1/2 Way There!!!

Another quick note - since today is the half way point of the year, you might ask: "Dan, how's the running thing going this year? Are you on track for 1000 miles in 2007?" And I might answer: "Why yes, concerned friend, I'm exactly on track for 1000 since I ran my 500th mile today! Very exciting. As far as those cars raced down in Indy a month ago! (Side note: I've actually run a total of 900 miles since last July 15th when I started really counting). New shoes are making a cool difference. Asics Gel 2120s are a great shoe. Very pleased.

Recovering

Yep, our little big girl did a great job. She seems to be recovering well. Thanks for your prayers. The doctor said that the adenoids and tonsils were "prime candidates" for removal. The surgery took about a half hour and Anna woke from the anesthesia about 10 min. after they were done. Lucky thing they finished on time.

Today is a bit more painful than yesterday. But jello and eating ice chips seems to be the diet of the day. Can you believe, a kid NOT wanting to eat ice cream?!!!

Prayers Please

Hey all,

If you could lift up a prayer on behalf of my daughter Anna who is having her tonsils out tomorrow. The doctor has said that that Anna is a stellar candidate for this surgery. Sometimes you want to be the best, other times... not so much. Anyway. My baby (she's 8) goes under general anethesia for her first time which can be a little scary. Thanks.

Because I Have Girls...

Like, did you totally, like, hear the totally awesome news! I mean, it's the biggest news EVER!

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus just released her second album today. It's a double album with Hannah on the first and Miley (the real girl) on the second. Yeah, I'll be heading to Target today to pick this one up for my ladies. All in all, a pretty good example of what a kid can do.

Sound Effects on Speed

I finally found this guy. He is flippin' amazing!!!

One More Mac or PC

Alright, I realize that these ads have been parodied to death, but I think this song almost approaches Wierd Al status. Think "White and Nerdy"...

Um... WOW!!!

I have to say that this year's Camp Adventure was absolutely AWESOME! It was great to have my friends, Corey Mann, DC Curry, and Johnny Keim leading the charge along with Papa B (Mark Beeson).

The thing that struck me most this week was watching the progression of kids' self-consciousness. Monday night, there were a lot of kids sort of "kickin' the tires" to see if this thing was real. Lots of glances to their friends if it was okay to worship God with passion. The great key in shifting this is the example that the outstanding counselors gave. Full-hearted worship, engaged, and passionate. As the week progressed we saw many kids commit their lives to Jesus on Wednesday. At the end of the night we brought out Chris Tomlin's "Party" (which can honestly be a bit cheesy) and it totally worked! The kids and counselors screaming out "We gonna PARTY - I was dead, now I'm alive!!!"

Check out updates and footage on Corey's site HERE.

Camp Adventure is Here!

Once again, we head down to Camp Adventure. I can't believe that this is Mark Beeson's 35th year of doing this!!! Talk about perseverance! Reminds me of Hebrew 10:23 "Let us not give up doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up."

2 fave fotos from last year:


And...



Both from the longest slip and slide EVER!

My most favorite part of camp is the way these middle schoolers give their hearts to God. They are surrounded by leaders who truly love them and it makes a huge difference in the students willingness to express their love to God. Reports when we get back!!!

We're Back!

Hey there! Just in case you missed us, we're back from Disneyworld/beach vacation in sunny Florida! Much fun!

Several highlights:

1. We totally surprised the girls this time. We picked up Anna from school (which was supposed to be her last day until snow days arrived!) and brought her into the car. We had everything set since we drove down. The girls asked "where are we going?!!!" We told them to push play on the DVD player. "Welcome to Disneyworld!", said the narrator. (Cue happy tears from Anna) They couldn't believe it! We couldn't believe that we actually kept it a secret for over 6 months!!!

2. We got our own personal Spectromagic Parade at 11pm on the last day. The closest people to us were about 50 feet away. Several of the characters came an shook the girls' hands. Like this dragonfly!


3. Our hotel, Disney's Pop Century resort was fabulous. Here was the view of the pool (shaped like a computer!)


We stayed in the 80's/90's building. Our building had giant Rubik's Cubes for stairwell covers.


We would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this hotel to anyone who needs to stay within a budget. Very clean. Fun pop culture stuff all over from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, & 90's.

4. We met one of the stars of the Lion King Show (Animal Kingdom) while we were on the street at MGM. Her name was, of all things, ANNA!


5. We met up with Lindsay Wasik and her mom Dixie at Magic Kingdom. Ask Lindsay about her pirate encounter!



6. Anna's teacher, Mrs. Wolff and her husband Stan, hosted us for a great day on the beach at Cocoa Beach.



One of my favorite pix from the trip in Paris!(Epcot)

The Zimmers

We had an AWESOME dinner/swim/hangout with our friends, the Hoefts, last night. Now, if you know the Hoefts, you know they love themselves some WHO! We're talkin' THE WHO, as in Roger, Pete, John, and Keith. They had us watch this very funny clip of THE ZIMMERS who sing My Generation. The guys is 90!!! Rock on!

Right Things

When I first got to GCC almost 4 years ago (hard to believe), my very first day of work was - A STAFF RETREAT! I couldn't believe that the whole staff, around 50 of us at that point went on an overnight excursion to Oakwood Conference Center. Nice place. Beautiful lake.

For one of the sessions, Mark Beeson brought in Dave Engbrecht from Nappanee Missionary Church. He gave us a message that I still haven't forgotten. It was so simple that I couldn't believe that I was actually saying "WOW!" His basic premise was the following formula:


RT(right things) - F(Feelings) over T(Time) = DR(Desired Results)

If we do the right things regularly, no matter how we feel at the moment, and if we do them for a while, we'll get the results we desire. This pretty much works for most anything. You want to lose weight? Exercise and eat less (no matter if you want to scarf the Krispy Kreme Dozen) and you'll eventually get there. Want to get financial peace? Save more and spend less (no matter if the plasma screen is calling your name) and you'll eventually get there.

I have found this true in running. I have literally had to fight my body to get up in the mornings to get going. I'm seeing results. Me happy.

I'm also working on this for my voice. Using the Vocal Artistry CDs that we got a couple weeks ago, I'm seeing initial improvement already. Trying to extend my range and get rid of tension. We'll see where 6 months of consistency can go.

I'm really thankful to Dave for bringing this memorable message to us. I am benefitting.

Marvel vs. DC

Simple truths here...



And here...


And here...


Finally, here...


Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Vocal Artistry: A SMASH HIT!

I can't say enough about how great of an experience everyone had the Vocal Artistry event that we hosted at GCC this weekend. We had 200 singers attend! Tim Carson has such a wealth of knowledge to share. We had two of our singers, Angie Henry and Bill Moore sing at the event and Tim had a chance to clinic them. Great voices to start, but then BAM! With the knobs he tweaked, both Angie and Bill sang with marked improvement.

I know that our team is going to benefit from the resources that Vocal Artistry has. I'm looking forward to using both the CD on Vocal Freedom (reducing tension, etc) and another on Vocal Strength (range extension, endurance, register blending). I realized how HEAVY I sing in order to get volume. Kinda like a golfer "muscle-ing" the ball. I hope to get some freedom from these habits that I've developed over the years.

I would recommend to any singer to get to one of the Vocal Artistry events.

Tim, thanks for all your time. You were awesome!

Kickin' It Up a Notch

You may not know this, but I'm a big fan of Diet Coke. Now I prefer Diet Coke with Splenda, or certainly a good FOUNTAIN DC from Speedway (where every 7th one is free!) or Sam's Club. So I figured it was inevitable that I try the relatively new Diet Coke Plus - vitamins and minerals and other stuff that's good for you (I guess that balances out the other chemicals...)

The verdict: sure. I guess. Nothing earth shattering. I guess it's good to get extra stuff? The taste was pretty much the same. Though the Ace-K sweetner might make it a little closer to the Splenda. Definately Diet Coke, whereas Diet Coke with Splenda basically tastes like regular Coke.

For more extensive research, check here.

Barbie and Authentic Worship?

The other night, I had the awesome privilege of catching a glimpse of what true worship might be from my youngest daughter, Sophie. I was sitting at my computer while she and her sister were watching "Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus" which they got for Easter from their grandma. This was their first time watching it. As it was approaching the end of the movie, I caught a glimpse of Sophie. Her eyes were WIDE OPEN with anticipation about what might happen. Would good conquer evil? Would the princess save the day?

Then it happened. I saw her eyes open even wider. A soft, barely audible sound began to form in Sophie's mouth. It gradually crescendoed to a full out "YEAH!!!!!!!!", as the evil wizard was defeated!!! Then as the fairies (formerly held captive) streaked across the screen: "WOW!" And then, "BUTTERFLIES!!!" And finally, "Hey! The blush (a flower) made a rainbow!"

Yeah, I couldn't stop grinning. One of those moments where the absolute WONDER of a child is completely captivating. She was so enthralled in this movie that she couldn't help but verbally SHOUT OUT her excitement!

So let's recap. First, the evil one is defeated. Second, the captives are set free. And finally, a rainbow appears. Any similarities to worship here? When's the last time I shouted in praise of my King who conquered sin and death. The captives, like you and me, are SET FREE!!! And the promise of the rainbow - that God will never give up on us. I think I'll let my daughter take the lead for a while. I think she gets what this worship thing is all about. Hm... "Faith like a child..." Where is that from again?

Bono on Idol

News is that tomorrow night, Bono will make a guest appearance on American Idol. More about the ONE Campaign and less about singing. Which, in my opinion, is not a bad thing. It will be cool to raise the awareness of the non-Oprah watching, Gap shopping, iPod listening public in order to get the word out about possibly the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation. Check out some of the details here.

A Little Old Cheese

Sometimes a little old cheese isn't all that bad. :)

Remember this:


And this:


And this:


Oh, yeah, finally this:


Enjoy!

A Greater Glimpse

It's in the shadow of a day like yesterday at Virginia Tech that value of our ministry seems to come into focus. Here's the dismal truth: if the Church was really being the Church, people like this dude wouldn't be slipping through the cracks. Now, I understand about the Fall and whatnot, but it seems that if somehow, someone would have intercepted this man as a kid, we wouldn't have 32 dead today. Hindsight is 20/20, but I just hope that this generation, the ones on our watch would catch a greater glimpse of hope. A greater glimpse of peace. A greater glimpse of the love of Christ.

Maybe it's because I have kids now that I'm even more keenly aware of what loss might be to the parents of these young men and women. Two days ago, these people were looking forward to graduation, jobs, their lives. Today, a much different story. Overwhelming grief. Unending questions. Pain so deep that it is beyond what words could say. My heart breaks for these. The heart of Jesus breaks for these. The only hope is in the fact that Jesus conquered death and can bring beauty from ashes. Hope is in the resurrected Christ who makes all things new and can take the worst the world can bring, and use it for His glory.

Lord, show the world a greater glimpse of who You are today.

300

Ah, for the glory of Sparta!!!

Okay, this post really isn't about swords, death, glory, really at all.

It's about the goal that I have for running 1,000 miles in 2007.

Today I passed the 300 mark!

I guess the only battle that I'm really fighting here is Type II Diabetes that my dad has. My grandpa also had it. So, I'm in the fight against this formidable foe. Literally, the fight for my life. I don't have the disease yet. But I'm hoping that a reasonably good diet and regular exercise will keep the insulin shots at bay. Who said that you shouldn't run from your enemies?

The Orange Cometh

Just under a month and a group of people from GCC will be heading down to The Orange Conference put on by the reThink Group. Reggie Joiner, Lanny Donoho, and Sue Miller are the most notable from this organization. With just these three speaking it would have been amazing, but to add Donald Miller and Nancy Beach is just icing on the cake. A shout out to Lanny who emailed me on Easter morning just to say "hey". And yes, I will be reading God's Blogs (check out his new book, it looks very cool!)

It will be great to get together with leaders from all around the nation who are looking at what it means to put together ministry that will truly help families be the main disciplers of their kids. Let's face it. Again, we know that only so many hours are spent at a church, whereas tons of hours spent at home. How we train/partner with parents to disciple their kids is going to be the wave of the future.

I'm also looking forward to getting a chance to hang out with people I don't normally get to hang with. Our Youth ministry peeps: DC Curry, Judy Gregory, Johnny Keim, and (my man) Corey Mann. Also our Children's ministry crew: Georgia Fawcett, Amy Rembold, and Brian Davis (my roomate). My sense is that God is doing something cool to bring these youth ministry and children's ministry worlds together for discussion and ideas, not just on our team, but all across the nation. My prayer is for an explosion in Kingdom potential for the next generation. More as we get closer.