LUMC Youth

Back in the swing of things...

2008-09-03T13:09:00.003-05:00

Well, the "Upcoming Events" sidebar is updated, you should be receiving calendars in the mail within the next few days, and the smell of waffles is in the air - it must be September!

I'm really glad to be back at LUMC, and I'm *really* looking forward to this Fall and whatever God has in store for us. Just to highlight some things:

this Sunday is the annual Waffle Breakfast / Sunday School sign-up, so be there or be circle.

Sr. High youth group will start *next* Thursday, September 11th, from 7pm-9pm in the Sr. High room.

yes, the calendars and events are correct - a 6th-8th grade Lock-In in just a few weeks! Crazy, I know! It'll be lots of fun!

there's also plenty of fun for the Sr. Highers too! We've got a retreat scheduled for the 27th-28th. We'll have a fun time on Saturday evening, then have some breakfast on Sunday morning and go to church together.

Any questions, comments, concerns, or fears can be directed to Kevin, so send an e-mail or give a call. See you soon!

Off to Camp!

2008-06-03T09:52:00.003-05:00

As you all know, summer is quickly approaching! While you're spending your lazy days throwing around the frisbee or playing video games (or whatever it is you kids do these days), I'll be at Casowasco, one of the two United Methodist camps here in the North Central region of New York. Other LUMC members at Casowasco will be both C.J. and Cayla Griffin, who'll be counseling and lifeguarding and being generally AWESOME! Pastor Bill will also be around during "Summer's Last Blast" helping out with the "Shutterbugs". It should be a great summer, and I'm really looking forward to it - I hope you've signed up for camp and that I'll see you there!

If I don't see you, then I'll be even more excited for next Fall! We'll start up again with activities and youth events in September, and we've got LOTS planned for you, so be prepared!

God Bless!

~Kevin

Coordinator of Youth Ministries

www.campsandretreats.org

www.aldersgateny.org

www.casowasco.org

WANTED: Parents and Teens on April 27th!

2008-04-08T12:01:00.002-05:00

The LUMC Youth Ministry Team requests your presence on

April 27th at 6:30pm

in the Fellowship Hall. We would like to share some information with you regarding the state of Youth Ministry at LUMC, and hear feedback from you! This is an opportunity for you to voice your joys, your fears, your concerns, and your hopes.

Please come with your thoughts on:

What does your child look like as a follower of Christ?
How can LUMC help you achieve this?

Beverages and desserts will be provided.

For more information, please contact: Kevin Dunn, Kathy Lee, or Christa Salmon

Lapse in posting

2008-03-25T13:27:00.001-05:00

Wow, I hadn't realized that it had been so long since I've posted anything new here. I've even fallen behind in sharing my embarrassing stories!

Well, I hope to change that, and continue to add things (no matter how random!) more regularly. Keep checking back for event information and devotions & shtuff.

"Church splits over spelling of 'hallelujah' "

2008-03-11T12:32:00.002-05:00

So I found this funny website last week. It's like a Christian version of "The Onion", and makes parodies on a variety of Christian topics. There's absolutely tons of funny stuff on there, and you can spend hours going through all their previous articles. It's called LarkNews, and can be found at larknews.com . Among the funnier headlines:

Church splits over spelling of 'hallelujah'
Maine congregation finally emerges after Y2K scare
Pastor eBays congregation
Inner-city ministry trip confirms youths’ worst impressions

Check it out!

What We Were Meant For

2008-01-29T09:28:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share a video with you if you haven't seen it. I'm not quite sure who's performing, or what venue it is, but it's a 5 minute drama set to the Lifehouse song "Everything"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA

It definitely reminds me of myself ten years ago, and maybe it speaks to you too...

CCYM Retreat in two weeks!

2008-01-22T13:05:00.000-05:00

There's a retreat coming up @ Casowasco in less than two weeks, and you are invited! The Conference Council on Youth Ministry has put together an awesome retreat that is going to be lots of fun. Plenty of hang-out and game time, quirky fundraisers ($ that goes to support mission work, here and abroad), and learning a little bit more about God and His powerful love.

There'll be a half dozen teens from LUMC there, and I'm going there to be a small group leader, so I hope you decide to join us! It'll be lots of fun!

You MUST register in advance, though. Forms are on the youth bulletin board and in both the Jr. and Sr. High rooms.

The cost: $115, but only $105 if you've never attended before or if you bring a friend who's never attending before.

If you would like financial assistance, PLEASE just contact Kevin by e-mail or phone. It's no problem, but we need to know before you register.

The Slow Torture Of Ice Cream And Its Melting Point

2008-01-08T12:58:00.000-05:00

Embarrassing Story #10

Now, this is definitely a funny one.

It happened at about this time of year (right after the Christmas break), when I was in fifth grade. To fully understand the embarrassing part of it, you have to remember what it was like to be in fifth grade and at a relatively new school. I had just moved to Cazenovia that year, and it was still so fresh and new. I didn't know many people, only had two friends, and was still pretty much just "the new kid."

Some of the only delights I could take in my day were when I had finally saved up enough change to buy ice cream at lunch. I always bought lunch at school, which was $.95, so you'd always get $.05 back when you payed with a dollar. I'd save up the change for the week and then splurge and get a fun dessert like an ice cream cone/sandwich. I'd really look forward to that dessert.... mmm.....

Anyway. Sometimes it'd be problematic, though, because lunch was rushed and you might not have a chance to finish all you had to eat. Unfortunately, such was the occasion on this fateful day. It was the day before Christmas break, and I had enough money that day to treat myself to a ice cream sandwich.

So, I finally went up and bought my ice cream, but- oh no! The period was over! Lunch was over! What was I going to do?! Well, I didn't have the time or manners to even wolf the thing down, so I did what anybody else would've done - ...I put it in my locker.

Now, this wouldn't be that bad except for the fact that I, well, left it there throughout Christmas break. There were several factors to me leaving it in my locker, but suffice to say, when I was sitting on my bus as it was pulling out of the school, I remembered my ice cream sandwich and was horrified to think that it was going to stay in my locker for the entire break.

And so, I worried all Christmas vacation. I was too embarrassed and afraid to tell my parents about what I had done, and my mind raced with all that could go wrong - would it melt all over my papers? Would there be dripping ice cream all over my books? Would there be a puddle outside my locker, and would I get in trouble because of it? I worried myself sick. All throughout Christmas break, I worried about what was going to happen and everything. By the last day I was a basket case, and even my parents could tell that something was wrong. But I still didn't tell them what I had done... until that night when I tried to go to sleep.

I had worried myself into a tizzy so much that I couldn't fall asleep. I was so upset that I finally came downstairs, where my parents asked me what was wrong. And I cried. I cried and cried and cried. Like, really sobbed hard. I was so distraught that I was going to come back to my locker and find all its contents dripping with melted ice cream, and I was worried about all the consequences I would face. Once again, I don't know how they contained their laughter, but they did. They got me calmed down enough to get to sleep.

And, it turned out, it wasn't that big of a deal. It seems as though there are so many preservatives and chemicals in that kind of junk that, wouldn't you know it, it didn't melt. Really. It just stayed in its paper wrapping, and when I got to my locker the next morning, I just threw it out. I think I wiped up a little spot on the shelf where it had been, but it wasn't much at all. ::shrug::

All that worrying, for nothing. ::sigh::

Check back next month for another embarrassing story - "Some Other Story Involving Me And An Embarrassing Situation"

Youth Group Canceled This Thursday :-(

2007-12-31T10:44:00.000-05:00

So, I have to apologize for having to cancel youth group again this Thursday. I had a family member die yesterday, and I have to travel to Ohio for the funeral. :-(

I look forward to next week's, though! January 10th, 7pm - be there!

Youth Group Canceled Tonight

2007-12-13T10:20:00.000-05:00

Speaking of cancellations, Youth Group will be canceled tonight! When I woke up, it hadn't started snowing. Now, it's snowing quite heavily, and is expected to dump a little over a foot by the time the storm's done. So, stay at home tonight! Don't make your parents drive you to church, because no one will be there (no food will be there, either)!

See you on Sunday!

Reminder about cancellations

2007-12-12T20:29:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to remind you all that if there are any Youth events during the week (like on Thursday nights), they will be canceled if school is also canceled that day. So if school's canceled tomorrow, we won't meet tomorrow night. Make sense? You can always give me a call too, if you want to confirm whether we'll meet or not.

"A Knock Of Doom And A Little Boy Crying (The Little Boy Is Me)"

2007-12-12T14:12:00.000-05:00

Embarrassing story #9

It's that time of the month again, isn't it? Time for me to share another embarrassing story about myself?

....well, if I must.

This story is actually one that is often told about me, but which I don't actually remember happening. I was too young to remember it, you see. The earliest memory I have is from when I was a little younger than three, and I think this happened right around that time. (No, it didn't happen just last year or anything. Though, that would make it even funnier.)

So, it was Christmas Eve, and I was at my grandparents house. It was evening-ish, and we had all finished dinner a while ago and were just sitting around the table talking. Well, the adults were talking. I don't know what I was doing (I don't have any recollection of this incident, remember?). Anyway, the conversation turned around to Santa Claus, which caught my attention. I mean, it was Christmas Eve! My cousins and I were always pretty excited around Christmas, looking through the J.C. Penny catalog and marking all the toys we wanted. And, it was evening already! We would go to bed soon and then Santa would come, and before we knew it it would be morning and we'd have presents!

So the conversation came around to Santa Claus and then my grandmother, thinking herself quite funny and clever, sneakily put her hand down underneath the tablecloth and knocked on the underside of the wooden table.

"What's that?!", she asked, "Probably Santa Claus on the roof right now with his reindeer!"

I burst into tears. I just kept crying and crying and crying. Not only was I worried about not being in bed and having him come and not give us presents, but I was pretty scared of Santa himself. For a long time I refused to have my picture taken with Santa. (Can you blame me? Haven't you ever seen that scene in A Christmas Story where he goes to see Santa? He's scary!) And now he was on the roof!

Needless to say, it took a while for me to calm down, and I was wary of my grandmother for a while after that.

Lessons learned: Santa can be scary, don't try and trick kids around Christmastime, and never mess around with rules about receiving presents. If you do, kids will burst into tears.

Check back next month for another embarrassing story - "The Slow Torture Of Ice Cream And Its Melting Point"

Christmas Caroling this Saturday!

2007-12-10T15:02:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that we're going Christmas Caroling this Saturday, December 15th, from 2pm-4pm. Bring your parents and grandparents and sisters and brothers, everyone is invited! We're going to travel around the Lansing area to people who could really use some some Christmas cheer and know that they're loved. Hope to see you all there!

XMAS AND CHRISTMAS

2007-12-03T12:18:00.000-05:00

The wonderful writer and Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis, wrote a fictional story back in the 1950's about the country of Niatirb ("Britain" spelled backwards) and the strange holidays they celebrate called Exmas and Crissmas. It's written as if a foreigner had visited Britain and written down what he observed about Christmas, and it's great! It's not too long, and I highly recommend you read it here.

Apologetix in Concert!

2007-11-07T12:32:00.000-05:00

So, I won't be around next Friday (I'm going to the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta), but I wanted to let you know about a band that's coming to Moravia on the 16th. They're called Apologetix (here's a sampling at purevolume), and they're a Christian band that does parodies of popular songs. I heard them a few years ago at Kingdom Bound, and they're really good (I even bought one of their albums). Some of the lyrics are pretty funny. Here's the details:

Apologetix
Friday, November 16th, 2007
7:30 PM
Moravia High School Auditorium
S. Main St. Moravia, NY

Doors open at 6:30PM

Tickets: $10 in advance
$15 at the door

Advance tickets at
http://www.apologetix.com
OR
(315) 497-0038

I hope some of you decide to go!

In Which I Get Scared And, With Help, Scare Others

2007-11-07T09:07:00.000-05:00

Embarrassing story #8

So, last week was Halloween, and so I decided to share an embarrassing story this month about Halloween.

It was my sophomore year in college. Every year on Halloween, the Catholic Council on campus (wow, try saying that three times fast!) hosted a "Road Rally" where you'd gather together a bunch of people, cram them into a car, and go on a scavenger hunt around town. I hadn't gone before, but decided that I should do it at least once before I graduated. So on Halloween I joined my roommate and three mutual friends and we stuffed into a car and started on the hunt. One of the first clues led us to a nearby cemetery.

But of course.

It was the first clue, and so all the other cars were there at the cemetery as well. We had to go to this one tomb, where about a dozen and a half other people were, looking for the next clue.

Did I mention that this is at night? Like, 10 o'clock-pitch black-can't see more than five feet in front of you night? Well, it is.

And so I'm up there, with about a dozen other people looking around this tomb when, from behind the nearby bushes, a guy jumps out and yells and scares the bejeesums out of us. I kid you not, we all jumped about a foot in the air and our eyes bugged out of our sockets. A girl next to me swore that she felt a little pee come out. That's how scared and caught off guard we all were. From that point on that night, I let my teammates do more of the investigating; I'm pretty fond of gravity and enjoy my feet touching the ground, and am not particularly crazy about being scared so badly that I defeat gravity.

So the rest of the Road Rally went well, except that we were supposed to go to the county fairgrounds, and none of us knew where they were. Drat! We were forced to ask for directions. (they're here, of course. Who would've thought they'd be on "Fairgrounds Rd."?)

Did I mention that everyone in the car was dressed up in costumes except for me? But hey, I had already been scared out of my wits that night. I was in no mood to go somewhere and ask for directions to the fairgrounds. So the rest of us forced my roommate to. We drove to Big Sheetz (what's a Sheetz?), and made him go inside to ask for directions.

Did I mention that he was wearing a bright pink t-shirt that said "I like boys" on it? In a town where most of the men drive big trucks and have beards and are not too kind at 11pm on Halloween? Yeah. So we basically sent him in to the wolves.

The looks on people's faces were priceless. I'm sure they were thinking, "Crazy college boy!", but it was still funny to see their kind-of shocked faces as a twenty-something year old with a bright pink shirt that had "I like boys" written on it went in, asked for directions to the fairgrounds (which are, of course, deserted in late October), and then left.

Were they scared? Well, not as much as I had been earlier that night. But, you never know.

Check back next month for another embarrassing story - "A Knock Of Doom And A Little Boy Crying (The Little Boy Is Me)"

Youth Group Cancelled Tonight - November 1st

2007-11-01T12:36:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let you guys know that we won't be able to meet tonight.

:-(

I've been feeling pretty sick all day, and I certainly don't want to pass it on to all of you. I hope to see you on Sunday, though!

~Kevin.

Operation Christmas Child

2007-10-23T12:55:00.000-05:00

For the next few weeks, we want to spend some time giving to the less fortunate in our world. Operation Christmas Child is a program that collects shoeboxes filled with presents from all around the country and then redistributes them around the world to children who don't usually get any presents at all. We'd like to help them accomplish this goal. For the next few weeks, we're asking you and the members of the congregation to bring in items and a shoebox so we can pack them up and send them out to needy children.

Some suggestions for items you could donate:

school supplies (pens, pencils, crayons, stamps, ink pads, etc.)
solar calculators
coloring books
small toys (balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump-ropes, etc.)
hygiene products (toothpaste, toothbrushes, bar soap, washcloths, combs, etc.)
hard candy, mints, gum, t-shirts, socks, jewelry, flashlights, etc.
personal note, picture of yourself, etc.

Tell your friends at school- we want to help as many kids as we can!

For more information, call or e-mail Kevin.

Sr. High Pumpkin Carving

2007-10-18T12:58:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that this Sunday we're having a Sr. High Pumpkin Carving here at church, from 5:30 to 7:30. We've got sandwiches, soda, and of course - pumpkins! So come on over Sunday evening and have some food and fun as we impress each other with our design and pumpkin-gutting/cutting skills!

I Can't Believe I'm Going To Share A Story About Girls

2007-10-16T09:34:00.000-05:00

Embarrassing story #7

So, for a reason that's escaping me at the moment, I ended my last embarrassing story with a promise to share a story about myself and girls. The story I had in mind happened in August of '95, so I think I was thinking, "Hmm, it was just August, and I remember a story from August, so I'll share that in October."

And so it's October, and time for me to share that story.

The story takes place at camp. I spent a week there in '95, like I had for the previous several summers. I was still relatively young, and so didn't really appreciate camp for all that it could provide; spiritual growth and renewal, etc... Mostly, I went to camp for the fast friendships that would develop in such a tight-knit community.

I also went because, well, there were girls there. Cute girls.

...and so, over the week at camp I had developed several crushes. How could you not? I was geeky (as has been previously documented on this blog), and a lot of these girls were so carefree and open, and would actually talk to me as if I was a real person! This was big news. The even bigger news, though, was that there was going to be a dance at the end of the week, on Thursday night. Thursday night. The last night at camp. The night when you hoped to get to talk to the girl you had a crush on. So finally, Thursday night came, and with it, The Dance. The Dance was in full swing, and the group of us guys were right in the thick of things.

Well... not exactly. Unless if you take "in the thick of things" to mean "against the wall afraid to dance or even talk with any of the girls we admired." We were scared of rejection, I guess. At any rate, there were some of us that would keep going outside to get some fresh air and hang out and talk about how nervous we were. One time when we were all outside, this one girl came up to me and asked if she could talk to me.

I think I was so nervous that I almost threw up in my mouth. ....but luckily, that didn't happen. What did happen was that she said that one of her friends wanted to dance with one of my friends, and asked if I could help prod him to ask her if she wanted to dance. So I did. He was really reluctant. I can't say I blamed him. After all, he had a crush on her all week too, and was scared that she didn't like him. I tried to convince him that she must, otherwise this girl wouldn't have come to me. So I talked to the girl again and said that I thought he was going to ask her friend to dance. Well, he didn't. What did happen was that the girl came and asked him to dance. He glanced over and me, and I wordlessly urged him to. He did. I felt so good that they we were going to dance, and that I had done something to help, even though it was small. So I go outside and just look up at the stars, when I hear a voice behind me.

It was the girl that had asked me to talk to my friend on behalf of her friend. She said how nice it was that they finally got to dance, and I said that yeah, it was. Then, she... she held out her hand and asked if I wanted to dance.

....whoa. No way. Me? Dance? Nonononononono.... not me. She couldn't be serious, could she? But she was. I was so caught off guard, I didn't know what to do. So what did I do?

I mumbled something about not being able to dance.

She persisted, and said that she didn't really know how either. She kept her hand out there and asked again if I wanted to dance.

...but, embarrassingly, I mumbled once again how I didn't know how to dance. And she went inside. And that was that.

So you see, I am truly someone that goes out of his way to embarrass himself. What was there to lose from dancing with this girl? Nothing. But did I do it? Heck no! It was stupid, and it was embarrassing because I didn't feel like I could even look at her the rest of the night & Friday without feeling shame.

Girls and I haven't always mixed, that's for sure. But hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

Check back next month for another embarrassing story - "In Which I Get Scared And, With Help, Scare Others"

Sr. High Youth Group @ Lakeview

2007-10-09T08:53:00.000-05:00

Hey all - just wanted to let you know that we will be having youth group this week, but because of the rummage sale, not at the church. As I mentioned on Sunday Morning, we'll be going to the Lakeview church.

To get there, travel south on 34 [East Shore Drive] until you get to Burdick Hill Rd. It's on the left, a little past Autumn Ridge Drive. Turn left onto Burdick Hill Rd. The church is on the left about a quarter mile up the road. It's kind of set back from the road, but you should be able to see it. We'll meet there just like we do at church, from 7 to 9.

Sr. High Youth Group This Thursday

2007-10-02T09:45:00.000-05:00

Hey all! I just wanted to reassure you that yes, we will be meeting this Thursday evening at 7pm. There'll be pizza (as always), and maybe some more rounds of Crazy Derelict Word Game.

The Breath Of God

2007-09-18T12:10:00.000-05:00

I'll assume for the moment that most of you have at least seen the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe", if not read it. I really recommend reading it if you have the time, as well as the other six books in the series. I remember reading them when I was in third or fourth grade, and have made a point to read them every few years or so since then. I find that when I read them now, I appreciate them more than I did back then, because I'm able to pick up on things that I didn't when I was younger.

One of my favorite scenes in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe is where Aslan goes to free the statues in the Witch's castle. These statues were actually centaurs, lions, fauns, and other creatures who opposed the Witch and whom she then petrified (turned into stone). When Aslan reaches them, he breathes on them, and they become alive once more. I really enjoy this scene, and others like it throughout the other books, because it conveys a deep concept about God. That Aslan's (who, as the son of the Emperor-Over-Sea, is a representation of Jesus Christ) breath is life-giving, and is the only thing capable of saving those who were petrified.

A few months ago I was reading the book of Habakkuk, who was a prophet several hundreds years before Christ was born. Habakkuk lived in a culture where people made images from wood and clay, decorated them, and worshipped them. Habakkuk didn't understand this, especially in light of all that God had done for his fellow Israelites and the fact that God has specifically said to not worship idols. To all the people around him who were worshipping these things they had made, Habakkuk had this to say:

"Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him that says to wood, 'Come to life!' Or to lifeless stone, 'Wake up!' Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold an silver; there is no breath in it." (2:18-19, NIV)

Rob Lacey, in his "Word on the Street" translation, puts it this way:

"Bad news with no driver at the wheel, hurtling towards those who say to bits of wood and stone, "Live, won't you?" Do inanimate objects give good advice?! OK, so it's been sprayed with gold or silver, but it doesn't breathe; it can't talk - it's dead!"

Both of these translations use the concept of "breath" or "breathing" to explain the difference between a living object and a non-living object. Both of these translations use the concept of breathing to explain that some things are worthy of worship (God), and others that are not worthy of worship (everything else).

In the Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan's breath is transforming; it brings the non-living to life. But he is the only breath-giver there is, he's the only one that's deserving of worship. Likewise, God is the only one that deserves our undivided worship. There are many things in our world that we can choose to worship- money, friendships, technology, etc... But Habakkuk's point is that while these things might be nice, they aren't worthy enough for our worship. I might really enjoy my laptop, but it's certainly not deserving of worship- ever have a computer crash? Yeah. Nothing that we can make is deserving of our full attention and devotion, only God is. We have to re-order our lives based on this simple truth. What do we want to give our attention to? Schoolwork? A website?

God is the only one that can create life, and He's the only one that makes life worth living.

No Painting Party This Week

2007-09-16T13:31:00.000-05:00

To everyone who hasn't heard yet -

We're in the process of moving the Sr. High room to somewhere else in the church. Originally, we had planned on painting this Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, but since we haven't got a room yet, we can't exactly paint it on Tuesday! So, we'll keep you posted as to what room we're going to use and when we're planning on paint it. If you've got ideas about how to decorate, feel free to let us know. We can't promise we'll use all your suggestions, but please tell us your thoughts anyway. :-p

Friday, August 10th, 2007 Just Wasn't My Day

2007-09-12T10:07:00.000-05:00

Embarrassing Story #6

Well, I can't believe that I've been doing this for six months now. In that short amount of time, we've covered how big of a geek I am, that I can be chased by young boys with squirt guns, am afraid of the Easter Bunny, cried over a big hamburger, and how I kissed somebody else's grandmother.

Yeah.

This month, I'll just be sharing some random things that happened to me when I was at camp on August 10th. First, as a background, I have to mention several things: 1) It was the second to last week of camp, and I was drained physically and emotionally. I had some situations that week that were challenging, and it's not like I had been lying around eating bon-bons before that. 2) Bugs temporarily take over the site sometimes. During Staff Orientation, it was caterpillars that were hanging off every railing, huddled into swarms on trees, etc. The last few weeks of camp it was these little centipede-like things that were crawling around everywhere, mostly along the shoreline and (very inconveniently) on the pier. 3) Birds sometimes nest in places they shouldn't nest. Barn swallows, in particular, are pretty stupid and always build their nests in the most awkward places on site - the Galilee South porch, and the entrance to the chapel. This means that, from time to time, birds fly into the chapel during Chapel.

So the stage is set. We have centipede-ish things all around site, and a bird flying into the chapel. It's breakfast on August 10th, and I'm happily eating my French Toast Sticks, unaware that things are going to get worse from here on out. Then, all of a sudden, I feel something drop onto my head. More than slightly freaked out, I brush my hair, and onto my plate plops...... .....a centipede-ish thing. ......ugh. Gross! ....it was so disgusting that I am still recoiling in revulsion. I get it off my plate, kill it, and get a new plate. But by then I'm flipped out, so I keep looking up with horror, expecting a ceiling tile to come crashing down upon me with several thousand of these little wormy things to crawl all over me (ugh, just writing about them grosses me out ::shudder::). This was the beginning of my day.

The crowning moment, though, happened after all the craziness of the day had finished. The kids had gone home, we had cleaned the buildings, and we gathering in the chapel for a short meeting followed by a closing service for the summer (many staff were leaving after that week). I came in hot and sweaty, and just "done". I had just sat down to relax for a bit when the bird, the infamous Barn Swallow, flew in the chapel. A moment later...

....plop!

Onto my shoulder. I glance over to verify and... yes, it had pooped on me. ::sigh:: ...I'm pretty sure worse things could've happened to me. Actually, I'm positive that something much worse could've happened to me. I have a good life- God has blessed me greatly. But, at that moment, the combination of having a centipede/worm-thing land on my head that morning and the tiredness of camp was just... well, it felt like it just wasn't my day.

So you can add that to embarrassing things you now know about me - I've gotten worms in my hair, and have had a bird poop on me.

Just wait 'til you hear my story for October: "I Can't Believe I'm Going To Share A Story About Girls"