Week in Review

This week has been a rather full week. A good week, but full. Tuesday night I taught a workshop on "How to do Student Ministry Effectively." The best part was that it was for a hispanic church that meets on our campus. I prepared for an hour long class. I had a fancy powerpoint, a 10 page notes-handout, books on display for them to look. The only thing I hadn't thought of was that I would be using an interpreter. Therefore, I really only had 30 minutes to teach. But it still went. The interpreter did a really good job. I think. Well, at least he spoke when I was done. I assume he was saying the same stuff I was.

Wednesday night we had our Jr. High outreach program, .deW (which is Wed. backwards). It was a good night. We got hold of a Wii and big, flat panel, HDTV for the kids to use. We had our second highest total of the year in attendance. I really like .deW. It's where I get to know the kids the best. I can tell they're starting to feel more comfortable with me.

Thursday was my day off. It was a relaxing day. I'm reading a book called, "The Science of God." It's a very interesting read. Its goal is to show how scientists and theologians have common ground to stand on. Some of the theology is a little iffy though. But still a good read.

Friday was my Spiritual Renewal day. Once a month, the church requires that all ministers take a day to be renewed. In the morning I went to St. Louis Bread Company and spent a few hours preparing for the message I'm going to be preaching on Sunday. This is taboo for some people. They would say that I should spend time in the Bible for personal reading, not for preparing for a sermon. I say, why aren't you personalizing your sermon? I get just as much out of sermon prep as I do devotional times.

After going the Bread Co., I went to Barnes and Noble. I looked around the books to see what new ideas are being brought into the culture. Then I sat in their coffee shop and read "Wild at Heart." It's a book that has been out for awhile now, and it's been recommended to me by more than a few people. I thought I'd give it a try. It's been pretty good. The basically says that men should be men, not women. We should look for battles to fight, live for adventure and rescue swooning women (I haven't gotten to that chapter yet).

After going B&N I found a park in St. Peters. It's a nice, relaxing park. I sat on a bench, under a tree next to the pond and wrote. For the past 6 years I've been keeping a journal of my life. I wrote about some of my current struggles, read the Bible and then was semi-attacked by a squirrel.

I ended the night dancing with Ashlynn. I put my iPhone music on speaker phone and we just danced until bed time. It was a good, renewing day.

Comic Strip

Because I'm a student, I was able to get the entire Adobe CS3 Profession for $600. It came with the Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Soundboard, Flash, Encore and Bridge. That's a lot of software for $600 (Premiere, by itself is $800).

If you're a student, I recommend checking out CampusTech.com and seeing what software you can get at a discounted price. It's well worth it. And legal!

Now my goal is to figure out how to use it. I'm quite familiar with Photoshop-ish programs, so that one was easy to pick up. I'm learning Premiere (video creation and editing). I've been spending a good amount of time trying to figure out how to use all of the other programs too. This is a picture I made, trying to figure out some of the Photoshop filters, etc:

(Click on the picture to get the Full Size look.)

Daddy Daughter Date

Ashlynn and I were able to spend the entire morning together. It was great. It was time to be spoiled. She planned the whole day out for us. I made it happen. Here's what we did:

10:45am Hairspray Movie
I had already seen the movie, but Ashlynn hadn't. We were the only ones in the theater, which she thought was extra special. She said, "They did this just for us?!" My answer was, "They sure did!" She enjoyed the movie. Her favorite person was Penny. Mine was Seaweed. If you haven't seen the movie, go see it! It's funny and has amazing music!








1:15pm Dairy Queen
We shared a Blizzard. She originally wanted Mint Chocolate Chip. I vetoed that idea. I don't know who thought of putting mint and chocolate together. But it's bad. So we went with Oreo instead.











1:45pm Shopping
Other than spending quality time with Ashlynn, I really wanted to get her some clothes for the Fall. It's already gotten a little cold, and all she has is sleeveless shirts and dresses. I couldn't find any tops I liked, but I did find a few pairs of jeans. We also found some Eye Shadow and Lip Gloss. She loves it!



3:00pm Fashion Show
When we got home, Ashlynn wanted to model her new jeans and make up for Rachel. We happily obliged! She looked wonderful. Still does.

The Borders Are Closing

I firmly believe that you should live in the community where you minister, and you should minister where you live. It goes hand in hand. It's a principle I learned from my father-in-law. It's a principle that makes lots of sense to me.

"Bloom where you are planted."

Part of the reason we had to leave New Lenox was because it was not economically viable for us to be planted there. When we made the decision to join Harvester CC, we knew it was the right move when "planting" happened rather effortlessly. Within 24 hours we found a place to live.

The best part about where we are now is that it's about a five minute walk to work! I just walk across this construction company's driveway, cross the street and I'm there. Simple. Easy. Last week that all changed

Although I'm Mexican, I think we need some way to keep Mexican citizens from crossing the border illegally. I don't know how to effectively solve the problem. Maybe a fence. Maybe I know too little about the situation. But one thing I do know, is that we should not build fences in Missouri to keep the Mexicans out.

Last week I woke up and the construction company had built a fence surrounding their property. They effectively removed my shortcut to work. It was no big deal. There was a gravel road on the other side of the building that led me to the main street that had to be crossed.

They must have seen me using that gravel road. This morning on my walk to work, I noticed the gravel road was missing. They removed the entire road! It's just mud now!

It's as if they are trying to fence me into my home! I wouldn't be surprised to see Minutemen standing guard with American flags in a few days. All I want is to cross the street and go to work. I'm thinking about digging a tunnel under the fence.

I Love Apple

Recently, I was asked to make a 30 second commercial for a Neurology clinic in Chicago. It was fun. I make lots of videos, but nothing official. Because of that opportunity, I was able to purchase the 4G iPhone in July. And may I say, it's beautiful.

Last week, Apple announced that it's dropping the price of the iPhone. Which stinks for me, because I just bought it at a more expensive price. However, knowing that they are dropping the price so soon, Apple is giving everyone who bought an iPhone before the price drop $100! Along with the credit, Steve Jobs (the CEO), sent out an apology letter! Wow. This is a company that cares.

In a world where most companies just think about dollars, it's good to know that there is a big, rich company out there that thinks about it's consumers. Apple is an amazing company, with great leadership!