Week in Review
highlights: Jr. High Retreat. Super Bowl party with Ben, Leah and the in-law parents. Judging my first chili cook off. Geocaching once with my family and once with Mike. Seeing Avatar with Mike. Lunch with Paul. Many conversations with people I love.
lowlights: Congregational meeting. One of the students leaving the retreat early and having her appendix removed.
procrastinating about: keeping personal finances up to date. Unfortunately this is something both my wife and I do not enjoy.
on my to-do list: vacation
books I’m reading: finished Primal by Mark Batterson, a must read for any Christ follower. I have finished book 4 and 5 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series and hope to have the next two to bring on vacation with me. Grace-based Parenting has also been started.
music I’m listening to: I am really digging the Ben Harper cd. I also picked up the most recent two Wilco albums and am getting through them. Check out the EP from a new artist Carlos Whittaker.
anecdote of the week: One of my favorite parts of being a youth pastor is going on retreats. This past weekend was the Jr. High Fusion Retreat. Only two guys went, but I think we had a great time. It was very odd as they behaved atypically for most jr. high guys at retreats. Saturday night is typically stay up as late as you can, goof around and other shenanigans. I helped close down the game room at about 11:30 and headed up to our cabin with the other male staff member. The lights were off in our cabin and as we opened the door we found the two students already in their bunks sleeping. I questioned where I was and who these guys were. However, I will not hesitate to bring them with me on any future retreats.