Off to Kid U Columbus!

It all started this morning, at some insane hour of the morning. I didn’t bother praying, because I’m not sure God was awake yet. (just kidding!) It was still dark when the team assembled at the church to head to O’Hare to fly to Columbus. Pictured here: Theresa, Sara, and Kelly. Getting onto the plane… Tanner (Kidology Director of Web Operations) joined us at the airport. He lives in Chicago, and has the coolest blog. How to stay awake on the plane? Dew and Tazo Chai. ‘Cept, I still fell asleep. Kelly is my preschool director/a Kidology customer support rep/ and most recently, my book editor. It gonna be a fun weekend with the team here in Columbus. Branden was supposed to be here, but it home sick with mono… (everyone who reads this, say a prayer for him – we need him back and well soon!) Despite Tanner’s fears, we arrived safely in Columbus! (Yes, I am still walking with a cane) Kim Bobb – one of the coolest children’s pastors in the world – from Grove City Church of the Nazarene. Her ministry is called Kids Matter Ministries. I visited Kim’s church on my sabbatical and the picture…

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Crippled for a Week! (and counting)

Labor Day 2005 – I can’t remember a better one ever, and this one ended up in the Emergency Room! (Yes, with me getting shots and stiches!) A family in my church invited Sara and I to go out on their boat on Lake Geneva (WI) for some fun boating, swimming, eating in town, tubing, and bleeding. ;) Well, ok, they didn’t invite me to bleed, but oh the memories! I had never ‘tubed’ like this before. WOW! What fun! As I always say, “I have a new hobbie!” (Though I’ve said that about many things I’ve only done once!) But the tubing was a blast and I went with the eldest of the three adorable girls. If you want to see me eat water, watch this: WIPE OUT! (QuickTime 7MB) This was before the accident. Then it was in to town for lunch with my cute date. :) Ahhhh, isn’t that romantic? :) (not pictured, the bandages and stains on the carpet.) Each of the girls is a sweetheart! Bundles of fun, energy and laughter! When sunset came, the view was wonderful. (By this time, the bleeding still hadn’t stopped) My highlight (besides bleeding) was holding on to this…

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What a Week!

I’m always saying to my wife, Sara, ‘As soon as life returns to normal….,’ to which she replies, ‘this is normal.’ Whew! What a week! Busy! But lots of fun. Crazy, insane, but exciting at the same time. The thing I like best about this blog is that it helps ME to keep perspective on all the great things God is doing – so that in the midst of all the deadlines, e-mails, paperwork, and chaos I don’t overlook all the good things that have happened. I often look at this blog and marvel at the fun things here, and know it looks like all I ever do is play – the hours at the computer, late nights at the office, nearly missed deadines, and overall scatter-brained activity isn’t blogged. People often ask me, “How do you find time for all the fun stuff when you have two very full time ministries to lead.” My answer is always, “I don’t find the time, I make the time.” If you don’t schedule fun, time with people, recreation, and travel – you’ll never do it. The important things in life never ‘pop up’ – you must make them happen in the midst…

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Pirate Parker Packs a Bootyfull Pirate Party!

WOW! I have been so insanely busy, I’ve not been able to do any blog posts and there’s been tons to blog about! This post took me over a week to finish and post, uploading about a pic an hour in the midst of the madness, but I wanted to get some pics up of my nephew’s pirate party last Friday! It began with a treasure map at his house, that led through some clues (including a stop at my house down the street) and was to end up on the beach at the ‘ship.’ Since there was no ship, I went up in the 100 degree attic at church and dragged out the pirate ship from 2002 VBS! And put it on the beach as a surprise complete with treasure! Kaptain Kid, Pirate Parker, and Long John Sara. Pirate Parker grows a Piratey Beard! Me and Zack, the Maniac! Me holding up Pirate Shane! In the end, it’s all about the cake!

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Revenge of the Birthday Party!

Today, cleverly disguised as P4-K4 (An Empirial Bounty Droid), my twin brother arrived on the scene of a rebel birthday party of a princess named Olivia. Forget the protocol and ettiquette – this droid ain’t one to mess with! Trained in the ways of the Force, this mild mannered droid packs a powerful (and wet) punch! After pledging his allegiance to Darth Vader (who, as you can see by the t-shirt, still loves his mom), to infiltrate and destroy this rebel outpost, he went on to Saber training. Jedi Master Nakooki trained all those in attendance in the finer arts of light saber battling. So far his plan to infiltrate these rebel scum was going along fine… They practiced their new skills sparring with each other… Each Jedi-wanna-be honing his (or her) skills so that they would be prepared to fight the enemy… little did they know, the enemy was already in their midst! Then it happened! One of the padawan learners, sensing a disturbance in the Force, struck out at the infiltrater while he was trying to refresh himself with a glass of water… His response gave him away and so he lept down from the patio and it…

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