yet another crazy few days in the life of a youth minister...
oh man, there's nothing like taking a deep breath, and hearing nothing but the sound of the boat running through the water as you inhale a couple of gallons of lake water. so me and about fifteen other youth ministers had our tri-annual youth minister's retreat this past mon-tues. what an awesome time. there were a few guys from the inland empire there that we hadn't met before, so it was cool to grow our group of guys out a little bit. as you can probably imagine, the festivities took second place to the fellowship. there's something about youth ministers getting together that just begs for some good jokes. i'd try to write out some jokes form this weekend, but they pretty much all fall into the 'you had to be there category'. just know that we have no clue what we are doing when it comes to making and maintaining a campfire of reasonable proportions, wakeboarding, driving a boat, or keeping critters out of the food. oh yeah, and one guy locked his keys in his car. that part was funny because he made the comment, 'i don't know if any of you have had to think this before, but i really don't want to break this window, because it would cost more to replace the window than what i paid for the car'. been there bro, when i say i know how you feel, i know how you feel. i was pretty stoked to be the guy that finally picked his lock, kind of a pay it forward moment. what else happened... we laughed, we burned things, we did our venting, shared some stories about kids, talked about who we knew in college, shared dorm/club stories, talked about our events, threw in some philosophical debates in for good measure, and topped that off with denomination talk. pretty typical and expected, but always fun. add the inner tubing and wakebaording in the mix and we had ourselves a great time, minus a couple of bloody noses and an unfortunate wave hopping incident that involved me racking myself on the boat. ouch to say the least. i'm gonna try and see a doctor tomorrow if the swelling doesn't go down. other than that, the retreat was a blast. we had our own spot on the lake that was pretty isolated, and a cove for some smooth water for tubing, and we didn't have to go back to the campground until dinner both nights. we took turns cooking and cleaning, telling jokes, manning the fire... good times. i love hanging around the socal youth ministry crew. we get along really well for the most part. there's a couple of guys that refuse to come out of their shells, but that doesn't really last long when we get to telling stories. it's cool too, becuase we are all about the same age, and have pretty much the same interests, and a good majority of us got hired around the same time, so we're going through a lot of the same stuff.
stuff in the ministry is starting to step up to another level as well. more kids are coming to me with things that are pretty serious and personal, which as tough as that can be to handle, also brings about a peace of knowing that God must be in control, because i don't have a clue if i'm doing or saying the right thing. that's something we talked about on our retreat, getting a sense of wether or not what we talk to our kids about is right, and how God can use us as His tools verses the other way around. there's a satisfaction in knowing that you haven't helped a kid out, but God has helped a kid out by using you.
what else... my birthday present finally got here last friday, which was amazing considering how inept our local post office is (see 3/15 post). anyways, my present was pretty cool. mi madre and mi hermana sent a bunch of books, (including 'captivating' the female version of wild at heart, a must read) and season two of the a-team and dukes of hazzard. and then there was a check for me to buy a snowboard and some bindings and boots. to borrow a quote from hannibal, 'nice b.a., nice'. so i'm either gonna buy dantheman's other snowboard and stuff that i learned on, or i may check out some deals at the local sports chalet. we'll see. free time is growing increasingly smaller as of late. all in all though, it was a pretty mellow birthday. a couple of the kiddos brought in birthday cakes to our thurs night roots group, which was funny because half of the kids couldn't eat any cake, do to one of our previous roots. we had a talk about commitment a few weeks ago, where i challenged the kiddos to commit to giving something up for a time, which prompted a whole group of girls to give up chocolate and junk food, hence no cake. anyways, there were a whole bunch of leftovers that i had to give away, because the cuz and i are have neither one gone to the grocery store in weeks, and we'd prob have nothing but cake for dinner if that's all that's in the fridge.
oh yeah, and i got some passes to see star wars. i could go on for a while on how much i love star wars, but i'll spare the details. just know i own no costume of any star wars character. anyways, it was a great movie and i plan on seeing it a bunch more, but it comes with a bittersweet feeling. all of my life i've been a star wars fan. one of my first memories was when i was three i went to see return of the jedi and i remember seeing ewoks on speeders... yeah, i've been hooked ever since, and now the story is complete. as cool as it was to see the story tied together, it's weird knowing there won't be anymore star wars coming out. lame.
on to less nerdy things... i finally took some time to record a bunch of my songs onto garageband, and will hopefully have an instrumental cd finished before too long. i've got a lot of mastering to do, but i'm pretty stoked at how well most of the tracks sound so far w/o vocals. i'm not sure what i'm going to do lyrically, but we'll see. at the very least i'm stoked that my kiddos like most of my stuff, and even the cuz gave a few compliments on a track he heard. i even like it. it's a good cross between rock and reggae so, in honor of my cd that hopefully will be finished soon, here's a top ten list of potential album titles for my cd:
10. quiktunes
9. l.a. calling
8. dude: the soundtrack
7. greatest hits: vol 2
6. semi dub experiment
5. dubya
4. spare change
3. soundtrack to 5
2. put me on trl and i'll say woooo!
1. garagsta
in other news, we've had a couple of losses in our church family that has me looking at how blessed i am. it makes such a difference to know that the person you've lost knew you loved them. i didn't really know either person too well, but i know their family, and it is so obvious the difference having faith makes in dealing with sorrow. so many other families i've known have blamed God, and asked for the person back, and it just seems so selfish to me. when i'm gone i don't want anyone praying to get me back, i'm going to be in a much better place. how selfish we are to assume that life here is better. also, the anger that so many people have regarding death is so misguided, many times we are only angry because we didn't take the opportunities we had to let that person know how we felt. i tell my kiddos all the time that christianity boils down to not being about yourself, and making sure that God and others are the priority. there's a time for everything, so embrace sadness, but letting that turn to anger is dangerous. anyways, i'm blessed to be around people who have it together.
in less important news... i'm almost done with my month w/o soda, and i can already tell a difference. i go to bed earlier and sleep much more soundly. i have quite a bit more energy and i've probably saved at least thirty bucks so far this month. i might stretch this thing out a bit more. i'm thinking of my next monthly challenge... perhaps being a vegetarian, or maybe something more spiritual like an hour of prayer each day. hmmm the possibilities....
well before i head out, me and the cuz decided to start keeping track of 'hannibal's words of wisdom' from the a-team dvds. so here's your wisdom for the day,
'When you pay peanuts lady, you hire a bunch of monkeys.'
one love, one heart
5.15.2005
quick to the point, to the point no fakin, cookin mc's like a pound of bacon...
yet another great weekend...
so we just got back from springfest in bakersfield, and there are so many things that i don't want to forget from this weekend.
this morning as part of our service we watched a couple scenes from the passion. i say we watched it, i could barely keep my eyes on the screen. i was sitting next to mitch wilburn (who i was with the first time i saw it) and we were both having the same reactions. any other movie and i'd laugh, but the passion actually makes me sick to my stomach. every time i see it i pick up on new emotions and things that i've missed before. today, the scene that got me the most was the thief asking Jesus to remember him. sounds so simple, but when i see a man with no where left to go look into the bloody face of a bruised Jesus it throws me into a different perspective. i grew up with the felt board pictures of Jesus, with a nice clean robe and a huge smile on his face, and as much as that was a part of his life, i rarely find myself with a picture of Jesus bruised, blood, crying in pain, not able to stand, with nails through his arms. tough to think about, even tougher to watch. i'm not sure how the kiddos took it, but i'm grateful for the fact that they now have an image in their heads that hopefully can't be ignored.
this movie is also tough, because it reminds me of how blessed i am, and how little of what i have, i have earned. i work at a church that is truly blessed with some of the most caring teens i have ever been around. weird, goofy, and so full of life, my youth group has so much personality, i forget how blessed i am to say i work for them. i'm also blessed with some great friends and role models. my brother in ministry noodles was there from s.d., which is always a blessing, he's just one of those guys that makes you feel better just being around him. most of my friends i give a little bit of good natured ribbing, but noodles is one of those guys that hasn't said a mean thing about a person in years, and there's nothing really to give him grief about. he works as a part time youth minister in s.d., has for several years w/o the church stepping up to make him a full time offer. it's a shame. if socal loses him as a youth minister we're going to be hurting. anyways, we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time hanging out (something about keeping an eye on our groups... what's that about?) but the few minutes we could chill helped make the weekend a good one.
throw in person number two, one of my amigos from oc was there recruiting this weekend, and we got to chill just enough to bring back some good memories from the college days. we didn't hang out a whole lot until my last couple of years, but we def have a good laugh when we hang out, and it was good to see a face from oc. he came up and talked to my kiddos about going to a christian college, and validated a lot of stories that i tell the kiddos about college life. it makes coming home and seeing a few posts from old college friends all the sweeter.
lastly, i got to hang out with mitch wilburn, one of my favorite people of all time. as much as my old youth minister influenced me to become a youth minister, mitch helped me be comfortable in being myself as a minister. always one to come with a kind word, a nod of affirmation, or encouragement to pull of some crazy idea, getting to see mitch was a def highlight for me. and on a deeper level, mitch's encouragements have an extra sense of value these days. i know my dad is proud of me, and he can't say it anymore physically, so hearing mitch say, 'i'm proud of who you've become' takes on an extra special meaning for me. def makes for a good weekend.
as far as the kiddos go, i think we're starting to turn some corners and really get deeper into examining our relationship with God. the youth rally was good, and there's always room for improvement, but i can def see places where God can use us in his work. we have yet one more adventure to add to the bonding experience, and i think with summer coming up shortly we're gonna be on fire here pretty soon. hopefully. part of me wants a youth group to explode in numbers, and part of me wants to keep the status quo where i know every kid like a brother or sister. we'll let God take the reigns though, he's a lot smarter than i am, and he's been doing this a lot longer. anyways the kiddos were great, and i am starting to see so much potential sprouting in them. man, i can't wait to see where this group is five years from now.
other memorable moments from this weekend...
making a u-turn everywhere we went in bakersfield because i can't read a map and listen to the kiddos at the same time
being pulled on stage to rap during a comedy skit, and pulling out the vanilla ice because that's the first rap song i could think of that i knew the words, and then realizing not a kid in the audience knew what song i was rapping.
getting a hug from one of my kiddos that said they just needed 'a d.j. hug'
watching one of my chaperons lose it during the passion.
watching one of my kiddos take our lawn ornament santa and walk up to girls and ask them if they'd like to give santa a kiss.
the sound of silence when all of the kiddos have finally been picked up, and its just me at the church.
well, i've got an elders meeting to attend. talk to you guys soon, thanks for listening.
one love, one heart.
d.j.
so we just got back from springfest in bakersfield, and there are so many things that i don't want to forget from this weekend.
this morning as part of our service we watched a couple scenes from the passion. i say we watched it, i could barely keep my eyes on the screen. i was sitting next to mitch wilburn (who i was with the first time i saw it) and we were both having the same reactions. any other movie and i'd laugh, but the passion actually makes me sick to my stomach. every time i see it i pick up on new emotions and things that i've missed before. today, the scene that got me the most was the thief asking Jesus to remember him. sounds so simple, but when i see a man with no where left to go look into the bloody face of a bruised Jesus it throws me into a different perspective. i grew up with the felt board pictures of Jesus, with a nice clean robe and a huge smile on his face, and as much as that was a part of his life, i rarely find myself with a picture of Jesus bruised, blood, crying in pain, not able to stand, with nails through his arms. tough to think about, even tougher to watch. i'm not sure how the kiddos took it, but i'm grateful for the fact that they now have an image in their heads that hopefully can't be ignored.
this movie is also tough, because it reminds me of how blessed i am, and how little of what i have, i have earned. i work at a church that is truly blessed with some of the most caring teens i have ever been around. weird, goofy, and so full of life, my youth group has so much personality, i forget how blessed i am to say i work for them. i'm also blessed with some great friends and role models. my brother in ministry noodles was there from s.d., which is always a blessing, he's just one of those guys that makes you feel better just being around him. most of my friends i give a little bit of good natured ribbing, but noodles is one of those guys that hasn't said a mean thing about a person in years, and there's nothing really to give him grief about. he works as a part time youth minister in s.d., has for several years w/o the church stepping up to make him a full time offer. it's a shame. if socal loses him as a youth minister we're going to be hurting. anyways, we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time hanging out (something about keeping an eye on our groups... what's that about?) but the few minutes we could chill helped make the weekend a good one.
throw in person number two, one of my amigos from oc was there recruiting this weekend, and we got to chill just enough to bring back some good memories from the college days. we didn't hang out a whole lot until my last couple of years, but we def have a good laugh when we hang out, and it was good to see a face from oc. he came up and talked to my kiddos about going to a christian college, and validated a lot of stories that i tell the kiddos about college life. it makes coming home and seeing a few posts from old college friends all the sweeter.
lastly, i got to hang out with mitch wilburn, one of my favorite people of all time. as much as my old youth minister influenced me to become a youth minister, mitch helped me be comfortable in being myself as a minister. always one to come with a kind word, a nod of affirmation, or encouragement to pull of some crazy idea, getting to see mitch was a def highlight for me. and on a deeper level, mitch's encouragements have an extra sense of value these days. i know my dad is proud of me, and he can't say it anymore physically, so hearing mitch say, 'i'm proud of who you've become' takes on an extra special meaning for me. def makes for a good weekend.
as far as the kiddos go, i think we're starting to turn some corners and really get deeper into examining our relationship with God. the youth rally was good, and there's always room for improvement, but i can def see places where God can use us in his work. we have yet one more adventure to add to the bonding experience, and i think with summer coming up shortly we're gonna be on fire here pretty soon. hopefully. part of me wants a youth group to explode in numbers, and part of me wants to keep the status quo where i know every kid like a brother or sister. we'll let God take the reigns though, he's a lot smarter than i am, and he's been doing this a lot longer. anyways the kiddos were great, and i am starting to see so much potential sprouting in them. man, i can't wait to see where this group is five years from now.
other memorable moments from this weekend...
making a u-turn everywhere we went in bakersfield because i can't read a map and listen to the kiddos at the same time
being pulled on stage to rap during a comedy skit, and pulling out the vanilla ice because that's the first rap song i could think of that i knew the words, and then realizing not a kid in the audience knew what song i was rapping.
getting a hug from one of my kiddos that said they just needed 'a d.j. hug'
watching one of my chaperons lose it during the passion.
watching one of my kiddos take our lawn ornament santa and walk up to girls and ask them if they'd like to give santa a kiss.
the sound of silence when all of the kiddos have finally been picked up, and its just me at the church.
well, i've got an elders meeting to attend. talk to you guys soon, thanks for listening.
one love, one heart.
d.j.
5.09.2005
There were no utensils in medieval times, hence there are no utensils AT Medieval Times. Would you like a refill on that Pepsi? - The Cable Guy
i appreciate all of the phone calls after last weeks blog. yes, i'm fine, yes i was venting, and no i'm not going to write an emo song about last monday.
i feel some top ten lists coming on:
top ten things i remember from the pepperdine lectureships last week:
10. seeing people from san diego, simi valley, seattle, oc, okc, tulsa and kentucky all in one place
9. my toughest decision one day was wether to go to neptune's net, malibu seafood, or paradise cove to eat. (all three are overlooking or on the beach)
8. pretending to know the names of people that knew me somehow
7. trying to remember why i went to oc instead of peperdine
6. remembering how much it costs to go to pepperdine
5. psallo turning an hour of praise into revival time
4. getting random people to come up to my old youth minister and talk to him about how much they were excited about his new program at cascade college
3. hearing billy wilson, jeff walling, and randy harris in one day
2. getting the chance to be that guy that takes broke college kids out to lunch after being on the other end for so long
1. my sides being sore on saturday from laughing all week
top ten guess-you-had-to-be-there lines from last week:
10. 'my head is sticking out of the sunroof'
9. 'i'll wait here while you hike up the hill to get the car'
8. 'i know this sounds stupid, but i read your blog'
7. 'you wouldn't believe all of the people coming up to me asking about my work at cascade, its really amazing'
6. 'i'm doing nothing now. no really, i filed for unemployment yesterday. i'm going to see how long i can go without a job.'
5. 'does he know his name is bert reynolds?'
4. 'manuel?'
3. 'oh man, you gotta hear this'
2. 'so i'm in the dr.'s office in my boxers, and the dr. has all of these students around me with their stethoscopes listening to my heart, and then he makes me crouch and jump up with the students doing the same, it was kinda weird'
1. 'this is a man who, like a good carpenter, built a throne out of two used pieces of wood'
what a great week to follow up a lame day. last tuesday i got a call from a kid outside of the church that asked me to bring them a bible in the hospital. it's nice to be making inroads to simi like that, and to see right off the bat the impact you can make on someone just by showing up. the pepperdine lectureships started that night and it was awesome to see all of these people from everywhere i've ever lived in one place. i stood by the fountain for almost two hours one night and didn't talk to the same person for more than ten minutes the whole time. there were a lot of my parents' friends from san diego there, kids from my old youth group that are at pepperdine, other youth ministers, professors, fellow oc alumni and just random people i hadn't seen in a while. as much as the lectureships are built up as a learning time i have to say i got much more out of the fellowship with old friends and familiar faces.
and so it goes...
so now its back to the grindstone, planning events, trying to read and study up for classes, dealing with parents... getting some graphics done for t-shirts and stuff and trying to sneak in some fun stuff there as well. prob doesn't sound like a whole lot, but i'm on a tear lately of wanting stuff done well, which means everything gets a lot of attention, which means i dont have a lot of attention left for myself, which i guess is a good thing as of late. maybe.
that, and i'm turning 25 next week and that's starting to get to me a little. not in a bad way, because i've got so much more accomplished by 25 than i thought i would, but it's those few things that i haven't been able to do that has been nagging at me.
oh yeah, and i was challenged to not drink sodas for a month so i'm in a weird mood. i didn't realize how bad sodas affected me, but i've had a constant headache for a week now, and i feel sleepy all of the time too. i've caught myself a couple of times ordering sodas out of habit, and have been fortunate enough to catch myself before it was too late. i'm not really craving soda, its just that nothing else really sounds good to drink with a hot dog at a baseball game. pink lemonade? seriously, i'm at angels stadium yesterday downing a couple of hotdogs with a pink lemonade of all things... i couldn't even bring myself to buy bottled water there... what am i supposed to do? ugh. i think the quote of the week is 'no soda is lame'. i know the cuz has had to hear it a few times already. i should prob warn him next time i feel like giving up something.
what else... going back to birthday issues, i'm not sure exactly what i'm going to do for my birthday. star wars is coming out the day after my birthday so i was thinking it would be cool to go to hollywood on opening night to see the midnight chow at the chinese theater, but guys have been camping out for 8 weeks fro tix there, and i can't find my jedi outfit, so i wouldn't fit in. so that leads me with zero ideas for what to do for my birthday. its in the middle of the week and i have youth events on the weekends before and after, so i guess my options are somewhat limited. we'll see.
going back to baseball... the cuz and i decided that since our mothers had raised us to love baseball, what better thing to do to honor mother's day than go to a baseball game (i had already sent a card and got her season one of her favorite show). so we drove down to anaheim to watch the angels game and and a blast. there were a couple of padres fans there, and this guy in front of us kept talking about how lame northern california is, how they should be their own state, and raiders fans are a plague to the sporting society. the great thing about this was that he kept saying things that i tell the cuz all the time, giving a lot of validity to my rants. so now the cuz is convinced i actually know what i'm talking about when i say we should split the state at santa barbara county, and everything north should be southern oregon. i have to say i was impressed by angel stadium. the fans were some of the best i've ever been around. they were mellow because the team was getting stomped, but they were still cheering for their team for the little things. and i saw more red there than i did blue at the dodger game, which was a real trip. the cuz and i have discussed this before, and the matter was settled for me yesterday afternoon: the angels are our home team, and we are officially going to be angels fans. here's our rationale behind our being angels fans:
10. you should always have a home team to root for
9. we hate the dodgers
8. we still refer to the angels as the 'california angels', which means they represent the state (all the way up to santa barbara county) or
7. the los angeles angels of anaheim refers to them as the team from the los angeles 'area', which would include us, since we are not actually in l.a. county, but next to it.
6. vlad guerrero
5. at the games the ushers throw out free peanuts during take me out to the ballgame
4. the cuz has an issue with rooting for more than one national league team, and pulling for the angels would not interfere with his being an astros fan. (i grew up rooting for the padres and the astros, so i do not consider having more than one team an issue, and i'm not going to stop being a yankees fan just because they can't win a game this year)
3. (tie) i like their old hats/ parking is cheaper at anaheim stadium, and the traffic problem doesn't even begin to touch dodger stadium
2. my job gives me a certain leaning towards rooting for teams with biblical themes i.e. padres and angels
1. we really hate the dodgers
well, its a pretty decent afternoon, so i think i'm going to take some down time here and go do something outside.
one love, one heart.
i feel some top ten lists coming on:
top ten things i remember from the pepperdine lectureships last week:
10. seeing people from san diego, simi valley, seattle, oc, okc, tulsa and kentucky all in one place
9. my toughest decision one day was wether to go to neptune's net, malibu seafood, or paradise cove to eat. (all three are overlooking or on the beach)
8. pretending to know the names of people that knew me somehow
7. trying to remember why i went to oc instead of peperdine
6. remembering how much it costs to go to pepperdine
5. psallo turning an hour of praise into revival time
4. getting random people to come up to my old youth minister and talk to him about how much they were excited about his new program at cascade college
3. hearing billy wilson, jeff walling, and randy harris in one day
2. getting the chance to be that guy that takes broke college kids out to lunch after being on the other end for so long
1. my sides being sore on saturday from laughing all week
top ten guess-you-had-to-be-there lines from last week:
10. 'my head is sticking out of the sunroof'
9. 'i'll wait here while you hike up the hill to get the car'
8. 'i know this sounds stupid, but i read your blog'
7. 'you wouldn't believe all of the people coming up to me asking about my work at cascade, its really amazing'
6. 'i'm doing nothing now. no really, i filed for unemployment yesterday. i'm going to see how long i can go without a job.'
5. 'does he know his name is bert reynolds?'
4. 'manuel?'
3. 'oh man, you gotta hear this'
2. 'so i'm in the dr.'s office in my boxers, and the dr. has all of these students around me with their stethoscopes listening to my heart, and then he makes me crouch and jump up with the students doing the same, it was kinda weird'
1. 'this is a man who, like a good carpenter, built a throne out of two used pieces of wood'
what a great week to follow up a lame day. last tuesday i got a call from a kid outside of the church that asked me to bring them a bible in the hospital. it's nice to be making inroads to simi like that, and to see right off the bat the impact you can make on someone just by showing up. the pepperdine lectureships started that night and it was awesome to see all of these people from everywhere i've ever lived in one place. i stood by the fountain for almost two hours one night and didn't talk to the same person for more than ten minutes the whole time. there were a lot of my parents' friends from san diego there, kids from my old youth group that are at pepperdine, other youth ministers, professors, fellow oc alumni and just random people i hadn't seen in a while. as much as the lectureships are built up as a learning time i have to say i got much more out of the fellowship with old friends and familiar faces.
and so it goes...
so now its back to the grindstone, planning events, trying to read and study up for classes, dealing with parents... getting some graphics done for t-shirts and stuff and trying to sneak in some fun stuff there as well. prob doesn't sound like a whole lot, but i'm on a tear lately of wanting stuff done well, which means everything gets a lot of attention, which means i dont have a lot of attention left for myself, which i guess is a good thing as of late. maybe.
that, and i'm turning 25 next week and that's starting to get to me a little. not in a bad way, because i've got so much more accomplished by 25 than i thought i would, but it's those few things that i haven't been able to do that has been nagging at me.
oh yeah, and i was challenged to not drink sodas for a month so i'm in a weird mood. i didn't realize how bad sodas affected me, but i've had a constant headache for a week now, and i feel sleepy all of the time too. i've caught myself a couple of times ordering sodas out of habit, and have been fortunate enough to catch myself before it was too late. i'm not really craving soda, its just that nothing else really sounds good to drink with a hot dog at a baseball game. pink lemonade? seriously, i'm at angels stadium yesterday downing a couple of hotdogs with a pink lemonade of all things... i couldn't even bring myself to buy bottled water there... what am i supposed to do? ugh. i think the quote of the week is 'no soda is lame'. i know the cuz has had to hear it a few times already. i should prob warn him next time i feel like giving up something.
what else... going back to birthday issues, i'm not sure exactly what i'm going to do for my birthday. star wars is coming out the day after my birthday so i was thinking it would be cool to go to hollywood on opening night to see the midnight chow at the chinese theater, but guys have been camping out for 8 weeks fro tix there, and i can't find my jedi outfit, so i wouldn't fit in. so that leads me with zero ideas for what to do for my birthday. its in the middle of the week and i have youth events on the weekends before and after, so i guess my options are somewhat limited. we'll see.
going back to baseball... the cuz and i decided that since our mothers had raised us to love baseball, what better thing to do to honor mother's day than go to a baseball game (i had already sent a card and got her season one of her favorite show). so we drove down to anaheim to watch the angels game and and a blast. there were a couple of padres fans there, and this guy in front of us kept talking about how lame northern california is, how they should be their own state, and raiders fans are a plague to the sporting society. the great thing about this was that he kept saying things that i tell the cuz all the time, giving a lot of validity to my rants. so now the cuz is convinced i actually know what i'm talking about when i say we should split the state at santa barbara county, and everything north should be southern oregon. i have to say i was impressed by angel stadium. the fans were some of the best i've ever been around. they were mellow because the team was getting stomped, but they were still cheering for their team for the little things. and i saw more red there than i did blue at the dodger game, which was a real trip. the cuz and i have discussed this before, and the matter was settled for me yesterday afternoon: the angels are our home team, and we are officially going to be angels fans. here's our rationale behind our being angels fans:
10. you should always have a home team to root for
9. we hate the dodgers
8. we still refer to the angels as the 'california angels', which means they represent the state (all the way up to santa barbara county) or
7. the los angeles angels of anaheim refers to them as the team from the los angeles 'area', which would include us, since we are not actually in l.a. county, but next to it.
6. vlad guerrero
5. at the games the ushers throw out free peanuts during take me out to the ballgame
4. the cuz has an issue with rooting for more than one national league team, and pulling for the angels would not interfere with his being an astros fan. (i grew up rooting for the padres and the astros, so i do not consider having more than one team an issue, and i'm not going to stop being a yankees fan just because they can't win a game this year)
3. (tie) i like their old hats/ parking is cheaper at anaheim stadium, and the traffic problem doesn't even begin to touch dodger stadium
2. my job gives me a certain leaning towards rooting for teams with biblical themes i.e. padres and angels
1. we really hate the dodgers
well, its a pretty decent afternoon, so i think i'm going to take some down time here and go do something outside.
one love, one heart.
5.03.2005
Tyler Durden: Now a question of etiquette; as I pass, do I give you...?
today is one of those days i write because ... to be honest i'm not sure. more than anything i need to vent i guess...
i went down to san diego on sunday afternoon to go visit topgungirl and dantheman. i'll start off with the fun stuff i guess... i got to hang out with dantheman pretty much all day yesterday which always makes for a chill day. nothing special, we lazed around the apt till 11 or so, wandered over to the movie theatre to see if there were any movies that we could catch. not happening so we went and blew a few bucks at his fave store (ross) and mine (best buy) and went back and watched die hard and jammed on guitars all afternoon. probably doesn't sound like much but its days like those that i love the most. nothing pressing to do, cracking up, telling stories, coming up with ideas on how we can change the world... the usual.
then comes last night. you know things are off to a bad start when you're in the living room of a girls house, she's coming down the stairs, and a family friend asks her as she's coming down the stairs, 'so who's this guy you've been bringing to church?' and you're not that guy. i should have bailed right then. but, being the idiot that i am i decided to stick it out, i mean, i came down from simi to see her, i'm not exactly going to give up that easy, at the very least i should see what's going on. mistake number two. flashback to my last semester of college and sr. philosophy, we' re debating 'gimpel the fool', where gimpel is referred to as the town fool because he does not know what is going on around him. the question is, is it better to be ignorant and happy, or aware and not? tough one, and evidently man has been wrestling with this for ages. back to topgungirl's living room. i know this has the potential to be a train wreck, but why not, i figure i'm due. so we go out to eat at her favorite dive and get to talking and everything is copacetic until she drops the 'i'm seeing someone' bomb. here's the list of things that are going through my head at that moment: 1. check please! 2. this is one of those things that you should mention on the phone before a guy makes plans to drive down to see you. 3. is this some sort of twisted punk'd episode? 4. keep your face still and your mouth shut. and 5. don't laugh at the lettuce in her teeth. so she just mentions this new guy in passing, as one of many details about this tutoring project she's been working on, and now i'm looking at my watch realizing that it's going to be a while before i get home and i have a long week of lectureships that i'm going to have to endure. i manage to pay attention for the most part and try to be a good conversationalist while pushing this whole new guy thing to as far back in my mind as i can. it works for a while, long enough to make it through to the time when i need to get headed back on the road. so we end up talking while i'm on the way back home and she pulls out my all time favorite line, 'i never really thought of us as more than friends.' what? since when do friends hold hands walking down the beach? since when do friends kiss each other goodbye after an evening at disneyland? since when do friends drive a hundred miles to see you face to face when they could very easily call you on the phone? then she pulls the whole long distance thing into the picture, which at the very least i can understand, sorta. but that doesn't make up for the fact that this information would have been a lot more useful before i had made the trek down to see her. then it hits me, i'm totally clueless (cue the fountains). i have no idea what separates a friend from a boyfriend. good for her, and good for this new guy that they figured it out, i'm driving back to simi clueless. she said something about always looking at me as a friend again, and i told her something, i'm not really sure what... at that point it just hit me like a ton of bricks that this whole friends/ big brother (the other popular comment) thing i get is lame. the thing that really got to me though is that there has always been potential on the horizon. like i always knew in the back of my mind that there was something that could possibly be there, and that's gone. it's times like last night when you don't feel like driving home. you don't know wether to throw on the mellow christian cd to get your focus back, or to throw on metallica's black album and vent. i went with metallica, and fortunately i didn't see any cops on the freeway last night, or at least they didn't see me. it's nights like last night where you ask God questions that really can't be put into words. and it's nights like last night where you have to question what you know about yourself, not because you want to, but because you have 100 miles to go still before you can crawl in your bed and make the day go away. needless to say i'm a wreck today. not so much that she's going out with someone else, but that i had the whole situation so misread. i realize i've done that a lot. my mind is full of memories of ones i thought got away, but i realize now i never had. hmm... that's hard to look at on screen.
so now the question is how do i put my game-face on for this week? when i see all these people that are coming into town for the lectureships and they ask how things are going do i tell them the truth? that i feel like garbage and i have no clue how to read people, and its eating me alive, or do i smile and put on a happy front and spare them the sob story. what do you do when being yourself isn't what you thought it was? hmm.... i think today i understand why whiny emo bands are so popular.
oh yeah, other side-note... we were talking about self control a few weeks ago in our small groups and the challenge was given to me to give up caffeine for a month. i'm on day three and i feel like garbage. more updates as the month goes on.
well, time to go get my mind on something else.
one love, one heart.
i went down to san diego on sunday afternoon to go visit topgungirl and dantheman. i'll start off with the fun stuff i guess... i got to hang out with dantheman pretty much all day yesterday which always makes for a chill day. nothing special, we lazed around the apt till 11 or so, wandered over to the movie theatre to see if there were any movies that we could catch. not happening so we went and blew a few bucks at his fave store (ross) and mine (best buy) and went back and watched die hard and jammed on guitars all afternoon. probably doesn't sound like much but its days like those that i love the most. nothing pressing to do, cracking up, telling stories, coming up with ideas on how we can change the world... the usual.
then comes last night. you know things are off to a bad start when you're in the living room of a girls house, she's coming down the stairs, and a family friend asks her as she's coming down the stairs, 'so who's this guy you've been bringing to church?' and you're not that guy. i should have bailed right then. but, being the idiot that i am i decided to stick it out, i mean, i came down from simi to see her, i'm not exactly going to give up that easy, at the very least i should see what's going on. mistake number two. flashback to my last semester of college and sr. philosophy, we' re debating 'gimpel the fool', where gimpel is referred to as the town fool because he does not know what is going on around him. the question is, is it better to be ignorant and happy, or aware and not? tough one, and evidently man has been wrestling with this for ages. back to topgungirl's living room. i know this has the potential to be a train wreck, but why not, i figure i'm due. so we go out to eat at her favorite dive and get to talking and everything is copacetic until she drops the 'i'm seeing someone' bomb. here's the list of things that are going through my head at that moment: 1. check please! 2. this is one of those things that you should mention on the phone before a guy makes plans to drive down to see you. 3. is this some sort of twisted punk'd episode? 4. keep your face still and your mouth shut. and 5. don't laugh at the lettuce in her teeth. so she just mentions this new guy in passing, as one of many details about this tutoring project she's been working on, and now i'm looking at my watch realizing that it's going to be a while before i get home and i have a long week of lectureships that i'm going to have to endure. i manage to pay attention for the most part and try to be a good conversationalist while pushing this whole new guy thing to as far back in my mind as i can. it works for a while, long enough to make it through to the time when i need to get headed back on the road. so we end up talking while i'm on the way back home and she pulls out my all time favorite line, 'i never really thought of us as more than friends.' what? since when do friends hold hands walking down the beach? since when do friends kiss each other goodbye after an evening at disneyland? since when do friends drive a hundred miles to see you face to face when they could very easily call you on the phone? then she pulls the whole long distance thing into the picture, which at the very least i can understand, sorta. but that doesn't make up for the fact that this information would have been a lot more useful before i had made the trek down to see her. then it hits me, i'm totally clueless (cue the fountains). i have no idea what separates a friend from a boyfriend. good for her, and good for this new guy that they figured it out, i'm driving back to simi clueless. she said something about always looking at me as a friend again, and i told her something, i'm not really sure what... at that point it just hit me like a ton of bricks that this whole friends/ big brother (the other popular comment) thing i get is lame. the thing that really got to me though is that there has always been potential on the horizon. like i always knew in the back of my mind that there was something that could possibly be there, and that's gone. it's times like last night when you don't feel like driving home. you don't know wether to throw on the mellow christian cd to get your focus back, or to throw on metallica's black album and vent. i went with metallica, and fortunately i didn't see any cops on the freeway last night, or at least they didn't see me. it's nights like last night where you ask God questions that really can't be put into words. and it's nights like last night where you have to question what you know about yourself, not because you want to, but because you have 100 miles to go still before you can crawl in your bed and make the day go away. needless to say i'm a wreck today. not so much that she's going out with someone else, but that i had the whole situation so misread. i realize i've done that a lot. my mind is full of memories of ones i thought got away, but i realize now i never had. hmm... that's hard to look at on screen.
so now the question is how do i put my game-face on for this week? when i see all these people that are coming into town for the lectureships and they ask how things are going do i tell them the truth? that i feel like garbage and i have no clue how to read people, and its eating me alive, or do i smile and put on a happy front and spare them the sob story. what do you do when being yourself isn't what you thought it was? hmm.... i think today i understand why whiny emo bands are so popular.
oh yeah, other side-note... we were talking about self control a few weeks ago in our small groups and the challenge was given to me to give up caffeine for a month. i'm on day three and i feel like garbage. more updates as the month goes on.
well, time to go get my mind on something else.
one love, one heart.
4.26.2005
Dude, if they're all stuck together then it only counts as one nacho
i may not live the most exciting life, but i would def not call mine normal.
someone pulled a pretty good prank on me and signed me up for an online dating service. i checked an old email account i had forgotten about and had over thirty emails from women interested in meeting me. not necessarily a bad thing, but they were all in oklahoma, into horses and country music, and over the age of thirty. needless to say i was cracking up all morning reading some of the profiles. whoever signed me up said i was into country music, liked to go line dancing, a huge sooners fan and i have a thing for strippers. my personal goals were to become a male model and or sing in a country music band. oh yeah, and i drive trucks for a living. fortunately whoever set up the account used my old nickname in college as a password so i could go in and fix my profile. so i changed it to the cuz's profile and signed him up for the dating service. i guess the only thing to do when you are pranked like that is to pass it on. mad props to whoever got me though, when i find out who you are there will def be retributions.
so last friday i went to nursegirl's sorority banquet down in santa monica. like i predicted it was not the fun kind of awkward that i normally enjoy. i was early, she ran late, did the whole pictures thing for a while then went to a really nice hotel ballroom down in santa monica. the saving grace for the night was that a former intern from park plaza was there, and we got to hang out all night and talk about kiddos from tulsa. nursegirl was pretty preoccupied with doing all of the senior stuff, which is cool, i just felt like a goof being that guy that is out of college going to a college banquet. whatever, call it a favor for a friend. after hanging around some her crew i could see why she was into asking someone from outside of the normal social circle. we're still on good terms and all that, she just owes me a huge favor.
me and the cuz went hiking yesterday up along the southern ridge of simi. man, talk about a great hobby. i think i may actually invest in some hiking shoes and make this a weekly thing. yesterday at the top of the hill we may as well have been in the colorado foothills, except we could see the ocean. we took some pics, and as soon as i remember to bring the camera to work i'll try and post some up.
other things on my mind as of late...
there really aren't a whole lot of decent looking church websites. i'm redesigning ours right now, and after having done some research i'm realizing that there really isn't any middle ground in church web design. kinda sad, christian art used to be the sistine chapel, now we take a picture of our buildings and parking lots and call it a day. oh yeah, my goal for the new church site is to not have one picture of a building on the whole site.
don't order nachos at a restaurant unless you are sure they are going to put cheese on the bottom chips.
i think customer service should be taught in schools instead of home ec., esp to those that don't think they are going to college. the curriculum would cover things like: 'making change',' you're being paid to be courteous to people', 'service+attitude=tip', 'please don't drop my stuff', and 'yes... i am going to pay with a card'. i'd like to thank the local fast food scene for giving me that idea.
it is impossible for any female between 6 and 29 to end any public statement without yelling, 'woooo!' at the end. the trl effect on public speaking has got to go. i can see now why carson daly is such a mental case.
one of my kids said they would make the effort to stop saying 'wooo' and just say 'fresh'. good idea.
speaking of random, i went to a b-day party for one of the kiddos last night. God knew not to give me a job with boring or normal kids. at one point during the evening's festivities one of the kids who thought it would be fun to wrestle ended up on the floor being fed ice cream from a spoon about three feet from his face.
support my favorite band bodacious lc and buy their stuff @ www.cafepress.com/bodaciouslc
only in california... will you see an old white guy in shorts and a cowboy boots, shirt hat etc... driving a a beat up el camino lowered with 20 inch chrome rims
getting deals on cars may not be my forte, but buying clothing accessories may be. i got a new pair of sunglasses last week discounted because they didn't have the case they came in. yesterday i bought a watch i've been looking at for a while for half off because it had a scratch on the underside of the casing. and a couple of weeks ago i got a new pair of sandals for less than cost because they didn't have a price tag and were in the wrong section.
i can find a tie-dyed astros rug for an RV, but i can't find one of their navy/ orange star hats anywhere online.
well, time to get back to work.
one love, one heart.
someone pulled a pretty good prank on me and signed me up for an online dating service. i checked an old email account i had forgotten about and had over thirty emails from women interested in meeting me. not necessarily a bad thing, but they were all in oklahoma, into horses and country music, and over the age of thirty. needless to say i was cracking up all morning reading some of the profiles. whoever signed me up said i was into country music, liked to go line dancing, a huge sooners fan and i have a thing for strippers. my personal goals were to become a male model and or sing in a country music band. oh yeah, and i drive trucks for a living. fortunately whoever set up the account used my old nickname in college as a password so i could go in and fix my profile. so i changed it to the cuz's profile and signed him up for the dating service. i guess the only thing to do when you are pranked like that is to pass it on. mad props to whoever got me though, when i find out who you are there will def be retributions.
so last friday i went to nursegirl's sorority banquet down in santa monica. like i predicted it was not the fun kind of awkward that i normally enjoy. i was early, she ran late, did the whole pictures thing for a while then went to a really nice hotel ballroom down in santa monica. the saving grace for the night was that a former intern from park plaza was there, and we got to hang out all night and talk about kiddos from tulsa. nursegirl was pretty preoccupied with doing all of the senior stuff, which is cool, i just felt like a goof being that guy that is out of college going to a college banquet. whatever, call it a favor for a friend. after hanging around some her crew i could see why she was into asking someone from outside of the normal social circle. we're still on good terms and all that, she just owes me a huge favor.
me and the cuz went hiking yesterday up along the southern ridge of simi. man, talk about a great hobby. i think i may actually invest in some hiking shoes and make this a weekly thing. yesterday at the top of the hill we may as well have been in the colorado foothills, except we could see the ocean. we took some pics, and as soon as i remember to bring the camera to work i'll try and post some up.
other things on my mind as of late...
there really aren't a whole lot of decent looking church websites. i'm redesigning ours right now, and after having done some research i'm realizing that there really isn't any middle ground in church web design. kinda sad, christian art used to be the sistine chapel, now we take a picture of our buildings and parking lots and call it a day. oh yeah, my goal for the new church site is to not have one picture of a building on the whole site.
don't order nachos at a restaurant unless you are sure they are going to put cheese on the bottom chips.
i think customer service should be taught in schools instead of home ec., esp to those that don't think they are going to college. the curriculum would cover things like: 'making change',' you're being paid to be courteous to people', 'service+attitude=tip', 'please don't drop my stuff', and 'yes... i am going to pay with a card'. i'd like to thank the local fast food scene for giving me that idea.
it is impossible for any female between 6 and 29 to end any public statement without yelling, 'woooo!' at the end. the trl effect on public speaking has got to go. i can see now why carson daly is such a mental case.
one of my kids said they would make the effort to stop saying 'wooo' and just say 'fresh'. good idea.
speaking of random, i went to a b-day party for one of the kiddos last night. God knew not to give me a job with boring or normal kids. at one point during the evening's festivities one of the kids who thought it would be fun to wrestle ended up on the floor being fed ice cream from a spoon about three feet from his face.
support my favorite band bodacious lc and buy their stuff @ www.cafepress.com/bodaciouslc
only in california... will you see an old white guy in shorts and a cowboy boots, shirt hat etc... driving a a beat up el camino lowered with 20 inch chrome rims
getting deals on cars may not be my forte, but buying clothing accessories may be. i got a new pair of sunglasses last week discounted because they didn't have the case they came in. yesterday i bought a watch i've been looking at for a while for half off because it had a scratch on the underside of the casing. and a couple of weeks ago i got a new pair of sandals for less than cost because they didn't have a price tag and were in the wrong section.
i can find a tie-dyed astros rug for an RV, but i can't find one of their navy/ orange star hats anywhere online.
well, time to get back to work.
one love, one heart.
4.20.2005
Rev. Brown: He helped Joshua fight the battle of Jericho, he helped Daniel get out the lion's den, he helped Gilligan get off the island.
our youth group meets on weds and thurs for small groups for jr/ sr high, in a series i call roots. i.e. growing deeper in the faith so we can grow out... i know i'm an advertising major... nuff said. anyways, i thought tonite was just an awesome blessing from God. in our groups i've tried to create a discussion atmosphere, and currently we're talking about living a life of praise. one of the things we talked about was acknowledging God's presence throughout our day. anyways, i always have a bunch of questions that i ask the kids to get discussion started and then pray that we'll be able to tie their comments in to the point i had originally intended. fortunately God intervenes and takes our discussion where He wants it to go instead of my direction. sweet. i just felt like the questions tonite really served a good purpose. here they are with my personal responses... i'll tie it together later.
what is the craziest thing that has ever happened to you?
i was on a mission trip to belize, and on our day off we took a speedboat to an island about 45 minutes off-shore. the island was the size of a couple football fields, they had kayaks there for rent, so i paddled out to this other island a few hundred yards off and decided to play gilligan and claim the smaller (5 feet wide, one tree sticking up) island for myself. sounds like a good idea... until i get out of the kayak and sink to my chest in silt, which is a mix of sand and bird droppings. so i start puking from the smell to the point of dry heaves, and use what strength i have left to pull myself onto this narrow tree to rest. i barely catch my breath when the wake from a boat causes a ripple to pull my kayak farther away from the island. so i have to jump off of the tree and try to get back to my kayak. i land up to my shoulders in silt this time, with my arms over the kayak, dry heaving once again and manage to get back in the kayak and push through the sludge out to the water again. i rolled the kayak a few times to get rid of the silt and paddled back to the island just in time to catch the boat back to shore. i say this is the craziest thing that has ever happened to me because i was stuck in the middle of the atlantic, with no english speaking persons around, up to my neck in what is essentially quicksand.
who is the most interesting person you have ever been around?
chrs billings by far. i've said it before and i'll keep saying it, chrs made any typical day an interesting day, and not by doing anything extraordinary, just doing the unusual, and encouraging others to join in.
what is the most fun you have ever had?
prob in college when we had our final el patioso party, and there were like 75 people jam packed on our front porch for no good reason, except to celebrate the conclusion of a great year.
when have you felt on top of the world?
i'm gonna cheat here, because i've got a few.
when i read a letter my dad wrote me when i was nine saying how proud he was to be my father
when i won gamma rho beau of the year
at graduation when i gave one of the professors a hug after i got my diploma, and i could see all of my family in the stands, and hear a bunch of people cheering for me from the crowd
my going away party from park plaza
when i got my job offer
when have you been your lowest?
a few months after i moved to seattle
after spending two nights in a row having the best conversation i've ever had, talking to a certain female till five in the morning, having her dump me the following week
when i thought i had failed out of school
when i didn't get a job offer that i really wanted
when have you felt the most loved?
whenever i go home
when i get a hug from my sister
fall retreat at park plaza
the hot seat at camp palomar
when have you felt the closest to God?
at the rock in la jolla staring at the ocean when it really hit that God exists, and i decided to get baptized
after baptizing a friend at camp, we hugged while everyone around us sang
when i found out my dad had a seizure and i had to fly home to see him
soooo many times while singing... most notably the last chapel i went to at oc
the point of all of these questions is to help us realize that God isn't in and out of our lives, he's always there, wether you're stuck on an island in the atlantic, spotlighting with some crazy friends, crying yourself to sleep, getting an award or looking at an old photograph. if we're going to live a life of praise it's is key to recognize that God is working in our lives if we acknowledge it or not. not only is giving God praise for all of these moments a way to build up God, but it is a way to help others come closer to Him. when we grow in the habit of sharing how God is working in our lives i think others will be drawn to the joy that we have in our lives. at the very least, it's always a good idea to give God praise where praise is due.
dear God, thank you for your presence in my life. i don't always recognize that you're there, but i know deep down that you have blessed me with so many people, thoughts, and memories that prove your love for me over and over again. even though you've seen all that i've done, you still offer me grace and so many second chances... second chances that i could never earn or deserve. i pray that i may share my experiences with others in a way that glorifies you, and draws them nearer.
one love, one heart.
what is the craziest thing that has ever happened to you?
i was on a mission trip to belize, and on our day off we took a speedboat to an island about 45 minutes off-shore. the island was the size of a couple football fields, they had kayaks there for rent, so i paddled out to this other island a few hundred yards off and decided to play gilligan and claim the smaller (5 feet wide, one tree sticking up) island for myself. sounds like a good idea... until i get out of the kayak and sink to my chest in silt, which is a mix of sand and bird droppings. so i start puking from the smell to the point of dry heaves, and use what strength i have left to pull myself onto this narrow tree to rest. i barely catch my breath when the wake from a boat causes a ripple to pull my kayak farther away from the island. so i have to jump off of the tree and try to get back to my kayak. i land up to my shoulders in silt this time, with my arms over the kayak, dry heaving once again and manage to get back in the kayak and push through the sludge out to the water again. i rolled the kayak a few times to get rid of the silt and paddled back to the island just in time to catch the boat back to shore. i say this is the craziest thing that has ever happened to me because i was stuck in the middle of the atlantic, with no english speaking persons around, up to my neck in what is essentially quicksand.
who is the most interesting person you have ever been around?
chrs billings by far. i've said it before and i'll keep saying it, chrs made any typical day an interesting day, and not by doing anything extraordinary, just doing the unusual, and encouraging others to join in.
what is the most fun you have ever had?
prob in college when we had our final el patioso party, and there were like 75 people jam packed on our front porch for no good reason, except to celebrate the conclusion of a great year.
when have you felt on top of the world?
i'm gonna cheat here, because i've got a few.
when i read a letter my dad wrote me when i was nine saying how proud he was to be my father
when i won gamma rho beau of the year
at graduation when i gave one of the professors a hug after i got my diploma, and i could see all of my family in the stands, and hear a bunch of people cheering for me from the crowd
my going away party from park plaza
when i got my job offer
when have you been your lowest?
a few months after i moved to seattle
after spending two nights in a row having the best conversation i've ever had, talking to a certain female till five in the morning, having her dump me the following week
when i thought i had failed out of school
when i didn't get a job offer that i really wanted
when have you felt the most loved?
whenever i go home
when i get a hug from my sister
fall retreat at park plaza
the hot seat at camp palomar
when have you felt the closest to God?
at the rock in la jolla staring at the ocean when it really hit that God exists, and i decided to get baptized
after baptizing a friend at camp, we hugged while everyone around us sang
when i found out my dad had a seizure and i had to fly home to see him
soooo many times while singing... most notably the last chapel i went to at oc
the point of all of these questions is to help us realize that God isn't in and out of our lives, he's always there, wether you're stuck on an island in the atlantic, spotlighting with some crazy friends, crying yourself to sleep, getting an award or looking at an old photograph. if we're going to live a life of praise it's is key to recognize that God is working in our lives if we acknowledge it or not. not only is giving God praise for all of these moments a way to build up God, but it is a way to help others come closer to Him. when we grow in the habit of sharing how God is working in our lives i think others will be drawn to the joy that we have in our lives. at the very least, it's always a good idea to give God praise where praise is due.
dear God, thank you for your presence in my life. i don't always recognize that you're there, but i know deep down that you have blessed me with so many people, thoughts, and memories that prove your love for me over and over again. even though you've seen all that i've done, you still offer me grace and so many second chances... second chances that i could never earn or deserve. i pray that i may share my experiences with others in a way that glorifies you, and draws them nearer.
one love, one heart.
4.19.2005
Carl Spackler: He's on his final hole. He's about 455 yards away, he's gonna hit about a 2 iron I think.
do not ever wear a padres hat to a dodgers home game!
or a giants hat... or yankees... or any other team for that matter. so after pulling a few 12+ hour days last week i decided to call dantheman and ronald up for some golf and baseball. golf was less embarassing than normal. i only lost a few balls, threw only one club, had just one circle eight, no sandtraps, and even managed to pull off a couple of pars. still not breaking one hundred though. anyways, we decided to go golfing in burbank because we were going to the padres/ dodgers game on friday night. as i'm walking into the cheap seats in right field i realize that i've got on my old school pads cap and brown jacket on, and i stick out like a sore thumb. not a good thing. dodger fans, esp the ones in the cheap seats, aren't exactly the most understanding of sports fans. (a lot of these guys are raider fans as well.... enough said). so i'm starting to get a little on edge, because even the security guards are giving me bad looks. one guy asked me if i was intending on starting a fight. so we get to our seats, and i'm trying to stay low key, which works until about the third inning when i mistakenly turn around to check out the score board, and the four vatos behind me yell out to the rest of section 312 'hey, this guy's wearing a padres hat!' i haven't had that many people boo me since i last tried to tell a joke at a kappa meeting. it really didn't help that the padres couldn't hit a ball out of the infield either. needless to say, i kept my mouth shut as much as a i could, not really looking to start anything with the vatos behind me, much less the whole dodger stadium. my saving grace was a guy that had a miami heat shaq jersey that kept taunting the crowd about the lakers not making the playoffs. it's been a while since i've sized someone up for a fight, but the cuz and dantheman were doing the same thing. not that we would really be able to take these guys, or the whole crowd, for that matter, just an odd feeling that i haven't had to experience in a while. i had a family from the church take me to the game again on saturday night, needles to say i didn't wear anything with the padres logo on it. i'm not a sell out fan, but when your life, or general well being may be in jeopardy, there's a time to not really yell for your team. or just don't go to dodger games. i think i'm going to call the angels my home team. but hey, the dodger dogs were really good...
sunday i got to split sermon time with our preacher, so that was a little stressful too. not nearly as stressful as fearing for your safety, but i did have a couple of dodger fans boo me when i made a joke about the craziness at the game. that's great, people booing a guy during a sermon. way to make a great impression of dodger fans. anyways, it was really cool splitting the sermon because the elders and our preacher asked me to give our whole church the charge that youth have taken to be more faithful and bold in our ministry. we unveiled the new logo for the youth and asked the congregation to join us in our ministry. may not sound like much, but it's a big deal when the church asks the youth ministry to spearhead a charge for the whole church. lot of cool stuff going on churchwise as of late. i've taken over reconstructing our website, and creating a new mission idea for the whole church. kinda fun, def going to keep me busy.
sunday night i went out with surferchica for a while. we ended up at leo carrillo's watching the end of a surfing tournament. not a bad date, but one of those where you realize you are better off as friends. not really a whole lot in common between the two of us, so why force it. i think we both figured out we should just have fun hanging out. that, and she's gonna help me surfing, so we don't want to break any instructor / instructee protocal.
other random thoughts....
matisyahu is the musician of the day. hassidic reggae. check it out.
the cuz and i have declared may apt health month. we're gonna give eating healthy and not drinking and sodas or sugar based drinks a try for whole month. prepare for us to be in a bad mood. oh yeah, be careful when you watch the movie 'supersize me', it's got some pretty crazy stuff in it, just crazy enough to get you to try eating healthy for a whole month. actually, i think the only way that i can get through a whole month is by giving it a spiritual basis... something like 'the body as a temple', or 'getting rid of things that have control of your life'... who knows. i'll be sure to post an update.
i actually heard some pretty decent discussion from two political types from opposing parties that actually made sense. they both were talking about how neither side would concede anything to the other side. for example, the republicans that still won't admit that the seven minutes that pres. bush took to respond to the news that our country was under attack was seven minutes too long, or how the democrats refuse to admit that president clinton was a terrible foreign policy leader for our country. hmmmm... compromising for the good of the country.... sounds like what the forefathers were looking for.
it's amazing what a little paint and a couple of new couches will do for a youth room.
debate of the day/ odds of likeliness
what to do with my tax return?
new surfboard/ wetsuit 2-1
snowboard 3-1
get rid of the nastiness that is the carpet in my office and put in some hardwood floors 3-1
trip to the midwest to see friends/ family 5-1
trip to nyc to see yankee stadium 20-1
pay off a large portion of a certain debt 4-1
visit the virgin records megastore 64-1
flat-screen tv 32-1
we'll see when the check gets in. with health month coming up i've got the surfboard as the favorite. i'm still open for other ideas too.
nursegirl called yesterday, and we got to talking about when the next time both of us had a free day off to go out. yeah, camp in june is it. nothing like being busy all of the time.
so i give ikea props for providing cheap cool furniture for the youth room, however i do not approve of ikea stuff as necessary for the home. unless you want your place to look like everyone else's.
i actually found a reality show i like. the contender. boxing on primetime, you can't get much better than that.
well, there's a new hawaiian restaurant down the street that's calling my name.
one love, one heart.
or a giants hat... or yankees... or any other team for that matter. so after pulling a few 12+ hour days last week i decided to call dantheman and ronald up for some golf and baseball. golf was less embarassing than normal. i only lost a few balls, threw only one club, had just one circle eight, no sandtraps, and even managed to pull off a couple of pars. still not breaking one hundred though. anyways, we decided to go golfing in burbank because we were going to the padres/ dodgers game on friday night. as i'm walking into the cheap seats in right field i realize that i've got on my old school pads cap and brown jacket on, and i stick out like a sore thumb. not a good thing. dodger fans, esp the ones in the cheap seats, aren't exactly the most understanding of sports fans. (a lot of these guys are raider fans as well.... enough said). so i'm starting to get a little on edge, because even the security guards are giving me bad looks. one guy asked me if i was intending on starting a fight. so we get to our seats, and i'm trying to stay low key, which works until about the third inning when i mistakenly turn around to check out the score board, and the four vatos behind me yell out to the rest of section 312 'hey, this guy's wearing a padres hat!' i haven't had that many people boo me since i last tried to tell a joke at a kappa meeting. it really didn't help that the padres couldn't hit a ball out of the infield either. needless to say, i kept my mouth shut as much as a i could, not really looking to start anything with the vatos behind me, much less the whole dodger stadium. my saving grace was a guy that had a miami heat shaq jersey that kept taunting the crowd about the lakers not making the playoffs. it's been a while since i've sized someone up for a fight, but the cuz and dantheman were doing the same thing. not that we would really be able to take these guys, or the whole crowd, for that matter, just an odd feeling that i haven't had to experience in a while. i had a family from the church take me to the game again on saturday night, needles to say i didn't wear anything with the padres logo on it. i'm not a sell out fan, but when your life, or general well being may be in jeopardy, there's a time to not really yell for your team. or just don't go to dodger games. i think i'm going to call the angels my home team. but hey, the dodger dogs were really good...
sunday i got to split sermon time with our preacher, so that was a little stressful too. not nearly as stressful as fearing for your safety, but i did have a couple of dodger fans boo me when i made a joke about the craziness at the game. that's great, people booing a guy during a sermon. way to make a great impression of dodger fans. anyways, it was really cool splitting the sermon because the elders and our preacher asked me to give our whole church the charge that youth have taken to be more faithful and bold in our ministry. we unveiled the new logo for the youth and asked the congregation to join us in our ministry. may not sound like much, but it's a big deal when the church asks the youth ministry to spearhead a charge for the whole church. lot of cool stuff going on churchwise as of late. i've taken over reconstructing our website, and creating a new mission idea for the whole church. kinda fun, def going to keep me busy.
sunday night i went out with surferchica for a while. we ended up at leo carrillo's watching the end of a surfing tournament. not a bad date, but one of those where you realize you are better off as friends. not really a whole lot in common between the two of us, so why force it. i think we both figured out we should just have fun hanging out. that, and she's gonna help me surfing, so we don't want to break any instructor / instructee protocal.
other random thoughts....
matisyahu is the musician of the day. hassidic reggae. check it out.
the cuz and i have declared may apt health month. we're gonna give eating healthy and not drinking and sodas or sugar based drinks a try for whole month. prepare for us to be in a bad mood. oh yeah, be careful when you watch the movie 'supersize me', it's got some pretty crazy stuff in it, just crazy enough to get you to try eating healthy for a whole month. actually, i think the only way that i can get through a whole month is by giving it a spiritual basis... something like 'the body as a temple', or 'getting rid of things that have control of your life'... who knows. i'll be sure to post an update.
i actually heard some pretty decent discussion from two political types from opposing parties that actually made sense. they both were talking about how neither side would concede anything to the other side. for example, the republicans that still won't admit that the seven minutes that pres. bush took to respond to the news that our country was under attack was seven minutes too long, or how the democrats refuse to admit that president clinton was a terrible foreign policy leader for our country. hmmmm... compromising for the good of the country.... sounds like what the forefathers were looking for.
it's amazing what a little paint and a couple of new couches will do for a youth room.
debate of the day/ odds of likeliness
what to do with my tax return?
new surfboard/ wetsuit 2-1
snowboard 3-1
get rid of the nastiness that is the carpet in my office and put in some hardwood floors 3-1
trip to the midwest to see friends/ family 5-1
trip to nyc to see yankee stadium 20-1
pay off a large portion of a certain debt 4-1
visit the virgin records megastore 64-1
flat-screen tv 32-1
we'll see when the check gets in. with health month coming up i've got the surfboard as the favorite. i'm still open for other ideas too.
nursegirl called yesterday, and we got to talking about when the next time both of us had a free day off to go out. yeah, camp in june is it. nothing like being busy all of the time.
so i give ikea props for providing cheap cool furniture for the youth room, however i do not approve of ikea stuff as necessary for the home. unless you want your place to look like everyone else's.
i actually found a reality show i like. the contender. boxing on primetime, you can't get much better than that.
well, there's a new hawaiian restaurant down the street that's calling my name.
one love, one heart.
4.12.2005
happy birthday little stizz!
oh man, where to begin...
today was amazing, and its only lunchtime. some friends from the church here had their first child today, noah matthew stump. i was fortunate enough to stop by the hospital as noah's mom got to hold him for the first time. noah's dad prob would have held him too, but he was floating somewhere around the ceiling tiles and i guess there's an issue with babies and heights. man, i can't even begin to describe how blessed i feel to be there on the day of a baby's birth. what an amazing gift from God. i'm speechless. so today is a great day, one of those days that throws everything else into perspective... makes you want to sing, pray, jump around... whatever you can. a great reminder of God, HIs love, His power, and His glory.
so the details... noah matthew stump was born to matt and erin stump at 8:05 tues april 12th. he weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19 inches tall.
oh yeah, his first birthday present was a baseball from his uncle d.j. hehe, matt said i officially reserved an uncle status with that gift. i just want to do my part to help raise the kid right. whatever, the stump's are good people, which makes it really cool to see them have a kid. kinda like you know that the kid has a head start already. there's a lot to be said for being born into a church family. hmmm, good simile there. anyways, today's a day when it's easy to praise God, hard to not believe that life is a miracle, grown men cry, important things are important, and everything else takes a back seat. not that noah's parents are going to bother to look up today, but it's a gorgeous afternoon as well.
Dear God, i praise you for your glory. it's so easy to see clearly on days like today. thank you. i praise you for the birth of noah matthew. i pray that his life will always be a testament of your power and glory. i praise you for matt and erin, that they will continue to follow you and your will. i thank you for blessing them with a beautiful, healthy baby boy. give matt and erin the wisdom to raise noah in a way that brings glory and honor to your name. give them rest when they need it, and the strength and love that they are going to need. praise your holy name Lord. through your son i pray. amen.
today was amazing, and its only lunchtime. some friends from the church here had their first child today, noah matthew stump. i was fortunate enough to stop by the hospital as noah's mom got to hold him for the first time. noah's dad prob would have held him too, but he was floating somewhere around the ceiling tiles and i guess there's an issue with babies and heights. man, i can't even begin to describe how blessed i feel to be there on the day of a baby's birth. what an amazing gift from God. i'm speechless. so today is a great day, one of those days that throws everything else into perspective... makes you want to sing, pray, jump around... whatever you can. a great reminder of God, HIs love, His power, and His glory.
so the details... noah matthew stump was born to matt and erin stump at 8:05 tues april 12th. he weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19 inches tall.
oh yeah, his first birthday present was a baseball from his uncle d.j. hehe, matt said i officially reserved an uncle status with that gift. i just want to do my part to help raise the kid right. whatever, the stump's are good people, which makes it really cool to see them have a kid. kinda like you know that the kid has a head start already. there's a lot to be said for being born into a church family. hmmm, good simile there. anyways, today's a day when it's easy to praise God, hard to not believe that life is a miracle, grown men cry, important things are important, and everything else takes a back seat. not that noah's parents are going to bother to look up today, but it's a gorgeous afternoon as well.
Dear God, i praise you for your glory. it's so easy to see clearly on days like today. thank you. i praise you for the birth of noah matthew. i pray that his life will always be a testament of your power and glory. i praise you for matt and erin, that they will continue to follow you and your will. i thank you for blessing them with a beautiful, healthy baby boy. give matt and erin the wisdom to raise noah in a way that brings glory and honor to your name. give them rest when they need it, and the strength and love that they are going to need. praise your holy name Lord. through your son i pray. amen.
4.11.2005
only a surreal day could get me to continue this...
so this weekend was yet another group of surreal days.
saturday i took a kiddo to the beach and got back in an artistic mode. we're doing a mural in the youth room, and i've been struggling for a way to get back into doing art, and this has been a big help. nothing groundbreaking here, just feels good to get the ol sketchbook back in action, and to have some ideas that are worth putting up on canvas, or a wall.
saturday night was cool, because i was reading through my notes on the book of james for class, and scripture really started to speak to me. james starts off his book talking about how we should find joy in trials, because that means we are being grown in faith. interesting concept, that i never really understood. i feel like i've always been told to run from sin and hide, but it is becoming more apparent that i am fully capable and turning towards, and confronting my sin, because i've got support. God doesn't want me to fail. He's promised to help me battle sin. so no more running. i'm not much of a runner anyways. it's time i become a stand and fight christian. sweet, maybe i can start stepping on some toes, specifically mine. i'm not saying this is for everyone, james also says that there is a a need for wisdom and maturity when confronting sin, but i think i've been put in a position to lead, and that's what a leader does, knows when to run, and knows when to fight. i guess the theme song for me right now would be 'bring it on', because i seriously feel ready to take on the anything that's thrown at me. that, and i keep thinking of the quote from blackhawk down, where the troops are getting to ready to go out, and one of the soldiers asks why the other soldier is taking out the 20 lb plate in the back of his armor, and he replies, 'i don't intend to get shot running away'. nice. we'll see how this goes.
so roll on to sunday. nursegirl was supposed to ride down to san diego with me for the godfather's going away party. she bails on me with a text message during church saying that she already left this morning. salgoode, that frees me up to stay in s.d. for the night, except i'm not really packed for it, and i don't have time to do the necessary laundry. whatever, i've worn the same clothes two days in a row, i'll just bail early monday before i see anyone. have i mentioned before how i love the flexibility of being a bachelor? anyways, l.a. traffic was esp lame because i was pretty stoked to get to the godfather's going away party. so i get to the party, and see a some friends that i haven't talked to since last summer, and i 'm having a blast catching up. more and more people are filtering in, all people that i was glad to see, topped off by a few specific females that i have at one point or another seriously cared about. (mind you this goes back to jr high days). anyways, it's a bit of a trip because they all look extremely hot, and i've always had an increased awkwardness talking to girls that are hotter. i.e., the hotter they are, the harder they are to talk to. general rule, not without exceptions, but you get the idea. anyways, it was good to catch up with all of them, and it was really cool because there really weren't to many awkward moments to speak of, aside from the look on my face when i realized all of them were sitting right by each other. yeah, that was weird. i had a couple of people comment on it, but nothing really noteworthy, aside from the fact that topgun girl was there, and we got to talk for a while, kinda patched things up. i think the consensus is that we're both pretty busy right now, and a long distance thing really isn't something we have the energy to commit to, but we want to keep in touch so that when that time does come, we're not wondering whatever happened to....? then there was catching up with this other chica that i hadn't seen in prob seven or eight years. i wish there was something to tell, but we just hung out for a couple of minutes, gave brief versions of the last few years and that was it. overall that part of sunday was anti-climactic for what was potentially there, but i'm all about avoiding drama. i'll call it a surreal day, potentially weird, but really not that bad.
got to hang out with one of mi amigos that's a youth minister in s.d. and talk camp stuff, now i'm all stoked on camp this summer. that, and the godfather is coming back for camp. oh man, i wish i had a camera to see my reaction to that news. this whole going away party for him was awesome. the godfather takes compliments so well. when a lot of people get praise for their accomplishments, they tend to pass it off with stuff like 'Oh God did all of the work..' and stuff like that, which is understandable, because God does do some awesome work. but the godfather always makes sure to be thankful for the compliment, and own up to the fact God used him to do the work. kinda cool, one of those things that has always impressed me about the godfather. he doesn't deny his part or involvement in people's lives, but makes sure they know it is God working through him, and that God can do that with anyone. that, and the other quote from the godfather that struck me this weekend was, ' i stopped praying for God to start working in my life, and started praying that He make me aware of what He was already doing.'
what an encouragement.
one love, one heart.
saturday i took a kiddo to the beach and got back in an artistic mode. we're doing a mural in the youth room, and i've been struggling for a way to get back into doing art, and this has been a big help. nothing groundbreaking here, just feels good to get the ol sketchbook back in action, and to have some ideas that are worth putting up on canvas, or a wall.
saturday night was cool, because i was reading through my notes on the book of james for class, and scripture really started to speak to me. james starts off his book talking about how we should find joy in trials, because that means we are being grown in faith. interesting concept, that i never really understood. i feel like i've always been told to run from sin and hide, but it is becoming more apparent that i am fully capable and turning towards, and confronting my sin, because i've got support. God doesn't want me to fail. He's promised to help me battle sin. so no more running. i'm not much of a runner anyways. it's time i become a stand and fight christian. sweet, maybe i can start stepping on some toes, specifically mine. i'm not saying this is for everyone, james also says that there is a a need for wisdom and maturity when confronting sin, but i think i've been put in a position to lead, and that's what a leader does, knows when to run, and knows when to fight. i guess the theme song for me right now would be 'bring it on', because i seriously feel ready to take on the anything that's thrown at me. that, and i keep thinking of the quote from blackhawk down, where the troops are getting to ready to go out, and one of the soldiers asks why the other soldier is taking out the 20 lb plate in the back of his armor, and he replies, 'i don't intend to get shot running away'. nice. we'll see how this goes.
so roll on to sunday. nursegirl was supposed to ride down to san diego with me for the godfather's going away party. she bails on me with a text message during church saying that she already left this morning. salgoode, that frees me up to stay in s.d. for the night, except i'm not really packed for it, and i don't have time to do the necessary laundry. whatever, i've worn the same clothes two days in a row, i'll just bail early monday before i see anyone. have i mentioned before how i love the flexibility of being a bachelor? anyways, l.a. traffic was esp lame because i was pretty stoked to get to the godfather's going away party. so i get to the party, and see a some friends that i haven't talked to since last summer, and i 'm having a blast catching up. more and more people are filtering in, all people that i was glad to see, topped off by a few specific females that i have at one point or another seriously cared about. (mind you this goes back to jr high days). anyways, it's a bit of a trip because they all look extremely hot, and i've always had an increased awkwardness talking to girls that are hotter. i.e., the hotter they are, the harder they are to talk to. general rule, not without exceptions, but you get the idea. anyways, it was good to catch up with all of them, and it was really cool because there really weren't to many awkward moments to speak of, aside from the look on my face when i realized all of them were sitting right by each other. yeah, that was weird. i had a couple of people comment on it, but nothing really noteworthy, aside from the fact that topgun girl was there, and we got to talk for a while, kinda patched things up. i think the consensus is that we're both pretty busy right now, and a long distance thing really isn't something we have the energy to commit to, but we want to keep in touch so that when that time does come, we're not wondering whatever happened to....? then there was catching up with this other chica that i hadn't seen in prob seven or eight years. i wish there was something to tell, but we just hung out for a couple of minutes, gave brief versions of the last few years and that was it. overall that part of sunday was anti-climactic for what was potentially there, but i'm all about avoiding drama. i'll call it a surreal day, potentially weird, but really not that bad.
got to hang out with one of mi amigos that's a youth minister in s.d. and talk camp stuff, now i'm all stoked on camp this summer. that, and the godfather is coming back for camp. oh man, i wish i had a camera to see my reaction to that news. this whole going away party for him was awesome. the godfather takes compliments so well. when a lot of people get praise for their accomplishments, they tend to pass it off with stuff like 'Oh God did all of the work..' and stuff like that, which is understandable, because God does do some awesome work. but the godfather always makes sure to be thankful for the compliment, and own up to the fact God used him to do the work. kinda cool, one of those things that has always impressed me about the godfather. he doesn't deny his part or involvement in people's lives, but makes sure they know it is God working through him, and that God can do that with anyone. that, and the other quote from the godfather that struck me this weekend was, ' i stopped praying for God to start working in my life, and started praying that He make me aware of what He was already doing.'
what an encouragement.
one love, one heart.
4.07.2005
Barry: Rob, I'm telling you this for your own good, that's the worst sweater I've ever seen, that's a Cosby sweater.
never a dull day...
esp on weds and thurs when the kiddos are up here for our small groups. gotta love the randomness of teenagers. we had our youth ministers lunch today and i couldn't get over how awesome we have it. i was waiting for the restaurant to open, and for the other guys to show up, and there was a bit of a crowd waiting as well. most of he people were business class, armed to the teeth with cell phones, palm-pilots, briefcases, and dress shirts and ties on a perfect socal afternoon. i felt sorry for them. they were struggling to make conversation, and the conversation they had was so surface it just cracked me up. (sidenote, when listening in on someone else's conversations, don't laugh at their jokes. it's a dead giveaway) i recognize the need for small-talk, i was the master of the 30 second conversation about nothing when i worked various fast food jobs in high school. anyways, it was a great way to put into perspective the conversation that we were about to have as youth ministers. not that business stuff isn't important and we're all high and mighty (esp since we spend most of the time joking around... youth ministers... go figure) but there's something so special about having a conversation with a person you know cares. we have shop talk just like any other group of professionals (i still can't believe i use that term for myself) but we balance that out with genuine care and concern for other people. even when we're joking around (mostly at my expense) there's an element of care there that makes it all worth while. that being said, i can't wait for one of the other guys to say something goofy and me to get my turn with the cheap shots. still, i'd rather have the guys feel they can joke around w/ me than feel like they couldn't.
just something i've been thinking about lately, esp since my lunches have been during corporate hours. it kinda shows God's glory in a way i guess. not all of us are geared to be in an office. i'm glad there are people that are cool with that, if everyone were like me there'd be a whole lot of chillin, mostly during the daytime cuz a society of me prob wouldn't be able to get the power on to do anything at night. yeah, sometimes i don't really have a clue what i'm saying, but i have a thing about not erasing my mistakes on here. they can't all be golden nuggets...
other random stuff...
this whole blogging thing is tripping me out. i was laughing today because it seems that blogger and xanga are the new toys for the oc aim crew. i'll find one persons blog from somebody's i check, then find like four other people... and so on. i think' i'm up to 20 or so i've found. now i can read what's going on in their life w/o actually talking to them. isn't that convenient. i guess i'll go ahead and cancel my trip to the midwest since i can read all about it on people's pages. i keed, i keed. it's actually really cool to see the side of people that come out in their blogs. i printed out my whole blog the other day and read it from day one. yeah, there's def a bunch of humor missing, at least enough where reading my blog made me stop and comment, 'i know i have more fun than this'. oh well, i started this thing as a way i could look back and see what it was like to be jobless. kinda weird. i first wrote on my blog as a way to memorialize a weird day, joblessness and a date the previous night, now there's like a couple hundred views of my page every week, reading my thoughts on who knows what. our preacher, lawdog said i need to stop publishing this stuff and write a book for people to buy later. yeah right, i'm still getting over the fact that someone aside from my mom and sister read this, i can't imagine someone paying to read my thoughts. go read the bible. it's better for you.
in this is going to be awkward news...
nursegirl is back in the picture... sorta. we've kept in contact ever since breaking up last summer, and as of recently she's started calling more frequently. my old youth minister (godfather) is having a going away party this sunday, and nursegirl asked if she could ride down to san diego with me. that means she's going to come to church here on sunday. oh man, i can't wait for having to explain to my kids (and everyone else in the church) oh yeah, meet my ex-girlfriend. i may videotape this. anyways, things are going to get even more awkward in a few weeks, because she asked me to her sorority banquet. that's right kappa bros. i'm two years out of college and i'm going to banquet. i thought being invited to freshmen banquet as a fifth year senior was fun, this is going to be awesome (for awkward moments). oh well, i've got a pretty good standing policy of going out with any female that actually asks me out, esp banquets, so i might as well.
so this has me thinking about oc banquets, and how awkward those could get. like the one time i asked this girl to banquet, and in the time between when i asked her and the actual banquet she started seeing one of my friends. yeah, that one stung. what was worse was they decided they should go together, and i should ask someone else... who found out she was second pick when one of my friends blurted out... ' thought you were bringing girl #1?' yeah, that was a long ride home. quiet as i recall. then there was the banquet date who never said a word the whole night... then there was one where i never got a word in edgewise. then there were the times i was asked, 'will you take me to your kappa banquet, i want to get a new kappa shirt." is there a way to pluralize 'stung'? because that happened almost every semester. there were a few really fun banquets though, i remember one where i went with one of my best friends and we ended up hanging out till like 2 in the morning just talking. the best though was gamma banquet when i won rho beau of the year. not a whole that could top that.
random d.j. banquet facts...
out of 13 banquet dates i asked out in college:
2 i asked to 2 different banquets
7 are married/engaged
2 have kids
4 had boyfriends that they failed to mention when i asked them out
10 had full time jobs before i did
2 never talked to me again
1 is sommer billings
3 didn't know my last name
4 didn't/don't know what my initials stand for
3 have talked to me since i got a new job
2 were favors
1 i actually drove my car
4 i drove a borrowed car
4 i wore the same suit/tie
out of the 10 kappa banquets i went to:
2 were dinner at abuelo's and a hockey game
1 involved a monster truck rally
5 were formal
5 had me wearing a blue and gold tie
5 had me with the tie off within the first two hours
3 i would ask someone else if i could
4 i wouldn't trade a moment
as far as the banquets that i was invited to... i had fun. no comment after that.
hmmm... looking at those numbers, i realize this is one of those posts that really is misleading. i actually remember having fun at banquets, just not as good of stories on the fun ones i guess. oh well, most of the stuff i did at oc to have fun doesn't really translate well into writing about it years later. whatever, i know i had fun...
well, it's getting to be that time.
one love, one heart.
esp on weds and thurs when the kiddos are up here for our small groups. gotta love the randomness of teenagers. we had our youth ministers lunch today and i couldn't get over how awesome we have it. i was waiting for the restaurant to open, and for the other guys to show up, and there was a bit of a crowd waiting as well. most of he people were business class, armed to the teeth with cell phones, palm-pilots, briefcases, and dress shirts and ties on a perfect socal afternoon. i felt sorry for them. they were struggling to make conversation, and the conversation they had was so surface it just cracked me up. (sidenote, when listening in on someone else's conversations, don't laugh at their jokes. it's a dead giveaway) i recognize the need for small-talk, i was the master of the 30 second conversation about nothing when i worked various fast food jobs in high school. anyways, it was a great way to put into perspective the conversation that we were about to have as youth ministers. not that business stuff isn't important and we're all high and mighty (esp since we spend most of the time joking around... youth ministers... go figure) but there's something so special about having a conversation with a person you know cares. we have shop talk just like any other group of professionals (i still can't believe i use that term for myself) but we balance that out with genuine care and concern for other people. even when we're joking around (mostly at my expense) there's an element of care there that makes it all worth while. that being said, i can't wait for one of the other guys to say something goofy and me to get my turn with the cheap shots. still, i'd rather have the guys feel they can joke around w/ me than feel like they couldn't.
just something i've been thinking about lately, esp since my lunches have been during corporate hours. it kinda shows God's glory in a way i guess. not all of us are geared to be in an office. i'm glad there are people that are cool with that, if everyone were like me there'd be a whole lot of chillin, mostly during the daytime cuz a society of me prob wouldn't be able to get the power on to do anything at night. yeah, sometimes i don't really have a clue what i'm saying, but i have a thing about not erasing my mistakes on here. they can't all be golden nuggets...
other random stuff...
this whole blogging thing is tripping me out. i was laughing today because it seems that blogger and xanga are the new toys for the oc aim crew. i'll find one persons blog from somebody's i check, then find like four other people... and so on. i think' i'm up to 20 or so i've found. now i can read what's going on in their life w/o actually talking to them. isn't that convenient. i guess i'll go ahead and cancel my trip to the midwest since i can read all about it on people's pages. i keed, i keed. it's actually really cool to see the side of people that come out in their blogs. i printed out my whole blog the other day and read it from day one. yeah, there's def a bunch of humor missing, at least enough where reading my blog made me stop and comment, 'i know i have more fun than this'. oh well, i started this thing as a way i could look back and see what it was like to be jobless. kinda weird. i first wrote on my blog as a way to memorialize a weird day, joblessness and a date the previous night, now there's like a couple hundred views of my page every week, reading my thoughts on who knows what. our preacher, lawdog said i need to stop publishing this stuff and write a book for people to buy later. yeah right, i'm still getting over the fact that someone aside from my mom and sister read this, i can't imagine someone paying to read my thoughts. go read the bible. it's better for you.
in this is going to be awkward news...
nursegirl is back in the picture... sorta. we've kept in contact ever since breaking up last summer, and as of recently she's started calling more frequently. my old youth minister (godfather) is having a going away party this sunday, and nursegirl asked if she could ride down to san diego with me. that means she's going to come to church here on sunday. oh man, i can't wait for having to explain to my kids (and everyone else in the church) oh yeah, meet my ex-girlfriend. i may videotape this. anyways, things are going to get even more awkward in a few weeks, because she asked me to her sorority banquet. that's right kappa bros. i'm two years out of college and i'm going to banquet. i thought being invited to freshmen banquet as a fifth year senior was fun, this is going to be awesome (for awkward moments). oh well, i've got a pretty good standing policy of going out with any female that actually asks me out, esp banquets, so i might as well.
so this has me thinking about oc banquets, and how awkward those could get. like the one time i asked this girl to banquet, and in the time between when i asked her and the actual banquet she started seeing one of my friends. yeah, that one stung. what was worse was they decided they should go together, and i should ask someone else... who found out she was second pick when one of my friends blurted out... ' thought you were bringing girl #1?' yeah, that was a long ride home. quiet as i recall. then there was the banquet date who never said a word the whole night... then there was one where i never got a word in edgewise. then there were the times i was asked, 'will you take me to your kappa banquet, i want to get a new kappa shirt." is there a way to pluralize 'stung'? because that happened almost every semester. there were a few really fun banquets though, i remember one where i went with one of my best friends and we ended up hanging out till like 2 in the morning just talking. the best though was gamma banquet when i won rho beau of the year. not a whole that could top that.
random d.j. banquet facts...
out of 13 banquet dates i asked out in college:
2 i asked to 2 different banquets
7 are married/engaged
2 have kids
4 had boyfriends that they failed to mention when i asked them out
10 had full time jobs before i did
2 never talked to me again
1 is sommer billings
3 didn't know my last name
4 didn't/don't know what my initials stand for
3 have talked to me since i got a new job
2 were favors
1 i actually drove my car
4 i drove a borrowed car
4 i wore the same suit/tie
out of the 10 kappa banquets i went to:
2 were dinner at abuelo's and a hockey game
1 involved a monster truck rally
5 were formal
5 had me wearing a blue and gold tie
5 had me with the tie off within the first two hours
3 i would ask someone else if i could
4 i wouldn't trade a moment
as far as the banquets that i was invited to... i had fun. no comment after that.
hmmm... looking at those numbers, i realize this is one of those posts that really is misleading. i actually remember having fun at banquets, just not as good of stories on the fun ones i guess. oh well, most of the stuff i did at oc to have fun doesn't really translate well into writing about it years later. whatever, i know i had fun...
well, it's getting to be that time.
one love, one heart.
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