On Our Way To Crazy

I would like to take a minute to talk about two phrases I’ve seen a lot lately that really drive me crazy. I see a lot of stuff on blogs or in magazines that bugs, but these are the worst of the worst.

1. Enough said. (See also: ‘Nuff said. Actually, see especially ’nuff said.)
This phrase essentially says to the listener, “I have said all I intend to say. If you don’t not only understand but completely agree with me, you are in the wrong. I have used the exact amount of words necessary to get my point across, and if you don’t get it is because you lack proper comprehension skills. You are an idiot.” It’s mean, and I don’t like it. And, chances are you actually have not said enough to convince anyone of anything, and are merely using the phrase to give yourself false confidence in your idea and to discourage people from questioning you.

2. You know who you are.
If they know who they are, why am I reading about it? I don’t know who they are, and more importantly, I don’t care who they are. If they know who they are, then they don’t need to read what you’ve written. Those of us who don’t know who they are also don’t need to read it. So don’t write it. I’ve seen this one lately in the little magazine our local paper puts out, and I hate that they let their writers get by with putting little notes to their friends in a paper read by the whole city. Lame.

Ahhhhh. I feel much better now that I have that off my chest.

Dear Wendy’s commercial guy,

You might think you’ve gotten lucky to be sitting in between two hot girls on an airplane. Maybe you think they will laugh at your jokes, or fall asleep on your shoulder, or ask you to help them work on the crossword puzzle in the back of the airline magazine.

But you are eating a giant hamburger with two patties and lots of nasty onions and bacon and mushrooms and peppercorns. On an airplane. In the middle. Where there’s a lot of recycled air and close breathing.

Those girls are so, so, SO not interested in you. In fact, I think they kind of hate you.

Thought you’d like to know.

Brandi

So in my list of fun stuff we did last week, I totally forgot to add Friday. This is a travesty, y’all, because Friday was crazy awesome. (Scott and Jeff, prepare to be jealous. )

We left town mid-afternoon and drove up to middle-of-nowhere Kentucky. One of Aaron’s bands was playing at a Centrifuge leaders retreat, and he was going to make sure everything ran smoothly and work out some marketing stuff with the Lifeway people. I was going to get a feel for what was going on with Centrifuge and to get out of town for a bit.

Oh, and to hang out with the band.

FAMILY FORCE FIVE.

Yeah, baby.

We got there just in time for dinner and hooked up with the band at a place I believe was called Balew’s. It was essentially a big field full of cars with a little burger shack in the middle, and it was greatness. It took over an hour to get the food, and when asked if it usually took that long for a burger, the “waitress” shrugged and said “Lot’s full.” It was pretty awesome. I got to meet all the guys (and use their real names!) and we spent most of the meal discussing the best places across the country to get burgers, fried chicken, french fries and milkshakes.

We got back to the retreat center and had to kill some time before the room was ready for them to set up and do sound check. Y’all, I was THRILLED to be in there for sound check. I never get a good spot at a FF5 show, I always end up behind a pole or a guy who is nine feet tall. But from the front row in an empty room I could see everything, from the crazy stuff the DJ plays to the giant fist glove mike.

Now y’all, I love me some FF5. I put my hands up, shake it like an earthquake and watch what I say about their mamas. But I wasn’t prepared for how NICE they are. I’ve been around a lot of Christian artists in the last few years because of Aaron’s job and just because we live in Nashville, and these guys are the real deal. They are polite and thoughtful and respectful. The Lifeway guys couldn’t stop talking about them, and not because of their music. Because they really embody what you think a band who says they love Jesus and want to reach kids should be.

They were a blast to be around. I tried to supress my fangirl side and act cool, but it was a lost cause. I talked to them as much as I could. And just know… if you go see them play and they cover the Beastie Boys’ “Intergalactic”, you have me to thank.

George and Izzy on Grey’s Anatomy. They both suck in general and specifically in how they are dealing with Callie.

Sanjaya being gone from Idol. I don’t watch Idol at all, but I really love the Sanjaya watch on The Soup. I’m sorry to see it go. Let’s talk about chicks, man. (Chicks, man.)

Mirna on the Amazing Race. I love how she will spend all episode talking about how morally bankrupt the beauty queens are and then demean Charla because she is too short to drive a car. That girl is crazy with a side of crazy.

Logan on Gilmore Girls. I have been an anti-Logite since the beginning, and I think they want me to like him and see him growing up and maturing, but I refuse. Just say no to Logan. Run away, Rory.

Nicole on the Apprentice. I don’t really watch it, but Aaron loves the Trump, so I’ve seen a few episodes. I really only dislike her because her hair is out of control and she over-gestures when she talks. And her voice is crazy scary.

Heroes not being on. Yay for tonight!

A quick rundown of cool stuff we did last week:

Went to a birthday party at a new place in Nashville called Flyte. It is pretty much awesome. They serve drinks in “flytes” of three – instead of ordering one big glass of wine, you choose a flyte of three small glasses that complement each other. They do the same for beers. It’s a very cool way to try something new without committing to a whole glass of something you might not like. They also have a little antipasto menu that you fill out with the number of servings you want of things like roasted tomatoes, marinated olives, prosciutto, crusty bread and six different kinds of cheese. It was like heaven on a platter. We followed that up with dessert at Sunset Grill, a not-so-fancy fancy place that stays open late and has great food. The apple crisp and chocolate sushi were fantastic.

Successfully recruited four volunteers for our new fourth and fifth grade program on Sunday at our care group meeting. That was very exciting.

Went to Mercy Lounge Monday night to see Cortney Tidwell and Andrew Bird. And y’all. Andrew Bird. He is crazy talented. The guy will switch back and forth between the guitar and violin in the same bar, while simultaneously whistling and playing the marimba. He begins most songs on the violin, layering melodies on top of each other on a loop until you could swear there’s a full orchestra backing him up. Then the percussion comes in, followed by guitar and bass and vocals, all building on top of each other and creating crazy sounds that are filtered through some kind of spinning double gramophone thing and it all gets loud and swirly… and then he starts the whistling. And it is amazing.

But the biggest day was Tuesday. Because Tuesday? Was Brandi Carlile. Y’all know how much I love that girl. And she did not disappoint. Have you ever found yourself in a moment that is so full of greatness that you can’t imagine what could possibly make it better? I was in that moment Tuesday night around 10:30 at the Belcourt. I was standing in the very center of the theater with a perfect view of the stage. Brandi Carlile was directly in front of me, alone with an acoustic, belting out Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah”. I’ve got Aaron next to me and we’ve just seen the best show of the year, easily. Life is good.

Part of my new job is the planning and execution of a new youth service on Sunday mornings. In the past, our youth group has met on Sunday mornings for Sunday school, which was mostly just the kids of adults who went to classes, and on Tuesday nights, which was tough because of school activities and changing locations. The two groups were almost entirely different, resulting in a very haphazard and disconnected youth group. The only time everyone was in the same place was during main service on Sunday morning. So we brought youth group to them.

Today was our third service, and I am feeling really good about it. I feel like this was a big test for me, and I’m excited to have something of a victory as I start to figure out what I’m doing in this job.

Having church in a school is a lot of work. We have to build church every Saturday morning and take it down every Sunday afternoon. We’ve put a lot of thought into creating an atmosphere that is welcoming and comfortable – anything to get rid of the elementary school cafeteria feeling. We build a little cafe section right as you walk in, offering free coffee and selling snacks to benefit our Compassion child. Worship takes place in front of a big dark curtain (made from bedsheets I found on clearance!), keeping you from seeing all the tables and chairs stacked in the back. I think we’ve got a good thing going as far as the layout of the room goes. But every week we have to build it from scratch, then tear it down and pack it neatly into a trailer that holds everything we need to have church. It’s a little taxing.

We keep them active in the first part of the morning, playing a big game and doing silly giveaway and joke segments. Worship is led by two brothers, one of whom has two kids in the youth group. Worship was something I was really worried about… because of the format of the group in the past, corporate worship isn’t something they’ve ever done on a consistent basis. It kind of came down to the wire when we were looking for someone to lead worship, and these guys are exactly what we needed. They sound great together and they put a lot of thought into their song choices.

Rather than spending 20 minutes preaching at the kids while they zone out each week, we decided to break them out into small groups: junior high boys, junior high girls, and high school. Everyone does the same lesson, but they are in the groups where they feel the most comfortable. So far the format has served us really well. We’ve seen a lot of new faces each week, and giving them the chance to meet a few kids at a time seems to be making them more comfortable.

I really feel good about the service so far. We’ve made minor adjustments as we’ve gone, and I’m sure it will look much different in six months than it did this morning. At this point I’m just glad it hasn’t been a disaster!

But more than all of that… Sunday mornings energize me. My time in the office can be draining, and I don’t feel productive a lot of the time. But being in the service with those kids reminds me of what it is I’m doing. Making them play crazy games, hearing them sing, listening to their questions, talking about life and dating and school and camp and whatever else they come up with. I really love it.

I think maybe I’ll stick around for a while.

Hey people! Big news! I am still alive.

Barely.

These last few weeks have been some of the hardest I’ve had. This church stuff is… tough.

Not that I didn’t expect it to be a challenge. It’s just a different kind of challenge than I was anticipating. It feels weird to only have youth stuff to do all day. I don’t exactly know how to fill my time. I don’t really have an office right now, so I’m spending parts of the workday at home or the library, working on lessons or events or calendars. But it feels wrong to be at home during the day, even though I am totally allowed and even encouraged to work where I feel comfortable and can be most productive.

I worry a lot about how the rest of the staff perceives me. I want them to feel that I was the right choice for this job, that I’m doing it well and can do good things for our youth group. It’s a weird position, though, because they only see me do the administrative stuff. When we’re all together, the kids are in school. I worry that they see me sitting at a computer for hours at a time and wonder how that’s youth ministry.

I think I made the right decision. I don’t miss working for the Reeb. I definitely don’t miss country music or press kits or crazy fans or reporters.

I feel… hesitantly good about the whole thing. We kicked off our new youth service setup last week, and our first two services went really well. We had more kids than we’d expected and we’re getting a lot of positive feedback. A lot will start happening with school ending and summer kicking off.

I will get my feet under me. I will settle in. I will figure out my place. That little knot of anxiety in my chest will start to go away.

It’s going to be good. Just gotta get there.