Fridays. Everybody loves them but they aren’t usually very productive. On most Fridays I spend the bulk of the day tying up loose ends and making sure that everything is ready for Sunday. As a basic rule I usually don’t start anything new. I don’t like plowing new soil at the end of the week. Today, I did some plowing.
After over-sleeping by about 10 minutes, I was a little frazzled when I came into work. I checked my email and read the news while I ate my breakfast (I’ve been on a yogurt kick). After that I was all buisness until lunch.
I had planned on confirming the location of the fall retreat and settling on all the costs. I finished that before 9:30. so I moved on to writting the informational letter to mail out to my students. That only took me to 9:45am. Before I left for lunch I had finished the retreat schedule, written two sessions, completed the power-points for those two sessions, contacted the t-shirt guy, and completed the medical release/permission slip. Whew!
Then I had lunch with my wife. Googly eyes over fajita chicken tacos. Very productive!!!!
After lunch I returned to the office and discussed the t-shirt art work more fully. I can’t wait to see his proposal.
Then I made huge strides in my curriclum development. I even got a chance to talk with one of my deacons about my plans.
After that it was off to the bank to deposit my check. There was nobody in line at 5pm on Friday afternoon. I felt like I had won the lottery!!!!
At 5:30pm I went to see one of my students play JV Volleyball. They won.
Then it was off to the Varsity football game to watch a couple of our girls preform in the color gaurd. They did great.
Now I’m blogging this. It is time for bed but Foster’s is about to come on! What to do? What to do?
1) Fall Is On the Way
I went for an evening workout on Tuesday and was greeted by a nice, cool night. You could almost smell Fall in the air. The same could be said for the morning drives to work. I have also noticed that I haven’t been getting sunstroke as I drive around with my sunroof open and my windows down. It is actually comfortable. This summer’s heat was, in a word, oppressive. The cooler temperatures have been a welcomed change.
2) In Cold Blood
Every year I try and squeeze a classic into my reading schedule. This year I chose Capote’s In Cold Blood. I don’t know which is more fascinating: The story of a family that was brutally killed by two sociopaths and how the were brought to justice or the story of an effeminate homosexual with a weird voice from Ny by way of Alabama that travels to Kansas to document the murders and becomes the toast of the town yet allows himself to get too close to the story and never writes another book after this one?
3) Continuum
John Mayer’s newest makes the leap from frat/sorority pop-lite fluff to great, mellow rythm and blues. Well done.
4) Water Cups
What is the deal with fast food chains offering 44oz. sodas for 89 cents and yet they can only afford to give away 6oz. water cups? They ought to just have a dixie cup dispenser on the counter right next to the register. At Quizzno’s a large drink (32oz) is $1.59. A bottle of Aquafina water (20oz) is $1.69. for those of us who like to drink big, we might as well get a large drink and fill it with water. It’s messed up.
5) Dunder-Mifflin and Lego Star Wars 2 Christmas came early this year. My wife picked me up The Office Duder-Mifflin Severance Package from Best Buy. It came with both seasons of the funniest show on TV, DM post-its, a DM note pad, and a magnet replica of Dwight K. Schrute’s buissnes card.
I returned the favor by picking up her a copy of Lego Star Wars 2. That’s right. We play video games together. We spent many hours together bonding during the first one. I used to think that canoeing with your significant other was the best way for you to learn a lot about your relationship with your spouse. I was way off. Video-gaming with your spouse will open your eyes to unseen issues that were never present before. You think you love each other until you try to jump over a pit of molten lava and fail. Character is built during these moments. We love it!!! We have a date with episode IV tonight.
That’s all I’ve got right now. Have a gret Thursday!!!
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Love and Peace or Else
Lay down
Lay down
Lay your sweet lovely on the ground
Lay your love on the track
We’re gonna break the monster’s back
Lay down your treasure
Lay it down now brother
You don’t have time
For a jealous lover
As you enter this life
I pray you depart
With a wrinkled face
And a brand new heart
I don’t know if I can take it
I’m not easy on my knees
Here’s my heart, I’ll let you break it
We need some release, release, release
We need love and peace
Love and peace
Lay down
Lay down your guns
All you daughters of Zion
All you Abraham sons
I don’t know if I can make it
I’m not easy on my knees
Here’s my heart, I’ll let you break it
I need some release, release, release
We need love and peace
Love and peace
Baby don’t fight
We can talk this thing through
Between me and you
I’ll call or you’ll phone
The TV is still on
But the sound is turned down
And the troops on the ground
Are about to dig in
And I wonder where is the love
Where is the love
Where is the love
Love and peace
Where is the love
Where is the love
Where is the love
I got a shout out from the Relevant Podcast last week.
The editorial question of the week asked, “What show from your childhood would you like to see make a comeback?”
They read my response:
“I want to dance my cares away to ‘Fraggle Rock’!!!”
Too cool.
If you don’t subscribe to the Relevant Podcast, I would highly recommend that you do so. Immediately. It is a lot more than just questions about cartoon shows. It is a great podcast about God, Life, and Culture.
To hear my response and the other shows people would like to see comeback, download the Sept. 1 episode. (It happens about 45:45)
I could have taken a sleeping pill at 8 o’clock and been able to get a good 9 hours under my belt but guess what?
I’m 26 and don’t want to go to bed at 8 o’clock.
So what happens instead. I head to bed at a reasonable hour (10) and lay there. Then I read. The I lay there again. Then it’s up to the den and a round of Ghost Recon. Then try and lay still on the couch.
And now it’s 3:45am and I am still awake.
I could take a pill but I want to be able to operate a moving vehicle in the next few hours. Because I’m 26 and I have a job.
The temp has cooled a little this week so I’m sorry that I am leaving town and won’t get to enjoy it for much longer.
I leave this morning with 7 teenagers for our mission trip to Brookline Station, MO. I will be out of pocket until then but I wanted to wish everyone a great week. Please, we covet your prayers during our trip. This will be the first mission trip that many of these kids will have been on. I am excited to see what God has in store for us.
I have a few posts lined up and in the que for the week. I also updated the On My Desk section with the books that I am currently digging into and I updated the On My iPod section so you can check out what I’ll be listening to on the trip. American V is tragically beautiful where as Corinne Bailey Rae is just plain beautiful. Great stuff!
Anyways, I hope everyone has a great week. Peace and love.
Uplift Thanks
Our trip to Uplift ended up being very, very positive. Since 1993, I have probably only missed 2 or 3 summers at Uplift. From camper to intern to counselor to dorm guy to now leading my own group I have found that this camp is perfect for groups large and small. Having only been at my church for a month this marked our first big trip together as the youth group. I chose Uplift because I knew that everything would be taken care of before we arrived and that would allow me more time with my students. Andrew Baker, Brandon Tiddle, and the rest of the gang that puts Uplift together did an excellent job of creating and leading a memorable experience for my students. Thank you Uplift.
Uplift Class
When I first started attending Uplift as a camper the classes taught by the youth ministers where always the most random assortment of classes ever produced: No theme and sometimes very little thought (depending on the YM). When Andrew became the director though, the theme of the camp began to bleed over into the classes. This year they took it a step further and had a handful of youth ministers write the curriculum for every class. Basically, the classes would have continuity with the theme and all three sessions of camp. The theme this year was ER: Eternal Relationships and I was asked to teach the class titled Neurology. I was pretty excited when I received the curriculum because it called for me to perform brain surgery!!! Ok, not really but it had a drama skit where I would place the mind of Christ in a student and talk about how the mind of Christ differs from our way of thinking. I was told that everything I would need would be provided for me: Scrubs, set pieces, brains, instruments. However, when I arrived in my classroom only half of what was supposed to be there was actually there and half of that was messed up or unusable. My class at Uplift looked like it would quickly turn to disaster.
Praise be to God that He didn’t let that happen. In under an hour, I was able to scrap the old class and create a brand new one. While I was trying to figure out what to do, God gave me the answer to my predicament. Instead of teaching a class that was over the top and full of grey matter I decided to just be honest about my life and hang out with these kids and share a message of forgiveness and transformation. I spent the whole week telling students about how it seemed that I had everything together in High School. I was a leader, well liked, and on my way to college as a youth minister. However, I was a complete jerk to those around me because of my anger and selfishness. My relationships were breaking apart because of this sin.
Anger isn’t a very sexy sin. You don’t hear about it from the pulpit so you would think that it isn’t really that big of deal. But it is. God used my class this week to touch a couple of students and families. I felt humbled and inadequate every time a sponsor or student came to me afterward to thank me. Their stories of how anger was affecting them or a loved one drove home that fact that we need to talk a little more about these “second tier” sins. Youth ministers, before you write another class about sex, gossip, or alcohol think about addressing stress or anger or disrespect.
Will I Ever Eat a Fast Food Hamburger Again?
After reading the slaughterhouse chapter of Fast Food Nation I’m not so sure anymore. Darn you social conscience! This question didn’t arise because of the cattle, it has come because of the conditions in which human beings have to work in and around in these modern day death traps. I thought The Jungle took care of all that but I guess not. It is appalling the dangers and conditions in these slaughterhouses. I feel a personal boycott coming on.
Nike+iPod
This fat sack of crap is completely mesmerized by this new product. What is Nike+iPod? It’s a wireless sensor that you place in your shoe that communicates to your iPod nano in order to track your workout which you synch to your computer and share with a community of other users. It also will coach and motivate you as you run! Genius! Synergy! Genisergy!
During CNBC’s “On The Money” this evening, sports reporter Darren Rovell provided the first look at the new Nike+iPod Sports Kit, saying he was “very impressed with it” and that it “could change the running world.” Following a first-hand test of the kit, Rovell proclaimed that it could “kill treadmills and membership at gyms” and “really change the way people run and how people think about running.” According to Rovell, the iPod nano was chosen for Nike+iPod support because the majority of nano owners use it to work out, with Apple’s Greg Joswiak noting that the nano is the most popular iPod model. A Nike exec added that the kit will work with 4 million shoes by the end of the year. Also during the CNBC segment, it was revealed that Apple and Nike plan to spend “no money” on advertising the kit and will “rely solely on buzz.” Besides launches at Nike and Apple Stores tomorrow, the only additional marketing planned for the device is its use by Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong in his preparation for the upcoming New York City Marathon.
iTunes has already added coaching/music mixes on their site to use with this new system. I am intrigued.
Nike+iPod Update
Mussolini Must Need a Sweater
I cried during an Adam Sandler movie. Click has been my favorite movie this summer. As great as mutants, pirates, cars, and men in blue tights are they are no match for the reminder that family, relationships, and the small stuff are the true essence of living.
Whew, I think I’m caught up on my posting now. Have a great day everyone!
Christmas came early this year. My wife picked me up The Office Duder-Mifflin Severance Package from Best Buy. It came with both seasons of the funniest show on TV, DM post-its, a DM note pad, and a magnet replica of Dwight K. Schrute’s buissnes card. 
I returned the favor by picking up her a copy of Lego Star Wars 2. That’s right. We play video games together. We spent many hours together bonding during the first one. I used to think that canoeing with your significant other was the best way for you to learn a lot about your relationship with your spouse. I was way off. Video-gaming with your spouse will open your eyes to unseen issues that were never present before. You think you love each other until you try to jump over a pit of molten lava and fail. Character is built during these moments. We love it!!! We have a date with episode IV tonight. 