• The Change in Job:  I went from being on the hot seat for the manager's position at OfficeMax to being asked to become the Youth & Education pastor at a church in Harrisonville (Antioch SBC).  This happened in August with the official changeover occurring the first of September. As a result of this, Tonya resigned from Children's Place and is working as a teacher for a church-run day care program. 
• The Move to Facebook:  I must admit, I had never really done much of anything on any social sites.  But, the youth group had such a site through Facebook so I created a fresh site and have very busy keeping it up and running.  I have found Facebook to be a very useful tool in keeping track of students (and even some parents and adults in the church) and their friends.  It makes it easy to advertise events and study sessions, too, with a click of a mouse.  At last look my "friends" count was over 250.
• Getting back in the Swing of Ministry:  Antioch is such a unique ministry for our entire family.  The uniqueness of the makeup and purpose of this church places it at the top in strong potential for success.  Coming from previous experiences where each and every Sunday, Wednesday, and whatever other day you could get, was maxed out - making nearly each day a struggle for balance and sanity.  Under the leadership of Pastor Ernie and the Elders (that's another plus), Antioch's pursuit of purpose and simplicity is preventing it from strangling the life out of the young families that populate the church family.  The emphasis on family has led Antioch to only have Sunday School and morning worship on Sunday's - leaving the remaining day for families to regenerate for a new week.  This is a much welcomed change from previous experiences.  Our Wednesday evening programs is the only other structured time for continued Christian education. 
  This time is so strong that it nearly reaches the same strength in numbers as seen on Sunday's.  The biggest difference is the use of home-based small groups during the Wednesday evening offerings.  While the adults are in their small groups, the kids are enjoying Mission Friends, TeamKID and PULSE (Youth) at the church facilities.

Overall the last (nearly) seven months have been a breath of fresh air for us all.  It has been nearly three years since stepping out of youth ministry and the time away has given a rejuvenation needed to hope right back in to the saddle.  Hopefully I will be a little more focused so I can continue to drop some notes here for everyone to see how things are going in our family...maybe :)

Well, school is officially out for the kids.  So I guess that means summer is here!  Each of the kids passed their respective grades and will advance to the next.  That means that Austin heads to the 7th grade, with Alan-Michael going into the 4th, and Alexis heads into the 2nd grade.  Right now, they all have a two-week down period before they go to a month-long summer school.  For most of us, summer school was mandatory in order to pass a class we failed - in order for us to move up to the next grade.  Not today.  Summer school is more preparatory for students as well as a mixture of fun.  They can choose from a standard school subject like math, science or the such.  They also get to choose a fun class like film, baseball and so on.

Even though the day started out rainy, we were still able to hit the water park today.  This one is indoors and just opened adjacent to Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City.  The kids had a blast!  Radio Disney was there playing music and games with the kids.  Austin won several prizes participating in some of the games.  I took some pictures for everyone to see.