Mexico Loft House Pre-Build

This morning our family joined about 100 other people from our church to pre-build 5 loft houses for families in Mexico. It was awesome! Yesterday about 30 volunteers pre-cut and laid out all of the walls, roofs, etc. and today, within 2 hours we had put them all together and staged them to be loaded onto the trucks. Next week my daughters and I will be going to Mexico with a team to assemble the homes and present them to the 5 families. Super excited!

Heading to Mexico

If you live here in the Valley, head on out to our church Southwest Community Church, this Saturday at 8am to help us construct 5 houses for needy families in Mexico. Next weekend my daughters and I will be joining a team to drive to Mexico and assemble the homes and present them to the families. Super excited!

Creating Youth Ministry Events for the Whole Family

As we have been working on events for our middle school ministry, we have been intentionally trying to create opportunities for family connection. This fall we have done a Mother-Daughter Tea, a Father-Son Bowling trip, and a Waffles & Wiffleball event for our students and their entire families. We are working on a Mother-Son event, a Father-Daughter event, and a Father-Kids Camping trip (and a Mom's Night Out while dad's out with the kids). What have you done to create opportunities for families to connect through your programming? What are some cool ideas you have?

Rainbow in the Desert

Happened to catch a rainbow in the sky today.

Simply Youth Ministry Spooky Awesome Bundle Sale

127 Hours Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I just finished reading the harrowing tale of Aron Ralston in 127 Hours. In the spring of 2003 Aron was hiking in Horseshoe Canyon in Utah when a freak incident caused an 800 pound boulder to fall, pinning his arm against the canyon wall. Trapped for five days, suffering from hypothermia and dehydration. and literally at death's door, Aron made the incredible decision to make one last attempt at escape. He did the unimaginable, cutting off his own arm in order to free himself, then hiking several miles out of the canyon until miraculously finding help.

Yes, the read was as gut-wrenching as it sounds. But what an epic story of survival! Many great lessons and talking points can be learned from the strategic mistakes he made as well as the actual ordeal of his survival.

The Great Date Experiment ... Featuring Comedy Couple Barnes and Miner

Next Friday night, October 28th, our church is having The Great Date Experiment featuring the hilarious comedy couple Barnes and Miner (see clip below). Register here.

Mountain Biker gets taken out by BUCK - CRAZY Footage - Only in Africa

Baptism Video

The Wire Announcement Video 10.16.11

6 Students Baptized!

One of my favorite things in ministry is seeing students stand up and make a public declaration of faith through the act of baptism. Yesterday we had the privilege of baptizing 6 more students!

Rampage Jackson the Finger Painter ... LOL!!!

Do Unto Others ...

Last night I was totally exhausted. At 10 in the morning I was at the church setting up for our big event Wild Wednesday. At 5pm the church secretary had seen me go up and down the stairs so many times she said I was too tuckered out for the event. Well, you know the deal. The event came, and now it was time to actually turn it on. So, we ran the event (Which went great, by the way!). At 8pm the kids started to disperse, and now it was cleanup time. For over an hour we worked hard tearing down and putting everything away. By 9:15pm everyone was gone and I was about to fall over. I asked Ariana to drive home because I wasn't sure I would stay awake. I just wanted to shower and jump in bed. And to think I was actually hoping to go for a run. Yeah right!

As we were pulling into our community, we saw a car broken down. They had tried everything, but the car was dead and they had been standing there for two hours. Our security would not allow them to park the car in a parking space just 20 yards away because they did not live in the community. We stopped and offered our help, but there wasn't much we could do, so we went home. I decided that if nothing else, I could run and get them something to drink and eat, so I headed back out to see if they wanted something. When I arrived the lady said they had decided to push the car down the road to a side street, so I offered to help. We ended up pushing the car a mile down the road and walking back. I ended up getting my workout in anyways, and now I was thoroughly whooped!

As I sweatily got back in my car and drove to our security gate, the guard commented on how nice it was that I helped the folks out. I responded that I just try to do unto others as I would have them do unto me. Beyond that, the occasion gave me the opportunity to meet some nice folks, chat with them a bit, invite them to church, and the gentleman give me his business card which I have passed along to our Spanish pastor for follow-up. Pray that God will use this random act in his conspiracy of kindness to reach people with His love.

Wild Wednesday!

Last night we had a great event called Wild Wednesday. It was an outreach event, and I was most excited that our students reached out and invited their friends to come. We had 15 new kids here and a fun time was had by all. In addition to random games and raffle prizes, we had pumpkin bowling, an inflatable obstacle course, apple bobbing, swinging donuts, and the best - shoot a high schooler paintball! I was so proud of our students for inviting their friends, and grateful to our tremendous team of adult volunteers who made the night possible. 

Announcement Video 10.9.11

Sunrise in the Desert

Picture of sunrise from our home on October 5, 2011.

My Little Girl Has Hit Double-Digits!

Wednesday was my youngest daughter's 10th birthday! How time flies. We're super proud of our girl! For her birthday we went out for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory as a family. She received Just Dance 2 as her present and absolutely loves it! Last night she had a party with some of her friends. We took a boat ride around our lake, had some pizza, watched Rio, had awesome cake that Adriana made, and went swimming. Great time!