Let's Hear it for Mary. Dec 12th, Entry #98.

Sara:  I just want to give a shout out to some super awesome high schoolers.  Last Wednesday, as I was getting ready for middle school youth group and the kiddos were showing up, like 5 high school girls come into the room.  I was surprised to seem them because, well, this was middle school youth group.  But, they informed that they had just come from Mass for the Immaculate Conception and just popped into say "hi".  One of them even told me that she found out like 10 minutes before mass that she could go, so she jumped in the car and went.

Most adult Catholics don't even realize that Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation and even if they do they don't always make it a priority to make it to church.  But, these fabulous ladies went on their own, some without their families or even with younger siblings in tow and made it a priority to give a shout out to Mary on her special day.  So impressed, just so impressed.  Well done ladies.

Gingerbread Houses for me and you. Dec 12th, Entry #97.

Sara: Have you ever heard the John Mellancamp song "Little Pink Houses"?  Well, it's stuck in my head right now, but with different wording....."little gingerbread houses for me and you".  Why, you might ask, is this ridiculous phrase stuck in your head, it doesn't even make sense.  To this, I whole heartedly agree....except that last night I did find out what it would be like to live in a gingerbread house.  Actually, I had 10 gingerbread houses to pick from.

Last night at FLOCK we had a Gingerbread House Decorating Throwdown.  We've done this in the past and I decided it was time to resurrect this lovely Christmas/FLOCK tradition.  Little did I know, that my simple FLOCK plan had been hijacked by Pam, Aaron and Mrs. Ogilvie.  What I thought was a normal FLOCK night turned into a surprise wedding shower for Michael and I.  Pretty sweet...literally...haha...I'm so funny.

Anyways, Pam decided that to make the gingerbread throwdown tie into our new "wedding shower" theme, the kiddos had to create houses for Michal and I to live in. Oh, they got creative alright. They had features in our houses that one would never ever dream of for their own home.

This is a church, and when you lift the dome off you can see a wedding taking place.

This is...ummm...well....our house if we lived a 3rd world county.

This one is intense.  Please notice, the moat, the drawbridges, the mermaid,
the sea creature eating Aaron, the Native American and his tepee and fire,
and the circular Oreo bed.  Wow.

This is like the perfect little gingerbread house. 
Complete with chimney and stone walkway.  And our little family.

I love the doorknob on this one.

This is our 2 story "green" house.

This is our beach home.  Complete with sunburned swimmers
and red palm-tree-things.

Out children are really creepy in this one.  Oreo shaped with red limbs.  Yikes.

This is our RV, including a giant satellite for the road.  Love it.

My favorite thing about this one is the nice detached garage.

After the throwdown, Michael and I and the kiddos got to enjoy some delightful shower treats, such as a chocolate fountain, sparkling grape juice and a giant cake with our faces on it.  Who doesn't want a cake with their face on it??  No one, that's who.

Look, we look the same, but it's like we switched shirts!

And the Michael and I got to open many, many fabulous gifts from the kiddos.  It took me 3 gifts before I realized the theme of the shower was "date nights".  (and even then, Pam had to clue me in....sorry, I'm blond).  We got some awesome gifts.  We are not going to have to pay for a movie or dinner out for a year!!!  These FLOCKers seriously spoiled us!  It was completely unexpected and totally fabulous.

Check out my sweet cookie monster hat.  Yes!

I feel so blessed and lucky to be a part of the St. Michael family.  I am even more blessed that Michael wants to be a part of this family too and that the FLOCKers have been so gracious to welcome him into our family.  I might be overusing "family" right now, but my actual family lives 500 miles away and has ever since I started this job.  So, really St. Michael has become my family.  I've had many a dinner at the homes of FLOCKers.  I've stayed the night at their homes before early morning mission trip travel.  I've babysat for at least 5 families over the years and they really did take me in and make me a part of their family for the week I was there.  I've cried to a few moms about past relationships and celebrated the joy of finding Mr. Right with them as well.  One of them even took care of me at the hospital when I sprained my wrist.  Needless to say, this family has been there for me and I am beyond blessed to have the St. Michael community in my life.

Seriously? Nov 22nd, Entry #96.

Sara:  Last week I emailed Fr. Mitchel to ask him if he knew what happened to some of the leftover supplies from Prayer and Action this summer.  I wanted to get my hands on the t-shirts and noodles (from Noodle Ball) for the upcoming Prayer and Action Extravaganza.  He didn't know, but he emailed Jeff and Dan for me to ask them since they were on staff and in charge.

Here are the responses I got from the 2 of them:

Jeff:  I’m not sure about the shirts, and noodles, but all the supplies for the work sites are in the basement at Sacred Heart.

Seriously?  All of the tools from this SUMMER are still in the basement of the church we stayed at?  Does the church know this?  Do they want their basement space back?  We just left them there?  Seriously?

Dan: I thought that Kyle Kuckelman or Bill Scholl took the t-shirts... Noodles cost 1.99 at Wal*Mart.

Seriously?  Kyle hasn't been back to Emporia since he took his kiddos during the first week  and Bill was not on staff.  Maybe they're sitting in the basement with all the tools.

And my personal favorite:

Sara:  Yeah, but noodles are going to be a bit hard to come by in November.  So, am I to assume that you tossed all the noodles from this summer?

Dan: I'd bet a Dollar General Store would have some year round!  If not...Amazon, Amazon, Amazon.com.  See you in December.

Seriously?  You really think I'm going to to find pool toys in November at ANY store??  And yes, maybe I could find them on Amazon.com, but do you have any idea how GIANT that box would be or how much shipping would cost??  Seriously?

This is the best you two have for me?  Seriously??

200 strong. Nov 13th, Entry #95.

Sara:  200.  Count 'em, 200 FLOCKs in the past 7.5 years.  Wow.  That is alot of awesome-ness happening right there.

As we did with the 100th FLOCK that we hit, we had ourselves a birthday party to celebrate.  Miranda told me that this was kind of a big deal since none of us have ever been to a 200th birthday party.  Point well made.

My thanks go out to Jane, Miranda and Samantha for decorating the youth room for us.
More thanks go out to Jordan who decorated 3 cakes for us.  And not just normal cakes.  3 seperate cakes, each cut out and decorated as a "2", "0" and "0".  So cool.

I only took 1 picture and it was upside down.  Forgive me.

I think my favorite part of the night was when we asked the FLOCKers to share their favorite FLOCK memories with the group (sidenote: Aaron and I made this up on the spot so we could give our volunteers time to cut the cakes).  The kids got up and told some pretty funny stories from FLOCKs past and even participated in a few reenactments as well.

It was a super-fun night full of streamers and goody bags and disney music, but the whole point of the night still kind of floors me when I think about it.  200 Sunday night youth groups.  This doesn't even count the service projects, fun nights, mission trips, retreats and other cool things.  Just Sunday night FLOCK.  Wow.


100th Birthday Party Group, 2008

200th Birthday Party Group, 2011

I really do have the best job ever.

Parallel Parking. Oct 11th, Entry #94.

Sara:  On Tuesday I taught Hailey how to parallel park....using post-it notes.  That's right.  She had to take a driving test that afternoon and was worried about parallel parking.  And I said, "I can teach you how to do that, my friend told me the best way to do it."  So, I had Jordy draw us some cars on 2 post-it notes and we were in business.

If you'd like to learn how to parallel park, keep reading.

Step #1  You're driving down the street, you find a nice, cozy little spot on the side of the road and decide you'd like to park there.

Step #2  Then you take your sweet little blue car with really bright headlights and you pull right up next to the UPS truck that you want to park behind.

Step #3  Then you, slowly and cautiously, back up until your front tires are parallel with their back tires.

Step #4  As soon as your front tires are matched up with their back tires, you turn your steering wheel hard so that the back of your car starts to back up into your cozy little spot.

Step #5  When it seems that you are just about as far as you can go before you hit the curb, turn your steering wheel sharp the other way and straighten out your car.

Ta-da!  If all steps have been followed correctly (and Aaron told me these were accurate steps, I checked) you should now be successfully parked.

Now, I haven't actually checked with Hailey to see how she did in her driver's test.  I hope my advice worked.  I really hope she didn't hit the cars in front of or behind her.

Awkward first dates. Oct 9th, Entry #93.

Sara:  Sunday night at FLOCK we talked about dating.  Ahhh dating.  The awkward-ness of it never fails and really never ends, even when you're 30.  Even when it's a great first date, it's still awkward.  Anyways, we talked all about dating.

We started the night off with some skits, 2 skits about the Best Date Ever and 2 skits about the Worst Date Ever.  Let's be honest, I should have just renamed the activity "Most awkward skits about a first date you can think of" because wow....awk-sauce!  But they were hilarious.  We had Melvin, and a blind blind date (love it) and con-joined twins, and human bowling pins, and snowball fights, and awkward dads, and Revelation soup, and bungee jumping.  Definitely all things I have done on a first date.  Obviously.

And then Aaron and I got into the meat of the night.  We'll just let the quotes sum that up.

Sara: What was invented that changed courtship into the modern dating of today?
Kids: the telephone, television, sewing machines (what?)
Michael: Women's Rights

Aaron: So Melvin here, is from another country where they don't date, they have arranged marriages?  Where are you from Melvin?
Collin (as Melvin): Canada
Someone else: That's why he wearing a "USA" hat.

Sara: What is dating?  Come up with a definition in your small group.
Erica: When you go get food together...you know, *wink*, the code
Aaron: *crazy, intense, knee-slapping laughter*

Aaron: Well, usually the guy is into the girl since he asked her out but that doesn't mean that the girl is into the guy.
Sara: Yeah, I went out with this guy once who was really nice but he was sooo short.
Aaron: Oh, so you discriminate based on height, huh?
Sara:  He had to sit on a cushion in his car.

Aaron: So when is a good time, or age, to start dating?
Erica: When boys mature.
Samantha: Sooo, never.

Aaron: Who should you date?  What are some qualities you should look for?
Erica: Someone who makes you really warm when they're around and makes your tongue swell up.

Aaron: First dates should involve doing something interactive so you can talk and get to know the other person. And it can be free, like the petting zoo.  The petting zoo is a great place for a date and it's free and it's not just for kids.  And it's much cooler than when you were a kid because you had to ask your mom for quarters to buy feed, now you can just bring your own to feed the goats.  And baby goats might be the most adorable creatures ever.  Just saying.
(Sara: he was very passionate about the petting zoo)

Red Bull. Oct 10th, Entry #92.

Sara:  I went to this week-long seminar a few years ago on "adolescent catechesis"  (translated: how to teach teens the faith).  After the first day they gave us homework....we had to create something that represented our ministry.  We could create from the pile of crafty items left for us or write a poem or something else equally cheesy.  And to be honest, we went to dinner that night, played some frisbee and I totally forgot about my homework until the next morning.  So, on an index card I drew a can of Red Bull.

When we got to class that morning everyone had to present their creation to the rest of the group. When I stood and held up my poorly drawn Red Bull, the head presenter looked at me like I was crazy or just lazy. 
But here is what I said:
The kiddos in my ministry are my Red Bull.  They give me energy.  When we are on mission trips and we're tried b/c we're working hard all day and sleeping on the floor at night, they make me laugh and wake me up.  When I'm cranky because something didn't go the way I wanted it to, they lighten the mood and make me feel better.  Just being around them and their crazy amounts of energy just puts me in a better mood.  Without even knowing it, they lift my spirits, make me happy, pick me up when I'm down and just make life more fun.
I think the main presenter still thought I was just lazy or didn't really get the assignment, but even though I came up with my answer right before class started, I knew it was a right on representation of my ministry. 

I bring up this story because last night on the way home from FLOCK, I realized that they did it again.  They were my Red Bull when I needed them most.  I had a looong weekend full of lots of people, lots of events and lots of family staying in my tiny little house.  It was a great weekend but by Sunday morning I was stressed, exhausted and wanting to crawl in a hole, NOT be up in front of 40 kids.  I was anxious about the whole situation and freaking that FLOCK was going to be lame b/c I was in a lame mood and just not excited about any of it.  And then the kids showed up.  And they were full of energy and had funny stories about the weekend and were just being themselves.

And on the way home, as I'm driving with the windows down, blaring my radio (with a CD made by one of the kiddos, thanks Jordy!) I realize that I'm in a great mood.  And then I realize that all of that anxiety and stress and other junk that had been dragging me down all day was gone.  They did it again.  They were my Red Bull and gave me all the energy I needed and pulled me out of the dumps.

It's things like this that remind me that I have the best job ever.

The 2 Ultimate Truths. Oct 5th, Entry #91.

Sara:  Middle schoolers can be so gross.  I mean, c'mon, they'll eat anything!  Ok, so maybe it was my idea that they eat these gross things that I won't even smell, but still, they do it.  Not only do they do it, they fight over the fact that only 5 of them get to eat the gross things.  Seriously?  Where is their sense of propriety?  Actually, I'm glad they don't have any or else my game would not work.

This game really did have a point, by the way.  Before each kid took their first bite, I asked them "do you have the courage to eat it?"  They would say yes and then eat away. ugh.  Our topic for the night was Courage.  After we attempted to explain that eating gross things does not count as courage (more like insanity) we talked about what courage really means.  We even did a little pop quiz where they had to read 2 statements and decide which action showed courage.  And just to be the annoying middle schoolers that they can be, they had to argue each point...they couldn't just pick the obvious answer. 

For example: Accepting responsibility when you mess up OR blaming others for your mistakes.  Really guys, you want to try and convince me and blaming others can be courageous in certain circumstances??  They were sure getting creative.  And Aaron and I kept looking at each other with exasperation like, "seriously?  do they really think this way?"

And I wanted to end the night talking about an almost-saint and how he stood up with courage for the right thing.  I'm just hoping I can get through the story without them making smart-alick comments.

And behold....the room transformed.  As I started to tell the story of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, they were silent and listening and interested.  Wow.  They even asked good questions at the end about his life.  (Learn more about him....he's awesome)

Here's the thing though....I was not surprised by anything that happened last night.  I'm not surprised that they ate gross things, or tried to sabotage our pop quiz, or said dumb things.  But I'm also not surprised that they were transfixed on the story of a man who innocently gave his life for a greater cause and died for his faith.

After 8 years of ministry I have learned, and I will stand by it forever,that there are 2 things that will always, always, always grab attention, leave an impression and change the hearts of teens:
#1 The Theology of the Body - God's plan for love and happiness in our lives
#2 The Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross - or anyone who follows Christ's example of sacrifice

These are 2 ultimate truths that can't be ignored and are written so deeply into the fabric of our hearts that every time we hear them we can't help but be struck.  I've seen this affect 5th graders and 12th graders.  Both responses are the same.  They know the truth when they see it.

Even after they have been eating something totally gross.

Happy Birthday Brent, Sept 20th, Entry #90.

Sara: One of our favorite parts about Prayer and Action are the relationships that are built between the students and the seminarians.  In what other context can a high school student spend time, sometimes hours, painting a house, playing an intense game of Chutes and Ladders, listening to discernment stories, having deep one-on-one conversations, or plotting water balloon attacks on and with young men studying to become priests?  I can't think of any other place.

The impact that these men have had, just on my teens, cannot be replaced.  The students get the chance to see these guys as real people, not just pictures on a poster.  They get to know them and then think, "huh, maybe being a priest wouldn't be all that bad, I mean, these guys are pretty cool".  It is invaluable.  I cannot express my gratitude enough to the fine young men of the Diocese of Salina and the Archdiocese of KCK.

So, with that being said, I just wanted to give a shout to one of these seminarians on his birthday.  I met Brent 3 years ago in Manhattan when he was on staff.  He was a young guy that was more prone to get in trouble from Gale than deliver a heart-rendering speech to the students....but that is exactly what made him accessible to the kiddos.  He was like them, they could relate to him. 

They could follow him up the tiny stair case of an old church bell tower...

...or paint the side of a house (and each other) with him and talk about faith for hours....

....or learn about all of the many things that Brent has learned in seminary thus far...

....and make us laugh really, really, really hard. (notice the look of suprise and subtle disdain on Fr. Peter's face in the background)

So Happy Birthday to you Brent....here's hoping that you touch many more lives and learn many more things in seminary.

Because nothing rhymes with orange. Sept 18th, Entry #89.

Sara:  Last night at FLOCK we talked about the 5 Love Languages: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts and Physical Touch.

Let's look at a few highlights:

Words of Affirmation.
Our lovely, and brave, friend Brandon was selected by Aaron and I to be the subject of 5 poems about him.  They were awesome.  And he was a champ.

Your hair flows in luscious locks every time I see you at FLOCK.
You like the Rams but that's OK, the Chiefs will kick their butts someday
From the way that your trousers sag, I can tell you are full of swag.
From all these compliments I hope you can see that we all think you are extremely tasty.

His hair flows like a Ram's fleece.
His dance moves prove that he is a beast.
His kicks are as smooth as the rocketing passes from Sam Bradford.
When he's around there is no chance of being bored.

This goes out to our dear buddy, Brandy. 
You think the Rams are positively dandy.
Dear Brandon, why can't you see,
you hair reminds us all of JB.
Your Taekwando skills give you fists made of brass,
And I'm sure you kick all your opponents in the ...face?
We love you with the passion of a thousand suns,
Sometimes we love you so much it gives us the runs.

I met a man at FLOCK, he looks just like a jock.
With muscles like a rock, and eyes like a twinkling star.
His hair is like a chocolate bar....mmmmm, creamy.
And BTW, he likes the Rams....OH YEAH!

B is for the brown hair that sways to and fro
R is for the Rams that gallop across St. Louis
A is for the affirmation that flows from my being
N is for the narly behavior that comes from your behalf
D is for the day I saw your tae-kwon-do
O is for the oranges b/c nothing rhymes with orange
N is for the ninja that lies within.
Brandon.

Physical Touch.
Oh, Jimmy the Overly-Touch Orderly, how awkward you are. 
Don't be like Jimmy....you won't have any friends.

Quality Time.
We asked each group to come up with a list of ways to spend quality time with family, friends and someone you are dating.  If you're looking for some great (or even decent) ideas on how to spend quality time with loved ones...this is not the place to look.

QT with your family
Hockey, dinner, board games, Mass, football, TV shows, canoeing, drinking egg nog, eating pineapple, folding socks, burning stuff in a fire, watermelon seed spitting contest, peachwave, scream at bad drivers, scream at NFL refs, scream at telemarketers, scream at spiders in your house, dress 1 person as a gorilla-dress another as a banana-have gorilla attack banana, go to a Chiefs/Royals game, make cookies for Santa, mission trip, camping, table tennis tournament, write grammatically correct sentences and then check each other's work

QT with your friends
XC meets, eating, movies, chillaxin', XBox, bungee jumping, play chubby bunny, watergun fights, planking, staring contest, being classy, smiling, peachwave, scream at scary movies, scream at waiters, scream at pet rock, run in the rain, run to the pool, run at the gym, racing, jokes, coneing, go to peachwave and get a cup with just 1 sprinkle, bonfire, Rock Band, Just Dance 2, petting zoo, karaoke

QT with someone you are dating
Movies, XBox, walks on the beach, getting your nails done, ice cream, playing on playground, football, Sporting KC, Royals, FLOCK, Church, Adoration, skipping, jumping through sprinklers, walking backwards, scuba diving, scrapbooking, peachwave, run into each other, have Nerf gun wars...while screaming, Homecoming, hour-long gazing session, read a book out loud to each other, learn Braille, go to the library, meet their mom, meet their twice removed cousin, meet an old person, talk about morals in an elevator, ride up and down an escalator

Middle Schoolers say the Darndest Things. Sept 14th, Entry #88.

Sara:  Last night we had GIFT.  Oh GIFT.  Oh Middle Schoolers.  You were cracking me up.

Aaron: how can we differentiate between wisdom and understanding?
6th grade girl: differentiate?  Is that like defrosting the refrigerator?

Are you kidding me??

Aaron: who wants to close in prayer for us?
6th grade boy: oh me, I will!
Aaron: ok, but it has to be an actual, serious prayer.
6th grade boy: oh, never mind.
after prayer
same 6th grade boy: good thing you didn't pick me, I was going to say, "Bless us o Lord..."

Jesus help us.

6th grade boy: Did you know that high rhymes with pie?
Sara: uh, yeah.
6th grade boy: So, you could make a poem about it!!

Wow.  Just wow.

Yoga with Tara Stiles. Sept 11th, Entry #87.

Sara:  Things I love about the new Youth Room, #48.

The On-Demand options through the Blu-Ray player.  Pandora, YouTube, Hulu, Yoga with Tara Stiles.

Wait.  What?  Did I scroll across yoga?  Go back to that.  Aaron, Jordy, let's check this out, we've got to see what this is about.  Oh, it's just a lady making her own yoga videos in her living room, or by a pool on her vacation.  Is there a lady in the background putting her towel on a pool chair?  Wow, this is really kind of bad.  Let's try it!

Downward Dog

Awkward leg-over-head position.  I call it Sideways Ostrich.

Falling after Sideways Ostrich.  It's a toughy.


Yes, FLOCK.  Good for your faith...and your limber-ness.

Slaughterball. Sept 4th, Entry #86.

Sara:  Sometimes I wonder if my grown-up friends (I use that term lightly) think I'm nuts when I talk about all the crazy things we do at youth group.  I tell them about hilarious games or gross games or some game we made up that involved wrapping paper and shaving cream.  I think these games sound fun, but they usually shake their heads at me and say "welll, good thing that's your job and not mine."

But there are some games that we play that are just so darned fun that how can they NOT have fun playing them, like 6-Base or photo scavengur hunts?  I mean c'mon, anyone with at least 1 ounce of fun in them would have a great time.

Well, the moment of truth happened over Labor Day weekend this year.  I was at a giant camp-out with like 120 people.  It was awesome.  But, on Sunday, Kyle, my friend and fellow youth minister, invited a bunch of people to play volleyball at the sand volleyball court.  We started playing but more and more people kept showing up to play...too many people for volleyball.  So I looked at Kyle and he looked at me and we looked at Chelsea (another friend/youth minister) and we all said, "we need to teach them Speedball".

Let's take a step back for those of you who don't know what Speedball is.  I don't actually know the genius who invented this game, but it was introduced to us by the ArchKCK seminarians on our Prayer and Action Mission Trip this summer.  It involves a volleyball, a sand volleyball court and as many people as you want, divided evenly onto both sides of the court.  The object of the game is to be the team with the last person standing.  Basically, all you do is throw the volleyball from one side to the other and try to catch it.  If you don't catch it, you are out.  If it lands on the ground, the person it was closest to is out. You keep this up until one side runs out of players.  Simple.  Yet ridiculously fun!  It's a great youth ministry game because you can involve everyone, no matter of athletic ability and no matter how big your group is.

Ok, back to our overwhelming amount of people wanting to play volleyball.  Well, Kyle, Chelsea and I, being the youth ministers that we are, took charge of the situation, told everyone that we were going to teach them a new game and started playing.  IT WAS AWESOME!!  Everyone loved it.  I think we played for like 2 hours.

I will say though, that playing with a group of 20 to 30-somethings...the game became a little more competitive and forceful than with teenagers.  People were "throwing" (and by throwing I means slamming with all the force they could muster) a bit hard at the people on the front line.  While a bit dangerous, it was hilarious!  At one point my friend Tim said, "I think we shoud rename this game to 'Slaughterball'".  Well said, Tim.

But, overall, I think Chelsea, Kyle and I were most excited that everyone loved the game and that everyone got to play.  So now I have had my chance to play a silly youth group game with my friends...and guess what....they thought it was AWESOME!!  Who think's my job is silly now??  Huh?  Huh?  Ok, I guess it still is, but now you're not rolling your eyes at me are you?  Kinda wish you had my job now, don't you? 

TOB Shenanigans. August 27th, Entry #85.

Sara:  Theology of the Body.  It's great, I love it, I really do.  But I love it even more when fun drawings and hilarious conversations come from it.  Take this past Sunday, for example.

I was describing to the students how God is a Community of Persons in the Trinity and that this community of persons was (and still is) created out of and for love.  Even better, the love between a man and a woman is an image of the love of the Trinity.  Righteous, I know.  So, here is the picture Aaron drew on the board.

#1 - The Giraffe - Adam was not called to love a giraffe, he was called to love Eve, one who was "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh".  Not giraffes.  Even poorly drawn giraffes.  Still better than I would be able to do.

#2 - The Poptarts - God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit were hanging out in Heaven one day, eating some Poptarts, and decided to share the love of their Trinity and so they created Man in their image and likeness and called him to love.  Duh.

Now, apparently our talk inspired some of the kiddos to borrow some books written on Theology of the Body, especially the ones written by JPII.  Here is conversation that followed:

Hailey: "For my homework, I have to write down the top 10 most important books for every human being to read. I need one more, what should I put?"
Jordan: "Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla!"
Hailey: "I thought Pope John Paul II wrote that??"
Jordan: "He did."
Hailey: "Oh yeah! He said all those speeches and SHE wrote them in a book!"
Jordan: "Shmay, KAROL is JP2 before he became the Pope, NOT A GIRL."

Thank you Hailey and Jordy for letting my reprint this lovely dialogue....even though I haven't asked, that's OK, right?  Great!

Regardless of the shenanigans, I LOVE that teens are evening having conversations, albeit ridiculous ones, about Theology of the Body and getting into the presentation enough to make jokes about giraffes and poptarts.  Good things are happening.

The Theology of the Burrito. August 24th, Entry #84.

Sara:

Things I love about being a youth minister - #412: late night text conversations with students.  (as seen below)

Abby: Do you think that God could create a burrito SO BIG that He couldn't eat it?
Sara: Yes, but nothing is impossible for God so even if he created the biggest burrito in the universe he could eat it.
Abby: Sooo, in essence, He couldn't create one that was impossible for him to eat?
Sara: Agreed.  Even if he intended to create one too big he'd still be able to eat it due to the simple fact that He is God.
Abby: This is blowing my mind right now.
Sara: Ahh, the mysteries of God....and burritos.
Abby: Together, they're unstoppable.

I feel really good about myself knowing that I can help answer the deeper questions about God, faith and life.

**3 high fives to the first person to guess which Abby this was**

More Construction....with paint! August, 23rd, Entry #83

Aaron: So we have made a lot of progress on the youth room! I know a lot of you saw it on Sunday, but I will post pictures for all of the unfortunate souls who did not. So, here they are!

Back in the saddle again. August 21st, Entry #82.

Sara:  It's time for FLOCK again.  Oh what a long summer it's been without you.  Among the many things we did at FLOCK last night, each group came up with captions to 7 different pictures.  Some of them were a bit FLOCK inappropriate, but for the most part we laughing....really hard.  I thought I would share my favorite ones with you.

Picture of Jordan and moldy strawberry
Are you a parking ticket?  Cause you have fine written all over you!
I have gas
Jordan is hanging out with a fun-gi!
The rare "Jordanese species" was captured on camera the other day.  She has reportedly been in the storage room for over 18 months.  She scavenges for any food available, including year-old strawberries.  The mold cannot deter her.  Her hunger is great.

Picture of Sara and Aaron being ridiculously good looking.
We think we have a real job
"Power in its most elegant form....FIERCE by Calvin Klein"
We thought Brian and Joe looked good
The only non-Eddie Bauer clothes in Brian Witt's closet

Picture of Annelise with crazy make-up and hair
Born this way
Ready for prom!

Awkward picture of Lucas and Max in prop box attire
Lucas' AWKWARD first and last date

Picture of Hailey and Mallory spitting water out of their mouths
We can pee out of out mouths
Gatorade - $2, Stainless steel water bottle - $10, spitting your way to a new world record - PRICELESS
Hey Talls McGee, is your pee clear?

Picture of Jane hitting Joe over the head with a blow-up shark
Shark bait - hoo ha ha!
Ello, my name is Bruce.  Today at "Fish are friends, not food" I brought my new friend, Joe.  Joe is a friend, not food.

And a drawing, I have to share the drawing.  It's so pretty.

Yay for FLOCK.  I'm glad you're back.

More Construction. August 11th, Entry #81

Aaron: So, you may have guessed we have been continuing construction here, but alas, I have not updated lately! Well, let's fix that problem. Here are some updated pictures of our new youth room!

Also, we have been tasked to come up with a name for this new room, so we need some ideas! Let us know!

 A view of the front of the room, not much has changed except for the ceiling on the right side, and the removal of whiteboard/cabinets.

 A similar view,but a better view of the new ceiling work.

 The start of the new bar area, we will be adding more cabinets and bank seating, very cool things!

 A view of the back of the room, notice the absence of doors! The door on the right leads into our new office!

A different view of the new office, look at those huge windows!

Well, we hope you like what you saw! We went out and bought a few surprises yesterday, get excited to see them!





And the Construction Continues... Entry #80, July 26th

Aaron: So, sorry it has been over a month since we have updated this deal, but it's been a crazy month with mission trips and such, but now that things have calmed down a little bit I have some time to update all 9 of you that read our blog.  Construction on our new youth room was moving slowly for awhile, but things are finally starting to speed up, here are some recent photos: (Expect some more recent pictures later on in the day/week)

 The new office space

 A view from the front of the room, note: the wall is gone!

 another view of the now absent wall

 looking towards the front of the room

what will soon be the kitchenette area

Things that only happen when you're a youth minister. Entry #79. June 17th

Sara:  It's been a fun, albeit LONG, week up here in the SMTA.  It's been VBS all week, which means it's been Get REAL for a lot of fab high schoolers.  I can't even being to extend my gratitude to the 15 high schoolers who showed every morning at 8:30am to spend their morning (and free time) with 70, count 'em 70!, 5th and 6th graders.  Now, while Get REAL is a ton of fun, it's just darn exhausting.  When I finish this post I might lay on the ground and put my feet up on my desk, like pregnant ladies do when they're 9 months pregnant and have swollen feet.  But the work that Aaron and I did for Get REAL is nothing compared to the small group leaders that did the day-in and day-out work with their 10 kiddos.  Thanks be to Jesus for you guys.

But, there are a few things I noticed about this week that I thought needed to be put into a post.  I noticed some things that we were doing at work this week and I thought, "man, no one else would be doing these kinds of things and calling it 'work'".  And then I remembered, "but wait, we're youth minsters, this is work for us".  So, I thought I should share:

Things that happen only when you're a youth minister and it's considered work:

wearing t-shirts, gym shorts and flip flops to work
filling up 1500 water balloons
holding a "red carpet walk off" for 6th boys dressed as girls
arranging with the Fire Department to send a fire truck to come and spray down the kids
doing the "Istanbul, not Constantinople" dance
watching a kiddo walk in dressed as Ronald McDonald

It's a fun thing when you think about it.  I mean, c'mon, some people might do this for fun, but we get to do it for work!

Youth Room Construction, Entry #78, May 31

Aaron: So, we are finally starting construction on the youth room! in the coming weeks we will be updating with photos and any other exciting information that may be happening.  We are both beyond excited about this, this has been many years in the making and we know it will be amazing when it's all finished!


The work being completed now is pretty much all demolition, tearing out walls, cabinets, sinks, etc etc...
We have pretty much picked out everything that will be going into the room with wall colors, carpet colors, cabinets, counter tops, furniture, all that fun stuff!

So, here are the pics of the demo so far, let us know what you think!

                                                                  old, stained carpet...

                                                       Last GIFT ever in the old room!!!

                                                                      no more wall....

Well, that's about it for now, check back soon for more updates!!!!