Celebrate National Youth Worker's Appreciation Day

Did you know there was such a thing? Well, there wasn't before, but there is now. It is a fantastic opportunity for you to thank your youth leaders!!! It's this weekend. Do you have someone that has impacted your life? A youth pastor or volunteer that has spoken truth into who you are and who you can become? Maybe they have just remembered your name or given a message that has made a difference in your life. Maybe they came to your game or concert or play.

Whatever it is. This is your chance to say thanx! Check out the official Youth Worker Appreciation Day website. There is also a great article on it here.

Don't let this day pass you by. Do something. Get out there. Buy a gift, get a gift card to their favorite place, make something they will really appreciate.

Want some ideas? Sure, I will toss you a list of ideas from cheap to expensive. Now, I realize not every youth leader will like the same things, so it helps if you get them something with them in mind, but here are a few helper hints.

"Inexpensive"
Stuff you could make/do:
* skim board with their name or artwork of them on it.
* Monopoly board but custom made with things that are relevant to them (ie. "Flipside Lane" or "Crash Ave" or "Refinery Rd" or whatever your youth ministry name is). Then call it something like "Linkopoly"
* Underwater camera case for the video or digital camera. Here is an example.
* Go to their house and wash their car. (not like you do at a car wash fundraiser, do it really, really well).
* Mow their yard (make sure you know what you are doing and don't trim that bush into a shape of yourself without them knowing it)
* Clean the youth room
* Give them free babysitting (or, if they are single, a month on eharmony)
* A stay at a vacation place you have (talk to your parents)
* Get creative!!!

"Less expensive"
* A surprise from the Somethingstore.com It's just 10 bucks and they get some random object. Kinda cool.
* Make a movie night package for them. In a basket put movie tickets (get them at Costco for cheaper), their favorite soda, microwave popcorn, your favorite DVD (even from your collection to keep it cheaper), gift certificates to a movie rental place that is local, gift certificate for 2 free nights of babysitting (one for the theaters and one for the stay home movie watching), and some sparkling cider.
* Gift certificates to their favorite restaurant, Starbucks, Cold Stone, etc.
* Other gift basket ideas that you can think up. Just make it look decent.

"More expensive"
* I-pod
* One of those I-pod plus running things that helps motivate them to stay in shape.
* 3-6-12 months at a workout facility.
* Digital camera
* I-phone
* Scooter (no, one with a motor)
* Skydiving trip

"Ridiculously Expensive"
* Trip to Hawaii
* Pilot lessons
* Helicopter flight
* Paraglider
* T-touch watch! This is wayyyy cool!

OK, I think that you get the idea. Keep the person's likes and interests in mind. Be good to them. They put a lot of time and effort into making your youth ministry a wonderful place to be and learn and grow.

This might even be someone you haven't connected with in a long time. Look them up on facebook or myspace (yes, I know. Not all of them are that tech savvy, but it doesn't hurt to try)

Have fun and let me know what you did, will u?
* You get the picture

I want a Barbie Fishing Pole

I have always loved fishing. It is a fantastic sport. I am not a huge fish eater, although this year I have started to find enjoyment out of it more and more, especially salmon. My wife makes this amazing salmon! MMMMMMM!!!

Anyhow, I have caught fish all over the world, even though I have caught very little here in Oregon. I also find that I don't make the time for fishing much. I really want my kids to look back on their growing up years and remember fishing with their dad. I got my license renewed, maybe time to get back out there. Especially after this story of the record catch on a Barbie fishing pole. My son has a batman pole...maybe that would do?
Check it out.

Rafting the Deschutes

Monday we began our adventure to Maupin, Oregon to raft down the Deschutes River. We traveled through rain (that is illegal in August) and lightning (that is almost unheard of in Oregon) on our way there. The rain began to dissipate as we started to set up our tents and the lightning and thunder left soon after that. We actually had a pleasant evening after that.

Caleb likes to cook for others so he made us burgers and we had lots of other fun snacks to complete a great meal. We chatted and got to know each other a bit and then Jason Ostrander, our national youth director, took us through some great stuff. Orientation, disorientation and reorientation to God. We walked through several Psalms (33, 137, 103) and saw how David interacted with God and we took time to interact with God as well. This opened some amazing discussion on how we deal with students and the cultural issues of today and how we point them to Jesus and His word.

Pics will go up when I figure out what happened to that option! grrr

After sitting up late and chatting we headed for bed in the tents. You know how you can tell a great comic? One way is if he/she references something near the end of his/her routine that they talked about earlier in the routine. Well, we were in our sleeping bags and Caleb responded to a question by referencing something we talked about earlier. The combination of lateness, tiredness, sleeping in tents, and perfect timing caused raucous laughter. Man, we couldn’t stop. You know how you laugh when someone else laughs and they laugh when you laugh? I would hear Jason’s low (trying to get my engine started) laughter, which would make me laugh and that made Erica laugh and that made me laugh, which caused Caleb and Jessica to laugh, which caused Jason to laugh incurring and endless cycle. This went on for over 5 minutes and my stomach has paid for the amazing ab workout.

Finally sleep came and then would leave every hour on the hour, it seemed, as some guy driving a diesel truck with a loud engine (no muffler) through the tent (it seemed) all night long. We also heard, what sounded like someone dragging a body or something around us. Who knows what that was?

We got up and Jason and I took a 2-3 mile run and came back to see the others playing Scrabble while Caleb cooked us pancakes and eggs. Jason walked us through some more cool stuff and we headed to the river to raft finally.

We got on the river and took off for a day of fun and adventure. Throughout the ride I was guiding, but gave up the guide spot to everyone else at different points through the trip. At lunch time we talked through some leadership stuff and how our rafting experience to that point taught us some things about leadership and how it translates to youth ministry. That was a pretty cool conversation. Jessica brought us lunch at the dock and had been taking pictures and video all along the way. (I will post the video later when I have time to edit it). I did a flip over the railing into the water and Ronnie did a back flip and Joe jumped, but caught his foot a he went in and lost one of his aqua socks. Ronnie and I jumped in after it and “saved” it.

We headed back into the water and picked Jessica up for the White water hike part of the trip. White water has much warmer water, and you feel the drastic difference when you have your feet in the water and that water mixes in with the Deschutes River. We then hiked up to an area that has some natural water slides and played on those for a bit. When we were done the boys floated all the way back to the bottom and we all got the scrapes and bruises to prove it.

Then it was back in the raft to finish the trip. We drove back “into town” and got some ice cream and looked at pics and headed home. This was an awesome trip! I hope you can make it next summer. If you ever want to take your students or leadership team I would be more than happy to guide a boat for you. We can take up to 11 total on a boat. Having me guide makes the trip pretty cheap.

Pics will go up as soon as I figure out what happened to that option! grrr

Free Crowder!!!

Are you a fan of free music?

Are you a fan of David Crowder Band?

Today is your day!!!
Click here. and get it now. It won't be up for ever.

Do you have free downloads you know of?
Did you catch the free Phil Wickham CD download too? It was recorded right here in Portland. Go here

Share your freebies with the rest of us in the comments!!!

Happy Birthday Girl.

Yesterday our daughter turned 9. Gulp! She enters 4th grade this year and it makes me think forward 2 years. She will enter middle school. What?!?! I don't get it. How is it possible? I am in a very reflective spot thinking about this. I love where she is at and who she is and who she is becoming. I think about all the things that she will have to deal with the older she gets. I pray. I pray hard.

We took 6 girls over to create-a-memory to do some pottery. It was fun, but every time I have been there I have been the only guy or there has been one other. Kinda funny. There is always that one guy. The girls had a great time. We jumped over to Dutch Bros. to get some drinks and I enjoyed a green apple smoothie. Yum.
(pics coming)

Do you worship God while being distracted?

Today I was in church and it was fantastic. Excellent worship through music and the Word. Matt Boda spoke today and knocked it out of the park. I don't just say that because he is my boss, it's true. Genesis 39. Joseph and Potiphar's wife.

It was all about blessing and temptation today. Excellent stuff. You can listen to it online. I am not sure how quick they are to upload messages, but go to http://www.salemalliance.org/home/sermons2008.php. It should be up there this week some time.

So, we were singing and Laura, our worship leader, asks us to stand. Half way through the song I see the mom in front of me look up from her bulletin to see her daughter sitting and doing the word search in the bulletin (exactly what the bulletin is for during this month of "family gathers.") She leans over to "dad" and tells him to get her to stand up. Dad leans over to her and she gets upset because she is in the middle of the word search. She stands up with a humph and arms crossed.

Here's my question: Who was really worshiping? Was the daughter? Was the mom? I was really irritated when I watched this unfold. I wanted to lean forward and tell her to put away her bulletin so we could all turn our attention to Jesus. Of course I kept my mouth shut, but it really distracted me. Was this as much my issue too? Hmmm.

Rafting

I love to white water raft! It is an absolute blast. The Deschutes river is a really good one for newbies and more advanced rafters. There is class 3s and a 4. I have been guiding for the last 11 summers. I usually guide 4-5 times a summer. Our church (different groups from it), friends, family, other youth ministries. Today I guided for the roots group. We had a blast.

We only lost a few here and there and did some cool debriefing during lunch. We talked about leadership and what we learned from the different things we participated while rafting. Great stuff brought up there.

We hiked up White River and did the natural water slides. Then floated down the river back to the raft. I have a pretty good bruise on my shoulder and a good sunburn on my arms and feet. I sure am itchy already.


Maupin, here we come.


Oars Unite...river, here we come.


Train to our starboard bow.


Lunch time.




River jumping.



7 of us cram into the Jeep.


Mt. Hood is amazing!


I love lawn art.


Good Night