plan ahead

When the Mascot Hall of Fame reaches about 10 inductees, I'm going on a road trip. Seriously, this is the best idea sport has produced since The Super Bowl Shuffle.

we got it all at acs

ACS is over. I was in bed today until 1, and I'm still pretty tired. But a good kind of tired. A very good kind of tired.

It's amazing to see God at work so obviously as He was this week; not just in the lives of those kids, but in mine as well. I'm more certain about the things I need to do with myself, and don't think that the setting I was in when I became that way was a coincidence.

Anyway, some other highlights:

- Taylor, Breezy, and Epiphany. I don't know that I've ever been more proud of three people in such unique ways. Taylor for his leadership, Breezy for her hard work, and Epiphany for living up to every bit of potential I saw in her a year ago.

- Jimmy, David, Justin, Ryan, and Zack. These are my brothers. Zack actually is my brother, but you know what I mean. Any chance I have to spend a week with these guys is worth all the missed improv in the world.

- Tuesday night, the results of. Our speaker was Timothy Tyson, author of Blood Done Sign My Name. During his talk, he hit on some of his thoughts about, among other things, the war in Iraq and homosexuality. The subjects themselves and the fact that Tim clearly didn't expect anyone in a gathering of youth to disagree with his points quickly divided the kids, and resulted in some - let's call it "spirited" - dialogue during the Q&A portion of the evening. But these kids rebounded from it and, I think, developed an appreciation for hearing different opinions than theirs. Both sides. Those kids never cease to amaze me.

- I started looking for Julie's approval when she staffed Breakaway while I was in middle school. I don't know that I'll ever stop. And it's always one of the better feelings in the world to actually get it.

Pictures coming soon...

rest easy

Wow, I'm glad that's (almost) settled. I have mixed feelings about how hockey should be welcomed back. Most of me want to take the open arms "glad you're back I missed you so much I can kiss you" approach to the return of hockey.

The outraged fan and my wallet want to boycott for a while.

But let's face it, I need hockey. Without it, I paid serious attention to the NBA this season. This cannot be repeated.

So welcome back hockey!

reminder

Ah, Kaleidoscope. My last year as a jr. high youth, this event was called Jr. High Jamboree. My first year as a jr. high youth, this event was called Jr. High Weekend.

As a staff member, the event is more fun than it ever was when I was a youth. I love staffing these things. What really got me was all the people who were important parts of my youth that were around. I got to cut up with the very people who had inspired me to be there. Timm Hackett was the big one though. He and Heath Gilbert were the two staffers who, when I was a youth, started making what I believed make sense. So getting to cut up in the back with him, Ramey Kemp (another longtime favorite staff member from my youth), Bret Farmer, Zack, and Justing Langston was a huge blessing.

I would be a jerk not to mention how much some encouraging words from Tom Pritchard meant to me as well. Tom doesn't read this. But I want to thank him in an interweb setting anyway.

It's nice to have weekends like this and weeks lke Global Vision earlier coming on the heels of some serious dissatisfaction with the Church. It's nice to be reminded of all the reasons to keep the faith.

By the way, it's a little late but congratulations are in order for another longime favorite from my days as a youth, Leonard Fairley.