Gift Books

Do people think that gift books are a good gift? I'm never sure. I was cleaning out an old box, and I found books from my graduation, from teaching and other miscelaneous events in my life. I've never read a one of them. I also know that most of the people who have given them wouldn't read them either. I have been tempted to re-gift a few of them, but then I remember my reasction when I was given them.

I'm going to Chicago!!

Travis getting married! Of the old crowd, I'll be the last one to get hitched. I'm so excited for trav though. He and Mel have been dating for so long. Its great to see them almost at the finish line. Its been so long since I've seen him too. I was looking at pictures of all of us in middle and high school. Its so amazing that so much has changed when it doesn'treally seem like that much time has gone by- though really it has.
The other night Greg and I went to Gallagher's with Kevin Grand and his girlfriend Chris. Its so random that he is roomates with Greg, and that he was once my youth leader. I found a picture of us at a retreat and I was uber- dork and showed it to him and we caught up on all of the people that we both know.

My Library

I am reorganizng my books and trying to get them back in alphabetical order, and it has really amazed me just how many books I've managed to collect over the years. There certainly isn't space for all of them in my meager space. I've taken to putting them in stacks rather than in rows, so that I may cram more onto the shelf. As I looked through them it reminded me of the events that I was going through, and even places that I was when I read them the first, or the most menaingful time. I know I shouldn't have such an emotional attachment to inanimate objects, but I find myself rereading portions of them and having the feeling of looking through a scrapbook. I think that also organizing my books is a tangible way that I can have order and control over my life, which has been something rather lacking in this last week. (Thank you Gregory.)

"The Christian Culture Survival Guide"
One of the books that Iwas filing and re-reading portions of is "The Christian Culture Survival Guide," which I may have mentioned before, but its worth a second look. It takes things to rather an extreme at times, but it does have some deep insights nestled in the comedy. It contains things like lists of "Fifteen Types of Church People to Look Out For." In one portion, he speaks of visiting a non-denominational church with a friend, and that the pastor began the service by stating that they didn't have "church" they simply had an experience with God. The author makes the comment, "We then prodceeded to have church. And it was just like my daddy's church. No, seriously, it was. We sang hymns and praise songs. We heard a sermon. The worship leaders raised their hands and shouted, "Praise You Jesus," durng the instrumental parts. There was absolutely nothing experienced at Middletown Community that was not church. For me, this is fine, but why did the pastor stand up and give a speech abouthis church not being a church?"

This makes me think of my old home church, Faith, as well as others that I have visited, and even The River to a certain extent. So often, we care so much about not having the appeance of "churchiness" that we neglect things that are done for practical reasons (ie- friendship registries, or announcements) and yet we cling to things that are uber-churchy for no apparent reason. The un-church church has become a fad in many ways. I've really seen this in the number of people who come to visit the River from area churches where I know that they are very well ingrained and have no real intention of leaving. Visiting to see what we are about it is cool- to look for things that can be incorporated into their own church, or if people are from Third and want to see what the baby church is up to, but I have seen way to many people come, who have not been brought out by God of their home church who merely are trying us out because we are the "cool" place to be right now. I'd rather that we would be less trendy and less cool if it meant that people would only come for the right reasons. I supppose that I shouldn't bemoan the trendiness if it really does draw people in, but really, what separates all "great" churches is not cool worship music, is not a worship leader with highlighted hair and clothes from Abecrombie, it is the PEOPLE. You can find wonderful people at a Southern Baptist, a Reformed, a Lutheran, or a Non Denominational church. I think that the reason that so many christian churches are failing is because they have taken their eyes off this fact, and put so much effort into cool programing that people are so busy on Sunday mornings and so emotionally exhausted that they can no longer care for those who are visiting and trying out this Jesus thing- they may even go so far as to resent the added burden that these people place on church resources. Do I have some great answer? Do I claim that i am not just as muchthe guilty as the accuser? No. So simply I say that we should each examine our involvement and support of "churchy" things and see if this is preventing us from being Jesus for people, rather than assisting.

I am such a sap.

Extreme Home Makeover is on, and its even a re-run, and still I am already crying. The episode that is on is about a single mother with three daughters and their house burned down. I know that is a cheesy show, and that they only pick families who's stories will translate well on screen, but i just love the transformative power that this show has in people's lives. I'd much rather be willing to invest in watching a show that has a positive effect on families, rather than one that would spend money only to show explosions and special effects.

(Okay, now its almost over- the people of the community raised $71,000 to send the daughters to college. Tell me thats not a good thing- gimmick or not!)

Open Mic Night

I can't believe i forgot to talk about this. We had our Open Mic Night at church on May 20, and it was so great! We only had about 60 people attend, but I think that it was a blessing because it allowed us to have a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and gave people the freedom to get up and share who hadn't signed up before. It was great to see the number of families that participated where 2 or 3 people from the same family got up and shared different talents. I love to see the abundance of talent that we have at our church.

2 Down

Today was thelast day for 2 of my preschool classes; the other two will end tomorrow- and they will have actual graduation ceremonies, complete with entrance to Pomp and Circumstance. I've been so emotionally tumultuous since I did my traditional last Jesus Time of the year. I always begin by reminding each student that they were made uniquely and deliberately by their Creator, and then I tell them individually what I love about them and what makes them special. This cements for me the idea that the year really is coming to an end. I love to think back on all of the things that they have learned and the ways that they have grown up, but it also shows me where I could have done better. I love my kids, but doubling the number of classes we have has been tough on everyone. The moms and dads are so sweet. They have showered us with praise and gifts, and that makes me see that however much I may feel I could do better, what really shows through to everyone is love.

Tricia and Nate

Just a short note to say Congrats to Tricia and Nate on the birth of Rebecca Joy. Its so wonderful to hear about their growing family, but also so odd since I didn't really see tricia when she was pregnant. so weird- everyone's getting married or having babies these days. Must be the spring weather. Or in the baby case- the fall weather last year.

Quote:

"What would you say of large uncle who saw hein internal attic?" Me.

Quote:

"Savez-vous que je parle français ?" Me. Again.

Okay, I'm not happy with the poem in the next post. I wrote it in about 20 minutes in a fit of angst and EAPS- damn you Edgar- and so it expresses the emotion of the moment and incorporates my foundational verse (give it up for Zephanaiah baby!) However, I don't know if you have not heard my story if it will make enough sense. Whatever, I could write a really obscure poem about the things I see in this room and some idiots would interpret it to be about the Crimean War or something. Lets see:

Wall of glass
Taunting the small resident
Reflection of hostility
Teasing and tormenting freedom just out of touch
Cauterized hands
Ineffective weapons- ever ready
No longer needed.

There- relatively minor war, or my cat looking out at the sliding door of my apartment at the birds and wanting to eat them, but really- if she ever got out she would be terrified.

I have a weapon
It is b my side always
A futile defense against
The Armies of the Knight
It is, nevertheless, my only protection
And so I cling to it
To the gilded handle
So small even in my small hands
And I stare-
Into my gleaming reflection
my paralyzed face between
the two razor-sharp edges
The fear, the anger, the pride,
the doubt all looking back
-and mocking my defenslessness
against the onslaught
Of the unknown
Then one day I heard it,
The Voice in the Wilderness, calling for me:
"Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O Daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away His
judgemets against you,
He has cleared away your enemies
The KIng of Israel, the Lord, is
in your midst;
You will fear disaster no more."
The blade is now rusted,
never to be reborn.
I look and all I see are crumbled defenses,
from a battle that was never mine to fight.

Assured of defeat I had to surrended.
And so won.

Quote:

Bobby Hill: "Okay, I'm thinking like a hippie. I'm in the woods, and I'm naked, because I've smoked all my clothes."

Evacuating the School

(As far as titles go, that one would be used by the kids at my school, but its functional, so I'll just shut up)

First, may I just saythat I love out new building, and that I feel really blessed to have it, but we have been ironing out the technical difficulties all year on it, and recently we had a doozy of a problem. The week before this incident, I had been working with a substitute teacher and the water had decided to turn off. Translate that into "no washing hands, no drinks from the drinking fountain, no flushing the potty." For 85 kids.

The following week, but some odd quirk, I am with another substitute, and Tracy- our AMAZING secretary/tour guide/art project prep person/ substitute teacher/ recess superviser/ etc. came to me and says, "There is a stong smell of gas in the hallway and we may need to take the kids outside." At this point the weather is 40s and rainy. Suddenly, the alarm sounds and my kids get in line with a eagerness that would have made Pavlov smile. I herd them onto the parking lot and, when it becomes apparant that we could be out there for a while, we discuss our contingency plan of taking the kids to the church next door. We are given the okay and move them into the other church's sanctuary. I am soooo thankful we worked this out beforehand, for some of our kids (for reasons not really obvious to any of us) came dressed in 40 degree weather in tank tops and shorts. Suffice it to say, we sang, we went potty, we watched Veggie Tales, we found out it was merely the heat being used after not needing it for a couple weeks.

We learned several lessons from this ad have now come up with a better diaster plan, so it was probably a good thing that we had this chance before anything really bad happened. It does occasionally hit me that I am responsible for these kids if we have a natural disaster, fire, school explosion, terrorist attack, attack of killer bunnies (obscure movie reference to Night of the Leapus) parent death or car accident, or anything else that may come along. Scary. But complimentary when one views the trust of the parents.

Since I'm a slacker, going back to Easter:

In Jesus Time at preschool, we were discussing the Easter story and the principle that Jesus gave Himself up for us and died on the cross because of the sins WE have committed, and that He was sinless. I noticed that one of my girls, Brianna, was looking a little sad and frowning. As I went on, she even began to tear up. I must be really getting to her, is my thought, and so I step things up a notch and I talk abouthow we need to pray to God and thank Him for this gift. By this time she has really started to cry. when it was time to pray I called her up to sit on my lap, and I asked her why she was crying, fully expecting some deep insight, filled with the wisdom of childhood, or at least an expression of, "I took a toy from Timmy." (Which actually I would have known about because he would've whacked her good for that)

The reasoning she gave me? "Miss Carrie," hiccup, "my, my... my bracelet broke!" So much for my teaching abilities.

Quote:

Kaela Rae (5)- "Skyler is my boyfriend, but don't tell him, 'cause he'd Freak Out!"

Woman of a Lesser Art

You say you want a woman of worth
But the only value you recognize is 36,26,34
I am not a puppet
Content to perform as you see fit
And so I become a Woman of a lesser art.
Beauty, it seems
Is bestowed in only 2 fragrances-
The Rose And the Lily.
My scent, of freshly struck match
is merely a utility of creating a fire.
Soon blown out, soon forgotten,
Soon consumed in the flames of its own making.
Gone up in smoke.