Off to St. Louis

Neal and I are packed and ready to go. Waiting on our buddy James who decided to drive up from OKC this morning…ouch! We’re running about 30-45 minutes behind schedule, but the good news is that the car is packed and ready to go!

Hopefully we have everything. St. Louis, here we come!

Twas the night before YS…

…and the house is a wreck! We’ve got Stuck’s booth scattered all over the living room, making sure that everything is ready to go. I’m probably way more stressed out about it than I should be, but I want to make sure that we’re as ready as we can be. I’m off to get my 4-5 hours of sleep now before hitting the road at 6AM tomorrow to be in St. Louis in time. At least I’ve got some good friends making the trip with me, and Jill won’t be left home alone with the kids. Now I just have to wake up enough to get us out there tomorrow…after we pack all this junk up!

I’ll take a pic and post it once we get the booth put together tomorrow. Be praying that my nerves calm down, and that this booth actually comes together. Ah, the joys of being a rookie exhibitor!

My Friend The Wizard

I had breakfast this morning with my friend Jake. Jake’s a wizard, at least in the scientific sense. He’s Wizard IV, following in a really cool tradition that traces all the way back to the world’s first science teacher, Michael Faraday. He was Wizard I, and then the title was passed to Hubert Alyea, a student of Marie Currie’s. Don Herbert became Wizard III, and was known on national television as “Mr. Wizard”. Jake worked with Mr. Wizard in television for a number of years before becoming Wizard IV. Now Jake works as the chief scientist for the Discovery Channel, helping with the tv show Mythbusters (among other things). He also goes around the country leading things like the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge. Two years ago at DCYSC he met a young scientist named Garrett Yazzie. Garrett lived in extreme poverty on a reservation in Arizona. Jake saw something special in Garrett, and worked to help this boy out in any way that he could. Through some connections and a lot of prayer, Garrett ended up having his home redone by the Extreme Home Makeover TV show. It aired last Sunday, which was really cool.

Over the past two years, Jake has come to every Stuck in the Middle event. He’s incredibly gifted at communicating with the students, and he loves to blow things up onstage (which always goes over well!). He’s received a standing ovation at every Stuck event. Anyway, as we were driving back from breakfast this morning (in the re-done VW that he’s turned into a fully electric car) I was thinking how cool it’s been to get to know Jake and to be around someone who is doing amazing things in the “secular” world and is passionately committed to Christ. Pretty cool stuff!

Jake will be at Stuck in the Middle this year, and is bringing along a group of students called “WITS”. The WITS are “Wizards In Training”, and they’re three amazingly gifted youth who are all believers. They’re basically the closest thing to a real “Harry Potter”. Jake is developing the WITS idea as a TV show for Discovery Channel, and is preparing for one of the students to take over as Wizard V. The Stuck in the Middle crew in KC this year will get a preview of the WITS, and will get to connect with these young scientists before their show starts on national TV. The WITS kids will also get to talk about their faith and the journey that God has had them on, which is a story I can’t wait to hear.

It’s all really cool, and I’m grateful for the way that God has brought my friend Jake into my life!

NYWC in St. Louis

I’m gearing up for a road trip on Thursday, heading out to the National Youth Workers Convention put on by Youth Specialties. I’ve been to plenty of YS conventions before, but this will be my first time as an exhibitor. I’ve got an odd mix of feelings right now, as I’m really pumped about hanging out and connecting with friends, and I’m excited about sharing Stuck in the Middle with the people who attend. All of it is exciting, but I must confess to being a little overwhelmed by the actual booth display itself. Being a small ministry, we’ve put the display together on a shoestring budget. Now that we’re getting close to leaving for it, I’m just praying that all the bits and pieces come together and work the way that they’re supposed to. I’m also concerned about our ability to get it all set up without having to pay for extra labor through the unions at the convention center…but only time will tell how that works out.

Bottom line, I think we’ve got some amazing things going on with Stuck in the Middle right now, and I’m grateful and excited to be able to share them with other people. I’m also looking forward to seeing some friends who will be at this event, and to spending time with my buddies Neal and James, who are traveling with me to help this weekend. I’ll be posting periodically throughout the weekend, sharing what it’s like to be on the exhibiting end of things. I’d also love to know if any of you reading this are going to be in St. Louis…if so, shoot me an email at Sean@stuckinthemiddle.com or comment on here and come say hi at the event!

Hope to see you there!

Really excited about Stuck!

Tonight we had our first team meeting for the March 2008 Stuck in the Middle event in Kansas City. After three years, I feel like we’re finally getting a grip on this whole “event” thing. Tonight I was giddy as I looked at the room full of people who were committed to making this event happen with excellence. The different skills and expertise represented in the room was amazing, and I have no doubt that this team is gift from God. Talking to this team and hearing their hearts and passions, I found myself renewed and re-energized to push forward with Stuck in the Middle. In addition to the amazing meeting tonight, these past few weeks have also been a huge encouragement. We’ve got some really cool stuff coming out soon (some even this week!), and the things we’re working on for the March event are going to blow away anything we’ve done before. It’s so cool to feel like we’re starting to gain some ground with Stuck in the Middle, and to see where the minsitry is moving forward into a new season. I believe that “The Story” is going to be an amazing event, and I’ve never felt more excited about the future of Stuck in the Middle!

ShoutFEST KS is over…

Yesterday was the ShoutFEST event here in Wichita that Stuck in the Middle has been helping with. I have to admit that it’s still pretty much a blur for me, but it was great event overall. The event was well run, with an incredible volunteer staff. I have to fess up and admit that I hadn’t heard of half the bands there, but I did find a new group to add to my iPod. After Edmund was great live, and their CD is pretty good so far too. I also liked the live sound of Article One, a YellowCard type band, but I was disappointed in their CD. The Afters were great…probably the most talented band of the day. Lyracyst was good as well.

Floating around in the catering area there were bands everywhere, and I really had no idea who was who. I’m not really into the autograph thing (with the exception of my awesome Dave Matthews poster), so I just hung out and watched other people interract with their favorite artists. Pretty cool stuff. The highlight of the day was watching the local youth workers help with an invitation time. Many students came forward to make decisions for Christ. My prayer is that it’s a powerful starting point in a life of journeying with Christ.

Not much else to report for now. We’ve got some fun stuff cooking with Stuck in the Middle right now, and I’m really looking forward to the next couple of months and to our “Story” event in March. For now though, it’s 2AM and I’m going to get some sleep!

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