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.