...I am a copy cat...

Ok, so I read on a friends blog the list of Ten Things You Would Never Hear Her Say and I thought it was brilliant (although very simple...so maybe I am dumb and non-creative) so I wanted to do it too...

Ten Things You Probably Will Never Hear Me Say by Brent Spead

1. Yeah, you can just do so much more with a PC....

2. Let's go hang out at the nursing home in the Alzheimer wing...

3. Does that come in decaf?

4. How many calories is in that?

5. Lactose is the best thing in the whole world...

6. Yeah, people are great but I just trust cats more...

7. I should have bought a Kia....

8. Matt? No, I don't know anyone named Matt...

9. Mountain dew? No thanks, do you have any Diet Dr. Pepper?

10. You know, I can't remember the last time I saw a talking animal movie...we need more of those...

And there ya have it...ramblings of a tired mind who is trying to multi-task. Time to get my comforter out of the dryer...

Multi-tasking

So what is the deal with multi-tasking? I think the verdict is still out as to whether or not it is a good thing or a bad thing. I really really enjoy engaging in multiple things at the same time. Take now for instance...I have iTunes going. I am also talking to three people on AIM one person on SMS and I am blogging....while my wash is in the dryer. Doesn't this sound like a good thing to most people? I am gettting sooooo much done. Also, since I have been boycotting my Aderrol for about 3 months and I love it.

My team may not love it though. Sometimes when I am in meetings I get up and walk in circles. Other times I lay down on the ground and stare up at people. Random musicals run through my head. I kid you know, I started singing a song from Camelot which was sung by Robert Goulet in a meeting the other day. But all this is beside the point...multi-tasking...good or bad?

When thinking about this I sometimes wonder what Jesus' time looked like. I mean, I know when he was with his Father he was with his Father. I know when he was preaching the sermon the mount, he was preaching. But did Jesus ever multi-task? Did he ever do multiple things? I don't see him as ever being rushed. You never see Jesus saying, "gtg (or whatever the Hebrew letters are) I have something I gotta get to in Gaza."

Then again, we never read about Jesus eating (other than Passover) or doing his laundry, or blogging....lol...I would follow that blog. I dunno what the answer is. I dunno if I am over thinking. Or maybe, I am just blogging for the sake of blogging....you be the judge...

Am I Dumb?

It is almost 1:30 in the morning...I am about to be on my way to Coral Reef. Why? Cuz there is a hottub there and the guys want to go. I am going to regret this tomorrow. Yawn...

Kiss and Tell

Ok...I felt obligated to write about this following a conversation I had with a female today. She was telling me about an awkward first date and how the guy kissed her goodnight at the end of the evening, but she said she wasn't into it. Being pushy and not totally getting her meaning I asked her to explain. What came next was the absolute antonym of a kiss (in my opinion).

Said suitor was saying goodnight for the evening and went in to embrace my female friend. After a brief hug, they went to seperate from each other. Once they were about 8 inches apart the male pulls the female back in for a connection of lips. I was more than shocked. I felt obligated to explain to her...and now you (whoever you is...) how that is in no way a kiss. I have come up with my own criteria for what a first kiss must include.

1. Eye contact: There must be at least 3 second of uninterrupted eye contact within 30 seconds of the kiss.
2. A meeting in the middle: Guys need to go the majority of the way and allow the female to finish the remaining short distance. If a guy pulls the woman in, they are not allowing her to do her part and the kiss is one sided and more of a mouth rape.
3. I am not sure what three is but it seems like kissing should have more than 2 criteria right?

All that being said...gentleman...come on. If you are gonna kiss a girl, don't take advantage of hug proximity to overpower a female and pull them in for an awkward exchange of lip skin. Be a man and either get shot down or win the prize. None of this cheating crap...alright?

Hard Days Night

Ministry is friggin hard. Remember when things were easy? I remember, when I was younger, my mom would pick out my clothes for me AND make my lunch. The hardest thing I had to do was to get out of bed AFTER she woke me up. But now we have to do things like balance love and discipline. We have to walk a line where people can share their short-comings with us and we support them in their attempts and figure out how to love them in their rebellion.

What is love when someone doesn't think what they are doing is wrong? How do you love a kid while they are blatantly living outside of God's guidelines for their own safety? I am not a parent, but some kids today don't have parents. Who rebukes? Who loves? Who comforts? Who restricts? I don't know. How can I have been doing youth ministry for 7 years and feel like I know so little?

My heart breaks for these kids, seeing the things they are going through outside of their control. My heart breaks to see the decisions they choose to do sometimes. What can be done? What can change? Where is there hope?

At then end of the day, I know a few things to be true. In no particular order....Hope is found in Jesus alone. Hope for change (sorry Obama). Hope for peace. Hope for character. God has not called me to be the changer of all things negative in youth culture. God has shared His heart with me for specific teens. He has given me hope for them even if they have none for themselves. He has given me His heart so that I might share it with them....period. Jesus poured into Judas for 3 years; what did Judas do? He betrayed Jesus and handed him over to die. We say that so easily, but if one of my guys betrayed me and I died because of it people would not take that lightly, but we do...why is that?

God has called me to love. God has called me to follow His voice. God has called me to be faithful to His plans for my life, not His plans for their lives. Give me the wisdom to see the difference.

...all time low?

So it is late and I probably should be going to bed. But I believe the protocols of bloggers include the requirement that you do it late at night or avoiding something you should be doing (i.e. studying or sleeping). So in the spirit of true blogging...here I am. Have you ever debated which scenario is worse in your head and then you realized that the worse case scenario might be the debate? Take for example my current predicament...
I went kayaking yesterday in the Keys. Being that I am brilliant, I failed to put on sun screen. Also in line with my brilliance, I thought it would be a good chance to get some of the white shininess out of my thighs so I hiked up my shorts. My knees and formally vibrant thighs are now the color of a lobster covered in tomato sauce. However, since my position barely changed during the trek through the mangroves, my legs look like candy canes.
I was debating what was worse, this, or the fact that I found my friends argument compelling today as to why I should go read the Twilight series. I don't even remember the logic behind this encouraged purchase, but I remember thinking it was good at the time.
As I sat here in bed finishing up some work for tomorrow, I was debating which was worse. But the truth? I apparently have too much free time because I am debating which is worse, my sun burnt candy-cane stems, or the idea of reading a series of books targeted at young teenage girls.
Life apparently is not short...

...the beginning of the end...

I wonder how frequently I will actually do this. I feel like most people who take the time to blog are one of two things: a good writer or a depressed teenage girl. Since I am neither of those things...what am I doing here? For a while it seemed that "journaling" was all the rage. If you did not journal then you were not a good christian. Clearly Jesus and the 12 disciples would sit at Starbucks every morning at 5 AM with their Message Remix and their moleskin journal just waiting for the inspiration to come out.
Now that my page is drenched in sarcasm, I feel that I can proceed. I don't know what this is. I don't expect to know anytime soon. I don't even think people will ever see it. But...it helps me process. God is more than I know now. I want to process what He is doing in my life and use this as a way to work through things....I am tired...time to sleep....