Over the past few weeks the weather has been awesome! It has been refreshing watching the tree’s bud, the flowers come up from the ground, and the dandelions sprout up all over the yard. I even had to mow the lawn for the first time yesterday! I am also in the process of getting the pool up and running (which isn’t a quick process because the whole pool needs to be scrubbed out with a brush that is only 14 inches wide!!! The pool is 28 feet in diameter so its a slow process!).
Ruby has been outside coloring on the back patio, walking her baby around the stroller, and playing with the rocks around the house. She loves being outside so she spends a lot of time out of the house when the sun is shining. I have a feeling she’ll love to swim this summer so that will be an easy thing to do with her (Yes, it does get hot in MN during the summer! The snow has been gone for a while now!).
This weekend I am attending a Youth Specialties CORE Training event in Maple Grove. If you want to check it out and see if one is coming to your area click HERE.
I have also added a section on the right panel to sign up to subscribe to any update I make to the webpage. If you want to sign up just add your email address and click on “Subscribe”. Thanks!
Have a great weekend and I’ll update you all later!
Dan
Here is my newsletter that some of you may be getting in the mail soon! I hope this doesn’t ruin the surprise and fun you all have when you get my letters in the mail! 
If you are not signed up to receive my newsletter just email me your mailing address and I’ll add you to the list.
Have a great day and I’ll make sure I update my site more often! Things have been pretty crazy the past week. I hope you’re all having a great day!
Dan
Today at TH we had a meeting to discuss what our next Going Deeper topic was going to be as we approach the end of the school year. Since we are about to complete a series on Grief and Loss we decided to take one night and devote it toward laughter. The ability to laugh and enjoy life is very important in relation to grief. People who can learn to laugh again and enjoy life typically have a better chance of dealing with their grief and loss in a healthy way.
We have decided to watch some clean funny movie clips, commercials, and pranks as the “lesson” that night. I have laughed so hard today while “researching” clips online. I even cried after viewing one of the funniest commercials never seen on TV!
“Dumb and Dumber”, “Tommy Boy”, selected clips from “Jack(butt)”, and Brian Regan are just some of the ridiculously funny clips we have found and are going to use. If you have any ideas or know of anything we could find online for free let me know.
Sorry, no Ken Davis (he’s too old) or Mark Lowry (he’s too old as well ). It doesn’t have to have a Spiritual emphasis or meaning because we’re just gonna put one after another on the screen and let kids laugh and relax. Shorter is better than longer too. Nothing over 3-4 minutes (unless it can be edited and clipped into smaller pieces). Thanks for your help!
Well, I hope you all have a great day! I look forward to hearing back from you all soon! Send your ideas as a comment to the post that way you can see what other people have posted and not repeat the same one 1o times.
Dan
This week at TreeHouse I am giving a talk on “Where is God when I am suffering?” so I have put my talk on the “Pages” section of my site. It is a Word document because it would have taken a lot of space to write it as a post.
We have been going over the topic of grief lately at TreeHouse and it seems like the more we talk about it the higher the number of tragic events becomes. Last week was a rough week with the 13 day old baby dying so please pray that my words will be able to sink in and the teens here will be able to grow despite all the terrible things going on around them.
Thanks! It’s 70 degrees today and sunny so things are looking better than last week’s snow and cold winds! Talk to you all later!
Dan
I don’t know if any of you have heard of the song “Glory Baby” by Watermark but today at work we were able to identify with the words from the song very well. I will post a link for the words to the song at the end.
One of our TreeHouse alumni had a baby 13 days ago. She had brought the little boy here to TreeHouse 2-3 times already to visit, see staff, and show him off. All throughout the pregnancy she was told the baby was a girl based on the ultrasounds but obviously the doctors were wrong! (Obviously God has a sense of humor!) She was so excited to be a mom and begin her new life with her baby. Since I am the only staff at our TreeHouse with a child I had several conversations with her about the joys of being a parent. She was planning on getting married soon and raising her little bundle of life!
Well, this morning we heard from the girls pastor that the little boy had died during the night. From what we know, the baby had been in bed with her and she may have rolled over on him or he might have suffocated. PLEASE pray for her, for her parents, boyfriend, boyfriends parents, church members, pastor, TreeHouse staff, and everyone else involved. Today has really been somber.
When I heard the news I was totally shocked! I can not even imagine what I would do if that happened to me. I still don’t know what to think or what to say. I just saw this little boy last Tuesday and he was so small, cute, and full of life.
I will end this by saying, DO NOT TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED! We are so fragile. I know I will have a different perspective on life, on my family, and on how I view God’s sovereignty. I hope you all will pray and lift up everyone involved. Thanks!
Link to the words from “Glory Baby”
http://www.christianlyricsonline.com/artists/watermark/glory-baby.html
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