Bigger Picture: Chinese officials discovered an extra 500 miles of the Great Wall in China (this isn't a joke.) They had originally thought it was 5,000 miles long, but after studying it and finding new parts of it they found out it was 5,500 long. Crazy huh? I can't remember the last time I misplaced 500 miles of wall.
Also, how can we not include the Swine Flu. When pigs stop oinking and start sneezing, we should all be very concerned. As it turns out we weren't even calling it by the right name. H1N1 is apparently how it wishes to be referred to. This would eventually lead to Chad Ochocinco referring to himself as H8N5. The NFL didn't need to fine him though because they had already sent him his monthly fine in the mail.
In My World: My dad and I got to go see the Reds Opening Day game for the first day. The weather was cold an rainy, and the Reds ending up losing, but it was an AWESOME Experience. We went to the Findlay Market for the Parade and got to meet Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez and Frank Robinson. There's nothing like an Opening Day in Cincinnati!
In Student Ministry: In April we took our middle school students up to Anderson, Indiana for an event called Believe which is entirely geared towards middle school students. We also met up with Ben Orcutt who goes to college there and goes to Parkside. We didn't get any sleep, but I don't think anybody wanted to either. Paul B. got to go onstage for a magic trick. Coy F. told everyone that he sweats blue sweat, we didn't believe him and then he started sweating blue (some things even science can't explain). To top all of it off we got to have some really great worship times, and we learned about the book of Jeremiah.
May
Bigger Picture: Everyone in the world stopped to watch and find out who would win American Idol. We all learned that night that Paula Abdul should not go back to being a performer. Adam Lambert lost and Kris Allen won. However the real winner for the night was Idol and Fox who made a TON of money on the social juggernaut that is American Idol. Is it scary that more people in America recognize the name Sonjaya than recognize the name Rahm Emanuel?
Oh and this is good stuff. Manny Ramirez fails a drug test and gets suspended for 50 games. The story behind the story you ask? The drug/hormone that Manny had in his system that caused him to fail the test is the same hormone that a woman has in her body when she is pregnant. It is literally the same hormone that most pregnancy tests look for to tell if a woman is pregnant or not. So you have to ask yourself, was Manny looking for a competitive edge or was he really wanting to have a baby? You just can't make this stuff up!
In My World: May was Graduation Month for my family. Alicia graduated from NKU, and my younger brother Josh graduated from High School. At Alicia's graduation a local author gave the commencement speech. It was hilarious (except he was serious.) Pretty much to some up the hour of time he rambled, he said that the world was falling apart and not only would none of them have jobs, but college doesn't really prepare you for life. It was great! Anyways, he was wrong and now Alicia is working at Anderson Mercy.
Alicia and I also got to go up to Detroit for a day to see the Rangers play the Tigers. We had a really good time and had great seats.
... and of course how could I not include Alicia and I getting a dog! We got a miniature Dotson named Hans. He is a great dog who like all dogs has an unhealthy obsession with squirrels.
In Student Ministry: We had a graduation breakfast just for our HS grads and their families. It ended up being a special time for everyone to celebrate the accomplishment. I loved the opportunity to congratulate them and to challenge them to grow their faith even stronger as they went off to school. Randy Shivers spoke at the breakfast and was very insightful. He was able to share so much because he had known most of the graduates since they were born. How awesome is that?
June
Bigger Picture: I remember getting back into the states at the end of June and seeing all of the news talking about the Riots and Protests in Iran. It was interesting seeing how Social Media like twitter and facebook had changed how we cover global situations like the one in Iran.
Michael Jackson unexpectedly passed away as his upcoming tour was almost here. I actually found out about this on Twitter before I saw it anywhere else. Didn't we all think it was a joke at first? I kept waiting for everyone to say it was fake. So Jackson jokes and Neverland punchlines went on a hiatus, and everyone who wasn't a Jackson fan turned off their TV's for the entire month because really and truly their was nothing else being talked about on TV.
In My World: June was a whirlwind. Alicia and I were part of a group that went down to the Dominican Republic for a 11 day mission trip. It was an awesome experience and I was so glad Alicia was able to come along.
I actually can't remember anything else that happened in June. The trip was a really big time consuming thing for me. It was the first trip I had led that was outside the US. It was a great trip. We took 36 people and it really was incredible. I am almost positive that nothing else in my world happened because it was so busy with the trip.
In Student Ministry: As you can see above the Student Ministry went to the Dominican Republic. Here are a couple of things that I thought were highlights:
- Hearing Justin White share his testimony.
- Having one of the HS Girls find a HUGE tarantula in her bunk on the last day we were there.
- Paul Bledsoe's Waffle Iron Joke (Ask him and he'll tell you it).
- Building the house for the camp there.
- Getting to see our students work extremely hard, and be Jesus' hands and feet even when they were tired.
- Getting to play softball against the Dominican's (Brogan went yard to deep center, and then his dad Greg popped up to the pitcher)
- Everyone getting home safe and sound.
Playing Softball.
Paul Bledsoe reacting to our bus breaking down.
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