Vacation Pics

Here are a few pictures from our camping adventure:

Walking Through the Woods



Family Break On The Trail



Bee Silly-Stringed Me



Jacob and His Walking Stick



Isaiah Throwing Football At Our Tent Site



We had a great time !!

Vacation

It is almost time for a 4-day vacation. We are going to go camping and we are planning on doing absolutely nothing. I am looking forward to the "break". Hopefully, we will get some good pictures and my sidebar pictures of the family could change.

It Is Fall

I took a few photos of the house that we live in and the church that we serve at and you can tell that Fall is upon us. Some leaves are still green, some are turning colors and some are falling to the ground .....

10 Orange Principles

These are 10 principles that mean a great deal to me that come for the ReThink Group and the Orange philosophy. The video is not where I want it. I still need to feel comfortable with where the camera is located and etc, so consider this Bad Practice Run

Leadership

Here are some things that "resonated" with me this past week as I read some of the writings of Andy Stanley on Leadership.

Leaders must challenge the process precisely because any system will unconsciously conspire to maintain the status quo and prevent change.

Accepting the status quo is the equivalent of accepting a death sentence.

Leaders challenge what is for the sake of what could and should be.

A leader is someone who has the courage to say publicly what everyone else is whispering quietly.

Leaders have been given the assignment to take people places they’ve never been before.

Courage is the willingness to move in a direction in spite of the emotions and thoughts that bid you to do otherwise.

Leadership is about moving boldly into the future in spite of uncertainty and risk.

Leaders can much more easily live with the prospects of having tried and failed than not having tried at all. Leaders fear missed opportunities more than they fear an unsuccessful enterprise.

I am in the midst of trying to lead change in a few areas and I am struggling in some ways as I go through the process and these statements helped me think through some of the obstacles that I am/will face.

What a Week

Time seems to be absolutely flying. I cannot believe it. I look at my calendar and question where has it gone. The calendar is full and fulfilling.

Isaiah is having a blast in soccer. His team is undefeated and he is playing well.

Jacob's basketball season has started. His team lost their first game. He played well on defense and he scored a point on a free throw.

Bethany is not really liking baseball through her week conversations and vows that she will never play again. However, when she is at practice and during her games; she seems to be doing fine; especially last week as she got four hits. Her team (all girls) is playing in a all boys league; so that has been fun. Most of the times, the girls are beating the boys.

The church is going well. The attendance last week was over 675. The confirmation class had over 100 when you count the students, peer guides and adult leaders - the group is a really good group. Our Roots (5th and 6th graders) ministry on Thursday nights are a blast. Last week, we had 25 and they are a real fun group. Oasis (high school ministry) is meeting on Sunday night and we had about 30 last Sunday. We played a football game and had a broom hockey contest before moving into our last lesson on Pause.

We also had class on Monday night for adoption; that is moving along. We are concerned about the homestudy and what will occur there. We hope that there is no hiccups. We are not sure which direction the decision will be, but we are excited about the possibility of going from a family of five to a family of eleven.

Spring Hill

This past weekend, our numbers dropped a little with illness and other commitments that came up. However, we still took a large group and we had an amazing time. The above picture is our group picture. Listed below will be a few individual pictures to give a feel for the weekend.

Paint Ball



Climbing Wall



Z-Ball



Dinner



Theme



One: God / Faith / Life

What are you going to do with the one life that God has given you to live ?

Spring Hill: Here We Come !!

60 of us from the church is headed to Spring Hill. It is our confirmation retreat. We are looking forward to a great time of worship and fellowship. I will share the happenings when we return.

30-Hour Journey

It was a whirlwind 30 +/- hours. Here we go ....

- drive to Ohio (4 hours)
- sleep (7 hours)
- wake up / kids at old school (1 hour)
- at judges offices trying to reclaim some items (1 hour)
- wayne county fair (3 hours)
- wayne county child services (1 hour)
- back at kids old school (1 hour)
- visiting the Baker children (3 hours)
- wayne county fair (3 hours)
- drive back to Indy (4 hours)

There was a few breaths in there in between. It was very busy but yet fun. It was great for the kids to see old frioends at school and have fun at the fair. It was awesome to see the kids (Bakers).

The bad thing, no camera to take pics of the events.

Time

I really have no idea where time has gone and why I do not seem to create time to come over here and write down my thoughts. To be honest, I think that I really need to create time to do it; it helps.

There is so much going on in my life and the life of the church that I want to share and I want to see if I can create some discussion and dialogue even though most of my readers (past) are gone and rightfully so when I do not post and I am not activly reading and commenting on other blogs.

I really need to get back in the cycle of reading and commenting as well because there are some blogs that I really miss reading.

Quick synopsis of what has happened the last few days and things that I will explore when I get back on Thursday (making a quick trip to Woo)

- Roots kicked off on Thursday
- Crosstrainers kicked off on Sunday
- Oasis began a new series (Pause)
- We began classes for adoption
- Soccer season began for Isaiah
- Basketball is starting today (?) for Jacob
- Bethany had her first baseball game on Sunday

Those are just a few of the highlights. Things coming this week:

- trip to the Wayne County Fair
- roots pizza party this thursday
- spring hill retreat with jr highers (50+ students and 15 adults)

So, here we go on blogging, I hope