So I turned 30 yesterday. It was kind of weird and kind of normal. The day was pretty normal. It was Black Friday, so Aimee and I went by the mall but I thought the "sales" were terrible. She bought a shirt, but that was it. Oh yeah, I bought myself a new truck for the first time. I have been driving the same truck since high school. I really like the truck, but I don't know if I will like the payments.
But back to turning 30.
First, I don't feel 30 at all. Working with middle school students keeps you young. I always feel like people are older than me. I kind of want to be like those guys who try to look at their lives from a different perspective and see if they are where they want to be. I have tried to do that and it just seems stupid. I hope I am where God wants me to be. I have a great wife, family and job. My friends are amazing. I really don't feel like anything is missing. Sure I have troubles and issues like everyone else, but I am pretty satisfied with where God has me. I hope the next 30 years are as much fun as the first 30 have been.
Thank you to all of you who have been a part it so far.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
China Review
In case you didn’t know, I had the opportunity to travel to China from September 9 – 21. It was my first experience out of our country and an experience that I will never forget. I want to start off this note by stating some of the obvious things and then get to what I thought my Father was teaching me.
First, there are people EVERYWHERE! China has an estimated 1 billion people living in the country. That’s almost 3 times the amount of people we have in the States. I can understand where the value of human life has decreased over there. I don’t agree with it, but can understand it. In the city that we were in, there were about 10 million people. At least 5 million people ride a scooter. Todd would fit right in with all the Chinese. One thing I would never do over there is drive. People in China do not know how to drive. Signals and lines on the road mean absolutely nothing. I asked our connection over there about getting a license and he said that it is hard to get a license and if you can’t pass the test, you can just pay for it! Our bus driver used his horn more in the 2 weeks than I have in my entire life.
Second, the food is terrible. Granted, this is coming from someone who is already a picky eater, but I tried some things are they were for the most part, terrible. In my photo albums on Facebook, you can see what I am talking about. From the fish head and tail still attached to actual chicken feet being in the soup, I hit my gag reflex several times on this trip. My friend Wayne and I lived on crackers and water for a long period of time. There were several things that I did enjoy, like dragon fruit, fried rice (not American style) and duck. We did find a McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut over there and we lived off those things for the last couple of days. Whatever weight I lost in the first week, I gained back by the time we left.
Third, the beds were hard a rock. They do not know what a comforter is. We stayed in the 3 different hotels while we were over there and all of them had beds that were hard. The bathrooms were not something to be desired as well. While the hotels had western style bathrooms (even though you couldn’t put used toilet paper in the toilet), most bathrooms out it public were what we called ‘Squatty Potty’s.’ Basically, just a hole in the ground without plumbing. They were some the nastiest things I have ever smelled.
On to the things I was taught. The verse that was stuck in my head while we traveled was, “You are his workmanship, created in Him, to DO good works which He has prepared in advance for you to do.” I was ready to get to work while I was over there. We were visiting some cities that were devastated by the earthquake on May 12, 2008. That date is being memorialized like our 9-11. Our plans were changed often on this trip. It came to be very annoying while we were there. The villages and cities that we did visit were absolutely devastated. There were several schools that collapsed and many of the victims of this disaster where children. While we were not able to do all the things we wanted, we were able to give hope and encouragement to many people that we came into contact with. Whether they were organizations that were helping with disaster, to college students, to the village people who were seeing ‘white faces’ for the first time in their lives. These organizations were starting to get discouraged because of the lack of volunteer help and so we could encourage them. We meet people who lived in portable housing that was basically a bunch of one-room homes for 40,000 people.
The main thing that I walked away with was an awareness of things much bigger than me. It was like the time I went to the Grand Canyon as a child. Our Father has great plans for China, bigger than I have ever imagined and we need to keep them in our thoughts.
First, there are people EVERYWHERE! China has an estimated 1 billion people living in the country. That’s almost 3 times the amount of people we have in the States. I can understand where the value of human life has decreased over there. I don’t agree with it, but can understand it. In the city that we were in, there were about 10 million people. At least 5 million people ride a scooter. Todd would fit right in with all the Chinese. One thing I would never do over there is drive. People in China do not know how to drive. Signals and lines on the road mean absolutely nothing. I asked our connection over there about getting a license and he said that it is hard to get a license and if you can’t pass the test, you can just pay for it! Our bus driver used his horn more in the 2 weeks than I have in my entire life.
Second, the food is terrible. Granted, this is coming from someone who is already a picky eater, but I tried some things are they were for the most part, terrible. In my photo albums on Facebook, you can see what I am talking about. From the fish head and tail still attached to actual chicken feet being in the soup, I hit my gag reflex several times on this trip. My friend Wayne and I lived on crackers and water for a long period of time. There were several things that I did enjoy, like dragon fruit, fried rice (not American style) and duck. We did find a McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut over there and we lived off those things for the last couple of days. Whatever weight I lost in the first week, I gained back by the time we left.
Third, the beds were hard a rock. They do not know what a comforter is. We stayed in the 3 different hotels while we were over there and all of them had beds that were hard. The bathrooms were not something to be desired as well. While the hotels had western style bathrooms (even though you couldn’t put used toilet paper in the toilet), most bathrooms out it public were what we called ‘Squatty Potty’s.’ Basically, just a hole in the ground without plumbing. They were some the nastiest things I have ever smelled.
On to the things I was taught. The verse that was stuck in my head while we traveled was, “You are his workmanship, created in Him, to DO good works which He has prepared in advance for you to do.” I was ready to get to work while I was over there. We were visiting some cities that were devastated by the earthquake on May 12, 2008. That date is being memorialized like our 9-11. Our plans were changed often on this trip. It came to be very annoying while we were there. The villages and cities that we did visit were absolutely devastated. There were several schools that collapsed and many of the victims of this disaster where children. While we were not able to do all the things we wanted, we were able to give hope and encouragement to many people that we came into contact with. Whether they were organizations that were helping with disaster, to college students, to the village people who were seeing ‘white faces’ for the first time in their lives. These organizations were starting to get discouraged because of the lack of volunteer help and so we could encourage them. We meet people who lived in portable housing that was basically a bunch of one-room homes for 40,000 people.
The main thing that I walked away with was an awareness of things much bigger than me. It was like the time I went to the Grand Canyon as a child. Our Father has great plans for China, bigger than I have ever imagined and we need to keep them in our thoughts.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
China Trip
So I am going to China on Tuesday, Sept 9 with some friends! I can't wait to go. I have never been out of the country. The jet lag and time change make me nervous but I am ready to go. I hate it that my wife can't go with me. That's the only thing that sucks. I hope we have a lot of success and not run into many problems. Say a little prayer for us, especially Aimee.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Leadership is...
So in all the busyness of transitioning to a new church, I am at a leadership retreat for our rising 8th graders and Seniors. We are teaching the students about 3 major topics:
1. Leadership is Influence. As John Maxwell says, 'Nothing more, nothing less.' Our students have to understand that they have influence because of their position but they must gain influence among the students if they want to be leaders.
2. Leadership has accountability. As 1 Tim 3 tells us, there is certain criteria laid out for those who desire a position of leadership. A leader has to be able to lead themselves, among others and among leaders. There is a certain level of accountability that comes with being a leader.
3. Leadership is servanthood. The book of Matthew tells us that those who want to be first must be last and those who wish to be great must serve. Jesus came to serve, not be served. If anybody could get away with being served, it was Jesus. It is our job to be like Christ, we must be servants.
Just thought I would let you in on what we were talking about today.
1. Leadership is Influence. As John Maxwell says, 'Nothing more, nothing less.' Our students have to understand that they have influence because of their position but they must gain influence among the students if they want to be leaders.
2. Leadership has accountability. As 1 Tim 3 tells us, there is certain criteria laid out for those who desire a position of leadership. A leader has to be able to lead themselves, among others and among leaders. There is a certain level of accountability that comes with being a leader.
3. Leadership is servanthood. The book of Matthew tells us that those who want to be first must be last and those who wish to be great must serve. Jesus came to serve, not be served. If anybody could get away with being served, it was Jesus. It is our job to be like Christ, we must be servants.
Just thought I would let you in on what we were talking about today.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
New Surroundings
So I have been in a new church for the past 29 days. The first week was really slow. After that, it was non-stop until this past Sunday. I have been in a 100 meetings and then we went to camp. My time here has been great. The students are great, the leaders are great and the staff is unbelievable. God is stretching me and I am loving it. My prayer is that God will give me the wisdom to do what is right and the strength to get it done.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Success as a Leader
For the past 5 or so years, I have been reading, learning, trying to figure out what it really means to be a leader. I have attended conferences, sat in meetings, and had discussions about the topic. The weird thing right now is that I am about to find out how good of a leader I have been in the past 4 1/2 years. In my transition to a new church, I leave behind a group of students on the verge of doing something great. There are several college volunteers along with several new graduates who are prepared to take over and hopefully do a better job than I did. The success of my leadership will be dependent on them taking what I have taught them and doing it themselves. I know that God is in control and He will do what He wants to do. These students have the opportunity to do the right thing and see other students come to know Jesus and have a better relationship with Him. I am sad to go, but I am excited about what God is doing here and where I go. To God be the glory, forever.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Changes
So, these past few months have been quite interesting. God has been working in ways that I have never expected. Like my last post, I understand that my faith in God is based upon Jesus and not my circumstances, but this has been a time when I get to put that faith (confidence) to the test.
The thing about change is that it is rarely easy. While I am excited on one side, I am not looking forward to the other side. I know that the emotion is coming but I don't really want to deal with it. I have been expecting the worst each time I have talked about the changes, only the best has come out. That makes me a little more worried about continuing the announcement.
So if you get to read this, just throw a little prayer up to our Father for us.
The thing about change is that it is rarely easy. While I am excited on one side, I am not looking forward to the other side. I know that the emotion is coming but I don't really want to deal with it. I have been expecting the worst each time I have talked about the changes, only the best has come out. That makes me a little more worried about continuing the announcement.
So if you get to read this, just throw a little prayer up to our Father for us.
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