Unless you have been living under a rock you know what is going on in Haiti. Maybe you have done something to help. Maybe you haven’t. Maybe you have wondered what you can do. The probability of dropping everything and going just isn’t a really possible. For most of the world they have gone back to normal life and have probably forgotten that for the people of Haiti, life will never be the same. We seem quick to forget and go back to life as we know it.
There is a group of youth workers from around the US leaving Thursday for Haiti. I have met a couple of these guys and they are the real deal. They are guys with a heart for God and students. I read a couple of their blogs on a regular basis and I appreciate their input into the youth ministry world. I would ask you to be praying for the team as they leave and as they are gone. You can get updates on the trip by joining their Facebook group or by signing up for prayer updates via email. Marko, one of the guys going posted this video on his blog. The organization they are going with Adventures in Missions put it together and it is great. We are going to show it tomorrow night at Thrive Wednesday and challenge our students to do something to Help Haiti.
It is crazy for me to even think about this. It has been just two weeks since I first got the news about Cecily and her diagnoses of Hodgkins Lymphoma. Last week my pastor asked us to pray in our JCC staff meeting for his son Brandon. For a while Brandon had been having some serious symptoms and was scheduled to have an MRI. Shortly after the MRI was completed the doctor called and scheduled a meeting for the next morning. At the meeting the doctor said they discovered a 2″ tumor in the center of Brandon’s brain. Surgery is scheduled for this wednesday (Feb. 10) at 1:00pm. We are asking for everyone to pray for complete removal of the tumor and no lasting side effects for Brandon.
Brandon was one of my students early on in my ministry at JCC. He has also been a student ministry staff, and is currently involved with our main service band.
To show support for Brandon a Facebook page has been set up where you can send words of encouragement to him and his family, and also keep informed of the latest news.
Thanks for praying and pass this on to anyone you know! As Brandon said, “God is good, no matter what happens to me, God is good.” Please pray.
As a lot of you know, Cecily Carrillo one of our former students and Thrive Staff has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. She is currently in Australia with YWAM and will be coming home soon for treatment. Some of her friends have created a Facebook group and a website insupportodcecily.com to keep updated on her progress and well as encourage Cecily.
As I think back over the year it is hard to believe that it went so fast! ’09 started with a mission trip to Nicaragua. It was a trip that changed so much about me and how I view certain things. I will never forget the morning I was sitting on the concrete steps at the coffee farm, reading my Bible, looking out over Lake Nicaragua and hearing some of the Nicaraguan girls who were with us start singing worship songs from their tents. The joy that was was so evident in these students lives was something I hadn’t seen in a long time, and something that I want all the time in my life. There has not been a day since I got back that I have not thought about Nicaragua in one way or another.
2009 was also about getting back to the basics with Thrive. Our budget was cut pretty good as we headed into the New Year, and I really was good with it and excited about what was ahead for us. All this happened as I was reading a couple books, Youth Ministry 3.0, by Mark Oestreicher and It, by Craig Groeschel. I don’t know if it was reading these books at the same time as the Nicaragua trip, but seriously I was excited about the budget cut. If I really believe that ministry is about relationships and not program then I don’t really need a big budget. A $5.00 footlong from Subway goes pretty far! Throughout the year we saw God do some great things in our students lives as well as in our Thrive Staff lives. We saw God bring about something I had wanted to do for nearly 10 years, in His timing (I wrote about this a while ago), Thrive University. Our first one was great and our second one is in a week. Trusting God and His timing is always better than forcing something according to your calendar.
2009 was also a great year with my family. Ministry schedules can be crazy with a lot of nights, weekends and weeks away from home, so you need to just make time to get away with you family. In February we surprised our kids with a trip to Disneyland. The kids thought we were taking them to school and then we asked them if they would rather go to Disneyland (we were pretty sure they would say yes!). So off we went! Over Spring Break we went camping at Silver Strand with some friends. It was WINDY and COLD!! We could only go outside one day so we left early and came home. Right after school got out we went camping at Santee Lakes. It was a great time of relaxing, riding bikes and reading. Just before school started we went to Palm Springs for a couple days. Yes it was hot! But the room had great AC and the pool felt amazing. InSeptember Nikki and I celebrated 14 years of marriage. We spent a weekend at the National Youth Workers Convention. I know it sounds romantic, but we really look forward to it each year. It is a great weekend of reconnecting and remembering why we do what we do. As we start 2010 we are heading up to Big Bear for a couple days to relax before school starts up again. I love my wife. I love my kids. I am thankful for having them in my life and for putting up with all the craziness that ministry can bring.
One of the challenges of parenting for Christians is that we want our kids to be as excited about God’s unbelievable grace and forgiveness as we are—but we still want them to perform. We pray they’ll be absolutely convinced that…
Read More: http://www.realworldparents.com/starters/article/big_grace/
In this exciting new book, Dr. Townsend gives important keys for establishing healthy boundaries—the bedrock of good relationships, maturity, safety, and growth for teens and the adults in their lives. The book offers help in raising your teens to take responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and emotions.
It seems that I am always scheming and trying to figure out how to get new things that I want. I don’t always get them, but I do spend some time trying to figure out how I could get them. Things like new gadgets mostly. I am a geek at heart who loves technology and always wants new things. I know I should get some help. In fact, I kind of got some help today! I found this nifty flow chart that definitely helps with the decision making process. I hope it helps you too!
