IM GOING TO DIE....

The half marathon that I have been training for has finally arrived.
I have to be at Disneyland at 4:40am Monday morning to register. The race is from 6:30 to 10:00.
Please, Please, Please pray that I can finish this thing.

I think Im ready. I have my energy bars, running shoes, and Ipod. Is there anything missing?
I am making a playlist that will get me through the hours of running.
What song would you want to listen to while running?
My power song is "Dont Stop Believin" by Journey. I also have the Rocky Soundtrack.

If you dont hear from me by next Wed. something seriously went wrong.

Good Advertisement?

The Dallas Stars have two new slogans to promote the team and the NHL for the upcoming season. Both of the slogans take a shot at 2 other sports. Although I am not a big fan of hockey, I have to admit that this is pretty funny.

First Slogan:
The only thing our refs shave is the ice

Second Slogan:
Only one game a week?
Is the N in NFL for Nancy?

Pretty funny stuff.

Conversation with a Jr. High Student

Maybe you had to be there for this to be funny but this is a short conversation that I had with one of my favorite students at a youth swim and bbq event. His name is Dustin.

Dustin - You need to come watch me do all sorts of crazy jumps off the diving board.
Me - What kind of stuff can you do?
Dustin - I did a gainer, a back flip, and I dived from the top of the rocks.
Me- You dived? Dont you mean you dove?
Dustin - Leave me alone, Im not good at Math.

Hilarious!

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!

I posted a while back on how chick-fil-a and I were not on speaking terms. I made a commitment that I would email them once a month until they put a chick-fil-a in the central valley. They were very kind but very quick to point out that there were not any locations opening soon in this area. I continued to pursue my commitment and bring the goodness of this food to people who may have never experienced the deliciousness of chicken sandwiches with waffle fries, sweet tea, and lemon pies.
After continuous rejections, I think I may have come through to them.

There is a chick-fil-a opening up on the Fresno State campus within a few weeks.
This news brought tears of joy to my face. (I really need a life.) But it did.

Two things to learn from this.
1. Don't take no for an answer
2. If you are persistent, you will get your favorite fast food place.

Miss Teen South Carolina

Sorry Treece,
She didnt really represent your state very well.

Volunteers

Have a question for all you youth ministry gurus out there. (or just people with an opinion.)
First of all, I think we would all agree on how important volunteers to our ministry are. We need them, the ministry wouldnt work with out them, we need to appreciate them, encourage them, and so on.
There are too types of voluneers that I have questions for.

1. How do you deal with the ones who are negative?
From my own experience and other youth pastors, there are a few volunteers who always come up with the problem, but never really come up with the solution.
2. How do you deal with the ones who's behavior outside the church might be questionable?
Out of the two questions, to me this is the toughest.
If someone is a volunteer for your ministry and you hear about questionable behavior going on outside the church, but you dont know for sure, what do you do?
I realize the easy answer is to just ask them, but Im doubting they would be completely honest.

Just things to think about.

All Grown Up!

No, I am not a father (that's a scary thought) but I am a proud uncle. My niece Ashlyn had her first day at Kindergarten yesterday. She said that it was a lot of fun but they gave her homework on the 1st day. Can you believe that? She had to write her name and 5 things that she did this summer. I don't remember ever having homework in kindergarten. I wish I could go back to that age though. How much fun would that be?
If there is one thing I miss about TX. (there is more than one) it is being able to see my family all the time. They should be out to Cali in November though.

Fantasy Football Drought

There are not too many things as fun as being in a fantasy football league. It is one of the main reasons that I look forward to the season. But for some reason, both leagues that I have been in the last few years are losing interest. No one is signing up, no one is talking trash. It is a sad sad thing. If you are reading this and have been part of our league in the past, sign up.

Viva Las Vegas

I just got back from 5 days and 4 nights in Vegas. I must say, that is probably 1 to 2 days too long but it was a lot of fun. I met up with some of my family there.
Here are some higlights that I would recommend so you dont spend your entire time losing money.

1. Star Trek musuem and restaurant.
Never a fan of the show, but it was pretty interesting.
2. Shark Reef
It will cost you 16 bucks but you would lose more than that on the slots.
3. Stratosphere tower
not only can you see the strip but they have 3 crazy rides at the top where you can hangout from 120 stories.
4. Shows
We saw a comedy show and American Superstars that included a fake Elvis, Tim McGraw, Britney Spears, and Michael Jackson. Britney was my favorite.
5. Plane ride home. There was a European lady sitting next to me. She was very pretty but when I looked down, I noticed that she didnt shave her legs. It was seriously the grosest thing ever. I wanted to take a picture but I thought she might get upset.

But now I am ridiculously tired and have to prepare for church.
Good Night!

Accent is fading

This cant be happening. I spoke in front of the congregation at church yesterday and I had about 5 different people tell me that I was losing my Texas draw. You don't understand how horrible this is. Living outside of TX. this is really the only piece of Texas that I still carry around wherever I go. Does this mean I am a Californian now? I sure hope not. (no offense to any Californians reading this.)
There has to be a way to get it back. I must go to TX. for at least a week and get back but I might be losing.

Cant wait until Tuesday

There are a couple things that I am looking forward to that will take place on Tuesday.
1. Madden 08 is released.
I will go to the store and pickup my reserved copy of Madden on xbox 360 and look forward to many hours of football. But before I can enjoy this wonderful possession, I will have to wait until I get home from a mini vacation.
2. Vegas Baby!
I will meet up with my cousin in Vegas on Tuesday afternoon for a few days of fun.
This is the second year that we will meet up. We are both youth pastors so of course we will behave ourselves.
The only bummer is that tomorrow will be one busy day.

Back to Bloggin

My job has been overwhelming lately. Fun, but overwhelming.
Not only are we in the midst of summer activites and gearing up for small groups, but my head is about to explode with major decisions that have to be made in the near future.
Im really wanting to give the jr. high ministry an identity but I didnt realize how much would go into it.
First and foremost, a name for the ministry. You might think it would be easy to just pick one and go with it. Not so much. Im hoping that this name is something that that students will love and will stick around for years to come.
Second, we are wanting to give the student center an extreme makeover. We have a great room that has much potential, but it is really bland right now. Any ideas on what to put in a youth room, let me know.
Third, we are wanting to make the nights more of an outreach (bring a friend)atmosphere. I want the worship to be a more energetic, concert type feel where students would want to bring their friends.

It is a blessing and a lot of fun to have so much freedom to make these changes, but it is quite scary as well. You dont know what will or will not work. I guess you sometimes have to just take a risk and pray that you are making the right decisions.

"Look up, get up, and don't ever give up"

Being a Cowboy fan, I'm sure that this will sound a little biased, but Michael Irvin gave an incredible, emotional speech tonight while being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He definitely didn't hold back by dancing around all of the problems he dealt with off the field. He told his sons that he wished he could of said to "be like me" but that he knew he couldn't. He told them to be like other Hall of Famers that didn't get into trouble. He was very honest and real.

Some might say that he got a little preachy, but I thought it was very cool that he would use such a big stage to talk about God, the Bible, and even opening up his speech by praying and thanking his spiritual father {TD Jakes}. But overall it was a great speech that ended with him encouraging everyone to look up, get up, and don't ever give up.

Congrats for getting into the Hall.

Hume

I just went with a few friends up to Hume Lake for the weekend. I seriously forgot how much fun and relaxing a camping trip can be. You do nothing but eat, fish, swim, play games, and sleep. You don't even have to worry about taking a shower or worry about getting phone calls (no service). It is wonderful.
Now it is back to the life of busyness, people, work, cell phones, and noise. But at least I get to sleep in a comfortable bed.