Kadesh

I have rested up a little bit from this past week. I am still a bit tired.

On Sunday the 23, I took a group of teens to Camp Kadesh at ACU. We got back in town this past Saturday from a week of strong renewal and service. For 6 days we prayed, studied, worshiped, laughed, cried and worked in the community in various service projects. Each of us slept for about 5 hours every evening - at most!

I have come back a changed man, though, and every day this week I will recount on this blog the wonderful life-altering events of Camp Kadesh in ACU.

It was, in the words of one of my teens, 'one of the most spiritual events in our lives.'

A Funeral-A Wedding-A New Birth

This afternoon the Marble Falls Church of Christ honored the life of W.R. "Dub" Kelso. Dub had lived to the ripe age of 86 and many of his friends and family gathered to recall with fondness the memories that he had indelibly imprinted on their hearts and minds. May God bless the Kelso family as they grieve their loss and look forward to seeing him again in the future.

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This past Wednesday I took my sweetheart to the airport so that she could spend time with her family in Arkansas and be with her sister, Katie, this evening as she enters into wedded bliss with the love of her life.

I will not be able to see her for the next week as she will be in AR and I will be with some students in Abilene for some spiritual renewal and Christian service.

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Now for the part that I have been chomping at the bit about for the past 3+ months or so.

My sweet wife and I are having a baby!!!!

We have been holding the news from almost all of our friends because we did not want to steal the thunder from Elizabeth's sister Katie and her special day. Well, now that she has tied the knot, I am able to let all of you readers out there on the Information Super Highway that we are having a baby: Due Date January 9th!

My dad's birthday!!

Isn't that crazy?

It is still too early to know the sex of the baby, but I will keep you updated as the trimesters progress. All we know is that it is healthy and growing at a normal rate.

Whew! I am glad that I can finally write about this! I will keep you up to date.

Quote Of The Day

"Should we not see the lines of laughter about the eyes are just as much marks of faith as are the lines of care and seriousness? Is it only earnestness that is baptized? Is laughter pagan? We have already allowed too much that is good to be lost to the church and cast many pearls before swine. A church is in a bad way when it banishes laughter from the sanctuary and leaves it to the cabaret, the nightclub and the toastmasters." - Helmut Thielecke

How To Clear Out A Swimming Pool

Our fun activity this afternoon came to a screeching halt. As 30 4th-8th graders swam and wrestled in the Marble Falls Community Pool, a loud cry brought our excitement to an end. The cry announced that someone had lost control of their faculties and let slip some fecal matter. We hurriedly jumped out with great dismay and watched in shock and awe as the lifeguards netted out some brown lumps from the shallow end. All of the diving, dunking and cannonballs were over. A quick way to clear out a pool! Hopefully tomorrow's activity will be uneventful, so to speak.

Silage and Other Juicy Morsels

Today was a first!! We began our First Principles Day Camp this morning and we were overwhelmed with more young, passionate students than we had prepared for! 35 came to sit around the table and study God's Word intensively for 2 hours this morning. Jim, Allan and I were shocked and overjoyed to see so many young thirsty hearts come in search of God's will for their lives. I pray that we will see even more tomorrow.

I will have pictures to share with you at a later date.

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I have been out of pocket for the past few days. It has turned into one busy month. Thursday morning, I traveled with my friend, Chris Bridges, to pick up the students that had spent 2 weeks growing closer to God and each other at Camp Bluehaven in New Mexico. We drove up Thursday-spent the night in Las Vegas, NM-and traveled back on Friday with a van full of tweens/teens and a trailer hitched on the back.

The next morning, Elizabeth and I got up to take 13 teens to Krause Springs for swimming and fellowship.

Yesterday was full of great worship and some awesome football in Johnson Park after evening services.

And, as I mentioned earlier, First Principles started today.

I am meeting with around 15 teens this evening to finish out the book of Genesis in our Meat Eaters class that meets each Monday night.

Whew! I am kinda tired right now.

Maybe things will slow down soon. Oh, who am I kidding! I am a Youth Minister. Things never slow down!!!

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While traveling to New Mexico with a great guy; I learned something new. I saw some strange things on the side of the road in an unnamed cow town that I could not quite figure out. Being somewhat of a city slicker, I have a lot to learn about farming and other rural events. As we passed by these stragne mounds, I asked Chris if he could tell me what they were. Happy to oblige, he told me that they were mounds of Silage.

A new word in my dictionary.

According to my friend, Silage mounds are piles of Hay (among other things) that are covered with plastic and left to sweat and (I guess) ferment. This Silage is then fed to the cows, causing them to produce more cream.

Cool! You learn something new every day!! And I love to learn.

Thank you Bridges family. Because of you, I now know about Silage and Javelinas!!

Quote Of The Day

"Let us, before all words, astound them by our way of life." - John Chrysostom

The Remedy

Last night I was disheartened because we (the Youth and I) were unable to have our weekly Meat Eaters evening devotional due to summer jobs, illness and other engagements. That made me sad.

Today was a day of unattractive bureaucracy. No one would think that bureacracy exists in the church, but, oh my, it does!

I have had a few run-ins with people who have a different approach than me and, even though the issue is settled, we all come off as a little impatient.

This day has gone that way for me.

Granted, these days are few and far between in my life, so by no means am I unhappy, But, when they come, they try to bring you down.

What is the remedy for days like today?

In the words (loosely quoted by me) of our Associate Minister, Allan Stanglin-Faith in our Awesome God!

Why does it seem that when we truly get down to business we think we have to come up with all the answers on our own?

Shouldn't we be seeking Divine Guidance?

Isn't our God big enough to handle all of our troubles?

Why don't we let Him do it, then?

That's the remedy!

Quote Of The Day

"Expend your energy not in fretting over what you cannot control but in opening yourself to the inbreaking of God." - Jack R. Reese

Significance

In a world full of supermodels with good looks, sports legends with physical prowess, business tycoons with billions of dollars, etc. you here in the real world find yourselves second guessing your almost on par with average existences. You wonder why you are important. 'What is so significant about little old me?' you might ask.

This brings many of us down. Our sense of self worth takes a nose dive. We lose confidence and our self-image plummets. We look in the mirror and do not like what we see. Then depression knocks at the door.

Last night in class we discussed how important we all are. Society may never come to the realization that we are special. Those around us might not 'get it.'

But that doesn't really matter.

You see, God made you with your own distinct set of blueprints. No one that has ever lived or that will ever come into existence shares those with you. The Psalmist writes that you are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Jesus said that what society values and praises is detestable to God. (Luke 16:15) Paul wrote in Ephesians that you are God's handiwork.

No matter what the world around you places on the throne of pop culture, there is Someone in a higher position that values you even more! You hold special significance.

How can anyone feel low if they are reminded that the all powerful, all knowing God put special time in crafting them? How amazing is that? The ultimate Creator and Judge took some time out of His busy schedule to create a unique human.

And that unique human is you!

Contact Revisited

I was reading the other night and came across this passage that truly relates to the student mission work in Tulsa. It put into words every thought that has raced through my head about Contact and the great work that its members are doing. I simply cannot pass up the opportunity to share this with you, faithful reader.

"On these streets are spoken the tongues
of many lands and still we understand
what people are saying. Here some of
the refugees of the world have found a
safe place to lay their heads, cradle their
babies, and sell their wares from folding
tables and tiny stores. Here the dement-
ed can still wander in and out of our shops.
Here some places have been made for the
young and the old. Here the broken are
received and the sick healed. Here the
Gospel is being preached and here, faulted
as we are, with our own griefs heavily
upon us, we are bold to say that God calls
us his people and we know that his name is
God-with-them." (Elizabeth O'Connor)