24

It all started with a phone call at 1am from AA letting me know my 8 am flight to Miami was canceled but they could put me on a 6pm flight. Small minor problem being Mike and Rachel's wedding started at 5pm. I spent about an hour on the phone with AA and they booked me on a Delta flight (which of course would have to go through Atlanta) and then on to Miami. The bright spot at this point was supposed to leave around noon so I could go to Brock's soccer game in the morning.


So off to the airport I go, being optimistic, but concerned about the weather moving through the southeast. I get my boarding pass and of course would be randomly selected for the pat you down, unpack your luggage and take away your toothpaste security check. Get to the Delta gate and they inform me that the plane is late coming in (due to weather) and I'll only have about 20 minutes to make my connection. No problem, right? I've run through airports before.

But then the gentleman suggests that I go down a few gates and see about the direct Delta flight to Miami. Sounds awesome, but no seats left. I beg, plead, offer to ride with the cargo, but to no avail. So back down a gate and about 15 mintues later I hear "Paging Todd Veleber" over the speakers. The guy says, "Run, they have one seat left!" I ran. I was the last to board and sat in the only open seat.

Not that I doubted, but at this point I knew God was looking out for me. Good flight to Miami. It took almost 1 1/2 to get out of the airport and through the rental car process. Needless to say if I would have been on my booked flight (that was to arrive at 3:40p) I wouldn't have made the wedding.

I did make it. The wedding & reception was awesome. Congrats Mike & Rachel! I love you guys!

At this point, I'm halfway through my journey. I caught only a few hours sleep since I had to get up at 3:30am to leave Ft. Lauderdale to give time to drive to Miami, check in the car and get through the airport. Relatively uneventful flight back. Touched down in Tally at 8:40am in time to drive straight to church to be ready to teach middle school students and then corporate worship and then a student ministry summer missions meeting.

I'm beyond exhausted and I guess that is why I'm posting a blog entry rather than sleeping. I'm sure I'll crash soon. Here's hoping my next 24 hours are a little less hectic!

30 Days to Live

I just started a series with my students on Wednesday nights I'm calling "30 days to live" which has been inspired by the book I'm reading, "One Month to Live" by Chris & Kerry Shook. How would you live your life if you had 30 days left to live? It's not a new question... I assume it has been around since death. Even though it is hard to think about, it really does bring incredible clarity to life when you try to answer it.

I've invited them to join me in living the next 30 days (which happen to be the last 30 days of their school year) with a no-regrets mindset - in total devotion to live for the glory of God.

Death is such a powerful word. People don't like to think about it, much less talk about it. Yet throughout Scripture we are reminded to live in the moment... to live every day as if it were our last since we aren't promised tomorrow. The focus isn't on death, but on life.

My heart desires to embrace Paul's passionate understanding that to live is Christ, but to die is gain. I want to live life with a reckless abandon to the cause of Christ - to be about Kingdom things, investing in things that matter. I want to live in the moment. I want to love deeply, serve passionately, plunge into the depths of relationships, receive God's grace freely, move missionally, speak the Gospel unashamedly and follow God closely.

I pray that my journey in "life" these next 30 days will result in my life more fully yielded to God. To be able to live as a true Christ-follower, based on His example. Jesus at age 12 said, "I must be about my Father's business" and then 21 years later, with his dying breath said, "I've completed the work you called me to do."

Collide

We wrapped up our DiscipleNow 2008 this past weekend. It was an awesome yet exhausting weekend all in one. Our theme was collide as we journeyed toward understanding a Christ-centered worldview... learning to live in the world but not of the world.

This is the tension of the life of a Christ-follower. A daily battle between the old nature and the Spirit of the living God within us - redeeming us and making us new. I'm amazed at how strong the pull of the world can be... enticing the desire of my flesh to be the boss and live to please myself. Yet we are challenged in Romans 12 not to be squeezed into the world's mold, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Some days I fight well, or better said, I follow the Spirit's lead and let Him fight on my behalf. Other days are more bleak. But I'm challenged by 1 John 2:6 that says, "Whoever claims to be in Christ must walk as Jesus did." Praise God for giving us a great example to follow. My prayer coming out of this weekend is that I would be faithful to walk as Jesus' walked, and that the desire for the things of God would continue to captivate my heart's attention.

WinterBlast: Pics

WinterBlast: Day 2

Well it is hard to believe that Ski Trip has come and is almost gone already. We wrapped up our skiing today with some great weather. Not nearly as cold, we had some sun and no wind! It also helped that they weren't blowing snow into our faces all day long. No injuries to report either.

Tonight we had a great dinner at a local equivalent of Cracker Barrel and then headed back for our time of worship and message. John did a great job bringing to light what we are living for and what really matters.

We have to pack and then wake up early for breakfast and to get on the road. Don't forget to check the hotline for our exact arrival time.

WinterBlast: Day 1

Well we made it. We had some difficult weather and roads to drive in. It has been quite challenging to get a 45ft. bus maneuvered around up here! But Larry has done a great job for us.

I don't have time to upload pictures tonight, but did want to at least tell you about our day. It was told to me that with the wind chill we were in the negative numbers on the slopes today... and any bare skin on your body today was proof. Man, it was cold! Beech continued blowing snow on top of the snow that was falling creating a white blizzard to ski through. But all in all, we had a good day and one free of injuries!

After dinner tonight we had our evening session together. We did some fun mixers, the band led worship and John did a great job speaking. He asked us the question, "Is what you are living for worth it?"

Tomorrow we start bright and early and head back to the slopes. They are hoping to have a few more runs open.

A Blogging Hiatus

Well... I'm here. Not that my presence matters that much in the blogging world, but I did decide to take a little break for awhile. There have been plenty of things going on in my world, loads of lessons learned, mistakes made and exciting things over the last few months. It seems blogging about them is a 'journal' in a sense and helps my aging (and oftentimes feeble) mind remember them. Being the New Year I figure it is a time to be more disciplined in writing what God puts on my heart. It has been an awesome holiday time (Thanksgiving and Christmas) with family and friends being grateful for all God has done in a providing a way for us to know Him and truly have life. I wait in eager expectation to see what God has in store for me, my family, ministry and journey this new year.