small groups

Last night we started small groups for the youth ministry. Janelle started a girls group in our home and I have a guys' group meeting in the youth room on church campus. This time I think the groups just may stick. Janelle is great at creating the atmosphere necessary for a group to flourish and I think the girls took well to it. Especially with Marce's cookies. I'm glad they had some left when I showed up.

I enjoyed the group time with the guys - I know it will take longer for the guys to open up and all that stuff, but it's all good.

I have been antsy and restless the past week or so. I met with Michael yesterday for accountability and he encouraged me. I haven't been spending enough (or even much at all) time with God for the past couple weeks and it really took a toll on me. I didn't even realize it and then it caught up with me Sunday night. Sometimes it's so easy to just go and go and not even thinking about what you're going for. Anyway I feel my "problem" has been diagnosed and I am about the business of getting back on track.

The coolness of having a wireless keyboard and mouse still has not worn off. Just thought I'd share that.

logitech cordless mx

Yesterday was my birthday and my incredible wife threw me a part at my Dad's place. Many people showed up, it was fun and it felt good to be surrounded by family and friends. It was my first b-day as a married man and with my in-laws, so the family portion was much larger than usual. T'was a pleasure though.

Because of the number of people I was unable to hang out with everyone as much as I might have wanted to, but that's the way things go. I got a lot of good presents - one that I am pretty excited about is the cordless keyboard and mouse I got from Janelle's fam (which is now my fam). Perhaps the coolest thing about the mouse is that it has a button to switch between different programs, which is cool. There's also a little control panel for it that lets you know how the batteries are doing. Anyway I am very stoked about these new devices and now typing on my desktop is almost as cool as typing on my laptop.

Very busy weekend upcoming.

I was talking with a few students in class this week, and one of them said to me "did you know that if Bush wins the election he will institute the draft and you won't be able to get out of it unless you're under 18?" Where do people get these ideas? Man. This election is one of the dumbest in my memory - everyone is just interested in slandering the other side and no real ideas are debated or expressed.

I am personally pro-Bush because Kerry is (1) wholly uninspiring, (2) seems to lack confidence in his convictions, and (3) I disagree with him on some important issues.

It's my perception/opinion that the President can't control a whole lot. They aren't the ones making laws, etc. Now they do give their party a degree of influence and all that, and they do wield power - but at the same time more often than not I am going to vote for who I perceive as the stronger leader most of the time.

Anyway my opinions on this are not fully thought out - but I wanted to type more on my nifty new keyboard. Peace out.

the substitute

Washington High had a new teacher start on September 3rd - he quit less than a week later. Said the job was "too stressful." Some kids in his 5th period class said "he called us the f-word. Two times." It's really too bad this guy didn't figure out a little sooner that teaching wasn't his bag.

I am subbing his classes until the school is able to hire someone else. I am sort of BSing my way through it. I have 2 US History classes and 3 Geography classes. I spent today trying to figure out how I'm going to teach these kids for the time I'm there. I don't want it all to be a waste of time for them. So I'm spending some time figuring that out.

It's unfortunate that this very week is the one I usually spend most of my oneeighty prep time on - and I am having to spend a lot of time prepping for classes and stuff. Usually subbing complements my ministry job quite well because it affords me time to sit and relax and work. Not so with this assignment. I actually have to earn my money this time. Oh well.

roll on you bears

I would just like to say that I've been a Cal fan for about five years now, so I lived through some of the crappy years, including the 1-win year (and that 1 win against Rutgers of all schools) in 2002. This gives me the right to make statements such as "Go Cal!" or "We won!" Yes, I am sort of bragging about my fandom regarding the Cal Bears. Because there's something satisfying about being a fan of a crappy team and then having them do well. In fact having them blow out two teams in as many weeks, that's celebration material. So the ebb and flow of your team's power is something you can sort of proudly claim as time goes by. The Bears are most certainly flowing right now.

The 49ers, on the other hand, continue to ebb with no relief in sight. Oh well.

And at least the A's stopped their skid.

September is a real good time to be a sports fan.

On another subject, I have lately been doing this more often when presented with a situation or decision: "What would someone smarter/more responsible/better at leading do?" This has led to a general increase in my optimism regarding the future and the present. I suggest you do this, if you haven't already tried it. It really is neat. It sometimes even works.

Got to see my sister and her fam today, attended my nephew's first soccer game of the year. There were a lot of families around with their kids playing soccer on a bunch of different fields. My sister said that there were somewhere around 2500 kids that played soccer in Folsom alone. I had no idea it was so big. I wonder if I was peering about 10 years into my future while I sat there watching Austin play. Scary thought. Also, my niece, who I remember holding as a little baby, is now wearing makeup. I was not prepared for such developments. Now I wouldn't want her to read this and be traumatized - so I don't mean she shouldn't be wearing it.

Not that I'm saying she needs it.

Um, Ashley, if you read this - just e-mail me and I can explain what I mean.

That's all for now.