Good times...

Today I had the opportunity to go with a friend and fellow youth pastor Andy down to see Camp Crossroads and to catch up with some good friends Reuben and Nicole. I got to know R&N while they were the retreat center directors at Columbia... and it was so good to see them. One thing I have never been good at is keeping up with friends as they move away, and this is just a reminder to me about how sweet friendships are.

I also heard about Andy's experience at National Youth Worker's Convention in San Diego. My turn will come in a couple of weeks when I head to Atlanta for the convention there. This is always a sweet time for me to make my yearly trek to the convention. Once I'm down there I hope to do some blogging about it this year.

After getting home from my road trip, I had an opportunity to hang out with my kids while Kristine was out at a work function. Always a great time. Of course I love my kids, but even more special is seeing them laugh together and goof around together. We just did a quick dinner at Panera, but the time together was invaluable. Each night we spend time praying together, and I love hearing there prayers each night. My son's usually has to do with being safe (after he fell on the playground), and with all the rain tonight he was praying for all the dirty tires driving through the mud then getting wet.

The saddest part of the day however was hearing from Dad about having to put their dog down. Katie was a very special dog to all of us. She was a full grown dog by the time my kids came along, and I have so many memories of my kids 'riding' Katie around the house, playing with her, getting licked all over. She was always such a sweet dog but in these last few days her health really deteriorated. This pic is from when she was a baby. We'll miss you Katie...