Camping Weekend

Yes, it is almost here! Camping season 2008! I am extremely pumped to dean a camp this year (Mommy, Daddy & Me.) http://www.jumonville.org/ My two girls will get to go to my camp and Aaron will be able to go to an adventure camp the same week at Jumonville.

This weekend at Baldwin Community, we are celebrating camping ministries. Friday evening will be a "campout" at church, where our Parenting class and Date Night families will set up tents in Asbury Hall and have smores, camp songs, movies and just enjoy the night with each other. This weekend, we will get to have testimony from parents and kids regarding their camping experiences from last year and we will have an opportunity to give towards Baldwin Community's Camp Aid Program. Last year, in our first year of this special offering, we were able to cover 67% of our camper's costs to go to camp!

Let's see if we can do even more this year! Camping brochures will be throughout the church as well as passed out during the Children's time at the Asbury Alternative and at 11 a.m. Sanctuary worship.

Officiating a Wedding

I have never been asked to perform a beach wedding before. Last week, Jennifer, the kids, my parents and in-laws accompanied one of my dearest friends, Brian Carr and his now wife, Karen to the beautiful island of St. Thomas for the beach wedding at Magen's Bay.

On the island we had the opportunity to join together for one of the most memorable days of my life.

Brian is a dear friend, dating back to the days of middle school in Belle Vernon. Brian and I worked, played baseball and hung out on the weekends together. I was honored to have been asked by Brian and Karen to officiate this wedding.

One of the greatest joys is knowing that these two individuals, Brian and Karen have a saving relationship in Jesus Christ. This couple has put Christ first and foremost in their relationship. As a friend and as the pastor officiating this wedding, to know they love the Lord with all their heart, with all their mind and with all their strength brings me great joy.

As a family, we were able to share some of our greatest memories. Weeks prior to going, Aaron, our son experienced some great difficulty breathing, thinking and told by the pediatrician, asthma (It turned out not!). We were questioning if this would be a good trip. It turned out that the warm tropical air did him the greatest good! He came back with a tan, sandy blond hair and no cough or breathing trouble. Praise God for the time away!

Here's Aaron "living it up" on the beach. No signs of sickness there!

Thank God for the time away. A time to celebrate, refresh and gain our health back!

I "Misremembered" my Brother Roger

Ok... I have had the distinct pleasure (ha!ha!) of being told by a few from church that I look like the baseball player who "misremembered" taking some "things" at the hearings, Roger Clemens.

Ok, I admit. I take "things." I do take vitamins.

What NOT To Do On A Snow Day

What am I to do when all the education world shuts down around me for a snow storm? I guess I change my day off! Jennifer is working 12 1/2 hours and I was the one to stay home. Today was the great snow of 08. Yes, we got walloped with a huge 4 inch snow storm. (Remember the days of three feet snows?) This four incher shut everything down pretty much today.

We couldn't go sledding today. (There are not many places in Whitehall that have sledding areas, as well as the kids growing out of their sledding gear.) Snowzone www.snozone.net (1/2 mile from us) opens tomorrow Besides Aaron, our son, had a orthodontics consult with Dr. Sepic www.smilesbysepic.com Dr. Sepic's office called this morning and asked if we could move up the appointment. We did. We arrived at our appointment, left a short while later and went to the movie theater.

Our goal was to watch Hannah Montana, Best of Both Worlds movie. We pulled up to Southland 9. We had the only vehicle in the lot, besides the one employee vehicle. The kids were jumping, excited to watch Hannah Montana in the movie!

We got to the clerk and she looked up and said in a monotone voice, "The movie costs $18 per person." I said, "Did you say this movie is $18 per person?" She said, "Yes." I looked at the kids and said, "Kids, daddy didn't realize this movie was going to cost us close to $100 to watch. This movie is too much money for us to pay." So we all turned around and left. On the way out, I said, "I'm sorry kids, Daddy didn't realize this was going to cost us as much as it costs to go to a Pirate game!" Aaron, the 9 year old, great thinker he is, said, "Daddy, it's ok. You made the right choice."

How can a working family like us afford to take my little children to see someone they think so much of and say, "Sorry, we can't afford this movie." $18 per person, including my four year old? It's unconscionable! It's unfair that the public has to pay $18 for a movie, not to mention $1000's of dollars for a little child to see Hannah Montana in concert.

So this is NOT what to do on a snowy day... see a Hannah Montana movie. Tonight we made popcorn, put our PJ's on and watched a rental... for $1.07.

She passed!

Good News!

My dear wife Jennifer passed her National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN)! She took this exam for the first time on Tuesday. Today she found out that she passed! I am so proud of Jennifer. What a relief. She studied hours over the last couple of months for this exam. It paid off! We thank God for the wisdom she was given. It's now official, she is a RN!

Casinos Rake In Cash

"Casinos Rake In Cash" was the title of The Valley Independent's Newspaper on Monday, January 14th. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/ As I read this I couldn't help but think of the ever increasing debt that individuals are falling in to. As the casino's are "rakin' in the cash," the economy around us is becoming much more unstable.

Gambling affects everyone. It is not just a problem with those who spend their money at a casino. When the new casino comes to Pittsburgh, many are anticipating a surge of dependent people in the area of public assistance.

As the Lord's Pantry (our food pantry at Baldwin Community) takes cuts from funding, the demand for food increases. It is a serious concern. Gambling is going to have an effect on the communities of Pittsburgh and throughout the state.

In 1998 the National Gambling Impact Study Commission funded a study to determine the overall cost to society posed by problem and pathological gamblers in the United States. The results showed that approximately $5 billion was lost annually (In 1998!), with an additional $40 billion in lifetime costs for productivity reductions, social services and creditor losses.

Studies have concluded that two out of three pathological gamblers commit illegal acts in order to pay gambling-related debts. This places a hardship on our legal systems, prison systems and public assistance programs.

The following consequences of problem gambling all result in economic costs for states, communities and individuals:

Job loss, unemployment
Debt, bankruptcy
Embezzlement, fraud, check forgery
Eviction, forced home sales
Crime, arrest, incarceration
Poor physical and mental health, suicide
Excerpted from: Effects of Problem Gambling [Internet]. California Council on Problem Gambling (Anaheim, CA); 2006 [cited May 2006]. Available at: http://www.calproblemgambling.org/gambling_effects.html.

John Wesley, founder of Methodism, considered gambling a means of gain inconsistent with love of neighbor. He clearly expressed his personal position in saying that he never bought a lottery ticket.

Wesley had a great concern for the economic ramifications gambling brought to the people of England. It was widespread then as we see it is today.

The United Methodist Church’s Book of Resolutions condemns gambling as “a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government.”

I am concerned for our community of Pittsburgh. Last week, I served four families in one day with emergency bags of food. They did not request money, they needed food to survive. I am not sure what the relevance here is with gambling, but as I hear stories from Atlantic City and other gambling areas, the need for assistance is at an all time high and continues to rise.

I am thankful that Baldwin Community has a Gambler's Anonymous Program. It is a strong program here. I pray that it can continue to minister to the needs of those who do come and provide education to flee from this addictive behavior.

Please pray with me as we share this major concern together.

Proverbs 28:22 "A greedy person tries to get rich quick, but it only leads to poverty."

A New Nurse on the Scene

A proud husband I am! Jennifer started her new career as a RN at Children's Hospital here in Pittsburgh! On Monday she began something that she dreamed of for a long time.

She will do wonderful with pediatrics. This is the gift God has blessed her with. I am so thankful that she can share it in such a beautiful way.