learning…

i have gotten back into a reading mode here at the office. there are times that i get so busy and backed up with website stuff, camp/mission trip stuff, etc that i dont really have time to sit and read while here in the office. that has changed recently b/c i am making time to read.

recently i have been reading…

rethink by steve wright and chris graves

much of this book so far has been about bridging the gap between youth ministries and youth parents. this has been something i have though about off and on for the past couple of years. it is something that i really do not understand how to put into action in my group. it sounds great. it makes perfect sense (im not arguing that), i just don’t know how to put it into action.

i want parents to be aware that their students look to them for spiritual guidance more than they look to me. (i know this b/c i surveyed my students. they told me so!) i want my parents to understand that if they profess Christ, but don’t live it out at home, their kids are watching and it negatively effects them. but likewise, if the profess Christ and live it out at home, it positively effects them.

so thats where i am. how do you get parents actively involved in the spiritual upbringing of their kids? how do you make parents aware that in most cases, their children’s relationship with Christ, is a close representation of their own?

just some thoughts…
now back to reading!

i survived.

i rode day 2 of the bp ms150 yesterday. day one was cancelled due to horrific rainstorms.

we were supposed to sleep here, on saturday night, on air mattresses, on the ground…..see why it was cancelled? any who, i have a few pictures and even a video to edit later on so i will leave you with the moment that made my ride from la grange to austin very much worth it.

just outside of bastrop, just before lunch, there was a girl. she was probably 23 or 24 years old. she was standing on the side of the road with a huge smile on her face and waving and encouraging every rider who rode by. she was holding a homemade posterboard sign that read, “thank you! you are saving my life pedal by pedal”. i lost it. there was no way that i was not going to finish. so thank you, whoever you were for encouraging me and all the other cyclists. hopefully i will see you again next year.

+ seniors ‘09 – patrick

last week i had the the opportunity to take patricks seniors pictures. patrick is a senior at foster high school in richmond and is going to University of Texas and he want to be a video game designer. saaawweeeeeet! this is patrick…

yesterday still means everything.

“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, Because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

- the Apostle Paul
- First Corinthians 15:12-19

+ seniors ‘09 – bailey

this is bailey. she is going to texas a&m. she is one of my youth. she thinks that Jesus is pretty rad. here are a few of her pictures.

and my personal favorite…

dear baileys parents…in my personal “professional*” photographer opinion i feel that you should def. print this last picture and send it out with all her graduation invitations simply b/c that is a perfect representation of how we roll down here in the dirty south. mkay?!? thanks!*

*denotes sarcasm.

a good thing about working the morning shift at a coffee shop…

…is being able to see the sunrise everyday. this is what i saw this morning!

He is good.

so i think i will start a new blog trend

im going to change my desktop every week. and you guys are gonna get to see what it is.

in honor of astros opening day, this has been my desktop for the last week…

and in keeping with the theme, building up to opening day…this desktop will finish the week.

me, my dad and my brother at osceola county stadium in kissimmee, florida @ astros spring training. mmhmm.