Wii joined the “cult”

You read that correctly.  With pressure from my wife, of all people, we bit the bullet and purchased a Wii this weekend and have joined the gaming cult that is taking the world by storm.  The decision was tough as I debated the new PS3 or even the Xbox 360, but in the end the interactive game console won out.

Why the Wii? I almost didn’t go this route simply due to the fact that the Wii doesn’t play DVD’s.  Neva, my wife, and I have had several conversations about turning the TV off in the evenings and spending time together as a family.  The goal was to unplug from mindless TV watching and do something interactive and fun as a family on a regular basis.  The plan is once homework and dinner are done we head down to the basement and have a little friendly family competition on Wii Sports and Wii Play.  Let’s not forget Guitar Hero!

So we broke it in over Labor Day weekend and had a blast.  Christian and I had a blast laughing at Neva (who is a worship leader at our church and well versed in singing, guitar, and piano) as she couldn’t figure out the timing of the guitar on Guitar Hero and was the cause for several failed songs.  Christian also edged her out in bowling by 2 points but he couldn’t stand the likes of me.  Although, he owned both of us at Tennis. 

A great weekend with great memories and promises of many more family nights to come!  I want to be careful to not over-spiritualize buying a video game unit, but I don’t want  to under-estimate the value of spending quality time as a family laughing and playing together either.

Top 10 reasons I love working at Dare 2 Share

This was inspired by a similar blog post by Greg Stier.

1. Everyday when I go to work at Dare 2 Share I know that what I do will have an impact on eternity.  I work for Jesus and not for man!
2. The people I work with are not just great co-workers and we’re not just on the “same team.”  We’re family!
3. Greg is bound to do or say something completely random that will make us laugh AT LEAST once a day.
4. What we are doing is making a difference.  More and more teenagers are trainined to share their faith and peer-to-peer evangelism on Middle School and High School campuses is happening.
5. When I travel for Dare 2 Share I meet Youth Leaders who are just as passionate about reaching teens as we are.
6. My boss Debb doesn’t just care about me but is personally invested in me.
7. I am challenged and convicted to keep personal evangelism a priority in my own life.
8. My team of Ministry Advocates cares for the Youth Leaders they work with & for the teens in those Youth Leaders’ ministries AND they get better at what they do everyday.
9. We have chapel every Wednesday for an hour.  How cool is it that we get to pray, worship, and learn together as a ministry?!?!?
10. Two things I have fun doing, Math and Ministry, collide to make my job exciting.  (When my wife Neva worked here she had nicknamed me “Rainman,” and even though she is at home with our two boys Christian & Brayden the nickname has stuck.)

Traveling Drama

So last Wednesday as our Dare 2 Share team was checking in online for our Thursday morning flight we realized that due an incoming blizzard the flight had been cancelled.  Thank God we found out early enough and were able to make alternative travel plans.  Our fast acting staff (thanks Toyja and Teri) got a 15 passenger van rented for us at the last minute.  I headed home to pack quickly, picked up the van at the airport, and was back to the office.  11 of us piled in for the road trip through Hades, I mean through Kansas and arrived in St Louis, MO 14 hours later. 

The Invincible conference in St Louis was amazing as 8,500 teens were trained and equipped to share their faith.  The were unleashed on Saturday afternoon to take it to the streets collecting canned food and sharing the Gospel with people that they met.  We packed up Saturday night and caught our early flight back to Denver on Sunday morning.

I am now sitting in DIA as Greg Stier and I are headed to Dallas, TX.  Greg is speaking at Epicenter and I am hosting the D2S booth for the week.  Everything was going well last night – got packed, plenty of rest, the forecasted snow was supposed to avoid the entire metro area…Well, not so much.  Our 8:15am flight was cancelled and again, thanks to a fast acting D2S team (thanks Stacey and Neva) we grabbed the last two seats on a 12:19pm flight (now delayed 15 minutes) to get to Dallas.  We have 3 hours to kill before take-off, praying that wait doesn’t grow in to 4 hours or more.

It’s these fun little excursions that make me realized how much I loved working at D2S, especially the people!  We have each others backs and can endure 14 hour road trips in a 15 passenager van…good times!

IT’S A BOY!!!

We just found out and wanted to share it with the world!  Here are some pics and a video!

Sucking his thumb

His boy business

Profile shot

There's his foot

done

More pictures coming soon!!!

Top 10 Moments of 2008

Whether for humorous reasons, joyful reasons, somber reasons, or outrageous reasons, here is a list of my Top 10 Moments of 2008 (in no particular order).  Enjoy the list and share yours as well!

1. Finding out Neva is pregnant! (Oct 08 )
2. Being promoted to Director of Sales & Youth Ministry Services at Dare 2 Share Ministries (Dec 08 )
3. The day that 4 of my male team members “accidentally” showed up in blue jeans and white shirts of varying styles looking as if they were the new boy band of 2008 (Apr 08 )
4. My 30th birthday – great surprise honey! (Mar 08 )
5. Summer vacation at Hitlon Head Island, SC with my parents (June 08 )
6. Jumping back in to Youth Ministry and leading a small group for Northern Hills Christian Church (Sept 08 )
7. Being asked to preach at Northern Hills Christian Church (Aug 08 )
8. Completing the D2S Survive Conference tour at 95% to revenue goal (Apr 08 )
9. My personal Leadership Development (Ongoing 08 )
10. Taking Christian to his first NHL and NBA games (Oct 08 )!