Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Reflections in New Orleans

I am finally started to get rested up from our senior high mission trip to New Orleans...it takes longer and longer to do so the older I get...man, what a great week!...I couldn't have been more proud of our crew (Drake, Art, Trevor, Jen, Lauren, Brittany, Emily, Taylor, Christine, Julianna, Paige, Caitlin, Kelsey, Karen, and Marcy)...they worked hard, were excellent examples for the people we ministered with as well as for the other youth groups that were there...it was especially rewarding to see the growth that occurred in each of them as the week wore on...the hope and prayer is that they will be able to make the mountaintop experience last as they come down off of the mountain...a few reflections on the week about random stuff:
  • Our kids dealt with disappointment much better than I did...I found myself getting disappointed with such non-important stuff...I was really excited about the possibility of working with the people at ARC, which was a center for people with mental disabilities, but I found out that I would be working at Teen Challenge instead...it turned out really well, as we were ministered to probably more than the Teen Challenge residents were (and not just because we ate really well - Strawberry Shortcake Sneaux Balls!)...but the point is, our youth accepted whatever assignment they were given without even the slightest hint of disappointment...they didn't even complain about the VW-sized roaches - they just killed them and went on...they taught me a thing or two about contentment...
  • I found that as the week went on, I was becoming more OK with being sweaty and sticky...if you know me, you know I like to be clean and I hate sweating (unless I'm exercising or mowing, etc.), which makes New Orleans a bad place to be...you can't avoid feeling gross there...but as the week progressed, it wasn't as big of a deal...it was still a deal, but not as big of one...living in Cape Girardeau is not a lot different that New Orleans, so this is a step in the right direction...
  • As we toured the French Quarter, we came across a basilica that the Pope had preached from in the 80s...we all stood in front of it and had our pictures taken while I waved like the Pope...the interesting thing about this was the number of psychics/fortunetellers/palmreaders/etc. that were set up right outside the front doors of the basilica...it was like Obi Wan Kenobi squaring off against Darth Vader, the ultimate in light standing toe-to-toe with the ultimate in dark...I don't have any conclusions, just the observation...
  • I simply lost my mind last week...along with everything else...every time I turned around, I had misplaced something else...my water bottle, my coffee cup, my man purse, my notebook, whatever...I spent half of my time on the trip looking for stuff...man, I really am getting old...
  • The cockroaches in New Orleans were quite impressive, as alluded to above...I killed two of them...I think I caught them off-guard, because on a normal day, I don't think I stood a chance...
  • Yummy beignets at the Cafe du Monde...apparently, it is the world-famous coffee joint in the French Quarter that has these French donuts called Beignets...essentially, it was the same thing as a funnel cake but in a different shape with LOTS of powdered sugar...it was yummy, but I don't know about world-famous...
  • We visited an African-American church for a worship service on Wednesday night...it was a great, energetic service...before the service started, we came in and had a seat while they were praying...but then, when the actual service got started, an usher came to us and ushered us into the balconies to make room for the regulars, I presume...it felt a little weird...I wondered if it was how the black individuals felt decades ago when they were banished to the backs of buses or to a different restaurant altogether...I am not likening this church to those that promoted segregation...it just felt a little strange...the Pastor, Lester Love, had a great line that I wrote down...when speaking about being treated badly by people, he said, as if speaking to God, "They have not been as bad to me as You have been good to me."...nice...

This is probably not what you expected from my summary of New Orleans...we did the usual stuff: French Quarter, trolley ride, hike through the bayou...but these are the things I wrote down...go figure...

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Randomness, Randomness is What I Long For...

This link was sent to me...apparently Darth Vader can read your mind over the internet...I managed to stump him, but probably because I didn't know enough information about the emu:

http://www.sithsense.com/flash.htm



Went to see an exhibit a couple of weeks ago in Paducah...it was a traveling exhibit of the Dead Seas Scrolls...it was fascinating to hear the history behind these artifacts, and to hear how much work went into reassembling the pieces...they compared it to taking a bag of Lays, a bag of Ruffles, and a can of Pringles, crunching them all up, mixing them all together, and then reassembling them all and putting them in the right bags...200 TIMES!!!...WOW!...now that's patience...there was also a chunk of Colossians that was worth $7 million (I stole it)...but the highlight was seeing a portion of the original Egyptian Book of the Dead (pictured above), featured prominently in the classic movie Evil Dead 2...I almost cried...

Some people have too much time on their hands...

My dad just moved back to Ohio...he should be getting in today sometime...this makes me happy...ever since he moved to Florida, he really hasn't been happy...he hasn't really made any connections there...so now, he will be back in The Heart of It All, lucky guy...he has a couple of jobs lined up already and will be staying with my aunt and uncle until he finds a place to stay...this is not only a plus for him, but for me also, as I will get to see him more regularly than when he was in Florida (which mean maybe once a year instead of every other year)...

Ally, thanks for the ice cream yesterday...very yummy...

Our summer youth programming kicked off this week...not too many people showed up for H2T, but we had 30 at 6:57, which is very good, considering we haven't really had summer youth group before...I know a lot of our students have band camp and soccer and stuff, which makes it a bummer that they can't come too...we sure miss them...

Pray for us next week as we (Me and Marcy and another adult leader and 13 students) are in New Orleans for a mission trip...dang, it's gonna be hot!...next year we're going north...

My beloved Tribe is going for the sweep today over the first place San Diego Padres...in a word, "WOO-HOO!!!"...

That's all for now...have a great day... Posted by Hello

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Cookout

For those of you that didn't make it to the cookout last night, you missed a pretty good time...the place we had it - Shelly Stone's pond - was beautiful...we had yummy, high-fat burgers, grilled by yours truly...lots of chips and soda, not to mention the cookies that Shelly made - YUM!...sure, it rained and we got a little wet, but by the end of the night, most everybody was drenched from either getting thrown into the pond of jumping in voluntarily, so the rain didn't matter much...I was going to throw Logan in, but I showed him grace and mercy...he wasn't so lucky with the others...I had fun kicking the soccer ball with Cole and Lauren and Kyle, even though I wasn't wearing shoes...it kinda' hurt after a while, but I survived...overall, it wasn't a huge turnout, but I think those of us that came had a good time...I think...

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Come on! It's just a prank!

Ran across this article on another blog: http://www.local10.com/education/4529035/detail.html...apparently, a Christian school principal canceled graduation after the seniors pulled a prank on the school...now that is what grace and forgiveness is all about (tongue planted firmly in cheek)...there is something to be said for tough love, but is cancelling graduation love or "showing them who's boss"?...I think the principal got his feelings hurt by this class and dished out far too harsh of a punishment...we pulled a similar prank when I was a senior in high school - at a Christian high school - and the principal was not real thrilled...but I still got to graduate...that's grace...