Monday, November 23, 2009

Walk for a Cure 2

This last weekend Ursula and I did a fundraising walk for the American Diabetes Association. It was a dreary, cold, rainy morning and 100+ people from my church family gathered with a few hundred more from the area.

Our group was called Team MacGregor, after one of the young people we have at our church who has type 1 diabetes. It was a pretty awesome group.

Here is MacGregor and his mom.

Here is part of our group.


I think I must be in a grieving place in my life. The one year anniversary of Missy's death. The soon to come loss of Warren. But as I registered and made out Ursula and my nametags, I began to cry. I miss my dad. I sure wish that he could have met my girl.


But it was an awesome event to be a part of. I am hoping that there is a cure found soon. A big thank you to our family who supported us. Team MacGregor raised about $6000. It was a good day.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Walking for a Cure

Share photos on twitter with Twitpic

Friday, November 20, 2009

Pwned

Me: "Ursula, I just found out that (insert name of cute boy here) is going to be at the Walk for the Cure..."

Girl Child: "Mom, I am trying to do my quiet time with the bible. Don't distract me."

NYWC-Atlanta

I am not in Atlanta, just watching the live feed and twitter stream.

Here is what I have pulled so far from the very day.

Make mature students, not childish. Tell them "God loves you too much to settle for making you happy"

Reclaiming justice = restoring shalom - Kara Powell

Leadership isn't about making decisions on your own it's about standing up & owning your team's decision!-Andy Stanley

I was getting frustrated by hardship... b/c I didn't care about becoming stronger... WAH!.. I wanted things to be easy" -Francis Chan

"Is my relationship w/ God reputation instead of a reality?" - Francis Chan

"What would God say about your time with him? Are you really in love with Jesus or are you faking it?" Francis Chan

"I haven't talked with anyone this year who can say their prayer life is better this year than last." Francis Chan

And the announcement about Youthworks! taking over YS.
I know Zondervan felt like they needed to repair things, but that announcement after a time of worship, really? Or was it timed so that the email would hit email boxes before people left for the weekend. Either way, awkward. It would have been better received if Matlock had announced it rather than the president of Zondervan. She is persona non grata to a lot of youthworkers at this point. Mark still has street cred.

What to make of the news. I am in the "let's see what happens" camp. They don't need to "prove" anything to me, but they do need to articulate their vision and outlook. As a youth worker I need to know if I am going to be welcomed and feel like I belong. Will Yaconalli's vision live on? The jury on the twitter was split. Time will tell.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

What Now?

What now?

I have just come from a hospital visit. The patriarch of our church is dying after giving 26 years of his life to the Church and the God he loves. After a 5 year battle with cancer we are near the end. I don't know what to do with that.

I am grieving the coming loss of a huge advocate for youth ministry and a friend.

I wonder if someone will step up to be the next leader for a generation.

I am grieving the grandfathers I never knew, and my dad.

I am sad.

Now what...

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Culinary World Tour

Today for dinner, I made something I have never made before - Pasta Carbonara. It was relatively simple and I will be making it again.

I got the recipe from Tasty Kitchen.
It is Pastor Ryan's version.

  • 1 pound Bacon Or Pancetta
  • 1 pound Linguine Pasta
  • 1 whole Large Onion
  • 8 cloves (to 12 Cloves) Garlic
  • 1 cup White Wine (or Substitute Another Cup Of Stock)
  • 1 cup Chicken Stock
  • 4 whole Eggs
  • 1-½ cup Parmesan Cheese
  • 1 bunch(es) Parsley
  • ½ sticks Butter
  • 1 Tablespoon (to 2 Tablespoons) Black Pepper

First, slice up 1 pound of bacon into pieces about one inch wide. Once they’re sliced, just toss your bacon pieces into a stainless steel pan. Cook until browned and crisp.

While the bacon’s cooking, set a pot of salted water (I use about 2 tablespoon of salt for a gallon of water) on the stove for our pasta. When it comes to a boil add your linguine and cook until al dente, tender-firm.

Next, chop your onion. When the bacon is cooked, scoop it out with a slotted spoon and set it onto a plate. Reserve the bacon grease! We still need that stuff. Throw the diced onions into the bacon grease. Give the onions a quick stir and let them cook down over a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes.

In the meantime, thinly slice the garlic. After the onions have cooked for a couple of minutes, throw in the garlic. Adding it after the onions have cooked a little will prevent the garlic from burning. After the onion and garlic have cooked for another couple of minutes, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Discard the grease.

Place the pan back on high heat until it starts to smoke a little. As soon as the pan begins to smoke, pour in the white wine (or chicken stock). Whisk until pan is thoroughly deglazed and all of the brown bits have come off of the bottom of the pan. Add 1 cup of chicken stock. Return bacon, onion and garlic back to the pan. Let simmer over medium heat.

Crack four eggs into a large bowl. Add most of the Parmesan cheese, and rough chop the parsley, adding it into the eggs as well. Leave a little Parmesan and parsley out for a garnish. Mix well with a fork.

Drain the water from your pasta. Be sure the pasta is very hot. Add the pasta to the egg mixture and then add the bacon/onion mixture. Finally throw a ½ stick (1/4 cup) of butter in there. Mix it all together well. Pepper to taste. Garnish with parmesan and parsley. And you’re done! Enjoy!

The Old Days of YS with Marko and Tic

Going through the YS vaults I found this little video from the day.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Daybooking

I came across this blog called A Simple Woman's Daybook while reading the blog of my new twitter follow Danielle.

FOR TODAY
Monday, November 16, 2009

Outside my window...
is an overgrown lawn, garden full of weeds and Halloween decorations that need putting away.

I am thinking...
that I need to do laundry while I blog.

I am thankful for...
heating pads after a long day, families laughing together at Community last night, friends who build me up when I doubt and cooking shows that are fun to watch and teach me stuff

From the kitchen...
the menu this week includes breakfast for dinner, pasta carbonara, chicken and potato stew in the slow cooker and spaghetti squash and meatballs. I have never made pasta carbonara before or spaghetti squash. I am hoping the squash will really make some good noodles. If it doesn't, that's ok because we can drown it in spaghetti sauce.

I am wearing...
flannel pj pants and a tshirt from the 2005 youth ministry conference

I am creating...
havoc.
Not really. I am actually trying to create some excitement around our Advent series. I am very excited about the guest speaker who has been my spiritual director before I moved down here. I am hoping he inspires everyone to really enter Advent in a holy way.

I am going...
to make a real effort to go to the gym at least 3 days this week. I have been slacking and making excuses.

I am reading...
Forgotten God by Francis Chan

I am hoping...
that Ursy and I get some really good mommy/daughter time this week.

I am hearing...
I have Rob Bell and Perry Noble cued up on my ipod. I am also prepping myself for the Christmas music onslaught. I love Christmas music.

Around the house...
Roof is done. I am going to get bids on the bathroom redo this week. Hopefully done soon after.

One of my favorite things...
sitting on the porch of one of the cabins on the back lake at Camp Allen. A cold diet coke in my hand, a beautiful Texas sky above, and laughing with other people who love Jesus and love teenagers. I did that this week. It made for a very good day.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Hiring someone to fix up the house. Cleaning the house. Catching up on sleep. Lots at work.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...
We were giggling so hard taking these pictures with photobooth on the max. It was a memory maker.