Almost there.....

Okay, it has been a while but things have been crazy! I graduated! Yeah! And, now I am putting the final touches on my trip to India!

All has been calm and quiet in Calcutta although persectution continues in Orissa. A group of Hindu radicals are planning on shutting the entire city of Orissa down on Christmas so that the Christians cannot partake in Christmas Worship Services. This is not expected to reach Calcutta...but the Christians there are in desperate need of prayer. The YWAM base there has had a lot of difficulties lately and has been attacked several times.

I just found out that I will not have internet access while away so you will have to wait until I get back to get a run down on my adventures!

Thank you so much for your support and prayers...I raised enough money to cover my own trip as well as help with another team member so thank you!

I just ask that you would continue to pray for me as I prepare to leave and while I am gone. I have been on enough trips to know that this is the time in the process when Satan seems to attack me the hardest; putting doubts and worries in my mind.

Thank you again and I look forward to getting to share my stories with you...stories of how God used our partnership for His Kingdom.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Love to you!

Line Etiquette

While we were at Disneyland we waited in hours of lines, now in the US waiting in lines is a common occurrence, we have grown up with it and we are use to them-I recognize, acknowledge and have experienced the fact that things are different in a lot of other countries. Lines are not a universal norm however, at Disneyland they are and if you are from the US then you have no excuse and after experiencing a full day of this I felt the need to set a few things straight regarding lines:

1. We are all anxiously waiting in line to get into the Haunted Mansion, get onto Space Mountain, Indiana Jones....(you fill in the blank)...we all wish the line would move faster.
2. Standing less than an inch behind me literally (definition: actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy) breathing on the back of my neck is not going to make the line move any faster...I promise, it really isn't.
3. Letting the people directly in front of me take two steps without immediately taking two steps of my own is not going to affect your wait time. In fact, yelling at me and telling me to "move" will make me less willing to immediately take my two steps but still...no affect on your actual wait time. In fact, I prefer to get a few feet in between myself and the group in front of me so that when I do move up the whole line behind us moves up a lot and feels like they are making a lot of progress...mind games...I like!

Here are a few suggestions for waiting in long lines:
1. Bring a game: sudoku, word search, crossword puzzles, a hand held game...but don't get too distracted and not move up...you may get yelled at...
2. Buy something to eat before getting into a long line...Disneyland has great churros, frozen bananas, Carmel apples, popcorn...and lots of other tasty goodies....if the line is long enough you will have plenty of time to eat and digest before getting on the ride so you won't get sick
3. Pray...pray for the line to go fast, pray for the ride not to break down after you wait 45 minutes, pray for the people who keep yelling at you because you waited 5 seconds before taking two steps to move the line along...
4. Play the 20 things you won't see in El Dorado Hills game...its simple, you pick out things that you don't normally see in El Dorado Hills. Matt and I play this when we go to Palmdale, only we play up to 50 because there are so many and they are so easy to spot...

Of course we could do away with lines...and this happens:


Do you have a line etiquette story or suggestion to pass the time?

Advent Conspiracy

A follow up to a post a couple weeks ago regarding money spent on Christmas and the lack of clean water world wide:

and this happens....Check out this video on the advent conspiracy



Let me know what you think....

Happiest Place on Earth

This past weekend we took our youth group (Jr. high and high school) to Disneyland.



Youth group Disneyland trip....and this happens....

• 85 of us Load up on two charter buses around 4:00 Friday afternoon


• First bus (not the bus I was on) right out of the church parking lot...goes the wrong way (first affirmation that this was a bad idea)...proceeds to do a u-turn in front of the church (not a wide street, especially for a bus to attempt a u-turn)


• Our bus begins shifting funny and it seems as though we might break down...but our bus driver rocked and just kept going...


• Driver number one takes the most random routes...costing us about an hour


• Stop for dinner...Stu gets dinner at Quiznos and McDonald's...Gray tells us he wants to run for president and wants to have a female vice-president... we try to talk him out of it when Amelia says "I'll be your running mate....then I'll plot to kill you and take over..." point proven....


• Matt found a mega-nuggie at McDonald's....


• Continue with the drive...driver number one pulls over as soon as we get on the freeway because his door was not closed all the way (affirmation #2)


• I take Benedryl to force myself to sleep for a while...


• Stop at the bottom of the Grape Vine and when we get back on the bus we do a head count and come up one short...count again...same thing...I get off the bus with Pappa John check the bathrooms...no stragglers...get back on the bus...still one short...have a group huddle, realize the driver did the first count and assume she was wrong so we just decide to leave...(no one ever called so the count must have been wrong...or Matt is going to get a call from one angry parent today!)


• Finally get to our hotel at 1:00am....yes, it took us 9 hours and it should not have...


• Check into our rooms and get to sleep around 2.

Saturday Morning:

• Meet in the lobby at 7:30....


• Nick was mad after having found "love stains" on his sheets at the Super 8


• Students arrange themselves in groups and off we go....


• Arrive at Disneyland around 8:30


• Get to ride on Indiana Jones and Pirates right away before lines start to form....


• Matt gets a call from the charter bus company and needs to go back to the hotel to buy extra time for the drivers...and the (not so) Super 8 doesn't authorize credit cards over the phone...


• Dave, Jenna and I eat a nutritious breakfast of churros and coffee...Disneyland has the best churros!


• We meet back up with Matt and go on some more rides...one of those being Splash Mountain...mind you, I hate Splash Mountain...the ride itself is great but I hate wet socks and shoes and I also hate wet jeans which both are likely to occur on this ride but Dave and Matt convince Jenna and I that it won't be that bad and we foolishly listen. It was that bad...actually worse. Matt looked like he peed his pants and my butt was wet for a few hours.


• We took a break for lunch and it was then that I realized I was ready to go home yet still had 7 hours left....


• Went on more rides until Aaron called us to let us know that one of the girls in his group was sick so we met up with them, bought the girl an apple, gave her some Advil and told her to suck it up...well, a little nicer but those were the thoughts in our head....


• Had another churro


• The lines got longer and longer and let me tell you...people are pushy in lines even when they aren't moving....I'll post more on that later....


• We had some dinner, took care of more sick kids and walked around trying to pass the time...


• I did get a caramel apple which was delicious by the way and we waited for another hour until we got to meet up with the group...


• John Stamos did a reading of the Christmas Story which was really cool...what a captive audience there was...he even read from Scripture and it was beautiful.


• Kids started to meet up to head back to the buses....


• Gray showed up...15 minutes late...and not with a leader but with his family members that met him there....not sure who's idea that was... but he showed up soaking wet and it was then that we found out that Splash Mountain had some technical problems while he was on it and they could not stop the ride...so he ended up going on the ride 12 times in a row and he was in the front seat. He was drenched...and that is another reason I don't like Splash Mountain.


• We finally loaded up on the buses after rounding everyone up and by this time I am extremely frustrated and more than tired...one of our leaders went back to the buses without telling everyone else so we wasted 15 minutes waiting around when they were sitting on the bus already...not cool...so we head out....
  
• The driver of the first bus gets on the wrong freeway...actually the right freeway just going the wrong way...yeah, towards San Diego, oh and then he doesn't turn around for over 20 minutes. So we got to Irvine and he finally decided to turn around and start heading North...(affirmation #3)
• I realize that I really can't handle many more affirmations and take a benedryl to help me sleep...especially since one of our students got sick and was having stomach problems just thirty minutes into our nine hour drive
• Suddenly, as I try to sleep curled up in an uncomfortable bus seat I hear the driver yell "I need coffee" now, I am half asleep and in an antihistamine daze and I'm not quite sure why our driver is yelling this but soon realize she is letting the other driver know that she needs to stop because...as you guessed it, she needed coffee.
• It turns out the other driver needed coffee too as we found out later that he was pouring cold water on his head while driving to try and stay awake. (affirmation #4) Two of our very dedicated leaders were taking turns talking to him, asking him questions and trying to stimulate his brain.

Sunday Morning:

• We rolled into the church parking lot around 7:30 am...just in time for Matt to rush home, take a shower and return back to church in time to give the announcements and communion thought.
• I went to church and then spent the day attempting to write a paper and not being very successful after having only about 9 hours of sleep for the whole weekend. (affirmation #5)

I've had a lot of really great times at Disneyland so I know it can be the happiest place on earth...tell me one of your favorite memories from Disneyland

Christian Cussing

The other night a bunch of us were enjoying an after youth group dinner at our favorite after youth group restaurant...Chili's aka Salties because of the mound of salt they pour on chips, french fries...salads, hamburgers, desserts...you name it and it has salt on it...I always leave there dehydrated and sick to my stomach yet we continue to go...we need to reevaluate our decision making abilities...anyways back to my original point....
We began discussing how to get to my school which is 45 minutes away from where we live...not because it is far away or there is a lot of traffic but because there is no easy way to get there...which led us to talking about Folsom Dam and the road that goes over it being closed (since 9/11-no we aren't egocentric). Now at a table of 10 Christians this is always a fun conversation to start and this happens:
"I hate that dam road."
"oh, that dam road."
"I use to love driving over that dam road."
"...dam road, dam road, dam road..."
"I wish they would just open the dam road."

No matter how the conversation starts or where the conversation was intended to go this is always where it will lead when trying to discuss the Folsom Dam Road. Hmmm, as my good friends over at http://krazydelicious.blogspot.com/ thinks...maybe this is a way of Satan (Stan) getting to us, just like that Santa Claus ploy...could be something to look into. If you have no clue what I'm talking about check out Ryan's blog. It is sure to entertain you as his life is far more exciting than mine....

Have a great weekend...and just try talking about the Dam Road.....

Brotherly Love

One thing I forgot to tell you about while we were in San Francisco:
While out praying for people in the city a man asked one of our male students to pray for "Brotherly Love"- During our debrief the student explained that he was really unsure as to whether he should pray for it or not because it didn't sound appropriate, and he was rather uncomfortable that the man would ask that of him...we had to explain to him that "brotherly love" is more like peace and everyone getting along...not men loving men....this was a great relief to the student who wanted to make sure he didn't ask for anything he wasn't suppose to!

Oh how I love Junior High innocence...
You take students to work in San Francisco and this happens!

Volunteers are sexy

That's right, I said it, volunteers are sexy...actually, I can't take credit for this amazing quote...I stole it from a homeless lady in San Francisco...well let's say borrowed, I don't want to come off a total jerk, stealing from a homeless lady....
I just spent the weekend in San Francisco working with YWAM to serve the homeless and to share Christ's love with them. This is my 4th year going and every year I come away learning new lessons and seeing God work in incredible ways. Here are just a few of the highlights:

Friday night:

• Arrive at YWAM around 6:30
• Begin orientation
• Brackney sets his eyes on one of the YWAM leaders, Amanda...now becoming a missions trip tradition
• Head out for hot chocolate ministry where I see the homeless man that we (Matt and I) had purchased a "bed in a bag" for (from Ross Dress For Less) a few months earlier...he no longer had the blankets :-(
• Met some incredible people: Joey who has been homeless since 14, got hit by a car at 19 and his dad is now dying from cancer but won't talk to his son-a really neat guy who simply had a terrible childhood and is still struggling from it and another man who I could not understand but provided us with a little giggle...we thought he fell asleep while we were talking with him, turns out he was just preparing to pray, for about 2 minutes....
• Went to bed late and got no sleep...

Saturday:

• Woke up at 5...thanks to some lovely girls from another church....
• Went on a prayer walk around the city...prayed for strip clubs and "massage" parlors
• A student realized why the city smells so bad when he saw a man peeing on a wall...
• Met a beautiful lady named Grace-we bought her some yogurt and cranberry juice and prayed with her, we prayed that her family would come back together and as soon as we finished praying her grandchildren walked up to her...what an incredible answer to prayer right in front of us!! Oh, she also called one of our chubbier students "a chunk"...she really meant it in a nice way....
• Went to lunch on Hippie Hill on Haight...always walk away with the stench of pot stuck in your nose but this activity always leads to great conversations
• Set up a prayer station where Aaron had to pray without using pronouns because he didn't know if Billie was a male or female...he said it was the most difficult prayer he ever had to pray
• Students bought homeless people lunch...an incredible selfless act who spoke volumes to other people who witnessed the actions
• Went to Blondies for lunch....greatest place for pizza by the slice...especially when you had breakfast at 7 and no lunch till 4....
• Corporate worship time when I really got to see how mature our jr. high students are....the other group at YWAM had high school students who were goofing around, writing on each other and even sleeping on the floor...did I mention even their pastor was sleeping on the floor....ugh! Our students did great and were very respectful
• Walk to Grace Cathedral where we had team worship time...Aaron Wolfe did great leading us in worship...he is such a stud and I think all the ladies should take notice of him....
• On the walk to Grace a student asked me what "exotic nudge shows" are...I had to correct him because the sign said "exotic nude shows"....awkward!
• Another student saw a corner store in which she thought she had been to before where she had the best hot chocolate...turns out it was a pretty wild bar....I hope she was mistaken
• Late night walk to Burger King...yum!
• Finally got a few hours of sleep

Sunday:

• Doughnuts/donuts...both spelling are correct by the way....from Happy Donuts....best donuts in Northern California!
• Church at PromiseLand...a Charismatic church
• Service started at 10:30...pastor started speaking at 11:40....they did some healings and claimed prophecies....interesting cross-cultural experience!
• Got home at 3:00

Had an amazing time and the junior high students did an incredible job of stepping out of their comfort zones and showing people the love of Christ in practical ways. I encourage you to drop any stereotypes of homeless people because they are not all lazy drug addicts and alcoholics. You can learn a lot from homeless people too as most of them are more appreciative of what they have, as little as it may be, compared to those of us who can have pretty much anything we want. Take 20 minutes this month and chat it up with someone living on the streets, you may be surprised by what you learn....and remember volunteers are sexy!

How much?!

With Christmas just around the corner...and already in all the stores...I feel the need to give a plug for the less fortunate in our world...someone needs to! It is estimated that last year Americans spent around 450 BILLION dollars on Christmas. Let me repeat this...450 BILLION DOLLARS only on Christmas. Now, what tugs on my heart is that it would take just 2% of that amount to provide fresh water for every people group that needs it...so, I'm not that great at math but I believe that is just under 10 Billion dollars...to provide every people group that needs fresh water with a fresh water source. I'm not talking one bottle of fresh water but a long term source such as a fresh water well. This really just tugs on my heart and makes me ask how can we help, how can we change this because this is not okay. One of my professors said something that really stuck out to me (finally! Boy, does he stretch my patience!) Because there are so many needs in the world we can often get overwhelmed with where to start and what cause to support but that the most important thing to do is to educate and instill compassion into younger generations. Hopefully, by doing this each generation will become more and more compassionate and thus, in theory, the poverty of the world will decrease accordingly. So, in an effort to educate and instill compassion I want to point you to a wonderful organization-world vision. World Vision provides child sponsorships but at Christmas they provide opportunities for people to purchase gifts for needy families, in the US and across the globe. You can purchase animals for families that can use the eggs or milk as well as sell any extra items for a profit. And, to tie it all in with the fresh water problem...you can also help purchase a well for a needy community. Worldvision.org- check it out and spread the word! And, with the economy in the shape that it is I'll add that these gifts are really affordable. I hear sad statistics and this happens...I need to share them...

Palmdale

Whenever we go down to Southern California to visit Matt's parents I am reminded of what a sheltered community I live in. Palmdale really is a different world compared to El Dorado Hills/Folsom. One time Matt, Jenna and I went and as we drove around we played a game to see who could spot things that you don't see at home....we usually get to about 10-15 things on a ten minute drive. For instance, the first time I went there to visit we were driving on the freeway when a van flew pass us in the fast lane. What was interesting about this van was that it did not have its headlight on...and it was about 9:00 at night. But don't worry, it did have a small flashlight taped to the dashboard on this inside of the van...so obviously they could totally see where they were going! This last time we were down visiting there was an ice cream truck driving around the neighborhood. At first there was nothing special about this ice cream truck until we all stopped to listen to the familiar song it was playing...nope not the normal "do your ears hang low" song but "jingle bells", yup "jingle bells" in early October. Well, that's one way to get people's attention! Oh how I love Palmdale!

Recap of meeting my India Team!

Sunday, October 19:
Matt and I drove to Citrus Junior College in southern California where we were holding a rummage sale at a swap meet. They all met at 5:00 am but because of where we stayed I got there at 8:00, so as I walked up to the group everyone was busy selling items and getting people to look at our "goods". Doug, our leader, starting introducing me to everyone right away and everyone was very welcoming. There are 9 of us total and only one person that was not there. I was a little overwhelmed meeting everyone at first because it was a bit chaotic and a lot of names being thrown at me...not to mention not everyone I met is part of our team so I was trying to remember who was who! I stayed close to Kelly, our co-leader and I think her and I are going to get along very well. She has been to Kenya and Peru as well and worked with the same ministries I worked with when I was there...so we hit it off right away! Because we are staying in a hotel we already have our room assignments so I got to meet my roommate, Sylvia. I was also excited to see that I am not the youngest member of the team-there is a 22 year old guy who has actually never been out of the country before. With the exception of Matt, the 22 year old, everyone on the team is married and will be going on the trip without their spouse. It will be neat that we will be able to help each other and relate to each other throughout our stay in Calcutta.

Meeting everyone has gotten me so much more excited and has also relieved some anxieties that I had. I ask that you will continue to pray for me and our trip and that you will be asking God to prepare my nerves and my patience with the living situations I will encounter.

One last thing...I also found out that we are leaving two days earlier for our trip, December 28 at 1:30pm from LAX.

Thanks again for all your support and love. It has been incredible to see all the support. As of today I only need $60 until my trip is paid for...thank you!

PS to Prop 8 post...

I'm not saying one should vote yes or no on prop 8...I'm simply wondering why we, myself included, spend more time making known what we stand against rather than what we stand for. I think it is a problem with Christianity as a whole...we are known more for what we stand against rather than what we believe in and stand for. Just don't take this as a political statement on how to vote one way or another! Okay, now I'm done!

Prop 8

On my way to school this morning, around 7:30 am, I drove past a busy intersection to see two people holding signs to vote "yes" on Prop 8. This got me thinking about how much time we spend making it clear about what we stand against rather than what we stand for. I would venture to guess that the majority of the people who are rallying people to vote yes on prop 8 are Christians which begs me to ask if they are spending even half as much time loving others (homosexuals) as they are making their stance known? Jesus simply calls us to Love God and to Love Others and if we did this simple command...oh how different the world would be!
On another note, why are Christians so focused on homosexuality? Do we see it as a sin? Yes...but why are we so focused on this sin compared to other sins? I haven't heard much talk about prop 4 which deals with abortion. The truth is that homosexuality is happening...and it didn't just start in 2008...it was in the Bible and whether there is a law against homosexual marriage or not same sex couples will be together and a law is not going to stop it. Whether they can marry or not really has no effect on my marriage, my marriage is still valid and will be great regardless of who else is allowed to marry. Youth are still going to grow up knowing homosexual relationships happen but I really don't think it will have an effect on the path they choose...in the past it wasn't talked about nearly as much as it is talked about now yet homosexuality didn't die out...it still happened. As a youth leader I say we should focus more on teaching youth to value themselves and to guard their body against premarital sex or drug use or underage drinking rather than trying to protect them from the talk of homosexuality. Let's teach the youth to love God and love others regardless of the life they choose just as Jesus did. Okay...that's all on that. This is what happens when I have an hour drive to school early in the morning! :-)

It is really going to happen!

I just got confirmation that our plane tickets to India have been purchased! It is really going to happen! I am really excited...it's not just a possibility anymore. I'm also excited because we have a layover in Dubai and I really like it there! Thanks again for your prayers and support! 

India Team Training!

I am very excited for this weekend as I finally get the opportunity to meet the people I will be traveling to India with! The team is holding a fundraiser in Southern California and it will work out for Matt and I to go down for the weekend. The church I am going with (Simplified) is holding their church service at a swap meet to be out in the community and all the money raised from the swap meet will go toward our trip. I am really looking forward to meeting everyone and hopefully it will alleviate some of my anxieties about the trip! Again I want to thank you for all your support, financial and prayer. I can't explain how encouraged I have been by the love and support you have poured out on me.

Frustrations....

Quite honestly I try to avoid talking to a lot of other people involved in youth ministry because it usually leaves me being frustrated and this happens...a post about my frustrations! I was recently reviewing a popular website among Pastor's wives and one of the most popular posts was about the game show Wipeout. Now, for the record, this is a pretty hilarious game show. We actually DVR it so that we can watch it with friends and make fun of the ridiculous things people will compete in for money. Having a post about the game show is not the frustrating thing frustrations comes in when the wives go on and on about how their youth pastor husbands spend time, energy and money figuring out how to recreate this obstacle course for their youth services. I am all about having fun and enjoy creating fun environments for youth the problem I have is that when we as youth leaders only have about an hour and half with these young students why are we wasting it playing silly games? Project Four Twelve is very, very unique in that we do not play games during our youth group services and I am astonished at how many groups will spend 45+ minutes playing games each week. Wednesday night for Jr. High and Thursday night for High School are our most crucial nights of the week and I can't imagine wasting that time playing silly games rather than worshiping and teaching students about the most important thing they will ever hear about. They don't need to compete in a fun competition what they need is to hear about the saving grace of Jesus Christ...they already know how to have fun...they need a Savior...they need to know how to live for Him, how to teach others about Him...not who can drink a disgusting blended drink of sardines and whatever else was on sale at the store. We have been entrusted with an amazing responsibility of teaching young people about Christ and I don't want to waste the time that we have to do that.

India Update!

I recently received an update from our India Trip Team Leader and wanted to pass it on to you to include you in my trip as well as to ask you to join me in praying for India. This update makes me nervous and at the same time makes me want to go to India even more. It is clear that the Christians in India need encouragement and support and the country is in dire need of Christ's love. Here is the email that the missionaries in Calcutta have sent to us:

I just spoke with [the Pastor] on the phone from Orissa. He says that things are much worse than even what the reports we’ve read are saying. The government is 100% for the radical Hindu groups that are attacking Christians, burning churches, killing and raiding. The Baptists and Catholic communities have been hit the hardest. Many Christians want to retaliate with violence by joining the terrorists hiding in the jungles. Many Christians must hide out in the jungle at night for safety. No where is safe for them. [Pastor] is there with his son, and others – who speaks the local language. They are meeting tomorrow – which will be our tonight – with 20 Christian pastors to fast and pray and seek the Lord for wisdom and guidance. He is asking for our sincere prayers. He wants to know what to do to help. We had two missionaries in this area for about a year, but they have since fled. There are some Christians there who have no pastor that were baptized under our care. [Pastor] believes that the Lord has a plan for this area and that many will be reached for Christ through this conflict. The people he has talked to are so very grateful that he came – they feel that there are not alone and they’ve been told that we are praying for them.

Please continue to pray and let others know what is happening. This hasn’t hit the world news reports yet, and it needs to. Indians in other areas feel that this is barbaric and is a stain on India. We must pray that the dark deeds of Satan against the church be revealed. Pray for God’s Spirit to lead and guide His people though this very difficult time of persecution. He is their ever present help in time of need. Pray to the Prince of Peace to rule and reign in Orissa.

An Incredible Gift

While I am super excited for my upcoming India trip I am constantly seeking God's will and wanting to make sure it is what He wants me to be doing. I am nervous about the trip and there are numerous things that continue to pop into my mind that make me begin to doubt my thinking that I am suppose to go on the trip. I have sent out a number of support letters to inform family and friends of my latest adventure and have been thoroughly blessed with the prayer support, encouraging notes and generous financial donations however the most recent donation I received encouraged me and settled my doubting mind in ways I never expected. With today's economy I know money is tight and I have received so much support and simply do not have adequate words to express my gratitude to everyone. As I shuffled through yesterdays mail mostly consisting of bills and junk I noticed an envelope from a family of one of my 7th grade small group girls and as I opened it I was brought to tears as I pulled out $20 and a note telling me that the money was for my India trip and had been earned by the 7th grader through babysitting. While I have received generous donations of all sizes and know they all come with a sacrifice it amazes me how this beautiful girl was willing to make a sacrifice for God's Kingdom and for my trip. As I read the note I remembered the days when all my money was earned through babysitting and how tight I clung to every penny of that hard earned money and was overwhelmed with a sense of comfort...a sense of peace that I am suppose to be going on this trip. So, I thank you my dear small group participant because you have encouraged me and settled my mind in great ways...You are a beautiful child of God and I thank you for believing in me when I was having trouble believing in myself.

Staff Retreat with spouses....

So our church just had the first staff retreat with spouses so I was lucky enough to be invited since I am married to the Pastor of Student Ministries...and this happens...
We start the retreat off by playing a friendly game of guesstures (similar to Charades but it is electronic) and I'm pretty good at these types of guessing games so I'm pretty excited, that is until I see the word that I have to act out in front of the whole pastoral staff at my church...yeah...everyone else gets cat, dog, blanket...not Heather...she gets LAXATIVE.....that's always a great way to start off a staff retreat!
Day 2 we start off by going over personality tests that we took before the retreat started and wowzers did they get to learn a lot about the inner workings of me...on the hostility score I got a 95% which means only 5% of the people surveyed (about 9,000 females) were more hostile than me! That's great...that is something every Pastor's Wife should strive for! Not only am I hostile but I'm also anxious which makes for a great combination! On the upside I am self-disciplined which is good...I guess!
I think I may be sick when this retreat rolls around next year for fear of what else may be unveiled!

All in all it was actually a great weekend...and now I have plenty of attitude changes to work on!

MissionS Completed

Anyone involved even slightly with youth ministry knows that while summer is relaxing and includes downtime for most people it is quite the opposite for youth ministry. We have just successfully completed another summer of craziness but when the summer is packed with goodness this happens:

Recap on some of the amazing events of the 2008 summer for Project 412:

New Orleans: July 1-8, 18 team members
Gutted a house that had remained untouched since Hurricane Katrina AND managed not to die from mold exposure...so far...
Fed thousands of homeless people on the Fourth of July
Jackson got attacked by fire ants...not necessarily a highlight for him but I had never seen something like that
Met, prayed with, ate with and talked with many people on the streets of the French Quarter
And so much more but to sum it up an altogether amazing trip and a new close group of friends

CIY Conference: July 14-19, Over 100 Project 412 attendees
Got the Freshman connected with the high school group
Confirmed that our group is spectacular
Almost took out Wizard Boy....by whipping him in the legs...
Heard some incredible messages
Students had the opportunity to see they are not alone in their struggles
Slightly damaged a 12 passenger van...no one was injured!
Multiple baptisms in the ocean

Jr. High Increase Summer Camp: July 28-August 1 104 Impact Attendees
Had a record number of 6th graders attend summer camp
May have convinced Mr. Matt Smyles to move to Northern California
Fixed up a kids eyebrow when he cut it open on a counter top...he thought I was a doctor...I faked it well
Heard some awesome messages by the Matts
Managed not to damage the same 12 passenger from CIY
Had 17 Baptisms in Lake Tahoe

Super Mexico: August 6-10 14 Team Member
I didn't attend by they need to be recognized since they
successfully made it across the border into Mexico
Built a house in 3 days
Managed not to die from taco stands...and rotten potato salad
Successfully made it across the border into the U.S.

While summer is crazy it is always the highlight of the year for youth ministry...so many amazing things take place during the trips...just one of the many reasons why being married to a youth pastor is so great..I get to experience all these things first hand....

Some information About Calcutta or Kolkata...

Residents of Kolkata are called Calcuttans. As of 2001, Kolkata city had a population of 4,580,544, while the urban agglomeration had a population of 13,216,546. The sex ratio is 828 females per 1000 males– which is lower than the national average because many working males come from rural areas, where they leave behind their families.

India 08-09

Later this year I will be embarking on a new adventure...traveling to Calcutta, India for two and a half weeks. There are a few things that make this trip an incredibly exciting opportunity:
1. I have never been to India! India is 80% Hindu which just screams "We need to see Christ's love"!
2. I only know one other person going on this trip...the team leader who invited me. The team is based out of Southern California and there is a chance I won't meet anyone until we all gather at the airport in December...
3. We are going to be working with the organization Mother Theresa started, Missionaries of Charity...so awesome!
and...
4. I expect to see things that I have never experienced before being that we are going to be lending a hand in numerous homes for the dying, clinics and orphanages.
Oh and did I mention we may see a live goat sacrifice at a Hindu temple??!!

I'm pretty excited about this trip and I can't wait to see how God is going to work through it! I'll be posting updates leading up to the trip and hopefully during the trip...

The Reason

My original reason for starting a blog was to retaliate, in the most loving way of course, against another blog in which wives of youth pastors come together and complain about their husbands' job. Being a pastors wife myself I find that site to be quite obnoxious and dishonoring to their husbands. Their poor husbands-I hope they never stumble across that site and view what their wives have been posting! Being a pastors wife can be difficult but is such an honor and I pray that the wives of pastors can come together to encourage and support one another in their ministry rather than complain and fire one another up about who has the worse summer because of youth camps and trips.

So, I struggled with names for this blog...morethanapastorswife and marriedtoayouthpastorandlovingit were just way too long andthishappened was already taken and so I settled upon, with the help of my husband and Sharpie, andthishappens...a sort of "sister site" to andthathappened...which you should check out by the way because my studly husband runs it.
So there you have it, the reason for and this happens which consequently is what happens when something frustrates me and gives pastors wives a bad name....