Nerf Guns

Kadin and I have become obsessed with Nerf Guns after he got this one for his Birthday:



I've been saying for a while that we really need another one, and I think I finally found what Daddy wants for Christmas, check it out:





Thanks to Josh over at Morethandodgeball.com for the video.

-Jeff-

3 Steps to Choosing a Great Retreat Theme

Yesterday Tiffanney and I had a meeting with Jesse Reimers from Marysville 1st Assembly to talk about Winter Camp. We went out and saw the facilities (had to sneak in because they were closed, shhhh, don't tell anyone). We talked over schedules, service ideas and the importance of altar time, and as we're getting ready to leave the subject of what to call the thing comes up. Here are the guidelines we used:

1. One Word. Yes, I know that's two words, but for some reason we really wanted the title of the Retreat to be one word only. It's simple, yet descriptive. It gets people talking and engages the imagination. And it looks beautiful on graphics, leading to the second point.
2. Visual. It needs to carry an image behind it. One of the ideas we tossed around was "Ascend". It's a cool one word title, but there are also so many visuals associated with hiking, birds in flight, airplanes, shangri-la, etc. We wanted a theme that would make it easy to create graphics and media to match it.
3. Fits the Purpose. We didn't really get anywhere until Pastor Jesse mentioned that to find the theme of the camp, we should start at the end. So we talked about our ministries and what we would like to see individual students get out of this experience. Then we tried to work backwards from there.
   

We're still praying about the theme of the camp, so I can't tell you what it's going to be called yet, but I wanted to post the process while it was still fresh in my mind.

Anything you'd like to add? Leave a comment,

-Jeff-

Black Friday Eve

How was your Black Friday Eve? You know, the day when you invite family over, prepare a huge feast and sit around the table pouring over sale ads and discussing strategies for the next morning? Maybe I'm being slightly facetious, but I think Thanksgiving is more looked at as the beginning of the holiday shopping season than as a time to be thankful. So, to help me be more conscious of the real reason for Thanksgiving, I Twittered some of the things I was thankful for throughout the day on Thursday. Here are my thoughts from Turkey Day:

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!! 8:30 AM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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I've decided to keep a running list on twitter of all the things I'm thankful 4. 1st off: I'm thankful 4 all that God did 4 me. And family. 9:07 AM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And the smell of turkey that's filling the house. And internet enabled cell phones. And living next door to a church. 9:08 AM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for Christmas music on pandora.com. So much better than 105.3. 10:29 AM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And Safeway employees who work on Thanksgiving. And Starbucks. And my Pontiac Montana. 11:30 AM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for people who think that having to wait for 4 people in line is the end of the world. 11:57 AM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for all who housesit 4 me, then I return the favor. 11:57 AM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for turkey that cooks WAY too fast. 12:25 PM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for family that understands when you have to move dinner up by an hour. 12:37 PM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for my new team, the Titans. How do you tell your third string to take it easy on the other team? It's nice to root for a winner. 12:43 PM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for my DVR, Wii and laptop. Not to mention my two TVs. 12:55 PM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for Shannon Sharpe: "there is no reason the lions should be playing on T-day. We're sorry you had to watch this." High comedy. 1:07 PM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for enough storage space to be able to hide our junk without having to deal with it properly. 1:16 PM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And for turkeys that aren't completely defeatherd. And for not realizing it until after the turkey is cooked. 1:27 PM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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And I'm thankful that we're getting ready to eat. 2:59 PM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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http://twitpic.com/ok16 - And the perfect turkey!!! 3:15 PM Nov 27th from TwitPic

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And for grandparents who are willing to watch the kids while we go shopping on Black Friday. 7:13 PM Nov 27th from TwitterBerry

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If you want more of my wit and wisdom, check it out at www.twitter.com/pastorjgraham.

-Jeff-