It's been awhile...

Where have I been? Holy Cow! Seriously? If there is one thing that I have neglected, it has definitely been this blog. Sorry folks...

It is New Year's Eve Eve today. No, that is not a typo. Today is the Eve to New Year's Eve. I am thinking about making today a holiday. Whatcha think? Speaking of holidays, Christmas has come and gone! So hard to believe. I still call it Christmas and will always call it Christmas. What about you? None of this Politically Correct nonsense when it comes to Christmas. You cannot take Christ out of Christmas. I'm sorry. You just cannot. If you do, then all you have left is Mas. Which means 'more'? Huh, kinda funny. Isn't that the world we live in. Isn't that the desire of our 'flesh.' More. We always want more. We are never ever satisfied. I love Proverbs 27:20 which says, 'Death and Destruction are never satisfied and neither are the eyes of man.' Never Satisfied! Especially when we keep taking Christ out of things! Can you not see it?

Christmas for us was really great. Low key. Chill. We spent Christmas in Killeen. That was after I kidnapped my wife and took her on a surprise overnight for our 1 year anniversary. I know. I know. I am such a stud. Thank You. Thank You. Here are a few pics from our Christmas Eve / morning together.

Taylor and Kylee's dog, Princeton


Mom & Dad in-law (Paul &Tami)


Kylee (Taylor's Sister) & Princeton


Jensen (Taylor's Brother) & Hilary

Taylor and me

I tell you what, it sure is a blessing to get along with one's in-laws. I can't imagine what it would be like to not get along with Taylor's folks. I am so thankful. I am sure there will always be tough times, but all in all, it is really wonderful and for that I feel blessed.

We don't have any New Year's plans this year. Thankfully. I think New Year's is the most over rated holiday out there and here are the reasons why:

1. It gives many people another opportunity to be stupid.

2. I can barely stay up that late.

3. And if I could stay up that late, isn't it just the same ol' ball drop in NYC from years past, but with the newest singer of today and the such?

4. We don't even have network television at our house.

5. Our neighborhood kids put on a firework show each year and I am worried that my dry grass is going to catch on fire. I run my sprinklers during the day every December 31st.

6. When you really boil it down, it's just another day. And for that I am VERY Thankful! We should be having this kind of celebration each and every day. I am for that!

I guess that is all for the year 2008. It's been a marvelous year for us. We are grateful for little things like our health, home, family and friens. To some they are little, but to us they really are everything!

Thanks for being our friends and for loving us well this year ...

The ONLY thing that counts...

This is my first Blog in December!!! Yippeeeeeee... Can you believe that it is Decembe already? In just 20 days, Taylor and I will have been married for 1 year! Holy Crudola... I cannot believe that it has been a year already. Where has the year gone? Now I understand when parents talk about their kids growing up so very fast. I like the country song that talks about life speeding by. It's called 'Don't Blink.' I think that is true. Are we cherishing this day? Are we cherishing this moment?

Taylor and I had my entire family to our house last Tuesday. There were 12 of us in all. My parents, two brothers and their wives and girls. It was a real treat to have them all in our home. We had a glorious meal. Dove Poppers (this is dove breasts with a jalepeno peppers and an onion wrapped in bacon and grilled! as well as beef and chicken fajitas. It was marvelous! All were well fed.

On Wednesday, we caravanned to Port Aransas, Texas, to spend our Thanksgiving on the beach! And OH what a joy it was!!! We used one of my dear friends' beach homes from Wednesday - Saturday. It was the perfect fit for our family. We ate great food. Enjoy each others' company and had wonderful conversation. We even spent a couple of days at the beach! I got in the water both days and so did all 4 of my nieces! Such a joy.

On Thanksgiving, we went over to the Shelton's and spent most of the day eating and enjoying each other on Padre Island. This was one of the most unique Thanksgivings that we have ever had, but probably my favorite so far!

I was reading in Galatians 5 this morning and Paul writes this, 'the ONLY thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love!' How are you doing on that? How are you loving those around you? How did you love your family over Thanksgiving? If not so good, Christmas is right around the corner if you are needing to redeem yourself!

It feels good to be back in the blogging world. I hope you were Thankful for Thanksgiving! If you were not, then you probably missed the entire boat!

Because High Schoolers are Worth IT!

The Greatest Love Story ever told...

Last week at Young Life Club I left the kids with some Horrible, yet Freeing News! I told them that there was nothing (absolutely Nuthin'!) that we could do in and of ourselves to get to heaven. The Misconception is that as long as our Good outweighs the Bad when we die, we are good to go. Or that All Roads lead to Heaven. Obey the 10 Commandments. Good luck with that one... Those are Misconceptions! You are MISsing the CONCEPT.

We need help. It doesn't take a genius to look around and realize that something is wrong. Really out of whack! Well, you are right. Correct-a-mundo!!!

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told! In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve disobey God. In their feeble attempt to make right what they made wrong, they sow fig leaves together to cover up their shame. We do this today. It's called putting on a 'Mask.' Putting on a 'Front.' We sow fig leaves on us every single day. But then God makes the first animal sacrifice and blood is shed for Adam and Eve and God makes animal skins for them. Blood is the key. We see blood all throughout Scripture...

In Exodus 11 & 12, God is ending the 10 Plagues with the Plague of the Firstborn. God is going to kill the firstborn of every family, both man and animal. BUT, there is a way to get out of this Plague. You must make a Sacrifice. The animal must be male. The animal must be perfect. And you must put this animals blood on the doorposts of your home. Then God will Passover (hence the name of the Feast / Festival of Passover) your home if he sees the Blood on your doorposts. God commanded the Jews to celebrate / commemorate this Passover Festival every year...

1500 years later when Jesus comes on the scene, his cousin John the Baptist (no he did not go to a Baptist Church) see Jesus coming and he proclaims, 'Behold, the LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world!' That's kind of a weird title for a man.

For 3 years or so, Jesus made waves within the Religious Community. He ruffled feathers. Lots of feather. And they finally had enough! Their goal was to kill him... Well, 'oddly' enough, the time that the Jews have decided to kill Jesus is during the Feast of Passover. What were the requirements for an animal sacrifice? Male. Perfect. Firstborn. That's strange! Jesus fits every one of those requirements. Do you see it? DO YOU SEE IT? Jesus is the Perfect Sacrifice!!! That is why He is called the LAMB of God.

Jesus came to die. To save us from ourselves. To save us from our sIn. 'I' is in the middle of sIn.

So when we die, God will Passover. And He will be looking for the Blood. The Blood of the Lamb. Is it on My Heart? Is it on YOUR Heart? This is where Salvation is found! If we have the Blood on our hearts, we spend eternity with Him. If not, we spend eternity SEPARATED from Him. And that is Hell enough...

Romans 6:23 says, 'For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE gift of God is Eternal Life in Christ Jesus!' It's FREE. All we have to do is Accept it. What are YOU waiting for?

Here are some pics of kids from last night. Enjoy...

On a personal note, I killed me a doe this weekend to fill our freezer with meat. Mine is the top doe. I hit her in the belly. Gut Shots are never good. I had to track her for 20 yards or so. I am getting hamburger, links and breakfast sausage made. Yum Yum...

Thanks for stopping by today and reading our blog. It is a joy to have you be engaged in our lives. Thanks for praying for us.

Taylor is getting her 4 Wisdom Tooths (yes, I said Tooths!) pulled tomorrow morning. I am praying against Dry Sockets...

My peace I give you...

I was reading in John yesterday and I found really great comfort in these verses. I hope you do the same...

John 14:26-27
'The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.' - Jesus

I like several things in those verses. First off, Jesus promises us his Holy Spirit. When we are born again Believers, The Holy Spirit actually comes to LIVE INSIDE of us! God. INSIDE OF ME! Our Sovereign Lord ... living INSIDE OF ME! Holiness. Perfection. Unity. LOVE. LIVING INSIDE OF ME! God's Word LIVING INSIDE OF ME! It's simply INCREDIBLE!

Peace. Jesus knew Peace (not so much with the Religious folks, but rather with the 'commoners' and His Father!). And we can know Peace as well. It is very evident that our world LONGS for PEACE! I saw this bumper sticker or sign once that read:
No Jesus
No Peace
Know Jesus
Know Peace

I like that. It is true. We can search the whole world over looking for the things that we think will fill our hearts and our souls. They don't. In my short 32 years on this planet, let me help you out. The answer is Jesus. He is what your heart is LONGING for. He is what your soul is YEARNING for. It is true.

Jesus also says that He does not give to us like the world gives to us. And for that I am thankful. How does Jesus give to y0u? Do you experience Jesus for yourself? Or are you living on your wife's faith? Or your Granny's faith? The difference between a Scribe and a Prophet is this: a Scribe writes / talks about what he has heard and a Prophet writes / talks about what he has EXPERIENCED! God Himself is waiting for you to Experience Him! Today. Now. Right Now.

Jesus ends by telling us to not let our hearts be troubled or afraid. The writer of The Shack says, 'When I am fearful I ask myself, 'What is it about God's Love that I don't understand right now?' Why are we troubled? Why are we afraid? And of what? Know Jesus. Know Peace.

It's here today for the taking...

a couple thoughts...

I am always blown away by how our God moves. And quite frankly, how he allows the enemy to move as well.

I was asked by the EHS girls basketball coach to lead the Varsity team in some team building activities and to talk to the about Jesus. 'Heaven knows these girls need Jesus!' I love it when there are Believers inside the walls of our government institutions!

Anyhow, I did lead the time and the girls really loved it. So much that the coach said that they wanted to do it once a month and wanted to know if I was willing to help out! WoWsers... Got Paycheck? It was a real treat to be able to do this with this team. They are fun girls and the coaches are really great!

At the end of the time, I did get to talk about Jesus for about 12 minutes or so. I started with Adam and Eve and ended with you and me. We went from Creation to Sin to the Cross to Redemption to what it looks like to walk with Jesus today! I told them about a special day in my life ten months ago. I showed up at the church with my friends and family. Taylor did the same. Our pastors were there along with the musicians. I went into church that day an UNmarried man and I left the church an UNmarried man. The reason was because it was just the REHEARSAL!!! We were just going through the motions. It was not the real thing! As is it with Life. Many people 'play' Church. Or 'play' Christianity! Many people are just going through the Motions! The following day, we showed back up at the church and did the exact same thing, but this time Taylor and I MADE A COMMITMENT! This is what made it REAL! I challenged the girls to make a commitment to Christ... They listened so very well.

I call this the Spider Game. There is a ring in the center with strings going out on each side. A tennis ball rests on the ring. The object is to drop the tennis ball in the cup...

Silly Faces...

The Human Knot...

Ahhhhhhh, smiley faces!

On another note:

I don't know what to say about this. Coming soon to a Washington D.C. bus stop near you!

Forgive them Lord for they know not what they do...

The enemy is at work!

Blowin' It Up...

Club on Mondays is still blowin' UP! It is really fun to watch. We had about 12 new kids at club. If there was a bad day to come to YL, it was this past Monday. Kids got to hear some really bad news... To some it was really bad, but for others it brought much Freedom. I told kids that there is nothing they can do to get into Heaven on their own. They can't do enough good things. They can't not be bad. Nothing. Nada. We cannot earn our way into Heaven. We ALL have gone astray. For the WAGES of SIN is DEATH! We are stuck...

And I left them with that to chew on for a week. I told them that they are HELPLESS, but not HOPELESS! I get to tell them about the HOPE that we have next week.

I also came out as a new skit character named PayPa (think PAPER) Plate! The kids loved him. I taught them how to dance by playing a game with Plungers. Kids'll do anything! They twirled the ball around the plunger without any hands. It was a RIOT! Kids are INCREDIBLE...

PayPa Plate...


Prepping the Game...


Jesse and Berry in action...

The VICTORIOUS! Roo Roo...

Group pic...


Worth It!

Capture the Pumpkin...

To hold true to YL CenTex Tradition, we had our annual Capture the Pumpkin Showdown at Conder Park in Killeen...

Enjoy the pics!

Because High Schoolers are WELL Worth It...

Halloween and a day off...

So, how do I feel about Halloween? That is a good question...

I grew up Trick or Treatin'! I loved it. And I still do! I had no idea about the meaning of Halloween way back when. I guess I was naive. I don't know.

I think most people swing way to far to one side. Either they pay no attention to the meaning, history or whatnot at all or they pay ALL their attention to those things. I know people today that fit both of those molds.

I fall in the dead center. I figure there is nothing wrong with dressing up in a costume. Taylor and I will be dressing our daughters up in Princess dresses and our boys up as Ninjas rather than Ghosts and Ghouls. I do know that! The reality is, is that each of us put on some sort of 'mask' each and every day when we leave our homes. We tell the world that we have it altogether, that our ducks are in a nice lil' row and all is well with us. The chances of that being true are very slim. We all have problems! And not many of us like to let others know about them. And ... if you happen to be of the female gender, you put on a physical mask every day called make-up! You 'make-up' your face to something it is not. That's why it's called MAKE-UP! Was that harsh? Sorry if it was. But that's how I feel.

If some folks are using Halloween as an evil holiday, then I want to stick some Jesus in there to rebuke the Darkness and throw in some Light! How often do we get 25, 50 or so kids coming to our homes asking us for stuff? Well, this is a moment that I seize to put in each of the bags a lil' bit of Jesus! I put a 'track' in each kids bag and tell them to read it before they go to bed. A 'track' is a short lil' story, usually from a movie (i.e. Transformers, Bug's Life, etc...) that talks about the movie and then talks about Jesus and what he did for us on the Cross and how we need Him today! What better opportunity to distribute God's Word than having tons of kids coming to you asking for it? It's PERFECT!

I think it's important for folks to be informed. I think it's important for folks to be educated. I also think Communication is the KEY! Why do we do what we do? Churches fail at this everyday. Schools fail at this everyday. Families fail at this everyday! We have got to educate, inform and communicate our folks about everything in life.

We are not running from Halloween. If anything, Halloween needs to be running from US! Light ALWAYS overtakes Darkness. Always! It is impossible for Darkness to overtake Light!!!

On another note ... Taylor and I both took off last Friday and enjoyed the day on the road. I surprised her with a fun treat. I borrowed a friends 1975 Corvette Stingray and we went for a drive last week. We drove down to Llano to eat at Cooper's Bar-B-Que. Yum. Yum. YUM!!!! It is Wonderful BBQ! Then we drove east on Highway 29 to a friends new vet clinic. Actually, it's more like a Vet RESORT! This place is INCREDIBLE! Check it out ... http://zootpets.com/

My brother in law is gonna be working at ZOOT as a vet starting in January once he finishes up at that little school in Closet Station, Texas. Or maybe it's College Station. I am not sure...

Then we finished up our Friday drive by 'popping' in to Salado for a lil' bit of shopping. And that was our day...

Enjoy the pics of this SWEET car and my very attractive Bride!

Coming soon to my blog near you...

I will certainly be catching all of you up to speed on the latest happenin's in Central Texas.

We had our 7th Annual Fundraising Banquet this past Monday and it was SO Successful! We had soooooo many compliments. Tons of people told us that it was the best banquet that they had ever seen before. And most of those folks had been to the past 6 years worth of banquets. We were very pleased. I don't know the total dollars raised, but I think it is lingering around $40,000. I am pumped about that number! I think there was a little more pledged last year, but last years banquet was a wee bit bigger and the economy was doing much better back then.

I wish you could have seen all of the kids! DANG, there were a lot of kids there that night! You tell a teenager that they will get free pizza and a free shirt and half the school shows up! Come on out, folks...

It is nice to take a breather for a day or two. I plan to be more consistent with this now that the banquet is over. This is a huge time consumer. It is SO worth it!

What I want to blog about next time is how I feel about Halloween. What's the story with Halloween? Are costumes evil? What about Chocolate, does it come from the devil? Should Christians trick or treat? Am I going to hell because I like Twix? I feel like you are either one extreme or the other. I love Halloween or we don't celebrate it at all. Well, there may be a middle ground. Is there such a thing?

More to follow. I have got to head up to the high school ... You know why?

BECAUSE HIGH SCHOOLERS ARE WORTH IT!

More pics from Club...

Pictures are worth a thousand words...

Enjoy your weekend!

Emery & JT


Ethan, Gonyea & Connor


Ryan, Mallory, Demetrius & Sierra


Sarah & Cherilynn


Thanks for praying for hearts and souls in Central Texas.

Because High Schoolers are Worth It...

Happy Birthday YOUNG LIFE...

Dear Friends,

This is a very special day in Young Life’s history. It’s our birthday! We are 67 years old. So run down to your local grocery store, buy a cake, ice cream and some candles, and invite some friends over to celebrate.

Sixty-seven years ago, our founder, Jim Rayburn, and a small board formed a non-profit corporation in Texas called Young Life. And now, all these years later, we get to be part of this incredible outreach to kids.

I was thinking about what it means for us to be this old. Some of my thoughts:
Seniors in Jim’s first club are now 85 and 86 years old. In fact, many of the kids, staff and volunteers involved in the early years have already gone to meet Jesus face to face.
Literally hundreds of thousands (even millions) of kids have met Christ through the vehicle of Young Life.

These young believers grew up and made a difference wherever they have lived, whatever they have done, however they have served.

God has been faithful to us in all kinds of situations so the current economic climate shouldn’t phase us in the least. In those 67 years, we have been through World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam Conflict, the Gulf War, 9/11, the War on Terrorism, inflation, recession, economic booms and busts, Woodstock, the ’60s and ’70s with the change in the sex and drug culture, the Jesus Movement, the Internet, blogs and a dozen U.S. presidents to name a few.

So let’s celebrate our birthday and give God thanks. And let us remember that the Lord is on His throne and we will serve Him with a joyful heart, a buoyant spirit, a disciplined body, and a sound mind dedicated to the mission that Jim and the board began 67 years ago: to introduce kids to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith.

Happy Birthday.

In Christ,
Denny (this is our YL President!)

Campaigners on Wednesday...

Well, we are having about half of our club peeps coming to Campaigners on Wednesdays. It is REALLY encouraging, but getting too big. Not too big in a sense that kids are sharing or being intimate, too big in the sense that we are running out of room in our home!

We watched the NOOMA video LUMP last night. We spoke about how our 'junk' always catches up with us. No matter what. We are always found out. We will always get exposed! I love how 'REAL' Campaigners is. Kids were so moved by the video. I talked to a kid today at lunch about last night. It was his first time to come to Campaigners. He was sitting 1 guy down from me. 10 people at this one table. I said, 'Hey bro, what did you think about last night?' He responds, 'I loved it! I was challenged to confess my sins and stop running from my past.' ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What Sophomore says THAT? I sat there in awe of the words that just dripped from his mouth! Thank You Jesus for that Sweet Treat!

Please pray for the next 12 days. We have our 7th Annual Fundraising Banquet coming up on Monday, October 27. Please lean into our Savior with me and pray that God would moves hearts during this time.

Bless you...

Enjoy these two pics of our Campaigners group from last night

Club on Monday...

Club is still rockin' on Mondays! It is fun to see kids take Ownership of Club and make it their own. Monday was the best and loudest kids have sang this semester!

Speedy and Zippo made another appearance as they 'Walked It Out!' Zippo led a game that involved 3 guys, 3 candles, matches and 3 cups of water. The object of the game was to drink your cup of water! Sounds simple. The kids had to light their own candle and drink the cup of water before someone else blew their candle out! It was great. I had never heard nor seen the game and it turned out wonderful.

Speedy & Zippo --- 'The Speed Walking Sensation that's Sweeping the Nation!'

JT laughs at the thought of this game while Alex & Jerry ponder their plans of Success...

Alex & JT blow out Jerry's candle!

I got to speak again this week. I LOVE speaking to these high schoolers! I wish you could be there one week. It is amazing how quiet and engaged the kids get. You can physically see them 'leaning in' toward hear the Talk. I spoke about something that I have never spoke on in front of YL kids in my 9 years on staff. Last week I spoke about the Heart of God and how / why Jesus turned the Water into Wine. This week, I also spoke about the Heart of God and how / why Jesus cleared the temple. This passage follows last weeks in John 2.

It was almost time for Passover and Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem for this Feast. While he is there, he runs across some Priests who have booths in the temple selling animals for sacrifice and / or who are exchanging money. They are ripping the Pilgrims off and making a profit ... all in the name of Religion! And not only are they ripping off the Pilgrims, but they have turned God's House of Prayer / Worship into a Market Place! They are desecrating the Temple. Do you remember that saying from the early nineties, 'Homey Don't Play That!'? Well, Jesus Don't Play That! He pours out the wrath of God on these folks. He over turns their tables. He runs the animals out of the Temple.

Basically, I think Jesus was so upset because the Religious People had missed the boat once again. The Passover Feast was a time of Celebration, Prayer, Reflection and Rememberance of what God has done and how he rescued the Israelites out of Slavery in Egypt. They missed the boat. They took their eye off the ball. They were Commercializing this HOLYday and turning it into a Holiday. Does this happen today? You Betcha! And I think God's heart STILL breaks when we miss the boat today. When we take our eyes off the ball. If during Thanksgiving, you focus on the turkey, yams, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and the Cowboys, rather then on Thanking Jesus for everything, then you have missed the boat. If you focus on the presents, flash and flare of Christmas, rather than on the birth of our Savior, then you have missed the boat. If you worry more about decorating your home for Easter, getting Easter baskets ready for the Grandkids than on our Resurrected Christ, then you have taken your eye off the ball. And I will go out on a limb and say that Jesus responds the same way today as he did then. It breaks his heart!

May today be the day you get back in the boat.

May today be the day you put your eyes back on the ball.

The Main Thing is to keep The Main Thing the Main Thing...

Still Movin'...

YL Club was ROCKIN' on Monday evening... There were just as many kids this week as last week. Kids were EXCITED to be there! Golly Gee. I LOVE Energy! Energy in a room of 45 kids can make it seem like there are 150 folks there. And that is how Monday felt to me.

We sang some great songs: California (the OC theme song), Free Falling, Say by John Mayer, World's Greatest, What if what they say is true and I still haven't found what I'm looking for (and two more that I can't remember).

Our game / skit was Hilarious! I gave the game / skit idea to Chris and Dustin and they came up with it all. Their characters were Gus (mama says Guuuuuuuuuuuus) and Rickey (mama says RICKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!). 'No Shoes. No Shirt. No Problem.' They had 3 clear bins full of grapes. Girls had to squish the grapes with their feet and guys had to drink up the juice with straws.

Gus and Rickey


Leslie, Katrina and Coco stompin' away


Ryan takes a 'breather' from the juice


Heather, Sarah, Lorelei and JT


Girls singing their hearts OUT!


When the guys picked the game idea, they had no idea that I was going to be talking about Jesus turning water into wine from John 2. How cool is that? I think it's really COOL! I spoke about Jesus being invited to a wedding along with 5 of his friends. People wanted them around. They were likable people. The water runs out and Mary, Jesus' mother, says, 'DO SOMETHING!' Jesus knows that if he meets this need, Life will never be the same again. Ever. He hesitates. And then performs a Miracle. His first Miracle! Jesus took something Ordinary like Water and turned it into something EXTRAORDINARY like Wine! Don't miss the point here... This isn't just about Water and Wine. This is about YOU & ME! We are the Water. We are Ordinary. Jesus' offer to us is to turn our lives into Wine and make us EXTRAordinary!!! You should have seen JT's face during my talk. See above picture of JT. I took him lunch today at school. We ate on the bed of my truck in the parking lot. He said that he LOVED Young Life and that he WILL be back every Monday! So Incredible... God is opening up crazy doors. My goal this semester is to SMASH kids' Misconceptions about who they think God and Jesus are. I showed this video that is chalked full of Misconceptions of who Jesus is. Bare with me...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8432855181040611040&ei=CgPtSMr9GJmSrAKgyv2IAQ&q=vintage+21&vt=lf&hl=en

Sadly enough, that's how the World views Jesus Christ. This saddens me soul...

Pray for Campaigners this evening. We have had 17 kids each Wednesday the past two weeks. It's a little much. We need a bigger living room! It's hard to keep order. We are talking about Jesus appointing the 12 Apostles tonight.

Thanks for your support. We believe that Life is ALL about Relationships and that High Schoolers are WORTH IT!

I've been replaced by a MIRROR!

Here are some pics of our house in it's new Fall Decor...

Taylor and her mom did such an AWESOME job. And I am not even bitter that I (my incredible picture of myself at the Grand Canyon!) have been replaced by a dang MIRROR!!! Marriage is about dying to oneself every single day. Amen...

Bye Bye Bye September...

Where did it go? Are you kidding me? Today is the last day of the month of September! Golly Gee...

It's hard to believe we are 90 days out from Christmas 2009. And that means my 1 year anniversary. Oh, how time flies.

Last night we had our first YL Club of the school year and boy was it Rockin'! We had about 40 kids come out and mostly all new kids. These are kids that we have been sharing life with the past semester, but didn't necessarily come to anything Young Life events. I was really exhausted at the end of the evening.

Music was great, the skit / game was really funny and my talk was pretty mediocre. Chris played songs such as Sweet Home Alabama, Waiting on the World to Change, I'm Yours, The World's Greatest, I still haven't found what I'm looking for and Prince of Peace. Will North and I came out as our newest skit characters ... Speedy and Zippo, the Speed Walking Sensation thats Sweeping the Nation! YOU LAY IT, WE WALK IT! The kids thought it was really funny. And the game was perfect. See pics below. We put frosting on both sides of plexiglass and the couple had to lick it off the quickest. I love to see kids being kids!

I spoke about life being funny. Full of Ups and Downs. Joys. Pains. Struggles. Somehow in the midst of Chaos, there is Order! We may not be able to see the Big Picture right now, but there is a big picture. I used a Cross-Stitch picture. On one side you have chaos: threads, staples, rough edges and the such. On the other side, you have a complete picture. Whole. It makes sense. Perfect. When you see life from one side, it's impossible to the other side at the same time. I also spoke about the UnTruths that this world feeds us: All roads lead to heaven. The god of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity are all the same. To get into heaven all you have to be is good; as long as my good outweighs my bad when I die, I am IN! Being a Christian is about obeying the 10 Commandments. I then spoke from Colossians 2:8-9 which speaks about not giving in to Hollow and Deceptive Philosophy which depends on the world rather than on Christ. But in Christ, all the Fullness of God dwells in Bodily Form! WOW!

Our hope is that as kids are fed the lies from the world Tuesday - Sunday, we hope that on Mondays, they will choose to come and hear the Real Truth! The Truth that will set them FREE! We hope to turn over the Cross-Stitch picture for them each week to show them Order rather than Chaos.

And that's a wrap! It was a great evening. Thanks for praying...

Advertising for Young Life!


Speedy & Zippo doing 'Major Stretching'


What are they doing?


Shawna and Ryan LOVE icing...


Kids listen to the Truth


Because they are WELL Worth It...