Meet my beautiful wife, help mate, and right-hand man (i mean woman) Pamela Salzarulo. She became a follower of our dear Savior at 16 years old, and has passionately pursued Him ever since. She is married to a wonderfully, rugged handsome man (me), and is 13 weeks pregnant with our first (no names picked out yet, so if you have any good ideas email me at info@uturning.com). Pamela loves teenagers; she loves them so much she chose to teach Jr. High and High school math for her carrier (which she did for 2 years at LA Baptist Jr./Sr. High school). At UTURN (and outside of UTURN) she meets the teen’s right where they need it, and her influence for Christ is amazing. She also proudly co-leads the games on Wednesday nights (games that will make you vomit, and they really do). Pam is instrumental in the planning and executing of many events and camps, and helps me keep my schedule and life in order. I could never think about leading with out her. So thank her for me when you see her for putting up with my crazy ideas and life. Love you all.

a funny story sent to me,

It all started in college when i was in a class of 250 other students and i realized that i needed an edge above the other students. Writing is an amazing tool, and if done properly it can change hearts and minds of people (including teachers who have heard it all). i was not the smartest (book wise) in class, i was just average. But with a little creativity i soon became the teachers favorite and thrived. Not because i had A+ kiss up skills, but because i was willing to swim a different direction. My first paper i proceeded to write in the first person (which we were supposed to write where we were going in life), and labeled myself as i (not I). My first paper was a B-, with lots of red markings. The professor said i needed to fix the auto fix on word to fix my i’s to I’s, (i did not even know how to change the auto fix, so i immediately turned off the auto changer so i did not always have to change my I’s to i’s), and she said that the paper would have been perfect if not for all my simple errors. i then turned my paper back into my professor with a disclaimer, apologizing that i did not explain my strong position on the word i. i explained to the professor that when i talk about myself i am not worthy of capitalizing myself from i to I. that I was reserved for I AM. And i would not allow myself to be labeled as I, because i am not even close to who or what God is. From then on i placed a disclaimer on my first paper in all my classes, and all my professors loved it, and i became known as i not I.

To transform a generation of teenagers to become Disciples of Christ takes time, patience, prayer, and a whole bunch of us. i was reading a story in my surfer magazine and God showed me something, so here it is. There was a surfer in Monetary California who was surfing (just doing what he loved) and a great white shark attacked him (estimated to be 13-15 feet huge). The first bite penetrated his back but his surfboard protected his front and vital organs (he was laying face down on his board). The shark not being able to take a decent bite let go then attacked his leg, but the surfer defended himself with his other leg and repeatedly kicked the shark in the eyes and gills. The shark soon let go, the third attack was one of his arms, but at that moment a group of bottle nose dolphins came to the rescue of the surfer. They surrounded the surfer and attacked the shark to protect what was left of the surfer. That allowed the surfer to swim back to shore; all the while the dolphins surrounded him all the way to shore to make sure he was safe. i was told this saying, it takes a village to raise a child. And i believe that, we must rally together to save this generation, even if we think it may be a lost cause, or the teen is to badly injured. The beauty of the story is that the surfer is praising and thanking God for the miracle in his life. Let us be that miracle for our teens.

Love you all.

 _pastor tim

i would encourage you to not only spend time with your teens, but spend time with them doing things they are interested in (what ever it is). This tears down walls of insecurity and builds bridges to you and them. When you do spend time with them try not to complain or criticize what they do, be genuine in your pursuit to understand why they like what they do.

Something my parents did was they got a magazine and read up on the activity i was interested in and got familiar with it, then they would take me somewhere (as a surprise to me) and watch me do my thing.

i know i do not have kids yet, but do not let that stop you from taking counsel from me. i am in the trenches and i here the teens struggles and disappointments. They do love you and want to spend time with you. i love you all. Peace. Out. Late.

_pastor tim