Cold, cold go away!

So I had my boys'group at Pacetti Bay and boy did Mrs. Seaton pick me out some whoppers. This boys' group is specifically designed for young men to spur them on to grow up to be men who have respect for others, and know how to act like men. It's about tearing down some of the myths that they hear each week, and replacing them with what it truly means to be a man.
Well, Mrs. Seaton picked out our participants and we had one missing because he had been looking at inappropriate material on-line and another because he had just gotten into a fight on the bus that morning.
I got done there and rushed back to town to get some things done, shopping and pitching to get some speaking appointments at different schools in teh district. I pitched my presentations 3 different places got 2 yeses and a call me after FCAT is over. So all in all, not a bad deal but it's tough because I have always worked in the ministry and faced very few, if any nos in speaking engagements when it comes to that.
After work I went to practice and we had a good day out there, still a little cold, but not nearly as bad as Wednesday was. I could atleast feel my hands the majority of the day.
Last night we went to a birthday party. It was a double whammy for one of our friends Jimmy who goes to the races with us, and is in charge of our Betty Griffin House thrift store on the island. It was Jimmy's birthday as well as Niya's birthday who is Jimmy's niece. We had a good time there and realized that Alexa really likes Niya. P.J. was more about the cake than anything else. Alexa was more about playing with Niya and helping her out all night. P.J. was however, very efficient. After the two cakes got their candles blown out they started cutting the cake and before Jimmy was done cutting the first piece P.J. had found out who was having cake and had given each person a fork. Then, she had the plates laid out so that Jimmy could quickly transfer them and she could pass them out after picking one out(a large one) for herself. So once again, she was thinking with her tummy.
This weekend is a somewhat slow one. Tonight the girls are staying with Tara's parents so we are going out to Outback on a gift card we got for Christmas. Then tomorrow I have a lot of work to get done at the church and then Sunday will be our usual ritual. Hoping to see everyone there!
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Fear Factor

So we tried Fear Factor last night, a glorious night when we filled every seat in our youth room. We had good snacks, put our new video game system to good use, and even had a decent lesson(considering my notes disappeared a few minutes before). Then after the lesson we went with old faithful, the Fear Factor night.
We had kids eat random jars of baby food, we had them race drinking large icees, we had them, race drinking a raw egg, we had kids drink coconut water(which doesn't sound taht bad, but the coconut is actually in chunks in the can. Yuck! We had two kids do everything they could to not throw up, so that is alway a sign of a great youth night. No empty chairs, lots of fellowship, and a few near throw ups. Life is good!
This has been (sssshhhhhhh) don't jinx us, the best week of ministry numbers wise in a while. We had a big crowd on Sunday and a big crowd on Wednesday. God is working hard in our ministries and I am excited about 2009!
If you want to see some of the action, you can log on to my facebook page or the Truth Ministries facebook group and see the pix, and videos.
THanks for reading and stay warm!

TIme

I walk through life and I try the best that I can to do everything I can for others. I try to call when someone is sick, stop by if a visit is necessary and spend quality time iwth them if at all possible. The interesting thing is that I used to drive up to the hospital trying to make sure my mind was clear and that I had some form of words of wisdom for them. I would hope that conversation would lend itself to me giving them some meaningful insight to help them with their time.
Then, I started visiting iwth others, I would pop into a room and see Meemaw, A.K.A. Hattie Brown just sitting with them and being good company. SOme times knitting, sometimes reading a book, but seldom talking or giving words of wisdom.
So this morning I got up early and went to teh hospital to be with Brad. His mother told me thank you for coming and thank you for all the time you spend with my kids. Not thanks for all the valuable lessons, thanks for all the BIblical truths, thanks for drawing my kids closer to the cross, or any of the other thing I would pridefully like to hear. So I have finally learned my lesson. It's about time, people see me working 2-3 jobs, coaching softball, doing maintenance at the church and so on, and they are happy just having me set aside time for them.
With my kids I learned this a long time ago. I would have P.J. asking and pleading with me to come outside. All she wanted me to do is set aside what I was involved in and watch her swing, or rider her bike, or her scooter. So I would take a chair out, or let down the tailgate on the truck and just watch her, that was sufficient for her.
I try to make sure that when I am talking with people they feel like that conversation is the only thing I want for that moment. There's nothing worse than talking to someone who is looking around, or on their way out the door.
So time is your greatest resource, and for some of us it's all we have to offer hahaha! So share it, give it and don't begrudge it for a moment.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Work day

So yesterday I sat down to my desk at the BGH at my usual time. I started blogging on what I had studied the night before and that morning. I got through my first blog and felt good that I was working ahead of schedule somewhat, especially proud to be doing that after a weekend with less than the usual amount of sleep. I then started on this blog, my personal blog and worked right on through it. I then got started on some paperwork and working on a lesson for a boys group that I teach at a middle school on Thursdays. Soon the time got away from me and I realized that people should have been in the office by now, and then it hit. I had the day off, the office was closed and I missed out on a chance to actually sleep in. I don't even sleep in on Saturdays now because I get up at the usual time and go to teh church to get a few hours of work in before the girls get up. That way I don't feel like I am at the church missing opportunities to be with the family.
So I filled out my time card, slowly I got up laughing at myself and went to the church to get some work done on our nursery which we are trying to get fixed up and painted soon.
I worked there for a while and then came home to Alexa standing in teh driveway with the basketball in her hands. We played basketball with some breaks in teh action for her to go see grandma, but for the most part we played basketball the majority of the day. Then, I got my softball stuff together and ran off to softball practice. It was the perfect day, I got my blogs done, I got some labor work at the church done, I got some reading done, and I got a lot of basketball playing done. I also ate lunch at the road watching stunt dare devil P.J. at work. She can take 2 scooters one in each hand and fly down teh driveway accross the street. She is hilarious the things she comes up with to try.
SO that's it, the day off with out the benefits of extra sleep. Thanks for reading and have a great day.

MLK day

Here I am in my office, working on my blogs. Half way through I realize that on the calendar it says that I have the day off. Nice huh? So I will continue working on my blogs, I will get a little paperwork done, and then I will enjoy the remainder of the day with my girls when they get up.
Saturday I got dragged myself out early and went to the church, got a lot of work done there and then went home to start getting ready for the races. We got there and everything that could go wrong at the track could. Not to us, but to others. THey had a few accidents, a lot of cars blowing engines and such It was a mess to say the least. I lost first round, so did dad, and instead of buying back and continuing we loaded up(it was already about 11:30) and headed for the house. I had put together a great run that would win probably somwhere around 80 or 90% of the time and the other guy's run was almsot perfect. I decided that if I couldn't win with the run I had put together then it wasn't my night, time to go.
Sunday was a great day. For one I had completed everything that needed to get done during teh week so that Sunday morning was strictly about ministry. No tasks(other than trying to fix a light fixture that has burned out). So it went quite smoothly, and the service went well. We had one of the larger crowds we have had in several months and we had 11 of our most regular attending members missing. It's strange that it worked out that way, but we could conceivably have seen our largest crowd since I came to Freedom had those few regulars been there. So, it was a great day.
The imfamous Linz Van came by to visit and her and her husband are doing well. If you were around my ministry any over the last 2-3 years at Ancient City you will notice that name for sure.
Aaron and I had our worship meeting in the evening and then I watched some football mixed in with some chick flick movie that the girls were watching.
It was a great 3 day weekend that no one remembered to tell me about, so here I am typing away when I could be snoring away! Oh well!
Thanks for reading and have a great day!