It's nice being back in the old swing of things again, sort of.  It looks like this hotel runs pretty much just like the other Holiday Inn at which I worked.  And it looks like I'm here to stay at La Grange Presbyterian, so to do assistant youth ministry as I did at Covenant UMC earlier in the year.  Of course, being at a new church, I have to get to know a whole new youth group again, not that I ever fully knew Covenant's youth :P

Thankfully, Al, my pastor at La Grange Presby, is having me sign a 2-4 year contract, so I'll be able to enjoy the fruits of committment (whether I'm tempted to fly off on a whim or not.)  Well, I need to eat and run before I go to work... I'm not sure why I agreed to drive out to La Grange just to work the two hours between 4 and 6, only to afterwards drive back across Oldham County to get to my otherwise nearby Bible study... oh well :D

God bless the reader!
-Jake

It was 7:00pm last Friday night.  My mom handed me the phone and said, "It's Al."  
I thought to myself, "Well, that's handy; I was needing to call him to find out when the retreat begins tommorow."
"Hello?" I asked.
"Jake?  Where are you?  We're leaving for the retreat."

So, I packed my things in about fifteen minutes and met them at the campsite (after getting lost for about half-an-hour.)  But despite my rocky entrance, it was an oustanding retreat.  First of all, Al, my new boss, the pastor of La Grange Presbyterian, the current director of its youth ministry, is an excellent man.  I'm not sure I've met a forty-seven year-old with such energy- such life!  He has the understanding of a wise, old man and the faith of wide-eyed child.  The adult volunteers were awesome, finding oppurtunities to use the gifts God gave them, particularly love.  And of course... the students!  They were very well-behaved, friendly, and easily-humored.  It was a short retreat, and I didn't get to hear so much about their actual faith journeys, but they are considerably knowledgeable, concerning the Scriptures.

We climbed a high ropes course, forty feet off of the forest floor.  I thought it was fairly terrifying, but I got over it.  See, before we attempted the course, we were asked to describe how our faith in Christ would help us in this endeavour.  My response was, "I don't see myself doing the seventy-foot rope swing at the end of the course, but, than again, I haven't been able to see much of what I have come to do in my faith journey."  So, though I wanted to quit, I had already said I would complete the course, in my own subtle way.  And I'm rather glad I did.  Afterwards we proceeded to engage in a hearty paint fight, involving many sponges.  By the end of it, we all looked the same, like brown-gray forms zombies.  After that we hooked a water tanker's hose to a PVC pipe with holes cut into it.  We then placed the pipe across the top of a forty-foot stretch of plastic, which flowed downhill.  After the hose had been on for about a thirty seconds, it was sufficient for high-quality water slidding, which we enjoyed for a good forty-five minutes!  Al tried to chase me down the slide, but I was too quick for him.  I also think I got more paint on him than he got on me, during the paint fight.  However, he outdid me, concerning overall energy; he got up before me that morning, and went to bed after me.

This journal entry is already long enough, so I'll talk about the church, itself, later.  God bless the reader!

Love,
Jake

Have you visited www.freederekwebb.com ?  You are, apparently, able to download Mr. Webb's latest album, Mockingbird, in full, for free.  I get an error everytime I try.  However, you can listen to four of the tracks, in full, at regular old www.derekwebb.com  I particularly like the track A King and A Kingdom, a much needed wake-up call, I believe.

Anyway, it looks like I've become the assistant youth minister at La Grange Presbyterian Church of La Grange, KY.  I'll slowly take up more responsibility from the pastor (who is currently heading the youth program) over the course of the schoolyear, until I assume full responsibility.  Al (the pastor), is a really solid minister.  First of all, this is a great way to transition in a youth minister.  Youth ministers are often chewed up and spit out by churches because they fail to live up to uncommunicated expectations.  The sort of internship my first year at the church will be will help greatly to avoid this problem altogether.  Al loves mentoring young ministers, and I am all about that sort of thing.  One expectation is that I stay here for a minimum of two-and-a-half years, which I, again, think is great.  I would very much like to stay even longer... the fruits of committment are sweet indeed.  Something the youth group has been mostly without, thus far, is music.  This bodes well for me, as I am a young songwriter/musician looking for work.  

So now I need to find another part-time to work until I (hopefully) go back to school full-time in the Spring.  I'm thinking I would like to work the graveyard shift at a hotel again... it's inconvenient to work those hours, but it would only be for a couple months, and I'd get to do alot of reading and writing during my shifts.

Well, that's a decent entry, I should think.  God bless the reader :D

much love,
jake