recess & lunch

am i the only one that wishes i could be a baby again? i mean, talk about an easy life. eat, sleep, empty the stomach, repeat, repeat. does it get any easier? you don't have to worry about eating too much turkey, putting on 5 pounds, picking out clothes to wear tomorrow, balancing a checkbook, etc.

okay, i would settle for elementary school. times were easy back then. lunch and recess were the most important parts of the day, get off the bus and play until dinner, play after dinner until dark, take a bath, mom picks out your clothes, still not worries about watching what you eat or paying the bills, and tomorrow is a lot like today.

i am guilty of wanting to be older when i was a kid, but every adult wishes he/she could be younger again. when you're young, the stress level is low, no one expects much of you, you don't worry so much about the intentions of others, you just give people the benefit of the doubt. faith is easy, and dreams are big!

i guess this is why JESUS said we all need "child-like" faith. all our intelligence, planning, and stress gets in the way. moral of the story? when it comes to the important stuff . . . the GOD-stuff . . . don't complicate it . . . just believe!

i am guilty

today, the valantine family hopped in the envoy and headed to grammy and papa's house. i have to admit, i began searching the channels of the radio as soon as we hit the highway. what was i looking for? you'll never guess, christmas songs. i know, i'll hear them for the next 30+ days straight, but i still needed my fix.

i heard one song sung entirely in latin. i took 4 years of latin in high school. it didn't mean much, i couldn't translate any of the words. i did shoot my 80+ year old high school latin teacher with a staple gun (it was an accident). i can still hear her voice yelling my latin name . . . MARTINUS!!

ahh, christmas songs and the good old days!

scrooge

it's 8:48pm on a tuesday night in november. you know what that means . . . scrooge practice. this is my first year in the play and i am loving it! i have enjoyed several opportunities to hang out with so many great people at dayspring.

tomorrow we leave bright and early to see our extended families. we will miss BG, but we'll be back for Sunday and the Turkey Bowl.

I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

going for it

alright, this is day one of my attempt to be a good blogger. if i go more than 2 days without blogging, feel free to send hate mail reminding me of my commitment

it's a cold monday in bowling green, ohio today. this is that time of year when we refer to our great city as "blowing" green because of the crazy wind that is known to blow small children off their feet.

i'm bummed today that my beloved steelers lost in overtime to the jets (who were 1-9 before yesterday's tragedy). i'm optimistic of ohio state's chances to "sneak" back into the national championship picture. (i'm rooting for UCONN to beat West Virgina and for LSU to lose in the SEC championship)

we had a great fall retreat for XLR8 this weekend. 32 students and 6 leaders ventured to Camp Cotubic. we laughed, cried, prayed, ate, cheered for the Bucks, played volleyball, train wreck, and some crazy game about tomatoes (thanks Suzanne!).

my parents had Kaitie and Nash for the weekend and Amanda and i missed them like crazy. we picked them up last night and things are back to normal (crying, dirty diapers, less sleep - a perfect recipe for our lives).

i love being a dad. annie (6 yrs. old) called and left me a voice mail last week that just made me smile. she sounds so grown up when she calls. i remember bringing her home from the hospital just the other day. wow, i'm trying to soak it all in.

i am so thankful i get to spend some time with my extended family this week as we celebrate thanksgiving. we head out on wednesday for columbus and friday we head to youngstown.

the turkey bowl is sunday - let me know if you want to sign up a whole team or if you want to play and need a team. e-mail me at pastormatt@dayspringassembly.org

share jesus with someone today

We Are . . . XLR8

Last night we began our sermon series based on the movie We Are Marshall. I thought the first service was great and really set the tone for the series. We talked about how each of us needs to put the XLR8 uniform on each day and play our position with pride while supporting our teammates.

I really believe youth ministries will be successful when the students work together and embrace the vision and mission of the team. We have a clear mission as XLR8 . . . point students to Christ. We have much work to still do, but we are on our way.

I couldn't have been more proud of my team than I was last night as I watched the students give 110% as we sang praises to God during the service. So many students our taking their relationship to the next level. If I could steal a line from our District Youth Director, Matt Anderson . . . they are becoming "personal participants in the Kingdom of God."

Keep it up team!

We Are . . . XLR8!!

On a roll . . .

Yes, it is true, I am blogging two days in a row. I can't believe it either.I am truly on a roll. Who else is on a roll? The Buckeyes, they have won 7 in row this year and if you take out the Florida Bowl game, 26 in a row. Who else is on a roll? The Indians & Rockies. Looks like the World Series match up is just about set. anyone else on a roll? How about Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani for the Democratic and Republican nomination respectively? Scary, huh?

I think the students of NW Ohio and XLR8 Youth Ministries are on a roll. Something has been ignited in the hearts of teenagers. Something deep. Something real. I believe students are beginning to realize that their time on Earth is limited and their time with their classmates is even shorter. Understanding that motivates you to live each day as if it were your last. Students are becoming personal participants in the Kingdom of God. YES!!

Last night, in our prayer service, over 25 students and young adults came to seek God and were prayed over and challenged to live out their faith daily. Will you join in as this generation rolls on? Will you change your world for God?

Let's roll!

Give up to Grow up

Am I the only one who has a hard time giving up the normal essentials of life when it's time to fast and pray? Last night I wanted to eat some crackers with my vegetable soup and Amanda told me to, "Be a man!"

I was trying to justify eating a few crackers. She was reminding that I committed to eat veggies and drink juice. Self control is one of the fruits of the Spirit that I need to work on daily.

Well, this is day 3 of our church's week long fast and last night was a great prayer service. I am excited to see what God is going to do in my life today and at the service tonight which is geared toward youth and families. I have made my list of items I am fasting and praying for. Some are personal things, and some are church things.

For me, I have to grow up in my faith even as a 28 year old. This often means giving up things that are not pushing me closer to God, even if they aren't sin. This week it is food. Maybe next week will be football (ouch!). Maybe it will be my cell phone for a time or my laptop, or video games, or music.

What is it for you? Are you willing to give something up to grow up in your relationship with God? If not, maybe that thing has too high of a priority in your life. If you don't learn to put it in its rightful place, then God may have to do it for you. Just a thought!

Small groups launch next week. I can't wait to be part of these. God has great things planned for each group and each students who attends.

See you in church!