s to a king & a kingdom”
+ derek webb – a king and a kingdom

your thoughts?
grace and peace.

on my nightstand…

This is what is on my night stand…

HCS Pocket Bible – nightly readings with my wife.
On the Rod by Kerouac – just started it. I’ll let you know more later my thoughts. Recommend by my friend Andy.
Jesus for President by Claiborne – It’s good. Not amazing, but pretty darn good.
Velvet Elvis by Bell – Haven’t started it yet, but I’ve heard its really good.
East of Eden by Steinbeck – a long read, 1/4 of the way through and i like it so far.
For Men Only by Feldhahn – It’s ok. a typical marriage book, but it is an easy read. I’m still reading it, and still don’t have the perfect husband thing down…but i’m learning.

grace and peace.

silly apple guy.

at the beginning of june my ibook bit the dust. so i got a macbook and at the time when i bought my new macbook they had a promotion going on where if you are a student and you buy a macbook you get a free ipod (via rebate). so kimb and i got a 160gb ipod classic. when we went to do the rebate it said that we were not eligible for the rebate. so i talked with the apple rebate people and they proceeded to tell me that the ipod classic was not included with the promo.

so i went back to the apple store, returned our 160gb ipod classic and got this instead…

grace and peace.

an amazing week.

our week at camp was simply amazing. before the week began i had been praying for unity within our group. i have never seen a group of young people bond and treat each other like family like mine did this week. it was truly an answered prayer. i had one girl who accepted Christ…AMAZING!

one other thing that was awesome was that two children were saved from poverty. one of my senior girls sponsored a child through compassion and one of my junior girls family sponsored a child as well. i was extremely excited to see this.

this camp was probably the best camp i have ever been to. i was honestly put-off by the registration process, it was pretty weird, but once i got to the camp and got integrated to the process of the student life camp, it was one of the most well run camps i have ever been to.

now on another note…today was very interesting. this afternoon i started mowing our yard. as i was mowing the side of the house i caught the water line to our house with the front wheel of our mower. next thing i know…..water is spraying everywhere, and i can’t get the water turned off. sooo, my crazy handyman dad comes over and we spend like 4 hours taking apart and re-engineering the water line. we get it working after a few hours and then i get back to finishing the yard. last time i worked in the yard…this happened. so needless to say, when i got to the back fence…i was a little paranoid. but i made it through without getting stung by one of those dadgum yellow jackets.

i’ve been working on laundry from youth camp so we can have clean clothes tomorrow and i put together a little table for my wife this evening.
this has really been one of the most random days ever.
ever.

oh yea. go read my wife’s blog. show her some love.

grace and peace.

 

time for the summer routine.

taking the youth to student life camp tomorrow at angelo state university.
it’s that time again.
pray for us.
it’s going to be a crazy week.
no sleep.
early mornings.
late nights.
and a lot of jesus.

it’s going to be a great week.
pray for us.

grace and peace.

part of my bucket list.

tonight was pretty cool…

i went to the astros/yankees game. the ’stros lost 8-4 but it was still pretty cool getting to see the yankees play live. i think if i would have sat down and written a bucket list, this MIGHT have been on mine. there were so many yankee fans at the ballpark. i hated it. you could actually hear chants for the yankees…but the yankee fans were ok. nowhere near as bad as the cardinals or cubs fans.

we sat in the club level…for free thanks to one of my wife’s friends. our tickets were given to us by a very gracious church member…thanks wayne! and we found free parking, and b/c of one of my wife’s friends, we got free soda while in the club. it was dang awesome.

a good night indeed.

grace and peace.