another busy week...great weekend

i had a great, busy, long week!  a lot of traveling, i was in oklahoma on tuesday, home that evening. local on wed., oklahoma again on thursday, local on friday.  thurs was a long day, i left here at 5:45 or so, was back home around 4:30, upwards b-ball training @ 6:30, spoke at icthus at MSU @ 9, potter's afterwards, home around 1:00 am. 

icthus was really cool, short notice deal.  i was at potter's house on tuesday night and a girl, i found out later named carrie, said... "hey daniel, what are you doing thursday night?"  kinda weird...i did not know who she was or what she wanted.  she, carrie, is on the leadership at icthus..they needed someone to speak at their weekly gathering.  i had plenty of excuses...but she convinced me to come and hang out with them.  i have gotten the opportunity to hang out with them the last 3 years...GREAT group of young people.  

this weekend has been fun.  we got to hang out with our cousin lane, barb, schawo and claire (a friend from kim's work) .  we went downtown to eat at nona's, great place, then we went to big momma's for an improv comedy show...it was ok, then we went to a couple of clubs.  the girls wanted to go dancing.  so...after much debate...we did, or... they danced we watched.  what a great time to go and people watch!  i was reminded that i dont miss that life.  that used to be my life...and i dont miss it at all.  but man, my heart goes out to the people who live their life in that way.  the promise of a lesser life, the part in a smaller story, an empty promise.  

one really funny story...well, if you know schawo, you should ask him about it...

thanksgiving day is tomorrow!  at meme and grumps (kim's mom and dad) thanksgiving day meal!  i love it!!!  happy thanksgiving day!  i am thankful for the life i have now!

more pics and thoughts...

a great picture from one of "the crazy" guys from the FBC youth group.  you know the ones...the "funny ones".  this group of guys are different though, they have a real sense of what it is to live spiritually and have fun. they love Jesus and they love to goof off... it really is very cool.

well, i had to laugh when i drove up on these guys...this is the adopt-a-stream group.  that is fort st behind jim, fort and sunset...they apparently found this shopping cart along the stream clean up, along with the stick in jim's hand.  he proceeded to go underneath the waterway and emerged victoriously on this side...all the while staying upright.  i didnt want to see him get hurt, but i secretly did want to see him fall and get soaked!  it was only 30 degrees outside!!  

i was beat last night!  it has been a while since i have tried to hang with HS and JHS students...i still can, it just takes longer to re-cooperate!  as i sat vegging out last night, watching seinfeld, it was the episode where the restaurant goes in across from jerry's apt.  he wants him to succeed, but no one has ever stayed in that particular location for more than a couple of months.  you know that place right?  anyway, jerry decides to go and help the guy out.  babu, the owner, is so thankful for jerry's input that he decides to take his advice and close down for renovation and re-open serving only pakistani food.  jerry has this conversation in his head, praising himself for how much he cares for the un-cared for.  he pats himself on the back for taking the "effort" to go and reach out to this poor foreigner and give him some unsolicited advice/help.  if you have seen this episode you know how it ends...the restaurant goes out of business!

i think i am like that sometimes, and this weekend reminded me why we help out and why we serve.  it really has very little to do with us.  oh, we get the benefit of feeling good about accomplishing something.  but thanks be to God, that we don't do it for that...but to shine the light back on the One who has given us everything we could ever dream of and more! 

one last pic from the weekend...the fools who urged jim on!  these are your fearless volunteer leaders!  some of the greatest hearts...future church/mission/ministry leaders!!  pretty cool...

 

d-now weekend

what a weekend!  i had the privilege of teaching at a disciple now this weekend at first baptist church in springfield.  i have done a couple of different things over the past couple of years with this group.  i love hanging out with this group of students...they're some great kids in this group!  

the pic is of one of the service projects they did on saturday. this particular group went to the campbell-gray homestead at nathaniel green park.  another group was cleaning up an adopted section of south creek.  i will show a pretty funny pic from that later...  and yet another group was helping to put a community garden, that they started, to bed for the winter.  pulling weeds, preparing the soil, putting down weed barrier, etc...