This past weekend I took a trip out to our nation’s capitol to visit my friend Mel. It’s been years since the last time I was in DC, so Mel gave me the insider’s tour of some of the monuments and memorials. I had a great time while I was out there and took some pictures of some of the sights. Check ‘em out:
The new WWII memorial:
I have some big news in my life and today is the first day I am able to share it publicly. Yes, it’s true….I am moving to Tampa, FL! I have been invited to join a team planting a church there and will be moving down right after Thanksgiving. The church is called Coastland Tampa and is being started by Steve Sjogren, who planted and pastored the Cincinnati Vineyard church and sparked the whole servant evangelism movement. I’m very excited that God has led me to be a part of this church and can’t wait to get down there!
This is a bittersweet day, though. I have been attending Far Hills for seven years and have been on staff for the last five. I’ve been very involved in the student ministry, especially in the last 9 months where I’ve been serving as the interim student pastor. I shared with the volunteer team this morning that I was leaving, and that was difficult. Pete Schwalm, our interim senior pastor, shared with the congregation I was joining Coastland, while I shared with the students during our worship service about my transition. This church and these students have been through quite a bit the last 18 months, and knowing my departure will cause more grief is hard. I love the students and volunteers and want the best for them, but I know I must be obedient to where God is leading me, and I have to trust that He is in control.
I have two more weeks at Far Hills, with the 18th being my last Sunday there. It’s going to be tough to leave, but a new experience awaits me in Tampa, and for that I am thrilled. I’ll be sharing a lot more about how I got connected to Coastland over the next several weeks. Stay tuned!
Tomorrow’s the big day for Porn and Pancakes here in Dayton, OH. My church is hosting the event and partnering with Apex Community Church to bring the XXXchurch guys in. A number of other churches and ministries are bringing guys as well. This is the first time a XXXchurch event has been done in the Miami Valley, so we weren’t sure how much of a response we’d get. Just today we sold our last ticket for the event, which is so awesome! I’m really hoping and praying God uses this event to be catalytic moment in the lives of the guys who attend.
I’ve been the point person for Far Hills to make this event happen and have some last minute things to setup today to make everything go smooth tomorrow. This is the first time we’ve done a breakfast for a bunch of people like this, so I’m hoping there’s no glitches when the pancakes are served.
If you’re wondering what the heck this event is all about, check out this video:
What a busy weekend I had! I was going to just do a little Monday Is For Music but felt like sharing what else I was up to. Things kicked off Friday with a concert that I had been looking forward to for quite a while. My friend Shelly and I drove out to Columbus to catch Arcade Fire at the Lifestyle Pavilion outdoor amphitheater, with LCD Soundsystem opening up for them. Arcade Fire is on a 9 stop tour, so to be able to see them live was something I just couldn’t pass up. And to have LCD Soundsystem open for them was icing on the cake, as they’re another recent discovery that I’ve grown to enjoy. The weather was perfect for an outdoor show in the evening, and neither band disappointed! Arcade Fire waited until the encore to perform my favorite song of theirs, Wake Up, and it was as good as I could have hoped it would be.
Cedarville University also had Homecoming this past weekend, and it just so happened to be my 5 year reunion. 5 years since graduating college…kinda crazy. I met up with some friends at the Young Alumni lunch and then became a sweaty mess due to the not-normal-for-Homecoming-weekend-90-degree-heat while watching the Cedarville guys team play soccer. 20 minutes of the sun beating down was enough to send some of us indoors to the athletic center where Kent, Melissa, Katie and I played some HORSE on the basketball court. Kent used his crazy 3 point skills to take out the competition, and no, I’m not bitter for losing.
Saturday evening was the 5 year alumni dinner where I hoped I’d catch up with people I haven’t seen in a while, but I was let down. I did see a couple of people who I haven’t seen in years, and recognized a bunch of faces, but for the most part just hung out with friends who I’ve kept in touch with over the years. Which was perfectly fine because I had alot of fun with them, especially when I found out I still fit in these cubby holes we used to put our backpacks outside of the cafeteria. Mel took a picture of me but I have yet to see it…I’ll post it in this entry when she emails it to me…and here it is!
Sunday was a historic event for me because I went to the United States Air Force Museum for the first time ever! I’ve lived here in Ohio for 7 years now and have never gone, until a group of us Cedarville alum went yesterday. I used to be an avid history buff (mainly World War 2) and grew up with a keen interest in the fighter planes of our air force, so seeing everything we did was great. I’m definitely going to have to go again and spend more time there to take it all in. I feel like I just barely brushed the surface of what’s there in the 2 or so hours we were there.
Well, that’s about it for now. I have some more pictures developed from my Holga I’ll try to post this week if I get a chance. Word.
Yes, somehow, I think I popped a rib out of place that’s behind my right shoulder blade, sometime earlier this week. I did this same thing last year and went to a chiropractor who fixed me up and relieved the pain. I’m thinking that I’ll have to make an appointment again, and soon. There’s constant pain directly behind my right shoulder blade, it’s hard to turn my neck to the left, and sleeping at night has been challenging.
I think it happened when I was doing some shoulder exercises using dumbells. I feel like a bit of a wuss as they were only 25 lb. weights. Oh well, it is what it is. I just hope it doesn’t happen again once I popped back in place.
