"What are those crazy white people doin' now?"

I love my new church. I'm getting to know people and I just got hooked into a new small group. CWC is definitely a multi-ethnic church, in fact, most of the kids I have for Kid's Church are African American. 

So Sunday was my first small group. And I met Alex. Alex cracks me up. He's just Alex. God-filled, slightly random, dreadlocks flying everywhere and hysterical. Here's a story he told in the middle of Bible study:

"So today we were at the beach and I was taking a nap and when I woke up, there were these people who had taken the volleyball net down and put up a tighrope and they were tightrope walking...for real! And my first thought, I hope this doesn't offend anyone, was 'What are those crazy white people doin' now?'"

I laughed so hard it hurt. He actually went and tried tightrope walking, but well, the rest of the story involves hand gestures, facial expressions and sound effects so you'll just have to wait until I see you again to act it out. 

PS: I didn't have the nerve to tell him that random tightrope walking is SO a white person thing since all the Midwestern boys I went to college with would randomly pull out a rope and start doing it.

Homecoming

Well, Homecoming for my high school was last Saturday so I was able to cash in on the free alumni BBQ as well as get in the game free as a teacher. Woohoo!

Our team won which was exciting since we were playing our archrivals (can two Christian schools really be rivals?). In addition, we crowned the Homecoming King and Queen, saw the class floats and went to the after party...okay, I didn't go to the after party but there was one. 

Here are some pictures from last night...okay a picture. Me with my signature "Don't blink, don't blink, oh nuts, I blinked!" look and two of my lovely students.

High School Blues

So unlike teaching 5th grade where I just listened to the 20 minute play by play of a soccer game, in high school, I'm expected to go to the games. Now I like sports, I'm not a hater, but I get bored very easily and I don't really know anyone at the games. 

Both a blessing and a curse, the international students have a difficult time getting into sports due to the high liability so I only have a few students in sports. 

Last night I went to J's game. He's #84. And this is what I saw...

Yep. That's it. He stood on the sidelines the whole time. I felt bad. I mean, you can't come up and say, "Good job! You stood so well the whole time!" and it's awkward to say, "So you not practice or something?" Even more awkward the star player of the JV game also shares the same number so you get really excited only to realize it wasn't J at all. 

So I just fall back on the neutral, "Did you see me at the game?" on Monday morning to let him know I was there.  Hopefully next time he'll actually play and I'll have something to congradulate him on. 

Purpose

I have not yet achieved "Shaun-like" status

Well, it's been a month since I last posted so I thought I'd catch you (aka Jen!) up on what's been going on in my life and what God's been revealing to me.

Being a part of Palm Valley for three years, I served in the Kid's ministry very faithfully.

Starting to attend a new church, I knew I had to get hooked into the children's ministry right away. Now, you must understand, I worked under several kid's ministers, one of which was Dave Ellis, an incredibly meticulous, detailed kind of guy. The last week I served at PVC we were running 800 kids per weekend. So you can imagine my apprehension walking into the kid's ministry room with 40 kids, three adults, footballs and frisbees flying everywhere.

I made myself helpful and available, open and respectful to the children's pastor and his wife who are new to kid's ministry and completely understaffed. The volunteers who did show up were unbelievably unprepared, literally and spiritually. I was frustrated those first few weeks and often called friends from my old Home Team to gripe.

Finally, Lea, aka my spiritual kick in the rear, said to me something to the effect of, "When else would this church have someone walk in the door who has served in an amazing kid's ministry for three years who is a teacher by profession say to them, 'I'll do anything. Sign me up.' You are there for a purpose that no one else could fill." I was stunned. She was right.

So, I dug it. I was consistent and faithful and finally got a chance to do something as part of the service. You know when you are so used to the mundane that when you see the wonderful, you can't turn back? Well, after the second week of me being part of the service, the children's pastor called all his volunteers and gave them an ultimatum: either you show up prepared and ready to serve these kids or you don't come at all. Next week, no one showed for second service except me.

The last few weeks serving have been amazing. I've learned how to take authority (even if I disagree) and pray for God to move despite problems. And what do you know? God shows up and does His thing. I've learned to be a bit more dramatic, make kids laugh at my expense and preach the Word as much as possible. Although I have not yet achieved Shaun-like status(no prat falls or elaborate costumes yet), I'm finding that I have a laser-sharp focus every Sunday walking in that door.

• I'm here to encourage a pastor who was weary and overwhelmed.


• I'm here to inspire volunteers to dig in and make service a priority.


• I'm here to love on kids who need a hug and know for sure someone notices them.


• I'm here to say, "Girl, you look cute!" to the girl with the worst hairdo on the planet


• I'm here to hold A tight after his autism spectrum disorder just makes kid's church too hard to handle and he needs to feel safe.


• I'm here to make sure the balls from the pool table don't go flying through the window.


• I'm here to make sure everyone gets a turn and no one gets left out.


• I'm here to be less of me and more of Him.