Woke up this morning to some not-so-great news from South Carolina and my folks.

Apparently, my dad went into his job at the auto auction this morning and was told that he no longer had a job there.

Ouch.

Dad was working full-time at the auto auction to supplement the fact that the church wasn’t big enough to pay him salary.

Dad is now unemployed and still a pastor.

Would you join me as I pray for my Dad and Mom during this trying time in their lives? I know God has something great in store for them, I just wish He’d let us in on what that “great thing” is sooner than later!

Tomorrow Jess and I head to Fairmount for our annual District Youth Conference. We’ll be back late tomorrow evening.

I’m speaking in both morning services on Sunday – speaking on the Body of Christ – 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. I’m excitedly nervous (as usual).

We just finished watching the newest Brad Stine DVD – he’s a great comedian and if you haven’t heard him yet, you’re missing out!

So, after lunch with my wife, I spent another couple agonizing hours in the office while my head felt as though it would explode.

It didn’t.

I am now at home and have atleast a 2-hour nap under my belt and I can breathe through atleast my left nostril. I had forgotten the ease of nostril breathing.

“Flight of the Navigator” is on in the living room and I have been watching that with many memories for the last hour or so. What a movie!

I have uploaded the videos of Dad whooping me at tetherball for your enjoyment. I am now hosting ALL of my video files at a site called “YouTube“.

Here are the videos: #1 and #2

Last night during theBOX (our weekly youth meeting) it hit me – “I’m getting a cold”.

So, I did what any twenty-something does when he/she gets a cold. I drank my half-bottle of Nyquil and went to bed.

Today I am still sick, but atleast I got a good “passed out” version of sleep last night.

I am in the office working on my sermon for this weekend and continuing to read my latest book, “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell. It’s continuing to give me new insight into subject I had never “truly” addressed in my life. I love the way it’s written, too.

Jess is on her way here to the office to take me out for lunch. That will be a good break from office-stuff…

This morning I met Mom and Dad for breakfast at the American Table. We had a leisurely breakfast and then headed back to the apartment. I tried to talk Mom into using Picasa for organizing her photos at home – we’ll see if she goes through with the downloading and installing!

When Jess got home after lunch, we headed to Elkart County to their Visitor’s Bureau to pick up a 3+ hour audio tour that covers 90-miles of Northern Indiana Amish country. It was quite an entertaining endeavor. When we finally found the Visitor’s Bureau, we got the CD, headed out on our tour and enjoyed some pretty interesting facts while we drove.

One stop that was quite interesting was the Bonneyville Mill.

The Bonneyville Mill is an old, but still-working Grist Mill that we stumbled upon and had a hands-on tour of. One of the workers even took the opportunity to show us personally how the milling process works. It was seriously the highlight of the day for us all!

After the mill, we got back onto the “Heritage Trail” tour and headed towards Shipshewana – where we spent much of the afternoon yesterday. We ended our portion of the tour in Shipshe. We drove around the already-finished flea market, ate supper at the 5 & 20 Restaurant, and then Dad somehow found the same place we played tetherball yesterday. Of course I wanted a rematch, so play we did.

Somehow, my father managed to beat me TWICE more at tetherball tonight. Sadly I was a defeated son with little pride left to keep me going. We also managed to knock the ball off the string and then rip the string off the pole while playing tonight – both of which we fixed gladly in order to keep playing. Did I mention that the store where this tetherball was set up was CLOSED!?! We had a blast – even though I will forever be labeled as losing to my father (again and again!)As soon as I can, I will upload a clip of my tetherball episodes versus my father to my Vimeo account.

A long ride home provided some good chances to talk with my parents and to enjoy eachothers company.

It was another great day of adventure for the Sheets families!

The full Shipshewana, Day 2 photoset is uploaded and ready for your viewing pleasure here.