Self Declared National Stress Day

I declare today national stress day. You see, this Friday (tomorrow) is our Silent Auction and Dinner for the youth group. We are having this to raise money for our Honduras trip this summer. Little did I realize how stressful and event like this could be.

My office is covered with Auction items. Good because there are a lot of items to bid on. Bad, because I can't get to my desk. I'm surrounded by stuff. We have right now about 60 items to bid on, not including the team members that are auctioning themselves off. My goal for the night is $5000, and i'm going to try to keep the positive attitude that we can indeed raise that.

I also got a call from the restaurant providing our food for us. Obviously there was some sort of mishap, and the person in charge of food for the night misunderstood a quote given, and for about an hour, I thought the world was going to end. Here we have tickets for 120 people to come to this silent auction and dinner, and for about an hour we had no food. It has since been solved, but my blood pressure was up to catastrophic levels at that point.

Tonight, we decorate, tomorrow, we sell. Saturday, its all over! Then I get to focus my energy and attention to Senior night which is next Sunday evening.

Pray for a relatively low stress day for me today and tomorrow. I'll need it!

UPDATE!!!

A few weeks ago, I reported that I had been Caffeine free for 5 whole days. Well, since March 22, I still have had no caffeine. Well, at least that I know of. I know chocolate has a minimal amount of caffeine, and I think a glass of caffeinated tea slipped in once, but other than that I have not had a Soft Drink since March 22. Let me tell you the results of this month long process that I plan to continue.

1. My stomach no longer hurts. I used to get upset stomachs like crazy. Now, I've only had one or two upset stomach occurances.

2. I sleep better, longer, and deeper. Go figure, drinking 8 cans of Diet Dr. Pepper a day keeps you going a few extra hours. When I wake up in the morning, I feel like I've rested, instead of just cat napped.

3. I'm saving money. Cokes get expensive. If you get one at a gas station you pay $1.09 or up to $1.29. Bottle of water, generic brand, 59 cents. You can 32 bottles of water from Sams Club for $4.32. Even better, you can drink at of a faucet or your tap for free! At restaurants, a beverage can cost anywhere from $1.20 up to $3.00.

4. It makes your food taste better. Instead of enjoying the flavor of your beverage, you get to enjoy the flavor of your food.

5. Finally, I feel as if I have conquered a habit I never thought I could. Its refreshing to know that I have the willpower to stop something that isn't the greatest for me.

Now, I'm not telling everyone they should go off of soft drinks completely. I just have the unfortunate problem of getting addicted to things. I don't have the ability to say "Oh, I'll just have one today". If I drink one, I'll drink 8. If I have chips in the house, I don't eat a handful, I eat the whole bag. If you have the willpower to just have one or two a day, more power to you!

Thanks for everyone's support! I plan on staying this way for life!

MY WONDERFUL WEEKEND

MY WONDERFUL WEEKEND

Hey everybody.  I am writing this with my head barely held up and my body so tired that my fingers can barely move.  This week, I have more to do than I can manage, but welcome to the life of a youth minister.  

You see, this past weekend, I got to visit with Jason Bybee and his youth group at Mayfair to conduct their spring retreat getaway.  It was a great and enjoyable experience, and all of the kids in attendance were awesome!  They’ve got a really great group there.  We also got to briefly spend some time visiting with Kristen’s parents in Hartselle, AL.  We didn’t have much time, but its always great to see family.  They fed us some great pork chops on Saturday afternoon, and my always favorite Hash Brown Casserole.  

This week, I am facing the Silent Auction and Dinner we have planned for our Mission Trip this summer.  We have to raise a little over $10,000 for the trip.  We’re excited, but this week will be spent getting that event ready.  On top of that, we have senior night next Sunday night, and I have to put together a video and slide show presentation.  

On top of all that, this week is the week for my wife to work early morning care at the school she works at, so instead of 7:30 she has to be there at 7:00.  That makes me even more tired thinking about that.

Pray for me as I go through the next 3 weeks or so.  Pray for our Honduras team.  Pray for our Seniors.

Breakaway at Mayfair Church

This weekend I have an awesome opportunity to speak at the Mayfair Church of Christ's Senior High spring retreat. They call their Spring Retreat "Breakaway". The theme this Spring is "Mountain of God". This will be an exciting and fun filled weekend for Kristen and I. Kristen was an intern at Mayfair for two summers when she was in college. The junior high girls she worked with are now close to graduating, and she is really excited about seeing them.

I also get to visit with my good friends Jason and Sunny Bybee. Sunny was in my class in high school, and Jason was and still is one my bestest friends. He is an awesome youth minister who has done some stuff for me in the past, and he's never disappointed me.

I'll be in Huntsville, AL this weekend at Monte Sano to do the retreat. Supposedly its a pretty neat place. I'm always honored when I'm asked to speak at a retreat.

Pray for the success of the retreat, and that the teens will be challenged by the word of God.

Whatever Happened to Good Old Fashioned Hard Work?

Check out this story before you read on: SEXTUPLET SCAM!!

My question is this -- how desparate do you have to be make up a scam like this? I must give them credit, I mean, this is not a story you hear all that often. But to take advantage of people that are caring and giving, that is too much.

There's a good place to go when you are struggling and are having money problems, and that is to work! Many a time have I stated that if something were to happen to my position as a minister, I am not above working as a burger flipper to make ends meet. Why is that when we reach a dead end, we look for every way to get out of it except turning around?

In this country of frivilous law suits and rampant gambling problems, everyone wants a get rich quick scheme to work for them. Now, I'll admit that I have filled out the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize forms, and I'll always enter into a contest at the mall or at a store, but the difference is this: I DON'T PLACE ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS IN THEM!!!

Did no one question the fact that the so called sextuplets were never seen by anyone? It makes me wonder this question: If Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan now, would it be told the same way? Instead of the Samaritan stopping to help without any concern for his own safety, would Jesus have said "Then a Samaritan passed by. After he called the police to check out the guy, and after he went and got some sort of defensive weapon just in case he wasn't injured..."

I want to help people, but with so many scheming and taking advantage, I don't know if its the right thing to do anymore. Any comments?

Busy Busy Busy

Hey everyone. I've been really busy for the past week, and it doesn't look like its going to slow down anytime soon.

Last week we had a wonderful men's retreat with the guys from here at Ross Road. I'm glad I got to go and had a chance to get to know some people better. It was a good weekend, with some great thoughts brought to us by our minister John Roberts.

I had an opportunity to play golf for the third time ever on Friday before the retreat. We played at Kirkwood near Holly Springs, MS. It was a rather challenging course. I think I shot like a 300...good for bowling, terrible for golf.

We also had a meeting last night with our Honduras team. Things are getting set in full motion for our trip this summer. I have been blessed with a tremendous team.

This week, I won't be posting hardly any because i'm going to be out finding items for people to donate for our Silent Auction and Dinner on April 28th. If you would like to come, let me know. Tickets are $10.00.

At the end of this week, I get to take a short, brief vacation to Land Between the Lakes with my family. I'm so excited. I get to see my nieces and nephews and sister and parents and many others!!

Who Do You Pick?

All rightie now....Major League Baseball has started, and today really gets into full swing! I will admit that I'm not the biggest baseball buff, but I love to watch it and talk about it. I am hereby making my predictions for the playoffs come fall.

American League:

EAST:
New York Yankees (Go Yanks!)
CENTRAL:
Chicago
WEST:
Oakland
WILD CARD:
Boston

National League:
EAST:
Florida Marlins (I predict the Atlanta Braves will FINALLY stop winning a pointless division title.
CENTRAL:
St. Louis
WEST:
San Diego
WILD CARD:
New York

So, what do you think?

Caffeine Free

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the fact that I am now caffeine free for 5 days. FIVE WHOLE DAYS!!! I had to go off of the caffeine...

I was only drinking diet soft drinks, but for some reason or another, I believe that drinking 8-10 diet dr. peppers during a day is not the greatest thing to do. I was having stomach problems, sleeping problems, and all sorts of other things were starting to happen. I was hooked, addicted, and hard up for caffeine.

About 3 years ago, I was able to do this. I did it for around a year, and then slowly started to drink caffeine again.

My head was in a continual state of throbbing yesterday. All through class, through church, through my Honduras team meeting, and through life groups. This morning however, I feel much better.

I'm hoping that this step of going off of the caffeine will help me redirect my eating habits as well. The other day, I ate something that will shock the stew out of a whole lot of you who know me. I ate a piece of raw, non-condiment covered broccoli. Yes, I Lane Widick, the pickiest eater on the face of the earth...ate broccoli, along with some cherry tomatoes.

I fear the caffeine withdrawl symptoms may go on for a week or so, but its worth it to me.

Who's Out There????

Recently, a friend of mine, Kevin Westmoreland, told me about a really neat incident. He has a relative who lives in New York named Becky who was curious about his faith, and was looking things up online to find information on it. Of all the pages in the world she could have come to, she came to my blog page!

This is just truly amazing to me. I have said from the get go on this whole blog thing that I may not specifically post about Christ everyday, but I want Christ to be seen everyday in my blog.

This brought up some curiousity on my part, wondering who all is actually looking at my blog. If you would, kindly click on the comment link below this post, type in your name, your comment, and word verification code (this is so I can avoid spam). On your comment please leave:

1. Your name
2. Where you are located at (city, state, country)
3. How you came to find my blog

Thanks everyone!! I really look forward to hearing from you all!

Carrying the cross

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to fill in for our minister while he was away on a quick vacation. As I was preaching, on the topic of Carrying Your Own Cross, some more ideas popped into my head that I'd like to share with you.

We must deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Christ in order to be one of his disciples. Denying ourselves is a hard thing to do. Everything within our living being promotes us to do what feels natural, take care of ourselves, protect ourselves...not deny ourselves.

Denying ourselves means to make a choice as to who is number one: Yourself or Christ. The thing is, included in yourself is all that is important to you -- your wife, husband, children, pets, home, cars, your love for a deep dish pizza -- all of that is included in denying yourself. If you choose any of those over Christ, you have chosen not to be a disciple of Christ.

I love my wife dearly, more than anything in this world. However, since I choose to be a disciple of Christ, I must love Christ more. I must love my cause for Christ more than anything that means something to me on this earth.

How hard is to deny ourselves? Well, how hard is it to say no to that food you really love...pizza, chips, chocolate, Starbucks, honeybuns...its hard to deny yourself those foods. Even if you know they're all terrible for you on a consistent basis, we consistently choose to put those things into our bodies.

God asks us to put aside all pleasures and happiness...focusing completely on Him. I have every good intention of denying myself and taking up my cross, but its so hard.

I must put those things I love on this earth on the cross. I must take up my cross by placing those things on it, and follow Christ. When I do this, Christ comes along to help me in my burden. Christ didn't carry his cross by himself, nor does he expect us to carry ours on our own. He wants to help us in this burden.

God bless.

Faced with a Decision

Everyone comes to this point in their life: Is it time to get a new car?

Here are the reasons I'm thinking of doing so.

1. My 98 Ford Explorer Sport has some issues
- It needs 4 new tires (cost estimate is $600)

- It needs to have the window tint removed so it can pass MS inspection ($40)

- It seems to be idling a lot rougher than it used to be (??)

- It gets TERRIBLE gas mileage. I drive 4 miles to work and 4 miles home...total of 8 miles a day. I may drive an additional 4 miles during a day every now and then...so about maybe 70 miles a week for work. Then I may put an additional 80 miles or so a week on it. Total of 150 miles a week on average...and I fill up once a week...on a 16 gallon tank. If i'm doing the math right, that's a little over 10 miles per gallon...yuck!!

- Its losing value every week. It has 124,000 miles on it, and I can sell it for about $4000, or trade it in for about $3000 or less. I figure with the door locks, the tires, the engine idling problem, and a few other mechanical problems (struts and shocks, etc.) I'll be spending around $1500 for tune ups and repairs.

- It is a two door vehicle. My wife has told me whenever we have kids, she will NOT put the babies in it.

Thing is, we have both of our cars paid off, and we don't want a car payment, or if we have to have one, it can't be for very long...like maybe a year. Car payments are from the devil, just like student loan payments!!

Now, EVERYONE WEIGH IN!!! Let me know what I should do:

CHOICE A: Fix the car, drive it for another 50,000

CHOICE B: Sell or trade it in, get what I can for it, and get a new vehicle

O Happy Day

This morning was great. You see, my wife is off for Spring break this week, so instead of her waking up an hour before me, we woke up together, and got to spend the morning together. Its really great to spend some time with the person you love in the mornings before your day begins.

I also have the opportunity to preach at our congregation this Sunday morning. We were supposed to go on a relief trip to Pascagoula, Mississippi, but it was cancelled. Our minister is going to take an opportunity to take a weekend off with his family (who is also off for Spring Break), and asked me to preach this coming Sunday. It is always a privilege to be able to do that for any congregation.

We also got our tax refund via direct deposit this past Saturday. I go to check my bank account online, and got a really nice surprise. Its like finding a $20 bill in your coat from last winter.

Its very obvious to me that this week, God is going to be blessing me in ways I can't even begin to imagine. When a week starts off this great, how can you not be optimistic about the rest of it? We slept with our windows open last night, which means spring is here, which also means that we enter that beautiful time when you don't need the heat, you don't need the air conditioner...which equals wonderful savings on our electricity and utilities.

What a great day. God is great, all the time! All the time, God is Great!!!

Happy Birthday to Kristen

Today, March 8th, is my wife's birthday. No words can describe how wonderful of a woman she is. She stands beside me, despite my sarcasm, my evil looks I give to waitresses who don't refill my drinks, and the fact that I hate making the bed.

My wife and I met at FHU when I was a senior. It was my 5th year, and we started "dating". We didn't really date that much, because we bonded as such good friends. In fact, my old roommate Kevin Westmoreland wanted to date her. He would come back talking about how cool she was before I ever met her. When I finally met her, I knew there was something extremely special about her, and if you've ever met her, you would agree.

The most special night we ever had while we were still at Freed was a night we went to the now torn down Milan Sitka building. It was a really old building at Freed, and they had some staircases outside the building. I took her over there, and took my guitar with me and some paper. I told her that we were going to write a song together. I was going to write one line, and then she would write the next line, and so on. We called it "Moral of the Story". I knew that night, as we wrote that song together, and the words fit together so perfectly, that we too could fit perfectly together.

I didn't ask her to marry me until about 2 years later. In fact we stopped dating completely. I moved to Houston after graduation. I told her that I had to focus on graduating (since I had been there 5 years already). We never got back together. Sure, we played Volleyball together, and we hung out every now and then...but I didn't get a chance to date her again until....

When the movie Spiderman came out, I went to see while I was in Houston. Kirsten Dunst, the girl who played Mary Jane was in that movie. All night long, I saw Kristen's face instead of Kirsten's. I couldn't stop thinking about her. When I got home that night, I sent Kristen an email out of nowhere, just telling her that I missed her, and I was thinking of her. A few weeks later, I was visiting Kevin at Freed, and Kristen was there as well. We got to hang out some, and she realized that I had grown up quite a bit from my college days. (Long story, not enough time in the world to discuss it!)

Bottom line, we dated over the phone basically for about a year. On Christmas Eve of 2002 I proposed to her (another Long story), and she said yes. My life has been so much better with her. In fact I can't remember life without her.

I love my wife more than anything else on this world. She is a friend, a support, a fellow youth minister, and more than that, she is a Christian and shares my love and faith in God.

I love you Kristen.

The Death of an All Star

When I was a kid in around 6th and 7th grade, I remember that I really loved watching baseball, playing R.B.I. baseball on Nintendo, and collecting baseball cards. It was pretty much what every young guy wants to do at that age, maybe not with baseball, but with some sport. I was never very good at baseball, but I sure loved the game.

I remember developing a passion for the New York Yankees. The reason? I went to a baseball card show with my dad one night. I only had about $10 to spend, and I didn't want to spend it all. I walked around with my dad all night long, looking at cards and dreaming of owning some of them. Finally, at the end of the evening, there was a guy selling packages of 50 baseball cards randomly thrown together for $2.00. I bought one package.

As I went through them, I remember asking my dad what good players were rookies that season. The only one we could think of was Don Mattingly. As I went through the remainder of the cards, the very last one I got to was none other than a 1984 Topps Don Mattingly card. I treasured it, and thought it was great (now, its only worth about $10, but at the time it was worth about $60).

I loved the Yankees even then, when they weren't all that great. The 1994 season which was ruined by the strike was about the only season back then when the Yankees were pretty good. Alas, The Hit Man Donnie Baseball didn't make it to the series.

But one man who did, who I respected so very much at that age, was Kirby Puckett. I remember sitting on my couch in our living room as he hit the home run against the Braves in the 11th inning during game against I believe Charlie Leibrandt (Jason, correct me if I'm wrong...). Kirby Puckett played for the Twins, and was about the nicest guy ever in baseball.

He made the Hall of Fame on his first appearance on the ballot, not really because of his numbers (which by the way are comparable to Don Mattingly's), but because of who he was. He seemed to really just love the profession of being a professional baseball player.

Kirby passed away from complications due a stroke. He was only 45 years old. In a 12 year career, he stayed with only one team. He helped lead the Twins to championship seasons against St. Louis (sorry Jason) and Atlanta (whoo hoo!!).

They just don't make them like that anymore. He will be missed.

An Eclectic post

I have lots to say today, so there can be no clear cut title.

1. On Friday night, my wife and I, along with Jason Bybee and his wife Sunny, went to a truly awesome concert. Third Day and David Crowder performed at the FedEx Forum, and it was amazing. It was a lot of fun, and its great to see one of my best friends in the entire world. Jason, great to see you and Sunny. Hope all is well with you and the twins.

2. Sunday morning marked the first day for the class I'm teaching to the parents of our teens here at Ross. It was a good class, and I'm so glad everyone came. I believe we had about 25 or so in the class.

3. Last night we had the Baby Dedication service here at our church building. It was so precious to see the little babies all up front, being prayed for by our elders, and being blessed in prayer.

4. I love my wife. Her birthday is on March 8. She'll be 25 years old. This is probably the last year I can publicly announce that without being slapped. My wife is an amazing person, mainly for putting up with me, but also because she is so genuine and true. God could take away everything else in my life and I would still be happy, as long as she was by my side.

5. Finally, last night as I was watching the Oscars (well, the last hour only), I was pleasantly surprised that Brokeback Mountain did NOT win best picture. The movie Crash, while even though having some foul language and is not a movie I endorse for any teenager to see, deserved to win. It truly was a powerful movie. I was upset Joaquin Phoenix didn't win for Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, but other than that, I thought everything else was pretty much on the money.

God bless everyone!

Who are you, and what have you done with my teenager?

This Sunday morning, I'll be teaching a ten week class to the parents of my teenagers. It shares the title of this blog, "Who are you and what have you done with my teenager?"

It will be hitting simple basic issues of the fact that there is a continual generation gap that seems to be widening. We will tackle issues such as the music they listen to, the fashion they wear, the internet they surf, the movies and shows they watch, and many many more things.

I think it is crucial in this day and age that parents seem to understand as much as they can about the lives of their teenagers. Case in point: I don't frequently watch this show, but the other night on WifeSwap, there were two women who switched places who couldn't have been more opposite. One spent all sorts of time with her family, going to ball games, dance recitals, and anything else her kids were involved in.

The woman she swapped with had FOUR nannies. She only had TWO children. She had the nannies so that she could spend all day shopping, running around, and doing pilates. I thought it was absurd, but the more I think about it, that's how so many parents are now....Let someone else raise my children, but as for me, I'm going to do what I want to do.

If you have any advice for my class, please buzz in. I hear so many people complimenting my blog and that they love to read it...I would love to hear back from you. Teens, ring in with comments about your parents...I promise they won't ground you.

Vanderbilt's Cutler could be the number 1 quarterback picked??

Before you think I'm nuts, read this article: CUTLER

I'm not sure what I think on this yet. I see points made on all different sides. Leinart is an awesome quarterback, but he's had some pretty good athletes to support him. The same with Vince Young. Jay Cutler passed for over 3000 yards at VANDERBILT!

I like the point this article makes on the fact that Leinart could possibly come to Tennessee. I'm still at a toss up between him and Young leading the squad the next few years. Vince Young scored terrible on his Wonderlic score, and Chris Mortensen of ESPN said he would probably be the sixth quarterback taken.

I think both men would do well at Tennessee, but ultimately, a reunion between Norm Chow and Leinart sounds really appealing to me.

Jay Cutler is being heralded now as the next Brett Favre. He benched 225 pounds I believe 28 times at the combine. He is a man on a mission to prove he is worthy to be an NFL star.

Regardless of whether or not he goes...who ever thought a Vanderbilt quarterback would be going to the NFL at all? Much less the top few rounds?

Go to God for comfort

This morning has not been a good morning. Our little pug, Chloe, ate something outside that made her rather sick. She was coming out both ends, and she just looked pathetic. I called the vet, and he assured us it had nothing to do with the surgery last week, but that she got hold of something outside that was not too good for her. He gave us some medicine to give her, and we're crossing our fingers that she's okay.

The thing about it is this: She was so confused. She didn't feel well, and didn't know what to do. She just stood there. She wouldn't come, sit, lay down, drink any water, go outside...she was just confused. She's never been sick before, and didn't really know how to cope with it.

As I helped her through the morning, I wonder sometimes why we do the same thing. We become confused with our sickness of sin. It finally gets to us, and we don't know what to do. And just as I beckoned for Chloe to lay down and rest, God beckons for us to stop and come to Him. Chloe didn't know she needed to rest, and was therefore confused.

We don't know that we need to go to God when sin overtakes us, and we become confused. We look for help in every area, except God. Maybe we don't want to burden Him, or bother Him. Maybe we think we're not imortant enough, or that He won't care.

Matthew 11:28 says it best: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." These words, read so often, yet very rarely used, are just what we need everyday in our life.

After a while, I sat down with Chloe on the floor. She came to me and sat on my lap and let me rub her back to feel better. She laid there, still, knowing that I was going to take care of her. I need to realize that there are times when I just need to crawl into my Father's lap, and let him take care of me as well.

**This blog is dedicated to the memory of Gary Bess. Gary was a father of one of my youth group members at Ashland City church of Christ. He passed away this morning after a routine check up at the hospital. Several years ago Gary had a tumor removed from his brain. This morning they said he had a heart attack, slipped into a coma, and slowly passed from this life to be with our Father. He had two daughters, Emily and Halie. God bless their family.

Our little pug, Chloe

Our little girl is going into surgery to be spayed today. She's a bundle of excitement and joy every morning. We have a routine we go through with her. Kristen gets up before I do and gets ready, and then she goes and feeds Chloe and lets her out. But the thing Chloe just can never wait for is to be put on the bed with me to wake me up. She makes a mad dash as soon as the door is open to our bedroom right to my face.

Usually, she has one of her chew bones with her. She promptly brings that up to my face to "share" the bone with me. Needless to say, a slobbery chew bone does not taste all that great.

Later on when Kristen leaves, Chloe will jump up in my lap and rest while once again chewing on her bone. Then she'll go to her crate where she naps all day while we're at work.

When we get home, she just runs around, looking as if she is saying "Who wants to pet me? Who wants to play with me? Let's go run around town! Let's chew everything up in sight!" Its really great to know someone is that excited to see you when you come home.

At night, she likes to cuddle up with Kristen on the couch and once again....chew on her bone (we go through about 1 every two weeks). Then she goes off to bed again, to begin the whole process over!

She loves to meet new people, and if you ever come to see us, she'll lick you silly. She likes to wrestle with your feet if you're sitting and not paying attention to her. And she'll always bring you a toy to play with.

I know it sounds silly, but Kristen and I are praying that everything is successful with our little girl this morning. She means so much to us and we can't imagine life without her.

Nooma

As a youth minister, its sometimes hard to find a resource that is truly wonderful. I have searched high and low, looking for something that will grab the attention of the teens, and have some depth to it, while not being too deep.

There is a new video series out called Nooma. I believe they have 10 videos out not. Basically, they are about 12 minutes long, and hit some of the toughest issues to deal with. They are done by a guy named Rob Bell. Check out their website NOOMA to see some clips from some of the videos. Tonight, in class we'll be watching the Nooma video number 003, entitled Trees.

Post Winterfest Tuesday

Winterfest was this past weekend. I've been going to Winterfest since 1991. There have been years where I did not particularly care for the sessions. There have been years where I have not really been fond of some of the worship time. Some years, the worship leaders have been very self centered in appearance (not to judge their hearts), and in return, hard to really get into worship due to the distraction.

Winterfest is not the best thing in the world. Don't get me wrong, I think its awesome. They do a great job of incorporating media and excitement into the sessions so the teenagers won't get too distracted. Let's face it, teenagers (and most adults) have about a seven minute attention span, and they do a great job of mixing things up so the interest level stays high.

I always come back from Winterfest and examine it from a distance, once I'm past the spiritual high and emotion that stems from it. Some years, I think that things could have been done better. Some years, I think they could have done without lots of things. However, this year, as I do my post Winterfest examination, I have nothing but praise.

Watershed did a good job of leading our worship. Many of the songs, they would start them off, and then really back off of their microphones so that all you could hear were the 6500 + voices singing to our God.

The drama part of the sessions this year was excellent. There was a group from Oklahoma Christian University that did a continuous running drama that mirrored the lessons. Top notch job they did.

Walling, well, in past years I've come home and said "He didn't give me anything new, he used a bunch of the same things he's used in the past". Not this year. The whole structure of the lessons was based on Believing in Jesus. He pointed out many things, such as Why to believe in Jesus, when to believe, 5 solid things to base our faith on, and most importantly talked about how important Baptism is in your walk and faith in God.

All in all, I could find no scriptural fault with anything done at Winterfest. It bothers me still that so many say that Winterfest is crazy and that they are doing things that are not scriptural. I say to these people: I will respect your opinion once you have gone to experience it, but until then all you are doing is basing your beliefs on something someone read somewhere or told you.

I had a good friend of mine, Kevin, who said he wanted to go with us. Kevin is 27 years old, and became a Christian at around 18. He attended more conservative churches, and went to Freed Hardeman with me. All he ever heard about Winterfest were negative things. So he decided to go for himself this year with us.

His opinion: Overall, he had a good experience. The clapping during the songs, and the VBS attitude during some of the songs got to him, but he admitted that was just a comfort zone thing to him. He thought the sessions were good, and was pleasantly surprised to hear Walling push baptism like he did. He walked away from the weekend very satisfied.

It was great to see everyone, like Jason, Johnny, Nathan Reeves, Terry Reeves, many old friends from Freed, and my old youth group from Ashland City. Terry Reeves -- Way to go! Fight the fight brother! That cancer got scared of your faith and ran away!

Toilet Water is Cleaner than Ice

Before you read this blog, you might want to pull up a trash can, and read the following article: TOILET WATER CLEANER THAN ICE!!!

I have been looking for a way to tell myself to stop eating fast food. Maybe this is the story I've been waiting for. Apparently, the girl tested ice from 5 different fast food restaurants and compared it to the toilet water from the same restaurants. The results: Toilet water wins. What do you think of that?

I think this definitely tells us that Fast Food is now the most disgusting thing you can eat.

A Confession of the Heart

I have to admit something, right here, right now in front of you all. I am addicted to two new television shows. And its all thanks to Jason Bybee for one of them, and Kevin Westmoreland for the other.

I used to be addicted to the show Friends. I liked it because it was easy to watch, simple, and somewhat comedic. But alas, it has gone off the air. For a while, I pretty much went only watching CSI, Survivor, and Amazing Race. However, I have found two new shows that I can't live without.

First of all is The Office on NBC. It has Steve Carell as an office manager of the Dunder Mifflin paper supply company. It was based on the show by the same name in England. Steve's character, Michael, thinks he's the best boss and mentor in the world, but his employees think otherwise. Its a knock on reality shows, as the whole episode is done like a reality show. Pure genious in my opinion.

The second is 24. I started watching 24 after a phone call with Jason about an upcoming event. He told me to just watch it, and I would like it. Well, now i'm sitting at my desk with the first 2 seasons that just arrived for me from Walmart.com, waiting to be watched.

So how about it, what are you die hard have to watch shows? All of you who have been reading my blog, but not posting comments (its free and harmless to post comments), please post a comment with shows you just have to watch!

28

Yesterday, I turned 28. Based on the fact that I'm another year older (supposedly wiser also), I must admit that I'm feeling older. Even though i've been bald since I was 18, I am starting to see gray hairs in my beard.

In honor of turning 28, I hereby present to you 28 of my favorite things.

1. Kristen, my wife, my best friend, my confidant and spiritual accountability partner. A little over two years ago, I married this wonderful woman. 28 years from now, we'll celebrate 30 years together.

2. Mexican Food: When I was younger, I hated it. Now, there's nothing better than chips and cheese dip/salsa with a great plate of fajitas.

3. Chloe: No, not a mistress or girlfriend on the side. Chloe is our 9 month old black pug. She is a joy and a delight. She wakes me up every morning by slapping me in the face with her favorite bone.

4. Our New House: Nothing is more exciting than owning your first home.

5. My new job: Working at the Ross Road church is wonderful. I am blessed and honored to work with a great staff, elders, and the teenagers are the absolute greatest!

6. Eating Pizza for breakfast: Is there anything better than having leftover pizza for breakfast?

7. My parents: As I work alongside teenagers, I often run into teens who have parents who are divorced, deceased, or disinterested. I praise God that I have parents who still care, and who always were there for me.

8. The movie Cinderella Man: Wimpy title, powerful movie. Still upset that it got shafted in the Oscars.

9. The wonderful nation we live in and the fact it could never elect Hilary Clinton as President: It reminds me that we live in land with some morals and values still in place. I mean, come on, do we really want her to be the leader of our wonderful country? That's just scary looking!

10. The Nooma Nooma Song: Its a song by a group called O-Zone actually called Dragostea Din Tei. Its the catchiest song ever. For something ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS follow this link to see Napoleon Dynamite dance to the Nooma Nooma Song NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE DANCES TO NOOMA NOOMA

11. Napoleon Dynamite: Speaking of Napoleon Dynamite, even though this is a really dumb movie, I love it because its funny, clean, and has no sex in it. Its a perfect youth group movie.

12. My wife's chicken chilli nachos: Gee, its a wonder why I'm overweight. These are the greatest!

13. The Amazing Race: CBS's great reality show. I've watched every season. The new season begins February 28.

14. Survivor: Okay, I admit -- I hated the idea of Survivor when it began, but now I can't get enough. The new season begins tonight!

15. Cottenelle Toilet Tissue: Let's face it. The cheap stuff is, well, cheap.

16. My new gas grill: Insert grunting sounds here. And it was on sale!

17. Home Improvements: Not the television show. Two years ago, I couldn't have done anything to make a home better. Now, due to the fact that I have a gracious minister who loves to teach and show how to do things, I'm well on my way to being a regular Bob Villa.

18. Shaving my head: Sounds weird, I know...but did you know the average man gets a haircut once every four weeks, and pays around $12 for it. Since I'm bald and shave my head, from the age of 21 (when I started shaving my head) to age 70, I'll save $7056 in haircuts!

19. MP3 players: I knew one day that albums would become obsolete. Paying for a single song instead of a whole album is awesome!

20. Having a paid off car: Neither my wife nor I have a car payment. Sweetness.

21. The game of Golf: I used to think golf was for sissies. I have gotten into the game recently, and its no sissy game. Its a great way to get away for about 4 hours with some friends, and struggle together!

22. The fact that we have no mayonaise in our house: I mean, come on...Mayonaise is just pure junk. My wife has agreed not to have mayonaise in the house.

23. Singing in church: Not everyone likes to, but I love to sing at church.

24. My television: a year ago, my wife and I bought a 42 inch LCD Projection tv. It has made viewing more fun.

25. TIVO: I waited and waited, and finally got TIVO. I have come to the realization that life before was unfulfilled.

26. Forgiveness: Its awesome to know that forgiveness really does work with God.

27. Grace: God allows us to live on this earth He made. He allows us to screw up. He still loves us, regardless.

28. Our God: come on, you knew I'd mention Him, right?

IMPORTANT NEWS!!! Obesity Strikes Youth Minister

Okay, I admit it. I am not a thin person. In fact, I am far from it. I am rather upset with myself, as I've let myself really go.

I grew up overweight. My mom was a really good cook, and I was always "A big kid". I never knew when to put down a bag of chips, the cookie jar, or when to stop putting slices of turkey on my sandwich. When I eat spaghetti, its covering the plate, and 3 inches high. 2 pieces of pizza is a snack for me. When I was in college, it was nothing for me to drink 7 or 8 cans of Dr. Pepper a day (if not more).

When my wife and I got married, we ate out a whole lot. Living a youth minister's life and a teacher's life didn't leave us a lot of time, and we justified eating out a whole lot. That didn't help my problem any.

When I lived in Houston, I was a little bit smaller than I am now. I was told one day that I was a slob by a friend of mine I was going to church with. She said "You couldn't put down those fries right now if you wanted to," as I stuffed my face with a large sized fry from Whattaburger (which by the way, is AWESOME). I washed that last bite down with my large sized Mr. Pibb (they don't really sell Dr. Pepper that much in Texas), and I looked at her in the face and said "Sure I can. No problem." I wrapped up the rest of my double cheeseburger, fries, and threw them and my Mr. Pibb away. I went home, threw out the bags of Doritoes, the Froot Loops, and the Dr. Peppers. I replaced them with apples, grapes, baked tortilla chips, and Diet Sprites and Water. I worked out 4 times a week. Over 6 months, I dropped 55 pounds.

And now, I'm back, with a little extra. Over the past 2-3 years, I've gained it all back, because I've allowed my lifestyle to change....eating fast food for lunch, eating unhealthy portion sizes, etc. So now comes the question....WHY ARE YOU TELLING ALL OF US THIS?

Well, this time last year, my family all said we were going to lose weight. My family has a terrible history of heart disease, with just about all the older people in my family having had a heart attack some time in their life. I'm well on my way. On Saturday, I cleaned out my closet and found TEN pairs of pants I couldn't even come close to getting into. Three sports coats, several shirts...and what's sad is that now, the larger stuff I have is getting tight on me.

So my wife told me the other night that she's worried about me. I'm breathing heavier, looking worse, and she knows the history of my family. That right there, well, it hurt. It hurt in a good and positive way.

Today, I weigh in at 250 pounds. I'm 6 foot 2 inches tall, wear a size 40 pants, and largest dress shirt without going to a big and tall shop. All of my t-shirts are 2XL, and some of those look bad on me.

My goal: By the end of the year, I will be at 185 pounds. My shirts will all be donated to a charitable cause, and the ten pair of pants I own still won't fit, because they'll be too big on me. I'll be able to shave my beard, because the only reason i have it is to cover the double chin.

I'll be able to do 50 push ups without stopping. I'll be able to run 5 miles straight without resting or slowing down. I'll be able to a whole session of aerobics or taebo without breaking. My dog will get tired before I do.

I say this here, so everyone will either know that I'm successful, or a failure. Making a public announcement such as this is scary, because all eyes will now be on me to see if I can do it, and with prayers and God's help, I know I can.

Ultimately, I want to live a long and useful life in God's kingdom here on earth. I can't do that if I don't care of this holy temple He blessed me with. Hold me accountable all! I'll see you all in 65 pounds!