crusty

I wonder when I get old, if I will be crusty?

being noble

noble: admirable in dignity of conception, manner of expression, execution, or composition

First, sorry for the cryptic post..we are getting close to Christmas...

What is so hard about nobility. Doing the right thing? huh?

Is this day of chasing dollars around every turn, there seems to be a loss of that inside feeling of doing what is right, sticking to your word, being a person of integrity...

more on Dec 26.....in the meantime....keep it real. Keep it honest. Live by your word.

a measure of my coolness?

I joined facebook...

a fact I am not necessrily proud of, for lots of reasons...

1) I have never gotten it
2) I think it is a replacement for real friendship (cyber friends and face-to-face friends are just different)
3) I think it is one more way "kids today" measure how cool they are with jow many friends they have...

All of that being said...

I HAVE 36 friends! I am the COOLEST!

I have been able to find some folks from high school, from college, and kids that graduated from the youth program many years ago. And have used facebook to reconnect with them!

Facebook rocks!

Here is the problem - I am addicted. I need more friends! Don't you see...it is a measure of my coolness!

The quest....

a story in 3 parts...

Part 1
Since my arrival here at Suncreek 3 months ago, I have been asked to steer the ship. There has been great freedom and support in taking the ship wherever I want it to go. Church folks would call this casting a vision. I have not really done that, because I have been in an assessment and discernment mode. I have been trying to put my pulse on what is needed and what things we need to do great. There are a lot of things that are working here very well, and some that are in need of some tweaking, and even some that need a major overhaul.

Part 2
I am reading 2 books right now - both about very different things, but have led to my conclusion (that is part 3, don't read ahead). The first book is by Laura Penny titled "Your call is Important to US". In it, she looks at the huge piles of "bovine feces" that we are fed everyday. And it is her contention at a few points in the book, that the church is guilty of this as well. The other book is "Practicing Passion" by Kenda Creasy Dean. I am just starting this book, but so far it is a powerful testament and a call to action about the power and passion that is bottled up inside of teenagers. Maybe reading these books together has led me to this conclusion...

Part 3
What Suncreek UMC Youth Group need is a quest. So today, I am proud to announce phase I of my vision - A QUEST FOR AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY. A community that supports each other, prays for each other, laughs and cries with each other. A community that works together, worships together, learns together, studies together, and grows in the faith together. A community that "outsiders" will look at, see the 'real' in the group, want to join, and then be welcomed into the community.

Now HOW is the next big question....that will take some time and prayer. In the meantime, lets all do our part and start living more authentically.

Is it too early to have great plans for '08?

I know it is not even thanksgiving yet, but I am so excited about the beginning of '08. Not even because of the "resolutions" part, but because there are exciting things happening.

I just got done with lunch with Lori - who will be the new youth committee chair, and this is going to be a great year! we talked about roles and all that god has in store for this church and for the youth ministries here. This is an exciting place to be!

Personally, I am excited to do some new stuff in early '08. The December calenders go in the mail next Monday....there is a January 1st program that I am super excited about. keep that evening free!

In the meantime, have a great thanksgiving and start your list of new years resolutions....

Inside Jokes

One of my favorite things....inside jokes.

More than any other reason, is when you try to explain them to people, you just...

had to be there (.com)

Ever visited Lake Eire?

Nothing beats the inside joke in the midle of a backswing in golf....you know what I am talknig about...

No, I am not an owl

BFF

are you an owl?

Hey, I am not an owl!

midnight in the garden of good and evil

never seen it or read it, but if I were the author I would write a book about a lock-in and this would be the title...

I am tired....

thanks for the memories, and the reminder

A friend of mine asked me to come and speak at "Career Day" at the middle school she teaches at....so this morning I was headed down to Garland to give the kids "30 minutes in the life if a youth director"...

Here are the 2 major things I learned today:

1) I think being a teacher is the nobelest profession there is. I love Jr. High kids...in the right setting. I get to have fun with them, teach them for 15 minutes, and then send them home only to see them a week later (with some exceptions of course)...teachers see this kids all day..everyday...I was reminded today why teaching is hard.

2) I would not go back to middle school for a million bucks! (unless I was tall, skinny, & funny) The 6th graders got to get out 3 minutes early of each class, for the sole reason that they needed a head start on the "big kids". 3 minutes to sprint (only there is no running in the halls) to the other side of the building so you don't get run over..what an existance...

For all this negativity, there were however a few redemptive moments - one was when the "cool kid", the huge 8th grade running back, the kid who sits in the back and sulks and is "too cool for all this"...you know the kid...when I told him we were playing a game, he moaned, dragged his feet, and refused to sit on the floor. 2 minutes into the game, he looked at me like I was the THE GUY who ruined his day...6 minutes into the game he was laughing, smiling, and carrying on...makes me smile thinking about it!

Then, when I skipped boxed Jason's deli lunch to go eat Indian buffett with my college roomie...that was awesome too!

I believe

My friend Rob recently posted on his blog a list of things he believed...because I am not original, I will list some of the things I believe in...

I believe in Pei Wei beef extra spicy (it also might be that I am going there as soon as I am done with this post...)

I believe if I joined a gym I would go for a week and never return

I believe my money is better spent at all you can eat sushi buffets

I believe that if people would actually come to UMYF on sunday nights, they would like it

I believe homework is dumb

I believe golf is the most meaningful way to throw away $30 bucks

I believe in Church (with a Capitol C)

I believe in spouses that "get you"

I believe in children's laughter

I believe in late night peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

I believe in teamwork

I believe in the Stars - only when Marty Turco decides to actually play

I believe someday I will get bread to rise (so for I am 0-3)

I believe that co-workers make staff meetings fun

I believe in dressing like an adult at work (a recent change for me...)

I believe in Pei Wei beef extra spicy...

peace.

Nostradamus & the need to feel important

We (as a culture, specifically an American culture) did it again....and this time it was big!

I don't know if you have caught the ads (or even the program) for the History channel's new show - The Lost Book of Nostradamus. (for the record, I have not watched it and will not not watch it for the reasons below)...

I have become more and more aware and less tolerant of our current need to feel important in the `grand scheme of history'. It is my contention that, as our lives get busier and busier, they begin to mean less and less. Therefore we (as a society) have begun to feel that we need to show the world and our grand kids kids that WE were important. In an effort to feel important, we have been quick to declare the important events in our lives, even before they happen.

Case in point, The Lost books of Nostradamus. The contention of the show is that the world is ending soon and it was for told by Nostradamus through numerology and deeply coded messages. I have watched the longer preview for this show, and to be completely honest, it seems that they are making the things that Nostradamus wrote (which is debatable also) fit with current events.

I don't really want to debate the factual case for Nostradamus claims, but more about the need for all of us to be relevant in 4 years, let alone 400 years.

Who is Franklin Pierce?

We have taken this need to be important to the extreme with this doomsday view of the world. Almost to say "We are so important that the world will end on our watch"

The John Hagee's and Tim LeHay's have made a fortune preaching this message.

We also find this need for "see look at how great our generation is" in sports a lot.

When Michael Jordan retired, all the sports folks were up in arms about who would replace his as the "greatest player to play the game....never entertaining the notion that there might not be someone.
"Most major sports leagues have named "The greatest players in X amount of years" in the last few years. All of them stacked with today's players. I seriously doubt that Lebron James would hold a candle in the early league with players who traveled by bus, playing multiple nights in a row, getting pounded night after night under the basket because there was no 3-point line to hang out at and just wait for the ball. Those early guys could pound the ball and run circles around "The King"...the "next Michael Jordan".

This was especially true after 9-11 and all the "We will never forget" memorabilia. While I do not discount the importance of that event and think that was a terrible event that will impact the world for centuries....people also said that about Pearl Harbor...do you know the date of Pearl Harbor? The president of the US said "that date would live in infamy"...and we don't know it.

All of this is to say, stop worrying about standing the test of time, and start doing something that will put you up in that category...

As for me, I am living today as if tomorrow is my last. I think that is how we should live every day. I am busy "sucking the marrow out of life". If the world ends tomorrow, I think I am ready and feel no need to be compared to the Abe Lincolns and MLK's. No lie, I hope someday I can do something that will impact the world, but for now, I am interested in chugging along and making the world around me better.

Oh yeah, Franklin Pierce was the 14th president of the US...

X-TREME!!

(I am sure that this is true in most professions) On any given week, at work I will receive between 5 and 20 pieces of mail that I never look at. This is approximately 60% of the total pieces of mail that I receive in a week. Inevitably, there are 2 or 3 a WEEK that have something (either in title or content) that mention how X-TREME the event will be.

This conference will be the most X-TREME conference EVER!!

In the interest of full-disclosure, I have never been an any conference with X-TREME in the title. So my opinion of X-TREME conferences is not one of full breadth.

It strikes me that in a generation struggling for identity, call, purpose, meaning, and sense of values, that the church is pushing them to the X-TREME. (for the record, I think every generation stuggles with these things at some point, this is not unique to THIS generation)..

I can think of a dozen parents over the last 7 years who have expressed their "parenting style" to reflect balance, diversity, logic, and even discipline. (in all the right ways parents use discipline).
We hear (maybe it is just the books and magazines I have read) about this generation (mine) in their 20s and 30's flocking to Taize f0r authentic worship, meeting outside of church walls in house churches for authentic community, joining "emerging churches" that are interested in a kind of Christianity that is loving and relevant. Nothing sounds X-TREME about that to me.

Radical, cool, meaningful, interesting, spiritual, different, revolutionary....but not X-TREME

X-TREME TAIZE!! I can see the brochure now!

While they are doing some good things, and I have no doubt that disciples are being made at these events, at the core, I believe X-TREME events are trying to accomplish 2 things - marketing to a X-games culture and making some money.

Living as a model of Jesus Christ takes an extreme passion. An extreme call. An extreme act of faith. Jesus was a radical and lived an extreme life. Not an X-TREME life. Following the One is extreme, not X-TREME.

I am interested in helping God make disciples that will last lifetimes, not through 2012 when they graduate from high school and X-TREME FAITH isn't relevant anymore.

X-TREME is great for "relating to the culture", something I am all for. And I am all for extreme faith, and living a crazy passionate life...just as Jesus did.

X-TREME seems very trivial and a "flash-in-the-pan" kind of faith.

Plus it is very bad grammar....

winning

competition...

I love it...

I have a hard time in life NOT competing. Pick-up games of basketball turn into Game 7 when no one is looking, kick-ball is not for leisure...it is for victory, and flag football...don;t even get me started!

Don't get me wrong, I know when to take it easy and when to distribute the ball evenly in a friendly game involving youth...

"Its for the kids" a friend of mine used to say..especially when one of the adults was playing a little to aggressive...

There are however, 2 competitions that I find most invigorating

1) Competing against people who do not know they are involved in the game
and
2) Competing against people I do not know

Lets break it down:
Competition 1) I think this is why I like MTV's Boiling points so much when it was on. It is fun to see people get hyped up, and then realize it was a game. oops...

I like being the first to go when the light turns green (while always looking both ways mom). I like kicking a rock further than people who don't know we are playing. I like following behind people and doing what they were not able to do, or doing it better/faster.

I would imagine a psychologist would have a good time breaking that one down, I think it just about being competitive.

Competition 2) Currently I am involved in a online promotion involving a large national food chain. (I would tell you who, but I want a better chance of winning...sorry). Each day I log-on and enter. (You will not be laughing when I win my cool million!) I can enter once per day, and every day as I hit that final "submit" button, I think about how one of us will defeat the others, and we will never know who we defeated. Sad really...

but not as sad as throwing a fit on the side of a mountain when you fall.....

EPIC

when it rains...

this week has been filled with bad news. Church members who have died, family who is close to death, and more family with "one thing after another" kind of news.

When it rains, it pours.

Sometimes it seems that life, both good and bad, comes in waves. I am reminded that God is faithful, and present, and alive in the midst all of it.

Last week at the end of the Nicodemus Project, someone wrote the question "Why do we feel so far from God sometimes?"

Here is what I know to be true, even though at times, I know it only in my head and not in my heart. And for lack of a better way to say it, I will say it bluntly:

god is there...you are the problem...

in those times we are feeling far away, or even when we feel realy close, it is our awareness that is what is changing, not God.

I know that is hard to hear, it is hard to say.

Sometimes matters of faith are hard...that is what makes it faith.

shhh...I am a.....

Many who know me well know that I am a ninja. I am not deep uncover like most ninjas, mostly because of my catlike reflexes and quick "ninja-style" moves often get me asked if I am a ninja. And since ninjas do not lie, I openly tell people that I am, in fact, a ninja.

I cannot however, accept any blame for this.

great weekend!

wanted to give a quick shout out to all the Cantate (youth choir) kids who made this weekend awesome for me. It was great to get to know you all a little better and begin to build some relationships with you.

I am tired and refreshed all at the same time

Also, a quick shout out to Kevin H for an awesome job leading us! It was a productive and spirit filled time. A unique combination of elements that is frankly, pretty hard to pull off!

a few more shout outs...

to Dex and Sarah H who got me "elected" as one of the mid-winter directors this year...guess that means you all should go!

More blogging later...now I need to get 400 postcards out!

signs, signs, everywhere the signs...

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine in the UCC church was one of the young adults spearheading a campaign for the UCC church, and thier "slogan" or tagline was:

"god is still speaking"

A group of us got into a discussion about this late one night. We all believed that in fact, God was still speaking, when someone posed possibly a more important questions, which was "then why aren't people listening"...

this is when the conversation got good....

After many hours (drifting well into the next morning) of conversations about

"what does the voice of God sound like" (to which there were 7 (out of 7) different opinions),

"people are too busy",

"people have not been 'trained' how to listen",

"people don't want to listen (especially men)", (to which I took great offense)

"people think they can hear it, but it is not a 'clear calling' (all 7 of us could site examples of clergy that should not be in ministry...)

but in the end, the thing that veryone settled on as the most common reason, is that people are too concerned with the "whoa" factor. Skeptics want to write things off as a coincidence, and even people of faith have moments of doubt (which personally I think a pinch of doubt makes faith all the more stronger and causes you to dig deeper) in the "voice"...

In my daily life, I think there is a "still, small voice" - sometimes not in my ear...

Today was one of those days when the "small voice" turned into a "oh yeah, I am pretty serious" voice...

god is good...

This is the Word of The Lord...

While for the most part, it was great (great numbers, good response from a bunch of kids, new folks, etc) last night was tough for me. we had some really disrespectful kids (talking while others were talking, not paying attention, not participating) and was bummed all night and this morning - having a hard time getting motiviated for this week and really struggling with what to do...

then I read in Matthew (12:48) "great gifts mean great responsibilities, greater gifts mean greater responsibility" - God has this amazing sense of humor, and timing, and has a clear reason and way to focus me...

...what an amazing responsibility we have (you and me) to share our gifts because they are great gifts! Keep working at it!

as my friend Joe just reminded me - stay with the system! (I choose to operate in the "God loves you" system) The "If you build it, they will come", "marathon not a sprint", "seed planting" business is a good business to be in, just need a reminder from time to time of what I really do...

what is sacred?

I started reading "Practicing Passion" by kenda Creasy Dean. She is the same author that wrote "The Godbearing Life" - a truly life changing book for me.

In her introduction and in the first chapter, she is exploring what it means to be a passionate church and how to free youth (really free adults to let youth do what is natural for them) to be passionate. This got me thinking....

I started thinking about what is sacred in my life? So I posed the question to the youth of Suncreek last night. The answers I got last night were very interesting. A wide reange of things that they hold sacred. Thought you want to know what things the "youth of today" hold sacred:

God
Family
Friends
True love
Me
A promise
Freedom
Love
Trust
Time with family
Christmas
Friendships
Faith
The time I get to spend with my family at church and at other places
The time I get to be with god
The lives of my friends and family
God & Jesus
My church
My life
My cross country team
Time spent with my family, team, friends, and boyfriend
Companionships
Natural beauty
Laughter
Moments of stillnessmy time with God
Future
Trust
My time with cantate and youth
My time with my music
life
Happiness
Good health
Safety
Time
Time for living
Performance jitters
Laughing
People who make you feel beautiful
Rain
time with distant relatives
my life and Christ in my life
camp BridgeportFor kary and Brittany and a the church members at Suncreek church, for all the joy and compassion they bring to me
teaching
confidence
prayer
opinions
Bible
Convictions
Smiles
Contact
Birthdays
Responsibility
My dog
Theater
Nature
The picture of my brother
Gods love
Animals
The cross
Dance
Worship
My parents
Happiness/joy
Art/creativity
My inmost calm

Backsliding - "W-W-A-T"

I have a confession...today I cheated on my hair stylist....

The prologue: I have been a "as cheap as I can" haircut guy for a long time...well, all my life. I can remember my mom 1) cutting my hair herself 2)visiting the beauty school for our haircuts and 3)taking us RIOS 5.95 goldencuts

needless to say, getting a "good haircut" was never high on my priority list....

I would consider it a good day when I walked out of fantastic sams and didn't look ridiculous...$11 well spent!

Then I met Ashley....

Ashley is this awesome woman who was spunky, and fun, and gave a darn good haircut...she was (see prologue) MUCH more expensive than I was used to...but it was worth every penny, because everytime I walked out, I loved my haircut (plus she was the best shampooer ever!)

the problem...now in order to get in with her I would have to drive 4 hours each way (something that is still not out of the realm of possibility in my head).

So to save some gas, and because I don't know where to get my haircut in Allen (or Plano/Mckinney/Frisco), I went on the recommendation of a certain "funny" friend and went to Sportclips this morning.
Sportclips' idea is that guys want to watch sports while getting a hair cut (also a face wrap and a massage)...and in case you are in the market for various pro and college team souvenirs, Sportclips has you covered there as well. My nameless "funny" friend had gone a few months ago and told me it was cool. Not wanting to have to go back to my old ways of cheap haircuts, I never went...

My stylist was ok at best. She was one of those..."she just kept cutting" stylist, and now my hair is a few inches shorter than I wanted.

SIDENOTE: I have a thing about my ears....it wouldn't take a psychologist to figure out that it stems from my years as a child of invasive ear procedures.... please don't touch my ears and NEVER let water get in my ears...

The shampoo experience was terrible....when my 2 year old pretends to wash my hair, he does a better job....she let the water run all over my ears....plefg!
The towel wrap on my face was a bizarre experience because she "massaged" my face as well - it kind of felt like someone was dancing with their fingers on my towel wrapped face.

during this whole experience, I just kept thinking...W-W-A-T
"What Would Ashley Think?"

I would like to publically apologize to Ashley for backsliding into a cheap haircut....
let it never happen again...

my job

I love epiphanies....in the middle of the everyday moments, those moments of clarity or insight that just appear...

I had a good one today....and it seems kind of trivial now that I am back at my desk...but here it is...

I was walking out of the main building today headed over to my office - I got outside - felt the beautiful north Texas fall afternoon - and for some reason realized...

I LOVE MY JOB!

Not JUST my new job, but I love what I do. I love being creative and organized all at the same time, I love planting seeds and watching them grow, I love knowing what I do changes people.
This may sound contrite or conceded, but believe me when I tell you - "this is not to say my job is better than your job" - this is just to say, I love my job!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my new job...there is such excitement here and I know this is where God wants me to be. the people here are amazing and the youth have so much passion and enthusiasm. It is contagious really.

as I took a few more steps across the parking lot, I realized one of the things I love about my job, is I get to help youth (and adults?) find what they love to do...that is awesome.

I read a quote in Relevant magazine a few years ago, and have forgotten the authors name (if you are reading this, e-mail me and I will give you full credit, because it is a WONDERFUL quote) but it has stuck with me for years...

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs...
ask yourself what makes you come alive then go do that,
because the world needs people who have come alive."


go.......

the first post

I decided, on a whim, to start a blog...again.

I had one a few years ago, and decided to abandon it after a few months...you see there were 5 people reading it...seriously 5....and my mom and wife were 2 of them! So, I got tired of it..

BUT...

I AM BACK BABY!!

I don't really know what I am going to write about on here - except that I know I will be blogging more than Rob...

SIDENOTE: (Rob is a friend of mine from back home who's blog went dead for the summer...now he claims to be "back"....we will see) he also had a blog (including one that I was a contributor on after my blog died) once that has been since disbanned (he claimed for "server reasons" and I claim for "laziness reasons"). Rob is, outside of my brother, the funniest person I know and a very talented writer. he really should blog more and work less....

Anyway...all of this is to say....hi...thanks for checking out my blog.

now lets get to it!!