Ok, this time, i have a real reason, i swear.

About a week ago, maybe less, i started writing a blog. and it was a good blog, full of satire and sarcasm and information, but as the blog continued, it began to get more and more cynical and bitter, mostly towards conservative-type Christianity. it really felt good, and i really think i had a lot of pent-up aggression towards that. so i wrote and wrote and wrote, and now i feel much better, but that post will likely never see the light of day, at least in it's entirety. so, now i'm sharing a quick little something that was really cool.

I temp fairly often. and by temp i mean substitute teach. and if you didn't get that, you have not watched school of rock nearly enough times. anyways, i had just finished subbing a middle school class, and it was right before lunch, and i remembered that the cafeteria here has my favorite kind of ice cream bar, so i decided to mosey on in and get me one. there was a bunch of elementary kids in there with all the middle schoolers, and i walk in and pretty much get mobbed by students from 1st grade to 8th, yelling at me, telling me stuff, hanging off me, giving me the crusts from their sandwiches, asking me for money, etc. it was loud.

It was one of the most gratifying moments in my career as a youth pastor.

When i came to this job, this church, this school, i really only knew like 3 kid in the whole K-12. and that really stressed me out, cuz i knew that i needed to get to know them, but i had a really hard time with that. and now, about a week away from the end of this school year here, i get mobbed in the cafeteria by like a hundred kids. i recognize that this sort of gratification, that is, feeling popular, is dangerous and a trap to youth pastors, who feel like they have to be cool, and will use kids to make themselves feel better. and i'm not going to lie and say that i haven't dealt with that a little, but it was just really cool to know that...well, i guess that i am someone to them. i don't really know about them thinking i'm cool, but to know that they know me, and they know my name, and i am someone in their life, is the best feeling in the world.

It's proof that God can use just about anyone to do just about anything.

***WARNING***
This Blog contains mechanically explicit material. Proceed at your own risk

Remember that motorcycle i used to have? that was fun...
So i rebuilt the top end myself, and not only did it actually run afterwards, but it ran better!! before the rebuild, it would top out at about 120km/hr, which is not that great, but i consoled myself with the idea that motocross bikes are built to haul up hills and through forests and stuff, not necessarily go really fast on the straightaways. after i messed around all in the inside, it went a lot faster...but i'm not sure how much, since i chickened out. it was accelerating through 130kph before i lost my nerve. i was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, ok? lets see how brave you are when you have visions of becoming hamberger!!

Anyways, i was almost home, not going that fast, maybe like 90, passing a little scooter, and my engine just clunks and stops. i got the clutch in time, so i coasted to the nearest parking lot, then walked it the rest of the way home, expecting it to be something little. not so, i'm afraid. my first clue was the spark plug:



And i thought to myself "why, something must have attacked my little spark plug while it was minding it's own buisness inside my engine". so, with no further ado, i took off the top end of my motor, and as i do that, the next thing i see is this little tiny thing falling out of the cylinder:



And again, thinking to myself, i thinked "that looks as if it were at one time one of the quintuplet of valves that has lept from it's rightful place with its brothers to wreak havoc upon the piston, cylinder walls and 3 remaining valves." so i took a closer look at the piston, and this is the view i got (and this one's a little painful):

that used to be my piston. and here's the last view of where the valve sprung from:





And there you have it. no more motorcycle for me. i have no idea what caused this. i'd been riding it for about 5 days, so if there had been a timing problem i should have found out about it before i snapped a valve. but, for whatever the reason, the valve made friends with the piston, with disasterous results. it bourced around in the cylinder, destroying my piston, cylinder walls, and the 3 remaining valves.

I still have the bike taking up precious space, which, in this country, could get you thrown in jail. i just can't bring myself to get rid of it yet. about a week ago i was talking to a kid about how awesome it was, and he asked me what i would do if it broke or if it totalled it. he thought i'd probably cry. i told him that if it was totalled, then i would soon forget about it. it's when there's little things wrong that i'm actually capable of fixing that i waste my life out there working on it. and look where i am now. another classic example of God calling my bluff. and honestly, i'm only a little sad. not sad for the $600 i put into it, or the like 200 hours, or the like 38 severe lacerations, but it was sorta a legacy around here. and it was fun driving. like being on an amusement park ride, only driving. but unless someone knows a mechanic in japan that wants to give away a 250cc kawasaki motorcycle engine, and probably put it in for me too, this is it for the bike:

my little '95 KLX250. for sad.....

ps-all these pictures were taken with my cell phone. sweet, huh?
pps- i apologize if this entry was over your head. it is because i learned all this stuff that i don't consider the time, money, or blood wasted. well, maybe a little blood was wasted...

TERROR!!

i am coming to some realizations about how God works. mostly, things that i think i should never do, or things that i'm like "i'll do anything....except that", are things that He ends up being like "here you go, sucker!" i've got 2 stories about that, but the other one will have to wait until i get some pictures. story 1 goes like this-

so i'm sitting at home like 9 months ago, thinking about being a youth pastor, sort of imagining on a very realistic level what it would be like to be here, and i come to grips with the idea of giving a talk every week, but i'm terrified at the thought of being a camp speaker. one talk a week, ok. 8 talks in one week, not so ok. you guessed it- i've been asked to be a camp speaker for the summer. NOT ONLY THAT, however, it's for the current 3rd-5th graders. like kids. little ones. running around being...little and blatant in their kid-ish-ness. i have no idea AT ALL how to teach to that age. what's up with that? why can't God set it up so i can at least speak to middle school, or only slighly worse, high school? but elementary? i do have a few friends in the elementary, but mostly they just see me as their walking, talking, jungle gym. which is a role i'm ok with. but communicating Biblical truths?

i was talking to the pastoral staff over here about this (turns out it was their idea. TRAITORS!!) and they were like "you'll do fine! it's not that big of a deal, they're just kids." then, just when i think i'm coming to grips with it, they start talking about how their kids' lives were changed by elementary camp, and how the entire course of history was changed when they were in 3rd-5th grade by a speaker at a camp. not like i'm freaking out enough on my own without hearing that.

so, consider this a call to all you teachers of elementary kids out there- HELP ME. i was talking to an elementary teacher here, and he told me that i don't need to change the content from what i would talk about to middle schoolers, just change the delivery. i know (courtesy educational psychology- thanks patty!) that kids that age are very concrete thinkers, that they don't get abstract concepts at all. there is no gray area in their brains- things are either right for everyone or wrong for everyone. they have a huge sense of justice- everything MUST be fair. how this all translates to me being a camp speaker is what i'm not real clear on. so, rainbow, becky, becca, various other people who like to think they are smart (and, for all intents and purposes, are), this is me putting the onus of responsibility on your shoulders (and thanks to cami for that great word). really. just a little help would be ok. tricks? stuff that you remember your camp speaker doing that you thought was cool, or amazing, or hilarious, or memorable?