johnlaeger.com

Jess

Tonight Sandy & I spent the evening with Jess up at Northwestern College.  It is music audition weekend.  Tomorrow she will stand in front of 5 college music faculty and sing, sight read, and speak.  This is no high school competition.  This is college level auditioning for scholarships and placement in the music program.

I am totally nervous.  I am sure she is even more - but I am so proud of her.  She handles it well and she will shine.  God has given her a voice that is like a breath of fresh air to those who listen.  He made her to sing and sing and sing and sing.

It was tough leaving her tonight.  My daddy instinct wanted to do it for her and rescue her from the stress.  But this is something only she can do.  She will do fine.  No...she will do great.  Yes...great.

This has been a GREAT day (and it's not even over yet!)

What a GREAT day!

It is 4 degrees outside.  Winchill is -9.  And I am sitting here in my garage for the first time since last November!  It's a balmy 40 degrees in here!  Dude...THIS is how you get rid of the crude!  Who needs doctors.  :)  The cure is sittin' in your garage, drinking hot coffee, the smell of power steering fluid and kerosene on your hands, KS95 jammin'.

That's not all...today, I:

• Spent some awesome time studying 1 Tim. 3
• Blogged
• Drove the ladder truck, lights and sirens, to a small structure fire
• Had a Whopper Jr WITH cheese, fries, and a diet coke (I know, it is so not healthy but it tasted so good!)
• Bought a new gas can and funnel
• Cleaned the garage and hung my 2008 Ace Hardware calendar on the wall

So...as you can see, it has been an extremely productive day.  And it's not even over yet.  Sandy will be home in about an hour and I get to spend the evening with her!

Then tomorrow...who knows...I might just do it all over again!

My Wife Left Me Today

I knew it was coming...

• The Jeff Gordon shirt
• The time on the internet checking stats
• The signing up for a fantasy racing league

And then today... the Daytona 500.  Every weekend a race.

I will get her back in November.

This is me. Pt. 3

Okay...enough of this. Time to move on.  Here is the last bit.  Of course there is more.  (Like "John has great fear of dentists, cottage cheese, and egg nog."  But those are some of my deepest, darkest characteristics that are hidden away for no one to know.)

My point in doing this to help you understand a little bit more of what makes me tick, how I communicate, how to communicate to me, etc.  It might also help you understand why I do what I do, react how I react, lead like I lead, etc.

BTW... I scored 100 on the Lion scale, 54 on the Otter scale, 16 on the Golden Retriever scale, and 46 on the Beaver scale.  Again if you missed what that means, check the explanation out here.

If you missed the first two parts, here they are:  Part 1  Part 2

"John may lack the patience to listen and communicate with slower acting people.  His creative and active mind may hinder his ability to communicate to others effectively.  He may present the information in a form that cannot be easily understood by some people.  He may lose interest in what others are saying if they ramble or don't speak to the point.  His active mind is already moving ahead.  He challenges people who volunteer their opinions.  John tends to influence people by being direct, friendly and results-oriented.  He should exhibit more patience and ask questions to make sure that others have understood what he has said.  He tends to be intolerant of people who seem ambiguous or think too slowly.  He may sometimes mask his feelings in friendly terms.  If pressured, John's true feelings may emerge."

This is me. Pt. 2

Here's a bit more from the "General Characteristics".  If you're new to the blog, the context and Part 1 are here.

"John will work long hours until a tough problem is solved.  After it is solved, John may become bored with any routine work that follows.  When faced with a tough decision, he will try to sell you on his ideas.  He likes to make decisions quickly.  He is a good problem solver and troubleshooter, always seeking new ways to solve old problems.  Many people see his decisions as high-risk decisions.  However, after the decision is made, he tends to work hard for a successful outcome.  He prefers authority equal to his responsibility.  Sometimes he may be so opinionated about a particular problem that he has difficulty letting others participate in the process.  He should realize that at times he needs to think a project through, beginning to end, before starting the project."

Again, this is pretty much nailing me.

This is me. Pt. 1

According to "Leading from Your Strengths - General Characteristics".

"John may have difficulty dealing with others who are slower in thought and action. He embraces visions not always seen by others. John's creative mind allows him to see the 'big picture.' He likes to be forceful and direct when dealing with others. His desire for results is readily apparent to the people with whom he works. He is aggressive and confident. Under pressure, John has a tendency to actively seek opportunities which test and develop his abilities to accomplish results. He is driven toward goals competition and wants to be in a position to set policy that will allow him to meet those goals. Many people see him as a self-starter dedicated to achieving results. He is deadline conscious and becomes irritated if deadlines are delayed or missed. John is often considered daring, bold and gutsy. He is a risk taker who likes to be seen as an individualist. He can be aggressive and direct, but still be considerate of people. Other people realize that directness is one of his great strengths."

I'm not sure I agreed with this so I asked Sandy what she thought. But it took her too long to answer so I stopped listening. She just wasn't see what I was seeing. So I tried squeezing it out of her. I gave her an extra 2 minutes (which was WAY past a reasonable deadline) but she missed that too!!!! AHHHHHH!!!! She told me to be patient and to work with her. (Work with her?!! Work with her?!! WHY would I want to include anybody else on this?!! I can do it just fine by myself thank you.)

She finally looked at me and said, "Yup. This is you."

I'll keep that in mind.

Wild night on its way!

Sandy won some great seats for the Minnesota Wild game tonight!  We are so going!  Last time I was at a pro hockey game was for the last Minnesota North Stars game before they left the state.

This is going to be a great night - not just because of the hockey game, but mainly because I get to spend it with the hottest woman on the planet!

Great kids...

The last of about 40 teens just left the house.  Pep band converged on the Laeger house tonight after the football game.  I think we went through about 28 tons of pizza, pop, chips, cookies, salsa, cheesy bread - and one apple.

These are great kids - and I mean great kids!  The more I hang out with teens like this, the more I understand why God used teens A LOT to begin and orchestrate MAJOR change in history.

Speaking of teens...this past Wednesday when I walked out of our prayer night - there had to be 20+ teens in the parking lot getting ready to go cosmic bowling with our student ministry.  We have got the greatest group of teens and the most outstanding leaders!

Man Cave = Heaven

Sitting here in my man cave doing some design work for our fall plans.  With a simple turn of my head, I see...tools, tool bench, case of 10W-40, police & fire scanner, tv, remote for the tv, radio, iPod & speakers (with smokin' rock music blasting - drums, guitars, screamin' voices), my daughter's car with the hood up waiting for an oil change, my boat, my bike, the man fridge full of meat, my dog is laying on the floor next to me, my truck is less than 15' away...

I keep pinching myself to make sure I have not died and gone to heaven.

You know...when God crafted all of the amazing creation - He had to be sitting in His man cave surrounded by all of this.  It truly is the place where creativity and productivity are at its best.

Pigged Out!!

I woke up this morning with a hangover - a Famous Dave's hangover.  Dude, I am so stuffed I won't need to eat for a week!  Good thing I am not catholic or I would have to go to confession!

I had buffalo wings, ribs, chicken, beans, corn bread, corn on the cob, garlic mashed potatoes, and a HUGE hot fudge sunday.

We (Sandy, Jess, and I) had a GREAT time!  Not just because of the great food - (I LOVE Famous Dave's and think God is calling me to start a Famous Dave's blues venue for church!)...but the live music was SMOKIN' awesome!  We went to the blues club in Uptown.

Big Walter Smith was the main event and can he belt out the blues on the harmonica!  The dude on the electric guitar was the coolest dude as he just improvised.  The bass guitar also played the drums - at the same time!  You had to be there to see it and hear it!

Maybe the best part was just hangin' with my beautiful wife and awesome daughter.  It was those two who really made the night.

Vacation ... sorta, kinda

I am taking this week off - vacation.  Saturday and Sunday I will be "back in the saddle".  I won't be at Meadow - I am headed to The Crossing in Elk River.  They meet in a movie theater and I am stoked about watching how they do things and bringing some stuff home.

What am I doing this week?  Sleeping in for one (I didn't get up until 7:30 this morning!).  I also doing some reading, spending more time in scripture (I am in 1 Kings and God totally rocked my motivation for prayer and what I pray for this morning in 1 Kings 3.)  I am doing a lot of biking and later this week I will probably hit the lake with Dave to wet a line.

What else am I doing?  Working.  Yup, I am working on vacation.  I'm not going into the office - but my mind is still thinking, dreaming, processing, planning.  For someone to tell me, "Just forget about the church.  Go on vacation.  Don't be a pastor for a week." is like someone saying, "Just forget about Sandy.  Get away.  Don't be a husband for a week.  Just forget about married life for a few days.  Enjoy some time away.  Relax.  Get refreshed."

Now...I am not saying that my marriage is equal to my ministry.  It is not.  My marriage is the most important relationship in my life next to my relationship with Jesus.  What I am saying is that I love ministry.  I love Meadow Spring.  And I cannot "disengage" from thinking about Meadow just like I cannot "disengage" from thinking about Sandy and our great marriage.

And to be real honest, I question the commitment and passion of any pastor who can totally disengage from the ministry.  I just don't understand how I or any pastor can separate themselves from something they totally love (or say they do anyway).

Thinking and planning and dreaming and talking ministry IS enjoyable to me.  I love it.  It pumps me up!  I read a blog and think... "That is AWESOME!  We have got to do that!"  I read scripture and think ... "That is AWESOME!  I have got to teach that!"  As I ride my bike, a thought comes into my brain and I think, "Dude...I have got to write that down!"

I am taking a break from "people".  Please don't take this the wrong way.  I know that ministry and people are the same - but in terms of my time and what I am doing this week, I am not spending time engaging people.  I do love people - especially people at Meadow.  But it is the "people engagement" that tends to wear me down.  Even Jesus got away from people.  He knew that to be better WITH people, He had to take a break AWAY FROM people, and just be alone or be with a few close friends who recharge Him.

So...what am I thinking about?  Some of this will probably come out in some blogs...

• Production vs People
• Challenges from Adam Hamilton's book "Selling Swimsuits in the Arctic"
• What do I pray for?
• Creative packaging of teaching series this fall through next Spring

Now...I am off to tune-up my bike and tackle a state trail of sand, rocks, mud, logs....oh, and think about Meadow.

Later...

More pics from Washington

Sandy just sent a few more pics from Washington.  They will be home on Wed.  Sure is lonely around the house.  God did not make me to be single.  Good thing - because I wouldn't be very good at it.

One question ... the pic where Jess is at the "Edge of the Continent" ... if that is the edge of the continent and Jess is on the other side of the edge - does that mean she has finally gone "over the edge"?  Ha!  (I know, stupid joke, but being alone tends to mess with your mind and sense of humor.)

Later

Pics - Sandy & Jess

Sandy & Jess are in Washington spending some time with her family on the beach.  She said she went for a run on the beach this morning.  Looks like Jess has found new crabby friends!

Beautiful Day!

Awesome afternoon & evening on the lake.  Fishing is so relaxing and I LOVE the Minnesota outdoors.  Weeds are definitely thicker.  I had 5 on - lost 3 in the weeds including one that snapped my line.  Pulled in a 2 & 3.5 pound bass.  Nice fish.  (And this time my boat didn't get loose and no nice notes from the park police!)

Got home and went for a quick 6 mile bike ride - feels great to sweat!

Tomorrow...Memorial Day Service where the band is playing, BBQ brats back at home, then on to the Enduro race at Raceway.  It is gonna be a SMOKIN' great day!

Saying Goodbye is Awkward

Saying goodbye is awkward.  I wish we could just skip right over it.

This past Sunday, I said goodbye to a great family from Meadow who is moving this week.  I hated to see them move.  Saying goodbye was awkward.  What do you say?  Me?  I say things to try and soften the moment, remove the awkwardness, be sincere, and yet try to get it over with.

"We will keep in touch." - but will we?  Maybe thats just one of those statements that makes it easier for both of us.

On Monday, I said goodbye to my son.  He will be back in August, but as we dropped him off at the airport - I gave him a hug and told him I would be praying for him everyday (which I will).  It was still awkward.  Maybe because I was trying to cover up the reality that my son is taking one more step to being more away from me.  A reality that I know is necessary and part of me wants it to happen but part of me doesn't.

Sunday night Jess said goodbye to Pat.  I don't know for sure, but it just seemed awkward.  Maybe trying to avoid it as if avoiding it would prevent him from leaving.  I mean, he has been away to college - but that was only 40 minutes away.  For the next two months, he will be on the other side of the country.

On Sunday, Jess and a lot of her friends will be saying goodbye.  Goodbye to a school and to a lot of people they have spent a ton of time with.  It will be awkward.  Tough but awkward.  Just the mention of her friends - great friends and great kids - brings feelings of the awkwardness that we know will come on Sunday.  Logan, Devin, Cole, Jessica, Butch, Kyle...are just a few that come to my mind.

The goodbye can't be avoided.  It is a door we have to go through and must go through.  The awkwardness may be reflective of the importance of a relationship.  If someone were not important to us - saying goodbye would be no big deal.  It wouldn't be awkward.  We would say goodbye and have no feelings of "now what"?  But when someone means so much to us...we say things to help us feel better knowing that we will all be taking different paths and with each day moving further apart.  We know it.  Everyone knows it.  It's just awkward.

So...if I am stumbling over my words or saying stupid things or I seem insensitive - it is just the awkwardness.

Fishing - May 18

Windy but AWESOME day on the lake!

Put my boat in like usual.  Tied it to the dock.  Parked my truck & trailer.  Walked back to the dock just in time to see my boat floating across the lake with no one in it!  (The rope hook had somehow come unhooked.)  Dude...what am I going to do?  I just stood there watching it drift across the lake thinking about all those fish I was now never going to catch.

There was one other boat on the lake and he noticed an unmanned boat floating by which means someone either fell out or someone was stupid enough to not tie their boat to the dock.  When he looked back at the dock and saw a man (me) standing there without a boat and on the lake was a boat without a man - it didn't take him long to conclude which scenario was happening here.  He was gracious to tow my boat back to the dock.

Cool...now on to fishing - except I tried to turn on my depth finder and it was BROKE!!  AHHHHH!!!  Now I would be fishing blind - nothing to show me weedlines, structure, depth.  Guess I will just have to fish the old fashioned way - AFTER I clean up my entire can of Diet Pepsi that I just spilled!!

Five hours later when I came off the lake and went to get my truck - there was a nice note from the park police.  (Some would call it a ticket.  I like "note" better.)  I forgot to put my parking permit in the window and now I have to go to court and explain.  I have the new permit - I just didn't have it in my window!!!

You might say... "Dude, you should have just stayed home.  Did you catch anything?"

"Did I catch anything?!!"

Bass

• 3.5 lbs
• 5 lbs
• 2.5 lbs
• 3.5 lbs
• 3 lbs

Northern

• 7 lbs
• 3.5 lbs

What an AWESOME day!  And no, I didn't keep any.  I like catching them.  I like eating them.  I don't like cleaning them. Besides, let's put 'em back in the lake to make more so we keep enjoying it!

Feels Good to Feel Good!

I haven't felt this good in over two weeks!  And today was a GREAT day!

I am absolutely loving my quiet time right now ... reading through the Old Testament and spending some great time talking to Jesus (yes...I talk to Jesus Christ!!).  THEN...we had a car fire and for the rest of the day I could smell the aroma of burning rubber and engine!  Went to lunch with my son, helped him chop up some wood for the fire pit.  Wrapped the day up by putting new line on my poles.

Tomorrow - I am going for a bike ride then hitting the lake to do some good old Minnesota fishing!

It feels good to feel good!

See ya Sunday - it's gonna be totally awesome!

The Prom

Pics say it all.  She has no doubt become a sparkling and beautiful young woman - with a spirit of fun that just makes you laugh!  With the exception of mornings - if your day does not get better when you are around her - you need to check your pulse to see if you are still alive!  I told her tonight that if Logan (her boyfriend) did not ask her to the prom - I would have taken her.  What a great looking couple.  Logan is a real gentleman.  This dude is 6'5", works out at the gym, plays a smokin' saxophone, is an honor roll student, and an eagle scout.  She's in great company.  (I still reminded him that my pic is right next to his pic in Jess' "fav five" so it's like I'm watching him ALL the time!)

Oh...and tomorrow she is singing again in church...."Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne.  I am pumped!

Friday

Today is the best day I have felt in about two weeks.  Found out that a RX prescribed by the dentist actually GAVE me a bacterial infection (another reason why I believe dentists are evil at their very core!!!).  So, I am now taking a new RX to fix the problem created by the other RX.  (Sounds like a conspiracy if you ask me.)

I am still doing a lot of resting.  Haven't made a fire call in over a week and probably will lay low at least through the weekend and see how my energy level is then.  It is extremely difficult to hear my pager go off and know I do not have the energy to respond so I just sit and listen to trucks check in, check on the scene, etc.  AHHHHH!!!!  I know what they are doing and I AM NOT THERE!!!!!

Over the past few days, I have:

• Acquired a new tolerant taste for whipped yogurt (dude...I have to be really sick to consider yogurt!)
• Read The Blogging Church and learned a few new ideas for using my blogs to communicate better.
• Read Made to Stick - a book everyone involved in communication (verbal, journalism, teaching, etc.) needs to read.  It will change the way you communicate to get your message to stick.
• Found a new awesome planning software called MindJet
• Attended a great vocal concert where my daughter sang twice and STOLE THE SHOW!!!

AND...I have gotten more antsy for this coming Sunday when we start the new series iParent!  If you haven't invited someone to come yet - DO IT TODAY!!!  There will be child dedication, rockin' music, music videos, and I will start my message off with something I know you have NEVER SEEN IN CHURCH BEFORE!!  And you will not believe what I had to personally go through to make this happen - including giving my daughter a heart-attack!!

See ya Sunday!

My Kids

Just got out of a programming meeting with Ben on some rough drafts for the parenting series coming up. We are still solidifying some stuff, but this is going to be a great series.  One of the things that is going to help me in communicating is that I am there.  I am a parent.  I have a lot to learn, but this will not be some easy, textbook series.  No "Five Easy Steps to Being a Parent".  Why?  Because those five easy steps don't exist.  There aren't three easy steps or two easy steps.  There are not any "easy' steps.  A lot of what I will be teaching will be coming out of my own parenting world - both mistakes (yes there are a lot of them) and successes.

Something that has helped me tremendously in writing this series is to keep my two kids at the forefront of my mind.  Both of my kids are like the icing on a great cake.  They add so much meaning and color to my life.  And both of them love the arts.  Some kids are big into sports - which is great.  My kids are HUGE into the arts - music, drama, creativity.  And it brings and adds so much to their life and our family.

Pat is just completing his sophomore year at Northwestern College where he is majoring in radio broadcasting.  He has a weekly radio show on WVOE.  You can listen to it via internet at www.wvoe.fm.  He loves to produce, loves to sing, and loves to have a ton of fun.  This summer he will serving on staff with YouthWorks in counseling and assisting teens as they come to various camps across the U.S.  The pics below are from a recent choir concert his college choir did at St. Olaf Church in downtown Minneapolis.  Alex is also in one of the pics and that is his roommate next year at school.

Jess is finishing up her junior year at Shakopee High School.  She loves to sing and sing and sing and sing.  I love to hear her sing.  She always keeps me smiling and laughing.  She also plays the trombone and has been the stage manager/costume manager/props manager for a bunch of plays.  She has dreams of going to Northwestern to major in music (vocal) education.  She will be a great choir teacher.  The pics below are of her doing her thing with the production of Jaberwok (high school spring play).  Ally (yes, I am actually mentioning Ally in my blog because she has been suffering from depression because I have NEVER said anything about her in my blog!) is her best friend and is just as much of a clown as Jess is.  Logan is also another great friend of Jess who plays an amazing saxophone.  What does Jess think of Logan?  Just check out "twitterpated"...nuff said.

Great kids.  Great friends.  I am proud of them both.