I'll be taking a break from blogging for the next 6 weeks because there's so much going on as I begin a transition for my family in the weeks ahead. I look forward to sharing some experiences from the summer as well as reflections of our ministry in Baytown and hopes in Little Rock. I'll resume blogging in August after we've made our transition.

I haven't had much time to post lately. This is my busy time as a youth minister. I just returned from a week in Colorado with a small group of high school students and adults. We climbed a mountain and rappelled. I must confess that though I may have seemed calm and together on the rock I really thought I was going to wet my pants when I looked over the edge of the rock and was told to lean back. I was 165 ft off the ground!

I've been thinking about food for a while. Eating is one of my favorite hobbies. I have a weakness for pizza. It's actually a lack of self-control. Deana says that my criteria for a good restaurant is quite low. For me, in order for it to be a good place it has to include "all you can eat." This makes sense if you know me well because I'm not good with big decisions. I have been known to change directions 3-4 times in order to make up my mind where to go to eat. You don't have to choose what to eat at a buffet. Just get one of everything (two or more of some things in my case.) Now the one thing you won't hear from me at a Golden Corral or Ryans is, "I think I'll go back for another plate of those steamed carrots." I'll go back for more steak or bourbon chicken, maybe even mashed potatoes, but never for more broccoli or carrots.

My favorite buffet place in the whole world is Loui's Backyard at South Padre Island, TX. It's a seafood buffet. If you love seafood, it's awesome.

I thought I'd give you an update on my mom's move from last week. It was quite eventful to say the least. Here are just a few highlights from the move.

1. I got sick the day after I got there. By Tuesday, I had a fever of 101 (I would have been hot blooded if I had a fever of 103... enough of the bad YM humor) and I pretty bad cough and sore throat. Sore throat is now mostly gone, but the cough lingers.

2. Wednesday morning several people from mom's church family at Baker Heights were helping us load up the U-Haul. We finished around 10:30 AM and pulled her Buick LeSabre onto the trailer. When the man went to get out, he couldn't open the door more than 2 inches because the trailer wheel-well was in the way. After about 20 min, we figured out a way to roll up mom's windows, lock her car and get the key out. A teenager from her church with longer arms than mine was able to reach through the 2-inch crack in the door to get to the ignition. Well, this was a problem when I arrived in Brownfield at 2:30 PM. My arms weren't long enough to get the keys back in the ignition. After nearly 20 min of trying to come up with a way to get into the car, we decided to remove the wheel well. As we were looking for bolts, we found these two latches which just so happened to dwing the top of the wheel well down just low enough for a car door to swing open.... hmmmm..

3. At the end of the day and after enduring the stress of the move as well as about 2000 questions for three days I was taking the U-Haul to a local dealer in Brownfield. The U-Haul dealership consisted of a tiny dirt parking lot with a shack no bigger than a snow cone stand in it. I missed the turn and pulled into JC Septic and Backhoe Services. One problem. I couldn't turn around. The space was too small. SO, I pulled in front of JC Septic and Backhoe Service's office. As I did, I heard a loud crack and sound of rubble crashing down on top of the U-Haul. JC's Septic and Backhoe Services sign now reads "C's Sep and Backhoe". Apparantly the sign wasn't taller than the 11-ft clearance needed by the U-Haul. I found out the next day the bill for that one would be about $1100. Of course, I "didn't need U-Haul's insurance" which I was told would only cost $35 more.

4. By the end of the day, boxes were in the back bedroom, mom's bed was set up and furniture was in place. My aunt and uncle did a phenomenal job restoring the house! They are amazing people.

Anyways those were just a few of the events from the move.