Black Friday, Grey Saturday

Who would have thought that people would gorge themselves on Thursday and then head to the malls (some of which opened at midnight around here) so they could shop for stuff that most of them did not need in the first place. I did my part to stimulate the economy with my $15 belt purchase last night at Old Navy.

Yesterday was a good day with a 6-miler to the Y in Donelson where I met up with Sondra and Shelbi. Morgan had a basketball game at noon in Columbia (about an hours drive away) and they won. The girls came out from the start and played pretty well. Got up by as many as 12 I think and held on to win by 4. They play again this morning at 11 back down in Columbia so we will have to leave soon.

My cousin, his wife and a friend are headed our way to spend the night tonight and then they are on to Gatlinburg for a few days. It will be good to see them. Sondra's mom has been here since Monday and seems to be getting caught up on some much needed rest. She seems to be handling things pretty well.

Pulling for Mizzou over KU of course today. Some other good games on today with OU at OSU and who cares about Notre Dame at USC. Why is that even a game?

I managed to get a 5-miler in this morning and to get the dog a short walk before the rain started here. Does not look like it will rain much though. Just sort of cold and wet today. Looking forward to good basketball and then home to just hang out and stay warm.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well . . . there are so many things to be thankful for that I am not even sure where to begin. It has been a year of great gains and two of the toughest losses we have ever experienced as a family. Mom was with us last Thanksgiving but was in very, very poor health. So thankful she was here but even more thankful that she is no longer suffering and is experiencing eternity with Christ. Sondra's dad passed in Sept. and is missed so much. What an incredible two lives lived by mom and Bernard. They are missed, but are reigning with Him already. How cool is that?

It is good to have Sondra's mom with us and of course having Shelbi home is wonderful as well. Who would have thought that 18 years would have gone so quickly and Shelbi would be in college and home only every few weeks. I know that is what we prepare them for but it comes way too quickly.

We are looking forward to our friends, Mitch, Christy, and Graham Fuller to come over soon for Thanksgiving lunch and of course, we are watching the Titans annihilate the Lions. I actually got to go to the Titans/Jets game on Sunday and saw Favre just pick us apart. It was good to see him play in person, but he sure kicked us. Tuesday and Wednesday a buddy of mine from college was in town with his basketball team for University of Central Arkansas. I got to hang with them some and do a shoot around with them at Vanderbilt and then Kevin got us tickets to the Vandy/UCA game. They lost to Vandy but UCA at least did not give up. It was big fun to see Kevin again.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I will try to update the blog a little more often. You can read the twitter feed in the sidebar on the blog to keep up with my daily goings on.

Friday Already

This has been a whirlwind week. Started out on Monday in Orlando, FL meeting with some of the finest student ministers in FL. They were working on a mentoring manual where they would take it and use it in helping younger ministers in ministry. Tuesday morning was a good run in Orlando and then a flight home with about 70 kids and 30 adults. I did manage to get upgraded and the kid behind me kicked my seat for about 30 minutes before his parents realized what was going on. Nice kid and nice parents but I was a little weary of the constant kicking.

Tuesday night the Lady Wildcats kicked off the season against Harpeth Hall and lost both the jv and varsity games but looked fairly good for the first game of the season. HH is pretty good and one of the tougher teams we will play all year.

Youth Specialties is going on here in Nashville this weekend and so my time is pretty much consumed by that. Did a podcast yesterday morning for BSFL and today do one for our KNOWN curriculum. Those are always a lot of fun.

Plenty to do today. Working the YS event and announcing the guys home game tonight. Always fun to be back at that. I have gotten 28 miles of running in this week and with the temp predicted to be 20 in the morning, that is probably all I will get this week. Looking forward to the weekend and then I am off all next week. Woohoo!

Monday Travel Day

I find myself on the road again this morning headed to Orlando to meet with a group of Florida youth ministers who are trying to get at ministry in a way that is pretty Kingdom-focused which is very refreshing.Update: good meeting with the guys today. I really love what they are trying to accomplish. You will be hearing more from these FL guys for sure.

I helped teach a class at New Orleans Seminary Thursday – Saturday with one of my former bosses and a very good friend, Clyde Hall. Clyde is one of those guys who has impacted youth ministry for the last thirty to forty years. It was good to be with him and the class went well. Ate some pretty good seafood as well and then visited Port of Call, which is an establishment known for their burgers and baked potatoes. It was pretty good but I guess the Monsoon drink they do is really what they are most known for. I am not a drinker but that was not the case for the majority of the folks there. Evidently money and drinking go hand in hand. The Monsoon was $9.50 a pop and I watched more than one person drink multiples. Crazy.

I got home Saturday night to an empty house. Well, the dog was there but she does not count. Sondra and Morgan had gone to Union to be with Shelbi, watch the girls’ bball team play and just hang out. They made it home Sunday afternoon around 2p.

The post-high school class we started in early Sept. is going well. We had 16 yesterday with two regulars absent. One a fun group of folks and Kevin is doing a great job teaching. I have been traveling way too much to attend much lately but am looking forward that changing.

It is another YS Convention this week but it is in Nashville so it will be good to attend and be able to sleep in my own bed. The conventions are always a great time to make contact with youth ministers and to hang out with the LifeWay student ministry team as well. What a great group of folks. I am privileged to be a part of this group.

Tomorrow night opens up the DCA Lady Wildcats basketball season with the ladies at Harpeth Hall. Got word today that I am announcing the homes games this year and it should be fun. We will have to see how that works out. Really curious as to how the Lady Wildcats will look this year. We graduated three seniors last year and have a great group of younger athletes ready to go. Should be an exciting year.

Hump Day

How did it get to be Weds. already? I got back from MO/KS Sun. night and then got up Mon. am and drove to Jackson to spend the day with Shelbi. good times. We really did not do a whole lot but it was sure fun to hang out together. We did catch some coffee/hot chocolate and scones and muffins at Starbuck's and then she headed to class. I made my way to the campus coffee house to work on some class stuff for New Orleans this weekend. I sure felt a lot older around all those college students.

We got Shelbi's skype stuff and webcam hooked up and then headed to Logan's for a good meal. We talked and laughed and just pretty much enjoyed one another's company. It was a great time. I left about 430 or 500 after getting a chance to meet Brett who is a young man Shelbi has been spending some time with. Nice guy and it was pretty obvious that I did not need to get my gun out. The pic is of Shel and me right before I was getting ready to leave. We both wore striped shirts. Weird.

The rain has landed in Nashville and the last couple of morning runs have gone well. Fairly cool and no rain has been a blessing running wise. I head to New Orleans to teach a class with my former boss, Clyde and it will be great fun. I love being around Clyde and around seminary students. I have a quick trip to FL next Mon-Tues and then am home for quite a few days. Looking forward to that.

Nashville Baby!

It has been a great time in Kansas and Missouri this weekend. I headed to KC on Weds and visited with Mark Scribner and the gang at West Haven in Tonganoxie and then on Thursday met with Joe Nelson from Northland. These two guys are doing a great job of ministry and I am priviledged to get to know them better and hear about what is happening in ministry.

Had a great conference with the folks in Kansas out in Salina. I led three conferences on student development and just thoroughly enjoyed meeting new folks and renewing old friendships. It was good to see one of my profs from Seminary, Wes Black and then a good friend in ministry, Richard Ross. Terry McIllvain is the state youth guy in KS/NB and it is always good to be around him.

I am sitting at MCI ready to board good old Southwest and looking forward to being home. Tomorrow I am driving over to Jackson to see Shelbi and to do some work. It has been about a month since I saw Shelbi and am really looking forward to being with her.

The Titans go to 9-0 and the Chiefs are in a battle with the Chargers. Their first drive was for 95 yards and a td which looked pretty strong.

Enjoyed visiting with my dad and aunt this week while here in the midwest. Today I preached for dad at East Lynne and my cousins and their families came down and we had a great lunch together after church. Good times.

Ready to be home. All of the Turner's seem to be doing pretty well. Ready to be off the road soon. I am at New Orleans Seminary Thurs-Sat. this week and then a quick trip to Orlando next Monday returning on Tues. afternoon. Home sounds really good.

I am including a picture of part of team I was with in Pittsburgh last week. Good folks for sure.

Post-Election Thoughts

Congratulations to the Democrats for soundly trumping a less than stellar Republican candidate and for hopefully waking up the Republican Party which has been pretty much on "checked our brains at the door" status for a few years. I did not vote for Obama (check that Bronwyn, - I did not vote for Obama) but will do all that I can to support him. His ideology is definitely different than mine, but I respect the office and will respect him in that office. Does not mean I have to agree with him and his policies but I will pray for him and his administration. I think it is great that an African-American has been voted as President as well. And . . . his two daughters are just precious looking.

The Republican Party has hopefully learned from the past few years of trying to be Democrats that it does not work. Be Republican through and through while you are in office and in charge or end up where we are now. On the outside looking in.

I am thankful that my hope and trust has not ever been in the government (no more now or less than in years past) but in God whom I am committed to serving. I will pray and support our leaders but my allegiance is to Christ. Hands down.

On to other things - this past weekend was a good one in Pittsburgh for the YS Convention. The LifeWay Student Ministry team that was there was just stellar. So much fun to be around and so articulate in helping student leaders know that we are about developing students and not just trying to build student ministries. We even got a great picture button together. Big fun.

Sondra, Morgan and Shelbi are all doing pretty well. Sondra is subbing quite a bit at DCA and really enjoys the students even when she is subbing for the band teacher. I think it is pretty loud in there. Morgan is in the throes of basketball practice and all that brings from Coach Schierling and his staff. Bret is tough on them but they love him and will work hard for him. I think he is a pretty doggone good coach. Shelbi is still loving Union and navigating the waters of first semester challenges in classes and relationships but is handling both of them pretty well.

I am traveling way too much right now but it is heavy training time. The seminar I led on Monday am in Pittsburgh for YS went really well. I am probably pretty conservative for most of the crowd and just really tried to stay biblical rather than focus on my thoughts. It was good times. I am in Kansas and Missouri now and this weekend meeting with youth ministers, my family and little bit and then leading a conference out in Salina, KS with my good friend Terry McIllvain who has forgotten more about students than I have ever known. Just a great guy.

Pray for my dad who seems to be having some reaction to some meds they had him on that appears to have done some nerve damage. We will know more soon. Sondra's mom continues to do pretty good but we sure appreciate you praying for her and the rest of us as we work through the grieving process of losing Bernard.