Wow.
What a weekend.
Family Force 5’s concert began just a moment ago – I must run out and see them LIVE…
But first I wanted to update quickly here on stevansheets.com
This convention has been incredible!
In just a few hours it will be over, we will pack up, and head home (not after first enjoying Universal Studio’s Islands of Adventure tomorrow!)
Please pray for us as we embark on the return-trip THROUGH THE NIGHT!
More convention-thoughts after the journey!
Check out this adorable baby:
We got into Orlando just before 4PM EST yesterday afternoon! The convention doors opened at 6PM and we seem to have not slowed down a bit since then!
Last night Efrem Smith kicked SETAPART off in a real-way with some hard-hitting content with hundreds of students responding to a call to be SETAPART.
This morning Marilyn Lazlo spoke about some of her experiences in Papua New Guinea and again hundreds of students responded to being used by God in ANY capacity!
Our students seem to be enjoying themselves and Ella has just about had enough already! With the constant moving around she is WAY off of her ‘normal’ schedule but she’s a trooper and so is Jess! It’s a new role I’m playing in being a Youth Pastor/Leader AND a Dad/Husband at this convention!
We’ve heard that there’s plenty of snow in Wisconsin waiting for us! We’re sure enjoying the sunny, beautiful weather here in Orlando!
Pictures are at my Flickr account.
The trip yesterday was fantastic.
747-miles on day #1 isn’t bad! We made excellent time, our rental-van CAN get up and go!
We led the entire way after meeting up with our caravaning youth group from Spooner, WI in Beloit, IL for breakfast!
It’s amazing what a 700+ mile road trip can do to a man, let alone his family and a group of teenagers! I am sitting at the edge of our bed at the Holiday Inn Express ready for another full day of driving! We’ll be driving through Atlanta today – hopefully at the “right” time. It’s 4:30AM and we’re getting on the road in 45-minutes!
Day 1 photos are here.
In a mere 8-hours, me, Jessica, Ella, and the four-students that are going with us will jump into our rental van and head South! We will stop for the night in Chattanooga, TN for a few hours of rest before finishing the trip on Friday. The convention is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!
What will take place over the many miles we are about to travel as well as the hours spent in communion with God will be life-changing for numerous students and youth leaders alike! I anticipate a moving of God’s Spirit like we’ve never experienced at a youth convention before!
I will, of course, be blogging regularly from the confines of our hotel room at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. I also have the “job” of putting regular updates on the main convention website in the form of the SETAPART BLOG:
Check back here (and there) for updates from the trip!
My mom is the coolest. Back when we were still at home she used to come home every once in a while with some video she picked off the shelf at the grocery store’s miniature rental area and claim that we would enjoy it. Usually she was right.
When she brought home Radio Flyer she probably had no idea just how right she was for my young 13-14-year-old mind.
Originally released in 1992, Radio Flyer is one of my all-time favorite movies. I bought it a few months ago after re-realizing that I didn’t own it and that it hadn’t been available on DVD all of the previous times I have checked in the past few years!
Tonight to close out our Christmas day, Jess and I sat and watched the movie in its entirety. Jess had never seen it and I hadn’t seen it since I was a teenager.
It blew us both away. Yes I cried. Yes she did too.
As soon as it was over I called my folks to thank Mom for being “that Mom” that brought home b-flicks from the shelf at the grocery store!
The movie revolves around two brothers, one who is being physically abused by their step-dad and both wiser than their years! Together they hatch the “big plan” that allows for the younger brother to escape the abuse while allowing the older brother to stay to protect their mother.
What takes place is nothing short of amazingly fantastic and it involves the rebuilding of the younger brother’s Radio Flyer wagon.
If you haven’t seen this movie and you live close-enough to us, please ask to borrow it. It may very well change your life. (or entertain your heartstrings for a couple of hours)
The best “nugget” from the movie is a list of seven lost “secret fascinations and abilities” that boys lose somewhere in-between 12 and 13-years of age.
They are:
01. animals can talk;
02. your favorite blanket is woven from a fabric so mighty, that once pulled over your head, it becomes an impenetrable force field,
03. nothing is too heavy to lift with the aid of a cape;
04. your hand, held forefinger out and thumb up, actually fires bullets;
05. jumping from any height with an umbrella is completely safe;
06. monsters exist and can be both seen an done battle with;
07. and the greatest, most special and regrettable loss of all: the ability to fly.
Those are worth remembering.
