Youth Explosion seminars and going home lighter

So, I was at Youth Explosion in Cleveland, OH with over 1000 teens and youth leaders, and did a couple of seminars, one for Senior High and one for Junior High, both on Spiritual Disciplines.  I thought this year was the best I have done at Youth Explosion.  I almost thought about not doing it this year because I have not felt good about the seminars over the past years because I am a motivational speaker and not a teacher.  So I really worked hard to have more information to give and I think it went well.

I spent the rest of the day with good friends of mine, getting to go to The Cheesec

ake Factory and the Apple Store with one family, which they graciously paid for, and hanging with the rest of them all evening long.  Seeing all my Youth Pastor friends is always good and refreshing, getting caught up on what God is doing in their lives and just having a good laugh, feeling part of the group again for the weekend is good.  I also got to catch up on where teens are at these days from my past.  Teens that come from the churches I have been Youth Pastor of and ones that have heard me speak at camps and at their churches over the past couple of years.  It is crazy to see how big and old some of the teens are from my youth groups.  Some are now leaders and Youth Pastors, some are now Seniors in High School and are a little taller than when I was around.  

I was invited, or more like enticed to spend Saturday night with a Youth Pastor friend of mine in a hotel, and then I would drive down and preach at Brewster Friends Church on Sunday morning.  As Saturday evening went on I w

as starting to feel kinda weird.  My stomach wasn't feeling all that good, and realized I hadn't ate since 3:00 that afternoon.  I thought I was hungry, so I stopped and picked up my buddy and I some Taco Bell, which seemed to take forever.  Got back to the room and and ate and it didn't help.  I was beginning to have a little more pain.  It grew more and more and I wasn't all that talkative with my buddy, which I felt bad about, but unfortunately, that was how I was feeling.  I tried to go to sleep hoping it would go away as I slept, but it was hard to go to sleep and I was feeling a bit nauseous.  About 4:00 am I woke up and threw up all of my Taco Bell, and decided after much frustration and debating to call the nurses hotline of my insurance company.  

After answering her questions for like what felt like 4 hours, I ended up going to the hospital.  I was planning on going in to get checked out real quick and leave to go to preach, but it didn't happen that way.  It ended up after being there for 7 hours and a cat scan later that I had to have my appendix out.  So I am now laying in a hospital bed in Euclid, Oh near Cleveland, wearing a robe that is all open in the back, how embarrassing.  I asked the doctor if I was a little old to be having my appen

dix out and he said I didn't quite fit into the peak years, but never the less, it had to come out.  He didn't think that it was my appendix because I wasn't in enough pain, and I hadn't taken any pain medication at all, but little did he know my high pain tolerance.  

Needless to say, I didn't make it to preach, which I am very disappointed about, and feel bad that I let my buddy down.  He was at Youth Explosion and needed me to preach so he could stay at Youth Explosion.  My bad.

My mom and dad drove up and saw me just minutes before my surgery, and I was glad to see them.  They took off last night before I was really alert, but I remember telling them bye. 

So here I lie, with my wife trying to sleep on 3 chairs put together at the bottom of my bed with my roommate next to me with his tv blaring all night long, and he hasn't turned it down yet.  It was wonderful hearing infomercials ALL NIGHT LONG.  

That is all I have to say about that.

Scott