10 for the 2000s: 2003 Personally

1. Camry - Bought a Toyota Camry from Terry. Love the car. Has 170,000 miles and still going.
2. Class of 2003 - Out of this graduating class we saw NMC Senior High go regional. Fairfield and Wawasee High School truly became a presence. This class also marks a significant amount of students who are doing full time ministry all around the world.
   
3. 2nd Honeymoon - For our 3rd Anniversary we went back to Palm Springs, CA. We stayed at the same resort as our Honeymoon. This trip featured a visit to The Price Is Right (didn't get to "come on down"), a visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain (didn't have to wait in line for any rides), and some consistently beautiful sunny weather.
4. NYGO - We had to cancel our SEMP trip to Toronto due to the SARS scare. Instead we took our students to New York City to New York Gospel Outreach (NYGO). It may still go down in my ministry books as the most impressive group of students and most significant discipleship trip we have done. In the process, we stayed in the Hilton two blocks from Central Park, 2 blocks from Broadway, and 4 blocks from Times Square. We went to all the Burroughs except Stanton Island. We stood outside the Today Show. We were at the Red Carpet for the Legally Blond Sequel premiere (saw Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, and Sally Field. Before the kids got there, Janelle and I went to Yankee Stadium and saw the Yankess/ Mets face off. So many memories.
5. Summer Camp - It was the first "Summer Camp", where that's what we called it. We truly utilized a theme... "Sanctuary". It was the beginning of my friendship with Jason Miller as he came to lead worship. God met with us in a very special way at that Camp. I remember one of the Seniors at that camp saying to the students, "There's no reason we shouldn't see twice as many students at this camp next year." I aslo had a late night run in with a guy who looked like a professional wrestler. He tore me up and down , right in front of our students, for something another group of kids had done. The guy ended up looking like a fool, and came back and apologized.
6. The Connection - Our Worship Services were packed with people on Sunday Morning. We had to create more space. Rather than add on to the Worship Center or add one more service there, we decided to try this "Video Venue" thing that we'd heard about. So Terry took lead. We brought in a more progressive/modern worship feel and started in the Fieldhouse. There were about 100 when we started. I believe we had close to 700 in our two Connection Services in the Gym last Sunday.
7. ALDS in Chicago - We were at the Sonlife Campus in Elgin, IL for a Youth Ministry training Conference. We watched the Cubs play their way to the ALCS in a family themes Sports Bar. It was a fantastic setting to watch the games that brought me back to baseball as a fan.
   
8. Peyton's Comeback - It was on the same weekend in Chicago that Peyton Manning let the Colts past Tampa Bay on a Monday Night after being down 35-14 with 4 minutes left in regulation. The most amazing comeback I have ever seen.
   
9. Florida Megacation - At the end of 2003, we went on a 3 week vacation to Florida. We left the Saturday of Thanksgiving Break. We spent three days in Orlando at Disney World (and truly fell in love with the place at that point) then went on to stay at a vacation home for pastors in Fort Lauderdale, FL. I got my bike stolen while we were there. Our car battery died. We witnessed a car accident that was pretty horrid. The Lauderdale days were not the most "fun" we've had on a vacation, but we did have a good break from everything.
10. I Almost Quit. In the Spring of 2003, I hit a wall. I had no idea why I was doing what I was doing. I felt like I was drowning in ministry and falling out of love with God. I was seeing some awesome results in it all, but was losing my soul. Through some wise counsel from my brothers in ministry, some professional counseling, some significant soul-searching, and lots of prayer & surrender, I not only rediscovered a love for my calling... I truly fell in love with my Savior at a deeper level. With all I have experienced since that Spring, I am so glad I didn't give up.