The CUBS in San Francisco!

And WE were there! Well, Tracy, Gracy, and I were! After dropping off Joshua and Kala at school this morning, we headed to "the Bay" for an afternoon of Cubs baseball! So, the outcome wasn't what we'd hoped (they lost 4-1), but it was such a FUN day! BIG thanks to Jim, Janet, and Lori for helping make it happen! Here are a few pics! :-)

First day of school!

I meant to post this last night . . . . oh well! :-)

The kids had a great first day of school, I think. They both came home fairly upbeat. It sounds like it is going to be alot more work than they are used to, but as long as we stay on top of it, we feel OK. A friend let us borrow her camera to snap a couple pics (way to do, Dad - leave the camera at home!) so as soon as I get them I'll put them up.

They are now attending Faith Christian School - here's their website if you want to take a look around! http://www.faithchristianschool.com/

Have a great week! Blessings! :-)

Weekend Update

A very busy, but good weekend around here . . . .

Saturday I spent the day in Fair Oaks (near Sacramento) at an AWANA conference. Went with Bill, Valerie, and Amber (thanks, guys!) and had a great time. I don't have any expereience with AWANA from a leadership point of view, and, as the Children's pastor, I'm the "Commander" of our club! So I have alot to learn in a short amount of time! We kick-off on Septemeber 5th!

Today was a fantastic day at Cornerstone! Attendance was very high - I'm telling ya, I'm just not sure how long we'll be able to stay in this building! First service kids were 16 and second service there were 54! WOW! It was also our Summer J.A.M. Sunday, so we spent time recognizing our terrific team of volunteers and showing a video looking back on the past 10 weeks. This was also the first Sunday with our new HD Video Projector in the sanctuary so the video looked REALLY nice! :-)

Had lunch with Jason, who's moving to southern CA, and spoent a little time with Dan & Ginger - two of our best friends.

Kids are already in bed . . . . first day at a new school tomorrow . . . . we're praying all goes well!

Just one more thing . . . .

Before I sign off . . . .

CUBS WIN! And are in First Place alone for the first time since April 2004! WooHoo! :-)

Wacky Water Frenzy (pt. 2)

We actually divided into 2 groups: Beginners (Pre-School & Kindergarten) in the church backyard and Elementary (1st thru 6th Grade) at King Avenue School. While setting up earlier in the day, I invited a family that was just hanging out at the school. They showed up! It was a great witnessing opportunity! Here's Tracy talking with them.

Wacky Water Frenzy!!!!!!!

Well, our first Wacky Water Frenzy at Cornerstone was a HUGE success! 93 kids came out and participated in alot of FUN! This has always been a great event and this year was no exception! Enjoy a few of the pics (sorry, they are kind of large)!

Sac Scummer Geekfest BBQ

OK, this takes a little explaining, I suppose! There are a group of Star Wars collectors that meet on a website called "Rebelscum." There are various regional forums and we hang out in the Sacramento section. So we refer to ourselves as "Sac Scummers." Every year we get together for a BBQ at MAF's house! We eat, buy and sell, and just talk "geekiness!" But it's a very cool group! This past Saturday was loads of fun!

What a week!

WHEW! This was one BUSY week! So glad it's Friday night! Oh yeah . . . . wait a minute . . . . I have an all-day conference tomorrow, too! So I guess this week isn't quite over . . . . YET! :-)

I'm still here!!!!!!!

Yes, still alive! Just busy, busy, busy! And today is no different. Tonight is WACKY WATER FRENY! I'll be sure to have a full report posted tomorrow! Blessings all! :-)

GO CUBS!

10 runs . . . . 16 hits . . . . 1 win . . . . half a game behind Milwaukee . . . . 'nuff said! :-)

Summer J.A.M. Club

Summer J.A.M. stands for "Jesus and Me!" It's been a GREAT summer!

YAWN!!!!

Yep, didn't post anything last night like I had planned . . . . and no, it was not because I was in a depressed state because of ANOTHER Cubs loss . . . . even though I am! (are the Cubs and Brewers trying NOT to win the division?!)

It was just a really LONG day . . . . I didn't get home until after 9:00 last night and was gone all day. Wednesdays are usually that way, anyway. Thankfully, Tracy and I were able to take about a 30-minute walk to catch up on the day. It was a beautiful night.

Summer J.A.M. was good last night. We had 67 kids, which was another great number. Lesson was on Naaman from 2 King 5. One of the newer girls won the Yoda lightsaber drawing - the kids were all stoked about that! The game was alot of fun, too!

We'll wrap things up next Wednesday with our "Wacky Water Frenzy" which is an activity I started doing way back in Altona in the mid-90's. It's alot of fun! Pastor Dave and I are going to go do some shopping for inflatable water slides this afternoon. I typically rent them, but they are really coming down in cost so we may just bite the bullet and buy a couple. We'll see . . . .

Not much else going on . . . . praying, planning, recruiting, praying some more for the Fall ministry kick-off in September. Back to work now . . . .

What a TEAM!!!

No, I'm not talking about the Cubs . . . . in fact, I'm not going to even mention the Cubs . . . . it's far too depressing and there is not much Kleenex in the house . . . .

What I'm referring to is the TEAM we have at Cornerstone! Just returned from a meeting with Julie, Melissa, and Vicki to discuss our growing Pre-School Department! Wow! The Lord is really blessing us with lots and lots of little ones! But addressing what we will do with all of them is a unique challenge, particularly considering the size of our facility and our already very-involved volunteer force. We walked away with with some very good ideas. I'll spend quite a bit of time tomorrow putting them all together and coming up with a plan of action.

Thank you, ladies, for your heart for Children's Ministry! This Fall is going to be SO exciting!

Oh, and GO ROCKIES! ;-)

Wahoo!!!!!

Our Summer J.A.M. theme this year is "Avalanche Ranch!" Here are Joshua and Kala in their full Western glory! :-)

Brrrrrr!!!!!!!

We're more than halfway through the day and it's only 68 degrees outside! 68!!!!!! OK, so it's not THAT cold . . . . but for California? Northern California? Yuba City? Yikes, brrrrr!!!!!!!

Cubs Lose! Cubs Lose! Holy Cow!

OK, so it wasn't our night . . . . Glavine got win #300 and beat the Cubs. The bigger news? Soriano is out for at least a little while . . . . hopefully the Cubbies can keep it together!

It was a great day at Cornerstone. Attendance was a little low, but that's to be expected this time of year as families head out for final vacation days before school gets underway. We observed the Lord's Supper today and I learned a new tradition - the "passing of the peace" - where we greet one another with a blessing. Pretty cool. Children's Church was awesome, the kids really got involved in the lesson on David & Goliath. We did a cool little ice-breaker that really illustrated Phil. 4:13 (our key verse today).

Looking forward to a good week . . . . I'm working tomorrow since I took Friday off to spend with Joshua. The office is closed on Mondays so it should be a fairly quiet day . . . . we'll see!

Barry & Alex have nothing on David!

OK, so it's been a pretty big day in the sports world . . . . Alex hit #500 earlier today and Barry just blasted #755, tying Hank Aaron on the all-time list. Thankfully, my Cubs won today and hopefully another historic landmark (win #300) will be postponed as the Mets' Glavine takes the mound against the Cubs tomorrow night in Wrigley (on ESPN, no less! please don't embarass me, Cubs!)!

But as I have been reflecting on my theme for tomorrow at Cornerstone, I am reminded what true heroism is - standing for God. Tomorrow we will be focusing on David and Goliath - what an awesome victory by the Lord for His people! And what a great challenge to us, thousands of years later, to make our stand for the Lord, no matter the obstacles, no matter the ridicule (even from within our own ranks). I am hopeful this age-old and very familiar story will still impact hearts tomorrow morning.

Family Pictures

For those who haven't seen us in awhile . . . . here's the crew at the 30th Anniversary Star Wars Celebration in Los Angeles!

The Word is OUT!

Just sent out the mass e-mail informing friends, family, colleagues, and anyone in the white pages about the new "PG POST." We'll see what happens . . . .

12 years ago . . . .

In a galaxy not so far away . . . .

Is it really possible that Joshua was born 12 years ago tonight?! Where in the world did all that time go? That was back in Altona, Illinois, where we first started in full-time ministry back in 1995. WOW! Simply unreal . . . .

Today was a great day with my boy . . . . we started the day with a round of golf (a tradition that began on his 9th birthday) . . . . afterwards we all went to Chili's for a late lunch . . . . followed by a game of bowling . . . . concluding with a front row seat to tonight's 12-0 victory by our local baseball team, the Gold Sox.

It was pretty cool that first night 12 years ago . . . . and it was pretty cool tonight as well . . . . I love you, buddy!

Wonderful World of Blogging

Hey check me out! After being advised, pressured, cajoled, and the like to do a "blog" . . . . here it is! Now . . . . will you all leave me alone?!

hahahahahahaha

Just kidding, of course! Hope this will be a great tool, not just for family info, but ministry matters as well! Blessings!