So, I’m no different than most anyone else. I started a blog. I thought it would be fun. I felt I had stuff I wanted to say and/or share. Then I got busy. Real busy. I started checking my ’stats’ like they actually mattered. Blogging seemed like a waste of time. Honestly- it probably would have been.

But now, I decided I do still want to blog. I like writing. I like having somewhere to state my thoughts- even if I’m the only one who ever sees them.

And my one goal is this: to share my thoughts/views/ideas around youth ministry more often. I love youth ministry… I’m passionate about it, and my mind never stops thinking about ways to engage youth in the Kingdom and how to do that in the context of an old, modern, unabashedly denominational church.

So- there it is. I hope to be back soon.. and if it’s just me hanging out here- I’m ok with that. For realz.

As a youth director, I pride myself on coming up with some pretty awesome games. As can be expected, however, some days I just don’t have the imagination or time- and resort to checking out the good ol’ Youth Specialties game idea books.

I’ve noticed often that some of the games seem pretty inappropriate- and I’d hardly consider myself conservative when it comes to levels of appropriateness. What I’m referring to are games where the rules state for the girls to ‘ride’ a guy like a horse, or games where kids are supposed to line up ‘guy/girl, guy/girl’ and then pass an object between them using their mouths, or necks, etc.

Let’s go ahead and ignore the possible awkwardness and sexual inappropriateness within the context of ministry that these games can promote- and just look at this fact; That any game that involves proximity or touch in any way that could even MILDLY be construed as sexual- the directions explicitly, and consistently, demand the pairs be guys with girls.

So, my question is this:  Were the creators of these game books just simply creating uncomfortable fun by assuming the best bet for hilarity was pairing up guys and girls? Or were they explicitly avoiding anything that could be viewed as homosexual touch?

I’m sitting in my office right now trying to write a letter of recommendation for one of my Middle school leaders. For some reason- its really intimidating. Partly because it makes me fell all grown up, but also because I don’t want to screw him over. Hmmm.

When I started this blog, I had every intention on it being youth ministry focused. Actually, I still intend for it to be- and hope it will be in the future. Or at least more balanced.

But the fact is… my brain is so focused on ministry 10-12 hours a day (including when I’m laying in bed for 2 hours at night trying desperately to all asleep) that writing about it just seems unappealing. With that said… I’ll leave with this Youth Ministry Idea:

The Warhead Wall of Fame!!

I got the idea from a group of friends I have that used to room together in college. Whenever a friend would come over to visit- they’d ask them to eat a warhead, then shove a camera in their face. When the guest was making his/her ugliest ’sour face’- they’d snap a picture then stick it on their wall. I’ve started doing this with our Middle School kids and its been great fun. We have a wall now almost covered in pucker-faced Jr. Highers. Since I’d probably get sued for putting up a picture of a kid on here (even though they are far more entertaining)- I’ll put one up of myself.

Thanks to Jordo, Crotty & Cosby for the inspiration.

1. Nutella. Who knew this weird little chocolate-hazelnut spread was so delicious?! But it is, and it goes on my super-healthy flax seed waffles every morning.

2. ‘Falling Slowly’ won a freakin’ Oscar! If you know me, you know I loved Once. The film is incredible, and the more I learned about Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the more I rooted for them. This was such a great moment- and watching this hypnotically beautiful song win out over Disneyfied crap warmed my cynical soul.

3. Sasquatch Festival. True, this hasn’t happened yet- but the lineup alone gets me excited. I’m actually least excited about the headliners… but can’t wait to see The Breeders, Built to Spill, The New Pornographers, David Bazan, The Kooks, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus, Mates of State, etc. I hate festivals- but this lineup might get me to one.

4. Eddie Vedder solo tour. I got tickets for the Vancouver show. I’m almost certain I’ll be disappointed when its all over, but my PJ fanboy side still has me all a-twitter. Let’s just hope there isn’t to much ranting and raving- and more music.

5. Wario Ware. This is a ridiculous party game for the Wii. I played this with about 15 high schoolers last week and had a blast. I want to have some sort of Wario Ware party that happens every month. No joke- its that fun.

Maybe I’m caught up in a swell, and I’m only riding on emotion. Not sure if I care- but I’m all the way on the bandwagon. Yes, I know his policies. And yes, I know Clinton’s. Some of the small differences between their plans I go either way on. What it comes down to is what I believe Obama can do. I don’t think everything is going to change overnight, or even after 4 years- but I get excited and hopeful when I see Obama speak. It gives me the same feeling of hope and change I get when I think about Christians standing up and working toward justice for the poor and oppressed. When I hear the story of the inner city kids, I see it in the same heart for kids I minister to. No- I don’t think Obama is Christ- and maybe I’m a heretic. But I get a similar sense of hope and call in these words.

Here is a section from Obama’s Super Tuesday speech last night. (Transcript found @ NYtimes.com) It’s a little lengthy- but worth it.

“We can do this. But it will not be easy. It will require struggle and it will require sacrifice. There will be setbacks, and we will make mistakes. And that is why we need all the help we can get.

So tonight I want to speak directly to all those Americans who have yet to join this movement but still hunger for change. They know it in their gut. They know we can do better than we’re doing. They know that we can take our politics to a higher level. But they’re afraid. They’ve been taught to be cynical. They’re doubtful that it can be done.

But I’m here to say tonight to all of you who still harbor those doubts, we need you. We need you to stand with us. We need you to work with us. We need you to help us prove that together, ordinary people can still do extraordinary things in the United States of America.

I am blessed to be standing in the city where my own extraordinary journey of service began. You know, just a few miles from here, down on the south side, in the shadow of a shuttered steel plant, it was there that I learned what it takes to make change happen. I was a young organizer then — in fact, there are some folks here who I organized with — a young organizer intent on fighting joblessness and poverty on the south side.

And I still remember one of the very first meetings I put together. We had worked on it for days. We had made phone calls. We had knocked on doors. We had put out fliers. But on that night, nobody showed up. Our volunteers who had worked so hard felt so defeated, they wanted to quit. And to be honest, so did I. But at that moment, I happened to look outside and I saw some young boys tossing stones at a boarded-up apartment building across the street. They were like the boys in so many cities across the country, little boys, but without prospects, without guidance, without hope for the future. And I turned to the volunteers and I asked them, “Before you quit, before you give up, I want you to answer one question: What will happen to those boys if we don’t stand up for them?”

And those volunteers, they looked out that window and they saw those boys and they decided that night to keep going, to keep organizing, keep fighting for better schools, fighting for better jobs, fighting for better health care. And I did too. And slowly but surely, in the weeks and months to come, the community began to change.

You see, the challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night. It will not be resolved on even a Super Duper Tuesday. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have so little, who’ve been told that they cannot have what they dream, that they cannot be what they imagine. Yes, they can.”

Welp, it’s Mardi Gras. Time for some drunken debauchery and lifting up of my shirt. WHOO HOO!

I have been thinking quite a bit about Lent and have decided that I am going to participate in the time honored, Good Christian tradition of giving something up. And I’m excited about it.

I’m giving up morning internet during Lent. I spend a lot of time (both at home and work) just trolling around wasting time. I read about sports, find music, read blogs and check my Facebook. I don’t think any of these things are inherently ‘wrong,’ but it often happens that an hour (or two) has passed before I realized it. There are countless ways I could be more productive with my mornings, and I am excited to force myself to become more disciplined. I’ll force myself to listen to God, I’ll use my time to be in Scripture, and I think this will especially benefit my work. I have a pretty stressful job/life, and wasting time each morning on the internet is a way I cope- Kind of my, “Don’t have to think about real life time.” However, I truly believe much of my stress is due to the fact that things are left to the last minute. Duh. So, this is going to be a blessing in many ways.

This is a big sacrifice for me, and will be a big change of routine. I’m excited and I do think this is exactly the type of thing that will make me grow- as a human and as a follower/appreciator of Christ. So, as of tomorrow, I will not get on the internet until Noon.*

(*Lenten disclaimer- a lot of my work is done by email. My entire staff emails each other, students/parents email me, etc. I will allow myself to do work through email. BUT I will not be reading/responding to personal emails.)

Last night we started a series with the middle schoolers about friendship. Nothing too earth shattering, especially last night. Mostly we just intro’d the topic and let them talk in small group about their experiences with friends: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

One tool I used to help them get a little more ‘hands-on’ in their small groups- was to draw 2 pictures. One picture of what the perfect friend would look like, and one picture of what a terrible friend would look like. All of the girl’s small groups drew these great pictures of perfect & terrible friends. They gave them attributes and styles and really did a great job. The boy’s small group gave us these:

The “Perfect Friend.” Complete with “clown afro,” “bling,” and “Mr. T catchphrase”

The “Terrible Friend.” Complete with “eye booger,” “weird hat,” and yes, “Mr. T catchphrase.”

Last night with the high school group, we started looking at our lives as “stories.” Everyone has a story, and each kid can tell their story by heart- which really is a pretty powerful thing when you think about it. After setting up what it means to have your own story, we took a look at what it means to allow God’s story to be a part of their story. We talked about where it was easy to let the two stories intertwine, where it was difficult- and where it seems straight-up impossible. I then asked them to write down the 3 hardest parts of their life for them to fully allow God’s story to meet their story.

EACH and EVERY response came back with at least one reference to relationships. Friends, boyfriend, family member, etc. I could have told you before last night that relationships would be the #1 answer… but it was still a bit of a shock to see it written down on every response.

What is it about us and about our ability (or lack thereof) to relate to God that is so wrapped up in how we relate to other people? I have ideas and I even believe some of them to be correct and true (community, accountability, blah) but it almost doesn’t seem fair. I have friends who have turned away from Christ and 15 friends who loved them because of one friend who jerked them around. I know people who have spent years seeking and desiring to know Christ, but aren’t able to, because they want to do it themselves- without relationship. I could delve into scripture and theology and discuss why there aren’t any walls between us and a relationship with Christ, why that has all been taken care of, and why we should let the influence of (wo)man dictate God’s role in our story.

But when I sit down with the high school students and talk about why it is so hard to let Christ ‘own’ our relationships- straight theology just isn’t going to cut it. We can tell them to ‘do better,’ but that won’t cut it either.  Its an interesting challenge, and one I’m excited to explore more with these students. One thing I’m sure of- is that while we explore it- we’ll make sure to do it in a loving relationship.