I'm back...

OK, again it has been a long time since I have updated. I know there are those of you out there that pay attention to this blog - all two of you - that have been concerned. Sorry about the lack of communication. Life has just been really busy. I will try to be back and better than ever (to steal a line from Mike and Mike in the Morning).

This morning, I woke up a little cranky. The weather "professionals" were calling for 1-3 inches of snow for Cape Girardeau overnight. But, as should be expected by now, there is no snow. Just grey and cold outside. I like the cold, but I like it better when there is snow on the ground. I didn't particularly care for snow when I lived where we got a lot of it, but now that we never get it, I sure miss it.

Our trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving was very good. We visited my family in the Cleveland area. It was a great visit and much fun to see how much all of the kids have grown. My nephew Matthew is very scary because he is so big. I made sure that I was nice to him and didn't pick on him. And Kaylee and Mikey are getting so big and mature as well. We got to see cousins and their kids as well (except for my cousin in Arizona). It was insane at times, so it was good to get home to relative quiet and normalcy. And we discovered that Colin travels like a champ. He took three good naps, and only got really fussy once. But when Marcy climbed in the back seat with him, he calmed right down. Ten hours, fifteen minutes total, and that includes getting lost once.

Before our trip to Cleveland, I was at the other end of Ohio - Cincinnati - for the National Youth Workers Convention, put on by Youth Specialties. As always, this was a great time of refreshing, rejuvenation, and reeducating for my job as a youth pastor. The main stage speakers this year were especially good. Donald Miller, Brenda Salter McNeil, and Mike Pilavachi all hit home runs, as far as I'm concerned. The worship leaders were excellent: David Crowder Band (of course) and Starfield. It was great to catch up with some good friends, Trey and Jonesy in particular. But the highlight of the weekend had to be Ohio State laying the smackdown to Michigan for a trip to the national championship game in January. It was a great weekend, and I am already longing for my next conference. Marcy called me a conference junkie. She's probably right, but I'm not ashamed. Only ten months 'til Catalyst!

OK, I think I'm caught up now. Have a great day, and thanks for reading...