and...

i'm on MySpace now too, by the way. Please be my friend.

New friends...

Last night was the banquet for Mid Shore Young Life, or as I like to call it baptism by fire. It was a crazy night. I got to be called Area Director, that made me feel important. Being the new guy, and only having been there for about 72 hrs before the banquet, my role was to try to meet and remember as many folks as possible. 3. I think I can remember 3 peoples names. I'll call it a success. When I was introduced, I decided to go ahead and take a picture of everyone staring at me to break up the moment. I was so nervous, and my hands were shaking, so this is what came out:







I didn't want to push my luck and ask for another one.

Another first for me was the lacrosse game tonight. I don't get it. I'm working on it. All I know is you have a little baskct attached to a stick and some of the sticks are longer. The scoring is one point at a time, and and average score is around 16-12 or thereabouts.

Here I am....

Well. It's been a freaking CRAZY week. I had the best going away party ever, I packed up almost the entirety of my belongings into the Audi, and I drove 14oo miles to my new home!

First, the party. Thank you to all who attended, and those of you who considered attending. It would be an understatement to say that I felt loved. It was certainly more than I would have ever asked for. I'll remember it as long as I live.

Second, packing it up. It was a good chance to get rid of that Members Only jacket that I haven't worn since '89, among other things. I didn't know I had so much junk. It was good to be selective, and purge my life of excess. In the end it all fit in the Audi with room enough to see out the back window, and be sure my bike wasn't being dragged behind the car.

Third, the 1400 miles. That's a long way to drive alone. I left on Friday morning. I got bored. I didn't even make it out of Missouri before I got flipped off for the first time. Apparently truckers don't like it when you pull out in front of them; even when you have plenty of room to make it. I decided that 17hrs wasn't a good idea in one day, so I decided to get to Charleston, WV where I met a man who hadn't been to DC "since they put those interstates in". Are you serious?? That was in the '50s! He didn't seem to even be that old. I stayed at the Travelodge because the sign said free high-speed internet. Apparently to WV folks that means your own dial-up ISP, which I do not have. If I had, most of this post would have been taken care of then, now you're reading (skimming likely) a wicked long post. Sorry. It rained the entire time I was in the state of WV. On Saturday I made it to DC, and had a great time with the Crabbs and Jeffer. Mike, Jeff and I went to Shelly's, our favorire cigar bar in DC, near the White House. Mike's IJM friend Jessica bought us pizza for dinner. That was nice of her. On Sunday I met my sister in Baltimore. She was there for a conference by chance, so we enjoyed Maryland Eggs Benedict (with Crabb meat instead of ham) on the Inner Harbor. Then it was on to Easton for my first day of work, which consisted of a committee meeting, and prayer for the banquet here on Tuesday.

So here I am, living with the Wise family, and I am the Fast Track Area Director of Mid Shore Young Life.

That's what I know. More to come as awesome stuff happens.

Makin' like a baby...

Above is a photo of the main street of my new home, Easton, MD. Yeah, I said it, my new home. I am moving next Friday. I got a job with Young Life as a fast track intern/area director. I guess I'll see ya later.

I'm really excited to travel down the path that God is revealing.

I don't know many people East of the Mississippi, so you can expect a lot more this blog soon, although the content might be weepy self-reflection junk.

Come visit; the ocean is nearby.

For those of you that are just finding out now, sorry, I tried to tell everyone I could.

...and headin' out.