Summer Camp

Heading to Heartland Campgrounds in Columbus, OH!

Off to a week a camp. I love summer camp. It's a great week to connect with other youth pastors as well as watch God do some pretty incredible things in the lives of students all across Ohio.

8

Gabe (my son turned 8 this week).

My dad & I went purchased him this for birthday...

It's so incredible to watch him grow. He is a passionate young man with a heart for God and football! Sometimes I like to just watch him play or read or sleep. It's amazing to see him do or say things that I do or say. It's both honoring and humbling.

I want to be the best Father I can be and I realize that only happens when I'm connecting with my heavenly Father.

I love John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

Not only a great verse but a life lesson.

As Gabe watches me he'll follow my example.

Today's Walk-away: You are an example. Whether you want to admit it or not people look up to you. It may your positive attitude at work or the way you're always bragging on your wife or the way you handle your finances. Don't run from being an example. Embrace and use it to bring God glory!

Adrenaline

This was a great week for our High School mininstry at CLC.

Tuesday we kicked off our Summer with a concert and cookout. Had our highest attendance of the year. It was an amazing night of building relationships and having a blast. Then we took a group of 15 to the Children's Medical Center to hand out Teddy Bears. And finally capped it off Saturday by taking a bus full of students to Cedar Point.

The highlight of the day was definately riding the Top Thrill Dragster. All that needs to be said is: 120 MPH in 3 seconds - 410 feet up then 410 feet down - all in 17 seconds.

It was quite an adrenline rush! I'm not sure what it is about adrenaline rushes but I love them.

Life is full of adrenaline rush opportunities but as fun as it is to get your blood going and experience that excitement that's NOT going to sustain you day-to-day.

The disciplines I form are what create health and sustainability.

I love thrills but I know they are always short lived.

Today's walk-away: Life's thrills can easily become a moving target. What thrills you today bores you tomorrow.

Junkless June - it's ON

It's ON baby. Junkless June started yesterday.

I'm really excited about this challenge. It's going to be tough but rewarding. A few of my friends are their friends are jumping in on junkless June.

Here's a quick rundown of Junk-less June.

The Goal:To break myself from things that I eat/drink that isn’t the best for me. They may not be awful, but if you think you can’t go without for 30 days – then maybe you need to. I am doing this to gain self-control and possibly shed a few pounds. The heart behind it is to not allow anything to have control over me. If I say “I can’t go without (blank)” then I need to just so it doesn’t have control over me. If you think you can but aren’t willing to try then you may want to pay attention to the truth – YOU CAN’T!!!

The rules: I have submitted 3 things that I think will be the hardest to go without for 30 days.

If I cheat I owe a $5.00 penalty. I think the penalty has to hurt. If it were only a quarter or dollar – it'd be too easy to cheat. The penalty has to be painful. There is a $20 “I am a loser without any self control, so I quit” fee.

In other words, if I quit I still owe all the penalty money AND a $20 fee.

The Rewards: I am sure it will benefit me physically and mentally and just being able to have the self-control is a huge battle I hope to win. (Galatians 5)

The winner: The person who wins (cheats the least amount of times) wins all the penalty money. If there is more than one person that “wins” – we will split the money.

If you want to jump into Junk-less June you need email Gary Fowler @ fowler163@yahoo.com

Good Luck!