My life in 2007...

This Sunday at lvc we are going to look back on 2007. So, in the spirit of looking back and remembering, I thought I would take some time and reflect on 2007 and share my favorite memories/entires from 2007. This is one of the reasons I love to blog. It challenges me to keep a record of all my experiences and thoughts throughout the year. So, without further adieu, here are my favorite memories/posts from 2007...

• I started the year asking why do people go to church. Honestly, I'm still trying to figure that out, but I think it has a lot to do with being restored and having hope for the future.
• My wife's first project was this. It continued here.
  
• I enjoyed speaking at camp Geneva's winter retreats. Oh yeah, I broke a brick during this retreat. I never thought I could do that. Wait a minute. On week two of the retreat I broke two bricks.
  
• I enjoyed a day at pre-school. That was an experience.
• My friends, Joe and Amyjo, adopted Max. That was a cool thing that happened this year. It's been fun getting to know this little boy.
• My kids are getting big.
• Cleaning is spiritual for me.
• Running is spiritual for me too. It clears my head.
• Be there.
• I recoded my first ever podcast. They were actually pretty good.
  
• I'm selfish.
• I really liked Blake from American Idol. However, I haven't purchased his CD yet. Again, I was impressed with Blake.
  
• I taught my child to throw up in the toilet. I'm proud of that one.
• I can get a lot of work done when no one is around. But I do love to have people around.
• I'm a procrastinator.
• I changed some things up this year. But, in the end I didn't change too much. I need to change more in 2008. Do things differently.
• I traveled with 150 teenagers to do hurricane Katrina relief. That was an experience. Here are some pictures. More pictures. Some more here. And more. And more. That was a great experience.
• April 16, 2007 was a sad day.
• Spring is wonderful in Michigan. I can't wait until Spring 2008.
• I started a new hobby. I can't wait to go on more bike rides in 2008.
• Funny biking story. I fell the first time I went out on my bike. Plus it was cold biking in the morning.
• I didn't get much sleep on April 27.
  
• Another funny biking store. A lady in a Buick yelled at me.
  
• Still liked Blake in May.
• Things can get crazy when you work with teenagers, but you have to go with it.
• Got a fun new toy this year. Well, at least I had fun running behind it.
• Mallory turned two.
• You can always talk down the cost of cable with the cable guy.
• It's not a lot of fun to ride your bike with your brakes rubbing. I guess the same can be said of life.
• I tried to get organized at home. This calendar didn't work. We now have a dry erase calendar on the wall that is working pretty good.
• Youth ministry is simple. I learned that from Manuel Campins.
  
• I voted for Jordin. In the end I turned on Blake.
• I still enjoy working with teenagers.
• I'm getting better at organizing my thoughts. Yes, the moleskine journals have helped. I even have a nice small one that I carry around with me all the time.
• I attended a tigers game with the family. By the end of the year I would have attended three Tiger's games.
• I spent a lot of time landscaping my daughters' playhouse. It was worth every minute.
  
• Usually when I preach, there is food after the service. In July it was cake and in November it was doughnuts.
• I have some dreams in my life.
• My wife was in a movie this year. That was fun.
• Money changes everything.
• We had a great time camping with friends. Yes, we were actually successful at camping this year. We didn't let previous failure stop us from going this year.
• I'm still sporting my fauxhawk.
• Built a sandbox. Here are the pictures to prove it. And it was a hit, because the girls played in it all summer.
  
• Elliana's first baseball game. Priceless.
• Things I wish I would have done earlier... pt. 1
• Procrastinated again.
• Signed up to go to Africa. I can't believe it is happening in a month.
• Children's ministry is not my place.
  
• Things I wish I would have done earlier... pt. 2
• I need to relax. It's ok to get sand on the grass.
• Things I wish I would have done earlier... pt. 3
• Matt and Susie got married.
• My wife is awesome.
• My blog is rated PG because the word sex appears once and death appears twice. This is still a better rating than my father-in-law's blog. His blog is rated R. It appears he likes to talk about death. By the way, my blog is now down to G. It's safe for the whole family.
  
• Still procrastinating.
• Found a new office. I haven't been back enough.
• Started to come up with a plan for youth ministry.
• I became an intern again... after 10 years in youth ministry.
• I like watching Newport Harbor.
• Annie and Jeremy got married. Yeah!
• Kill moles right away.
• Things I wish I would have done earlier... pt. 4
• Elliana began kindergarten.
• I received one of my favorite gifts of all time.
• I continue to tackle my hill.
• Elliana turned five, and I made some treats for her class.
• Relationships matter, and this was a great reminder.
• One can learn a lot from watching an episode of the Office. Hopefully a new Office episode will be coming soon.
• Picked pumpkins.
• Felt really appreciated.
• Got back into cutting hair. Just like college.
• Who am I influencing? It can make a difference.
• Patience can be hard.
• The fires in California were bad and hit home for me.
• I love apple's customer service. I hate Sprint's and Gap's customer service.
  
• Teenagers know how to multi-task.
• My neighbor is insane, but he did get rid of all of his leaves.
  
• I didn't blog much in November. I made up for it in December. November was a crazy month and I was grumpy.
  
• I enjoyed Rob Bell's Tour... The God's aren't angry. You don't have to live like this.
  
• The teens at lvc blew me away this December. Here's why. And why. And why, one more time.
  
• We continue to teach our children, and they listened... sometimes.
• I had the priviledge to chat with teenagers about Jesus at 1:30 in the morning. It went great. Thanks YFC! Since doing this I've heard that 23 teens accepted Jesus that night. How cool is that!
  
• Got advice from an older pastor.
• Laughter helps. If you haven't laughed in a while, you need to.
• Next year I want to do this for Christmas.
• I need to learn how to manage my time in 2008.
• I got zits again.
• Another great gift.
• Everyone needs time with a mentor.
• There's nothing like doing to a dance recital with your daughter.
• Set some goals for 2008. I hope I achieve them.
• Built my daughters Christmas present. They liked it, but they like the purchased art supplies more.
• I have a fantastic youth ministry team.
• And a fantastic family.
• I purchased a domain name and was invited to go to Africa. I'm still praying about the invite. More to come on the domain name.