It is warm outside. I am locked inside. I have so much to catch up on. My past two weeks have been constant motion.
I have basically been away from home for two solid weeks, not literally, but practically. Probably the busiest two weeks of my ministry here at Findlay. It is strange mostly because of how opposite this is of our way of life. Our ministry is slower than most folks. We don't overprogram. We don't over entertain. We spread out events out (1 big one every 2-4 months, 1 smaller one on the other months). We take it easy, but the last two weeks have not been easy. There have been some sweet times on the ride, but not much sleep, and even less rest for my mind and soul. I am still waiting on the rest.
It began with two days of prep and execution of our 2000+ person Upward Awards Night, for which I was the MC. Two days later our church hosted our District BLAST, with over 400 students and all their competitive parents in attendance. If you have ever been to our church you will realize it is a decent size, but perhaps not for 600+ attendees. I can still smell the sweat in the sanctuary. The next day was Sunday, The Lord's day, and the day of the matinee for Hello Dolly, which three of my teens were in, for their last performance. I capitalized on the moment and went with a couple other teens. It was actually quite good and yet annoying at the same time... hmmmm.
I left that night for class in Huntington, Indiana, where I was at until Wednesday night, when I got home just in time for youth group. I actually really enjoy going to class, especially when I am taking one with my friend Darren K. from Troy. We play about 90 hours of racquetball when we aren't in class, have a ton to talk about and stay in this old monastery turned retreat center, that is cheap, but really freaky if you are alone.
Done yet? No. Off day on Thursday and then off for Acquire the Fire/Battlecry in Detroit, a 35,000 person, pump em up, equip em for the "battle" (language I am personally REALLY annoyed by), lots of loud music and jumping around, little sleep two day youth event. We brought 40, came home with 38 and called it even.
My highlight was worshipping with Delirious. I love the freedom of worshipping with 35,000 people. I love the freedom to jump when I feel like celebrating. I love the freedom to kneel when I feel humbled. I love the freedom to scream out my praises to God or whisper them softly below the roar of other voices. I am not addicted to that kind of experience, but when it comes along I cherish it. It happens three places: Really Big Youth Events, My house, Vineyard Churches (or at least some of them).
I just needed to vent all of this to remember that whenever I feel slammed and stressed I can look back to these two weeks and feel sweet relief. By the way, my daughter has decided to change a lot the past two weeks of craziness: crawling, pulling herself up on couches, entertainment centers, legs, coffee tables, her bed rails, tv trays, etc., using the next level of car seat and she is potty trained... okay not exactly the last one, but the other developments have seemed huge! Check out her sweet pics (thanks to my hottie wife) at her blog:
www.onenuggettogo.blogspot.com. If you do check the site out make sure you look at the October pics in the yellow dress... they are my favorite. I want to warn you if you haven't seen her before. She is really cute. I'm serious. Really cute.
Peace Friends.
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