full of hot air!

I know that a lot of folks say that I'm full of hot air but tonight tops it off! I'm sure if you are like me you are amazed when you see a hot air balloon. This evening as I'm coming out of the new office talking with Frank I noticed a balloon off in the distance. It was awesome to see on a beautiful evening of 100 degrees so I quickly go to get my son so he would not miss out on this as well. As I stood out there looking I noticed it was coming closer, So I called my wife to see if she could see it from where she was. It's obvious that I just didn't want anyone to miss out on this moment. As I am on the phone she concluded that she could see it. It was a wonderful moment that quickly changed! I then proceeded to tell my wife that he was flying very low almost brushing the trees across from the church. I told her that "it looks like he is in distress." At that moment he was almost directly over the church when he yelled from above "GRAB THE BASKET"! His distress quickly became my distress as I said "excuse me, I thought you said grab the basket." He once again yelled grab the basket. Now I don't know about you but that is not a routine thing for me. My thoughts quickly went into "don't mess this up" considering there were plenty of wires to get caught in. Well needles to say we brought it down with my feet only leaving the ground once. Not really but I thought they would. Frank and I became honorary crew members tonight! If the captain only knew who he was counting on maybe he would have gone on, but I'm glad he didn't. The captain said that I was so wide eyed that it made for a good landing spot. I guess if you fly in one of those you have to have a little faith since you're flying hundreds of feet in the air in a WICKER BASKET!

Just a side note to end this story. Apparently I'm not the only one that likes hot air balloons since several cars pulled in to see this. Maybe they were there just to see my feet off the ground but I think it is more likely that most just didn't want to miss the moment.

Wow my very first Blog!

Finally,



I'm Y2K ready, or at least stepping a little closer. I really am excited about this opportunity to tell you what is going on in my life as well as in our student ministry. There are changes coming our way but with those changes come great opportunities. Our students will get to lead their first worship service this week for many years to come. I am so proud of all of the efforts and time that they have put in this summer. They truly have grown in so many ways and I look forward to them leading in their areas of ministry.



I do believe in a student ministry philosophy rather than a youth ministry. Maybe you are thinking to yourself, What's the difference? I believe the difference comes in the mindset that the youth are a vital part of the church today and not just the church of tomorrow! I look forward to them taking part in ministry while at the same time leading their friend to Christ! That is the difference. Every student involved and growing in their relationship with Christ.



stay tuned for more!

Brian