a supporting role?

i get bored with routine very easily, and so as i seek to spend time with God, i try to keep it different and fresh each time. somedays i just spend time reading, somedays it's more about communication and prayer, sometimes it's in the morning, sometimes in the middle of the day, sometimes by the lake in silence and solitude, sometimes it's on the way to work as i drive (aka windshield time), somedays it doesn't happen at all...

today i decided to go into the office early and shut my door behind me. i went on to youtube and found a video that intrigued me from the beginning and so i started watching. amazing! below is part 1 of 6 - the rest can be found on youtube when the video title is searched. i was left with the lingering question...am i really willing to trade a starring role in the tiny story of me for a [supporting] role in the infinitely large story of God? very profound question that i haven't been able to shake all day...

long weekend

had a great weekend out at houghton college. i love heights and the 'free-falling' feeling and i love seeing students push themselves further than they thought they could. it was fantastic! a couple things i have to say though... i don't like bugs and i really really really appreciate air conditioning and whoever invented it ought to get a raise this year...

some thoughts running through my head this evening...

1) VERY excited about the excitement generated around the youth group's summer student leadership teams - opportunities for the students at lcc to get involved in ministry and leading their peers! there's few things in life better than seeing teenagers serve and lead!

2) struggling to keep parents informed...but not too informed...but informed...it's a balancing act and something we're always trying to improve on. do you blog announcements, send out emails, snail mail, convince parents it's not important, pay a senior higher to do it for you...?

3) been looking at and impressed with a website design company called clover. i've got to get the youth group's website back up at some point, but i'm taking my time until we find just the right one that's clean, simple, easy to navigate, and yet fun, interactive, and modern.


4) kung fu panda is looking like a hilarious movie and it's on our 'to see' list

What a Weekend!

We went to Houghton College's Ropes Course this past weekend.

I'm climbing a really thin tree - felt like a million feet in the air, probably only about 60/70 feet. My goal was about half-way up, once I got past that it wasn't as hard.

I attempted the "Dangling Duo" or "Jacob's Ladder" with Mikey (after climbing the tree).

This picture is of the "ladder". The 2 ropes in front were our lines attached to us and the belayers. I stood up on the bottom rung in the picture (which was the 2nd rung) but couldn't make it up and over that middle rung. The rungs were probably about 5'5" apart between the 2nd and third rung, so I had to hang on over my head... (After that they got further apart!) My muscles were shaking and we were using each other to push off of with our feet... I have a bunch of bruises! I love war-wounds! :)

*****

Friday night we walked down into a field and looked at the stars. We found one of the Dippers and saw some shooting stars - did you know that when we see a shooting star - its actually burnt out several days before we see it? I learned that from the teens this weekend.

Staring at tens of thousands of twinkling stars... Listening to the low croaking bull-frogs and the soothing tree frogs... Feeling the scratchy grass and pesky bugs... Enjoying the company of crazy teens... God reminded me of His HUGENESS! To be so big and strong and powerful to create all of that and yet, love me consistently and faithfully... When I'm in the midst of "the daily grind" I lose sight of this truth. Instead - life's crappiness & my own failures cloud my view.

I'm thankful we got away. I'm thankful we know the kids better. I'm thankful for pushing past my fears. I'm thankful for the way God works beyond my understanding... even when it hurts.

We went down fighting...

The Penguins played hard, but we still lost. Oh, man. What a bummer. It was a little anti-climactic after Monday's game. Pretty cool we made it to the Stanley Cup Finals!

We went to Wendy's tonight. Just a quick trip to get 2 Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers, Mayo & Lettuce only. Well - they messed up our order and gave us a chicken wrap & fries. When I got inside, there was a line of people with messed up orders too. I wasn't upset - I think it would be pretty stressful to work at a fastfood place during the dinner hour. However, the lady before me was a different story! She was pretty steamed. I mentioned feeling badly for the workers and in response received a nasty look... Then 2 of the workers began talking with the disgruntled lady. One of the workers mentioned the girl in-charge of the drive-through wasn't so "bright". They were all agreeing, etc.

Oh! I was so stinking ANGRY at them. Let's not only blame somebody else, let's say derogatory things about her in the process! RRRRGGGGG!!!! How would you have responded to these people? Maybe I was chicken, but I just grabbed my correct order (and the chicken wrap & fries) and left. I've thought of a million things to say to those people to "put them in their place" since coming home - but that obviously doesn't help me.

Sigh. I hate sin!

randomness

so it's tuesday night and we're both about ready to crash. as i type this out i'm realizing how difficult it is to keep up with this whole 'blogging' thing. wow we stink at it. oh well...some random thoughts from us lately:
- it feels way better to win than to lose - we got smoked last week in a softball game against a team from gates wesleyan, and so tonight, when we got to play them again, i told the team i wanted revenge. we walked away from the game winning 31-15. it felt so good.
- praising God for lcc - we love it so much and are convinced this is where God wants us. great people...compelling mission...passionate enthusiasm...and tons of support. love it!
- attended a prayer meeting with a few other believers from the area at athena middle school earlier this morning and there's something really cool and special about praying with others that you've never met. it's also a bit awkward to be honest, especially when your stomach lets everyone in the room know you should've eaten breakfast.
- sat through a super interesting staff meeting today as we discussed some of the results from the reveal survey lcc did earlier in the year. amazing. i was taking notes left and right and am sure more discussions will follow.
- just watched this clip from louie giglio.