Jon's Ministry Updates

Engagement Pictures...

2009-10-26T13:16:00.002-06:00

If you haven't already seen our engagement photos here they are:

Engagement pictures

-Jon
ps You can get in to see the full photo shoot if you know my last name. Which you do. Lucky you ;-)

I'm Engaged!!!

2009-10-07T15:47:00.002-06:00

Hey Friends,

Courtney and I got engaged on October 5, 2009. I'm sure bajillions of people want to hear how it all went down so here is my version. (Maybe Courtney will comment on anything thats different in her version).

First, I ordered the ring special back in early September because I wanted to use my grandmother and great grandmothers diamonds as side stones. So the 3 weeks of waiting for the ring to be ready was painful. But in the end I think it turned out even more beautiful than I could have imagined. (Maybe Courtney will post pictures of it for you all).

Then two weeks ago I met with her parents to ask for their blessing. That point is critical because Courtney didnt think her parents could keep the secret more than a day or two and I was with her at a conference all weekend prior to proposing.

So Sunday a friend picked up the ring from the jeweler and that night I got the ring from him.

Since I was working at a conference all weekend I got most of Monday off.

I showed up at her house with a bunch of Sunflowers (her favorite) but I acted very casual and unromantic when I gave them to her so as not to tip her off too much.

Courtney loves when the Aspen trees turn yellow up in the mountains so I told her I'd drive her around where ever she wanted to go and take pictures of the trees.

We ended up driving to the Crags which is a cool hiking area about an hour outside Colorado Springs.

I had packed us a nice picnic lunch so we found a small grove of the Aspens that were still bright yellow and laid out a blanket there and ate lunch and talked. The day was absolutely perfect. It was sunny but with storm clouds threatening in the distance.

She told me later that she'd been thinking 'When Jon proposes he's going to have a hard time topping today.' I'm glad I didn't have to because it really was perfect.

So after we finished eating lunch I pulled out a poem I had written her and had her read it. While she was reading it I pulled the ring out of my pocket. Once she finished reading it I told her 'Ok now you have to stand up' to which she replied in a confused voice 'what why??' :-) But she stood up and I got up on one knee and held up the ring and said 'Courtney will you marry me?'

She kinda freaked out for about 5 seconds and then came back and took the ring and said yes.

Her parents had told me it would likely be nearly impossible to surprise Courtney. But according to her until I told her to stand up she had no idea I was going to propose. She didnt think it would happen for another week atleast since she thought I hadn't had an opportunity to talk to her parents. :-)

I'm sure most people who get engaged say something like this but truely it could not have been more perfect for both of us.

Since everyone asks... at the time of this writing we haven't finalized a date but looking at maybe late February or early March.

My digital camera got stolen about a month ago along with a bunch of other things so I dont have any pictures to post on here but maybe Courtney will link to some when she gets hers online.

Back from the Balkans

2009-08-18T16:25:00.002-06:00

I spent most of the summer in the Balkans. Serbia and Montenegro to be exact. It was a great summer.

If you'd like to check out the summer project blog its at sx09.blogspot.com

Also, I have a paper prayer letter that I send out to people who support my ministry. Lately I've gotten a number of suggestions that I 'go green' and so I took a step in that direction recently by creating an email mailing list for people who would like to receive my letters as a PDF. If you would like to be added to that mailing list just fill out the form to the right with your name and email address.

-Jon

Girlfriend

2009-05-12T16:19:00.003-06:00

While I'm posting about things I like I should post about my Girlfriend. Her name is Courtney. Isn't she cute??

Tea

2009-05-12T16:07:00.002-06:00

As many of you may know I am obsessed with Tea. I used to be a diehard coffee drinker like the rest of the world. But about 3 years ago that changed and I switched my love to tea and have never looked back.

I wont recount all my reasons for the switch or the long process I went through to reach my current position. No the point of this post is that my favorite tea company has released the cool widget you see to the right. If you enter your email address there supposedly they will give you a $5 certificate to order some tea with. Now in the coffee world that wouldn't get you anything but in the tea world thats significant!

Adagio is a great place to check out good loose leaf teas (the way tea is supposed to be enjoyed) though you can get teabags from them too. Mmmmm Assam, or Darjeeling, or Oolong anyone?

Livermore or bust.

2009-02-10T19:57:00.001-07:00

I dont update this blog much [at the moment] but incase anyone in CA reads this but hasn't heard from me via any of my other communication methods - I'm heading back to Livermore next week and I want to see EVERYONE. So send me a message if you have time to see me.

-Jon

Decorating

2008-10-27T17:49:00.002-06:00

So I finally hung pictures on my walls today. HUGE difference. I mean not as much as if my walls had been white (they are wood paneled). But definitely a nicer 'lived in' effect.

[I have to assume that this is where having a significant female in my life would have prevented me from going 6 weeks with no decorations. Amongst other things.]

Very productive day already and I leave shortly for "work" a.k.a. going to hang out with some student leaders. Love it. Then the rest of my week I'll be attending a staff conference. God's been pointing out today that for as much as I can grip about things He's given me a pretty stinking wonderful life.

Cooked up a storm!

2008-10-26T10:13:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I got a hankering to do some cooking. So I went nuts. First I made chili. Jon's-it-would-be-famous-if-he-ever-shared-chili-con-carne. The stuff is amazing. Who can go wrong with 3+ pounds of shredded beef chili?? Its awesome. So for several hours yesterday the house had wonderful smells of chili wafting in the air.

Then I decided to live on the edge and try something new. Apple Butter. Who knew you could make it yourself and that it only takes 3 or 4 ingredients??? Of course peeling and chopping apples took me an hour and I have some sore muscles in odd places from it but it was worth it. Because this morning I went out to check on the crock pot and after stirring it for a few minutes it actually looks just like apple butter you get in the store. Then I tasted it. Sublime.

Seriously I disappoint myself that I cook so rarely. Or rather that I'm lazy and just cook simple things. When I get ambitious with my cooking is when things get tasty! Now I just need someone who likes to buy me ingredients and clean the kitchen when I'm done. hehe.

I think I want to grill a turkey for Thanksgiving again. As I recall last time I did that it was one of the better turkeys I've had - which is saying something because my mom can cook a mean turkey!

Any suggestions of what I should direct my budding culinary prowess at next?

Watch

2008-10-23T14:40:00.001-06:00

Can I get a show of hands how many of you are 'watching' as Jesus directed?

I'm not being alarmist here at all just sharing something that actually gets me super excited.

The bible tells us to 'keep watch'.

(sorry for the KJV of these quotes but I just grabbed them from another page)
Mt 24:42-WATCH THEREFORE.
Mt 25:13-WATCH THEREFORE.
Mt 26:41-WATCH AND PRAY, THAT YE ENTER NOT INTO TEMPTATION.
Mk 13:33-WATCH AND PRAY.
Mk 13:34-A MAN...COMMANDED THE PORTER TO WATCH.
Mk 13:35-WATCH YE THEREFORE.
Mk 13:37-AND WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, WATCH.
Mk 14:38-WATCH YE AND PRAY, LEST YE ENTER INTO TEMPTATION.
Lk 21:36-WATCH YE THEREFORE, AND PRAY ALWAYS, THAT YE MAY BE ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS.
1 Thes 5:6-LET US NOT SLEEP, AS DO OTHERS; BUT LET US WATCH.
Rev 3:3-IF...THOU SHALT NOT WATCH, I WILL COME ON THEE AS A THIEF, AND THOU SHALT NOT KNOW WHAT HOUR I WILL COME UPON THEE.
Mt 24:43-IF THE GOODMAN...HAD KNOWN...HE WOULD HAVE WATCHED.
Lk 12:39-IF THE GOODMAN...HAD KNOWN...HE WOULD HAVE WATCHED.
Lk 12:37-BLESSED ARE THOSE SERVANTS, WHOM THE LORD WHEN HE COMETH SHALL FIND WATCHING.
Lk 12:40-BE YE THEREFORE READY.
Heb 9:28-SO CHRIST WAS ONCE OFFERED TO BEAR THE SINS OF MANY; AND UNTO THEM THAT LOOK FOR HIM SHALL HE APPEAR THE SECOND TIME.

What are we watching for? Why the 'blessed hope' of course (Titus 2:13). Jesus to return.

So some of you are probably rolling your eyes or saying "Bro you can't know when he's coming back so just be a good Christian and dont worry about it".

Why then are we commanded to keep watch? I agree that the scripture does say 'no one knows the day or the hour' (Matthew 24:36) but right before that in Matthew 24:32 we are told that there are lots of signs given and when we see them we know he's about to show up.

What I like to describe it as 'We can know the season but maybe not the particular day or hour'. I think this means WATCH carefully for the season to arrive. As you see it coming prepare yourself and dont just keep it to yourself but tell others.

Thats what I'm doing now. Telling you I think the leaves on the trees are just beginning to turn bright colors warning us that the 'season' of the end is arriving.

This morning I was reading Matthew 25:1-13. Its about 10 people waiting for Jesus. In the end he arrives and 5 of them really aren't ready (if you notice Jesus response he says he never knew them) which I take to mean that they think they know him but have not actually made him Lord of their life. What struck me most as I read that passage was this: if only one of the five 'wise' ones had woken up just a little early and urged the 'foolish ones' to truely be prepared maybe they would have had time to make it. Because clearly in the story once Jesus arrived it was to late.

To summarize my thoughts - watching without telling anyone is useless because you will be held accountable for them. Ezekiel 33:7-9. But for the believer watching is also joyous thing because we see our salvation at hand.(Luke 21:28)

Ok so in a practical sense what does watching involve? Well I think the bible offers quite a few examples of what our world will look like at the 'season' of the end. So to me watching means reading the bible with a newspaper open next to me. (or vice versa watching the evening news with Scripture in mind).

For example. The bible seems to indicate a global financial system around the time of the end. Headlines this week talk about Sarkozy and Brown (France and England) trying to get the US (and whichever president is elected) to join them in solving the financial melt down by instituting a global financial solution. (If I hear Sarkozy right he is suggesting we get rid of most of the currencies of the world and just have a small handful of currencies). So does that mean Jesus comes back tomorrow?? No but it might just be a few yellow leaves on an otherwise green tree indicating "fall" is approaching.

Taken with dozens of other stories like this for the past few years I'd offer this analogy - pretty much all the trees around have some leaves colored but few have completely changed color. Meaning nearly all the prophecies and word pictures given of the end times have seen something happen in the past 5-60 years to set the stage as it were but few have been outright fulfilled. the outright fulfilling of things though could happen in a matter of days or weeks when the time is just right so dont take to much hope from the fact that things haven't all been setup. itll happen fast.

if you ask me i could probably put together a list (or find one online) of all the word pictures describing the 'stage' at the time of the end.

for now I'd suggest checking out two other blogs: http://prophecynews.blogspot.com/ which mostly just posts headlines that in some way relate to prophecy. Occasionally there will be commentary offered as well. The other one is http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/ though it looks like he hasn't posted recently. He can get a bit political so if you are sensitive to that wait til after the election to read him :-) His stuff on the middle east and russia is what I pay attention to.

Ok I'll end my rant here. But I welcome your comments.

Update and room picts!

2008-09-22T15:27:00.003-06:00

On a much more upbeat note than the last post...

Last Wednesday I moved to Colorado Springs. In case you missed my last newsletter (read it here http://www.ministryupdates.org/layton ) I returned from Serbia this summer sensing a new or redirected call on my life. Moving away from serving Christ through technology and towards direct ministry with college students.

When I told my leaders in Crusade what it seemed God was doing in my life they were excited and quickly reassigned me to the Southern Colorado team (pending completion of the new phone system). [Hence some of the angst I describe in the previous post].

Well with the phone system up to speed I was able to report to my new assignment which is based out of Colorado Springs but covers all of the campus's in Southern Colorado. The main school I will be focused on is UCCS but I'll be spending time on a number of other campus's which you will probably hear about in coming months.

Ok now onto the fun stuff - my new room. Oddly enough I started praying for my fall living situation last January when my life just started to hint at being crazy. Up until about 2 weeks before I moved I had no idea where I would live. Then God provided this neat place.

Its a room in a basement of a Christian couples house. At first that doesn't seem neat at all BUT its got big sliding glass doors so it isn't dark at all. The walls are all wood paneling. The room itself is stinking huge (I measured it to around 16X20). I fit all my furniture plus a couch and there's still a ton of room! But it gets better - it has a fireplace and built in bookshelves. I even setup a little tea nook which if you know how much I love tea you'll know I'm in heaven right now.

Ok so now for what you've been waiting for - pictures!

Fireplace!!!
Tea Nook. I tried for a closer shot of this but they all turned out blurry. But you can see I can make tea and sit on the couch and read without leaving my room. And I do every morning!

I cant wait for winter and having a fire while it snows out. Perfection!

Love YOUR enemies.

2008-09-22T14:20:00.003-06:00

Alright so its been awhile. I'm back from Serbia/Montenegro. But I'll update you all on that in my next post (hopefully just a few minute after this one).

First I want to share quick little life lesson I learned this month. It goes something like this...

Over the summer while I was gone the phone system at the Great Plains regional office died a horrible death. At the same time we got a new Telco/ISP (phone service and Internet service provider). Since I wasn't in the U.S. when that happened the setup was all wrong to work with our network. I've probably already lost some of you so I'll avoid the technical mumbo jumbo. Summed up Jon had a minor headache on his hands when he returned to the office in August.

Not to worry just have the Telco provider make a few minor settings changes on their end and we'd be up and running in no time. And this was also a prime opportunity to setup a sweet new phone system based off of an Asterisk style pbx (more tech mumbo jumbo - just believe me when I say its sweet). Starting off in August I was actually pumped about the chaos because it meant I could finally put in place some technology that would give the office some solid footing for the future.

Then came the seeming un-ending weeks of struggling to get the Telco to make the simple requests for our network. And some difficulties in purchasing the pbx (tried several vendors before finding the right one). After calling and emailing people at the Telco everyday for 3 or more weeks I finally talked to the right person and the changes were made in around 20 minutes. It was insane. By that time my stress level had gotten through the roof and as my coworkers can attest I had started to develop a bit of an anger problem.

Then a few days after everything came together I was driving in my car still praying for God to reduce my stress level (it took awhile for me to calm back down). That was when I heard the Lord's rebuke. He brought to mind the passage about loving your enemies. And showed me how it doesn't mean what I'd thought it meant.

It doesn't just mean to love people who hate you. It means that too but it also means to love those who I chose as My enemies. It can be easy to 'love' someone who hates you - that kind of loving your enemy can come from a sense of being morally superior. But when the person you despise has no idea how much you have made them your enemy and THEY become who you 'love and pray for' that's another thing altogether.

Needless to say my stress and anger finally started to dissipate when I began to pray for everyone I had interacted with at the Telco.

Who else do I pick as my enemy that I need to begin praying for???

Montenegro

2008-07-12T13:56:00.003-06:00

Well what should I say about Montenegro? It is awesome doesn't quite do it justice. Its about as close to heaven as a third world country can get. Where we are is this small town nestled in between mountains an ocean. To be more accurate its on a giant bay so we dont get waves like the real ocean would have. But its just perfect for swimming.

I think I would like to come back here on personal vacation some day.

The only real down side to the place is that the country has been through a really chaotic last 50 years - esp. the last 20 and only got its independance 5 years ago. So most of the infrastructure is at least 50 years old. Today the water is out in the hotel so we cant shower or use the toilets. The power has gone out several times. But really no one has seemed to mind much. I just feel blessed to be here.

Tomorrow the Serbian students arrive for English camps. The camps are called 'Speak Up!' and the idea/theme is that everyone has a story and we are inviting the Serbian students to come share their stories as we share ours with them. I am really looking forward to the camps. (there are 2 camps each a week long).

Please pray for all of us as we will be very busy during this time and if the last few years of camps is any indication we are in for a rough ride. The stories we've heard are that God uses these camps in mighty ways to advance his kingdom amongst the Serbians. We've also heard that in the past many of the America students become overwhelmed and start to break down during this time. My role for the next two weeks is to support and just be available to help any of the American students that are struggling or being attacked by the evil one.

I definitely desire your prayers for Christ to fill me with his wisdom and love so that I am able to refresh and encourage the American students as they are pouring their lives into their Serbian counterparts.

***Note: i just reread all that and I realize that what I wrote may convey an image to you back home that we are really roughing it here what with water outages and nervous breakdowns. That couldnt be further from the truth. I feel God's presence so intimately in the midst of all this. I was not kidding when I wrote earlier that I feel blessed to be here. God is active in our midst.

Next up...

2008-07-03T08:42:00.002-06:00

Since I doubt that I will get a chance to blog again before we leave for Montenegro I thought I would post briefly about what is happening next.

This weekend it is my turn to lead the church service. I still have yet to write my 'sermon' but hopefully Jesus will inspire something worthwhile for me to talk about.

Then after that on Sunday night we get on a bus for a 15 hour ride down to Montenegro. There we will have a few days of training on how to run the English camps and then the english camps start and we pretty much have no more free time until we fly back to America at the end of July.

Hopefully I will be able to write to you about Montenegro sometime next week. If you are lucky i'll even post some pictures for you all.

Novi Sad

2008-07-03T08:32:00.002-06:00

We've been in Novi Sad for almost a week now but I havent gotten to blog at all. I have to walk over to a park that has free internet inorder to get online. This is only the second time I've made the trek since getting here.

Since being here we have spent a lot of time on the University campus talking to students about God. It is pretty fun actually. I have to confess I am usually terrified about going up to random strangers and starting conversations about God (one of the reasons I havent ever wanted to work directly on campus back in the US). But that fear is definately fading away! Keep praying that it is removed completely.

We also did a service project picking up trash around some of the dorms. One of our Serbian friends brought us a news paper the next day and showed us the story that ran about us. We couldnt read the story but there was a picture of the dumpsters piled high with all the bags of trash we had collected.

Hmmm what else... oh yesterday we did an outreach in the park and played ultimate frisbee with a bunch of Serbians. That was a lot of fun. We also got to meet a few of the Serbians that had signed up for the english camps. Im really looking forward to getting to hang out more with them down in Montenegro.

Story of the soul

2008-07-03T08:27:00.002-06:00

Well since my newsletter talks about this outreach im not going to say much about it. Just thought i should say something since i see my last blog was about it.

It went really well. Lots of Serbians showed up and there seemed to be some really great discussions about the different media presented in light of the spiritual questions asked.

Overview: basically we had a song by john mayer and then discussion about the lyrics. Then showed a surrealist painting by Dali and discussed what people thought it meant. and finally a short video clip.

At the end one of the guys on our team gave his testimony.

Prayer Request

2008-06-24T09:59:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow night the project is doing a large outreach in Belgrade. The name of the event is 'Story of the Soul'.

Please be praying that many Serbs would come to this event and that their hearts would be open to the gospel.

Thursday we move from Belgrade up to Novi Sad which is in northern Serbia. We would also appreciate your prayers for that transition.

They made it!

2008-06-21T14:58:00.002-06:00

Ok so late that night the students finally made it here. I just forgot to update the blog with the happy news until now. thanks for praying!

Now the project is in full swing and life has gotten very hectic.

Two quick highlights from today before i go to bed...

First we sent out the students in groups of two to talk with random college students on the street. I tagged along with one pair and we had a really neat conversation with some people in a park. We talked with them for close to two hours! The Serbian culture is very relational so it is easy to become good friends with people after just meeting them.

The other highlight (if i can call it that) was eating pizza. Not just any pizza but one that had the toppings of green olives (un pitted), salami, red bell peppers, ANNNDD a fried egg. yep one fried egg on each slice. it looked disgusting but was actually really really tasty. So far I have LOVED all the food i have tried here.

thats all for tonight.

Where are the students?

2008-06-19T12:20:00.002-06:00

So the students on our project where an hour into their flight to Europe when they had to turn around because of a crack in the windshield.

Now they are 5 hours late and we have no idea where they are or what flight they got put on.

In other news Belgrade gets carried away by a swarm of mosquitoes.

The Night Train to Belgrade

2008-06-17T12:46:00.002-06:00

15 hours on the night train to Belgrade sounded like hell when I first figured out that was my best option to reach the project from Italy. Thankfully God intervened and it was actually quite pleasant.

there were only two other guys in my cabin so we could spread out a bit (it was a six bed cabin). One of them was a guy from Santa Cruz California so it was fun to talk with him. The other guy was Alex from Macedonia, he acted as our translator to the train guy who's english was probably worse than the japanese tourists.

The trip was mostly uneventful. I even slept pretty well except for the 'passport control' at 3:30am. They came and knocked on every door demanding passports. That was when i learned how good it can be to have an American passport. They didnt even open mine just saw that it was from USA. Alex's however they looked at for a good 5 minutes. That all happend right before reaching Zahgrab.

Then in the morning we enjoyed watching the Croatian and Serbian countryside roll past. It looks alot like the central vally of California. Flat but hills in the distance. All farm land. Bright red poppies lined about 2 feet on either side of the tracks most of the way.

The best part of sitting for 15 hours is that my blisters are MUCH better. Praise God!

Now I am in Belgrade with the rest of the summer project staff getting acclimated. The students get here in two days!

Venice for a day

2008-06-17T12:44:00.001-06:00

So I'm sad to say you wont be getting any photos of my trip to Venice on the blog right now. I checked my bags into storage at the train station and left. Once I was crossing a bridge and ready to take a picture i realized the camera was in my bag. I *did* buy a disposable camera and took a lot of pictures - just not digital ones.

The rest of the day I wandered Venice and felt my blisters at every step. Definately my favorite part of the day was when i took the water bus out to the island of Murano. (Thanks Karin for that tip). Murano is famous for their glass making. Its also MUCH less packed with tourists than Venice proper. it was wonderful to just stand and watch the men blowing glass and making various objects.

For dinner i decided to try something new so i ordered gnocci with 4 cheese sauce. I couldnt even finish it it was so bad. The only disappointing meal i had the whole time in Italy.

I think the day would have been MUCH better if my feet had not hurt so bad. All in all though I think I wish I had just stayed in Florence another half day and only spent 2 hours in Venice instead of 9 hours. Definately convinced me how much better it is when you know someone living in the town your visiting. (thanks again Kelly!!!)

Train to Venice

2008-06-17T12:43:00.001-06:00

Monday morning I caught the train from Florence to Venice.

My seat was surrounded by a Japanese tour group. For the first half of the 2 hour trip I just watched the beautiful Tuscan country side roll by listening to everyone around me speak a forign language.

Then came the ice breaking event... one of the girls spilled her package of m&m's and all the Japanese and I started laughing. Esp. when the mom crawled under all the tables on the train picking up stray m&m's.

Shortly after that the same girl offered me a piece of gum. I'm not sure if it was the brand or the flavor the the name on the gum was "Kissing Mint". I politely took a piece and tried not to die of laughter again.

After that the girl and her mother began trying to communicate with me. Their english was extremely limited and my japanese is non-existant. But it was a fun way to pass the time.

Florence Pictures

2008-06-15T07:08:00.002-06:00

Here are a few pictures of what i like to refer to as the 'dry bones of dead religion'. Enormous churches in which life can no longer be found. sad.

I took a bunch of other photos too but i'll wait to post them.

Tomorrow: Venice and then on to Serbia.

Travel day 1

2008-06-13T10:41:00.002-06:00

Well I made it safely to Europe. I'm in Florence now. Its a really cool city but I am so exhausted i cant enjoy it nearly as much as I want to.

Right now im just trying to stay awake until after 9pm so that when i go to bed i sleep the whole night - jet lag cure. 2 more hours to go.

I plan to take pictures tomorrow. i'll post some here when i get the chance.

Reviving the Blog

2008-06-08T21:05:00.002-06:00

Hey Everyone (well anyone who still checks this),

In case you were unaware of my summer plans I am going to Serbia this summer on a Summer Project. I am reviving the blog as a way to keep people updated on what's going on over in Eastern Europe.

Pretty excited about the trip. My flight leaves this Thursday. I will be spending the weekend in Florence, Italy before taking a train to Belgrade.

Hopefully I will remember to blog here a lot this summer. So stay tuned...

Ever have one of those days...

2008-04-02T10:22:00.002-06:00

where you dont really want to do anything - at all? Im having one of those months.

at least i just blogged for the first time in 6 or 7 months. thats gotta be worth something. right?

pictures from the hike

2007-09-21T14:56:00.000-06:00

14er

2007-09-17T10:26:00.000-06:00

Well its been a little over a year that ive lived in Colorado and I finally hiked my first 14er. After camping at the base (which was still above tree line) and having a miserable night in the wind and rain we headed up Democrat.

Now for those of you in the know - I only climbed Democrat not Lincoln or Bross. For those of you Not in the know its a series of 3 peaks over 14000 feet that are often hiked at once. But after the sleepless night we decided one was enough.

1 down 51 to go. :)

** a 14er is any mountain with a summit over 14000 feet. There are 52 (or 56 if you talk to some people) in the state of Colorado. **

Book recommendation

2007-09-06T10:38:00.000-06:00

Family, Friends, Random Strangers...

I just read a book this past week that I would recommend to you all. It is called 'Epicenter' and it was written by Joel Rosenburg.

Joel Rosenburg is the guy who's fiction books have this nasty habit of coming true. Like terrorists flying airplanes into buildings... which he wrote about (but didnt get published) before 9/11. In this book he starts off explaining how he seems to "predict" future events so often. Then he goes on to explain some headlines he thinks we'll see in the next several years.

How does he do it? Basically he read Ezekiel 38&39 and thought it sounded like it could happen in our time. He has worked with a number of international heads of state so he picks their brains on whats happening in the world. Then he just started writing fiction books of how he thought the world could be brought to the point where Ezekiel's prophecy came true.

At the very least it is extreemly insightful into what some of the world leaders are thinking right now.

Read it. Tell me what you think.

my weekend

2007-08-27T08:23:00.000-06:00

This past summer I got a $10 bike at a garage sale. It served me well at the Conference in Ft. Collins. Since returning to Boulder it's lived at my bosses house because I hadn't had a chance to retrieve it. So this weekend was finally the right time and I picked it up Saturday.

On Sunday evening my roommates and I went on an epic bike ride exploring various trails in Boulder. Now I have to clarify for my Boulder friends that it wasn't epic in miles traveled as I know you all ride 50 miles for a warm up, but it was epic in the sense of discovering new and hidden parts of the city.

Finally it was time to head back to the casa. There was one large hill before the mostly flat return to the house. (home was still a few miles away mind you). So we mentally prepared ourselves and began the climb. About 1/2 way up the hill disaster struck. The chain on my bike snapped like a piece of twine.

Now a bike with no chain isn't really a bike at all. Its a giant awkward scooter with a seat. Luckily my two roommates came to my rescue. One pushed me while the other rode ahead to push the cross walk buttons so i wouldn't have to stop and lose my momentum at every street. it was an arduous journey but eventually we make it back safely.

In other news i used my birthday money to buy a new phone. Thank you to all of you who contributed to that cause (parents and grandparents).

milestone

2007-08-20T10:48:00.000-06:00

My car just crossed the 100,000 miles line. I think that means he's middle aged in car years. So for his midlife crises I bought him new tires. Seems to have made him happier... or atleast stop making wierd noises and pulling to the right.

minor health miracle

2007-07-23T16:28:00.000-06:00

Ok so im sure most of you would not think anything of this, but to me my visit to the health fair today resulted in me receiving news that borders on the miraculous.

Yes its true - my blood pressure was and i quote "text book normal". My pulse was in the 'normal' range. Even my skin fold test result said i was only 2% over the average range for fat percentage for my age.

amazing as it may seem - IM HEALTHY!!!

tomorrow i go back for blood work, im praying those results will come back just as positive.

ok ok ill post...

2007-07-08T10:10:00.000-06:00

Due to popular demand (read not so subtle hints from grammy and mom) im going to post a quick update...

Im in Fort Collins Colorado for the summer, working at the staff conference.

So far its been a fun summer. I've taken a class, worked with registrations, worked on some computers, been extremely social, discovered i am much more of an extrovert than i ever thought, gone on a couple of dates with various girls, enjoyed diverse coffee shops, and begun pursuing a 1 year stint overseas. That was the slow part of the summer.

My life is about to get insanely busy this week and probably continue to be for the next 2 or 3 weeks with getting the main convention area setup and keeping it running through the main 10 day conference. (on top of continuing to do everything i mentioned above).

ok probably wont post again til august. enjoy this brief glimpse into my life.

Desert in Bloom

2007-04-11T14:22:00.000-06:00

I am in Tucson raising support right now and I have to say anyone who thinks the desert is an empty dead place has never visited in the spring. There are flowers EVERYWHERE here. I've taken a few pictures to show you... enjoy!

(ok the last one isn't a flower but it still looked cool)

Oh how i miss thee

2007-02-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

So last week I was in Orlando.

I realized something I never thought would be true... I miss it. So many good friends and good memories. Strangely enough it almost felt like.. well .. home. I guess living somewhere for 2 years will do that to ya.

BIG NEWS.

2007-01-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

i just thought i should fill you in on a little something new in my life...

i think i like it... you could say its growing on me... LOL

Snow Picts!!!!!

2007-01-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some beautiful pictures I took on my day off today. These were taken hiking in the snow along the flatirons right outside Boulder. Hopefully these will tide people over til I actually write about my life again. :)

Blizzard like conditions

2006-12-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well I escaped Colorado right before the snow hit last week. I'm sure you heard all about the crazyness of the snow storm. Well I'm back now. And it looks like the Colorado weather is going to have another go at hitting me! Word on the street is we have another foot or so headed our way.

I'm also not feeling very well and Christmas conference is coming rapidly. Please pray that I will get well and be able to finish everything before conference.

Turkey Day Fun

2006-11-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

This Thanksgiving was great. Had some of the family in to visit. My brother, two cousins and one friend. We cooked the requisite feast (the fridge is still full of left overs). I realized my family is a bunch of brainiacs when any free time people had they tried to solve my various sized Rubiks cubes. We also hiked some and visited other extended family in the area.

Then on Sunday we went snowboarding. It was my first time back on the mountain in 2 years. And my brothers first time ever. I had an absolute blast! While I dont consider myself to be very good at snowboarding I thoroughly enjoy it. Not sure Nick has the same opinion of it that i do. His day was much more miserable than mine - but then everyones first day boarding is a painful one.

I'll post some pictures when one of our Holiday photographers sends me pictures.

quiet on the home front

2006-11-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Ok so its been a few weeks since I posted on here. But there hasn't been a whole lot to post about.

Tomorrow is the last night of my Silver Smithing class. Hopefully there will be enough time to finish everything.

Thursday Nick comes to visit. Its been at least 10 months since I've seen my brother because he was in New Zealand. So needless to say I'm excited about his visit.

Maybe there will be some crazy brother antics to write about soon. One can only hope.

rocky mountain leadership conference

2006-10-25T22:19:00.000-06:00

This week I have been up in Estes Park staying at the Stanley Hotel (featured in both dumb and dumber AND the shining). Its the Rocky Mountain Leadership Conference which Ive helped out with registration and various other things for.

Today we had Reggie McNeil speak. The guy was hilarious! i do believe he has a gift for using sarcasm to make his points hit home. He talked about Greatness in Leadership and the disciplines which lead to it.

'if you have to choose between being a good leader and a bad leader choose to be a good one cuz then you'll make a positive difference. but there is always a third option - to be a great leader. great leaders change the world.'

one of the points that hit home for me was 'grow in your strengths'. ive heard it a lot before that even though common sense says to work on your weaknesses you'll be able to make the biggest difference if you work on your strengths. well Reggie used an illistration that just seemed to make that idea totally fresh again. heres his illistration in my own paraphrase:

there was a baseball great in the 1940's Ted someone. he had a 400 batting average which as i understand it is a feat that is still unprecedented. one day his coach tells him to give some hitting pointers to a new rookie. so ted walks over and stands there watching as the rookie swings at 95mph fastballs.

finally ted offers this advice "watch the stiches". the rookie looks confused and asks him what stiches. ted replies 'on the baseball. if you watch how they spin you'll be able to tell where the ball is going to go after you hit it.'

the rookie was dumbfounded because as the baseball adage goes 'in the first 10 feet from the pitching mount the ball looks like a blur and for the other 50 feet its invisible'.

Ted had 20/10 vision and was able to watch the stitches spinning on a ball going 95 miles per hour. (he also once said that on a good day he could see the commisioner meaning the baseball commissioners signature on the ball.)

after telling us this story Reggie asked "Where can you see the stitches?" thats such a profound question. where in your life are you gifted with a talent that no one else has as easily or naturally as you do? if you know what that talent is (most people dont know theirs) then you need to go out and spend your time using and developing that gift. why spend all your time struggling to develop a skill that your not gifted in when God has given you ones that you ARE gifted in?

its like from chariots of fire where the guy says "when i run i feel Gods pleasure". what gift do you have that when you use it you feel God smile?

im not 100% sure where my giftings and talents lie. but after today i eagerly want to discover them. i used to think i knew what they were but then i never did anything to develop them so now i have to go an rediscover them.

if any of you have any insite into my life and where my talents might be let me know. :)

ps theres supposedly a blizzard on the way and im up in the mountains. i am sooooooooooooooooooooooo incredibly hopeful that we'll get to have a blizzard here. its also supposed to clear out tomorrow night so by friday the roads should be clear down the mountain. perfect! a blizzard in the mountains but we can still leave when the conference is done. (blizzards are on my list of natural disasters to check off having lived through). :)

FINALLY!!!

2006-10-17T10:37:00.000-06:00

Its snowing here in Boulder. Im watching it out my office window. YAY! Its not enough to stick at the moment but Lord willing that will change. :)

I made this.

2006-10-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

so i took like 6 pictures and only this one turned out even decent. its hard to tell but the stone is a really nice blue color.

if you'd like to buy this or commission something like it let me know.

elk picts

2006-10-05T16:26:00.000-06:00

Elk bugleing

2006-10-02T13:36:00.000-06:00

This pass weekend I went to rocky mountain national park with some friends and listened to the Elk bugle. It was quite the experience, very much different from my expectations.

I figured there would be these deep booming mating calls that would echo across the valley as the male elk tried to attract mates. Instead they made these rather high pitched squeaky sounds. If you've ever watched a movie that had whale calls they sound JUST like the elk.

The most exciting point came when we had layed out our picnic dinner and the closest herd of elk which were only about 75 yards away all turned and started coming right toward us. There were a tense few moments before they turned and ran off down the hill.

Pictures should appear soon once my friend with the camera emails them to me. :)

Snow!

2006-09-18T10:38:00.000-06:00

There was snow this weekend in the tops of the mountains visible from Boulder. :) yay! its definately fall here. getting crisp out!

as usually for me... no pictures at the moment. but you can imagine them!!!

Fun times in CO

2006-09-11T10:39:00.000-06:00

So last week was spend on a retreat at a cabin up in the Rockies. On the drive down the mountain we got to see the first snow of the season. Yay! Trees were turning bright colors... well bright yellow atleast. All in all a fun time was had by all. Heres the team picture taken at the retreat.

GOOD NEWS!!!

2006-09-06T09:21:00.000-06:00

YEP i found my camera cable.... look at all the pretty pictures...

Here is when i first arrived in the GPI Office. The handing off of the laptop baton.

The week before last i was in Denver for a planning meeting for the Denver Christmas Conference. This was the view out the window.

And here is a quick peek at my apartment (taken during our labor day party). Look at all the fun people... and thats only Half the room!!!

Ok so now the pestering about pictures can stop! :)

Good News Bad News

2006-09-05T10:52:00.000-06:00

The good news is I got batteries for my camera and took some pictures recently.

The bad news is that I cant seem to find the cable to connect it to my computer ANYwhere. So still no pictures. :(

This past weekend was pretty good. Sunday afternoon i went for a hike up the backside of the flatirons. and yesterday for labor day we had a small crowd over to our apartment for a cookout. It was fun having church, small group, and work friends all together in one place.

The rest of the week i'll be at an ops team retreat up in the mountains. This should be a great time of bonding as a team and preparing for the fall.

Ok pray that i find my camera cord! Have a great week!!

My commute: New Glory

2006-08-17T10:22:00.000-06:00

My camera still is lacking battery power otherwise this post would be accompanied by some great views. (ill try to be descriptive since I didnt take pictures)

Today I decided to drive to work the "back way". Its actually more direct but it doesnt involve the freeway. Let me tell you it was one glorious ride. I felt like i was experiencing boulder again for the first time.

As I left my apartment i turned right instead of left. As I drove down the road I noticed that there is a chipotle AND a starbucks right up the street from me. within walking distance.

Then i started driving up a hill and noticed that the sky was absolutly BLUE today and I could see the whole front range arrayed to my left. It was so clear they just stood out like huge gaurdian towers. When i reached the top of the hill i turned toward the mountains and started down the hill into boulder valley. The whole valley spreads out below. and since they created a 'green zone' with no buildings it just looks like a great peaceful valley with meadows and trees.

There wasnt much traffic at all so it really was quiet and peaceful. Once into the valley i turned again and started down another road. this road had a whole bunch of nice quaint little old houses. perfectly fitting for the drive so far. At the end of that road it drops me back off in 'civilization' with busy streets and the like. BUT i was only about a block and a half from the office. so all was well.

With a commute like this i think im really going to like living here!!

Yay God for creating such beauty and letting me see it!!!!!!!

all moved in and ready to party.

2006-08-14T16:10:00.000-06:00

ok not really ready to party. but once my roommate moves in THEN we'll have to have a house warming party.

but it does feel great to be in my own place again. I mean I really appreciate Fraze for letting stay with him for the past month but there's just something about having a place to really call my own.

Im glad i got all settled in this particular weekend too. It being my birthday and all. Nice gift. :)

pictures of the new place to follow whenever i dig out my camera.

UPDATE: I tried to take pictures but my camera batteries are dead. the wait continues...

Apartment Search is OVER

2006-08-05T13:53:00.000-06:00

Thank you to all of you who prayed for my apartment search. Yesterday we signed on a place thats just a little outside of boulder. Its a pretty cool apartment and it seems to be located near TONS of stuff. I definately feel blessed to find somewhere this nice.

It also feels GREAT to be done looking. Now I just have to be patient til around the 10th when we can move in. (i might have to wait til the 14th if they require my roommate to sign the last stuff at move in at the same time i do.)

all in all a happy way to start the weekend.

another license...

2006-08-02T11:40:00.000-06:00

So today I went down to the Colorado DMV and waited (only an hour) and got a new drivers license.

Now when i say i got a new license i mean i got a peice of paper that says i can drive for 30 days and maybe they'll send me a plastic one before the paper one expires.

I have to say that just like last time this feels so... final! they didnt keep my license like last time but it STILL felt like ok i LIVE in Colorado now. (though it didnt have that same sense of dread like when i got the florida license.)

the funniest part of getting the license was that i put an address on there that will (hopefully) not be my address in a week or two. AND i registered to vote at that address. hehe

Flooded Desert???

2006-07-31T10:33:00.000-06:00

So Last week was spent in Tucson Arizona for my Grandma's inurnment. (like a funeral only with an Urn and ashes instead of a body in the ground.) The ceremony was nice.

The rest of my time there was relaxing and just good to be with my family.

Then came Saturday when I was supposed to leave. It pored all night long (and all morning for that matter). So much so that part of my parents newly landscaped yard was washed away. Their neighbors yards were washed away as well. AND one wall in the house had to be torn out because water was running down inside it. Really sad cuz the house is brand new.

Then when it was time for me to go to the airport we didnt think i was going to make it because half of the roads in Tucson were closed due to flooding. Does anyone else find it odd that the desert flooded?? i mean seriously here folks what the heck? "i got stuck in the desert cuz there was too much water" sounds a little odd.

haha well the end of the story is my parents friends stopped by with a big SUV that could get through some of the less flooded areas so they got me to the airport.

:)

Mountains

2006-07-19T12:57:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture taken through the front window of the apartment Im staying in at the moment.

ps. please pray that I would find a great (affordable) place to live for the year.

In the mean time I moved to Boulder.

2006-07-18T22:34:00.000-06:00

So I see the last post was on the 4th. Its now the 18th (happy birthday mom). In the mean time I packed all my stuff in my car and moved to Boulder Colorado.

Ive started getting more and more comments from friends and family to blog about the move. So I will fight off sleep a little longer to bring you the story of my move. (if you only want the synopsis: it went well)

so on the 10th my friend Josh (see picture) and I hopped in my car for the long haul to CO.

Heres josh prior to the trip hiding under a little army guy.

So the first day we went to Atlanta where we stayed with the family of a friend of mine. There Josh fought William with airsoft guns. I fought William with a starwars robot and darth maul. and everyone had a good time.

the next day we drove to kentucky. on the way Nashville TN let us down on the whole BBQ thing. That night we stayed with Josh's cousin. There we swung small children around by their arms and tossed them high in the air to land on the couch. the kids were nuts... your not supposed to ask for more wedgies or nuggies. silly kids.

anyway we stayed there an extra day and went to mammoth caves. self proclaimed "longest cave in the world" theyve only explored 368 miles of it so far. im willing to let them keep the "longest cave" title.

Next we drove to Kansas City. by way of St. Louis. Like nashville we were totally let down on the whole 'bbq' thing in St. Louis. I mean seriously folks if people are going to sell "St. Louis Style Ribs" you'd thing there would be SOMEWHERE in St. Louis that sold them too. Done right. But no you'd be wrong. Or at least it wasnt in any of our tourist books. and we didnt see any BBQ places anywhere in that city. we DID see this...

Atleast they had the arch that they are also famous for.

Continuing on that long day we ran across something that has since redefined Josh's life. I think he nearly had a stroke when he first saw this. he started snapping pictures of it like he thought he'd wake up and it wouldnt be there. heres one of them...

Yessir that vending machine sells Live Bait.

After forcibly pulling Josh from the Live Bait Machine we trucked it to Kansas City. Surprisingly pretty city. We stayed with friends parents there. They took us to good BBQ. and i mean GOOD. finally. more than made up for the nashville and st. louis failures.

The next day we completed our final push to boulder. we drove across Kansas. Not nearly as flat or treeless as I had been lead to believe. There were trees. and it was more gently rolling plains. if you want flat go out to the middle of Arizona.

Finally we arrived in Boulder. City-o-heavenly-mountains. Praise God!

All in all my take on America is that it is a beautiful place. Soooooo much amazing variety in landscape and people. Get out and see the country if you haven't recently.

So now i live in Colorado. hard to believe. but for the time being Im staying in an apartment with a direct view of mountains only a few scant miles away. glorious.

I even like my job so far.

Once i get a more permanent place to stay i expect you all to come visit.

ps. i apologize for all the grammer and spelling mistakes. Im way tired and just wanted to get this blogged for all my wonderful fans. lol.

Feeling 100% patriotic

2006-07-04T17:10:00.000-06:00

Today is independance day. The 4th of July. And I went to see my first space shuttle launch (it actually happened today).

Is there anything more patriotic than watching a shuttle launch on the 4th???

It was super cool. We were only a couple of miles from the launch site and we saw it rise majestically into the heavens on a pillar of fire. The sky was clear so we could watch it for a long ways.

Then as it is a shrinking dot of brightness way up in the sky we finally heard the rumble of the rocket. It's so fast going up that its way up there before the sound even has a chance to travel a few miles. But its sooooooo loud that the sound actually carries that far! Very impressive.

They say a night launch is more spectacular because its like a mini sun rising for a few minutes. But Im just happy to have seen this one. Sunburn and all.

No Launch. :(

2006-07-01T13:53:00.000-06:00

So I was going to go see the shuttle launch today because its the last one before i leave town. At the last minute i decided just to watch it from Lake hart. GOOD DECISION! They cancelled the launch 5 minutes before it was set to go.

In other news... since i havent updated recently I thought id post that I leave Orlando about a week from monday. So its coming fast!! aaaaaaaahhhh.

tear

2006-06-15T08:35:00.000-06:00

Well thats it. Im done. Time to clean out the desk, say my goodbyes, and walk off into the sunset. (i always did like the dramatic exit)

Just wanted to point out...

2006-06-11T15:26:00.000-06:00

... that my last day at the office is this coming Thursday.

Im not leaving Florida just yet though. I still have some support raising to do. But soon as that is done its on to Colorado!

Make your plans now to see me before i leave. And your plans to come visit me in Boulder. You know you want to.

2006 Hurricane season begins

2006-06-01T08:47:00.000-06:00

I dont think there are any storms out there yet but today marks the official beginning of Hurricane Season. And they have high expectations for this years season. 17 named storms (9 of which will become hurricanes). Thats alot more than last years expected numbers but less that what actually happend.

The biggest question is what new words will be added to my vocabulary by enthusiastic weather men?? In the past we got words like 'hunker down' and 'tornadic activity'.

Java One last week

2006-05-25T09:08:00.000-06:00

Im back from the JavaOne Convention in San Francisco. It was a great week. I didnt think I had picked up very much detail at all though. But today I was in a meeting with a coworker who was explaining some Java Architecture to a group of other programmers and I knew everything he was talking about! I understood how it all worked together and what I didnt already know easily slide into place for me.

I guess Im finally getting this Java stuff. Time to buckle down and head to Colorado. haha thats just the way my life is.

(ill try to post a few pictures from the convention sometime)

Group Hobby

2006-05-09T11:37:00.000-06:00

So last week I took some time to go climbing with some friends. Rock Climbing seems to be our latest 'Group Hobby'. Before this it was tennis. Well Im finally posting because I was just sent a picture that was taken of me while I was 'bouldering' which for you uninitiated means 'climbing without a rope' (you dont go very high without a rope).

I just wonder if this is a foreshadowing of things to come... moving to Boulder and all.

workaholic

2006-05-08T08:17:00.000-06:00

When you get to work on Monday morning and you feel disappointed that you didnt work the past two days something is SERIOUSLY wrong.

Im super excited that my family is coming to visit in 2 days. The weird thing is that I find myself discouraged that I wont be able to work late when they are here. Im turning into a monster.

I never thought i'd become addicted to work. Ive always been immune before. Haha oh well there are worse things to spend hours on.

anticipation

2006-05-04T08:35:00.000-06:00

Today I feel rather excited. I mean im not jumping up and down excited Im just eagerly anticipating certain rapidly approaching events.

For example tomorrow is 'Cinco de Mayo' which to me equals eating yummy mexican food which I just happen to love.

Then next week my parents and sister are coming to visit. Its the first time my parents have visited me here in Orlando so Im stoked about that. Let the good times roll.

Immediately following that I am going to San Francisco for a Java conference. I love that city and so Im looking forward to visiting, and several Orlando friends are coming too so I get to show them around the city. yay!

After that I enter the 'just waiting to move to Colorado time' since I still dont have a final release date set yet.

All in all its good stuff.

Walker Wedding

2006-05-01T08:20:00.000-06:00

Since it appears I havent posted since Easter (has it really been that long?) I guess I can talk about anything thats happened since then. And the only thing other than working long hours that has taken place is my trip to California for the Walker Wedding. It was a really nice wedding and I had a blast. It was also fun to catch up with alot of Livermore people. Yay!

Congratulations Derek and Amy. Enjoy your portable pyrex.

Happy Easter

2006-04-17T08:16:00.000-06:00

Well i hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. I sure did! It was great celebrating Jesus. I kinda wish we celebrated the way God commanded old testament celebrations to happen. A week where no one works and everyone just gets together and celebrates and remembers what God has done.

To bad our culture is so busy that would never work.

Home Sick

2006-04-10T09:31:00.000-06:00

Who knew being sick could be so boring? Yesterday was Sunday and after church I pretty much just slept all day. Today Im still not feeling well but I cant sleep. I might go in to work just because Im bored out of my mind staying home.

workworkwork

2006-04-06T11:30:00.000-06:00

Well i need to post so i dont break the habit but this week ive been pretty focused on work. Not a whole lot to report. Just being productive.

Blognouncement: Im Moving!

2006-03-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

This is the semi-official announcment that I am moving to Boulder, Colorado. Its only semi-official because the official full length announcement is in my prayer letter that just got sent out. (ask me for a copy if you dont normally get it).

So yeah Im going to move to Boulder and work in the Regional Office (atleast for a year). Im super stoked about this, and scared, and lots of other feelings at different times. Mostly Im just trusting God and walking forward.

Comments? Questions?

1 Cor 1:7

2006-03-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

Im not sure how I missed this for so long. Maybe because I dont often read the bible through the "Community" lense. Today I started reading 1 Corinthians and I got to verse 7.

It just jumped off the page at me. it says "...you do not lack any spiritual gift..."

Now in the past I've always read that line as "you the individual" like "you, Jon, do not lack any spiritual gift." Its always been a nice thought but im not sure what to do with it. I certainly dont feel like I have every spiritual gift. Does that mean I dont have enough faith in the bible? If i just believe then I have the gifts?

And if it really is 'you the individual' then I dont really need anyone else. Thats comforting to the American mindset. I can make it as a Christian on my own because I already have everything I need.

The realization I made this morning was - the 'you' is the corinthian church. As a WHOLE. That community of believers. Not necessarily any individual in the church but when all the believers are in community they lack no spiritual gift.

With this view on that passage all of a sudden I desprately need other believers. I cant make it on my own. And in the community of believers there is beauty as everyone is needed and the body really is a body as everyone offers their gift(s).

Thoughs?

Car Title

2006-03-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

I dont know if anyone else cares but Im really excited because today I went down to the DMV and got the title of my Car transfered to my name. Previously it was Jointly in my Dad and My names (and the bank's till i paid off the loan).

But now its paid off and I am the sole owner. Now my prayer is that it would last me atleast another 100,000 miles.

Happy Day!!!!!

Happy St. Patricks day

2006-03-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

so its a day early but i wont be in the office tomorrow. wether your irish or not have a very green day. (though i guess if you scottish you wear orange or something)

seasons

2006-03-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

well it seems like summer is starting in Florida. Spring is about over (there is no winter) so here comes the heat and humidity. I actually had the discussion with my roommate yesterday about whether the non-summer season in Florida should be called Fring or Sprall. Fall and Spring combine to make the non-summer season because when the lowest the temperature will ever get during the day in Florida is 50 something you just cant call it winter.

Colorado

2006-02-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

I went to Colorado for a few days last week and visited with my mentor from college who recently moved out there. Here's a few pictures from the trip. I might put up some more later.

Manatees!

2006-02-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

Well I can check Manatee's off my list of things to see in my life. Here's a picture I took this weekend when we went manatee watching.

The other exciting event of the weekend was that I went to see Donald Miller speak at a local church. I enjoyed it alot. If you dont know who he is - he's the author of "Blue Like Jazz" and "Searching for God Knows What".

brief blurb

2006-02-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

Im in the process of writing a newsletter so im not very inclined to blog much at the moment.

However, I want to say that things turned out amazingly well after my last blog entry.

In other news ive been relearning how to swing dance. Im not all that good but its fun learning it again. maybe this time itll stick.

thats all for now. ill hopefully be sending out a newsletter soon. If your not on my newsletter list and want to be let me know.

Sin is just UGLY

2006-02-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a superbowl party. It was really awesome. It wasnt a huge party but there were lots a friends and food so it was good. Fabulous time really.

But today do I remember the party with fond memories? Not so much. No instead what is on my mind and heart the most is how I and my roommates wounded a Sister in Christ that night.

:(

Now I must walk the hard road to reconciliation. I dont really like this road because its not easy but in the end it is the right thing to do.

I dont often post about my ugly side, but here I am being real. Please pray for me and my roommates as we seek to do what we think is right.

(and please dont ask what happened Im not going to share that)

Your Welcome!

2006-02-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when I got to work I found a huge banner and a bunch of balloons and goodies at my desk. The payroll team's way of thanking me for working on the E-Timesheet project for them. It sure feels good to be appreciated!!

here's one of the ballons they gave me...

The Wall part 2

2006-01-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

Apparently the wall separating my cubicle from the rest of the team was more than just an inconvenience to me. When I arrived this morning the wall had been taken down and one of my coworkers had swapped desks with the new guy just so we could have the wall removed again.

YAAAAAY!!!!!

The walls go up.

2006-01-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

A year ago we took down the cubicle wall separating my desk from the rest of my team so I could have easier communication with them. It was wonderful and made my cubicle feel so much larger.

Well we just had a new guy join our team. I came in this morning to discover he had replaced the wall. Its a sad day. All that great communication and openness destroyed for the sake of pinning up a piece of paper.

Whew what a weekend!

2006-01-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Weddings and birthday parties, Seeing Old friends and Making New ones, Playing Frisbee and watching movies. I feel like I did almost everything there is to do in Florida. I even tried Fondue for the first time MMMMMmmmmm good!

I think work might be a nice break from my busy weekend!!

A first.

2006-01-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

I just saw my first NASA rocket launch. To bad it wasnt a shuttle launch.

One of the benefits of where Campus Crusades HQ is located is that we can see rockets launched from Cape Canaveral from here.

The world is flat?

2006-01-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

I dont really have much to say today. So Im just going to do a shameless plug for a book Ive been reading called 'the world is flat' by Thomas Friedman. While not a Christian book it offers a very insiteful look at what is going on in the world today. The focus is global economic/business/technology/politics. And while that sounds super boring I found that it really isnt. Friedman is a journalist so his book reads like a series of newspaper articles. Tons and tons of interviews from all sorts of global leaders. Read it.

Pictures from EJ 05

2006-01-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

EJ 05

2005-12-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

Experience Jesus 2005. Thats the name of this year's San Diego Christmas Conference. Which is where I am at the moment. Im having a blast hanging out with college students and talking to them about opportunities to come work at Headquarters in Orlando.

The job is a lot harder than I thought but its still a lot of fun. Pray that God calls students from all the different Christmas conferences around the country to work with us in Orlando.

Tucson

2005-12-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

So I made the journey to Tucson today. God is quite awesome I must say.

Today I arrived at the airport and got my tickets and went to my plane and right before they start boarding the plane I realize "wait a second this seat is in FIRST CLASS". I definately did NOT buy first class tickets but somehow I got bumped up. Yep that was my first time riding in first class. REAL food on a domestic flight is a first. Haha it was like a little Christmas present from God. I finally had time to work on my Christmas cards on the flight too. bonus!

Then I got to Tucson and saw my parents new house. one word: AWESOME!!!! The pictures that ive been seeing totally do not do it justice. Its actually quite big and bright and airy on the inside. I think it has a very asian feel but everyone else here seems to disagree. oh well.

Tomorrow I start my Christmas shopping. aaaaaaaaahhh.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! (I might post again before Christmas but I make no promises)

ill

2005-12-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

Being sick is No fun! (you can pray I get better.)

On a more happy note: I only have 2 more work days (Friday and Monday) before I fly to Arizona for Christmas! Yay!

Narnia

2005-12-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Christmas Parties Galore. That sums up my weekend. But I also saw the Narnia movie.

I really like the Narnia movie. What I have always found interesting about that story is that C S Lewis was writing it as an allegory of the gospel. So its appropriate to look for parallels in it to the bible and christianity. And CSLewis was such a deep thinker that all kinds of neat things come out when you think about how the story plays out.

For instance when Lucy first enters Narnia it is this huge mysterious exciting place. She is filled with wonder. It strikes me that it is the same as someone discovering for the first time that there really is a supernatural - God exists in this universe of ours. The world theyve been living in becomes - different. Some how more Grand just by that knowledge.

Others like Edmund discover this same wider universe but they happen upon its sinister side instead of the good.

Either way you must soon discover that a war is going on.

Almost every scene in the movie portray's some piece of the gospel. If you've seen the movie what was your favorite scene was and what do you think its deeper meaning was???

The grass may be greener here...

2005-12-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

But I've been looking at the pictures of snow on my friends blog and I have to say I'm pretty jealous. It certainly looks pretty and fun!! Some day I'd like to live somewhere that it snows.

Lake Hart Christmas Decorations!

2005-12-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

I love this season! And now LakeHart is all decorated nicely! Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:

more preview weekend pictures!

2005-12-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the whole group that came in November as well as another picture of my particular group.

Congrats Steve and Cheryl

2005-11-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

My roommate Steve got married yesterday. It was a really nice wedding and reception.

in slightly older news Thanksgiving was fun. I went to Georgia. It was wonderfully cold and we got to ride 4 wheel ATV's.

sorry I'm being so brief but I just wanted to get something posted in my spare moment before I dive back in to work.

God Bless!

Best preview weekend ever!

2005-11-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend was awesome! Here is a picture of some of the people in my group when we went to DownTown disney. I had a lot of fun getting to know these students and I really hope they all join staff. By the end of the weekend alot of them said they are planning to join staff or do an internship. They were 100% more excited about working for Campus Crusade than the group last year! God is really doing some cool things in their lives.

Preview weekend '05 - take 2

2005-11-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

(I was just going to say preview weekend 05 but then i remembered that the last one happend at the begining of this year so this is really the second preview weekend of the year.)

All that to say that it is once again Lake Hart Preview Weekend time. Once again I get to host students coming to check out Lake Hart. Im pretty excited about it. I love interacting with college students and I also know how desparately we need more programmers here.

Please please please pray that God would lead some of these students to come work in our office when they graduate. We need more laborers pretty bad in order to expand our capacity to support a growing world wide organization.

Hopefully I will get some pictures from preview weekend to post on here next week.

Have a great weekend!!

suggestions box.

2005-11-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to think of something to Blog about today but nothing is coming to me. So I have decided to ask you, my wonderful readership what you would like me to write about in the future.

Suggestions anyone??

Persecution

2005-11-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would post about something thats on my heart right now. In the last 2 days I've heard about the persecuted church from various places and it burdens my heart to pray. Please pray for our family throughout the world who are being beat, imprisioned, tortured and killed just because they love DAD.

This coming Sunday is the International day of prayer for the persecuted church. I dont know who gets to appoint that day but I still want to honor it and I challenge you to do the same. Who knows how long our religious freedom here in America will last, we should join with our persecuted family to encourage them and pray for them while we still are free.

Fall Festival

2005-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last night was CrossPointe Church's Fall Festival. There was great food and it was a fun time. But the neatest part of it was that they did a baptism and 20 people got baptised!! It was really cool. This church is growing so fast.

God is truely adding to our numbers [weekly] those who are being saved. Praise God that he still makes his love and grace available to people today! It is good to see His mercies new (Fresh!) every day!

Its a delight to serve God!

Newsletters

2005-10-27T12:22:00.000-06:00

Today is Newsletter day. Thats the day when I realize the end of the month is almost here and the newsletter I wrote last week STILL needs to be put in envelopes and mailed out.

Lord willing I will have it done by the end of the day.

Wilma

2005-10-25T07:33:00.000-06:00

Well I lived through my fourth Hurricane yesterday. Wilma went through southern Florida but we still got pounded with Tropical Storm winds. That means we had sustained tropical storm winds with gusts up to hurricane strength (74+ mph).

By the time I got up (work was closed so i slept in til 9) the storm was most of the way gone. It was still windy and rainy til around noonish. But then the strangest thing Ive ever seen from a hurricane happened. The storm ended abruptly.

There was a cold front following the storm. So the air got really dry, the sky was a beautiful blue with no clouds in sight, and the temperature dropped to about 65-70.

as my coworker Nathan said today "It was the most beautiful day to have off from work due to bad weather."

The Passing of Lee Ann Mayr

2005-10-21T10:39:00.000-06:00

I learned yesterday morning that Lee Ann died the day before. While you may not know who she was if you know me then you have atleast seen a little of her because she influenced my life quite a bit.

Lee Ann was our next door neighbor for the first 15 years of my life. Then she and her husband moved away and I only saw them two or 3 times in the following 10 years.

I have a myriad of fond memories of Lee Ann. I think the biggest thing she taught me was how rich life is. I'd walk into her house as a kid and there would always be such wonderful smells of food cooking. She'd paint for the sheer joy of painting. All my memories of her are permeated with this sense of... hmm... artistic rich realness.

She is missed. But missed with that sense of 'I cant wait to see her again'. Heaven will be such a wonderful place of reunions.