So far in 2008...

Well, since 2008 began I have been several places. We started out the year somewhere between Winter Park, Colorado & Arlington, Texas. I spent a few days at home trying to clean up Christmas, catch up on work & mail, & then I got on a plane & headed to Orlando, Florida. Every 4 years everyone on Young Life staff (national & international - about 4,000 people) get to spend 5 days together at an all staff conference. The great thing about this is that it is such a gift to be able to stay in a place that no one on YL staff could every afford to stay at, see all of our friends who do ministry around the world, & we get to be hear from great speakers & great leaders who have gone before us.

Some highlights of last week were:

*Jeff Foxworthy & giving us a list entitled, "you know you are a young life leader when..." (he & his wife are Wyldlife leaders in Atlanta - here is a link to him at the conference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLtbMVolfAs)

*Donald Miller & other great speakers teaching all of the staff

*Being with old friends, I don't get to see very often.

*Seeing about 4,000 YL staff (including their spouses)- it was so cool to see all these people, b/c if there are 4,000 YL staff & each of them have relationships with at least 10 kids (which most probably have relationships with way more than 10) that means at least 40,000 kids around the world have a Young Life leader & are hearing the Gospel!

After five days at the conference I got on a bus & headed about an hour northeast to Daytona Beach for area director school. Before you get too jealous of me being at the beach, it is really not great weather here & I am pretty much in class from 7:45am to 10pm - with a few breaks here & there. I am learning a lot, the classes just get a little long.

I will leave you with a word of encouragement that was offered to us this morning - Chazok! Chazok! Venit Chazak! (Be strong! Be strong! Make each other strong!) This is the word of encouragement offered my members of the synagogue to encourage the person who had just offered the reading of the Torah.

View of the beach from my porch

Ski Trip

I think most have pretty much recovered from another great year on ski trip. Ski trip is a hard trip & sometimes I, along with others wonder, "is it worth it?" Thinking back on our freezing days up in Colorado - it was definitely worth it! Ski trip is nothing compared to the experience of going to summer camp or other things that we do during the year, but it is another chance to build relationships & for kids to hear the gospel. Kids definitely heard the gospel this year & there were many great conversations that followed the messages that were given at club each night.

Yes, we did get stuck again this year!!! It really is not common to tag on extra days to the end of every ski trip - I promise! The day we were getting ready to leave a storm blew in & had really, really strong winds. Because of the strong winds the main mountain road we needed to go on to get down the mountain was closed. Luckily we were able to stay an extra night at Crooked Creek & wait around the next day until the road opened (about 4pm). The night before we left my cabin of girls & I attempted to stay up all night so we could sleep on the bus. We made it till about 4am & laid down for a couple of hours...staying up all night makes for some really fun memories.

The basketball courts at camp - there was so much snow this year!

My cabin of girls - they were so fun

Some of our kids ready for skiing & boarding

Cody & one of our kids at camp

One of the highlights of the trip was that I had some family that got to come along. It was so good to see them, I wish I would have had more time to hang-out with them.

Uncle Terry, Dad, & Mom at club

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! Cody & I had a such a great Christmas break, it was so hard to start getting up early again this week! We spent Christmas in Abilene with lots of Cody's family. It was so nice to see everyone & we were totally spoiled by all the food, gifts, etc. that we came home with. This is after my birthday dinner at the Home Place.

I got to celebrate my birthday a couple of times this year & both times were so great. While we were still home Cody took me out to a nice dinner for just the two of us & then in Abilene we went out with lots of family. I had a great Birthday & even had 3 cakes - one from Snow White Bakery (thanks Aunt Dee), one homemade cheesecake from Cody's mom, & one chocolate cake made by Cody! I enjoyed all of them ;)

Here is our first Christmas tree - i was perfect. Thanks to Mom & Dad who have given me so many ornaments over the years, it was so fun to hang them all on our tree.

Here is Christmas with Zoe & Madison - they loved all their goodies!

Cody & I on Christmas morning with our stockings - I love my new stocking!

A couple weeks before Christmas I got to run in the Dallas White Rock marathon ( i only ran the half marathon). This experience was so fun & I hope to do a few more in my life time.

We did return on New Year's morning from skiing with some of our Young Life kids. We had a great trip & only got delayed about 15 hours because of snow. I will post about ski trip later....stay tuned!

Thankful & Full

Last night some friends invited Cody & I to go to the Andrew Peterson "Behold The Lamb" concert (i tried to post some video of a behold the lamb concert from you tube, but it wouldn't work!!). I was so excited, as I had seen months ago on Andrew's website that they were coming to Dallas & had it marked in my planner. Andrew Peterson is definitely one of my all time favorite singer / song writers. His songs are so real & honest, almost every time I listen to them I feel like I am being changed, because of the truths he sings about.

Andrew's Christmas album "Behold The Lamb" is awesome. It's different than your normal Christmas album, as it tells the story of Christ from the beginning of time. Like it talks about the old testament passover, & the prophets telling of the Christ child to come.

Ok, so at the concert is was not only Andrew Peterson who was preforming but also, Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn, Bebo Norman, Sarah Groves, & Andy Osenga (from Caedmon's Call). These folks all sang some of their own & then at the end preformed "Behold The Lamb" & it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I am sure if I knew anything at all about music it would have been that much cooler, but even for someone who knows nothing it was awesome.

I left the concert that evening feeling so full & rich. Thanks to Luke & Paula for a great night & if anyone ever has the opportunity to see Andrew Peterson in concert, you will not leave empty.

Ok, I have been wanting to post some pictures from our Thanksgiving, so here are just a few. We had a great time & were reminded of how thankful we are for all our family. It was so fun to see family we had not seen in a while. I am sad everyone does not live closer, but maybe someday...

Cody & I at Thanksgiving dinner

Jane, Bekah, & I showing off the desserts

Dad & Cody cutting the fried turkey

Mom & Bekah at the river parade

Santa at the river parade

Nov. Club Updates

Turkey bowling anyone?? The club before Thanksgiving we did out traditional turkey bowling club. I don't really know how long they have been turkey bowling at this particular YL club, but I told everyone it was the 67th annual turkey bowling YL. As the kids were arriving at club, Cody began to drill 3 holes in each turkey so that the turkeys were as much like bowling balls as possible. Although most just threw the turkey down the "lane" instead of actually bowling it, it was still funny to watch. I was proud of our group that night as most all of the kids attempted to turkey bowl at least one time. I personally really love turkey bowling because it is one of those fun & crazy things that you don't normally do every Thanksgiving. I hope that it will be something that the kids will look back at & remember as a really fun night at YL.

Last nights' club was not as anticipated as our turkey bowling club, but it was still a great night. Our team found it hard to come up with ideas for club last night as many times when it nears the end of a semester we become fresh out of funny & crazy things to do - thankfully we still had a few things up our sleeves that worked out great.

Cody came out in the middle of club last night dressed as Bitter Buddy Elf. Bitter Buddy Elf was mad because everyone is getting all their toys on eBay this year, so Santa had to fire some elves because their wasn't enough work to do in the North Pole. Bitter Buddy came out to encourage everyone to come out to club next week & to start narrowing down contestants for our Mr. Christmas Tree contest. He led them in 2 different games, one of them was called e-bay guessing. We found the most random things you can find on eBay (like someones home made road kill stew - this was really on eBay!) and the contestants had to guess if the price we had on the screen was higher or lower & then they would guess the exact price - it was pretty funny as almost the whole crowd got into the game.

During our last part of club I got to stand up & talk to our friends about Jesus, who knows us intimately, but loves us deeply. I know we talk a lot about this, but I believe you can never hear this truth too much. I started out my talk with a clip from the movie "Hitch." This movie is basically all about guys hiring Will Smith to try & make them "look good" in front of girls so they can get a date. I then talked about all the things we do to get to know someone when we really like them. We will go to great lengths to know all the details of his or her lives just so they might like us, or just so they might give us a chance. What a relief that we don't have to do with Jesus!

I then began to talk about the encounter that Jesus had with the woman at the well from John 4. Jesus knew everything about this lady - the good, the bad, & the ugly, yet her loved her & offered her life. Her offered her life & love without this lady having to do anything. She didn't have to try & impress Jesus with her good looks or fancy cars, she didn't have to fake it at all - Jesus already knew everything, yet loved her.

I ended talking with simply telling our kids how thankful I am that I don't have to impress Jesus everyday. I am so thankful that I have a relationship with someone who knows every step I have taken & every step I will ever take & loves me deeply. I pray that kids will accept the one who knows us to the bone & loves us even more.

Recently one of my friends graduated from High School & I am so proud of her. Here is a picture of all of us at the graduation celebration - I know she can do great things!

Club Update

We had another great club this weekwith many of our regular kids & some new faces in the mix. This week Cody had a basketball game a couple hours before club was supposed to start so I was not sure he would be able to make it, but he ended up showing up about fifteen minutes before we started. It was a little crazy with not much time to plan & run through club with all our leaders, but God is good & most things went off without a hitch.

Of course, we played some crazy games & had many kids laughing. We played a game where kids have to shoot cheerios out their nose & their partners have to catch it in a bucket that hung around their neck (there were bonus points if you caught it in your mouth). Apparently this game really grossed out a lot of folks & Cody & I were the only couple who ended up actually playing the game. I realize this game is gross, but out of all the things we do in Young Life it's funny to me that some kids called this game "the grossest." After that game, we played a few more crazy games & then four of my senior girls & I did a skit. We hadn't really practiced this too much, but it turned out to be funny. I am thankful that there was lots of laughter on at club & I pray that God used this to break down walls into what's really going on with kids.

At the end of the night Dan, one of our volunteer leaders, gave a talk about Jesus over coming death. He followed up on the cross talk I gave last week & told the story of Thomas seeing Jesus after he had risen from the dead. John 20:27 says, "Put your finger here, see my hands. Reach out your hand & put it into my side. Stop doubting & believe." He talked about that verse with our high school friends & how Jesus rising from the dead is true & is as real to us now as it was to Thomas & his disciples many, many years ago. I pray that the kids who heard this message will stop letting all the little doubts that get into their heads & that other folks put in their heads & simply believe in the risen Christ.


A couple of things to pray for this week: we have our annual banquet coming up Monday! Pray that we will raise a good portion of our budget (if not ALL of our budget :), that people will get a clear picture of all the things that God is doing in the lives of junior high & high school kids in our city & for everything to go smoothly on that night.

Also, last week in his YMCA basketball game Cody tore a couple of ligaments in his ankle. Pray for continued healing for him.

This was Cody pre-injury

This is Cody after a doc's appointment, he now has a lovely black boot to wear for the next couple of months.