Happy New Year

Jena and I are back in Savannah to end 2009 but we will be home soon.  15 hours through Atlanta, Nashville, St. Louis then back in KC (ugh).  I will be back next week with a new blog post and information.  I used to think that New Year's resolutions were cheesy but I have realized that I continuously have room for growth and improvement in my life.  Whether it be spiritual, physical or family and marriage, it's still a good time to evaluate and improve.  A resolution does not guarantee any change but it's a start.  Realization is the first step.  Happy New Year to everyone!  

Happy Holidays

The gang is all home for Christmas.  For those of you who have kids, you can appreciate the fact that the process of taking a family picture (like the one above) is not as peaceful as it appears.  However, you gotta love the holidays.  It's great to have a full  house.  We may have a "White Christmas" here in Kansas City.  The extended forecast is calling for snow but when you get snow on a regular basis it's not like a white Christmas in Phoenix or Tampa.

Things are winding down here at Doulos.  Shelterwood High School wraps up tomorrow and Christmas break begins on Wednesday.  A few folks have already started the holiday break and by midweek it will be a ghost-town once again.  Jena and I will be in town all week spending the holidays with our kids.  We will be leaving town next weekend to make the long drive to Savannah.

May all of you have a wonderful Christmas.  Enjoy  your families, the rest, the food, the holidays shows and football games.  Laugh much and eat plenty with a thankful heart!  Jena and I are blessed and thankful to have all of you as part of our ministry team.  

Winter Sunset

Seems like the cold makes everything just a little sluggish.  Each week I get one more day behind on my blog??  It is also  tough to head outside into the freezing weather.  With wind chill factor, it was 0 degrees yesterday.  Brrrrr.

The sun was out today, just in time for our 

Doulos Day field trip to the Crown Center Ice Terrace.  It was clear that none of us are pro skaters which made it all the more fun.  A fun, festive, time.

Jena and Justin wrapped up the Fall semester at Blue River this week.   No more studies for a month!!  Justin will be leaving home following Christmas and moving to Boulder, CO to attend the University of Colorado.  It will take some time adjusting to his absence but he is ready.  

We will, once again, have a full house starting this weekend.  A family Christmas that I feel blessed to celebrate. 

 

Midwestern December

December is always a quick month at Shelterwood.  In two short weeks the Christmas break begins.  Last Thursday we had our monthly family night which included a holiday dinner in the home of one of our directors.  For chapel next Thursday we are having a coffee shop and open mic to carry out the holiday spirit and next Wednesday, more ice skating at Crown Center with the Leadtime class.  There is no shortage of yule tide cheer at Doulos.  We are up to 22 kids now with 11 in each house.  I anticipate some departures at Christmas but 2 0r 3 more families are in the Que.

The Midwestern cold has arrived.  Fortunately for us, the snowfall is scheduled to miss Kansas City this time around but it is still freezing outside.  The humidity that keeps things steamy in the summer makes for a bitter cold during the winter months.  Jena is up to her old tricks with the Christmas decorations in the house.  Quite festive. Our home here in Independence is much larger than the one we had in Broomfield so our house does not feel like the gift shop that it did in Colorado with more room to spread out the Christmas items.  

I trust you are all enjoying lots of holiday cheer!  

Holiday Whirlwind

As advertised, Thanksgiving at the Albright's was fantastic!  We had plenty of turkey and watched a slew of football games and Christmas movies.  I wish I could have seen more of my extended family, but it sure was nice to not have to travel.  

During the Thanksgiving holiday, we celebrated Kaiden's 4th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.  November 28th.  Justin, Corey, Kaiden and I had over 180 tokens to burn through and we were up for the challenge.  Boys will be boys.  

Jena and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday, November 29th.  We went ice skating downtown Kansas City at the outdoor Crown Center Ice Terrace.  It's sort of KC's version of Rockefeller Plaza.  Quite festive with a giant Christmas tree, decorations and lights.  To cap off the weekend, we pulled our Christmas decor out of the attic and lit up the house - inside and out.  

Shelterwood's Thanksgiving break wraps up today.  Back to "normal" for the most-part tomorrow.  Thanksgiving - check.  Kaiden's birthday - check.  Anniversary - check.  Next up...the Christmas blitz!

Gobble, gobble

If you're like me, you're scratching your head wondering what happened to 2009?  November 23rd...really?  Thanksgiving is only days away.  This year, our family will be staying home in Independence, MO enjoying a small crowd.  Just 5 of us this year.  Jena, myself, Corey, Justin and Kaiden.  With Jena in the kitchen, we are assured plenty of food.   Lots of turkey and, of course, the annual Dallas Cowboys game.  Now that I'm the dad, we eat around the game.  When I was a kid I had to miss part of the game to eat.  Can you believe that?  Gotta get my priorities straight.  Anyway, I pray and hope that all of you have a blessed Thanksgiving with your friends and family!

A few words about Shelterwood....things are pretty quiet.  Thanksgiving break started on Saturday and most of the kids are now gone.  There are a few stragglers but it was a ghost town at work today.  

The Narrow Road

Last week was Shelterwood Beyond.  While half of the Doulos team of staff and residents was busy serving locally including some shelters and a Habitat for Humanity project, I was up in Rushville, MO on the Narrow Road retreat.  In order to provide a more intimate environment of service and spiritual growth, we split up to focus on personal relationships.  I led worship and enjoyed good times around the fire pit sharing stories and exploring small group discussion surrounding our theme of "Deeper."  The location was God's Mountain retreat center, a spot we frequent two or three times a year.  We had three different special guest speakers including two folks from local church Life Connection and one of our own house directors.  It was amazing.  Are you compartmentalizing your life?  How does the Gospel transform you?  What are you putting before God?   What is the next step?  Just a few of the questions that we spent many hours diving into over a 48 hour period.  We enjoyed some light hiking and beautiful sunsets.  It was a real blessing and a great launching pad for many of the kids including myself.  Typically the residents who are further along in the program will attend the Narrow Road  but some younger kids were in attendance too balancing out a group of fertile hearts to explore the deep things of God.  It was a good week.    

Things are getting back to normal.  Today we had another intake

 and received girl resident into the Shelterwood family bringing our current total to 10 girls and 11 boys.  Thanksgiving break will begin this coming Saturday.  Stay tuned!