1:37 in the AM.

Sometimes I can't sleep.

I have blamed it on my bed for a long time, and I still hold to that to some level. I think tonight I'm just not in the zone for sleep. I'm a little wired after youth tonight. So I'm up eating Breyers Double Churned Extra Creamy Natural Vanilla ice cream. I think that's about as vanilla as it's going to get. My dad would be proud.

My mind is mulling over all the events of the day and the coming events of the fall. Youth ministry brings a lot of thoughts this time of year. (I'm such a veteran :)ha!)I have this anticipation building up inside of me as I see our group molding together and things coming together for this school year ahead. And I love the people I do youth ministry with. 5 of us just stayed after all the students left tonight and played hide and seek, and with the lights off it turned into a big game of "throw stuff at each other". If I could say one thing to someone asking about how to work with a team of leaders, it would be "have illegal amounts of fun together". Especially a youth ministry team.

Before I sign off tonight I want to recommend to any church/ministry leaders reading a book called, "Practicing Passion: Youth and the quest for a passionate Church" by Kenda Creasy Dean. It's really energized my thoughts lately. The author's guiding conviction is this:

If the church is going to make sense to adolescents, then our ministry must be predicated on passion - the Passion of Christ, the passion of youth, and the passionate faith that is made possible when these two things come together.

The author says that for long the church has stifled the passion of youth by not involving them in the mission of the Church, and not taught them a theology of dying. That Christ's Passion was to the death, and that the faith we want is one that we would die for. So yeah check it out - it reads like a text book with deep insight into scripture and the practices of youth ministry in history.

Welp, I'm signing off here. Maybe sleep will come ... adios!

Chubb Lake 2006

Hey all
Here's some pics from camp this summer at the infamous Chubb Lake camp .... !!! You'll notice the gold medallion hanging proudly around my neck in one of those shots which is the result of the "A-Team"'s victory in camp sports. Such glory. You'll also notice the nice fit of the white hoodie. "big guy in a little coat ..." :)

&!$#^@%

A bird took a dump on my head today.

It was more my face than my head.

My friends laughed in my pooey face.

I hope some birds poo on them soon ... or at least on the bird who pooed on me ...

The funniest part was that minutes before I was talking about how I had never been pooed on by a bird. I think I should be more prepared for the unexpected. Life can be crappy. At least there were friends there to laugh at me. Getting pooed on by yourself would be way worse.

The moral: life can be crappy but it's better when there's more people with you to experience the crap.

Grateful

So it's been a while ... time for a new post.

I've just spent the last week living in a tent. It was given to me by a dear friend and it's pretty sweet. The first few days spent in it were on the coast of Vancouver Island, just a few km from the northernmost tip of the Island and, there's not a lot goin' on up there! Well there's a lot of logging trucks. Aaaaand there are a lot of unbelievably beautiful old-growth trees and magnificent lakes and an amazing sandy beach, kind of like a little Tofino, which is where we put up camp for a few days. Our youth staff at clcc spent a few days along with Jer's dad, Dave Postal, doing a retreat. We drove for 5 hrs and hiked for another hour through the bush and arrived at Raft Cove for our little adventure. It was picturesque. Beach, sky, waves rolling in, rocky cliffs around, and, well, when you get 5 guys alone on a beach in the bush there's not a lot that remains sacred. Clothes become optional, bodily functions are expected to be heard, smelt, discussed and well, lets just say that cameras pop up at "inopportune" times. It makes you glad to be a man. Beards abound and the laughter and mirth overflow. Pure fun.

We invented games on the beach. We created a bocci ball set out of old fishing net buoys. We had contests and even created a little playing field where we saw who could swing and toss the kelp the furthest. I didn't win. I just won a nasty whiplash mark on my leg where the long tail-end of the kelp smacked me as i let it go ... not a coordinated moment. But I don't feel bad because, who the crap throws kelp anyway?

We shared stories. Dave shared his 30+ years of ministry experience with a bunch of young lads and we ate it all up. Wisdom like that which comes from a life given to serving and leading is pure gold.

I came back energized and excited about life. I came back inspired by our Creator who makes such beautiful places for us to enjoy. I came back happy to be living life with such great guys that I love. I'm grateful.