Saturday Shout Outs!

Greetings friends and neighbors, and welcome to some summertime Saturday Shout Outs!  Today we will visit exotic lands like Texas and North Carolina; visit a strange new world called the Twitterverse; and discuss rare and unusual creatures (like my son Will!).  Come along for the ride, won't you?

• One of my favorite people on God's green earth is my old friend Denise May Langley, and her daughter Kate graduates high school today in NC.  Congratulations Kate (and Denise) and all of the other graduates and parents who are celebrating having survived high school!  
• The one year I spent at Trinity UMC in Waycross has very mixed memories for me, but most of the best ones involve a gigantic group of 7th grade students (mostly cheerleaders it seemed!) who were really starting to turn our Crosseyed Student Ministry into something special before I messed it all up.  It occurred to me the other day that they all should have graduated high school this year.  Times does fly...
• Speaking of such things, Will finished his junior year yesterday.  The long hard road towards college begins in earnest.  Pray for us, please.  Also, donations are currently being accepted!  :)
• The momentum that is pushing us towards a FUMC-Kissimmee reunion continues to grow stronger, and a planning meeting has bee officially set for June 23 at the Broadway Pizza Bar in downtown Kissimmee- 12 noon.  All are welcome. The loud rumble you hear from Texas is Teresa Reep Tysinger telling us to get on with the planning!  
• Ashley Goad Broadhurst (Springfield Friends Meeting) continues her work with the missions group Solar Under the Sun.  Check out their new video at http://player.vimeo.com/video/43308198 and then share it with everyone you know!
• I was blessed to get to be part of my first ever Tweet-Up this past week, as I met Dave and Lindsey Pettengill for breakfast at Jimbo's here in Tampa.  Dave is a veteran youth pastor now living in Toledo, Ohio, and we have been connected on Twitter for a couple of years.  Was so cool to actually meet one of my online buddies.  I hope there is much more of that in my future!
• Todd Farlow (Springfield) and his family will be here in Florida in a couple of weeks, and we hope to see them. It's been a long time since we have seen one of our very favorite people!  
• Sometime last night the little counter on this blog passed 150,000 hits. I continue to be amazed at and blessed by the support you all give me. Thank you.
• If you are a youth worker and reading this, I would love to have you do a guest post on this blog in late June.  The series topic will be If I Were Starting Over: One Thing I Would Do Differently In Youth Ministry.  Give me a shout if you are interested.
• I have been doing a lot of posts lately about classic youth group songs. Any requests?
• We continue to have a blast at Taco Tuesdaze every week, although the arrival time for Marilyn, Lisa Jewett and myself seems to to have moved closer to 7:30 than 7.  We continue to be joined on occasion by great friends from our Wesley Memorial UMC days, such as Linda Wehr, Hal & Joanne Gastler and Nina Mock. If you are in the Tampa area, stop by the Tijuana Flats in Westchase on a Tuesday night and join in the fun!
• To those of you who continue to ask for prayers, please know I am praying for you and your specific situations.  If you have prayer requests, please let me know.  I consider it a privilege to lift you up to our awesome God.

That's is it for today!  I hope all of you have a great summer, and if your family vacation plans include central Florida this year, let us know!  We'd love to see you.  Blessings to all!

Because of Jesus,