Bloggy-
It's been raining all day and last night and it's going to storm this afternoon (according to the weather man)...I've got to decided whether or not to call off my festival this afternoon. I'm guessing yeah. Hmmm...
John
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
"Came down like fire from heaven"
Bloggy-
I wonder if anyone could identify all the random film/musical/literary quotes that I use to title you? Anyway, I gave the message at Grace and NCW today, and it went pretty well. We talked about Psalm 51 and 2 Corinthians 5 - I think the delivery was better at NCW (I was able to wear jeans with holes and my 1Life T-shirt) because I had time and didn't feel rushed by having to cram a bunch of stuff in. Anyhoo, I'm tired. My mom came up and we had lunch with two families from church, which leads to an interesting conversation I had with interesting consequences. One of hte families that came over for lunch works with kids at Riley Hospital who have cancer, and one of the families that they help has a dying daughter. Long story short, she was getting better, then got worse, she will die in the next month and then her family goes back to Kenya without her in her body. So tommorow I'm going to go to Indy and counsel this family on matters of death, talk to this little girl and prep her for eternity. Let me say, Bloggy, if you were ever considering stopping being a cyber entity and move into youth ministry, remember you'll tell a little girl she's going to die because she asked to see you. And then remember that you're going to tell her mom that her daughter is going to die and what that means. And remember, Bloggy, that death is always an enemy as much as we try to church it up - it sucks. Very much. Anyway, I'm sitting at Payne's realizing today would have been a glorious day to crawl up on a couch with my girlfriend and watch some chick flick that I secretly wanted to watch - and then I realized as I was reading the Zombie Survival Guide that she didn't exist. I hate rainy afternoons because I love them so much.
My room is almost clean. Almost. And I think that it's almost time for me to urinate. A lot. Like a drunk. Hmmm...a coffee drunk though. Anyway, have a great night kid.
Dr. J
I wonder if anyone could identify all the random film/musical/literary quotes that I use to title you? Anyway, I gave the message at Grace and NCW today, and it went pretty well. We talked about Psalm 51 and 2 Corinthians 5 - I think the delivery was better at NCW (I was able to wear jeans with holes and my 1Life T-shirt) because I had time and didn't feel rushed by having to cram a bunch of stuff in. Anyhoo, I'm tired. My mom came up and we had lunch with two families from church, which leads to an interesting conversation I had with interesting consequences. One of hte families that came over for lunch works with kids at Riley Hospital who have cancer, and one of the families that they help has a dying daughter. Long story short, she was getting better, then got worse, she will die in the next month and then her family goes back to Kenya without her in her body. So tommorow I'm going to go to Indy and counsel this family on matters of death, talk to this little girl and prep her for eternity. Let me say, Bloggy, if you were ever considering stopping being a cyber entity and move into youth ministry, remember you'll tell a little girl she's going to die because she asked to see you. And then remember that you're going to tell her mom that her daughter is going to die and what that means. And remember, Bloggy, that death is always an enemy as much as we try to church it up - it sucks. Very much. Anyway, I'm sitting at Payne's realizing today would have been a glorious day to crawl up on a couch with my girlfriend and watch some chick flick that I secretly wanted to watch - and then I realized as I was reading the Zombie Survival Guide that she didn't exist. I hate rainy afternoons because I love them so much.
My room is almost clean. Almost. And I think that it's almost time for me to urinate. A lot. Like a drunk. Hmmm...a coffee drunk though. Anyway, have a great night kid.
Dr. J
Monday, July 30, 2007
"Thanks for the memories, even if they weren't so great..."
Dear Bloggy-
I write you a sad note today - at least the beginning of it will be. I went camping with students this weekend and it didn't go so well. In fact, I brought them home early because of their behaviour. It hurts and pisses me off and saddens me and all sorts of things that I had to do this, but I didn't have many other options. Here's the low down - I spent last week running around trying to get everything together for this trip and the students were pretty excited about it and I was busting balls to get everything ready and right. It was going to be sweet - one night at my 'rents house, two days, one night camping (switched from camping and canoeing do to storm predictions), then party two nights with a youth group (for awhile at SpringHill South). Pretty awesome, right? Well, my kiddies got here, got in the van and were fine until Friday around 10:00 am when they started fighting. Not normal stuff, but fighting about EVERYTHING and being very rude and to each other and to the other adult and to myself. Then the rain started and we were stuck in a shelter house most of the evening - not the ideal, but I figure, hey, we can play some games, eat some food and just generally have a good time, right? How wrong was I - people often tell me I'm wrong when I make statements like "I'm the worst youth pastor ever"...and they're probably right, I don't assault students, but as far as being good at what I do, probably not true. Anyhow, my kids avoid me in a shelter house for a good couple of hours even when I try to get them to come over and do stuff (Jenga, would you rather, Ninja/Bono tag, big king monkey, etc.) with me and when I have to tell them to stop fighting. 'Round about 7:00 PM I told them they'd have to cut it out or we'd go back home, and they seemed to understand that this was a legitimate statement. Enter the next morning (after more fighting and arguing), we pack up and head back to the church. Yeah. No so sweet.
The personal aftermath for me leaves questions of whether or not this is a total indictment of my ability to be with students? If I've been here a year and I haven't been able to impact students thus far, what's the point? Is it really a wise choice in my spiritual journey to stay here much longer? Am I going to get fired? Have I lost whatever trust I had with parents, staff members and students? Should I leave? I've never heard of another youth pastor ever having to do something like this - so obviously of my circle of friends, there's something wrong with me, right? Listen Bloggy, I know you don't have the answers to this, and I don't expect you to, but there some of them are.
On other fronts, I went back to Ogilville this weekend and went to church there - that was good. I miss those people so very much. I hung out with some of the students I had there - in fact, I took them with me to Sprinhill because I wanted to still network with managers and whatnot there. It was a blast - I tried to bite my tongue off, but it was good...anyway...more on that later...I need to get to work.
Dr. J
I write you a sad note today - at least the beginning of it will be. I went camping with students this weekend and it didn't go so well. In fact, I brought them home early because of their behaviour. It hurts and pisses me off and saddens me and all sorts of things that I had to do this, but I didn't have many other options. Here's the low down - I spent last week running around trying to get everything together for this trip and the students were pretty excited about it and I was busting balls to get everything ready and right. It was going to be sweet - one night at my 'rents house, two days, one night camping (switched from camping and canoeing do to storm predictions), then party two nights with a youth group (for awhile at SpringHill South). Pretty awesome, right? Well, my kiddies got here, got in the van and were fine until Friday around 10:00 am when they started fighting. Not normal stuff, but fighting about EVERYTHING and being very rude and to each other and to the other adult and to myself. Then the rain started and we were stuck in a shelter house most of the evening - not the ideal, but I figure, hey, we can play some games, eat some food and just generally have a good time, right? How wrong was I - people often tell me I'm wrong when I make statements like "I'm the worst youth pastor ever"...and they're probably right, I don't assault students, but as far as being good at what I do, probably not true. Anyhow, my kids avoid me in a shelter house for a good couple of hours even when I try to get them to come over and do stuff (Jenga, would you rather, Ninja/Bono tag, big king monkey, etc.) with me and when I have to tell them to stop fighting. 'Round about 7:00 PM I told them they'd have to cut it out or we'd go back home, and they seemed to understand that this was a legitimate statement. Enter the next morning (after more fighting and arguing), we pack up and head back to the church. Yeah. No so sweet.
The personal aftermath for me leaves questions of whether or not this is a total indictment of my ability to be with students? If I've been here a year and I haven't been able to impact students thus far, what's the point? Is it really a wise choice in my spiritual journey to stay here much longer? Am I going to get fired? Have I lost whatever trust I had with parents, staff members and students? Should I leave? I've never heard of another youth pastor ever having to do something like this - so obviously of my circle of friends, there's something wrong with me, right? Listen Bloggy, I know you don't have the answers to this, and I don't expect you to, but there some of them are.
On other fronts, I went back to Ogilville this weekend and went to church there - that was good. I miss those people so very much. I hung out with some of the students I had there - in fact, I took them with me to Sprinhill because I wanted to still network with managers and whatnot there. It was a blast - I tried to bite my tongue off, but it was good...anyway...more on that later...I need to get to work.
Dr. J
Saturday, July 21, 2007
"By the power vested in me by the state of Michigan and as Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ..."
Dearest Bloggy-
Okay, so I'm sitting in a Michigan Coffee shop doing some writing now. Anyway, yesterday...yesterday started pretty early by heading North to Michigan. I'm way up in Whitehall, MI, which is about an hour north and west of Grand Rapids right on the lake - it's absolutely beautiful here! Anyway, the drive was pretty uneventful, got here a little early (hey, there's a first time for everything!), so I drove around town which is exactly what you would expect from a small, tourist driven, lakeside Michigan town - so I'm pretty much in love. Anne showed up with Chad, gave me a call and I met back up with them at the lodge, saw where the wedding is going to be (hopefully I'll be able to get pictures!) put my stuff in my room and started reconnecting with people I hadn't seen forever or ever met.
The rehearsal went really well - it's a pretty simple wedding without communion, singing, candles, flower girls, etc., so yeah. The bride and groom had a great time with it and it only took about 30 minutes (just a note - rehearsals for weddings shouldn't take longer than 45 minutes usually). After that we went to dinner at this restaurant about 30 minutes away from the lodge and it was SPECTACULAR!!! They had an open bar for us and the food was great. And it had the mark of a truly great restaurant - Guinness on Tap! 3 sizes - 12, 22, and 33 ounces! Guess which Guinness I had...anyway, the blackened salmon was great and then the peanut butter pie was almost sinful!
We went back, to the lodge, I went and smoked a stog on the beach with Jared and Brett and watched the sunset over the lake (Dear God, thank you for being an artist!). Some regulars who come every year came down to the beach and started a fire, and I hung out with them for about three hours - good people, they gave out beer like it was candy at a parade (I kept it at one - Killian's Irish)! It was a good group and got a lot of interesting conversation out of it...I never want to be a "Christian" who is uncomfortable with just people - I had a good time, shared a little truth and heard their lives. And got free beer. All things Jesus would enjoy. I think.
Anyway, now it's breakfast, blogging, coffee and then back to the lodge to review stuff, write the names in the book (sometimes you forget things when you get nervous!) and then another night of chillin!
Oh, and I might stop by my friends Matt and Nathalie tomorrow to hang out with them post church - it'll be a ball! And I'm going to Mars Hill for Church in the morning! ROCK FREAKING ON!!!
Okay, so I'm sitting in a Michigan Coffee shop doing some writing now. Anyway, yesterday...yesterday started pretty early by heading North to Michigan. I'm way up in Whitehall, MI, which is about an hour north and west of Grand Rapids right on the lake - it's absolutely beautiful here! Anyway, the drive was pretty uneventful, got here a little early (hey, there's a first time for everything!), so I drove around town which is exactly what you would expect from a small, tourist driven, lakeside Michigan town - so I'm pretty much in love. Anne showed up with Chad, gave me a call and I met back up with them at the lodge, saw where the wedding is going to be (hopefully I'll be able to get pictures!) put my stuff in my room and started reconnecting with people I hadn't seen forever or ever met.
The rehearsal went really well - it's a pretty simple wedding without communion, singing, candles, flower girls, etc., so yeah. The bride and groom had a great time with it and it only took about 30 minutes (just a note - rehearsals for weddings shouldn't take longer than 45 minutes usually). After that we went to dinner at this restaurant about 30 minutes away from the lodge and it was SPECTACULAR!!! They had an open bar for us and the food was great. And it had the mark of a truly great restaurant - Guinness on Tap! 3 sizes - 12, 22, and 33 ounces! Guess which Guinness I had...anyway, the blackened salmon was great and then the peanut butter pie was almost sinful!
We went back, to the lodge, I went and smoked a stog on the beach with Jared and Brett and watched the sunset over the lake (Dear God, thank you for being an artist!). Some regulars who come every year came down to the beach and started a fire, and I hung out with them for about three hours - good people, they gave out beer like it was candy at a parade (I kept it at one - Killian's Irish)! It was a good group and got a lot of interesting conversation out of it...I never want to be a "Christian" who is uncomfortable with just people - I had a good time, shared a little truth and heard their lives. And got free beer. All things Jesus would enjoy. I think.
Anyway, now it's breakfast, blogging, coffee and then back to the lodge to review stuff, write the names in the book (sometimes you forget things when you get nervous!) and then another night of chillin!
Oh, and I might stop by my friends Matt and Nathalie tomorrow to hang out with them post church - it'll be a ball! And I'm going to Mars Hill for Church in the morning! ROCK FREAKING ON!!!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Dear Bloggy-
Well I'm here in Michigan at this pretty schwagg lodge getting prepped to do a wedding in the afternoon. The day was swell - the weather perfect - I need to take some pictures! Anyway, I'm headed to bed, but I'll tell you more tommorow, but wow - beached it up with some pretty...neat...older people who come here every year!!
John
Well I'm here in Michigan at this pretty schwagg lodge getting prepped to do a wedding in the afternoon. The day was swell - the weather perfect - I need to take some pictures! Anyway, I'm headed to bed, but I'll tell you more tommorow, but wow - beached it up with some pretty...neat...older people who come here every year!!
John
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Saturday!!!
Bloggy-
It's Saturday! To me, not much different than my Friday, but I'm still loving it! The weather is amazing, I'm in the office right now for a few minutes (okay, maybe 2 hours) and then I'm going to be working on a message for tommorow night (nothing like waiting to the last minute!) - a GREAT DAY!
My roommates g/f came over today to drop off his surprise b-day present, which was great. He's going to be pretty stoked! Moving right along...I did some baking today - before you get all impressed, most of it was pre-made snickerdoodles that I pretty much bought out of guilt (Who decided that youth pastors where the perfect targets for such salesmanship!?! We totally buy out of fear of hurting someone's feelings...I didn't want cookies! LOL) and then I'm going to work on some Duncan Hines brownies here in a bit. That'll be great. I don't even know why I'm baking - I'm just bored I guess...no, that's not true - I guess it's so my house will smell like a home. Weird? Yeah?
Let's see...what else to share whilst this DVD burns down...I think I'm going to finally put my room together so that I can have people in there without having to apologize! That'll just be sweet --
So, here's what I'm going to do - I'm going to do some reading and then let you know what we'll be talking about at the Vespers service tommorow night, cool? (I am loving this weather!). Aight, peace bloggy!
It's Saturday! To me, not much different than my Friday, but I'm still loving it! The weather is amazing, I'm in the office right now for a few minutes (okay, maybe 2 hours) and then I'm going to be working on a message for tommorow night (nothing like waiting to the last minute!) - a GREAT DAY!
My roommates g/f came over today to drop off his surprise b-day present, which was great. He's going to be pretty stoked! Moving right along...I did some baking today - before you get all impressed, most of it was pre-made snickerdoodles that I pretty much bought out of guilt (Who decided that youth pastors where the perfect targets for such salesmanship!?! We totally buy out of fear of hurting someone's feelings...I didn't want cookies! LOL) and then I'm going to work on some Duncan Hines brownies here in a bit. That'll be great. I don't even know why I'm baking - I'm just bored I guess...no, that's not true - I guess it's so my house will smell like a home. Weird? Yeah?
Let's see...what else to share whilst this DVD burns down...I think I'm going to finally put my room together so that I can have people in there without having to apologize! That'll just be sweet --
So, here's what I'm going to do - I'm going to do some reading and then let you know what we'll be talking about at the Vespers service tommorow night, cool? (I am loving this weather!). Aight, peace bloggy!
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