Fifty-eight....

My friend recently posted her 100th post and in tribute to that she listed 100 of her favorite things. I on the other hand have only posted a total of 58 times. I know what you're thinking, "why would you make a list of 58 of your favorite things, that wouldn't make any sense" well my response to you would be "you're not the boss of me and this is my blog i can do whatever i want." So here is the list of 58 of my favorite things. It's not in any particular order, but everything i LOVE will be bold.

1. Mint n chip ice cream
2. Intimacy with my wife (_e_)
3. New balance shoes
4. American Samoa
5. Cooking
6. Espn
7. GOD
8. Discovery Channel
9. Community
10. Yogurt from YM
11. LnL Hawaiian BBQ
12. Chick fil a shakes
13. Country Music
14. Song writing
15. My Two Sons (No not the t.v. show)
16. San Diego Chargers
17. Steak
18. Almond cookies (from Hawaii)
19. Holding hands with my wife
20. A clean house
21. A clean car
22. Singing songs with Cameron
23. Shopping
24. Parties
25. Softball
26. Massages
27. Nutter Butter cookies
28. Spam, eggs and Rice
29. Target
30. Reading
31. The Beach
32. My wifes touch
33. Killer apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory
34. Vans shoes
35. Peace and Quiet
36. Keith Urban
37. Oprah
38. Freddy Fender
39. My Father
40. My Mother
41. Guitar
42. Music
43. Kelloggs frosted flakes
44. Etta James
45. Rubbing my wife's feet
46. My cell phone
47. Air conditioning
48. Diet Pepsi
49. Rachel Ray
50. Food Network
51. Homemade peanut butter cookies
52. Trolley stop sandwiches
53. My son's cry for breakfast @ 6:30 a.m.
54. Riley's wave good-bye
55. Haircuts
56. Trader Joe's
57. Wine spritzers
58. My Church

When i hit my 100th post i'll add 42 more of my favorite things.

RFKC.....

Last Tuesday i had the privilege of being part of the Royal family Kids Camp program. I drove to camp praying about how i was going to connect with the kids. I was wondering how accepting they were going to be of me. When i pulled up to camp, i left my thoughts and my feelings at the foot of the cross. I just wanted to be available. When i arrived there i was greeted by my friend Heather Hammond who happened to be camp nurse and a very good one at that. I then met up with Mark Long and Gayle Freeborn who so kindly showed me around camp. They took me into the cabins and explained to me that every single counselor decorates the cabins with welcome signs to make the kids feel special when they arrive. How cool is that to have these counselors give up a whole week of work and responsibility to such a great and worthy cause. I was humbled by what i saw. The time came to lead the kids through a few songs to reflect and think about God's love for us. We sang and had fun for about an hour or so and then it was time to turn in. I stuck around a little bit with the staff afterwards and talked to some of them and got to here their stories. Now i was humbled by what i heard.

I left camp refreshed, revitalized and humbled and that was just being exposed for a few hours, i can't imagine how much more GOD would've jacked me up if i were there for a whole week like the others were. I felt a connection with the counselors and a great appreciation for Mark and Gayle and for all of the effort they put into this camp. I honestly believe that this is one of the best if not the best ministry at Journey.

On Sunday morning at church i got to hear cool stories from some of the counselors about how the rest of camp went. As i was getting ready to leave Gayle came and sat by me and told me a cool story that blessed me soo much. She told me a story of how after i left that night a little girl asked her counselor about GOD and brought up some of the things i said to them during that night. That very night that little gave her life to Christ, she was just one of many others who made a commitment that week. I was soo humbled that GOD could use me to make an eternal impact in these kids lives.

When i was there that night, a friend of mine Jim Ruffer gave me this red necklace with a starfish at the end of it. He said that it was given to him last year in hopes that he would pray about coming back to get involved and he did. He said that he was going to pray that my heart would be convinced to come back and be involved with camp next year for the whole week. He told this familiar story when he handed me the starfish.

One day a man was walking along the seashore. He noticed that during the night many seashells and starfish had washed upon the beach. Thoroughly enjoying the morning sun and cool sea air, the man walked for miles.

As he strolled along, he noticed a small figure dancing in the distance. It made him chuckle to think of someone celebrating life in such an uninhibited way. As he drew closer, however, it became apparent that the figure was not dancing. Instead, she seemed to be repeatedly performing some ritual.

He drew nearer still and noticed that the small figure was a child. She was methodically picking up starfish and tossing them into the surf. He paused for a moment, puzzled, then asked, "Why are you throwing these starfish?"

"It's high tide," she replied, "If I leave them on the beach, the sun will soon dry them and they will die. I am throwing them into the ocean so they can live." The man considered her actions, impressed with the child's thoughtfulness. Then he motioned up and down the miles of the beach. "There must be thousands of starfish along here," he said, "you cannot possibly make a difference."

The young girl stopped. Her face darkened. She chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip, "You're probably right," she said softly. She looked down at the sand. Then she leaned over, carefully picked up another starfish, pulled back and arched it gently into the sea.

With a tone of gentle defiance, she said, "But I made a difference for that one."

I have the starfish necklace now and it's going to serve as reminder in two ways. It'll remind me of God's power to change lives like he did last week at camp. Secondly it'll remind me to be praying about my involvement with camp next year. Can't wait to see how GOD's going to move.

Champs!

Yesterday we capped off a great softball season with two wins and claimed the right to be called the Co-Ed softball league champs. We had a great season of victory and yes defeat, but what i love the most is our "Community". In the picture you can see that it was more than just a game for us, it was a family affair. We were the only team who brought our families out to watch and cheer us on. I wish we would been able to catch the other kids in the picture but we'll get them next time.

So thanks to all of you who came out to support us this season. Thanks for the water, the jelly beans, fruit and all of the other goodies you brought out. Most of thanks for taking time out your busy days to cheer us on. Without you we wouldn't have been able to play as well as we did. This championship is yours just as much as it is ours. See you next season!!