500



Marshall & Darek from New Garden

It's been a big week here at I'd Laugh.  We rebooted for a new year and added a new design to the pages of this blog.  We passed the 50,000 hit mark on our little counter- a number I never expected to see.  And yesterday's Underdog post marked the 500th consecutive day I have posted a blog on this site.  There have been two days with a bonus post, so this is actually entry #503- but 500 straight days.  I don't know if you are impressed, but I am.  I began this endeavor thinking that 365 days was a nice goal but highly unlikely.  Now we have passed 500, and I want to take a few minutes to look back- and a few minutes to look ahead.  If you have been with me since the beginning, THANK YOU!  If you are a newer reader, then check out 5 for 5, my Hall of Fame or any of the other pages at the top to get some insight into where we have been, both in my life and on this blog.  And if you'd like to find a topic to read about, use on the label box on the right.


A gang from Springfield

 I have learned so much about myself while writing this blog.  I have remembered so much. Places like The Betsy B, Spanish Wells, Pizza Inn and The Milford Plaza have all come back to life.  Events like Youth Week, The Last Gasp Summer Blowout and Ski Trips seem like they happened only yesterday.  Stories like The Night I Met Batman and Sand, Water, Sand Water, Crab, Crab, Crab made me laugh all over again.  Remembering my own youth group days reminded me of the great influence my youth leaders and my friends had on my life.  Looking back at my first ministry experiences as a counselor at Quaker Lake Camp confirmed that so much of what I did for the next 28 years, I learned there.  Writing about my first real youth ministry position at New Garden Friends Meeting (1979-1983) brought back so many stories.  It also served as a vivid flashback to some of the moments when I knew that God was calling me to student ministry, and to the people who helped me understand that youth ministry could be a life-long calling.  And trust me, in 1979, there were very few people who saw youth ministry as anything other that a stepping stone to "real" ministry.  A number of posts told you of the influence of the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention on my life.  I loved writing all those stories.

Carl's Angels from Kissimmee

I also loved writing about the two ministries that defined my career- Springfield Friends Meeting (1986-1994) and the First United Methodist Church of Kissimmee (1994-2000).  So many great stories, so many incredible people and so much love.  God was so often present in those groups, and it was pure joy to be used in His service.  Re-telling those amazing stories, and getting comments from so many of the folks that made them amazing, was yet another blessing in my life.  In fact, having heard from friends who go as far back as my own high school days, Quaker Lake and every ministry since then has lifted my spirits and kept me going in ways I cannot describe.



Marilyn & Will Jones

 Sharing what God has done and is doing in my life has been important from the beginning, and will be paramount to future of this blog.  I have written on the blessing of my wife and son; I have written of the power of His grace and mercy; and I have written of how I feel called to be part of a Jesus Revolution.  I have confessed that I am sinner.  A few of you know that a major sin cost me my my ministry in 2007, and even fewer of you know what that sin was.  For now, we will keep it that way.  I still have much more story to tell.  I still need to write about the amazing students of Graceland at Wesley Memorial UMC in Tampa.  I still have to write about my final group at Trinity UMC in Waycross, GA.  And I still have much more to write about my wonderful family & friends and the amazing love of God whose name is Jesus -who still rocks my world every day. 

I hope that you have enjoyed the first 500 days.  With God's help, there is much more to come.  I have led a very full life, and looking back I would still have to say- "I'd laugh, but all this happened to me!"   God bless and have a great weekend!

Because of Jesus,