Perfect for your small group.

Me proud? No way. Ok, just a little. My husband recently wrote a book that it's awesome. I can't wait to use it with our small groups in January.

Check it out by clicking here.

Thanks Patrick

Patrick Lencioni just published a book titled, "The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family." I picked it up in the airport and read it during one flight. It has really messed with my head, in good ways. It is super helpful and I've already made some really positive changes that are making my life much less frantic and much more purposeful. I'm thinking about having a workshop for my middle school families to answer these three big questions together.

Middle School Drama-tude

Last night after middle school worship some students were standing in a circle in the gym (my first clue). We had just finished a message on taming our inner "monsters". What happened next was a lesson in irony and illustrates the depths of middle school drama.

I noticed one of the smaller girls had a pretty frustrated look on her face as she stood opposite one of the boys (also small but a bit larger than her). He must have provoked her pretty bad because the next thing I knew she had slapped him in the face. What!? I walked over to them as she burst into tears--said I'm sorry--then ran away. I was wondering how much damage she could have possibly done but that's when I saw the blood on the kids lip and teeth. I guess the boys had been poking fun at her during the service and she finally got fed up. The dude turned out to be ok--but her swing must have landed at just the right angle to bust the inside of his lip.

What a night!

P.S. My super hero powers that I ordered from Youth Specialties and Simply Youth Ministry have been back-ordered. Maybe they'll come in time for the next "circle-time" in the gym. :)

30 Eve

Some may not realize how closely the eve of thirty resembles Christmas Eve. There's an anticipation about what to expect the next morning that drives one to bake cookies (and eat them). A person's mind dances around before drifting off to sleep as if trying to hold on to the last few moments of 29 before you get the "new stuff" of being thirty. Someone might wonder if life the next ten years will be better than the last, or if it will be worse. No honest person would trade the physical body of a twenty year old. The mind, however, I'm not so sure if that would be traded. A mom who has given birth to a child may wish to transport her crisp mind back to a year before growing a human being but that's another scenario. A youth worker may want to trade the blood-shot eyes of one too many lock-ins for a pair of fresh ones but that may be all she wants to trade. A world full of new possibilities and hope waits for us every day. I guess that wouldn't make this day any different. It's not like I'm speaking from experience or anything.

An awesome piece on girls and technology, worth reading.

See Jane Navigate Technology

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Breaking Dawn

I just finished the last page of the fourth book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga--Breaking Dawn. I must say it had a fantastic ending. It felt complete. The themes that surfaced toward the end of the book circling around justice, family, loyalty, and sacrifice were exceptional. And it felt really great knowing that I have my very own "Edward" living right here with me in my own home. So lucky, so lucky.

On a ministerial note-- I'm heading into my next Wednesday night series "Supernatural" and I finally feel like I have some material to work with. Add the most revelatory truth teller of all time (Christ) to this unfolding question about what is real and we're on to something.

The book of John is taking on an entirely new power for me and I can't wait to share some of these things with our students this month.