Who's Mike?

I was born in Wyoming and lived there most of my early life - but I'm not much of a cowboy.
I've lived in Nebraska since 1994 (with the exception of a brief stint in Colorado) - but I don't really like corn.
I enjoyed the year in Colorado - but there's a pretty high cost to staying in the belly of a whale when God directs you somewhere else.

I've often felt a little homeless, or at least nomadic. I once came home from a week at church camp to find my family had moved without me. I found them though, so they let me stay for a few more years. Eventually, I let them get away for good and stole a cute girl from a house across town. We moved about 500 miles away and went to college together. After college, she followed me to Colorado, too. I was cool with that because I liked her. A lot! Plus we'd been married for 4 years by then so it would've been kind of awkward for her to stay and me to go.

After 11 years of youth ministry and having 4 kids together, I still like her. A lot! We've been married for over 17 years now, so I'm pretty sure we're going to make it. Actually, I was sure we'd make it when she choked down the lemon chicken I made on prom night! Or maybe it was when she loaned me $500 so I could buy our wedding rings... or maybe it was when she learned to drive a manual transmission (because that was the only car we had)... I'm pretty skeptical about a lot of things, and I doubt myself more than anybody I know, but I have no equivocation about my wife. She's just awesome. Her offspring are pretty incredible as well (though I suppose I'm biased).

As a youth minister, I recognize that I don't always see things the way normal people do, but I love spending time with adolescents. I love the church and young people and developing them to lead the church. I love seeing them come face to face with God and discover who they really are - who He's created them to be. I love it when they tip over in chairs at the most serious of moments, then become youth ministers themselves. I love it when they climb under buses to be with a hiding kid, and later realize, they used to be the one hiding. I love it when they realize they don't have to settle for normal and that things don't have to stay the way they are. I love it when they finally realize that they're nomads, too... made for another kingdom...