Favorite Pictures of Late

A picnic:

A baby:

A swim:

A friend:

A clean closet (before and after):

A houseguest:

 

A sweet morning:

A sweet evening:

A sweet moment:

This last picture was taken yesterday in Macon.  Because my dad is apparently the man, and because he and mom always stay involved in teenagers' lives, and because he is the landscaper and unofficial griller for my high school, the Senior class voted to dedicate the yearbook to him.  It has to go to a faculty member, but so many students wrote in his name that the administration decided to do a joint presentation.  It was a big surprise, and Greg, the kids, and me even came in town to be a part of the surprise.  The headmaster had lured Dad on campus and then a student invited him to sit in on the Senior assembly.  They didn't announce who the yearbook was dedicated to; they just started the slide show, and all of a sudden, my dad saw all of these pictures of himself throughout his life, followed by a standing ovation from the room, and seeing us all come up on stage.  Needless to say, it was an emotional experience for him.  Luke was so excited about surprising Granddaddy that he escaped my grip, took off across the stage and met dad in the middle of the stage for a big hug.  One of the Senior guys took this picture and put it on my dad's facebook page. 

So needless to say, life is pretty good right now.  We have been surrounded by family, friends, new babies, and happy surprises!  I hope all is well with you, too!

Spring Retreat 2010

Yesterday, we got back from the youth ministry's annual Spring Retreat at a beautiful campground in the mountains upstate.  I could go on and on about the retreat, but I will instead simply discuss my two favorite parts:

1.  The theme.

Like all of our Spring Retreat themes, Greg and I brainstormed this one on a road trip, this one either during the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays.  My favorite themes are the ones that are both deep and shallow at the same time.  They are deep in that they address core issues with which the teens struggle, and they are shallow in that they have a lot of fun stuff that can go along with them.  My favorite theme ever, for example, was "The Reborn Identity," which we did in 2006, a year in which one of the Bourne sequels came out.  The messages centered around our true identity in Christ, something the teens really needed at that time,  And alongside the profound message also came a lot of fun stuff:  a killer intro video Greg made of clips from several spy movies that centered around identity; note-taking booklets designed as dossiers; silly spy-type names for our regular events, like calling quiet time "Solo Ops;" and an ongoing, weekend-long game of Assassins, which was tons of fun.

We came up with this year's theme after deciding that what our kids needed to hear was how and why to stretch their comfort zones.  Greg came up with, "Pop," and it initially seemed silly to me, until I realized the potential.  We could talk about "Pop Culture," but use pop as a verb instead of a shortened adjective, and talk about the need to get outside of the "bubble" reality that culture creates for us!  Once I caught up with Greg's genius, the rest came together quickly.  To the "Pop Culture" message, we added two other sessions:  "Pop Cliques," and "Pop Comfort."  Those are three successively smaller bubbles in which we find ourselves, and even more importantly, they are three points that all start with C!  (I have heard waaay too many traditional sermons in my life.  I now think in 3 point, alliterative sermons:).)  And furthermore, I was just as excited by all the shallow ways we could develop the theme.  Pop Rocks!  Bubbles!  Bubble gum!  Balloons!  Tootsie Roll Pops!  Needless to say, we played many games involving popping balloons and blowing and popping bubble gum bubbles, and we put plenty of "popping" treats in the kids'   We had the same speaker from "The Reborn Identity" back for "Pop," because we knew that this theme had the potential to be deep.  Shawn has a Masters in divinity, and is a great teacher, and we knew he'd do a great job conveying the theme, which he did.

So needless to say, I loved the theme.  Truly, one of my joys in life is to help Greg develop a good theme.  He comes up with the best ones himself, but I help him flesh them out.

2.  The fact that my kids had a blast.

In the past, I have been torn between the youth ministry and my kids.  It seemed like I could not properly focus on one without neglecting the other.  Of course, I usually chose my kids, but even the times that I did drag them along on a retreat or camp, I felt bad b/c it seemed like I was somehow neglecting them.  This year, I had no such qualms.  They loved every second of the retreat, and they did NOT want to leave.  They spent the weekend chasing geese, picking flowers (Anna), trying to climb trees (Luke), playing on playgrounds, and having fun with the kids.  They loved getting to spend so much time outside, and I loved that they were surrounded by such beautiful nature.  The best part, though, was that our speaker brought his four year old son, who is just six months older than Luke.  Lucas was soon christened as Luke's "best friend."  And Lucas was referring to Luke and Anna as "his friends" before he even met them.

Shopping for last minute supplies on Friday.

Helping a straggling Anna after she had fallen behind.  You do remember that she is a princess, right?:)

Taking a walk in the field while eating Tootsie Roll pops.

Spending aLOT of time chasing the goose.  Whenever the kids got tired and wandered off, the goose would start chasing them to get them back interested in the game:).

Perhaps the biggest sign of the kids' comraderie was the sleeping arrangements for both nights.  Here were my bed-mates:

Yep.  I spent two nights sleeping with a 2 year old, a 3 year old, and a 4 year old on two twin beds pushed together!  It wasn't the best sleep that I've ever gotten, but they actually did surprisingly well.  Let's just say though, that when I woke up on Mother's Day in a bed full of toddlers, one of which was lying across me at the time, I certainly felt like a mother!

Throughout the weekend, Luke repeatedly told me that he did NOT want to go home, but on Sunday morning, he finally asked, "Can we go home now?" while eating breakfast in the mess hall.  I thought, "Whew!  He's finally ready.  But nope.  I soon realized that by "home," he meant that he wanted to go back to our cabin and play around the tree!  He bawled like a baby when Lucas left.

So, it was a great retreat.  I can only hope that the teens got as much out of the theme as I did, and that they enjoyed the nature and the fellowship as much as my children did!

"Why I Relate to Tiger Woods"

I do not put Christian stickers on my car.

No Jesus fish, no pithy saying about God...I won't even put a Lipscomb University sticker on it, despite the fact that they actually sent us some awhile back. "Why?" you ask. Well, let me tell you.

It's not because I have uncontrollable road rage or want to flip people off anonymously; it's because I do stupid things as a driver. I might pull out in front of someone, I might forget to put a signal on, I might even jump a curb on occasion (seriously, those things come out of nowhere!). And I really don't want to infuriate someone with my idiocy, and have them link my stupidity to my religious beliefs.

Because that's what people do. I do it myself; I totally tend to judge belief systems by the actions of the individuals holding them, as dumb and wrong as that may be. An Islamic terrorist blows up a building, and I think, "Those Muslims. How can anyone believe in such a violent religion?" The pope gets caught up in a pedophilia scandal, and I think, "Ugh, Catholics. How could you still believe in the papacy when your Pope does things like that?" A member of a political party does something despicable, and I think, "Those Democrats/Republicans! Why would anyone want to be associated with such liberalism/conservatism!" And yes, I have seen crazy drivers swerve in front of me with their "In God We Trust" license plate and have said, "Yeah, you better be trusting in God! You're going to meet Him soon if you keep that up. [Sigh.] Christians." That all kind of goes back to me being a bad person, but I know other people think that way, too. And the fact is, I can't drive perfectly, so I figure it's best to leave God off of my car.

But here's the thing: I can't live perfectly, either. And more and more, I'm realizing that in my life, I have two different settings, and I see people in two different ways. There are the People I'm Trying To Reach For Christ...and then there's everyone else. When I'm around the People I'm Trying to Reach, I have my "game face" on. I try to be "above reproach." I think of myself as an ambassador for Christ. And yeah, I like to think that I act that way all the time, but the truth is, I often don't. For example, when a store clerk is reaching new heights of incompetence, is my primary thought a concern for her soul, or is it a concern that she understands through my body language and silence that this is not an acceptable level of service? When I am at our Mommy and Me gatherings talking among women who don't share my beliefs about God, am I 100% focused on the fact that I am an ambassador for Christ, or do I let my guard down and let gossipy or negative stuff come out?

The truth is, it's a lot of pressure to be a representative of Christ. It takes a lot of restraint and self-sacrifice to be like Christ all the time (even when I'm talking to an infuriating cell phone company representative). And that's why I relate to Tiger Woods...and to John Edwards and Mark Sanford, and so forth and so on (wow, did you ever notice that it is usually men who get themselves into public trouble?). Anyway, I often hear people say, "They are just men! Most men in this world do those type of things; why should we expect these guys to be any different?" They talk about society's double standard in such matters. And society usually responds by saying, "Yes, but in choosing to be a public figure, these guys signed up for a higher standard. If they didn't want people holding them accountable for their private lives, they should have thought of that before they became public figures!"

That's how it is for us Christians. Yes, it is not fair that I can't complain about to a store manager about a self-contradictory coupon policy, or argue with a waitress because she brought out the wrong thing. But Phil. 2:14 tells me to do everything without complaining and arguing. And Jesus tells me to spread the Gospel, and Paul tells me to be an ambassador of Christ, and frankly, it's hard to be a shining light when you are honking at the idiot in front of you, glaring at an inept cashier, or even snapping at your children in public. As an American, I have the right to do those things; as a Christian, I don't. Every person with whom I come into contact is a Person I'm Trying To Reach for Christ. Every person deserves my 100% effort in trying to act like Jesus. It is hard, yes, and "unfair," yes, but that's what I signed up for when I became a Christian.

But I'm still not putting a Jesus fish on my car. Trust me when I say that God does not want to be associated with my driving!:)