Fried Egg & Cheese

So today for lunch, I decided to go a little homemade. I fried up an egg, put some cheese on it, in an attempt at making an omelet. I have never made an omelet before so this was going to be experimental. It just so turns out, that I NEARLY had it! It was a dilapidated pile of egg and cheese that just so happened to fit perfectly in between two slices of bread. Not just any bread mind you, 12-grain wheat bread :)

I felt so good after eating this egg and cheese sandwich that I made from scratch that it gave me the satisfaction to make possibly the biggest decision I have made in quite a while. I, hereforth, solemnly swear to make meals at my house until I manage to shed 40 lbs. This home cooking will consist of balanced meals (including breakfast!), at least one meal a day will have something green in it. And I will watch my portions and eat only until I am no longer hungry and not stuff until I want to collapse on the couch.

This change of heart is not only to shed the unappealing weight, it is also in effort to remain healthy and take care of the body that God has given me. If what the Bible says about your body being a temple of the Holy Spirit, then there isn't much room for the Holy Spirit amidst all the crap that I put into my body.

Jumpin' Jiblets!

I know, Jiblets is spelled Giblets, but it didn't work with the title! I just thought that I would give an update as today was the first major event for the NMU college students. Yesterday I was kind of nervous, but God gave me confidence when students started showing up early!

Thus when it was said, plan the feast and they shall come. Was proven accurate for me. And my nerves were eased instantly. We even had two new students come! We prayed before we left and then went for a hike and ended at an island where we jumped off the rocks!



After a little while jumping, we started climbing around on the rocks which was fun in itself. Then all 12 of us crammed into a suburban, it was very interesting and I wish I had a picture of it, but I don't :(

Oh, and when we first got there, a dude who had been drinking came up to me and asked if we were a church group. It was an opportunity to share what we do and witness to Jesus' love and also to invite him to our Bible studies in the future!

Overall it was a very exciting day and I look forward for more to come!

Living Presence of Jesus

In the past few weeks, I have been swamped with work. Planning, organizing, implementing. I have had more meetings in one week than I have ever had in my lifetime. I cannot do this if this is what it is really all about. I cannot just walk through this experience without knowing what it is really all about.

Last night I had a very strong realization. It began yesterday morning when I started planning things to do for a campfire night with the college students. I had s'mores, but I HAD to fill the time with something more than s'mores. Because otherwise it would be a very awkward evening. My mindset was that you cannot do ministry without doing something more than being present. Boy were my eyes opened...

There is a movie that Rob Bell made called Everything is Spiritual, and towards the end of the movie he talks about the day of rest. And he talks about how the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and they would work to make bricks. And their value as human was measured by how many bricks they made. He says that God rescued the Israelites out of that slavery to teach them about the day of rest. God wanted the Israelites to be human beings, not human doings. This is when it hit me...

Ministry is not about what you do, it is about how you be. Presence is everything. Rob also told a story about his little son. He would be playing legos with his son and his son would say "dad, dad, dad" over and over. And Rob thought that his son had a studder. But then it hit him too. He was there with his son playing but he wasn't really there... And his son had grown accustomed to saying "dad, dad, dad" because he knew that by the third time, his dad would finally be there.

There is good news, even though I do not understand that the greatest thing in any persons life is authentic presence, God gets it. When God told Moses to climb Mt Sinai, the word in Hebrew that is written is translated as "be." Basically, God was telling Moses to come up on top of the mountain, and when you get on top of the mountain, be on top of the mountain. God gets human nature.

As I am planning and organizing and implementing ministry events, I must realize that it is not about doing things, but its about being that living presence of Jesus.

My Toilet Leaks

Ha! Just kidding! I dunno what I would do if that were true! But this is a wonderful metaphor to my internship. I found out today that there are some things that end up slipping through the cracks if the nuts are screwed tight. I have a chronic case of - oh look! shiny!

The other day, I was in Wal-mart and I had a very short list of three items in my head. And as I was going towards the section that had one of the items, I veered off into the electronics section to take a look at what was new. This would have been just fine normally, but I was on a time crunch. I ended up getting two items because I couldn't remember the third until AFTER I walked out the front doors.

And today in the office, I totally forgot to include the Youth Ministry events in the article for the monthly church newsletter. I panicked until I spoke with Pastor Weber and he said that I should just write an article that says more information is coming because I realize that I hadn't even planned weekly events for September! Ahhhh!!

Youth Ministers are saints. I don't know if I would be able to handle this without the wonderful support of several people in my life. The supportive staff at Redeemer Lutheran Church, my mother, and my girlfriend have all helped me the past month to come up with children's messages and youth activities as well as names for youth nights. I appreciate you all!

S.M.A.R.T.

Welcome to quite possibly the most tidiest tasks some corporate big shot came up with: S.M.A.R.T. Objectives.

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Now don't get me wrong... It is a very useful thing to have when somebody else creates the objectives. But when you are forced to look at a full year of ministry and map out dates and objectives, it is a daunting and tidiest task that I'm sure most of the professional world does not perform.

After finishing the majority of my S.M.A.R.T. Objectives for my DCE Intern job description it came out to be 11 pages of goodness. I am certain that this document will prove useful later on in the year it was just very difficult to complete this early on in the internship especially with only three weeks until college starts up.

I feel like I will end up using the S.M.A.R.T. Objective document and adapting it to what works best with the way my mind processes information. In a list :)

In conclusion, lets remember to be S.M.A.R.T. about the things we do in life because there is no such thing as over-planning.

Fall Fest

On a day with clear skies and bright sunshine, universities across the nation begin their first day of classes. And what typically comes with the first day of classes? An opportunity for clubs and organizations to get their name out in some way or another. Northern Michigan University, which is the university that I do ministry for, has an annual Fall Fest. They open up the center knoll area on campus to student organizations and even some local businesses for the day. As students are walking to and fro going to class or going to lunch or just roaming around actually looking for student organizations to get involved with, I was there with my Redeemer Campus Ministry booth and cookies meeting people as they walked by.

It was an interesting experience to say the least. It was great to have a presence there on campus and that is essential, however, in the setting that it was it wasn't very effective. There were some things that I could have done to make it more effective, but there are also just places and times that you can't really reach in a relational manner. Soliciting at a festival where a hundred other people were soliciting their group is not helpful. However, it wasn't a complete loss. I did have the chance to meet some new folk and let them know about upcoming things and some of them did show relative interest. The best I can do is plant the seed and pray.

Yooper

It's official! After jumping off of the black rocks on Presque Isle into the vast and frigged Lake Superior, I am a participating Yooper. I was hoping for the officialism of being a native Yooper, but I guess only the people born and raised here get that title. There are so many great things about being UP here (haha, Upper Peninsula):

I get to enjoy the best of every climate. Cooler summers, warmer autumn and winter and no spring=no allergies! I can't believe I have never discovered such a place before! Yesterday, the 6th of August, the temperature was 65 degrees all day and that night, it got down to 56 degrees! This is my kind of summer :)

I am only five minutes away from national forest! In the summer and fall, this is a perfect opportunity to enjoy hikes and camping. Also, for being in the midwest, there is a big elevation difference here. There are also bike trails all over the place!

There is a ski mountain within city limits! I love downhill skiing, I just never got around to driving to the nearest hill. This winter, I will be downhill skiing more often than I ever have in a season before. :)

Anyway, enough about that stuff, the most important part is the great church that I have the opportunity to serve at this year. Ever since I arrived this past Saturday, I have felt a part of the family here. I don't know if it is the region or if its the church, but everyone, and I mean everyone, is very friendly and welcoming.

I can't wait to start meeting all the college kids and the high school and jr high youth this next month here. It was something that I was incredibly nervous about, but now it is something that I can't wait to happen.

There will be more to come later!