Highlights of Anaheim.

I just spent this last week helping out at a Church of God convention in Anaheim, CA.

The best parts of the week were, catching up with old friends from high school and college. It was great seeing everybody. Its funny how much people change in just a few years.

I also got the chance to go listen to my former boss at Saddleback, Kurt Johnston, speak to about 1200 youth workers.

I worked security so I got to push some kids around, which is always a blast

I got to share my heart with students on the issue of sex and dating. (dont laugh) This is obviously a popular issue and they wanted to know where I stand on these issues. (why they wanted my opinion, I have no idea. Im not an expert by any means)
But I do really believe that God used me to open the eyes of some of these students that struggle with this issue.

And to top it off, as I was leaving the hotel, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Joe Montana, and Thurman Thomas walked right through the lobby. There was a sports convention going on.

Now its time to head up to Oxnard, CA for some Dallas Cowboys Training Camp. This has been a tradition the last few years. Cant Wait!

Best Week Ever!

I am very excited about this upcoming week.
I grew up in a Church of God denomination church. Every two years they have a great youth convention in a different city. It has been 4 years since I have been to one but this year it is in Anaheim. My former youth pastor now oversees the convention.
This year there are great speakers such as Ewrin McManus, Debbie Morris, and David Edwards.
There will be awesome music as well which includes, David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, and Jami Smith. Can you beat that lineup? I dont think so. The only thing better would be if DC talk got back together and made a suprise visit. How sweet would that be?

It is win win for me. Not only will I see old friends from high school and college but I will also hangout with friends from Saddleback. Should be a great week!

Parents & Ministry

I love and respect the fact that their are parents that are very supportive and trust us in ministry with their precious students. They are great sources that support our ministries with prayer, time, money, and who knows what else.

But some of them can be very frustrating sometimes.
I just had an incredible time at Jr. High sumer camp. It was a great week where I grew a strong connection with the students, and they grew closer to God. One girl came to know Christ for the first time. It was amazing.
I came home excited about ministry. For the first time, I felt like a successful youth pastor. Nothing could stop me or get me down.

I came home and had numerous emails and phone messages from a couple parents with concerns about how I handled camp. They gave me their 2 cents on how to be a better leader and how I could of handled different issues better.
It actually took me a while to even remember what they were talking about becasue there was nothing in my mind that I thought I did wrong.

Is this normal? Am I going to have to get use to this?
I guess its just part of the job.

It's a small world.

Jeremiah Richey

There is a new tv show that just aired for the first time this past week called "The One; Making a Music Star." A friend called me up and told me to turn it on. It turns out that an old friend that I hungout with through out high school and college is one of the eleven contestants. His name is Jeremiah Richey.
I would say vote for him, but they eliminate each other. It was just pretty cool seeing someone I know on national television.

It airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights on ABC.

I HATE READING!

With that said, I am in need of some good books.
I have always had dicipline problems with voluntarily reading but summer time is the worst. For the life of me, I can not sit still and read a book. I am trying to get better. I need your help. If you could suggest two books for me, I would greatly appreciate it. One book that I can learn from or grow spiritually and one book that is just for pure entertainment. I am on my knees begging. (its hard to type on your knees.) Help a brother out. Thanks!

Camp comes to an end.

I apologize for the lack of post lately. I have been at camp all week and did not have any access to a computer. Camp was an amazing experience! Even though I am tired beyond belief, I actually wish I was still at camp. It did however have its ups and downs.
Here are the highlights and lowlights of camp, just as I promised.

Highlights:
1. It was the first time since being at this church that I really connected with students.
2. I met and hungout with some awesome youth pastors from other churches.
3. Played 54 holes of frisbee golf. With Josh Treece and my students..
4. Found a huge bird lying on eggs while playing golf. We thought it was sitting on a frisbee that Josh threw so I started poking it with a stick. It got up and we both thought our lives were coming to an end because this huge bird was going to kill us.
5. The Band - Although they had trouble keeping kids under control, they were very talented. 10 times better than last year.
6. Silent Football - My students loved this game.
7. The Rock Wall - After failing to make it up the wall about 15 times, I made it on Friday afternoon.
8 My leader - One of my girl leaders backed out of camp about 2 days before we were leaving. I started to freak out. My assistant found somebody to replace her. I had my doubts considering this girl was not a jr. high volunteer and I had never met her before. She ended up being the coolest person ever and doing the most amazing job as a leader. God totally blessed me when I needed it. Unfortuanately she is a student at BIOLA and wont be around for the school year. She would be the perfect volunteer.
9. Paintball - I didnt play, therefore I didnt get shot in the crotch like last year.

LOWLIGHTS:

1. The Bus ride. It was fun but it took 5 hours to get there.
2. 5 girls from my group got food poison and had to be sent home on Wed.
3. The food. I lost 6 lbs at camp.
4. The Rock Wall. I did eventually make it but it was embarrasing to fail about 35 times.
5. The Speaker. He was okay, but some of us had a hard time following him.
6. Being Loud and hyper during Rec. time. Kids love it, I dont.


Overall
Great week of camp. God did some amazing things. That is all that matters!

Summer Camp

I leave tomorrow for another great week of summer camp at thousand pines. This will be my first time with my new church. I have gone to this camp the past two years with Saddleback. For the most part, my experiences at this camp have been great, but I just wanted to give a list of highlights and things Im looking forward to and also a list of lowlights and things that I hope dont repeat.

Best things about camp...
The Frisbee Golf course - No matter how much your arm hurts, you keep playing.
Paintball - There is no greater feeling then shooting jr. high students.
Worship Services - God has done amazing things during these times.
Silent Football - Its time to teach the new students this incredible game.
Wrestling in Cabin - Im usually just the ref.
Mornings - I usually wake up my guys with an air horn.

Worst things about camp...
Late Late nights - Jr. highers never want to sleep.
Paintball - Getting shot in the crotch 3 times in one week.
Stinging Nettle - This plant will put you in pain for hours.
Sickness and injuries - Every year so far, I have had a kid get sick or hurt.
The talent show - Its tough when no one wants to do anything for the show.
Team Spirit - 5 days of non stop cheering and yelling for your team.

I have a lot of great memories from this camp and I cant wait to make more of them. I hope and pray that this will be an incredible week of leading, learning, and connecting with others.

Thousand Pines, here we come!

What are the chances?

The most amazing thing happened on the night of July 4th. This entire summer, my mother had been planning a trip to Texas. She was very excited and ready to go. Her plane was scheduled to take off on the evening of July 4th. She has been struggling with some health issues. (hold on, im getting to the amazing part.)
If you know me, you know that I hate anything there is about blood, shots, hospitals, and all the above. I might pass out just typing this. Anyways, it was time for me to steo up and face my fear. I had to rush my mom to the hospital. I actually did it. I coudnt believe it. I even set inside the waiting room and did not have to lie down. Back to the amazing part. She obviously missed her flight due to her health. I was watiching the news and they were saying that the flight my mother was suppose to be on had to make an emergency landing becasue one of the wings broke while in the air. The landing was very hard and quite a few people got injured. (no deaths.) My mom has a horrible back and other health problems. The hard landing could of really messed her up. Who knows why certain things happen?

A new found respect for surfers.

This past weekend I decided to go down to Orange County and hangout with friends down there. Some of us decided to go surfing on my last day there. It still amazes me that I lived down there for 2 years but this was the first time I decided to give surfing a try. I knew that it would be hard but I thought I would be able to do it.
Unfortunately, the closest I got was riding on my knees. Every time I stood up, I wiped out. But here are a few warnings for those first time surfers.
1. You will drink an incredible amount of saltwater, to the point that you want to throw up.
2. Water will just randomly shoot out of your nose for the rest of the day. (pretty sick)
3. You will be sore in places that you didnt think were possible.


Other than that, it was a blast.