My Transformation is Complete.

Camp men have trucks.

Especially the guys I work with, they are all from the midwest and they have trucks. I did't fit in because I grew up in Florida and have a Jeep (which is close, but just not 'rednecky' enough). However, I am happy to say that today I completed my transformation by purchasing a 1988 Chevy 4x4 from a local drywall company.

My new 'big ass' truck comes with a decrotive layer of drywall dust blanketing the dash and a dust mask in the glove box in case there is another SARs scare.

Its also the first time Ray and I have had 2 vehicles since about a month after we got married, boy are we fancy now.


Oh, how sweet it is.



Don't I look manly?


Chris

You Would Like to Eat What? My Eyes?

A couple of weeks ago we had a program "adventure" week for some 6Th graders and one of the days we had a guy come talk who was a 'birds of prey' expert.

He brought this huge owl and the whole time he was teaching the kids about birds of prey I swore this thing was going to attack his face. I mean this bird had the beak of a samurai sword and the eyes of Satan. You could see into its deep dark soul and tell that it had only ill intentions. Satan or not, nobody died, however I am sure that's only because we all were extremely lucky.


Here is "Satan With Wings" doing his best imitation of Lord Voldemort. Evil bird.



See, looks just like him......except with feathers.

A bunch of people took pics with this widow maker and I was the only one it stared down. I almost punched it in the face.

Life and Priorities.

Life

My boss, Chris Herrington, called me this morning to tell me that he and his wife were rushing off to the hospital to give birth to their new baby. WooHoo! Please pray everything goes well with the birthin'.

Priorities

I was reading on Marko's blog this morning some of his notes from the Jr High Youth Ministry Summit he hosts each year and I found something interesting. There was a little brief thing about priorities in ministry and how the thing you value the most should be recieving 70 percent of your focus, time and resources. However, many times the thing we say we value the most gets the 30 percent instead.

This got me thinking how we do things here at camp and I think that we would all agree that we hold a high value to small group relational ministry within the context of our summer program. However, I think that our large group sessions recieve way more of our finances than things that foster community and relationship.

I know that within program ministry, large group "sessions" are really important, to have low quality bands, speakers, lights, sound systems etc can really distract people from the message you are trying to get across, however does it need to take up the resources that we throw at it? This applys to camp as well as to church and even family budgeting, what do you value? What gets your money?

I don't know what camp could look like if we spend more of our budget on community building projects (games, community spaces, etc). Would we suffer as a ministry? Or would we thrive by allocating funds for our primary values rather than a piece of the pie that is typically uses for attracting people? Just a thought and I look forward to where it could go. Cheers.

Chris

Wall Day.

Here I am hanging from the wall on my repel device removing the hand holds. No, thats not a poop bucket like they use in parades.

Here I am using a ladder to get a couple of the holds we missed, you can see in the picture, but this ladder felt so janky that I thought I was going to fall the whole time, but I survived.


Jenn, Kris and I worked on the wall today and had a great time doing it.

This morning Jenn and I repelled down and removed all the hand holds from both climbing surfaces. To do this you have to repel down and them wrap the rope around your legs in a certain way to lock off the figure 8 device. I have to admit the first time I locked myself off like this I was so freaked that I had done something wrong, but I did it right and did not die.

This afternoon we had to spray stain on the wood surface to weatherproof it. To do this you climb up again and we had someone belay us off the top and Kris and I used a spray gun to spray the stain on the wall. It was actually a cool day working in a harness, hanging above the earth.

Mmmmm Strawberries.

I got a Facebook friend invite from a guy I went to JBC with and it reminded me of an awesome moment that I cherish in my heart.

It was my senior year, 2001, and one of my professors had organized a ski trip to Sugar Mountain, North Carolina. So, we woke up around 4:30 am to leave at 5 and I grabbed a quick bowl of strawberry oatmeal before we left.

We drove the few hours to NC and as we arrived Lucas and I were standing outside the van in the cold, grey light of morning waiting for everyone to unload skis and such from the van. While we were standing there glassy eyed and tired from the trip I farted. He glanced over at me with an understanding little nod and after about 15 seconds we both realized that my fart smelled jsut like sweet strawberries. Seriously, just like the ones that I ate in my oatmeal.

It defied everything that I had learned pertaining to science, logic and faith. However, it made me smile and it changed my life. It gave me hope that in all bad situations greatness can rise from it. I have been longing for a sweet, yummy smelling fart every day since. It has not returned. Cheers.

Chris

Program Week.

We programmed an "adventure" week for some 6th graders from Phoenix this past week and we had a blast with them. The kids got to do team builing, kayaking, slacklining, fire making, emergency shelter builiding, first aid, and other out door campy activities.

The kids were a lot of fun and we really had a great time hanging out with them. Cheers.

Chris

We'll Just Have a Testing Party.

I had the day off today so I drove Ray to work so I could clean out the Jeep. I love riding with her to work when I have time off, I wish I could do it every day. A little small piece of me misses commuting, because its the best time to drink coffee and listen to talk radio.

On my way home I dropped in to Goodwill to see if there were any must haves. There was a massive wood carving that was hard to pass up. And they had a old orange crash helmet that I wanted soooooooooooo badly, but it wasn't in the budget for this month (Thanks Dave Ramsey, you kept me from buying something I didn't need, I love you).

While looking at old Walkmans and popcorn poppers, I noticed there are things at GW I would never purchase used.

1. Under Pants. Gross.

2. Sandals. I can't imagine wearing sandals with no socks knowing someone else did too. Can't do it.

3. Jogging Shorts. All that sweaty undercarriage action makes me want to throw up.

4 Diabetes tester. I saw this on the shelf, the thing where you prick your finger and it reads it. Even in Africa people know to not share that device. Please reader of this blog, get a new diabetes finger prick tester thing if you need one. If you can't afford a new one call me and we'll find you someone that can. Cheers.

Chris

Didn't Make It.

Guys,

I hate to say that I didn't make it out to the Dollar Car Bonaza on Saturday morning. After writing about it last week and getting all pumped up I ended up having to work on Saturday. So staying up all night wouldn't have been a good idea before trying to be safe at the climbing wall for 6 hours Saturday.

I appologize from the bottom of my heart.

I still need a cheap vehicle, so if you know anyone that would sell me a road worthy car for a buck let me know.

I feel so bad that I didn't go, I feel like I am letting my blog friends down. Have a great day. Cheers.

Chris

To Do Or Not to Do.

Ray and I have only had one car for the past 5 1/2 years and I want a car. The reason being I hate feeling trapped at camp, Ray goes to work in the Jeep and I have nothing. Plus, in the summer, having a car is really nice to run around camp quickly. So, we have been trying to think of a cheap way to get another vehicle and I may have a solution.

Lamb Chevrolet is having a huge sale on Saturday and some of the cars are going for $1. I mean, you can't get a good cup of coffee for a buck!

So, Ray and I were planning on going down there to look for a nice little car/truck/van/jeep/scooter/ambulance/hovercraft/john boat/roller blade/jet pack.

Heres the deal though, I called them today to ask about the details and they said that last year they started having people line up at 4pm on Friday afternoon. So, to get a deal I have to be there Friday, which sounds so freaking boring.

So what do you think? Should I go do it? I'd love to hear what you think.

Chris

I Thought This Was Funny.

Woman swallowed whole by leopard

I thought it was one of those fake emails too, until I saw the photo below. Somehow the woman was lodged in the leopard's throat and they finally *cut the leopard's head off to let the woman escape.

She was unharmed.... Unbelievable!!

Current, Community and Sidetracked.

CURRENT

I have been watching the channel, Current, more and I love it. I am a documentary freak and the channel is set up to be a journalistic/documentary channel and for me that is perfect. There is a great show called Vanguard, check it out if you have the chance.

Another thing about the channel that I think is cool is that the do View Created Content, which is little shorts that people send in and they show on their channel. I really like this because it makes the channel interactive. Instead of just being a form of entertainment, it encourages the viewers to get out and produce something that tells a story. I love this idea and would love to get this Incorporated in what we do with teens.

COMMUNITY

One of the shorts this morning was about Brooklyn Kickball. These guys were documenting a group of people that get together in Brooklyn and play kickball on Sunday afternoons. I was just kind of watching it as I ate my breakfast when it dawned on me that that these people we not just playing a kids game, but they were living in community with each other.

Towards the end of the piece a 20-something girl was saying that she loves coming out to play with everyone because its really given her a group that she belongs to and she feels that she has really met a bunch of great friends through playing kickball. I believe that a need for community is something that is really important to everyone.

SIDETRACKED

While I was thinking about community I started searching local ways that people get a sense of community here in prescott, here are a few; Church, YMCA, bar/coffee shops, dog park (one of my favorites), theater, mountain biking, local adult sports leagues.

While I was looking at these different ways that people interact in town I noticed something that got me sidetracked. This is the list of banned bats for slow pitch softball. 84 BATS! That's amazing. I didn't realize there were that many different bats that one could choose from to play softball with. I love the names of the bats too, they are freaking awesome! I personally like the Freak, Uncensored, Beast Unleashed and Lady Virus. I think that softball is finally getting the hardcore street cred it deserves. I wonder what happens if you used a banned bat. Do the umps check ever batter to make sure they don't have a Liquidmetal Plasma Fusion or Anaconda Original. So, that sidetracked me for a while, I have to get back to work.

I Really Like Michael Moore.

I watched Michael Moore's movie, Sicko, the other day and its great. Its all about the American health care system and I found it very interesting and informative. Of course he has an agenda that he wants to get across through his films, but don't we all.

If you have never seen a film by him you should check it out. Bowling for Columbine is also fantastic.

Camp Staff.

Here our program team. We get stuff done.


Jarred, Jenn, Me, Herrington

Update.

Sup homies,

Last weekend we had great winter camp called Alalanche for middle school students and it was awesome! There were a couple hundred kids and the whole weekend was supposed to be a wild "avalanche" of an event and it was.

Rachel is in PHX all week for more training. She's learning about lending, which is funny because while she is doing that I am becoming more addicted to Dave Ramsey and wanting to get completly out of debt. We don't have much debt, the house (which we are still trying to sell) and the car, but I would love to be debt free.

Anyone want to buy a wonderful, georgous, well loved, Jeep? I hate the idea of selling it, but to get rid of a car payment would be great. Ray and I are trying to decide if we should sell it or attack it and have it payed off ASAP and then have a great, practically new vehicle thats paid for. Oh Dave Ramsey, you inspire me so.
Cheers.

Chris

Top 1000

Heres a link to the top 1000 grossing films of all time, kind of cool to look through.

Vegas and Musicals.

Vegas

Yesterday was a long day at work. We left Prescott at 5:45 and drove over to Las Vegas for a couple of meetings and then drove back, we got home around 8:15.

The trip was nice and we got to hang out with a bunch of children's pastors at an area networking meeting. It was cool seeing all these people working in children's ministry and how they are working so hard to provide quality experiences for the kids they work with.

After that meeting, we went over to Pei Wei (pronounced Pay-Way, pardon?) and met with some of the youth ministry team from Central Christian Church. They have a really cool ministry going on where they run 3 or so campuses, but are teacing on the same lesson plan and doing lots of activities together. Each of the guys has their own area of expertice, from writing the material to marketing to leader development and others. We had a blast hanging with them and hopefully they will be coming to camp this coming summer with the JR High kids.

Musicals

Rachel is directing a childrens musical that will be performing in March and last night they had audicians. She said it was great seeing all the kids and being back in a theater environment. I know she will do a great job and while she loves banking, she excited to work with something artistic, even if its just on a very part time basis. I am really happy for her and can't wait to see it all come together.

New Years Resolutions....Update.

I posted around the new year about a few resolutions I have and I'd like to update you on how its going.

Fast Food

Ray and I made a resolution to not eat fast food in 2009 because we are fat Americans and we like our South African bodies better. Its going great! Sure, its only been 12 days, but every epic journey begins with a step....or 12.

Coffee Roasting

I also said that I wanted to learn more about coffee, in particular, how to roast coffee. I contacted the roaster/owner of Prescott Coffee Roasters and asked him if I could come watch him work and learn about the roasting process. He said it was fine so I spent Saturday with Rich roasting several batches of coffee. It was so interesting and it made me appreciate coffee even more than I did. So much goes into a cup of coffee, its crazy.

At first I was super confused, but as we continued I caught on. Rich logs the bean temps as we go and has a whole system for how he does what he does. The amazing thing is, if your beans are only like 5 degrees warmer or cooler at the end of your roast they can be ruined. And if you end up ruining a batch that's like 8 pounds of coffee wasted, which at 10-13 bucks a pound that's a costly mistake.

So I just wanted to fill you in on what I have been doing to work towards my goals. I love to hear your resolutions and how its going with you so far. Cheers.

Chris

Video Shoot.

We have Jr High winter camp, Avalanche, coming up in a few weeks and today we shot a rules video for the event with these genaric action figure guys. I converted my desk to a studio adn we had to come up with ways to get our figures to do what we wanted them to do.

Hopefully we can put it together well and it will be as good as we hope it will be. I'll post the final product later. Cheers.

Chris

Importance.

There are several times in life when you feel important. Of course, for many people these seem far and few between, however they still do exist. Here are a few for me.

-When I think of Creation and that we were made in the image of God. This makes me think that we are so important to God that he would make us and then love us even though we aren't perfect. I feel important.

-When I think that I was adopted I feel important. That someone would burden themselves with a child that was not there own makes someone feel important.

-When Rachel agreed to marry me and live the rest of her life with me. I feel like I am such a lazy bum sometimes, but to know that this beautiful woman would love me and live each day with me makes me feel important.

-When I was offered a job, I felt important. I mean, the fact that people would give me money and trust me to do a good job with teenagers makes me feel important.

There are other things that have happened in my life that has made me feel important, but what happened to day ranks up there......I got business cards.

Thats right, business cards.........with my name on them...........first AND last names..........that I didn't pay for...........with my phone number AND email AND company name AND title at work AND multi color company logo on them..........cards that weren't printed at my house on perferated card stock I purchased at Office Depot.

I feel important. Cheers.

Chris

This is Funny.

(Thanks Beans)