A-"Muse"-ing Thoughts

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.

Changes are HARD

So, most of my blog has been filled with news relating to our fost-to-adopt situation lately - and for good reason.  That has been a BIG deal in Christi and my life, and it is very important.... but there is a LOT more happening than just that, so I wanted to take some time to begin to share some other news too.

Often we like change when we are young because change is a reflection of our growth and the vitality inherent in our youthfulness. However, when we get older, change becomes more difficult to accept. Many times, change in our life comes about through tragedy, defeat, or loss. As I have gotten older, I have found that change in my own live has become harder and harder.  I used to look forward to it and get excited about it.  Now I seem to dread most changes.  I like the known; the consistent; the predictable; the safe.  But life just is not that way.

So one year ago I faced the challenging and difficult change of my Senior Pastor resigning from the church I had worked in for 9 years.  I was NOT excited about this change at all.  Within weeks God had another plan for me altogether - and called Christi and I to Texas to a new church, new home, new ministry and new friends.  After being here for 1 year and becoming VERY close friends (both Christi and me) with the senior pastor and his wife of our new church home - on Jan. 25th, 2009 - the Senior Pastor announced his resignation.  So here I am, one year later, facing the same difficult change situation of losing a senior pastor.  But, what makes this one a lot more nerve-wracking for me, challenging, and exhausting is the fact that I am currently the ONLY full-time pastoral staff working in the entire church.  And with everything else going on in my life, this makes me very nervous and questioning what exactly God wants from me and my life???

During this challenging time, I have had to continue to meditate on one particular scripture - Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change. "

When we are with Christ, and He is within us, change may still be fearful or uncomfortable, but change can be managed. All of us can glorify God, even when we are exhausted and beaten down by change. In the silence of our response to changing situations in life, we can send our heart and our prayers to God and He will answer. We can ask Christ to use us through every changing circumstance and He will answer. In a world of change and chaos, we have an unchanging and constant friend in Christ.

Lord - PLEASE help me to remember this and hold on to this each and every day!  AMEN

Life is Full of Change

I led a devotional yesterday morning at our staff meeting.  I thought I would start this post by sharing that devotional - cause it will set up the rest of what I want to say.

Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change. " (NIV)

Often we like change when we are young because change is a reflection of our growth and the vitality inherent in our youthfulness. However, when we get older, change becomes more difficult to accept. Many times, change in our life comes about through tragedy, defeat, or loss. When we are with Christ, and He is within us, change may still be fearful or uncomfortable, but change can be managed. All of us can glorify God, even when we are exhausted and beaten down by change. In the silence of our response to changing situations in life, we can send our heart and our prayers to God and He will answer. We can ask Christ to use us through every changing circumstance and He will answer. In a world of change and chaos, we have an unchanging and constant friend in Christ.

I never thought I would say it, but it does seem that the older I get, the harder change is in my life.  I used to love change.  It used to excite me.  I loved new adventures, new ideas, new people, and so much more.  Now, I hold on tight to the security of "non-change".  But, life continues to move on... and the truth is life is full of change - as much as I would like to avoid it, deny it or ignore it. 

This last year has been filled with changes in the life of me and Christi.  It began right around 1 year ago when we moved to Texas from Southern, California.  We also bought our first house!  (wow, and what a change home-ownership is.)  Along with a move like this of course came the struggle for both of us of leaving our friends, our family, the "known" and "familiar", the routine, the people, the job, the area.  All of these things.  And while those have been challenges, neither Christi nor I could have imagined some of the additional changes we would be facing one year later.

I can hardly believe that my first full year in my new youth ministry position is at hand.  There were times this last year when it felt like I would never make it.  But, here I am.  Now is the new struggles to work through the second year.  But that's not even the new challenges I am talking about for me and Christi.  Those have to do with both work and personal life.

First, work....  As of last Sunday (Jan. 25th) our Sr. Pastor (and my boss) announced his resignation.  I can hardly believe that in 1 year's time Christi and I have had to deal with 2 different Sr. Pastors at the two churches we have been a part of resigning.  This is challenging and scary in many ways for me.  The fear of the unknown is of course the main cause.  I knew when I took this job who the Sr. Pastor was, and what he was like, what his theology was, what his philosophy was, what his vision was, etc.  Now I have to sit back and wait to see what the new Sr. Pastor is like and pray that we meld well.  In addition, due to budget cuts, the only full-time staff at the church at the moment is: The custodian, the secretary, and me.  That makes for a LOT of additional work and challenges that I didn't imagine having to deal with a year ago when I was hired as the new Youth Pastor.  So, a lot is happening at work that is causing changes that are difficult.  But... as the scripture says in Micah - God does NOT change - and He is the one I need to fully rely upon.

Secondly, personally.... Christi and I are very excited to have completed all of the training and requirements to be approved as foster-to-adopt parents here in Texas.  Now we are waiting for God to bring us the child(ren) that he has for us.  Before Christi and I even knew that we had been approved we received a call for placement.  The call came in at about 4:30 pm for a 4-year old boy.  They told us they needed to know right away, and so we had about 10 minutes to decide.  And even then, there was no guarantee that in that 10 minutes someone else might not take him into their home.  So Christi called me and asked me what I thought - and after about 5 minutes of thinking about it we decided to call back and say "yes!"  So we called back to say yes to Christopher.  Our Social Worker said she would get back to us with information on the placement - one way or another.  Friday ended without word.  We knew that they were closed for the weekend and wouldn't do anything until Monday.  The entire weekend, though, Christi and I were wondering if we would be placed with Christopher and become insta-parents.  In addition, we realized we have been planning and setting up for an infant - so we have a LOT of baby stuff... but we don't have toddler stuff - including a bed and dresser.  So we need to buy those as well.  Well, we waited on pins and needles all weekend - wondering what it would be like to instantly be parents of a 4-year old.  On Monday after 4 phone calls and messages, I finally got through to a case worker to find out that Christopher had already been placed with another family on Friday.  That was very difficult to have spent the entire weekend wondering and stressing about what to do - when we weren't even going to get him.  But, this is encouraging that we are now getting phone calls for placement. 

So, Christi and my life have been FILLED with change this last year.  Change is not necessarily bad, but it does seem to be more and more difficult to face and deal with as I get older.  But God is still in control and I am trying to rest on that and not forget it. 

Be the Church

A couple of years ago at Youth Specialties' National Youth Worker's Convention, they had a shirt for sale that I absolutely loved.  The front of the shirt said "Don't Go To Church" and the back of the shirt said "Be the Church".  I loved both the idea presented in this shirt, as well as the reaction it would get from people... especially people IN the church.  It also would bring out some interesting conversations about what it means to "be the church" and what that looks like.

Well, today, I came upon the blog of Pete Wilson and a post he wrote titled "Be The Church".  I love what he wrote and couldn't say it better myself...

Yesterday someone read a quote from my message on Sunday. The quote was,

“We need to stop playing church and start being the church.”

This person contacted me and asked me what I really meant. A quote of that nature probably deserves further clarification.

It means we need to stop arguing about style of worship and get concerned about the poor and hungry around the world.

It means we need to spend less time gossiping about others and more time allowing God to break our hearts over the people in our cities who are facing an eternity apart from Christ.

It means we need to stop whining about what programs our church has or doesn’t have and we need to learn what it means to abide in Jesus from one moment to the next.

Listen, it’s got to stop. We’ve got to stop showing up on Sunday mornings and playing church.   The New testament never calls us to just go to church, but to be the church.

It seems far to often we’ve reduced church down to spiritual masturbation. We’ve made it all about us.  We’ve turned it into  something we do to stroke our ego-driven, self-centered, materialistic lives. It gives us momentary pleasure, but we’ve failed to give, serve, or sacrifice of ourselves. It leads to false intimacy with our creator God.

We play church.

I’m done with that.

Be the church.

Sand Artist

At the National Youth Worker's Convention they have a "Sand Artist" who is absolutely amazing. I have no idea how you would learn to do this sort of thing... maybe too much time at elementary recess and no room left on the swingset??  Anyway, I took this video of the last part of his amazing sand art where he stated with the story of the Prodigal son.  This is the part where the prodigal son returns home.. and I will let you watch the rest.  It is amazing!!!

One-Year Anniversary

I cannot believe it has already been ONE FULL YEAR!!!

No... I am not talking about my wedding anniversary.  Rather, today marks the one-year anniversary of when I received the phone call from Cheryl at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Boerne, Texas to ask me if I would be willing to pray about applying for the Youth Pastor position that they had available.  I was not even looking for a job at the time, and had not expected anything like this.  I also never imagined that I would move from Southern California, where I had been in my job for 9 years as a Jr. High Youth Pastor. 

But God had something else in mind for me.  My Journey to Texas was a very WILD ride!!!  And the truth is it has continued to be quite a wild ride.

I have not blogged hardly at all about my time here in Texas and a lot of that has been due to being crazy busy and getting my feet wet here.  I hope to find some time to share some things about my first year here, though.  I began this new job on Feb. 1, 2008 - and it has been a tough transition - and continues to be challenging.  It is amazing at times to me that I have been in youth ministry for 17 years total, and every change feels like I'm going back to my first two years in youth ministry ever.  That is why I have found Doug Fields' book "Your First Two Years In Youth Ministry" to be a valuable resource whether you are a new youth pastor or a veteran.  There are a lot of common elements when you begin a new job to the first couple years.  A lot of common challenges, a lot of common blessings, a lot of common struggles, etc. 

So, I am here in Texas now.... one year after the first phone call to bring me here.  I'm still wrapping my mind around all of this.  It is crazy, and wonderful, and good, and hard, and confusing, and so much more. 

If you want to hear a miraculous story, make sure you go back and read about my journey to get here.  Now I hope to find more time in the next year to blog and journal more - which I really do love to do.

Jesus Junk of the Month Award

So I debated whether or not I should post this award now, since the item is not yet released... but I decided that it was so worthy of the Jesus Junk of the Month Award that I could not wait for months to share this gem with everyone.

So here you have it... Announcing... are you ready for this.....

Yes... your eyes are NOT deceiving you.... "SUNDAY SCHOOL MUSICAL"

But wait... it gets even better.  Look at this description for the movie....

"This original production currently being filmed in Los Angeles joins the library of successful family oriented musicals such as “Grease,” and the “High School Musical” films. The inspirational storyline centers around a group of teens who when faced with the news of their local church being torn down enter into a song and dance competition with the hopes of raising the money to save the building. "

Ummmm.... I don't know when the last time was that they REALLY watched or listened to the musical "Grease" - but that is not a musical that I would classify as a "family oriented musical".

So there you have it.  On Oct. 21st you can own this gem for only $19.95.  Don't let this pass you by as it is sure to be sung by all of your students for years to come.......ya... right!!!

Race This Vol. 2 Now Available!!!

Race This Vol. 2

On your marks! Get set! RACE!

From the shot of the starter’s pistol this product will help grab your students’ attention. These simple yet highly addictive games are a great programming element to add into any meeting. Students can choose a racer and then cheer it on to victory. Or defeat. Whichever comes first.

These are the same style of races used at sporting events, rodeos, or anywhere a crowd and a jumbotron meet. But now this is available for your hot little hands. There are 10 different themes and each race is randomized—which means you never know who is going to win!

All Race This! games are compatible with Macs or PCs, so have no fear. You can play them straight off the DVD or load them up into your favorite presentation software for smooth sailing on meeting night.

(click on the image above to purchase this item)

Youth Ministry Interviews

I am the Featured Interview this month at the "Youth Ministry Interviews" blog that Len Evans started and Runs. 

Thanks Len!!!

Stop over there to learn even more about me, including some random fun trivia like the strangest thing I ever bought on ebay.  :)

I Feel Robbed

    Wow – lots of mixed emotions today.

    It has been an awesome weekend.  I finished up my speaking engagement with a final message entitled “There’s No Place Like Home.”  It was fun of the last two day to be fought over at mealtimes as to which table I would sit at.  It is very encouraging and flattering.  In addition, I had a lot of the students wanting my email and wanting to give me theirs as well. 

    I gave all of the youth leaders here this week a DVD full of all of my funny videos that I have been collecting.  They were very appreciative of this too. 

    Just before leaving I was told by the director of this weekend’s retreat that they had looked at the evaluations for the weekend and the responses about me were all very positive.  I have LOVED speaking this weekend and would love to do more of this.  I am hoping to not only be invited back by this group to speak at something in the future, but I am hoping other people would consider bringing me in to speak to their group, camp, retreat, parents, leaders, etc.  I love to teach, I love to speak, and I would love to do more of this.

    While this has been a great weekend, I am very anxious and excited to get home too.  I am excited to be back with her and her family – to see them and spend time with them.  I feel like I have missed out on so much already being away.  But, I think it has been good all the way around.

    Finally, I feel robbed today.  Basically every day of my life I feel like I am continually complaining that I do not have enough hours in the day.  I feel like I never have enough time to get everything done that I need to get done.  And, that there is not enough time to sleep as much as I want.  Well, now today it is even worse – because I am losing THREE hours today.  I only get to live a 21- hour day today.  It’s really not fair.  How could this be, you might ask?  Well, of course this morning was daylight savings time, and it is “spring forward” – so I lost one hour this morning already.  Also, I am boarding the plane to return home to Boerne, TX in just a few minutes – and in the flight from San Jose to Boerne, I lose another 2 hours due to the time change.  Thus, I lose 3 hours today.  It’s just not fair.

    Well, I am about to board my first flight to return home – so I will wrap this up.  It’s been a GREAT weekend.  I had a wonderful time.  I am excited to return home.  So, all around this has been wonderful.