Eating humble pie...

Not that I really have much to say tonight, but I thought it has been a while since I posted and would take a few moments to do so. For the last few weeks, I have been meeting with our youth director. Twice, he has missed a meeting or whatever, Yesterday, it was my turn. I completely forgot about our meeting for 7:00 a.m. Talk about eating your own words and having to apologize profusely over this. I normally pride myself for being on time, thanks to a loving wife who has shown me the error of my previous ways. I use a calandar to keep dates straight and times down, but for some reason, I missed my appointment altogether. I guess I needed to eat a little humble pie and remember I'm human just like anyone else is.

On a lighter note, I have been really enjoying my experiences of teaching Latin I and II to a super group of students. However, my students are not a part of a regular school, but an online academy. I have students now who are from Haiti, Africa, and several states here in the good ol' U.S. of A. What makes it really cool is that I can "Skype" them for free and talk in real time over the wonders of the internet. I made a "Skype call" tonight to my student, who is S. Korean but lives with her missionary parents in Africa. The call was remarkably clear and with little or no delays. We've talked on a regular phone with my sister-in-law in Bangledesh with some lag becasue of the satalite feeds. Wow, it amazes me just how far technology has brought us. It also shows me just how small our world really is, and what a Mighty God we serve is.

Other than that, not much else to report from the Eagle's Nest. Oh, I started a Thomas Kinkade puzzle last night with my wife. You know, one of those 1,000 piece puzzles? Why do I torture myself this way? Oh well, I love his art work and am looking forward to solving the puzzle.

TTFN

8 years ago...

Every year about this time I find myself being a little depressed. I lost my mother 8 years ago to a very rare form of skin cancer. I can't help how much I miss my mother at times. Especially with her never seeing my own two children. I really don't have much to say about it at this time, I just thought I would share how I'm feeling today.

On an upbeat side, I went to visit my mother's graveside today and was trying to explain to HJ about why I miss my mommy and she told me she was sorry, but "God has given me a new mommy," She went on to explain that I now have Mom Bohrer and Grandma Sherri, not to mention Nana Shira. It was very comforting to hear my little one say such things. It even brought a tear to my eye. Thank God for his daily blessings! She also told me not to worry because "You'll see her again in Heaven." After the rough day we had today, it was nice to see my dd loving me as only she can.

Random thoughts...

Tonight was my third Wednesday with Powerhouse, our church's youth group. This year I am taking over as the Jr. High director. It has been a real blessing so far. I finally feel like I'm being used by God in a setting I have been trained for. The down side is I'm not being paid for any of it. So what makes it so awesome! In a nutshell, GOD! Earlier this week one of my youth came over wanting to talk with me about his parents. His dad had taken them out to dinner and told them it was over and that he was going to start looking for a new place to live. Now this didn't happen out of the blue. I've known that the marriage has been on shaky ground for a while, but what really made me think about God being in the midst of it is that the young man trusted me enough to actually come over to my house and share openly with me about his feelings and knowing that I wouldn't violate his trust to anyone. This is one of those relationships I've been working on for a year or more with him personally and the family for almost four years. This kids are going through some pretty rough times, and yet I see some characteristics in them that I hope my own children pick up.

Now to contrast that with some other students in our group, last night I was at our staff meeting for Sr. and Jr. High youth staff. A few comments were made about some of our "student leaders" not showing up to events or even coming to PH anymore. Our youth director broached the subject with us in openly wondering if the church is even effective anymore with young people. Do they not care about church or God anymore? Or have their lives been crowded out by the business of life? AS my wife and I dedicate our lives to our children by homeschooling and raising them in light of God's Holy Scripture, I wonder how they themselves will turn out. Now the students I'm talking about come from families who are better off financially, active in sports, band, school, etc. So what does that say about parents in general or about us as a church. Are we indeed failing these kids? How can we minister to them effectively? I think the answer is somewhere in between. It isn't about the programs, church, or anything like that at all. It really is about the relationships as Josh McDowell often quotes, "Rules without relationships lead to rebellion." Ministry to youth without relationships leads to apathy. The students don't really need to know about God as much as they need to see God active in our lives. We must truly become the hands and feet of God.

So now that I'm rambling on about my thoughts of youth ministry, I wonder where God is taking our church this year. We have gone through so many things in a very short amount of time. One of our leaders had a public (church) confession of sin a few weeks ago and the entire church is feeling the ramifications of his private sin. He is still a part of our church, however during his restoration time, he has been removed from leadership. Our Youth Pastor is actually in the process of growing a campus using some youth from our church and other adults as a result of having a heart for a particular people in our community. They are from some of the poorest and broken families in our community. But that means we had to bring on a youth director to really cover his job. I see our church at a cross-roads with so many possibilities and wonder what God will do for us? But at the core of all this is a questioning of the church's dedication to God and following him. Are we truly following Him in all we do, or are we just being mediocre like some of our students? Are we being caught up in the business of life, family, sports, etc., or are we pursuing Him with everything we can?

I guess the only way we can really know where God is leading us or how to be better leaders is to really get down on our knees and cry out to Him. Prayer really is what we are called to do 24/7, but how many of us practice doing this? I'm certainly not going to say that I am, but I am seeing the need to be in constant prayer for my wife, my children, my church, my ministry, and our nation. If we continue to let the world dictate to us what is important, than sooner or later, we will fall into apathy, the worst kind of Christianity I know of. Lord, call us to a deeper sense of prayer. Teach us to follow after you with our whole heart and to pray for those around us. Amen.

More to come later.

Powerful video of Christ fighting for us!

I saw this video earlier today. What a powerful video of Christ fighting for us when we get distracted by the world. You may have to pause it in order for it to download, but it is well worth watching.

Why does this have to happen?

Recently, one of the guys in my d-group stopped by tonight because he needed to talk. My heart really goes out for him because his parents are splitting up. He is one of several children in the family. I don't know all the circumstances, but I'm sure God does. I think it is ironic that my parents went through some similiar tourmoil when I was this young man's age as well. It still doesn't make it any easier, but I at least know some of what he is going through. I must also admit that his visit made me feel pretty good in the fact that he wanted to come and talk with me. Obviously I can't give out names, but if you should read this, please keep this young man and his family in prayer. God knows who he is by name and will keep a watch over him. Thanks. John

Taking over Jr High PH...

Tonight was my first meeting with my staff for Jr. High. Wow, I'm so excited about the possibilities God has in store for us this upcoming year. I am so looking forward to working with some really great staff and students. Our theme this year is on prayer as the foundation to PowerHouse. When you combine prayer with people who have a real heart for God, nothing is impossible!

Life in the fast lane...

Well, not much else is new going on around here except that I started doing some online teaching. I can't believe that I will working with an online school to teach Latin II. I've been trying to do this for so long, and now I am finally able to do this, how awesome! I'm really looking forward to what the upcoming year will offer. As for my family, my dd has officially started her pre-k year of homeschooling. She is such a smart little girl. I sometimes forget that she really is just a little child and sometimes think more of her being 14-15 already. Ds is doing great as well and is on target for his speach. He was born with a cleft-lip/palette. It still amazes me what modern medicine can do for these kids. He is such a handsome little guy as well. :-) More later.

My first post...

Okay, so nothing really exciting at moment. But I wanted to try this out and see what I thought about blogging. I'm a father of two wonderful kids and I have a lovely wife. I work as a substitute teacher for a local school system and do a lot of things with my church. Yeah, you might say I'm a "Jesus Freak" of sorts...or at least I'm trying to be one. I also maintain our youth groups website and work with the junior high staff. Not much else to say for tonight, but maybe I'll start posting daily thoughts or whatever comes to mind. Thanks for checking in with me.