HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KIMMY

Today Kimmy turned 30 years old! So happy birthday to you my beautiful, hot and sexy 30 year old wife!

"Hey, do you want to run sound?"

That was the question posed to me this Sunday morning at church. I was sitting in the youth room talking with one of the students before the student’s worship service when the guy who runs the audio/visual at church came up to me and asked that question. I looked at him and said, “How do you know that I even know how to run sound?”

He said to me, “You look like you would know what to do.”

So I look like a sound geek? What does a sound geek even look like? Where is that mirror anyway? LOL

I went up to the Sehior Pastor and told him what happened, so he laughed and said, “Just jump right in!”

It just so happens that I do know quite a bit about sound, having helped 3 churches set up their systems and also having had a class in it at my Bible college. And when I first met this guy I had asked him a couple of questions about the sound board and other stuff, so he must have put two and two together. I don’t mind helping out with things like that in a pinch, but it s definitely not what I am planning on doing on a regular basis. At the church they have a policy that you are only allowed to have a primary and a secondary ministry. And I already know the two I want to be a part of. The student ministry and the yound adult/college ministry. The only thing I need to figure out is which one God wants me to have as my primary and which one will be my secondary.

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Guess how much this one is worth? Oh yeah, and can you guess why I am posting it? If you guessed because Michigan beat that team from up north 72-67, then you would be right! It has been a while since we have beaten them and let’s hope this means we are turning the corner!

The Auto Show

Here are the pics from my trip to the North American International Auto Show from yesterday. I have not been to the Auto Show in about 15 years.

The first picture you see here is a picture of the Sirius Satellite Radio booth, that I took for Adam. I do have a special gift that I got for you from there!

And i figured he might also enjoy the one below of the national championship winning solar car made by the geniuses at the University of Michigan! Too bad Notre Dame or Michigan State people are not smart enough to do that!

And here are the cars that cost more than my house!

Rolls Royce

Bentley

Ferarri

Kobe Bryant’s Lamorghini with rims that cost on average $15,000!

The Lamborghini concept car

Speaking of concept cars……

Here are two of the concept cars that Toyota had there.

A minivan?

The next step from this is the Jetson’s flying car!

The Dodge Charger!

The Chevrolet Camaro!

I even saw a funny car!

Here is the pace car for the Daytona 500!

Speaking of NASCAR…..

This one is for Derek

Here is one of the biggest jerks in NASCAR car!

Here is the Nextel Cup champs car!

Here is a dork with Mark Martin’s car!

This is the trophy that Mark got for winning the pole at MIS, it was about 4 feet from me.

This is the trophy that goes to the guy who wins it all. I was also about 4 feet from it and could have easily picked it up.

Then I saw one of the best cars ever created. The 1963 Corvette “Stingray” with the split back window. It also has the distinction of being the very first Corvette “Stingray” ever made.

That was my exciting trip to the North American International Auto Show yesterday. And the oddest thing I saw was as I was walking along Jefferson Avenue near Hart Plaza was what looked like a stargate. And if you are a sci-fi geek, you will know what I am referring to! To think that Detroit could actually be a place that people from other planets would want to visit, but then again it could explain a lot about our city!

So Hard to Understand…..

Today I went to the funeral of a young man who decided that he no longer wanted to face the problems that he had created for himself. He no longer wanted to deal with all the crap that life can throw at you. He no longer wanted to be a blessing to his parents, sister, extended family and friends. So instead he chose to scale the fence that sits along side of a highway overpass and jump to his death. Here is a link to the article about it titled, “Teen commits suicide jumping from overpass”

He was only 17 years old and had so much to look forward to. He was going to be graduating from high school in a few months and then had plans to serve his nation in the United States Marine Corps. He one day would potentially get married and have kids, and give his parents grandchildren to spoil rotten, like all grandparents do. But instead on January 13th, before he went to school that he would just end all that hope and promise.

Why do people do such selfish and stupid things? I just don’t get it. As I sat there in that church waiting for the service to begin I looked up at his picture being projected on the wall and thought to myself, “How could he get on top of that fence, look down and realize that that was going to it for his life. And then to follow through and jump. What was he thinking as he plunged down to the pavement.” I don’t think I could ever get myself to that point of just letting go like that. Have I ever thought about ending it all? Yes, I don’t think there is a person who didn’t have that thought cross their mind. But to actually follow through with it is a whole different thing.

People say that it takes a very strong person to commit suicide and that it takes some serious guts. If I were to only think about the fear of that moment before making that choice and being able to follow through with it, I would say that they are correct. But when I look at it in the bigger picture I see what a cowardice act it really is. It is also selfish, but it is a cowards acts and death. Unlike the opposite thing this young man was potentially choosing of going into the USMC and possible getting sent to Iraq and dying there, which would have been a heroes death. But when you look at the big picture you see that he would have been much stronger and so much, more brave to choose to live life. To face whatever it was that he did that he knew he was going to have to pay for. To face that and to face the rest of his life would have taken a lot more intestinal fortitude and strength, because life is hard. Life is filled with all kinds of trials and problems. It is a hard thing to do and to live.

So now his family and friends are left here to deal with all of the crap and the emotions that are left to deal with from the loss of his life. I sat there amongst a bunch of students from his high school and watched them break down and cry. I am sure that even if he had died of natural causes they would have been crying, but it is much harder to deal with when they chose to die and so there was a definite sense of that deeper grief there.

But what I saw as an even bigger tragedy than the loss of his life, with all due respect, was the way that the two pastors who spoke totally botched the opportunity they had. The first pastor got up and admitted that he did not even know the young man, but was the pastor of some of the aunts and uncles. In fact, this young man and his family didn’t even attend church and the mom even said that she wasn’t a religious person and doesn’t even go to church. Anyway, this first pastor said that he was feeling so many emotions at this time and one of them was anger. And that he was angry at Garrett for what he did and for taking his life. And he pointed out that many there probably felt the same way. But the problem was that he pretty much left it right there. Not much else was said. Very sad!

Then this girl got up and sang this song that she wrote to Garrett and towards the end she broke down and cried. The other pastor, who was the senior pastor of the church the funeral service was held at, got up there and put his arm around her and patted her back. Very nice! But then she turned to embrace him because she was obviously very emotional and this “man of God” brushed her off as if to say, “go on and sit down, we have a show to finish”. I was so disgusted!

Then it was his turn to give a message and while it was a fairly good message he made a very poor attempt to engage the extremely young audience he had. The first rule of delivering a speech or sermon is audience analysis and this guy failed it! Then when he kept referring to them as young people, and not that that is a problem, but it was the way he said it. There was an air of condescension to it. And that bothers the crap out of me. But they were totally disengaged from what he had to say. And while all that he had to say was true he failed at engaging them, speaking to them (as opposed to talking down to them), and giving them a way to apply it to their lives. I sat there wishing that I could just embrace everyone of those students and talk with them and console them.

Then at the end the most amazing thing happened! Garrett’s mom stood up to speak. She started it off by saying that she was “by no means a religious person” (I love how people say that! LOL), and that she “doesn’t go to church at all”. She then said that she “had no idea how she is going to say goodbye to her son”. WOW!!! Now that right there was a tough one to hear. It took everything for me to just sit there and not run down to the front and hug her. Then she went on to say to all of the students there that “if they hear about a friend who is going through a tough time, even if it is a rumor, to tell them to talk with someone. If they won’t talk with their parents then tell them to go to a neighbor or anyone. Just tell them to talk with someone, because I had no idea that my son was going through a tough time.” She then repeated that she “had no idea how she is going to say goodbye to her son”. This woman who is “by no means a religious person” said more than the religious people did, in my opinion. I hope those pastors were taking notes, but I doubt it.

And one last little rant. This is a pet peeve of mine because it is just so wrong Scripturally. We do not die and go to heaven and become angels! I was glad that these two pastors did not say that, but it just amazes me how many people think that. Where did that idea ever come from? I know that it makes people feel better and all that, but it is bs and bothers me. Oh well!

I pray for Garrett’s family during this time, that God would comfort them. And I especially pray for his parents and sister that they would find God in all of this and embrace him with their whole lives. I pray for his friends that they too, would find that comfort that they need and if they do not have a relationship with Him that God would reveal himself to them in this time of need.

What An Honor!!!!

I had the honor of performing the wedding ceremony for some very dear friends of mine last week on 7 January 2006. This is only the fourth wedding that I have had the honor of doing and I can tell you that I take it very seriously. It breaks my heart when I hear about any of these couples having troubles or even getting divorced, as has happened.

I recently read a friend of mine’s blog about a wedding she went to on the same day I did my past wedding. And she was touched about the part in the vows that says to honor each other. I think what she had to say is one of the keys to a successful marriage. If you can learn to really honor one another then I think you will find one way to make your marriage last. And what does honor mean? According to dictionary.com it means: to hold in respect; esteem; to show respect for. If someone did that for you how could you not, but do the same in return and if that keeps going back and forth then I think you will begin to find success!

But back to the honor (great privilege) that I had in doing the wedding for this fine couple….. I can not even begin to tell you how much I am so grateful that Tim and Kim would chose me over all the other pastor’s that they know to perform their wedding ceremony and to also go through pre-marital counseling with them. It is not an easy thing to allow someone to ask you persoanl questions about you, your family, and your relationship with one another. But this couple felt comfortable enough with me (and Kimmy) to do that. One of the books that I like to use for this is called The Most Important Year in a Woman’s Life, The Most Important Year in a Man’s Life. It is a two sided book that on one side the guy read and the other the girl reads. Then in the middle there are questions to ask one another, but what we do is discuss them together. I have used this with a couple that I did some marriage counseling witha nd it really helped out that couple, so I started using it for pre-marital counseling also.

It was really neat to get to know this couple while going over those questions together. They also invited Kimmy and I to their bachelorette and bachelor parties respectively. How often do you invite the pastor, who is doing your wedding ceremony, and his wife along to those? I would dare say that does not happen very often. I muc prefer to do the wedding of someone that I know and have a friendship with then to do one for a couple that I really do not know. So Tim and Kim, “THANK YOU!” It really was my honor!

Remember the Alamo?

No, I am not going to go off about the Alamo Bowl and the horendous officiating! Last night after I signed out of my chat with some friends, I started to close down my computer and got an email that came in. It was from a church in San Antonio, TX that I had sent a resume to just before Christmas. The sent me a questionnaire to fill out and a more detailed job description. If they like what I have to say in that one they will send me another one and if they like what I have to say on that one, then they will set up a phone interview. Just as I was thinking that I was taking a break from some of this, God has another plan.

I was listening to a podcast from erwin mcmanus, entitled “God On Time”. And it spoke to what I was thinking after getting this email! That God is always on time and though we may have plans and thoughts, He has other plans and thoughts. He called it being between the landing and arrival on an airplane. And how that can be the longest part of the trip! How true that is! Still hanging on!

Blogging Through 2005

A friend of mine did this at the end of last year and thought I would steal the idea. Basically, what you do is take the first blog from each month and reflect on it a bit. And since I started this in March, I will have to start there.

March- umm… am i supposed to say something?
That was my lame beginning to the blogging world, but at least it wasn’t as lame as this one!

April- no california dreamin’
One of the first of many disappointments on the job front!

May- more news…..
funny part about this one is that the church lost the questionnaire I sent them and it wasn’t until later in the summer that I got things straightened out with them. Made the short list and didn’t get the job.

June- no gambling for me…..
I had no idea at this point how many “short lists” I would end up making.

July- more job news……
Again that one did not pan out either!

August- oh how i miss it! (part 2), but make sure you read “oh how i miss it!” first, which came at the end of July.
These two were very emotional posts for me. The cool part about all of that is that now I am getting the opportunity to get back into it and I can’t wait to see what comes next! I love hanging out with students.

September- patience…..
Still whistlin’ that tune!

October- prediction for the backyard brawl & hail to the victors!!!
My prediction was way off, but I was in no way disappointed! Actually I should have figured that those sparty’s woudl crack under the pressure as usual!

November- In Honor of Meghan Leigh Russell
Words can’t even begin to describe…..

December- yesterday was great!
YEAH, BABY!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kind of cool to go back and see what all happened in my life! Surprised I am still sane, well, as sane as I normally am! LOL I hope you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane.

still following Him!!!!

In case you were wondering, we are still following Him! But currently it seems that God wants us to sit for a while. This week our real estate agent called and wanted to know if we were gonna relist our house, because our listing expires. Kimmy and I had been talking about it for the past couple of weeks about what we thought we should do and we both felt that we need to take it off of the market, so we called our real estate agent and now it is off the market. I have no idea what God is doing in all of this and why we feel He is leading us this way. But we have a peace about this and feel that it is the right decision. It is confusing and scary to think about, but having that peace that can only come from God makes it all seem okay. The odd thing is that during this whole time of job searching I have felt that we were going to go somewhere, but I never saw us out of our home and I never got that. So I think maybe God was prepping me with the fact that we are gonna be staying. We love our house and our neighborhood. And are very happy to be staying.

The other thing is that I have been sensing recently that God may want me to sit tight for a while and just take a break. And by that I mean not send any resumes out for a while. I am planning on leaving my resume up on Youth Specialties job bank and if someone reads it and contacts me, then I will pray about it. But otherwise I am not going to be sending out my resumes unless I really sense that it is something God is impressing me to send one. We have lived in a constant state of having our bags packed and ready to move at a moments notice. So are gonna unpack our bags and rest for a while.

We have found a church that we are gonna settle in at for a while. I have already had a meeting with the youth pastor there on friday and asked him how I can help them out there. I also sent an email to the senior pastor and asked him how I can help out with the young adults/college age ministry. So we are gonna plug ourselves in there and see where God leads us from there. I am really excited to see where it is that He leads us as we pursue this next adventure! As much as I should be disappointed and afraid, I am really excited instead. Today was the first time that I had an opportunity to sit in on a regular youth group meeting and I was so excited! They have some cool and fun events planned for the senior high group and I am looking forward to getting involved there and hanging out with students! So to some things up for us I guess all I can say is that God is telling us to sit for now, but I am figuring that I better hang on tight cause it is gonna be a wild ride! LOL (btw, I am the dork in the orange tanktop!)

goodbye 2005! don’t let the door hit you…..

“Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.”

—Brooks Atkinson

How how that statement on my blog means so much about this year. I can not even begin to tell you how bad this year sucked, but for people who have followed my blog or who know me personally you know. This year started off with me leaving the church that I had served at for 5 and a half years. While my leaving was pretty much my choice, the timing of my leaving was not. Which is what really made it hard. But as I look back on it, I am glad God me out of there when he did. I have been able to see how unhealthy of a situation it was for me there and I was able to put some things in perspective and see a little bit of what God is doing in all of this.

Then during the course of the rest of the year I made several churches “short lists” only to come up short! I have gotten to the point where I do not want to hear froma nother church that I am down to their final two, but I want to only hear you have the job! But that will come in due time, I am sure of it. And as I said to someone else that I know of who has gotten a raw deal from their church, “God has not abandoned you, but has you right where He wants you. Now the job is to figure out why He has you where He has you and where He is leading you next.” Great words of advice not only to them, but to myself as well!

I have also seen how I have gone through the different stages of grief through this and can see myself coming to the end of it. A friend of mine posted this in the YMExchange.com forum that I frequent.

Here are the ‘normal’ stages of grief:
* Denial (this isn’t happening to me!)
* Anger (why is this happening to me?)
* Bargaining (I promise I’ll be a better person if…)
* Depression (I don’t care anymore)
* Acceptance (I’m ready for whatever comes)

And I can honestly say that I see myself in the last stage there. I am really ready for wahtever comes, even if that means that Kimmy are still here for a while.

I did have some grea things happen to me. I have met some really great friends from around the country. In March I met Derek, KT, and Dirk on our trip out to California for the Purpose Driven Youth Ministry conference. Which is also where I became famous! This was the banner ad they have on there. And NO!!!! I was not picking my nose!

And then recently I have been getting together with a really cool youth pastor named Adam and his wife. He is actually the one behind YMX.com and the reuniting of the community of youth pastor’s that I have been a part of. It has been really great getting to know him and his family. My wife and I have found some great friends and look forward to continuing the friendship!

So I say goodbye to 2005, don’t let the door hit you on the butt on the way out and a hearty welcome to 2006!