10 for the 2000s: 2001 Personally

1. Disney: Janelle and I took our first vacation to Florida together in January 2001. We also went to Disney for the first time together. We really liked it, but didn't love it. It was the start of our addiction though! At the end of January, 2010, we will be visiting Walt Disney World for the 8th time (add 1 more for a Disneyland visit). We also learned on that trip that you never, EVER should sit through a timeshare sales presentation.
   
2. Class of 2001: My first official Sunday at NMC in the Fall of 1996, I walked into a classroom... well it actually was the front room to our Missions House on CR 50... to teach an 8th Grade Guys Class. I discovered one boy playing with a cigarette lighter while 2 others had locked a fourth in the bathroom. Good times. I grew up in ministry with those guys and gals, and deeply loved those students. Upon their graduation, it really marked a watershed moment for me at NMC.
3. Moving back home: At the end of our year-long lease to our apartment, they were going to bump the rent up $50 a month on us. We decided that was ridiculous, and started to look for a house. When the time came to re-up our lease, we didn't have a house, so Janelle and I moved into my parents' basement for almost 3 months.
4. Almost Leaving NMC: I was offered a Youth Ministry Position at another Church. Janelle and I visited a couple times. We sought the Lord fervently and were fairly convinced a move was going to happen. Interestingly, the Junior High Pastor at that church was a guy named Caleb Bislow. Through our IMPACT trip to Peru (read below), God made it very clear to Janelle and I that we were to stay at NMC.
   
5. Agricultural Strike. We went to the mountains of Peru with 12 students for our Summer IMPACT trip. After a week of incredible ministry, we made our way down the mountains only to encounter an agricultural strike where many Peruvians had blocked the roads with rocks, trees, and even burning tires. We made it back to the capitol by workign our way through 4 significant roadblocks from a bus, to a van, to another bus.
6. 802 Locke Court: We moved into our house in late June. We've been there since. We love and hate the house... mostly love.
7. Football Chapel: Several NorthWood Football players had their lives rocked by God over the Summer. I had a sense that God wanted to do something significant in that team. In conversation with Jon Andrews, he threw out the idea of having a chapel service before game day. We did, and the results were fairly powerful.
   
8. 9/11: I had slept in a little that morning. We were going to have a leader meeting that Tuesday Night, which means a very late night. Janelle called me a little after 9 and asked if I had the TV on. I turned it on in time to watch the first tower fall.
9. Hobbits: I loved the Lord of the Rings Trilogy as a kid when my dad read it to me. I reread them when I was in college. I wasn't sure what I'd think of them on screen. Could Peter Jackson come close to the vision of Middle Earth I had in my head? I watched Fellowship of the Ring 3 times in the theater. It remains my favorite of the 3 mainly because I was blown away with how much it looked and felt like what I'd pictured in my head.
10. Croc Hunter: I began serving on the 3DYC programming team in 2001. Our theme was Wild Kingdom: Abandon Your Comfort Zone. It was a place where I was able to unleash my creative juices in a way that would bless others. I helped in the planning of session and the creative elements. As a part of the creative elements, we did a series of dramas featuring the Croc Hunter. I played the Croc Hunter. I continued to serve on the 3DYC team for 6 years.