I get to do crazy things for my job every once and awhile. Singing "Oops I Did It Again" with one of the associate pastors and the youth director at the ski retreat would fall under that category. I think taking over a good number of tables (probably about a third) at a Barnes and Noble every Sunday for a young adults group might fall under that category. But, I think one of the events that will always separate the semi-crazy from the truly crazy is the lock-in. This is where you voluntarily lock yourself in the church or other various locations with a group of high schoolers for a night. It includes lots of junk food, games, and caffeine and no sleep.
This Friday I got to do my first true lock-in at the church (the last lock-in was on a Saturday and doing a lock-in before you need to coherently lead a worship service is not a good idea). And it wasn't just any lock-in. It was a Laser Quest Lock-In!!! This meant we met at 9, played some games at the youth house including ultimate frisbee in the church parking lot, did a devotion, and then headed to Laser Quest at 11. At midnight, everyone else except our group was kicked out and we had the place all to ourselves. So, it's me, Jeff the youth director, Rob from Young Life, Greg the lone dad, and 34 high school students ready to go at it for 6 hours! That's right, we were there for a solid 6 hours of laser tag!!!
The area that we played laser tag in was pretty intense. The room is full of black lights and there is fog everywhere. There are two levels and ramps going up and down each place. There are also no real good places to hide. Every place has an area that you are exposed so you can't just sit and hide the entire time. Therefore, we got our exercise.
Each game was a bit different. We would play free for all where you were basically playing against all the 35 other people and would shoot at anything that moves. There were also team games where we would divide into two or three different teams and try to outscore each other. One of the most unique games we played was called "Twins." We were asked to find a partner who was roughly the same height as you. As a leader, I waited a bit and ended up being paired with Mike. He was still taller than me but we figured it would work. Then, the catch. The packs that we had to wear for the game basically covered our back and our front down the the navel and there are straps on the side to keep these parts from flapping around. For this game, our packs were tied together and we were essentially attached at the hip to our partners. It definitely made for a humorous time! We would come to a fork in the path where we could go left or right and we would literally go in opposite directions and yank each other around. We had a decent time even though we got killed off early (our packs died after we had been shot 30 times) I found that it was actually more entertaining to watch because partners were literally dragging each other around.
All in all, a great night! I lasted until 7 a.m. easy and probably could have played another round (although I was quite happy that I didn't have to). I love working with youth!
And on that note, I get a slight position shift now that I'm halfway into my internship. One of our youth directors resigned in mid-December and there has been some shifting since that has happened. If you haven't already guessed, I love working with youth and it's my goal to be a youth pastor once I'm finished with seminary and everything. I have a strong background and therefore part of my role as the intern will now be to fill in as the interim youth director. So in other words, expect more crazy stories like this as the year continues. :)
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
It's a Beautiful Day...
Don't let it get away! (Those of you who are familiar with my U2 obsession knew it was only going to be so long before their song lyrics ended up on my blog)
January showers bring February flowers??? Well, that's apparently the case down here in the south. I found these earlier this week right next to the church. It just seems kind of wrong...
But I suppose I can't complain too much. Right now it is sunny and 70 degrees out. 70 degrees on February 22!!! It's crazy! This is something completely new to me! Also, take into account a week ago I was home in MN and I think it was about 5 degrees out when I landed. A 60 degree temperature swing is pretty extreme. Either way, I can't really find it in my heart to complain too much and I think I'm just going to stop typing and instead go out for a nice walk. :)
January showers bring February flowers??? Well, that's apparently the case down here in the south. I found these earlier this week right next to the church. It just seems kind of wrong...
But I suppose I can't complain too much. Right now it is sunny and 70 degrees out. 70 degrees on February 22!!! It's crazy! This is something completely new to me! Also, take into account a week ago I was home in MN and I think it was about 5 degrees out when I landed. A 60 degree temperature swing is pretty extreme. Either way, I can't really find it in my heart to complain too much and I think I'm just going to stop typing and instead go out for a nice walk. :)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Celebrating Death and Life
I've had my birthday fall on holidays before. President's Day is the usual one and it was always nice when that happened when I was in public school because it meant I got the day off. There was one year in college when it fell on Case Day (when a bunch of crazy college students try to drink a case of beer per individual in a 24 hour period) which provided great entertainment (all of my roommates had passed out by the time I was heading down to the bar and I didn't even get buzzed). Today my birthday fell on a different type of holiday, Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday is, in effect, the opposite of celebrating a birthday. It is the first day of Lent, a season of prayer, fasting, and repentance leading up to Easter. Ash Wednesday is the day that reminds us of our morality, our sin, and our need for a savior. Ashes, symbolizing our death, are used to mark our foreheads in the shape of a cross. As the ashes are placed on the forehead, we are told to "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Yeah, that's a far cry from the usual cheerful and obnoxious chorus of "happy birthday to you."
I find myself celebrating these two days that are held in paradox: the first day of my life and my last. And it's not as weird as it could be. Somehow it seems fitting that the start of this Lenten journey starts with my birthday. I remember hearing the phrase "as soon as you're born you start dying." However, in the midst of all of this, it is important to keep in mind what we are working toward, to keep in mind where the journey ends. The Lenten journey doesn't just end with Jesus' death on the cross, it ends with his resurrection from the dead. And I find myself reminded on this first day of Lent not only of my birth and my death but also of the rebirth that I will experience through the eternal life I have been promised through Jesus Christ. So even though it may seem morbid to remember my death on my birthday, it has served as an amazing reminder of all the gifts that I have been given in my life, the most important of those being the love of God.
Ash Wednesday is, in effect, the opposite of celebrating a birthday. It is the first day of Lent, a season of prayer, fasting, and repentance leading up to Easter. Ash Wednesday is the day that reminds us of our morality, our sin, and our need for a savior. Ashes, symbolizing our death, are used to mark our foreheads in the shape of a cross. As the ashes are placed on the forehead, we are told to "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Yeah, that's a far cry from the usual cheerful and obnoxious chorus of "happy birthday to you."
I find myself celebrating these two days that are held in paradox: the first day of my life and my last. And it's not as weird as it could be. Somehow it seems fitting that the start of this Lenten journey starts with my birthday. I remember hearing the phrase "as soon as you're born you start dying." However, in the midst of all of this, it is important to keep in mind what we are working toward, to keep in mind where the journey ends. The Lenten journey doesn't just end with Jesus' death on the cross, it ends with his resurrection from the dead. And I find myself reminded on this first day of Lent not only of my birth and my death but also of the rebirth that I will experience through the eternal life I have been promised through Jesus Christ. So even though it may seem morbid to remember my death on my birthday, it has served as an amazing reminder of all the gifts that I have been given in my life, the most important of those being the love of God.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Homecoming
This past weekend found me in a semi-unfamiliar place. I went home after being in NC for six months now. It was a busy weekend filled with interviews and meetings that I knew were going to have quite the impact on my future, not only my future at Luther but my future beyond it. It seems like I shouldn't have to start thinking about my year back quite yet but then again, I handed in my six month eval the day before I flew home. And it was a great visit. The meetings and interviews were affirming. It was also great seeing friends and family.
I wandered the Luther campus part of two of the days I was home due to meetings and coffee dates. It was actually fun watching people do double takes when they realized, wait a minute, she's supposed to be in NC and not here (and sorry to those who I didn't get to see). I didn't really plan much on the Luther side but the meetings were very fortuitous and I was happy to see old friends and hear how they were doing. Many of them were either dealing with internship interviews or anxiously awaiting assignment (where the graduating class is told where they are going for their first call). And here I am, caught between those two life changing moments. I actually was on campus exactly a year after I had interview with Scott for Christ Lutheran. Who would have thought a year ago that I'd be here now? And who knows where I'll be in another year from now?
What this visit really reminded me was how dynamic life is and how it's constantly changing. Up until I went home, I never really had anything to measure change by. Everything was unfamiliar here and no one really knew me well when I started. But going home really helped me put in perspective. I have been in school for the past 20 some years and I happen to "do school" well. I know how to study, write papers, use my time wisely, and do a lot at once. But being at Luther I realized that though I am looking forward to my senior year, to taking certain classes with certain professors, to being reunited with all my friends who are on internships all over the country, I actually could be perfectly happy if I didn't go back to school again and just stuck it out in a parish. Granted, that's not necessarily an option because I want my degree more than anything mainly so I can serve at a church as a pastor. But, I realized in a big way that I am ready for assignment, I'm ready to be more than an intern. And I realized that I am chasing the right dream.
Despite all the interviews, meetings, and general soul searching, I did manage to have a really good time. I got to eat at Old Chicago and Chipotle, drink some Leinikugels, hang out in Uptown, listen to good German polka music at Gasthoff's, have a great time with friends and family, and be reminded that some things never change like the love of the God and the love of the family and friends that will always make me call MN my home.
I wandered the Luther campus part of two of the days I was home due to meetings and coffee dates. It was actually fun watching people do double takes when they realized, wait a minute, she's supposed to be in NC and not here (and sorry to those who I didn't get to see). I didn't really plan much on the Luther side but the meetings were very fortuitous and I was happy to see old friends and hear how they were doing. Many of them were either dealing with internship interviews or anxiously awaiting assignment (where the graduating class is told where they are going for their first call). And here I am, caught between those two life changing moments. I actually was on campus exactly a year after I had interview with Scott for Christ Lutheran. Who would have thought a year ago that I'd be here now? And who knows where I'll be in another year from now?
What this visit really reminded me was how dynamic life is and how it's constantly changing. Up until I went home, I never really had anything to measure change by. Everything was unfamiliar here and no one really knew me well when I started. But going home really helped me put in perspective. I have been in school for the past 20 some years and I happen to "do school" well. I know how to study, write papers, use my time wisely, and do a lot at once. But being at Luther I realized that though I am looking forward to my senior year, to taking certain classes with certain professors, to being reunited with all my friends who are on internships all over the country, I actually could be perfectly happy if I didn't go back to school again and just stuck it out in a parish. Granted, that's not necessarily an option because I want my degree more than anything mainly so I can serve at a church as a pastor. But, I realized in a big way that I am ready for assignment, I'm ready to be more than an intern. And I realized that I am chasing the right dream.
Despite all the interviews, meetings, and general soul searching, I did manage to have a really good time. I got to eat at Old Chicago and Chipotle, drink some Leinikugels, hang out in Uptown, listen to good German polka music at Gasthoff's, have a great time with friends and family, and be reminded that some things never change like the love of the God and the love of the family and friends that will always make me call MN my home.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Oops, Ouch, and Oooh!
Weekend Getaway = High School Ski Retreat to Winterplace in WV!
It was the quite the weekend! I found myself as a chaperon with 51 high schoolers and adult chaperons on the way to Winterplace in WV for weekend of fun snow related activities. And it was a weekend for the books. To start off, I was assigned to the cabin with a good chunk of the senior girls who had requested me as their cabin leader. They were a wonderful group of girls and I was amazed at the amount of junk food they all brought for the five of us (goldfish, popcorn, laffy taffy, cookie dough, etc.).
Saturday was the a day full of activity. We got to the slopes early in an attempt to avoid the long lines of other groups attempting to ski and snowboard. It went relatively fast and soon enough, I had my snowboard and was ready to go. I've been snowboarding a few other times and have been able to do a decent job. However, today was a different story. Between the crowds and my desire to not run over anyone, I was more cautious and I fell more than I usually do resulting in one pretty beat up leg and a large bruise right on the knee. Basically, I'm still sore today. But, it was near perfect conditions with it being a brisk enough day to keep the snow powdery and still warm enough to work up a sweat. And despite the crowds and the falls, I still had a great time as did the kids!
Saturday also presented a surprise in the lodge where I would hang out when I needed a break. They had karaoke! And I found out that the people on American Idol that are horrible, probably aren't faking it. They probably think they are good. I heard some people sing that had no business picking up a mic. But we cheered for them anyway because as Jeff said, they are someone's kid and because given the wrong song, it's easy to make a fool of yourself. Case in point: our youth conspired and suddenly I found myself on stage with Jeff, the youth director and Pastor Jon ready to sing a mystery song that they had picked out for us. The song = Oops, I Did It Again by Britney Spears (shudder, shudder). We were forced to make the best of a bad situation and since none of us really knew how to sing the verses (which is probably a good sign) we relied mainly on the chorus to get people into it. And we made the best of a bad situation and hammed it up, more for our cheering youth than anything. So, we survived karaoke a la Britney Spears and managed to have a good time. However, I think I'm going to have that stupid song stuck in my head for weeks now.
The weekend was also full of great "God Moments" as we call them. Moments when we see and feel God's presence. Those moments were numerous for me this weekend.
First, I've lived in cities the past three years. This means that due to light pollution, the stars get washed out. I still look up and smile when I see Orion. But being someplace like Pipestem State Park where lights are few and far between means great star gazing. And as I looked up I found my breath being taken away. There's nothing quite like it, being reminded of how small you are and at the same time, being reminded of the Creator of this all who loves you enough to come to earth and die for you. And along with that, being in the mountains with snow everywhere and a brilliant sunrise. Good stuff!
The second was during our Saturday night devotions. It is a candle ceremony where each of us sits with a candle in front of us. Each person is asked to come and light separate a candle off of the Christ candle in the center of the circle and then go and light someone's candle and say a prayer for them. The lights are turned off and the room starts off relatively dark but it slowly lights up as people's candles are lit and prayers are said for people. And it's something that I love watching. I know some of the stories behind the lit candles. One of the youth taught a couple of people how to snowboard. Others shared a cabin together and got this chance to connect for the first time. Others are old friends looking to affirm their friendship. Some are new friends who have found unexpected common ground. Some jump at the first chance to light someone's candle because they know they have to light that particular candle. Others wait to the end in order to make sure no one's left out. And somehow it all works. Every candle gets lit and a prayer is said for every person in the group. And we are all connected through that Christ candle in the center. What started out as a dark room suddenly was aglow with the candle light signifying that we are not alone, that we are all connected through Christ, and that through his light we are able to reflect that light to others in ways we may not expect.
So all in all, the perfect weekend getaway. Embarrassing pictures will be forthcoming (my camera battery died but worry not, the youth took plenty of pictures of Jeff, Jon, and me singing).
It was the quite the weekend! I found myself as a chaperon with 51 high schoolers and adult chaperons on the way to Winterplace in WV for weekend of fun snow related activities. And it was a weekend for the books. To start off, I was assigned to the cabin with a good chunk of the senior girls who had requested me as their cabin leader. They were a wonderful group of girls and I was amazed at the amount of junk food they all brought for the five of us (goldfish, popcorn, laffy taffy, cookie dough, etc.).
Saturday was the a day full of activity. We got to the slopes early in an attempt to avoid the long lines of other groups attempting to ski and snowboard. It went relatively fast and soon enough, I had my snowboard and was ready to go. I've been snowboarding a few other times and have been able to do a decent job. However, today was a different story. Between the crowds and my desire to not run over anyone, I was more cautious and I fell more than I usually do resulting in one pretty beat up leg and a large bruise right on the knee. Basically, I'm still sore today. But, it was near perfect conditions with it being a brisk enough day to keep the snow powdery and still warm enough to work up a sweat. And despite the crowds and the falls, I still had a great time as did the kids!
Saturday also presented a surprise in the lodge where I would hang out when I needed a break. They had karaoke! And I found out that the people on American Idol that are horrible, probably aren't faking it. They probably think they are good. I heard some people sing that had no business picking up a mic. But we cheered for them anyway because as Jeff said, they are someone's kid and because given the wrong song, it's easy to make a fool of yourself. Case in point: our youth conspired and suddenly I found myself on stage with Jeff, the youth director and Pastor Jon ready to sing a mystery song that they had picked out for us. The song = Oops, I Did It Again by Britney Spears (shudder, shudder). We were forced to make the best of a bad situation and since none of us really knew how to sing the verses (which is probably a good sign) we relied mainly on the chorus to get people into it. And we made the best of a bad situation and hammed it up, more for our cheering youth than anything. So, we survived karaoke a la Britney Spears and managed to have a good time. However, I think I'm going to have that stupid song stuck in my head for weeks now.
The weekend was also full of great "God Moments" as we call them. Moments when we see and feel God's presence. Those moments were numerous for me this weekend.
First, I've lived in cities the past three years. This means that due to light pollution, the stars get washed out. I still look up and smile when I see Orion. But being someplace like Pipestem State Park where lights are few and far between means great star gazing. And as I looked up I found my breath being taken away. There's nothing quite like it, being reminded of how small you are and at the same time, being reminded of the Creator of this all who loves you enough to come to earth and die for you. And along with that, being in the mountains with snow everywhere and a brilliant sunrise. Good stuff!
The second was during our Saturday night devotions. It is a candle ceremony where each of us sits with a candle in front of us. Each person is asked to come and light separate a candle off of the Christ candle in the center of the circle and then go and light someone's candle and say a prayer for them. The lights are turned off and the room starts off relatively dark but it slowly lights up as people's candles are lit and prayers are said for people. And it's something that I love watching. I know some of the stories behind the lit candles. One of the youth taught a couple of people how to snowboard. Others shared a cabin together and got this chance to connect for the first time. Others are old friends looking to affirm their friendship. Some are new friends who have found unexpected common ground. Some jump at the first chance to light someone's candle because they know they have to light that particular candle. Others wait to the end in order to make sure no one's left out. And somehow it all works. Every candle gets lit and a prayer is said for every person in the group. And we are all connected through that Christ candle in the center. What started out as a dark room suddenly was aglow with the candle light signifying that we are not alone, that we are all connected through Christ, and that through his light we are able to reflect that light to others in ways we may not expect.
So all in all, the perfect weekend getaway. Embarrassing pictures will be forthcoming (my camera battery died but worry not, the youth took plenty of pictures of Jeff, Jon, and me singing).
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Tough Texts
A wise senior at seminary once told me that preaching on a text that challenges you is a good thing to do. Well, I took his words to heart and chose to preach on this text this weekend. We are in the middle of a sermon series on the prophets and I decided to preach on Amos. We knew that a choir from the Romanian Gypsy Village was going to be in town. Christ Lutheran has been going on mission trips to there through The Smiles Foundation for I think six years now so it's near and dear to our church's heart. I chose Amos because he's known as one of the most outspoken prophets when it comes to "justice." Plus, we had preached on Micah 6:8 (do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your Lord) about two months ago.
"Let justice flow like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream." Pretty verse, right? However, getting this whole text to preach was a challenge for me. There's a lot of law in here (you've been doing this, this, and this wrong and are in bad shape in the eyes of God) and not a whole lot of Gospel (God loves us even though we suck because of what Jesus did on the cross).
And for some reason, on this one, I had a hard time finding my voice. I knew that I wanted and needed to tie in Romania to the sermon. One of the great things about where I work is there are lots of chances to throw out ideas to lots of people with lots of great insights. However, this time I got too much and therefore I went into the sermon thinking I had to do a lot and cover a lot of ground. When I finished my first draft my sermon was a mess. I had the law, Gospel, some personal stories, and I knew what the focus of my sermon was. But I had too much going on because I felt that I had to get everyone's agendas in there. So, somewhere in there the focus had become fuzzy.
However, I think God never meant for us to face these challenges alone. First things first, we have God to lean on when we are having a hard time and I do trust that if I would have gone to bat with the original draft of that sermon, that his Spirit would have found some way to use the words that I preached to do the work of the Lord. And I trusted that God had been present throughout the entire process of writing the sermon. However, I needed some outside help this time around. And that help I found in two friends, one who is another pastor in the church and the other a good friend who also happens to be very interested in religion and, as he put it, "good at making order out of chaos." Both gave me helpful feedback and helped me par down the length and put the pieces in good order by asking simple questions such as what is your point, what is the focus. And with those questions I was able to articulate, "The only way we can do justice and let justice flow out of our lives like a river is if we go back to the source of it all, Jesus."
And off I went. The sermon then needed some rearranging, some new transitions, and some deletions. Then I was ready to go and I felt about 10 times better about my sermon and was able to bring my best game to the pulpit on Sunday.
This week I was reminded that I have friends that are willing to help me on this internship in any way they can. I was reminded that challenges sometimes aren't always there to prove how strong and independent we are but to remind us how much we need the people around us.
"Let justice flow like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream." Pretty verse, right? However, getting this whole text to preach was a challenge for me. There's a lot of law in here (you've been doing this, this, and this wrong and are in bad shape in the eyes of God) and not a whole lot of Gospel (God loves us even though we suck because of what Jesus did on the cross).
And for some reason, on this one, I had a hard time finding my voice. I knew that I wanted and needed to tie in Romania to the sermon. One of the great things about where I work is there are lots of chances to throw out ideas to lots of people with lots of great insights. However, this time I got too much and therefore I went into the sermon thinking I had to do a lot and cover a lot of ground. When I finished my first draft my sermon was a mess. I had the law, Gospel, some personal stories, and I knew what the focus of my sermon was. But I had too much going on because I felt that I had to get everyone's agendas in there. So, somewhere in there the focus had become fuzzy.
However, I think God never meant for us to face these challenges alone. First things first, we have God to lean on when we are having a hard time and I do trust that if I would have gone to bat with the original draft of that sermon, that his Spirit would have found some way to use the words that I preached to do the work of the Lord. And I trusted that God had been present throughout the entire process of writing the sermon. However, I needed some outside help this time around. And that help I found in two friends, one who is another pastor in the church and the other a good friend who also happens to be very interested in religion and, as he put it, "good at making order out of chaos." Both gave me helpful feedback and helped me par down the length and put the pieces in good order by asking simple questions such as what is your point, what is the focus. And with those questions I was able to articulate, "The only way we can do justice and let justice flow out of our lives like a river is if we go back to the source of it all, Jesus."
And off I went. The sermon then needed some rearranging, some new transitions, and some deletions. Then I was ready to go and I felt about 10 times better about my sermon and was able to bring my best game to the pulpit on Sunday.
This week I was reminded that I have friends that are willing to help me on this internship in any way they can. I was reminded that challenges sometimes aren't always there to prove how strong and independent we are but to remind us how much we need the people around us.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
My Soundtrack II
Here's the rest of my songs for the soundtrack of my life. This list has some of my favorites so enjoy!
1. Nothing Left to Lose - Mat Kearney
2. Breathe - Michelle Branch
3. Typical - Mute Math
4. In Christ Alone - Newsboys
5. Hey Ya - Outkast
6. Time Is Running Out - Papa Roach
7. O Worship the King - Passion
8. Rain - Patti Griffin
9. Be My Escape - Relient K
10. Let Love Be Your Energy - Robbie Williams
11. Closing Time - Semisonic
12. Today - Smashing Pumpkins
13. Chocolate - Snow Patrol
14. Come On Back To Me - Third Day
15. Drops of Jupiter - Train
16. Walk On - U2
17. Invitacion Fountain - Vineyard
18. Undone (The Sweater Song) - Weezer
1. Nothing Left to Lose - Mat Kearney
2. Breathe - Michelle Branch
3. Typical - Mute Math
4. In Christ Alone - Newsboys
5. Hey Ya - Outkast
6. Time Is Running Out - Papa Roach
7. O Worship the King - Passion
8. Rain - Patti Griffin
9. Be My Escape - Relient K
10. Let Love Be Your Energy - Robbie Williams
11. Closing Time - Semisonic
12. Today - Smashing Pumpkins
13. Chocolate - Snow Patrol
14. Come On Back To Me - Third Day
15. Drops of Jupiter - Train
16. Walk On - U2
17. Invitacion Fountain - Vineyard
18. Undone (The Sweater Song) - Weezer
Monday, February 05, 2007
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Snow Day!
Snow, in North Carolina?!?!?! Believe it or not, it snowed here this morning! Probably about an inch and a half! Now I was told that when snow is in the forecast, people start freaking it. Well, I got to see this first hand and it's awesome! Bread and milk completely gone at the grocery store, schools, churches, and businesses canceled. It's crazy! If it were in MN, this would have been one hefty can't-see-three-feet-in-front-of-you blizzard to do all of this! :) Granted, it's turned to freezing rain already which is admittedly much worse than snow...
But alas, I'm preaching this weekend so I can't really take the day off. It's a working snow day for me.
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