I am moving...

How many of you just said, "what the crap? where?" Gotcha! I am not moving physically, just moving in cyberspace. I had this idea recently about purchasing my domain name, for when I become a televangelist! (totally kidding) Really I thought it would be cool to have a website that I could use for different things, especially showing pictures off of my family for my parents back in Kansas City.

Well I have purchased timsmelcer.com and timsmelcerblog.com. Obviously one will be a website that I can maintain about ministry and family and the other will be my blog. I have switched over to typepad to manage my blog, mainly because I can update my blog straight from my treo. It is so cool and convenient!

I will keep this blog up for people to get the news, but please update your browsers to follow me on my new blog. Next week I am speaking at a camp in Missouri and I will be updating regularly about what God is doing at Tri-State.

Changes...

Sorry I have not been in the blogosphere for a little while...my plate has been full getting ready to go to  Junior High Camp this next week.  Then on July 11th I leave for Kansas City to speak at Tri-State Camp as well as Joel (the new little blessing!) More on all of these in the future...

Just to give you a heads up there will be some cool changes coming to my blog in the next week or so...so stay tuned for the BIG Announcement!!

Snip Snip

Well Joel just got back from his circumcision. He is going really well, we haven't seen it yet but the doctor said everything went very well.

I was talking with my friend Gary Fowler and we discussed how painful that procedure must be...girls just wouldn't understand! I told him it gave me a whole new respect for those in the Bible that went through circumcision without ANY anesthesia! Gary very wisely said they just bit there lip! I can't prove him wrong, so he must be right...huh Gary?!?!

Well its almost 230 and we are looking forward to a bunch of people stopping by this afternoon after 4PM to see our new addition. If everything continues to go well as it has we should be going home sometime tomorrow!

Kyrsten & Kinsey meet Joel

Jan (my mother-in-law) went to our friend Amy's to pick up the girls yesterday and bring them up to the hospital to meet little brother. Kyrsten did REALLY well, she is 6 and this is her second time around with a little sibling. Kinsey on the other hand was a typical 2 year old. She wanted to do her own thing as well as whatever big sis was doing.

We sat them both down and let them hold Joel (with a little assistance). Here are a couple of great pics that we snapped why they were holding him...dang we make some really cute kids!!!

Introducing Joel Allen Smelcer

Here are a few pics of the little "stud" muffin!

HE IS HERE!

Joel Allen Smelcer was born at 1:31 PM on Wednesday, June 25, 2008. He weighed 6lbs 14oz and is 19 1/2 inches long.

Pictures will come as soon as we get settled into our new room...

Progressing Nicely

Well the morning has kind of creped by, but this afternoon things are moving along nicely...and quickly. It took Meg from 9-11am to from 3 to 4 cm, and then at noon she was 5cm, but within 50 minutes she went from 5-7cm.

So it shouldn't be long now...stay tuned!

Today...is the BIG DAY! - Take 2

When we were given the time to come in for the induction they told us to call the hospital an hour early to make sure that everything was ready for us...so we called at 7:30PM and they told us they needed to push us back to 7AM on Wednesday and to call at 6AM.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:15 this morning...they got her hooked up to all th iv's and Dr. Kasten came in between 8:30-8:45 and broke her water and she got her epideral at 9:45. Things are progressing nicely, when we arrived she was still 3 centimeters and they are going to check her at 10:30 to see how she has progressed.

Keep checking back for more updates!

Today...is the BIG DAY!

Well the day has FINALLY arrived! Tonight at 8:30PM Meg will go into the hospital and have our little boy! We went to the doctor yesterday and she was 3 centimeters, and the doctor could sense our (mainly my) impatience for the boy to arrive so he scheduled her to go be induced!

Thanks for all the votes on the name, but as you can tell the winner was Joel Allen...so that will the his name! Meg is really excited about it, me not so much, but I can tell Meg really loves it so we will go with it!

Check back for more information and definitely A LOT of pics!

Daddy Sissy Time

Today Kyrsten and I drove to Rockford, IL to see three of my students graduate from RMC. I love taking trips like this, not only to see what God is doing in the lives of three incredible young people, but I get to spend some awesome time with my daugther Kyrsten. Since she was young we have always called this "Daddy Sissy Time." I can't count on one hand the number of times she said, "we are having daddy sissy time today!"

Once we got to Rockford (5 hours & 45 minutes without a stop...she is a trooper!) we grabbed a bite to eat at our favorite...Qdoba's. Then we checked into our hotel and ran to DQ to get some ice cream. Now we are laying in bed watching the movie RV.

Tomorrow we will go to Rockford First for service and then spend some more time together tomorrow afternoon and evening. It is so awesome making memories with my daughter!! She still remembers our trip last year!

Well back to the movie and memories!

The Last Couple of Weeks

Sorry I haven't checked in over th last couple of weeks. Once I got back to work after vacation it was a sprint to get everything done!

The weekend of May 31st was Earthbeat. We went to 2 different park in the Sandusky area to spread mulch, paint, seal blacktop and simply make the parks look better. It went really well! We had around 30 students plus leaders! It is always an incredible feeling as people from the neighborhood drive by and yell "thank you" out of there car windows!

Got through that weekend and then the entire next week was filled with preparing to kick off our Axiom series called, "change: life at the altar," and preparing for our graduate recognition service this past Sunday June 8th! Alot to get done, but everything went well!

This past week has been steady. I have to right 8 messages for the month of July. I go to Tri-State camp in Missouri to speak as well as 2 churches while I am there! I can't wait! It is going to be awesome!

Yesterday was Kyrsten's 6th birthday. It was a really cool day!! Kyrsten and I leave tomorrow to go to the Rockford Master's Commission graduation this weekend. It will be so cool to see my students as well as other great friends in Rockford!

Last Day of Vacation!

Sitting in my living room enjoying my last day of vacation! Our church as the most incredible policy...our offices are closed on Mondays, so when a holiday falls on a Monday we get the next day off as well! It is so awesome!

This vacation has been awesome and relaxing! I did very little if any work over the past 10 days, but that means that I have alot to do when I get back in the office tomorrow! Steve Ommert is speaking in Axiom so that is at least one thing off my plate!

I have a lot to do to prepare for Saturday! Our last Angelfood distribution is this Saturday before our switch to Great Food for All, so many things left to do in preparation but I am confident that all will get done! We also have Earthbeat on Saturday and we are kind of behind the 8 ball with this event...alot to do and not alot of time, but I really think all will go well...plus there is like 50% of rain that day so we may have to postpone to our June weather date.

Then next week I have to start our new series in Axiom as well as prepare for our grad service on June 8th, in which I am speaking...I think!

Anyway...back to enjoying my dayoff!

Update on Dad - Pt3

Well it has been a few days and I haven't updated you on dad so I thought I would...honestly there is not a lot to update. Dad is still in the hospital. They have kept him to make sure they can get his blood sugar regulated, everything is fine with his heart. His sugar has been jumping up and down while he is just laying in bed. He is hoping to come home today, I know because he is really getting antsy!

Please keep him in your prayers! The challenge for him will be when he gets out, he has never been great at watching his diet, but this time his life depends on it...literally!

New Poll

As Meg and I were driving back from Washington DC we were talking about what we are going to name our boy.  We have really struggled to come up with a name that we both like...she has her favorites and I have mine, so I told her I would throw it out in the blogosphere to get some additional opinions.

So help us out!

Update on Dad - Pt2

Well I thought I would give you and update on my dad before I head to bed...I called to talk with him real quick around 8PM tonight and he seriously sounded amazing! Recently I had noticed that he had been talking with some slurred speach or like he was talking with a fat tongue. Tonight when I talked with him he sound normal again. It makes me think that the blockage head had in the artery was effecting his brain.

Anyway, they did end up putting one stint in his artery and then they found another place that they used the balloon to expand. He came through feeling really well, other than his back hurting from laying on the hard table. The surgeon said he may be able to go home tomorrow, but dad thinks they will keep him a little longer to make sure everything is going okay with the diabetes.

I would like to thank everyone for there prayers! I really do appreciate them! Now we just have to face my stepmother going in for another surgery on Tuesday! It doesn't seem to end...

Update on Dad - Pt1

I received a call from my dad later in the day on Tuesday letting me know that on top of everything else he has diabetes. Because of this they wanted him to come into the hospital a day early (yesterday) so they could get him regulated before the procedure this morning.

When he arrived at the hospital yesterday his blood sugar was around 480, but the day before is was over 600. It is supposed to be at 100 or less. They were able to get it down to 87 yesterday afternoon before dinner, but when he ate it shot up to over 200 again. They also tried to some kind of test to measure the blood circulation in his leg yesterday, but he had a muscle spasm and they had to disconnect him because of the pain.

This morning some time is when they are going to perform the heart cath. So please pray that everything goes smooth!

We Now Interrupt This Broadcast...

Sometimes I get really aggrevated when I am watching one of my favorite television shows and I hear the words, "we now interrupt this broadcast..." If it is something really big then its cool, but if it is just election results or something like that, then I get so mad!

Well today I got a phone call...we now interrupt this vacation...from my dad. Let me back up about a month, I was talking with my dad and he told me he hadn't been feeling well and then a couple of weeks later he told me he was going to the doctor to see why he had lost like 25 pounds (without trying) on top of some other things that had been happening. The doctor had him do a stress test and as well as another test on an artery.

So my dad calls me this morning to tell me that Thursday he will be going in for a heart cath. where they will put in stent and if it bad enough they may have to do a bypass. My dad, in his usual fashion tried to blow this off has if it was no big deal, and honestly their are hundreds if not thousands performed every day in this country that goes off without a hitch.

I guess with the recent passing of Mike Thomas and the question that my dad have joked around about for along time (is it going to skip a generation?) Allow me to explain...my great grandfather, and his brother as well as my grandfather's brother all passed away at the age of 65 or 66 (I can't remember). Needless to say that when my grandfather was that age he 'knew' he was going to die that year...he lived to be 88. So my dad and I have always joked, "I wonder if it is going to skip a generation?" Kind of a sick joke, but now it comes to close to home...my dad is 65 and will be 66 in October...it really makes your mind go crazy!

I apolgize for this being so long, but I just feel that I have to get all of this out...I have been crying on and off the whole time I am writing this...I know there are several people who read this blog (but just never comment..hahaha) I would really covet your prayers! I am sure that my dad will go through this with no problems and everything will be okay...but it is still hard...it brings losing your parents real close to home...I don't really like it!

Anyway...back to vacation...gotta beat my wife in Mario Kart!!

Wedding and then Vacation!

As I mentioned in my last post I performed the wedding of Aaron Pippin and Lauren Fahl! The wedding went very well! I admit I cried as she walked down the isle, she looked amazing! They are such an amazing couple, I can't wait to see what God does in their lives!

On Sunday I was back at FMC for our morning service and then following the service the Family and I headed to the Outer Banks for Vacation. We got in around 1:30AM this morning! Kinsey did EXTREMELY well traveling, still got cranky a little bit but overall she did well!

Now that we are here it is just relaxing, reading and more relaxing! I may check in with the happenings of the week, but other than that it will be my usual sporadic posts! hahaha

Later!

Back in Painesville

I am back in Painesville this weekend to do the wedding of Lauren Fahl and Aaron Pippen. It is such an honor for me to do this wedding! Lauren is like another daughter to me and Aaron has become such a great friend and fellow youth pastor! I know God is going to do some incredible things through this couple and marriage!

I really hope that I can make it through this wedding without crying! I know this is going to be an emotional wedding for me! I am going to share a little bit about each person and them as a couple in a part of the ceremony and I know that is going to be hard for me. Lauren's dad passed away from a brain tumor when she was only 15. To see what this girl has been through and to see how she has stuck close to God is truly incredible!

34 acting 24, but not feeling 24!

Over the course of the past 4 days I have played a total of 5 softball games and 18 holes of golf. Friday we played our church league softball opener and won. Then on Saturday, we played in a tournament that got rained out the weekend before. We played at 2PM, 8PM, 11PM and 1AM (Sunday), going 2 for 4.

The weather was kind of crazy, it was mostly sunny all day, but when night came the temperature dropped. We were planning in probably mid to upper 40's...IT WAS COLD! Which then caused you to get stiff between games.

I played okay. My bat came alive in the 8PM, 11PM and 1AM games which was really cool. My defense was average as usual. Made a couple of good stops at 2nd base, but was not always able to finish for the out. I got tagged in the knee with the softball as I slid into 3rd base, didn't hurt alot, but I do have a slightly swollen knee. The worse is my strained/pulled quadricep, hamstring and calf muscles in my right leg. I am walking with a really good limp, which brings me to today.

I played in the ODC golf outing with Josh Martino and Rick Carson. We picked up a guy named Jason Cooper from Miamisburg....All 3 of these guys play INCREDIBLE golf! I was the weakest player, but for limping around like I was I did pretty good! I won closest to the pin in my age division on hole 17 (I was about 4 feet).

Tonight I am going to rub my leg down with "Icy Hot" and wrap my leg and sit around the rest of the evening...I want to get back to walking normal!

No ODC for me...

Well as I stated on my last entry we had a gentleman pass away that has been apart of our church for over 20 years. He was only 64. The calling hours are tonight from 5-8 and then the funeral is tomorrow morning at 11AM. Due to the funeral our entire pastoral staff had to cancel our trip to the Ohio District Council. The one of the reasons that stinks is because this year we are electing a new District Superintendent, so we will be unable to vote. Thank goodness for great friends that are going to keep me in the loop during the election!

I had a very busy weekend and then played in the ODC golf tournament today...I will try and post about those later!

Sudden Death

This afternoon as I am getting ready to shoot a video for Sunday our Church Secretary comes in the room and tells Meg and I that Mike Thomas (who attends our church), has collapsed at Wal-Mart and is not responding..."it's not looking good" she said.

Well an hour later or so we did get word that Mike passed away.  It was so sudden, so unexpected, Mike was 65; not real old, but not young either.  I mean this guy seemed to be in good health!  For him to just collapse and die is just hard to believe.  Meg and I were talking at dinner about how these kind of deaths are always are to accept or understand.  They come from no where...one minute they are here and the next they are gone!

Needless to say, Mike truly loved God and so there is no doubt where he is spending eternity!  Mike was a very fun joking guy, he was a guy who would always say something sarcastic/funny when you saw him and you couldn't help but laugh.  He will truly be missed around FMC!

Twitter

As you may have noticed on the right side of my blog I have yet again been sucked into another very cool thing!  Twitter... I had been hearing about it on other blogs but never checked it out until my good friend Gary Folwer started doing it and I had to see what it was all about!

It actually is pretty cool...I love that I can send updates from my cell phone via text messages.  You should check it out!

Have fun twittering!!

Great Church!

I have been at Faith Memorial for almost 3 years and it never ceases to amaze me how awesome this church is! One of our Rockford Master's Commission students was sent home for a couple of weeks to raise the rest of her tuition money. Between her tuition and missions trip she needed $1400, it seemed like alot, but it is pocket change to the God we serve!

This young lady worked a couple of days with a lady in the church, spoke to Axiom on Wednesday night and hung out at the office a little bit this past week. Our Pastor shared with our church family this morning the need that she had, and following the service person after person came up to her and handed her money. When it was all said and done she walked away with a total of $2200 total, that includes the money from the 2 days she worked and the honorarium that Axiom gave her for speaking. It is INCREDIBLE!

So this young lady is back on a bus to Rockford, IL tomorrow at 2PM! It is so cool to see how God provides! A week and half ago her voice was filled with discouragement as I talked with her on the phone. And to see how God has provided for her need has been awesome! I can't wait to share this with our Axioim students on Wednesday night! They played a part in investing in this young ladies life and becuase of that God is going to poor out blessings on them!

GOD ROCKS! (and so does Faith Memorial!!!)

Kim Walker

This week one of my students from Rockford Master's shared this video with me...I loved it! I found some of her music on iTunes, I bought this song and her new album...it is great! If you like this song, I would totally check out her new album...I know you will love it!

Offenses

Had something interesting happen last week.  A group of college students is using our church to host a worship festival called "Broken."  The local band that is leading worship is not pentecostal, but simply because it was being hosted at our church a youth pastor in town was concerned if it would be too pentecostal and if some who weren't pentecostal would be offended.

I don't understand this, excuse me while I rant a little...why is it that people are only concerned if people who are not pentecostal get offended?  Why doesn't anyone ever think that pentecostals could get offended because it is to NON pentecostal?  

Please understand I am not incredibly pentecostal, I am a pretty conservative person, I grew up baptist, but have been pentecostal since high school so I can understand both sides.  But why is it that within the Church we are only concerned about offending the non-pentecostals?

Just a thought...

Pride...

Gary Fowler had a great post about forgiveness today based on a teaching from Charles Stanley...I love the line "pride tells us that we are better than the person who hurt us."  Check it out...it is a GREAT READ!

Swimming Upstream

Yesterday I drove to Columbus for a planning meeting for an event coming this summer. As we sat in the meeting discussing several things I kept bringing up some different ideas about a couple of the sessions, only to be met with some resistance. I will admit that it became a little frustrating that one person in particular in the meeting constantly opposed by ideas.

Allow me to say right know that I didn't nor do I think that my ideas HAD to be followed, or where necessarily the best. It became quite clear though that this person and I approach ministry from two different perspectives...neither of which are wrong...just different.

I don't know why it is, but I feel like I find myself constantly swimming up stream, constantly going against what is common. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to come across as some kind of maverick know it all...I am not! I just have a tendency to get tired of the status quo...the "we've always done it like this" mentality. But this is exactly where my dilemma comes in...

I don't claim to be the most creative person, but sometimes I feel that I/we tend to ministry/events out of memory more than out of imagination (I think that is a M. Batterson line). I wish I was a more creative person...I wish my own ministry didn't operate with such routine, but I guess in the busyness of ministry that is what becomes the easy!

Does anyone struggle with the frustration of status quo with things your involved in, but at the same time you find your personal life or ministry immersed in it?

34 years ago...

Well today is my 34th birthday, but it doesn't really feel much like a birthday. Meg is out of town at Original (she gets home tonight! I can't wait to have her back!), I had to go into the office for a couple of hours this morning to cover for a couple of volunteers that couldn't be there to take our Angelfood orders. Then at 2pm I have to be back at the church to attend one of our board members renew their wedding vows. Then I have to run a couple errands in preparation for tomorrow morning service...needless to say it feels like just another Saturday...not that I am looking for a bunch of pomp and circumstance...just wish I could of had the day to do what I want...anyway...got to go...later!

WE DID IT!!

I am pretty tired this morning, I stayed up till 1AM watching my Jayhawks win the 2008 National Championship! It was an incredible game! Both teams played each other very well and neither had anything to hang their heads about!

I thought we had lost it when we were down 9 with just a couple of minutes left, but with Chalmer's miracle shot with 2 seconds left to send it to overtime I felt like the momentum and advantage swung our way! What a night!! I am so happy today!!


ROCK...CHALK...JAYHAWK

Not Since 2003

I still remember sitting in Damon's restaraunt in Mentor Ohio with my good friend JT watching my Jayhawks as they lost the National Championship game against Syracuse (they had a no name player named Carmelo Anthony).

Well it is now 3 years later and I am in a similar place. I am going into a National Championship game with hopes of my Jayhawks coming out a winner, but as with Syracuse they are going against an incredible team with an incredible record and player in Derrick Rose.

This year is a special year as it is the 20th Anniversary of KU winning the 1998 National Championship with Danny Manning (who is an assistant coach on the current KU team). I pray that God will look down upon my Jayhawks and bless them with another Championship...I know that God doesn't probably care much about B-Ball, but it would be so awesome to see them win!

So join me as I watch and pray that I can get up tomorrow morning with the thought of "Kansas Jayhawk's...National Champions" on my mind!!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK

What if?

I was surfing through some of the blogs that I check on a regular basis this morning and I saw this story on Anthony Coppedge's blog about a church in North Carolina called Kinetic Church...rather than me telling the story I will let the blog, video and website speak for it self...but as you read and watch, just think "what if this happened to me?  How would I respond?"  I have to be honest...not sure that I would respond in such a manner!  I would love to hear your thoughts!

Easter is over...

That past week has been pretty crazy. I have been spending a lot of time getting prepared for our Easter Production. I was in charge of shooting the video and I also helped with some of the sound/tech stuff. With a rehearsal last Tuesday a dress rehearsal on Thursday and then the actual productions on Friday and Sunday.

Things went well over all, know I just have to spend time at the computer editing. I am glad that it is soon to be all over because I can finally focus on the things that I want/need to focus on...once I catch my breathe a little I will try to fill you in on some of the things that have been happening and some of the things that I are going on in my crazy head...

Later!

8 Wonderful Years

This past Monday through Wednesday morning Meg and I had a wonderfully relaxing time at Kalahari here in Sandusky. We arrived Monday afternoon to a VERY busy resort, we found out that it was Ontario's spring break, so needless to say we found ourselves surrounded by a bunch of Canadians, Ay!

Anyway, that evening we had a couples message then dinner. Tuesday I had gotten Meg a manicure and then we pulled Kyrsten out of school an hour early so we could spend some time with her swimming at the waterpark. That is when is happened...as we were standing in the kiddie area...Meg saw it first, a site that we couldn't believe...it caused us to look at each other and start laughing and then look at the lifeguard standing by us and laugh as well. It was a middle aged man, probably in his late 40's maybe early 50's walking around in a speedo...yeah you read correctly...a speedo!

I could not believe that someone would wear a speedo to a water park where families are hanging out and having fun together! My first thought was..."he must be a Canadian..." hahaha j/k! The second thing that I thought was..."there should be a law against wearing those things unless you are in a sanctioned swimming event, like the Olympics!!" Do you think we could start a petition to take to Congress?

Anyway we had a great time with Kyrsten and overall it was an awesome time to just get away and relax together!

Day off, Wii and Playing in the snow...

Today was a really cool day!  I got a call from Pastor Hiser saying that we were canceling service at around 630AM, which allowed me to sleep about another 3 hours!  Just after I got up I got a call from Pastor Tom (our associate) telling me that the Toys R Us here in Sandusky had 60 Wii's TODAY...so just after 10AM I ran up there hoping that people were still digging out and couldn't get there...I was in luck!  I was one of the first dozen!!  So I bought the Wii and headed home.

After getting it all hooked up I played a quick game with Kyrsten (she is catching on fast!) and then we met Meg's parents for a lunch buffet at Chet & Matt's!  Spent the afternoon playing Wii with the fam and then watching the Nascar race!  My boy Tony Stewart came in 2nd!  It was a good day!

After the race we got the girls dressed up and took both of them outside to play in the snow...It was Kinsey's first time...she didn't care much for the snow, other than eating it (it was clean) after seeing her sister do it.  I will try and post some pics soon.

Then it was back inside for Dinner and more Wii!  To sum up the day...it was cool to just hang out with Meg and the girls!  It was nice to sit back and relax and just be a family!

Looking forward to tomorrow...Meg and I's 8 year anniversary is Tuesday, so her and I are heading to Kalahari for a couple of nights to just relax and hang out together!  CAN NOT WAIT!

Blizzard!

Yesterday a bunch of guys headed to Firestorm (an ohio AG district men's conference) in Columbus. As we left to head down the snow storm started to hit. OH 250, OH-12 and I-71 were all pretty snow covered, but we still made it there in like 2 1/2 hours.

The service last night was Jeff Saturday, the center for the Indianapolis Colts. Even though he spoke for over an hour, it didn't totally feel like it, he told some pretty cool stories and had a cool testimony of how God has worked in his life. Following the service our group to Quaker Steak for some wings and then headed back to the hotel. It was still snowing, the roads were so so, but with my 4 wheel drive Explorer nothing to be concerned with...

This morning I was woke up by a pounding on my hotel room door. It was Pastor Tom and a few other guys saying that the weather had gotten ALOT worse in Columbus and in Sandusky so they wanted to head home, so I threw my stuff together and we jumped in the car... we barely got out of the parking lot and we had to push a guy who had gotten his car stuck.

Long story short, we ended driving all the way to Strongsville on 71 to catch the turnpike and take it to Sandusky. In total it took us 4 1/2 to 5 hours to get home. I feel sorry for my brother in law, Ken DeChant, it took him almost 7 1/2 hours to get home...going the same way.

When we finally got to OH-250 we followed a plow up to Sandusky...I kid you not, there were times when I couldn't see the plow and we were only 10-15 yards behind him...it was crazy! Just glad to be home safe! It seems that most of Ohio was in a level 3 emergency with the roads... I am kind of hoping we cancel church tomorrow, but we will have to wait and see.

One final note, I saw Gary Fowler at Firestorm and he told me that if I didn't start blogging again then I was off his list. So Gary, here you go! I do apologize for the lack of post recently, since my last one we had fine arts and several big projects going on around the church. I am finally starting to catch my breathe...I will catch you up on the happenings of the past few weeks soon!

BeMinistry.Com Commercial #2

Just finished editing installment #2 of our beministry.com commericals...check it out and let me know what you think!

BeMinistry.Com

I love working with a team! This past week in our staff meeting Sam our music pastor came up with an idea to do a spoof of the eharmony.com commercials as a promo for our upcoming ministry fair on March 9th. He came up with the idea, Pastor Tom (our associate) helped me recruit the talent, prepare some lines and cue cards, as well as purchase the domain name (beministry.com) and set up the website and I shot and edited the video.

It really came together well! This is the first of 3 or 4 videos, so I will try and put all of them on my blog... I hope they look okay and are not to pixelated. I want them to look clear, but not take forever to load...enjoy!

Repentance and Confession!

I must confess to the 5 or so people that read this blog that I have failed!  I failed in such a way today that I am not sure is to forgivable!  I gave in to an incredible temptation...I broke my fast of not watching TV for about 6 hours this afternoon...I watched the 50th running of the Daytona 500.

I will admit that I thought about and a lot went into my decision (which I won't share now because it would be perceived as making excuses and that would an accurate assumption).  I also spoke with a particular youth pastor friend of mine (who will remain nameless) who told me he fasted OSU games for the entire season...except the OSU v Michigan and Bowl games...so I am not the only one to give into such tempation.  

So I gave in, I watched...I really enjoyed it, because by Tony Stewart finished 3rd and could have won!  Anyway...at 7:30pm when the coverage ended I turned of the TV and will resume my fast!  The cool thing, I don't feel condemned or convicted!  I know that God knows my heart and even though I stumbled and messed up, he allows me to get back up dust myself off and continue!  A valuable thing to remember in life...wether you are fasting or not!

I have a crazy week this week and my beautiful wife is sick today with the flu...she puked from 12:30am till 9:30am...so I am trying to keep my girls and me from catching what she has...please pray...the last thing I need to to this week is get sick!

It's My Last Name!

Today was the most incredible Valentine's Day I could have ask for...we found out this morning that Meg is expecting a little BOY!  After two girls I honestly went into this ultrasound planning on hearing it was a girl.  The last thing I wanted to do was get my hopes up only to have them crushed by reality, like what happened when we had Kinsey's ultrasound.  

I cannot tell you the joy that I felt when she said, "You are having a boy!"  I know it may seem that I am making a big deal of this...but it is important to me!  My father was an only child and I am an only child, so my grandfather (smelcer) would say, "the name dies with you son!"  Even thought he wasn't intending to put pressure on me...I felt it!  When I heard the news I couldn't help but think about my dad and especially my grandfather and feel like I had fulfilled a wish and a desire for them!

At this point I am simply asking God that he would be born with no complications and totally healthy!  Thats the other thing that has been going through my mind all evening, how gracious God is!  I mean think about it ...God knows already what my son is going to do with his life...what he will be, who he will marry...God has it all planned out...and he has not even entered the world yet!

I serve such an awesome God and I am so thankful for everything he has given me...my wife, my girls and now my son!

Catch UP!

CRAZY! CRAZY! CRAZY!  The past week has been very eventful...I will try and recap as briefly as possible!

• This past Wednesday I began my first "Lent" fast.  I have decided to give up TV for lent, and I got to admit...it is HARD!  Right now I am in my bedroom reading and surfing the web as Meg is out in the living room watching TV.  I know fasting is supposed to be hard and it has taken a week just to get into some kind of routine in the evenings, and slowly but surely I am getting in one...but I did almost blow it last Thursday, I am such a creature of habit I came in the house sat down in my recliner and grabbed the remote.  Meg kind of screamed, "you can't do that!" I looked at the remote and looked at her and "oh yeah!  Habits can be hard to break!
• Friday I shot a video with my Pastor and Judge Binette and then went to Dave & Busters with several couples from the church to celebrate a couple of birthdays!  It was really fun, I really enjoy going out with other married couples with kids...it is such a cool time to develop friendships!
• Saturday...this was an AWESOME day!  We dropped Kyrsten off at the middle school at 9AM and until 1PM she learned a few cheers and a small dance routine as part of the "Perkins Future Cheerleaders" event,  at 1PM we saw them perform.  I am such a dork of a dad...I took both the churches Sony HD cameras and recorded her (with my father-in-laws help) one wide angle and a close up on Kyrsten.  Plan on making a DVD for my parents back in MO.  Then that night she performed at the halftime of the boys JV game...she was so cute with her little pom poms!  Then we celebrated at Chili's after that with papa and nana!
• Sunday was church and nasty cold weather!
• Monday...kind of vegged on my day off...we did have Parent/Teacher conferences for Kyrsten...she is doing well with only a couple of things that she needs to improve on.
• Today - Had staff this morning; we are planning a small ministry fair at the church on March 9th...I have to make promo videos for youth and video ministry and flyers for them as well as angelfood.  Then we had the idea to spoof an eharmony commercial to promo the ministry fair, so I have a lot of video stuff to put together over the next couple of weeks
• Oh I almost forgot...Fine Arts!  Coming down to the wire...it just over a week away and we don't have the schedule, but I know everything is going to be okay...just means that I will have plenty of things to do for the next month or so...

As you can tell my life is jammed packed right now...but to me honest I am really enjoying!  I told my pastor last week...for the first time in ministry I am truly getting to do the three things I love most...1)youth 2)missions 3)video.  My biggest challenge is finding the balance to do them all with excellence and not let one slip...but I am working in recruiting people to help so I think it will all be good!  

Please understand if my post are sporadic over the next few weeks, but I will try and do my best to check in and share what is going on and what God is doing in my life via my fast!

The Fast has arrived...

Well I am down to 1 hour 20 minutes left till Ash Wednesday and the start of my "NO TV FOR 40 DAYS" Fast.  I am really excited about this!  I have never done anything like this, but I truly feel that this is what God wants me to do...I have no doubt that it will be tough, but I am looking forward to what God is going to do in my life! I will keep you updated to what God will be doing over the next 40 days!

I found out that I am not the only one giving up TV for lent...check out Mark Batterson's Blog...I may have to touch base with him for encouragement along the way!  

Super Bowl!

Normally when you watch the Super Bowl you know you will see some great commercials and you HOPE to see a great game.  I must admit going into this years Super Bowl I was relying more on the commercials than the game because I really figured the game would be over by half time...but man was I wrong!!

That was one of the best Super Bowl games that I can remember!  I must say I was pulling for the Patriots (even though I really don't like them) because I am so SICK of hearing about the '72 Dolphins, but I am happy for the Giants.  I am not a fan at all of the Giants coach, but I am a fan of Lawrence Tynes (former KC Chief & by fantasy football team kicker)! 

I am so thankful for such a great game because ironically, in my opinion, the commecials this year were mediocre at best!  There were a few good ones: Budweiser's Clydesdale (with Rocky Theme), the Doritos Mouse, the E-Trade Baby, the funniest had to be Will Ferrel's Bud Commercial.  There were a few others, but to me those were the best...but I gotta say unlike previous years there were none that had me laughing really hard (except for Will Ferrel's)...most just got a giggle.

Would love to hear some of your thoughts about the game and the commercials!

February 6th is coming soon!

Last year I read several blogs about guys fasting or giving something up for Lent, even thought they are not Catholic, they recognized the importance and significance of what Lent represents.  I really felt like God was leading me to do it last year, but lent had already started and I slacked.  

So this year I began to pray in advance remembering what God spoke to me last year.  But I really struggled with what I was going to give up...I am eating better, so giving up pop and that kind of stuff wouldn't really cost me anything or be much of a sacrifice.  As I went down the list of things that I would normally give up on a fast nothing was much of a sacrifice...UNTIL...I was praying one day and all of a sudden God said it...He spoke something to me that made me cringe..and I new that was thing...but what a sacrifice it was going to be...He said, "TV."  OUCH! 

Now don't get me wrong...I am not a total couch potato, but currently I have several shows that I watch regularly! Chuck, Celebrity Apprentice, Big Shots, Friday Night Lights, Journeyman, The Unit, and a couple of other shows.  On top of that the 2008 Nascar season starts in February as well as March Madness...so needless to say I am praying that the writers strike continues till April...hahaha

I am looking forward to this with bridled anticipation, I mean I am excited about what God can and will do in my life as I give up something for Him.  At the same time, it is going to be so hard to be "out of the loop" in what is going on in my shows...(holy cow, I sound like an old lady talking about her soap operas...).

I plan on getting some good reading in over this time and more importantly some great family time... I will update through the process in what I am learning, reading and doing with the family.

Have you considered giving up something for Lent in order to draw closer to God?  Would love to hear some comments about what God is speaking to you!

Great Sissy Daddy Time

Tuesday night I treated my little Kyrsten to Starbucks.  I had been in Columbus all day at a meeting and wanted to spend some time with Kyrsten...just her and daddy (what we call daddy/sissy time). Snapped a couple of cute pics of her with her "kids hot chocolate."  She was so cute and it was just a cool time of talking and finding out how things were with her...the time was short, but it was just a little something cool to do with my little "big" girl!.

Today we had "Donuts with Dad" at Kyrsten's school...we took the cutest picture, I will get it scanned and put on sometime next week...it was so cool to spend more one on one time with Kyrsten...it is something that I am making more of a priority.  I find myself so consumed with work or ministry sometimes that I don't want to miss this part of her life...especially now that the third one is on the way!

Oh! be praying...we find out on Valentine's Day...February 14th what we are having...I know everyone is agreeing with me in prayer that there will be a "stem on the apple!"

My word for 2008

My word for 2008 is.... Discipline!  One thing that I have found in my life that causes me the most frustration is my lack of discipline, I mean across the board. Whether it's prayer, Bible reading, exercise or simply just telling myself NO!  I want to work on being more disciplined this year!  This is not a New Years Resolution or anything like that... it is simply an observation of my life and how I need to improve it.

Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in along time, (Ideally I like to go in the fall, winter and spring, leaving the summer for more outdoor activities) I hadn't been there since probably April or May.  Anyway it felt really good to get back on the treadmill and walk/run a couple of miles and then go and lift a few weights.  

Along with this I am trying to eat better as well.  So after dinner last night I was at home and so tempted to pick something up and eat it, but everytime I put it back and said out loud "discipline." 

I want to start telling myself "NO!"  Whether its because I was an only child and got my way or maybe its because of my personality, but I have always told myself "YES!"  And because of that I have gained probably 20-30 pounds over the past 7-8 years, I have not prayed or read my Bible or any other books for that matter like I would like.  So this year I am disciplining myself like never before!

Because I know the first question that Gary Fowler is going to ask is..."what is your plan?"  here it is:

• Go to the gym on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday or Saturday (depending on weekend schedule or plans).
• Rotate days on cardio and weights (yesterday was 1/2 hour on the treadmill, today will be more time on weights)...burn a minimum of 1,000-1,200 calories a week.
• Only eat between 1600-2000 calories a day
• Come into sanctuary before noon during the week: Prayer, read my Bible, and journal!
• Read 1 book a month (not exceeding 200-225 pages)
• Read/pray through Celebration of Discipline - I want to get everything out of this book that I can about spiritual discplines; so I want to read about a particular discipline and then work on implementing that in my life.  Read the next and so on...
• Our family to be on a written budget and FOLLOW IT!  We are out of debt except for our car...I want to get our car paid off and have 3-6 months of expenses in saving and another $10,000 for a down payment BEFORE we buy a house.  Probably won't happen this year, but that is the goal we are going to work towards

This list may grow, but right now this is where my discipline is starting for now...I want to have  plan and then work it...plan the work and the work the plan (I think that is the correct saying...haha).

Love to hear some feedback...especially from my workout mentors: Konan, Andy and Gary!

On the road again...

Well as you can tell my time off for the Holidays has ended and I have been going at it solid for the last week and half.  Last week I was out of the office a total of 2 days with Fine Arts Meetings.  Tuesday afternoon with Steve Patient who is our HR coordinator, I used to that job so I met with him to go over stuff and get him up to speed.  He is doing and will do a great job in that role.  Steve is an incredible guy, it has been so cool to get to know him and Christine over the past few months...I look forward to getting to do more stuff with them in the future.  

Then on Thursday I drove down to Cincinnatti to see my buddy JT and Lisa.  It was so cool to see them and their new church.  I have known JT for at least 5-6 years and I gotta say he is one of my closest friends.  We worked to together at P-ville for several years and then took over for me when I left.  He and Lisa have been through alot while in P-ville, so it is so awesome to finally see him in a ministry position...I know he is going to do an incredible job!  Anyway, they were nice enough to let me crash at their place since we had a FAF meeting on Friday in Dayton...I can't tell you how awesome it was not to get up at like 5AM to drive to that meeting.

Speaking of FAF, I think this year is going to be awesome!  We have moved some categories around to give them more space, we have also added a "mother's room" for mom's that are nursing or just want a place to take their kids to sit down and chill for a little while.  I got to admit it was my wife's idea...she won't need it this year, but next year she will with the new addition... (still praying for a boy!).

So that kind of catches you up on whats been going on...my next post will be on something that I feel that God is really speaking to me about in 2008!

RMC Students

It has been so good having Tona, Hannah and Kyle home for the past few weeks.  Haven't really gotten to hang out with them much except for the last couple of days.  Took them to Olive Garden for lunch today and had a blast just hanging out.  

You know sometimes ministry can get so tough!  But when you see what God has done in students lives that have been in your youth ministry it kind of refreshes your resolve to see God do things in other students lives.  Hearing what God has done in their lives has been so cool!  I can't wait to see what he does this spring as they go back and continue to grow and learn.  They will be attending missions trips in Chicago and God willing Kenya.  

I am so glad they are in a place that does ministry out of the box.  Below is a video that all three of my students were in, they shot this video for a series that Pastor Jeremy did called Glamorous...this is so cool!  Hope you enjoy...

P.S - Pray for all three of my students as they go back, they all need to raise money for tuition as well as missions trips.