The Update - Kind of stream of consciousness...

I'm 30 years old.

I have two children and one on the way.

I just celebrated my 8th anniversary.

I am a youth pastor.

I am also a teacher at a Christian school.

I recently also became the high school class Sunday School teacher at my church.

I am busy.

This morning I spent some time freeing a small plastic pig from the belly of a plastic mechanical fish. (You know you're a dad when...)

Today Bethany alphabetized my physical cds for me. They should be much easier to find now. I think I have room on my shelves for about 83 more jewel cases. There are currently 7,290 items in my iTunes library... I listen to about 120 of them.

I have probably never heard about 2,000 of these songs.

Bethany pointed out that I own more physical albums by Starflyer 59 than any other artist. Over the Rhine came in second with U2 and Jars of Clay tied for third most.

I own many books that I have not read yet but still want to buy new ones.

I have never backed up my laptop computer.

Perry Noble and pretty much everything at Newspring Church is big for me right now. God has got His hand on these people. I want to be used like that also.

I'm trying to figure out what to do for Bible class at school as well as Sunday School at church.

I'm going to miss the Olympics being on every night but at the same time, I'm going to enjoy watching something else without feeling like I'm missing history.

I may have been wrong about Kobe Bryant.

I have really been digging this band called Future of Forestry...

I am so ready for football season. My teams: Iowa State, West Central, and the Oakland Raiders don't neccesarily look to win any championships this year but I'm always hopeful for something amazing. Actually, cheering for the Raiders year after year is getting a little depressing due to their lack of positive results and our ownership's decisions.

Anyway, as you can probably tell from the above, I could use your prayers. I will not make it through this school year without God's strength. I can't do it on my own. So, your prayers are appreciated.

That's it I guess...

Still callin' a spade a spade,
Cal

Test post

I'm testing this post by email thing to see if it works.

Back from Winterset

We're back from vacation and we had an awesome time. We filled up the time with trips to the zoo, the Iowa State Fair, Des Moines, time with friends, fishing, and a visit at the new (to me) Winterset Aquatic Center. We also had the privillage to see my brother graduate from Iowa State University. We have many great memories from our time back in my hometown. It actually was hard leaving. I miss being there with family and friends. I had a great time with my bro. during our time hanging out. It was a great week.

This week is a short one for me but full of work to be done. I have a wedding this weekend and Voltage 110 on Sunday night where I am starting a new series based on who we are as a group and using our mission/process/motto as topical material. Sunday is Plug In, the following week is Charge Up, and the final week is Shine Out. I really think we are at a crucial time in the life of our youth ministry here where the students are going to have an opportunity to really take this thing and run with it. Please be in prayer for the students, the leaders, and myself.

Bethany has been having pretty constant headaches and there's not much she can take due to being pregnant...so there's another prayer request.

The boys are good except for the fact that Kbomb had a fever today, possibly connected to some bug bites, according to the doctor. We'll see how he does tonight and tomorrow. He seems to be feeling better.

I'm also looking at trying to record my messages using Audacity. It's pretty simple I guess but it might work for putting it onto our website. Just another way to make us a little more accessable to outsiders.

Well, that's about it. I hope all of you are doing well.

A Delicious Bass...

A couple of pictures from our little fishing excursion yesterday morning.

Saturday

It's boys weekend here at the Callison hacienda. "B" took off for a women's conference in Kentucky and so the boys and I are bachin' it. Yesterday we woke up and went fishing. We caught 9 fish, bluegills and bass. It was a lot of fun. We had to cut out after a little over an hour so we could get the boys to Jacksonville for their haircuts. We got home, ate lunch, and the boys went down for their naps. When they got up I made us all some chocolate milk shakes.

Later that evening I cooked them some goulosh and we watched Monsters, Inc. It was a fun day.

When I was putting sunblock on the boys for the fishing trip, I noticed that Jbird's ear was really red and swollen. It stuck way out from his head and made him look all lopsided. He said it itched and hurt when I touched it. After some phone calls with Bethany I gave him some benadryll and some anti-itch cream. As of this morning it seems to be getting better. It was so much bigger than the other one. I took some pictures:

In other news, I'm very excited for our vacation. It should be a lot of fun.

I've mentioned this before but the ministry of Perry Noble is really awesome for me. I have been listening to the podcasts from his church and I really think you would benefit greatly from listening to his "no holds barred" preaching. It's awesome and God is really using this guy. You can check it out via Itunes or you can watch video on the website at www.newspring.cc or you can check out his blog at www.perrynoble.com. Be blessed!

Section of blatant honesty

I've been dealing with some stuff for a few weeks within myself that's just been kind of a bummer for me. I'm going through one of those "where am I at" times. I suppose lots of people have these times. The good news is that hopefully on the other side of it is some amazing ministry. We have a lot of great things planned for this coming school year with Voltage and I'm really excited to get things going. Please pray for me personally as well as our ministry here. I have seen God working in my life over the last year and in the life of my family getting us into certain things and forming circumstances to put us in the place where we need to be. It's pretty awesome to look back and think about it. The thing that blows my mind is that Jesus knows exactly who I am, what I do, and what I will do...and HE still chose to save me. What a great GOD!