internet yes… mobile phone no

I’ll let you decide if my prayers were answered, but I do have internet service which is kind of nice.

Today I made it to Manchester, NH with no problem. Seth was kind enough to pick me up and we had a nice hour drive north to the camp. Seth is a native Bostonian so I felt like I got an insider’s description of this great colonial landscape.

I learned that, in Boston, you “bang a u-turn,” not “make one" ("banging sounds much cooler).
I also learned that the city of Concord is not pronounced “Con-chord”… but “Conquered” as in the town getting conquered.

Seth is going to go to Gordon Conwell this next year. Currently he’s serving in the middle school ministry at Grace. He told me that he’s serving in the middle school because, if he didn’t he’d feel like he was “ripping the church off." I love it. Nothing about “church shopping” or “getting my needs met.” It was about giving to the church, not ripping her off. Right on.

Things went well tonight. Middle school ministry brings such beautiful chaos. I’m not surprised to see students singing to God, doing cartwheels, slamming Mountain Dew, and hitting each other all in the span of 10 minutes. There’s something about this raw energy that is truly beautiful. I continue to wonder, in youth ministry, how we help channel this energy rather than domesticate it.

Here are some pics of…








- Seth and me starting the retreat out right by picking up McD’s

- Brian and his retreat t-shirt.

- Me “roughing it” by drinking out of a Styrofoam cup. I hate these cups. Worse… it is environmentally irresponsible. I repent. No more of these.

- Worship… and a message we trust is louder than one talk by a guest speaker…

Thanks everyone. Jas, Tank… thanks for your kind words, too.

Peace, friends…