Not Good

Yea, I know. It's been a long time since I've posted. Over a month now. I've found myself consumed by other things, therefore causing my blog to fall down the list of priorities. Here's a quick recap of some highlights over the past month...

• November 3 - 2nd wedding anniversary. Melissa and I spent a night away at a B&B in Wichita. It was good to get away and get a full night's sleep. Even better to just spend some time with my wife who continues to be the best wife in the world. She's uber awesome!
• Owen - It's been a roller coaster. Owen started crawling and cutting teeth. I think he wishes his teeth were all in and that he was walking. It's going to be tough keeping up with the little monkey.
• Football - Every Friday night for the past 2 1/2 months I've been calling high school football games on the radio. This past Friday I called the Salina South / Hutchinson game which South lost 28-0. So now I'm done. I enjoyed calling the games, but I'm glad their done.
• School - I'm on my last class and will graduate with my masters of arts in specialized ministries from Southwestern this December. It's been hard to stay motivated this last semester. I'm excited to be done, but less enthusiastic to start paying off loans.
• Concert - I took 2 high school boys from our church to a Disciple concert in Emporia. Pretty good rock concert with a good message. I enjoyed myself and the boys did too.

That's the extent of things. Just trying to keep up and remain open to God's leading, whatever that may be.

Upcoming

Well its been a while since I've posted mostly due to school and busyness at work, plus the football commentating. It's a wirlwind. Here's some exciting upcoming events...

David Crowder Band Concert - My Bday Gift from the Wife - October 25 in Manhattan, KS
Sex & Dating Series - I'm starting this for our middle and high school students this next week
Homecoming / Hyllingsfest - A big weekend in Lindsborg beginning tomorrow
Living Pants Up in a Pants Down World - Sexual Purity Retreat for the Salina area - Feb 1-2
Deep Shift Tour - Brian McLaren's new book tour in KC - April 25-26
The Music Man - My youngest brother is the lead in his HS musical - November 9

I've been having a lot of things happening that I'll post about next week concerning church and life in general. Catch ya then.

Way Too Long

Hey all. Sorry I haven't posted in quite some time. School has been keeping me busy along with getting ready for our mission trip to New Mexico. We leave Saturday morning and will be gone until the following Sunday.

Just a few random thoughts today.

• I had Taco John's tacos the other day. I'm impressed. They are bigger than Taco Bell's tacos and they taste better. But I think they cost ten cents more. But its worth it.
• My wife is awesome. She's going on the mission trip with us this year and I'm so stoked about it!
• Missional Church - if you get a chance sometime, read Missional Church by Darrell Guder. It's a great read and really challenges our current church structure.
• School is so much better when you're taking classes that you enjoy. I'm on my last week of my first class (Theology of Youth Ministry). I've enjoyed the reading and discussion. It's nothing like my undergraduate work. I don't dread the reading and I enjoy learning. Go figure!
• The Royals suck! And why are we adding more seating???
• Please drive safely! Over the last week we've had some accidents, one fatal, here in town that were results of just not good judgement. Please be safe.

Have a good weekend. I hope to catch up more with some thoughts in my head when we get back from Roswell. I hope to have some pictures.

Everything's Going to Be OK

Just wanted to update you so you weren't concerned about our little problem on Friday. The plumbers came in and roto rootered our drainage pipe and come to find out it was just some roots clogging the path. So we're all good.

Almost There

I've almost gotten all my thoughts collected to post about A New Kind of Christian. I should have something up in the next couple days. I want to make sure what I post makes sense to you and to me.

Getting Sick

Well it was a good holiday break other than the 2 days I was sick. Not sure if it was the flu or food poisoning, but either way it was not fun. Woke up on Sunday morning with major lower back pains. I've never felt anything like that. It was if a large boulder was sitting on my back and i was having to keep my muscles contracted the whole time to keep it from colapsing on me. Ouchy momma! Anyways, I threw up and felt a little better. Finally got to feeling better today (thursday). So yep, that's pretty much all my excitement. Got some great gifts for Christmas and actually have one more Christmas with my dad's side this Saturday. The fun never ends.

Plans for Holidays

Was talking to someone at the Y today about how complicated it gets when you get married and have to do the get together thing with immediate families and extended families. This year we'll do both immediate families as well as 3 extended families, a grand total of 5 Christmas's. Lucky for us we have more time off then the rest of the real world, but it seems like the more time we have off, the more time we have to fill with Christmas get togethers. At some point I guess you just have to narrow it down and do the best you can to see your immediate family. I very much enjoy gathering with my relatives and I hope that it will always work out to go there each year, however, I'm sure there will be years when it just doesn't work out. Ah the joys of growing older and starting a family.

On another note, it looks like I'm going to pursue my Masters in youth and young adult ministry from Southwestern College. I'll keep you posted...

A New Post

Well, its been too long since I've posted so I figured I would update you on the past few weeks with a list of "have dones."

• MJ had foot surgery
• We moved into our new sanctuary
• I got dizzy
• Saw Jesus Camp (hmm, that could be a new post)
• Ate pheasant
• Got the ski trip planned
• Made it into the Fantasy Football League semifinals
• Went Christmas shopping

That about does it. Will post more in the future.

No Nap Sunday - Update

I promised an update on me not taking a nap yesterday. Actually, I found it to be a productive afternoon. Just did some things I needed to get done for church along with some other odds and ends. So it was a successful experiment, however, I recommend only the strong willed attempt to do what I did.

Never Slowin' Down

You know I really thought things would slow down once I got done with the mission trip. I was sadly mistaken. After getting back tonight from Denver, I am now preparing myself to move back into the air conditioned offices at church. I will also be moving MS to our new home tomorrow and then get ready to put in a chain link fence for the dog this upcoming weekend. Sometime I need to take about 3-4 days for a planning retreat so I can get all my studies and activities planned for the youth for this fall and winter. If I wasn't busy, I'm not sure I would know what to do with myself. Probably take a nap or read a book. Oh well.

Closing Day

Today MS and I will be closing on our home that we are purchasing in Mac. As long as all goes to plan, we'll be proud home owners at 1pm today. MS will move in on Monday and then I will move in after we are wed on November 3rd.

Another side note, we are headed to Denver to meet up with the bro and sis-in-law along with the rest of the fam. It will be a quick weekend, but it will be good to get everyone together again for a little bit. Aso will be going to a wedding of a buddy of mine there on Sat. morning. I guess it's supposed to be around 79 degrees for the high on that day. Much better than the 110 degrees we've been experiencing here in KS.

Back Again

Sorry for the long pause from posting. I've been in Illinois on a mission trip with our youth group. I'll have pics and more to read very soon. Stay tuned...

The House

MS and I have purchased a home in McPherson and will then commute to work each day. She will move in the middle of July and then I will move in after the wedding, of course. Here are a couple pics of the house. It's a nice little 2 bedroom bungaloo that will be a great home for us and Denver (the dog).

P.S. - this is not our furniture

Big News!