Yesterday July 23rd was our second day at the National Youth Gathering.  It was another great day.  If you are following me on Twitter then you would of seen lots of pictures and updates.  But I will try and give you a recap here.  Before I go too much further I wanted to let you know that there is a live feed on the web for our gathering time every night.  Click here to access it

I got up early on Thursday to go to the adult meeting.  There were about 50 of us at the meeting and the leader said that this was his 25th adult leader orientation.  It gave us the overview of our time here, things to do and not to do and where to go if we needed help.  We then picked up our bags for the week which included a new Lutheran Bible – Jesus, Justice and Jazz style.  We also picked up our t-shirts for the service day.

After distribution of the materials we went to our learning time.  This was a section of the gathering where the kids had an opportunity to learn.  There were workshops, self guided centers, and integrators.  The workshops were great, the kids got alot out of them.  The learning centers were fun.   It was basically a self guided workshop that the kids could participate in, there was one called “Making space for strangers” that I heard alot about.  The Integrators were an opportunity to tie everything together.  I thought that was very helpful for the kids.  Overall it was a good time and some of the kids shared about their learning experiences at our evening devotional time.

After the learning center time we took a trolly to the French Quarter area for lunch and shopping.  We had a great lunch and spent the afternoon at the French Market.  It was great and everyone was able to pick something up to take home with them.

After that we walked 1.5 miles to the Superdome for the closing time. The closing time was great and I will share more details about the speakers in a later post.

After the Super dome closing time we went to the Hilton where about 5,000 kids were running around going to different activities, eating snacks, going to a dance and just hanging out.

We finished our night with a devotional time and had some pizza and went to bed.  It was a perfect end to a great day.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we head out to our service day.  There are lots of people doing service projects around here.   S0 many in fact we are a part of the largest convention in the city of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

The Associated Press is calling this youth gathering the “largest service ministry event ever attempted in three days”.  Now that is amazing.

I will share more about our day today (Friday) tonight (I hope)  But I do hope you can get on the live cast tonight and watch what we are experiencing in person.

As I mentioned earlier I have had some Internet problems so I was not able to post a “wrap-up” after each day.  But I hope I have straighten that out so I am able to bring you up to date information about our trip.  I was going to post pictures in the blog posts (and I might add them in later) but the connection that I do have at the hotel is very spotty at best.

Day One

Things actually started out pretty well.  Everyone made it to the airport and we went through security with no hassle what-so-ever.  We were actually on the same flight with King of Kings Lutheran Church in Liverpool.  I did feel somewhat sorry for all of the “non youth gathering” people flying with us, but the kids did really well.

We flew from Syracuse to JFK and had a VERY short layover.  We joined up with even more Lutheran Churches at JFK and made it to New Orleans with no problems (thank you Jesus).

We got on buses and we were driven by our bus guide L. Jordan.  It was nice to get a local perspective on what we saw as we were driven into the city of New Orleans.

We did not have very much time to spare once we got to the hotel.  We rushed up to our rooms and then made the 1 mile walk to the Superdome.  We were late getting there but it was a good taste as to what we were to expect later on.  What we did see we really enjoyed.

For me it was amazing to see 36,000 youth and adults all there for the same reason.  It is crazy for me to imagine the service work that we are doing and the excitement that is in the air.  (more and more reflections as we go along)

After the events in the Superdome we walked back towards the hotel looking for something to eat.  There were 36,000 other people looking for the same thing.  We ended up at the Crazy Lobster for dinner.  They were planning on closing at 10:00 and we arrived close to that time.  However, about 150 others showed up so they stayed open to serve us food.  It seems like they were not expecting us but they did welcomed the business.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel exhausted, so we basically went to bed.

Day one was great!  I can see why groups do leave a day early – I did not like the rushing around but we made it with no troubles and that is the best thing that I could ask for.

Tomorrow I will write up day two (today) and share that with you!  Stay Tuned.

I want to say I am sorry for the parents and friends who might be coming on here to check up on the St. Mark’s Youth Trip to New Orleans.  I have had some trouble getting my computer online here at the hotel.

I finally got online this morning but we have been so busy I have not been able to update at all!!!
I wanted to come on here and let you know that I will be adding pictures and a summary of our experiences tonight after we return back to the hotel.  I am sure that I will have everything all ready to go.  So come back late tonight or tomorrow to get all the latest stories and updates of our trip.

Good Monday Morning!!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! I hope that you are ready to take on whatever life may throw at you this week!!  I have a feeling it is going to be a great week.

Things are hoping around here with our Vacation Bible School program. We have around 50 kids signed up and a lot of volunteers. We are working hard to make this the best week possible for all of the young kids that are attending the program. To my surprise (and a good surprise) we have alot of 3-5th graders!!

On Sunday we announced in church that we wanted to have some reptiles come to the VBS program. After all it is Discovery Canyon!!! The problem was funding the event, as you know we do not charge for our VBS program. Well thanks to some generous people we were able to fully fund the visit.

“MaxMan Reptile Rescue” will be coming to St. Mark’s on Wednesday 10-11am, as a special treat. For more information please visit their website. http://www.maxmanreptilerescue.com/id34.html

The past few weeks I have seen many signs of Hope. I have seen it in the different activities that I have been involved with and in the church.

Last week I recieved an email from Lou Tice called “What is Hope?” I would like to share that with you today.

I think everyone would agree that a hopeful attitude is a good thing. But what exactly is hope? Can it be learned? Centuries of folk wisdom and religious teaching have taught the benefits of a hopeful attitude. These days, researchers believe that hope may be associated with good health and greater success, both personally and professionally. But what exactly is hope? Well, according to Dr. Rick Snyder while at the University of Kansas, hope is a practical, goal-oriented attitude – a stance people assume in the face of difficulty. It combines a goal-directed determination with the ability to generate the means of reaching the goals. Dr. Snyder developed a test to measure hopefulness, and he found that college students who scored high in hope also turn in the best academic performance, regardless of high school grades or SAT scores. Folks who are injured or seriously ill do better when they have high hopes, too. Actor Christopher Reeve had every intention of walking again, and had he lived, I would not have been surprised to see him do so. Hope was a very large part of his being. The research also suggested that – all other things being equal – a hopeful attitude helps people overcome obstacles like poverty, lack of education and even lack of social support. In this latest economic downturn, it is those people with hope, who can express that hope, who will best weather their circumstances. Can you learn to be hopeful? You bet you can! See failure as an opportunity to learn rather than a flaw in your character, and make a habit of remembering your past successes. Break down your long-term goals into short-term sub-goals, and reward yourself for reaching them. Visualize a positive outcome for every situation, affirm yourself for all your good qualities, and no matter what happens, hang on to your hope.

Lou Tice

The Pacific Institute

What give you hope? My hope rests on the one who came to save us – Jesus Christ. In Christ I know that all things are possible. I hope that you can find that assurance as well.

Most colleagues that I have talked with say that the seasons of Lent is pretty busy for them.  For most clergy in the mainline there are extra services, extra sermons to prepare and I know many that have themes that run through the entire season. I must say that for me — my schedule has been light.

Our Wendesday night service we do the Holden Evening Prayer, and I have very little responsiblities.  I do not preach and we don’t have communion.
The last two Sunday I’s have not had to preach so that had freed up a lot of time during my week.  But with that free time I have been catching up on life — on all the work that I have put aside because of the amount of meetings and day to day work that I have had to do.

So all in all, right now life is good.  I have been on a blogging hiadius — one of the reasons is because I have been too busy to sit down and formulate my thoughts.  But it is also very hard to get back into it, at least for me.

There are some things that are coming up around the church that I am pretty excited about.  I am also involved in alot of different community and church organizations that I would like to talk about.  I must say that I have experienced things in my short time here in CNY that I never thought I would and I am greatful for that.  I will talk about more of it soon.

I would have to say that 2008 was a banner year for our family.

This year there was the culmination of my graduate studies which included my graduation from seminary.  We moved from our 2 bedroom apartment in PA to my parents house in VT to our current town home in NY.

I started my job as a pastor.

I was ordained as a Pastor.

And I think that my job as a Pastor has really taken over my life.  I love my job but I have yet to really pick up on some old hobbies that I use to really enjoy.

Health wise I have gone downhill – between my busy schedule of seminary, family, work and life – coupled with the fact of terrible seminary health insurance and my lack of motivation -  my health took a back seat.  Actually it never even made it into the car.  That is changing…..

Blog wise I posted  76 posts for this year.

Reading the many blogs I have in my Google Reader, I have read many “New Years Resolution” posts.  I think that I will post my own goals for the year.

Personally

Like many people in the USA I am going to resolve to get healthy and lose weight.  It is for no other reason than my body seems to be shutting down in some respects. I am not feeling well and I have too many health problems for a 30 year old.  I have gotten some serious wakeup calls. I would like to lose 50 pounds by this time next year.

I would like to have 100 quality blog posts this year.  I would also like to start podcasting and/or video blogging.

I would like to spend more time with my family one on one.   that means to have more date nights with my wife and personal play dates with my children.

I would like to pay down most of our debt and start a significant savings account.

Professionally

I would like to learn more what it means to be a pastor.

I would like to read one book a month on theology or practical pastoral leadershipSpend one day a month in prayer spiritual renewal

Spend 3-4 days in some kind of continuing education

There are 8 goals for the year ahead- four personal and four professional.  I think they are doable and they give me something to work towards.  I know there will be setbacks along the way but I am sure I can overcome them.

Well I made it through my first Christmas as a Pastor.  ALMOST everything went well.

Christmas Eve day I was feeling good. I only had a few more visits to do, the Christmas Eve Bulletin was done and printed, we we finishing up the newsletter and the bulletin for December 28th was printed!  I felt good about that and excited for service.  I was even more excited to take some time off to visit family.

Then it happened…….

I reached down to pick up a newsletter for the copier and on my way back up I felt a pinch in my back……that was not good.

Just to give you a little history I have had on again and off again back trouble.  Back in May I had a terrible accident that you can read about here.  I know that I should take care of it on an ongoing basis, however when it feels good it is not really on my mind.

Needless to say I was worried, I did not know how I could make it through Christmas and I was worried about traveling with a bad back.

I was able (barely) to make it through the first service.  We had a lot of people at service and half way through communion I had to sit down because I was in so much pain.  Doing that gave me a new perspective on communion and I might reflect on that later down the road.

I actually called one of the deacons 45 min before the second service was going to start and told him that I could not come in.  I was in so much pain that I could not even stand up.  He lead the service without a problem.

The next day I laid down as we did Christmas presents and things progressively got worse throughout the day.  I ended up going to the ER and waited for 5 hours just to get told that it was a muscle thing — but they did give me some good pain killers. 

We decided to go ahead with our vacation plans……I know sitting at home would not be the best for me (Because I need to be up and moving) and I wanted to see family and friends during this time off.

So here we are in Vermont, hanging out with my family.

More updates as the week progresses…..