Sunday, September 23, 2007
Homework
I am done with homework. I am tired of looking at it, I am tried of doing it. I want to go ride my bike and be free, but there is still more homework to do. That Sucks!!!
Grrrrrr.....
So, for the past few days it seems like everyone (including me) is in a horrible mood, stressed beyond belief and about ready to kill everyone that they come in contact with. It is ridiculous how attacks come from every direction and when that happens we don't know how to respond. I think that everyone in my house needs three days alone...including the kids. We all need something to rejuvenate us and calm us down. We tried ice cream (usually works for calming nerves) it just made us think about how fat it is going to make us. Tried walking, just made us more tired; tried talking, we just get frustrated when others don't understand. It is a sad time and there is definitely something trying to bring us all down...let me tell you.
So all that I have to say now is Grrrrr....that is how I feel. Grrrr......
So all that I have to say now is Grrrrr....that is how I feel. Grrrr......
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Hebrew
Tomorrow is my first Hebrew test. I just want to confess to everyone that I am terrified. This is not coming easily to me and I am not great at memorizing things. Needless to say, I have been studying and am going to continue studying, but I don't know how much good it is really going to do.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Thoughts on Volunteers
Over the past couple of weeks we have been talking about how to get our volunteers more involved in our ministry. We have been throwing ideas around and talking about how to make them feel more comfortable with each other and with the kids. How do we make our volunteers feel more wanted and needed? How do we get them to be more involved with the students than just being chaperons? Here are a few of our thought, or what we are thinking of doing.
Volunteer Meetings
We have decided to have monthly volunteer meetings. What do these meetings look like? Well, we are thinking of more of a community time, not a teaching time. I think so many times when we are thinking of volunteers we think that we need to train them in how to handle kids, what to say in situations and and how to be a part of their world. People know how to relate to other people. We don't need to train them all the time. I think that making the volunteers feel like a wanted group of people will hopefully make them feel more like coming around and spending time with the students. Creating a tight knit group of people that know each other and care about each other is the key.
I think that also in these meetings we need to make sure that our volunteers realize that they are capable. They are capable of relating to the students just as much as we, the staff, are. We need to make sure that they realize that as long as they are real with the students the students will be real with them.
These are just some random thoughts. What do you think? Any thoughts on volunteers?
Volunteer Meetings
We have decided to have monthly volunteer meetings. What do these meetings look like? Well, we are thinking of more of a community time, not a teaching time. I think so many times when we are thinking of volunteers we think that we need to train them in how to handle kids, what to say in situations and and how to be a part of their world. People know how to relate to other people. We don't need to train them all the time. I think that making the volunteers feel like a wanted group of people will hopefully make them feel more like coming around and spending time with the students. Creating a tight knit group of people that know each other and care about each other is the key.
I think that also in these meetings we need to make sure that our volunteers realize that they are capable. They are capable of relating to the students just as much as we, the staff, are. We need to make sure that they realize that as long as they are real with the students the students will be real with them.
These are just some random thoughts. What do you think? Any thoughts on volunteers?
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Microtrends
I ran across a link this morning to an article dealing with the changing microtrends in America. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20630522/site/newsweek/
I found it very interesting, yet I am left wondering if it is completely accurate and if it is what is the impact on my life and the lives of the students in my ministry.
The article is actually an overview of a book entitled "microtrends" by Mark Penn. The trends that I found to me most interesting are trends such as mothers in their mid thirties being the largest group of video game addicts, the resurgence of knitting among teens and the fact that most people who are tattooing themselves these days are upper and middle class. Tattoos are no longer for the inmates and deadbeats. Because of these changing trends in America the face and shape of America is changing. Kids are over the video games and are trying to find new things to do, people in general are reinventing themselves. Americans today are no longer willing to be put into boxes, they are stepping out and trying new things. Why is this happening? What has caused this change in our culture, society and way of life?
I think that it really all boils down to a statement that Penn made regarding the rise in left handedness in America. He says that the rise in left handedness has occurred because of the fact that we are allowing student to be who they are. We are no longer forcing them to be right handed. We are no longer forcing them to always conform to the rules, we are allowing more freedom.
Looking at our culture over the past few years we have become more permissive and now "tolerate a lot of other freedoms", but at what cost? What has this tolerant culture done to us and our kids. What is the result of tolerance on Society at large?
I am not saying that we shouldn't be loving and accepting of others, but at what point do we stand up and say,"that is enough". I think that the line has become blurred. The line of acceptance and non acceptance is no longer visible and it is affecting not only us, but the youth and children of today. They are confused and are looking for definition in their lives. The growing acceptance of the past few decades has caused our youth to actually go the other way. We have seen a resurgence of the past with people in the mid to early twenties. They have been going back to traditional mindsets of family and society. Not to say that this is the right way to go, but a balance needs to be found. We need to decide where the line is, our kids need definition and we need to help.
I found it very interesting, yet I am left wondering if it is completely accurate and if it is what is the impact on my life and the lives of the students in my ministry.
The article is actually an overview of a book entitled "microtrends" by Mark Penn. The trends that I found to me most interesting are trends such as mothers in their mid thirties being the largest group of video game addicts, the resurgence of knitting among teens and the fact that most people who are tattooing themselves these days are upper and middle class. Tattoos are no longer for the inmates and deadbeats. Because of these changing trends in America the face and shape of America is changing. Kids are over the video games and are trying to find new things to do, people in general are reinventing themselves. Americans today are no longer willing to be put into boxes, they are stepping out and trying new things. Why is this happening? What has caused this change in our culture, society and way of life?
I think that it really all boils down to a statement that Penn made regarding the rise in left handedness in America. He says that the rise in left handedness has occurred because of the fact that we are allowing student to be who they are. We are no longer forcing them to be right handed. We are no longer forcing them to always conform to the rules, we are allowing more freedom.
"The result, writes Penn, is a more permissive culture. “A society that tolerates people working with different hands is also likely to tolerate a lot of other freedoms.”
Looking at our culture over the past few years we have become more permissive and now "tolerate a lot of other freedoms", but at what cost? What has this tolerant culture done to us and our kids. What is the result of tolerance on Society at large?
I am not saying that we shouldn't be loving and accepting of others, but at what point do we stand up and say,"that is enough". I think that the line has become blurred. The line of acceptance and non acceptance is no longer visible and it is affecting not only us, but the youth and children of today. They are confused and are looking for definition in their lives. The growing acceptance of the past few decades has caused our youth to actually go the other way. We have seen a resurgence of the past with people in the mid to early twenties. They have been going back to traditional mindsets of family and society. Not to say that this is the right way to go, but a balance needs to be found. We need to decide where the line is, our kids need definition and we need to help.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Down for the Count
Waking up this morning I thought that I was down for the count. I woke up stressed, stressed about ministry, family, life, work and finances. I felt lost, confused and completely done. I was ready to throw in the towel, call it a day and get in the car and go home. All the way back to California where things seemed alot easier. Then I had a a talk with a friend. He made me think. When are things ever easy if they are what we are really suposed to do? He made me realize that God wouldn't bring me here and then leave me, that he wouldn't just throw me out here and then say, have a nice day. There is a reason and He will provide. Sometimes we have to withstand the forces of things we don't understand that are trying to steer us in a direction other than where we should be going. There are many things that don't want me here, don't want Youth Dynamics to work here in Arlington, that don't want students reached for God and they will do whatever it takes to stop us. Today I am standing up against it knowing that I have been called here and that God is leading. I am no longer in control I am letting Go and holding on for the ride.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)