5/12 Monday Update

the weekend that was:
-My parents came to our house Friday afternoon. This is significant because my father got out of the hospital Friday morning from having a heart procedure done.  Suffice it to say that God is good and amazing.
-Friday night fun.  Corban's soccer practice was cancelled because of thunder, so we hung out.
-Saturday morning was fine...a little crazy with kids running amok. 
-Saturday around 11 Marjorie, my parents and the two youngers went to T's indoor soccer game at the Y, while C and I jumped in the van and headed for Oil City for his traveling game.  C got crushed, but we had fun on our trip.  We stuck around to watch his friends from school play after him.
-C and I got home for dinner.  Then it was a little play time outside, showers and bed.
-Sunday worship was awesome.  Some friends shared what God has been doing in their lives in the last year.  Stories of transformation and change.  Stories of redemption and outreach.  So inspiring. 
-Sunday after noon I slept like no other.  Crazy long naps.  I just couldn't wake up.
-Sunday night we had the first ultimate frisbee of the year.  I'm out of shape.

where i am at the moment: At home.  E is sleeping but should be up soon.  Just waiting to hear the noise.

on my to-do list this week:  I have a pretty full to-do list this week.  Lots of work stuff.  More got added this morning. 

procrastinating about: NOT the dentist this time.  I have an appointment next week.  HA.

book I'm in the midst of: The Second Assassin.  I know it's motivational for my soul, but it's a book I read years ago and rediscovered after numerous google searches.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: All Sons and Daughters put out a new album last Tuesday.  I can't stop singing the songs.

grand revelations this past week:  Nothing.

how i’m feeling about this week: I have a feeling that Friday is going to be here and I will wonder where the week went. 

4/7 Monday Update

the weekend that was:
-My parents came to our house Friday afternoon.  I love when my parents come to visit.  I don't have to entertain them.  They love up on our boys.  It's just so awesome to watch and be part of.
-Friday night was pretty chill.  Games and laughing.  Good chat with Mom and Dad after the boys were in bed.
-Saturday morning we celebrated Corban's birthday (even though it's not till Tuesday) with my parents.  My wife is amazing.  She made "Lego" brownies for C.  E had a hard time understanding that the gifts weren't for him.
-Mom and dad left mid-day.  We were all tired and promptly napped it out.
-Saturday night Mari and I had small group.  One of my teens babysat the boys.  She said, "it's weird that you pay me for getting hugged by your boys."  I love that.
-Small group was good.  Everyone was chatty to begin with.  Our video and discussion were really good.  We covered a lot of ground.
-Sunday morning was good too.  It seemed like Pastor Mike had bugs planted in our small group discussion from the previous night.
-Sunday night was fun.  I've been doing the object lessons for the little kids for a few months now.  It's a little more than I used to do, but I love it.  Last night I made chocolate milk to talk about the Holy Spirit.
-Weekend over

where i am at the moment: Tim Horton's.  E has "school" on Monday mornings.  And I'm using this time to work....which this blog post is not, but I've already accomplished a lot and had a few minute free.

on my to-do list this week:  I sat down yesterday and created a GIANT "to-do" list.  With Easter just around the bend, I have lots to do....and most of it needs done this week. 

procrastinating about: DENTIST.  I just need to "bite" the bullet and call.....but I'm chicken.

book I'm in the midst of: None.  I like the way my brain works when I'm reading something, but I'm not.  I've been a slacker.  I have books to read, but just haven't been doing it.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: My friend Steve just posted this video....it's pretty cool.    (see bottom)

grand revelations this past week:  I love a good nap.

how i’m feeling about this week: Since I've been sitting here working hard, I'm feeling positive that I can get most of the stuff on my to-do list done this week.  I like it!


Final Four Viewing Party Clip 4 from UK CSF on Vimeo.

3/17 Monday Update

the weekend that was:
-My parents came to our house Friday afternoon.  Which was great as I've been stuck at home with E and T for the past two weeks with T being sick.  The boys had a great time with Grandma and PaPa. 
-I was pretty tired Friday night.  But it was good to talk to Mom and Dad.
-Saturday was E's 3rd birthday.  Fun was had.  He's such a cutie.
-Mom and dad left mid-day.  They're on their way to Florida this week.  It must be nice to be retired.
-Saturday night the boys played Mario Party on the N64.  Mari and I watched Captain Philips. 
-Sunday was Sunday. 
-Mari and I watched "Safety Not Guaranteed."
-Weekend over

where i am at the moment: Tim Horton's.  I have two hours without boys....for the first time in two weeks. 

on my to-do list this week:  Lots of contacting people.  E-mails, texts, facebook, phone calls.

procrastinating about: DENTIST

book I'm in the midst of: Nothing.  I know that that's not a good thing.  I need to get on something.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: See yesterday's post if you haven't already.

grand revelations this past week:  As a pastor sometimes I get so wrapped up in teaching students simple truths about God that I don't take the time to recognize those simple truths in my own life.  I know them as true, but don't let them sink into my heart.

how i’m feeling about this week:  I'm stoked about this coming weekend!

3/3 Monday Update

the weekend that was:
-My weekend was pretty all inclusive.  I left Friday for a retreat with teenagers.  The ride out was actually pretty cool. One of the other chaperone's Josh was with me in my van.  Great conversation about Jesus and the Bible. 
-Really good weekend with students.  Fun was had, but the kids were great.  We didn't have to be annoying old people and get on anyone's case.
-My van was dead when I went to leave Sunday.  Fun.
-Stopped at Chipotle on the way home....seriously fun.
-Nap at home and then Connections
-Then after a weekend away, I had a late night hockey game......a playoff game no less.  I played a great game.  No regrets.  We lost 2-1.  That'll be my last game this season.  Always a bit sad.

where i am at the moment: Home

on my to-do list this week:  I'm headed to a youth conference this Friday, so I only have a few days to get it all done.  Stuff keeps getting backed up.

procrastinating about: DENTIST

book I'm in the midst of: Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo.  I actually haven't read anything in a week.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Nothing new really.

grand revelations this past week:  I know I've said this before....but I'm getting old.  Spending a weekend with teenagers isn't what it used to be.  I used to get excited about it....yeah staying up late and doing silly things.  Now it's like, "ugh, lack of sleep".

how i’m feeling about this week:  I'm stoked about this coming weekend!

2/24 Monday Update

the weekend that was:
-Friday was pretty normal.  The boys had their normal activities.  They then convinced us to watch a movie that Corban got from school.
-Saturday morning I got up early thinking that the US mens hockey team was playing for bronze at 7am....it wasn't until 10.  So I drank a lot of coffee instead.  I had a meeting at a camp that made me drive during the game....which is good because it was horrible.
-I got back from my meeting mid-afternoon to dabble around the house.  Then went to small group with Mari. 
-Sunday was Sunday. 


where i am at the moment: My dining room. 

on my to-do list this week: This coming weekend I will be at a teen retreat.  So there's lots to jam in this week.  AND Marjorie went back to work today since before E came home.  Which means daddy now has a little guy to contend with this week.

procrastinating about: So this is the third week in a row I haven't called the dentist (actually it's much longer than that I just haven't told you)

book I'm in the midst of: Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: I found a YouTube channel called Bored Shorts TV....they do a series called Kid Snippets.  Basically they get little kids to record their imaginary scenarios then adult actors act out the dialogue.  I love them.  I'll post one of my favorite videos below.

grand revelations this past week:  I like to spit.  I realized that when I'm outside, I spit.

how i’m feeling about this week:  It's going to go by fast then the weekend will be here.  Normally that's cool, but this weekend I have to be with teenagers and not chilling with my family.  Slightly less cool.

2/17 Monday Update

Having the boys off of school on Mondays, makes Tuesday my Monday.  That's the excuse I'm using.

the weekend that was:
-Friday was pretty normal.  The boys had a movie night.  The stomach virus that was going around school caught up with Tobiah and he puked his guts out...and then was up numerous times throughout the night.  Pretty normal.
-Saturday was the day of frustration.  Marjorie's goal for the day was to make Ethiopian food.  If you know Ethiopian food you know that you need Injera bread.  It was a horrible failure.  My goal for the day was to make a rope machine for Cub Scouts.  I spent lots of time working on it....and it failed.  We realized too late that we could've driven to Buffalo and spent time with friends, eaten at an Ethiopian restaurant and had much better day.
-Sunday morning and afternoon was normal.  Sunday night at Connections was awesome.  Barely any youth showed up....and it was great.  We had more intimate discussion.  Our games were more fun because there were less distractions.  There's something to be said for small groups.  Jesus had 12 guys and one of them was trying to kill him.
-Marjorie's parents came to our house while we were at Connections, so the boys had a fun surprise when we got home.
-Monday we went to Mayville NY to see the Ice Castle they build there.  The lake freezes over so they cut giant blocks out of the lake to build it.  CRAZY cool.  Also it was CRAZY cold.
-Monday night was AWESOME.  My rope machine got finished for our cub scout meeting.  Not only was it fun....it was a great learning time.  Both the boys and their parents were in awe of how cool it turned out.  This is why I love scouting. 


where i am at the moment: I'm sitting in the YMCA lobby....listening to pre-teen girls talk crazy talk.  Sitting here every day listening to these crazy girls makes me so happy I have boys.

on my to-do list this week:  I'm not sure what I actually accomplished last week, so I think I have a bunch of stuff on my to-do list.  Also....it's already Tuesday so I have less week to do it.

procrastinating about: Calling the dentist......still.

book I'm in the midst of: Epitaph by Bill Pronzini and Multiply by Francis Chan.  I also had the library give me two books that I had on hold.....so I better get to reading this week.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Marjorie and I watched two movies this past weekend.  Neither one really made me jump up and down for joy.  The first one actually freaked me out.  It was about two old people....the wife was dying and the husband was taking care of her.  It was brutal.  You know what was happening and it just went on and on.  I don't want to get old. 

grand revelations this past week:  Maybe this is a thought for a full blog post.  I realized today that hanging out with Elias is a downshift.  As T and C have gotten older, things have sped up.  Conversations, activities, play, everything.  Faster.  With E, we're back to slow and steady.  I spent 5-10 minutes just looking out the window today with him.  It drove me up a wall for a minute because we weren't "doing" anything....and then I realized that we were doing something very important.  Slowing down is good.

how i’m feeling about this week:  I feel like I'm already out of time.

2/10 Monday Update

the weekend that was:
-Friday night Marjorie took Corban to a workshop in Grove City...which left me with the youngers.  We had Mac N Cheese, swimming lessons, a short movie and some serious Candy Land action.
-Saturday morning was chores for everyone.
-Saturday afternoon I took the older two, to see the Lego movie.  I'm pretty sure I"m gonna blog about my thoughts on this later in the week.
-Saturday evening I took a bunch of teens to see the Erie Otters play.
-Sunday morning was pretty normal.
-Sunday afternoon was an intense nap
-Connections Sunday night and then late night hockey which we won.

where i am at the moment: Sitting on my couch, while Marjorie puts Corban to bed.  Peace and quiet exists for a few moments.

on my to-do list this week:  I'm a little worried about this.  Not because my list is long this week....but because it isn't.  I feel like I'm forgetting something big that I need to be doing.  I feel better when I have a long list.

procrastinating about: Calling the dentist.

book I'm in the midst of: Epitaph by Bill Pronzini and Multiply by Francis Chan

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: At this moment nothing, but I remembered the video from last week, so I"ll post that below.

grand revelations this past week:Not a revelation, but it never ceases to amaze me how teenage girls can be so quickly infatuated with a boy that has never had a conversation with them.
 
how i’m feeling about this week:Questionable.


Now here's the video.  Fraggle Rock and Ben Folds Five.  I keep singing this.

2/3 Monday Update

It's Tuesday night and I'm doing my Monday update again.  It's my blog.  Get off my back.....all none of your reading.  This one's gonna be short.

the weekend that was:
-Elias was sick all weekend. 
-The "olders" came to my hockey game Saturday night.
-Super Bowl happened.  I ate snacks, got angry, and went to read a book.


where i am at the moment: I'm now sick too.  So I'm home and drowsy. 

on my to-do list this week:  Mostly work things on my list for this week.  I do have a couple home chores to do, but they're pretty minor when it's all said and done.

procrastinating about: All of it.  I"m sick.  Who wants to do anything?

book I'm in the midst of: Nemesis by Bill Pronzini and Multiply by Francis Chan

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: There was something I saw over the weekend that I was going to put here.....but I forgot it already.

grand revelations this past week: Nope
 
how i’m feeling about this week: Sick

1/27 Monday Update

So it's Tuesday night and I"m doing a Monday update.  Whatever.

the weekend that was:
-Tobiah was sick most of last week.  So he was home from school and didn't go to swimming Friday night.
 -Corban and I picked up pizza after swimming and that made for a good night.
-Saturday we had to clean up because my parents were coming.  It was snowy and cold all weekend so we spent a lot of time inside.

-My parents always liven our house when they come.  The boys get all amped up.  I love how Elias response to them.  Even though he hasn't spent tons of time with them....he knows that they are family and it makes me smile.
-Saturday night I had a rare late night Saturday night hockey game.  Faceoff wasn't until 10:30.  We were playing a team much younger than us.  I didn't play as well as I could've and we lost.  I hate losing.
-I did a lot of talking and singing on Sunday morning and evening and by Sunday night I was feeling dead.  I took a good nap Sunday afternoon though.
-Monday we all went to Jamestown to do the bounce house place and out to eat.  It's cold outside. 

where i am at the moment: I'm home.  We just got back from Corban's Pinewood Derby for Scouts (a post is coming)

on my to-do list this week:  I have a bunch of work things to do this week.  Some to do tonight actually.  Since the boys were off school yesterday and today (tuesday), my week is already messed up and I'm gonna be chasing most of the week.

procrastinating about: I haven't had any time to procrastinate lately.  I feel like I'm plugging away.

book I'm in the midst of: I'm about to finish.The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo.  The library called that i have book in, but I don't remember what it is.....but I should start that soon.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: While I'm typing this, I'm listening to the Sabres play the Capitals.  I've watched a bunch of hockey.  I'm gonna post two Youtube clips at the bottom.  Both are good.

grand revelations this past week: I'm getting older daily.  I know that's obvious, but my lower back has really been messed up for a week or so....and it's really slowing me down.  I don't want to be slowed down.  I want to keep playing hockey at my own pace for as long as I want. 
 
how i’m feeling about this week: I feel like I'll be doing one of these updates before I know it.



I know this is ping pong....but you won't be sorry you watched this.


A new Digital Age video.  cool stuff.

1/21 Monday Update

the weekend that was:

-Friday was awesome.  Tobiah has been in speech therapy since he was a little toddler.  On Friday he GRADUATED from speech therapy.  He is now at or above his age level in language.  YEAH!!!  So proud of him.

 -Friday night was chill after all of our YMCA activities.  Eat food, go to bed.  Marjorie and I watched The Lone Ranger....like that.
-Saturday morning Marjorie had a women's study group, so I had all the boys together.  We made our first errand run with all of them.  Not a problem. 
-Saturday afternoon we worked on some projects for the olders for school.
-Tobiah got sick Saturday into Sunday.  So Marjorie E and T stayed home from church.  Corban is a champ and went with me to church. 
-When we got home Tobiah wanted to take a nap with Daddy.  No fight from me.  So we napped it out until football time at 3. 
-Sunday night was youth group.  I love my youth kids. 

where i am at the moment: Running...not really.  I'm currently at home...but I"m about to take T to school (we kept him home....but he's fine).  Then I'm coming back to pick up E and we're going to Toddler Time at the library this morning.

on my to-do list this week:  I have a big list of things to do this week.  One of the big ones is work on Corban's Pinewood Derby car.  Our race is next week.

procrastinating about: As you know I hate phone calls.  I always bounce those to the bottom of my to-do list.

book I'm in the midst of: Torn by Justin Lee and The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: I watched some football and hockey over the weekend.  I found a cool Youtube channel with a bunch of old CCM music from back in the day.

grand revelations this past week: I could eat dried mango till I throw up......I haven't done that....but I could.
 
how i’m feeling about this week: Lots to do.  My lower back is hurting....which might inhibit me doing some of the lots I have to do.

9/14 Monday update

the weekend that was:
-Friday was a normal sort of day. Hanging with the boys.
-Friday night Mari and I went out. This was big since we had a new babysitter. The boys love Jolee, and she's around because she's going to a local community college. The best part (for me) of our date was that we went to a local hockey game. Jamestown has a junior team (16-19 year old really high end play). They were AWESOME! Marjorie doesn't really get into hockey. She likes going, but sits there and contemplates the universe and talks to me about stuff. I stand up and yell at nice goal and she says, "do you think we should go look at that house?"
-Saturday morning was just family time. Ran to the library. Nothing special.
-Saturday afternoon I left for Kane. The marching band had an exhibition there that evening. I geocached my way there. Good outing. The show was GREAT! They've come a long way. We still have things to work out, but really solid sound. I was proud of them. I got home to find two boxes full of paintball guns! Yeah it's like Christmas.
-Sunday was church. Because of our new addition the church is really messed up. So we didn't have Sunday School but church time changed anyway. So we had time to kill at home in the morning. Good naps after church.
-Sunday night was the start of our Connections Ministry at the YMCA. Youth group was really good. LOTS of younger kids. I think there were only 3 high school students. Good and weird at the same time.
-I left there to go get my goalie gear and head to the rink for a 10pm game. The team we played had asked me to play for them earlier this year. They were young and quick. They went up 3-0 early. We fought back slow but sure and won 6-5. Not a great outing for me. But we won.

where i am at the moment: Home. Mari's home too. We're running some errands this morning and then we're all headed off to Wexford to get another test run for Tobiah. We'll see how this one goes. This is the worst test they run on him. It's not a fun experience as a dad holding your son down who's crying and you can't do anything for him......and he's totally justified in crying because I would be to.

on my to-do list this week: I need to get music done early this week. Wed. is our anniversary and so I'm skipping out on worship team practice. I have some phone calls to make. I need to order Bibles. I have to finish the drum cadence for this year. I need to mail out some paintball guns to their original owners. I'm sure there's more

procrastinating about: I'm not sure I have tons of time to procrastinate. Probably the phone calls if anything.

book I'm in the midst of: Still reading Sex God and Round Ireland with a Fridge.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: I love finding music that I didn't know existed. This past week I found the "group" Owl City. Totally blown away. Basically it's just a guy who makes music LITERALLY in his basement. I can't get enough. You really need to check out his stuff. I'm going to put a video at the bottom of this post. WOW. So good. Kind of Postal Service ish.

grand revelations this past week: This literally just happened. Tobiah knocked Corban's cereal bowl over and milk went everywhere. I was mad because Tobiah was just looking for MORE food. So I sent the boys in the room so I could clean up. As I was doing that I thought to myself "whoever said no use crying over spilled milk.....was a moron".

how i’m feeling about this week: WAY too busy this week. I wish I had more time to just chill this week. I don't think it'll happen.

9/7 Monday update

the weekend that was:
-Friday I had the boys. It was good.
-Friday night was Warren's first football game. Since I'm the percussion instructor for the marching band, I go to the home games. Warren has had a bad football team for a few years now. Like really bad. We actually won 45-0. Wild.
-Saturday morning we were all up early and out of the house by 8am. We headed to Mission Meadows Camp. I spoke there for their teen camp this summer. The boys LOVE camp. As we're pulling into camp Tobiah starts pumping his arms in excitement! The reason we were going is that they have had a Labor Day "family camp" for a number of years. The director Karen asked me to come and lead music for the speaking sessions on Saturday. It was good to be at camp. I struggled a bit with the music. The attendees of family camp are more the grand parent and great-grandparent age bracket rather than "we have family now". It went well though. We got to swim. We got to play a lot. Good time on Saturday.
-Sunday morning all the Evangelical Covenant churches in the area have a joint service at MM. We're talking about 375 people. Very cool. Sunday afternoon was picnic and lots of play for everyone. Corban spent the entire day at the waterfront....boating and swimming with Mari.....Tobiah and I took naps.
-Today we came home, did groceries and chilled.

where i am at the moment: Home. I like going away. I REALLY like camp. It's good to be home too. I'm a home body. The boys are in the bath. Their bedtime is coming soon. They're both tired.

on my to-do list this week: Need to get music ready for this Sunday. Need to write a drum cadence (for real this time). Our Sunday night ministry starts this week, so I should probably plan something cool for that. I need to chat with Mike about our book we're reading together. I need to get some flyers to some teens. I need to update the youth blog (I've been even worse about keeping that up to date this summer than this one!)

procrastinating about: Take your pick from one of the above.

book I'm in the midst of: I've been casually reading "Sex God" by Rob Bell. I got back into it this weekend. I'm also re-reading "Round Ireland with a Fridge" by Tony Hawks. My friend Becky sent it to me a couple years ago. She had great taste in books for me to read. This one is awesome!

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: During marching band season it's really hard to get our marching songs out of my head. This year we're doing a version of Buddy Rich's "Dancing Men". We're doing Kansas's "Carry on my Wayward Son". We're doing "MacArthur Park". I did however find a "band" who's sound I like. They're life view is a bit skewed though. They're called Kidnap Kids. The two main people are two females who play guitar and xylophone. I've always been a sucker for female lead bands.

grand revelations this past week: Not everything has to minister to me, to be valuable. Different things impact people differently. Because I don't like a song, doesn't mean that it won't make other people cry.

how i’m feeling about this week: I hate weeks that start on Tuesday.

6/8 Monday update

the weekend that was:
-Friday was Ok. Tobiah's physical therapist came to the house in the morning. The guy had broken his foot and hasn't been around for a month or so.
-Friday night was graduation. This year is weird. I know more seniors than any other time in my youth ministry career. Good to see them.
-Saturday was busy. Up early and rolling. Graduation party. Left there and drove hard to Erie to make it to an outdoor wedding at Presque Isle.....which was gorgeous! Great day for it. Then it was shopping and Chic-Fillet.
-Saturday night was hockey game. After watching the Pens come back to tie the series 2-2, Saturday's game was just stupid. It actually wasn't a game at all. Boring hockey.
-Sunday as I was getting ready for church Mari called me downstairs to "see this". Yeah some of my lovely graduating class had written all over the windows of our van with that "write on the windows of your vehicle" paint. It was cool vandalism though. It was stuff like "Pastor Aaron rocks." "We love you" "Amazing Man".
-Sunday was church. I sang God of this City. It IS NOT a Chris Tomlin song. It's a Bluetree song that Chris Tomlin swipped and changed. Bluetree's lyrics are much better. That's the version I sang (however I used Tomlin's chords)
-After church was headed for Canada. Before we left I was washing the windows on the van when it started to rain. I got all the side windows but the back window that said "Pastor Aaron rocks" had to stay. So the whole drive people passing us kept looking in the van to see who Pastor Aaron was. It was like being a rock star.

where i am at the moment: NOT AT HOME!!!! Right this minute I'm at Marjorie's sister's house. But in a short time we're leaving.....and we're leaving our boys here!!!! Mari and I have a B&B tonight at Niagara-on-the-Lake (which is a B&B community with quaint shoping and lots of history and forts near by). We have today and most of tomorrow to ourselves. HEAVEN!

on my to-do list this week: We're not going home until Tuesday night or more likely Wed. So I'm not doing squat until then. Music for this week. Call some people.

procrastinating about: I'm good to go.

book I'm in the midst of: I'm blanking on what it's called. It's a book about CS Lewis.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Other than hockey games I've been pretty busy this week. I have really been into this Madness CD I got at Salvation Army Thrift Store for a buck. Corban loves to dance in his car seat to it.

grand revelations this past week: I'm good at what I do. I don't say this because I'm patting myself on the back. I'm usually my own worst critic. This week through a variety of things that happened, I just felt like I'm not horrible at this ministry gig.

how i’m feeling about this week: I love my wife. I love vacation. I love no responsibilities. Should be a good first part of the week. It'll take me the second half of the week to get back into a routine....EASY GOING!

5/11 Monday update

This will be a different Monday update. I have been in a funk lately. Most of the questions in my regular update are pointless....like what book are you reading, grand revelation, media, etc. This seems to happen every spring. I just mentally shut down for a bit. I'm going to try and work out of it this week.

the weekend that was:
-Friday was guy day as always. Doctor appointment for Tobiah in the am to check how his pneumonia was. Gone.
-Friday night I spoke at my buddy PJ's 30 Hour Famine. And the Penguins won.
-Saturday was chill time with the family mostly. The boys and I went grocery shopping while Mari went to the bank.
-My brother stopped by in the afternoon to DROP OFF MY VESPA!!!! (more on that later obviously)
-We took Mari out to Tim Horton's for a little "pre-Mothers day dinner".
-Then it was home for Special movie night. Corban watched Wall-E AGAIN! Mari and I watched Slumdog Millionaire. It was a really hard movie to watch, but really good too.
-Sunday morning was Sunday morning. Busy as ever.
-Sunday afternoon was long naps for everyone.
-Sunday evening was odd. Not many kids because of Mother's Day. My friend Sandy came down and brought the message. She was strong. Really good word. Then I stayed after to talk to students for another hour and a half.

where i am at the moment: Where am I always at?

on my to-do list this week: I haven't even made a list.

procrastinating about: pretty much everything

how i’m feeling about this week: I need to fix this. I think I might try to blog my way out of it.

5/4 Monday update

the weekend that was:
-It would seem that weekends have recently turned into non-stop business. When did that happen and why did no one warn me? Granted it's mostly my fault.
-Friday morning was some chill time with my guys. Then we ran to the church so I could copy music for Friday night. This process was rough as Tobiah was a little tired and just wanted to be held. Copying and printing music with him in my arms doesn't really work. We then went to Pizza Hut for lunch. Corban got a free personal pizza for reading books. (the whole thing is a scam to get parents to come in and buy food). ANYWAY...good times.
-Friday evening was awesome. I'm not sure how to tell you about it in short form....so here goes. One of the two denominations that our church is affiliated with is the Evangelical Covenant Church. The Conference we belong to was having their annual meeting at a camp that they run which is 45 minutes from here (I spoke there last summer and will again this summer). I somehow got roped into leading music at their big worship service Friday night. The rest of the team were people from different area Covenant churches that I had never met before. That's always a little rough, but it worked out amazingly well. ANYWAY....The place was PACKED. We start the first song and this wall of sound hit me in the face of all of these pastors and lay people singing. WOW! We played our first two sets and all was going well. The head of the denomination was there to bring the message and was really good. Then there was this time where everyone came to the front to give their offering and their prayer lists and these white roses they had received on their way in (the roses symbolized people who had given their life to Jesus this past year in the Conference)...and we were suppose to play some background music. Well the piano player and I had worked out music we were going to play quietly. The second song was Might To Save. Well we're playing through it and I (without meaning to) started singing the chorus...not into the mic...just to myself. Well I began to notice that the people closest to the front of the stage started singing along. Then it spread, then it spread, then it spread....soon more than half the people there were singing a song we hadn't intended to sing. So I recognized that we NEEDED to sing this song and stepped to the mic to lead. Barb was running the powerpoint and threw the lyrics up real quick. It was a purely God moment.
-So after that I stopped at one of the local Tim Horton's only to discover that it is now a Tim Horton's AND a Cold Stone Creamery!
-Saturday morning I was up early and on the road with my good friend PJ. We had heard there was a special pump/pistol paintball day at a field in Pittsburgh. There's a big difference playing pump paintball vs. semi-automatic. Just the style of play is different. So we made the trip. PJ's roommate from college Tom met us there so there were three of us. As we walk into the registration area we told them what we were there for and the kid calls to the back "are we running a pump and pistol day today?" Not a good sign. So needless to say, we were the only 3 to show up. The field felt bad because they didn't promote it very well, so they bent over backwards to accomodate us. We played anyway....there were a bunch of semi auto players there and we played with them all day. It was a little harder playing their style of play, but we made it work. Then we played our own games between their games so we didn't sit around as much. It was a really nice field so that helped. Got home around 9:30...and went straight to bed after a shower.
-Sunday morning was pretty much the same except a friend of mine, Rachel came and played some music with the worship team. She brought her mandolin so we did a bluegrassy version of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. The congregation loved it. Cool stuff.

where i am at the moment: Dining room table, about ready to leave. We're meeting Pastor J and his son at the library and then maybe out to a playground. Our normal Monday morning Toddler Time at the library is on break until the beginning of June.

on my to-do list this week: Not sure....but I bet there's a list that's just waiting to be made.

procrastinating about: see next subject

book I'm in the midst of: I decided this weekend that I'm going to start reading again. The only thing I've been halfway reading is a book called Home Ice by Jack Falla....it's about backyard ice skating/hockey rinks. Cool stuff.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: It's hockey playoff time. I like watching hockey...even if it's bad streams of games on the internet. And I watched the Untouchables. That's just classic.

grand revelations this past week: I really should start writing these down as the week goes along...because I get to Monday and my brain is fried from the weekend and I got nothing....

how i’m feeling about this week: for some reason I feel hesitant.

4/27 Monday Update

( can I just say that the picture I used last Monday makes me laugh every time. Puffy staring amazed at a 1 dollar bill.....how'd that get mixed in there. HA)
the weekend that was:
-WHAT AN AWESOME WEATHERED WEEKEND!!!!!
-Friday morning I needed to go set some tables up at church. Pastor Mike was having a rough day of it so we ended up sitting in the nursery chatting while the boys wreaked havoc on the room. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really love my pastor. He's a real person.
-We left the church and went to do groceries. We ran into a couple other people from church while we were there. Tobiah decided that the middle of last week was a great time to get pneumonia, so everyone wanted to make sure he was OK.
-Lots of playing outside and "walks" all weekend. Walks now means that Tobiah goes in the stroller, Corban rides his bike (because that's the only thing he wants to do with his time these days) and Mari and I walk.
-Friday night Mari and I struggled and argued about what we were going to say to my friends 30 Hour Famine group the next day. We really approach a task like this differently and to have us do it collectively was a HUGE challenge for us.
-Saturday morning I pounded coffee while working hard on our talk. All of a sudden at 10:30 Corban wanted to go to a playground because it was GORGEOUS. It made sense that we go to a playground.....but we also had to speak at 1 and were totally not ready. We went anyway.
-We spoke at 1. It didn't go great. The kids were tired and we had too much to say. It was fine though.
-Saturday evening was PIZZA, baths, and another walk.
-Sunday morning was pretty normal. Then it was home for quick lunch then I was off to play paintball. I haven't played in a LONG TIME. I know this will sound weird, but it felt really good to shoot my friends.
-I high taled it out of there to make it back in time for youth group. After youth group spent some time talking to my buddy J about life and kids etc. Looking forward to having coffee with him this week.
-Back home to watch the first Star Wars.

where i am at the moment: Home. It's another great day so we're headed outside in a minute here. It's almost too hot for my taste. I have to figure out how to set this gate up to keep Tobiah on the porch.

on my to-do list this week: Pick music for this week. Pick music for the Annual Conference worship service that's Friday night. Somehow I'm leading that now. Need to make some calls.

procrastinating about: Eh....a little procrastination never hurt anybody????

book I'm in the midst of: I have to be honest here....I'm really in a lull. I have some books I should be reading but just can't bring myself to do anything.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: For whatever reason I've been listening to and downloading some Lifehouse lately.

grand revelations this past week: My wife and I are very different. I know that isn't much of a revelation...more of a rediscovery. I love you Mari.

how i’m feeling about this week: unsure. I just don't know what to expect from this week.

4/20 Monday Update

the weekend that was:
-A really long, but really good weekend.
-Friday Mari took off work. I love when she's home. I just love being a family and spending time together. This also allowed me to meet with some youth pastors and two really cool friends from the camp I spoke at last year (and am speaking at again this summer!). I just really love spending time with those folks.
-Weather was beautiful all weekend. Got our oil changed. Went out for dinner. Took walks. Got ready for family coming. Great day.
-Saturday morning started early. Mari's sister Helena her husband Martin and their 5 children arrived at our house at 9am. Beyond the fact that we love them to pieces and love when they come to visit.....they brought us Tim Horton's donuts!!!! We spent the morning playing around the house with them.
-Saturday after lunch Mari's parents and other sister Beatrice and two of her daughters arrived.
-in the afternoon we all went to a farm that is owned by Mari's co-worker (the pastor of the Rouse Home). They kids had a blast seeing the goats and sheep and walking around the farm. We then went down the road to a playground to play.
-Sunday morning for me was similar to most other Sunday mornings. However it was Tobiah's baptism so I had some extra instructions to do things when I got to the church.
-Our little church was PACKED! It was really cool looking out at our congregation and not seeing empty spaces. Church was awesome. I'll probably blog the baptism in the next couple days.
-After church we had brunch downstairs for friends and family. This was a great time to chat with everyone. Sooooo much fun.
-Afternoon was hanging out with family at our house.
-Sunday night was youth group as usual. Good fun. THEN it was home for WIZARD!!!!

where i am at the moment: Home. I'm watching the Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens. Great series just as I predicted.

on my to-do list this week: As always music to pick out. Teen drama. Planning ahead. Meeting with people for coffee!!!!

procrastinating about: I feel spent. Right now I'm procrastinating about everything (as witnessed by the fact that it's 8:30pm and I'm not done with this post yet).

book I'm in the midst of: Reading is for suckers.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Xylopholks. An odd group from NYC. They dress up funny and play in parks and subways, but they're really good. Check out this video. or this one is really good too. You can also check out their myspace page.

grand revelations this past week: The problem with this category is that I have to remember the entire week to think about it......I got nothing....

how i’m feeling about this week: in a word....LAZY.

4/6 Monday update

the weekend that was:
-A weekend of business. Which should be a good build up to this week, which should be insanity.
-Friday I had the boys as always. We had a special trip to undertake. There's a bigger story that will go behind it (see blog post later this week). Suffice it to say, we drove in the rain an hour away to an even smaller town (Tionesta) where Mari and I found a dinor (that's how they spell it) that sells home made pierogies. We had lunch and picked up our order.
-Our trip took up most of our Friday. We also had to drop orders off at Mari's work to some of her co-workers.
-Friday night I went to the All-County Musical. Every other year, all the high schools in the county do a musical together. This year they did "Thoroughly Modern Millie". Almost all of my youth group was in the musical in one way or the other. This will sound biased, but THEY WERE FABULOUS! One of my girls had one of the leads and was just outstanding good. Wow.
-While Saturday is usually my do nothing day.....this day would be different. Around 10 Corban and I went downtown to this free kids fair thing. Basically a bunch of business and day-cares have tables that kids can do activities or get free stuff. Lots of coloring books, candy, etc. It's something to do. It kills time. However most of the people there are looking for free stuff. I just wanted to have fun with my son. Big difference.
-Afterward the two of us went to McD's for lunch. I love having lunch with just him. Good conversation. Corban's hillarious.
-Corban's birthday is this week (Wednesday). Because it's in the middle of a busy week we had some friends over Sat. night for some cake and ice cream. It was way fun. Very relaxed. Kids played, adults just chatted. Good times.
-Sunday morning was the usual business of Sunday morning. After church Mari stayed to set up the prayer stations we're doing on Wed. and I took the boys home, fed them and got them napping.
-In the mean time I got word that the director of the musical that all the kids were involved in, had a massive heart attack and died early afternoon. So instead of taking my normal Sunday nap, I was texting and facebooking (is that a word?) teens.
-Sunday night was Connections. Good time. Not a giant group, but we had a good lesson. I had a really good talk with a parent/volunteer afterward that helped me get some perspective.

where i am at the moment: My dining room. It's been a long day. It's going to be a long week.

on my to-do list this week: I can't even list it all. Tunch Ilkin is speaking in town tomorrow night. Wed. is prayer stations. Thursday is a Maundy Thursday service. Friday is a Good Friday service....and then Easter Sunday. As of this moment I have no pianist this week. That's bad when you're trying to do a fairly tradtional week of music and I have let my piano playing slide over the past 15 years.

procrastinating about: If I'm procrastinating about anything this week I'm an idiot. I have no time to mess around. There's tons to do.

book I'm in the midst of: I'm still working through "Jesus For President" by Shane Claiborne, and Chris Haw. I'm enjoying it, but it's slow going. The farther into the book I go the more I struggle with their premise on some things. Every little section builds on the previous sections, so it's getting thicker and thicker.

media that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Note for the record that I remembered that it's now "media" not music...even after a week's hiatus. For whatever reason the song You by Waterdeep has been in my head for weeks. It's not a popular song. Third Day doesn't play it. No one does in fact. The only version I found on YouTube was a cover by some teenagers in a room with bad sound. There's no online copies. But it's in my head.

grand revelations this past week: I need more sleep.

how i’m feeling about this week: STRESSED.

3/23 Monday update

the weekend that was:

-This weekend wasn't all that exciting. Be fore-warned.
-Friday I had the boys as always. We ran some errands in the morning, took naps, watched our afternoon movie, mom came home, dinner, play, bed.
-Saturday was another nothing day. As you know I've been trying to make Saturday my Sabbath rest day since Sunday is usually work for me. Marjorie wanted to get things done this Saturday so we butted heads all day.
-Mid-morning Corban and I drove to Jamestown. There's a small hockey shop there that has a cool cleaning machine for gear. It'll clean equipment without breaking it down (like most dry-cleaning stuff or home wash). I bought a new goalie glove awhile ago that was slightly used and I wanted it cleaned before I seriously use it (you never know what kind of fungus is in there). So we went to the hockey shop, then the hobby shop to look at train stuff for Corban. Then to Tim Horton's. I had previously won a free coffee in their Roll Up the Rim to Win contest. So we went to redeem it and get some donuts. I was kind of hoping to win the $10,000 but I settled for winning another coffee! See I'm a winner after all.
-Sunday morning was frustrating. There was a wedding at church on Saturday so all of the worship team's gear had to be packed up after practice Wed. night. We put it in an orderly fashion so Sunday morning it would all go up quickly. When I arrived early Sunday, a "helping hand" had moved all our stuff back downstairs haphazardly. So what could've been quick and painless became long and frustrating. I was a good boy and held my tongue though. Worship was awesome. Pastor Mike rocked another great sermon. It was kind of an "in-house" cleaning of sorts. He addressed some problems our church is facing and challenged us that if things didn't change we'd start dying. WOW! Great stuff.
-Sunday night we were back at the YMCA. We worked out a deal with a local guy to come in and use SCUBA gear with teens in the pool if they wanted. It was WAY cool. I hate water so I didn't participate in that, but it was cool seeing the smiles on kids faces. I got to play with my boys in the water though which was WAY fun too.

where i am at the moment: Home as always. just got back from Toddler Time with the boys. I'm about to make us some lunch.

on my to-do list this week: Last week went weird, so I need to clean up some messes. It also appears that this is the week for talking with teens. I've already been contacted by a couple that need to "talk" or need "my opinion". I'm hoping to pick out music past Easter this week...we'll see how that goes.

procrastinating about: I have two things that need to go in the mail...like last week. I also need to get our taxes in to our guy. That should've been done last week or two weeks ago.

book I'm in the midst of: On Friday I started "Jesus For President" by Shane Claiborne, and Chris Haw. I didn't totally agree with everything Shane had to say in "The Irresistible Revolution", but he does challenge my thinking (Andrea I know I told you I'd send you this book, I'll try to get it out this week....but you're in Disney World anyway...). I've already dove pretty hard into this book and so far like the way they make my mind work. Just for the record they also have a website, if you want to check that out.

music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: I think I'm going to change this category to "media" that had caught my attention. Just for the record. (We'll see if I remember that for next week or not) ANYWAY...music....Coldplay "Fix You". As much as it pains me to say this....I've also been drawn to "God of This City" which is really by a group called Bluetree, but made popular by Chris Tomlin. Tomlin's version is very.....Tomlin. The Bluetree version is real. There's a good chance our worship team will be doing that version.

grand revelations this past week: I'm glad Sunday night league hockey is done until Fall. It just opens my life up so much. I like coming home after youth group and relaxing with my wife rather than running off to an adrenaline rush.

how i’m feeling about this week: Not really looking forward to drama. Not looking forward to doing work that has to get done. That's the way of it though.

3/16 Monday update

the weekend that was:

-Friday was the last day us youth pastors were at the Christian School for "Spiritual Emphasis Week". I took Corban and he was good. He played and watched a movie while we did our thing. I then swung by our awesome sitters house to pick up Tobiah. He was a wreck. Basically he's super congested and coughing goo.
-Saturday was do nothing day. Literally. I'd been going for a week....I needed nothingness. It was good. We went to Tim Horton's for dinner. It was a quality day.
-Sunday morning church stuff. The choir couldn't sing this week, so I roped two of our girls to sing with me during the offering. It went REALLY well. Pastor Mike's sermon ROCKED! He could've done a sermon series on the passage he used....and instead it was like Boom out of the park, Boom out of the park, Boom out of the park....point after point after point. He rocked it. The only downside to church was I had to keep yelling at two boys who were being noisy and distracting.
-Sunday afternoon some teens were playing ultimate frisbee in our "back yard". I really wanted to play but had a hockey game later, so I didn't. Apparently one of the kids, layed out for a disc, fell funny, and broke his collar bone. YIKES.
-So Sunday evening, as I've said my rag tag hockey team made the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! So I got my youth volunteers to cover for me at youth group and went to play. The one thing I've loved about my team all year is that they're very low key. Lots of joking and talking in the locker room. We want to win all the time, but there is not pressure...which as a goalie is really nice. So this is the Championship....that we're not suppose to be in....and the locker room was the same as alway. Win or lose, we accomplished a lot. Also, we were playing the best team in the league...but they're good guys, and we've played well against them in the past. The first round of the playoffs we lost 2-1...which is a close low scoring game....we were hoping for that again.
So the game was back and forth. Lots of shots on goal for both teams. I was playing really well. I felt like I could see the puck well. Our defense gave up the puck to one of their O right in front of the net and he buried it. That was the second period....so after the second we were down 1-0. Before the third period I skated to our bench and said, "I have two things to say, one is really funny. The funny thing is...we're actually playing in the Championships. The second thing is....we're still very much in this!!" So our star defenseman scores part way into the third to tie it up. Then a little later he wraps it around their net and we GO UP ONE! However a little later one of their guys knocks a puck out of the air into my net. I made some crazy saves...fast breaks, etc...but there was no stopping that. So the score is tied. 42 seconds left in the game and their's a face off right next to our net. I said, "OK boys let's win this now". Then the craziest thing that's ever happened in my hockey career happened. I mean I have NEVER EVER seen this happen like this before. On the face-off both of their sticks clapped together with the puck. The puck shoots in the air in this little weird arch at the net and I didn't see it until it was past me. They win the game with 41 seconds left on the clock. It was a great game. Their team was super cool and congragulatory. I really would've loved to win.....losing like that stinks, but it's also one of those goals where there was nothing I could do...and everyone knows it. So once again, I'm a loser.

where i am at the moment: Home. Marjorie is off this morning. We're waiting for our homestudy lady to come do our "6month" evaluation this morning. Then later I get to take the boys in to the doctor.

on my to-do list this week: Other than picking music for Sunday, there's nothing "immediate" this week. However I really should do some long term planning stuff, that I don't get to do when I always have the immediate hanging over my head.

procrastinating about: Um.......

book I'm in the midst of: I'm between books. However my parents gave me another large stack so now I have a HUGE pile of books to get through.

music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Starfield- Reign In Us.

grand revelations this past week: Tobiah puckers up for kisses. He knows we love it, so he's constantly puckering for kisses. Last night in the middle of the night he was up and wanted a bottle. So as he's drinking he spit it out of his mouth and puckered. I had to kiss him 8 times before he'd put it back in. My only thought was this....I'm going to miss this.

how i’m feeling about this week: GREAT! The weather is suppose to be nice (for here) and I don't have a ton on my plate this week!