Have you ever been in a meeting where it is literally all but one person on one side of an issue and only one on the other.

Our strategy team meeting was like that today. It was a very intense meeting and one that I found myself incredibly intrigued by.

To me it was very interesting observing the different communication styles that came into play.

As someone who studied communication in college and makes a living communicating, I’m always attentive to different communication interactions

In the end this “conflict” was resolved, once it was discovered that we were simply talking about two different things.

It’s funny what being on the same page can do for a conversation.

Ministry ebbs and flows. There are incredibly busy seasons and then there are those seasons that are less busy (every season is busy to some degree). I’m currently in the most busy season of the year for Children’s ministry. With camps, fireworks, preparations for the fall… etc. the summer is busy. In addition there are some transitions that are taking place that only add to the “chaos” (I’ll go into the transitions more later).

I say all of this only to reassure those of you who read that once we make it through the busy season, my blogging will become more regular and of greater substance.

I simply have had to make a decision to put any serious blogging on hold, for the sake of work, my family, and ultimately my sanity.

With that being said, stay tuned for some more intense posts in the weeks and months to come.

This afternoon, our friends Ryan and Jen made the journey from Bellingham to Kent to spend the evening with us, eating burgers, watermelon and lime sorbet. It was a great afternoon.

We also managed to play some bocce ball and nintendo wii. It truly was a great afternoon and one that reminds me of just how luck I am to have such great friends.

Ryan and Jen, you guys are awesome and I appreciate your friendship.

I spread two yards of bark today over the flower beds in my back yard. I’ve been meaning to get it done for weeks, but just haven’t had the opportunity until today.

The thing I love about barking is the finished look that is provides the yard. Everything looks clean and sharp. the thing I’m not too fond of is the slivers.

I can’t tell you how many slivers I pulled from my hands, arms and legs today. In the end it was definitely worth it and the yard looks great, but what a pain.

That’s life though isn’t it. Full of little pains, little scrapes, little things getting under your skin. However, if you can get past those things, the end result is most often so beautiful.

Yesterday morning I awoke to the heaving noise my dog makes when he’s about to puke.

Not Good.

I can’t tell you how fast I flew out of bed trying to get him at least to the bathroom where cleanup would be easier. Unfortunately, despite my catlike reflexes the contents of his stomach ended up on our white carpet. Yuck!

I did manage to get him to the bathroom before round two, but I was still left with two messes to clean up.

Three messes actually. Somehow I managed to get a big smear of bile on my arm…nasty!

If you could be an expert on one thing, what would it be and why?

One of the things I love the most about my small group is their ability to have fun doing just about anything.

Tonight was the perfect example of that.

We got together for an informal evening at the park and ate watermelon and caramel rice cakes while playing “bump,” four square, kickball, Frisbee and catch.

What an incredibly juvenile yet memorable evening. I love my group and am so grateful to have so amazing friends.

Thanks for playing four square!

It’s time to save the planet and put the TP dispensing dispute to rest. Check out this “Brilliant” article.

Have you ever had one of those moments where life seems to be just as it should be?

Moments where things just feel right.

I had one of those moments this evening. I was out watering some of my plants in the back yard with my dog Cooper, and in that moment everything was as it should be.

I was out in my own yard, at home with my incredible wife, with the dog I had longed for since I was a child. It was amazing.

I know that may sound funny, but in that very simple moment, I felt such huge amount of gratitude for the life God has given me. I am blessed beyond belief and all too often I take that for granted.

It’s over. The STP is over.

We completed the 200+ mile journey at 2pm this afternoon. That was about 12 1/2 hours worth of riding over the course of the last two days at an average speed of 16.7 mph.

It really was a great experience filled with thrilling moments and others where I wanted to say bad things.

Nonetheless I am incredibly glad that I took part in the ride. Whether I’ll do it again next year is yet to be determined (I may want to try some other rides) but I consider this a great accomplishment.

I will have some pictures to post in the days to come, but I thought I’l let you all know that I’m safe and back home again after my two wheel journey.

I’ll write more when I’m not so tired.