ewwwww. March 31st, Entry #66.

Sara: So, a few weeks ago we went to Harvester's.  I enjoy going to Harvester's and taking kiddos because you just never know what you're going to do.  I can honestly say that I have never done the same thing twice.  On this lost of jobs we can include: sorting and boxing personal hygiene products, bagging loose pasta, sorting and bagging frozen sausage patties, boxing loaves of bread, sorting canned goods, taking sorted canned goods and boxing them up and packing backpacks with food for kids. 

But this last time we went, this might have been the doozie...we had to go through boxes and boxes and pallets of strawberries.  We had to look through each clear, plastic box of strawberries and pull out any of the rotten and moldy ones.  No joke. Awesome.  We found some NASTY things in these boxes.

And it was such a shame, because man, I LOVE strawberries, but this did not make me want to eat them for a looooooonnnnnnnggggg time.  And just when we finished, and we hoped we wouldn't have to look at any more rotten fruit....guess what??....we got more!  Of course.  But now we graduated from strawberries to random assortments of fruits and vegetables.  Peppers, green beans, lettuce, grapes.  And the grapes, those grapes....I still have a hard time eating grapes after this escapade.

They may not seem that bad from the picture, but imagine this....giant boxes of mostly moldy, squishy, discolored, smelly grapes.  And we got to sort through them one by one and throw out the bad ones.  It's like a never ending nightmare.  Even when you have thrown away half the box you can't even tell because there are still so many grapes in the box.  One by one by one by one.....I think this might be what purgatory is like.

BUT, I must say, the best part of this whole experience was the kiddos.  18 high schoolers got up early on a Saturday morning to do community service that involved sorting through rotten produce, and while we all laughed and shrieked a little at the nastiness,  no one complained.  Not a single one.  When they finished a box they just went and got another one.  They worked hard until everything was done.  As always, whether they realize it or not, I look up to them more than they can ever look up to me.

Ernest is lame. March 30th, Entry #65.

Sara: This morning I had coffee with C-dub and Chelsea.  It's always delightful to sit down with other YMs and just talk shop, just sit down with people who get you and what you do.  Anyways, that is not the point this time.

We got talking about the Ernest movies.  You guys probably have no idea what I'm talking about and that a good thing.  BUT, the Ernest movies include such gems as "Ernest goes to Jail", Ernest saves Christmas" and "Slam Dunk Ernest".  Sounds pretty high quality, right??  No way. 

Mikey told us this story a few weeks ago about how he loved the Ernest Halloween movie as a kid but his girlfriend had never seen it.  So he got a hold of a copy recently and he was so excited to sit down and show it to her....until he pressed "play".  And then realized how awful, cheesy and totally lame it was.  His girlfriend asked him "and you liked this?".  Not anymore.

So then we go to talking about other movies and/or shows that we loved as kid and now realize are totally lame.  C-dub mentioned the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I brought up Pee Wee Herman.  Saved by the Bell comes to mind as does Full House.  Man, how cool we thought this stuff was back in the day.  But I will say, it might have been cheesy, but at least it was clean and appropriate.

Just think....there's probably some movie or show that you love right now....what are you going to think about it in 15 years??

Postcard Fail. March 29th, Entry #64

Sara:  I just designed a pretty sweet postcard.  Trying to do a little more promotion for the upcoming, and bound to be awesome, Michael James Mette concert at St. Michael in 2 weeks.  So, I thought, "hey, I'll send a postcard to every family with middle schoolers and/or high schoolers".  So, sat down, made a sweet postcard, mail merged all the names, started printing....all is looking good.

But for some reason, half way through the printing, I just felt like I needed to look over the postcard one more time to make sure I included all the info I needed.  And then it happened.   I freaked out before I even noticed it on the page because I just knew....I didn't include the date.  Sure everyone, come up to St. Michael for a rockin' awesome concert....but you'll have to guess which day it's on.  Good luck!  It'll be like a scavenger hunt....you guys like scavenger hunts, right???

As Matthew Morefield would say to me right now.....MLIA.

The tough questions. March 21st, Entry #63.

Sara: I just wanted to give a shout out to my Confirmation class.  They are one cool bunch.  Every year I teach a Confirmation class for high schoolers who, for whatever reason, did not get confirmed in the 8th grade or need to recieve other sacraments as well.  Some years, it's really fun, others years it's kind of a drag, but this year....this year is a fun bunch that I look forward to being with them every Sunday.

They have an amazing knack for getting me off topic.  And while I know exactly what they are up to, it's hard to stop them when they get me off topic my asking questions such as "is divorce a sin?" or "do atheists go to hell?".  I mean c'mon, I don't normally think of questions this great.  So, while they might distract me from the week's lesson, we have had some really conversations that are waaaay more educational and meaningful than anything I can teach them from "The Catholic Faith Handbook for Teens".

This Sunday Cooper got us off topic for a good 20 minutes. But during that 20 minutes we talked about why bad things happen to good people, suicide, suffering, atheists, agnostics, believing in God when it's really tough, praying, Eucharistic miracles, untimely deaths of loved ones and questioning our faith.  It was awesome.  I wish we could have gone on for the rest of the class.  I love discussions that grab you and involve everyone.  I hope that something was said that helped answer any of the questions, but the hard part is....I can't give you an answer that's going to make you feel better about how to believe in God when you are questioning or why bad things happen to good people.  These are issues that you have to grasp on your own and talk to God about.

I hope I gave my class some answers that will at least keep them thinking and desiring to learn more, but these are matters of faith and matters of the heart.  I pray that they keep seeking and asking and that God will speak to them when they most need to hear it.  Because when it comes down to it, I can't answer these tough questions but God can....if we listen.

A new website? March 11th, Entry #62.

Aaron: So, we have been doing a lot of thinking about how to better reach the teens of St. Michael the Archangel, and it has come to our attention that the website is severely lacking. It's great to be able to look at other church's websites to get ideas and to start working on something that will look great and be informative! If you have any ideas or suggestions let us know! I'm in a supergood mood today because it's so nice outside. I enjoy when the sun shines.

Peace to you all and a happy Lent!