So this past weekend I went along with several other people from church to Nashville for a mission trip. There is still a lot of work to be done for flood victims and we wanted to go help out.
It was an awesome experience for me. I have never done a mission trip or anything like this so I had been looking forward to it ever since I signed up to go. It was great to go and do something for someone else. It was also a great time to get to know people from church that I didn't already know while doing this.
We took away from it positive and negative things and we are going to use all of that when looking at future trips. As always you are constantly learning so you can always make the next time even better.
So we headed out Friday afternoon and drove down to Nashville. We stayed in some cabins at a campsite. It was like being at summer camp. Bunk beds in each room and the two rooms divided by the bathroom slash hallway. It wasn't a cushy hotel but it was it was a place to put our stuff down and sleep. Also gave us a place to bond when not at the work site. Only downside was walking up that sort of steep trail up to the cabin.
Hit the work site Saturday and started working. We started building a shed that went much faster once another volunteer came over. Obviously we were thinking about it too much and just had to wait and he made it look easy. We stained a deck and put some lattice around it to keep the dog from getting under there. We also did some other various duties that needed to be done including raking straw out of the front yard.
After calling it a day we headed back to camp and cleaned up so we could go out for dinner. Ate out a very cool restaurant and spent some time getting to know each other more. After dinner it was back to camp to play some games and spend some time to just bonding. Had a great time that night.
On Sunday we headed back over to continue doing work around at the work site. We were not able to get the shed done but we did the best we could. We were able to accomplish and finish other things that needed to be done though. We packed up and rushed back to St. Louis. We wanted to make it back to the six o'clock service and we all made it just in time. Heard a great sermon and then went out one more time to debrief and talk about the trip before heading home for the night and crashing since the next day was a work day.
Great experience and looking forward to being part of more trips in the future or if I am not able to go at least help out in some way. Made some new friends which is always a plus. And of course we were able to do some good for someone else which just warms my heart.
That is all for now. Later gators.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Men's Retreat
Last weekend I went to a men's retreat. It was a bit last minute which I will get to more later but it was worth it. I had a meaningful experience and I am ready to kind of ride the wave and see where it takes me.
It was held a beautiful place on a small lake. It was like being back in summer camp though with 5 bunk beds in a room and eating at the dining hall at meal time and walking every where. Great range of ages of men from 18 to 89. Several first timers like me to go along with the men that have been coming over the years. Add that we never went without coffee and all was great. :)
So we had a main speaker for the weekend to do sessions and he did a great job. Young associate pastor that will be opening a new church with the next couple years. I really enjoyed what he had to say. He gave things to think about and we got to talk in small groups during the session which added to what was going on.
I enjoyed the various activities we did Saturday afternoon. Made me think about things I had not thought about like using fantasy sports as a mean to do small groups and maybe bring in men on the fringe of doing small groups into the mix or even just on the fringe of doing more in the church. The jam session on Saturday night was a lot of fun. Always enjoy singing songs I grew up listening to in the church or songs that I didn't know already.
I just had a good time getting know people and having time of fellowship. At the end of the night we would hang for a while and eat junk food. The younger crew played Wii Saturday night probably too late into the night for the taste of the older gentleman in attendance. You of course are looking at the Wii golf champion of the retreat. :D
We got see a great performance by a group called Sheltered Reality. You should go to youtube or their website and check them out. Drummers who bring a great message with the great music they play. Very interactive as well. I already passed on a cd and brochure to the director of family ministries and said book them. Hope he listens to me. ;)
At the end of the day I am just inspired to do more. I have felt like I have been called to do more and I wasn't sure what that was. I am still not 100% positive but I think I have an idea. I didn't know about this retreat until less than two weeks before it happened. I saw it in the newsletter said that sounds cool but I have something going on and just very short notice. Well then I was contacted about attending and checked into it more and got more info and things just fell in place and off I was to the retreat. I think I should take that as a sign. I have a meeting set to talk to our small group director about what steps I need to take to start and establish a men's group at the church. I feel that is something that we need and I want to make it happen. So wish me luck this coming week on seeing how that goes.
For now I am out though. Later gators!
It was held a beautiful place on a small lake. It was like being back in summer camp though with 5 bunk beds in a room and eating at the dining hall at meal time and walking every where. Great range of ages of men from 18 to 89. Several first timers like me to go along with the men that have been coming over the years. Add that we never went without coffee and all was great. :)
So we had a main speaker for the weekend to do sessions and he did a great job. Young associate pastor that will be opening a new church with the next couple years. I really enjoyed what he had to say. He gave things to think about and we got to talk in small groups during the session which added to what was going on.
I enjoyed the various activities we did Saturday afternoon. Made me think about things I had not thought about like using fantasy sports as a mean to do small groups and maybe bring in men on the fringe of doing small groups into the mix or even just on the fringe of doing more in the church. The jam session on Saturday night was a lot of fun. Always enjoy singing songs I grew up listening to in the church or songs that I didn't know already.
I just had a good time getting know people and having time of fellowship. At the end of the night we would hang for a while and eat junk food. The younger crew played Wii Saturday night probably too late into the night for the taste of the older gentleman in attendance. You of course are looking at the Wii golf champion of the retreat. :D
We got see a great performance by a group called Sheltered Reality. You should go to youtube or their website and check them out. Drummers who bring a great message with the great music they play. Very interactive as well. I already passed on a cd and brochure to the director of family ministries and said book them. Hope he listens to me. ;)
At the end of the day I am just inspired to do more. I have felt like I have been called to do more and I wasn't sure what that was. I am still not 100% positive but I think I have an idea. I didn't know about this retreat until less than two weeks before it happened. I saw it in the newsletter said that sounds cool but I have something going on and just very short notice. Well then I was contacted about attending and checked into it more and got more info and things just fell in place and off I was to the retreat. I think I should take that as a sign. I have a meeting set to talk to our small group director about what steps I need to take to start and establish a men's group at the church. I feel that is something that we need and I want to make it happen. So wish me luck this coming week on seeing how that goes.
For now I am out though. Later gators!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Fall is on the way
Fall is on the way so that means school will start soon for me and the kids. Which also means the busy season starts.
Daughter is entering 5th grade this fall and that is a busy year for students and parents at her school. The 5th graders do a lot more and they have extra fun raising to help pay for it all as well. So parents had a couple meetings at the end of last school year and start off this school year with a picnic/meeting right off the bat. Plus we help with the chess club and that group of parents is also meeting to discuss the upcoming year. We also will get to see how my daughter is doing with her medication since she was only in school for a week or so when she started it in the spring.
Son is going to be starting a new school. He really likes his old school so we are working on this transition. At the end of the day though we felt it was in his best interest to move him to a different school. Not going to knock his old school but we had a lot of trouble being involved parents and other things along the way to the point we just felt the need to move him. I am looking forward to this new school and seeing how I can get involved there.
So on top of all that above and work and life in general I will also continue to work on my bachelors two classes at a time. Going to take a class on the prehistory of North America and a class on Mesopotamia. I am sure there will be plenty of reading to do and plenty of writing to do as well. So for now I will keep reading the novels I am trying to get in this summer because it may be winter break before I get a chance to read for fun again. :)
Of course this also means time for school shopping for supplies and clothes. I see fun times ahead on that particular day...
Okay. Enough for now. Later gators.
Daughter is entering 5th grade this fall and that is a busy year for students and parents at her school. The 5th graders do a lot more and they have extra fun raising to help pay for it all as well. So parents had a couple meetings at the end of last school year and start off this school year with a picnic/meeting right off the bat. Plus we help with the chess club and that group of parents is also meeting to discuss the upcoming year. We also will get to see how my daughter is doing with her medication since she was only in school for a week or so when she started it in the spring.
Son is going to be starting a new school. He really likes his old school so we are working on this transition. At the end of the day though we felt it was in his best interest to move him to a different school. Not going to knock his old school but we had a lot of trouble being involved parents and other things along the way to the point we just felt the need to move him. I am looking forward to this new school and seeing how I can get involved there.
So on top of all that above and work and life in general I will also continue to work on my bachelors two classes at a time. Going to take a class on the prehistory of North America and a class on Mesopotamia. I am sure there will be plenty of reading to do and plenty of writing to do as well. So for now I will keep reading the novels I am trying to get in this summer because it may be winter break before I get a chance to read for fun again. :)
Of course this also means time for school shopping for supplies and clothes. I see fun times ahead on that particular day...
Okay. Enough for now. Later gators.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Slime and Camping
Decided to go ahead and blog for the first time in a while. I said last time I planned on getting back into a regular routine and it didn't happen. So I am not going to say that this time and just hope for the best.
The last couple weekend have been pretty busy in this household. A couple weekends ago we had a water party at church for the kids. The kids had earned the party over the last few months. The kids had a blast and I am pretty sure so did all the adults that helped out with the party. We used a huge tarp and it became a giant slip 'n slide. Add water balloons and water guns to that as well to see how much fun they had. After the second service was over though was when the big payoff happened for the kids. Not only did they earn a party but they got to slime Mr. Kyle who is the director of family ministries. While the kids played in the water my wonderful wife prepared 6 different colors of slime. After church Mr. Kyle and one lucky kid was seated surrounded by kids and as the church watched 6 adult volunteers poured slime all over them. I have to admit I was glad neither of my kids had their name drawn out of the bucket.
This last weekend was a family camping trip with families of girl scouts in my daughter's troop. This was the first every camping trip as a troop for the girls. We arrived late of course as it seems that is how we roll in this family. There was some hiking done and some time spent in and out of the lake. The girls did learn a lot and earned some badges. They also got to do all the cooking and cleaning up(mostly anyway). Saturday was a good time around campfire as the leaders, girls, and families all did skits or lead the group in song. Great experience for everyone but I think we all agree next trip in cooler weather. And we also learned to start fire to make coffee much earlier in the morning or the adults get cranky and start plotting leaving camp to find a Starbucks.
Enough for now. I have more to post about but I will save for another day. Later gators.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Running, Easter, and Soccer.
Haven't blogged in a while. Probably due to posting stuff via my facebook status or twitter. But I like blogging and I am going to get back into the habit of it. Well at least that is what I am saying. Lets see if it works out.
I have been trying to train for a 5K to run with my daughter who is training for one via Girls on The Run. Unfortunately I am not doing a good job of getting out and jogging. :( Trying to not make the mistake of running the practice 5K and then a week later run the actual thing. So far not really getting it done. Lets see how this week goes. Can't find my charger for my mp3 player at the moment so that is a problem. Plus I need to update my playlist with good running music.
Excited about Easter coming up. The Gathering will be doing Easter Live @ The Pageant. Looking forward to it. All are welcome. Had a great Easter Egg hunt this last Saturday. Kids got t-shirts and then we tied dyed them at church the next day after they were told the story for the week. Be on the look out for a bunch of kids in tie dyed shirts talking about Easter Live @ The Pageant. :D The director of family ministry is awesome and doing such a wonderful job and I looking forward to see what else he has in store.
Baseball season is upon us. Now if I can make it down to a few games this season.
MLS season is upon us as well. DC United lost their first game though. Losing 4-0 to KC is not a good way to start the season. Hoping to make it down to see the Athletica play this season after not making it last year. I would also love to go see AC St. Louis in action as well. Shame we had to get a team in a different league other than MLS but at least St. Louis has a team besides the local PDL team. I miss having an indoor team but you take what you can get.
Enough for now. Later gators.
I have been trying to train for a 5K to run with my daughter who is training for one via Girls on The Run. Unfortunately I am not doing a good job of getting out and jogging. :( Trying to not make the mistake of running the practice 5K and then a week later run the actual thing. So far not really getting it done. Lets see how this week goes. Can't find my charger for my mp3 player at the moment so that is a problem. Plus I need to update my playlist with good running music.
Excited about Easter coming up. The Gathering will be doing Easter Live @ The Pageant. Looking forward to it. All are welcome. Had a great Easter Egg hunt this last Saturday. Kids got t-shirts and then we tied dyed them at church the next day after they were told the story for the week. Be on the look out for a bunch of kids in tie dyed shirts talking about Easter Live @ The Pageant. :D The director of family ministry is awesome and doing such a wonderful job and I looking forward to see what else he has in store.
Baseball season is upon us. Now if I can make it down to a few games this season.
MLS season is upon us as well. DC United lost their first game though. Losing 4-0 to KC is not a good way to start the season. Hoping to make it down to see the Athletica play this season after not making it last year. I would also love to go see AC St. Louis in action as well. Shame we had to get a team in a different league other than MLS but at least St. Louis has a team besides the local PDL team. I miss having an indoor team but you take what you can get.
Enough for now. Later gators.
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