Weekend wrapup.

Lots happened this weekend. Here are some highlights.

1. DOGS LIKE MY YARD
Actually, it might just be one dog with an irresponsible owner. But while raking leaves Friday, I encountered several spots where dogs mistook my front yard for a bathroom. Maybe an electric fence would help...

2. FAN OF SCREAMO? HARDLY
Hit up a local concert Friday night to support a friend from another church. It was a screamo concert, and I forgot to bring along some earplugs, just in case. His band did well, and it was fun catching up with friends at the concert. But I'm still not sure if screamo is really gonna last, or if it's just a musical/culture phase like grunge...

3. EARLY-MORNING CALLS
Last I checked, I'm no longer the youth pastor at my church. But several students thought it would be funny to call the former youth pastor early Saturday morning. As in, 4:50AM early. Funny? Maybe. But the cell was the only alarm I had set for that morning, and when I moved the phone into silent mode, I set myself up for a bad morning: missed our men's breakfast at 8, our homeless outreach at 9, several calls and text messages from other staff members wondering where I was...

4. NEW FAMILIES
We held our first new family luncheon in many months, and it was a fun, healthy, good event. It's a great time to talk with people, introduce them to some of the leaders in the congregation, and start the process of getting them connected. Great time...

5. AWESOME BAPTISM
Our youth ministry and one of our outreach teams helped a combined worship/prayer event on Sunday night and did an awesome job. This was the second attempt, and we had a stronger turnout, better organization and overall a more effective night. A highlight was a water baptism at the end of the evening for a teen guy whose dad has been coming to our church for a couple of months. The son hadn't been attending but wanted to get baptized, so our youth pastor got to do his first water baptism!