Just creepy...

This bunny should stay away from the chocolate this Easter!

Feeling postless...

I could post about my adventures of trying to mail a package of seminary assignments on Monday.

I could post about my sheer disbelief that President Logan is the criminal mastermind on 24.

I could post about the fact that my wife and I have actually joined a small group for the first time in almost 7 years.

I could post about the place we're building. (Correction: I could post about the basement we're building.)

I could post about finding a rental place that will house 6 of us until our new place is done in the fall.

I could post about my Habs making the playoffs...or at least being close to it.

I could post about my new office computer.

I could post about being busy.

But I won't. I'm postless.

You don't know jack...

Found this site of randowm Jack Bauer facts. Here are a few:

• Jack Bauer wasn't born, he was unleashed.
• If everyone on "24" followed Jack Bauer's instructions, it would be called "12".
• Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
• Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.
• Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.
• Jack Bauer could strangle you with a cordless phone
• Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite. Jack Bauer laughs at Superman for having a weakness.
• Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.
• Jehovah's Witnesses once tried to convert Jack Bauer. After four minutes of interrogation, they admitted Jack Bauer was God.
• Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys
• There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who fear Jack Bauer, and those who are Jack Bauer

My sincere apologies...

To the three of you who regularly read this, I'm sorry. It's been far too long since an update. I'd blame it on the fact that the server crashed at church a couple of weeks ago, but I never blog from there anyway. But I will say that life has been really busy and this just got pushed to the backburner. But, in an attempt to cover the last few weeks, here it goes:

• I went 2 for 27 in roll Up the Rim...that's pathetic.
• My kids met Bob and Larry at a Veggie tales event...and I met them too.
• We decided to build a basement...yup, a basement!
• Watched "Failure to Launch" with my beautiful wife...actually enjoyed it.
• Watched "Ice Age 2" with my kids...laughed hysterically and almost fell asleep in the same movie
• My middle school group is about to burst at the seems...God help me!
• My senior high group played Four On the Couch for almost an hour this week
• 4 high school guys took me biking again...I fell twice.
• Stinging nettles hurt bad...my arm was burning the entire night after the crash.
• Our church Annual Meeting lasted only 65 minutes...that has to be a record!
• My new computer gets set up tomorrow...woohoo! No more Windows 98!

Ok, so that's most everything I can remember right now. But as crazy as life has been, I must say that I'm feeling such a sense of joy and peace with where life is at. No, it isn't perfect, but I can say I haven't felt this way in a long time. That can't be normal, can it?

Summing it up...

"It's been a crazy week." Yeah, that's what I'll use as my excuse. And due to a lack of creativity, I'll just sum up a little of what has happened in my world.

• spring break decimated our youth events...we should be back to normal next week.
• the server at church crashed which means no email, no internet, no printing, no database...you get the picture.
• I'm getting a new computer at work...which is useless until the server is fixed.
• 3 of my high school guys took me mountain biking...I almost died...and I still feel it.
• participated in a five hour board meeting...but it wasn't as painful as it sounds.
• started watching season 3 of Newsradio...I love that show.
• got approved for a mortgage...for the second time since January.
• kids were sick...but one is mostly better.
• open house tomorrow...which means we have to find some way to keep 2 sick kids occupied for 4 hours.
• I'm all caught up on 24 & Prison Break...but I have a stack of other shows still to watch.
• I'm 2 for 21...I've only won 2 coffees.

That's all for now.

A summary...

I'll be brief and to the point:

• We made an offer on a house and then they countered
• We walked away
• We're on the hunt again...but for a different kind of house
• I'm 3 episodes behind on 24
• Our family is playing lots of Settlers of Catan
• I saw gold painted fire hydrants on Saturday
• Church life is getting busier every day
• I'm currently 2 for 12 in Roll Up the Rim

Made an offer...

We made an offer on a house this afternoon. We actually looked at two different townhouse complexes and decided to pursue the last one we looked at. We had looked at this place previously but weren't considering it because it was almost a 25-30 minute drive away from the church. What we have come to realize is that we can't afford anything else, unless we want to settle for a run down, two-bedroom place in a rough part of the city. If our offer is accepted, we may be farther away, but the place will be brand new.

Now we wait for the phone to ring...

Busy day...

Ok, so now I'm 2 for 9, with both winning rims getting me a free coffee (or hot chocolate in my case)!

In other news, I attended a workshop this morning dealing specifically with the sexual exploitation of youth. One speaker was a former prostitute who now does a great deal of work trying to help other sex workers get out of the industry. The second speaker dealt mainly with the topic of internet safety.

I'll admit that I wasn't sure what to expect and the only reason I really attended this was because I missed another community awareness event last week. But I will say that it was a very informative morning. And I totally appreciate the fact that they didn't come from a Christian perspective.

Then it was off to meet with a couple other youth pastors to watch the movie, Thirteen. Between the morning workshop and that movie, let's just say that it wasn't a light-hearted day. It really is an insightful movie into the lives of teenagers. I'm not completely convinced that the timeline of the movie is accurate as it seems to cram almost every possible major teen issue into a 4-6 month period in one grade seven girl's life.

But what do I know? I'm not 13.

Covered in dust...

So what's a new youth pastor supposed to teach on? What do you do with a group who can't remember the last time they actually finished a teaching series? What do you study when you aren't sure who is going to show up each week? What do you teach when you don't have a clue where the group is at?

My conclusion (and well known Sunday School answer): Jesus!

Tomorrow we're starting a series called "Covered in Dust" and we're kicking it off by watching a Nooma video appropriately entitled "Dust". Then we're just going to look at a different moment from Jesus' life each following week. What he did and said, how it applied then and now, how people responded...you know, stuff like that.

I'm looking forward to it.

Where did the week go...

Now that I'm feeling a little more settled at SOA Church, I'm realizing that my calendar is filling up like crazy. We had a community info fair in our gym today that I fully intended to attend so I could meet a few more community people, but then real life kicked in. You know, a teaching schedule that needs lots more work, a leadership audit that needed my input, a weekly youth leader email to go out, a church update that I need to give on Sunday morning...and about a dozen other minor things.

It's amazing how normal I felt today...and by normal I mean crazy!

But hey, at least I made it to my first official payday. And now it's on to the "weekend"!

Oh, and I'm now 0 for 3 in Roll Up the Rim to Win.

Let's rrroll...

Well it has officially begun and I'm currently 0 for 2. I once went 0 for 22. I'm going for a new record. I'll keep you posted.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you're obviously living south of the border. But this will fill you in.

We have a home...

Ok, the title might be a little deceptive. We didn't actually find a home. Well, that's not entirely true either. We've seen lots of homes over the past week and a bit. Some of them were beautiful and some of them were...umm...well, let's just say that I don't really need a grow opp in my basement. But today we made a decision about our housing future.

Today we went to look at two more townhouses. One of them was in great shape with a lousy layout and the other had a great layout and was in lousy shape. Our realtor went to write up an offer while we took a "lunch break". So while he worked, we drove around and talked, prayed, questioned and then bought a daytimer. Then we said no (to the house, not the daytimer).

Sure, some would call us picky. Some will say we've set our sights too high. But it's important for us to have a place to live where we feel at home. We don't want to feel like we're just settling for something. After saying no (and having a lengthy conversation with our realtor that things may not get any better) we headed for lunch to plot our future.

Our decision: to take our sweet time. We're not going to be avid house-hunters. We're not going to jump at the first thing we see. We're going to take some time and save some coin and see what happens. We want this ministry stay to be a long term one, and we're prepared to wait for the right place to come along. So for now, I'm grateful that my in-laws have kept their doors open to us.

I just hope they don't change the locks one night when we're at youth group!

There's no way...

I simply cannot believe how expensive housing is out here. After countless hours on the internet and two days of a realtor showing us around, we are no closer to a solution to our housing woes. As for renting, that doesn't seem to be much better. The most affordable housing we found is in another city 30 minutes away! Is this normal?

Without further delay...

Well, I have officially made it through 2 days. It's tough adjusting to a new place with new faces. In some respects I feel as though I have completely changed career paths. But then I got to hang out with the SR Highs last night and I was reminded of why I do what I do: God & students.

I had moments yesterday when I asked myself what on earth I had gotten myself into. I think that was God reminding me that I can't be doing this on my own. And that's something I'm going to have to remind myself everyday.

Today was much better as I was able to connect with a few more of the staff. It's tough when you get used to doing church life a certain way for 5 1/2 years and then try to adjust to a new way of doing things. I've got lots to learn...but what else is new?!?

Tomorrow is my first day off. I know I only worked 2 days, but in my defense they were a long 2 days. Besides, we're meeting with our realtor to look at some more housing options. It's looking less and less likely that we'll be anywhere close to the church by the time we find a place we can afford.

Housing costs out here are through the roof! That can't be normal...can it?

With all that being said, I'm loving it here so far and I'm very excited about the future. Lots of great people, and lots of great potential for the church and for the youth. This is definitely going to be an adventure!

The night before...

I'm a nervous wreck right now. I'm awaiting my last sleep before the new job begins and my mind is racing with a hundred thousand different things, not all of which are life altering, but they still make my brain hurt:

• What will my office look like? (And where is my office?)
• What do I do on day one?
• How will everyone else respond to the new guy?
• Who do I direct certain specific questions to?
• What will I do for lunch?

And let's not forget the all important question: Where on earth are we going to live? That one seems to be eating at us the most, especially after spending the afternoon with a realtor showing us how slim the pickings are in this neck of the woods. This will definitely have to be a God-thing if we're going to find a place to call home that isn't a 40 minute drive from the church.

And breathe...

One week of school is officially done and now that means...umm...well, let's see...lots more. The first class went well but it sure is nice to be back home with the family. My son's surgery had a minor set back when I was away and he ended up being admitted again so they could observe him.

I found that out on the first day of class which made it extremely difficult to try and concentrate on anything that day. In fact, I even wondered if maybe I should have packed it in. But on the advice of my wife I stuck it out and now I'm that much closer to graduating. (Ok, so I'm not really that much closer...)

I should add that everything turned out well and he just ended up getting home a little earlier than we had previously anticipated.

On Tusday we have an appointment to look at some houses before I officially start work on Wednesday. And I just got an email letting me know that my first board meeting is this Thursday night. Should be a crazy week, and I'm only working half of it. Is that normal?

Getting ready...

Just finishing up some last minute pre-class work and doing some packing while listening to Dave Matthews Band Weekend on the Rocks (actually it's the dvd that's on right now).

I'm hoping I've got everything as tomorrow I head out for a long lonely drive to a part of the country that will probably be much colder than it is here. They might even have snow...

I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to the 10+ hours of driving that is scheduled just for tomorrow, but I do know that it will give me a chance to play catchup with my podcasts.

Other than that, on Monday I make my way into my first ever seminary class. It's been almost 7 years since the last time I sat through a week long class. And it's been even longer since I've had a week with no evening commitments. To pass the time I've succumbed and rented the first 4 discs of Lost (Season 1). I've seen part of the first episode before (and didn't really care for it, I might add) but thought I'd give it another try. Some people seem to like it, so why not?

A deadly job...

I was first drawn to this show a few weeks ago when I heard the comment that it was the deadliest job in the world. I wondered how crab fishing, of all things, could possibly earn that reputation.

Well, one hour later (actually it only took about 10 minutes) I was hooked. What I thought was a one episode documentary is actually an entire season on Discovery!

In case you have no idea about it, basically it covers the crab fishing season in the Bering Sea. You watch a number of boats as they do their day to day job, catching crab. Add to that the dangers of the Bering Sea in the dead of winter, and you've got good tv.

While it may not sound like eventful television, just try watching an episode. I'm sure you'll be hooked.

I'm already a wreck...

My wife and son left for AB today. He's scheduled for surgery tomorrow that will see his tonsils removed (as well as any other throat problems that need to be fixed). The plan is that this will help him battle the colds & earaches that he gets every year.

They only left at noon, and I'm already missing them like crazy. (But don't tell my wife...she told me not to be a suck this time when she was away!)

I did get to spend some quality time with my daughter though, as we ate out alone for the first time (at McD's of course). And since she's missing her partner in crime, she seems to have mellowed out a bit. She was actually quiet tonight! I think she's missing them too.

A new adventure...

We have officially accepted the call to serve as Youth Pastor at SOA Church. It seems a little strange to be saying that. I've only been in one other full time position, so I'm a little unsure of what change will feel like.

But we're excited about the opportunities that are ahead of us. We're looking forward to getting back to what we love: working with students. We're looking forward to starting fresh. We know it won't be easy, but I think we're better off that way.

On top of all that, my wife and son head out for 10 days so he can have surgery on his tonsils, and then I'm off to class for a week. So our family will be spread out over 3 provinces. That is definitely not normal.