Buddy the Elf Night 2008

Buddy the Elf Night 2008 from dan bowen on Vimeo.
On Wednesday we had the annual MSM Buddy the Elf Night @ thEvent. It was disgusting/fun. Enjoy.

MSM Stuff & More

I have gotten to do a bunch of fun ministry stuff lately. Life has been, well, busier than it has ever been before. Rather than being overwhelmed with it all, I have felt really blessed by all of the opportunities and places that God has placed me in. First off, I started teaching at High School X on Monday. I have 2 Freshman English classes and 1 Junior class. The kids are pretty good and I already have a few funny stories. The school has more new staff members than returning members so it's fun to be around a lot of new, young teachers. One teacher in particular is a solid Christian dude who I have known for a long time. He is my age and our rooms are right next to each other. God is pretty cool. It has been fun spending time with him as we both pretend to know what we are doing. In other news, ministry stuff (for lack of a better word) has been really encouraging lately (for lack of a non-Christianese word). I went on Houseboats for a couple days, which was fun, and the MSM has been really good. We had an All-Nighter last week where over 50 kids showed up (the most we've ever had at an MSM event). It was a tiring/really fun experience. I put together a pretty involved scavenger hunt for the students that culminated with a rendezvous at my dad's fire station. You can ask me for the details sometime, but needless to say it was great. Mel and Tate joined me at the MSM end of the summer party @ the Burke's place. It was a fun way to end the summer. Tate swam with me for a while. He is at his cutest when he is in the water. He loves to swim! Enjoy the pictures.

Houseboats 2008

The All-Nighter

thEvent @ the Burke's

Those who can't, teach.

In college I attempted to take 1 summer school class. I dropped it. I hated summer school. I have had two interviews for Fall teaching jobs and have been unsuccessful so far. They said something about not wanting to hire someone who showed up in a wife-beater and cleaned their teeth with a buck knife during the interview. To each their own. Anyway, I got a call from Castro Valley High School the other day to interview for a summer school teaching position. The interview went really well. The Principal told me she interview other people as well and that she would be calling me later that day to let me know if I got the position. She then left the room to grab something. When she returned she said that she had made a decision and that she wanted me to have the job. I will be teaching Freshman English. I have complete control over the curriculum and can essentially do whatever I want with the students. It should be a fun experience and I will be done by noon each day, which will be nice. The bummer is that I will miss the mission trip for the first time in 10 years (11 straight trips I have attended). I trust that God has a reason for me staying home and the Rez will be ok without me. I finished school last Tuesday, meaning I now technically have my Master's Degree and Teaching Credential. I am so glad to be done with school. 20 straight years of education will kill a guy, if not make him smarter. Last night we had our summer kickoff for the middle school ministry. We met at the Pleau's and rented a bouncy house. It was funny. We had more students than we have ever had on a Wednesday night during my time as the MSM leader. It has been really encouraging to see the ministry grow, not even so much in size, but in the maturing and realness of the student's faith. This is a great group of students and I am blessed to play a role in their lives. The leadership team is pretty studly as well, which makes my job a lot easier.

Men's Retreat

I am heading off to Silver Spur for the church Men's Retreat today. Should be fun. My dad and Mark are going as well. The Ton and I are driving up with my dad. I will post some pictures and highlights upon my return. For now, here is the second installment of The Manila Initiative promo video. It's a prequel and yes, I spelled Eisenhower incorrectly.

That's What He Said

Today was day 34 of student teaching. I will spare you the details but needless to say I was the brunt of several "that's what she said" jokes. All of which were quite funny. I was observed by a teacher from my credential program and she said that I am doing really well. I had the opportunity to share a little bit about the Lord with her and about all of the experiences that led up to me applying for the credential program (basically God telling me that firefighting was not in my future by breaking my wrist). I am starting to get the hang of teaching now but I will be relieved when this placement is done (though I think I will miss interacting with the students). This weekend Mel and I got tickets to see The Swell Season (the guy and girl from Once) in Oakland in April. We are quite excited. The tickets sold out in 20 minutes and are on Ebay right now for about 10 times what we paid for them. It's our only foreseeable date night in the near future. Life in the Middle School Ministry has been really good lately. I feel like God has given me a renewed sense of passion and purpose for the ministry. The last couple months have been kind of trying. Attendance sort of shrunk on Wednesdays and my schedule was so packed that the MSM fell a bit by the wayside. I sent a letter home to students and parents encouraging them to participate more Wednesday nights and to bring friends (we only have 8-9 kids a few weeks in a row). Last week we had 23 students and it was one of the better nights in recent memory (not just because of the number increase). All that being said, life is good right now. Mel and I feel really blessed and Tate continues to bring us joy on a daily basis. As you can see...we love this kid!

Only because he asked me to.
Really sleeping here. That is, until Mel woke me up with the flash. Tate highly recommends sleeping with your arms extended. He says it increases circulation.
He's a big fan of this seat.
Tate is over having his picture taken.

I will post more pictures of Mel and Tate later this week as well as some more video stuff.

The Manila Iniative

On Wednesday, March 12 the MSM is going to be be going on a quest to find the classified materials that The Manila Initiative mistakenly lost. Here is the first of three videos leading up to the middle school scavenger hunt event.

Tate Missed His Dad This Weekend

Sleeping outdoors is one of my favorite things in life. Each time that I am away from home I look for an opportunity to do so. This weekend was no exception. We had our Winter Leadership Summit (for HSM & MSM leaders) at a 5500 sq. foot "cabin" at Northstar in Tahoe. It was a good little excursion but it was a bummer being away from Tate and Mel. Tate took my absence pretty hard from what I told. He told me he won't even talk to me until he's about 2, which is kind of a bummer. Back to sleeping outdoors...I decided that it would be a great idea to sleep on top of the snow-pack that had formed on the cabin's back deck. I enlisted several other sleeping comrades and we laid down a tarp and made our beds. It was all bad from there. I have a 0 degree sleeping bag and thought that I would be warm. I burrowed in to the powder and created a little den for myself. Much like meat laid on ice in a butcher shop, my back side and particularly, my buns, were rather cold. Ice cold. Turns out that tarps are not the best source of insulation. I ended up getting Chad's sleeping mat after he went back inside (upon being woken up by the chorus of coyote howls at 3:30am) and that kept me pretty warm. I even got comfortable for a bit. However, it began to snow at 6am. At that point, Tony, Rob, and I sought refuge by the fire in the quaint little cabin. It was a fun little adventure. I missed Mel and Tate a ton. Mel's weekend was spent playing Mario Kart, changing diapers and consumed large amounts of Orange Crush. I got home just before she drank herself in to oblivion.

En route to the incredible, magnificent, North Star Village - "the village that never sleeps."
Her guilty pleasure.
Just go to Domino's and ask for the Tate-size. That's was the Meng's did when we ate at their place last night.

Baby Boy Beards

The last day that I shaved was September 1st. This seemingly useless piece of information will be especially noteworthy in 8 or 9 weeks when *********** is born because that will be the next time that I shave. As Melissa's belly continues to grow, so too will my facial hair. Joining me in this noble quest is the Ton-Face, Charles, and Deej. There may be more of us, but as of now, these are the only Triple B's I know of. I am sure my son will look back on these bearded pictures with fondness and will likely weep with joy when my inch-long whiskers brush his dapper little face. I can see it now. In other baby-related news, Mel is doing quite well. She is having a bit of back pain and some leg cramps but her consistent drinking seems to be helping matters. Water, folks! Come on. She is ready to give birth, though the baby seems to have other plans. The name guesses continue to pour in, and sadly, no one has hit the mark. Some of the name suggestions have been close, some have been, well...sad. Cody is a dog's name...Stop suggesting it! Life in the MSM has been pretty good as well. As the 8th graders have moved on, a new batch of squirrelly little 6th graders have taken their place. Thing have been going pretty well aside from the vandals who "decorated" my office. Mel and I got to meet my parents puppy the other day and since they are going on a cruise next week, I have to go by and check on the dog periodically. I also have to take my parents to the airport at 5am tomorrow which will be splendid. Mel and I are going to San Luis this weekend to get out of town before the baby arrives. Should be fun!

A Nightmare While Awake

For months now, the students in the Middle School Ministry have been clamoring for an all-nighter. Realizing this would be near suicide for myself and my fellow leaders, I had always declined the option, seeking instead to have other events (see: Rocky Point Camping Trip). However, the students were incessant with their pleas and on Friday their wish, and my nightmare, came true. Truth be told, the night was actually a lot of fun. We had a lot of leader support in addition to some adult/college types who came to see what the MSM is all about. I was anticipating about 20-25 students. 39 showed up! By far the most we have had at an MSM event. It was super encouraging/overwhelming. We went to Boomer's (mini-golf/go-carts) and did a digital camera scavenger hunt. Dan Gillette, Charlie, Pati, and Greg did an upbeat set of worship songs at 2am. It was really great to see all of the kids sining and having fun. The students drank soda and Rockstars like water. Not a single student or leader slept a wink. We walked to Denny's in the morning from the church only to find that the restaurant was full. We then decided to invade Burger King, which went surprisingly well considering we had 50 people. God has really done a lot in the ministry and I am fortunate that he has allowed it to grow so much and has provided such strong leadership. Much love to all that helped with the event. Lets pray we only have to do one of these a year.

Walking to Denny's.

Well, the day has almost arrived. I leave tomorrow morning (7am in San Jose, Gross!) for Arizona. It shall be a unique experience. Jake is driving me to the airport. What a friend. I will be there for a week and to be perfectly honest, I am not entirely sure what I am going to be doing there. I know I need to film stuff but the powers that be have been a bit vague as to what exactly they are looking for. Should be interesting. I will post a video and some pictures upon my return.

On Saturday the Middle School went ice skating in the city. It was fun. Here is a picture.

I also made a video for the VBC basketball league that I will try to put up before I head out of town. Feliz Navidad y prospero ano nuevo.