Reporting from CIY Believe

Hey everyone,

Well it has been a few weeks since we last posted and I cannot fall asleep for the life of me, so I figured I might as well write a blog post! Not too much going on right now, but it is officially 2:10 AM and we are at the hotel and I think it is nearly impossible to sleep in this hotel room. It's too warm, it's noisy, I don't do well sharing a bed, and Ty-Ty and I noticed that the bed is "lumpy". Thus, I came outside the room, where there is actually some lawn furniture, and sat down and did a little reading. Then Matt and Tyler came out and I was reminded that I am a very bad youth pastor because I let them hang out with me for about 20 minutes, but don't tell Rory, he's sleeping. Aaaand a drunk guy just stopped by to ask me where the vending machines are. This night is getting better and better.

Well, here are a few thoughts to keep ya entertained for the next couple minutes:

1. Believe is amazing. This is my first time going and everything is just better than I could have imagined. Whether it's the music, videos, teaching, stunts or illusions, everything has been done to perfection and CIY is just doing an incredible job at focusing on the jr. high age group. This is what I want to learn in ministry. How do I really zone in on all the different age groups in youth and children's ministry? How does the ministry differ from group to group? Tough questions to answer at times.

2. The speaker last night (Friday) definitely told a story about his 2 year old eating his own feces in the bathtub. It was a difficult story to hear...

3. It is official, Rory's stomach has no bottom when he is eating. I have seen it at Lambert's, I-Hop, and now at Taco Bell. And when he is full, he still likes to talk about how good food sounds, which is odd to me!

4. I have been re-reading Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller and I just really have to recommend it to all readers. If you have read Blue Like Jazz and it left a bad taste in your mouth for Donald Miller, check out this book instead. I gotta say that I don't agree with everything he writes, but this book really shows that Miller is looking for a way to express Christ to those who need to see Christ as He really was. SFGKW aims to show people why humanity is the way it is and what it means for God to become man in order to redeem us. It's an incredible read.

Alrighty, that's all I am really thinking about right now. I try not to think too hard about a lot of things out of fear that my head really might explode. It is now 3 AM and I am still not the least bit tired. I sure do hope that all of you are having a great weekend I will see you all soon!

-Ernie