12.11.08
Crave at UCF
I love our Crave students!!! Last night we had a blast taking the students to Light Up UCF. If you haven’t been to Light Up UCF ya otta go check it out. It’s a pretty cool event with an outside ice skating rink, light show, good restraints and free holiday movies. I have to say the ice rink was a little smaller than I expected, which was not cool for me because I do fine on the straight ways but those turns really throw me off. So with a smaller rink it felt like all I was doing was turns – or my version of turns anyway. It also made it a little tight with all the people on that little rink. But, the cool part was there were 46 of us from Crave that were there so, we pretty much took over the rink. J
So if you’re looking for something to do this holiday season, definitely go check out LU UCF. You can get more info at www.ucfarena.com. Oh, another piece of advice, since it’s an outdoor rink, go when it’s cold outside. It felt really weird ice skating when it was like 80 degrees out last night.
Also, if you are in High School or Middle School you really need to come check out Crave. You can get all the latest info on Crave happenings at www.myspace.com/cravestudents.
C ya at C3 on Sunday.
10.02.08
Baptism
Last Sunday night we had another awesome baptism service at Pastor Byron’s home. I really like having the baptisms at his home; it really makes it much more personal and fun. This week was extra cool because we got to see a really close friend from our Community Group and one of our youth get baptized. Great job Teresa and Lacey, I am so proud of you guys!!! It’s really cool, Sandi and I were talking and during each baptism that we’ve had since Luke’s baptism, we’ve had a close personal connection with at least one person that was being baptized. Since I get the privilege of talking with everyone before they get baptized, I feel like I have a personal connection with everyone. But, there is something extra special when you have walked through part of life together. I really am proud of you guys and I’m praying for ya.
09.12.08
Week
Wow what a week it’s been. I started off this week with an extremely quick trip out to San Diego California. Darrell and I went out to Cali to check out some churches that have had very successful Community Group ministries. The trip was awesome; these churches gave us a ton of great info that will be very useful in our C3 groups.
However, when I say it was a quick trip, it was a really quick trip. We arrived at our hotel a little after midnight on Monday (actually, I guess that makes it very early Tuesday). Then on Tuesday morning we started our tour of churches. Since our last stop was in Orange County, we decided to go take in a few of the sites in Hollywood that night. It was cool to see some of the sights, but the problem was we didn’t realize how long it would actually take us to get back to San Diego – it takes a really long time. So, we got back to the hotel around midnight again and then got up the next morning at 4 am to catch our very early flight out. Due to the long flight, time change and a wonderful layover in Atlanta we got back into Orlando somewhere between 5 and 5:30pm. All in all a very successful trip, but talk about jet lag.
I spent a good chuck of today repairing different things on the church trailers. Which normally is no big deal, but today it seemed like every time I would get the trailers unloaded and start working it would pour down rain. So I would run around like crazy getting everything back in the trailers and the rain would stop.
Then tonight Sandi is off at a Children’s ministry meeting, so I’m at home doing homework with the kids. 4ht grade math really stinks. I’m ready for the weekend.
08.26.08
Blog?
Wow, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve blogged. With the end of summer and the starting of school there is always a ton going on and it’s amazing how fast time fly’s. But, I’m back in the blogging world, so let me get ya caught up with all the stuff happening right now.
- Caleb and Luke start soccer this week. I love soccer season. It is a blast to watch the boys and their friends out on the soccer field. It’s also an awesome time to invest in relationships with some of the other parents and have them come check out C3.
- We’re in an absolutely sweet series right now on Sunday mornings called Bodacious 80’s. Pastor Byron has been taking songs from the 80’s and building messages around some of the lyrics. If you haven’t been yet, you have to come check it out. It has been “totally rad” dude!
- Crave’s back to school kickoff on the 17th was awesome. It was cool to see all the new 6th graders come out and have a blast with all the Crave regulars. Guys remember Crave gets kick’n again next Wednesday at Boardwalk Bowl. We’ve made a few changes to Crave this fall. Make sure you check out the Crave Spam page à for all the new stuff.
- Tomorrow night we have a special baptism service, where 15 folks will be taking their next step in following Christ by being baptized. I’m so jacked, I love watching folks take that next step and I’m extra pumped because 4 of those being baptized are Crave students. I’m proud of you guys!!!
I promise I get more up on the blog real soon. 
07.11.08
sweeeet
I love being a part of the movement that is C3!!! I am so jacked about a church that will truly do whatever it takes to show love to others. Sandi and I were just talking about all the awesome events that we have been able to be a part of; like the food drive, sponsoring the Family Film Festival and then this week alone was absolutely phenomenal. Sunday night was huge with the benefit concert with Shane and Shane and Josh Wilson. I loved seeing so many from the community of Avalon come out and enjoy a free concert and games for their kids. To top the night off we were able to raise the funds needed to completely build a fresh water well in a town in Africa that has never had clean drinking water before – awesome!!! Then on Wednesday of this week we took some of our Crave students out to Islands of Adventure. It was a blast!!! It is so awesome to see our students just enjoying life, but what was also cool is during our time at IOA I got to see the heart of some of our students as well. Our students love C3 and Crave and many of them kept talking about friends and family that they have been inviting to church. I love the fact that our students are into church so much that they love telling their friends about it!!! This week starts Hey Jude so don’t forget to invite some friends this week and I’ll see you at C3.
07.01.08
Shoulder
So I got the results of my MRI back and there are no tears in my shoulder – Thank you Lord!!! Instead I have evidently sprained my shoulder – never knew that was possible. Anyway, now I have 2 weeks where I’m supposed to rest my shoulder and not lift anything. It’s already driving me crazy not being able to do anything with my arm. I mean really, how are you not supposed to use your right arm? But, I’m really thankful it’s only 2 weeks instead of 2 months if it had been a tear. Thanks for your prayers!!!
I’ll see you Sunday night at the Shane and Shane concert. Don’t forget to invite everyone you know. J
06.26.08
Crave on Ice
Wow my feet still hurt. Yesterday Crave went to the Ice Den at the RDV for a little ice skating. It was my first time ever to ice skate and it was definitely a unique experience. Several of our students had the whole ice skating thing down. The Lofye’s, Shay and of course our girls from Minnesota (not fair) were whizzing all over the rink. For the majority of students though, it didn’t take very long for them to get the hang of it and they skated along with ease. However there were a few of us who have been in Florida all our lives (and still can’t figure out why people actually want to get anywhere near a big block of ice) that pretty much hugged the wall and just prayed we’d survive (Christina I still think you cheatedJ). All in all it was an awesome day and of course it’s always cool just to hang out with the Cravers. Don’t forget our next event is Islands of Adventure on July 9th. Keep checking the Crave Spam page for all the latest summer activities. See ya on Sunday.
06.25.08
One Prayer
I am so love’n this One Prayer series that we are in on Sundays. It has been awesome to hear from pastors around the country and their prayers for the church. This past Sunday was phenomenal and it is so cool to think about the things that we as Christ Followers can accomplish if we would unite together under our common purpose. One thing that really stuck out to me is when Craig said there is strength in our differences. It’s so true. I think about how God has brought together so many folks from different church backgrounds, denominations, nationalities, and so on here at C3 and how we have accomplished so much by coming together under one purpose. Things like feeding 400 families for a week, building wells in Africa and seeing friends and neighbors come to Christ. God has really been doing some amazing things. Also you don’t want to miss this coming Sunday as we finish up the one prayer serious with a “dangerous” message.
06.19.08
Denial
Did you ever have a time where you just felt like your falling apart? This morning I spent almost 2 hours at the dentist as he replaced two lose fillings and filed a cavity. Then yesterday I went to see the Doctor about my shoulder. I actually hurt my shoulder while I was working-out a little over a month ago, but as usual, I just down played it and worked through the pain. I know, not smart, but I really just don’t like going to doctors. Anyway, the doc says he thinks I’ve torn a couple muscles in the rotator cuff. So, he scheduled me for an MRI on Monday. Until then I’ll just have to keep myself together with duct tape and superglue. Of course Sandi keeps reminding me that I’m not 20 anymore, but I still feel like I’m 20, so I guess I’m just going to have to up my insurance. J
Thanks for the prayers!!! See ya on Sunday at C3. Remember invite some friends.
06.12.08
Crave’n Aquatica
Yesterday officially started our summer Crave events by taking the students out to Aquatica. We had a blast and the Lord blessed tremendously. No one got hurt, except for me, but that’s to be expected. 
The lines were not as bad as everyone told me they would be and we didn’t get a single drop of rain even though it was suppose to storm during the times we were there. Of course we all came back a couple shades “red’r” then when we started, but overall it was a really awesome day.
A few folks asked me to report back on how the park is. So, here is my humble, but I think accurate opinion. Aquatica is a pretty cool water park and has some unique features, like; two wave pools (one calmer than the other), a rapids ride (looks a lot like a lazy river but the water moves really fast) and then of course the ride through the dolphin pool (which 9 out of 10 people don’t see a dolphin when they ride it anyway). All in all I think Aquatica is definitely worth checking out at least once, especially if you have kids. However, the park is way over priced for what you get. If you’re looking for the most bang for your buck then Wet’n Wild is probably a better bet or one of the Disney parks when they run their specials.
Cravers don’t forget; ice skating in 2 weeks!!!
