A-"Muse"-ing Thoughts

Now this is the Way to Do April Fools

If you think you are creative and good at pulling off an April Fools joke, check out the joke that this guy pulled off.... pretty impressive!!!

http://bit.ly/picture23

(HT: androidmoser)

Out of Site, Out of Mind

(And yes, the Pun was intentional for the title of this post)

Ugh!  What can I say.  I feel like a broken record sometimes on this blog about "I can't believe it's been so long..."  and "ok, I'm gonna get back to blogging."  

You know what they say about good intentions... well, I have good intentions.  But life seems to always get in the way.

In addition, you know the phrase, "out of sight, out of mind" Well, that has been my blog.  I have not been on my blog in a while, and therefore it seems like it has become a victim to that adage - out of sight out of mind.  I have SO much that I want to share.  So much that I feel would be good to journal about.  So much that has happened in the last 7 months.  So much I want to share with everyone.  But I've also been more busy than ever before in my life.  I've had more changes than ever before in my life.  I've had more challenges than ever before in my life.... and this blog seems to be the easiest thing to just ignore.  (and there is a lot of truth to that).  But, I also know that writing can be very therapeutic as well - and I LOVE to write.

So, what do I do with all of this?  Well, here is what I've come up with.

1) Don't feel so stinking guilty about not blogging as much as wanted.  Life is busy and guilt doesn't help get anything done.
2) Take some time out regularly to blog.  Writing is therapeutic and with all that is going on, it certainly couldn't hurt to take a few minutes every couple days or so to write what is happening.
3) Don't feel like very blog needs to be a novella - in fact, if they are, chances are no one will read them.  In addition, if they are, then I am more likely to put it off until I can "find time" - and that will never happen.  So, as Nike would say, "Just Do It!"
4) Relax, Enjoy, Write, and move forward.

To quote a phrase from a sermon I recently preached:  "You can't live in the past with all of it's mistakes, and you can't live in the future because we never know if we will even be there.  But, we must live for today - because it is a GIFT that God has given to us, which is why it is called the PRESENT!"

So here is to TODAY!!!

Time Flies

Wow.  Where does time go?  I guess one big answer to that would be: "To the Children."  It is so true that a lot of things have changed since getting our foster daughters.  Balancing time expectations is one of the continual challenges that I face every day. 

I have a lot of thoughts that I want to blog/journal more fully, but I thought I would give a few highlights since my last blog:

*  Got back to work on my doctoral dissertation.  At the moment of writing this I have 2 chapters written and about 15 pages on Chapter 3 completed.  This is my final year to finish the doctorate.  One way or another I am done after this.  I WILL write my entire project and pray it gets accepted by the committee.
*  May 2nd was the 3-month anniversary of Christi and I being foster-parents to two amazing daughters.
* Celebrated a wonderful Easter with my family - including the first time ever for easter baskets or easter egg hunts for my two foster-daughters.
* Celebrated Christi's 31st Birthday - treated her to a 3-hour spa treatment, lunch together, and then a fun dinner with friends.
* Had "Youth Sunday" at the church - which ended up being a wonderful day with the students doing an amazing job, and many adults giving us all very positive feedback.
* We are getting ready to celebrate our oldest foster-daughter's 4th birthday.  Should be a blast as we are having a "Princess Slip-N-Slide" party  (full of pinata and all)!!!  She is very excited, and so are we.
* We found out 3 days before the deadline that the bio-family of our foster daughters has hired a lawyer petition for adopting the girls.  Needless to say, this is a very heartbreaking thing for Christi and me, and we are praying that God would do what is best for these girls, but do it quickly, and if they are to be returned for him to cover our hearts.
* I am currently the only full-time program/pastoral staff person at the church.  Our Sr. Pastor retired.  We are hoping to hire an interim pastor sometime before September (yikes, that's a long ways away) and the search for a new Sr. Pastor will take approx. 2 years.  (YIKES!)  This has caused extra work for me and an extra element of trying to balance life duties and work duties.
* I have the most amazing and supportive wife that a husband could ever pray for.  Just have to say - Christi is a saint (she truly should be given sainthood status, but since we are not Catholics I am not sure they would accept my application for Christi's sainthood)
* At the end of April, beginning of May, I went on a "Walk to Emmaus."  It was powerful, incredible, and God is really working in my life and heart.  Lots to share about this one.

Well, I know there is more that has happened.  But that will give you a quick highlight of the things going on in my life since last blog in February.  Man, Time Flies!!!  I am going to try and blog a lot more details about some of these things, and some others that have been heavy on my mind lately as well.

Facebook has 150 Million ACTIVE users

WOW!  I will admit, I love using facebook.  I love connecting with friends and people who I have not seen or talked to in many, many years.  In fact, in the last couple of months, I have re-connected with a lot of high school classmates, people from my youth group when I was a teenager, college classmates, and former youth group members... in addition to keeping up with the people in my life on a daily basis today.  I have been a member of myspace and facebook and many other social networking sites.  My favorite, though, has to be facebook.  I like its structure, its security, its ease of use, its applications, and more.  I know facebook has been catching on recently, but I had no idea how much.

Today I came upon this description of the growth of facebook and how it is expanding, and expected to continue growing in 2009.  AMAZING.  Check it out...

List of Unusual Deaths

So I have to admit something.  I own most of the books in the series titled "The Darwin Awards", which is all about "individuals who ensure the long-term survival of our species by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion."  Basically it is about people who make very stupid decisions that end up causing their untimely death.  It always amazes me the decisions that people make in their life which can result in the end of their life.

Today I found on wikipedia the following list:  "The List of Unusual Deaths" which accounts the unusual deaths of people for centuries.  Many of these cannot be verified, but many others can.  Makes for some interesting reading - as well as some insights on things NOT to do if you want to live a long, happy life.  Strange, I know... but give it a try - you might find yourself even chuckling a little bit, as well as your jaw dropping, and also a bit of pity.

Mac Addict!!!

AND PROUD OF IT!!!!!

97%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Pastor2youth Slogan Contest

The NEW Pastor2youth Slogan Competition!!!

I am excited to announce the newest competition on Pastor2youth.com. This competition is a "Slogan" competition for the FIVE main sections of Pastor2youth.com.

Those sections are as follows:
  1) Games
  2) Papers
  3) Links
  4) YM Exchange
  5) Discussion Forum

The rules are as follows:
  1) You can submit up to 2 (two) slogans for each section of the site
  2) Preference will be given to those who submit slogans that have a common theme for every section (i.e. "The Right Games", "The Right Papers", "The Right Links", etc.) but you may also submit single section slogans (i.e. "Games: They're Good and they're free, what more could you want?")
  3) I will choose a winning slogan for each section listed above. Single slogans are also welcome!
  4) All entries must be submitted to Ryan Nielsen at Ryan@pastor2youth.com by Midnight (PST) on October 24th.
  5) Slogans may be submitted in just plain text, but if anyone wants to put their slogan on a graphic, that would be awesome!
  6) There will be FIVE winners of this contest - one for each section.
  7) EVERY winner will receive the following prize package:
            a) Power Play, Vols. 1-3 ($52.50)
            b) 26 Teaching Outlines, Vols. 1-3 ($99.00)
            c) Mentor Me: Year 1 & Leaders are Learners Bundle ($258.00)
                   TOTAL VALUE = $409.50

This Blog is Rated...

I am not exactly sure why - but I guess there is too much "adult" information to qualify for a "G" rating.  Well, at least all my Jr. Highers are allowed to read it because it didn't get a PG-13 rating.  :)

Fun Generators

I can think of many, many ways to have some fun with these two generators - especially in Youth Ministry.  But, for now I had some personal fun with them.  :)

Here is the Hollywood Sign Generator






















Here is the "Word Puzzle Generator" 

HT to Marko

Think Before You Post #2

Here is the 2nd commercial in this line.  Again, very powerful!!!!