12 in '12 Tuesday

12 in '12 is a series of posts talking about life in youth ministry with a 12 year old in the family this year.
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This weekend, Emily got to go to her first Winter White Wash. It's a ski retreat we take our Middle School and High School students to each year. This year, we skied at Snowy Range just outside Laramie, and had the main sessions at the new building of White Water Christian Church. (It's awesome to see this new church continue to develop.) Emily wasn't a huge fan of the whole skiing thing, but had fun the rest of the time. I'm tearing her away from the Republican debate to answer a few questions for you. Just for clarity's sake, my comments/questions are italicized and Emily's answers are in bold. (Like you wouldn't have figured that out!)

What was the best part of the weekend?
   Pretty much the entire weekend was fun. NOT skiing though. I got ran over by a guy on a snowboard. It hurt. Very bad. [At least the kid felt guilty about it - I think he may have been crying as bad as you were.]

What was it like being the only 6th Grader in our group? Terrible I bet, no one to talk to at all, right?
    Actually, it wasn't that bad. Most of the time I hung out with the high school girls. And some 6TH GRADE friends from Bayard. [...and Laramie, and some tiny place with no name, and some kid from Rapid, and... I told you not to worry about it.]

How was the van ride? I heard your driver was pretty awesome.
     The van ride was fun. Except when we got caught in a blizzard (Not the DQ kind) and couldn't see anything. Except white. It was scary. And by the way, the driver wasn't that awesome. (It was you, Dad!) [I know! And I thought it was pretty good driving for not being able to see ANYTHING.]

How was it being the daughter of the youth pastor? Any specific challenges to being my kid? Or benefits?
      It's OK being the daughter of the youth pastor. Not really any challenges. There are benefits though. Like you paid for my lunch even though I had my own money. And I know all the songs on your iTunes list and I can bug you until you play Lecrae. [It doesn't really take a whole lot of bugging to get me to play Lecrae. He's awesome. I'm sure there will be some challenges sooner or later - but I'm sure you'll be up for them, too. Oh, and you owe me a lunch!]

Any advice for other youth ministers who are taking their kids on trips with their youth groups?
       The only advice I have is: Don't embarrass them or they'll just embarrass you right back. And trust me, you don't want to be embarrassed by a Jr. High or High School kid. [Is that a threat? Alright, go to bed young lady, right now.]

Compassionate Christmas Sharing?

When it comes to food, we have some pint-sized picky eaters in our house. They're often hearing from LuAnn or I that they need to be content that they have food every meal, even if it's not something they like. I remind them that while they complain about their potatoes, there are kids all over the world who are going to bed hungry... again. Today, we got confirmation that the message is getting through. Sort of.

Lizzie's preschool class has been gathering food for an elderly lady, so before we left this afternoon, she took a couple cans to donate from our pantry. Noticing what she was happily providing, I asked Lizzie if she thought the lady would like the green beans.

"Yeah, probably..." was her first reaction as she hurried to get the cans into her backpack. But as we left the room, she expounded upon her initial enthusiasm (to herself in a very matter of fact manner):

"She should just be happy that she has food."

As LuAnn and I overheard from the next room, we humorously wondered how we've warped our kids in so many ways... I'm afraid the compassion runs so deep in that one that is has yet to fully surface.

Guest Post: Young Thoughts About School (or Something)

Last night, Emily walked through the room while we were watching Waiting For Superman and it caught her attention enough that she stopped and watched. She just asked me to set her up a blog, so I'm going to compromise a little bit and let her do a post here about what she thinks of the movie and school in general:
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 My dad left the room so now I'm going to write what I want.  On Sunday night I went to a concert by Cloverton and Delusions of Pluto.  It was so cool!  My friend, Brielle, and I sat on the steps by the stage, right next to the speakers!  It was so loud!  We had a blast!

Oh-no!  Dad is back!  Ahh!  Bye!

 Emily

P.S I did like the movie.  You should watch it.  But don't tell my dad.

Know God and Make Him Known

It was really cool this morning to see my 8 year old taking his Bible to school. He's not trying to make a statement or stake a claim to some 'right' he perceives himself to have. He just wants to read it. He's liking what he's reading.

Too many times, we in the church become so concerned with staking out our territory in the public sqaure that we lose focus on what's really important. We need to know God and make Him known.

Safe and Sound... or something else?

"I'd rather sail around the world than get my driver's license."

Abby Sunderland is 16 now and could be standing in line waiting to take her driver's exam and get her license... but she's not. Instead, she's about 500 miles west of Cape Horn; alone in a boat, two months into a 6 month solo attempt at sailing around the world! (Which may be safer than learning to drive in California anyway.) She even took her homework with her to avoid having to stay in high school an extra year (she's a Jr.).

I know some people will balk at the notion of letting a 16 year old circumnavigate "this terrestrial ball," but I admire parents who can trust that they've prepared their kids to really live. Too often, we teach so much risk avoidance that the mere survival that ensues hardly seems like living. The Sunderland's sail. Abby's been sailing for years, and apparently hounding her parents to let her sail around the world since she was 13 (even before her big brother Zac sailed around the world last year). So they've prepared her to live her dreams. They've equipped her to do what most people would be too afraid to even try.

"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity..." -from Paul to Timothy

Abby's Website
Abby's Blog
Check out this video from the Los Angeles Times:

First Post of the Year...

For the first post of 2010, I looked back at what have been my first posts for the past few years.

2009... Part 4 of a series I called "Imagine"  I dealt with some obstacles to doing ministry out of imagination instead of memory (an important thought from Mark Batterson). This particular post had to do with using "past success as a vehicle that will launch us into tomorrow instead of a bed upon which to rest or a wall to prop us up." I really liked this post... wish I was doing a better job of living it out! But to be honest, I just wrote an article the other day about resting on past successes. Maybe this year, I'll listen to myself more intently. Maybe other people will listen too. Let's stop repeating the past and create the future!

2008... Who Belongs Here? In this post, I reflected on some thoughts I'd had as a visitor to a church and wondered what a guest experience at our church looks like. As I think about it, the system is still the same here as it was then. The positives are still in place and the deficiencies are still there, too. We can do better.

2007... DIA Din On the way to class at Hope (was that really 3 whole years ago?!), waiting in a very busy airport, I issued this call to truly live - to do more than "suck and blow air... do more than create some noise as we scurry about." I'm stilling playing this drum. Life is not a series of mundane breaths and busy activities - it is an adventure in bringing praise to our Creator!

2006... Insight from a 3 year old Dakota We were sitting in a Christmas Eve service and Dakota leaned over in the stillness, with wonder and concern in his eyes. I could tell he was a little worried about what he was going to do. The problem? In his own whispered words, "Dad, I'm running out of quiet." May we be so filled with the presence of God that we cannot possibly keep quiet!

2005... Hope for a new venture My first blog post of 2005 didn't come until April 7th. That's because that was the day I decided to start blogging. The theme was hope (not the Obama kind). What if we lived our lives with such hope that all fear was driven out of our lives? I still ask myself this question. There are times when discouragement threatens to wreck everything I've been learning in my 10 years of ministry. I need hope to keep going.
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It's interesting to look back at these snapshots of where God's been leading me (and maybe where I've redirected off course from time to time). It's a strange thing to think of collecting thoughts and throwing them out there for people to digest. I hope someone's been able to gain as much from reading my blog as I've gained from writing it. We have so far to go in our quest to know God. May we glean from each other as much as possible as we travel together...

Back to School with the President

Last week, I kept hearing rumblings about the President addressing the nation's schools tomorrow. A speech broadcast to a vast majority of our children. A lot of talk shows have been addressing the issue, a number of friends have become alarmed, and in general it seems like conservatives are panicking about the supposed insidious plan to brainwash our kids...

My first reaction when I heard a radio host advising people to keep your kids out of school that day was "Seriously? This can't be the first time a president has given a speech to school kids." I was right. Most recently, in 1991, the first President Bush gave a speech telling us (I was in school at the time) to work hard in school and stay away from drugs. Reading some quotes from back then, it's interesting to see the charges from the left accusing the President of being politically motivated and attempting to sway young impressionable minds (just like the far right is doing now).

The funny thing is... I don't remember that speech. No recollection of the great brainwashinig event whatsoever! (maybe that was part of the programming...) And I'm fairly certain that my kids won't remember this one. But even if they do - I don't think that's a bad thing. The speech contains a good message for kids to hear. Basically: 'You are responsible for you. Work hard. Don't give up.' Here's a link to the speech - please read it yourself before locking your children away.

I'm not a fan of the way Obama has been running his administration. I don't trust the people he is choosing to listen to. And to be completely blunt, I believe that success for much of his agenda will be failure for our nation. But I'm not going to cower in the corner, covering my kids' ears so they won't hear the voice of Obama. I'm not going to send a note to their teacher to let them opt out of the first day of school just because the President is speaking to them. Actually, I haven't even checked to see if our school is showing the speech because this is really a non-issue for me.

I want my kids to think critically. I want them to learn to recognize crap ideas, whether they come from a smooth talker with a nice white house or a beer guzzling biker with bug juice in his teeth. I don't want them to be afraid to disagree with ideas that don't seem right to them - regardless of the source. I want them to be salt and light wherever they go and whatever they may have to debate. They can't do those things if they're in some educational bunker where I never let them hear an idea I don't agree with.

Let your kids hear the speech. Talk to them about it. Help them make the most of the educational opportunity they have in this country. I came across this response you may find interesting as well (thanks for the link Grace).

Different

This morning Emily was playing with a rollie-pollie, which she informed me later she liked to call a pill bug. She liked how it climbed around on her hand and through her fingers like a little piece of mobile jewelry. As she showed Liz and Siah her new little friend, Josiah got all excited.

"A rollie-pollie! Me and Dakota like to throw those!"

Don't tell me girls and boys are the same.

Only anecdotal, I know, but still...

3rd Grade Track Day

As part of winding down of the school year, Emily had her first track meet today.  Kids from 5 or 6 of the elementary schools in the area come to the Middle School and get to run on the track.  They're all excited (maybe just because they're not stuck in a classroom and they know the year's almost done), parents are excited, teachers are a little frazzled trying to get everyone where they need to be at the right time - but they're excited too!

Emily was one of the kids not so much excited by the running and racing as by the fact that she was getting to be outside all day.  She likes to be active, but hasn't ever really shown too much interest in being athletically competitive.  The thrill of winning never seemed to interest her as much as the chatting on the sidelines with her friends.  That may have just changed...

I have to be honest and say that I didn't have high expectations of 3rd grade track and field glory today.  She tried to convince us to let her run in her canvas flats (that would fall off if they were run in) because she didn't run that fast anyway and her tennis shoes made her feet too hot.  The 50 meter dash was her race of choice - because they had to choose something and it was the shortest choice available.  As we headed for a shady spot, I told her to get her tennis shoes back on when the girls were running the 100m.  "Why do I have to put them on that early?"  I explained to her that each heat of the 400 would be a minute and a half or so, the 100 would only take about 20 seconds and then she was up.  "So how long will the 50 take?"  I said, "You'll only have to run for about 10 seconds, so run as hard as you can."  She got a huge grin at the realization that her "running" task would be so brief and the satisfaction of knowing she had chosen "well"!

I've been emphasizing to her that I didn't care if she won or lost or was stuck in the middle somewhere, I just wanted her to do her best.  That's all I ever really want from my kids - the best effort they can muster up.  At the realization of the brevity of her run, she finally agreed that she would do her best.  When the whistle blew, she took off and ran her best for 50 meters.  Today, her best was enough to win the race!  I know it's only third grade and it's only one short race, but today I'm very proud of my oldest child.

Not because she won, but because she did her best.  She tried as hard as she could to run as fast as she could.  I love how she got excited at the end.  There was something in her eyes that wasn't there before - or at least not as brightly.  When it finally dawned on her that she won  (which wasn't for several seconds after she'd walked off the track) she had this huge grin and a look of disbelief.  I could see the thoughts forming in her mind "I actually won!  If I can win this, what else can I do?  What dreams can I achieve?"

Her imagination is running wild with possibilities.  And she's just learned that great effort can create great outcomes.  My little girl surprised me today - reminded me to never write off the unexpected.  I have a feeling she's going to surprise a lot of people for the rest of her life - not necessarily on the track - as she imagines her way into a tomorrow very different from today.

Where's My Future?

Sitting in the kitchen today, my youngest son stopped whatever he was playing (he lives inside his own head, so we're never quite sure where he is) and asked me "Dad, where is my future going to be?" I may not be the most observant father on the planet, but when a teachable moment walks up and smacks me in the face like that, I usually notice!

"Where is my future going to be?" At first I thought he was maybe asking a Heaven or Hell type question. "Does Jesus love me/Am I OK with God" type of thing. Quickly I realized he wasn't thinking about anything post-mortem, but about his life here and now (which is pretty much what you get with any 5 year old). It's easy to tell where we've been or to tell someone where they are now, but there's no wall map that says "You will be here." What is a 5 year old concept of the future anyway?

I told him it was wherever he makes it. Every choice we make shapes our future. Had I made different choices throughout the years, I'd be living in a very different present than the one I'm in now. A person can really get messed up with the "What if I'd just..." queries of life (I've spent way too much time in the land of second guessing), but at 5 years old I love this question.

"Where is my future going to be?" It's like the beginning of a book. That first sentence eliminates all but a handful of options. Before that first sentence, the book could go anywhere, but as soon as it begins - the field narrows. With each decision of our lives, the field narrows. The book is being written. This makes every choice more weighty than we may have thought it was yesterday. We have to decide where we want our future to be and make the decisions that shape the world around us to create that future...

Where do you want your future to be? Are you choosing to go there?

Eyes of a Child

This should have been a much simpler process. I wanted to post the audio from my sermon here, but had problems finding a way to get it done. Thanks to Google Gadgets, I found a way I thought would work, but then had issues getting the mp3 onto our server. I think I've got it done now, so here you go... (I hope.)



The sermon didn't come out (of my mouth) quite like I was hoping. Instead of a sort of quick, whimsical, childlike tone (if that makes any sense at all) - a video played right before the sermon got me in a different state of mind (which probably wasn't a bad thing).

Basically, I went through Mark 8:27-10:52, pointing out some of Jesus' interactions with his disciples and how he was trying to expand their view of what his kingdom really is. Sometimes, they just didn't get it. Sometimes, we still don't. Blinded by our desire for control or for our 'team' to dominate, or by our shame - we miss the beauty of God's Kingdom come here to earth.

But if we're called by God to live as citizens of this kingdom, there must be a way to see more clearly. Jesus suggested to the disciples that they needed to receive it like children. If we are going to be able to enter an unseen kingdom, we need to learn to look for it with the eyes of a child. Eyes that are curious and full of wonder. Eyes that can "see in the dark". Eyes that can see the whole kingdom, not just "our" little slice.

We need eyes that see who Jesus really is.

Kids!

A snippet of today's lunchtime conversation:

Josiah: What are humans made of?

Emily and Dakota (in a creepy kind of unison): MEAT!

Should I worry?



I just graduated preschool - I wanna be a cannibal when I grow up!