The Power of an Invite {Part.One}

As I've transitioned into my new role I have been thinking more and more about what I want to dub The Power of an Invite.  Our church just started Financial Peace University and its great to see how many people have been invited into this journey into financial freedom.  As my role grows, and we get Life Groups up and running healthily, I am excited to see how many people are invited into life changing relationships.  Thinking about life changing relationships reminded me of four things that I want to write about this week.

When I was about thirteen years-old I was invited to a friends house and that invite would change the way I lived.  I was at a pee-wee football game at the local middle school that I had ridden my bike to.  After the game I rode my bike, with some other guys, over a new friends house.  I can't exactly remember when I was invited over to this house; it may have been figured out before hand or taken place that day but that invite changed my life.

That early fall day was the first day I was introduced to smoking pot.  I went over to my friends house and ended up smoking pot with about four other guys.  I remember that day very clearly.  I remember sitting upstairs in my friends room on his little couch he had in there.  I remember what we used to smoke the weed.  I can even remember some of the things we talked about that day.  I am not sure what, in my memory, has held onto those thoughts but for some reason I have.

See that day I was invited to someone's house and then invited to smoke pot.  No one forced me to ride my bike over there.  I was not bullied into making the choice to smoke pot; all the choices that day were choices I made.  Now this will be the one post I write on this week that is directly related to a decision that  has had a negative influence on my life.  I want to start this way because it fits in a time line of what I will present and how my life has changed.  I want us all to be keenly aware of how important the invite is in our lives can be impacted for the positive or the negative!

18 Months Later

I can't believe that eighteen months ago we were blessed with this beautiful little girl (ok, honestly Leah was 9 pounds 1 ounce when she was born so she has never been "little")!  Leah Joy is our second daughter and it has been so cool to see her grow and mature over the last eighteen months in our home.  Leah has gotten the coolest personality and it has really been a blessing to see her grow up, see her interact with Sophie and see how much she loves her mom.

When Leah was born I gave her the nickname "Little Leah".  Not sure where it came from but it just seemed to fit.  There were a bunch of pictures that I could have put up here to show who this little girl is now but I chose this one.  Leah loves to eat blueberries on her waffle and this morning was no exception!  Leah wanted more waffle and is using her sign language saying: "please" to get more (you gotta love a girl who uses her manners).  Leah has her tough nights and doesn't always sleep through the night.  She has some great days and loves to swim, make us laugh, tickle and climb the stairs.  I hope that these next eighteen months of our family will be ten times more of a joy than the first eighteen months were!

First Chargers Game

Yep... I am 31 years old.  I lived in San Diego for almost five years and it took me driving just over 300 miles from Las Vegas to go to my first San Diego Chargers game!  This trip was actually super cool for me because I was able to take it with some young men who recently graduated from our high school ministry; Nevin Zwifel, Nick Markovich and Anthony Rossa.

We left Vegas around 8pm on Wednesday night and headed to Corona to stay at Nick's cousins house.  We left Corona early Thursday morning and headed to the beach.  It was great spending the day at the beach with these guys and my friend Jon Miano actually came and hung out with us (Jon was a student when I was an intern in San Diego almost nine years ago).

After the beach we headed to Wahoo's Fish Tacos and I got one of the best burritos I have ever eaten.  After filling up we took the trolley over to Qualcomm Stadium to see our first game!  Here is a cool pic that I will never forget.  It was great to spend the day with these guys at the beach and then head over to the game.  We got these nice and early to watch the team warm up and we made sure to boo for the 49'ers as they came out.

I have to admit that our seats were literally perfect!  The seating may have gotten a little better but for me this was perfect.  We were close enough to see the action but not too close that it was tough to see the field.  We weren't too far either; I never found myself watching the game on the big screen.  It was crazy for me how quick the game seemed to go.  It was like one minute it was sunny and the next it was dark.  The game seemed to fly by being there in the action.

I have to admit that I was a little bummer that Rivers, Gates, and Jackson didn't start but I can get over that.  I am so thankful to Nick for taking me to this game.  Now the coolest part is that I have been able to invest into the lives of these guys for over 12 years (Nevin 7 years, Nick 4 years and Anthony 1).  It was great to spend some time with them as they are starting college, getting for the Marines and becoming men.  I can't tell you how thankful I am that I got to attend this game but more importantly to spend time with these men.

HELP! I'm a HS Graduate

These last few weeks have been great but heartbreaking in ministry.  We have seen students pack their bags, have a party and then head off to college.  Its great fun to see them grow up and head off to college but its tough to wonder how they will handle the world.  I hope that we have trained up students to love God and like others.  I hope that we have helped them learn how to connect with God on their own.  I know that we have done our best that we can but there is still that thought that creeps in and wonders how they will do.

Here are five things that I have been thinking for students entering college, moving cities, having their routine changed or just really wanting to take their walk with Christ to the next level:

Get Connected in a Local Church
If you have moved to go to college you need to get connected in a local church.  Find somewhere that is fairly close to your school to attend.  I think this is the first priority in your new endeavor in life.  College is going to take up a good deal of your time and you need to get this piece in place ASAP.

Serve in a Ministry
Once you find a church that you love make a commitment to that church.  I have pushed many of you to serve here at South Hills so I want you to make that same commitment to the local church you are now attending.  If you are staying here in Vegas "re-up" your commitment to South Hills and your area of ministry.

Read Your Bible
I know this may sound like a resounding gong to read your Bible but you need to find a way to connect with God on a daily basis and this has been one of the best methods.  Just this morning I was reading the Psalms and found some verses that identify the character of God.  These verses help strengthen my faith!

Identify Yourself as A Christian
When you step onto a new campus there are going to be so many different things that you can get involved in.  You need to start this journey off right and identify yourself as a Christian on your new college campus.  This doesn't mean being weird or anything but it means standing up for what you believe in.

Join a Life Group
The place that I have seen the most change in my life is when I am doing life with others.  This could be called a: Small Group, Life Group, Growth Group or something else.  Find out who leads them and get involved with one.  Figure out a way to get connected with others in Christian Accountability.

This list not an "all-inclusive" list but a starting point to keep your walk with Christ strong!

Baptism: Summer 2011

Yesterday we baptized some very special students!

I have been a part of many baptism services since I started in ministry.  For those of us in ministry you know that every time we baptize someone it is very special to us.  Yesterday when we baptized these students it was extra special and I want to share four things that made it extra special:


1) This is a group of students we invested in
Most of the students we baptized yesterday we have invested in for over two years.  Some of these students gave their lives to Christ when they were freshman in our high school ministry.  We have seen these students grow through out high school and seen them make some great choices as they have followed Christ.

2) These students are committed to Christ
I do not want this statement to be misleading or degrading to anyone.  I also want to be honest.  I have fallen into baptizing students, and adults, that I wish I would have challenged to grow more in their faith before making this choice.  This group of students were committed.  Many of these students have passed up other baptism services because they were not sure if they were ready yet.  They made sure that they were ready to live this life out and follow the choice they have made.

3) We baptized them in our church
For the life our our church we have typically baptized people outside the walls of the church building and I love that!  Yesterday we did something different and I think it went so good!  We took this group of students and baptized them inside our church, during our 11am service.  We had our entire church focused on seeing this group make this commitment to God and I loved seeing that.

4) I had front row seats to life change
As a pastoral leader I get a cool seat.  Sometimes that seat is tough because I see the painful things from the front row and shield others from seeing that.  Yesterday morning I got the best seat in the house.  I was able to watch the water roll over these students faces and see their expression coming out of the water.  I was able to give them their first hug as they exited the water.  If you rewind four years I have also had the opportunity to see many of these students raise their hand and see their need for a savior.

I am so thankful that I have had a front row seat to the life change in all of your lives.  I love you guys.  You can see more pictures of the baptism by clicking here. 

Encouragement from Hume Lake 2011

This summer was a great year being at Hume Lake.  I think it was my best summer there that I have ever experienced.  Something that added to that joy this summer was two things I received while up at Hume.  This summer I had two parents send me two different things.  One parent sent me a big box of a candy with a cool note in there and the other parent sent a heart felt thank you card.

The first note of encouragement came from a family with this box of candy!  Now the candy was really cool and we figured out that a parent caught my joke (most jokes are half serious) that I shared in our parent meeting prior to camp to send me up some candy while I was gone.  I was not expecting to get what I received but I was so happy.  And when I got that box of candy I let our adult leaders have first pick (after I ate a few goodies).  This box was stacked full of candy!  There was so much candy that I was able to share it with the lead counselors at Hume and even hook up the guys in my cabin.

Now the card I got was very encouraging.  Its interesting how a simple card can encourage someone when they are loving on their child.

Here are some thoughts that any parent can do next time someone takes their child on a trip:

• Send an encouraging card thanking that person for investing in their child's life
• Send a box of candy
• Ask another person on the trip to give the person a card, or gift, while they are away (this option can save money or be useful if mail will not be available)
• Write a hand written note and slip it the person's backpack so they find it later in the week
• Give the person a Starbucks card as they head out of town (most weekends away with students are long and can become tiring)

Here is a copy of the letter that came with my box of candy.  Very creative!

My New Role: Pastor of Discipleship

Last night was a very difficult night for me.  Last night was the night that we shared with our students about some of the things that we have been working hard on, behind the scenes, to make South Hills a more effective church.  Part of this will include a role transition for me.  Starting September I will be transitioning out of student ministries and into a new role: Pastor of Discipleship.

About two months ago I had a conversation with the leadership of our church and during that conversation I was asked to transition into this new role to help us grow the church.  This new role is going to stretch me in some pretty big ways and as I have prayed through it I think it's going to stretch my faith also.

About a year ago it became evident to me that our High School Ministry was functioning like a one-legged pirate.  I shared this with leaders and students.  Now one-legged pirates are cool and people want to see them and take their picture with them but they are not balanced.  Our High School Ministry was not balanced in the Biblical Purposes and it was hurting our growth in students lives.  This same analogy works for our church.  Our church has a great week worship experience but we are lacking in discipling believers.

As I move into this new role, initially, my main responsibility will be to build on what we currently have going in our Life Groups area.  As we develop those, recruit more leaders and get more people in church involved them my role will expand.  Some areas we have talked about would include: Missions (local and global), Spiritual Formation, and Accountability.  I would really appreciate your prayers as we move into this new role and transition out of student ministries.  

Now let me share some things about this change:

• Chase Feindel, our Middle School Pastor, will provide leadership for all Student Ministries
• I am not in trouble
• This new role is going to stretch me
• Charity and I have prayed about this role and feel God leading us in this direction
• We love our church
• I have spoken with our Elders at our church and the affirmation I have received from them is: "Neal, we think you are the only person on our staff who can do this."
• My pastor, Kevin Wehr, have given me his vote of confidence to lead this area of ministry

Hume Lake 2011: Meditating on Scripture

This summer at Hume the staff did something different.  Honestly, at first, I was a little annoyed.  I love going to Hume because they have an amazing program and I can trust what they are doing so my team and I can hang out with students.  This summer as we went over the schedule the staff shared an addition to the schedule this year that would give each pastor 90 minutes to spend with just their church.  Some ideas that were thrown out were to play volleyball together, to go to the cove or just do something with your church.

At first I wasn't sure what to do so I needed to seek Jesus.  After taking the night to think/pray about it I came up with the fact that our students needed to learn some spiritual exercises.  I was pretty nervous because our ministry is very evangelistic focused and I felt that we needed to teach our students how to meditate on scripture using a practice that has been used throughout the church for centuries: Lectio Divina.

Wednesday afternoon we piled our students in the chapel and worked through this exercise:

1) Find a word in scripture (Lectio)
I started out reading Psalm 46:10 and asked students to find a word in that verse.  When you meditate on scripture it is helpful to use the Psalms but you can meditate on pretty much any scripture in the Bible.  I have used this practice while reading the Gospels, Epistles and Psalms.  You can take a few minutes on this part to read through scripture and while reading you find a word that grabs your attention and sticks out to you.

2) Listen to the word (Meditatio)
Now that you have a word in your mind comes the fun part (it can also be the most difficult part).  See we live in a culture that rejects down town and relaxation.  Meditating on scripture is not something that we tend to encourage in the church.  This can be difficult but very rewarding.  After you have found the word take some time to meditate on that word.  When your mind wonders just bring that word right back to the front of your mind and focus on that word and allow it to just speak to you.

3) Pray on that scripture (Oratio)
After you have meditated on that word for a couple minutes take some time to pray about that word.  Ask God what that word has to do in your life right now, how that word can grow you in your walk with Christ and what could happen in your life if you would trust God more.  This is a cool part that just causes you to pray specifically on that certain word.

4) Abide in God (Contemplatio)
Now this is where it really gets cool.  After you have found your word, you have taken some time to meditate on that word, you have prayed through that word for a few minutes now is when you get to do something that can be amazing: spend time with God.  You just chill with God in this portion of the spiritual exercise.  This is where you allow God to speak to you through your word and encourage you in what He would ask of you.

Now its your turn to spend time with God and allow Him to speak to your heart through His word!

Hume Lake Paintball

This week I wanna take some time to dedicate this blog to some of the amazing things that God did while we were at Hume Lake!

Every year we take some of our students to play paintball while at Hume Lake and this year was no different.  The only change was that twenty minutes prior to paintball we had students mediating on God's word and getting super connected to Jesus right before they shot each other!  So its the middle of the week and playing paintball on Wednesday afternoon this year was amazing!

My first year of Hume Lake (summer 2005) some of the students said that the only way they would play paintball would be in shorts and wife beaters (tank tops).  That has been the standard for our paintball attire ever since that summer.  Now you are probably thinking something like this: "That is stupid to play paintball in shorts and a tank top".  You are right.  Its not the smartest thing that we can do but it is so fun!

This year was even better because one of my friends Kurt Johnson is working up at Hume and he brought his Go Pro on the paintball field and made this video.  Make sure to watch it all the way through so you can see how my armpit it bleeding at the end!

Hume Lake 2011: Decision Night

Tonight was an amazing night at Hume Lake... amazing may not be the best word to describe what happened tonight so let me share the story with you.

I love that Hume Lake is all about students growing in their relationship with Christ.  Part of growing means starting a relationship with Christ and that is exactly what tonight was all about.  Chapel started around 7pm and the worship set was really good.

After worship I just felt the need to head outside so I can pray for some students.  I listened in the pastors message while I prayed for some of the students in our group.  That lead to praying for some of the leaders in our group who would be talking with these students later.  See when I was praying I was expecting God to work in these students lives.

After the message I headed back into Chapel and the pastor had already asked students who made a choice for Christ to stand up.  I looked over to my right and saw a handful of students who were standing up.  In that group was a young, 16 year-old, who is in my cabin.  I have been praying for him for the last couple weeks and I was so excited to see that he had stood up!

For the next thirty minutes I was able to talk with this young man, cry with him and just listen.  I am so proud of him and the choice that he made tonight.  It was great to listen to his story and just hear how he was reluctant to come to Hume.  It was great to hear him say how he was fighting with his mom for sending him up here this week and then to hear him say how thankful he is for his mom sending him.

Now that part is the best part of the story but it gets better.  When this young man left chapel there was a group of about forty students waiting for him when he left chapel.  When he opened the doors they cheered for him, hugged him and encouraged him.  They didn't do this for just this one young man but for the other six students who stayed back tonight to make a decision for Christ.

I love seeing High School students being the church!

No Pushing

I can't tell you how many times I heard that when I was growing up.  I was a rowdy kid when I was growing up and being the fact that I am a boy that can add to the ruckus.  Little boys like to push other kids. We get upset and we don't know how to control our emotions so we do the only natural thing: we push.  Then when we push an adult typically approaches us and reprimands us for our actions.  We get upset because we are emotional and now we have been caught acting naughty and that can embarrass us.

With all that said we are raised in a society that tells us that pushing is bad.  I want to say that we need to push people more often.  I think we live in a culture that has a tendency to become spiritually lazy.  When we become spiritually lazy we fail to take the time that we need to so we can grow in our relationship with God.

One thing that I have been committed to in life is to push people to grow spiritually.  I want to see adults and students grow into their full potential.  Two weeks ago I pushed one of our students leaders out of her comfort zone.  We were hosting our mid-week service together and I was the one who was supposed to pray for our Compassion offering.  When it came time to pray I passed it off to Chandler to let her pray.  My throat was kind of hurting but more than that I knew that Chandler was ready to be pushed for more.

I knew that I would get one of two responses from Chandler.  See one thing I try to assess when I'm going to push someone is how will they handle this push?  Will this push be something that helps them to grow in their walk with Christ or will this push be something that upsets them?  To be honest I get it wrong every now and then and I hurt people's feelings but that night I was right.  I knew it was a good call to ask Chandler to pray on stage because I knew off stage she would say no.  I know it can be a risky call and I was totally putting her on the spot but I just knew in my heart that it was the right call.  After that night I sent Chandler a text thanking her for praying and this is the text I got back from Chandler.

I have two questions to ask in life:

1. Are you pushing people in your circle of influence to grow in their walk with Christ?
2. Have you placed people in your life that will push you to grow to be a better Christian?

Swimming and My Spiritual Growth

This may be a new thing to you but I took a swimming class in junior college.  I could already swim but I needed two P. E. credits and swimming fit my schedule.  I got in the pool that first day and almost died.  I'm not sure I even owned a pair of swim goggles.  Over time I listened to the teacher.  I improved on my stroke.  I learned a few more strokes and at the end of the semester I swam a mile.  Yep, the final exam was to swim a mile and I'm pretty sure I ended up doing it in just under forty-five minutes.

Well as I have grown older and I used to swim quite frequently for my cardio workout but that had diminished over the years.  Just recently (like last week) Charity had bought some goggles at Costco so I figured I would take a swim at the gym.  I did my normal workout and then headed to the pool.  When I got done with my first two laps I realized that I am out of shape.  After swimming six laps I was standing in the water, straining to get my breath and it hit me: "This is what is like when we fail to grow spiritually."

Many of us have had great times in our live that we have grown spiritually and we have seen growth in our lives.  God has found favor in our lives and has used us to do some amazing things for His glory.  Then, for whatever reason it may be, we stop growing spiritually.  We get married, have children, or just decide that is not something we are going to focus on in our lives anymore.

Something happens in our lives and we want to be back at that place we were in live.  We realize how desperate we are for the relationship with The Lord that we once had and we jump back in and try to pick up where we left off.  The sad thing is we are out of shape; spiritually.  We are spiritually out of shape and cannot maintain what we once we able to do... and that becomes hard for many of us.

This is a reminder for me that I have been out of shape for swimming and that will take time to get back to where I was but I was also convicted that I have gotten spiritually out of shape and need to spend more time listening to the voice of God in my life.

Remember what it says: 

“Today when you hear his voice, 

don’t harden your hearts 

as Israel did when they rebelled.” Hebrews 3:15 (NLT)

The Benson's are Moving

The rumor is out so I figured its time to let you all know that we are moving!
We are actually moving out of Las Vegas... and heading over to Henderson!

Now that I got your attention, and maybe scared you a little bit, I can let you know the facts about the move.  Charity and I have been praying for about two years that we could move into a bigger place than we currently live.  I tend to fall into the American trap and say things like: "Our condo is so small." or "I need more room."

When I actually take the time to step back, and slow down, I realize that I have a beautiful little condo.  I realize that I don't need more room but that I would like more room.  I would love it for the girls to have their own bedrooms but in reality they like to sleep in the same room.  I want an office to do my seminary work at while at home (its tough on the kitchen table).  I would love to have a garage to store our seasonal items but we just don't have that where we currently live.

So through all our prayers, and my whining, God has answered our prayer to bless us with a bigger place to move in to.  We are pretty stoked to have a guest room (slash office) for our friends to be able to stay in when they come to town.  I'm excited for the girls to have the loft to use as a play room.  I am really excited to have a little backyard where we can BBQ and play with the girls outside.  I am more excited to have a place where we can have people over and it wont interfere with the girls taking naps or sleeping.  We can hang out with people at night, do ministry, and our girls will hopefully not be bothered.

These are just a few things that make me excited about our new place.  Now we aren't buying the place.  We are actually short selling our condo (and I would like to blog on that in the future) so this has been a long prayed out process in our lives.  Will you please join us in prayer as our move gets closer?  Please pray that our new home will be a place of ministry and life change for all that enter and that God will guide our thoughts and action in that home to honor Him!

Princess Bed

Last weekend I set up my first toddler bed...

It was a big day for Sophie and for Charity and I.  I listed Sophie's crib on craigslist and didn't expect it to sell for a couple weeks.  Its a pretty nice crib and I wasn't about to just take a low ball offer.  Within 45 minutes of listing it we had a call and the lady wanted to come over and get it.  Needless to say I was thrown off and once it sold we had to go get Sophie a bed to sleep in. 

We had been prepping Sophie for this so she had already chosen the bed that she wanted.  We zipped over to Toys R Us and were able to get the exact bed that she wanted.  So after an hour and a half of me putting the bed together Sophie was ready to get some sleep and see what I was doing.  There were a few times that she peeked her head in and confessed that she was peeking and so excited!

Here is her reaction to her new bed.  The first picture is my favorite because she just stood there for about 10 seconds staring at her bed!

She loved snuggling in her bed for the first time

Of course she had to show me how she could jump out of it!

I just can' believe that our little girl is growing up so much that she is in a toddler bed.  I am so stoked to see how much Sophie loves her new bed... the crazy part is seeing how much Leah loves it too!  I have a feeling that I will be setting up another princess bed in the near future.

Sophie's First Flowers

I want my daughter to know that she is a princess in my eyes!

I like to grab Charity flowers every now and then so that she has something to look at on the table.  Its also nice for your wife to know that she is loved.  Well the last couple times that I've brought Charity flowers home Sophie has asked me: "Are those for me daddy?"

Every time I had to rely with a "no" these are for mommy.  So the other day I decided that I would be the first man to bring my little girl flowers.  I walked in the house and Sophie asked her typical question.  I finally was able to tell her that "Yes, these flowers are for you!"  Sophie was so happy to get flowers.  She got on the table every morning to smell them.  She watched them as they opened and then finally she let me take a quick pic of her with her flowers.

A lesson that I learned from this is that my little girl wants to be treated like a princess.  There is something that is ingrained in Sophie that she wants my approval. Sophie wants me to love her and that is exactly what I plan on doing in life.  I want Sophie, and Leah, to know that I love them both so dearly.  I want them to know that I care for them.  I want them to know they are my little princesses.  I want to give them my approval in life for the choices they make.  I want them to trust me in my actions and know that daddy loves them.  I am thankful to have such a precious little daughter how loves me so much.

I never knew how happy it would make her to get flowers!

I Never Expected This: Part Four

This blog series was supposed to be finished last week but I got a surprise that has extended it a week.

Seminary has been a roller coaster for me...
I love learning but there is a word in my life that can change everything: "FUN".  Anytime there is something presented to me as being fun I tend to leave what I need to focus on and seek out the fun in my life.  Now seminary hasn't always been fun.  There have been courses that have rocked my heart, shown me how selfish I am and literally made me want to quit being a pastor.  There are also courses that I have had prof's that love Jesus, are living out the call on their life and want to invest into the younger generation of leaders.  This post is dedicated to two men who have helped me in these last two years of ministry.

Dr. Bill Randall
I met Dr. Bill Randall a few years prior to taking "Spiritual Formations" with him in the summer of 2009.  It was a crazy summer for me!  My lead pastor had just resigned a month prior to me taking the course and knowing about Bill I decided to switch classes to be with him.  I knew that I needed some serious spiritual help on my heart to handle the next season of ministry that I was facing.  Bill, and his wife Jill, took some time with Charity and I while we were in Redding that week and were amazing to us!  Jill hung out with Charity while I was writing papers and going to class.  For the last two years Bill has spoken into my life, prayed for me, and hung out with me as a spiritual leader.

Dr. Rod Casey
I met Rod last summer while taking a preaching class from him.  One of the first things Rod said to me was "I'm sorry to hear about your speeding ticket."  I was freaked out!  Rod had taken the time to search my name and found out that I had got a speeding ticket on my way up to school that week.  During the week I just fell in love with Rod's teaching style, what he was saying and how he was saying it.  Rod challenged me in my speaking and in my church leadership.  I asked Rod to go to lunch with me so we could talk ministry one on one and ever since then he has been a key voice in my leadership growth.

See the funny thing about seminary is that I never expected that the men who were leading the courses would take this much interest in my life and care for me the way these guys do!

I Never Expected This: Part Three

This week I have been sharing some thoughts about thing that I never expected from seminary.  Today I'm going to add one to my list because of something that happened this week.

This week I received and email that the dean of my seminary has resigned (at least that is how I read it).  Now I am not completely sure of everything that went down and for me to say anything more than that line would be speculation on my behalf.

But here is what I do know; Tozer is my third seminary that I have attended.  I started out my degree is San Diego attending Azusa Pacific University and I LOVED it!  I was in one very cool course and then I accepted a call to Las Vegas to be a Middle School Pastor at a growing church called South Hills.  I took a break from seminary to focus on building the ministry and then found a local seminary that I could attend.  Fuller Seminary really isn't a local seminary but they had a program that I could start attending locally to work on my education.

Well about half way through my degree it became evident to me that I was not going to be able to finish my degree here in town because of how Fuller is set up (I wish I could have).  I started talking with guys and ran into a man named Rob Redmann who told me about Tozer Seminary up in Redding, CA.  I loved the idea and finally had the guts to transfer (again).  After I transferred I found out that Rob was leaving the seminary.  There was an intern dean by the name of Leron Heath and he is a STUD in ministry.  The guys loves Jesus, has a pastoral heart and is an amazing man (he also helped me with ordination).

Well Leron was the intern dean while Tozer found the right person for the job.  About eighteen months ago they brought in Dr. Sarah Sumner to lead the seminary and I thought she was doing pretty good (I can be judgmental at times).   About a month ago I had a conversation with Sarah that fired me up on higher education and the direction of Tozer.  The email I got on Wednesday was saddening to my heart but I trust that God has a plan for Tozer and He is still the leader of the seminary.

On a personal side I just never expected that I would transfer so much, have so many deans and attend so many schools to complete my degree.

I Never Expected This: Part Two

This week I'm taking some time to blog about what I never expected to learn while in seminary.

I knew that going to seminary I would begin to get a better understanding of scripture but I never imagined that I would get this good of an understanding.  Now please hear me that I am not saying I totally understand everything in the Bible; that is not what I am saying.  I am saying that I am beginning to see how scripture fits together better.

For example I am currently taking a course on Old Testament Kings and Prophets.  I am loving this course because for so long I had NO clue how the Kings and Prophets fit together.  I am finally getting an understanding of what is happening in the Old Testament history.  Now to give you a glimpse into my past I was the guy who dropped out of high school my junior year.  This is a huge step for me when I am seeing the unity in scripture and how the word of God is complete.

I never expected that I would learn so much in seminary and just not learn it but enjoy it this much!

I Never Expected This: Part One

This week I'm going to take some time to share some thoughts that have been stirring in my mind from seminary.  Now I know that over a month ago I was ready to quit seminary but this month has been very good for me in my studies and thinking about what I am gaining from seminary that I never thought would happen!

This last Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at my favorite church in the country; South Hills Church in Henderson, NV.  I have been on staff at SHCC for over six years now but this was a cool Sunday.  I was able to kick off a three-week series on the book of Jonah.  Now something that was a huge blessing to me was having my best friend there, Mark Salazar, to see me preach.

Mark has been key in my growth in my walk with Christ.  Mark is like a "Barnabas" to me.  He has been there through so much and we have both grown in ministry greatly over the last almost eleven years I have known him.  I think that Mark is the kind of Christian man that every pastor needs in their life.

After church Mark brought his family over to my house for dinner and some hang time with the family.  While he and I were sitting at the table he was very encouraging about how my speaking style has grown (Mark has known me for a long time).  He was stoked to see how well I handled the text, how I enunciated my words and how I made sure to engage the crowd.  I was so encouraged to hear that from Mark and get that affirmation from him.

I thought about it and I never thought that seminary would help me in my preaching at much as it has.  I really give a bunch of that credit to Dr. Rod Casey and the course he taught last summer.  I think that course has helped m with my communication style in a huge way.  Rod helped me to get my thoughts together, to keep the message to one main point and to not be scared to leave great wisdom on my desk that just didn't fit into the message.  I guess I just never expected that seminary would help me grow in my preaching as much as it has.

Here is the message if you want to judge for yourself

Little Hands: Part Three

Yep another picture of me with my shirt off

So if you have been watching the progress of my tattoo I went down to the shop a week ago and sat down for another session with Johnny Five.  Johnny filled in the frames with some cool blues behind the hands to make them pop out.  Then we added some purple to the frame in the corners.  Johnny did the jewels in the frame with the girls birthstone colors and the coolest part was to put a drop shadow around the entire frame to make it stand out more.
I am loving this tattoo more and more every day!  One more session (after summer) to get the girls names down on the bottom.

Student Lead Worship

Student lead worship is something I am very passionate.  It could be a mixture of my training, my heart to empower students or just what I saw early in ministry but for the last six years I have had a heart to empower students to lead their peers in worship.

Now I know that some people will disagree with me on this point.  I also know that when we empower students to lead we can loose what some would call "quality".  Over the last eight years of student ministry I have come to the conclusion that I will always sacrifice quality to empower students to lead worship.  Let me share with you what has caused me to get the place where I am willing to empower students to sacrifice the quality of worship:

1) My Training
Early in ministry, when I was interning, I saw students lead worship well.  Was it the best worship experience that I have ever been involved in?  No not at all but it was worship.  I look at those students who were in the worship team over eight years ago and one of the guys went into full-time ministry and another went to college and still volunteers his time at the local church in the worship team.  I saw that when you empower students to lead it helps them use the gifts and talents that God has given them.

2) My Passion
I am very passionate about worship.  I love to worship God but if you sat in front of me at church you would be very thankful that I was not on stage.  I have actually had people, in front of me in church, ask me to sing softer.  I love to worship Jesus but you do not want me to lead.  This is a passion of mine to help students use their gifts to lead worship so that others will honor God.

3) Quality versus Involvement 

I know I've said this a few times but when students lead we are empowering students to use their gifts.  Paul told this to the church as Ephesus (Ephesians 4:11-12).  He talks about being the in ministry that our job as the pastoral leader is to train others up to do the work of the ministry.  When we empower students to lead it is empowering them to be involved in the local church.

I would love to hear your thoughts on students lead worship!

Renewed Passion

It is interesting how someone can change your perspective on things.  Just over two weeks ago I was ready to quick seminary.  Last week I spent a week in Redding working on seminary and it is amazing how being around the people in my seminary, the prof that I had and chatting with the dean for a few minutes can change my mind (I'm pretty sure the drive to school helped also because it allowed me time to just listen to God and chat with Him).

Here are some keys things that I think helped change my mind and turn me back around:

Great Professor
I am very thankful for the teaching at Tozer Seminary and this last week added to that thankfulness.  I had a prof who had a cool combination of training and that encouraged me.  Dr. George Haraksin II is a Lead Pastor at a church in So Cal.  He has training in Philosophy and is currently working on his Ph.D down in So Cal.  In class I learned a great deal from George by the way he communicated to our class.  He was extremely curious to the class and was constantly saying things like: "I want to press you on that, I am not trying to embarrass you but I want to see how you got there."  I learned just as much from George about how to communicate as I did from what he was teaching.

Give it Time
The old saying of just sleep on it held true for me in this case.  I already slept on it before I almost threw in the towel but I slept on it for a few weeks.  I knew that I was overloaded in life and was trying to balance too much.  Taking two courses in one semester is just too much for me.  I tried to push it but Charity and I talked about it and she is right.  When we didn't have children I could manage it but now that we have our little girls it is just too much.  If you are burned out on something give it some time before you throw in the towel.

Vision of the Seminary
While I was in Redding I grabbed Dr. Sarah Sumner and had a quick chat with her.  I thanked her for all she is doing within the seminary and how she is really training up the next generation of church leaders.  It was very encouraging to spend those few minutes with her and hear her heart and what she is doing.  I am thankful for a dean that loves Jesus, cares about the students and is bringing in quality professors to teach us.  If you are looking for a seminary I suggest checking out Tozer (I don't get royalties for saying that)

More than a Job

This week during class my prof shared something that has stuck out in my mind for the last couple days and I can't seem to shake it.  Let me build up to get there.

When children are young they have a desire to become something.  We live in a society that encourages children to go to college.  When I was young I heard it loud and clear in my home that college was a great option for my life.  I think that both of my parents encouraged me to attend college so I could receive an education.  When I graduated from high school I went to college but I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life (that would be a legal source of income).

I start that story out with society and then make it more personal.  See while I was in class this week my prof said something that I will hold as truth:

People no longer go to college to receive an education but to get a job

You said what!
You are kidding me!
You want to think that students are no longer going to college to get an education but to get a job?

Think about that for a minute.  Now think about it for another minute if it still doesn't register with you.  I have thought about it for four days and I think its true.

I talk to students about going to college and I always ask them what they want to do after college.  I want to change my question to something like this:

What do you hope to learn in college?   

How will that change the way you think?

How cool would it be if we started encouraging students to learn?  Now I can't do this on my own.  I need help from adult leaders in our ministry.  I need to be able to communicate with parents on how we can encourage education over vocation.

A road block to this is going to be google. I can't believe I just said that because I love google but the truth is because of google I do not have to retain knowledge in my mind because I know where knowledge can be found.  I would love to see the community I live in encourage students to do more than just hope to get a job in life but to get an education that teaches them to think.

Leah Joy is 15 months

I can't believe that on March 11th 2010 our little Leah was born.  Here are a few pics to celebrate my 15 month old little girl who is growing up!  I constantly tell Sophie that she is growing up right in front of my eyes and the other day she said to me: "Daddy, Leah is growing up right in front of our eyes".  It broke my heart because its true.

Here is another picture that I asked Charity to send me today.  Basically Leah doing her favorite thing to do: eat!  Now the lament of a dad who has been so busy in school that for the last 15 months he has basically watched his little girl grow up on his camera.  Things will change Leah.  We will go on more dates.  We will laugh more.  We will take more time with each other as I chase you around the pool and we will cuddle more.  I love you my little Leah!

Developing a Christian Mind: Day One

This week I am taking a one-week intensive course at Tozer Seminary in Redding CA.  The course is titled "Developing a Christian Mind" and the prof is Dr. George Haraksin.

Initially I was curious about the title of the course and how this would play into my role in seminary and leadership in the local church.  The books that we read prior to the week long intensive were extremely good at helping me understand what we were going to be diving into this week.

Once I got into class I was stoked to see that a handful of my friends were in the class and as we got into the subject matter I began to see how much I was going to be thinking in this course and how much it would challenge my thinking.

Here are things from day one that really stuck out to me and have me thinking

As we think about thinking like a Christian the problem becomes how do Christians interact with the culture at hand.  Here are three ways we looked at to encounter the culture from a guy named Machen who lived about a hundred years ago;

Option #1- Culture is Captain; Christianity becomes subordinate to culture
If you allow this to happen you begin to think that religion and Christianity are just a product that help us live life while culture drives everything else.

Option #2- Throw Culture Overboard; Christianity seeks to destroy culture.
You can’t get rid of culture because everything we do defines culture.

Option #3- Consecrate the Ship; Christianity seeks to consecrate culture.
If Christianity is going to find success in consecrating culture then we must make sure that the soil is prepared to accept that. 

I'll leave you with that to think about.  Think about some obstacles that could arise from these points or what would happen if the reverse happened?  Hopefully this makes some sense because I am still learning.

Vegas to Truckee

This was my third summer driving up to Redding for summer school.  The first summer it was Charity, Sophie and I.  Once we had Leah we decided that it was too much for all four of us to make the drive and stay in the dorms.  The last two years the drive has been good and bad for me to do.  Last summer I got a speeding ticket on the way up and made the trek to Redding in one day; twelve hours is too much to drive! This year I decided to break up the drive into two parts.

Friday I headed out of Vegas and went north to visit my friend Peanut in Truckee.  If you have never made the trek from Vegas to Reno here is basically what most of the landscape looks like.  Those are dead bugs on the windshield and a little hill in the distance.  Its a two lane road that is perfect to drive when you want to talk to God.  That is why I made the drive.  It gives me time to just be still, shut off my phone and talk to God.  This time I did a bunch of talking and followed that with a good deal of listening.

I contemplated putting this picture in.  One reason to leave it out is that I am a pastor.  Another to put it in is that I am a pastor.  See the saddening thing, that you may not know, is that there are still brothels in Southern Nevada.  You can see that I am driving while I took the picture but if you enlarge it you will see the name of the establishment (if you can call it that).  It breaks my heart to see this.  I want to pray for the ladies who work here to leave the business and find hope in Christ.

Someone I want to ask as I wrap this up:
Are you taking intentional time to connect with God?  This drive made some time for me to connect with God but I know its not the best time for me.  I want to be more focused when I am connecting with God and be able to write things down.

Without the Church

Yesterday was a stark reminder of why I love the church so much!  Yesterday I started the yearly trek to Redding for seminary.  As I was starting the ascent from Reno to Truckee I got the call that no husband wants to get.  Charity called me crying and I could barely understand what she was saying.  I finally understood that she was in a car accident.  I was over eight and a half hours away from my home and I had no clue what to do.  I felt helpless.

Right after I got off the phone I found out one of my friends was already on the scene (Stephen and his wife).  He was leaving Costco at the same time as Charity and the girls.  He stayed with Charity while I was trying to make some calls.  I'm not sure how long it took but I would say in less than five minutes there were two more friends down on the scene.  One was Charity's accountability partner, Kristen, and the other was our executive pastor Brandon Gallup.

I don't know what people do without the church in their life.  

• Who do you call when your wife gets in an accident?
• Who will help you?
• Who will call your wife (multiple times) to make sure she is ok?
• Who will give your kids a bath?
• Who will take your groceries home for you so they don't melt (think Vegas heat)?
• Who takes your car to their house till the insurance comes?
• Who is praying for your family?
• Who checks up on your family?

Last night reminded me how thankful I am for my church and how I just don't know how people live without the church!  Now I understand that I am a pastor and that could play into the love but I am so thankful for the church.  I am thankful for friends that came over and helped out.  I am thankful that students are praying for my family while I am gone.  I am sure I am missing someone like the Mansfield's who totally helped out last night!

Right now I just can't stop thinking about how I have no clue what I would do without the church.

Hungry for God

The line I use the most in our high school ministry sounds something like this:

"I wish that when I was your age someone would have invited me to something like this.  I'm not saying I would have come but I wish I would have just been invited."

Just over a month ago there was a tragic event that happened in our community and I was invited to the local high school to help on the grief counseling team.  While I was there I met a freshman girl who was pretty shaken up.  I saw her first period and then during second period I had a chance to chat with her and she was just in tears.  I found out that she had been to our high school ministry a few times but never really got connected.  She knew a bunch of the students that come on a regular basis and have been invited.

(this is why I do student ministry)

Through that tragedy a guy in my small group was able to invite her to Explode again and she came.  She started coming and then one day I got a text message that said this (see picture).  I was so ecstatic for this young lady!  She is such a sweet girl and it was so cool to see her reach out and say that.  Later that week she went out to lunch with Kristen McComb, our freshman girls small group leader, and Kristen was able to lead her to Jesus.  Now Jordyn has more than one student that cares for her.  She has a pastor in her life; and by that I mean Kristen.  Kristen took the time to reach out to her, pick her up, take her to lunch and answer some of her questions.

I'm so excited to serve in a ministry with leaders that Love God and like students so much (most of them love the students).  I feel honored to serve alongside a leader like Kristen who would take the time to help Jordyn find Christ and not just leave her after that. I know that Kristen is a Godly woman who loves the Lord.  She will pray for Jordyn, encourage her, call her out and help keep her feet pointed towards Jesus.  Thanks for letting serve with you Kristen! And Jordyn I am so excited about the life choice you made.

Little Hands: Part Two

The dream is coming together.  I know that sounds funny to say about a tattoo but its true for me!  I went back down to the shop this weekend and Jonny Five filled in a bunch of the framing around the girls hands.  Not sure if the picture does it justice but it looks super sweet!  If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can begin to see the detail in the color.  It really looks gold the way Jonny colored it in with a bright orange and bright yellow.

Its been fun to see this tattoo turn into what it was.  My original idea was to just do the girls hand prints on my side and maybe throw their names under their handprint.  As I look at it now it has become a real piece of artwork!  I am super thankful for the ideas that Jonny has for this piece and how they are turning out. Hopefully one more session and it will be completed!

Encouragement in Discouragement

The last few blog post's I have written have been about seminary... and to be honest they have been me sharing my discouragement in seminary.  I know I said that I quit last week and in my heart I did; I am just very thankful that I didn't tell anyone I quit.  I have learned from that and the need for balance in my life.  I am thankful that this summer is my last semester of taking two courses at the same time.

This weekend I needed some encouragement as I was knee deep in my Old Testament paper.  This OT course I am taking is pretty cool and very informative.  Well I decided to take a little break from class and check up on my grade from the spring:

Its always good to find a fat A for a course that you have put hard work and effort into.

I quit seminary this weekend

This was a tough weekend for me.

I am currently enrolled in two courses in seminary and it just was proving to be too much to handle in my life.  I found myself stressing on school work.  I was being short with my wife.  I wasn't spending time with my kids and this was just the beginning of it!

• Thursday night I was up till about 11:30pm reading a book that I thought didn't have to be read for another week.  
• The next morning I was so tired I didn't spend anytime with Jesus (it shows in my attitude when that happens).  
• All that day on Friday I was short with my wife and kids.
• I was tired and exhausted from the long hours I had put into school that week.  
• I knew that night I wasn't going to be able to spend anytime with Charity because I had to finish the book and start writing a 10 page paper.  
• I was not excited.

I began to process how long I had been working on seminary and doing a cost to benefit ratio.
The cost is high!  Seminary takes a good deal of my time that I could spend with my wife, my kids and my friends.  The benefit will be high when the degree is complete but the immediate tells me that it is not finished.  I started thinking about have I been working on this degree since September 2004. Ya I took an eighteen month break to come serve at South Hills so I have been working on it straight since March 2006.  I have put countless hours into learning: Greek, Hebrew, New Testament, Theology, Practical Ministry Courses and thinking through Church Leadership.  That is when I realized that I am done and I did it.

Friday night I was living in the immediate and that is when I quit seminary.

I woke up Saturday morning and I was comfortable with my decision to quit seminary.  I know that I only have four courses left (two after I complete the ones for summer) but I decided it was time to quit.  I didn't tell anyone about the choice to quit.  I didn't do any homework all day on Saturday or Sunday.

Monday came around and I was feeling much better.  I spent some time reading in the morning, took a break to be with the family and finished my paper Monday night.  I was thankful that I didn't tell anyone I had quit seminary.  As much as I am frustrated with seminary I know that I only have four courses left and I would kick myself if I really quit.  So I am still on track to finish in Spring 2012 and I will have my Masters Degree!

Finding Value in my Grade

I'm not sure if you struggle with the same insecurities that I struggle with but you may struggle with this one.  See I struggle with finding value in my grade.  I didn't realize this until recently but it became extremely evident to me that when I get a bad grade in seminary, or school in general, I get frustrated.  This last summer I took a course called "God in Science and Scripture".  In that course I was asked to write a final paper.  Through a random series of events I found out that I got a "C" for the final grade of my course.  Now I could vent about the circumstances that lead to that grade but its in black ink already so its pointless.

After receiving the "C" letter grade I found out that I was super bummed on the grade.  I felt like I had put so much effort into the course but obviously didn't learn the requirements for passing the course with a better grade (random side note: a "C" is passing).  Last summer I learned that for so long in my life I have found my value in a grade.  I find my value in acceptance from others and that is a tough place to wrestle with.

Since getting that grade I have done my best to find my value in Christ.  I most of the verses; I have heard the sermons... shoot I have preached the sermons but God brought me to a place in life where I had to find my value in him and not in a prof that I will most likely not see again until heaven.

I want to leave you with two questions to ask yourself:

• What is there in your life, today, that is holding you back from finding your value in Christ?  
• What is getting in your way from really becoming the person that God is asking you to be?

Its Seminary; not Cemetery

Almost a month ago I made a pretty big slip.  We had taken a week long vacation to the East Coast to see our family.  We were driving down from Hershey, PA to North Beach, MD.  We were on highway 2 just south of Annapolis and as we were passing this Cemetery I pointed it out to Charity and said: "Look at that seminary!"

See so many times I have heard people relate "seminary" to a "cemetery".  Hearing that so many times, and the point of life I am at with seminary, I am starting to think the joke is not a joke.  I do not personally know anyone that has attended seminary and left the church but I have heard the stories.  I have heard the stories of people who were passionate about their faith and left seminary less than excited about the Gospel.

Being the competitive person that I am I love to try to break stats and not fall into the junk that I hear others fall into.  The sad thing about the point I am at in seminary right now is that I am starting to believe that seminary is more like a cemetery than a training ground that fans the fire of your passion for the Gospel.  This could be my personal journey with seminary (been working on it for over 5 years), the stage of life we are (two little kids who miss their daddy because he has to do homework), or the fact that I am just sick of sitting at my kitchen table late at night while my wife spends time alone.

Please don't hear me wrong

• I do not hate my seminary
• I am not against further education
• I don't think that we should just wing it life
• I do think that the Bible encourages us to grow in wisdom

The stage I am at in life has just brought this on.  I have heard seminary called cemetery so many times and the sad fact is that is what my mind equates it to now...

I need to figure out how to change that

Little Hands: Part One

When Sophie turned two years old I got her handprint because I wanted to get a tattoo of it.  I had been talking to my tattoo artist about getting both the girls handprints at their two year old birthday.  The plan was to get their handprints on my left side because I have a piece for Charity on my right side.

I wish I could remember when we started this piece but I can't.  I think we may have started it back in December but I am not sure (it may have been October).  Here is a picture after the third session.  First session was to do Sophie's handprint and the frame that surrounds it.  Once we did Sophie's handprint it became evident to me that I was not going to be able to wait until Leah turned two and needed to get her handprint quickly!  Session two of the tattoo was placing Leah's handprint above Sophie's in a frame that matched what we did for Sophie.  The picture defiantly shows the work we have done and how amazing this piece is looking!

For the third session we filled the girls hands in and began to color in the frame.  The color is hard to see but when it's finished the frame will be gold and have the girls birthstones near their hands.  I am super stoked on how this is turning out; honestly its about a hundred times better than I could have ever imagined it would look.

My girls will always have a place in my heart and their handprints will always be marked on my side.  They are my girls and it is my role to love them, protect them, love them some more, point them to God and father them well.

Senior Grad Night

Its almost June and that means that our seniors will be graduating from high school very shortly.  Last night we had our annual senior grad night.  The night is really a time to honor the students who are graduating, allow our adult leaders to share some funny stories and invite their parents to watch.  This event has morphed for us over the last six years, since I have been here, and I think last nights was the best we have had!

We originally started doing this event on a Friday night and inviting just the families of the graduates and their parents.  The night was good but I feel like we were missing something; the rest of our high school ministry.  After that we changed to doing the event on a Wednesday night at Explode.  This allowed our students to see how important graduation was and gave parents a snap shot of what their student experiences at our high school ministry.

We have bounced back and forth on feeding families and this year we choose to make the event a desert event and went with the theme "Dress for Success".  Here are some highlights of the night for me:

• Having Kurt Johnson (graduate from 2008) come and host the event
• The room set up that our student leadership (SL) team did
• Watching our leaders share about the investment they have made in the graduating class
• The video that we showed from some of our past graduates (scroll down to watch)

Grad night has always been a tough night for me and last night was no different.  The most difficult thing about high school ministry, for me, has been investing into students for four years and then watching them leave the nest.  Last night I looked at young men and women who have given their life to Christ in our high school ministry, been baptized at our church and serve here.  It was tough.  There are students I have known since I moved to Vegas and its been a huge blessing to watch them grow in their faith and reach out to their friends on their campus.

The line I left our graduates with last night is the same line I have used before:

"Just because you graduate from Explode does not mean you are graduating from my life"

I love you class of 2011 and I am so proud of you!


Explode Alumni Video from Neal Benson on Vimeo.

My first date with Leah

Yesterday was a special day for me.
Let me say that again; Yesterday was a very special in my life!

Yesterday Charity dropped Leah off at church and we (Leah and I) went on our first date!  I tried to ask Leah where she wanted to go but didn't get much of a response so I decided to chose the place (this is why she looks confused in the pic).  We went to the District and grabbed some stuff from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  The date was so cool for me to get some alone time with Leah and just get to know her more.  I was able to hold her hand, hold her, laugh with her, smile with her and just spend some time for the two of us.

We got to the table, outside, and I envisioned what this date would look like in twelve years.  I envisioned what she would want to talk about.  I envisioned what she would be in to.  I envisioned what she would order and how her hair would look.  I got scared after that so I just came back to today and enjoyed the time that I was getting with my fourteen month old!

I'm not going to give all the details of the date but I do want to share some things that I learned about my youngest daughter:

• If Leah chooses milk to drink I will end up drinking it and she will drink my decaf coffee
• Leah loves treats!  (We ordered a 7 layer bar)
• Leah loves frozen yogurt; I made the mistake of walking by the frozen yogurt shop and Leah was very clear that she would have rather eaten there
• Leah loves to hold my hand
• Leah likes to dance on the grates on the ground

Yesterday was the first date, of many, that I plan of taking Leah on.  I left our date with a greater sense of responsibility as a dad and the role that I play in her life.  

Potty Training

We are currently in the middle of potty training Sophie.  To be honest it has been a long process.  We have gone through times where she wants to go in the toilet all day long and we have experienced times where she just isn't that excited about going in the toilet.  This last week though we have made some great progress.  When Sophie and I went for our weekly date she went twice at Krispy Kreme!  She actually made it the whole day without wet undies.  Then today, while at church, we got a text that Sophie had peed in her outfit....

I was bummed

See this post isn't really about potty training my daughter.  While I was thinking about the text, in church, it made me think about how my life is kinda like potty training.  I envision God as the nice dad who is patiently teaching me how to live life without "going" on myself.  I envision my life kinda like my daughter.  I am trying so hard to go in the toilet but every now and then I just can't hold it and mess up.

The great thing about God, in these situations, is that he doesn't blow up on us.  He isn't livid when I can't make it to the toilet.

I love how God cares about me so much
I love how God takes the time to teach me in life
I love how God encourages me to grow up
I love God is right there when I mess up to help me get clean

Life is pretty much like potty training.  We are all going to mess up (and make a mess).  Some of us are further along in the process of others.  Some of us get trained quicker than others.  Some of us still wet the bed at night.  Some of us can hold it all day and all night.  The thing to remember is that we serve a gracious God who is right there to help us as we venture through life and figure it out.  God wants to be there to help everyone of us grow in life the question is: "Will we accept the help?"

Small Group Saturday

I like to brag that I have the coolest small group.  Maybe its not a brag but just my opinion.  This Saturday my family was out of town and I needed to do something crazy so I invited my small group!  Not everyone was able to make it and we even had a few other guys show up but we did have fun.

We went out to Nelson's Landing which is on Lake Mojave and did some cliff jumping.  Normally I go out there later in the year and the water is warm and the days are hot.  This day was a little different... Ok, a lot different.  It was super windy when we got out there and no warmer than 80 degrees.  I think I was the first to jump in and it was COLD!  My buddy later told me that the water temp was around 60 degrees.  Some of the guys jumped a few times but most of us jumped once or twice.

We ended up leaving early because it was so cold but made a stop at some of the old mining caves on the way home.  Now I have gone in these caves a few times and they are pretty cool.  They are not caves that you have to crawl to get any where and there are some areas that are very open.  We took the guys down in the caves for a little while and did some exploring, rock throwing and trying to scare each other.  The day was not what I expected but was a great day to get the guys out of their house and just spend some time together!