Arches National Park

 

 

Knowledge

I love the curriculum we use as a tool to plug children into life through Christ. It's called 252 Basics and is published by the reTHink group. I love how they use the character traits, or virtues, of Christ to guide us in our growth. Here's the "Leaders Only" section for the Sunday, September 14:

This month we’ve been talking about (1) knowledge, which is discovering something new so you can be better at whatever you do. (2) God is perfect and omnipotent—the ultimate Authority on right and wrong, the ultimate Author of Scripture, the Book on wise choices. Jesus used His knowledge of Scripture (that He’d been studying since childhood) to make the wise choice. Because Jesus knew what God said, He was able to withstand the temptation to do wrong things. (3) God wants us to have that kind of knowledge too. So today, focus on helping kids understand that knowing what God says by reading the Bible will help them make wise choices and can even help them avoid or withstand unforeseen trouble. (4) When they know what God says, and follow through on it, it will make a difference in their lives—and in the lives of those around them.

That is great stuff that helps us stay focused on living life God's way.
A big "pat on the back" to the reThink group for their efforts.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding; seek His will in all you do and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6.

Team Garmin Chipotle

Chipotle in France during le Tour!  Go team Garmin/Chipotle!  Your sponsorship makes me want to eat more big, huge, fresh burritos.

My Blog Has Been Sleeping

After the Orange Conference at the end of April, I returned to Colorado and dove into end of the season ministry work and preparations for Kid's Camp 2008, our VBS experience.  I've been working like crazy.

Next week, I'll be turning, 42, packing up all of the ministry supplies for a July and August church building remodel, celebrating the 4th of July and replacing the brakes on at least one of my cars.

On the 6th, I head up to Covenant Heights Camp to teach 4th-10th graders (not all at the same time) for a week in the mountains near Estes Park, Colorado.  During the week I will totally relax while studying for the talks I'll give each day.  I also plan to unpack my notes from the Orange Conference and look ahead to ministry plans for the next phases, 3 months, 9 months and beyond.  I will also wake up my sleepy blog and start posting again on a consistent basis.

I've been learning a lot about what it means to live in humility; as in putting others first by giving up what i think i deserve.  It's making a difference in my life and I'll share some thoughts later.

Follow me on Twitter at johnincolorado.  My micro blog tweeting has been going strong while this macro blog has been sleeping.

Thanks for checking in.  I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

Please Pray

Read Julian's full story here.

We were on schedule to be discharged tomorrow until Julian came down with a fever of 101.6 this evening.  They will take blood cultures from both sides of his hemodialysis catheter (the venous and arterial sides) and begin a slurry of antibiotics tonight, including vancomyacin which is used to treat MRSA, a highly drug-resistant form of Staph Aureaus.
His blood pressure was unusually low last night, and coupled with the rising temperature today there is a concern.  Please pray that any infection of the blood or of the catheter will be taken care of by the antibiotics and that Julian will come out fine from this whole ordeal.
I asked the Dr. on the floor tonight whether or not it was potentially life threatening by saying "It doesn't always go well for the patient in cases of blood infections, does it?"  And she shook her head and said "not always". 
Dave just walked in the door from  his cab ride from the airport as I'm typing this emergency prayer request, and I am going to sleep at the Ronald McDonald House tonight while Dave sleeps here (or doesn't sleep) at the hospital. 
I take Cheryl to the airport tomorrow to go to Denver for a couple weeks. 
Thank you for joining us in prayer on this, we are worried of course.

Orange Conference posts

I will post on the Orange Conference and share my notes. I promise.
We are in a very busy stretch of getting ready for summer action. Also, the weather has been nicer and I've been on my bike more.

keep checking. i will share.

Orange Conference 2008 p2

Day 2 of the Orange conference has been great. Francis Chan, Kristian Stanfill, Donald Miller, Nancy Ortberg, Jennifer Tamborello, Donald Miller, Kid Stuf to the max.

Over the next week or two, I'll be blogging and sharing my notes and thoughts from each session attended. I take take great notes, too.

I'm a tired man. I hope I can sleep well tonight.

BTW - My room at the Sun Suites in Duluth, GA smells and is very noisy. It's a "leave your socks on" kinda place. I don't like the place but for $50 a night we are saving a bundle on lodging that i will get to spend later on taking volunteers to another conference experience.