Spot... Up close and personal...

Spot... Up close and personal...

Christmas Progressive Dinners!!!

We've got a great Christmas Party lined up for December 14th for both middle and high school students. We are planning a Progressive Dinner (everyone travels to different houses... eating a different course of the meal as they go). At the final homes, each ministry will have a $5 gift exchange.

It will be a total blast. Now, I'm just waiting to see who has the best lineup of food before I decide where I'm going... hehe...

Frontline (High School) will be visiting these families:
-Morton/Hutto (appetizer)
-Brooks (main course... spaghetti and breadsticks)
-Reffett (dessert and gift exchange)

Underground (Middle School) will be visiting these families:
-Cerezo (appetizer)
-Galloway (main course)
-Alfred (dessert... brownie sundaes... mmmmmm...)

Student are signing up for the Progressive Dinners right now. It starts at 6 pm and concludes at 9:30 pm and costs just $10!!! That's a pretty good deal...

I can't wait!!!

Jim

Good use of a power cord...

My wife found an interesting way to use her power cord today... As a
bookmark...

Library... Again...

Another day off...
Another day in the library...
Ugh!!!

Jim Clark
Student Minister

Sent from my iPhone...

Come on SNOW!!!

There is some snow predicted for the Chicagoland area for the next couple of days!

Which is great for me! This week, we are putting out the sign up sheet for the High School Ski Trip on January 21st. We are heading to Cascade Mountain in Portage, WI. I can't wait. I love the ski trip.

This will be a great trip and I'm really looking forward to it because the High Schoolers go now... the Middle Schoolers go in February... Jim goes both times!!!

Jim

I missed out today...

I'm kinda bummed right now.

Today we were supposed to host a Purpose Driven Youth Ministry Community Lunch here at FVCC. I always look forward to these. It's a chance to sit around a table, talk about ministry and life and most importantly, get some encouragement.

Except no one showed up.
I knew that no one was coming. I had sent out the invitations. I emailed... I called... Everyone "couldn't come." Or didn't even bother to respond. Major bummer!!!

I missed out on some encouragement. I missed out on some connection. I missed out...

Jim

Cold...

Brrrrr...
Winter is here.
Its about 28 and cold...

Jim Clark
Student Minister

Sent from my iPhone...

12 Days of Simply Youth Minstry Freebies!!!

My friends over at Simply Youth Ministry are doing their 12 Days of Christmas Freebies again this year. They did this last year and it was great. Every day, they release a new freebie for download.

Today was a Powerpoint game that I am planning to use this weekend. Its great. Check it out HERE.

I'm all about freebies that are free... always good... and good freebies that I will actually use.

Enjoy!

Jim

Long drive...

These rides home are so long...

Jim Clark
Student Minister

Sent from my iPhone...

Staying ahead of the wave...

Schoolwise... I'm paddling like crazy and at this point in my week, I'm staying ahead of the wave. Today, I had a major project due in my worship class (which I will turn in in about 15 minutes). Next week, I've got a reading assignment due for worship and a journal due for reformation. So, for the next week, I'm going to be paddling as hard as I can.

But I did get a little reprieve. My prof (and adviser) for reformation history pushed back our reading report due date to December 14th. Which gives me an extra 3 or 4 days to finish up my reading for that class... and that's a welcome relief!!!

Well...
Back to paddling...

Jim


***Hey Chris... I thought you might like this picture!!!***

5 Best Things to Say When Caught Sleeping at Desk...

This week is going to be a long week with lots of school projects to finish up as the semester draws to a close... I might need a couple of these. I found this HERE.

5 Best Things to Say When Caught Sleeping at Your Desk:
submitted by Liz Kroll

5. "They told me at the Blood Bank this might happen."

4. "This is just a 15 minute power nap they raved about in the time management course you sent me to."

3. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the Whiteout. You probably got here just in time."

2. "Did you ever notice sound coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?" And the NUMBER ONE best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk...

1. Raise your head slowly and say, "...in Jesus' name, Amen."

Jim

BCS standings...

Today, Sunday, the new BCS standings come out.

Over the weekend, #1 LSC lost... we knew that. But #2 Kansas lost as well... which I called... WVU won... which I was hoping would happen.

Today Ohio State is #3...

If Oklahoma wins over Missouri this weekend... and I'm officially give it to Oklahoma. WVU has to play Pittsburgh, which WVU will win.

But if Oklahoma rolls like I'm calling, then Ohio State will be back in the running for a BCS Championship against WVU!!!!


Go Bucks!!!

Christmas Lights Gone Wild

A student showed me this this morning (Thanks Will). I just had to post it. Fun fun...

Jim

Check it out on YouTube HERE.

I'm really beginning to hate the library...

And I'm not talking about the public library.

I spent half of my Saturday today down at Wheaton College in their library. Today actually wasn't too bad of a day to be in the library since most of the undergrads are still on Thanksgiving break. But I'm getting tired of seeing the inside of libraries... Wheaton... Lincoln... blah... It's a nice enough library. I would just rather be spending my Saturdays on the couch watching college football or something.


But I guess I'm going to have to get used to it...

Jim

Ohio State back in the BCS Championship game???!!!???

Last night, LSU fell to Arkansas... 50 to 48 in 3 Overtimes!!!

LSU was #1... not any more...

Tonight, Kansas #2 and Missouri #4 square off (I give it to Missouri...)

West Virginia #3 is playing Connecticut #20...

#1 is no more...
Either #2 or #4 is going to lose...
If #3 were to go down (and there's a chance...)

Guess who might be back in the BCS Championship Game!!!!! (I bet you won't really have to guess...)

Jim

PDYM Community Lunch

Conversation
Connection
enCouragement

And food!!!!

That's what the PDYM Community is all about... minus the food. But it's all about building connections between local youth workers, having conversation about what's working and what's not in student ministry and get encouraged to continue in the ranks of youth ministry.

I'll be hosting a PDYM Community Lunch next week (November 29th) at Fox Valley Christian Church in Batavia, IL. If you are local, I'd love to have you join us for lunch at 12:30 pm.

If you have questions feel free to ask at jim@fvcc.com.

Jim

4:22 am... no "Black Friday Shopping" for me!!!

As the title says... It's 4:22 am.

'Why are you up?' you ask.

Well, I was planning to go "Black Friday Shopping" this morning. It would have been the first time ever!!! Jackie just left for work (Starbucks opens at 5 am here in Chicagoland...) and I was planning to hit one sale that starts at 5 am (a couple at was at the same Thanksgiving Dinner as us yesterday had a whole plan of attack for today... yuck!.

My sister and I are trying to pick up a present together for someone in our family. But the phone just rang and she picked one up at a sale in Ohio about 10 minutes ago (5 am EST). So, I'm going back to bed. I've never been "Black Friday Shopping." I just don't get it. It doesn't seem like much fun... elbowing people... getting up early (it's now 4:26 am)... going out in the cold (it's about 21 degrees here)... fighting people... rushing...

I think I'll just go back to bed. I had too much turkey and dessert yesterday anyway...

It's 4:29 am.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Jim

Happy Thanksgiving (thankfulness...)

So...
It's Thanksgiving. I'm sitting here on the couch waiting for the Packers vs. the Lions coming on here in a few minutes. And so I thought I'd take a couple of minutes and share some things that I'm thankful for (in no particular order).

-my Savior
-an incredible wife (who cares enough for our family and its finances to work on Thanksgiving... even opened this morning at 4 am... ugh!!!)
-a great group of students that I get the privilege to work with every week (most of which have been throwing turkeys and mashed potatoes at me on Facebook all day)
-my great parents (whom I spent an hour and half with on the phone today... and would love to be eating turkey with them today... my dad and I have the habit of "carving the turkey" in the basement together so that we can eat some before we take it upstairs and mom doesn't know... don't worry... she never reads my blog anymore unless I tell her...)
-a couple of good football games (Packers v. Lions... Cowboys v. Jets...)
-the Pauleys and the Reffetts (who invited my wife and I to join their families for Thanksgiving and we're actually taking them up on it)
-the Jacksons, the Jansons and the Watkins (who also invited us for Thanksgiving... but we didn't take them up on it)
-a great church family that I have the opportunity to serve at FVCC
-great staff relationships (Steve and I had lunch yesterday for an hour and a half... Chinese buffet day!!!)
-having my Cruizer back (it was in the shop this week... rental cars stink!)
(I said in no particular order... its mostly off the top of my head)
-a pretty good Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade today (I'm a sucker for the holiday parade thing... and I'll watch the Rose Parade on New Years Day as well...)
-my education at Lincoln Christian Seminary (although right now I'm in the midst of deadline time... so I'm wondering how thankful I really am...)
-friendships (which aren't as far down the list as it would appear... too many to mention...)

I think that's probably good enough...
If I think of some others, I'll add them later.

Wherever you're at today, have a Happy Thanksgiving. And remember to be thankful for what you have regardless of what the television tries to convince you that you don't have (at Sears, JCPenny's, etc) that you have to go out at 5 am tomorrow morning and buy.

Psalm 100:3-5
"Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations." NIV

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jim

Starbucks TV commercial

A pretty cool little commercial... and almost a little rip on Caribou...

Jim

Click HERE to check it out on YouTube...

Snow TONIGHT!!!!

It's official!!!

Here in St. Charles at 8:30 pm, there was snow reported!!! Maybe if it sticks around until the morning... or accumulates enough to see... there will be pics here.





Jim