So,  I was able to go home for several days over Thanksgiving week.  I got to see friends in Jeff City, spend time with my parents, see my extended family, and spend time at my brother’s as well!  It was great!  HOWEVER … if you read this thing, you will remember that I started doing P90X 3 weeks ago … and its actually been going well.  I’ve been committed to the exercises and actually lost about 9 pounds before going home for Thanksgiving … then … well, I didn’t do so great at home!  I mean it is just a little more difficult when there are little snacks ready for the taking, and copious amounts of desserts at Thanksgiving dinner … and usually this is the time of year when those pesky little extra pounds start to make a comeback … BUT when I got back this morning, I read Ragamuffinsoul, a blog I follow discussing the same frustration and a challenge was presented.  I’m taking him up on it.  Here’s what he says:

“You heard about that worship leader getting drunk that night and rolled your eyes…
That pastor who has been flirting with his secretary makes you nauseous…
You can’t believe they let their kids get away with that…

All the while, from Thanksgiving to New Years, you live the most hypocritical life imaginable.
You stuff your face with food till you can’t walk, multiple times, and gain some lbs. in the process.
You let your serving God replace your knowing God.
You ignore your family because you are too busy volunteering and helping someone else.

I see no difference between the first list and the second list.
So let’s stop using the holidays as an excuse to stop being healthy.
Let’s kick off this season with 30 days of physical, spiritual, and emotional health.”

So, my 3 benchmarks are:

Physical – lose 10 pounds by Christmas and develop healthier eating habits …

Spiritual- memorize 5 new verses before Christmas

Relational- be intentional about re-connecting with some old friends

So, here goes nothing … I’ll keep you updated on my progress!

Tomorrow is December!  Can’t believe it!  Hope you are all well!  Maybe not physical, spiritual or relational … but what are your goals leading up to Christmas?

-E

So, a lot (not all, but a lot) of my work schedule is dependent upon the collegiate calendar … like when students are gone on breaks, it means some of my regular responsibilities don’t happen … For example, this week we get Thanksgiving break starting tomorrow.  So, this week I’m able to go home and spend some quality time with friends and family.

I can hardly believe that the semester is almost over. Only 2 weeks of classes left after Thanksgiving break, then Finals, then … Winter Break!

I have a lot of reading that I would like to accomplish over these breaks, so we’ll see how that goes.  My blog was actually selected to be part of a book review “blog tour” for Mark Batterson’s new book “Primal”  So, I’ll receive the book in the next week or so, read it and have to review it here sometime before Christmas.

There is so much to be thankful for this year.  Good health, awesome family, great friends, an amazing job/ministry.  So let’s hear it folks … what are the things you are most thankful for this year?

-E

P.S.  The new Phil Wickham cd is amazing …

So this seems to be a recurring theme in my posts lately … things being new, new job, new places, experiences, etc.  Here are some more:

1) I’ve had the opportunity during the time I’ve been here to visit a few different churches, and haven’t rushed into getting involved for a couple different reasons.  Number one, wanting to make sure that whenever I do get involved that it is the right place, and number two, I haven’t been able to be around very consistently so far these first few months.  Next week I’ll be meeting with the pastor of a church that I’ve been to a couple of times (it is actually the church that I went to when I was in Cape Girardeau in 2005) to talk about the possibility of getting involved in a small group within the church and some potential ministry opportunities that I can be a part of to start volunteering in the church.  I’m excited about that!

2) Also, as of today it has been exactly one month since running the Chicago Marathon (man where does time go!) That being said … I lost between 15-20 pounds during my training for the marathon, without even changing my diet … just from the level of activity.  Well, due to nearly a month of relative inactivity since the marathon (and a cruise and birthday celebrations in there) … I’ve gained most of that back!  So, I’ve started a workout this week … I figure if I actually put it on here, that I might have some mental motivation/accountability to keep it up … have you seen the P90X infomercials?  Yep, that’s what I’m doing.  I bought it a couple years ago, started it, then hurt my ankle and couldn’t do it for a while, gave it to my brother for a while, and now I’ve started again … so here’s hoping that in 90 days I’ll be “ripped”  HA!  It really a pretty intense program, so we’ll see!  Maybe I’ll even be brave and post my before and after pictures if the results are noticeable! … maybe.

3) Again with the “new” theme …

2 Corinthians 5 :17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”

I’m recognizing this more in my life, and realizing that as I submit more to what the Lord desires for my life that my thoughts, desires, priorities are shifting … I have definitely noticed how God has specifically healed my heart of some past hurts, and changed my outlook on those things.  It’s just been very encouraging to finally see how God has worked in those situations and to live in the “newness” of those realizations … if that makes sense.  It does to me!

Taking a group of International Students to the City Museum in Saint Louis this weekend … should be fun.  Maybe some pictures to come!

Anyhow … things are good, and I hope the same is true for you!

-E

Well, another year has come and gone … and I must say that with all the hype about turning 30, and a bunch of people who said I should dread it … It has actually been one of the best years of my life!

There has been so much change this year. Some of the major headlines of my year: No Shave November (okay maybe not a major headline, but fun nonetheless), AFRICA, leaving a church position, making some unbelievable new friends, being challenged in new ways, summer in Jeff City, taking a new job – and being stretched by it every day, I trained for and ran in and finished the Chicago Marathon, and I experienced support and love of friends and family unlike many people ever have the fortune of experiencing.

Thank-you 30 for proving all those nay-sayers wrong!  Bring on 31!

Here are some photos to go with the highlights:

The beard:

AFRICA:

Jeff City Friends:

New job:

Marathon:

sorry it’s sideways…

Hope your year is great!

-E

I get no fewer that 10 new visits per day to my blog from people who have been sent to it after searching for Ho-Ho’s and Swiss Cake Rolls … all because of this post.

I need to know … are people REALLY that concerned about the differences between Swiss Cake Rolls and Ho Ho’s … I mean we did this for fun, but c’mon now … HUNDREDS of people have come to this post…  makes me laugh!  That particular post has been viewed exponentially more than any other … glad to know snack cakes are so important!

-E

It’s been a little bit since I’ve posted, and in an ongoing effort for personal/leadership growth I’ve been reading a lot.  I have a hefty stack of books that I’m trying to work my way through.

Here is what I’ve just finished and what I’m currently working on:

Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer:

Compelled by Love by Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation

Working on these now:

Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer and David Putman

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Listening to:

Not Guilty Anymore by Aaron Keyes

Catalyst Music Project by Various Artists

What are you reading/listening to?  And what have you been learning lately?

I don’t remember getting a “Fall  Break”  when I was in college.  Usually we were lucky to get an extra day at Thanksgiving … BUT SEMO gets a Fall Break AND 3 days at Thanksgiving!

So, this past Wed. – Sun. was Fall Break and we took a group of students on Fall Break Mission Trip to Cornerstone Farms in St. Jacob, IL to help out my friends David and Cortland.  They are a great family who run a horse ranch just outside of St. Louis with a missional goal.  They look to be the hands and feet of Christ through their lives and through the avenues that are available to them through running the horse ranch, riding school and non-for-profit therapeutic riding club.  We were unable to do a few of the things we had originally planned on due to weather, but we had a great time on the farm and I feel like we were able to accomplish a good amount of work while we were there.

We were able to work with a group of special needs adults who come out to the farm on a work program and got to be part of a therapeutic ride with them one day, helped to prepare for a large horse show that was supposed to happen on Saturday (which didn’t because of weather) and then helped to winterize a barn after our original plans were thwarted due to poor weather!  It was a great time to develop community with the group that we had there, and I was very excited for our group to get to know David and Cortland and their family, to hear their story of faithfulness to the Lord in their lives, marriage and their experiences on the mission field in Russia, the Middle East and St. Jacob, IL!

Here are a few pictures from the trip…

Jennifer getting ready to lead Paul on a Therapeutic ride:

LeAnn, Michael and Matt working on winterizing one of the barns:

Our group picture on the farm … horse barns in the background (of course it would be sunny on the day we leave):

Working on Thanksgiving and Finals week events now, and before you know it Spring Break Mission Trip plans will have to be finalized!

… because of Christ …

-E

Okay, so a lot has happened since my last post, and a lot is still happening … so here is a quick run-down:

Last week I was able to attend the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta with several other campus missionaries/BSU directors from Missouri.  It was a great conference with great presenters/speakers.  The most valuable part to me was probably the time I had to fellowship and talk with other men who are doing the same thing I am doing all over the state … learning from their experiences/advice.  It was great.  I’ve told a few people this, but each time I go to a conference like that it is like trying to take a sip from a fire hydrant!  So much information in such a short period of time.  There were some pretty profound things said at that meeting that I’m still processing … maybe more thoughts on that later!

I then left Atlanta and flew to Chicago to run in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon with Team World Vision.  (you can click that link to see why I ran, and to continue to give to the cause that I ran for) I had been training for about 6 months for the marathon and was excited that the weekend was finally here … but no part of my training in warm-er weather could have prepared me for the start temperature of 30 degrees on Sunday morning!  It was so cold in the windy-city.  The run was tough, especially the last 5-6 miles, but I completed it in an official time of 4 hours 24 minutes and 22 seconds …. finishing 17,132nd out of 33,608 finishers!  LOL   I have been asked several times since Sunday if I’ll run another one … and my answer has been “never say never” … but for now, I’m fine having some time back in my life not running!

I got back into town late Sunday evening from Chicago, and today I’m leaving with a group of students from the university on our Fall Break Mission Trip.  We’re going on a service project trip to a horse ranch just outside of St. Louis that runs a non-profit ministry to handicapped and special needs children and adults.  We’ll be working on getting some things repaired and ready for some upcoming events that they have at the ranch.  I’m excited for our students to meet the owners, to hear their stories and the vision that they have for the ministry of their farm!

Like I said, it’s been busy, but it will slow down a little bit here soon … I even have a cruise coming up at the end of the month!  Great timing on that deal!

Be Blessed!

-E

Ha ha.  Seeing how it has been about 15 days since my last post, my “getting back into a regular schedule” didn’t work out too well!

This weekend our ministry is taking students to the Missouri Baptist Convention collegiate “Getaway” retreat.  Getaway has a special place in my heart.  I had  a lot of fun times with friends while I was a student involved in BSU attending Getaway:  the dance/skit with Angela Herring, the Princess and the Knave skit with Mark for the talent show, jumping in the lake (shhh), our BSU showing up with everyone in overalls … and my freshman year at Getaway was the first time I can look back and remember that God spoke directly to me through reading His Word.  There is something special about being able to  get-away from all the distractions in life, to get-away from the hustle and bustle of campus life, homework, etc., to sit back and relax, have fun, and most importantly to hear from the Lord.

So, if you think about it, pray for our ministry and the students that will be traveling with me this weekend, that they would encounter the Lord in a new way, that we would bond and connect on a deeper level as a ministry, and that we would have safe travels to and from Tan-Tar-A.

Hope everyone is doing well!

-E

Okay, here’s attempt #1 at getting back onto a somewhat “regular” blog schedule from the Cape.

Took my long weekend to continue finish unpacking from the move, and to fit in my long training run (it was an 18 miler this weekend) … I can’t believe that the marathon is only a month away!  Still raising $ before the race to help benefit the ministry of World Vision to under-developed villages in Africa … if you’re interested helping let me know!

So, I thought I’d just give a quick update today with some things that I’ve been reading and listening to lately.  I’ve got a LARGE stack of books on my desk at home that I am looking forward to getting to, but need to get settled in to a little bit of a more regular schedule right now before I start too many of them!

So here’s the list:

Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal

It’s a great book that challenges your thinking on what the Church is and should be and gets you to thinking about how to live a missional life.

Samson and the Pirate Monks by Nate Larkin

A book for men on authentic brotherhood, challenging men to find community with one another where you can be completely real, completely honest and free to be who God created you to be.

Listening:

This is my current favorite:

Jimmy Needham  “Not Without Love”

I’ve heard some of his other stuff, but this one has been on repeat since I got it.  This may be a terrible description, but sort of like the Jason Mraz of Christian music? … whatever it is, I like it!

That’s what I’ve got for now… what are you reading or listening to?  Any recommendations?

-E