Happy Birthday, Blog!

Joy at the start, fear in the journey

joy in the coming home

A part of the heart gets lost in the learning

somewhere along the road.

One year ago today I began this blog with words (albeit different words) from Dan Fogelberg's Along the Road, and I return to that song today (see above). Writing this blog has indeed been a journey- sometimes scary, more often wonderful. It's been fun, therapeutic and enlightening for me. The e-mails and comments from friends I had not heard from in years have been so encouraging. I hope it has been meaningful for my readers as well. When I began to put together the video you will see below to mark this "birthday" for my blog, I had many significant songs to choose from. I could have used Let Me Be There, or perhaps Still the One (by Orleans). Other classic slide show tunes from over the years include You're the One That I Want from Grease; Friends by Michael W. Smith; Come As You Are by Peter Wolf; Friend Like Me from Aladdin; Me and Jesus by Stellar Kart; and Good Riddance (The Time of Your Life) from Green Day. But in the end, the choice was obvious. Steven Curtis Chapman's The Great Adventure sums up perfectly the 28 years I spent in youth ministry. It was never dull; it was always an adventure! It's actually 2 songs; I can't play The Great Adventure without first hearing Prologue, the instrumental that precedes it. That's like hearing We Are the Champions without We Will Rock You! It all goes together...

You will see people from many places in these pictures. In the very first picture, that is me (on the far right) as a teenager on a youth trip. Ronnie Osborne (partially wrapped in toilet paper) was at the first youth meeting I ever led at Centre Friends Meeting in September of 1978. Chris Jorgensen (the female in a Statue of Liberty hat) is the only representative of my time in New England. Every other group I ever led is represented multiple times, and most of us look a lot younger than we do now. I can still tell you the names of at least 92.7% (rough estimate!) of the hundreds of students pictured in the show, because these are people who have never ceased feeling like part of my extended family. You will see familiar faces from the pages of this blog, and you will see many brand new people. You will see UBD, DB3 and a BDIT. Blue is here, along with Prudence Irwina, Ice and Taco. You will encounter Doe, Jiffy, Bob, The Buggar, Flash, Teddy and Wheels. Much of it (like those names) may seem strange to you. But much of it will feel familiar as well. I think it will be clear that if we accomplished nothing else, we did indeed "leave long-faced religion in a cloud of dust behind..." At our best, in their own ways, all of these groups were united by "one saving scarlet thread"- we were just a bunch of Jesus Freaks!

So friends, it's time to "Saddle up your horses- we've got a trail to blaze through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing Grace..." It's 28 years of ministry, people and events reduced to just over 7 minutes. I did this for me, but it is awesome to be able to share it with you. I have a couple of suggestions for watching.  The pictures move very quickly (and are very old and small-  YouTube rejected me!), and you will be tempted to pause the video and get a better look. Don't!  Let it play through the first time, then watch it again and stop it as often as you like. It's meant to be seen as one show, because the pictures quite often match the music and lyrics.  And finally, leave comments. Not so much for me (although I greatly appreciate them!), but for your old buddies who may be watching, and for those from other groups you may not even know. We are all part of a long line of believers, watching a great adventure pass before our eyes. Thank you all for being part of my life and this blog. I look forward to what is to come as we "follow our Leader (Jesus) into the glorious unknown. This is life like no other- this is the Great Adventure!"