I dunno...

Maybe there's something wrong with me. Or maybe it's just another one of God-given characteristics that prepares me for working with middle schoolers. Either way, I found this funny. To be honest, I found it way too funny. (Thanks to Marko)

I'm sorry if you just lost all respect for me.

Snow day...

Snow. Lots of it. Well, lots of it if you're living in BC. If you call Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta home, then this really isn't that much snow. But hey, who am I to argue with taking a day off?

I actually drove to work and found a sign on the door saying "office closed". School's have been canceled. People are stuck in their driveways. You cannot see me, but I'm shaking my head in disbelief right now.

Oh, and to all the wonderful "BC drivers"...if you're tires are spinning and you're not making progress through the intersection DO NOT HIT THE GAS HARDER! Sheesh...you'd think that something like this would go without saying.

And lastly, now playing on iTunes is "Christmas Convoy" by Paul Brandt. My wife is loving it!

Clapton tickets...

I tried. But it was finally too late...unless I wanted to pay $125 (plus service charges) to sit behind the stage. Yeah...you can see why I've opted not to go for it.

However, the Clapton ticket saga continues as I found out he'll be in Seattle the night before he's supposed to play in Vancouver. The good news? Tickets don't go on sale until next Saturday! So, there's still a chance this could work.

Ahhh...Friday...

Woke up to the arrival of some friends from our old stomping grounds. It was nice to catch up and share a few laughs and some memories. And it was great to watch our kids. You would never know that it had been almost a year since they had seen each other last.

Anyways, I took off for a little time on my own this afternoon and watched "Deja Vu". Not phenomenal, but certainly not the worst movie I've ever seen. either way, it was nice to just sit and let my brain focus on something else for a while.

In house news...the cleaning people are supposed to be finished today. Then there's still a pile of little things to be done before Thursday. Electrical odds & ends, appliances, shower doors, a bookshelf and a back splash to name a few. But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that we might be able to move in a bit earlier.

And I know you're all waiting for an update on Clapton tickets. Ummm...I'm a little sad to say that they do not exist...at least not yet. But they still could turn up in the very near future. Quick, someone head over to Erin's blog and tell her that she should buy me some tickets!

On sale Friday...

I'm surfing around tonight after the kids pack it in for the night and I find out that Eric Clapton is going to be in concert next March. I missed out on seeing him back in 1998 when he made a stop in Edmonton and I always hoped he'd make it back north of the border. And at long last that day has arrived.

Tickets go on sale at 10am Friday. Now I just need to convince my wife that this is a good investment for the future. "Yes, I really did see Eric Clapton live."

Please feel free to send your cheques or money orders to me at the following address...

NYWC '07...

I started to post and then I realized that I would say too much and try to be too profound an insightful. Then I stopped and thought to myself, "when have I ever been profound and insightful in my blog?"

So, here it is...the simplified version of what I experienced in Anaheim. It can be summed up by one word that is written in red marker on the back of an American one dollar bill. LOVE.

Everywhere I turned I was being reminded to love.

• The crazy sign people reminded me to love the people that believe differently than I do.
• Efrem Smith reminded me that "God wants to love the hell out of you."
  
• Matthew Barnett reminded me to stop seeking after success and start seeking after the welfare of the people. Again with the love thing.
  
• Mike Pilavachi reminded me "go after the one" and to "love with Jesus' heart". Whole lotta love.
  
• Shane Claiborne (who left me with the dollar) reminded me "don't do great things; do little things with great love!"
• Marko reminded me that I'm also arrogant and I think that's because I'm usually more in love with myself than with other people.
• I was reminded that I need to love my family more.
• I was reminded that I need to love difficult students more.

At one point we were asked to select one word that we felt God was placing on our heart. Then we were asked to write that word on a mirror with a sharpie and then look at our reflection behind that word. What was it that God was trying to reveal in us and through us. The one word for me? LOVE.

I'm still trying to work this out practically. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with my dollar (go here to read a way better explanation by Kerry). I'm still trying to figure out how to love difficult people. I need to greatly improve how I love my family. I've got to just get better at loving people overall.

4 on a couch...

It's been crazy weather here today. Lots of wind and rain. Ok, so the rain isn't that unusual, but the wind has been sending tress crashing to the ground and blowing small animals into the ocean.

I kind of wondered if any high schoolers would show up. Well, they did. But the mood was a little...umm...I'm not even sure how to describe it. So, instead of our usual routine we opted for playing four on the couch. What is it about this game? This seems to be the one game that every single student will willingly participate in. Go figure...it's the simple things about youth ministry that make this the greatest job on earth!

We also had the power go out with 15 minutes left in the evening, so instead of a mini-lesson we went for a group prayer time. All in all, it's great to have a night like this every once in a while where you can change things up at the last minute and just go with the flow.

Of death & bluegrass...

I started reading David Crowder's book "Everybody Wants to go to Heaven But Nobody Wants to Die (or The Eschatology of Bluegrass)" last week. Then on Friday my wife and I headed over to the AMC in Downtown Disney to watch Stranger Than Fiction (which wasn't a bad flick, by the way).

Suffice to say that I'm more than a little overwhelmed by the subject of death in the past 6 days. That could explain why I wasn't particularly enthused to be on a plane in a rainstorm on Saturday night.

I should point out that I don't have some fascination with death and mortality. I just sort of fell into this. I spent a good deal of Crowder's book wondering just how things were going to come together in the end. He talks at great length about the soul and how it has been viewed throughout history. He also talks a great deal about the origins of bluegrass music. Then he weaves in some of his personal story, some emails, some IMs with a bandmate and even an interesting (yet sometimes confusing) story about three people whose lives intersect due to loss and suffering.

I know..it's a little confusing. Which is why it's good to stick it out to the end. And while the end result is not really anything new, it does serve as an excellent reminder that there is more to life than the here and the now. There is more that just today's suffering. We have hope. With that said, hope doesn't eliminate all the hurt we can feel when we lose someone.

Crowder's wit, humour, honesty and unique outlook on life provide a fresh outlook on a subject that's not often discussed by many. And now I can officially say that I have more of an understanding for (and an appreciation of) bluegrass music.

Dork factor...

It could take me a little while to deconstruct and process everything from NYWC. In this post I shall do neither. Instead I shall try to explain how much of a dork I have become. (And I know what you're thinking, "That shouldn't be too hard.")

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with my high schoolers about journalling and I decided to bring out my journal so I could be a shining example of how a person can commune with God. (Doesn't that sound noble?)

Instead I realized that my "dork factor" increased. Oh well, you've got to embrace it sometime right? So I decided to stop trying to run from it this past weekend and come to grips with who God created me to be...a DORK.

While I want to spare you all the gory details, I fear that you may not completely understand the events that transpired and then make unnecessary and unfounded judgements about me. Please don't. Just try to picture yourself the day you finally begin to embrace your dorkiness.

Anyways...it turned out that Disney was taping their annual Christmas Special which meant a special parade and guest appearances by select "artists" (I use that term loosely because of the first act we witnessed). The overall goal was to watch Daniel Powter perform live in front of the castle and maybe (just maybe) make it onto TV.

And since this post is already too long (and not very profound) I'll just state for the record that neither Erin or myself wanted to witness 2 teens named Aly & AJ lipsynch a song 3 times. Nor did we want to be surrounded by 13 year-old girls swooning over Ryan Seacrest. We wanted to see a Powter concert. Instead we ended up seeing him sing to a background track (yes, 3 times) before being introduced by Seacrest after the songs were completed. Uh...yeah...apparently that's how they do things in Hollywood. Film the intro at the end of the segment.

But I willingly participated in this and so therefore I am now, and forevermore, a dork. You can look for this dork in the crowd on the Christmas Day showing of the Disneyland Parade on ABC (check your local listings).

This can't be normal...

From the south...

The sunshine is certainly better that any rain we were getting back at home and it's also not so bad hanging out with piles of other people who have the same strange desire in life to tell teenagers about Jesus. But occasionally there are strange things...

• people with signs saying that YS leads to hell...(only in America, eh?)
• a band that has a guy dance around the stage all night with absolutely no purpose...except for an occasional tambourine
• a guy that wears an orange jumpsuit and plays horns

Maybe we'll get some pics up when I'm back. As for now I think I'm over my 10 minute limit.

5 hours...

I need to be up in five hours to head for the airport. I should really be in bed but I need to wait for some clothes to get out of the dryer. But by 7:55am tomorrow morning we'll be on our way to Anaheim. I'm looking forward to NYWC and a few days in the shadows of Mickey.

My intern has been left in charge. He's great and I'm sure he'll do an awesome job. But I'm always nervous when I have to pass the reigns off to someone else. I'll probably spend most of tomorrow's flight trying to think of what I forgot to tell him.

Anyways...the packing and sleeping beckons me. We'll try to keep you posted from the sunny south!

Oh yeah...and what's the deal with high schoolers and their crazy desire to light fireworks in the Church parking lot? That's not normal is it?