Dan Weiss

More from 1 Corinthians

2012-01-27T09:13:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what got me started reading 1 Corinthians, but I'm loving it! This has been a great week of seeing new things in Scripture that I've read probably a dozen times.

I talked about what I learned from Chapter 2 here but now I'm thinking through what Chapter 3 is teaching me. Before I tell you about it, let me first let you know that I'm not a Bible scholar and I don't know if I'm reading this in the right context, but I can't deny that I've heard God's voice clearly through this book.

So, in Chapter 3 Paul continues to address the church in Corinth and calls them infants in Christ, partly because they are quarreling about who they follow. Here's Paul's response to their actions:

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷ So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

I keep finding myself relating what I read to the field of missions. I don't know if I'm sensing a call or if I've just been thinking about it for some other reason lately. Either way, I think this is valuable for anyone considering missions or any kind of ministry.

We are called to be God's fellow workers, but to never forget that He alone is the one who can make things grow. Our job is to simply plant a seed or water it. In practical terms I see this is as evangelism and discipleship - telling people about Jesus and mentoring them in their relationship with Him.

But we should never think we are the ones who saves them or even makes them grow. We can only play a small part in the process - it is God's part that changes lives and makes dead things come to life!

So, who do I follow? I follow Jesus alone, but I am thankful for the people in my life who water the seed that was planted long ago!

How to be a missionary

2012-01-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

In my recent blog of random thoughts, several of those thoughts related to the field of missions. I've never felt called to be a missionary but I definitely feel led to be part of missions work, whether through supporting missionaries, going on short-term mission trips or simply sharing the love of Jesus with anyone I come into contact with.

But, what if God decides to call me to be a missionary? Well, he already has in the ways listed above, but what if it meant moving my family to another part of the country, or another country and living as a full-time missionary? Would I be willing? Would I be prepared? Could I do it?

There are plenty of reasons I feel unqualified, or unprepared, to answer that call should it come my way. The first, and most significant, reason is because I don't feel like I have the right training - i.e. I didn't go to school to be a missionary, a pastor or any other kind of minister. I don't know the Bible as well as I should. I don't have much experience in evangelism. I am painfully fearful of public speaking.

But, this morning I was reading 1 Corinthians, chapter 2, and I realized I don't need to be well-studied or confident in my own abilities. See, Paul wasn't either of those things. He said he came to the church in Corinth in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. His whole strategy was to know only Jesus Christ and him crucified. Read it for yourself:

1 Corinthians 2 ¹ When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ² For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ⁴ My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
⁶ We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ However, as it is written:   “No eye has seen,
   no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
   what God has prepared for those who love him”—
¹⁰ but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
   The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. ¹⁴ The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
¹⁶ “For who has known the mind of the Lord
   that he may instruct him?”
   But we have the mind of Christ.

Nothing in this chapter tells me that I am unprepared to do whatever God calls me to do - whether that is to be a full-time missionary, share Jesus with my neighbors or show my kids what a relationship with Jesus looks like. I have the Spirit of God in me, and that's all I need.

So, I'm ready! I'm prepared! I'm still scared, but I'll go where He sends me!

Random Thoughts

2012-01-18T09:58:00.000-05:00

As I think through my desire to start blogging on a regular basis, part of the process of getting started is sorting my thoughts into manageable categories that lend themselves to readable posts. That's not an easy process for me, so here's a bunch of thoughts that have yet to be sorted but may end up as posts in the future. Whether they end up as readable posts is still to be determined!

1. I wish I had more experience with international travel. I love experiencing new cultures, but getting to those cultures is somewhat confusing for me. I guess the only way to learn it is to do it!

2. I wonder how good I can get at Spanish by July?

3. If my entire Small Group of Junior guys gets kicked out of Walmart during one of our meetings, does that make me a bad leader?

4. Why do some people send many emails concerning the same subject while some can get all their thoughts into one email?

5. Rice and beans. I love it!

6. How much does the music I'm listening to affect my attitude and spiritual state?

7. Why do I find myself being hesitant to lead people? Is it low self-esteem or pride? Or something else?

8. If God called me to sell everything and move my family somewhere else, would I be willing?

9. I like the color green in my design work, but I don't particularly like to wear the color green. Weird.

10. I have a goal to completely remodel a bathroom in my house for less than $1,000. How can I do that?

Lists of 11

2011-12-01T10:04:00.014-05:00

It's not an original idea. It's not a creative idea.

But after the last two posts, I needed to do something a bit more ... well ... masculine.

So, in honor of the year we are about to bid farewell to, here are a few lists of 11 items for this NFL season (and the upcoming postseason):

My 11 favorite NFL Players (in order):

1. Aaron Rodgers - So good. So unbelievably good.

2. Charles Woodson - Former rebel now a well-respected veteran leader. And one of the best DBs of all time.

3. Greg Jennings - He's the reason I became a Packers fan.

4. Tim Tebow - How can you not root for this guy?

5. B.J. Raji - Just because of the dance he did in the NFC Championship game last year.

6. Drew Brees - All-around great guy.

7. Jordy Nelson - Sneaky fast. Painfully humble.

8. Clay Matthews - Beast.

9. John Kuhn - Does the dirty work 95% of the time. Touches the ball 5% of the time, and usually scores.

10. Ryan Fitzpatrick - The Beard.

11. Tom Brady - This is mostly just to annoy my friends who are Colts fans. But seriously, he's a great player.

My 11 Least Favorite NFL Players (no particular order):

1. Jay Cutler - Talented QB, just don't like his demeanor.

2. Jimmy Graham - Seems cocky to me.

3. Ndamukong Suh - Great player, out of control temper, especially when getting beaten

4. Courtland Finnegan - DIRTY!!!

5. Jared Allen - He hits Aaron Rodgers too much.

6. Kyle VandenBosch - Red contacts? Come on!

7. Dunta Robinson - Stop trying to hurt people and just make a tackle.

8. Jeremy Shockey - Is he still in the NFL?

9. Mark Sanchez - GQ.

10. Brian Cushing - 'Roid rage.

11. Jim Schwartz - OK, not a player, but I'm not going to do a list of Least Favorite Coaches.

My 11 Favorite NFL Coaches (in order):

1. Mike Tomlin

2. Mike McCarthy

3. Raheem Morris

4. Jim Harbaugh

5. John Harbaugh

6. Sean Payton

7. Bill Belichick (respect, not like)

8. Lovie Smith

9. Hugh Jackson

10. Marvin Lewis

11. Chan Gailey

If I weren't a Packers fan, the first 11 teams I would cheer for (in order):

1. Ravens

2. Saints

3. Broncos

4. Saints

5. 49ers

6. Texans

7. Chargers

8. Colts

9. Buccaneers

10. Rams

11. Bills

11 Most fearsome teams the Packers could face in the playoffs (in order):

NFC

1. Bears

2. Saints

3. 49ers

4. Falcons

5. Giants

AFC

6. Steelers

7. Ravens

8. Patriots

9. Broncos

10. Raiders

11. Bengals

11 reasons why the Packers will go undefeated this year:

1. Aaron Rodgers

2. Jordy Nelson

3. Jermichael Finley

4. Charles Woodson

5. Tramon Williams

6. Clay Matthews

7. No team can keep up with their scoring.

8. They always make big plays on defense.

9. The rest of the schedule isn't that tough.

10. Homefield advantage in the playoffs.

11. Super Bowl indoors on a fast field.

11 reasons the Packers won't go undefeated this year:

1. Weak running game.

2. Injuries.

3. They will clinch No. 1 seed early.

4. The Giants like to hit the quarterback.

5. Cold weather is coming.

6. Repeating as Super Bowl champs almost never happens.

7. Defense gives up too many points.

8. They'll lose a game in the regular season and then win the Super Bowl.

9. The Bears will be desperate to make the playoffs.

10. Special Teams.

11. Too much pressure.

11 stadiums where I'd most like to watch an NFL game live:

1. Lambeau Field (Green Bay)

2. SuperDome (New Orleans)

3. Cowboys Stadium (Dallas)

4. Heinz Field (Pittsburgh)

5. Candlestick Park (San Francisco)

6. Ford Field (Detroit)

7. Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City)

8. Sports Authority Field (Denver)

9. Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego)

10. M & T Bank Stadium (Baltimore)

11. Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)

Getting Creative - Lath Board Side Table

2011-11-21T10:29:00.002-05:00

I was given this plain-looking faux wood side table one day at work and, not sure what I would do with it, brought it home. A few days later I had the idea to use some old Lath Boards I had laying around to give the table a new top.

So, one night while my wife Katie was away from home, my kids and I mixed a few paint colors with some water and spent about 30 minutes painting lath boards. We used green, blue and pink. When the boards dried, the blue and green were apparent, but the pink wound up looking white. It made for a great combination of colors!

My son David and I teamed up to glue and nail the boards to the top of the table. We then trimmed around all four edges and then I covered it with 4-5 coats of gloss polyurethane.

The next step was to wrap the edges of the tabletop with some hemp rope I had leftover from another project. This was Katie's idea. I had no good ideas for the edges, but on Katie's suggestion I glued and stapled the rope to the whole edge, so you could no longer see the faux wood veneer.

Finally, I painted, stained and sanded the legs to make them look a little weathered.

It was a fun and very easy project. It was also nice to find a use for the lath boards, which normally are sent directly to the trash can!

Getting Creative - Kitchen Coat Hooks

2011-11-15T14:08:00.004-05:00

One of the things my wife Katie and I love to do is work on things in our house. In fact, we've spent almost the past two years remodeling the entire thing. Now that the remodeling projects are winding down, we've started focusing more on the smaller things - decorations, accessories, etc.

Since we spent so much time, and money, on the renovations, we're trying to find creative ways to put the finishing touches on our home. That means we have to get creative.

One creative thing we recently did was to re-purpose some old hooks we found in our basement to provide a good place for our kids (and us) to hang coats and sweatshirts. We mostly use the back door, which opens into the kitchen, so there were always piles of coats and shoes on the kitchen floor.

We took the old hooks off the basement wall, pulled apart the assembly they were mounted to and started cleaning them up. Once the paint was sanded off, we realized the hooks were really beautiful, old brass. We built a new frame to mount the frames in and finished it off with a decorative pattern that gives it a little character.

So now we have a set of 6 hooks (which each have multiple hooks on them) and the top of the frame is deep enough to rest some picture frames.

It was fun teaming up with Katie to creatively solve a problem and add a really unique finishing touch to our kitchen!

My Daughter is Teaching Me

2011-08-30T09:53:00.003-04:00

Is it OK for me to be vulnerable on my blog?

Well, it is MY blog after all, so if you're uncomfortable with me writing some vulnerable stuff - or if you're uncomfortable with me even using the word vulnerable - you should stop reading now. But, if you're OK with it, read on.

This past weekend my 9-year-old daughter (pictured above with a friend from our neighborhood) came up with the idea to organize a Bible Study for kids in the neighborhood.

I'm not involved in a regular Bible study and neither is my wife. It's not something we suggested to her and - here comes the vulnerable part - I'm not sure I'm totally comfortable with it. Let me be clear - I'm completely comfortable and very excited about my daughter studying her Bible. It's the thought of inviting a bunch of kids to our house for a Bible study that I'm not sure about.

So, for those of you questioning my salvation right now, calm down. I believe in the Bible and I believe in the value of sharing its truth with others.

My uneasiness comes from the prospect of my daughter inviting kids from the neighborhood, whose parents don't believe the same things I believe, over for a Bible study she's going to lead.

BUT, as the title of this post states, my daughter is teaching me. My initial response to her idea is not positive and I get queasy at the possible reactions from the other parents. But my daughter doesn't think about that. She's young, yes, and probably isn't capable of considering such possibilities yet, but that doesn't make the lesson she's teaching me any less significant. If she doesn't fear rejection or the possibility of being viewed as WEIRD, then why should I?

After all, the Bible (the book she wants to share with her friends) tells us if we follow Jesus we are going to be strangers in this world and even persecuted. "All men will hate you because of me," is how Jesus said it. And I believe the Bible.

My faith is firm. I've been working on it for almost 30 years. I believe with all my heart that Jesus really lived, died and came back to life so that I could be saved from my sin.

If all that is true, then what do I have to be afraid of?

Why should the possibility of being rejected scare me?

What choice do I have but to show my little girl what it means to live out my faith?

I'm sure there will be some negative feedback, but I'm also confident that God will use my daughter's Bible study to show some kids how much He loves them.

I thank God for my daughter and the desire she has in her heart for all of her friends to meet Jesus. I hope she never loses her fearlessness and is always bold about sharing the love of Jesus!

Dan's Pack is Back!

2011-08-25T10:44:00.006-04:00

It's that time of year again ... Football Season!

For me, the return of football season is really exciting because I get to watch my Packers and I get to play Fantasy Football with some good friends.

I reached a new level of madness last season when I played in 5 fantasy leagues and when the Packers won the Super Bowl! The first part drove me crazy, the latter was just awesome.

So, this year I'm limiting myself to 2 fantasy leagues and I'm looking forward to another championship for Green Bay!

Part of my fall tradition on the blog is to make some NFL season predictions, so here's what I think will happen this season:

AFC West

1. San Diego Chargers

2. Kansas City Chiefs

3. Oakland Raiders

4. Denver Broncos

AFC South

1. Houston Texans

2. Indianapolis Colts

3. Jacksonville Jaguars

4. Tennessee Titans

AFC North

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

2. Baltimore Ravens

3. Cleveland Browns

4. Cincinnati Bengals

AFC East

1. New York Jets

2. New England Patriots

3. Miami Dolphins

4. Buffalo Bills

NFC West

1. St. Louis Rams

2. San Francisco 49ers

3. Arizona Cardinals

4. Seattle Seahawks

NFC South

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2. New Orleans Saints

3. Atlanta Falcons

4. Carolina Panthers

NFC North

1. Green Bay Packers

2. Detroit Lions

3. Chicago Bears

4. Minnesota Vikings

NFC East

1. Philadelphia Eagles

2. New York Giants

3. Dallas Cowboys

4. Washington Redskins

AFC Playoff Teams: Chargers, Texans, Colts, Steelers, Jets, Patriots

NFC Playoff Teams: Rams, Buccaneers, Saints, Packers, Eagles, Giants

Super Bowl: Packers 28, Jets 17

35 for 35

2011-08-22T13:58:00.004-04:00

I turn 35 years old on September 15. It's kind of a strange milestone because it's not one of the big birthdays (13, 16, 18, 21, 30, 40, etc.) but it does signify the start of my road to one of those big ones. On September 15 I'll officially be closer to 40 than I am to 30, which is a bit difficult to grasp. It's not that I'm scared of getting older - I actually enjoy it quite a bit - it's just hard to get my mind around the fact that I've been alive as long as I have.

So, in honor of this milestone-ish birthday I've got coming up, here's a list of my 35 favorite things about getting older:

1. Perspective - I get more of it with each passing year.

2. Relationships - As time goes on you find out which ones are for real and which aren't.

3. Being Married - So many reasons. One is comfort.

4. Being a Dad - Again, too many reasons to list.

5. Responsibility - It's only been in the last few years that I've started enjoying this part of getting older.

6. Memories - The older I get the more I cherish the events/places/people from the past.

7. Work - I've never been a workaholic, and am still not, but I do appreciate the value of working hard for something you really want.

8. Potential - Today's world doesn't expect too much out of older people, but there is so much potential in each person, no matter what age.

9. Dreams - I've accomplished a few and have plenty left to keep pushing for.

10. Confidence - I still have times of insecurity, but overall I'm pretty comfortable in my own skin.

11. Money & Toys - They're not nearly as important as they used to be.

12. Time - Even though it seems to speed up every year, I appreciate time with people more than ever.

13. Priorities - I think I'm beginning to understand what's really important in life.

14. Young People - I hope I never become a grumpy old man because young people have so much to offer and I always want to spend time with them.

15. Old People - One of the best quotes I ever read was something like, "Spend time every day with someone half your age and someone twice your age." Older people have so much wisdom.

16. Vacations - I've learned that we don't have to fly to a tropical resort to have a great family vacation. Simple times away can be as much fun as those big, expensive vacations!

17. Home - I cherish time at home. It refreshes me.

18. Quiet - I'm no expert at this, but I'm learning to enjoy silence and solitude.

19. Sports - As my physical abilities start to diminish, I appreciate all the more the ability to play sports.

20. Health - I'll never take for granted the gift of good health.

21. New Things - The older I get the more exciting it is to try new things.

22. Food - I like things I used to hate. I'm so thankful every time I eat a good burger.

23. My Wife - This is kind of like #3, but sharing life with my best friend is more enjoyable than I ever imagined it could be.

24. Jesus - He becomes more real every day. I see Him in my kids. I see Him in strangers. I feel Him in me.

25. Skills - The experiences I've had have left me with skills I didn't know I could have. That's kind of fun.

26. The Seasons - Every year brings them around and every year I like all 4 of them more and more (yes, even winter).

27. A Mission - I never really felt like I had a mission in life, but now I know for sure what my mission is!

28. Technology - Although I don't always adapt to it, I am constantly blown away by the advances in the world of technology. Again, I don't want to ever be the grumpy old guy who dismisses things because I don't understand them.

29. Art - It seems like every few weeks I discover art and creativity in something new. I believe we were all created to create.

30. Books - With age has come a hunger for the wisdom that only comes from reading books by people who are smarter than me!

31. Serving - In the last few years God has given me a desire to help others that I've never had before.

32. Naps - I don't get these very often, but when I do I am SOOOOOO thankful!

33. Love - Real, true love is maybe the most valuable thing in this world.

34. Laughter - Things are never bad enough that you can't make time to laugh. It makes all the bad stuff go away, even if just for a few moments.

35. Breathing - Every day that goes by, I am more and more thankful just to be alive and able to experience all the things on this list!

Basketball in Guanabano

2011-07-20T10:06:00.007-04:00

One of my favorite nights in the Dominican Republic was Friday night. That was the night our team split up to take advantage of two ministry opportunities.

Most of the team went to church in Hoya Grande and they told us it was an awesome service with several students stepping up in big ways.

Six members of our team, and one translator, went to the Multi-Uso, a covered basketball court in the town of Guanabano (see picture above). We played an organized game against a group of guys from the town as a pre-game show for a city tournament game.

There is a man named Victor in Guanabano who has sacrificed greatly to become the organizer/coach/mentor to all the men and boys who like to play basketball in that town. And in a small town like Guanabano that has two very nice basketball courts, there is no shortage of

interest from the men and boys!

Victor set up the game for us and even played against us. He was so excited to have us there. We played pretty well and won our game, but the most important part of the night came after our

game was over.

As our game was ending and the two city teams were warming up

for their tournament game, more and more people began pouring into the gym. Almost all of our team quickly found people to talk with and scattered throughout the gym. I ended up sitting with our trip leader Sam for a while and he explained how basketball is a huge part of life for much of this town.

But with basketball comes a somewhat destructive lifestyle for the men and boys involved in it. Their main influence in the basketball world is the NBA. I'm not against the NBA but the lifestyle it often portrays is one that most people will never be able to achieve - lots of money, lots of women and little responsibility. You can see this influence in many of the men in Guanabano. It's not overt, but it's definitely there.

That's why a guy like Victor (pictured right) has such an amazing opportunity. As far as we know, Victor is

Catholic. In the Dominican Republic, being Catholic is the norm but it's not based on a relationship with Jesus Christ. Victor seems like an amazing man, but I long for him to know Jesus personally and to pursue Him wholeheartedly. I also long for him to use his position in the community to share the love of Jesus with all the men and boys he spends so much time with.

I ask you to pray for Victor. First, pray that he would meet Jesus in a real way and accept Him as his savior. Then, pray that Victor's position and place in the community will only be strengthened through his pursuit of Christ so that he can help the men and boys of Guanabano take steps toward Jesus for themselves!

Leader Meetings!

2011-07-15T10:05:00.005-04:00

One interesting dynamic of our IMPACT team that went to the Dominican Republic was the makeup of the leadership.

My wife Katie and I were the oldest leaders but we had no experience leading a team like this. Kory (back row, second from right) and Alison (front row, far right) Lantz are young but have plenty of experience, which made them strong leaders. Jessica Noelle (front row, middle) is a natural leader but was on her first mission trip overseas.

When we arrived in the Dominican Republic, we met our trip leaders. Sam Borg (back row, second from left) is in his late 20s and has been leading trips since he was 16 years old. He was definitely the go-to guy when any of us had questions. He brought along three great leaders - David Hair (back row, middle), Ryan Bozarth (back row, far right) and Andy Martin (not pictured) - to help our team find its way in a foreign country. Sam, David and Andy also served us as translators, so that was a huge blessing.

The leadership team was able to bond pretty quickly and we each found our roles quite naturally. One thing that helped with this process was our leader meetings. Each night at dinner we would gather to discuss future plans, what we had seen each day and any issues that were arising. Fortunately for us, this team had very few issues so we were able to focus on plans and encouraging each other.

As we got closer and closer, we all started hoping for more leader meetings whenever we had a chance. The students probably got sick of us gathering so much, but it was too much fun and such a huge blessing to be with the other leaders. Our meetings were always filled with laughter, stories and prayer. We prayed for each other. We prayed for the students. We prayed for the people we met in the DR.

Leader meetings were a life-giving and uplifting time for all of us.

Warriors

2011-07-13T16:26:00.004-04:00

A major theme that defined our trip to the Dominican Republic was victory. Sam Borg, our trip leader, spoke to us one night about hating what is evil and capturing Jesus' warrior spirit to gain victory over those things we hate.

At the end of Sam's message, our students stood up, shouted from the rooftop (literally) how much they hate sin and the way Satan invades our lives. They called themselves warriors and, in doing so, began to see victory in their lives over the things they hate.

This new found Warrior Spirit gave our students a boost of energy, boldness and eagerness for the tough days of ministry ahead. It helped me, too, because it was the next day when I was asked to preach in a church service.

When the students had finished their response to Sam's message, I prayed over them and one thing I said in my prayer was, "How hard is it for a Warrior to tell someone about Jesus?" Sometimes I think God lets me think I'm praying for others when I'm actually praying for myself. I needed to hear that because I was heading into a scenario that would normally scare me to death.

But as I wrote in the last post, when the time came for me to preach, I had this very unexpected sense of calm and confidence.

I wasn't the only one who was scared by some of the situations put in front of them. Doing street evangelism in a foreign country with people who speak a different language can be incredibly frightening, but our students claimed victory in Jesus and did a fantastic job of showing His love to the people they met.

I know that screaming at the end of a moving message doesn't constitute a lifelong change, but I think it's a pretty awesome place to start!

A Picture of My Week in the DR

2011-07-13T09:55:00.004-04:00

That's me jumping off a 25-foot rock into about 6 feet of water. The jump lasted just a few seconds and was really fun, but the process of getting to the jump was a lot longer and not nearly as fun.

Our final two days in the Dominican Republic were spent in a place called Jarabacoa, which is in the mountains. We went there to reflect on our experiences of the past week, listen for God's voice leading us into our next steps and figure out how to take what we've seen, tasted, smelled and felt back home.

One of the best parts of those two days in Jarabacoa was a trip to a waterfall. We walked for about 5 minutes down a trail and arrived at a 50 or 60-foot waterfall. The water below was cool, but very refreshing and not too deep. We swam in and out of the waterfall for a while. Several of us were hoping we could climb the rocks on one side of the falls so that we could jump off into a deeper area. Finally, one of our students found a way to the top of a 25-foot rock that was above a safe place to jump from.

The climb up to that rock appeared difficult, even for the most fit members of our team. I watched students climb, cheered them on and celebrated with them after they jumped. Inside, I wanted to climb the rock and jump into the water but I didn't think I would be able to do it. I was very unsure of my ability to climb. I figured I would be able to jump pretty easily if I could get to the top, I just didn't think I could get up there. Also, I didn't want to attempt it and fail, having to retreat down the rock, or worse, fall and injure myself.

As I watched several students climb and jump I finally decided that I had to at least give it a try. I was still hesitant as I looked at the face of the rock and didn't see many places to get a good grip. But as I began to climb, it got easier and easier. In fact, the spot where most people were getting stuck ended up being pretty easy for me. Soon I found myself at the top and staring down a 25-foot jump to the water.

Again I hesitated, worrying about my safety and my ability to push off far enough so I didn't hit any rocks on the way down. But then someone behind me yelled, "You're a warrior!" (which will be the subject of another blog post soon) and I knew I just had to jump. Finally, my feet left the rock and it was an amazing feeling. Hitting the water was incredible and coming up out of it was even better. I did it!

One day later, on the way home, God showed me how that experience at the waterfall was a good picture of my week in the Dominican Republic.

I have always been good at supporting and encouraging people. I naturally gravitate to the behind-the-scenes stuff (watching others climb, cheering them on and celebrating with them). Early in the week I found myself doing that again. I encouraged, took pictures, prayed for and celebrated with our team. None of that stuff is bad, but sometimes it is only a part of what God wants from me.

During our first church service in Guanabano, I was asked if I was ready to share something from the stage. I flinched. In fact, I shrank back from the opportunity and said I wasn't ready (doubting my ability to climb, worrying about failure).

As the week went on I continued to do my behind-the-scenes stuff, but I kept feeling God's gentle nudge toward things that are uncomfortable for me. I even found myself desiring those things but still unsure of my ability (wanting to jump from the rock but unsure of climbing).

Finally, Sunday morning was my time to do something really uncomfortable - preach in a church service! Yikes! I don't know why but public speaking is one of my biggest fears. However, I knew I had to do it (finally deciding to at least try climbing the rock).

So I got up on the stage and was a little nervous at first (looking for footholds on the rock) but then I prayed and just started speaking (climbing). God gave me an incredible sense of calm and comfort (climbing easily, even through the tough spots).

Toward the end of my message I felt like God wanted me to remind the people of His love for them and the free gift of salvation that He offers (jump from the rock). Here's where the analogy breaks down because I didn't hesitate at all. I obeyed and jumped! I ended the message with a prayer of blessing for my new friends in Guanabano and left the stage feeling like I did OK.

Later in the day someone told me that a woman came forward after the service was over and felt challenged by my message to receive Jesus as her savior! I didn't get to pray for her but knowing that God used my obedience to draw someone to Himself was way better than jumping off a 25-foot rock into the water.

There are many lessons in these experiences for me, but I think the most important are obedience, boldness, faith and love. Without these things, our efforts are worthless. Our Heavenly Father wants to use us, we just have to let Him do it!

Pure Worship

2011-07-13T08:15:00.002-04:00

During our trip to the Dominican Republic, our IMPACT team was given an amazing opportunity to test/exercise our faith in God. We were told of a young man named Jonathan who had become very sick and nobody could figure out what was wrong with him. His last medical hope was to have bloodwork done in the United States, but this was too expensive for his family.

As a team of mostly teenagers, we weren't prepared to offer a donation to the family, but we were more than ready to spend time in prayer for him. The team spent a few minutes listening for God's direction on who the right people were to go visit Jonathan and who should stay behind at the church in Guanabano and pray for him. We sent several students on the visit and the rest of us began what was probably the longest stretch of prayer most of us have ever experienced.

We sat in a circle most of the time, pleading with God to heal Jonathan. Some people read scripture. Some sang songs. Many were on their knees and even flat on the floor crying out for a miracle.

We had no idea how much time it would take for the group to return from visiting Jonathan, but we didn't really care either.

At what turned out to be about halfway through our prayer time, the prayers began to change. We started sensing a strong desire for Jonathan to give his life to Christ. We were confident that physical healing had taken place and now we began asking for spiritual healing.

I still don't know how long we were in there, but the time went quickly and at some point we started worshiping Jesus with songs. In the middle of one of our songs, the rest of our team walked back into the church with the most amazing smiles I've ever seen. They confirmed what we were already confident of - Jonathan had been healed!

Then, as if they knew exactly what we had been praying for, they told us that he had also accepted Jesus as his savior!

It was an overwhelming experience and all we could do was worship more. So, the photo at the top of this post is a look at pure worship. Worship that's not part of a church service. Worship that's not planned or scripted. It's worship that happened because it felt like the only thing we could possibly do.

I long for more times of pure worship. I long for more answered prayer. I long for more miracles.

God longs for those things too, I'm sure.

Worship Dominican Style

2011-07-12T11:32:00.003-04:00

God Gave us Victory in the Dominican Republic!

2011-07-11T16:00:00.006-04:00

Katie and I returned from 11 days in the Dominican Republic last Friday. We helped lead a team of 20 senior high students and recent graduates on a mission trip in the city of Moca. It was an incredible experience and I'll try to share some stories in the next few days.

For now, here's a quick wrap-up of our trip:

Our travel was fairly easy, at least as easy as taking a group of 25 to another country can be! We worked with a pastor in the city of Moca named Quena. She is a woman in her 60s and her husband runs a chicken and plantain farm outside the city. She has started 5 churches in towns outside of Moca and we worked in 3 of them - Guanabano, Hoya Grande and Naranjal.

We split our team up into 3 groups to do VBS at each of the churches Wednesday-Friday. Many children were presented with the Gospel. We have no way of knowing how many accepted Christ but we pray that the seeds planted will grown into lifelong relationships with Him.

Saturday we spent several hours at a park in Guanabano just striking up conversations with the people in the park and sharing our faith and praying for them. This was an incredible day to watch our students get out of their comfort zones (and sometimes reach a new comfort zone) so they could talk with complete strangers and eventually share their faith with them. We had 5 translators on hand and many students relied on their own Spanish to talk with people. They showed great obedience and compassion throughout the day.

Saturday night was what we are all calling Warrior Night. Sam Borg, our trip leader who has been visiting the DR for 15+ years, spoke to us about hating sin, embracing Jesus' Warrior Spirit and defeating Satan so we can have victory in our lives. It was a powerful night of gaining perspective and victory in our lives.

The victory we gained Saturday night carried over to Sunday morning and God graciously gave us a lot of fruit for our labor. A woman from the church in Guanabano was saved in the morning. In the afternoon the team split up again - this time for some to go pray with a very sick young man and the rest to intercede for him. After about 2 hours the teams reunited and we all rejoiced that the young man was healed and that he began a relationship with Jesus! In the evening after church we stopped at another man's house and prayed for him. He too accepted Jesus! It was an amazing day of victory for our team and those people who were born again.

Monday was a fun day at a water park. We were able to spend time with many of the church volunteers we worked with all week at VBS and in the park. We also visited Quena's farm. Satan attacked us with overwhelming fatigue that evening (we sort of expected it) but once again Jesus fought the battle for us and allowed us to have one more powerful evening of victory. Many students drove stakes in the ground and declared their desire to live radically for Christ.

Finally, we spent the last two days at a resort in the mountain village of Jarabacoa. It wasn't just two days of pleasure - we used this time to capture our experiences, listen for God's direction on our next steps and encourage each other.

What a Mess!

2011-04-18T14:22:00.003-04:00

In the never ending saga that is home remodeling, I found myself starting a project Sunday evening just as my wife was leaving for the night. It was a simple, quick project - installing a new ceiling fan.

My two kids wanted to be with me while I worked so they were in the same room as I unpacked the new fan. It didn't take them long to discover the packaging used to protect the fan - Styrofoam! I'm not sure what it is about Styrofoam but my kids love to play with it. And as long as they're not eating it, it's a very safe thing for them to do.

There's one problem with Styrofoam: It's messy! In about 5 minutes they had Styrofoam all over the room I was working in. It's kind of like glitter - you can try to contain the glitter/Styrofoam to a certain area but it's hopeless. It just spreads itself all over the place.

When I saw the mess that was starting, my first instinct was to tell them to stop and clean it all up. But as I began to stop them, I noticed how much fun they were having and how much joy it was giving them. They were laughing as they kicked, punched, ripped, shredded and tossed the Styrofoam around the room. It was a beautiful sight.

I told them they could keep playing but that they'd have to clean up their mess when they were done. Of course, to get full cooperation on the cleanup I had to let them use the vacuum - which was pretty effective although not completely thorough.

It only took us about 10 minutes to clean up the mess and everything was back to normal.

I even heard my son say, "This is the best night ever!" while he was using the vacuum.

(I also heard him yelling, "I'm never going back to the old days!" while they were playing with the Styrofoam. I have no idea what that means)

As I thought about the mess, the fun and the cleanup, I wondered if there was an analogy somewhere in that scenario. That happens to me a lot. I look for lessons or bigger pictures in the small snapshots I experience. I couldn't quite make this one work, except for these little tidbits:

1. I believe it brings our Heavenly Father incredible joy to see us happy - maybe even if it means He's going to need to help us clean up some messes later.

2. If you get great joy out of something that creates a small mess - it's totally worth it!

3. I don't think God defaults to saying, "No," the way I do. I think He wants to say yes, but knows yes is not always the healthiest answer. I want to default to "Yes" and then change my mind to "No" if it's necessary.

4. Kids like to make messes. They like to clean them up, too, if you can make it fun.

That's all I've got. Do you see any other lessons/big pictures in this story?

Let's never go back to the old days!

Writer's Block

2011-02-23T10:13:00.002-05:00

It's been a long time since I seriously considered myself a writer. But, lately I've been wanting to write something. However, I can't think of anything I feel is worth writing. Is this writer's block?

7 Random 7s

2011-02-21T09:05:00.004-05:00

I've been wanting to write something, but haven't been able to come up with anything blog-worthy lately. Well, this morning I found a challenge from Kristy Mikel, so here's something that will hopefully kick start my creativity this morning and get me blogging soon!

7 Songs I've been listening to a lot these days:

Intoxicating by David Crowder Band
Mess of Me by Switchfoot
Rodeo Clowns by Jack Johnson
Stars by Switchfoot
Triple Trouble by Beastie Boys
Instead of a Show by Jon Foreman
What Love Really Means by JJ Heller

7 Places in the world I've always wanted to visit:

Australia - I want to go on a walkabout in the outback!
Ireland - This is the only country in Europe that has much appeal to me.
New Orleans - Mostly because I love Cajun food.
Seattle - Seems like an interesting place for a visit.
Africa - The people, the landscape.
China - Not sure why, I just think it would be cool to see in person.
Canada - Again, not sure why, but parts of it seem really fascinating.

7 Things I've dreamed of doing someday:

Being my own boss.
Writing a book.
Being a college professor.
Building my own house.
Hitting a hole-in-one.
Going on a cruise with my wife.
Driving to California and back with my family and stopping at as many points of interest as we can along the way.

7 Favorite games of all time:

Jungle Speed
Scum
Ping Pong
HORSE
Apples to Apples
Trivial Pursuit
Catch Phrase

7 Favorite Verses:

2 timothy 1:6-7
Proverbs 3:5-6
Matthew 5:3
James 1:27
Galatians 5:12 (Dan Erickson showed me this verse in college. It made me laugh then, it makes me laugh now.)

7 Books I love to read over and over:

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Season of Life by Jeffrey Marx (haven't actually read this one more than once, but I want to!)

Sorry, can't get to 7 on this one!

7 Books that have deeply challenged me (some repeats):

Season of Life by Jeffrey Marx
Who is My Neighbor? by Wayne Gordon
Radical by David Platt
Wild at Heart by John Eldredge
Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy
Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Let's Boogie!

2011-02-09T13:49:00.004-05:00

Last month, I wrote about how excited I am for the IMPACT team Katie and I were asked to be part of. Since that time, we have had the chance to spend some time with the team and our fellow leaders.

This is not the first trip we have been involved with as part of NMC Student Ministries, but it is the first trip that we will be counted on to bring such a high level of leadership. The leadership team consists of Kory & Ali Lantz, Ben & Joslynn Nehls and us.

The night before our first team meeting we had the other leaders over to our house for dinner and games. It turns out this group REALLY loves to play games. It was that night that we were introduced to a game called Jungle Speed. It's a fast-paced, every-player-for-himself game that requires quick, accurate responses. It's also a physical game so you have to be ready to fight if you want to win.

We took the game along with us as we led the whole team on a weekend retreat to a training conference and everyone who played it seemed to love it. Then, last weekend the leaders got together again and played some more. Only this time, we added a twist to the game to make it even more physically challenging.

Here's sort of what it looked like:

There wasn't nearly as much grappling, unless it was a husband and wife fighting for the totem, but nearly everyone left that night with some carpet burns or minor aches and pains.

In the end, it's just a game and it doesn't really hold any intrinsic value. It's what games can do for relationships that make them so valuable.

When you get a group together and start competing against each other, people's personalities show through in a new way. Thankfully, this group of leaders has meshed really well, thanks in part to playing this game together.

We are even more excited about our IMPACT experience now that we've had the chance to bond with our fellow leaders. And Jungle Speed (which we have renamed Jungle Boogie) had a lot to do with that.

So, if you don't already have this game, I suggest you get it and start playing it whenever you get the chance!

Super Bowl XLV

2011-02-07T12:53:00.004-05:00

I can't decide which is my favorite picture from the Super Bowl. Both of them involve a title belt:

Super Bowl Matchups

2011-01-25T16:57:00.003-05:00

Here are just a few of the matchups I'm really excited to see:

I know the two players I showed in each picture won't actually be on the field at the same time, but seeing how each of these guys fares compared to their counterparts will be very interesting!

Super Bowl XLV

2011-01-25T16:30:00.002-05:00

This is only my second full season of being a Green Bay Packers fan, so I am thrilled that they beat the Chicago Bears to earn a spot in this year's Super Bowl.

I am also excited that they're playing against the Steelers. First of all, I predicted this matchup a few weeks ago. Beyond that, though, it's just a classic matchup. The Steelers and Packers are two of the most well-known, storied franchises in all of sports.

On the field, these two teams are very similar. The Steelers have the No. 1 overall defense in the NFL and the Packers are No. 3. The Packers are the No. 3 overall offense in the NFL and the Steelers are No. 9. Each team has a big, strong quarterback who can run with the ball and stretch defenses with their arms. Each team has dynamic players at the receiver positions. Both teams have dynamic players in the defensive backfield and incredible strength at the linebacker position.

One more reason I love this matchup is because my inlaws are huge Steelers fans. They wanted to have a party to watch the game, but we decided it would be smarter to watch pregame together, then go our separate ways during the game!

I will be very disappointed if the Packers lose this game, but I can't think of a better team to lose to than the Steelers.

Poor in Spirit

2011-01-19T11:31:00.003-05:00

Since the beginning of the month, I've been following a one-year Bible reading plan. I've done it before and have always fallen off track at some point, but it is still a good tool to help me re-establish a habit of reading my Bible every day.

Some days, I have to admit, it's just a matter of reading and checking it off the list. I don't get a lot out of what I read on those days, but it is still helping me instill a habit into my life.

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending conVERGE 2011 with my IMPACT Team. This weekend away also served as our team retreat and a great chance to get to know each other better. As part of the retreat, we spent time each morning doing TAWG (Time Alone With God).

On the first morning I pulled out my reading plan and went to work. One of the passages I read was Matthew 11:4-5. This was Jesus telling some messengers what they should pass along to John the Baptist, who sent them to ask if he was the Messiah. Part of Jesus' response was, "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor."

I am sure I've read that passage multiple times in my life, but here's the beautiful thing about reading the Bible: this time something new stuck out to me. The last three words, "to the poor" were what gripped me.

Why did Jesus put this clarifying phrase in there? Why didn't He just say, "the good news is preached"? Why was it significant that the poor were hearing the good news?

I stopped reading and began to write down some traits that are often associated with the poor:

They need hope
They need love
They need security
They are willing to listen
They aren't self-reliant
They can find joy in the midst of discomfort
They understand needs vs. wants

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it's a start. It's enough of a list to see a trend: Poor people have real NEEDS.

This was something I found myself unable to identify with. When was the last time I had to go without something I truly NEEDED? I can remember many times when I didn't get everything I wanted but I cannot remember a time when I've not had my NEEDS met. I have been given a richly blessed life.

The next thing I knew I was flipping pages back to Matthew 5 because I knew Jesus said something about the poor in spirit. In fact, the first sentence of the Sermon on the Mount is this, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

I looked back at my journal and the characteristics of poor people I had written down. Then I thought about myself and wondered how I could possibly become poor in spirit. How can I go from a comfortable life where I don't NEED anything, to a desperate life that is clearly in NEED of a savior?

I don't know.

Got any ideas?

IMPACT

2011-01-10T14:09:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the first meeting of a team of senior high students and leaders that will travel to the Dominican Republic at the end of June this year to share the love of Christ with people who live there.

I am incredibly blessed to be part of that team, and so is my wife.

We are excited about the unique mix of people who make up this team. The trip leaders are Kory and Alison Lantz, who are missionaries themselves, Ben and Joslynn Nehls and us. I am really excited to spend time with these guys, learn from them, lead the team with them and serve alongside them.

As excited as I am about the leadership of the team, I am just as excited about the students on the team. We have 12 girls and 8 guys who have committed to 6 months of training and 10 days in the Dominican Republic. Most of them are current high school seniors, which means they are going to get very busy in the next few months with proms, graduation plans, college plans, summer jobs, etc. Yet, they've decided that being on this IMPACT Team is important enough that it's worth the sacrifice.

I don't know all the details of what we are going to do while we are in the DR, but I know one of our main objectives is to encourage the people we meet there. We want to leave the DR a better place than what we found it. Not that we can do anything in our own power or with our own abilities, but with God's provision we will be able to shine a light in a dark place.

Personally, this commitment comes at a time when time is already running thin in my life. A full-time job, working with a small group, coaching two youth basketball teams and endless projects at home make it hard to squeeze in anything else. But, Katie and I feel this is what God wants us to do. We feel like it's an opportunity we can't miss.

So, if you think about it, please pray for this team. It is bursting with potential, but only if we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray that we will do just that! Thanks.

NFL Playoffs 2011

2011-01-05T08:45:00.002-05:00

Since I did so well predicting how the regular season would go, here's my predictions for the 2011 NFL postseason:

Wild Card Round
New Orleans over Seattle
Green Bay over Philadelphia
Baltimore over Kansas City
Indianapolis over NY Jets

Divisional Round
Green Bay over Atlanta
New Orleans over Chicago
Pittsburgh over Indianapolis
New England over Baltimore

NFC Championship Game
Green Bay over New Orleans

AFC Championship Game
Pittsburgh over New England

Super Bowl
Green Bay over Pittsburgh

I know, I know. At first glance this looks like a real homer pick because I am a huge Packers fan. But, I really believe the matchups could play out this way. My preseason prediction had the Packers against the Colts in the Super Bowl but I don't see any way now that the Colts can get past a good defense like Pittsburgh.

Packers-Steelers would be a great Super Bowl, wouldn't it? Two of the most well-known, widely-loved, historical teams in the NFL. I hope it comes out this way.

My Predictions

2011-01-05T08:35:00.003-05:00

Below you'll find my preseason NFL predictions for how each team would finish in its division and how they actually finished the season. My picks are in black. The actual results are in red.

NFC West:
1. San Francisco
2. Seattle
3. Arizona
4. St. Louis

1. Seattle
2. St. Louis
3. San Francisco
4. Arizona

NFC South:
1. New Orleans
2. Atlanta
3. Carolina
4. Tampa Bay

1. Atlanta
2. New Orleans
3. Tampa Bay
4. Carolina

NFC North:
1. Green Bay
2. Minnesota
3. Chicago
4. Detroit

1. Chicago
2. Green Bay
3. Detroit
4. Minnesota

NFC East:
1. Dallas
2. NY Giants
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington

1. Philadelphia
2. NY Giants
3. Dallas
4. Washington*

AFC West:
1. San Diego
2. Kansas City
3. Denver
4. Oakland

1. Kansas City
2. San Diego
3. Oakland
4. Denver

AFC South:
1. Indianapolis
2. Houston
3. Tennessee
4. Jacksonville

1. Indianapolis
2. Jacksonville
3. Houston
4. Tennessee

AFC North:
1. Baltimore
2. Cincinnati
3. Pittsburgh
4. Cleveland

1. Pittsburgh
2. Baltimore
3. Cleveland
4. Cincinnati

AFC East:
1. NY Jets
2. New England
3. Miami
4. Buffalo

1. New England
2. NY Jets
3. Miami*
4. Buffalo*

The asterisks above show teams who finished in the same place I predicted they would finish. Yep, a grand total of 3.

My Top 10 of 2010

2010-12-31T10:50:00.004-05:00

Here, in no particular order, is my Top 10 for 2010.

Top 10 what? Anything!

These are my top 10 events, experiences, people, situations, memories of this past year.

1. 10-year anniversary with my wife, Katie. We celebrated with a 10-day trip to Florida.

2. Sunday night football game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc., with good friends.

3. Getting paid to take pictures - something I love to do.

4. The start of my 9th and 7th years with my kids, Hanah and David, respectively.

5. My small group of sophomore guys - Dustin Yoder, Jayson Linhart, Tommy Klem, Brennan Angle, Justice Smith, Kenny Bearss, Marcus Poland, Zach Lamason, Trevor Mast, Cory Waycaster and Chandler Walters.

6. Moving into a new house. It's really an old house, but it's new to us. Plus, we remodeled nearly the entire thing.

7. The Packers.

8. Family. My sister got married. So did my sister-in-law. I'm now an uncle to three girls and a baby on the way. My parents are amazing. My in-laws are almost as amazing as my parents. Life is good.

9. My job. In the midst of almost overwhelming unemployment rates, I am very thankful to have a job, let alone one that I absolutely love, like the one I have now.

10. Friendships new and old. As we moved closer to some old friends, we have been able to reconnect with them. And it seems like every year brings new friendships with it.

Honorable mention (it's hard to narrow a whole year down to just 10): Keller Park Basketball Camp, NMC Senior High Summer Camp, Golf with my dad and with friends, Disc Golf with friends, Basketball - anytime, anywhere, New opportunities, Rediscovering old favorite music thanks to Grooveshark, Working with Carter Ammerman, Buying and selling things on Craigslist, Getting to be creative at work and home, Learning new skills ...

What's your Top 10?

Life and the Art of Home Remodeling

2010-12-22T15:29:00.007-05:00

That's my house. My home.

Of course, that's not what it looks like now, but that's what it used to look like. It was built in 1916 by my wife's great grandfather. In its time it was one of the most modern homes in the Michiana area.

Today, the house looks a bit different - inside and out. The siding has changed, the porch is enclosed with windows, there are full-grown trees in the yard and it's on a street corner.

This past year, my wife and I have spent much of our time working on the inside of the house. We learned in February that we'd be moving there and immediately started working on the remodeling process. We completely gutted the entire top floor and refinished it, adding some new rooms and features along the way. We recently gave several rooms on the lower level a facelift and did a major renovation in the kitchen.

All the work has made 2010 a bit of a blur, but it also made it a very significant year in our lives.

Throughout the process of remodeling, I learned a lot. I learned skills. I learned about my abilities and limitations. I learned about other people's personalities and my own. I learned about my wife and kids. I learned a lot!

Here are some of the most significant lessons I've learned this past year:

Measure twice, cut once.
I've heard the saying many times in my life, but it became much more than a cute saying throughout this project. There are the obvious implications when it comes to the actual act of measuring and cutting, but there are other applications as well.

We did quite a bit of framing, hanging drywall and trim work. All of those tasks require very accurate measurements and cuts. If you fail to do so, you'll cost yourself a lot of time and money.

In the bigger picture, I learned the value of analyzing a situation before just jumping in. Similarly, the same lesson can be applied to thinking before you speak. It's not in my nature to be slow to act or speak, but I had to learn patience as I tried to get my house remodeled as quickly as possible.

When someone offers help, accept it.
I'm always tempted to go it alone. I don't know if it's just part of my personality or a function of being a man, but I find it much easier and less stressful to do things on my own than to try to lead someone else in helping me accomplish tasks. But, it didn't take me long to learn that this project was much too big for me to try to do by myself.

For example, it took two full weekends with 4-6 people working to clean out the upper level of our house and get it ready for the first steps toward remodeling. I could have done that job by myself, but it would have taken me at least a month of weekends and we didn't have that kind of time.

When others came to help I had to take time away from doing actual work to show them how they could help, but in the end we accomplished so much more together than I could have done alone.

And that leads me to the next lesson ...

Know your limits.
There were many parts of the remodeling process that I was able to do myself, but there were just as many that I could not have pulled off without help. Whether the help came in the form of actual assistance or in the giving of advice, I would have been stuck without input from others.

Several times I caught myself getting ready to jump into something that I was completely unprepared for. At some points I had to throw up my hands and call for help, but it was all part of the learning process.

Because of the help I received from others, I learned how to hang ceiling joists, frame walls, insulate walls and ceilings, build door jambs, build a proper header, use a table saw and many other tools.

My limits would not have allowed me to finish the project, but with help from others and a willingness to learn, I went beyond those limits to get it done.

Hug your wife and kids.
It was very tempting to pour every spare second into the work. And at times that's what I did. But that approach damaged my relationship with my wife and kids. The stress and lack of connection with the most important people in my life wore us down. We misplaced our priorities and paid dearly for it.

Fortunately, we spotted the problem early enough that we were able to change the trend and take breaks when it was needed. The work still got done, just not as quickly. But the relationships were restored and that is way more important than any project.

So, always take the time to hug your family. Spend time with the people who are most important to you. Then go back to work.

I Believe in You

2010-11-12T09:58:00.005-05:00

This week has been full of unexpected lessons for me.

The most prominent has been the realization of the power of the words, "I Believe in You."

Lifechurch.tv pastor Craig Groeschel taught a series called I Believe in You recently and I listened to it on my way to work this week. The big idea of the series is that we all need to be involved in mentoring relationships. We all need to have mentors and we all need to be mentors. That's how Jesus modeled discipleship during his time on earth.

I've been a big believer in mentoring for a long time. Ever since someone said, "I believe in you," to me in high school it was clear to me that mentoring relationships are incredibly powerful and effective.

I had several mentors growing up, but the one that sticks out most to me is Jeff Komins. I wish he had a blog, or even a Facebook page so you could go there and learn a bit more about him. Jeff went to the same church as me when I was younger and I always looked up to him (even when I got taller than him). He was a great athlete (walked on to the Purdue football team) and that was all I needed in those days to have respect and admiration for someone. He was a little guy, but always put 110% effort into everything he did.

It took awhile for me to be able to establish a relationship with Jeff. You see, I had a bad attitude as a young teenager and was too cocky to realize I needed mentors in my life. I thought I had it all figured out and could handle things just fine on my own.

As I got older and wasn't having the success I had hoped for in sports, I started looking for ways to get better, get bigger and give myself a better chance to succeed at sports (basketball in particular). During the summer between my junior and senior years of high school, Jeff invited me to join him 2-3 times a week at his house to lift weights. I was hesitant at first because even though Jeff was not very tall, he had plenty of muscle. Plus, the way he approached everything with a great intensity was a little intimidating.

I got over my insecurities and took Jeff up on his offer and that summer turned out to be one of the best of my life. Not only did I get a lot stronger and put on muscle weight in preparation for basketball season, I learned an incredible amount about life from Jeff. He was a great example of a loving husband and father, a man striving to be more like Jesus every day and a sports enthusiast who thought it was important to stay in shape and keep yourself healthy.

Jeff and I would lift weights hard for an hour, drink a pitcher of sweet tea and play one-on-one basketball in his driveway. I spent many of my nights that summer at his house and I never once felt like I was imposing or unwelcome.

That relationship is exactly what I think of as the ideal mentoring relationship. An older guy invited a younger guy into his life, his home, and just spent time with him - sharing some insight along the way. I don't know if Jeff ever spoke these words to me, but he definitely said, "I Believe in You," in many different ways.

When I heard the series from Craig Groeschel I decided to share it with my Small Group of Sophomore guys at church. I wanted them to know that I believe in them and that they also need to find younger guys to invest in. Sure, I'm biased, but my Small Group is full of young guys with incredible potential for leadership. They are talented, funny, smart. But here's the thing - it's not because of their potential or their gifts that I believe in them, it's because God believes in them. He created them each with a purpose and all the abilities they need to carry out that purpose. He's done that in each one of us.

Reading the Bible and praying will reveal God's purpose and design for your life, but sometimes we humans need another human to affirm it. Sometimes we just need someone who is willing to spend time with us, encourage us, teach us, advise us, kick us in the butt, push us and pray for us. We are all called to do that.

So, find a mentor! Find someone to take under your wing and be his/her mentor!

It's part of your purpose in this life. It's part of why God created you!

My Thoughts on Halloween

2010-11-01T09:30:00.002-04:00

Well, Jon Acuff said I had to do it, so here it goes:

I don't know what I think.

Yep, that's where I stand.

Honestly, I never thought this would be an issue for me but having kids changes things. We've never celebrated Halloween with our kids, who are now 8 and 6, but this year has been a whole new ballgame.

Not only are they old enough now to see/read/hear things about Halloween and start asking questions, but this year we live in a neighborhood for the first time in their lives. We actually lived in a neighborhood for the first 3 years of my daughter's life, but she was obviously too young to care about Halloween at that time.

So, this year they had the chance to see kids out and about trick-or-treating, young and old alike dressed up in all kinds of costumes and all taking home loads of candy. I think the candy part is what they really want, but they had plenty of questions for us this year. They wanted to know why we don't celebrate Halloween.

For us, it's simple. We don't like the holiday and what it stands for. But explaining that to them in a way that makes sense is difficult.

My best reasoning goes something like this:

Halloween is a day when people celebrate death, but we want to celebrate the life we have in Jesus.

Now I know not everyone views Halloween this way, but I'm pretty sure that's how the holiday started, right?

And, the older I get, the more sensitive I find myself to things that may be beyond our senses (angels and demons). Those are the things I don't like about Halloween. It seems like evil spirits, scary monsters and dead things are glorified on Halloween.

It's easy to change your family celebration of Halloween and make it about other things than death, but then shouldn't it look different too? I think celebrating the Harvest season is a great idea. But then that's kind of what Thanksgiving is for, right?

If it's all about letting kids dress up and go ask people for candy, doesn't that seem kind of strange? My kids play dress up all the time and they get candy from time to time, so those aren't good enough reasons to start celebrating Halloween.

The one issue we came across this year that made it a little difficult to hold fast to our stance against Halloween is when people come to your door for trick-or-treating. We just moved into the neighborhood in May and we've gotten to know a few of the neighbors, but there are still a lot that we don't know. Part of what we feel is our purpose and why God has placed us in our current home is to reach out to the people around us. So, the last thing we want to do is turn people away when they come to our door. And we also don't want them to think we're sitting in our house judging them for taking part in something we disapprove of.

So, we got some suckers and let our kids hand them out to any trick-or-treaters that came to the house. We didn't know how else to handle it, and our kids had a great time doing it. But, there was still this feeling of uneasiness with the whole thing for me.

So, like I said, I don't really know what I think. I can come up with all kinds of reasons to not participate in Halloween. I can't really think of anything good we are missing out on by not participating. I guess that makes it pretty clear. I just want to be able to explain it to my kids more clearly!

A Pilgrimmage

2010-10-29T10:30:00.003-04:00

I am not a cheesehead. I still don't know for sure if that's a derogatory term or not.

I don't know much about Vince Lombardi or Bart Starr.

I wasn't born when Super Bowls 1 & 2 happened and I don't remember Super Bowls 31 or 32 either.

I don't like Brett Favre.

BUT ... I am a Green Bay Packers fan.

I have only been a Packers fan for about 3 years. I appreciate the history of the franchise, but I don't claim to have any recollection of it beyond the past 3 years.

For those of you who don't know, here's how I became a fan of the Green Bay Packers:

My first job after college was at the Niles (Mich.) Daily Star, where I was the sports editor. Niles High School was a member of the Big 8 Conference, which included St. Joseph, Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo Central, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, Portage Northern, Portage Central and Battle Creek Central.

My first year in Niles just happened to be the junior year of a football, basketball and track star at Kalamazoo Central High School. That player was Greg Jennings.

It didn't take long to recognize that Jennings was a gifted athlete. I always looked forward to Niles' matchups with Kalamazoo Central because I knew I'd get to watch Jennings. Even after he left high school I tried to keep track of his career, which continued at Western Michigan University.

He did well at Western and was then drafted by the Packers in the second round of the 2006 draft. It didn't take Jennings long to grab a spot in the starting lineup for the Packers and I always found myself checking box scores to see how he did.

Eventually my interest turned into fanhood and now I am a full-blown fan of the whole team. I like a lot of the players currently on the team. QB Aaron Rodgers, CB Charles Woodson, LB Clay Matthews and RB Ryan Grant are some of my favorites. (I remember watching Woodson during his Heisman Trophy-winning season and I saw Grant play live several times at Notre Dame)

In a little more than a week, my fanhood will take the next step when my family and I make a trip to the other side of Lake Michigan and go to a Packers' game at Lambeau Field. It's a night game against the Cowboys and I am thrilled!

Maybe this trip will help me gain more knowledge of the franchise's history. But even if it doesn't it's a pretty awesome opportunity for a new fan of the Green Bay Packers.

Future Super Heroes

2010-10-13T16:30:00.003-04:00

6 Years Old!

2010-10-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

This is what my son David looked like on his 5th birthday, one year ago from today:

And this is what he looks like now:

Just looking at those pictures blows my mind. I cannot believe he is 6 years old!

David is one of the most amazing blessings I've ever received in my life. He is the best buddy I have (my daughter Hanah and my wife Katie are just as close, but the word buddy is reserved for boys). David is so much fun to have around. He can't pass up the chance to make someone laugh. He also can't pass up the chance to sneak in a sucker punch (we're working on that one).

The changes in David over the past year are incredible. He has really grown up, physically and emotionally, over the last 365 days. Since this time last year, David has become a really good helper, whether it's just cleaning things up around the house or big projects. He and Hanah pulled up nearly half of the carpet in our living room all by themselves.

David has also started school. He's already learning to read and write.

David is nearly as passionate about the Green Bay Packers as I am and he's ready to start playing organized sports with basketball this winter.

I am so thankful to God for giving David to me and for considering me worthy of being his daddy.

I love you Buster! Happy Birthday!

Weak Sauce

2010-09-23T11:12:00.001-04:00

It Has Begun

2010-09-15T14:49:00.002-04:00

Football season has started. The weather is cooler. Corn fields are brown instead of green. A few leaves have changed colors. And now my fall beard has begun. Impressive, I know.

Because I Said So!

2010-09-15T14:36:00.002-04:00

Derry Prenkert innocently posted the following earlier today on his Facebook page:

We are officially in the "WHY?" phase with daughter. "Because I said so" seems to be my response when I want to be a lazy parent.

For some reason it stuck out to me and I made a comment. I wasn't the first commenter and I wasn't the last. Actually, a really good conversation ensued and, in the process, allowed me to discover a few things about myself and the way I parent.

Here was my first response to Derry:

I don't think "because I said so" is always a bad/lazy response. Kids need to learn to obey even when they don't know all the reasons behind the command or request. Sometimes, though, I get lazy too and say the same thing!

Later, following a few more comments I wrote this:

It seems that so many of my frustrations with my kids comes from their disobedience. When I say it's time to go to bed, they don't ask why. They just whine and complain, or just continue whatever activity they're doing. They know the reasons why because I have explained it to them before. In those times I question whether I've done a good enough job of training them to obey my requests/commands, even when they don't feel like it or don't know the reasons.

There's a tough balance to strike between holding your child's respect because of your authority and becoming a tyrant. I want them to trust that I'm always seeking what's best for them and, therefore, they can obey me with full confidence that this is going to be good for them. I don't want them to obey out of fear.

Obviously, obedience is a big thing for me. But I don't want to be a tyrant. I understand that kids will sometimes disobey, just because they're kids and they need to find out where their boundaries are. But that doesn't make disobedience acceptable, does it?

Here's the thing: We're not really talking about kids here. We're talking about us ... all of us. We are all God's children and we do the same thing to Him that our kids do to us. And if I expect my kids to obey me, whether I give them a good reason or just say, "Because I said so," then shouldn't I do the same for my Heavenly Father?

I'm striving to give them a picture of a Heavenly Father here on earth, but I've got to be willing to also give them a picture of a child of that same Heavenly Father.

I think parenting just got a little bit harder!

It's time

2010-09-08T15:58:00.002-04:00

I think it's time to try this again. I'm nearly 2 years older and so my chances of success should be higher. I'll keep you posted...

I've gone overboard

2010-09-02T14:15:00.002-04:00

I used to laugh at people who did things like this.

But I can't help it. I am incredibly excited about the Packers this season and cannot wait to watch them play.

Everybody else is doing it ...

2010-09-01T12:56:00.005-04:00

Since everybody else is doing it (by "everybody" I mean Derry and Jason) here's my 2010 NFL Predictions:

NFC West:
This is a terrible division. From top to bottom it's full of a bunch of stinky teams. This division shouldn't be allowed to have a team in the pl........wait. The Niners. The Niners? The Niners!!!! I actually love the Niners this year. I thoroughly enjoy every word that comes out of coach Mike Singletary's mouth. I love his old-school approach and I think his team is going to dominate this division.

p.s. I was tempted to predict a surprise second-place finish by the St. Louis Rams, but it's my first division. I'm not yet prepared to make that huge of a leap.

1. San Francisco
2. Seattle
3. Arizona
4. St. Louis

NFC South:
I can't see any reason why the Saints don't repeat and make another run at the Super Bowl. The Falcons may do well enough to make the playoffs, but I can't see them beating the Saints - not either time they play this season.

p.s. If Carolina had a quarterback, I may have picked the Panthers to finish second. (Sorry, Jimmy Clausen fans)

1. New Orleans
2. Atlanta
3. Carolina
4. Tampa Bay

NFC North:
Even if I wasn't a Packers fan, I wouldn't have picked Minnesota to repeat as division champs. There are just too many things going wrong for the Vikings - injuries, mysterious headaches, wide receivers being resurrected from the dead ... and a 40-year-old quarterback with a bad ankle.

Then, you've got the Packers. Led by one of the brightest young quarterbacks in the league in Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay seems poised to make a great run this season. The only thing that scares me is that so many people are choosing the Packers as the NFC representative in the Super Bowl.

p.s. I could totally see the Lions taking the third place spot away from Chicago.

1. Green Bay
2. Minnesota
3. Chicago
4. Detroit

NFC East:
I hope I'm wrong on this one, but I just can't see any team but Dallas coming out of this division. They're all pretty good, but none are great. If Kevin Kolb turns out to be as good as the Eagles must think he is, then Philly could make a run at the division title.

p.s. I hope Donovan McNabb beats his old team twice. I don't know why, but I've always liked him.

1. Dallas
2. NY Giants
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington

AFC West:
Why are both West divisions so bad? The Chargers could finish 9-7 and win the division and get into the playoffs this season. I hope Kansas City shocks everyone and wins the division, but that's a pretty long shot. I really hope Tim Tebow ends up starting at quarterback for Denver and shows everyone he can run over people in the NFL just like he did in college, and throw a TD pass every now and then.

p.s. Did anyone notice that Charlie Weis (offensive coordinator) and Romeo Crennel (defensive coordinator) have been reunited in Kansas City? And KC has former Patriots quarterback Matt Cassell. Interesting .........

1. San Diego
2. Kansas City
3. Denver
4. Oakland

AFC South:
Is this the year Houston finally makes the playoffs? If so, it's not going to be as a division winner. The Colts have the South all but wrapped up ... already. They're just too good. I love to watch the Texans play though, especially Andre Johnson. I think he's unquestionably the best wide receiver in the NFL - huge, fast, great hands.

p.s. I hope the Titans are playing for a playoff position in Week 17 at Indianapolis because the Colts will be resting their starters and Chris Johnson could rush for 300 yards and 5 touchdowns!

1. Indianapolis
2. Houston
3. Tennessee
4. Jacksonville

AFC North:
If I wasn't such a Packers fan, the Ravens would be my favorite team. I don't know if it's the black uniforms or what, but I love watching this team. Quarterback Joe Flacco has the potential to be a Top 5 quarterback in the NFL if his receivers come through for him. And Ray Rice is an incredibly exciting runner. Surprisingly, the big question mark for Baltimore this year is the defense.

p.s. I can see a scenario where the Steelers sneak up and win this division.

1. Baltimore
2. Cincinnati
3. Pittsburgh
4. Cleveland

AFC East:
Each year, things get less and less interesting in this division. At least there's Rex Ryan and the over-hyped Jets to keep thing interesting. I really hope the Patriots come back to life and win this one, but I don't think it's going to happen.

p.s. Anybody else think Tom Brady and Randy Moss might make another magical run at their record-setting season?

1. NY Jets
2. New England
3. Miami
4. Buffalo

Super Bowl:
Packers beat the Colts.

Why do I love fall?

2010-08-31T08:43:00.005-04:00

Early in my life summer was my favorite time of the year. I still love summer, but since I got out of high school, fall has become the best time of the year for me. There are several reasons for the switch:

1. The fall of 1995 was the first time in my life when I experienced true, authentic community with other people my age.

I had some good friends in high school, but most of them were older than me and went to different schools, so we didn't really get to experience community life. But when I got to Bethel College in the fall of 1995 it didn't take long to hook up with a group of guys who had a lot in common with me and lived in the same dorm with me. Some of those friends are still great friends to this day.

All four of my years at Bethel College were life-changing but none more than the first semester of my freshman year. I never knew there were other people my age, who liked the same things as me, who wanted their lives to be all about following Jesus and who were willing to share their lives with others. It was an amazing season of my life.

2. Football.

NFL Football and Fantasy Football are my favorites, but I also enjoy college and high school football. I never played football growing up and it's one of the great regrets of my life. I may have been terrible at it, but I'll never know.

I'm not sure what it is about football that is so captivating, but I just love to watch it. For several years I didn't have a favorite team, but over the last few seasons I've become an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers. It turns out I picked a great time to jump on this team's bandwagon, because they are one of the top teams in the NFL and have a great shot to return to the playoffs this season and maybe even make a run toward the Super Bowl.

Fantasy Football was introduced into my life in 2005 and every year since I've been enthralled with it. Again, I can't quite pinpoint what about Fantasy Football captures me the way it does, but I can't get enough. This year I'm in 5 Fantasy Football leagues, which is probably too many, but I can't say no when I get invited.

3. Fall weather is amazing.

There's nothing better than walking out of the house early in the morning and feeling a slight chill (usually when it's around 55 degrees) but the sun is bright and the air is crisp. You can still leave the house without a jacket because it's going to be 65-70 degrees later in the day. The crisp air is what separates a 70-degree fall day from a 70-degree summer day. There's just something different about it - maybe it's the different levels of humidity. Whatever it is, I love fall weather.

4. My birthday is in the fall.

The older I get the less significant the actual day of my birthday becomes, but the more significant my age becomes. Does that make sense?

It's not that I dread getting older. Quite the opposite actually. I LOVE getting older and watching my wife and kids get older with me. The longer I live the more I appreciate the good things in my life and the more I learn from the experiences I've had.

So, I'm looking forward to this fall when I turn 34!

5. School.

Any student reading this, please don't be annoyed with this one. It's not that I enjoy seeing you guys in misery, but I do enjoy the opportunities that school brings.

My daughter is entering 2nd grade this year and my son starts Kindergarten. Both are home schooled and I am so excited to see what they will learn this year. For my son, the first big hurdle is reading. He'll soon be sounding out words on his own and eventually reading short books. For my daughter, a big part of this year will be learning new math skills and mastering reading. She's already a really, really good reader but I can't wait to see her get even better. Reading is such an incredibly important part of a child's development and I'm glad my wife gets to teach it to my kids.

Beyond learning academic things, school gives most students the opportunity to learn social skills. School can be a rough place sometimes, but it's all part of growing up and becoming an independent adult.

Another thing school brings is another year of involvement with my Senior High Small Group at NMC. I have an amazing group of guys who are sophomores this year and I can't wait to dive back into their lives!

It's not fall yet, but I can feel it getting close and I'm very excited!

Building benches ...

2010-08-11T11:24:00.004-04:00

I try not to repost things much because I'd much rather just write my own thoughts, but Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like occasionally ruins my day with the things he writes and today was one of those days. His post, titled Building benches instead of frisbees, has got me reeling.

As you've probably picked up from the past few posts, God has been working on me - sometimes holding me up and sometimes knocking me down - and it has caused me to take a real evaluative look at my life.

In the post, Acuff talks about finding the sweet spot that God has designed just for you. I know without a doubt that God placed me where I am and it's part of His plan, but I'm wondering if there's more to that plan. I wonder if He's got this and more in mind to get me to that sweet spot.

So, please, take a few minutes to read the post. It will be worth it.

Keller Park Basketball Camp

2010-08-02T15:21:00.004-04:00

Last week I had the privilege of helping out with the first ever Keller Park Basketball Camp.

My last post on here was about the lasting effects of Kids In Need and how it was changing my life. This camp was an opportunity to live out what I wrote about.

I met some really cool kids and connected with some new adults I probably would never have had the chance to know if it weren't for the basketball camp. I was able to come alongside of Kory and Alison Lantz and Ryan Yazel in the ministry they're working so hard at in the Keller Park neighborhood.

One little girl, in particular, touched me deeply. Her name is Synsere and you can see her in the picture above. It wasn't until camp was over the first night that I met her. She was hanging out with some of the adults outside the court and I noticed her smile and spunk pretty quickly. Then I showed her how I could spin a ball on my finger. She seemed fascinated, so I tried several times to pass the ball to her outstretched finger. It took a while, but I finally got it to spin on her finger for several seconds and she lit up! She has a big smile anyways, but after spinning the ball on her finger she was beaming.

I played with her for a little longer and then had to get back home. The next night I brought my whole family and they, too, fell in love with Synsere. That night Kory also told me a little bit of Synsere's story. She comes from a broken home, as many of the kids in that neighborhood do. The last month of her life has been a real roller coaster and they were happy she was at camp.

I am happy too. Synsere may have changed my life last week.

Going into those three nights of camp I knew God was breaking my heart for kids who are in bad family situations, but I didn't have a face to put with that burden. Now I do. It's a face with rich, dark skin. It's a gummy smile with a few missing teeth. It's braided hair and bright eyes.

It's Synsere.

Now, every time I think about kids in rough homes I think of Synsere. She's just one of millions, but for me she's every one of them and she deserves more!

KIN's lasting effects

2010-07-21T13:33:00.004-04:00

Most people reading this blog are familiar enough with Student Ministries at NMC to know what KIN stands for. But for those that don't, it means Kids In Need. Last school year the entire student population (grades 5-12) at NMC focused on meeting the needs of kids around the world. The focus had three goals: GAIN awareness, GIVE sacrificially and LIVE differently.

I wrote a little about one of my KIN experiences here.

But now I want to share with you how Kids In Need has marked me deeply enough to make me LIVE differently.

Perspective has been a word I've used a lot lately. The more I learn and see, the more I'm convinced that much of how we respond to things in life is based on perspective. Looking at things from the wrong perspective leads to the wrong response in almost all instances.

But how does one change his/her perspective? It's an easy thing to talk about but a very difficult thing to actually accomplish.

Throughout the school year, I was consistently learning new facts and stories of Kids In Need. In fact, one of the first things I did to GAIN awareness was write to two guys I know who work in different urban areas. I asked them what the greatest needs facing the kids in their areas were and, to paraphrase, both said the kids needed parents who care about them.

That was not the answer I was looking for because how could I help with that? I wanted them to say something like new shoes, a basketball court, help with school or anything tangible that I could figure out a way to provide for them.

So, at first I was very frustrated because, while I had GAINed awareness, I couldn't figure out how to GIVE anything to them.

Now nearly a year after I received those answers, God has officially broken my heart for the kids who need parents who care. Reading stories from Kory and Alison at the Transformation have helped to change my perspective.

I never knew there were kids who come home to a place where nobody is around and there is no food to eat, no electricity, no heat or air conditioning, no phone and no running water.

I never knew parents could abandon their kids.

I never knew drugs could become more important to people than their families, especially their children.

I never knew kids as young as mine (8 & 5) are sometimes left alone and allowed to wander the streets for days at a time.

All these things exist.
All these things are common.
All these things happen in my own town.

And I cannot stand for it any longer.
I have to do something about it.
Doing nothing is no longer an option.

Starting right now I am LIVING differently. This life is no longer about me. I am not here to be served but to serve.

My KIDS will always know that I love them because of the way I prioritize my time.

My KIDS may not always have the newest, fanciest, prettiest or best stuff, but they will always have a loving home to live in - no matter what they've done, who they've been with, where they've gone or why they made those choices.

My KIDS are not the only ones who deserve these things. All KIDS deserve to be loved and, with God's help, I am going to work to make sure they are.

Here I am. Send me.

DIFFERENT is good

2010-07-14T16:37:00.004-04:00

Last night I got back from 5 days at Senior High Camp along the shore of Lake Erie in Vermillion, Ohio. It was an exciting, busy, exhausting, hilarious, hot, wet, dirty, sad and uplifting experience.

In many ways it was exactly like the first time I went to Senior High Camp last year.

But I can think of a few ways it was way DIFFERENT for me.

1. Last year was very intimidating for me because it was the first time I had met most of the students and many of the leaders. This year I went into it knowing several students and almost all of the leaders. So, there was a certain level of comfort for me.

2. Last year was also very emotional for me. I had been holding back from getting involved with students for several years. I just never felt like I was ready. Even last year I didn't feel completely ready, but I jumped in and was overwhelmed by a lot of stuff God revealed to me last year. This year it wasn't very emotional at all. It was, however, significant in many ways. God spoke to me again and I have a great challenge ahead of me.

3. Last year I was given a clear call from God into a very specific area of ministry. This year there was no clear call, but many clear challenges. I was given a clearer picture of myself and of the people around me. I am learning to see people the way God sees them, instead of how I normally see them.

4. Last year I was energized by camp. This year I was physically exhausted by camp but am much more focused than I was a week ago. I don't have to rush out and force situations to become opportunities for me to fulfill the call of God in my life. He's got the spots picked out for me. All I have to do is be faithful in the little things and be ready for those opportunities.

5. Last year I didn't come away with many real solid connections with students. This year I feel like I've got a lot of new friends, including some real strong connections with young men that may have a great deal of influence over the direction of their youth group this year and beyond. That's exciting ... and intimidating.

6. Last year I didn't have much of a problem leaving my kids for 5 days. This year I missed them really badly. I think it's because of the way God was challenging me. I know I haven't been exactly what He's called me to be as a father and so I spent a lot of time thinking about them while I was away.

I went in with high expectations. Some of them were met, others weren't. But in the end I realized that DIFFERENT is definitely good.

Dear Secret Intern ...

2010-07-02T11:07:00.002-04:00

I got your letter and it means a lot. Thank you.

Processing

2010-07-01T08:18:00.004-04:00

I feel like this would be a good post for Jon Acuff over at Stuff Christians Like. Maybe some day he'll pick it up and put a comedic spin on it, but since I'm not very funny I'll take the serious side.

Why is it that the word "processing" is thrown around so much by Christians? Whenever something big happens - good or bad - people start talking about "processing it" or "processing through it."

I understand the general meaning of the phrase. I just don't understand why "processing" is the first thing that Christians feel they need to start doing after a big event in their lives.

Just a couple days ago two students from the youth group I work with at NMC were in a really bad accident. Fortunately neither of them suffered severe injuries. They basically walked away from the wreck. They started "processing" the night it happened.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to see a bigger lesson to be learned through experiences like an accident, loss of a loved one, mission trip, injury or an encounter with God. Of course there are lessons to be learned and of course we should be on the lookout for them.

I guess I just don't think we're capable of figuring it all out - especially in the matter of days, or even hours.

Having talked with one of the students who was in the accident, it seems like the only clear lesson he's learned is to be thankful for every moment and for the people he loves. It's a great lesson ... and maybe it's the only lesson.

Would that be enough? If the reminder to be thankful is all he ever gets out of this experience, shouldn't that be enough? I mean, it's a great lesson to learn - a life changing lesson, right?

In time, maybe other lessons will come out of this experience, but I don't think it's our job to try to pull lessons out of the experience that may or may not have been intended. If God has a lesson He's trying to teach in all of this, He is able to make it clear to us even if we don't spend a lot of time "processing."

I'm not writing this because I'm against "processing." I just question whether it's the best way to react to certain things. Maybe when we hear a message on a Sunday morning, the best thing we can do is "process" it and see how it applies to our lives. But when we get into an accident, we should just hug the people around us, thank God and let Him teach us in His own time.

What to do this summer

2010-06-29T13:15:00.005-04:00

I'm not big on to-do lists, but I understand the value of them.

If I've got a physical list of items to check off, I'm much more likely to get them done than if I just keep a mental list going in my head.

With that in mind, here's some of the stuff that I want to accomplish this summer (in no particular order):

- Finish the upstairs of my house. Although we're moved in, we still have a lot of the finishing touches to complete. For example, Katie and I don't even have a door on our bedroom yet. There's a ton of trim work and probably some more painting to do in order for everything to look the way it is supposed to look.

- Put up a privacy fence. A week ago this item would have also included installing a new patio. However, my friend Marty and I started working on that last week so it will be done by the end of the week. As far as the privacy fence, I know I talked about getting to know my new neighbors, but I've always heard that tall fences make good neighbors.

- Run. I really want to get back into running. Unfortunately, I stepped on a nail a week and a half ago and my foot is in no shape to run. Hopefully, it will heal quickly because I'm ready to run and that feeling doesn't usually last very long!

- Camp. This has two meanings for me. First, I am going to NMC Senior High Camp for the second year in a row and I cannot wait. I am so excited to spend time with the students and other leaders from our church. It's just an amazing time away. Second, I want to go camping with my family. Our kids have camped out twice, but both times were in our own yard. This summer, I want to go somewhere away from home to camp out.

- Fellowship. I love spending time with good friends and I hope to find time doing that this summer. Good times of fellowship energize me like nothing else. So, if you want to stop by and help me accomplish this goal, feel free!

AWAKE!

2010-06-15T14:41:00.002-04:00

This Sunday I have the privilege of sharing my story with the senior high students in attendance at the AWAKE! class at church.

It's extra special for me because I get to talk about my dad on Father's Day. You see, much of my story hinges on my dad's story. I guess that's true for all of us, but I feel like my life would be completely different if my dad hadn't made some of the choices he made a long time ago.

So, if you're a senior high student, please come to the AWAKE! class, 9:30-10:30 in the Fieldhouse, this Sunday and hear about my dad - a guy worthy of honoring on Father's Day.

Here's a sneak peek at what you might see if you show up:

MishawakaGO

2010-06-14T14:10:00.003-04:00

There are two teams of students from my church on trips - one to Haiti and the other to Chicago. Both teams are showing the love of Jesus Christ to the people they encounter in those locations.

The group in Chicago is on the annual GO trip. Strangely enough, the trip is called ChicaGO. It's a trip that teaches students to step out and share their faith with others. Several posts on Facebook today have made it clear that this team is learning to have empathy and compassion for those who don't know Jesus.

It may sound strange, but I sort of feel like I'm on my own GO trip - but mine is called MishawakaGO. You see, I recently moved to the city of Mishawaka, Indiana, and it has been quite a period of adjustment. Having lived in the country up until I graduated from high school, and for the past four and a half years, moving to the city has had its share of new experiences.

For one, the noises are different. We hear a lot more sirens now than we did in the country.

The smells are different too. Instead of the smell of the lake (which is subtle, but quite nice) I've been smelling a lot of exhaust and trash, with the occasional smell of a neighbor grilling (very nice) wafting through the yard from time to time.

The routine is different. We have to have our trash and recycling (first time I've ever had to gather my recyclables) out to the road first thing Monday morning. I also have a new shower and kitchen to establish a routine in each workday.

The options are different. Instead of driving a half hour to do most anything, now I can drive a couple minutes to do pretty much anything I need to do.

Most importantly, the people are different. When we lived at the lake, most people were pretty quiet and kept to themselves. We lived about 100 yards away from our nearest neighbor. Now, we live just a few feet from our next-door neighbor and across the street from several more neighbors. Fortunately for us, the neighborhood seems pretty friendly and problem-free. We've met several neighbors and all are quite friendly. Our kids already have several new friends - who end up in our back yard all the time (another adjustment).

The one thing that seems to be missing from the neighborhood is people like us. I don't want to sound discriminatory, but I don't think anybody in the neighborhood goes to church regularly or really believes in Jesus.

But then, how would I know? I mean, I haven't talked to anybody about it. I'm just assuming - like I always have. I look at their clothes, cars, houses. I listen to their words and the type of music they listen to while they're driving. Then I make assumptions.

How ridiculous is that?

I guess it's just easier to assume things than to really dig into people's lives and find out who they really are. But the easier way is very rarely the best way to do things.

I need to have compassion and sympathy for my new neighbors. At the very least, I need to love them with the love of Jesus Christ and show genuine interest in their lives.

So, it's been a challenge, but at least I've met most of the neighbors and have plenty of chances to interact with them more. I hope I make the most out of it!

Ready for a Revamp

2010-06-08T10:51:00.001-04:00

Stay tuned ...

Coming Up for Air

2010-04-13T08:49:00.006-04:00

It's been more than two months since I've posted anything here. It's partly because I'm lazy, but also partly because I've been incredibly busy.

Back in January I told you we were moving. Since that post, nearly all of our free time has been spent working on the house we're moving into in Mishawaka. We've been averaging somewhere around 30 hours per week at the house in Mishawaka.

The project we've been spending so much time on is a complete renovation of the top floor. When we started out it contained two bedrooms, two hallway closets and some attic space. Now it has two bedrooms with closets in each, a hallway closet, a bathroom and two playrooms. Nearly the whole space was stripped down to the wall studs, rewired, insulated and covered with new drywall. We are nearly finished with all the new drywall and ready for it to be mudded and sanded, then painted.

In addition to the work on the top floor, we've also been working on getting the rest of the house cleaned out so we can begin other renovation projects.

The cleaning-out process is probably the most fun, interesting, frustrating, time-consuming thing we've done. It's fun and interesting because of all the amazing things we've found in the house. It's frustrating and time-consuming because of all the clutter in the house.

It took us two full weekends to clear out the top floor before we could begin demolition. It's taken much longer than that to work on the main floor and the basement. Part of the reason there's so much stuff is because the house has always been in the family and nobody has ever really moved out and taken stuff with them. So, there's nearly 100 years' worth of stuff in there.

For all of you garage sale fanatics out there, we're going to have one heck of a sale sometime in the next few weeks. Don't worry, I'll let you all know when it's happening!

I have learned a lot from this process. I can do rough carpentry work, insulation and drywall. But I've also learned a lot of life lessons through all of this. I'm considering starting a blog series to help me process all of those.

Here's just a few pictures to prove that I've got a good reason for not blogging much lately:

NFL Pick 'Em Super Bow/Final Results

2010-02-08T08:44:00.007-05:00

Three of us picked the Super Bowl correctly. To be honest, though, I know at least two of us only did it because it could improve our standings. I really thought the Colts would win, but went with the Saints so I didn't end up in a tie with Rodney. And it worked!

It worked for Dan Erickson too. Since he picked the Saints, he finished in a tie for first place with Craig Helfrich. Here's the final standings:

1. Dan Erickson, 184-83

(tie) Craig Helfrich, 184-83

3. Tim Emmons, 180-87
4. Dan Weiss, 175-92
5. Rodney Jernas, 174-93
6. Geoff Cocanower, 165-102
(tie) Kevin Edwards, 165-102
8. Derry Prenkert, 162-105
(tie) Jeff Simpson, 162-105
10. Preston Edwards, 161-106
11. Jason Thompson, 153-114

The whole group finished 1865-1072, which equals 63.5% correct. Not bad!

Thanks everybody for playing and following along!

NFL Pick 'Em Super Bowl

2010-02-05T12:12:00.003-05:00

Finally, the Super Bowl is here!

Craig can't lose, but Dan can still tie.

Moving On

2010-01-28T11:47:00.003-05:00

We knew it was coming, we just didn't know when.

The time has come.

We are moving!

During the next two months we are going to be remodeling our house in Mishawaka and vacating our house in Syracuse. There's about an hour's drive between the two locations, but a world of difference.

Katie and I started our marriage living in a city. It was a small city (Niles) but a city nonetheless. Then we moved to the country. We live on a 6.5-acre piece of property with 300 feet of frontage on Dewart Lake and the nearest neighbor is at least 100 yards away. We've been there for the past four and a half years (incredibly formative years for our kids who are now 5 and 7). Now we are moving back to the city.

While we will greatly miss the beauty, peace and privacy of our current location, we are incredibly excited about our new location too. It will mean a lot less driving and more choices of grocery stores, restaurants, entertainment, etc. We are going to be much, much closer to our extended families and no farther away from Nappanee Missionary Church, where I work and our family worships.

We are incredibly thankful for the past four and a half years at the Bethel College Retreat Center. Bethel was very, very good to us and the current state of things absolutely demanded that they cut costs and, unfortunately, our position was one of the casualties. I don't want anybody to think Bethel left us high and dry because they were generous to us, even in the decision to cut much of our compensation. So, this decision was ours and ours alone. Bethel did not fire us or even ask us to leave. We decided to move on.

Our time at the Retreat Center was amazing. We met so many people who we hope will be lifelong friends. We experienced things that never could have happened if we had stayed in Niles. Our kids developed a love of the outdoors and a respect and awe of God's creation. When we moved to the lake, neither of our kids would go outside without shoes on. Now, in the summer, we can't keep clothes on them. Both would rather wear a bathing suit and nothing else. They love to play in the dirt, dig for worms, pick flowers, explore their surroundings, go fishing, swim in the lake, go for walks, watch birds, climb trees, sit by campfires, play until dark, eat at picnic tables, play in sprinklers, ride bikes and roll in the grass. I'll always be grateful for our time at the lake, especially because of the way it changed our kids.

Now, as much as I enjoyed being at the lake, I am just as excited to move to Mishawaka. We are going to remodel much of the home we're moving into, which was built by my wife's great-grandfather in the early 1900s. It's always been in her family and we are honored to be the next ones to keep it there.

We will have more living space than we've ever had and we hope it can be a blessing to many people. We want to be generous with what God has blessed us with. We want our kids to want friends to come over to our house. We want our friends to want to spend time at our house. We want it to be so much more than a house. We want it to be a home - and not just to us. We want everyone who steps inside to feel at home. Most of all, we want our Heavenly Father to be clearly evident in our home. We want to serve Him and honor Him with our new home.

So, over the next couple months we may not be able to spend a lot of time on things other than remodeling and moving, but we'd love for you to stop by our new home. Give us a call!

My Thoughts on Money: You Can't Buy Happiness

2010-01-27T08:06:00.004-05:00

It's an old expression, but I can attest to its truth.

You really can't buy happiness.

I've tried. It didn't work.

When we ended up with two incomes and no mortgage payment we decided to have a little fun. Only instead of having just a little fun we ended up going crazy. We went out to eat a lot. We bought new furniture. We bought a big HD TV. We bought a car. We bought exercise equipment (because we were going out to eat too much). We went on vacations. We bought a boat (that we never even used).

Now, I'm not saying any of those things are bad. In fact, I highly recommend saving up enough cash to take your family on a vacation every now and then. We've been blessed to be able to spend time away from home each of the last four years. Thankfully, we didn't take on any debt to do so.

We had been pinching every penny for the first five years of our marriage and once we got some financial margin in our lives, we lost perspective. You see, for a long time money was not an issue for us. I don't mean that the way most people mean it. Money was not an issue for us because we didn't have much and couldn't spend much. But once we had more, it became an issue. We had all these grand ideas of becoming completely debt free, socking away an emergency fund and then becoming incredibly generous givers.

Those plans never got carried out because we thought the dinners out, the furniture, the TV, the vacations, the boat, the car and all the other stuff was going to somehow make us more happy. But the opposite happened.

When money was tight, we were incredibly happy and satisfied. We had everything we needed and trusted God to provide. But when the extra money came in, we forgot how faithful God is and started trusting in our incomes.

That's the dangerous thing about margin. It's an incredible blessing but it can also be a curse. In the Lifechurch.tv series, How to Be Rich, one of the main points is that being RICH is good news and bad news. It's good because God has blessed us and we can do some incredible things with those blessings. It's bad because, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:25) and because to whom much is given, much is expected.

It didn't take long for us to experience money owning us rather than us owning the money.

So, we still have all the things we bought (except the vacations and the dinners out). But we also have a rather unhealthy struggle when it comes to priorities. We think we need certain things that we don't really need. We think they'll make us happy but they won't. We think if we had more money in the bank we'd feel more secure but we wouldn't.

The truth is, we felt happier, more secure and more content when we had very little money to spend. We trusted God more. We were more thankful for what we had. We found true joy in our relationships rather than a false sense of joy through things.

Money can't buy happiness. It's true.

My Thoughts On Money: Margin

2010-01-26T12:48:00.005-05:00

What is margin?

As I type this post I'm listening to the third part of a Lifechurch.tv series called Margin. Here's how they define margin:

The amount available beyond what is necessary.

So, margin is created by having more than you need. I know a lot of people who have much more than they need, but I also know plenty of people who believe they don't have more than they need. In fact, they would say they don't have enough.

If you read the previous post in this series, you can probably guess that I believe I have more than I need. But I didn't always feel that way.

Early in my marriage (which will be 10 years old in May) my wife and I decided to have kids. Well, God decided we needed kids. Either way, our daughter was born and we suddenly had a third mouth to feed. But, you know food wasn't the only expense that came along with our precious daughter.

At the time, we were living on less than $30,000 a year with two car payments and a mortgage. Needless to say, things were pretty tight. I don't think at that time we believed we had more than we needed. We probably would have said we didn't have enough.

The truth is we had everything we needed - food, clothing, shelter and transportation. We also had lots of other things on top of those basic necessities.

So, what changed? When did we start believing we had enough?

Well, it took a pretty humbling experience for us to understand the difference between what we thought we needed and what we really needed. Shortly after my daughter was born, we found ourselves racking up more and more credit card debt. The minimum payment was becoming overwhelming. So, we ran out of options and asked my parents to help us out.

My parents were very generous to pay off our debt, but were also very wise to require us to pay it back to them.

Since that time, we've never used or even had a credit card. My wife, Katie, and I had to admit to ourselves and to my parents that we were not responsible enough to have that much spending power at our disposal. It was a tough change of mindset, at first, but not having that "safety net" made us more responsible in the long run.

I put "safety net" in quotation marks because that's how we used to view our credit cards. It turns out, though, that the net was really a web that entangled us and threatened to devour us.

So, with no credit card to fall back on when emergencies came up, we had to categorize things into necessities and frivolities. We got good at saying, "No" to things we didn't need and couldn't afford.

Then something happened that changed everything again. We accepted a job that brought in a second income and relieved us of our mortgage. Pretty sweet deal, right? That's what we thought too. Suddenly, we had lots of margin.

The only problem was that we didn't view it as margin. We viewed it as extra. We made some good decisions - like paying off cars and my parents - but we also made some very poor decisions. We got very greedy and started buying all the things we thought we needed to be happy. Fortunately, we did it all debt-free, but it was still a bad idea.

Last year when the economy crashed and people started losing their jobs, we got hit too. We didn't lose our job, but we did lose most of our second income. We were back down to what amounted to one income and had to remember what was necessary and what wasn't.

We are still struggling to figure it out. We don't have any margin right now. We have lots of things, but we still have debt and very little financial freedom.

If we had viewed that extra income as margin instead of extra, we could have been debt free and we could have given a lot of money to the things that are important to us. We could have blessed the many ministries we love and pray for. We could have helped friends and family that went through some very tough times.

I deeply regret some of the decisions we made when we had more margin, but the great thing is that we can still have margin.

How?

Anybody can have margin by doing one of two things: Make more money or spend less money.

In the current economy, making more money doesn't seem possible to many people, but almost everyone can cut expenses. I know for sure that my family can cut back and spend less.

If you believe that you are RICH, then you have more than you need and you can use the extra as margin. Don't view it as extra money for you to buy more stuff, but as margin to use however God asks you.

Proverbs 21:20
In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.

I want to be wise. I want to have margin. Do you?

My Thoughts on Money: I AM RICH

2010-01-25T13:38:00.007-05:00

Most of you reading this know that I am NOT RICH.

But you're wrong.

I AM RICH. You just didn't know it.

I have so much money that I have two cars - a 2004 Toyota Sienna and a 2002 Chevy Prizm (that burns about 1 quart of oil a month).

I have so much money that I have health and life insurance. That's right, I can afford to pay somebody money for things that haven't even happened yet - and probably never will.

I have so much money that I own a 42-inch Sony Bravia LCD TV ... and an entertainment center to put it on. Oh, and I also have a DVD player.

I have so much money that my wife and I both have cell phones ... with unlimited texting (no data plans) and we have two laptop computers and high-speed internet in our home.

I am SO RICH that I have to decide which pair of shoes I'm going to wear each day.

I have SO MUCH MONEY that my whole family gets to eat three meals every day ... and snacks in between. Sometimes we even go to restaurants where we pay people to cook and serve us meals. In fact, there are days when I have to convince myself that I shouldn't buy a can of pop because it sounds so good but I know it's not healthy for me.

You really want to know how rich I am? I am in the top 2% of wage earners in the world today.

Yep. I AM RICH.

Are you rich?

We just completed a four-part series from Lifechurch.tv called How to Be Rich. It wasn't about how to GET rich, because most everybody in the United States already is incredibly rich compared to the average person in the world. This series was about handling the rich blessings we've been given in a way that honors God.

The first session of the series focused a lot on convincing us that WE ARE RICH.

I know I don't often feel rich. But part of that is because RICH is a moving target. Where I'm at financially, RICH seems pretty far away. But from where most people in the world stand, I'm well beyond what they picture as RICH.

When my family and I went to Mexico, we saw many people who would be classified as very poor in the culture we live in. To them, we were probably very RICH. But you know what? In a lot of ways, I saw them as the ones who were rich. They were so full of love and joy and it made me wonder what I was missing.

So, I am convinced that I AM RICH. Are you convinced that you are RICH? If not, just think about all the luxuries you've enjoyed today that most people in the world will never get to experience. If you drove your car to work this morning, you did something many people will never do. If you chose one pair of pants over another pair, you have more than most people will ever have. YOU ARE RICH!

Now, if I have convinced you that YOU ARE RICH, how does it change your life?

I'll tell you how it's changing mine in the next post.

My Thoughts on Money

2010-01-25T12:24:00.003-05:00

This is the start of a multi-part series in which I will share some of the things I've learned and opinions I have about money. It seems like anytime you bring up money it gets people talking and thinking - sometimes even arguing. So, it's obviously a very interesting topic and I have some pretty strong feelings that I'd like to share. I'm not trying to start any arguments or force my opinions on anybody, I just want to share some of the things I've experienced/learned that I consider a great blessing.

First, a few big disclaimers:

1. I am not a financial expert. Nobody is going to confuse me with an expert in any field pertaining to money. I make a lot of stupid decisions with money, but I'm trying to change that. I'm just a normal guy trying to be a good steward of the blessings God has given me.

2. I am still learning. Just because I'm sharing this stuff doesn't mean I think I've learned all there is to learn. In fact, I never want to be in a place where I can't learn new things - even if it challenges things I believe.

3. None of what I'm going to share is original material. I did not make this stuff up or come up with these ideas on my own. I'm just trying to be a messenger of some things I've come across.

4. I wish somebody would have shared this stuff with me sooner. I have made many, many mistakes with money ... and still do. The whole point is to learn, change behavior and help each other make the most of what we have.

The first post is coming later today ... stay tuned.

NFL Pick 'Em Playoffs Week 3 Results

2010-01-25T12:17:00.002-05:00

With a perfect weekend, Craig Helfrich sealed at least a share of the title. Dan Erickson is one game back and has only one option to be able to move into a tie for first with Craig - he'll have to pick the Saints because Craig is the biggest Colts fan I know. Dan can finish no worse than second, so there's nothing for him to lose if he picks New Orleans.

Tim Emmons has sealed the third-place finish. Rodney Jernas and I are tied for fourth and he's another big Colts fan so I'll have to pick the Saints. Look for the final picks late in the week!

NFL Pick 'Em Playoffs Week 3

2010-01-22T16:03:00.004-05:00

It's a clean sweep for the Colts among the contestants. You know what that means?

There's an UPSET coming!

Well, maybe not, but it would serve us all right.

NFL Pick 'Em Playoffs Week 3 Results

2010-01-18T09:02:00.000-05:00

NFL Pick 'Em: Playoffs Week 2

2010-01-15T14:30:00.003-05:00

We've only got seven games left and there's still a race at the top. Craig Helfrich has a one-game lead over Dan Erickson. Beyond that, Tim Emmons has a solid hold on third place and then Rodney Jernas and I are tied for fourth.

Here's my thoughts on this weekend's games:

New Orleans over Arizona: Part of this has to do with my feelings that the Cardinals should not have beaten my Packers last week. More than that, though, I think the Saints are primed for a run in these playoffs. I can see this being a blowout, but even if it's close I think the Saints win.

Indianapolis over Baltimore: This was the hardest game for me to pick this weekend. The reason is because Baltimore is a team that seems like it can beat anybody if they get just a couple bounces to go their way. But, Peyton Manning is still Peyton Manning and he's going to do everything in his power to keep the ball away from Baltimore. So, in the end, I think the Colts win a close one.

Minnesota over Dallas: Sidney Rice (not Brett Favre) is too good to lose this one. I really think Rice (interesting last name) has moved into the top 2 or 3 receivers in the NFL and I don't think the Cowboys have anybody to stop him. Add to that the running attack of Adrian Peterson (most powerful, scary runner in the NFL) and all the other weapons (Harvin, Shiancoe, Taylor) that Minnesota has and I think Dallas struggles to keep up.

San Diego over NY Jets: After so many good seasons this might be the year for the Chargers. Philip Rivers could be the second or third best quarterback in the league and he seems to play best in big games. Now, the Jets do have the best cornerback in the league, but he can only cover one guy at a time and the Chargers have a few guys who can catch passes and make big plays.

You Play To Win The Game (INFL Mixtape)

2010-01-15T10:47:00.001-05:00

In honor of this weekend's playoff games, here's a great video of some of the most memorable NFL coaches and their postgame press conferences. Fun stuff.

Sorry for a few bad words.

NFL Pick 'Em Playoffs Week 2 Results

2010-01-11T10:42:00.003-05:00

Only one contestant correctly picked all four games during the opening weekend of the 2010 NFL Playoffs. Tim Emmons went 4-0, but is still five games behind leader Craig Helfrich. Craig went 1-3 and Dan Erickson went 2-2 to close Craig's lead to one game.

On the other end of the spectrum, Derry Prenkert was the only contestant to go 0-4.

On a personal note, watching the Packers-Cardinals game was excruciating, then thrilling, then agonizing, then exciting ... in the end, though, it was just sad. Oh well. The Packers had a great season (except for that loss to the Buccaneers and getting swept by the Vikings) and there should be nothing but good things on the horizon.

NFL Pick 'Em Playoffs Week 1

2010-01-08T16:38:00.003-05:00

Here we go! The NFL Playoffs start tomorrow and we've got a tight race at the top of the leaderboard. Dan Erickson is only two games back heading into this weekend, but both he and Craig Helfrich have been really strong. They picked only one game differently, and it's one that has special significance to me - Packers vs. Cardinals.

I feel pretty good about the Packers' chances this weekend. The Cards are prone to turnovers and the Packers have forced more turnovers than any other team in the NFL this year. The Green Bay offense is clicking pretty well - especially with the added weapon of tight end Jermichael Finley. I like the matchup, the only problem is that so does everybody else. When just about everybody picks a team to pull off an upset, it doesn't usually happen. Oh well, maybe this time will be different! Go Packers!

Christmas in Mexico: Our Hosts

2010-01-05T13:33:00.003-05:00

When you're going to another country with your family who has never been outside the United States before, there are lots of things you're unsure of.

Since I've been to other countries before, I kind of knew what to expect, but for my family it was a totally new experience.

I was not sure how my family would handle the possible difficulties we would face in Mexico. I didn't know about the food, the housing or our hosts.

I've worked at Nappanee Missionary Church for three years and so I've heard a lot about our partners in the Juarez, Mexico, area. Francisco and Rosa are pretty much household names for anyone who attends NMC regularly. I knew they were loved by the leadership at NMC but you never truly know somebody until you spend time with them.

When we landed in El Paso, we were greeted by Lucio (third from left), Rosita (second from left) and their baby girl, Ruby (middle). Rosita is Francisco and Rosa's daughter and Lucio is her husband. Lucio speaks very little English but Rosita is fluent in English and Spanish.

It was dark when we got to Texas so there wasn't much to see outside our van, but I listened intently as Rosita and our team leader, Jack Lengacher, caught each other up on things. I didn't realize I was doing it, but I learned a lot about what was going to happen while we were in Mexico simply by listening to that conversation.

When we got to the dorm that night, we were warmly greeted by Francisco (left) and Rosa (right) Ramirez, as well as their son, Ruben (aka Carter) and Othon, a church member. They quickly made us feel comfortable and like we were at home.

As our time in Mexico went on, we were able to spend lots of time with the Ramirez family (including Carter, Rosita, Lucio and Ruby) and got to know them pretty well. Every night after dark we got to play games together and with our hosts. Mexican Uno was the main game, but we also introduced some of our games.

One game that my wife, Katie, and Katie Lengacher introduced was Telephone Charades. It's a lot like regular Charades except that a team of four has to pass on the act to each other until the fourth person finally has to make a guess.

In the picture above, Carter and Francisco are doing their renditions of a rapper. Carter started, and did a great job, then Francisco had to copy Carter's act to Rosa. Something got mixed up in the transition and Rosa thought she was supposed to act like a dishwasher. It was hilarious and they eventually got it right.

While the game was a lot of fun, the best part of it was being able to laugh together and get more comfortable with each other. It created a lot of chemistry within our team, but also with our hosts.

One of the highlights of the trip, for me, was getting to know Carter. He speaks English and Spanish so he helped with a lot of translating. But he was also willing to share his story. On the first day, he took a few minutes to tell me about his life. His story is captivating and encouraging. I am so happy that he is taking steps to strengthen his relationship with Christ.

Also, Carter taught us a lot of phrases in Spanish, including what the Beck song Que Onda Guero? means.

One of the first things I did when I got home was to look up the blog Rosita keeps and find Rosa and Rosita on Facebook.

I don't feel like they are just people I know who happen to live in Mexico. In the words of Katie Lengacher, "I have family in Mexico."

NFL Pick 'Em Week 17 Results

2010-01-04T08:35:00.002-05:00

Well, Craig held off Dan for another week and finished the regular season with a two-game lead. Here's the standings at the end of the regular season:

1. Craig Helfrich 178-78

2. Dan Erickson 176-80

3. Tim Emmons 170-86

4. Rodney Jernas 166-90

tie Dan Weiss 166-90

6. Kevin Edwards 160-96

7. Geoff Cocanower 157-99

tie Derry Prenkert 157-99

tie Jeff Simpson 157-99

10. Preson Edwards 152-104

11. Jason Thompson 146-110

There are 11 games left to pick, which means only five people are left with a chance to win. However, it would take a small miracle for anybody but Craig or Dan to actually win the whole thing. Good luck guys!

Christmas in Mexico: The Children

2009-12-31T09:35:00.006-05:00

Our main mission in Mexico was to pack and distribute food bags as well as Christmas gifts. What I like to think of as our secondary mission was to simply spend time with the people.

During our free time Sunday night we sat around in a circle and sort of debriefed. One of the observations made by several people was how much fun it was to spend time with the children in the neighborhood.

One of our first tasks was to make breakfast for the kids Saturday morning. We woke up to no electricity in the dorm, which wasn't that big of a deal. We just had to improvise (like Todd making sausage on the grill). Somewhere around 8 a.m. the kids from the neighborhood started rolling into the dorm. The table was soon filled and they started singing songs together. Then we got to bring each of them a plate of pancakes and sausage (see Katie and Brant serving above).

Following breakfast, we had some free time to get to know the kids a little bit. We learned a lot of names and played with them out in the street and at the park.

The park was made up of a huge baseball field (that's where David is playing soccer with some girls above), a basketball court and some playground equipment. There's dirt, glass and trash everywhere but it appears the people appreciate it because the paint applied by a NMC Student Impact team two years ago is still in good shape.

Whether it was football or soccer, the kids from the neighborhood couldn't get enough of just playing with us and our kids.

The streets were the main area where we interacted with the kids. Traffic was very light and the dirt roads made for a perfect playground. In the picture above you can see David playing with Kenya (and an empty Tecate can) in a sandy area near our dorm. For them it was just like a huge sandbox.

On Monday we prepared a dinner for many of the volunteers at the churches in the area. Part of the preparation was handmade placemats that you can see the girls working on above. They were so eager to help and do whatever they could just to be with us. It was really fun.

My kids have talked a lot about the kids they met in Mexico - especially Hanah. She really wants to go back next year so she can see her friend Alondra (the one farthest to the right in the picture above).

Christmas in Mexico: The Team

2009-12-29T11:26:00.006-05:00

Our team was made up of 16 people from Nappanee Missionary Church and two from New Life Fellowship. We had only two meetings before leaving for Mexico and neither meeting included every member of the team. So, we needed to get to know each other on the fly. It turns out that wasn't a problem. We had good team chemistry the whole time. Everyone was flexible and willing to do whatever it took to accomplish our mission.

I was especially impacted by two members of the team:

Jack Lengacher, and his wife Shelly, were our team leaders. I knew Jack before this trip, but not well. He lives near us in the summers and I had worked with him on some projects at church, but that's about it.

During the process of getting ready for the trip, I was feeling pretty unsure about how our kids were going to handle everything. I was also concerned about how the adults on the team would feel about our two young children.

My concerns were put to rest before we even left the ground. Jack, one other member and my family had to leave on Thursday. The rest of the team didn't come until Friday - just one of the realities of traveling during the holidays. So, we arrived at O'Hare with plenty of time to spare before our flight. We had already eaten dinner and had about an hour before we could start boarding. We had packed the kids' backpacks full of stuff to keep them busy during times just like this and so they started spreading toys and coloring books all over the airport floor.

Then something happened that let me know my children were not going to be considered an annoyance by anybody: My son, David, asked Jack to color with him. Without hesitation, Jack got down on the floor and started coloring with David (see picture above). I'm sure for Jack it was no big deal, but for me it meant a great deal.

After spending four days in the same room at the dorm (and giving him the nickname Pastor Skunk) David felt very comfortable with Jack. He even spent much of the bus ride home from the airport on Jack's lap planning a sleepover next summer!

Beyond the way they welcomed us and our children, Jack and Shelly provided our entire team with great leadership. They made sure we knew what to expect, what the schedule was and what was expected of us. They led by example through cooking, cleaning, serving and never acting like any question was a bother. It was great to get to know them (and their daughter, Katie, who was also on the trip) better and know that we've got some new friends to hang out with next summer!

Brant Nine was the other team member who left with us on Friday. I knew who Brant was from going to Senior High Camp last summer and working with Sr. High this school year, but I didn't know him personally. Brant was the starting quarterback for NorthWood this past football season and it's easy to tell he's considered a leader among the students at our church.

That's what I knew about Brant before this trip.

It didn't take me long to learn that there's much more to this kid. Yes, he's a leader - without question. And, yes, he was his team's quarterback. But those two things don't define him, at least in my mind.

Here's what impacted me most about Brant: His love for other people - all people - and his willingness to endure uncomfortable situations and pain to achieve something great.

It didn't take our kids long to realize what an awesome guy Brant is either. They were quickly comfortable with him. There's another picture from the airport where my daughter, Hanah, is sharing a set of headphones with Brant while he plays the only kids' songs he has on his iPod. During our first day in Mexico, while we were waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, Brant went with my kids and me to the park and showed us around. He bought us bottles of Coke and spent time entertaining the kids.

Throughout the trip, it became clear to me that Brant is a very compassionate guy. He absolutely loves the people in Mexico, but he also loves the people he's with everyday at home. He wants the best for everyone and he doesn't mind sharing what's on his mind and in his heart - even when it causes him to be vulnerable.

I'm excited for Brant to finish out his senior year at NorthWood and then go on to Bethel College, where he's majoring in Elementary Education and minoring in Youth Ministry. Both of those fields seem perfect for him!

Mexico slideshow

2009-12-29T10:41:00.003-05:00

Here's a slideshow of my photos from our trip to Mexico. In the coming days, I'm going to pull several of these photos out and share a story or something special about each one. Enjoy!

NFL Pick 'Em Week 16 Results

2009-12-29T10:37:00.002-05:00

Craig made some good calls this week (i.e. Chicago over Minnesota) and regained a two-game advantage. One more week left in the regular season and then we pick the playoffs!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T11:49:00.002-05:00

NFL Pick 'Em Week 15 Results

2009-12-24T08:51:00.002-05:00

Dan Erickson keeps inching closer to Craig. He's only one game back now!

Big Week

2009-12-15T16:31:00.004-05:00

This week is going to be a bit of a departure from our normal pre-Christmas preparations. Usually we spend the week before Christmas getting gifts ready, making cookies and other sugar-loaded treats and planning our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day travels.

This year, though, we're doing a different kind of preparation. Starting tonight, we're packing our bags for a trip to Mexico. We leave Thursday evening as part of a Nappanee Missionary Church Global Impact Team that will spread some Christmas cheer to our ministry partners in the Juarez area. We'll hand out food bags, Christmas gifts, prepare a Christmas dinner for 70+ people and share with several churches during our five days south of the border.

Katie, Hanah, David and I are all very excited. As parents, we can't think of a better way to teach our kids the value of giving and serving others. We hope this will teach us all how much better it is to give than receive.

Another significant event kicked off this week. It's really only significant to us, but I thought I'd share it with you. After seven years of driving a 1998 Mercury Villager minivan, we finally put it out of its misery and bought a new van. Our Villager was a true blessing to us. We bought it shortly after our daughter was born in 2002 and we've never had major problems with it. It's been through seven years of child transportation, a drive to Kentucky and back, an accident that the insurance company deemed a total loss, a one-day disc golf marathon with six guys in tow and countless trips between our house and those of our families who all live about an hour away. We put about 80,000 miles on it and it still runs great. But, there were enough little things starting to go wrong that we thought it was a good time to upgrade.

What we found as a replacement is a 2004 Toyota Sienna. It's a really nice van and from everything I've read it's one of the highest-rated vehicles you can buy. So, we're hoping for at least as good of results as we had with the Villager ... maybe even better!

God has been good to us this Christmas season. We've received many blessings and we're very thankful.

NFL Pick 'Em Week 14 Results

2009-12-15T16:29:00.002-05:00

It looks like the playoffs are going to be significant, after all! Only two games separate Craig and Dan Erickson now. I'm in a distant third.

NFL Pick 'Em Week 13 results

2009-12-08T08:47:00.002-05:00

Things are getting interesting at the top of the leaderboard. A strong 13-3 week by Dan Erickson, combined with a 9-7 showing from Craig Helfrich led to a 3-game lead for Craig with three weeks left in the regular season followed by the playoffs.

Here's how Week 13 went down and a look at everyone's records:

NFL Pick 'Em Week 13

2009-12-03T17:18:00.002-05:00

Uh Oh! A couple guys failed to send me their picks. I guess if they send them to me by the end of the day Friday they will still count, except for the Jets-Bills game, of course!

Anyway, here's how I see Week 13:

NY Jets over Bills: I can't see any reason to get excited about the Bills' win last week. Plus, the Jets were tough earlier in the year. I think they win this one.

Philadelphia over Atlanta: My first instinct was to go the other way on this one, but then I remembered I need to start taking some chances. This one isn't a big reach, but it turns out some of the leaders picked Atlanta, so at least it gives me a chance to gain some ground.

Chicago over St. Louis: The Bears are not good, but they're still good enough to beat the Rams right? Right?

Cincinnati over Detroit: The Bengals should run wild in this one.

Pittsburgh over Oakland: Who knows with the Steelers anymore? I mean, I still give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'm starting to wonder.

Tennessee over Indianapolis: This is a popular upset pick, but apparently nobody else in this challenge is looking for an upset pick because I'm the only one who picked the Titans. I think they've got a shot. Not a very good one, but a shot. Like I said, I need to take some chances.

Denver over Kansas City: KC is just not good. I don't think Denver's as good as they looked earlier in the season either.

New England over Miami: The Patriots have a history of stinking it up against the Dolphins, so I might pay for this one.

New Orleans over Washington: The Redskins have a good defense, but the Saints have a REALLY good offense!

Carolina over Tampa Bay: I learned my lesson. Never pick the Panthers ... except against a really bad team like the Bucs.

Houston over Jacksonville: The Texans are still on the verge of being a really good team ... but they've been there for a long time.

San Diego over Cleveland: Ummm, do I need to explain myself here?

Dallas over NY Giants: I don't know. I figured most people would pick the G-men, so I went the other way.

San Francisco over Seattle: The Niners are also on the verge. I like the Alex Smith-Vernon Davis-Frank Gore-Michael Crabtree combination. Seems like a good core of talent to build around. (Yes, I used the word talent in reference to Alex Smith)

Arizona over Minnesota: Again, another chance here. I really hope Kurt Warner plays, because I don't think the Cardinals have a chance without him. But if he plays, this could be a really fun game to watch.

Green Bay over Baltimore: This is me going with my heart to make a risky pick. The group is just about split on this one, so it may or may not work out for me. Either way, I hope the Packers win.

The Best of the Decade

2009-12-03T08:34:00.014-05:00

I'm sort of stealing an idea from Derry here, but as long as I provide plenty of links to his blog he won't mind.

I wanted to come up with a clever name for this decade to put in the title, but it turns out I'm not all that witty. I did find a website with a long discussion of what the decade should be called here. My personal favorites were ... the Aughts, the Double-Ohs and the Preteens.

However you name it, this past decade has definitely been one to remember (or forget, depending on your perspective). I'm sure it's that way with any given 10-year period of time, but this particular decade has been EXTREMELY significant for me because of the stages of life I went through.

So, here are my best of each year of the Aughts:

2000
By far, without a doubt, the best thing I did in 2000 was get married to Katie Malkewicz. We had a long, sometimes rocky, dating relationship that started in September of 1996. After a break during the summer of 1997 we both decided we were ready to commit to each other for good and it has been an incredible relationship ever since. Our good friends Derry and Janelle were married three weeks before us and we were all in each other's weddings. That was a lot of fun too. Katie and I went to Key West for our honeymoon - a trip we would never have been able to afford without some very generous gifts from family members. While Key West is not a location we are likely to revisit, the time together was amazing and a perfect way to start our lives together.

2001
The first year of marriage was great, and an awesome learning experience. Katie was still in school at Bethel College and I was working full-time at the Niles Daily Star. My schedule there was unique because I worked in the office from 8-11:30 a.m. and then was off until I had to cover sports events in the evening. Since Katie didn't have to be at Bethel all day every day, it gave us lots of chances to be together during the day. Most of the time we would eat lunch and then take a long afternoon nap. We also used that time to do work around the house or exercise together. We actually ran in our first 5K race together that year. We ran in a 5K in LaPorte in September and Katie struggled to finish, which was unusual. Well, we found out a few weeks later that she was pregnant with our first child, which leads me to ...

2002
Our daughter Hanah was born three days after our second anniversary (May 30). We were both completely unprepared for the amount of change that little girl brought to our lives. I remember not really going out unless we absolutely had to for about six months. We wanted to keep her safe and healthy. We didn't know babies are actually very durable and can withstand a lot of things we thought would really damage her. Despite our worries and uncertainties, it was an amazing first year with our daughter. Obviously, our world revolved around her. We learned a lot about babies and about each other.

2003
As we began to settle into our new roles as father and mother, Katie and I also began to settle into our roles as husband and wife. I feel like we hit sort of a sweet spot during this time and this year was very comfortable. I began to think about my future employment opportunities and decided it was time to move on. The only problem was there were no jobs to be had for me this year.

2004
As the job search continued, finally some doors started to open. I nearly landed a job with Ave Maria Press that would have actually placed me in the Notre Dame Sports Information office. After that near miss, I applied for a position at the South Bend Tribune and, in July, left the Daily Star to become a page designer at the Tribune. Before that move, however, Katie and I discovered that we were expecting another child. This one, like Hanah, was completely unexpected. In fact, we thought we were taking measures to avoid pregnancy. However, God had other plans for us and we began to prepare to become the parents of two children. During the pregnancy, an ultrasound revealed a problem with our baby's kidneys. They were not functioning properly and the doctors weren't sure why. Through prayer and talking with each other, we decided to name our baby David. We saw a parallel between the small physical stature and youth of King David and our son's possible kidney dysfunction. We also wanted to see our son overcome the things that were working against him to become a man after God's own heart and do great things. Our son David was born on October 9. There were no signs of the kidney problems and he has never had a problem since that time.

2005
We welcomed the new year with a daughter going on 3 and a nearly 3-month-old son. Unfortunately, the new year also included a severe downturn in the health of Katie's grandfather. We spent much of the early part of that year at her grandparents' house as he spent his last days in the place where he felt most comfortable. I'll never forget eating a meal of corned beef and cabbage that St. Patrick's Day after Ross Eminger went home to be with Jesus. We told Hanah that her great-grandpa went to heaven. A few days later, as we prepared to go to the viewing and told Hanah that we were going to see grandpa, as we approached the viewing room she said, "Is this heaven?"

2005 also held another job change for me. I stayed at the South Bend Tribune, but moved into the Sports Department to become the lead sports designer. Further changes came our way later that year when we pursued and accepted a position with Bethel College. We became the caretakers at Bethel's Retreat Center on Dewart Lake in Syracuse, Ind., in September. The move forced us to leave a great group of friends in Niles, but God soon brought us another solid group in our new location.

2006
Our first winter at the lake was kind of rough for us. I was commuting to the South Bend Tribune (an hour away) four nights a week. The winter weather made the drive quite an adventure at times. The weather also brought down three trees on the Retreat Center property that I had to clean up. That made for some long, busy, exhausting days. But the weather soon cleared and we got to enjoy our first summer at Dewart Lake. It was great to spend time outside in the sun and fishing on the lake. That summer we also started attending Nappanee Missionary Church where we were reunited with Derry and Janelle. In addition, a full-time graphic designer position came open at the church and I looked into it. I started working at NMC on Halloween that year.

2007
Another long winter at the lake gave way to spring and we were able to take our first family vacation. We went to Orlando for a week. It was the first time our children (Then 4 and 2) flew in an airplane and went to Disney World. They loved both experiences and it was a great time for our whole family.

Shortly after our vacation we found out that my grandmother's health had taken a turn for the worse. She was already in pretty bad shape, but now it looked like the days were numbered. I had the fortunate chance to see her the night she died on May 22. I wrote about my grandmother here. There are not many people who I would have no hesitation about giving them this title, but my grandmother truly was a saint.

Later that year we were blessed with some great opportunities to gain some new friendships. Our neighbors at the lake, the Yoders, became a huge part of our lives. They served as mentors and friends to Katie and me and their kids became a huge part of our kids' lives. We both played on a co-ed softball team with friends from church and Katie got involved with student ministries at church. She attended summer camp and led a freshman small group in the fall.

2008
Another vacation marks this year in my memory. Katie, the kids and I joined my parents and my sister on a 12-day trip to San Diego to visit my grandparents. We spent lots of time with them as well as my dad's half-brother and his family and my good friend Chuck. We went to the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, a Padres game and Hollywood. It was a trip I'll never forget.

In the fall of this year Katie began homeschooling Hanah. It had its ups and downs, but overall we've been very happy with that decision. Hanah loves being at home. She's a quick learner - a bit easily distracted - but homeschooling seems to be a good fit for her.

One other thing I'll always remember about 2008 is the incredible crash of the economy. I'll remember it because of the way it effected the people I love. Whether it was lost jobs, reduced income or just a sense of hopelessness, we all felt the hit. It definitely changed our perspective and served as a wake-up call to many of us to re-prioritize our lives.

2009
This year started off pretty poorly in my opinion. A few days after celebrating the new year (which was a blast with our friends Marty & Mindy) my dad called and told me that my grandfather, his father, had died. This was unexpected and came as quite a shock. My grandpa, who was not my biological grandfather, had done much to influence our family and establish a sense of honor, responsibility and heroism in it. You can read my thoughts about him here.

Things didn't get much better in February when Derry suddenly lost his father in a car accident. I was surprised how hard that loss hit me - probably because I knew how much Derry was hurting and I appreciated his dad so much.

As we all dealt with those losses and the new economic reality we were living in, God was preparing to change our hearts as well. I like to say Derry set me up because he always used to ask me when I was going to get involved with student ministries (he's the Sr. High Pastor at NMC) and I would always respond by saying I just didn't think I was ready. Well, he gave me the book Season of Life early that year and it definitely changed things for me. It convinced me it was time to get involved with something that wasn't all about me. Katie and I decided to go to Summer Camp and even more changes came my way. I received a very specific call from God, jumped into the Kids In Need effort at NMC and committed to lead a small group of freshman guys this school year.

Our kids are at a really fun stage of life (not that their whole lives haven't been fun) where they are becoming quite independent, but still want our attention much of the time. They love to read books, draw, play games and wrestle. They love to visit friends and play with their kids. They are even becoming able to focus on things outside of themselves. In an effort to foster that shift, all four of us are going to be part of NMC's Global Impact Team to Juarez, Mexico, from December 17-22. The mission of the team is to pack and deliver Christmas gift boxes to needy families in the greater Juarez area. It falls right in line with our Kids In Need focus and the priorities we are trying to teach our children.

So, there you have it. The story of my life in the Preteens (2000-2009).

NFL Pick 'Em Week 12 Results

2009-12-01T09:17:00.002-05:00

Standings after 12 weeks:

1. Craig Helfrich 127-49
2. Dan Erickson 120-56
3. Tim Emmons 119-57
4. Dan Weiss 118-58
5. Rodney Jernas 115-61
6. Kevin Edwards 114-62
7. Geoff Cocanower 113-63
8. Derry Prenkert 110-66
9. Jason Thompson 109-67
10. Preston Edwards 108-68
(tie) Jeff Simpson 108-68

NFL Pick 'Em Week 11 results

2009-11-24T08:32:00.003-05:00

Craig continues to lead, but the gap is getting smaller. At 113-47, Craig is six games ahead of Tim Emmons and seven ahead of Dan Erickson and me. Rodney Jernas and Kevin Edwards are tied for fifth place at 103-57. Derry Prenkert is alone in seventh and Geoff Cocanower is by himself in eighth. Jeff Simpson, Jason Thompson and Preston Edwards are holding the last three places, respectively.

NFL Pick 'Em Week 11

2009-11-19T15:34:00.005-05:00

Every week I can't believe it's this late in the season already. Week 11 holds some very interesting matchups and playoff spots are starting to be won and lost. Here's my picks:

Miami at Carolina - No Ronnie Brown means the Dolphins can't run the Wildcat the way they have been all season. Carolina is looking better each week.

Washington at Dallas - After losing to my Packers last week, I think the Cowboys rebound at home.

Cleveland at Detroit - This is another one of those "who cares?" games. Seriously, is anybody going to watch this one? Games like this are tough to pick, though.

San Francisco at Green Bay - After last week I was tempted to pick the 49ers this week, actually hoping for another Green Bay win. But as a fan, I can't do it. I thought the offense was going to be the Packers' strength this season, but it's starting to look more and more like they're going to have to rely on the defense to win tough games. After abusing an experienced Tony Romo last week, they should be able to mess with Alex Smith a little bit this week too.

Pittsburgh at Kansas City - No way the Steelers lose this one. I just can't see a scenario that leads to a Chiefs' win.

Atlanta at NY Giants - This was a really tough pick for me. Both teams need this one badly - the Giants (5-4) can still win their division while the Falcons (5-4) need every win they can get to try to get a Wild Card spot.

New Orleans at Tampa Bay - The Saints have a legitimate shot to go undefeated in the regular season. This week's a Brees (sorry, I had to do it) and a Week 12 game at home against New England may be the last really tough challenge. They also have to take care of business Washington, Atlanta, Dallas, Tampa Bay and Carolina the rest of the way.

Buffalo at Jacksonville - Things are really bad in Buffalo. Not quite as bad as Cleveland, but really bad.

Indianapolis at Baltimore - Normally I would pick Baltimore in this one, but I'm not picking against the Colts the rest of the way. I think they're THAT GOOD.

Seattle at Minnesota - As easy as it is to dislike Brett Favre, it's hard to deny how great things are working out in Minnesota. They're fun to watch, too.

Arizona at St. Louis - The Cardinals are looking like Super Bowl contenders once again. Of course, that's contingent on getting breaks at the right time and a healthy Anquan Boldin. As much abuse as their running game has taken, I actually think it's shaping up nicely. Wells and Hightower aren't a bad combination.

NY Jets at New England - The Jets seem to be in a slump while the Patriots look like things are really clicking, especially on offense. Look for Bill Belichcik to show why everyone considered him a genius before last week's debacle.

Cincinnati at Oakland - OK, I'm convinced. The Bengals are for real. Sweeping the Ravens and the Steelers earns respect. Oakland hasn't done anything to earn anybody's respect.

San Diego at Denver - This is more of a vote against the Broncos than for the Chargers. I just think Denver's weaknesses are being exposed and now that Kyle Orton is injured, they're even weaker.

Philadelphia at Chicago - Man, what happened to the Bears?

Tennessee at Houston - This one is slightly out on a limb. Trailing by 8 games at this point in the season calls for taking some chances. This isn't a big reach, but I'm the only one who picked the Titans. As long as Chris Johnson is healthy, I feel comfortable taking chances on the Titans!

LIVING differently

2009-11-16T16:27:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile since I've written anything of significance on the old blog. It's mostly been NFL Pick 'Em updates. I've been really busy at work and haven't had much time to stop and process a lot of the stuff that's happening.

Now, don't get your hopes up because what I'm about to write may still not be very significant. But it was for me, so I hope it's beneficial to you.

As most of you know, Katie and I have gotten involved with Student Ministries at NMC this past summer and school year. One of the things that everyone involved with Student Ministries at NMC has heard about is the Kids In Need focus. Katie and I are leading Small Groups and have helped with some Kids In Need planning sessions. So, we're invested.

This past weekend was a big one for the Kids In Need effort. Starting with the Silent Auction and the 5KIN on Saturday, continuing with Derry's message Sunday morning and the Baby Walk Sunday night.

Katie and I were to be heavily involved with several of these events. I was going to run the 5KIN and shoot some video while doing so. Both of us were going to share how Kids In Need has impacted us as part of Derry's message and we both wanted to go to the Baby Walk.

On top of all that, Katie was hosting a 24-hour women's retreat called Refresh at the lake.

Well, plans changed.

Our two kids came down with something resembling Croup, starting Thursday night. It's nothing new to our family; it seems like we fight through Croup at leas a couple times each fall/winter. But this affliction was especially inconvenient considering all we had going on.

We planned to have our kids spend the night with their grandparents Saturday night and most of the day Sunday. As Friday night progressed, however, it became apparent that neither of them was well enough to go anywhere, let alone spend the night away from home.

Now, this is the significant part for me: One of the things I was going to talk about during Derry's message was how I've learned that kids right here in our area sometimes don't even have parents that care about them. It's impacted me and I never want my kids to think I don't care about them.

The grandparents were still more than willing to help out with the kids this weekend. They even offered to come to our house and sit with them, make some chicken noodle soup and comfort them. But something inside of me knew that was not a good plan. Something told me it was my job - even though Katie was gone at the retreat - to care for my children.

I tried to fight it. I was tempted to let the grandparents take the kids, even though they didn't want to go and weren't up to it. After all, I had a very good reason for doing it. I had important things to do (5KIN, work around the house and Derry's message).

But then I was reminded that there are kids in my own community who don't even have parents, let alone parents that are willing to take care of them when they're sick. So, I knew it was time for me to let go of what I wanted to do and embrace my role as daddy to those two sick kids.

Once I let go of my agenda, things went incredibly well. I had so much fun with my kids and it was wonderful being the one to comfort them and help them get healthy. We had a great time together and I think they realized that daddy was pretty good at taking care of them.

I don't write this to brag on myself, but to remind myself that it's not about me. The plans I had were for some very significant things, but what I ended up doing was much more significant. I want to always make the right choice, especially when my kids are involved.

I love them. I hope they feel and understand that.

NFL Pick 'Em Week 10

2009-11-12T13:02:00.002-05:00

Here's my take on Week 10:

San Francisco over Chicago - Mike Singletary comes back to Soldier Field and beats up on his old team.
New Orleans over St. Louis - The line on this one should be 30.
Miami over Tampa Bay - Yes, the Bucs beat the Packers last week, but the Dolphins will win this battle of Florida.
Minnesota over Detroit - The line on this one should be 35.
NY Jets over Jacksonville - Coming off a bye, the Jets get back to their early-season form.
Tennessee over Buffalo - Look out Bills! You got nobody that can catch Chris Johnson!
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati - Steelers bring some sanity back to the AFC North.
Denver over Washington - Broncos are still a good team even though it's been a rough couple weeks for them. Washington is still a bad team.
Atlanta over Carolina - This pick is mainly because I just can't bring myself to believe in the Panthers.
Kansas City over Oakland - Who cares?
Arizona over Seattle - The Cardinals look like they're kind of settling into a rhythm.
Dallas over Green Bay - This pains me to pick against the Packers for the first time this season, but I have to admit that they've got problems - namely the offensive line.
Philadelphia over San Diego - I don't feel good about picking either team here.
Indianapolis over New England - Great game! I give the edge to Indy because it's at home and it's a primetime game.
Baltimore over Cleveland - Ugghhh. That's the sound I make everytime I hear or think about the Browns.

NFL Pick 'Em Week 9 results

2009-11-10T08:30:00.002-05:00

Well, we had a bit of a problem last week. As you can see above, there's three guys with yellow letters below their names. Those three did not turn in their picks last week. In order to keep them in the game, they were given a record one game worse than the worse record of those who turned in their picks. So Geoff, Preston and Jason each received a record of 5-8 for Week 9.

Of course, Craig is still in the lead at 92-37. Tim Emmons has taken over second place at 87-42 while I am tied with Dan Erickson for third at 85-44. Derry has made a nice comeback to move into fifth all by himself at 84-45.

As a group, our overall record is 907-512, which is a .639 correct pick percentage. I think we can do better!

So Pretty

2009-11-06T09:48:00.001-05:00

NFL PIck 'Em Week 8 Results

2009-11-04T09:19:00.002-05:00

NFL Pick 'Em Week 8

2009-10-30T16:53:00.003-04:00

I don't have much time to elaborate on these picks because it's almost 5 and I need to get out of here! As you can see, Jason Thompson's picks didn't make it in for this week. He's on vacation so I'll forgive him.

As for me:
Houston over Buffalo - I really like the Texans. I keep saying that, but it's all I got for picking this game this way!
Chicago over Cleveland - Cleveland is really bad. Just trade one of your quarterbacks already!!!!!!!
Dallas over Seattle - Wouldn't be surprised if I'm wrong here.
Detroit over St. Louis - Two really bad teams. Detroit's at home.
Baltimore over Denver - Somebody's got to beat them eventually and it might as well be the Ravens with the game played in Baltimore.
Indy over San Francisco - I like the Niners but the Colts are just too good.
Miami over NY Jets - This is mainly because I like the Wildcat offense so much.
NY Giants over Philly - Can't see the Giants losing three in a row.
Jacksonville over Tennessee - Will Tennessee be better or worse with Vince Young?
San Diego over Oakland - LaDainian Tomlinson crushes Oakland and just because he's 30 doesn't mean that changes.
Arizona over Carolina - I like the Cardinals more and more every time I watch them.
Green Bay over Minnesota - Obviously the game of the week for me. I don't feel great about my Packers so far and this game is no different. But I do feel that if the Green Bay offensive line can buy Aaron Rodgers a little time the Packers have a good chance. At the very least they've got to give up fewer sacks this time around.
New Orleans over Atlanta - Saints are really good.

NFL Pick 'Em Week 7 Results

2009-10-27T07:49:00.003-04:00

Week 7 belonged to Dan Erickson as he finished with an 11-2 record, moving him into a tie for second place with Geoff Cocanower and myself, all at 69-34. Craig is holding fast to the No. 1 spot at 77-26.

NFL Pick 'Em Week 7

2009-10-23T14:21:00.003-04:00

Week 7 already? It's hard to believe, but here we go:

Green Bay over Cleveland - This was a very easy pick because the Browns are really bad. Plus, you know I love me some Packers!

San Diego over Kansas City - The Chiefs are bad. The Bolts are not bad. Easy pick.

Indianapolis over St. Louis - The Colts may be the best team in the NFL (yes, I just said that) and the Rams may be the worst.

Pittsburgh over Minnesota - GREAT GAME! Tough pick. But the Vikings cannot stay undefeated forever, right? I hope Troy Polamalu is back for the Steelers and picks off Brett Favre.

New England over Tampa Bay - This game is in London, not that it really matters. I think last week's pummeling of the Titans may be a sign of things to come from the Patriots, so I like them to win big this week.

Houston over San Francisco - Really good game. Two teams who are really close to being really really good, but can't seem to get over the hump. Tough pick, but Houston is at home, so that's why I picked the Texans.

Carolina over Buffalo - I can't think of a game involving either of these two teams that I would want to watch.

NY Jets over Oakland - If the Jets are really a good team, they'll rebound from two straight losses against this really bad Raiders team.

Atlanta over Dallas - This one is at Dallas, so it wouldn't surprise me if the Cowboys won, but I think the Falcons are really good.

Cincinnati over Chicago - This was a tough call for me, but the game is at Cincinnati and since the Bengals lost last week to Houston, I think there's some motivation to win this one. Plus I could see Cedric Benson really taking it to his old team.

New Orleans over Miami - Even the Wildcat offense isn't enough for the Fish to beat another team vying for the title of best team in the NFL.

NY Giants over Arizona - The G Men are not a great pass defense, but they're going to put enough pressure on Kurt Warner to keep him in check.

Philadelphia over Washington - This is a pretty bad MNF game, but it's still a division rivalry I guess. The Eagles lost to Oakland last week and are probably going to take out their frustrations on the Redskins.

Pictures from the last 21 hours

2009-10-21T13:56:00.008-04:00

This praying mantis showed up outside the office next to mine just before lunch.

I was just about to pull out of the driveway this morning when I glanced out over the lake and saw this.

After work yesterday I went to see Tim Berkey and check his progress on his car. This guy has put in lots of work and the end is almost in sight!

NFL Pick 'Em Week 6 Results

2009-10-20T08:36:00.003-04:00

Rodney Jernas turned in the best performance of Week 6 with a record of 9-5. With that, he climbs into a tie for third place with me (at 59-31) behind Craig Helfrich (67-23) and Geoff Cocanower (60-30). It was a rough week for everybody - nobody saw the Raiders beating Philly, only one picked Buffalo and only two picked Houston to beat Cincinnati.

Sunday evenings

2009-10-19T10:15:00.003-04:00

Katie and I have gotten involved with Student Ministries at NMC. As part of that, we each have our own Small Groups that we are leading. I am working with a group of freshmen boys that meets Wednesday nights. Katie's group is junior girls and they meet Sunday nights from 6-8 p.m.

This has been a bit of an adjustment for us just because of the additional items on our weekly schedule. But it has been pretty rough on our kids because it means mommy is gone every Sunday night. She doesn't get home until after they are in bed.

The last few weeks, however, have been a lot of fun for the kids and me. Last week we went to a concert at Grace College. This week we spent time outside riding bikes, playing basketball, playing tag and enjoying a campfire with roasted marshmallows. Here's some pictures:

NFL Pick 'Em Week 10

2009-10-16T13:49:00.004-04:00

Here we go again! Week 6 is almost here and the NFL Pick 'Em challenge rolls on. Craig Helfrich has a large lead (5 games) but it's a long season and nobody (not even Preston Edwards - 13 games back) is out of it yet.

So, here's how my Week 6 picks happened:

Cincinnati over Houston - This was a very tough call for me. I find myself rooting for Houston a lot - probably because I spent a lot of money on Andre Johnson in an auction draft. But it's hard to deny what the Bengals have accomplished so far this year.

Green Bay over Detroit - I'm probably going to pick Green Bay every week of the season because I'm a fan, but this week was a no-brainer. I think Detroit is on the right track, but a long way from winning at Lambeau.

Baltimore over Minnesota - This was a very tough call. In the end it came down to not believing the Ravens could lose three games in a row. I think they're too good. But I also think the Vikings are good, so this could be a great game.

New Orleans over NY Giants - I pick these games early in the week, usually Monday or Tuesday. So I'm not sure why I went this way. Maybe it's just because the Saints are at home ... I don't know.

Pittsburgh over Cleveland - The only thing I wasn't sure about on this one is whether to start Hines Ward. I hope he gets in the end zone this week.

Carolina over Tampa Bay - If my kids do something really bad this weekend, the punishment will be making them watch this game.

Washington over Kansas City - Wait, a better punishment would be making them watch this game.

Jacksonville over St. Louis - After getting pounded by Seattle last week, this is just what the Jags need.

Arizona over Seattle - Does anybody know what to make of the Seahawks? I think the Cardinals are tough to pick against when facing mediocre teams. They've just got too many weapons.

Philadelphia over Oakland - The best part of this game may be getting to watch Michael Vick play in mop-up time.

New England over Tennessee - This is scary because Tennessee has got to win a game eventually. It's probably not going to happen this week, though.

NY Jets over Buffalo - I have a feeling the Jets put a whooping on the Bills this week after losing to Miami last week.

Atlanta over Chicago - I'm glad this one's the late game because it should be a great one. I won't be surprised, or even that disappointed, if I'm wrong here.

San Diego over Denver - I will probably regret this one, but Denver's not going undefeated and this is a big divisional game for the Chargers.

NFL Pick 'Em Week 5 Results

2009-10-13T08:55:00.002-04:00

Well, it was another crazy week in the NFL. Would we expect anything less?

In the NFL Pick 'Em challenge, leader Craig Helfrich did not win the week but did well enough to maintain a comfortable lead. He's at 59-17 and the only competitor with less than 20 losses. Geoff Cocanower remains in second place at 54-22 while I am tied with Tim Emmons and Dan Erickson for third place at 51-25.

Congratulations to Kevin Edwards, Rodney Jernas and Derry Prenkert for 11-3 records in week 5. It took some gutsy calls to do that well (i.e. Cincinnati and Miami).

NFL Pick 'Em Week 5

2009-10-09T14:23:00.005-04:00

Well, we're back at it for Week 5 of the NFL season. Is it really Week 5 already?

This week's schedule of games is not very exciting. Unlike last week, there's not really any MUST-SEE games, especially since the Packers aren't playing!!!

Anyway, here's my explanation for why I picked the way I did:

Buffalo over Cleveland - This is not going well for Eric Mangini. Winless, and now you trade away your best receiver (even with a bad case of the drops, he's the Browns' best option). Sadly, I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. Hopefully the Browns will have the guts to trade either Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson away and get some value in return.
Dallas over Kansas City - KC is bad. Dallas lost last week and is probably mad about it.
Minnesota over St. Louis - After watching the Vikings last week, I'm convinced. They are for real. The Minnesota pass rush is really good (Green Bay's poor offensive line made them look phenomenal) and the Vikings have a really diverse offense as well. They're fun to watch.
NY Giants over Oakland - Watch for Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw to run wild against the Raiders.
Philly over Tampa Bay - Philly's a good team that's getting it's superstar quarterback back from an injury. Deshawn Jackson is shaping up to be everything he was expected to be coming out of college. And look out for the Wildcat!!!!
Pittsburgh over Detroit - Detroit is getting better for sure, but not enough to beat the reigning champions. If Troy Polamalu is back the Lions are really in trouble!
Carolina over Washington - Two very disappointing teams. What a terrible game this is.
Baltimore over Cincinnati - I bet Ray Lewis is mad after losing last week, especially when his team gets penalized for bumping into Tom Brady. Watch out Carson Palmer - you've got more than a little bump coming your way this week!
San Francisco over Atlanta - I like the Niners a lot. This is probably the best game of the week and a tough one to pick. If the Niners win this, they are in really good shape to win their division.
Jacksonville over Seattle - The Jags might just be finding their chemistry.
Arizona over Houston - This was another tough pick and this would probably be a fun game to watch. I like the Cardinals to have a big week coming off a bye.
New England over Denver - This one would be fun to watch just because it's Josh McDaniels with his undefeated team facing his old team that's still trying to separate themselves from the pack.
Indianapolis over Tennessee - OK, last week when the Titans got slammed by the Jags I told Derry that it didn't matter who they played this week I was picking against them. Turns out it was the easiest pick of the week. Now watch the Titans pull off the amazing upset and prove me wrong!
NY Jets over Miami - Big game in the division, but that's about it. The Jets look like Super Bowl contenders and the Dolphins look like last year was a fluke. I bet Braylon Edwards catches a TD in this game ... just a hunch!

Happy Birthday to my best buddy!

2009-10-09T09:00:00.004-04:00

Today is my son David's fifth birthday! I cannot believe he's five already.

Over the past year David and I have become really great buddies. We do a lot together. He rides with me while I mow. He helps me pick up leaves and sticks. We play football, baseball and basketball together. We build all kinds of stuff with Legos and Lincoln Logs.

Lately, David has gotten really excited about Spiderman, as you'll see in the pictures below.

David is an incredible blessing in my life and I am very thankful for him.

Happy Birthday buddy!

NFL Pick 'Em Week 4 Results

2009-10-07T09:13:00.003-04:00

Well, Craig continues to separate himself from the pack with a 12-2 performance in Week 4. He's now 49-13 overall, well ahead of Geoff Cocanower, who's all alone in second place at 45-17. I am alone in third at 43-19 then there's a three-way tie for fourth between Tim Emmons, Dan Erickson and Jeff Simpson - all at 42-2.

Craig has a commanding lead, but it's a long season and it only takes a couple bad weeks to bring him back to the pack!

NFL Pick 'Em Week 4

2009-10-02T09:45:00.005-04:00

Last week was a pretty good one for the whole group. We averaged 11 correct picks. Things are tight at the top and there are some tough picks this week.

Here's why I picked the way I did:

Chicago over Detroit - The Bears are rolling pretty well and I think it's way too early to predict a Lions' winning streak.

Cincinnati over Cleveland - I'm worried about this one only because everyone picked the Bengals. But it's hard to pick Cleveland with as bad as they've played.

Indianapolis over Seattle - While I think the Colts play better on the road, they're too good to get beat at home by Seattle.

NY Giants over Kansas City - The Chiefs are bad.

Baltimore over New England - In my mind this is the game of the week. And the best part is it could be an offensive shootout. I think both teams are strong on offense and the Ravens are probably better on defense. I'm wacko for Flacco!

Washington over Tampa Bay - This was a tough one just because it's hard to figure out which team is worse.

Tennessee over Jacksonville - The Titans have to win this week, right? There's no way this team goes 0-4, right? Right? Please!

Houston over Oakland - I like the Texans. They are fun to watch. Oakland has a quarterback who weighs nearly 300 pounds. That's not very fun to watch.

New Orleans over NY Jets - I believe in the Jets' defense, but not against the Saints' offense.

Miami over Buffalo - T.O.'s destruction of the Bills continues.

San Francisco over St. Louis - The 49ers are on the verge of something special. The defense is really good. Neither of those statements applies to the Rams.

Dallas over Denver - Even if Marion Barber and Felix Jones don't play, I think the Cowboys are better than Denver.

Pittsburgh over San Diego - This is another great game. It's at Pittsburgh and that's probably the biggest factor in my pick.

Green Bay over Minnesota - I'm one of only two that picked the Packers, but I'm looking at it as an opportunity to gain some ground. I really think this game is an even matchup, so I had to go with my heart.

Let the Countdown Begin!

2009-09-29T09:00:00.002-04:00

Only ...

2 days until my father turns 60 years old!

3 days until I get to spend an entire weekend alone with my wife!

6 days until the Packers get to play against Brett Favre on Monday Night Football!

7 days until I get to spend the day golfing with my dad here!

10 days until my son turns 5 years old!

Lots of fun stuff I'm really looking forward to.