My website is now updated and running with some new additions and upgrades. One negative thing I lost during the transition was all of your email addresses! If you could go to the Subscribe section of the webpage (bottom right side) that would be great! Thanks!

Let me know your thoughts on how things look with the updates and upgrades. Thank you.

Dan

I got this letter the other day and I thought you all might be interested in reading it. It is written by a co-worker’s wife, Sarah Metcalf, so please do not copy and re-use this without permission. You can email me and I can ask her if you can use it. Just let me know. It does not have a title yet because she just wrote it last week.

Okay, I have a question. Are adults supposed to say things like “that kid is a drugged up loser”? Aren’t adults supposed to see past all that to a hurting teen who has turned to drugs to escape from his life. Aren’t adults supposed to try to help the “losers” of this world, not leave them on the street corner to hang themselves by their shoelaces? Aren’t we as Christian adults called to reach out to those kids who seem beyond help? It makes me so mad that we would rather leave them to die and rot in hell than love on them. “Oh, those kids are undesirable!” we say. We tell our children not to go near them, and we walk on the other side of the street when we see them coming. Hmmm, kind of sounds like a parable Jesus told doesn’t it? Sure, these kids have made some really bad choices. And maybe they don’t want to give up those bad choices right now. Does that change how our attitude should be to them? Do we really leave them alone to wallow in their sin without ever showing them the love of Jesus? Any Christian would answer “well of course not!” but we do it all the time. We turn up our noses at the teens who dress in black and dye their hair purple. We shun the teens who sit on the couch all day playing video games and wishing someone would take the time of day for them. We shut our youth group doors to kids who cut themselves and don’t shower every day. They are undesirable to us. No one, not even the youth pastor wants them around. How tragic! I hope we are all happy in our plastic perfect lives. I hope that all of us who never have problems are encouraged when we hear of another tragic suicide. Good!! The world is rid of another trashy human being who apparently was not fit to live among US!!

HYPOCRITES!!! Wake up you white washed tombs!! I’m sick of your pharisaical tyranny over those who need Jesus the most!! I’m sick of watching another kid leave church never to come back because all of you act like you’re too perfect and too holy to interact with them. If not for the love of Jesus lavished on us, would we not be in the same place? How ugly we must look to God. How disappointed in us must the Lord of the universe be to see us deem another precious creation of His unworthy of our interaction! How about we let the Lord decide who will come into His presence. And since we do not know who that will be, it is our job, our RESPONSIBILITY to make sure EVERYONE has that chance, not just a select few that we think “make the grade.” Quit being Pharisees and try being followers of Christ. We can’t imagine the joy we’ll feel when one day that “drugged up loser” stands before Christ and says, “Lord, if not for your people I would have perished eternally, but they loved me like You and they showed me Your grace and here I stand in Your heaven today because of them!”

SARAH METCALF.

Wow, I just looked at the last time I updated you all on what’s going on at TH and I am embarrassed at how long it has been! Sorry about that. I’ll try and keep you all informed and updated more frequently.

So, in the last month a lot has happened. I won’t bore you all with the details and such but I will give you a general idea as to what has gone on.

Thanksgiving was great with my whole family around. We had fun spending time catching up and letting the grandparents bond with the grandkids. I was especially happy that Pop Pop (my grandpa on my Dad’s side) got to see all 3 grandkids because I don’t know when our next trip to PA will take place. When they all left our house it was really quite and empty. It was good though because it gave Ruby and Titus a chance to get back into their sleeping/napping/eating routines. All in all it was a great week with everyone around.

Things at TreeHouse have been really busy this month. Typically we have program nights on Tuesday and Thursday nights with another event every two weeks or so. So far in December we’ve had the regular programs but we have also had an event each week. It’s fun to give the kids an opportunity to get out the house and experience community but it is also hard on my family because I am gone more than usual. Last week the earliest I was home was 9:30pm (except for Monday, that was a “normal” workday). Weeks like that can get kinda stressful at home. Pray that Maggie and I are able to learn how to balance work, family, personal time, and time together so each need is met. Thanks!

It has been great seeing the progress some of the kids here are making. Sometimes its hard to see because we’re in the midsts of it but when I think back and look at where a few kids were and where they are now I am encouraged and grateful to have been a part of that transformation. I don’t feel like I do a lot for some of the boys I meet with but thankfully God works in ways I have no idea about! It is good to know He is faithful despite what I may say or do in these kids lives.

I am in charge of our Winter Blast event which is a huge event for TreeHouse and the kids. We are going to Camp Forest Springs in Wisconsin for a weekend retreat. All the TreeHouse locations will be attending so it’s gonna be a huge event! Thankfully I’m not in charge of all the TH locations, only Chaska, but it’s still a big responsibility. The trip costs $110 per kid so it is hard selling a trip of that cost to kids who struggle with the $5-$20 trips and activities we do throughout the year. So far though it has gone well but I am still trying to figure out how many kids are going to need scholarships and how much they’ll need to pay. I think I’ve got it all figured out for now but please pray that I’m able to be financially responsible with what has been given to Chaska and what each one of you have given me.

Lately I have been challenged with a quote I read in a devotional booklet I read online. The quote was this. ” No day is complete without worship.” It was in reference to the word “Selah”, seen mostly in the book of Psalms. (What Does Selah Mean?) The author was talking about the meaning of the word and how we need to have a “Selah” moment each day. A time where we are quite, reflective, and meditating on God’s Word. Our lives get so busy and crazy that we often skip the opportunities for “Selah” in order to get more work done, to catch up, or busy ourselves with more work. I have been challenged because that’s what I a lot. I don’t know if anyone can relate to this, but I have a problem with always coming up with something else to do when I arrive at the time of the day where I want to spend time with God in His Word and in prayer. I always seem to find something that I need to quickly do before I start. Normally that “quick” little project becomes a huge project and before long I have wasted my time on other things. Again, I don’t know if any of you can relate to that or have experienced something similar before but that is usually the reason I miss my “Selah” moments during the day.

My challenge for you this Christmas season is to remember that “No day is complete without worship.” Whatever it takes for that to be accomplished needs to be done. Ignore those ‘quick” little tasks that seem to come up when it is time to enter our prayer closet or kneel before Him in the Holy of Holies. This is something I am working on and I know it is something others struggle with so please continue to pray for me and each other in this. We are a community, a body, not a lot of different random parts trying to figure it out on our own. Supporting and lifting each other up is very important and impactful.

Well, I have to go pick a kid up to hang out but I’ll keep you all updated more frequently! Promise! Thanks for all your prayers, support, and encouragement. They keep me going each day.  Have a great Christmas (yes, I said Christmas, not Holiday because it’s about Christ) and I’ll talk with you all soon!

Dan

“No Day Is Complete Without Worship” 

OK, so a lot of things are happening at the Schmoyer household. Here is just a short list of what we have going:

1. Waiting for the new baby to be born

2. Maggie works this weekend even though she’s due any day now!

3. I have made it through the last 2 weeks of craziness with work and trips so I am trying to get all caught up on my paperwork

4. I was in charge of the Going Deeper talk on Thursday night (I’ll post the notes and PP for the talk later)

5. I taught youth group at chuurch on Wednesday night

6. We sold our swimming pool last Saturday and we have been working like crazy to get the back yard prepared for grating and rolling out some sod

7. We are in the process of deciding which home project to do first: get a new garage door opener, install hardwood floors in the kitchen, or open the wall separating the kitchen from the living room (so far the kitchen floor and opening the wall are in the lead)

8. Ruby’s birthday is coming up soon and we’re going to have a family party at David and Adrienne’s house

9. Get the AC fixed in our SUV very soon!!! (it has been in the 90′s a lot lately so when ever we drive around in the car we all sweat!!)

10. I am one of the coaches for our church’s soccer clinic

11. I am planning on playing in the St. Michael Day’s and Knight’s Softball Tournament (our church is heading up the whole tournament)

Obviously, all these things will take a few steps back when the new baby comes but we’re hoping to have a bunch of stuff done but the end of this fall. So, if anyone is looking for a place to stay when they’re in MN please give us a call! We’d love to have any of you visit and catch up on life.

I am going to post my notes and PowerPoint from my talk the other night sometime soon. I have also added a new photo slide show on the homepage so enjoy the pictures! I’ll update them every so often so you can keep up on the family and work that way too.

Have a great day and I look forward to hearing from you all soon.

Dan, Maggie, Ruby, and”Mini Schmoyer”