Job update...

Well, it's official. I have been offered the position at SOA Church. I'm waiting for a written copy of the offer, and I've asked them to look into one more thing for me. We've also come up with a few more important questions that we would like answers.

We're taking our time to process, talk and pray. And they're going to call us back early next week with some more details. So we'll see where it goes from here.

For sale...

The Penguins are officially for sale. The only catch is that they're trying to keep the team in Pittsburgh. Is it too much to hope that they can't get a casino lisence for their new arena and that they need to start taking offers from other cities?

While nothing will make me give up on my Habs (apart from a team named complately after me, that is), I would definitely wear my Jets jersey with pride. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Candidating (part #4)...

So now we can breathe...sort of.

That weekend really was a blur, but that's not really a surprise. We've candidated once before so we kind of had an idea of what to expect, but I will say that this has also been very different from what we did in the past.

Anyways, last night we had our first quality time with the students. They typically have junior and senior high on separate nights, but they decided to combine them. So it was a little chaotic. I'm reminded how much I don't like mixing those age groups.

We played a game, answered some questions (incidentally, junior high boys can come up with the craziest questions ever), and then talked for a bit. I always find it hard teaching a mixed group. I would personally rather have just junior high or just senior high, but all in all, my wife told me that it went well (and I trust her opinion--she's not afraid to tell me when my talks have sucked!).

But it was fun to get to know some new faces...and try to learn some names. I felt like they warmed up to us very quickly. And some of the responses from the students seemed to be that they were actually wanting us to come.

I think if it was the students that were doing the hiring, they would have hired us last night. But now I guess we wait and see how everyone else felt.

They have an elders meeting on Thursday which the search committee will also be at, so I imagine that we will probably find out on Friday. Until then if you need to find me I'll be pacing back and forth in the living room.

Candidating (part #3)...

It keeps going and going and going...

This morning we had a great time hanging out in the Sunday School class with the senior high students. Although I would have loved to just sit and talk with them, we had to settle with brief introductions followed by a lesson by the teacher (who wasn't me...just thought I'd add that).

We were also introduced during the service and had a chance to meet a few people after church. It's definitely different being at a bigger church. That is something that would take some time adjusting to.

And then tonight we met with the parents (as well as a few elders and a handful of grandparents and some of the pastoral staff). We just told our story and talked about how we got involved in youth ministry before spending the rest of time answering questions and telling them what we're about.

They asked lots of good questions, and I think we're getting a genuine feel of where things are at. They've been without a full time youth pastor for almost 2 years. Lots of kids are hurting and they are just needing someone to come in and genuinely love them. And I think the parents need to be loved on too.

But hey, that's what we're about: we love students.

I can say that after today, I am still feeling good about everything. Sure there are still a few more important questions to be answered, but so far we like what we hear. I also feel like I've explained myself well. In fact, if I had to do everything over again, I don't feel like I would change a thing that I have said or change the way that I have said any of it.

And now onto day 4...with the students. We really have no idea what to expect tomorrow night. We do know that they have all the junior and senior highs together. We do know that I am giving the "devo". We do know there will be a Q&A time. Other than that, we're flying blind. It should be interesting, but I am definitely looking forward to having some more interaction with the students.

Wow, am I beat. And I missed 24...but I should be able to watch it tomorrow afternoon.

Candidating (part #2)...

Our meeting last night with the search committe went very well. In total we spent almost 4 hours with them chatting, asking questions, answering questions and just getting to know them.

There's nothing too crazy to mention, but it sure is fun to see how different typres of people ask different types of questions. We were also well prepared for them with some of our own:

• What are your expectations of me?
• What would a succesful youth ministry look like 12 months from now?
• What's a typical week look like?
• How does the leadership structure currently look?
• Give a little more history on the youth ministry.
• What is ecpected in terms of numerical and spirtual growth?
• What do typical youth events look like?
• What will i be involved in outside of the youth ministry? What can I be involved in?

There were more, but with all the questions I've answered and asked in the 24 hours, I can't remember some of them. But all in all, it went very well. i left feeling that we had articulated ourselves well and that they had done a good job in presenting us with teh facts. They were open and honest and that is a good thing.

This morning we headed out to SOA Church to have lunch with the pastoral staff and the elder's board. What was supposed to be a 35 minute trip turned into 45-50 minutes due to the never ending lake that is falling from the skies out here. And let's not forget the firetruck holding up traffic in our lane.

So we arrived late...not a good start, but they seemed fairly forgiving.

As we ate we were able to talk with a few pastors. We only had about 30 minutes before they kicked all the staff out. Then the fun began. The elders had a good number of questions on our personal history and stories, how we came to work with students, why it is we left our last church, where our priorities are, how we would handle certain hypothetical situations, what we would start doing if we were hitred, where we would live...whew...and that's only part of them.

We were also given time to ask away and I think it showed them that we aren't just jumping into anything. We have questions and expectations too.

• What are you expectations of me? Of my wife?
• What would a succesful youth ministry look like in 12 months?
• How would you define a healthy youth ministry?
• What's the youth ministry budget?
• How do you as elders protect, care for support your pastors?
• Talk about salary, days off, holiday time.
• How much time and money is there for professional development?
• How much time and money is there for further education?
• How do board meetings function?
• Who do I report to?

And there were likely a few more. We went back and forth for a couple of hours and then it seemed time to call it a day. Again, I left feeling that I explained myself well and shared my heart. I believe they were able to see who we are and what we are about: loving god and loving students.

I don't think they were prepared for as many indepth questiosn from us. In fact, they are looking into a couple of things and have said that they will get back to me with the details.

So far we are very satisfied with the way things have been going, but we also relize that we're missing a few significant pieces of information before we can appropriately make a decision. But I imagine they still need to know a bit more about us.

That day was a blur...but that seems normal for candidating.

Candidating (part #1)...

Tonight I step into a potluck dinner to meet with the search committe of SOA Church. We've known about this since the middle of December so we've had lots of time to come up with a list of questions that we need to ask. And a big thanks to those of you who have helped us add to that ever-growing list!

I'm not sure exactly what to think. I'm not nervous...at least not yet anway. I'm not anxious. I'm not scared. If anything makes me nervous, it's actually the lack of nerves right now.

I wonder about what questions they may ask. I wonder if they'll give us a good insight of what the church is like. I wonder how we'll feel as we walk away tonight. Is this a place where we really feel like we would fit? Is this a place that is healthy for us? Are we right for them?

In many ways, this opportunity is very different than our last ministry position. It would be a big change for us to take this on. In fact, the only way I can see this coming about is if it's a God-thing.

But God's been in it so far. It's mindboggling how we even came to find out about this opening. And God's been teaching us a lot through the process. I can honestly say that even if we don't accept (or get offered) this position, that this process was not for nothing.

Well, now it's back to the waiting.

I'm addicted...

I'm trying to kick the habit...really I am. My wife might say otherwise though. You see, a few weeks ago I decided to start wandering through the Ebay world. I've loitered there before but never bid on anything. But then I started to see some sweet deals. So I decided to start bidding.

And now I can't seem to stop. I always have an eye on my account. I'm always wondering if I'm going to be outbid. Will I ever have a chance to get a deal like this again? Will I ever find this item again? Will I be ripped off?

And then it's almost like Christmas as I wait for the parcel to come in the mail. Right now I'm waiting for a couple of soccer jerseys (Manchester United & England...who else?) for my kids. And it only set me back about $10! Sweetness indeed!

Oh Canada...

They weren't supposed to win gold, but they did. They beat the Russians 5-0 to repeat as World Junior Champs.

To be fair, the Russians actually scored what should have been a goal in the beginning minutes of the second. But play went on. A couple of minutes later when they went to review it, it was too late. I would imagine that a 2-1 game early in the second might have changed things a little bit, but alas, we netted 3 more. So maybe it didn't matter all that much...

Despite all my efforts I wasn't actually able to get to see one of the games in person. I could have made it to almost any of the games in the round-robin, but couldn't quite convince anyone else to go. I guess I'll wait and hope I can watch some Olympic hockey here in 2010.

A few highlights...
Canada beats the previous World Junior attendance record by almost 150,000 people.
Brent Sutter sets a record by going 12-0 as coach.
Justin Pogge is the first Canadian goalie to go 6-0 in the tournament, 3 of those are shut-outs.
Only one player (Cam Barker) returned from last year's gold winning team.
Only one player from Canada broke the top ten in tournament scoring.
USA doesn't even get a medal.

It's on...

For the fifth straight year Canada will be playing for a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

I must admit that this is certainly not the best team that I've seen over the years. In fact, they were the underdogs coming into the tournament. With only one returning player from last year's squad, most people (myself included) were predicting that the team might have some troubles.

They have fought long and hard and deserve to be playing in the gold medal game. And, if you look at the fact that we beat Russia 8-1 (or was it 8-2?), you'd think things look good for a repeat performance of Canada's 6-1 thwacking of the Russians last year.

But, it was a pre-tournament "friendly with no Malkin in the lineup. The game tomorrow will likely be much closer. But if our guys fight hard, stay out of teh penalty box, and make the most of the power-play, I think they'll pull it off.

And while I'd rather watch our guys trounce all over the Americans, I'll settle for this.

Let it begin...

This is likely one of the last posts...at least for a few days. The Christmas tradition around here begins in about an hour and a half when we head out for the Christmas Eve service, where I somehow got arm-twisted into playing/singing (ok, so I was more than willing ti participate). Then we come back unwrap some PJ's, and proceed to play games and eat munchies until the wee hours of the morning.

Then after everyone else goes to bed, my brother-in-law and I head for the TV to see what "amazing" movie we can watch. This year, we had to rent one and decided to go for, "The Man With the Screaming Brain".

Then it's on to the presents tomorrow morning, and then a turkey dinner. And to wrap it all up we head off for some Boxing Day shopping. I don't think we ever actually find any deals, but it seems to be a good enough excuse to spend some cash we don't have on things we don't need, but we think are cool.

And then it's time for hockey... the World Juniors to be exact. While I wish I could have landed some tickets to watch them play live, I'll have to settle for TSN. At least I don't need to get up at 0-Dark-Hundred to watch the games this year...Go Canada!

I'll just wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy your holiday season.

24 update...

It's amazing what you can find online. I found another trailer at http://www.kiefer-rocks.com/news/index.htm. I'll warn you that it will provide some spoilers about what the upcoming season has in store, but you won't be dissapointed.

Eager anticipation...

So we just finished up season 4. While I wouldn't necessarily classify it as the best season so far, it was still 24. And for that reason I will have no major complaints.

I think that after three seasons of twists and turns it's getting harder to be surprised by anything that happens. It's as if my brain automatically starts searching for what could go wrong.

This upcoming season will be the first time ever that I've actually watched the show on a weekly basis. My wife and I jumped on the bandwagon late, so we've constantly been playing catch-up. And now, thanks to unemployment, we've been able to get caught up.

But now the questions are coming...how did Jack get to Chicago? Why is Chloe in Chicago? Who is trying to hunt Jack down? Who is the woman? Will we ever see Tony, Michelle, Kim, Edgar, or President Palmer again?

I cannot wait...

I am...

Jack Bauer


Which 24 Character are you?
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I can see...

Ok, so we'll break this into parts because so much happened today.

Part #1
I've been getting headaches and a fuzzy head lately after I've been reading, watching TV, on the computer or driving at night. Any guesses why? My wife suggested I should get my eyes checked. I figured $75 would be worth it if it told me what was wrong with me.

It turned out that I have a slight case of astigmaticsim which would explain everything. So tonight I went and picked out some glasses with my family. Then we killed an hour by getting haircuts (the first one I've paid for in about 9 or 10 years), ate some supper, and then saw Santa (I know, he's not real...and we explained that to the kids). Then we picked up the glasses, and believe it or not, I can actually see better.

I guess I can't call anyone "four eyes" from now on...

Part #2
We got a pile of Christmas cards tonight. First of all, thanks Bryce (and your family) for the Best Buy card. It was greatly appreciated and I'm sure we'll find a use for it somehow...Thanks!

Second, we received a card from a student of ours who just graduated this past spring. It was beautifully hand-crafted card that was overflowing with love. Her words said "thank-you/love you/miss you" and left us with happy hearts (I don't know how else to explain it).

Then we noticed a little piece of paper tucked inside a paper presnt on the inside of the card. Upon closer examination we found a cheque for $300! I'm not sure what to say. Who am I to accept such a huge gift from college girl who, no doubt, works for minimum wage and is trying to save for school. We are speechless. We are amazed.

In the words of Wayne & Garth, "We're not worthy, we're not worthy!"

Present Update...

So I think it's all worked out. We'll have to see if they repay me for the cost of my original shipment. The woman on the phone said that 9 out of 10 times you get your money back. The police report got filed too, so that should also help.

And now the parcel is in California, and it didn't get stolen! Now we'll just have to see if UPS can get it here. They can't do as bad as FedEx, can they?

This sucks...

So I ordered a present for my lovely wife. But as it turns out, the company won't ship to me because I'm in Canada. I think that's borderline racist...

But a friend of ours, Katie, helped solve the problem by agreeing to have it shipped it to her and then she was going to ship it to me. (And for this I am completely grateful. Thanks Katie!)

But...apparently FedEx left the parcel at her front door, so guessed what happened?!?! Surprise, surprise...someone helped themself to my wife's Christmas present! Crap, this sucks.

Now I'm waiting on FedEx to do some "research" before they get back to me tomorrow morning and let me know what (if anything) they are going to do.

The other bad news is that even if I reorder it, it probably won't make it here in time for Christmas. This sucks.

Wait 'til Christmas...

The unwritten rule is that your not usually supposed to buy yourself anything this close to Christmas. But sometimes this rule needs to be broken. I don't think Jack would have waited until Christmas.

Season 4 wasn't supposed to be released until today, but due to the simple fact that people out here in the lower mainland occasionally get ahead of themselves (apparently something like this happened with the last Harry Potter book), my wife found it yesterday and bought a copy.

Last night we got my brother-in-law hooked as we made it through disc 1. Our goal is to get this done so we can actually watch season 5 on TV like normal people. We'll see how that goes...

At this rate though, we should be done by the weekend.

I love this show and I'm sure glad that Bryce got me hooked on it.

A church called...

Went out with my wife last night to watch "Walk the Line" (freaking awesome movie, by the way...I may try to post more on it later) and returned to the in-laws to find a message that I needed to call the head of the YP search committee at SOA. So I did.

Their question: Would we come candidate in January?

Our answer: Yes.

While I would have loved to do it sooner, it makes sense to wait until the New Year when the Christmas schedule slows down. So right now we just need to pick a date and then wait some more.

Waiting seems to be a normal part of life, even though I'm not a huge fan. But we're fairly excited about what God may have up His sleeve for us.

Another forum...

My wife looked at my a liitle sideways when I said I needed $5 (and that's US, which is equivalent to about $15 CAN) to sign up for a forum. But alas, she succumbed to my powers and I am now registered at YMExchange.com.

I've been part of a few message boards in the past and I have come to appreciate them as an essential part of my online existance. I even tried to get my last youth group hooked on "posting" (which, I might add, actually worked for a few months).

I've found myself connecting with a group of people who share a common bond: youth ministry.

It is in these online communities that I have found others that will challenge, encourage, frustrate, inspire and amuse me (sometimes all at the same time). I've prayed and been prayed for. I've received and given advice. I've shared in the highs and joys of many people and their ministries. And I've even had the chance to meet some of them face to face.

Sure, we may not all agree about everything all the time (what fun would that be?). We may get completely ticked off at each other occasionally. But hey, it's a journey...and we're all on it together.
My hat (or toque, because it's currently snowy here) is off to Derek, Drew & Co. for starting up YMX. May it turn out to be a great online community for fellow youth workers!

A class act...

A late congratulations to the Esks on winning the Grey Cup. I know this will mean very little (or practicaly nothing at all) to my "foreign" readers, but alas, another CFL season came to an end last Sunday.

One of the strangest stories coming down to the final game of the season had to do with Edmonton's quaterbacks Ricky Ray and Jason Maas. Maas played second fiddle all season and he handled it with the outmost class. He never once complained to the press. He always verbally supported Ray and the head coach, Danny Maciocia.

In fact, in the final two playoff games Maas came off the bench to lead the Esks to victory when Ray was failing to get it done. Maas delivered, but never once did he flaunt it. And when it came down to that last game of the season and it was announced that Ray would once again be starting, Maas' story did not change. He backed Ray. He backed the coach's decision. And he sat on the bench.

And now the news is finally announced that Maas is on his way to Hamilton, a team with a dismal record, but again his ever-present great attitude is present.

I think Edmonton dropped the ball with this one. Guys like this don't come around very often. Sure, Ray may be a good QB, but how do you get rid of a guy with so much potential and such a team spirit? I think they should have sent Ray packing instead.

Jason Maas was a class act... and I'm not even an Eskie fan! Go Bombers!