a follow-up to part I. if you have not, go now and leave your mark. then watch this – with your favorite coffee.
Archive for April, 2008
this past week has been one of the toughest i’ve had in ministry. i’ve been feeling it in ministry, emotionally, even physically. coming off our middle school retreat, it was a good weekend, but i’m absolutely exhausted. partner that with a handful of student and leader issues i have to deal with, and a mess of other things – it’s taking a toll.
right now i’m in a lull between two meetings i had this morning and an afternoon of prep for week two of our middle school series, 5enses, tomorrow. hopefully thursday may prove to be a day of rest; i realized this morning it’s actually been a few weeks since i’ve actually take a full day away from ministry. my discipline of taking a sabbath hasn’t been great, and it’s time to step it up in taking care of that more.
what do you do to unplug and recharge?
tough week
off to the wilds of new york
bethany and i head out this afternoon for our spring retreat with our middle school kids in FUSE[midweek]. not only is this our first retreat with this group of kids (i came to the church in august), this is the first time the middle school kids are having a retreat separate from our high school kids.
it’s no secret i think my friends @ metro.youth put on some of the hippest retreats known to man. i’m lucky to have friends there who continued the invitation to me even when i jump the denomination ship. pray for us: it’s not just our 18 kids, but about 300 more when we get there. and i can’t wait! lake champion doesn’t know what it’s in for…
it began with a questions from Carlos @ Ragamuffin Soul. so i will answer AND pass it on.
coffee. how do you take it? me:
regular coffee:
black, brewed in a press pot or a melitta. my current favorites are Tanzanian Teaberry and Mocha Java. Jamaican Blue Mountain is hands down the best I’ve ever had, but is ridiculously expensive here.
flavored coffee:
with a little sugar to bring out the flavor, but still brewed in a press pot. the only time our drip coffee make sees any action is for a big party. however, if i could find a gallon sized press pot, it would be on my counter.
espresso:
don’t make it @ home, yet i yearn for a legit espresso machine. my drink of choice is either an iced americano or a breve mocha. what’s breve mean? it uses half-and-half instead of regular milk. i believe that can be followed up with a boo-yah.
how do you take it?
how do you take it?
timing creativity
i’m spending this afternoon at one of my favorite places – Grigg’s Coffee. not only do they have killer coffee roasted on site, but also free wi-fi, a fantastic atmosphere, and butter toffee cashews (so good). the past few months i’ve been trying to be more intentional about setting aside uninterrupted creative time, which is kind of weird since i do think of myself as a pretty creative person. one of the huge things i’ve been learning though, is that creativity is best when it’s not rushed. sure, being under the gun can birth inspiration, but creativity is best when it has a chance to actually develop from the original inspiration.
so here i am, armed with my myndology disc notebook, macbook, and coffee – and working out the creative elements for the last FUSE[midweek] series for the spring. starting tomorrow, our last series will be a five weeker called 5enses. we’ll be looking at a different human sense each week and see how we can experience Jesus specifically through each. it kicks off tomorrow with :sound:
back at the beginning of the year i wrote about having a list of personal goals for 2008 [part I and part II]. these took a while to come up with, and include both personal, ministry, and family goals. here’s an update:
- read at least 10 books (3 down, currently reading 2 more)
- read through the Bible (not included in the 10 above) (finishing out Numbers; i need to step up my pace on this one)
- get back down to at least 200 lbs
– build up an emergency fund (DONE!!!)
- rebuild the wall in my kitchen
- recruit at least 2 new regular committed leaders in each of my two ministry areas (1 down)
- win a poker night (Friday, March 14 – thanks Spence, Jon, Mike
i’m pumped about the emergency fund. this was a huge one that honestly i thought would be more of a struggle than it was. thankfully i have a flipping amazing wife who is also flipping amazing at our finances. now that our emergency fund is cranked out, we’re working on our debt snowball to pay down my two student loans, our jeep, and finally our house. the writing and leadership of Joe Sangle and Dave Ramsey have been key in our getting our finances on track. check them out…now!
2008 goals update
bethany was helping lead a middle school girls overnighter. dang, she’s awesome. when I brought her home, we realized there was nothing that could qualify for breakfast, and she had to be at work in half an hour. there was no food and more importantly, no coffee (gasp). so the local st. arbucks we were off to. for those of you that want to take me out I’m a grande breve mocha kind of guy.
anyhow, the chocolate chip banana coffee cake caught my eye. when I took the first bite of that 2lb hunk of goodness my life was changed somewhat. do you owe yourself a little something? yeah, go get it…
breakfast
About two months ago I was hoping to make a trip down to State College to spend time with some friends. Today I’m doing that again. There’s something special about having friends who always allow to to walk away from an encounter with them changed. Looking forward to talking some college ministry ideas with Aaron, methodism with Matt, and maybe even middle school with Stac; and to spend time with my friends.
Who are those people for you?
hitting the road
Hollar at your local D&D:
At participating stores nationwide, the Canton coffee-and-baked-goods
chain is offering a free doughnut with the purchase of any size cup of
Dunkin’ Donuts hot coffee, but the complimentary sinker deal is good
for one day only – April 15, Tax Day.
Check the whole thing here. I may have taken them up on it if I hadn’t already had two cups this morning and am making another mug full with the melitta.
tax day perk
what I’m hearing:
Across the Universe soundtrack
what I’m reading:
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe//C.S. Lewis
what i’m blog reading:
matt case
what I’m watching:
Sweeney Todd
what i’m drinking
amaretto coffee from Griggs
loving right now…
View more by category: personal (232), ministry (123), uncategorized (20). Or by month: November 2009. Or visit the Complete Archive.
