Fort Wayne LOVES Its Sports

Confession: I'm not a big fan of sports. Not a big fan in that I have this superhuman ability to zone out any conversation that begins to dabble in the lingo of teams, players, and cities. There is generally some shift in the atmosphere or in body language or a key word spoken that permeates my hard outer shell of ignorance and alerts me back into the conversation. It's a serious problem I know.

But even if I hate most sports, I do love me some Hockey! I think it's the fast pace, men likely to fight, and the comfort of a cooled stadium that draw me in.  And Fort Wayne just so happens to have its very own minor league hockey team: The Komets.  When Dad was in town helping me move out here to the Fort, we took in a game.  They unfortunately lost, and apparently the crowd only knows to shout "You suck" when it spoke in unison, but in the last two minutes of the game, the players gave the crowd their money's worth in a rink wide fight. Refs were thrown out of the way, gloves were lost, and quite possibly a stick was broken...with all the padding those players wear...don't feel too badly for them!

I think the anticipation of the game was the best.  We were around town all day and it came up a few times in conversation with various people. Each person would excitedly and somewhat enviously tell us that it was going to be great...one even going so far as to finding a map of the coliseum to show us where our seats were located.

In a somewhat ironic twist, one of the Komet's goalies is on a billboard advertising lasik surgery. The slogan reads, "Lasik eye surgery and making saves two days later." But really, since they lost....what does that say??

Downtown Fort Wayne

There will always be a piece of me deep down that wishes I had been born in the heyday of the downtown era...where families dressed up to go shopping in the department stores and a big night on the town involved the unusual and special event of dining in a restaurant and walking beneath the light of lampposts and store signs.  Today there are only brief mentions and glimpses back in time, as some of the decorations before Christmas alluded to...

Welcome to Pure Michigan

After my first foray into the "Great White North" this past weekend, I have decided that everything about Michigan is more intense....from the snowy roads and bitter cold, to the heavy and permeating presence of God met in worship and teaching. I headed up Friday night with the mid high students from St. Joe, just over 20 students loaded up into vans to brave the snow and cold.

Deep in my heart is a very vibrant love for middle schoolers. These students sought hard after God, and hearts were broken open and poured out.  One young man looked at me halfway through Saturday and said, "Are we going to have worship tonight? Cause it's my favorite." When I asked him what made worship his favorite, he replied, "Well, cause I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart last night." How amazing!!!!!

Our two nights of worship and teaching sandwiched a day of skiing and snowboarding. I camped out at some tables in the cafeteria, giving the students a place to come and rest in between the wipeouts...a couple didn't last past the morning's lesson. :o)

A late night drive got me back to the Fort in time to catch a couple of hours sleep before heading to church to lead Sunday morning....how good it is to join the body in worship.

While I am thankful for a safe adventure in the midst of winter....I think my next time into Michigan will wait for summer....