Tag: awesome

  • Kristen is Blogging Again

    Yup, Kristen has got her blog going again. I know she plans on talking more about our families shift to an organic lifestyle, gardening, shell hunting, and fun stuff for our kids.

    Kristen was a pretty successful mom-blogger when that fad was hot. She got burnt out with all the free product people sent us to review so I think she’s going to avoid that this time around.

    She and I sat down yesterday  to talk about a new look for her blog… let me know what you think. We were looking to create something fresh, open, and elegant. (Yes, the shell is one she found in a neighborhood in Haiti. Only Kristen could find a shell in a path a mile from the ocean amidst all that garbage!)

  • Youth Ministry as Life Ministry

    Photo by bipolarbear via Flickr (creative commons)

    A few years ago I was talking to a senior pastor about youth ministry. In a moment of honesty he said something like this.

    “I don’t get it. Tell me why you want to work with high school students your whole life. You’re qualified to be a senior pastor. You have all the qualities people look for in a senior pastor. And your teaching style moves high school students to a type of faith that most churches would love. Plus, you could be the boss and you’d make a lot more money. What don’t I see?”

    The truth was that it took me by surprise because I’d never been asked that question. I’ve only been asked it’s annoying cousin, “When are you going to be a “real” pastor?”

    Here’s a summary of what I told him:

    • I love the process. In the 5-6 years that you have a student in your ministry you see them go from squirrelly middle schooler to mostly grown up.
    • I love that adolescents are moldable. The reason you can teach them radical truths and they will respond is pretty amazing. You just don’t see many adults looking for truth to move them.
    • I love the fun factor. When was the last time you’ve preached to adults and illustrated something by covering a kid in shaving cream or dunking for oreos in chocolate syrup. Like never. There’s a middle schooler in me that is highly amused by this kinesthetic goofy learning stuff. Adults just don’t go for it.
    • I love that it doesn’t end unless you want it to. Seriously, this is a beautiful time of year. I love the longitudinal factor of youth ministry. And I love the fact that you can chose to continue investing in some students while having a perfectly good excuse to move them out of your life. You can’t do that as a senior pastor, can you?

    How would you have answered this question?

  • Real Live Dancing Dog!

  • What you know and how you motivate others

    If you think I made this up, here’s the Wikipedia page about this philosophy. Now you know about it, it’s a known known to you.

    Here’s the original clip. Like they say on NBC, now you know. And G.I. Joe says it best, knowing is half the battle.

  • Nike’s Air Secret

    This explains so much.

  • The $500 cat toy

    I’m an Apple addict who hasn’t fully appreciated the iPad. Now I finally get it. It’s Apple’s play into the pet owners market.

  • This Too Shall Pass

    Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

    HT to PJ

  • Pelican Strikes Back!

    Take that, weatherman!

  • Humble: just like dad

  • Excuses and Fear

    When you look past the excuses and manage to control your fear… you can do amazing things. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of those two things stopping me from what I want to do.

    3-2-1…. What are you going to do?