Techno Bi-Linguist

if you haven't picked up on this already

2008-11-23T21:16:00.002-05:00

i'm not going to post anymore...

just not into this right now

Should I call this post "Are you ready for some football?" Nah...

2008-08-24T22:16:00.003-04:00

My team for 2008:

Philip Rivers, SD QB

Joseph Addai, Ind RB

Darren McFadden, Oak RB

Fred Taylor, Jac RB

Donald Driver, GB WR

Donte' Stallworth, Cle WR

Vernon Davis, SF TE

Jeff Reed, Pit K

Ari D/ST

Brodie Croyle, KC QB

Kenny Watson, Cin RB

Devin Hester, Chi WR

Ted Ginn Jr., Mia WR

Shaun McDonald, Det WR

Taylor Mehlhaff, NO K

Anthony Fasano, Mia TE

CLA

2008-08-10T20:54:00.004-04:00

If you read my Twitter posts to the right of this blog, you could tell last week was pretty crazy for me and some of the other staff and volunteers at LCBC. Thursday and Friday was Willow Creek's Leadership Summit which broadcasts a live satellite feed all over North America. LCBC was one of those sites and I was asked to produce the conference for our site. There is about a year of preparation on Willow's end for the yearly conference, and roughly 6 months of off and on prep work from several people at each site. It was satisfing to see everything go off well but there was a portion of the summit that was even more satisfing.

A few months ago we found out that LCBC was one of three finalists for the Couragous Leadership award, which is a yearly search for church communities that are looking to make a dent in the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Friday, during one of the sessions of the summit we found out that our church was the winner this year! With that comes a $100,000 grant to continue the work which is being done.

Jason has a great post that describes the excitement that filled the room during the presentation.

The thing that caught my attention regarding the whole deal were the judges comments regarding the prize:

“Very powerful ministry in one of the most theologically conservative areas of the country. Launched with the vision of a senior pastor whose heart was given to this emergency and carried by an entire congregation, LCBC has coalesced business and religious leaders in their community, inviting them to join in their AIDS initiative. Their drive to understand the impact of AIDS and inspire others to appropriate means of involvement is inspiring. To the citizens of a Kenya community, they could not come at a better time.”

I am just so thankful to God that I am able to be a part of what he is doing in Lancaster, the Susquehanna Valley and around the world. And like David said this morning, I just want to continue to be a part of the ride and not screw things up!

Friday's Set List

2008-07-27T09:37:00.003-04:00

Someone at the concert kept track of the set, here it is:

Life In Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Viva La Vida
Yes
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
Chinese Sleep Chant (side stage)
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (side stage/techno version) (*this was sweet!)
Speed Of Sound
Yellow
Lost!

(From section 104)
The Scientist (Acoustic)
Death Will Never Conquer (Will - Acoustic)

Encore:

Talk
Politik
Lovers In Japan
Death And All His Friends
The Escapist

Encore 2:

Green Eyes
The Dubliners (*new)

Viva la Coldplay

2008-07-26T10:12:00.004-04:00

So last night was very cool! The concert wasn't overly production heavy like the "Twisted Logic" tour was, it seemed like the realized that the songs are able to drive the show. We had great seats, and it turned out that the band ran through the crowd and preformed 20 feet behind Megan and I. Check out our pictures. (Click on them for a larger view)

That balloonish orb floating it the top right is a video screen

Yes that is a 40x60 foot screen behind them!

New Office

2008-07-22T16:48:00.003-04:00

With things growing so quickly here at LCBC office space is limited to say the least. While working for our student ministry I worked with 4 other people in a office that was formerly a bathroom. It was either way too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter...not fun. Now I have moved to a new office (pictured below). It is also a bathroom (kinda). We have a green room behind our main auditorium and attached to the green room are mens and womens make-up rooms and restrooms. I am now in the men's makeup room between the green room and restroom. But my setup is pretty sweet right now. Check it out.

Below is a pciture of the sound board I work with most often now. It is a Yamaha PM1D. I help our volunteers mix wireless in-ear monitors for our bands weekly. She is gorgeous!

My run...

2008-07-08T20:33:00.003-04:00

I am still on my challenge to keep running at least 4 days a week. The highlights of my run in pictures (not actually from my run).

Last Day

2008-06-26T22:40:00.004-04:00

My last day working for LCBC's Middle School ministry is this Sunday. It hasn't really hit yet. The great thing is that I'm not parting ways with our community, I will still be working for LCBC! But this week I have the realization set in that I am leaving an amazing group of people. God has crafted such an amazing team to accomplish a difficult task and I am so thankful that I could have even a small part in what God is doing in the lives of Middle Schoolers in Central Pennsylvania.

But I know that God has wired me with this desire to make things better especially in areas of technology and production, so I leave the Student Ministry department knowing that God is calling me to a place where I can focus more energy in the areas that he has gifted me in. I am excited to move from serving in one ministry to being able to serve our whole church.

Today in my last Student Ministry creative team meeting, we talked briefly about the Spirit's fruit of faithfulness. We talked about how one of the best ways to teach about these fruits is through story. As I thought about how God has been faithful to me (and now Megan and I), the journey that I have been on for the past few years was on the forefront. I know that in the macro view of my life, that God will simple take care of me. I don't need to sweat the small stuff, and in all reality, I don't need to sweat the big stuff. God is faithful.

I really don't need to worry about where God will have me in twenty years. He obviously created me for a purpose and he will use me to fulfill that purpose and when I am done with that "task" I will die (I was thinking about using a lighter term for death like "move on" but chose not to). Part of me struggles with the death aspect of my life, mainly with the part of leaving Megan or Megan leaving me. But how can we not struggle with that when we are able to fully comprehend what some parts of our afterlife experience will be like.

So, as I move to this next mile marker in my journey, I know that God is faithful and that even when I have days like I did today (Megan's driver-side mirror was smashed by another car last night, they drove off).
God thank you that you are more than reliable, that you know what each of the next "big" steps of my life will look like (thank you you see all of my live at the same time somehow)! Please, continue to allow Megan and I to have some part of making the world right again. Keep me out of the way so that I cannot screw up what you want to do.

Well Done

2008-06-12T18:31:00.003-04:00

I left a NY Strip Steak on the Grill a little too long tonight. Below is a picture of the carnage that followed...

Booooo....

2008-06-11T20:08:00.000-04:00

This is the email I got today:

Sean,

Our records indicate that you purchased tickets to the Coldplay concert on Sunday, June 29th at the Wachovia Center.

Live Nation announced recently that the first two weeks of Coldplays Viva La Vida tour have been rescheduled due to production delays. The bands scheduled appearance at the Wachovia Center on Sunday, June 29th has been rescheduled to Friday, July 25th at 8:00pm. All tickets will be honored for the new date.

June 29th

2008-05-20T22:47:00.004-04:00

So Megan's birthday/anniversary present this year is a trip to Philly. While this trip is a full week after her birthday, it co-insides with a special event that day.

WE ARE SEEING COLDPLAY AGAIN!! Whoot!

It has been 3 years since we saw them in Pittsburgh and we are pretty pumped to enjoy their show again!

BTW - Check out the video for their newest single "Violet Hill" here.

Thoughts

2008-04-19T08:44:00.002-04:00

So I offer this post with some fear of sounding hypocritical, but I have some thoughts from the last few days that I want to share. Thankfully my blog is read by a limited number of people and not a national audience, but I will be careful not to use over statements or exaggerated stereotypes. I do think I feel somewhat suited to offer some analysis because I used to fall into the category I am hoping to offer advice to.

I'm sure by now some of you may have heard about the "Seeds of Compassion" forum that ended a few days ago. It was a 5-day gathering of some very influential religious leaders from all over the world. The website setup for the event describes it as:

"An unprecedented gathering to engage the hearts and minds of our community by highlighting the vision, science, and programs of early social, emotional, and cognitive learning.

Anchored by the deep wisdom of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this community–focused event will celebrate and explore the relationships, programs and tools that nurture and empower children, families and communities to be compassionate members of society.

Each of the five days will provide parents, educators, business and community leaders with an opportunity to better understand the real benefits of compassion, and concrete steps on how to bring compassion into their lives."

Things like this don't happen often, so it was a pretty profound conference. There is a very influential Pastor named Rob Bell who was invited to be apart of this forum. Bell is not your average Pastor, he has written a number of books, is the face to a video series that is reshaping the way some people teach and understand God, and speaks weekly on the largest downloaded podcast in history, to over summarize, he is a mover and a shaker.

As the 5-day forum wrapped up, there was a mild uproar over the fact that Rob Bell was even a part of a multi-faith event, that while Bell was there, he did not clearly state that the one true way to live with God for eternity was through faith in Christ as Lord, and that we have finality of forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus. While I 100% believe in that forgiveness and believe that my eternal life rests on Christ death and resurrection, I have a HUGE problem with this group that finds it necessary to share their "disappointment" with Bell, as if somehow they are the judge of who/what is REALLY Christian or not.

There is this arrogance that sometimes permeates from some people, and while we are all unable to live perfectly, I really get sick of this arrogance that comes from "fundamental" Christians. (Broad Stereotype, but just work with me here). There is this incorrect belief that some people hold, that their job is to defend God's honor and bash people that don't hold the same world view as them (and they should have the same world view because THEY are Christian and THEIR view is the only correct view).

I'm sorry but where does Christ say that we need to do this? One verse that I have TRIED to live by is Luke 10:27, "Jesus answered: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Basically "Love God, Love Others") Now, I know these people can lean on the excuse that they are really trying to love others by sharing their views with other people (not always in the most positive way), but lets step back for a minute. It is offensive. It is nauseating. It is aggravating.

The way I have come to understand, one of the best ways to love others is to "bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth." We are either able to allow people to have a taste of Heaven, or reveal a little bit of Hell. BUT HOW is going around bashing a Pastor, BY NAME, saying that he is not a real Christian, bringing Heaven to earth, OR EVEN loving God? GOD DOES NOT NEED US TO PROTECT HIM! He is GOD!

Now I am at the point where I start saying to myself, "Sean, what are you doing right now? You are doing the exact same thing as they are!" Part of me wants to stop right now and delete this post. But the other part, the brutally honest, wear my heart on my sleeve part, wants to vent to these brothers and sisters of mine.

I have no doubt that these people trust God with their lives, I bet most of them are Christians. But they way they are acting is wrong! It is disgusting. We need to stop this bashing, this looking down on others. There is a better way to live, a better way to go about looking at the world.

I think they are just misinformed on there role in the world. I was. I really was! I thought it was my job to go around and tell other people what they said was incorrect, judge them when they had a different way at looking at things. But there was a better way for me to live, I guess.

Honestly, I do not have a problem with these people. I have a problem with how they are acting. I don't have a problem with the people who are doing these things because they really don't know what they are doing. They think that aggressively sharing the Gospel and "guilting" people into a shameful repentance is the best way to proclaim the good news. It really is a shame. They have a passion for God and want to see other people love God too. But sometimes I think they aggressively share their view so that they can gather up more people that think and act they they do.

I think we need to come to a realization that people are in different places on their faith journey, and by always trying to move people to cross the point of faith is often harmful instead of helpful. But instead, if we continue to seek God's Kingdom on Earth it will help people moving to the next point in their journey, whether they are just taking the first steps or have been walking with God for 50 years.

Whatever the case, this post was mainly for myself to articulate sporadic thoughts from the past few days. This post will probably not change any minds on the subject. But for me, I need to put everything I am and have into loving God and others. Into helping our faith community and those that know our community move to the next point on their faith journey. If I have a vendetta to bash others because of a different world view I will be wasting my time and my life.

God, help me to use the gifts and talents you have provided me to reveal yourself to the people around me.

Shift

2008-04-13T16:42:00.004-04:00

Our team is back in Lancaster. We had a great time in Chicago at the Shift Conference. We ended up staying in the same hotel as Charlie Hall and Switchfoot, we met some of the student minsitry team from Mars Hill, and ate at some great restruants! One of the highlights of the trip was spending roughly 2.5 hours in the hotel lobby as a team and sharing what we appreciated about each other. It was a sweet time!
Maybe my least favorite part was flying back from the conference. After a short layover in Pittsburgh we got into the plane shown above. The only problem with said plane was that as I took this picture, I was sitting in the second to last row of the plane. That's right, a total of 40 seats, which included the flight crew! The cabin was a toastly 83 degrees. Thankfully the flight was very short!

I'm in....

2008-04-10T15:44:00.003-04:00

Chicago right now. Well, a suburb of Chicago. I was downtown last night. I am here with the rest of our Student Ministry team from LCBC at Willow Creek's Shift conference.

To be honest, I was not looking forward to today. I had 4 breakout "seminars" scheduled, each an hour and a half long. I had the attitude that I would not get anything out of them. They did not offer any insight into my world in Student Ministry Production. I'm glad I was wrong! I had two morning breakouts that were huge mind-blowers and now I am learning about ways to include Middle School students in the leadership of the ministry.

Yesterday, the whole conference got to hear from Brian McLaren, Shane Claiborne, and Mark Yaconelli. They offered some amazing thought on shifting the direction we move our students. (More thoughts to come)

Moving away from the actual conference, we have hit up some slammin' food! Great deep dish pizza, White Castle (not really good, but fun to eat there, Jimmie John's, and we are in the search for a good Italian restaurant right now.

Well, back to the conference. I do want to say before I go, conferences are great marking posts in my life that inspire me to learn and grow. Often I feel uninspired to grow and move, but gathering with other people is a great place for me to get energized again!

Peace

Previously on...

2008-03-29T12:22:00.002-04:00

Guy Who Says 'Previously On Heroes ' Wishes He Was Guy Who Says 'Previously On Lost'

nothing

2008-03-06T20:14:00.001-05:00

i got nothing...

Packing back up

2008-02-10T08:21:00.000-05:00

We had//are having a great time here in the Poconos this weekend! We have one more gathering @ 9:30 then we roll outta here. Here are our lovely little rednecks!

All Packed and Ready to Roll

2008-02-07T14:39:00.000-05:00

Well, the tech team leaves in less than 4 hours. I have that gross feeling that I forgot something. But I am pumped for the weekend! We have a solid cast of leaders who are dedicated to loving on students and leading them in this experience.

Pray that we get there safe, that setup goes well, and we have limited problems.

Thanks guys,

There will be a full report when we return!

18-1

2008-02-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

Beautiful! I really dislike the proud Patriots and their fans!
Poetic justice!

The Party

2008-01-28T11:32:00.000-05:00

Megan and I found our new time filler.
Mario Party on N64!

Either // Or

2008-01-21T16:25:00.001-05:00

Last Wednesday, the Middle School Team sat down with Matt Parks who is speaking at our retreat in 2 and a half weeks. We had the content nailed down for the weekend, but we needed a theme to package the idea. We landed on the idea of "Either // Or".
Matt will be leading close to 100 of our 7th & 8th graders through the story of Amnon and Tamar in 2 Samuel 13 that weekend. The story deals with the unfortunate rape of Tamar by her half-brother, Amnon, the events following, and ultimately how God offers grace in our lives.
We landed with the idea of "Either // Or" after talking about how the relationships in our lives help us lean toward God or away from him. It was Amnon's relationship with his cousin, Jonadab, who gave him the idea to lie to David and get alone with his half-sister, which made him lean away from God. After Amnon's sin was discovered, we noticed that we have a choice, like Amnon, to run toward or from God, thinking that running away will save us from embarrassment and consequence.
And finally, we noticed the obvious choice we have to accept or reject God's grace in our lives. While God always offers grace for the mistakes that we make, it is up to us to live according to that free grace.
At first we kind of struggled with this very black and white view of God and grace, but as we thought about the target audience, 12-14 year olds, we knew that it is much better to offer clear boundaries and choices to students who probably won't be able to process the many variables or unknowns that come with the topic.
We are getting more excited about the weekend, and I ask that you would pray for us as leaders and for the students as we prepare for what God will do. Pray that all the technical and fun things we do stay on the floor and God's unwavering grace takes the stage, and that the students begin to move to a new place in their spiritual journey.

Also, pray for me. This is the biggest week of my year each time we do one of these. It normally requires close to 75 hours of work that week alone, and as you would presume, it is very stretching. Thanks!

Grandpa

2008-01-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

So I just got a cool email from my Dad. It had a news article attached to it from 1941.
The article is about my Grandpa and his Army days. Basically, when my Grandpa McDermott was 14 he enlisted in the Army! 14! Then at the age of 16 he was promoted to Sergent. He was the youngest Sergent in military history!

It is cool learning about him and his history! I had ten great years with him and one of the things I remembered most was his passion in worship! He would sing his lungs out. There are times even now during worship that I can hear his voice singing along with the rest of the church!

Also the man was blind as a bat! He wore these special thick glasses that could flip up over his head and one day he fell asleep on a park bench and the sun burnt his scalp because his glasses were so think!

Here is the article:

Can't Sleep

2007-12-28T02:36:00.000-05:00

Question on my mind:

Where will God have Megan and I in 5 years?

Orlando Highlights

2007-12-17T13:41:00.000-05:00

In pictures:

Our Church Family

2007-12-09T21:50:00.000-05:00

My co-worker and friend, Matt, took this picture during our worship gathering this morning.
It is during the song, "Oh, come let us adore Him." You can read his cool story about it here.

(Click the picture for a larger view.)

MCO to PHL

2007-12-08T07:18:00.000-05:00

I am sitting in the Orlando airport on the way back to PA. I am wondering what the cold will feel like. It has been 80 degrees everyday down here, and it never rained!

It was a refreshing vacation. We did not do a ton, relaxed by the pool, walked around Downtown Disney and Universal's CityWalk. We watched the most amazing Cirque Du Soleil show! But mainly nothing. I got to love on Megan's twin sisters. Throwing them in the air until my arms hurt.

I work today. And Megan has a final Tuesday. Back to the grind.

They are about to call our Zone number to board the plane...

Useless Knowledge

2007-11-25T22:51:00.000-05:00

We put our Christmas tree up this afternoon. It is lovely. I am pretty amazing at wrapping it with lights. Tomorrow I will tackle the porch.

Also, as I type this there 13 minutes left in the Eagles / Patriots games. Philly is winning 28-24. As I told my wife the score she said, "Holy Crap!"Is their anything cuter than having a wife that knows something about Football? I do have to admit, I have watched too many hours of games that don't matter to me this season. But it is great to have a wife that will sit through it and actually retain useless information WITH me...

BTW- The Turkeybowl went amazing this weekend. But I am very thankful that I am going on vacation next Sunday!

Check back for picture of that. Until then.

Updates...

2007-11-14T11:51:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the lack of posts since October. No excuses.

I have taken the last two days off work due to an extended illness. I caught a bug going around work last week and it seems that it flared up again early this week. It has been a pretty unenjoyable few days.

Here are a few more miscellaneous updates that probably don't matter to any of you:
- The Focus gets inspected Friday
- We are heading to Megan's Uncle's house the Wednesday before Thanksgiving
- Then on Thanksgiving we drive back to my parent's house for dinner and my Dad's birthday
- We are going on vacation with Megan's family Dec 2-8 in Orlando
- My "Sell Stuff on eBay" craze is over (it was fun while it lasted)
- My fantasy football record is a disappointing 4 and 6...I face the league leading Chad this week
- The Steelers are a nice 7 and 2 with 3 easy games until the showdown with the Pats...

McDizzle Out

Cars (not the movie)

2007-10-25T19:18:00.000-04:00

So today my wife and I had fairly un-enjoyable events with our vehicles.

Megan's car would not start this morning. So I got the wake up nudge this morning and had to throw on clothes and sandals to drive her to work (you all know that half daze that you do things like brush your teeth or use the toliet in the morning, imagine me like that while driving). I then attemped to call AAA for my wife this morning to tow the car to the shop, but because I am married to, but not legally Megan McDermott, I could not request a tow.

When Megan called AAA back around 3:30 this afternoon to tow her car , we assumed it would take a solid 1-2 hour for them to arrive. When Megan got the call 5 minutes later that the tow truck driver was outside waiting for us when we both were still at work, I again jumped in my car and sped to pick her up at work.

To speed up the process I asked Megan to meet me on the side of the road outside of her job. Not realizing that by doing this it would look like I was picking up a "lady of the night" on Fruitville Pike. But back to the main plot line.

We got a 3rd call from the tow truck driver saying that he could not wait any longer, it was then that I begged him to wait 4 more minutes and we would be there. 8 minutes later we arrived. We both jumped out of our car to apologize to the driver and beg him not to drop off our car in the Susquehanna River.

It was at this point I realized I locked my keys in the car we just arrived in. I though, no problem because Megan has her keys! To my surprise they too were locked in the same car with the radio and lights on. While I did not have the courage to ask the tow truck driver who waited 35 minutes for us outside of our house for a slim jim, I did remember that my new car came with Roadside Assistance. (P.S. Jesus - Thank you!)

30 minutes later I was able to stand and watch as the locksmith inflated some bag between the passenger door and the door jam.

Needless to say it was an eventful day.

It is time to veg with my wife as we enjoy our favorite 2 hours on TV. My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office and Scrubs.

McDizzle
OUT

Here we go Steelers, Here we Go!

2007-10-07T21:14:00.000-04:00

Troy Aikmen and I

The Back of Joe Buck (the voice of the post-season)

PJ and his Alma maltier

Point State Park

Police Memorial

More Police Memorial

View from our seats

Jumbotron

First Steelers Offensive Play

Wide shot of the first play

Mt. Washington

Random Pic

We had the top row, so this is what was behind us

Just before the 3rd and final touchdown!!!

Touchdown!!!!!!!!

Touchdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!

End of the game...

Close-up

Pittsburgh skyline

Better skyline

Point State Park

Jumbotron

Field at the end of the game

Takara Foot Patch

2007-10-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

So I was watching a little TV this afternoon when I stumbled upon a commercial for a foot detox pad. "The Takara Detox Foot Patch is literally taking the health industry by storm as an effective way to remove toxicities from the body. Try it for yourself... seeing truly is believing!"

I guess the thing come from the Chinese science "reflexology" and is made with 12 natural ingredients that when combined and slapped on your foot, magically pulls out the toxins like Mercury and other metals I have never heard of before. Here is the list of what is in this thing:
Bamboo Vinegar
Wood Vinegar
Tourmaline "emits negative ions and far-infrared rays (FIR)"
Saururus Chinensis "encourages diuresis"
Houttuynia Cordata (whatever that is)
Eucalyptus
Agarucus Mushroom
Chitosan (Seashell)
Cornstarch "excellent liquid absorption abilities"

The commercial is hysterical, the people slap this maxi-pad looking thing on their foot and after a day it is all dirty with the toxins from your body.

Hilarious!

Here is a testimony:
"I just got the results back from my analysis and I was amazed with what the Takara Detox Foot Patches™ are pulling out of my body. Excessive amounts of asbestos, lead, fluoride, copper, mercury, platinum, formaldehyde, mold, parasites, and a host of other food additives, chemicals, and toxins. What a god-send these patches are! I never knew that my body was so polluted, but after faithfully using the patches, many of my health issues have seemingly disappeared, and I feel so good. I'm telling all my friends about the Takara Detox Foot Patch™. It really works!"

OR maybe the patch contains all these gross things already, you step on it and break capsules of dirt so it looks like a bunch of stuff got pulled out of the tough skin on the bottom of your foot.

Anyway, I guess you can say that I don't by into this stuff!

I need to invent some crazy contraption.

Work

2007-10-02T17:34:00.000-04:00

Today I had to work through a handful of problems at my job. Equipment failures, miscommunication, schedules, etc...

But I love what I do, so it makes it more than worth it to me!

I love that the place I work at is not satisfied with the status-quo, we understand that to succeed in our ministry we should see lives changed and more people come to love God. It is great to know that God is helping us do just that!

Outreach Magazine does a national survey of some of the 400,000 churches estimated in America. I am excited to be a part of the 87th largest and 54th fastest growing church in America! And number one of size and growth in PA...

Yeah God!

Step into Africa

2007-09-22T13:19:00.001-04:00

I left my house for a few moments today for Africa. Not the real continent, but the Africa setup in the West Wing Auditorium. World Vision, the organization that supports children and impoverished families around the world, has a tour that is going around the country that hopes to open the eyes of people on the problems of AIDS in Africa. It is a 20-30 minute "walk" with a headset where you follow the journey of a real child in Africa. This afternoon I followed the footsteps of Babirye a 14 year old from Uganda. She is actually from the village where they believe the HIV virus originated 25 years ago. Her step-father died when she was 4 from AIDS. Her mom showed signs of HIV when she was 8. Her mom left Babirye and her twin sister on the streets for 4 months when she left to seek treatment of her AIDS.
At age 11, Babirye discovered she too will live the rest of her life with HIV. But she still has faith in God. Babirye has seen her mother's health come back to "normal" and come to love God. Babirye and her mother now work with World Vision in their village helping to spread the word about HIV, teach others how to prevent the disease, and sharing the hope of a relationship with Christ. If you haven't yet, sign up and experience the journey of Babirye or one of the other 3 children that are a part of the experience.

Here is a trailer of Babirye's story:

I went running today...

2007-09-10T11:53:00.000-04:00

Green

2007-09-06T22:03:00.000-04:00

My friend from High School, Keith, wrote a good post on his blog the other day on environmentalism. You can read it here.

What are your thoughts?

Weekends

2007-08-27T09:37:00.001-04:00

I was reflecting on the past couple of days and realized it was one of the best weekends I have had in a while. Here is the run-down:

Friday: Got my car's windows tinted, got a bunch of errands done with Meg, attended the guest book at my good friends' (Chris and Brittany) wedding, at the wedding got to sit at a great table with some good college friends, went to Bill and Cassie's place after the wedding to chill.

Saturday: Had a nice lazy day cleaning up around the house, went to Bill and Cassie's again for a house warming party, saw a friend I haven't seen in like 3 years, got to meet some cool people.

Sunday: Sent off our 8th graders into high school, relived some fun memories with them, looked to the future with the rest of our congregation, heard about an inspiring meeting for our lifegroup leaders, spend 2 hours talking football with good friends, got excited about football, watched 2 episodes of Lost, watched the Steelers pound the Eagles in a pre-season game w/ the Savages.

As you can see it was busy, but I am walking into work refreshed and excited. Excited for an amazing labor day weekend, where I will picnic with co-workers, welcome new 7th and 5th graders into our ministries, hang out with family, and relax.

God, thank you for these wonderful days, friends, and loved ones you have put in my life!

Fantasy Draft

2007-08-26T17:52:00.000-04:00

Here is an amazing picture of our fantasy league's draft board:
We expected it to take about 3 hours but it went much quicker (about 2). We had a blast jeering each other and commenting on other's picks. It was everyone's first Live draft except for one. And he said that it was the friendliest draft he has been a part of. Well here is my team:

QB1: Drew Brees
QB2: Brett Farve

RB1: Joe Addai
RB2: Cedric Benson
RB3: Chester Taylor
RB4: Dominic Rhodes

WR1: T.O.
WR2: Donte Stallworth
WR3: Vincent Jackson
WR4: Muhsin Muhammad

TE1: Todd Heap
TE2: Chris Baker

Def1: Chargers
Def2: Vikings

Kicker1: Jeff Wilkins
Kicker2: Rian Lindell

How was camp?

2007-08-17T08:33:00.000-04:00

I love that this picture cannot even begin to describe the action that took place on the lake and beach last weekend. There were moments when every single boat was launched with 2 or 3 5th graders in it. There was another moment when there wasn't a place to stand while we waited to see which teams cardboard boat would survive the longest (a one point a team boat held all 200 lbs of me!)

I do have pictures of all these exciting thing but I wanted to use a picture that often isn't used to describe our weekend retreat. One challenge that Chad issued to these soon to be 6th graders was to take the things that they learned home. Not the retreat "high" that everyone leaves with. But to take home the understanding that we need our lives cleaned out of all the junk in our lives and the only person that can do that is Jesus. Then Jesus hands us back the key of our life to live like he wants us to. The best way to live our lives for Jesus is to "do something" rather than "do nothing." God gives us endless opportunities to do something that we have to choose to use.

That's why my prayer is that these students grab hold to the idea that Rock Mountain is just a camp. God was there and they knew it. We often sense God greater when we spend extended time focused on him. But God is also at their home and school and everywhere they go.

Thus the picture. It is only a beach. Nothing spectacular. We had fun. But we travel on our journey more when we make progress in everyday life.

Survivor Weekend

2007-08-09T18:08:00.000-04:00

Megan and I leave tomorrow with about 80 other 5th graders and leaders to head 3 hours north to Gibson, PA for our first annual 5th grade camp. The camp runs from tomorrow at noon until Sunday 3 PM. It will be interesting because this will be the first time for some students that they are away from home for more than 1 night.

My car is literally loaded to the brim and I head out first thing in the morning. I pray that for some of our students that they connect with our youth community deeper and gain a better understanding of what it means to make the choices to change the world piece by piece...

Highlights on the other side...

HUH! Bad Boys, Whatcha Want, Whatcha want...

2007-07-28T19:16:00.000-04:00

Whatcha gonna do. When Sheriff McDermott come for you?

I'm in cop mode right now...I went on a ride along Thursday night with my good friend and Lititz Borough Police Officer PJ Savage. It was a pretty eventful night. Arrested some dude on a Bench warrant. Combed the streets looking for things out of the ordinary. We didn't pull anyone over but I still had a great time...

My good friend Bill really wants for the two of us to go be cops somewhere...Nowhere like NYC but somewhere we can be partners in law.

Not sure if that will ever happen. Maybe if this whole church craze dies down at some point...

Well cops the TV show comes on in a little bit... Time to relive some good memories...

So I didn't chill with Joyce...

2007-07-22T19:01:00.001-04:00

...but what a fun day!

So Ryan, Byron, Jordan and I left my apartment at6:15 and drove 3 hours to Secaucus, NJ to Continental Airlines Arena (see below). After a much needed Duncan Donuts stop (and watching a ten year old boy enjoy a sprinkle donut with his Pepsi at 7:30) we arrived at the Arena and flashed our credentials and walked in the players entrance that the New Jersey Nets use (pretty sweet).
Once we got to the arena we met up with Dan Keeney (Joyce's Production Manager) and he hooked us up with All Access Production passes. So we walked past Hillsong's and Delerious' dressing rooms dropped off our bags and walked out to the first session where Hillsong's Darlene Zschech, Marty Sampson, and Rolf rocked out a couple of tunes.

Following the session we went back stage and hung out with Dan's crew and talked audio and tech stuff. Then we hit up some lunch then hung around until Delerious showed up for their sound check. After that we drove over to the hotel the crew was staying at and relaxed for a little bit until dinner. We got back for the session at 7, and listened to Delerious rock out 5 or 6 songs.

Around 8 PM we went back stage and chose not to listen to Joyce's altar call since we all loved Jesus already. It was about that time we decided to head out. It was an early morning and we still had a 3 hour drive in front of us (filled with a few rounds of 20 questions).

Here is a picture I took as we left the Arena out of the player's entrance:

Overall it was a pretty sweet day! It was sweet getting to see Hillsong for the first time. Hopefully we will get them around Central PA soon.

Request for comments: What was one of your favorite concerts you went to?

Later,
~SEan

Road Trip

2007-07-19T17:50:00.000-04:00

Holmesy, Byron and I are heading to the Meadowlands tomorrow to a Joyce Meyer Conference. We are not going for Mrs. Meyer, instead we will be rocking along to Hillsong's Darlene Zschech and Delerious! One of our friends is Joyce's production manager, so hopefully we will get to hang out backstage!

Maybe even chill with ole' Joyce.

Pictures to follow...

Love and Memories...

2007-07-03T21:57:00.001-04:00

So Meg and I are back from West Palm. It was a great week for us! It was a celebration of our first year together as husband and wife. And I will be the first to say that it is bittersweet to see it go. My friend Jason who married us also did our pre-martial counseling. One of his pieces of advice that Meg and I tried to accomplish was making as many memories for ourselves as possible. His reasoning was that a study showed that couples that had fond memories from their first year together ended up with a lower rate of divorce because they had memories to look back on.

Megan is much better at remembering those types of things, and she actually wrote out all the memories that she could think of that we had from the past year in a card for me last week. It was a sweet time recalling some of the fun and personal times we had together, some as small as enjoying white mocha's during the winter months, others bigger, like visiting a bed and breakfast in Mt. Gretna...

The bitter part about the last year for me was the amount of time we got to spend together. It was not enough! With both of us finishing up school and working full-time, some weeks we did not even get to see each other from Monday night until Friday afternoon. She worked early morning at Starbucks and I worked and had class in the evening.

So that is why this vacation was so good for us. We were able to spend 4 straight days together un-interrupted.

Our first full day in FL we spend roaming the streets of the city. It was Hot and Humid! I think I lost a pound in water weight from sweating... This is a picture of me standing on a Palm Beach beach (is that the right way to say this?) that day. The water was 83 degrees and crystal clear! It was nice to get my feet wet after walking around that day.

The second day we took the bus down to a public beach and spend the afternoon soaking up the sun and breeze. That was all we did that day.

The third day it began to rain so we took a taxi to the Norton Museum of Art. Enjoyed a number of pieces that they had there. And found this pretty cool looking tree, which Megan had to get a picture of. After that, we walked to CityPlace, which is a cool strip mall-ish area with a bunch of shops and eateries. We walked around there and such, then it began to pour so we ran into the Starbucks and sipped some iced lattes until it stopped raining. Once it did stop, we walked over to the movie theater and saw Evan Almighty which was a pretty good movie (not amazing, but not bad).

Friday, we packed up for the airport and drove to Boiling Springs in the afternoon to go meet Megan's new sisters from Haiti (see below).

So overall it was an amazing week on a number of different levels. We are back to work now. I have some exciting things coming my way as we get prepared for the fall and our new building. Friday morning Jason and Ryan Holmes met with Clair Brothers, which is one of the largest sound and production companies in the world (located right in Lititz!), to describe what we want the environments of each room on the Youth Floor to look like. Then today we had a follow up meeting to go over some of the preliminary plans for the areas. It is exciting to be a part of the planning process for something that is going to be in place for decades to come!

Well, my wife is on her way in the door. She had a bachelorette party for her old roommate. We have that wedding this Saturday.

Well I hope you enjoy your 4th of July! We live in a very blessed nation!

Aloha (I've been watching Dog the Bounty Hunter)
Sean

They're Here!

2007-06-30T15:26:00.000-04:00

So I don't look too great in this picture (after 5 hours of flying and driving) but the girls have finally arrived! This is a picture of them napping. It was great to to end the process with the girls but it really is only the beginning. We pray that these girls will grow closer to Christ in their journey!

Will post on the vacation later...

Tired,
~SEan

Coming Home?

2007-06-23T21:03:00.001-04:00

So prayers were answered Wednesday and the process for bringing the girls to PA is coming to an end. Jen has a meeting on either Tuesday or Wednesday to get the girls visas so they can fly back... Super exciting! Please pray that the meeting happens soon and that it goes well! Hopefully I can post some pictures of Megan and I with the girls next week when we get back from vacation.

On that note, Megan and I leave Monday for vacation. Sunday is our anniversary and we are excited to head down to West Palm Beach for the week to celebrate!

I might post some pictures of us while we are down there, we'll see.

Til then,
Sean

Extended Family...

2007-06-19T08:45:00.000-04:00

So my MIL (mother-in-law) is in Haiti right now. It kinda was a last minute deal. See Megan's family is trying to adopt again. I have a BIL and SIL both from China, and legally I have two SILs in Haiti. The problem is, even though the twin girls (Adelina and Sophia, seen left w/ Jen) are legally "Geruntho's" there is a paper sitting on a desk in Haiti that needs signed. Literally.

So Jen went down to Haiti with two other adoptive Moms to go see the children they are adopting. We are so excited to have the girls up in PA. We have been for about 2 years. We actually were told they would be here by Megan and my wedding (BTW- our first anniversary is this Sunday). Then we thought they would be here for Christmas. Then there was a stretch in May that we thought that Jen and Jim would fly down and pick the girls up any day.

But it obviously never happened. So today Jen and the other Moms are going to the office where the paper jam is and ask that they would be allowed to take the girls home. Pray for this resolution! Please! If it does not happen soon it could be another year. I am tired of getting excited from progress then endless set backs, I cannot even begin to understand how Jen and Jim feel.

Hopefully I can post a picture of the girls in the US soon!

-God, we are so excited that Jim and Jen have followed your call to adopt again. To help make life right for Adelina and Sophia. We ask that you would finish the adoption process and that the girls would come home, soon. Help everyone involved to have the patience when needed. But we ultimately ask that you would put an end to the paperwork and allow Jen to bring the girls home. God, you are more than capable of this and we look forward to when these girls will learn to live their lives seeking to follow you. Amen.

Friday...Lastday

2007-06-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

Session 4 and 5 are today. Going to hear Donald Miller and Erwin McManus.
Starting right now. Here is a pic.

What's right with your world...

2007-06-14T14:21:00.000-04:00

The theme for this year's arts conference is "Hallelujah, what's right with the world." The first speaker on Wednesday morning was Dewitt Jones, you have probably seen some of his photography before. He has worked with National Geographic for twenty years and won numerous awards for his work. Some of the pictures he has taken are able to conjure up a wide range of emotions from the viewer; it is amazing what his eye can see from the ordinary.

His main point that he shared was how do we fall in love with the world? When we are in love with someone or something we have a longing, a passion to be with him, her or it. I love to be working with technology; basically any free moment I have will probably be centered around doing something with circuits, wire and electricity. How am I able to turn my love for technology and electronics into good? How can I better the world with my passion? Also, with that question, if we are doing something, or work somewhere that we don't like, what emotion will we share with others, most likely it will be one of frustration or regret.

To fall in love with the world we need to be doing what God wired us to do. The world would not be right if my wife, Megan, did not paint and make things beautiful. That is one of her ways of making things right. When we are in a place where we are able to do what we love we are able to walk around with a "Full glass." It is when we wake up with a positive attitude about the world that the ordinary becomes the extra-ordinary.

So my question is what is it that you are doing to make thing right in the world? Are you in a position that you are making things good again? Have you found that thing that God made you to do and can see the world with new eyes.

I can't imagine being any other place than LCBC right now. It is what God ordained for Megan and myself. I admit that I struggle seeing the extra-ordinary in my day regularly. But, I am so glad that I am in a place where my avocation is also my vocation.

He are few snap shots from the conference so far: (I forgot our camera so I had to spin my laptop aroudn and use the iSight.)

(Main stage)

(The 7500 seat auditorium)

(The IMAG suite: Amazing)

New Beginnings

2007-06-14T11:39:00.000-04:00

I am sitting in the basement of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Il. Every year they put on their arts conference in hopes to inspire and assist people that lead production ministry. Yesterday we heard from three speakers (more to come in a later blog) that spoke about "Celebrating what is right in the world" "The audacity of hope" and "they like Jesus, but not the church."

My session on copyright basics is starting now...
Be back later today...

Sean