Come on blogger.com!

Just got done typing a post about my recent trip up to Waylan, MI to speak at another Summit event and stay with good friends Andy and Erin Rozendaal, and the blog site temporarily crashed on me.

This is the second or third time this has happened, and I have NO desire to retype all that is lost. Bah. What a lumpy day.

So, in short, I went somewhere this weekend and things happened and I came home. Bah. Today, I hate blogspot. Instead I shall post a poem to fill space:

The Des Moines “International” Airport

You may want to call the police,
Or maybe the CIA,
Or whatever watchdog group may be,
Protecting the US of A.

There’s chance I might be a terrorist,
A chance I might be insane,
At least that’s what I found out last month,
While trying to get on a plane.

When I went through security,
A guard swabbed my laptop case,
Then put the swab into a machine,
A grimace affixed on her face.

I nervously tried to chit-chat,
“How long does it take this thing?”
She said, “Just a few moments and then,
It’ll make a noise that goes ding.”

I made a little joke or two,
She seemed immune to my charm,
Then the machine began to light up,
And out came a piercing alarm.

“That sure doesn’t sound like a ‘ding’”,
“No, it sure doesn’t,” she said,
Then she picked up her walkie-talkie,
And whispered, “I’ve got a code red.”

It’s strange that when this all happened,
I knew that I should stay calm,
But I’ll admit the thought crossed my mind,
“Well, maybe I do have a bomb. . .”

Just maybe Al Qaida changed plans,
To bring about our demise,
And instead of Arab extremists,
They’re targeting white, Irish guys.

Or maybe they got to my wife,
It wouldn’t be hard I guess,
Just catch her on one of my bad days,
When I’d left the bathroom a mess.

This uniformed man stormed over,
Like he was in a bad mood,
“Do you work with explosives?” he asked,
“Just when I eat Mexican food.”

Well, after a thorough pat down,
From a large black guard named Steve,
They told me it’d just been a mistake,
And said I was free to leave.

Yet, as I headed toward my gate,
After gathering my stuff,
That guilty part of me still wondered,
If they didn’t look hard enough.

Yes, that actually happened. It just didn't rhyme at the time like it does now.

Till next time,
Jason

Can't think of a good title . . .

Went up to emcee a couple of youth rally's in Northwest Iowa and Minny Soda this past weekend.

I met up with ministry partner Mark Elgersma, and his wife Cassi in Albert Lea, MN to car pool the rest of the way to Sioux Falls, SD where we were staying with Mark's wonderful parents Barry and Brenda. Had a great time chatting on the two hour drive with Cassi . . . and I guess Mark was okay to be around too.

The two events I was at were fall youth rally's for the area, and a kind of reunion of sorts for the event I spoke at this summer in Arizona. They brought Tom Tufts (former golf pro, and Christian speaker from Florida) to be the main speaker, and he's a pretty fun guy to hang around with. And when I say "pretty fun guy" I mean "he also likes to give Mark a really hard time" which I always enjoy.

I didn't have a terrible amount of responsibilities this weekend, so I got to do a little more hanging out than usual. I watched the entire Iowa/ISU game. I'm not a huge football fan. In fact, I rarely ever watch sports. But since I went to ISU, this is the one game of the year I always try to catch. Not because I necessarily find it interesting, mind you, I just like to know ahead of time how much razzing I'm going to have to take from Iowa fans if ISU loses. Well . . . it's going to be a long year.

I got to eat lunch with good friend Luke Vander Leest, his wife Carla, and their beautiful kids Derek and Caity (Sp?). I played an extensive game of hide and seek with Derek and I got to see Luke teach two year olds how to sing and dance, so that definately made my weekend.

Also got to chat a bit with Jacklyn Punt who was recovering from the same cold I'd had only days before. Troy and Dawn were there, of course. Dawn was great as always, and I got to punch Troy on stage and get away with it, so that was fantastic.

What else? Bored yet? I am and I lived it. It was more fun than it reads, trust me. Got home about two a.m. on Monday morning, then had to jump out of bed at seven a.m. to paint a day with Andrea's uncle Jere Brummel. How good of a painter am I? Well, Jere didn't curse or fire me on the first day, so that must have meant I wasn't completely awful. Although I did mess up quite a bit.

Okay, next time, I'll just post pictures - they'd probably be more interesting than anything I wrote today.

Till next time,
Jason

Long Time No See . . .

Yeah, it's been awhile since I updated. I'm a bad blogger with no other excuse than extreme business, followed by extreme laziness. But here's a list of where I've been as of late:

July - I spoke at Convention in Flagstaff, AZ for about 1,500 high schoolers and adults. Highlights of the trip include getting business manager Mark to do improv, and being flagged for a bomb at the airport (I'll cover that in a bit).

I also emceed and did some improv at Power Connection, the Reformed Church middle schooler event in Maryville, MO. The big highlight of that trip was getting to work with good friend Steve Hydeen from 88 Improv in Omaha, NE.

August - I got to do another Old Time Gospel Show in What Cheer, IA in the What Cheer Opera house. Seriously - this was the most fun I've had all summer. I read poems, and the audience was huge, and they rocked. We laughed, I got to hang out with Chris "Crackers" Bennett again, and I got to hear some great music. What's not to enjoy?

I also spoke for a youth event in Sully, IA. About 100 kids. Mark and Dustin were with me. Highlight? Mark and Dustin were with me.

Coming up, I get to head up to Minny Soda for a little Convention reunion type thing this month, as well as giving the message at 2nd Reformed Pella, and then I head out to Michigan to speak for my good friends in Dorr again.

In October I head to Milwaukee, in November I'm in South Dakota and Des Moines, and then in January I'm pretty pumped to head on up past the border to Canada! That's right, Canada! For the first time in my 30 long years here on earth, I'll be in another country. I'm pretty excited as I've heard a lot of good things about Canada - hockey, Tim Horton's coffee, and uh . . . snow.

So, back to the only part of this post that might be halfway interesting - I set the bomb detector off at the Des Moines "International" Airport. It was a pretty thrilling experience. I was on my way to Flagstaff, when I was pulled aside for a random extra security screening. This essentially means they give you a good frisking and give all your stuff an extra search.

After a security guard swabbed my laptop case, she put the little cotton cloth into a machine (the bomb detector), and we made a little chit chat while she said we had to wait for the little 'ding'. I told her I was a youth director going to speak at a teenage convention. Then the alarm sounded.

I said, "That doesn't sound like a 'ding'."

She said, "No, no it doesn't." She then grabbed her walkie talkie and radioed in a "hit on station six". A large guard came over, asked me if I worked with explosives, gave me my second frisking of the day, and then they sent me on my way.

I have to admit, even though I knew that I didn't have a bomb on me - my mind did go there for a second. Well, maybe I do have a bomb. Maybe someone did slip it into my things while I wasn't looking. I then realized the only person I'd been with all morning had been my wife, so you can bet I'm keeping a pretty close eye on her as of late.

You heard it here first - Al Qaida is now targeting tall, lanky, Irish guys through their wives. Be aware.

Till next time,

Jason