off site

An "off-site" is a some sort of big corporate business term.

Anyway, last week our staff team went up to Big Sky to spend a couple of nights together. We worked, prayed, laughed, ate much good food, and watched all of season 1of The Office. Many good times were had. We stayed here...don't worry we didn't pay full price.

Action sequence of Thang and I tossing Jenna around.

trying to simplify

How I'm wired.

I like to make make complex stuff simple.

They brought in a handful of campus staff from around the U.S. to give their input on a student tracker software. This is something that we in the field could use to track all evangelistic contacts and students who are involved. It's also a tool students could use to help them as they reach out to students around them. The issues are incredibly complex (alumni, confedentiality, student use, whole classes graduating every year, simplicity of use, high school, etc.) with lot's of tension of making complex stuff simple to use. So we'll see.

My input goes like this....make it visionary and energizing for students to use AND connect it to Facebook.

Facebook is the answer to everything. If it's not on your strategic plan it should be.

Wouldn't it be sweet if we could get on a website and see all the amazing stuff God is doing across the U.S. (and the world for that matter)? Wouldn't be great to see (or hear via rss) that two weeks ago 400 people were exposed to the Gospel at Eastern Washington University and 66 people placed their trust in Christ? If I were a student and heard that I would want to jump on board and trust the Lord to reach my campus.

Wouldn't it be great for me Mr. campus ministry guy to be able to get an accurate picture of what's going on at a particular campus, region, area? Or be able to see who the next emerging student leaders are from a campus ministry that I'm coaching 300 miles away (i.e. Havre, Montana)?

Anyway the possibilities are endless. Good thing we have 2 days to figure it out.

Orlando

I'm in Orlando!

This morning when I woke up it was about -1 degrees in Bozeman. Tomorrow it's supposed to +85 degrees in Orlando. I might get a little sweaty. I hope they don't mind if I take my shirt off at this meeting I'm supposed to be at.

Fun fact

I went to bed at 8:45 last night.

Leftovers

Huffing for Stuffing

On Thanksgiving day morning I ran a 5k called the 'Huffing for Stuffing' race while pushing my daughter in her stroller. When I woke up it was about -7 degrees...I almost wussed out. By race time a 1000 people had gathered and it was a whopping 9 above. We're hearty souls here.

Thanksgiving

Bulleted items that I'm thankful for:

-My smok'n hot wife. Her ability to love and laugh blesses me every day. Plus her Thanksgiving day meal was amazing!
-Our beautiful little girl. I can't imagine life without her now. She is such a gift to our lives. Each day with her stirs great gratitude in me.
-The unbelievable location of my home. Everytime I'm outside hiking, catching a fish on the river, skiing untracked snow, walking around our neigborhood lake or catching a sunset over the mountains I can't help but wisper to myself incredulously "I live here."
-Our home.
-Family who makes the 750 mile drive from Central Oregon to join us for a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner. All the rest of our family too!
-My job. The reality of seeing peoples lives changed right in front of me is something I'm soooo thankful for and I never want to take for granted. My job has allowed me to travel all over the US and Europe before I'm even thirty years old.
-All of those amazing people who partner with us to allow us to do our job. We are so thankful for the opportunity to be in the lives of college students, giving them a chance to hear about Jesus Christ. Many thanks to you all.

All that to say...I'm very blessed and very thankful.

HuckChuckFacts

Comment from small group Bible study

"Looks like it's time for a rap battle!"

OT

I've been reading the series of commentaries by Dale Ralph Davis (Joshua through II Kings minus Ruth). They are excellent. I'm never read anything like them...they have been incredibly helpful for my understanding of the OT and even just paying attention while I'm reading. Here's a few snippets from the begining of II Kings...

Second Kings begins on a positive note: Ahab is dead. You may think that is a nasty sentiment, but you must remember that Ahab was a conduit that allowed pagan sewage to engulf Israel (I Kings 16:29-34), one who tolerated injustice (I Kings 21), and who hated God’s word (e.g., I Kings 22). But the Ahabs always die—that is good news. The bad news is that Ahab, Jr., follows him. Ahaziah is a chip off the old, dead block. Welcome to Israel, 852 BC.

What do we meet in this section of the story? Above all, an intolerant God. The suave, self-appointed connoisseurs of religious taste in our time will be aghast if ever they happen on to this story. How can Yahweh in his wild, untamed holiness sentence a man to death simply for exercising his religious preferences in a critical hour of his life? Yahweh here is not the democratic son of God people crave, according to the polls.

But in the Bible we meet Yahweh and keep bashing ourselves against his first commandment (Exod. 20:3). Nor is it any better in the New Testament. Jesus goes around insisting folks must smash idols if they would follow as disciples (Mark 10:21-22). He is as obnoxious as Yahweh. Who does he think he is?

our crazy child

First turns

What amazes me about living in Bozeman, MT is the amount of outdoor recreation so close to our front door. Here are a couple of picture me hiking for some turns last Sunday morning with some great friends (don't worry we went to church on saturday night). The winds were about 120 mph on the ridge but the sun was out, the snow was good and it's Montana! It's a secret spot...I can't tell you.

dress compatability

I've learned that being married requires me to have a conversation about 'dress compatability' before we leave the house to head out on the town (i.e. saturday night church, going out to eat) You see one of us cannot be more dressy than the other. Having dress compatability issues could lead to the wife having self conscious thoughts like "I bet people are thinking, 'how lame is she, she thought they were on a hot date, and he just thought they were out for a casual evening'." The couple has to be evenly matched in dress...which usually means I have to go change my clothes into something nicer.

In a related note I think we're going to start shopping here.

so hardcore

This weekend a bunch of students and I went for a hike up at Sacajawea peak in the Bridger Mountains. There was a lot more snow than I expected in fact a ton of people were skiing. All we had were our avalanche shovels to sled on. Good times were had by all

cool

cheerios gone bad

Calling in sick

I'm taking the night off tonight...skipping Cru because of the sickness I've acquired from my germ infested daughter.

I've started watching the BBC series Planet Earth. It's amazing, although I could have done without all the bats in the "cave's" episode...especially after our run in last month with bats in the Lewis and Clark Caverns. Anyway, so far the series is amazing...I consider myself fairly educated on geography and random trivia about the world, but I had no idea about a lot of the stuff in this series.

Check it out

Planet Earth The Complete BBC Series DVD trailer

I forgot about this till just now

This happened at the end of our raft trip. Safety alert...I'm fairly sure it wasn't one of our students.

Paradise Valley

I took 140 students rafting down the Yellowstone river on labor day...this is my job...hahaha.

busy

My extrovert tank is running a little low right now.

The sheer volume of people we've met in the first week and half of the school year is off the charts. The amount of conversations I've had is kind of mind-boggling, especially for this introvert. I love my job (most of the time), but it wears me out if I don't get some alone time, preferrably in the mountains or on the river, or just watching my daughter roll around on the floor.

I wonder why?

In 2004, a survey of 2,500 ministers found that 76 percent of Christian clergy were overweight, compared with 61 percent of the general population.

anonymous campus crusade for christ staff member quote

"....soooo when does Jenna become of age."

FYI - our daughter is almost 8 months old

New post for you

I've decided that I'm not a good blogger anymore.

I used to be creative and witty.
I used to make people laugh.
I used to relish comments like, "your blog makes me laugh" or "you're so funny."

I've lost it.

Sweet Pea fun run

Jenna and I competed in the annual Sweet Pea fun run on Main street. We clocked in the 1k at 16 minutes 50 seconds...smok'in fast. Here we are with our friends Nick and Debbie and their two boys.

We enjoyed the parade afterwards too.

Family Vacation

We took our first family vacation this week...to Jackson, Wyoming and the Grand Teton National Park. Good times have been had by all. Please see photo proof below. Jenna is a champ...she hiked 3.2 miles today. She then went to bed at 6 pm. Jody and I have had a great time relaxing, reading, pushing Jenna in a stroller, and taking lots of pictures of our daughter as she enjoys the great outdoors.

Grand Tetons National Park wildlife

moose drool

Wailing banshee!

Autobots....roll out

A few weeks ago I went to the movie Transformers with my good friend Joey from Georgia. I must say this was one of the best action movies I've seen in a long time. You should go see it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and amazed by the visual effects. I realized my age when I was one of 5 people in the movie theater to laugh at a humorous line about "more than meets the eye." Anyway, what was refreshing about this movie was that the good and evil was easily distinguishable. I wanted desperately for the good guys (the Autobots) to win and the bad guys (Descepticons) to lose. None of that truth is relative stuff. Go see it...it's good. Keep in mind that I used to own the Optimus Prime Transformer.

Life in Colorado...for the moment anyway

I feel like I'm melting. It's been about a week of 90 plus temperatures here in Fort Collins. Apparently I've acclimatized to Montana which reserves 90 degree weather for the month of August. Luckily we have air conditioning in our sparingly furnished apartment.

We're off and running with our classes. I've absolutely loved mine. Right now I'm deep in the midst of Biblical Interpretation and Old Testament Survey. I'm creating a mini-commentary on II Sam 9 right now. I'm thinking about naming it 'The McComas Expository Commentary'... I think it could be a big seller. I might post parts of it later. I've also learned more about the OT in the last week than in my entire life combined.

Our sweet little daughter has been a bit of a handful the last week those teeth try to work there way through. She's still adorable and a joy...just a little cranky these days.

Jenna's first summit! For more photo's from our time so far in Colorado click the link on the far right.

The eagles have landed

We stopped for lunch at McDonalds somewhere in Wyoming and walked out to see this old fellow posing for pictures in front of his sweet van. I ran to get the camera but by the time I'd returned he'd already gone in for a Big 'n tasty.

Fort Collins!!!

We made it to Fort Collins. We're staying in the Sunray apartments just off the campus of Colorado State University(please note the best place to live in America according to Money magazine). It'll do the trick for 6 weeks....plus it has the hot commodity of air conditioning.

It's 97 degrees today.

We start classes tomorrow. I've got 50 pages of "Encountering the Old Testament" to read.

life

I regret the delay in blogging.

Quick recap of the last month and half....

-did a bunch of work in our new house(wood floors, paint, tile)
-continued to raise support
-fished one glorious evening on the Madison river
-moved
-prepared for summer seminary classes by reading lots
-chased gophers in our back yard
-ate breakfast on our new back porch
-rejoiced as our little girl laughed for the first time

Tomorrow we leave for a week long trip to Oregon. We'll be in Spokane, then Salem (with a day trip to the beach), then on to Prineville. It will be a full trip of friends, family, and ministry partners. This will be a good test of our traveling ability with an infant.

After that we head to Fort Collins, CO for 6 weeks for some seminary classes and then our National staff conference. Should be fun. It's always a little sad leaving Bozeman in the summer time....it's ridicuously beautiful here right now and the fishing is just getting good.

searching for something?

...try this search engine. It'll make you laugh.

paint

We painted the inside of the house that's being built for us last weekend. I think it's funny the names of paint....someone just sits around getting paid to think up new names. These are a few of the ones we used.

Nomadic Desert
Golden Fleece
Silver Blueberry
Kauai
Divine White (not actually white)
Hopsack
Latte

new house

My blog has been dormant lately, mostly because in my spare time I've been doing a bunch of the work on our new house (it's actually 1/2 of a duplex). I just got done laying a bunch of tile and wood floors. Now I get to paint. If anyone wants to help this saturday, let me know.

interesting

for a firshand look into what's going on with the Campus Crusade movement at Virginia Tech check out a blog by one of our staff members.

VT

Most of you know we're on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. We have a staff team at Virginia Tech, and yesterday they sent out some prayer requests for them, their students and their campus.

Here they are:

1. The families of the students who were killed

2. The students who were injured and still in the hospital

3. 4 students that were involved with Campus Crusade were killed. Please pray for their families and friends.

4. Survivors of the shootings who witnessed the horrors of that day. Pray for God¹s grace and comfort

5. Pray for wisdom for the CCC Staff and other campus ministers and pastors as they seek to counsel and love the hurting students

Many people around the world have set apart some part of tomorrow (Thursday) to pray for people impacted by the events at VT this week. If you have some time you are willing to set aside and you're one who prays, I am certain they would appreciate your prayers.

Virginia Tech

I'm sure by know you all have heard about what took place at Virginia Tech on Monday. This was in an email we just recieved from our National Campus Director. Please pray everyone involved.

National News

Virginia Tech Tragedy
by Mark Gauthier Tue Apr 17 00:00:00 EDT 2007

As I’m sure you all know, the tragic events and great losses that occurred at Virginia Tech yesterday have left us grieving and clinging to the Lord in this difficult time. Though our understanding is limited, it is in these desperate times that we are reminded that we have a great High Priest who has gone before us, who loves us, and prepares a place for us. And because He stands at the right hand of the Father even now, we pray. We have been praying specifically for those who have experienced this unimaginable loss first-hand, but also for our staff and students at Virginia Tech who are coping with the raw emotions and pain in their midst. Because of your concern, I want to share with you some of the information that is now available about the situation and some specific ways you can be praying.

As you can imagine, the confusion and chaos has made obtaining detailed and accurate information difficult at best. The staff team at Virginia Tech is involved in a number of on-campus activities to help students and families process the loss. We are unable to confirm the loss of 4 of the students involved with Campus Crusade but it does appear that they were among the casualties. The Mid-Atlantic region has formed a crisis team headed by Dave Hyatt and they are coordinating as much as they can and helping the staff team at Virginia Tech.

Please be praying for this situation. Pray for strength and God’s abiding peace for staff and students as they seek to minister to those affected by this tragedy. Pray for healing to take place. Pray that God would be glorified and that many would come to Him as the Refuge and Rock.

As we have sought the Lord as to how He wants us to be salt and light in this moment, there are several things that have been done. EveryStudent.com and all myeverystudent.com home pages have been updated to now show "Where is God in the Midst of Tragedy?" Tony Arnold is in Blacksburg helping our staff and students deal with the media rush.Thank you on behalf of our team at Virginia Tech for concern and your prayers. As we know more, I will update you. As always, I am so grateful for the privilege to serve with you and to share the journey, whether smooth or difficult.

A Community Part 1

This is a video that was shown at our weekly meeting a couple of weeks ago. All these guys were in a small group I lead as freshmen a few years ago. Enjoy.

two sides of Jenna

Proof....

that my daughter already likes college basketball.

Facebook Show

If you haven't noticed facebook.com is taking over the world. This is a podcast by a couple of Crusade staff. Check it out...you'll appreciate it if you're on facebook already. I laughed out loud.

Stranger than fiction

Jody and I watched the movie 'Stranger than Fiction' saturday morning at 9 am (we're on baby schedule still). It was one of my favorites. It was well written, with smart humor...plus I thought Will Ferrell was great as Harold Crick and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Ana Pascal.

The blog

It used to be that I wrote this blog to keep my mind sharp, be creative and write winsom antecdotes. Now all I've got is vain effort to randomly update current events in my life. Having a baby has sucked the creative juices out of my body.

My first car

I bought this car (1984 Toyota Corolla) when I was 15 1/2 years old. I paid a whopping $500 for it... ....Yesterday I sold it for $600. I'm now 28 years old.

The madness of March

I get a little obsessed this time of year with the Men's NCAA basketball tourney. Things go from bad to worse if my wife beats me in our tourney pick 'em pool.

Friends of ours at WSU

Check this out it's a story about a friend of ours, Melissa at Washington State University. Great insight into dorm ministry. We do alot of similar stuff here at MSU. The strange thing is that I graduated high school with her husband Bobby. Bobby is in fact the funniest person I've ever known in my life.

The weekend

My daughter went for her first hike this weekend in Big Sky, MT.

She got a little tired walking 1.5 miles so I had to carry her.

The trail got a little intense and we had do pull out our ice climbing gear...don't worry Jenna was fine.

I'm getting old

I honor of my 200th post....

"I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I've said." -Alan Greenspan-

Jack Bauer

We've been using Netflix since we got back in town and in the last two weeks we've gone through 16 episodes of '24' season 1. What's nice is that each episode is only 42 minutes long. Can you imagine that during a single episode of '24' that airs on broadcast tv there is 18 minutes of commercials! That's crazy.

Anyway, the show is good....leaves you hanging...thus the addictive nature. Although there are some inconsistencies, like how Jack can drive all the way across LA in 8 minutes. Last week while I was giving Jenna a bottle in the middle of the night I caught myself wondering if Jack Bauer's family was going to be alright.

Collide 06 Closing Video

This is the closing video of the 2006 winter conference in Portland. A friend of mine named Brent Powell made this! Check it out.

New pictures

I vow to be a better blogger....starting now. This picture says...."I'm to lazy to put on my pants."

Please click on the link to the right if you would like to see more pictures of Jenna. Enjoy!

Survival mode

People ask us all the time, "How are you doing?" To which we respond with a rousing yawn and nodding off.

In reality we're doing pretty well handling the little girl. I miss sleeping more than 3-4 hours at a time. Life definitely changes....it's amazing how little I can accomplish in a day now. We'll find our groove soon, I hope. Thank goodness for our church family who has been bringing us great meals!

Jenna is doing great. Eating, sleeping and pooping...and occasionally laying around staring at any interesting large objects. That's her routine...not mine (in case you were confused).

Jenna's pouty lip

This is our entertainment lately. We haven't got out much.

Lots of diapers

Jenna is one month old today! She's huge...almost 8lbs! We're doing great other than the sleep deprivation. We're still figuring out how to actually accomplish stuff during the day without any sleep the night before. But check it out...she's pretty cute.

Beyond the Ultimate

On Sunday, February 4, millions of sports enthusiasts around the world will tune in to watch the ultimate game in professional football as Tony Dungy's Indianapolis Colts face Lovie Smith's Chicago Bears.
Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, has teamed up with both head coaches and several players to create an opportunity for them to use this historic stage to talk about their common faith in Jesus Christ.

On Friday, February 2, Campus Crusade has placed a full-page advertisement in the USA Today Super Bowl special section. The ad features both head coaches and points readers to a special Web site, www.BeyondTheUltimate.org.
The Web site features articles and streaming video from players and coaches who share their stories and talk about their faith in Jesus Christ. Additional articles and a clear presentation of the gospel create multiple opportunities for site visitors to learn how they can begin a relationship with God and receive God's love and forgiveness.

Pictures link

Please notice the new link on the right to all the baby pictures you fanatical people can handle! Love you...mean it!

More pictures of Jenna....

for our demanding audience



Jody and Jenna with our friends Amy and Rosie.


The car seat ride home.


It's a rhetorical question on her shirt