Stuck in Atlanta

I'm trying today to focus on a verse...
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

That's the verse that I'm trying to focus on. Jackie and I were just talking and in the midst of the talking I said, "This isn't how I envisioned this trip." And it's not. We're currently stuck in Atlanta until the morning. Officially weather in the Atlanta area had the airport shut down for almost an hour this morning. Forcing us to sit on the runway at Midway (not a fun experience) for about 2 hours waiting to leave. Even after they got the airport in Atlanta open, we still had to wait over an hour to get clearance to leave.

The long of it is that we missed our flight to Santiago. Our hope, upon leaving Midway, was that the ripple effect of the airport being closed and flights being delayed would delay our flight enough to catch it. But alas, it did not. In fact, our flight to Santiago left only 6 minutes late and we missed that by over an hour.

Luckily we ran into an incredible man... whom you can give praise for... Marvin... who set us up with airport vouchers in a Red Roof Inn nearby (which he didn't have to do). So here we are.

And I'm trying to remember that maybe God wants us on the Saturday flight into Santiago for a reason. For His reason. (This flight was the initial flight we should have had when we did our initial booking back in September, but overcrowding forced us to try to leave on Friday.)

So that's where we are.

Trying to remember that God works all things for good for those who love Him. We're trusting. Praying. And trying to be flexible. But for tonight, we're thankful for a shower and a bed.

Pray for our:
-Flexibility
-Frustration
-Changes to our schedule
-That we can continue to minister in the midst of where we're at

More hopefully in the morning. But it will be a mobile post from my phone.

Stuck in Atlanta

Leaving on a jet plane...

Dominican Republic trip this week!!!

The much anticipated D.R. trip is coming up this week. It's difficult to believe that it's already here. Paige, one of the students who is going, blogged about it HERE. I will post some thoughts later on... I just wanted to draw attention to her post.

Pretty excited... but I've got a pretty full to-list before I roll.

Jim

wow... Student Suspended For Passing Gas

This story kinda made me chuckle a little bit...

Here's a snipet:
"School officials said the teen repeatedly passed gas to make other children laugh. They said the smell also made it difficult to breathe."

HERE's the whole story.

Jim

Something very cool...

I was pretty stoked about a little something that happened this morning with our middle school church.

I was teaching. And we are teaching through a series called "Closer." This morning we were talking about hearing God's voice in the midst of the noise of our world and we were talking about different voices that have/should have an impact in our lives. In the midst of this discussion, I said what I usually say when we talk about the importance of the Bible and Bible reading... namely that "if you don't have a Bible, I'll put one in your hands today before you leave."

After the service was completed... two students came up and requested Bibles!!! For one of these students, this was the first time she's walked through the doors of FVCC!!! I was a little blown away!!! Hopefully I'll have a chance to give away a couple more Bibles tonight as I'm getting ready for high school church. But that just blew me away a bit!!!

Thought I'd share!

Jim

Back in the saddle

I'm back in the saddle from my Restoration Movement Trip... if you were following my Twitter Feed (HERE), then you have a pretty good idea of what I have been up to.

But I'm back... rested up... and ready for Sunday.

I've got a Restoration Movement blog rolling in my head... but don't have enough time to post it now. But be watching for that.

Jim

On the road again...

Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again" is playing through my mind right now.

I'm heading out of town on leg 2 of the monthly travels (check out leg 1 HERE, HERE and HERE). This week, I will be traveling to many of the sites of the Restoration Movement's founding. Those of you who have been following my blog know that I did this a couple of years ago. That time, I traveled as a student. This time I am traveling as a "Teacher's Assistant." I will likely be posting some pictures of what I'm seeing and what I'm thinking as I go.

But I'm on the road again... maybe I should make a playlist of this song and "Rambling Man"... these trips are founding like one...

Jim

Poll... Which conference is for you?

I thought I'd try something new...
Never done this before, so we'll give it a wing...

Create interactive meetings at Poll Everywhere

Jim

I just...

...blogged over HERE.

Here's a snipet:
"I feel...

…refreshed!!!

I’m a couple of days back from Group’s/Simply Youth Ministry’s National Youth Ministry Conference (which is in Chicago… my town… next year!!!) in Columbus. And right now I’m feeling pretty refreshed. Here’s a couple of reasons why:

1. I got some hang time with some friends..."

Read the rest of the article HERE. Enjoy!

Jim

I've Seen It All Music Video (HD) from NYMC

This video is great... Thanks Josh and Jake for putting it together!!

Jim

Check it out HERE