October

Wow, I didn't realize that I haven't posted on my blog since Sept. 23. I think I reached my limit of things to do this semester. Here's a little life update:

-I just finished leading our Men's Retreat for Hillside Church (I hate the name "Men's Retreat", it should be called something else). This is a weekend camp-like event for the men of our church. There were 140 guys and it went very well. I was able to have a lot of influence in the theme and lessons. I hand picked the seminars and told the main speaker what topics I wanted him to talk about. The theme was "Passion". We dove into topics like the priesthood of all believers, being a minister, postmodernism, Kingdom business, and using your passions to establish God's Kingdom. These are all topics that I thought might be touchy subjects, but it was well received. The weekend has started some great discussion about missional church.

-I have been tutoring 4th and 6th graders at the Farm Drive Center twice a week. These kids are great, but they can be hard to deal with sometimes. (If you can, pray for one boy named Saul, he is having some trouble at home and he really needs a big brother/dad figure)

-I have been overwhelmed with work lately. The 2 weeks before the men's weekend I was leading, I was bombarded with a huge project. Then this week I was asked to do twice my usual workload. At the same time, my range-finder broke. (That is my most important piece of equipment) Bummer.

-My Tuesday small group started. We're studying The Secret Message of Jesus. So far, the guys are excited and we've had some great discussions.

-I got the new iPod Touch for my birthday. I could never afford something like that by myself, so I pooled together all my birthday money and bought one.

-I've been writing some music lately. I've got a couple songs, but they're no where near finished. I need to work on lyrics. I can write the music part easier than the lyric part. I just need to write more anything.

-I'm getting excited about seeing Rob Bell on November 12. Sarah and I will be flying back from Texas that day. We are going to see my grandparents for the weekend. I need a vacation.

By the way, I love David Bazan.

Big Basin, School, and headaches...

I've got a lot to say.

First, I was able to go camping with a bunch of kids from the Farm Drive Center last weekend. We went to Big Basin in the Santa Cruz mountains and it was so much fun. The only bad part was the three smelly boys I had in my tent. They are great kids, but they stink! The same three guys are going to be in my kidtrek group this year at the Center. I'm going to tutor them and hang out with them two days a week. Some of the kids were asking great spiritual questions and we were able to connect with them in a unique way.

Second, I started school a couple weeks ago and I forgot how much I don't like it. I thought my classes were going to be good, but most of them have turned out to be lame. I think it is the professors. They don't teach well and they don't go deep into the topics. I also dislike homework very much. It always seems to get in the way to other things I want to do.

Third, I've had a headache for almost 3 days now. I was sick with a cold from Thursday to now, but all the stress of school and work and Men's Retreat and life have given me a constant headache. I'm keeping up with things, but its definitely difficult.

Lastly, I am going to have a meeting with our new pastor soon. I'm excited to get to talk to him about some of my dreams for Hillside. He seems interested in having me be more involved. Yeah!

By the way, here's some pictures from the Big Basin Camping Trip:





Thanks Patty, great pictures!