The Weekend!

Disciple Now was this weekend. We have been a host home for Disciple Now for 4 years, for Emily's group. Since this is the first year we have had two in the youth group, we decided to host Owen's group, sixth grade boys. Last year, we had 9th grade girls; needless to say, switching from 9th grade girls to 6th grade boys was quite a culture shock. I have to admit that I was a little nervous. We get college-aged small group leaders and they stay the weekend as well. Truth be told, I was even more nervous when I was given the list of said leaders. I didn't know either of them personally. However, they did a fabulous job. As you will see, they had no problems "connecting" with the boys.
This is a game of football on Saturday. We were so thankful that the rain stopped long enough for them to be outside for a while. There was ALOT of energy!
This is the mastermind "huddle."

In the middle of all of this, Owen and I had to go to Kernersville for his first gymnastics meet. He did very well. He came in 7th place overall and his team came in 3rd place. We left on Saturday around 2 and got back at almost midnight. The lady that so generously let us ride with her so that Ryan could keep the van, hit a deer on her way home. She was fine, the deer was fine, the van - not so much.

This is a prime example of the small group leader "connecting" with the boys. They were getting ready for bed, yeah right! :) One of the other major differences between the girls and boys was during the night (when all were sleeping) with girls you would hear a giggle here and there; with boys you hear laughing followed by a crash. At which, I get to elbow Ryan and send him downstairs.

This was their other favorite past time. I knew it was a perfect match when the boys were asking Owen on the way home what sort of gaming system he had. Ryan had connected the playstation to the projector so they could play the game on the wall. One of the small group leaders came with his own gaming system and games and controllers! One group was playing one game downstairs and another group was playing upstairs. Nope, you don't get that with girls.

They did branch out and play something other than football and video games. Ryan had gotten a big stack of games out (the girl's favorites) and the boys played this one over and over.

On Saturday the boys had to do a service project. We, with a little help from my friend Beth, decided to make care packages for soldiers. We were uncertain of the weather and couldn't see the boys being entranced by "baking cookies." They got into the soldier project. Ryan and the two small group leaders went to Wal-mart to buy needed supplies. I can only imagine the scene in wal-mart. Apparently, three boys decided to use their own money to buy a couple of Amp drinks they were trying to drink at 11:00 pm! The sleepy father figure in Ryan promptly took all the amps away.

Here is our group. We had a few that didn't show at all and one who had been assigned to the wrong grade. All in all, I thought it was a great weekend. I think the kids did too. One boy wanted to know if he could come back home with us when church was over. One boy commented that he thought it would be cool to have a Disciple Now month instead of Disciple Now Weekend. I think the powers that be are very wise to keep it to one weekend, once a year. Sign me up for next year!

A good laugh at myself

Okay, so tonight I was waiting for Owen to get out of gymnastics. He has his first meet of the season coming up this weekend and he has been very anxious over the fact that he does not feel as prepared as he would liketo be going into the first meet. The routines change every three years. He moved up a level last year; which was the last year with that routine. So, this is two years in a row he has had to learn a new routine. However, unlike last year, everyone is learning a new routine this year. Anyway, I went in to watch him work out. He doesn't like me to just "stare" so I picked up a magazine to wait and "watch." I was really just skimming the articles when I came across one that was in the connections section. The subtitle read: 'You are cordially invited to join our lovely hostess/columnist for her latest nervous breakdown...uh, we mean party. The article was about this lady that could not, despite her best efforts host a pleasant dinner party. When asking her significant other his opinion as to why she couldn't host a proper dinner party this was his reply: "The only thing you're doing wrong is constantly striving to do everything exactly right and you drive yourself and everybody else nuts trying to achieve it." She sits back and reflects on what he says. This is her conclusion: She says, "I know he's right. I am part geisha girl, part drill sergeant, with just a soupcon of control freak thrown in for good measure. I want everyone to relax and have a good time, but that has to start with me, and I am about as laid back as a caged hummingbird guzzling a can of Red Bull while awaiting biopsy results. You can keep your medication, your reflexology, your gin, your tonics - I'm just not the mellow type." For some odd reason, (certainly NOT because I could identify with it) this image struck me as hilariously funny; about as laid back as a caged humming bird guzzling a can of Red Bull.... I wonder if this lady has ever been at my house BEFORE a party! :)

Expectations

Expectations for some people is a heavy word. I,personally, buckle under expectations. I cannot handle the pressure. I have discovered a nasty fact about me these past few weeks. I am a people pleaser. Now don't get too excited, I am not an EVERYONE people pleaser. If I don't know you or don't like you - I don't care what you think - good, bad, ugly. However, if I care about you, I want to please. The closer you are to me, the worse it is. Ryan and I went to a marriage conference last weekend. It was a very good conference and we enjoyed the time together. One of the speakers said something that has affected me. He said the difference between who you are and who you want to be is a land called disappointment. Ouch. This is where my struggle comes in - how to you strive to be Christ-like in a dismal, fallen world without losing sight of the fact that we were all born a sinner. I am never going to be perfect, no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I want to be. How do you balance those "expectations" without going overboard? I have always thought it to be a pride issue and I know on some scale it is. Yet, I am now realizing that it is not pride that makes me push to succeed. I want to be a good steward of all the blessings God has given me. I want to be the best at all the things He has called me to be. (Un)Fortunately, He has called me to be a lot of things: wife, mother, teacher, friend, sister, daughter, maid, cook, taxi driver, etc, etc. Don't get me wrong, I am blessed beyond measure to be called and equipped to do/be all of these things. As I am getting older, I am seeing a direct correlation between my perfectionism and my procrastination. I procrastinate because I cannot do it "perfectly". Over time, I see that turning me into a quitter; giving up because I don't want to be a disappointment. For many years I have said that my tombstone was going to say "She tried" because I really do try. This week I was reading an article about Billy Graham in the paper and it said that Ruth Graham's headstone said: "End of Construction -- Thank you for your patience." I think that is beautiful. When I was in elementary school, I had a red notebook that said "Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet." I loved that notebook (obviously, I am blogging about it 30 years later:)). I guess that is the key, being willing to be patient and willing to be under construction and willing to step over all the mess and take all the detours that construction requires until we are at the "end of construction." How desperately I want to live this life so that I will hear "well done, thy good and faithful servant."