Saturday, May 21, 2011

En route...

Tonight the boardwalk sits empty.  

The shops haven't opened, the ferris wheel has been stalled for 8 months, the games sit quiet, and Curly's French Fries' smell has waned to a minimum.

But tonight, I will arrive in Wildwood.
After 6 months of planning and praying, I will finally arrive in Wildwood.  I'll sleep at 121 E. Maple St. for the first time in 5 years.

It seems a bit surreal.  I'm currently en route and I can almost already smell that distinct ocean smell once you cross from the mainland into Wildwood.

If you are the praying kind, would you pray?
Pray for my summer.  I am nervous.
Pray for our summer.  We want to love.  and love well.

 ... In just a few days the rest of our staff team will arrive -- we eagerly await them!
 ... In just a few more days, 50 students (from across the country) will make their summer home with us in Wildwood, New Jersey.
 ... And in just several more days, the Wildwood boardwalk will open, and hundreds of thousands of people will fill the town with life.

We believe not one person will enter this town by mistake. 

May souls encounter the divine this summer.

And may Wildwood make its way into peoples' hearts as a remembrance for things witnessed and encountered.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

How You Can Play a Part...

I never thought I would put this on my blog...
but after several blog-followers have been asking, I've decided in favor of it. :)

Some of you have asked how you can be a part of my story with CRU, and specifically support my summer in Wildwood.
     2 Things -- 
1: Go to http://tinyurl.com/3wcl4p5 ...you can financially give right here on-line.
2: If you believe in prayer -- pray.

If you'd like to be part of my summer, part of my ministry with CRU, these are my 2 biggest needs.

Thanks to those who have asked!
Thanks to those who so desire to be a part of my story and my journey!  I am grateful for you.  May you be blessed.  :)

Monday, May 16, 2011

This is awesome...

From the teeter-totter, to braces, to the volleyball locker room, to Prom, to Mount Union's Nat'l Championship, through to today...
Every #1 Billboard Hit from 1993-2011:

Sunday, May 15, 2011

40 Things That Will Make You Feel Old

The full post here.

Top 5 Songs 15 Years Ago:

Surge hasn't been sold in over 10 years.

The cast of Boy Meets World's ages:

Goosebumps books were released between 1992 and 1997.  There hasn't been a new one in 14 years:

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Tweets that Didn't Quite Make the Cut...

I thought all of the following today.  And I wanted to tweet every single one of them.  But I didn't want to overload my followers; I like to think of myself as a "sensitive-to-my-followers Tweeter."

Tweets that Didn't Quite Make the Cut today:

I claim to like Edamame for its vegetable value -- really, I think it's because they serve as 100 mini-salt licks for me.

I'm naturally a bit pigeon-toed -- there are moments when it is severe.  For some reason, the more pigeon-toed I walk, the cooler I feel.

The amount of times I said "I would never..." -- and then did -- keeps me fresh in remembering I am not above anything.  Ever.

Change is a slow process (and can feel like watching water come to a boil).  Looking through 3 years of journals today, however, I am totally different at 24 than I was at 21.  (Thank God).

"Friday Night Lights," my current Netflix obsession, has too many plot lines to keep itself going for more than 5 seasons.  Which is a shame.

Chapman needs to add a 6th Love Language to his current 5: Facebook wall posts.

I'm gonna start making Polar Pop art.  Those BIG ol' cups are asking to be made into a mural.
 (I will NEVER actually follow through on this [when's the last time I followed through on anything?] -- but you should -- and you can give me props when your famous).

Sunday, May 8, 2011

I cried over bumblebees?

Earlier this afternoon I found myself snuggled up on my couch with all the doors and windows open (following a day spent on the Maumee River and a date with Mr. Freeze).  It was the first enjoyable summer breeze I've experienced all year.

I sat on my couch simply dazing out the window.  It may have been the first time in months where I had just gotten to sit -- with no agenda, no thing to check off, and no place to be.

Two bumblebees were making their way into the flowers of the tree and I couldn't help but be engrossed by watching them.  By watching their next move.  And, then, all of the sudden, several unexpected tears began to roll down my cheek.  Not being much of a crier, I began to ask myself, "what the heck is wrong with me?  Why the crap am I crying about two bumblebees?"

But I began to realize, I wasn't crying over some stinkin' bumblebees, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of life that was bursting forth outside.  The purple flowering tree, the tulips, the dogwoods, the mini purple crocus, the daffodils, etc.  I was remembering just a mere few weeks ago the deadness that weighed like a plague.  The trees were bare, the sky was gray, it was cold, and there was not even a hint of a flower.

But, today, there was life.  Life bursting everywhere you looked.

The dead has been brought to life.  The empty, barren branches are now filled with greenery -- with leaves and colorful flowers!  The empty, barren soil is now bearing life -- daffodils, lilacs, tulips!  It's really a beautiful thing.

There is hope for the dead to be made alive.

And, generously, that sweet purple flowering tree of life gave forth life to those sweet bumblebee lovebirds.

The story of death to life we see outside our window points to something greater.

May dead, barren trees be made alive and bear fruit as they were meant to do.
May dead, barren souls be made alive and bear fruit as they were meant to do.

May trees full of life give forth life as they were meant to do.
May souls full of life give forth life as they were meant to do.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Dads are the Original Hipsters

Let's just be honest, our dads were hipsters way before our generation.  Our dads wore deep-V's way before us, donned ugly sweaters decades before us, rocked the 'stache before we even dreamed of it, and tube socks were his staple.

Bein' a hipster is cool, but let's give credit where credit is due.

Sorry hipsters, your dad was the original hipster and he was killing it back in the day.