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.