Well it has been awhile since I have blogged on the site.  Spring has finally sprung and with it the warmer weather has come.  There is a certain renewal that happens for those of us who must suffer through a season of cold when the weather warms.  I just love the simple things like not having to shovel snow, clean off my car, or even bundle up abby to go outside.  I just pick her up and we are on our way.

Speaking of Abby,  she is currently pulling a late night by reading books and playing with toys in her room.  You see, we can get her to go to her room but just not stay in her bed.  Oh, I remember the days of the crib!  She was stuck in there till we got her out.  Now she has some big time freedom and is currently taking advantage of it!

I have been reading Brian Mclaren's book "Everything must change".  His take on many things tends to expand my mind.  I never seem to look at things the same way one I have read of his books.  If you can pick it up it will definitely get you thinking.

I recently saw Rob Bell speak at the "Drops like Stars" speaking tour.  Talk about expanding your mind!  The guy is unreal and sure has a gift.  His take on pain and suffering was of course innovative but also very helpful.  He asked you a lot of questions and I just love the fact that he doesn't have to answer all of them.  He did this exercise with the whole crowd with a bar of soap which was incredible!  If you can get the DVD of the tour you won't regret it!

Peace

Hovs

Hey everyone,

It's been awhile since I have updated my blog so sorry about that.  I put a picture of me and Abby playing around with our I Mac.  We are trying to act all tough and everything.  I'm not sure how it worked out but I think we pulled it off.  I am just recovering from an amazing time at SpringHill camps where I took our high school students this last weekend.  Eric Timm was the speaker and he did a tremendous job.  He spoke in a kind of Dane Cook meets an in your face preacher style and it really clicked with my students.  Check him out online at ericsamueltimm.com.  He is an amazing painter as well and he really connected with my students with his painting as well.

I must admit I really love when the arts are incorporated into worship.  This weekend, as the band Red Umbrella played, Eric painted along with the worship songs.  It was an amazing thing to experience worship with all your different senses.  I truly would love to one day lead a church in that direction.

Anyways,  I bought an I Pod battery replacement kit online and went to install in to my I Pod.  I took the plastic tool out to open the I Pod and broke the tool trying to open the I Pod.  I then felt it best to call the company and just pay the extra 10 bucks for them to fix it.  I am now off to the post office to ship to them my I Pod and also the battery that they just shipped to me.

Well that is me... oh I'm really digging the new song my U2 titled "Get on your boots".  The album comes out in one month or so.  I can't wait!

Hovs

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the new year.  We had a great Christmas!  I have included a picture of Abby opening her gifts so you can get an idea of what are Christmas was like.  It was a lot of fun.  Sometimes I forget what it must be like for a little kid at Christmas.  Abby helped me remember this year.

I spent Christmas Eve at the church this year for 10 or so hours as we had four services!  They were all well attended and on top of that I really enjoy them.  They get me in the Christmas spirit!

I am currently reading at book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan.  It is an incredibly challenging book and I have enjoyed it very much.  I would encourage anyone to piick up a copy and read it.  The theme of the book is that God has crazy love for us and wants to have a relationship with us.  Our response to this amazing fact is usually something like going to church, trying not to mess up and singing praise songs.  Chan challenges us with the simple premise that something is wrong.  It's a challenging book so don't pick it up unless you want to be challenged big time.

Happy 2009

Hovs

Tonight was my high school youth group's annual Christmas party.  We packed a house out with students, volunteers and lots of food.  This year the family that hosted the party knew someone who played the harp!  That was pretty tight!  I gave a Christmas challenge to the students tonight and i think it went o.k.  It's available on the website under audio if you want to listen to it.

This year's challenge was a lot different than my past years' stuff.  As i started to research the Christmas story again, I realized how scandalous it was and is.  Here was Mary who was married to Joe but they hadn't had sex yet (the year waiting period thing) and she was pregnant.  If this happened today it would be whispered about and gossiped about so i can't imagine what it was like back then.  Mary was all of 15-17 years old and had to explain to her husband that she was pregnant by God and that she was still a virgin.  Talk about a tough conversation over dinner.  Joe must have been heart-broken and just blown away by the news.  The Bible says he was ready to divorce her quietly which was the noble thing to do.  This would have allowed her to live instead of a public stoning so Joe was doing the right thing.  Then you see as the angels explain to Joe everything that happened and what he needed to do and how he responds to this.  He had to go against all this tradition and have Mary stay with him and break the year long waiting period that was the custom.  Who knows what people were saying about him and his wife then!  I tried to convey to the students tonight just how big of a sacrifice Mary and Joe went through to have Jesus Christ.  Sometimes I think we make the situation a little too tame so it's appropriate for church.

Well, in other not so serious news, our beloved Detroit Lions went 0-14 today with a captivating 31-21 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.  It was tied 21 all and then the Lions did their thing in the final 8 minutes of the game.  They are now in the history books with only 2 other NFL teams to have gone 0-14.  Next week they make a run at having the record all on their own!

Peace,

Hovs

Today was my first day learning how to do web publishing.  My web-manager and good friend Joe Wells of Superhouse was training me.  In truth I feel like my head is going to explode.  It was amazing to see all that goes into publishing this web-site.  I have been reading through the Twilight book series the last three weeks.  It is an incredible storyline and really popular with today's teens.  Anyways.... i wrote a one-session curriculum for the first book/movie "Twilight".  I will post it up on the website if you would like to use it for your group.

Family-wise, Abby jumped out of her crib twice last night so we have moved to a bed.  Abby is now sleeping on the floor with her mattress while we get the rest taken care of!  I will talk to you all more later!!!!

Hovs