On Vacation

Will be back on the 17th... hopefully with pictures.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=302137342405551

Prayers...

Pisio

The Guardian

Did you protest when assigned those years ago,
Pure spirit, my choices surely you’d know,
What a hassle it would be as you would ride,
All those years restless, steadfast by my side.

Who am I to receive you, most loyal of friends,
The ups and downs, never consistent trends,
Your whispers I heard in my quiet ears,
Most times your reason could qualm all my fears.

Sometimes I forgot your sound advice to heed,
Forgetting my Faith, forsaking my creed,
Your back on me you never turned,
Loyal and true even though you were spurned.

I love you my friend, my steadfast guide,
Guardian, protector, please no more hide,
Show me your face so that I may know,
The angel that watches, the one called Pisio...

Blah

I can not wait for July to be over with. It is a hard month anyway because it is that time of year we get to remember my father and his untimely passing two years ago. This month though, this year it has been even rougher than last year. Three people I know have passed away after losing their battles with cancer and a young man I knew from Maui died tragically in a car accident on the 4th of July. There was a murder suicide in St. Louis across the street from my aunts house, co-workers are leaving and overall I have little or know energy... Thank goodness after next week, I have two weeks with nothing to distract me but my wife and son...

Prayers...

Pisio

Back from ISP Never Never Land

Yep... Since July 4th I have been using my neighbors internet connection at night. It turns out that when lightning struck around the corner from me something fried our router, and the ethernet connection from the ISP input to the house to the computer. OUCH! Dang acts of God.

It took me three days to figure out that the connection I was using was not mine, but by neighbors... Apparently he can not figure out how to secure his, and our computers here in the house linked to him by default since ours was down.

Once I figured out that we were on his connection, and not ours, I only felt comfortable using the connection to send e-mails and then angry e-mails to the ISP. You see I immediately replaced the router... then I called and e-mailed my ISP when that did not work. Finally yesterday I got a real person... They scheduled a service call and we found the fried connections. Interesting... the homebuilder did not protect us supply side of the house with a surge protector, and there is nothing we can do about line size surges... Should be a fun year...

I should be back to a couple of posts a week now that we have our own connection back...

Prayers...

Pisio

Weekend

Yes... I am recycling pictures, but I just love these so much I thought I would share them with you again...

This weekend though... it was awesome despite starting off with a bang.... literally. The house behind us and two doors up got struck by lightening. The resulting power surge shorted out the garage fixtures for basically the entire block. The bone headed builders did not put surge protection on the houses... Now, they are paying for holiday pay for electricians and internet people, as well as all the replacement equipment... Good job builders....

Friday I got two meals at the neighbor's house while Jonah worked overtime. I love her, but she just works so much... I also got to meet a few veterans and active duty personnel. One of them is on his way to Afghanistan in a few months. He is a nice young man, with a baby on the way. I know that he volunteered for the service and that he knew what he was doing when he signed up, but I still can not help but feel for him and his wife. They have a little boy on the way... I could tell from talking to him though that he believes in what he has to go do. Not only that he wants to... God Bless them all... I think a lot of people forget that they are the reason we are free to disagree...

That night though, Jonah and I spent some time together. We went down to Memorial Park to watch the fireworks show as a family. Da lil boy was so well behaved. Just running around our little blanketed area and yelling. Climbing on mommy and daddy, and saying "bow wow" to all the dogs... Then the fireworks started... At first Mikey did not know what to think... then he sat their awestruck... well for about two minutes... then he just started to be a little boy again... Jonah though was in awe... It was another first for her...

Saturday we just laid around and worked around the house. We got our yard weeded and went out for a nice Sushi dinner... If you are ever in Colorado Springs and you want Sushi... Search out Ai Sushi at Cinema Point... they are the best we've had since leaving Maui. We then went for a walk came home and watched movies...

Sunday... much of the same... we had our weekly trip to WalMart for groceries... This week though, we will have to start prepping for our house blessing on Saturday... Should be a long week... I'll tell you more when the time is right... Good Night...

Prayers,

Pisio

Class

This week I spent all day everyday inside for Diocesan sponsored classes. For the most part they are good, and I can see that if you are new to youth ministry they could be invaluable to you. The problem is, I have been at it for almost 10 years now, and the foundational stuff does me little or no good.

So you would think...

While the first two days were all about a document called "Renewing the Vision" (a document I review about every six months, and try to implement daily), the third and forth days were nothing but resources and how to use them. I do not care how long you have been doing ministry, if someone is going to give you resources and teach you how to use them to better your ministry, you will be elated... That is exactly how I felt... Elated.

After these days I now have resources to help me easily pass on what I know to my core team, peer ministry and catechists. To someone who in the end wants to be replaceable these resources are amazing. They allow a paper trail of things we have done, things we were planning and evaluations of everything... My guess is that most youth ministers would do almost anything for these resources. If you are a Catholic Youth Minister, or involved in youth ministry at all, google the Center for Ministry Development and see if they offer classes in your area. If they do, register... they are well worth the expense.

I think the other thing is that they serve as a retreat week for me. I get to watch those new to ministry grow and recall my own excitement when I first got involved... Despite the long hours, and overwhelming homework I have left to do, I have come away from this week rejuvenated and ready to take on the world again... Bring it on...

Prayers...

Pisio

Monkey See, Monkey Do

At 2o months old, Mikey is beginning to imitate us at every turn. He is opening up our cell phones and saying hello, babbling in "Mikey Speak" and then saying "Okay, buh bye", ""Di Doo (Thank you), buh bye" or "Lah Yoo, buh bye" and then he "hangs up. It is absolutely amazing and hilarious to watch.

He can now pull himself into mommy's computer chair. He will sit there for hours on end, like mommy, just rolling the mouse around and clicking on things. He will then turn around and yell something at mommy and daddy. Absolutely amazing and hilarious to watch.

He is saying "itchy" and "bobble" and today, I think I even heard "medicine". Sure it came out more like "mesacin", but considering it was right after giving him Benadryl for his "itchy" I think that he knew what he was saying. How fast he is growing up... I am beginning to think that I need to slow down and just appreciate this time of first with our son. Yet, as he gets older, we just seem to get busier. I need Mike to come back so that I can slow down again...

Happy belated Father's Day... especially to Rod. You have been a mentor and guide not only to me, but to many young men. We are all blessed to have you as an example and mentor.

Prayers,

Pisio