Michigan Cross Country Skiing

After nine consecutive weeks of heavy snow and cold temperatures, on Saturday, February 7th, southeast Michigan enjoyed a sunny day with a high of 49 degrees, almost a record. This was the setting for a fun event of cross country skiing at Willow Metropark. Five adventurers skied a three mile groomed trail that took us through the woods, around Acorn Knoll, by an old cemetery, and back to Washago Pond. Everyone took a turn leading. After the first mile we were peeling off coats and hats in the balmy weather. Fortunately there was still plenty of snow even as it melted in the warm sun. We stopped many times to throw snowballs and to study the animal tracks and droppings in the snow - coyotes, deer, racoons, and dogs was the consensus of our amateur naturalists. We concluded the great day by sharing a meal and conversation at a nearby restaurant. We look forward to our spring event!

Texas Tour

I met Aaron, the Round-up Ranch Director from Adventure Unlimited, in Dallas to start our three-day Camp Show tour. We had a great turnout at all of the shows and lots of good questions were asked about life at the ranches. In Austin and Houston the DiscoveryBound chapters made use of this meeting opportunity. In Austin, they held a brainstorming session to plan out what the youth want to do for the rest of the year and in Houston the camp show was held at a climbing gym so everybody could go and get on the rock and play after the show.

From here, Aaron heads back to the Ranches for a few days before starting his West Coast road trip and camp show tour while I will be heading down to South Texas to help get a chapter going there.

More Photos!

Texas A&M GAD

The TAMU CSO held their third annual GAD - Gathering of Active Disciples. The theme this year was "The Desserts of Life" and a number of discussion sessions were held, some with theme related titles, around that topic:
* How to break the ice - cream: Discussing CS with others
* Whirled Peace: Praying for the world
* Sin, baptism where do we fit in?
* Recipe for a Sweet Life: Finding balance in life
* Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n Roll: Removing Temptation
* Being Perfect in a Material World: Evidence of a perfect you.
* Having a Sweet Heart: A look at relationships
* Life is Like a Box of Chocolates: Being grateful for the good already received

We also had Ryder Stevens, a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship give a talk on true Manhood and Womanhood. The title of his talk? Apple Pie: a la Mode

The weekend provided for an incredible opportunity to get ideas out and to gain inspiration on difficult topics. TMC Youth was there to do some filming so, look for an update on TMCYouth.com.

Thanks TAMU CSO!

A/U New Year's Stampede

Christmas Camp 2008

Snowshoeing To Lesson Rocks
Originally uploaded by offyonder

This year, I spent Christmas up at the Adventure Unlimited Ranches in Colorado. It was such a blast and so beautiful. My dad and brother came up from sunny San Diego and adapted to the snowy mountains rather quickly. We were skiing the first day, snowshoeing the next, then more skiing and tubing, sitting by the fire, and the food was amazing.

I've posted some videos, they're fun and a little silly. Check them out:





I'm also working on a video of the New Year's Stampede for 18-25 year olds. This was a great way to bring in the the new year with out dealing with any parties plagued with drinking and smoking and in a beautiful mountain environment. We went skiing, tubing, snowshoeing, played cards and had some great conversations on CS theology and healing.

If you had some DB/CS Youth holiday events, ask me about how you can post them here and share what you did!

Chapter Updates

DBHorse3
Originally uploaded by drjaxon

Well... I've been trying to encourage chapters to contribute their own posts to share what sort of events they have been having. So far, only Doug Jackson in Michigan has contributed to the Regional Photo Pool on Flickr. Doug posted a bunch of images from their horse ride event in October. Thanks Doug!

Other events that have been going on include:

• "Do the Boo" corn maze in Houston, TX
• A Halloween party and Go Cart NASCAR style in St. Louis
• DB goes to the Symphony and helps Habitat for Humanity in Chicago

Check the calendar or click on the link to the left to see what else is coming up!

If you would like to contribute a blog post, just contact me!

Road Trip Finale

After a year on the road, I returned the truck and trailer back to Denver. I logged over 20,000 miles and 9,000 of those were with the trailer in tow. It was an amazing experience to see the Central United States from the road and the 70-odd posts before this describe that experience.

The trip was a success. There were only 2-3 semi-active chapters in the region when I started. Now there are eight active chapters (tear-drop marker) and eleven chapters in the start-up process or with expressed interest (push pin).

In the next year, I'll continue to travel to work to get those start-up chapters up and running and uncover further areas of interest. This blog will continue as a place for chapters to share what they are up to and the fun and growth inspiring events they are putting on.

A huge thanks to everybody I met along the way and have contributed to the building of these chapters, for planning and running events and for spreading the word. To get more information on contacting any of the chapters check out the interactive regional map.

Stay tuned! The Central Region is just getting warmed up!