So Ridiculous...

I left for work yesterday morning at about 8am. It was cloudy and a bit drizzly, but it was a warm 49 degrees. Much of the snow was melting at this point, and I was beginning to be able to see some grass.

Fast Forward.

I leave work at about 530 with one of my friends to head to our Tuesday night group, which is about 20 minutes away. When we walk outside its still drizzly and wet, but has dropped to about the 30's somewhere.

Fast Forward.

We walk out of the house we were meeting in, only to instantly freeze our faces, and walk through a couple inches of snow towards out car. We get to the car, look at the temperature: 3 degrees.

Fast Foward.

This morning i wake up, look out the window, and see a bright sunny day. Sure, there's snow on the ground, but i think, the sun's out, must be another nice day. I start my truck, which, by the way, is not used to this crazy weather, I look at the temperature: -3.

Thats right. The temperature dropped over 50 degrees from yesterday morning to this morning. Which makes me think...SO ridiculous.

But the good news: winter is about halfway over (I hear), and I have been doing a lot better with the cold weather than I thought I would. Some would say I was born to be a Chicagoan (and some may not). But what we can all agree on is that by the time spring comes, I have earned my stripes as a Chicagoan, and now hold bragging right and story rights for when someone says, "It's sooooo cold!" when in fact it is only 50 degrees.

True story.

Linda Marceau and Pasta

Dear Riverside Community,
Consider yourself lucky to have a person like Linda Marceau in your community.
-Charles


Linda was in the Chicago area this past weekend for her intensives for seminary and made it out to WIllow on Sunday to go to church, and we were able to sit at Willow's coffee shop and catch up a bit. I told her that I was going to be in the city Sunday night to go to another church with some friends and asked if she would want to meet up afterwards for dinner and to chat. We went to the Pasta Bowl, which, in my opinion, is the best pasta restaurant in Chicago. And, by in my opinion, i mean that the first time I strolled in to eat I decided that I didn't want to give any other places a chance at competition. Anyway, I had a very encouraging conversation with Linda. She is the type of person that, just talking to her, you can see the Holy Spirit in her. After she told me about how she is back at Riverside now, no lie, I got a bit jealous that I wouldn't be able to hang out with her and the rest of my friends on staff there until this summer.

Dang, I love Riverside and all the people there. I hope you all know that I think about you often, and I can't wait to see you all again. Being home for Christmas, and spending time with my family, and going back to my "home church" definitely renewed my heart for ministry and for serving and loving people.

Thanks for everything, and if any of you ever want to come visit me in Chicago, believe me, we much meet at the Pasta Bowl.

Dominican Republic and the Cubs

So today I turned in my application for the Student Impact serving trip to the Dominican Republic. Not that I need to "apply," but they had to have all my medical history and contact information and such. So it's in, and it all goes as planned I will be co-leading a group of I believe 6 or so high school guys, along with my small group leader for the internship, Jeremiah.

I think this will be a great opportunity, and I am really looking forward to it. We will be gone for 8 days, from March 22, through March 30. And, as if the trip wouldn't be cool enough, God planned for the opening day at Wrigley Field to be March 31. So What a way to end the serving trip by being able to go to the Cubs' first home game of the year!

Baseball aside, I am not too sure yet of what my role will be on the trip, other than leading the group of high schoolers, or what exactly we will be doing there. But, be assured that as soon as I find out I will let you all know. Not necessarily on here, but possibly through letters and phone calls and such.

Until then, good days!

Chasing the Lion

The other day I got an email from my friend Bobby Bo, who is currently in Thailand on a mission trip with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). He wanted to encourage me with how great Uncle Wong is. Uncle Wong is the code-name that we gave for God while he is overseas, since he will also be traveling in China, and doesn't want to be kicked out of the country. Well, Bobby emailed me to tell me a bit of the story about Samson.

He wrote:
"he chases a lion and just destroys it. thats how we need to look at any fear that is in us. chasing that fear. facing it head on and not running from it like we normally would. not feeding into the lies that satan wants us to believe. chase after your dreams and whatever god will put on your heart. chase the lion!!"


Rather than running and hiding from the lion, which is something he would normally be afraid of, he chases IT down. Now, I'm not going to lie and pretend that I know much about the story of Samson, but after being encouraged with the phrase, "Chase the Lion!", I honestly can't wait to read more about it.

I can't help but ask myself, "What would it look like if I chased my lion? Or, if you chased your lion? What is my lion? And more importantly, what would I do once I caught it?"


I met Bobby when I flew to Chicago in July for Sandblast, Student Impact's summer camp. We only talked briefly, but once I moved up here in August, we got to hang out some, and I got to know a bit more about who he is. Bobby just became a Christian in 2007, and quickly decided that he wanted to be involved with ministry, so he decided to attend one of YWAM's DTS programs in California. (Discipleship Training School, if I remember correctly). From hearing about his passion to serve God, and to know God, and to trust God, I have been so encourage and motivated. He's a super cool guy, and I just wanted to encourage anyone reading this with the words gave me..."Chase the Lion!!"