3 Days Left

That's the view out of my office window as of 4:34 this afternoon. That's right, it's been snowing all day. When I peeked out my bedroom window this morning, it was just about a 1/2" of slush, but this stuff has just kept coming all day. I can't even begin to say how much we need this moisture. And Winter Camp starts in a week and a half. How cool is that!

My favorite day of the winter is December 21; actually it's the first day of winter and the shortest amount of daylight of the year. The reason it's my favorite is that it marks the beginning of longer days to come, and that I won't always be heading home in the dark. I'm not sure if this makes me an optimist or a pessimist; but I definitely look forward to spring.

Some Barna Research

I'll try to discuss this in a future post, but for now, here are some interesting research conclusions from Barna. Four Mega-Themes in Recent Research

Priorities

This is my first attempt at blogging something of substance, so bear with me as I tread into dangerous territory.

Why is it that churches coming to Hume are having more and more trouble filling their spots?

The number one reason I hear is that the cost is too high and students and parents just can't afford it anymore. A few youth pastors tell me that they feel they can do something "almost as good" for a lower price. And still others just say that camp's not as popular with teens anymore.

A few thoughts...

#1 - STUDENTS CAN AFFORD IT. How many teens have the newest iPod, a decent car, a Wii AND an X-Box 360, and finally the new iPhone, all while carrying a data plan for the iPhone while buying all the newest songs on iTunes?

#2 - PARENTS CAN AFFORD IT. What do they pay monthly for each kid to have a cell phone, cable or satellite tv in every room, high speed internet, gas & insurance for the kids' cars, and who knows how much more per month?

#3 - CAMP IS STILL EFFECTIVE.

Conclusions...

• Today's youth actually have MORE disposable income than any generation ever has. (I have no statistics for this, but it's gotta be true.)
  
• While the cost of camp has indeed gone up over the years, it's still affordable.
  
• There are so many more things competing for the disposable income of teens today than there were 10 (or even 5) years ago.
  
• Kids are too busy. Not only is there so much competing for their money, there's way too much that's competing for their time.
• Sports is king. Students and parents alike are lost in the delusion that they'll become the best in the particular sport & get scholarships to pay for college and give them a professional career.
• Ultimately, to the majority of parents today, spiritual things take on the lowest priority and they'd way rather spend money on sports or band camp, than invest into their kids' eternal future.

What do we as youth workers do?

Maybe it starts with my own priorities. Perhaps I, as a leader, have put a lot of faith in the lies of the world, and am not setting the example to those following me that Christ is it, and nothing else matters. Maybe we, as youth leaders, need to be more aggressive in communicating with the parents of our students, and truly partnering with them in their kids' spiritual growth.

Maybe...

I want to hear from you people reading this. What's next? Where do we go? Can we do anything? What's God doing through all of this? How can we, as Hume & the Church, partner together more effectively to reach this generation?

Luxury Mobile Estate Living

Saturday at 12:20pm, our lives had the potential of heading toward some drastic change. We had entered the "Home of Hope" raffle to win a new 2029 sq. ft. home in North Fresno. Call it a fleece of sorts, but we've been wondering if a move to the valley should be in the works. $200 went to local charities and we had our name in there twice.

We skipped out on Nephew Sam's 3rd birthday party and headed out to the drawing. We arrived with just moments to spare, and heard the last name "Carey" come out over the microphone. Our hearts stopped for a moment as we quickly rewound what we had heard and realized that there was a different first name attached. Maybe they had mixed up my name, couldn't read it or something like that. But alas, it was not to be, some other Carey had won our house.

So to follow up on a promise we made to each other, we headed straight to Home Depot (after a stop at In-n-Out and Costco) and decided to remodel our closet. After 1 1/2 days of emptying the closet, painting it, building the organizer, installing it, and putting everything back, we're finished... and oh is our closet the talk of the neighborhood. OK, well actually the Johnsons are the only ones to have seen it so far, and they're probably not talking about it; but hey, we sure like it.

No Longer Grounded

Well, I did it. After being grounded for over 5 months, yesterday I went up with an instructor and became legal to fly again. My last experience with an instructor back in June was a disaster, but this time around it was phenomenal. (Different instructor) We headed out west of Fresno, did a bunch of maneuvers (steep turns, slow flight, stalls, simulated engine failure, simulated instrument, etc.) and then came back and did several landings. It was really cool how easily it came back after having been away for so long. So now my goal is to get up there once a month and not let things lapse again like they did this time around. Of course, having Peter come along was the perfect excuse for the lapse and was completely worth it; so no regrets! The only other thing I need now is a little more cash to help this cause along. Anyone want to go flying?

Miss being in the air

The last time I flew was in early June, before Peter was born, and lately I've been getting the itch to get back in the air. Well, through a series of interesting events, the place where I fly has recently acquired two (almost) new planes... ones that I've really been wanting to learn to fly. Long story short, I'm gonna be getting back in the air sometime in the next couple of weeks or so, and can't wait. I'll probably need about 5 hours of instruction to get current again, but it will be well worth it.

On a strange side note, a plane crashed last night on approach into Chandler Airport, where I fly. No one killed, but some injuries. Looks like they were approaching a little too low from what I can tell. Here's the story.

20th High School Reunion

Last Saturday was the 20th reunion for the Highland High Class of 1987. After much teeth pulling and coercion from her family, April agreed to go. While I can't say that we had a "blast," it truly was a great time catching up with old friends. Out of our group of 9 close friends, 8 of us made it. Probably one of the coolest things was to see Travis Purser come. None of us had had any contact with him since freshman year of college. I was randomly doing a Linked In search and found him. When he heard who all was coming to the reunion, he decided to drive over the hill from L.A. and be a part of it. For April and I, it was the first time we left Peter as long as we did. Aunt Sara kept an eye on him while we headed out. For us, it was worth the whole thing just to have 2 hours in the car each way to and from Bakersfield just to hang out and talk about life. (Sorry Peter, we actually have a part of life that doesn't just revolve around you.) All in all, we had a great time at the reunion. April got to meet my close friends from high school, and I was truly reminded of how grateful I am for having had such a quality group of friends for those four years. Within the next two years, we'll all turn 40. I don't even know what to do with that.

Our little man, Peter Josiah Carey, was welcomed to the world on Monday, July 2, 2007, at 1:58pm, weighing 9 lbs. 3 oz and measuring 21" long.

My trip to New York City back in March.

Baby Due in 27 days

We're now only 27 days (give or take a few) out from seeing our little guy for the first time. We are so ready for this. June 28 can't come soon enough.

Things here at Hume are moving forward full-speed. We're in the final push for summer, with orientation starting Wednesday and camp starting the following Sunday. And then, just a few days later, I head to San Diego to help things get started there.

When I get back from S.D., Peter will be due in only 9 days. Bring him on!

Here we go.

OK, so I'm really not a blogger; my personal journal gets updated about twice a year. And people even get fired for what's written on their blogs. Regardless, here I go... stepping into an unknown world of mindless musings. But every once in awhile I might actually have something worthwhile to say, so I'll give it a try.

I can say this. In about 7 weeks I'm going to be a dad, and that's gotta be about the coolest thing ever. Many pictures to come!