2nd day of camp......

What a great day!! These kids amaze me. The recreation stuff was great. Josh and Drew, our recreation leaders, are awesome! The games were good and the kids are doing a great job of encouraging each other and participating in stuff.

My boy Runks brought it home tonight. His message hit home on so many different levels tonight. Our kids responded in many different ways. We had two more kids make first time decisions to follow Christ, and several that just got some things cleared up that they've needed to clear up for a while.

Walls are coming down and I believe that these students are really at a place in their lives where they are seeing how God operates in and through their lives. I'm excited to see what happens over the next two days and where these kids go from here.

By the way....after the late night stuff was done a big group of our leaders and kids had an impromptu gathering outside the chapel. We stood their for an hour with Matt Caudle beat boxing and the rest of us freestyle rapping. It might have been the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. Doug Fyffe, my wife Kelly, everyone.......our camp pastor Runks and his intern...it was stinkin' hilarious and it's all on video. Word!

Here are some pics from today.....I'm out....

We're Here......

Well we're here. We rolled into Cloudcroft, NM yesterday evening and got started with Freelicious Camp '06.

10 hours on bus went fine. No sleepy bus drivers, or movie watching bus drivers. They were really cool and did a great job.

The worship service was great last night. We had a few technical issues, but it's all good. Our camp pastor, Runks, brought a great message and we saw several kids give their life to Christ the first night. Our worship band, Branch, had to fight through some issues with our sound but those are all resolved now.

The kids were worn out last night, and there were some homesick middle schoolers, but I think with a good night's sleep they'll get back on track this morning.

Perhaps the most mind boggling thing of the day was the fact that a ton of our kids don't know where we are in relation to home, no idea what direction we had to go to get here, and that New Mexico was a state not a new part of Mexico. What? I'll try and have some pics uploaded tonight.

I'm out.....

Full-time Ministry?

So Father's Day had come and gone once again......I must say I enjoy Father's Day. We have a little thing in our house for birthdays, Mother's Day, and Father's Day that the honoree gets to choose to go out for dinner or have their favorite home-cooked meal. I take home cookin' everytime.

I'm talkin' chicken fried stizeak, mashed potatoes, corn, and rolls...........mmmmm! As if that wasn't enough....i got a new x-box game and the season 6 of King of the Hill. Greatness.

We leave for camp in one week. That means a week of meetings, planning, organizing, etc....It's going to be great! Some of my most memorable moments growing up came at camp. As a 17 year old kid, at Lake Tomahawk Baptist Encampment in Woodville, TX, I made a commitment to full-time ministry. I had no idea what area of ministry, where, when, or how...I just knew I was being called to serve.

I think sometimes we spend too much time tyring to decipher exactly what we are to do rather than just answering God's call on our life and allowing him to guide and direct us daily. Since that camp 20 years ago God has led me to several different jobs as a teacher, worship leader, preacher, etc.....each one a different mission field with a different mission. It was 21 years after I committed my life to full-time ministry that God led me to a full-time church staff position. Each one of us can be used where we're at in life and should stay on the lookout for those ministry opportunities.

You know....I found myself watching a soccer match yesterday. I still hate it. Only 54 days till the Cowboys opener.

Here are some pics of a few of our summer happenings.....I'm out.....

Finally...

The boy had his tonsils taken out today. Tonsils, tubes in the ears (3rd set), and any other junk that causes problems up in there. He's doing good.

VBS is going great. Our children's pastors do a great job and the kids are having a ball. Funny moment of the week.....last night we do a couple of songs to start the night off, and then a couple for the 3rd-5th graders during their lesson time. As we finished the last song with the older kids this one kid down front sighs real loud and says "FINALLY." I'm sure he was just caught up in the worship and was expressing the joy he felt as he was ushered into the throne room of God. Yeah right.....

Big Thursday tomorrow...this has turned out to be a lot of fun the last two weeks, so I look forward to Thursdays and just hangin' out with everybody.

Well....It's been a real long day and I'm going to bed.......FINALLY!!!!

A Nasty Spill.....

Okay....so I'm a little gun shy. Can you blame me? Foundation repairs, 5 plumbing leaks, a broken washer, ruined carpet...all in 2 months. Enough to make anyone gun shy.

So it should not have surprised me that a nice, quiet lunch with the family could not just stay that way. We were at McAllester's (sp?), a great place by the way, eating lunch. We were all out shopping for a new washing machine, and Kelly had wanted to go try this place out since I had endorsed it. You see, it's not often that a sandwich place gets my endorsement.

As we finished our lunches and were sitting at the table just having a good family chat.....it happened. Someone spilled right behind my chair and splashed my legs with their mishap. As I turned to see what had happened I realized that it was not a spill, but that this little 10 year old girl and just stinkin' thrown up all over the place. Of course I had shorts and flip flops on and so I could now feel it running down my leg. I started gagging. The look on my son's face as he watched it all unfold from across the table was priceless. He was laughing his little head off. The waitress was horrified. My wife was gagging with me. And my oldest daughter just kept saying....."it's on my leg, it's on my leg." She too had been hit with shrapnel. When the kid that was given the unfortunate job of mopping up graciously asked if I wanted him to wipe off the back of my leg, I just said no I'll get it. All of this while the little puke monster that started this chain of events had come back to her seat and watched.

So please, for the next few weeks, no sudden movements please. I'm a little nervous. It's been 24 hours since anything broke or threw up on me. I'm on a roll and

I'm out

Is it really trust?

We're in the win column.....my daughter's softball team notched a victory in their first game of the season...14-4. Not to brag, but she did go 3 for 3 with 4 rbi's, pitched one inning, faced 3 batters, struck two out and got the other on a groundball back to the mound. She was at shortstop the rest of the game and got two assists.

The boy has been at football camp this week 8:00-11:00 each morning. He's having a blast. He says his favorite part so far is the receiver station. Of course today they got to tackle a big tackling dummy and he said that was real cool.

I heard a good word today at staff meeting. We watched a video and there was some really good stuff said. One of the things that I heard and have been chewing on all day is a word on limiting God. There are so many ways that we place limitations on God or show our distrust is his promises. I know there are ways that I profess my commitment to God, but hold on to things just in case he doesn't come through. What kind of faith is that?

I'm out.....

When it rains....

It shouldn't have surprised me, but there has been yet another crisis. Saturday morning as I was just relaxing a bit, playing xbox with Beaux Brooke walks into the room and very calmly says hey mom and dad....the wash room is flooded.

As I ran down the hall, water splashing up through the carpet, I realized the washing machine that we've had for 14 years was done. So was our carpet in the hallway....a real stinkin' mess. Spent the rest of the day pulling up carpet and padding. We were planning on putting in new floors, but our hand has been forced. When it rains, it pours.....right out of the stinkin' washing machine.

The weekend was great. I've got to give a shout out to my buddy Simon. We had a new drummer, who was also new to the church, that didn't realize we had an 11:30 service, so when we started it, he wasn't there. We started the music without a drummer, but by the end of the first song Simon had climbed up in the throne and didn't miss a beat....literally. Thanks Si....u da man.

Tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. we have a family moment. My son starts a four day football camp. It's a skills and drills camp and he is pumped! He asked if he was going to get to tackle somebody......I teared up. He's got a defensive mentality. I'm tearing up again.

I'm going to go concentrate on my defensive mentality to prepare for something else to break. I'm not sure I can even sleep with the fan on tonight for fear it may fall out of the stinkin' ceiling....wouldn't surprise me at all. Oh well....69 days 'till the Cowboys opener.

I'm out...

Beaches and other scenery.....

I'm up early and getting ready for the weekend.

Our first Big Thursday event was a success. We had 20 or 25 kids out Thursday afternoon just playing beach volleyball, basketball, and ultimate frisbee. It's funny that we still call it beach volleyball in Garland, TX just because we play it on a sand court. The whole day was a lot of fun. We all decided to meet at Double Dave's Pizza to watch the Mavs play, but ended up coming over to my house. Big win.....and a big game tonight.

Yesterday I had the chance to think a little on the ways that God reveals himself to me.every day. I was actually looking through some of the pictures that I took when we were in Colorado Springs when I began to think about these things. It's easy for me to see things like that and be reminded of just the awesome power of God. But when I think of the ways he reveals himself daily, it blows me away.

The people he places in my life, the conversations I have, the family I come home to everyday...there are just so many ways. The view as I drive down Buckingham could resemble the Garden of the Gods with a little imagination. I mean, we do have "beach" volleyball. Seriously, there are so many things I see or hear everyday that serve as reminders of the presence of God in my life. Look for the ways that God is revealing himself to you today as you do your thing. The view is incredible!

Everyone in my house is feeling much better. I got several e-mails from people who could relate to the craziness around here last week. Here are some pics of the Mavs night at my house.

I'm out....