A day at the fair

I have discovered that I am too old for the Tilt-a-whirl.  If not too old, then not ready to eat an elephant ear and half a Pepsi and then ride the aforementioned torture device.

We had a good time with the girls at the the fair today, even if I did leave spinning and little blurry.  The girls had a great time.  I have included a slide show of the time we spent enjoying the animals, and a few pictures of Lauren on her ride of choice.  Sorry, there will be no pictures of me looking like I just got off the tilt-a-whirl.  I had the camera.

My Apologies to our softball women

I have now been chastised twice for my sexist comments about throwing worse than the girls.  My intent, was to convey how good our women play, and how poorly I play.  In the interest of humility, and to refrain from digging a deeper hole while explaining my comments, I will defend myself no further.

I apologize for poor performances on and off the field, and beg the forgiveness of the exceptional women athletes with whom it is my privelege to share the field.  Please accept this gift as a token of my deepest regrets for my most egregious error.

Softball Stats

Well we were mercied tonight and ran out of time.  The final score was 14-4.  I am wondering if the “Just for Fun” name means, all the the other teams play us for fun.

Personally, I did not contribute to the hitting.  I grounded out once.  I did get a base hit, but it contributed to the force at second.  So… not a stellar night. 

Defense:  I did handle the ball pretty well in the outfield.  Caught one fly ball.  No errors.  Well, unless you count overthrowing 2nd a few times.  I still need to control the ball when I throw to 2nd. 

I still hit worse than most of the …team…, I throw ….poorly…. (Corrected after considerations to my team mates) as well.  So maybe I need to stick to shot put.  If we all had to play with a 12lb ball, Zack and I would dominate.  But…I digress.  I look forward to next week.  A new game.  Another chance to swing way too hard, to hit way too short.  I must look pretty funny.  1st at bat, they all back up.  2nd at bat, they all come in.  Tells you something doesn’t it.

See you next week.

My Parents in Mississippi

My Dad was informed this afternoon that he has a new job.  He will take over as the Operations Manager at the Gulfport, MS distribution Center.  This has been a job we have been praying for now for 8 months.  Maybe longer.  However, the downside is the distance away.  When we began praying we never had any idea it would be this far.  For a while this past spring we thought maybe the UP would be a new destination, but instead we find the way south.

We are happy for this new position because of what it will mean for my parents financial situation, but that is weighed against the distance of travel to see them.  We are thankful for the advances in the internet, communications like cell phones, and video calls.  These will help to make the distance a little less intimidating, but it is no substitute for being 20 minutes away.  My parents are huge support us in a lot of ways, not the least of which is relief from our children for a little while now and then.  Their relationships with our children bring us a lot of joy, and provide peace while we are away on trips, etc…

Now, to begin plans in earnest for that Gulfport work project this spring.  Perhaps my family can come along and stay their Spring Break at my parents.  Anyway, that’s one option.  I will have to remember to wave from the plane on the way to Guatemala this summer.  I will probably fly right over their house on the way into Houston Airport.

This will mean a lot of changes for us, more for them.  But I am reminded that when God wanted to begin the work of redemption which he brought through the people of Israel, it started with a man leaving his home and going to a far off place that God would show him.  Who knows but God what this will mean for the family.

My mom will be taking some time here and then there to make the move over.  We will help on this end I am sure.  Whether or not any of us will get down there before winter, we have no idea.  We are finding we don’t know much about our futures anymore, it’s best to leave the guessing up to someone else, and just go with it, I guess…

Canoe Trip

Our middle school youth group went on a canoe trip.  Here are the pictures!  These will also be on Facebook, and I will get to tagging the photos and adding captions at some point.  But I wanted to get them out there quickly so here they are.  Please feel free to tag them on facebook yourself.  I will approve them later.

Close Calls while Canoeing

Canoeing on the Muskegon River in August is usually quite safe.  And this weekend was no exception.  But for me and one other leader, and I suppose one young girl (I will protect her identity here), it sure looked a little scary for about 15 seconds.

Two girls were on the canoe.  They floated too far to one side and had gotten themselves stuck on a log with a branch overhead.  It is usually not wise to grab the branch, because that allows the bottom (ie the canoe) to float out from underneath you.  That is exactly what happened next.  One of the girls clung to the branch, while the other disappeared under the canoe, or so it seemed.  Me and my partner had been out of our canoes, helping people through this tricky part of the river.  Both of us were running at this point to the spot.  There was a hole just beyond the log where the river got pretty deep.  My partner dove in towards the canoe several yards ahead of me.  I ran along the bank, trying to get ahead of the floating canoe before it met the end of the Island I was running on.  As I started into the water toward the canoe, my friend reached the edge of the boat.  I was fearful we would flip over the boat and find no child underneath.  “had the boat struck her head when it rolled and sent her to the bottom of the whole”.  I was a little nervous.  But just as my friend reached the canoe, she popped up next to it with her life jacket intact.  She wasn’t the least traumatized when she came up.

Seconds later, it all turned to laughter as we gathered up the dumped over towels and crocs (that’s the shoe variety not the man-eating variety) and we made it back to our canoes.  No damage done.  The only long term effects, a little more wisdom about how not to fall out of a canoe, and some blue-lipped shivering for the rest of the overcast and slightly breezy trip down the river.

For pictures of the canoe trip, check back here soon.  I will be posting a slide show here and on facebook.  I think you will see a “before” of the two girls, and then perhaps an “after” at the lunch stop.  I would have had more of the action, but I threw the camera when I went running for the canoe.  Yeah, it was that intense!

Check back tomorrow for the photos.

A note about High School Youth Group

This year we are trying something different.  Instead of the large group meetings every week, we will have those once a month.  In the mean time, we will be meeting in small groups at people’s homes. 

The reason we are trying this is to encourage more interaction and discussion on the Bible, and better relationships between the leaders and the students.  The large group often left us with less and less time to get to the relational and spiritual stuff after worship, announcements and group activities.  So the students were left with not enough time to go deeper in their discussions, and the leaders did not have adequate time to get to know the kids.

I also believe that the neutral space, and the intimacy of being in a home, will help the relationships to grow.  I hope it will allow kids to feel more comfortable to bring their friends.  I also anticipate more interaction outside the youth group structure as kids become more comfortable with their leaders and perhaps the leader’s family.  I anticipate fun nights at home, watching movies at sme point, and perhaps going out for Ice Cream, bowling, catching a movie, or anything that sounds fun for the group to try together.  If the leaders know the kids better, and vice-versa, this becomes much more likely.

The apostle Paul once said that he was eager to share the gospel, but also his life with the church when he visited there.  I believe he meant he was sharing meals, sharing stories with the children there, and getting to know the people.  At the beginnings and especially at the ends of his letters, there is always a special note to people he cared about in the churches.  The only way these people were special to him, is because he shared life.

So this is the reason for the change, and I look forward to seeing what this change will bring.  There’s still room for leaders to get involved in this new format.  If you are interested, please contact brandon.  brandon@lighthouse-ministries.org

Our girls’ funny faces

The girls were at the mall Friday afternoon and they were in a mood.  They were a little nuts.  You can talk about climbing the walls until you are actually trying to get them down from the walls.  These are some pictures of their crazy mood faces, and it made for a good distraction while were trying to get clothes tried on for Sam.  So if you ever wondered what really goes on in those changing rooms at the mall, now you can know.  Take a look at these:

GVSU Move in help

Hey I just got back from helping to move in GVSU students.  As part of our new college ministry we decided it would be good to give the students a hand and make a connection by helping them out on moving day.  We met a few who were very suspicious and very private, and did not want any help, or any water.  We also met a few that were eager, and thankful for the help.

One family told us we were a blessing to them.  They were not looking forward to moving all those boxes.  You could see the relief on their faces when we arrived.  It was awesome to see the dad so grateful.  We shared with them about our church and what we were about.  They were thrilled to know a church was doing something like this.  It was unbelieveable to them.  It made me wonder what is wrong with the church, if selfless help is considered unbelieveable. 

Another mom was happy to see us as well.  She said God must have sent you here.  “Well”, I said, “that’s pretty much it”.  It was a lot of fun and a real momentum boost to head into the season.  This is going to be an interesting ministry.  We truly have no idea where this could take us and our church.  I am overwhelmed by it as much as those who saw us coming to help.

Matt Vandebunte of the Grand Rapids Press was there to interview us today.  (I had a fresh haircut…thanks lovey).  They took pictures of us carrying boxes.   They definitely fall into the camp of take lots of pictures and choose one good one.  He must have snapped 100’s of pictures of al of us moving boxes.  I think I took more out of helping those two special families and a few others than the interview, but it went well. 

The students are in a big world.  They are confronted with a lot of life choices.  How they are going to be when they are alone.  One mom said she would put the church flyer up on the fridge.  Her daughter gave her a look like, “yeah right…until you leave”.  We will have a lot of walls to break down with these students and their home church experiences, or non-church experiences.  But I think when they get to know us, they will find good guys that just love Christ.  Authenticity.

Anyway, look for the article about us August 25th in Grand Rapids Press.  I’ll be the one in the black shirt : )

A video of a great dramatic presentation.

I was sent this video twice today through e-mail.  This is a great presentation.  I was OK with it until I heard the crowds’ reaction and watched the closing.  Then I needed the kleenex.  I hope you all enjoy it.