Pulse Youth Group 2008
.
National Youth Worker Convention 2008: Sacramento, California
Monday, October 13
Sacramento 7:24am:Please pray for us as we are on the road today. I will update via Twitter. Here's a quiet time verse worth spending some time on. Psalm 85:8 NKJV "I will hear what God the LORD will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly." Quotation: "The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says "Amen" and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him your ideas." ... Frank Laubach (1884-1970)
Sacramento 12:45am: What a day! Had another challenging seminar. It was even in my hotel for super convenience. We drove 6 miles tonight for a nice dinner. General Session # 6 was great. Kendall Payne was so inspiring & encouraging. My friends Jason, Justin, Daniel and Jonathan (a.k. eh [Canada]. - Hawk Nelson) were lots of fun. Highlights included Jason saying to a crowd surfer, "Aren't you a mom?" & "I love old people!" (Remember we're all youth workers and Daniel in the band is 27). They really have a heart for ministry and they showed a serious side I have not seen much. Some youth worker had to be escorted off stage because he was dancing with them. The speaker was not so great but I'm biased. Starfield members were great worship leaders. The Skit Guys are gifted. Trinity & Rikki loved Lost & Found and so did I. They are punny like me. God was really moving on my heart tonight. Please pray for our trip later today : ) It will be 13 hours or more. I will update Twitter but this will probably be my last entry. I'm anxious to be back in the Hills.
SONday, October 12
Sacramento 2:30pm: Going to a new church is a crazy experience. I will explain the whole event in detail in person but I will say the church as a whole did not make me feel all that welcome : ( Trinity had a good time though. I know how guests might feel when they come to our church for the first time. The preacher was good. He briefly addressed Prop. 8 which is a frontline issue here <see picture>. I saw the youth room and got a free coffee mug, hmm. Rikki met a guy named Coby in the kids room for NYWC General Session # 5. He has moved 5 times in the last month becaue of Hurricane Ike. He moved the first time from Oregon a month ago to be a YP in Texas. Pray for his wife, kids and ministry. I saw in the hotel lobby that the Cards are up! We don't get the game here because we are in hour from San Fran. It's cool riding the elevator with people who wrote youth ministry books you have read (Les Christie, Kurt Johnson). 85 pictures so far is pretty crazy. Another hour before my next seminar...
Sacramento 8:30am: Normally I'm at church right now on a SONday...wierd. I just downed 2 chocolate pop tarts and some OJ. They should serve those at the Rally. I feel rested and ready for today. I probablly will text some of you during church today. It will make me feel like I'm with you all if I do what you normally do : ) I gotta go wake up the family now, even the little one is still sleeping. Those late night options at the NYWC can make you tired : )
Saturday, October 11
Sacramento 11:55pm: I laughed like crazy at the Late Night Christian comedians. "A merry heart does good, like medicine..." Proverbs 17:22. The speaker tonight was Matt Redman's youth pastor (Mike Pilavachi). You know Matt Redman; he's the worship guy who wrote Blessed Be The Name & The Heart of Worship. Mike Pilavachi is British, 50 years old, funny and still doing youth ministry! Best speaker so far (and they have all been super). What a challenge & encouragement. Mike is as passionate about discipleship as I am. I answered a Y.V. today. I love your voice. It is gonna be super strange not being at FBCoFH tomorrow. But I'm looking forward to hitting up a local church. It'll be good to be the "guest" for perspective on our own church. We're even gonna walk. My friends Hawk Nelson will be here tomorrow. You're jealous I know. Did I mention the hotel has a docking/radio thing for my iPod in the room? It Christian Rocks! And sometimes hip-hops and mostly plays songs my girls like. Sign up for Twitter. I'm sleepy tired and I miss you all...
Sacramento 7:10pm: I am loving the Twitter! Dinner and our walk was superlicious. The FHHS Falcons are 6-1 after beating Globe 42-12! The U of A Wildcats lost a close one : ( But the devils lost so it's not a totally bad day. 9 more pictures are up. Shirts are 20% off at the convention store so I'm off to General session number 4 early to shop. I am loving getting your text messages so keep them coming.
Sacramento 4:35pm: I am playing around with Twitter. http://twitter.com/PulseYouthGroup. Updating my Facebook status message by text seems cool. Keeping you all up to date via text seems great too. Tonight kids eat free at Denny's. A 1 mile stroll through downtown Sac-Town and we'll be there. The wind is back though. The girls went swimming in the hotel's heated pool.
Sacramento 1:45pm: General session #3 was great. Worship with Lincoln Brewster was awesome. Phyllis Tickle hurt my brain with some Christian history. It's interesting to sit down with other denominations and listen to people you may not agree with. As I write this, there is some inter-faith peace march going past our hotel. It's one thing to engage and respect and another thing to back down from what is true just because it may offend. www.sacramentotoday.net/news/templates/community.asp?articleid=263&zoneid=1. The Oklahoma Thunder (Formerly the NBA Seattle Supersonics) stayed in our hotel for their preseason game against the Sacramento Kings Friday night. Standing next to them in the elevator helps me understand what short people like Elise, Morgan and Dillon go through daily : ) The funniest option at the Convention I've seen so far is Meet Someone New: Youth Worker Speed Dating.
Sacramento 10:00am: 8:00am is way to early for a seminar but I went. Building Bridges With Gay & Lesbian Youth had standing room only or in my case I sat on the floor. I was challenged and learned a lot. I met a YP from Texas and one from Minnesota. It is not as cold or windy today. Off to General session #3...
Friday, October 10
Sacramento 11:30pm: High & low points for today: High points; 3 speakers in General Session #2, a chocolate shake from Chic-Fil-A and my almost ace on hole #9. Low Point; A bogey on hole #2. Other stuff... I met some cool youth workers today, mostly from Cali. It's so encouraging being around people with similar passions, spiritual gifts and callings. I am here in name tag heaven. I had so many great conversations with people because of those tags. Cool nuggets from today: "When God puts you on hold, it's just your job not to hang up" / "The donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem may have thought it was all about him but he was just the ___ bringing Jesus to the people" / "Only 17% of Americans are in church on Sunday morning". One of the speakers tonight lives on $150.00 a month. Wow. All my thoughts are unconnected and in every direction...time for bed and more reflection.
Sacramento 5:45pm: The first general session (2,500 youth workers!) was amazing. Mercy Me & Lincoln Brewster were great. The sand artist Joe Castillo was great. The speaker (Sherwood Carthen) brought the Word from Matthew 4. He is from a Pentecostal background and he kept saying "Amen, by myself..." when no one would react with an amen. It made me laugh. My first Seminar was "X Factor: A Transformational Youth Ministry Model" by Greg Stier. Challenging to say the least. Dinner time...
Sacramento 12:00pm: Lunch Time. It is so cold and windy here today. We're all checked in with the Convention. I got a new "man bag" from www.freesetbags.com. It's a cool bag and has an even greater story behind it. The girls decorated our cool name tags. We checked out the "kids play room". Trinity wants to go to the big room though. Mercy Me was warming up while Rikki bought the girls The Berenstain Bears Go To Sunday School. The Exhibit Hall is crazy huge. We got some cotton candy for the girls from a Hume Lake "fairy". I picked up some information on several other summer camps in the Exhibit Hall. I talked to my youth Pastor on the phone and we were reminiscing about our NYWC 2005 trip to Sacramento. Sandwiches are ready...
Sacramento 10:00am: The little one woke me up at 7:00am to request his breakfast. After providing it I reflected on my 7 hours of unconsciousness. I then headed to play my 3rd "Sac-Town" disc golf course (I had played 2 other courses when I was here in 2005 with my youth pastor). It is 6 miles from the hotel and it was a nice short 9 hole course put in the ground in 2007. I splashed chains on #9 with a beautiful skip shot! See pictures on the left. An almost ace is a great way to start the day. Back at the hotel with a 10 minute drive. I then got on with tech support about the internet connection. I felt dumb because I used to do that for a living. He helped point out the obvious. I helped Trin with some of her homework next. I am not smarter than a 2nd grader. We are now headed to the Convention Hall next door to check in.
Thursday, October 9
Sacramento 11:15pm: Our adventure began at 6:15am in Fountain Hills as the Sun was peaking over the peaks, also known as the dayspring (my favorite name for God {Luke 1:78 NKJV} ... A new hope, a new day, the life source, the light, the retreat of the darkness, the retreat of the cold, always constant ... I sense a sermon coming). Here are the numbers: 5 Taylors, 788 miles, 15 hours driving, 8 stops, room 548 & 1 great God. Highlights of the day included visiting the world's first disc golf course, the little one's 1st trip to California and going through the city of Lathrop, California. At 9:15pm we finally arrived in Sacramento. A lady named Jessica helped me check in. She was wearing a name tag so we were immediate friends. I'm off to bed. Never been so tired. See you tomorrow.
108 photos
Click picture to see them all.
