We spent most of yesterday picking up our friends from the airport. it took us about 45 minutes to get there. We waited for at least an hour because there were two people working in customs. Then, it took us more than 2 hours to get home because of the traffic. You never know when the traffic is going to be bad. We’re glad they’re back from their trip, though.

I think I work better under pressure. Of course, I become a raving lunatic, too. I don’t think I have procrastinated much.

I think it’s just that many of the things that I am doing will never be finished until the day they are due, anyway. For example, is a sermon ever really FINISHED? I don’t think so. I think you tweak it until the end. It’s the same with conferences or classes. You’re never really DONE preparing for them. You can’t cross it off the list until the event is over.

That’s where I’m at now. I have a lot of projects that will not be finished until the date has passed. This makes me stressed. It makes me think that I have so much to do that it becomes overwhelming. I guess I have to ignore the perfectionist in me and just roll with it as the events come and go.

Here are some things:
All day seminar tomorrow and Sunday morning…an hour from where I live.
Master’s Level seminary class all next week.
Grade tests and papers for class in Cuba and class in Mexico.

Janell’s dad drives a dump truck. Yesterday, he hit a bird…a big bird. Yep, that’s right, he hit a turkey. The thing went flying through his windshield and into the truck while he was loaded with limerock. Here are some pictures.
The good news is, her dad is okay. The turkey, on the other hand, had some fatal injuries.

Youth Ministry training in Latin America is about to explode. I’m no prophet, but the things that are happening are incredible. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been blogging more and more about things that we’re up to ministry-wise. There’s a reason for that…we’re busy! I believe that God is doing something in Mexico and that youth ministry training is going to blow up in the next year.

Last night, I had a conversation with a pastor in Ojo de Agua, a town about an hour away from here, and he wants us to do a youth ministry workshop at his church on February 24-25. I also have a new student from that area of town, from a different church. The things that are happening at PIB Satélite are amazing. We have a great group of students at the seminary who are excited about youth ministry and training others as well.

It’s not just what we’re doing, either. When we were in Ecuador in October, we learned that there are many good things happening throughout Latin America. God is working in Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Argentina, Guatemala, and many other places.

I’m working on an idea for chapel next week, so I was looking up “Mosaic making software.” I came across AndreaMosaic, a freeware program that allows you to make a mosaic out of your photos. It’s super cool, and here’s the mosaic I made out of some of our most recent photos.

Click the picture to enlarge.

Wow. I got a lot done today. Here are some highlights:

1. Had a great meeting with a guy named Victor who will be teaching a course on counseling youth in his church. I had a great opportunity to share lots of great resources with him.
2. Got a lot of work done on the Master’s class on youth ministry I will be teaching in March. (Put together partial syllabus, looked for some reading materials, etc)
3. Invited two profs for modular classes.
4. Planned most of my summer calendar.
5. Made quiz for tomorrow’s youth ministry class.
6. Asked Huberto to work on themes for youth emphasis week.
7. Got information about the “Generación Lideres” conference.

I feel like I got a lot accomplished. It’s good to not be sick anymore. I’m not even finished yet.

So, when we’re in Mexico, we don’t watch many movies. It’s not that there aren’t any here. It’s just that we don’t have the time to watch them. We usually prefer to stay home and watch TV.

But, on Christmas break, with Blockbuster online, we decided that we would see what movies we could watch. Here’s the list of movies I watched while in the US for Christmas. The last four movies, I watched on my iPod on my trip to Cuba.

Nacho Libre (Funny)
The Lost City (History)
Talladega Nights (Funny)
You, Me, and Dupree (Fair)
The DaVinci Code (Just because)
Monster House (Fair)
Barnyard (Okay)

Cars (Awesome…we own it)
Failure to Launch (Fair)
The Looney Toons movie (Fair)
Top Gun (Classic)