California gets 5 stars!!!

Morgan and I just returned from 5 days in Cali. It was so hard to leave!!! We went to southern CA to attend a Youth Conference by Doug Fields and Jim Burns, well known authors and youth pastors. Doug Fields you'd know as the youth pastor at Saddleback Church with Rick Warren and author of "Purpose Driven Youth Ministry". Jim Burns you'd most likely hear often on Christian radio stations as a Christian psychologist. They put on this small, intimate conference for youth leaders and train with their own material, then give it all to us so we can go and train our youth workers. It was an awesome two days! Morgan attended the "Nuts and Bolts of Youth Ministry" track, and I attended the "Helping Hurting Kids Track". I liked especially how the numbers were small, so there was more discussion and by the end of the weekend you felt like you knew Doug and Jim. I would highly recommend it! For you east-coasters- it's not too far! We saw Scott Newell there with a group of leaders from his church in PA! That was cool.
Anyhow, we squeezed tons of stuff in a span of a few days, but it was so worth it. Here are some picts:


On Fri. night we went to Hollywood. Walked the "Walk of Fame" on Hollywood Blvd. That was pretty cool! We also saw Jimmy Kimmell being taped live. We were too late to get into the show though.
Here's a pict. through the door...



After that excitement, we continued down the street and got to the Kodak theatre...just in time to see the Stars leaving from the Daytime Emmy's! That was cool...seeing some famous people in Hollwood. It was dark, but here's a pict.



Saturday we went to Disneyland...that was fun times all around, of course! We met all kinds of famous fairytale figures!!! Indiana Jones ride was the greatest thrill. Thunder Mountain was fun too. But oh my- the Mickey Mouse Taffy from the Candy Shop made the whole trip worth it!!!!



On Sunday, we attended church at Saddleback. Incredible- all I have to say. I may post more pictures sometime of it. Here's one now... that's Doug Fields speaking...

Here's the Children's Ministry building...it's decked out with fish tanks, a floor of video games, and more...whatever!

They have about 12 different types of services you can attend. Here's how they direct you to the right place on their campus...


And finally, they're under construction on their youth building...we saw the plans...gonna be any youth pastor's dream!


It's like a Christian Disneyland. It's so awesome! What struck me the most was just how they are doing a phenomenal job at bringing Jesus to the culture. They are not stuck in tradition. They are introducing Jesus to the people of Southern California in a way that they can relate to and understand. After visiting for only one Sunday, I can completely understand why Rick Warren's church has grown to be so huge. If I didn't have Jesus in my life, their demonstration of Christ's love, patience, and kindness would want me to know HIm too!
Great church...great ministerial staff...great hearts.

We had such an awesome trip, and experienced more than what I can share in one post. This is a major overview! The weather was incredible there~ although there are sooo many people. I've been to almost every large city in the US and Canada. LA definitely tops it up there with NYC. SOOOOOOO many people!!! Gah! I don't know if I could live there. You can drive for hours and hours, and not leave city. At the same time, I can understand why people want to live there. It's an incredible place!