A Few MORE Pictures from Christmas in North Carolina

These are all from Chimney Rock.

We were facing the sun and I couldn't keep my eyes open long.

Tunnel to the elevator that took you to Chimney Rock (26 stories up).

The view from Chimney Rock.   I'm sure we could have seen further if it wasn't so foggy.

It was a very foggy day so most of the pictures didn't turn out so great.

A Few Pictures from Christmas in North Carolina

People slide down the rock behind us for recreation (it's called "Sliding Rock").

At this ledge you can see South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.

The plaque at this rock that shows you where to look to see what state and the name of certain peaks.

View from the peak.

Tubing!

I was tired, but Sarah talked me into going down a few more times (I'm glad she did).

Christmas tree farm.

Saint Nicholas: More Than a Giver of Gifts

Nicholas' reputation for gift giving comes partly from a story of three young women who were too poor to afford a dowry for their marriages: as each reached a marriageable age, Nicholas, being sneeky and stealthy, threw a bag of gold into the house at night. Some versions of the legend say that the girls' father, trying to discover their benefactor, kept watch on the third occasion, but Nicholas dropped the third bag down the chimney instead. When the father found out the truth, Nicholas begged him to keep the secret, but the news got out. After he died, people in the region continued to give to the poor anonymously, and such gifts were still often attributed to St. Nicholas.

But there's more to this story. . .

Supposedly, Nicholas was born to a wealthy family in Patara, Lycia. His parents died, and he inherited a considerable sum of money, but he kept none of it; which is where he got the money for his most famous story.

Nicholas was the bishop of Myra (near modern Finike, Turkey) sometime in the 300s. Around that time Emperors Diocletian and Maximian began their persecutions of Christians, and the new bishop was imprisoned. When Constantine became emperor, Nicholas was released with countless others and returned to his preaching only to find a new threat: Arianism (disbelief in the trinity). According to one biographer (writing five centuries after Nicholas's death), "Thanks to the teaching of St. Nicholas, the metropolis of Myra alone was untouched by the filth of the Arian heresy, which it firmly rejected as a death-dealing poison." 

One account claims Nicholas attacked the heresy of Arius (who denied the full divinity of Christ and whom Arianism is named after) in a much more personal way—he traveled to the Council of Nicea and slapped Arius in the face! 

By the reign of Justinian (d. 565), Nicholas was famous, and the emperor dedicated a church in Constantinople to him. By the 900s, a Greek wrote, "The West as well as the East acclaims and glorifies him. Wherever there are people, his name is revered and churches are built in his honor. All Christians reverence his memory and call upon his protection." He's said to have been represented by medieval artists more frequently than any saint but Mary, and nearly 400 churches were dedicated in his honor in England alone during the late Middle Ages.

It's interesting that Santa Claus, the guy is who supposed to have come from and named after Saint Nicholas, is more known as a giver of gifts, but the real St. Nick was more known as a defender of sound doctrine, a protector of Christianity.  

Don't get me wrong; I'm not against Santa.  I just thought you might find this bit of history interesting.

The Parents Visit

A couple of weeks ago my parents came down for a visit, their first visit here to Vero Beach. It was so nice to have them here. Made Vero feel more like home with them here. While they were here we gave them a general tour of the area; drove through Dodger Town and walked on the boardwalk at the beach.

On Thursday we went to Busch Gardens in Tampa. It started out a miserable day, raining and a little chilly. I was thinking that our whole day there would be ruined because of the rain. But by noon the rain was gone! And because of the rain there was NO ONE at the park. It was so nice, we didn't have to wait in line for a single thing all day, we sat in the best seats at the shows, and had no one in the way to view the animal exhibits. It was the best Busch Gardens Tampa experience I had ever had!

"Mom and a bird."

"Me and a bunch of birds."

"Us and a bird."

"Dad and a giant lizard."

On Saturday we had our youth Christmas party, which was pretty fun. We got Mom to help cook, so the meal was perfect! We ate too much, played dirty santa, sang Christmas carols, read the Christmas story, and gave the kids stockings full of goodies. It was a great time!




On Sunday Dad preached at our church here. It was really nice to hear him preach; I miss my church back home in NC. Forest Park BC seemed to enjoy him too; at least that is what they said, and I hope they aren't a bunch of liars! lol!

Other than those events we mostly just hung around at home, like we would have done if we were in NC. Frodo actually seemed to start to warm up to Mom a bit, which is saying something for him.

It was so wonderful to you have you here, Mom and Dad! Come again soon!

Sarah Elizabeth

Sunday Review

Today I was the speaker at my church for the morning gathering. If you would like to hear it just click here. A quick summary, as followers of Christ we are carriers of His message. The message is what was accomplished on the cross. That's the Good News, the Gospel. But the Bible tells us that this Good News is foolishness to those who have not given their life to Jesus (it doesn't make sense, it's ridiculous). So how are we then supposed to communicate our message? Feel free to listen in on the podcast.

At night we had the choir from a local high school come and sing. There were 75 of them and it was awesome! They did such a wonderful job. It took a good effort from my youth and Bob (the only adult) to direct the cars. Our parking lot was overflowing and our auditorium was packed. I got to meet and talk with a lot of new people, mostly parents coming to see their child sing.

Whomp 'Em

This game was great and the youth REALLY got into it!  A fellow youth pastor showed me this game and I thought my youth would get a kick out of it.

You take a noodle (I don't know what they're really called but people play with them in pools and use them to float) and cut it in half.  Then you have a Whomping Stick.  You can hit someone with all your might and it doesn't hurt, but because the noodle is hollow it makes a loud boom on contact.  With the Whomping Stick the person in the middle walks around, Whomps someone, then runs to put down the Whomping Stick on the "cube" (we used a cooler),  and then tries to make it to the person's, who they Whomped, seat. . .all before the person they Whomped grabs the Whomping Stick from the "cube" and Whomps you back.  Oh, and a special note, if the Whomping Stick falls off the "cube", without being interfered with, then the person you Whomped gets 3 free Whomps!

This video of my youth's first exposure to it. . .(I'm sure we'll end up playing again since they loved it so much and kept asking to play more).

The music is "Secret Weapon" by MXPX.

My First Black Friday Experience

For a few reasons I've never gone out on Black Friday to shop.  I mean, I might have been out and about, but I have never done my Christmas shopping on Black Friday.  In fact, I usually have 75% of my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving; I've been known to buy a Christmas gift or two around August.

This morning Sarah had to be at Staples at 5:30am (where she works) and is expecting a long hard day.  When we arrived at Staples there was already a line outside the door waiting for the doors to open.  From there I decided to go to Wal-Mart; Sarah said there was a game on sale for half price there that we both wanted (turned out it wasn't what we thought so I didn't get it).  The Wal-Mart parking is right beside its Sams Club, so the park lot is huge (easily 15 acres, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone said it was twice that).  The parking lot was full!  At 5:30-ish AM it was packed.  Cars were going all over waiting for someone to pull out (I was one of them).

Here's a few things I noticed once inside:

1. There was probably 50 customers to every Wal-Mart employee.
   
2. Every section had a crowd and at least two very long lines and many didn't seem to know what the lines were for (a frequent question I kept hearing).
   
3. I saw two women grab, what I know is usually, a very expensive item because they thought the item was on sale, but admitted they didn't know how much the item was.
   
4. I arrived about 40 minutes after Wal-Mart's sales started and all of their big discount items were already gone.
   
5. I was surrounded by people pushing carts stuffed with items stacked higher than me.
   
6. A lot of people were upset, angry, and really frustrated, but some seemed to be enjoying them self and didn't let the competition of finding the sale item get to them. 
   
7. It took forever just to get around.
8. Items on the shelves couldn't be clearly seen in many places because of the number of people.
9. Lots of confusion, even among the employees.

I don't get why people go shopping on Black Friday.  I would rather pay a little more just to avoid crowds like that.

Are the deals that worth it?

Our Nation's First Thanksgiving

On Oct. 3, 1789 our first President, George Washington, made the following proclamation:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Twilight

Great, awesome book, pretty dang good movie! After being recommended Twilight and seeing that it was coming out as a movie this month, I read the book a couple weeks ago. It took me three, maybe four days to read. Amazing story! Very quickly, it is a love story between a human, Bella, and a vampire, Edward. I am currently in the middle of reading the third of four in the series, and they keep getting better.

Tonight we went to the midnight showing of Twilight. Wonderful! The movie did the book justice and kept true to the most part. Of course there were some differences, but nothing to ruin the movie over. I am quite happy with the result. I highly recommend the book and the movie.

But don't take my word for it...

Sarah Elizabeth

Ready for Christmas

In preparation for our trip to Terry's parents for Christmas, which will be in the mountains of NC, we bought Frodo a coat. He is a chihuahua who lives in Florida, so we know that he will be freezing. I just wanted to share how pimp Frodo is. Enjoy.

Sarah Elizabeth

I Couldn't Be Happier Right Now. . .

Publix and Albertsons (grocery stores) donated tons today to a project I'm working on with the youth for some Thanksgiving benevolence.  And we have another couple wanting to come to our Thursday night small group.

Although, I am missing my wife right now.  She's at work.  Can't wait to tell her the good news!

Baby Back Ribs!

Tonight I cooked ribs for the first time in my life.  I made my own rub based on many of the Kansas rubs I found online. There are TONS of them online, so I took what I liked from a few and put my own twists and turns in it.

I love to experiment and many of those experiments have turned out pretty bad; just ask my mom about chicken I once cooked that turned out purple (I'm not joking).  Some have turned out very good.  This one, by far was the best ever!

I cooked them for our small group Bible study and they were a hit.  They weren't good. . .they were awesome!  Even a girl who pretty much only eats chicken as her meat tried them and loved them.  I'm pretty stoked about it, especially since small group became my guinea-pigs and it could have been a disaster.

They were sweet and very spicy!  Sarah told me this is a meal I "must" cook for her mom and dad when they visit next month.

Now I just need to write down everything I did before I forget.

Next on the menu. . .I want to rework my chili.

Concerning the Election

I was about to make a post and then discovered that my father-in-law had beat me to it.  He said what I was thinking better than I would have.

Just a few points/comments:

Romans 13:1-7

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

1 Peter 2:13-16

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.

And just as a special note, these things were written during a time when the predominant government was cruel, had murderers and thieves helping to enforce the law of the land, taxed its subjects to the point that many could barely feed their families, and many other atrocities we're not even close to having to deal with.

If you're not happy with the outcome that doesn't give you an excuse to have a bad attitude. Watch your conduct.

Don't be focused on what you're against as much as you should be focused on what you're for. . .and hopefully those things you are for are a reflection of Christ.

Halloween

At Staples we had 3 spirit days last week, the 30, 31, and 1. It reminded me of spirit days back in high school. Thursday was crazy hair day and backwards day. Crazy hair, obvious. Backwards - we wore our uniform backwards. We were able to wear jeans too. I was the only one who managed to wear my jeans backwards, I just had to be careful about bending over all day.


Friday, Halloween, we got to wear a costume. I was a pirate, arrr! It was fun! There were some pretty cool costumes.


Saturday was red, white, and blue day and hat day. I opted out of the hat, but I did wear red, white, and blue. I didn't get a pic of this day. I was so nice to be able to wear something other than the red shirt and black pants. 

Frodo got to enjoy dressing us also. He is so good about wearing stuff. He pulled off a bumble bee rather well I would say.

Sarah Elizabeth

Bad News, Good News, Life

You get a phone call from your son’s teacher today. You find out he’s failing math because he been doing poorly on the tests and isn’t doing all of his homework. The teacher recommends a tutor which you call up and establish appointments with the tutor to meet with your son. . .

Now, your son comes home. You share with him that you’ve learned he’s failing math, he’s now grounded until his grades improve, and twice a week he’ll be meeting with a tutor after school to help him with his homework and study habits.

Do you think the young boy thought the fact that his parent found out he’s failing is good news? What about that he’s now grounded? Or what about the fact that he now has to meet with a tutor who will make sure he learns how to do the math he had been avoiding (which is why he wasn’t turning in all of his homework)? You know the boy is thinking “what does math have to do with anything anyway; math won’t help me get a girl friend!”

Sometimes we make the Good News of Christ seem much like this. Sure, making a young man increase his effort to his studies is a great thing, but a parent can make a child practice discipline in studies. . .on the other hand we can not make anyone come to know Christ.  Yet, the church often seems to follow a set of methods similar to correcting a young man's low grades. We tell them something is seriously wrong in their life (they’re going to hell). Then we take all of their fun away and on top of that we guilt trip them into coming to church 2 or 3 times a week so they can get better at this thing called “being a Christian”. Doesn’t sound like Good News at all. In fact, the Good News sounds like bad news.

This is the world we live in and this is how the church is perceived by many who are outside the church (and even a good number of those inside of it). So many see the church as a place that’s boring, self-punishing, and not relevant to what they perceive they need in life.  They don't see Good News.

I submit for your pondering: 

1. What kind of "News" does your church spread? What is the "real" message of your church?

2. Did you know that love is a great way to open doors to share the bad news and then the Good News of Christ?  Is your church showing the community that you really love them (not "we do things in the community only because we hope this will draw people to our church")?  You want to show people you love them; show it with your money, your time, and your energy. . .and don't expect anything in return.

Cold

Believe it or not, it actually got a bit chilly here in Florida. A record low for October actually. Yesterday we woke up to around 50 degrees. I walked to work, beautiful outside! All day at work there were people coming in in sweaters, jackets, and even some in coats. It was a bit humorous, especially in the afternoon when it was around 65 degrees. Poor little Frodo has been cold, so he slept in bed with us last night cuddled up to Terry the whole time for warmth. We need to get him a sweater. It has been quite refreshing to be a little cold here and it not be caused by the ac. It finally feels like Fall!

Sarah Elizabeth

Roses

Just thought you all would like to know, when I came home from work tonight there was a beautiful vase full of roses waiting for me from my wonderful husband. Just thought you would like to know.

Sarah Elizabeth

Pimp My Pumpkin

The example we were given:


We got the adults involved in the challenge:





Our judges:


Finished products:

United Socialist States of America, Part 2

It's partially my fault. I brought up a subject where I made rather vague points. Let me explain this in a little more detail (but I still want to keep this somewhat brief).

What's wrong with Socialism and Marxism? Why is it more scary than our current situation? Here's just a few of the points that frighten me about Marxism and Socialism.

1. Socialism sounds like wisdom to the ears of some men. It's sort of a Robin-Hood style of government, because "people are less fortunate" and the government is "supposed to be the one to step up and help them". Again, it sounds like wisdom and it tugs on our heart to help our fellow man, but if firm believers in socialism REALLY loved those who were less fortunate then why don't they give to help these people. Obama's giving record is less than the national average and Biden's is almost nonexistant. Socialism isn't about helping those in need it's about getting control. The more control we give to the government the less freedom we have.
2. Socialism rewards the mundane and mediocre. It creates generations of people who believe there's no need to work for anything and it's the government's job to take care you even though you're a good for nothing, lazy slacker.
3. There's never been a successful Socialist/Marxist government. Spain has only been socialist for about 4 years so they certainly have not proven themselves as the first example of success yet.
4. Socialism typically prefers to capitulate to aggressors (such as terrorists) rather than say "no" to their demands and possibly fight.
5. Socialism is anti-religion (or only accepting of "social religion").

A document I've only stumble on in the past few weeks, so I know little of its author, but really got my attention was from the "Naked Communist" by Cleon Skousen. In the book 45 goals of socialism/Marxism/communism is stated. Now I'm not saying I'm totally buying into this but this is definitely interesting; it also catches my attention that it was written over 45 years ago. I'm only posting the points that grabbed me the most but you can easily Google the whole thing.

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

Thirty-Two

So I'm thirty two today. I've never been big on birthdays, although I did always enjoy going to other people's birthdays. My wife is determined for me to at least not work on my birthday (at least before youth group), so I'll be spending the early part of the day with her. She protested at the idea of me working on my birthday.

It's Gone!

Praise the Lord, it is finally gone! After over a week my mysterious white spots are finally gone. Thanks to a comment under my previous post made by Jennifer I have found out what they are. Tonsilloliths, or tonsil stones are hard white spots that appear on your tonsil. Everything I read about them on the internet makes me believe that is what they were. They are harmless, other than causing great irritation that you can do nothing about. Pretty much, it was something, either food or something from post nasal drip, that gets stuck on the tonsil. It is loaded with protein, therefore attracting lots of bacteria making them white. They fall off eventually. Two of mine fell off by Monday, but the most annoying one stuck around until tonight. This does not occur if your tonsils have been removed, which would explain why this is not a commonly known problem; before my generation most people got their tonsils removed. Tonight I am going to start gargling mouth wash in the hopes to prevent a re-occurance. This was not a fun experience, but at least I didn't get sick.

Sarah Elizabeth

Wii & Youth Group

Sarah put the bug in my ear a couple a months ago that I should seriously consider getting a Nintendo Wii for the youth.  

Why?  We'll many of the games on a Wii do not require the same skills that an XBox or PlayStation would require (being familiar with buttons and being able to perform certain combinations of buttons very quickly) since many of the Wii games are based on moving a remote.  So whether we had youth who spend 8 hours a day playing video games or youth don't own a video game consul, everyone would be on a somewhat equal playing field.  Plus, many of the games for Wii think outside the box and are fun in a whole new way (something other than running around and shooting each other).

Our youth have been meeting twice a week, Wed. for the main youth gathering and Sunday morning for Sunday school, but now we're adding a third gathering.  This gathering, called "Hang-Time" is different from the other two in that it's only designed for hanging out to provide a bridge to get to know the youth who've been coming better, and to encourage them to invite friends to a no strings attached evening of fun.  And the attraction we've added: a Wii!  Not to mention a pool table, ping pong, foosball, snacks (we're having nachos with cheese dip for the first meeting), and soda.

Our first Hang-Time is this Sunday.  Sarah is in charge of the Wii rotation (taking turns).  I'm excited, and so are the youth.  I'm really hoping they have the courage to invite some of their friends, not because I want the youth size to grow; I do want to see growth, but for youth to invite their friends is a big step for them.

Since we announced that I found a Wii to the youth tonight (Wii's can be difficult to find) the youth have been begging for Rock Band, since we had them over this past weekend and they loved playing it, but it's just too expensive of a game to buy for the youth group right now.  Maybe after the holidays (by then Rock Band 2 should be available).

Mysterious White Spots

It all started on Wednesday night when I felt like I had something stuck in my throat. Thursday morning that feeling was still there. I spent the day wiggling my tongue around and hacking trying to dislodge the foreign object from my throat. Then I decided, just for fun, to look down my throat with a flashlight...and that is when I saw...

The Mysterious White Spots!!!

I have at least three white spots on my left tonsil. After calling "doctor mom" I took her advise and called our doctor (who really is just a nurse practitioner). I went in, she checked me out, and we still don't know what it is exactly. It could just be food she said, and she got me to gargle water for a bit to see if it would dislodge itself. That didn't work, so then she prescribed me some antibiotics, just in case. She said it isn't strep throat, because my throat doesn't hurt at all. It could be the beginning of tonsillitis, but my throat still doesn't hurt.

Today, still no sore throat. I do feel a bit fatigued, but no fever. I am going into work late today so I could just relax and rest, in case I am getting sick. So, I guess we will see what happens over the next few days.

Sarah Elizabeth

United Socialist States of America

What do you think?

I've been a guy who has studied and followed history for quite some time.  My love of history was birthed late in my senior year of high school.  But I must admit that, until recently, I've made very little connection between history and things that are happening here and now (probably has to do with coming from a generation that rarely reads newspapers or tries to follow what's going on in the world).  Maybe I'm finally getting old enough to start paying attention to past mistakes.

Is it just me or is the national democratic party's policies highly based on Marxism and Socialism?  And if so, shouldn't history tell us how incredibly scary that is?

Maybe this is something that is well known and I've been far too unobservant, which means I need to wake up and start paying attention more.  Or maybe I'm just way off here. . .nah, I don't think so.

What do you think?

Wednesday Night

We've been looking at what walking with Christ looks like and tonight we talked about legalism through exploring three major points:

1. You don't have to live by a huge set of rules.
2. You don't have to wonder about your place in heaven.
3. You don't have to earn God's approval.

Quick Update

FCA yesterday went well.  We again had 20+ students and the chex-mix and gatorade disappeared in, what seemed like, seconds. 

Tonight, in youth group, we talked about how we can become disappointed in Christianity because we have the wrong idea of what walking with Christ should look like. 

The Week Keeps Getting Better

Ever have those moments when you just know something really big is happening. . .and the awe of knowing that God chose you to be the midst of it. This whole week has been like that for me.

This week two youth gave their life over to Christ from my youth group. One happened on Sunday and the other last night.

The young girl gave her life to Christ after talking with her daddy about baptism. She had heard about her father (parents are separated) baptizing her brother two months earlier and it's been raising questions in this young girl. In fact, last night Sarah was able to talk with her about this decision. In two weeks her father will be baptizing her.

I had the honor of talking to the young boy who gave his life to Christ last night. I had shared the Good News of Jesus with him about four months ago and he completely rejected it. I think for a short while it created a rift between him and myself, because I think he felt like he rejected me and he didn't know how to face that. For a little while I've let that decision sink in, but as we crossed paths from time to time and he came to youth, from time to time, (he was dodging me) I tried to let him know that I still love him and care for him, and God even more so. He has now been coming to youth regularly for the past month or so. Last night at the conclusion of a gospel presentation he wanted to talk with me and the conversation ended with him praying, on his own, asking God to change him and to give him the strength to follow him. You better believe it was hard to "fight back the tears".

FCA Today!

Today was awesome! Very tiring, but awesome!

At the 2:15 FCA, the one I run, we had a lot of students! I didn't stop to get a head count, but we easily had 20 plus. The chex-mix and gatorade was gone in a matter of seconds! I definitely will have to bring a lot more next time.

Not too bad for our 3rd meeting. The word is spreading and so far we've been growing rather fast.

The coolest part was I asked whoever was interested in doing ministry at Vero Beach High to stick around after the meeting and five students were interested. Next week I'll begin talking with these few, in detail, about the future of FCA at Vero Beach High.

I'm excited!

It was awesome to see the excitement on John-Peter's (the teacher), Holly's (softball coach), and Steve's (JV softball coach) face over the past three weeks and God's been blessing the desire to minister on this campus.

If next week sees the same kind of numerical growth then we'll need a new location to meet. We've already been told we could use the gym. That's something we might be considering soon.

Just sharing my excitement!!!

Busy

Today Sarah and I worked on painting the youth rec room. We spent about 3.5 hours putting the first coat of paint on all the areas a paint roller can't reach. Later this week we're going to put the second coat on, and I'll need to get in there to do some sanding (areas I puttied).

Tomorrow I have FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) twice at Vero Beach High School. At the 2:15 meeting (which is for out of season athletes and non-athletes) I had a pretty good showing. Holly, the Varsity Softball coach was rather excited. Hopefully we continue to grow numerically tomorrow. At the 6:00 (which at the moment is targeting the football players and cheerleaders) I get to be a helper while Scott (a Youth for Christ director) runs the show.

Wednesday night will be youth group and I'll be kicking off a new series called the "Really Real Christianity". I need to work harder at my series names, but the point of the series is to introduce students what it means to be a follower of Christ. Last Wednesday was the first Wednesday with the youth ministry team having new job assignments and they did awesome!

Thursday night will be small group Bible study (for adults), which is fun and challenging. The discussion is awesome every week.

Saturday night Sarah and I are opening our home to the youth to watch the movie Nacho Libre. None of our youth have seen it. Hopefully they're in to that kind of humor. We're going to have hot dogs. . .Sarah suggested corn on a stick too!

Rock the Universe, Day 2 & 3

It was loads of fun! But I am SO tired!