All is well on my insane 11 day road trip (pray for my wife!) of the South. I’ll hopefully update you more as I encounter more internet hot spots. I’ve spent time with family that was good, had a retreat with some friends, and, yes, I’ve seen the king (as pictured above). He sends his love (the hunka, hunka burning type).

Tonight, after some spelunking in Tennessee, I’ll be speaking at a youth group, then heading to Atlanta (my old hometown). After the Chaco incident, I’ve absolved my hometown roots of the ATL - I’m a Northwesterner who just happens to follow the Atlanta Braves and Georgia Bulldogs and enjoys the occasional Chick-fil-A sandwich. So I consider myself a visitor in this large Southern metropolis.

Catalyst starts Thursday and I’m excited to connect with a bunch of you guys. See “ya’ll” soon.

Note: I still have no accent.

The smell of sea filled my nose as I headed out into the rain. I’ve ridden on ferries before and I’ve also been to Canada, but for some reason the combination of taking a ferry to Canada had with it the air of adventure. My cousin was getting married on the island of Victoria, B.C.

The day seemed promising, but the rain began as soon as I drove on board. Sitting on the the deck with the rain and the mist, I feel the cool Canadian air running through me. Dolphins crest over the waves following the boat. Not sure what this weekend holds. These are all people I grew up with, but have fallen away from as I got married and moved across the country. And some are downright hostile towards what I do for a living (a missionary), so in many ways I expect a lions den experience. It’s funny how my working for the Lord offends people. If you know me at all (or read this blog with regularity) you know I’m the last person to shove the Bible down someones throat. Yet somehow my presence and what I stand for offends them. It’s really odd and the uneasiness of the unknown hits me.

This weather, this landscape is so rugged and it hangs dark amongst the gloom of the day. I’m sitting on the deck, with my iPod watching the islands pass by. It seems to fit Ryan Adam’s sad harmonica playing. It fits my mood. I don’t mind traveling, but I just don’t know what the weekend will hold. I’m also spending the next three days without Miriam. She’s pregnant and with three weeks away from her due date, I didn’t want my little girl born a Canadian (yes, I have issues, but I’ll explain them later). So I sit there alone in the glood, when suddenly the sun peaks out from the clouds showering the world with color. At the same time, the song switches to David Crowder’s Make A Joyful Noise and the words sing out:

“Every ocean, every sea, every river, every stream, every mountain, every tree, every blade of grass will sing… Make a joyful noise to the Lord of the earth. Make a joyful noise to the Lord of the earth…”

At that moment, I realize I’m not traveling alone. I sit there in the warmth of sunlight and the presence of the Lord and I’m once again excited for the prospect of this adventure.

I’ll be gone this week till Saturday night - so if you comment and I don’t comment back, I’m not ignoring you - I’m just not here!

I’ll be backpacking over Nason Ridge in the Cascade Mountains with 6 middle school kids. It should be an amazing time!

I’ll have stories and pics when I get back.

Keep us in your prayers!

Spent sometime this weekend at the Woodland Park Zoo. I have to say it rocks. We had such a great time with the family. For Christmas, the kids got a seasons pass from their Grandparents and we’ve enjoyed it so much.  Seattle has really done a great job with their zoo. If you’re ever in town it’s worth a trip.

www.zoo.org

So we’re loaded and actually leave on time. 9 students. 4 leaders. Good ratio for investment. We spent lots of one on one time with students. Over the weekend we camped, went whitewater rafting and rock-climbing.

Rock-climbing was amazing. It’s one of my favorite things to do. For something that really pushes students out of their comfort zone, this is the thing to do. Most of the kids we work with are never pushed to be more. And that point was so evident on the rock. You’d see them climb half way up, get frustrated or scared and try to quit. But ‘ah ha!’ this time was different. I’ve spend enough time with all of them to know where their limits are. So I instructed them to not let the kids down if there was any doubt that the could keep going.

It happened over and over. They’d start going and want to quit. But then something happened… they weren’t allowed to. Once they realized the only way they were getting down was going up to the top, their demeanor changed. They hit adversity and kept going. Every time we saw it, they pushed past where they thought they could go. They accomplished more than they thought was possible. They began to believe in themselves.

After a morning of victory, they were a different group in the afternoon. More confident. More assured. They approached every climb differently. It is amazing what what kids can do when they actually believe in themselves.

This has been one of the great hurdles of sharing Christ with them. They balk at challenge. Accepting Christ seems easy. Following Him is a different story. Accepting and following is a HUGE challenge. It’s so big, it’s beyond them. Living for Christ is living outside ourselves. And for a moment in time, these student got to step out and feel what it is like to live beyond what they thought was possible.