STIX 'N STONES

PAIN On Independence Day Weekend!

On Friday, July 4th, our family went to watch fireworks at Hampton Park.  We had a great time together.  After we got home and put the kids to bed, I noticed an unusual pain in my lower left side.  As it began to quickly increase in intensity, I knew what it was - a kidney stone!  Although it's been about 8 years since my last one, the pain is unmistakable and unforgettable. 

By the time Shelley got the kids out of bed so she could take me to the emergency room (which was only about 5 minutes), the pain was so intense that I was on my knees and feeling extremely nauseous.  It was difficult to even walk to the car, but I made it.  8 years ago when I battled my first kidney stone, a female nurse at the hospital said the following words to me, "I've given birth to both kids and kidney stones, and the kidney stones were the most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life."   Since I'll never be able to make that comparison, I'll just take her word for it!  It was certainly the most physically painful thing I've ever faced.     

Anyway, I arrived at the hospital around midnight on July 4th (what a way to end a holiday!).  The doctors then confirmed what I already knew to be the case - I had a kidney stone.  Once they got the pain under control, they released me to go home around 3am with some additional pain medication to take if necessary.  The doctor told me to return to the hospital if the pain got out of control again.  Well, around 8am the pain got out of control again, so I returned to the hospital for another 5 hours.  They had to give me stronger medication that the nurse referred to as "the big guns," in order to lower the intensity of the pain that I was experiencing.  It was the only thing that seemed to work.   

With the change of medication and a different strategy on taking the medication, it's been under better control since they released me this last time.  Based on the location and size of the stone from the CT scan, here's what the doctors suggested: keep the pain under control through proper medication and allow the stone to pass out of the body in a natural manner.  What fun!  Therefore, I've pretty much been in bed since Saturday.      

P.S. My mom told my wife (because I haven't been well enough to talk on the phone) that my dad had a kidney stone on July 4, 2004.  Very interesting.  LIke father, like son?  Sooooo, did you have fun on Independence Day?  LOL.   

Tailgate Party

Last night we had our annual Tailgate Party for Sr Highers.  It was a blast!  We had a large tent set up in the parking lot of APC where we served hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and cookies.  On the other end of the tent we had a karaoke stage available for anyone brave enough to sing and entertain the crowd.  For those who wanted to relax, there was a camp fire for roasting smores or plenty of space at one of the many tables to sit and talk.  For those wanted to get in the action, there was basketball, frisbee, football and even a large inflatable obstacle course.  Everyone who attended had a great time.   

New Middle School Service

From now through the middle of August, we're experimenting with a new time for our 2Twenty middle school services.  During the summer months we're holding services for 6th - 8th graders at 11am on Sundays in the prayer chapel at APC.  Today was our very first one.  We had around 50 - 60 people in attendance and everyone had a great time.  The prayer chapel was transformed into a cafe, game room, snack bar and service area all in one!  

Some of the elements to the service included: worship, a competition, videos, a skit, a challenging message from Pastor Gregg, plus food and fun.   It was great to see the students pursuing God!  We'll have our next service this coming Sunday at 11am.  If you missed today, make sure you come next week! 

Community Care Day - Student Ministry In Action

Today was Community Care Day - a day where we joined together as a church (and network churches) to show people in the community tangible expressions of love with no "strings attached."  Our youth ministry targeted several baseball fields and parks around the area where elementary age baseball games were being played.  Each of our small groups participated with the action.  We handed out ice pops, tatoos, and made balloon animals (and other objects) for kids.  With the extreme heat today, the ice pops were more liquid than solid, but people still appreciated the refreshment on a hot day.  At one of the locations, I had a "balloon sword fight" with a couple of kids.  They ganged up on me in an effort to win the battle!  I had a lot of fun interacting with kids in the community. 

Can You Tickle Yourself?

As I was doing some research for a sermon today, I came across some interesting information:

• Once a human reaches the age of 35, he/she will start losing approximately 7,000 brain cells a day.  The cells will never be replaced.  (Since I turned 35 in January, I guess I can use this as an excuse if I forget something.)
• It is not possible to tickle yourself.  The cerebellum, a part of the brain, warns the rest of the brain that you are about to tickle yourself.  Since your brain knows this, it ignores the resulting sensation.  (You're probably trying to tickle yourself now aren't you?)

I'm not sure how to verify if the brain cell information is true, but I can affirm the fact that I can't tickle myself.  Hmmmmm.

Challenging Yourself

While it’s extremely important to have other people in your life that challenge you spiritually (and in other ways as well), their passion for Jesus won’t sustain you over the long haul.  Ultimately, you have to take responsibility for your own relationship with Christ.  Until that time comes, your spiritual growth will be limited.  1 Samuel 30:6 says that David “strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” (NAS version).  David was facing one of the most difficult times in his life.  His entire family as well as the family of his fighting men had been taken by another army, so his own people were thinking about killing him.  What did David do?  He strengthened himself by turning to God.  He didn’t rely on someone else’s encouragement or support.  There was none to be found at that time.  He challenged himself to find the strength he needed by pursuing God at that critical moment in his life.  One of the most important skills you can learn is to challenge yourself to pursue God even when you don’t feel like it.  Don’t wait for that challenge to come from someone else.  Let it come from your own spirit, and let it come TODAY!  If you can’t challenge yourself during the “easy” times in life, you’ll never be able to do it when things get tough.

Back to the U.S.

Today I'm traveling back to the U.S..  I'll be flying from Stockholm, Sweden to Amsterdam; from Amsterdam to Detriot; and from Detroit to Pittsburgh.  I had a great week!  It was amazing to see all of the people who responded to the call of God to go the mission field during "Harvest Cry."  I'm looking forward to the students we will raise up at our MCM Ministry School and send out in the near future.  This is the life. . .

Farthinder?

 

I accomplished my goal of finding the 2nd sign I was searching for in Sweden.  This makes me laugh.  The word farthinder means "speed bump" in Swedish.  If it were an actual English word, my definition would be "to have challenges with or to experience difficulties passing gas." 

Harvest Cry on Saturday

We had another great day.  It's after 1:00am right now, but this is the only chance I've had to blog over the past 24 hours.  Here's a quick breakdown of what happened today:

• 8am - Prayer for missions lead by Johannes
• 9:30am - Session with Stephen Sebyala.  He continued to ignite a passion for souls in our hearts.  He is absolutely amazing!
• 11:40am - Session with Jeff and Melodie.  They talked about relationships.  They were a huge "hit" among the S.O.S. team.  They're a great tag team on this topic!
• 1:00pm - Lunch.  About 20 of us were invited over to the house of a couple who attends Harvest Center.  They prepared a fantastic feast for us.
• 4:00pm - A much needed nap.
• 7:00pm - The first service of the evening.  Johannes spoke and the S.O.S. dance team continued to amaze me!
• 10:00pm - The second service of the evening.  This one was geared towards youth.  Daniel spoke about how God can use 1 person to do great things. 

Tomorrow will come quickly so I'm going to bed. 

Outreach at A Swedish Mall

   

Each week the S.O.S. Bible School Students have at least one planned outreach.  Today I went with them to do an outreach at the mall across the street from the church.  After we spent about 10 minutes walking around and letting people know that something special was about to start, the dance team opened up with a great routine.  Then we played the "balloon stomp game" to get some audience participation.  Next a student shared a healing testimony followed by a song.  The drama team then performed "This Blood's For You" and depicted Christ being crucified.  It ended with a brief message and explanation about salvation.  It was another good day.