Budapest

Tomorrow we're headed to the land of the Maygars, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and goulash.

mmmm....goulash

We'll be hanging out with staff from all over eastern europe and Russia at a conference. Should be a rocking good time. We have a duffle bag full of stuff (peanut butter, etc.) for our fellow Campus Crusade staff...it only weighs 46 lbs.

I've been to Budapest (pronounced Budapesht), but have not flown into Budapest before. So it should be a little bit of an adventure getting around the city. I'm also determined to partake of a Hungarian bath this time, but only if Pete Zagorda is with me.

On the road

For all 3 of you that read this.

We haven't dropped off the face of the earth. We've been on the road. We drove the 12 hours to Oregon right before Christmas. Jenna was a saint. She didn't cry once the whole way (although she's crying as I write this).

We had a great Christmas. It's way more fun with a kid.

We then drove to Portland for the annual Northwest Winter Conference. It was a rocking good time. In fact 3 girls from our campus turned their lives over to Christ while we were there!

Finally, I took two classes at Western Seminary in Portland January 2-5. They were so good and will probably mean I'll take some more in the future. By the time I'm 45 I might have a Masters degree.

All that to say, it's been a little busy lately and it's not done yet. Today we're headed back to Prineville for a few support appointments (and hopefully some good rest) and then Jody and I are flying to Budapest to meet up with stinters from all around eastern Europe and Russia.

Oh, and tomorrow is Jenna's first birthday!!!

Please continue to pray for safe travels for us. Also, pray for us as we leave Jenna at the grandparents while we're in Budapest.

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.