CHIC UNDONE 2009

From July 12-16 I had the opportunity to attend a youth conference called CHIC. CHIC stands for Covenant High In Christ. This conference is sponsored by the Evangelical Covenant Church and happens every 3 years.

The trip started out with a 24 hour bus ride departing from Duluth, MN and ending at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. We started our journey at 11:45 AM and arrived the next day at 10:00 AM. I have done many bus rides in my day, but despite the many stops we made along the way, I was unsuccessful in trying to find a comfortable position to accumulate a significant amount of sleep. We did make it without any significant problems.

Upon arrival I found Massey Hall and checked in to my dorm room. Yes I stayed in the dorms. Thankfully the dorm room had air conditioning but the bed was quite uncomfortable. After check in I began to explore the campus. Unfortunately for me my room was on the opposite side of the campus from where everything was going on. With the handy dandy little map I was able to navigate my way around campus.

There were tons of things to do and I liked swimming, playing frisbee, listening to live music, playing some basketball, and doing some crafts.

The main event of the evening was called Mainstage. We sang worship music lead by the CHIC worship band, Israel Houghton, David Crowder Band and Third Day. I learned about mission work in Thailand and was challenged by some speakers. The speakers I listened to were Erwin McManus who challenged us to make sure that we dream big. He emphasized I should never think my dreams are ordinary. He called me to dream of a life to make the world better.

On the second night Shane Claiborne spoke of "The Simple Plan." He had the opportunity to work with Mother Teresa. His story is amazing. Shane challenged us, "the best thing to do is give the best thing away." His story is amazing and I would encourage you to google him to learn more. He lives simply.

On the third night we listened to the pastor of Elevation Church of Charlotte NC Steven Furtick. Steven assured us that despite any mistake made in the past the Lord will forgive. He said, "God didn't put you in this world to survive it, he put you here to change it."

And on the final night I listened to Efrem Smith from Santuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis MN. Efrem challenged me not be afraid of God's call and to have time to find God's call. He asked us to have courage to answer God's call no matter what it may be.

It was a great week to refocus my life and remember that there are so many more important things in this life that stuff you can buy with money.

I would strongly encourage you to google CHIC UNDONE 2009 if you are curious. CHIC 2012 is going to be great.

Free Drive in Movie

I just wanted everyone to know about a movie that will be playing at Lakeview Covenant Church. Lakeview Covenant Church is located at the corner of Glenwood Street and Jean Duluth Road. The exact address is 1001 Jean Duluth Road. Please call the church with any questions 525-6625. The movie is free with a concession stand. You will be able to sit or watch from your car and have the sound play through FM frequency. It is going to be lots of fun. Hope to see you there and invite some friends.

Funny Stories from Emma

As many of you know Emma is almost 5 years old. As she learned that a new baby will be arriving in the near future, she is adamant of a few things. I must preface this story by telling you Heather and I will not find out what the baby will be prior to the birth. So with that said, Emma is telling people 1 of 3 things when they ask her about her new sibling. Emma says, “My mommy has a baby brother and baby sister in her tummy.” Second she may say, “My mommy has a baby brother in her tummy.” Third she may say, “My mommy has a baby sister in her tummy.”

And with that said, Emma has come up with some names for her new brothers or sisters, they are Tresa, Sally, Natalie, Callie, Ashley, Dora, Emma, Eddie, or Heather.

Heather and I laugh every time we hear someone ask Emma because we never know what she might say.

Twitter

I kept hearing about it everywhere. Twitter this and Twitter that and kept wondering what all the fuss was about. So because I was bored I decided it was time to give Twitter a try. First I downloaded the free app on my Iphone and then learned you must register online on your computer. So, I did that step and what I then learned was finding a user name is quite difficult because most names have already been taken. I guess I didn’t think Eddie_B, Ed_B, Edwin_B would be taken so I had to settle for Eddie_Bash.

After finding a user name I had to find some friends to follow and then I decided it was time to follow some celebrities. Now the hard part with this step is figuring out if this is the real celebrity or some one pretending to be. Luckily when celebrities share their user name on the TV it makes that decision real easy. So far I am following Dennis Rodman, Shaq, Kevin Love (MN T-Wolves), Britney Spears and ESPT PTI show. Of course I have a couple close friends but I am also learning no too many people are choosing to enroll in Twitter. At least the people I know.

Other aspects of Twitter I am learning about is that random people can decide to “follow” you. This part can be tricky. Because when someone decides to follow you, if you want to block them you must go online because that option is not available on the free Twitter Iphone app. So in my first 2 weeks of Twitter I have had to block about 10 “weird” people from following me.

Last, I am trying my best to recruit people to this social networking device. I have been on my sister who recruited me to start Facebook to get on Twitter. I mean if you have an Iphone there would be no reason why you wouldn’t be on Twitter. Come on it is a FREE download. As time goes on, life becomes more hectic and hard to keep up on these channels. I mean now I am Blogging, Facebook and Twitter. As you all know my Blogging has fallen behind and time limits my flexibility to Blog, Facebook and Tweet. So I hope many of you will now begin to Tweet, and as Conan O’brien does we can all have a Twitter Tracker!!!

I Drink Diet Coke No More

Last week I made a harsh decision with a friend of mine. We decided it was time to give up one of our true loves, yep that’s right, Diet Coke and all soda. We no longer enjoy this sweet nectar of the Cola gods. We will no longer spend that $1.49 on a 20 ounce at the gas station when we fill up. We will no longer feel the sugar of a Mountain Dew eat away at the enamel of our teeth. We will no longer get that caffeine high we crave half way through the day. All soda is now on the endangered species list of our lives.

I am not going to lie this past weekend was very hard. There was nothing better I would have liked to do than crack open a nice cold Diet Coke. But with the help of my wife and the thoughts in the back of my head I could not let my friend down, I resisted the temptation and enjoyed an even better ice cold glass of……WATER. Water is so good and I have invested in the Crystal Light single serving packets to make my water tropical, lemonade, and even other funky brands from Crystal Light.

Now this doesn’t mean I have eliminated caffeine from my diet. I still enjoy two nice cups almost every morning with some sugar free French vanilla creamer. I am not crazy. I still need some caffeine in my life but it will no longer come from my first love, Diet Coke. Tomorrow will be one week without pop and I will and must keep you all updated on my progress. I know you will all be sitting at the edge of your seats in anticipation to hear how my progress is going. I appreciate your prayers, texts and messages of support during this difficult time. Thank you and God Bless.