Saturday, June 28, 2008

Disney Closes Nightclubs

The Orlando Sentinel has an article today announcing that Disney will close six clubs in Pleasure Island.  As a parent and a pastor in "West Disney" I could not be happier.  I have always wondered why the clubs existed smack in the middle of Downtown Disney and we would often have to choose where to go either to the Lego side, as my kids called it, or the Disney Quest side.  Rumors still float about the future of Disney Quest, but I applaud Disney for cleaning up its act by getting out of the club biz.  My friend Mark often reminds me that our goal is that one day Orlando becomes better known for Jesus than for Mickey Mouse, and thanks to Mickey, we are one step closer to letting all that "other stuff" stay in Las Vegas.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Getting Things Done

My friend Ben suggested this book to me and I may be late to the parade, but this is one of the most helpful and easy to read books on organization that I have read. I like it so much that I went out and bout copies for all the staff, then ended up giving my copy away. I wish that they had built task management software to accompany the book's systems. You can find it here.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Update from Jeff and Heather Blum


Many of you will remember Jeff and Heather Blum, (They were our original singles ministry until they decided to turn it into a young married's class) Here are some pictures and an excerpt from an email.

Hello everyone, Just wanted to pass on a few quick photos of the kids and give an update from Missouri! Austin is almost 6 months now, sleeping for 10 hours at night now (so I'm feeling quite rested these days!) and rolling around lots! Maranatha now officially sleeps in a 'big girl bed' and we are working on the potty training. She has progressed passed the 'terrible twos' stage now and is so much fun to be around (oh, she still has her moments though!). I have been working on painting the house and it is begining to feel more like home. We like the area so far and are excited to get to explore it in the off season. Jeff's job is going well, although he is not near as busy so he is a little bored. It has not been to bad, time wise. He doesn't go in to work till 1pm on most game days, but gets home around midnight. Unfortunately, the schedule doesn't not allow him to have Sundays off, so that has been a bit of a challenge for all of us, we miss that day together! We did make it to one road game with him (St. Louis), I think I'll wait till they are a few years older to try that again! This country girl doesn't drive in big cities so well! We miss our Florida 'family' tremendously, you are were such a blessing to us, thank you! I am able to travel to see family here though, and that has been wonderful! Maranatha loves, loves, loves her grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles, it is so wonderful to see. So, on those days (and there's many) that I miss my friends, that keeps me going and reminds me why we left FL. Jeff has a few days off soon for All-Star break, we will probably stay close to home and enjoy some time as a family. We miss you all and hope everyone is doing well, would love to hear from you! Love, Jeff, Heather, Maranatha, Austin