I've been busy

This summer has been busy busy busy.....

I was hoping with grad school coming to an end I would be less busy...well.....I still had all of June to finish my paper for my Evangelism class...and I had until July to finish my final project for my degree.   The project's first draft ended up being 32 pages...and then by the time I finished it...67 pages!

I've been evaluating a lot about my ministry over the summer.  I have been looking through the past 14 years of ministry notes from every Sunday night since I first started in December 1997.   I looked at the good, the bad, and the what were we thinking.

I've been getting ready and took 36 students and adults to New Orleans for a mission trip with UMCOR.   I have been doing all sorts of things....

And now school is getting ready to start.  I'm working on changing some things in ministry.  I'm hoping to hear back about a couple things in the next couple days that might really change how I do youth ministry.

In the mean time I'm going to get back to reading for fun.  I have really missed my late night and early morning non-school books.

Over the past 2.5 years of grad school, I've bought, been sent, and suggested over 100 books.  I can't wait to start!

UMCOR2010-Vlog4.wmv

Ready or not....here we go

Tomorrow we leave for New Orleans for our High School Mission Trip. Last year we took 21 and this hear we are taking a group of 36.   This week in the planning stages was scheduled for more off time to help me get ready.   But as things happen you sometimes have to roll with the punches.  
The other night I decided to pick a book to help get me in the mindset for this trip.  I put several books down on the couch and closed my eyes, shuffled, and picked:

This is the second time I'm reading the book....AND WOW!   God is really speaking to me in so many different ways than the first time I read this book.  I'm really excited for the next week with taking our group to New Orleans.

Seiously....Almost 2 months since I last blogged!

Well it has still been busy...

Once again I apologize for my lack of postings of late...
After my last class I have been busy...
I had to read four books for my maymester class and then had 2 papers due and went to maymester two weeks ago...but for most people they do not know that my school work has been in third or fourth in the priority list and somehow I've maintained a 3.7 GPA in grad school.
For me, I've tried to always keep my wife and my daughter my first priority, even though at times it has been tough with us having crazy schedules and only seeing each other at night for the past couple months.  But that is something I will never change.  I will always have my family as my priority.
I've also kept my walk with God up there with my family.  I read the Bible daily, but I also read for fun every day.  I love to read.  I read at least a book a week, but I also read tweets and blogs daily to see what is going on in the world of ministry.  I do this because I know that there is always a better idea, a better game, a better talk series, a better way of being in ministry.  And I will never give that up.  I always want to be on my "A" game as I daily prepare for ministry.
My Ministry is also a huge priority in my life...#1 its been my calling since I was 16 and #2 it pays the bills.  If you look at my work schedule for the past month, I have been in the office getting ready for summer, and also evaluating this year in ministry.   There are things I need to change, but I have also seen how I've changed so much in the last year.  I have turned around communications; I've been a lot better at returning emails, phone calls, txt messages, and requests compared to a year ago.  I have changed several things in our ministry.  I feel that I have gone above what I was asked to improve on.  But I won't settle on that.  I gave a survey out this past week and I'm look at ways to improve things as I start getting ready for the fall.  I'm working on changing my format on Sunday nights.  I'm looking at putting a few things on the shelf for a while.  I'm working on getting more volunteers to help in different areas.  I'm looking at changing how our volunteers do some things. I'm already in the process of changing student leadership.  I have been putting a lot of time into this.  Because I know that summer flies by.  I'm always trying to improve things.

Things have been busy, but busy for the better.  Now that school is winding down I'll have some time for myself and family and will start getting to bed early again instead of spending most of my nights reading and writing.   I know my wife is happy to see this chapter complete and have more down time with me in the evenings.