Letters to Home.

In The Bathroom

2008-09-28T09:59:00.002-05:00

First, if often confuses me whether I should use the word "restroom" or "bathroom". I grew up calling any room with a toilet a bathroom, however, I don't bathe in every room that has a toilet. People call them restrooms, which makes sense, but I don't always rest in them. Sometimes I'm in a hurry, but I don't want to call it a hurryroom, because sometimes you NEED to take your time and get away.

Sometimes at work, I go to the bathroom (see, did it again) to check my voicemail and text messages. I still use it, but I use it to catch up on the outside world as well.

Anyway. Currently I am sitting at a coffee shop in Lincoln Park in Chicago waiting to go to church. Doing hoemwork, drinking coffee, you know, the usual. So I decided to go to the bathroom, because I had to. On the wall in the bathroom, up near the ceiling, the words, "to be continued..." are painted.

How discouraging. To be continued? You mean I'm not done yet? I'll have to make a return visit? What if I don't have time?

I like to think that when I am finished, I am finished- any subsequent trip is a new journey all together.

Guess not.

At work...

2008-09-17T23:08:00.003-05:00

there is a manager trainee for a Caribou in Wisconsin. I would like to introduce you to her, but since she is not on my blog, i decided to post a video that I feel represents pretty closely who she is...

Exotic Pets

2008-09-08T23:18:00.001-05:00

"if you find little skunk babies you can take their smell sacks out and make them pets."
-Krista Bradt

Size Matters (and related advice)

2008-09-08T11:00:00.005-05:00

I realize that you can read the title of this post two different ways. one being, "size matters," and the other being, "size-matters". But i guess if i meant this the second way, I would have typed it that way.

That had nothing to do about the post that is to follow.

IN the world today, everything comes in sizes, and we often hear the term, or response, "size matters." But, does it really? Does size really matter, and who is to decide if it does. Well, I must tell you that I am in a position to discuss the matters of size for one reason that, in my opinion, makes what i have to say very important for you to hear. the reason? I am a barista.

Now, I have discussed the matters of size with various different people that i interact with on a day to day basis, and we have all come to the conclusion that yes, size does in fact matter.

"What are you referring to?" You may ask. Well, I am referring to your drink of choice when you enter some of the finer coffee establishments in America. Or, if you happen to enter a starbucks.

To tell the truth, the post cannot, and will no be only about size. I am going to include some other things that you need to know in order to not make a barista frustrated with you, so that you can confidently enjoy your cup of coffee, or coffee based beverage, knowing that it was lovingly made.

1. Size: Know the size of the drink you want before you rattle off all of the modifications that you want to it. We cannot make your iced, decaf, 3 pump sugar-free-hazelnut latte, with 2 raw sugars thrown in without first knowing the size of the drink we are making. And almost nothing is more frustrating then hearing your entire drink order, asking you what size and having you make a confused face, in essence saying, "size? what do you mean? Can you not put my drink into any size?" Well, yes we can, but you should probably tell us so that we could properly ring you up.
2. If you go into a non-starbucks coffee shop, you do not need to refer to starbucks as our "competition," or "the other place," or "the s-one." We are not going to get angry that you go in there on occasion. Heck, as I type this I am sitting outside of a starbucks (and I work at caribou). Nobody will fire me for doing this. Its just another place to go. When I take the back roads to get to places, or when I avoid the highway, I don't roll down my window and apologize to the asphalt for sometimes taking the quicker route. I just don't, that would be weird.
3. When you are paying for your beverage, do not, i repeat, do NOT just put your money on the counter, when we are clearly there waiting for it. Now, I understand if we walk off to make your drink, and you want to just set it down since you don't need any change. But, if i tell you your total, then stand there as you dig through your wallet to pull our some wadded $1 bills, do NOT throw them on the counter. Want me to throw your change down on the counter? Because one day I will.
4. Do not, when your total comes out to $4.04, look in my tip jar for 4 pennies, instead of breaking another dollar. Yes, this has happened to me, and i looked at the lady with a, "you want me to hit you?" look on my face. So she pulled out another dollar.
5. Do not order something with non-fat milk, but still ask for extra whip cream. it's pointless. Simple as that.
6. Don't apologize for standing aside and looking at the menu before you order. Its ok. I'm a typically patient person. I'm not going to get mad because its your first, second, or thirtieth time there and you can't decide what you want. I do the same thing when I am at work and want to have a little sippy-sip behind the counter. We have choices. It's what makes america so great (just kidding about that last part. But why not throw in a little american pride in a blog post on occasion. It will get more people to read what you have to say).

That's all I have right now. I am going to grab a drink, and head back to class. Because not only am I a barista, I am a student. And that, my friends, is sometimes cool?

Politics and Blogging

2008-09-03T21:48:00.002-05:00

It seems that to be a legit blogger at all these days, especially now, in the days of presidential whatnots, you have to have at least a blog or two a week dedicated to politics. I don't even always have two blog posts a month, let alone a week. So to make up for it, I decided to make my very first post for the month of September, in the year 2008 dedicated to politics... particularly that involving presidents.

George Washington (1732-1799), was our country's first president. He remains to be the only president to ever win 100% of the votes from the electoral college. I think this is because he didn't even run against anyone. Did he? I bet he would have been a republican. For more up-to-date coverage, please go Here.

Conference Glare

2008-08-08T11:16:00.002-05:00

Right now I am at a conference at WIllow Creek: the Leadership Summit. This is the biggest conference that Willow holds each year, with it being broadcast to over 50 countries around the world.

Anyway, I am sitting in the second level of the church, the mezzanine,and its so interesting, yet scary to see that the majority of the men sitting in front of me have varying amounts of light reflecting off of their head. Some have none, some blind me with their glare.

Funny how many men in the church have bald heads. I hope I don't get there anytime soon. And, when I do, I plan on just shaving it all the way off. I don't think I can do the horse-shoe-with-an-island, as I have come to call it. You know, where the hair is just on the sides of the head, with a little patch on top. I'm not going to rock that style.

Riverside

2008-07-29T11:19:00.002-05:00

I recently went home to Texas for a little visit to see family and eat mexican food. While I was home I had the opportunity to do an interview with my pastor/mentor Scott Heare at church about the journey i was on the last year being in chicago. Its a quick little 5 minute or so interview leading into that week's message, about the journey vs. the destination. Well, if any of you want to listen to it, it's posted online. Let me see if i can get the link really quick...

yeah, Here is it. Take a listen, and let me know what you think. I went back and listened to it again last night, and forgot some of the things i said, and how much I needed to remind myself of them, and I felt like taking notes from my own interview.

Wesley Mathias Wilson

2008-07-29T11:10:00.002-05:00

QUICK! Go listen to my friend's music by clicking HERE!

My friend Wes has his cd release party tonight in the city, and I have to tell you how pumped I am for this. I just got back a couple days ago from colorado, and we blasted his music in the mountains, and it was so bittersweet. Incredible musician and friend, and he is moving back home to oklahoma in just a few weeks. Seriously, take a listen.

Texas

2008-07-15T09:56:00.002-05:00

Just had to make a post completely dedicated to Texas since it is my last day here. You know you want to be here.

Adventures

2008-07-11T10:16:00.002-05:00

I have been saying for about a year that eventually I would like to bike across an entire state. Preferably Texas, but if any other state could offer interesting sites to see, then I may consider that too. I had been saving up this spring and beginning of summer to buy a bike, maybe a road bike. You know, the kind with skinny tires. But I recently had to give up saving money to pay rent. The leftover money after rent and bills is going to a camping trip that I am going on soon with a few friends.

You see, the thing is, I'm not even a biker. I own a bmx, but going any more than 4 miles on that begins to give me scoliosis, so that wouldn't work for the long distance that cross-state travel requires.

I remember the first time I saw the movie Forest Gump being in awe of all of the different landscapes and areas that he ran through on his 3 year and however long run, and thought that I wanted to be able to see all the same things. Additionally, the bassist of one of my favorite bands, the Bouncing Souls, took a cross country motorcycle ride a few years ago and posted pictures on their site, and I thought, dannnnnnng, i want to do that. But I don't own a motorcycle. So I kicked around the idea of becoming a truck driver for a year, or maybe just a few months, so that I could see the country. I gave up on that one pretty quickly. Not sure why, other than that I don't necessarily want to be a truck driver.

So I thought, and thought, and I even did some thinking during that time and decided on a cross-country bicycle ride, which soon narrowed down to a cross-Texas bicycle ride. Which, if I was super-Texan, I could go ahead and consider that a country. It is bigger than France, by the way.

All that to say, if anyone knows someone trying to get rid of a bike, or if you want to watch Forrest Gump sometime, let me know.

"A cowboy leads a different kind of life..."

2008-07-09T09:56:00.005-05:00

Curly, the old cowboy in this clip from City Slickers, says this seconds before he leads into this little "lesson" of sorts. I like Curly, first, because he does this cool lesson while he is driving a herd of cattle with Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern (voice-over voice from the Wonder Years, which is my favorite tv show ever, and in Home Alone), but also because he "always had a thing for redheads". I always kind of had a thing for redheads. Not as prevalent these days, but I think its still in there somewhere.

Question for you: what's your "one thing"?

Seriously, leave a comment if you know. Or, even if you don't.

New Idea

2008-07-05T21:15:00.003-05:00

Check out this blog i started just a week or so ago. Its an idea that I came up with last week. As you can read in "22" I have recently been doing a lot of thinking about not only what I am doing now, but what I want to do. Not that I am going to crack the code and figure everything out, but this is something I am excited, and scared about.

I have never committed anything to a year of intention prayer and research, so I hope this is something I can follow through with.

check it, tell me what you think:

Four In Forty

2008-07-05T00:10:00.001-05:00

Proverbs 4:23, Phillipians 4:6,7

22

2008-07-01T22:09:00.003-05:00

Every once in a while i get this feeling. I have these things run through my head that I immediately recognize as lies, and not of God, yet still I entertain them in my head. And, I don't mean entertain like, they have a good time, I just mean that they stick around and I start to think more about them.

This past week was a kind of slow week, which isn't usually how my weeks are. It was good to actually have some down time to relax and such though, but at the same time, when I don't have a whole lot going on I begin to do more life-evaluation type thinking. The problem with this, is that in my own bias, as most people are with their own, there's the idea that I have not done, or I am not doing enough. It's the need to "make-it".

So, when I sit and do some of these life-evaluations, here are some of the normal thoughts that go through my head:
"Why have I not 'made it?'" (even though I don't even know what that would actually look like)
"When am I going to get a real job and start making money?"
"When am I going to have more than enough to just 'get by' in my bank account?"
"When am I going to (insert whatever piece of the American Dream that I have not achieved yet?"

How selfish of me.

When I get into this pattern of thinking, like I said, I recognize it instantly as not being from God. But I can't stop myself.

I was eating breakfast with Aaron, (my room mate) before church on sunday, and we were talking about the idea of looking for a solid job (currently I am triple employed, each part time, and each inconsistently), yet I am still not fully satisfied with what I am doing, as I know it is not what I want to do when I "grow up". And then I realized, and admitted to myself, though I knew it before, that I am only 22 years old. Aaron reminded me that Jesus himself was 30 before he started his ministry.

I know, I know, big epiphany. But thats my problem sometimes, is that I don't let myself remember that. I hang out a lot with people that are older than me. Out of college, and in the real world. and I see them doing what they love, or, maybe not love, but what brings them money, and I think to myself, "how come they are doing this and I am not? Am I inferior?"

My friend Tyler, who is a 3-year intern at Willow with the Axis ministry is someone I look up to a lot. He is 25 (or 26, I may have missed a birthday somewhere this year), and in his 3rd year of the internship, and I find myself comparing myself to him a lot. His ministry is going great, and he has been given great opportunity and responsibility, and has even been given the opportunity to speak at some of the Axis gatherings on the first Friday of each month. I was talking to him one day when I was feeling this way, and he told me about how he almost left the ministry when he first started, now 2 years ago, but that he decided to stick it through and only now, 2 years later, is he being given all these opportunities.

Not that I have though about not wanting to do ministry, though it may have crossed my mind here and there, but just thinking that he wasn't in the place he is in now 2 years ago. Which would put him at 23 years old, still older than I am now. I'm 22, and I think that I am behind. Maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm right on time.

I just need to remember. I'm still a student. And I'm only 22.

I Blame The Gangsters

2008-06-23T08:35:00.002-05:00

I, quite frequently, misplace things, and consider them lost or stolen forever. Normally after a day or two of looking, or even actually taking the time to move things (a special trick my mom taught me for when I couldn't find something) I usually find the lost item, and, if need be, apologize to the person I blamed for losing it.

Now, almost a week since the last time I saw my iPod, I am convinced that it is just a memory of mine now. And I blame gangsters. I'm not too sure what happened to it, but I would like to take this time to remember the good times we had.

Today I salute you, black, 30gb video iPod. We had some good times together, I'll never forget:
-when i got you at a discounted rate for buying a macbook. You were cheap, but you were good.
-when I plugged you in at the Loft to listen to my favorite tunes while I worked
-listening to you while I worked out, or rode my bike to class. The Karate Kid theme song never sounded so great
-the various plane and car rides we went on, where you entertained me for hours, or soothed me to sleep. We went to North Carolina, Chicago, back to Texas, then we drove to Chicago from Texas, and flew back to Texas.
-the time I put the cool Jesus mailing tape on your back
-when I blasted country music from our garage while hanging out in the yard with friends. You never forgot your roots.
-and many, many more.

Goodbye iPod. Not that you're going to be easy to replace, but I hope I can move on someday.

Someday...

On the "Staying End of Saying Goodbye" x2

2008-06-21T17:59:00.002-05:00

A few of my real good friends here in the Chicago area will be saying Goodbye in just a matter of months, maybe for a period of time, maybe indefinitely. and, even though you may or may not know who they are, i am going to keep the names to myself, just in case they are still planning on telling you and haven't yet.

1. A good buddy that I met when I first moved here is moving back home to Oklahoma to finish school, Which, I think he should get that taken care of. I know there are a ton of people who are going to miss him up here, but I have a feeling that a side hobby of his that he has here (great musician/ songwriter) will do something special for him when he goes home. Maybe more opportunities to play and be heard.

2. a friend that I consider to be one of the coolest people I know (I may at times use the word 'rad' to describe her) got into a ministry training school in LA. California that is, not Louisiana. When I first met her this is something that she told me she was interested in doing, and after hearing and getting to know some of her heart toward ministry and learning more about, and serving God, I know that this will be an awesome opportunity for her. I have a friend right now that is at the school she is going to, and all he has to say about the school and the program is how amazing it is. and I believe him.

I told #1 that I was probably going to cry when he left, but I honestly would not be at all surprised if I cried for both. Now I know how my friends and family must have felt when I told them I was leaving. And, again when I told them I was staying (here, not there, that is). You hate to see it happen (thats what my room mate aaron always says, and it works for most any situation), but you know how good it will be.

North South East West

2008-06-19T11:56:00.002-05:00

I could never stand when people gave me directions, and instead of saying, "turn left," "go straight," or "turn towards the walmart" they would say things like, "east, 3 blocks," or, "the southwest side of blank and blank intersection."

Seriously, who knows directions by using N S E or W?

Well, since moving to the chicago area last summer, this is common to me now. I love it, its just how I do things now. When people say "right on Golf Road, I ask, so, east, or west? You see, theres a big body of water in Chicago. Lake Michigan. This is as far east as you can go. Then, there is everything outside of Chicago, which, the more you move WEST, the more cornfields and emptiness it seems you hit. So, I know directions as East (moving towards more things), and West (moving away from things. Then there's HWY 90. A big highway with a speed limit of 55, but if you drive anything slower then 70 people start cursing you and hating you. So, Anything above 90 is North, and anything below 90 is South. (Obviously, you are probably thinking to yourself). BUt then I know directions as north and south as "Closer to 90, and further from 90".

It all makes sense. Now, you may wonder, "why is he blogging about this?"

The answer: No idea. Other than I now can use nautical directions when telling people how to get places.

There you have it.

Mama, Mama I'm Coming Home..

2008-06-19T11:46:00.003-05:00

July 8 I fly home for a week or so. Leaving the heat on July 16.

While I am in town I want:
-Some dang good family time (my sister and I plan on going to Enchanted Rock, maybe I'll rope the whole family into going...)
-To plan Mancalla (mom, get ready. You may have me this time, I haven't played in a while)
-Some Loft Coffee (Jenny, make sure the honey is out and filled)
-Some TexMex (Dad, make sure Maria's has passed their most recent health inspection. Or, maybe not, sometimes the dirty ones have the best food)
-Some Barefoot Algae Skiing time (Scott and Phil, lets hit up the Comal. Even though neither of you read this, I am making this your responsibility)
-Cigar Club Time (Hink and Josh96, this is in your hands to make sure happens)
-Scripture Reading with Jake (You better make it to town this time jake.)
-Time with the Schmidt Clan (Hannah and sarah, you're gone, so this is in the hands of emma and caleb)
-and finally, I want the temperature to be below 100 degrees (God, this one is up to you to make happen!)

See you all soon!

Couple Videos

2008-05-25T16:52:00.001-05:00

I spend a good amount of time on YouTube. Here are a few music videos that I really like. The first one is a John Mayer Cover by some guy I found, and the second one if Jonah Werner, who played at a Young Life camp a few times when we took students. Both are good.

Riverside Community Church...

2008-05-23T11:05:00.003-05:00

Is now putting Sunday messages online. I am SUPER pumped about this.

Also, recently my friend Jen Taylor, who works for RIverside, sent me every Sunday message from August 2007-April 2008. I got a stack of CD's in the mail, and I did the "Victory Fist" into the air.

Many of you know that this is my home church, and has challenged me more than any other church I have ever been to. A large part of my heart is with this church and with the pastor, Scott Heare, who, even though I am still in the Chicago area, I consider to be my teacher/mentor.

You should definitely listen to some of these messages. Go here!

Made the Switch...

2008-05-23T10:53:00.001-05:00

...to Google, leaving behind Yahoo! which was formerly my search engine/email provider of choice.

Jon Svensson, cool intern guy I like to call my friend, and a few other people, always told me about iGoogle. Its a way of personalizing Google's homepage. Apparently it was cool, but I could never get it to work for me. I think it's because I didn't have a Gmail email account. But yesterday I decided to give it a shot, so that I could still use outlook on my computer. (yahoo doesn't work with outlook, which is actually called Entourage on Macs).

Dang, not going to lie, I spent over an hour last night customizing my stuff. I'm definitely a fan, and it only took me about a year to make the change.

Heres the new email address, coded so that I don't get junk mail and such....

C William Hughes [at] g mail [dot] com

except take out the spaces and put the actual "punctuation"

Much love friends.

Blogging...

2008-05-18T22:38:00.003-05:00

Is hard work...no lie. I not only don't keep up with posting, but I don't keep up with reading my friends'. My friend Krista had a cool idea for the month of May to have a different friend each day write a blog entry, and she would post it with a story about how she knows them, or something to that effect. Kind of cool. I'll tell you what...if you email me something that you want posted, be it a funny picture, story, or quote taken out of context, I will post it. BUT, I will call it my own unless you credit yourself in the text. I'll to it, I promise.

About the Feed My Starving Children post I was supposed to write. I started...then never finished. A. because there is a lot of information to post, B. I didnt have any cool pictures, and C, A lot of other stuff started happening that I focused on instead. However, you should check out their website and read about them, for real. Because it is cool stuff. Click Here

In unrelated news...my sister comes to chicago this friday! I am super pumped about this, and we are going to have a dang good time. Maybe even eat some chicago pizza...who knows.

and, today was my last Sunday with Student Impact for my internship. We had our last house group today with a commissioning of the senior (yeah, only one in our house group), and a welcome and introduction for our incoming freshmen. It was a good time, and I cooked out on the grill. I have been doing that a lot lately, but it was fun to serve the high school students one more time.

Next, you ask? I don't exactly know. Working for the summer, and then starting school in the fall at North Park University, in Chicago. I am really looking forward to going back to school and finishing. I only have about a year left, but I actually like school a decent amount, so it shouldn't be too bad. I'll keep you updated (on here hopefully?)

and Dawn...I finally updated the Blog, like you are always harassing me about. I hope I can keep it up. I'll try tomorrow. AND, tomorrow I'll try to post about the job I have been doing with a family the last few weeks. Heres a hint: it involves me doing random handy man stuff around their house, and one of the stories involves a $300 flower purchase.

Until then...

Solidarity Day 3 Update

2008-04-23T23:42:00.002-05:00

So the first day of our Solidarity Challenge I woke up and decided to go ahead and eat my morning oatmeal, as that was the recommended breakfast (that, or cream of wheat, which I have no idea what it is, and honestly I do not want to know). I opened up the can of oatmeal, took one look inside, and then got this weird anxiety that I was about to eat it. I then opted to skip breakfast, and just head straight to work. That day I didn't eat anything until about 5pm when I got home from work, and at this time I was pretty hungry. Through out the day I had drank about 3 or 4 nalgenes full of water (which, ounce-wise I don't know what it is, but its a lot), So I was very ready to eat my cup of rice. So I did, and it was tasty, but not satisfying.

Since the 5pm cup of rice was my first meal all day, I justified that that was my lunch, and therefore decided I still owed myself my dinner cup, so I had that a few hours later.

Day 1 accomplished.

Now, day two I was at work at Willow Creek, and to support all those who were participating in the Solidarity Challenge, they sold a small bowl of rice and beans, complete with small tortilla, for only a dollar. I wanted to drop a 5, and get a few extra bowls, but I stuck to just the one. About 45 seconds after sitting down to lunch I was out of food, so I called it a good meal and distracted myself the rest of the day to keep from getting hungrier.

Now, here is where I am going to be completely honest and admit my short-comings and failures. When I got home from work that night, I had a handful (or, maybe 2) of m&m's. I told myself that it was ok because they weren't anything that would satisfy my hunger, but they made me happy. So unfortunately I have to admit the fact that I didn't stick to the strict diet of rice, beans, and tortillas. Don't judge.

Today was much easier, surprisingly. Maybe it had to do with the fact that so many people from WIllow were talking about how they got their portion of rice and beans at Chipotle and it was super cheap, and thats where I decided to get mine today. They were packed with flavor, but when it comes down to it, it is still just rice and beans. I think its the monotony of eating the same thing every day that gets to you more than the hunger itself. But I could be wrong, because I'm pretty sure that those who are without food would much rather eat the same thing everyday than eat nothing at all.

I am looking forward to the rest of the Challenge, while at the same time I am not. I don't want to bend the rules anymore, and I want to be able to stick much closer to the actual recommended food portions that way I can truly experience the hunger that more than half the world feels.

Speaking of which, ask me to tell you about Feed My Starving Children sometime. If I get even one comment on this post, I promise my next post will be telling you about what that organization is doing to combat world hunger. BUT, that comment must include the word "elbow" somehow. Make it happen.

Dominican Republic

2008-04-22T17:36:00.003-05:00

well, for some reason the pictures wouldn't upload. I'll get them though, I promise.

Celebration of Hope 2008

2008-04-21T08:12:00.003-05:00

First of all, yes, I realize it has been almost 3 months since my last post. I attribute this to both my laziness, and to the fact that so many great and sometimes hard things have happened, that I had a list piling up of "things I need to blog about," and rather than actually starting that list at some point, i just kept adding things, and then eventually lost the list. I didn't really lose it, but it sounds better than saying that I just decided not to start it. However, I feel like today I have something really worth Blogging about. And I hope you enjoy it.

Beginning today, thousands of people in the Willow Creek community, including just about all of the hundreds of staff at the church, are beginning something called the Solidaritiy Challenge. Since half of the world lives on less than $2 a day, we are being asked to limit our consumption for this 5-day challenge, and at the end of the week donate what money we would have spent on food to aid eliminating hunger around the world.

For these 5 days we have three meal options to chose from, each of which in 8 oz. portions:
Plain oatmeal or cream of wheat
A tortilla, rice and beans
Rice with bits of fish or chicken and a vegetable.

For most of the people doing this challenge, me included, I think it is going to be pretty hard. But I think we, who are so blessed to be able to have large meals multiple times every day, are going to think about the people in third world countries who feel those hunger pains every day, and hopefully those images and those feelings will give us strength to make it through the challenge.

The Celebration of Hope that Willow Creek is engaging in this week is so much more than just this one initiative of limiting our consumption, and as I give updates on how this challenge is going for me (hopefully each day), I will also write about another aspect of the Celebration of Hope that we will all be experiencing this week.

Until then, in my next post (which, for you will actually be the previous post) I am going to post pictures from the Dominican Republic. I wish I could write more about that experience to go along with the pictures, BUt i have only recently started journaling about that time, and truly getting to see what God taught me through that experience. So when I get all that figured out, I will share it.

Good days!

So Ridiculous...

2008-01-30T08:02:00.000-06:00

I left for work yesterday morning at about 8am. It was cloudy and a bit drizzly, but it was a warm 49 degrees. Much of the snow was melting at this point, and I was beginning to be able to see some grass.

Fast Forward.

I leave work at about 530 with one of my friends to head to our Tuesday night group, which is about 20 minutes away. When we walk outside its still drizzly and wet, but has dropped to about the 30's somewhere.

Fast Forward.

We walk out of the house we were meeting in, only to instantly freeze our faces, and walk through a couple inches of snow towards out car. We get to the car, look at the temperature: 3 degrees.

Fast Foward.

This morning i wake up, look out the window, and see a bright sunny day. Sure, there's snow on the ground, but i think, the sun's out, must be another nice day. I start my truck, which, by the way, is not used to this crazy weather, I look at the temperature: -3.

Thats right. The temperature dropped over 50 degrees from yesterday morning to this morning. Which makes me think...SO ridiculous.

But the good news: winter is about halfway over (I hear), and I have been doing a lot better with the cold weather than I thought I would. Some would say I was born to be a Chicagoan (and some may not). But what we can all agree on is that by the time spring comes, I have earned my stripes as a Chicagoan, and now hold bragging right and story rights for when someone says, "It's sooooo cold!" when in fact it is only 50 degrees.

True story.

Linda Marceau and Pasta

2008-01-15T15:16:00.000-06:00

Dear Riverside Community,
Consider yourself lucky to have a person like Linda Marceau in your community.
-Charles

Linda was in the Chicago area this past weekend for her intensives for seminary and made it out to WIllow on Sunday to go to church, and we were able to sit at Willow's coffee shop and catch up a bit. I told her that I was going to be in the city Sunday night to go to another church with some friends and asked if she would want to meet up afterwards for dinner and to chat. We went to the Pasta Bowl, which, in my opinion, is the best pasta restaurant in Chicago. And, by in my opinion, i mean that the first time I strolled in to eat I decided that I didn't want to give any other places a chance at competition. Anyway, I had a very encouraging conversation with Linda. She is the type of person that, just talking to her, you can see the Holy Spirit in her. After she told me about how she is back at Riverside now, no lie, I got a bit jealous that I wouldn't be able to hang out with her and the rest of my friends on staff there until this summer.

Dang, I love Riverside and all the people there. I hope you all know that I think about you often, and I can't wait to see you all again. Being home for Christmas, and spending time with my family, and going back to my "home church" definitely renewed my heart for ministry and for serving and loving people.

Thanks for everything, and if any of you ever want to come visit me in Chicago, believe me, we much meet at the Pasta Bowl.

Dominican Republic and the Cubs

2008-01-15T14:47:00.000-06:00

So today I turned in my application for the Student Impact serving trip to the Dominican Republic. Not that I need to "apply," but they had to have all my medical history and contact information and such. So it's in, and it all goes as planned I will be co-leading a group of I believe 6 or so high school guys, along with my small group leader for the internship, Jeremiah.

I think this will be a great opportunity, and I am really looking forward to it. We will be gone for 8 days, from March 22, through March 30. And, as if the trip wouldn't be cool enough, God planned for the opening day at Wrigley Field to be March 31. So What a way to end the serving trip by being able to go to the Cubs' first home game of the year!

Baseball aside, I am not too sure yet of what my role will be on the trip, other than leading the group of high schoolers, or what exactly we will be doing there. But, be assured that as soon as I find out I will let you all know. Not necessarily on here, but possibly through letters and phone calls and such.

Until then, good days!

Chasing the Lion

2008-01-04T13:12:00.000-06:00

The other day I got an email from my friend Bobby Bo, who is currently in Thailand on a mission trip with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). He wanted to encourage me with how great Uncle Wong is. Uncle Wong is the code-name that we gave for God while he is overseas, since he will also be traveling in China, and doesn't want to be kicked out of the country. Well, Bobby emailed me to tell me a bit of the story about Samson.

He wrote:
"he chases a lion and just destroys it. thats how we need to look at any fear that is in us. chasing that fear. facing it head on and not running from it like we normally would. not feeding into the lies that satan wants us to believe. chase after your dreams and whatever god will put on your heart. chase the lion!!"

Rather than running and hiding from the lion, which is something he would normally be afraid of, he chases IT down. Now, I'm not going to lie and pretend that I know much about the story of Samson, but after being encouraged with the phrase, "Chase the Lion!", I honestly can't wait to read more about it.

I can't help but ask myself, "What would it look like if I chased my lion? Or, if you chased your lion? What is my lion? And more importantly, what would I do once I caught it?"

I met Bobby when I flew to Chicago in July for Sandblast, Student Impact's summer camp. We only talked briefly, but once I moved up here in August, we got to hang out some, and I got to know a bit more about who he is. Bobby just became a Christian in 2007, and quickly decided that he wanted to be involved with ministry, so he decided to attend one of YWAM's DTS programs in California. (Discipleship Training School, if I remember correctly). From hearing about his passion to serve God, and to know God, and to trust God, I have been so encourage and motivated. He's a super cool guy, and I just wanted to encourage anyone reading this with the words gave me..."Chase the Lion!!"

2007-12-09T22:54:00.000-06:00

I'm so terrible at blogging. Dont hate.

I'll be home in less than 2 weeks. Can't wait to see people and say hello. I'lll make up for my last of posts when I see you all in person.

2007-12-05T13:28:00.001-06:00

This is for all my family, friends, or whoever else may stumble across my blog. Check it out, and post a comment to let me know what you thought.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1177880844

2007-11-29T09:28:00.001-06:00

Not going to lie, I really want to hang out with my family right now too.
And go camping/backpacking/hiking, or something outdoor related.

2007-11-29T09:22:00.000-06:00

It is getting cold in the Chicagoland area. And by cold, i mean that the past few weeks have been as cold as a Texas winter, and we still have SO far to go. (its been on average in the low 30's everyday)

I finally bought some gloves. I was told that if I don't have any my fingers may fall off. Wouldn't want that happening. I think I'm buying a scarf after work today.

I get excited, in a sense, buying things for winter, since I never got to have them before. But, at the same time, I'm getting a bit anxious. When I first mentioned wanting to come to Chicago to my mom, who is from the area I live in now, she told me, "Oh, you'll love the snow...for the first two days, then you'll hate it the rest of the year".

We'll see. I really want to have a snowball fight. Maybe go sledding. Maybe build a snowman. So, I think I'll get each of these done in the first 2 days while I still enjoy it.

2007-11-17T19:07:00.001-06:00

Ice Skating.

Last night I joined a few friends to go ice skating for one of their birthdays. When I got my skates, the guy asked, "Hockey, or figure skating?" I said to the guy, "come on, hockey of course, it makes me sound cooler". And it did.

Now, in texas we dont do much ice skating, if any, but having once or twice skated at Fiesta Texas when they had their rink, I figured I may be able to hold my own. Much to my surpsise, I wasn't all too terrible. In fact, I wasn't the worst person there at all. The only time I fell was when I was trying to skate backwards to show off to my friend jeremiah. I owe my ability to hold my own on the ice to a few movies I used to love to watch when I was younger:

1.The Cutting Edge: this movie is about an olympic hockey player that crosses paths with, and, if I remember right, eventually falls for a figure skater. Through a series of events he winds up picking up figure skating, and is not all that bad at it. Its one of those movies that makes you say, "move over scott hamilton, I'm on my way to the big times!"
2. Mighty Ducks 1, 2, 3: This movie, along with Home Alone, we my movies to watch when I stayed home sick. Or, when I "stayed home sick". My mom and I used to watch these all the time, though, she would always fall asleep during them. Anyway, I guess after watching these movies so much, I somehow figured out how to skate like them. One of the guys on the team in 2 and 3 was incredible fast, but didn't know how to stop. Through him trying to learn, I think I leanred, because I could hockey-stop like a machine (sort of).

This made me remember something from my childhood that I rarely, if ever, have shared with people. My sister and I, after watching the Cutting Edge, decided it'd be cool if, with our roller blades, we made up our own "figure ksating routine," and so we did in our garage. We were kind of cool. If was a quick routine, but it was a good one. And, for when I had my friends over, I had a hockey stick that my dad made me. He got the blade part at a sporting goods store, and made the handle himself. Nothing special, just a piece of wood, but I tell you, I loved that stick. With it, I used to shoot hard shots through a goal made of coffee cans. Dang, childhood memories. I like 'em.

Ice skating. Not too bad. I may have to do it again.

2007-11-13T12:41:00.000-06:00

Phos Hilaron

The Phos Hilaron, known in Engish as 'Hail Gladdening Light,' is the earliest recorded Christian Hymn, having been written in the 3rd or 4th century AD. This hymn is also known as the 'Candle-Light-Hymn,' because at that time in Jerusalem a candle was kept perpetually burning in the empty tomb of Christ, its glow a symbol of the living light of Jesus. As Christians gathered to worship the hymn was sung and, in a tradition known as the lighting of the lamps, the candle was brought forth from the tomb, its bright, solitary flame calling the church to celebrate ther risen Lord.

The Hymn:

Hail, gladdening Light, of His pure glory poured
Who is the immortal Father, heavenly, blessed,
Holiest of Holies- Jesus Christ our Lord!

Now we are come to the sun's hour of rest;
The lights of evening round us shine;
We hymn the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Divine!

Worthiest art thou at all times to be sung
With undefiled tongue,
Son of our God, giver of ilfe, alone:
Therefore in all the world thy glories, Lord, thy own.
Amen.

2007-11-10T23:33:00.000-06:00

The movie Into The WIld, that has been out for a few weeks is quality stuff. I just wanted to share a quote from it right now, but will post a longer moral-of-the-story review later.

"Happiness is only real when shared with others."

Take that to the bank.

2007-11-05T10:55:00.000-06:00

a couple little updates for you all...

last week one of my students and i went to a skatepark after house group to hang out some. (the one i wrote about in a recent post). He brought his skateboard, i brought my bike, and we just hung out a bit. Now, I have ridden my bike all too much since my knee surgery, but i told him if he wanted to go hang out, i'd be down. well, there was a little kid there, also on a bmx. and after just riding around a bit, i remembered that every time i see someone else on a bike that I kind of want to talk to them, you know, since we have bikes in common and all. so I went up to the kid, said hello, asked him how long hes been riding and such. we talked, and he told me he thought i was good. it made my week. no joke.

now, more important things...

I found out last week that I was placed on the team that will be taking students to the Domincan Republic during spring break this coming march. I am super excited about this opportunity, and I think it will be an amazing opportunity to grow and experience God not only for the students we are taking, but for myself as well. I dont know really any of the details yet other than cost and that we will be there for 8 days, but I will post more as soon as I know.

Also, Student Impact's vision verse for this year is James 1:27, about true religion being about serving widows and orphans in their distress. With that we are going to have many different opportunities throughout the year for students and leaders to live our this verse by serving widows and orphans.

One of the ways we are doing this: Student Impact is teaming up with a school in Samfya, Zambia. The high school that we are directly working with has about 1000 students enrolled, none of which have textbooks. Now, without textbooks the students do not have opportunities to study and to learn outside of the notes that they take in class. This is a major hinderance to their future, because without having a good education they are unable to find decent jobs. Well, we want to take action and change that.

So, rather than going ONLY on a serving trip there (which is also happening over spring break), we are taking action to get textbooks into each of these students hands. We have learned that for only $25 / student, we are able to put enough textbooks in their hands tol cover their entire 3 years in high school. (for those of you that have been in college, or have had to replace a lost textbook in grade school, you know that $25 doesnt even cover the cost of a half of a book in America). So, with this information, Student Impact is seeking to raise $25,000 dollars by the end of the year to purchase textbooks for each of the students, and enable them to learn, grow, and have the opportunity at a successful future.

We cast this vision at our service this past weekend, and by the time we cast if, the staff alone had already pooled together a little over $4000 dollars, which is enough to cover about 165 of the students out of the 1000.

Fall is in full effect here. leave changing, and falling all over streets and yards. I've never seen a fall like this, and I must say I like it.

Thats all I've got for right now. Hope all is well with my friends and family reading this.

2007-10-22T12:47:00.001-05:00

Just an FYI:

If you recieve a letter from me that smells like coffee, its because I was drinking coffee while licking the envelopes. Sorry :)

2007-10-22T11:58:00.001-05:00

One of the students at our house group, a sophomore boy, is a pretty tough kid to work with. Hes just not the type of guy that is realy incredibly sociable, or that opens up much at house group. One of his leaders from last year told me that the way to connect with him was just to play games with him. He said that last year, during their small group time, the two of them would walk around on a golf course near by and see who could find the most golf balls.

The way I;ve been spending time with him is playing fooseball before and after our house group time in the basement where we meet. Every week we wind up playing multiple games, making up different rules, and ways to play each time. Its a great time. I think Chicagoans really like their fooseball because, no joke, I think I have played more since I have been here than in my entire life prior to coming here.

Anyway, this student still doesnt talk too too much, but I have noticed during our games that he will ask me more questions about myself and about Texas and such. Yesterday during our small group time he said that his "high" for the week is that he has now been drug-free for about two and a half weeks, and, even though his friends still party and smoke pot, they have been suppoting him in his efforts to quit. I thought this was great that he revealed this to the group, and that he was open and vulnerable with it. It caught me off guard because I didnt even know that he was even doing drugs.

How ironic that his "high" for the week has been not getting high? Its so amazing that he is letting God guide him through all of this.

2007-10-20T14:00:00.000-05:00

BIcycles.

Since I have been in Chicago, seeing all the people riding their bikes in the city, I have become, once again, infatuated with bikes. I feel like a little kid again, in a sense, because as I walk around downtown, or when I am driving and I see people on their bikes, I slow down and take a look at the different styles and colors and, to an extent, want to say, "hey, can I ride with you?"

I have little to now experience riding road bikes; you know, the kind with the thin tires and the curved handle bars that you have to hunch over. But Dick Towner, the man I am living with (that sounds akward, so for those that don't know, I am living with a family here in the Chicago Suburbs) has an old Schwinn road bike that I have been cruising around on. I love riding this in the city because of the feeling of being able to ride in the streets alongside the cars, and for the most part, keep up with traffic.

When I worked in downtown San Antonio, there was something about bike cops that caught my attention. I think it was that they were gtting paid to ride around the streets of the city on bikes rather than in cars, which allowed them to enjoy, at least a little bit, the environment that they were in. They got to see the sights and sounds, and we free to go as fast or as slow as they wanted. Thing is, they were still cops. Nothing against cops (I love you josh dean), but I just don't want to be one. Then, while riding downtown Chicago one day, I discovered a profession that I never even thought about, that doesn't necessarily take away my passion for ministry, but gives it a bit of a run for it's money: a Bike Messenger!

Bike messengers are a unique type of people. I don't know if I could fit in exactly with their lifestyle, and their lack of fear when flying through red lights and around corners, but there is stll something really cool about the types of bikes they ride, and their style of clothing.

The bikes: much like bmx bikes, they offer a freedom in building and creating the bike yourself. You don't just buy a complete messenger bike (though, you can if you want), you build one out of parts of other bikes, can paint it however you like. Thats one thing I like about my bmx: if i want to paint is solid black, I can. If I want to paint it neon yellow, I can, and it's not out of the ordinary. I like the freedom there.
The style: Messenger bags, which are so popular now. You may have seen college students, or even John Hinkebein with one. Its the one-strap bag thats popular these days. And short pants, or, "shants" as some people call them. They are 3/4 pants, either made that way, or you can take regular pants and cut them at the calf. (Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking, "capris? like girl pants?" but no, these are guy pants, VERY different...) This style if so you don't get your pants caught in the chain on the bike.

This may all seem a bit confusing. But I will take a picture next time I am in the city and post it for you all. Longong story short, I decided that with some of my free time, I am going to start building bikes. I love working on bikes, and tinkering with gears, and parts and such. My first project: a messenger bike. So, if you have bike parts laying around, or if you had an old bike that you wanted to throw away, or sell at a garage sale, let me know, and I'll see if I can help you clean out your garage for the winter.

You may not have read all the way through this. Maybe you just skpped to the bottom. But thanks for checking out the blog anyway. Good days!

2007-10-18T08:50:00.001-05:00

And now that I know that I can post pictures, and have demonstrated such on my last post, here are some of the pictures I have been wanting to share with you all.

Here is an example of my Sunday Morning Sunrise routine that I have done most Sunday mornings before Impact. This is at North Avenue Beach, just north of downtown Chicago.

This is a picture I took while reflecting on a few scriptures while on the beach.

This is Corner Bakery, some sort of magical, delicious place that I like to eat/ sip coffee at downtown. Its pretty cool, there are many of them downtown, but this is the one I frequent the most. Just blocks off of Michigan Avenue.

This is the Illinois Prairie Path- a 60-something mile long bike/jogging path that goes from the northwest suburbs to the southwest suburbs. No, I didnt take the whole 60 miles, but I attempted to ride from Elgin to Wheaton, until I realized I didnt eat breakfast. So, after about 10 miles, I decided to head back and eat.

No explanation needed here. My dad and I were lucky enough to make it to a game on my first full day in the area. It was a great time, and, even though the Cubs lost this day, it was a bit of a dream come true to be there.

That's all I've got for now. Check back though. Now that I am picture-posting savvy I should have more up on occasion.

2007-10-18T08:38:00.000-05:00

Some mornings are better than others. Today, for example, I met with a few of the students on the Conant campus (the high school I am working with), and talked about our student-led ministry, Uprising, and what we would be doing for the remainder of the semester. That went well. Then I stopped to get a cup of coffee before work. More specifically, a Mint Condition, from Caribou Coffee. This is just your standard mint-mocha drink, but with Andes Mints crushed up on top. That went well. Then I decided to drive with the windows down, blasing some of my old rockabilly tunes, more specifically, The Stray Cats- Brian Setzer in the pre-orchestra days. That went well.

Rockabilly used to be my jams. For those of you who didn't know me back in the day, I am going to post my first picture on this blog, just as an FYI to show you. Don't laugh at me.

Here it goes....

2007-10-16T08:59:00.002-05:00

w-w-w-w-w-w-wipeout....

My insurance policy that I have has a very low deductable. I think that is because I seem to be particularly prone to injury. This past Saturday night my small group leader Jeremiah (a 3 year intern), and I went longboarding at a golf course near where he lives. The thing is, 1) it was night time, and 2) some of the cart paths were a little steeper than others, being that this is also where they have snowboarding and skiing when there is snow on the ground.

Well, I'm no Tony Hawk or anything, but I usually feel pretty comfortable on a board. Not that I can do anything fancy, but I can atleast balance, and thats the biggest part. So, we find one hill that, no lie, intimidated me a slight bit. I wasn't trembling in fear or anything, but from the beginning I thought, "this may not go well".

Jeremiah goes down ahead of me, and I watch the route he takes, thinking, "pshh, I can do this..." So I tried, and about midway down the hill I start wobbling like crazy. And, while trying to straighten myself out, I overcompensated, the board flew out from under me, and I went tumbling down the hill. Not too far or hard, mind you, but when I finally stopped, laying on my stomach, I couldn't help but think, "there is no way that just happened."

There are certain reflexes your body does when you wipeout like that: run the tongue on the backs of your teeth- good, they're all there; wiggle your fingers- good, they're not broken, or missing; bend your knees, good- no torn acl (the most important one for me to check).

There is no moral of the story, but times like this, honestly, I really enjoy them. They make for good stories, and good laughs. Ahh. The life of an intern.

2007-10-13T15:30:00.000-05:00

Cool Things I have going on:

At the beginning of the month I signed up for a gym membership at a place called God's Gym (www.ercgg.org), in Elgin, the suburb I am living in. The membership is fairly inexpensive, $20/month, and is only a few miles from where I live. I did this for two or so particular reasons: 1. As some of you know, Caleb Schmidt and I are having a workout-off until he turns 18, which is in about 1 year and a half. He punched me in the face once at YL and left a bruise, so I told him when he turns 18, its going down. He seems to think he has me, but I don't think he has any idea what he has coming. 2. God's Gym is directly across the street from Elgin High School, and is an outreach organization to keep kids (and even adults for that matter) off the streets, and out of gangs. It a rough crowd that works out in there, which is good because it motivates me to really "pump iron" (yeah, I know that sounds lame), so that I fit in. God's Gym also provides after school mentoring and tutoring for students, and is run on a primarily volunteer basis. Upon signing up they ask if you would like to volunteer with them, and I said "Yes. Yes I would like to.' So, beginning this next week I will meet with one of the volunteer coordinators there to find out how I may serve them.

Next, I talked to one of the students in my house group that I have been getting to know some, and he and I are going to start meeting on Wednesday's before church every other week ad just start going through the bible some and talking and getting to know eachother more. I am very excited about this. He is a cool guy, and I know he's got some great potential in him after he graduates this year to continue to grow into the man God's created him to be. And, he throws a decent frisbee, which, might I add, is the sport that every Christian male needs to know how to play.

Last, Elevate, which is Willow's junior high ministry, has been looking for volunteers to lead small groups for their students. Unlike Impact, since the students aren't able t drive on their own, Elevate has services during each of the 3 main Willow Services, so they are in need of a good amount of leaders. So, I decided that with some of my free time I am going to check out one of their services, which I am doing tonight, and possibly start leading a small group. I hear Elevate has a good time in their services, and a few of the leaders have become some of my good friends up here, so I figure I may as well help out.

And while I am posting I'll take the opportunity to plug their blogs for them, which you will see on the right side of the page.

Thats all I've got for now. I hope everyone is doing great, and I look foward to hearing from you sometime soon. Until next time, good days.

2007-10-03T09:06:00.000-05:00

Today the Cubs play their first playoff game. Yeah...this doesn't happen every year. I have been wanting to go down to Wrigleyville, which is the neighborhood that the Cubs play in to hang out during a game, but since I leave for Texas tomorrow I wont be able to make it tonight. I'm a bit worried that I won't be able to make it out today. My fear: that by the time I get back to Chicago next week the Cubs will be the Cubs and have been knocked out of the play-offs.

Now, supposing that all goes well in the playoffs this year and the Cubs, by the grace of God, win the World Series, it will have ended a 99-year drought (1908 was their last World Series Win). If they even MAKE it to the world series, it will be the first time in 62 years (1945).

Just a heads up on whats big in Chicago this week. I, as well as another intern in Student Impact, are rocking the Cubs shirts today. And, just to toss it out there, I will probably be wearing it on Friday, as well as possibly church on Sunday.

In unrelated news...Evans and Esther are getting married Saturday!

2007-10-02T09:54:00.001-05:00

Do today the best you can.

2007-09-24T12:13:00.000-05:00

2 Things.

1. I emailed Mike Breaux, one of the teaching pastors at Willow to try to set up a meeting with him and chat a bit. I want tof ully utilize the power of the willowcreek.org email address. Nothing major, just thought I'd mention it.

2. I am currently writing something on Luke 18:9-14, and would like to hear any input, insight, or stories you may have that that scripture brings to mind.

Good days.

2007-09-23T23:54:00.000-05:00

Regular Joes.

I like coffee. A lot. And its all because Jenny Rudd had the heart to give me a job at the Loft Coffee House (see links). Well, I used to always say that I believed everyone needed atleast one addiction in their life. I know this sounds ridiculous, and I wasn't necessarily serious, but maybe just an extent. Anyway, I'm one of those coffee addict people. The kind that will sit somewhere forever, read books, check emails, even skip meals on occasion because of the "free refill". I love that.

Well, Elgin doesn't have much in the way of coffee shops. Nor do either of the surrounding areas for that matter. Sure, we have Starbucks, and, even though I am a former employee, I prefer not to frequent them. We also have Carribou Coffee, which is entirely new to me, being that they don't have these in San Antonio. But I have yet to be completely satisfied with these options. Willow Creek has a coffee shop on their campus; I know I know, its crazy, but its also tasty, and I spend a fair amount of time hanging out there. Additionally, I found out that there is a coffee shop, called Regular Joe's, about 1/4 mile away from Willow that is owned by a Willow Creek person, and staffed by a few Willow Creek people. I was pretty excited about this, so Aaron Van Fleet (an intern from Kentucky) and I decided to check it out before church yesterday.

I think I like it. I say I think, because I haven't been able to fully soak in the environment, but I do like what I saw.

So, this is just an fyi for all of my friends and family out there who know about my coffee habits. I just wanted to give you an update and say, "hey, don't worry, I am being taken care of."

But don't worry, the Loft is still my number one.

2007-09-19T18:41:00.000-05:00

I am intrigued by the honesty of some people. They say exactly what is on their heart, and they do not hold back, or put on a front to try to impress people. I read this quote in a book recently and wanted to share it with you all. Maybe you can relate. For some of you it may just sound kind of neat, but you can't relate to it, but to many of us (yes, me included), it may so close to what we feel that we may as well call it our own.

"Now- here is my secret: I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as your hear these words. My secret is that I need God- that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love."

If any of you have any good quotes you would like to share from books you have read recently, or, ever, please post them as a comment. I would love to hear some.

2007-09-19T18:04:00.001-05:00

News in the Ministry!

I know many of you may be thinking, "the city is cool and all, but where is the news on the ministry front?" Well, I am very sorry for that lack of updates there. The beginning of the ministry season, for me atleast, has been somewhat difficult. Most of my days have been spent in a cubicle on the phone with different parents of the students I am working with trying to find us a house to hold our house group time following the service in. See, after the Student Impact service on Sunday mornings the students go to a house in their particular high school area. The area that I am co-leading is Conant and Lake Park high schools. This year is the first year that these two schools are on their own. In previous years they were teamed up with a few other area high schools, forming a larger house group. (Sorry if this is confusing to peice together). So it is almost as though we are starting from scratch with our house group.

The hardest things for me, ministry wise, is that since my days are spent calling and emailing different parents, I haven't had much time or opportunity to connect with students. Additionally, it has been very difficult trying to cast the vision of our house group over the phone with parents who I have never met and have no relationship with. This past weekend, however, was our best week so far. We had 20 students with our group, which is the most we have had this year, and on Monday we finally found a house to meet in for the remainder of the year. I am very excited about this because now, rather than spending the majority of my time trying to find us a place to meet, I will have time to start devloping a game plan for reaching students who disinterested, or are seeking God but don't know exactly what steps to take.

Sunday after our house groups I had to run to Target with one of our students to pick up a few things for some auction baskets we were putting together, and this provided us with a good amount of 1 on 1 time to just hang out and talk. Do you ever have those conversations that are really great and open, and halfway into it you think, "I don't know how we got on to this subject, but I am so glad we did,"? Well, thats how this one went. Before I knew it he was opening up and teling me about his family, and his journey to move to Chicago from Florida. I am finally being able to connect with a few of the students on a more personal lever, AND we finally have a permanent location to meet in- it seems that things are finally coming together, and I couldn't be happier, or more relieved.

One of the ideas that I have been wrestling with through all of this is the idea of "ministry". I think that many people, myself included, have the idea that the person who is "doing" ministry is the person on the front line: the person giving a message, or the person leading worship, or the person praying for people. However, "ministry" is not just the event that we work towards, but that it is the entire process that makes the "event" possible. (does that make sense?)

Let me take a day or two to sit on this, and think about how I want to, or better yet, should word this. Check back soon if you are looking for more clarity on what I am trying to say, and hopefully it makes at least a bit of sense though.

I am eager, and at the same time scared, to see what all God has in store for me while I am up here. A good amount of our time each week is spent on our own personal development. Some of this is through one on one meetings with mentors, and some of this is through our weekly intern small group meeting. Every intern here says that, without a doubt, being here has been a life changing event for them. Doesn't that sound even a bit scary? "Life-Changing." What does that mean, and what in the world is it going to look like?

2007-09-13T07:21:00.000-05:00

I used to always look at people's blogs and think, "why the heck do they not update more often? it has been a month since their last post!" Well, now I know why, and its because its hard to blog. A little bit atleast. so many great things (and sometimes not-so-great) happen, and its just not easy to put them in words and to publish them on the internet. Luckily though I caught mine before it hit the one-month-since-the-last-update point, and am posting this.

Today is my birthday. the big 2-2. Its weird because its my first birthday away from home. But I did get cards and calls from my family, so that was still good. My sister got me the book Ragamuffin Gospel, and the movie Hotel Rwanda. Both of which I am super excited about. What are people's thoughts on those two pieces (leave comments if you like).

This is only going to be a short post for now. But be aware, a much longer one is coming.
"How long?" You may ask. Well. You will see it and say, "dang, thats a lot to read!" That's how long.

Until then, I leave you with two fun facts:

1. Cincinatti was originally called, "Porkopolis"
2.Todays weather forecast. Sorry, but it's a bit nicer weather here it seems...
San Antonio: Low 71, High 89
Chicago: Low 59, High 78

Good day everyone!

p.s.
Mad props (i.e. special thanks) to Rick and Judy Chalk!

2007-08-27T20:10:00.000-05:00

Apologies on the lack of posts. Turns out I am still stealing internet from the neighbors. They have no idea. its great.

Anwyay, yesterday we had our official launch for the 2007-2008 season of Student Impact. It went well. Many many high schoolers showed up, probably near 1000, no lie, and then following the service we all went to our seperate area for our house/small group time.

I will be co-leading the Lake Park/Conant house group this year, and I'm hoping, and sure, it is going to be pretty awesome. I really dont know what else to write about the house group, other than the fact that I will be co-leading it. So if you have any questions to promt me on what to write on the next post, let me know.

In related news, this past Saturday night, I decided to call it an early night (10pm...way early for a saturday) so that I could wake up super early on Sunday (430am...super early), to get a little quiet time in with God to prepare myself for our Impact Launch. The Plan: drive to downtown Chicago and catch sunrise on one of the beaches in the city. It was AMAZING. no lie.

I don't even know what else to say. I have done a lot of stuff since the last post, and I don't really want to give you the play by play of every day. But I will tell you, if you are ever in the city, eat at the Pasta Bowl, off of Clark and Fullerton, in Lincoln Park. Get the tortelini, and tell them I sent you. Not that they know who I am, but, they will eventually. Also, Chicago beaches. Go to one. They are cool, number one, because thaey are beaches, and number two, because they are right side=by-side to many a skyscraper.

Additionallty, here is an opportunity for any of you who are reading this, or if you have stumbled upon my blog, to help me out with something, if you so chose. I am planning on flying home to San Antonio in early October for a wedding for two of my good friends, Esther Class and Evans George. However, plane tickets aren't too cheap, so I am hoping I can find atleast a decent priced one to make it down to attend the wedding, as well as spend time with family and friends. If you, or someone you know, would like to help me make it home, post a comment, or email me at chughes@willowcreek.org.

Until next time, good days. And, I promise, I will try my best to stay on top of things from here on out.

2007-08-08T14:16:00.000-05:00

Playtime is over, Work Begins (Leadership Summit 07)

Tomorrow, August 9, I officially have my first day to report somewhere for my internship. The Willow Creek Association Leadership Summit will be from Thursday through Saturday, and is one of the many amazing conferences that I will get to attend for free as an intern. Speaking this year are Bill Hybels (WCCC founder), Colin Powell, Michael E. Porter, John Ortberg, Floyd H. Flake, Carly Fiorina, Marcus Buckingham, Richard Curtis, Jimmy Carter, and music by Kirk Franklin.

Quite a lineup huh? Or, maybe you are more like me and have only heard of about 4 of the people speaking. Either way, I believe this conference will be a great way to officially begin my work up here. And, if you would like any of the notes I take so that you may have a few insights to the leadership of any of these folks, let me know, and I'll maybe post them on here.

In unrelated news, Sunday a few of my friends from summer staff at windy gap last year came out to church on sunday and then showed me a round a bit of the north side of Chicago, We wandered around the Lincoln Park area, and checked out a free zoo that was about a block away from lake michican. Now I know what you're thinking..."another free zoo, eh?" But I'm telling you, this one is much better than the free zoo that is a few blocks away from where I am living. They have lions, tigers, and bears (yeah, I had to do it, but its true), giraffes, hippos, rhinos, basically everything a standard zoo has, only on a smaller scale, and, free.

Last night I had another friend from windy gap stay the night at my place, and we went downtown to explore a bit. It was fun. I only wish to give you the highlights at the moment.
1. Right around the wrigley field area there was a southern looking man with a nasty mullet riding a hot pink womans bike. So of course we had to document through photos, and slowed down with the windows down, snapped a shot, and right as he saw us we sped off.
2. Walking onto some of the docks full of sailboats, looking at the city across the water, and daydreaming about being a pirate, or just owning a real nice boat.
3. A woman with an australian accent pushing a baby in a stroller. "How is this a highlight?" You may be thinking. Well, if you heard how awesome her voice was, you'd understand.
4. A drunk guy on a bike rolling past us, stopping to talk to the Australian accented beauty, then riding off only to run into, and knock over a newspaper stand

Still no solid internet connection, so I haven't been too too able to post still. But I will update following the Leadership Summit. Until then, good days.

2007-08-06T10:25:00.000-05:00

Bad Cops in Thailand Wear Hello Kitty.

Read the news story on Yahoo. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070806/ap_on_fe_st/odd_hello_kitty_cops)

Once popularized by little thai girls, and sars masks, Thailand cops that get caught breaking the law not only face punishment, but humiliation. Amazing.

2007-08-03T10:41:00.000-05:00

Finally. A Post.

I have had limited access to the internet the last few days, maybe even the last week. However, I did find that I am able to, I don't want to say steal, but, maybe borrow wireless internet from a neighbor. I dont know who is it, and they don't know who I am, so its a secret between you and me. Anyway, there hasn't been too too much going on, but there has been a few noteworthy moments. I would like to say I don't want to bore you with all of the boring details, but honestly, I am going to try my best to do just that. Here we go:

Monday night my dad and I were able to check out the Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field. I have been waiting so long to be able to go to a game there. Now, some people may say that I am only a Cubs fan because I live in the Chicago area now, however, I have been fan since I was a young'n. My dad used to wake me up to watch Harry Carray sing "Take me out to the ball game", and we would always look for the players with the black bats, because, as we all know, people with black bats are all round better hitters. Anyway, it was awesome finally making it out to the stadium. We even made a stop (or two) accross the street to go to the Cubby Bear, which is a place to purchase your pre-game refreshments... It was a great time to spend with my dad and we both had fun there.

Tuesday was move-in day at the Towner House. Dick and Sibyl towner are the two I am living with, and it a huge blessing to be able to stay with them. Over the span of their marriage Dick said they have had about 80-90 different people stay with them for various amounts of time. I feel incredibly lucky to be one of those people, and I truly hope that I am not the last (I don't think it would be a good sign if they said "after you, we're done"). The area we are living in is a suburb that has a feel similiar to a Boerne, or a New Braunfels. Its nice. There is a park down the street called Lord's Park, and it even has a little zoo in it.

"A zoo?"
Yes, a zoo, but I have only seen and smelled the small buffalo they have so far.

Wednesday I dropped my dad off at the airport, but not without a stop for lunch at Jimmy John's (our second stop in two days acually). I dropped him off at noon, and then decided, since I was already halfway to downtown, I may as well cruise my bike through the city. I say cruise, but it was more of a game that resembled Frogger.

"You rode your bike downtown by yourself?!"
Yes mom. Sorry, but you know how I am. I had to see the city and that was the only reasonable way to do it.

I rode around for a little while, and though to myself, "where's all the cool stuff? All I'm finding is traffic." But then while riding through Grant Park, I found, down by the waterside, where all of the museums are. That was a nice area to ride through, and had very little traffic, was I was able to get my cruise on. I hope to be able to check out all of these museums sometime soon, so if you would like to visit and go with me, I say let's.

I decided at about 230 that I should probably head back to miss the rush houe driving home on I-90, and after about a 30 minute search for my truck in the parking garage I was in, I finally hit the road at 300, to experience none other than my first Chicago rush hour. Lame. It took me two hours to get home. But it was a life lesson definately learned.

That night I went to church at Willow. Wednesdays are called "New Community," which would give the impression that maybe it was a small service, but there were still hundreds of people there. It was a great night. 35 people were baptized, which was incredible, and I was able to meet many people from the Axis community, which is the 20somethings group at Willow. I hung out with them afterwards at Applebees, and made some new friends. So, maybe now I will have something to do in the week before I start work.

Computer is about to die. There are more stories, including my hour long search for Chicago food, but they will have to wait until later, or tomorrow, or Sunday, or whenever I post again. Until then, good days.

Love You Family.

2007-08-02T00:45:00.000-05:00

Don't Worry

Next post is coming soon! I have been super busy and have had little to no internet access. But check back soon. There should be plenty of good stuff, including pictures even! (if i can figure out how to post them)

Holler back soon.

2007-07-28T21:00:00.001-05:00

Another Springfield, MO Post:

This quote, via a text message from a friend, made me laugh today:

I ask: "Hows the weather?"
He Says: "Sunny for once, but the clouds are coming in. Pretty much like my life"
I laugh

You see, I know the clouds really aren't "coming in" to his life (atleast I hope not, please let me know if they really are...), so we were able to each get a good laugh out of it.

2007-07-28T18:44:00.000-05:00

Road Trip Day 1: Bulverde to Springfield, Missouri

Today my dad and I left to begin our journey to Chi-Town (thats gangsta for "Chicago"). For my last night in town I got to spend time with my family before I finished up all of my last minute packing (which I told my mom I was done with. sorry mom, turns out I still had a lot to do). My mom and I met my dad and sister at Incredible Pizza. It's one of those pizza places full of games and what have you. You know the type. It was a lot of fun. We played ski-ball, and I decided that this game may be one of the leading causes of scoliosis.

The entire night it still seemed like this journey I was about to embark on wasn't even real. The whole process has been about 8 or so months in the making, and to think that there was only one more night in town before I leaft was strange. My family means the world to me, and the longest I have ever been away from them has been for a month on two different occasions while doing summer staff for YoungLife. Even this morning as we got in the truck to head out, I couldn't imagine not being able to see my family whenever I wanted to. It will be hard for us all, but I know that we will be fine.

For those of you that know my family and are still in the area, you should pop your head in on random occasions and say hello. You might be able to get cookies, or even a full meal out of them if you stop by at the right time.

Weather just got messy here, and I want to eat at Cracker Barrel, so I'm heading out. But thanks to everyone who has been a part of this whole process. Thanks especially to my family for putting up with me and my crazy, often random itinerary for my life.

Next time I post I will be an official Chicagonite. Prepare yourselves.

2007-07-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

Goodbyes and Waffles...

As the days count down before I leave for Willow Creek, I can't even explain how much I am going to miss all of my friends and family here. I have lived in San Antonio my entire life, and just about everything and everyone I know is here. But at the same time I am super excited about being in an entirely new setting, and having to have faith that God is going to bring more amazing people into my life.

The last two weeks I have been trying to spend as much time with as many people as I can here. Sunday I had my going away party at the Loft Coffee House, which, if you ask me, is the best Coffee House in the greater San Antonio area. Props to the family, especially mom, for throwing this party together for me. Right beforehand, I got a little nervous, thinking, "Dang, what if nobody comes?" but there was an incredible turnout, and 'Ol Scott Heare, father of 5 (well, 3 really) led a prayer for me, and Mark Deaton closed it for us. It was so much fun to see all of my church family there, and if any of you are reading this, I want you to know that I almost passed on this internship because of how much I wanted to continue to be a part of the community. Also, thanks to my aunts, uncles, cousins, and Granny Betty (I think that's what she liked to be called?) for making the trip out there to hang out.

Today is Wednesday. I leave on Saturday morning. Ben Toalson is making waffles for breakfast. If you like homemade waffles, drop some hints around him. You never know what may happen.

So, until then, C.William out.