Breakdown

Friday evening my parents had jut come in and we were just chatting over dinner when a phone call came in from my friend Kevbo. I didn't answer. I try not to answer the phone during meals. Jeanne-Ann said it might be an emergency. So I called back and sure enough it was. He was headed down to Mexico with our high school group for a missions trip. For some reason, that is wayyyyyy beyond me, they take the bus down and not a plane.

Well, the bus broke down. (surprise, surprise). I mean, seriously. Has any youth ministry ever taken a bus on a long trip and it not broken down? I don't believe there is evidence anywhere documented to this fact. Again I ask why, but who am I? The fuel line busted and gas went everywhere. Ouch.

So we put together a team to take vans down. They were only 2 1/2 hours away. Then we got another call saying someone was on the way and that they had a part to replace it and we would not need to go. they were 100% sure about not needing us. We thought we shouldn't take a chance. We even thought about going and calling to see how the progress was coming. We decided Steve and Michelle would come over and put their kids down here while we hung out and waited for a phone call (not very trusting you say? we thought it was just better to be safe than sorry. Plus, if we didn't get a call we would get to hang out with our friends. BONUS!

As the kids were finally put to bed, the phone call came. haha. So we geared up and the four of us headed down. My parents are here so they stayed with the kids. We loaded up with Starbucks, energy drinks, our ipods and snacks and began thetrek down there.

We brought walkie-talkies (genius) and chatted the hole way down. It started with "Are we almost there yet?" and "I have to pee." statements and then It became a free concert, put on by yours truly. I had my 80s hit playlist set up and I allowed the other 3 to be blessed by my vocal artistry. From Vanilla Ice to Bon Jovi to Mr. Big to Kriss Kross. Ahhh...it was beautiful.

We slowed down once as there was a guy who fell asleep at the wheel (help was already there) and then finally got there. We gassed up the vans for them and got to see the whole group. They were doing surprisingly well. Now there were way more drivers needed than when it was just the bus.

They made it safely there and are rolling into their ministry opportunities.

We got home just before 3AM! yawn...

What was lost has been found!

My dear readers...Thank you for your kind words. Over the last 18 hours or so I have been releasing my hold on this material possession. I know it is just a "thing" and I should not get so worked up over it. I think the biggest part was the violating feeling I felt thinking about how it could possibly have been taken in those 15 minutes.

Now, about my last statement. "Would you pray that whoever took it (assuming I didn't "lose" it) would by guilt ridden and turn it in to the lodge desk? I say "lose" because there is always that chance that it is siting in the room (even though we asked at the desk) or something like that, but I don't think so."
So, I called back to the lodge we stayed at and I talked to the lady at the front desk and then to one of the house keepers. She talked to the other 3 ladies and no one had seen it. There were even other people who had stayed in our first room (we moved after the 1st night).

I left my number and described the ipod and the cool cover.

I got a voicemail later saying they had found it in the room!!!
Yahooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I am sooo excited. But I am holding on loosely. :)

Free Ipod Nano? No way!!!

A couple of weekends ago I went to a Youth Workers Convention. The first session started at 7PM. I was scheduled to land at 6PM. I figured after getting my rental car, checking in and walking to the convention center, I should get there right on time. I was really excited...

Then came the delay. Grrrr. My flight got in at 7:37PM. By the time I got in there were about 20 minutes left. I was pretty frustrated. At the end, before they started the Building 429 "concert" the program guys got out in the audience with mics and roving cameras and gave away some prizes. The first one went to a guy who answered some basketball trivia. He won Pacers tickets for the next night.

Then they asked who arrived the latest. First they had everyone who arrived after 4PM to stand up. A whole bunch. Then 5PM, then 6PM, then 7PM. There were three of us. The first guy said he arrived at 7:20PM, I said 7:37PM, the other guy said 7:38PM. He laughed and said he was just kidding. I was the last one there. I won an iPod Nano!!! Can you believe it? I was soooo pumped.



Now I already have an iPod (no, I am not giving it away...sorry) so I am going to bring it in to Best Buy for credit. If I win this youtube video contest I get $500 in Best Buy credit. Then I am well on my way to getting a flat screen HDTV!!! Want to help me win the youtube contest? Click on this video and watch it a few times. Maybe you want to embed it on your myspace page or your blog. The more views and embedding the better.



you can go here to get the embed codes if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfQE5kEILT0