Highlights: part one

-lil side note- "my apologies for the lack of posting. spring break laziness has taken over my body and it was, quite honestly, out of my control...

Ashtar. Easter. Tommy.

Easter was at my house this year...first time ever! The house was invaded by my amazing lil cousins. All six of em'. Mom spent a total of 14 hours in the kitchen making Easter dinner which was GOOOOOOOD.

After dinner was the classic "hunt". (Which by no means beat the first year hunt that was PJ and Jenna initiated right before break)...but still entertaining. I played the easter bunny or "Ashtar" as we learned in class. I think my Aunt took the icon "bunny" a little too far when she handed me THOUSANDS of little plastic eggs filled with what must have been HUNDREDS of bucks worth of candy. So I strategically placed each one :) ...in the middle of the yard. As huge as our back yard is, there are still only so many bushes, windows, and gutters. So the yard worked out just fine. But all in all, priceless moments. Tommy and Autumn (top right and bottom right) ran and screamed and smiled...and jumped (for the egg I placed 15' off the ground in a tree).

I love my cousins.

And if I haven't already shared this..I love my parents. They still get me an Easter basket...........I KNOW! I love em' much.

Finally, I close this entry with a "caught-red-handed-moment" ...this is my cousin Eric. He's officially been caught red handed :)

10 Reasons Why BUCK-BUCK is a Great Game

If you're not familiar with the game, let me give you the quick run through.

Set up: One line of people get in the "chair" position with their heads tucked to one side of the person in front of them forming the "base". Another line of people stand about 20ft. back from the base (smallest first).

Object: The line standing behind the base yells "buck buck!" (then whatever number they are in line) really loud and run n' jump on the base. The process repeats until the base cannot contain the MASS weight on their backs and collapses.

Here's why it's good.

1. kids learn how to form a proper "single-file-line"

2. a "little guy" strategically placed in between two "big guys" can make the "little guy" feel like a "buff big guy" with 10 kids on his back.

3. big guys get piggy back rides.

4. laughter is mandatory.

5. the leader can lift up the student (in more ways then one).

6. co-ed is ok.

7. the art of "jumping" is perfected.

8. the short guys feel love because they get to jump first.

9. it makes God laughs.

10. everyone falls together and everyone gets back up together.

North Terminal

Air port runs have become just one more routine in this masters world. You tend to have a lot of interesting conversations with youth leaders behind the closed doors of a car. My friend Austin recalls a car full of "female" cadre members FORGET that he was in the car and started talking about libido's or something. (I still don't know what it is, but he didn't make it sound like it was "appropriate" conversation.) I've had some amazing talks with youth pastors from around the world and some rides that were nothing but awkward silence. This morning's 10 o'clock was one of my favorites.

I picked up Nick, who was staying in apartment 132, at exactly 10:02. oops. Nick was the last one left in the apartment and he was ready to go. Greeted with a smile, Nick seemed like a genuine down-to-earth-Jesus-lover.

We hit it off right away with our common interest in music. When I asked him what he was in the mood to listen to, (which is always a scary thing for me, because I'm a little picky) Nick listed off my 5 top worship leaders and we were in business. So as we listened to David Crowder's new cd "Remedy", we started to talk. Nick had noticed my new airsoft rifle in my trunk when he put his bag in and shared a story about how his "amazing" intern flooded their church with pin-point accuracy when he took his airsoft pistol and nailed the "detonator" on the sprinkler head in the ceiling (it was a dare). I asked him about the cadre and he had nothing but amazing things to say. Then conversation turned exciting when he mentioned his small group.

I was intrigued. I shared with him my dream to go home, get a house, and have it based around a small group. He got a little excited too with the idea and thoughts started to fire. He shared how he was able to bring his small group together and create a sense of family with a red-hot burning ember. Nick told his small group that embers have to be together in a fire to stay hot and when he took one out of the fire, it died out.

Blown away by the creative tactics flowing from Nick's brain, I told him about one other goal that I had for the group. I said that I want to challenge the kid's way of thinking far beyond what they're used to or comfortable with. I want to push them to crazy extremes and get them to actually DO something and LIVE Christianity AS they learned about it. Nick suggested that I ask this; "why do people only look to God when their world is falling apart? Challenge them to ask their piers who they look to when life is going GOOD."

Just as he finished explaining the question, we pulled up to the North Terminal. I grabbed his number really quick and said I'd like to stay in touch. He encouraged me to follow the dream and that if full time ministry doesn't happens to be calling my name, then GOOD! Because "youth pastors need dedicated leaders as much as dedicated leaders need youth pastors." Thanks Nick. I was absolutely blessed to be able to hang with you on the way to the atlanta airport.

No Heaven. No Hell.

So I'm reading this book...the irresistible revolution. There's about a thousand amazing quotes, one liners, and ideas that Shane talks about in his pages of thoughts, but one startled me. I guess it hit hard, because it motivated me enough to pull my laptop out of my bag and write about it. Here's the question; “if there were no heave and there wasn't a hell...would you still follow Jesus?”

Kind of blew my mind a little bit. There's a million different angles to this one, but non the less, I didn't think it was one of those questions that you can have an immediate answer to. Well, that's what I thought until I asked the question to some of my classmates and they blurted out their answer in under five seconds. Most of the answers are what you'd expect, “of course I would.” But my friend Andrew, who I love to death, took a few extra seconds before he responded (still kept it under five) and replied, “no.” I didn't really know what to say. I expected everyone's answer to eventually be yes.

I can honestly say that I don't have an answer to the question right now. I know that my immediate impulse is to blurt out “YES!” at the top of my lungs and be offended toward whoever had the nerve to even ask the question that challenged how much I love my Jesus. I'm just not sure. I know how Christ makes me feel and I can honestly say that I don't know where I'd be without His love, but I also don't know how much I am truly motivated by eternal consequences. Time for a heart check.

So maybe ask yourself the same question. Dwell on it for a day, but not two. Let it eat at you, but not too much. I'll love ya either way and so will He.

the commitment

so whatever thoughts i've had so far this year that i deemed profound are listed below this entry. if anymore come my way, i'll be sure to let you know. something has occurred to me. a blog doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have if you only write in it three times a year. i don't anticipate a large group of readers in the first place, but to anyone wanting to know what goes through my head for whatever reason...i believe that i owe you more than three thoughts, since there are certainly more than that in my head on any given day.

this is what my insane self has thought up now. "i'll actually write." most of the time, i'm sure nothing profound will come out, but then again, life doesn't necessarily have to be profound to be worth telling about. so once a week. (i figured i can start a little slower and hopefully get hooked.) keep your fingers crossed, because my a.d.d. mind just might forget my "blogspot" password. but i will commit to trying to, once a week, let you know what's going on inside my head. more then that...once a week i will try and sort out what is going on inside my head, so it's a win win (depending on the verdict of thoughts). thank you to whoever stumbles accross and decides to read and thank you to everyone who does not.