ReNewed Life!

So put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him

- Colossians 3:10

So what an incredible start to the year it has been. I am so excited to be blogging again I am literally shaking! If you have missed me, I apologize, but I plan to be more consistent this year (one of the resolutions!).

This incredible year started with the Passion Conference; a four day Christian conference for 18-25 year olds. It was held in Atlanta and more the 24,000 students attended, rasing over $2.5 million for God's kingdom worldwide. I could literally write a book on how great the conference was, and all the stories. But my conference is best summed up in the verse above. After going through a spiritually dry spell for so long, God has been so faithful in renewing my passion for serving Him. Giving four days to seek out God was what I needed to start the year, and He has provided that so mercifully.

I was able to attend the conference with an amazing group of people. I went with the college group from Brookhaven Church in Dallas, and made some friends I will probably keep for life. With them, I was able to witness a life changing transformation in the lives of this group and mine, as God just decided to grab us by the hand, walk beside us and gently say "I'm here". Our reaction has been that over an over-excited toddler, just happy to be walking with their daddy.

I would talk more about the conference and this amazing group of people, but I want to get on to other things, like my NEW JOB!

I am officially excited to be working at Sky Ranch !!!!!(Granted, it has only been one day!) It has taken me a long time to mourn leaving Kansas and all the great people there and I am just so thankful that God has been faithful. A friend of mine said that it has taken this long to get excited because I knew what I was leaving, not knowing what I was gaining; very true. But today, I believe God has confirmed for me that I am in the right place, and for a lot of reasons.

My day started off with a meeting with Chris Witt, the executive of Sky Ranch in Van, TX. For those who don't know a lot about Sky Ranch, I learned today that it is in the top 5% of camp in the US and has grown immensly in the last 5 years. It sits on a huge piece of property (I would say 2000 acres, but I could be underestimating) which facilitates a "summer camp, outdoor education and adventure school, blobs, zip lines, horses, paintball, jet skis, super slides and much much more!" Chris told me that my position as part of the Fellowship Legacy team serves to benefit the camp and God's kingdom.

He described that my position would be like a bench player for leadership positions at the camp. I know the idea of a "bench player" doesn't sound so great, but for me I think it's just what I need. This job will allow me to be in a position where I can learn from so many, while being thrown into the mix of things at the same time. I will be involved with the Outdoor Education and Adventure program for most of my time here, serving as a teacher. But it goes far beyond that. Here is the job desciption:

The primary responsibility of the Legacy Fellowship Program is to spend (1) full-year living, learning and experiencing leadership, excellence, character, and service in a Christian Summer Camp setting through the training and supervision of the Sky Ranch full-time staff. The secondary responsibility of the Legacy Fellowship is to equip individuals for effectively applying Biblical Leadership principles to significant ministry opportunities. All Fellows will reside during that time in the Gove Leadership Lodge and will have the opportunity to work hands-on in teaching, program development, youth ministry and service, while being taken through an extensive Leadership training course lead by Sky Ranch staff. The Legacy Fellowship will experience times of direct concentration in one area or multiple areas as leadership training and Sky Ranch programs dictate. Each experience involves assisting Sky Ranch Camp with investing in the lives of youth ages five to twenty-three with the Sky Ranch Life Map. This program will incorporate at times responsibilities within marketing, sales, counselor recruiting and other areas as needed.

On the 12th the Outdoor teachers are running a camp in West Virginia at the Hyatt Hilton, for the weekend (it's in Morgantown or something like that). The weekend is called iLead, playing off the iPod phenomena, and aims to teach 8th graders how to prepare for college. While there, I will be teaching a class on how to prepare financially for college. I know some of you might be falling off your chair thinking I will be teaching elite 8th graders how to save for college. But its ok....I was given a script! But what's even funnier was the first line of my script! This is what it says:

"The United States of America is the greatest country in the world"

I laughed my head off when I read it, infront of the people I was working with. I'm so glad they appreciated the humor, with me being Australian and all. The script goes on to talk about how great America's public school and university system, and how it is so readily available and affordable to just about any American. This is true........but it was just an ironic introduction for a foriegn teacher!

Oh....I told you the camp was called iLead, because of the whole iPod thing. Well, it turns out that we will be using iPods to help run the camp, and since we would all be teachers at the conference, Sky Ranch thought it would be necessary for us to all own one.

So try to imagine the suprise on my face when I walk in to the OE (Outdoor Ed.) department for the first time, on my first day, after meeting everyone for the first time, and getting a little gift bag shoved in my hand, only to open it up and find a 30GB iPod Video in there!!!!!! I slept in half an hour, neglected my prayer time and still walk into a blessing like that......God is GOOD! Not only that, but it came with a case that has a speaker attached. Plus the gift bag has a bunch of candy in it which i was really excited about. Every OE teacher got one, and yes.....we get to keep them!

So here is me with my iPod, incase you didn't believe me....also the most materialistic picture I've ever taken.

Candid assumptions I pondered after receiving gift:

• I bet every day will be like this!
• I bet I'll be scrubbing toilets next week!

But enough about that.....that wasn't even the beginning to amazing day I had. Directly after the iPod party, I went and met a whole lot more people, practiced for a skit for the WV thing, and took care of some paperwork and other housekeeping stuff.


One of the things I did today was buy some insurace for my new car! And yes, that was a gift too! Pat and Mary Beth Kelley's son Darren blessed me with a 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis, this weekend while I was in Dallas. It's an old ship, but she's a good one. Here's a picture:


Suggested names for the car: The Blue Mothership, The Skyboat, The Blue Voyager....any suggestions?

I saw 2 beavers for the first time on the camp site today.....I wonder if this was one of them.

So God has just blessed me abundantly as I start this new job and new journey at Sky Ranch. I will be involved with so many new faces, places and oppurtunities. I can see how almost everything that has happenned in the last 4 months has been to equip me for this next year (thank you Connie!!!). And that God is faithfull, mercifull and always present. Whether you are excited or drained, have the spiritual low or high, get the tingling feeling in the arm or are numb to all feeling, He is there, in more ways than one.....just wait on Him and be obedient. He will show.

I am praying for you Kent.

I hope you can all keep in contact with me this way and catch up on how I am doing. I plan to be on here at least once a week, if not more. Please leave your comments and your emails....I am going to make a conscious effort to keep in touch. I miss most of you, excited to work with some of you and can't wait to see the rest of you again.