Teaching, Lobbying, Claudia's First Solo, Talking to Kids, & A MacBook

Wow! What a full few days it has been!

On Monday I was in Manhattan teaching two youth ministry classes at NYACK College. I was guest teaching for my friend Gregg Makin. I Taught American Youth Culture and Intro to Youth Ministry. It was a ton of fun, a great privilege, and a great joy to be in my element! I taught from 2-9 pm, returning home on the train and arriving at 11:30 pm. I tried to go right to bed, but I did not fall asleep until 2 am (my usual bedtime). Unfortunately, I had to get up at 3:30 am on Tuesday so I could catch a 4:30 am bus to Albany as I was chaperoning a trip for the Smithtown/Suffolk County Youth Bureau. We took 300 kids from Suffolk County for the Youth Leadership Forum and to lobby our leaders regarding funding for the youth programs, which would be drastically cut if the governor's proposal goes through. We met with two of our Assemblymen and three of our Senators, with many of the students telling them what the youth bureau programs have meant to them, and how their lives will be impacted if they are cut. We also asked them not to lump prevention programs with mandated programs, which the governor has also proposed. At 3 pm we loaded the busses and headed home.

I arrived home at 7 pm, just in time to get to the church for Claudia's first solo in the elementary choir. (See video. Note: I adjusted my hand while holding the camera right before she sang, and I accidentally covered the mic with my finger. You can still hear her on the video, but turn your volume up. Sorry!) She also played flute in the Beginner Band. She was absolutely outstanding and we were so proud of her. I thought I might be able to sleep in a bit on Wednesday morning, but nope! It happened to be the day I was scheduled to speak at the elementary chapel. I had an absolute blast with them, talking about hearing God. After chapel I visited a 6th grade class to talk to them about my book and the process of writing and getting a book published. I asked some questions from the book and the kids were going crazy ... the point of the book perfectly illustrated!

Today I facilitated our monthly youth leader's network meeting. We had a wonderful time of sharing and interaction followed by lunch together. After our meeting I went to the Apple store to pick up my new laptop ... a 15" MacBook Pro! Totally sweet! I had nothing but trouble for 3 1/2 years with my Dell XPS, the latest of which have affected my ability to do my job and the cost of trying to fix it was adding up because the warranty had expired. I am excited to learn the Mac, and hope that I can catch on quickly.

This evening our friend Laurie Crowley came out to see us. She is a youth pastor in Greece, NY and was down in the city visiting her brother. When she arrived on the train we all went to Port Jefferson for dinner after which we returned to the house to sip Starbucks and visit. I am really excited that she has recently joined our Purpose Driven Youth Ministry team as the second New York State mentor. I recommended her to PDYM as New York is so spread out and I felt we needed a rep upstate. We had a nice time together just talking about life and ministry, sharing ideas, and encouraging each other.

Tomorrow I finally, finally have a day to rest. Then, on Saturday, I am taking a team of 24 to Toccoa, Georgia for a week-long missions trip. I am hoping to blog while on the trip, but it will depend on my ability to get internet access.