the past 2 weeks

I'm such a bad blogger. I had all these grand ambitions of updating nightly so the world would know of the baltimore fun but when I get home I'm tired! So what's gone on since Valentine's Day? The Collegiate Conference in Lake Yale was nice- how can I complain about wearing flip-flops while enjoying the sun by the lake? I would've liked more response from the students but they didn't seem to show much interest in any of the booths there. We got back from the conference on Sunday and went right to work finalizing the finishing touches for our Catch the Vision tour that started the next day. We had 15 people come to be exposed to Baltimore and some of our local churches. The tour ended on Wednesday and we left on Thursday to go to Greenville for the NAMB Commissiong Ceremony. Michael came up from St. Pete as did his parents. It was great to see them. At the Commissioning I learned the 5 B's of public spreaking: Be Brief, Brother, Be Brief!
In other news: Michael is going to finally be moving to Baltimore the first week of March. Woo-hoo! Our house has not sold, in fact we took it off the market, but Michael's uncle is going to live there for now. I've come down with my 4th cold since moving here. Come warmer weather come quickly! Book recommendation: Missing in America by Tom Clegg.

home sweet home

It's valentine's day and I'm in Florida- but not in St. Pete. I'm at Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center in Leesburg. Dawn (Mobilization Associate) and I flew in today for the Florida Collegiate Conference to do some recruiting for summer missionaries. We did meet Michael for dinner at Cracker Barrell along I-75. It was really nice to see him even if it was for just a few hours. We have determined an official move time for him- the first week of March. We have decided to take our house off of the market and Michael's Uncle will live there instead. As you can imagine, I'm so excited to have Michael living in Baltimore. Another thing I'm excited about- Sonny's BBQ. Dawn and I made sure to locate one nearby the conference center so we'll be going there for lunch tomorrow. How will I get any sleep tonight?!?

thinking outside the bun

i had a bit of a rough evening. i typically go home I-695 to I-95. however, i was craving taco bell and the closest one to my house would be to just stay on I-695 and then go home through the neighborhood roads. but then i hear of an accident on I-695 and traffic is pretty much not moving. so not only did i have to take the long, non-interstate, other way home from work (did I mention i didn't leave work until 8pm), it didn't take me by taco bell! i finally arrived at taco bell and it was so incredibly slow but i had come this far and i wasn't going to let anything stand between me and my tacos. i arrived home approx. 45 minutes after leaving the office but i did have a bag from taco bell. so, obviously, it's been a rough night.
the cold weather is back and it's no fun. i am not a fan of the cold air that feels like its stinging your face. i'm anxious to get to florida on thursday where i won't have to bundle up just to go outside.
i wish i had a story to tell but i pretty much work and that's that. i did find the bridge that has been being dismantled by the late night construction. it does have a section over the interstate so i guess that does explain why it's not done during the day.
my sister is due to give birth one month from today- March 11. she had her first appointment in ohio and all is well. she still won't find out if it's a boy or a girl and i think she takes pleasure in knowing that is driving me crazy.

it was good while it lasted

So things are going well here in Baltimore. This week we are having four training opportunities around the area to let churches know how Embrace Baltimore can assist them in the areas of Evagelism, Prayer, and Volunteer Mobilization. It makes for some long days but I've been looking forward to this opportunity to share with the churches so I'm glad to be doing it.
While I have been doing well I have some friends who are going through some tough times- relationship trouble, job seeking, and serious illness. While I love my job and what I am doing it's time like these that it's especially rough to be away from friends (and family).
The weather was great tonight- it was supposed to get to 70 which I'm not sure if it did but it just was nice to not be all bundled up for a change. Apparently on it's way is lots of rain and cold weather but it sure was nice for a day.
I received 2 new books last night- Missing in America and Externally Focused Church. I'm anxious to start them but I'm in the middle of The Prayer Saturated Church so I'm going to try to finish that one before starting another one. I was reading Breaking the Missional Code but found it very repetitive and you know how much I hate that so I stopped somewhere in the middle.
On a good news report: Bob's (some of you know him as Baltimore Bob) daughter attends Union University that was hit by the tornado's last night. She is fine and uninjured so we are thankful for God's protection there.