Day 3 of 4

Today has been like an episode of the Twilight Zone; I know its Sunday, but its just different. I woke up this morning and prayed for my church and all that is going to take place there today, this is something we do as a staff every Sunday morning at 8 and so I figured I should do the same even though I wasn't there. I got up shortly after that, did a load of laundry and folded what was done in the dryer then got myself ready for church. A normal Sunday morning consists of me waking up at about 6am and getting to church by 7:30am, today I don't have to be to the church that I am visiting until 10:30am. After that I think I'll come home and watch more Lost, other than that I don't have any plans. We'll see what happens...

What do you call a single guy's Honey Do List? Vacation 2 of 4

So while this may not seem like much of a vacation day it has been nice to get some of this stuff done. I keep myself way too busy and with gearing up for the fall and a remodel happening at work i have been running on all eight cylinders lately. As a result my normal up keep at home and other projects that I started have been set aside. So today is all about playing catch up. The washer and dryer has been running constantly, the music is blaring and things are finally getting done around here. I guess its good and bad that I don't have anyone here to nag me about not getting things done... After all I have been working on my bathroom for a little over a month, and my entryway flooring even longer than that. Oh well, its getting some actual time devoted to it today. I'm not sure what I am going to do tonight since I do not have to be a New Cov tomorrow (going to church with a friend) so I guess I can stay up later than my usual Saturday. Alright well I am gonna get back to the ...list. What do you call a single guys Honey Do List?

Vacation Day 1 of 4

Yesterday was day 1 of 4 days off. I got up and then prepped for a day at the lake. We made our way to Shaver and got up there around 10:30, after picking up the kayak at the Mendoza's cabin. We put in in Edison near the marina. Spent the morning paddling around with no real destination. We stopped off on the shore at one point to get wet, I decided to swim to a buoy that was probably 150 meters out so 300 total out and back. This with 1000 meters on Monday and 1100 meters on Tuesday puts me around 2400 meters of swimming for the week. Does open water swimming play mind games with anyone else? I'm always freaked out thinking the world's largest catfish will be discovered after it eats me. We got back in the kayak paddled out and just drifted for a while then paddled towards the dam, but never reaching it. Then we decided to head in and eat, swim, and nap on the beach. I think I looked at the time once yesterday, that was nice. A little later we loaded up the boat, to head back to the cabin. When we got back and got things put away we decided to watch the movie Galaxy Quest, which was pretty good (this was my first time seeing it). Then we spent the rest of the night hanging out with the Mendoza's (Katie, Taylor, her friends and Roxy; Danny was working and Kris is away in college). Got home and went to sleep without setting an alarm.

Winston Churchill

“A man is about as big as the things that make him angry”
Winston Churchill

Fortune Cookie

So I went to Panda Express last week, not because it is anything great, but because you know it will be enough... Anyways, fortune cookies are no longer fortuitous, my fortune: "Ask Your Mom." What is that?!

What fortunes have you had?

A Good Day

I remember a time when I was more disciplined. I would rise early, many times prior to the sun coming up, and go for a run. This was a great way to start my day with a great work out and a quiet time with God. Well unfortunately the habit of going to bed at a decent hour and waking to be active somehow morphed into waking up and dragging myself to the shower and getting to work a few minutes early. I love the feel of a good workout in the morning and it definitely has an effect on the rest of the day. You feel alive, your blood is pumping and you know that you have accomplished something even before the official start of the day. Last night I set a time to go to bed, and I was able to stick to it. So waking up at 6am and I still managed to get 7 1/2 hours of sleep. I met a friend (Daniel) at his house where their community has an Olympic sized pool. We cranked out 1000 meters! followed by a protein shake and a peach. This is the second good workout in the past week, and I am looking forward to more. On another related note, my hip is feeling better and hopefully soon I will be able to run. So here is to healthy living...

10 Posts

I got 10 posts in this month, and I still have 10 days left in the month!

Uncle Sam Gettin' His!

Uncle Sam has gotta get his, I get it, after all it goes to all of us as citizens right? Well what percentage does our nation need to get us through? Based on a check that a friend got from work (his last check) good ol' Uncle Sam needs about 97%! Like I said, it was his last check, and from a gross of $22.40 he pocketed a whopping $.68! Thats right $21.72 was taken. Aren't you glad we give up 97% of our incomes to all of the wonderful government programs that we have available to us?


This is just a joke, he actually had it set up to take out a flat rate of $20 out of each check for FIT (Fed. Income Tax) since this was a side job, but it is funny that it worked out that his last check was just over that and left his take home at $.68.

I Feel Old

It takes a lot to slow me down, I work hard, and play even harder. I like to do just about everything; but since working the YFC VBS and consequently rolling my ankle while playing basketball it has been a downward spiral of injury. I went on the Guy's Hiking trip that weekend with my ankle doing alright but a little sore. Well, since then it hasn't been the same and has been a source of constant irritation. So much so that I haven't gone running or done anything physical. Well the constant favoritism of my right ankle has made my hip unhappy. Why is my hip unhappy you ask? Well, my best guess is due to an injury that took place 2 Christmases ago while snowboarding. I caught an edge when i couldn't see the terrain due to shadows from the tree and went down hard on my hip. So my best guess that now its getting me back for not taking care of it then. Anyways, I had Scott Sailor (Dr.) take a look at it and he said after messing around and threatening a prostate check that i have so muscle and tendon irritation. No fun, so at least now I know how I can get better. So pray for a speedy recovery, especially since snowboarding season is nearing.

Advertising

So I am all for people making a living, however that may be. The Bible say if you don't work you don't eat. So in my mind any job is respectable... On that note, yesterday Stephen and I went to Port of Subs for lunch. As we were leaving I noticed one of those sign holder people. I thought about it for a second, then told Stephen, "If for whatever reason I have to do that to make a living, If someone asked what I did, I would tell them 'I work in Advertising'."

Random Thought.

Thats all.

Influence on Kids

As a part of my job, I have an influence over kids, if I don't then we have a problem... This post has nothing to do with my job other than it involves people I work with. About a month or so back I had dinner with the Pankratz family, this was prior to the newest Pankratz' arrival. So I was playing HORSE with Loren and Elijah (or Eli) was right there with us. So I made an amazing shot, I was sitting against the fridge on the far side of the kitchen island and made the shot in the little tikes basketball hoop that was out of sight about 18 feet away. My response: "Oh Dang!" soon after we heard Eli and what did he say? thats right "Oh Dang." This hasn't been a one time thing either, after talking with Loren he still uses "oh dang" and in context no less; when something cool happens (like me dancing before college group on Thursday) or when he misses a shot on that same little tikes hoop. So yeah, there is my influence, hopefully I'm teaching my JHI students more than this.

We're Back!

Awhile back my computer died, well I finally fixed it, so hopefully this will help me to pick up the pace when it comes to blogging, after all its a lot more enjoyable working on a nice dual monitor setup then an 8 year old laptop (I'm accepting donations for a mac book)

Writing!?!

Through a series of emails I have had with a staff member at Youth Specialties, I have been asked to write an article for youthspecialties.com! How cool is that? I will be writing on the topic of Campus Ministry, an area that is very important to me and it is a huge part of my ministry. I am excited and nervous since this is kinda a big deal; this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest companies in the area of youth ministry resources, and they put on amazing conferences each year. If you know me you probably know that I am not the greatest writer, so throughout the process of writing this I am gonna make sure to surround myself with as many other people to help tear apart my writing so I can build it up and have them tear it apart again, and re work it again; so that when I turn it in I have a refined article that the people down at Youth Specialties will hopefully love. Hopefully it will be a resource that others will be able to learn from and be able to more effectively work to build God's Kingdom through campus ministry. Please keep this in prayer if you remember it.

Girl Talk

Some of my Jr High Girls are headed up the hill to Shaver Lake for a three day trip. This trip is pretty low key with good food and boating, and whatever else it is that girls do... Well before they left we threw a couple of videos together to help the leaders intro a couple of topics that the typical Jr High girl will face at some point. this one is on gossip. Enjoy. (this is also my first attempt at editing in about 5 years, so don't expect much)

Lost in Lost

Last week a friend introduced me to Lost, and I am addicted. I don't watch much TV, The Office is about it, and that is with a group of friends. The last time I actually watched a TV program at home while it aired was before the Super bowl, I know this because I haven't bothered hooking my antennae up, and I am too cheap and/or broke to purchase cable. So I watch movies or in this case TV shows on DVD. I already made it through the 1st season and am making progress on season 2. I don't think this is a show that I could watch week to week. it would be too disconnected. Also, just so you all know that I haven't been stuck to the tube over the past week I painted my bathroom, and am installing a new light fixture, switches, plugs, baseboards and cabinets; and started reinstalling the entry way flooring again.

Guys Hiking Trip

Last weekend I lead a hiking trip to the Twin Lakes area of the Kaiser wilderness. This was an awesome trip with some of my students, a couple Dads, one of my leaders, myself, and my Senior Pastor Jän Van Oosten. It was cool to have a trip that didn't have a set schedule. We hiked in on Thursday, and came out on Saturday. It is a beautiful trail, and even better destination. Word of advice though, if you are going to do Twin Lakes, you have two options, K2 or K3, K3 is the easier of the two and we found that out the hard way. Anyways, this trip was filled with whittling, fire, rock climbing, swimming, card games, and sleep. It was cool to get Jr High guys outside their element and show them there is life outside of a computer screen or whatever else it is that we let distract us from fellowship with others and more importantly with God.

July Was Thin, August Isn't Looking Much Better

So I looked back at my blog and noticed that last month I only had 4 posts, my goal was 10 a month, which if you average it out I think I still have it... Anyways, July 23rd was my last post and it is already the 6th and this is my 1st post, and it is on the fact that I haven't posted since the 23rd... Anyways, I have done a lot and have a bunch to say but I lost the cable and don't have pictures, oh I just remembered someone emailed me pictures from the guys hiking trip so I can post those, but they are on my work computer. I should get on here more.