As you all know, I am not going on the retreat. But, I am curious about why you all are going. I remember back in my teen years heading out for conferences and retreats. These times were full of new experiences, friends, and God stuff. I can honestly say that conferences had a major impact in my spiritual life and God did so much in me when I went to other places besides the church to receive.

There was a time in my life where I thought, “I don’t need to go anywhere ’special’ to be touched by God! God is hear just as much as he’s there!” But what I came to understand is that when you go somewhere out of the normal, things just happen differently. Maybe it’s a speaker you’re never heard share something that really helped you. Maybe it’s a worship team doing worship differently and it really opening your eyes about some aspect of worship you never thought of. Maybe it’s just going away with your friends and having a great time or that coversation you have at 3:00 AM when you’re just kind of exhausted but you finally open up about some real stuff going on in your life that you’ve never really shared before. Whatever it is, God always had something planned for me that would not have happened if I hadn’t gone.

I will always have a special place in my heart for retreats and conferences. So in saying that — what are you hoping/expecting God to do in your life this weekend? Did he do anything cool last retreat? Sometimes it’s good to get some expectation and/hunger for God to do something cool in your life because then, well, you expect it and you’re watching for it.

So let’s get everyone pumped and start sharing what we are excited about. Seriously, I want to know!

Kudos to Shane - he really got me today. I thought I’d post this just for fun. Watch out for foxes! They’re everywhere . . . . and on leashes nonetheless!

That’s right! Finally! 8-4 baby! I can’t believe how exciting it was to finally win our first game!

Seriously, I was so excited last night. After every game so far, we’ve had to think about all the “moral victories” and how “we’re getting better” - but not this time. I could just relax and enjoy thinking about how great we played. So much fun!

So for those of you who came to the game - what were the highlights for you? What were your favorite plays?

So you know what stinks? This winter! NO SNOW so far! Yeah I know we are supposed to be thankful and grateful (thanks mom for the teaching) but COME ON! We barely had any snow last year and when we finally got snow my pregnant wife had to go out and play with the kids cause SOMEONE had broken my knee and I was forced to stay inside all day long.

So you would think now that I can finally go and play in the snow, and especially since I was robbed a whole winter of snow time fun, that IT WOULD SNOW. My kids pray all the time that it would snow and since they are homeschooled they don’t even have the added incentive of snow days. They want so badly to play in the snow. And this past weekend we bought these awesome sleds form Costco that look like boogy boards but are designed for the snow. They look like they’ll be fast.. Really fast.

I have so many incredible memories playing in the snow. I remember after church everyone would head for the hill and go sledding. We would have races to the bottom of the hill but would be allowed to attack each other while flying down to the finish line. If you endured the battle and won, it was an awesome feeling. Most of the time Nathan would just pound me and I would wreck. That’s what it was like most of the time in athletics when Nathan was one of your closest friends.

So what fun stuff have you done in the snow? Any memories stand out? And will there ever be a big snowfall again??

So today, for some reason, I was thinking about something I haven’t really contemplated a whole lot before. I was thinking about all the ways that we can show people God, and then I was thinking - I wonder what people need the most? Or another way of asking it is, what shows them God the best?

So here’s what I was wondering - what do you think people need to see MOST from us as Christians - what’s the most effective? Some might say “they will know us by our love.” So is love the most important? Well how is that expressed? Through mercy for hurting people? Through fighting for justice for the disadvantaged? Through being nonjudgmental? What about grace, forgiveness, righteouss anger, and so on?

So what’s your opinion? What do you strive to reflect of God’s character to the people around you?

Last night’s teaching was really good I thought, didnt’ you? Sometimes when I hear good teachings - no matter how much I liked them - I still have a hard time remembering what I liked when I wake up the next morning. So I want to tell you all what really stuck with me, and maybe you can share what you remember that was powerful for you.

I really liked when Jonathan talked about the times we try to worship and it feels difficult or dry for us. He said that maybe part of the reason is that we’ve been filling up with other stuff so much, we just don’t really have room left for God. I have never really thought of that in that way before and it was really challenging for me.

It made me think about eating (I know some of you appreciate that!) and the times when I eat so many snacks and junk during the day that I’m not really hungry for the delicious dinner that has been prepared for me. I have filled up on stuff that is non-essential, and now I’m missing what my body really needs (and wants!).

So that was really eye-opening for me, and I think it will motivate me to make sure I’m not filling up on other stuff so much that I’m no longer hungry for God.

So what do you remember? What were you challenged by?

As a kid, I wanted to be two things. First, I wanted to be a professional athlete. I couldn’t believe that people could just play sports and make tons of money doing it! That seemed like the dream job. Also, if you could be a professional athlete then it meant you were pretty awesome and that really appealed to me. So my backup plan was being a pastor like my daddy. I used to tell people that I was going to take my Pop’s job. While that hasn’t exactly happened yet (it’s coming, just you wait lol) I did get to fulfill one of my “what do you want to be when you get older” answers. That’s pretty cool. On a side note, Charis wants to be a “rock star” and a “waitress” and she thinks it would be totally cool to do them together! How awesome would it be to have a Bono be your waiter? Selah wants to be a vet and a farmer. And Cosi wanted to be a cat for a long time
So this leads me to some questions:
1. What did you want to be when you were little?
2. I think I was pretty lucky to get the job that I wanted from childhood. How many adults in your life do you think LOVE their jobs? If they don’t love them, why do you think they don’t?
3. What do you want to be now that you are a bit older and more mature? Why?
4. Why does it seem that so many people are not happy at their jobs?

Ok, post away!

What a bummer. There were still tickets available when I posted yesterday, but sometime after I posted - the show sold out! Crazy! Well maybe we can look for something else to do soon - any suggestions?

Hey guys - this is more of an exciting announcement than a big discussion starter - but I just wanted to let you all know that we are going to cancel youth group on Thursday Feb 22nd, and instead all head up to Manheim, PA for this concert — http://www.itickets.com/events/168650.html I think it looks really cool and should be lots of fun!

I am going to order group rate tickets at $21.50 by the 12th of February, so let me know if you want one and give a check to Michele ok?

That’s right. You heard it here. ElanyArts Soccer - as of this Sunday - Our Record will be 1-4. I really think so. Our practice tonight was great. There’s no way an team without any wins can hang with us. I think we’ll win by multiple goals. Let’s have some predictions. If anyone gets it dead on - they get one of the huge Kit Kat bars. Or something equivalent that you like. Ok? Maybe ElanyArts guys can throw in some Look Machine Merch to make it really interesting? I want one of those black sweatshirts.

My prediction 7-4 we win.