I'll be posting over at blogspot for a while.  Here's my "new" blog address:

http://johnmulholland.blogspot.com/

Feel free to check it out.

 

 

 

 

All I can say is "wow".  What an amazing day.  Rick Lawrence from Group and Duffy Robins from Eastern University started us off with some great thoughts about who God is.  The Deeper Learning tracks were very well done.  In the morning, I attended Duffy Robins' "Speaking to Teenagers: Listening to your audience and getting them to listen to you".   Afterward, our groups went to a sandwich shop called "Mo Joe" for some lunch.  I had a Cuban Panini and spicy fries, which was great.

Our Affinity Group met after lunch.  Affinity Groups are small groups of like-minded or like-needed people.  Samantha and I attend the "Small, but Mighty" group.  Great conversation and discussion. 

The second track I attended yesterday was "Helping hurting kids: When it really hurts"; rich Van Pelt was the main speaker.  This track dealt primarily with suicide and suicide prevention; he talked about he need for adults to be deeply embedded int he lives of kids.  I was forced to confront a lot of things...what I want to do, and what I need to do if indeed I love Jesus, as it relates to our students.

Back to the Affinity Group for more discussion, and then a slice of pizza for dinner.  the place itself was closing down and did not seem too happy about serving us; the pizza was cold, but met the need for food. 

Kay Warren (wife of Rick Warren) spoke last night on Mark 8:34 about what it means to be surrendered, disturbed and ruined by Jesus.  She spoke about our reality: our intense selfishness, our lack of being truly disturbed by the sin around us, and the wonderful ruin that a life given over to Christ will lead us too.  It was compelling; especially when she told us that if we were not disturbed by the hurt in our kids we should find another job. 

Caedmon's Call closed the night out with a concert and post-concert Q & A session.  Andrew Osenga absolutely smoked his guitar on "Hold the Light".  For old stuff, they played "This World".  The Q & A was really cool, it was simply a conversation.  No pretense.  No ego.  Just 5 guys and a girl talking about Jesus.  Favorite line, "we're all chain-smoking, beer-swilling, f-word saying people in need of Jesus."

The night was capped off when I called the hotel to have the shuttle pick us up.  I was first told that the shuttle was "on the way".  When it failed to arrive, I called back and was told that there was no driver for the night...and then the lady hung up on me.   Yes, hung up on me.  I could not belive it.  We took a cab back.  When we arrived at the hotel, I talked to the people at the front desk who could not have cared less.

We ended the night chilling in Hannah and Sam's room, laughing about the day and talking about what we had experienced. 

My favorite part: I am not overwhelmed by information.  It all has been given out in bite-sized chunks.  I'll be back next year.

We (me, Hannah, Samantha and Bryant) left Cedar Rapids yesterday (Thursday) morning about 6:30-ish.  We had a great trip over to Columbus. 

Along the way, I got a call from my doctor with an update on my back.  The long and the short of it is that my lower back has been bothering me for about a month and a half.  I found out yesterday that I have a herniated disc in my L5 Lumbar Vertebrae. 

We got in last night about 5pm.  We checked in to the hotel, and then went to Quaker Steak and Lube for dinner.  The wings were HOT, but great.  We drove back to the hotel down the west side of Columbus on 270, past Tuttle Crossing.  After getting back to the hotel, we went swimming for a while, then came up to our room and played Apples to Apples for an hour or so. 

Sat up late and watched this week's LOST, then went to sleep.

Got up early this morning, Bryant and I went down to the workout room, spent some time lifting, then on the elliptical.  One of the frustrating things about my back is that I can be mobile, but it hurts the most just sitting.  We met the girls for breakfast, and are getting ready to head to the bookstore at OSU, then to the Shoe for a photo or 2.  

Registration starts at noon, and then the conference this evening.  I'll report in later...
Oh, and I just bought tickets to the OSU/Iowa men's basketball game next Tuesday night.

Go Bucks!