Disney, Safety, and Anger

An odd combination no? Yet it's interestingly the one I find myself in tonight. Currently my father and older brother are home in California with my mom and younger brother. So they decided they were going to take a trip to Disneyland and enjoy three days of fun together. What does that have to do with me? Well Disney has always been a massive family event, none of us have gone without one another before, so I decided to ask for a sweatshirt from Disneyland for myself. We have been communicating mostly over text message because of all things we know Disneyland is the hardest place on earth to talk on the phone. Having just picked out what I think will be my birthday present (don't quote me on that) I now am working on a safety training exercise for my would be volunteers.

See the connection now? It's amazing all the ideas I have to incorporate into this project, it makes me wonder how many will in fact stay with me after this project is over. So I bet you're thinking the anger is tied in with my frustration toward trying to figure out what to keep and what to throw out right?

WRONG!

I see one of my friends hanging out with well...a bad influence...and I have no idea how to bring it up to her...time to pray for wisdom for the situation, or even still pray if I'm the one who is meant to speak to her. Sometimes we have to make our own mistakes (something I dread letting others do). I'm learning to accept this truth, even though I want to guard and save people from their hardships, sometimes I just need to let go and be there after the fact.

To Be Willing

I've been reflecting for a while now, just what does it mean to be willing? We have been told we will suffer for Christ. I understand that, but is that a willing suffering? Are we like Jesus in that way? In that we don't want to, but understand we need to? Or are we honestly willing? I know it isn't along the same lines, but I can't help but think of my Choralons concerts. At times my attitude fits both categories. Sometimes I come happy and able to sing my heart out for the people there. Though others I simply feel miserable, my heart isn't in it, but I sing because I know I have to (God often changes my heart in the midst of this, but my original attitude is what I am talking about). So what does it mean to be willing? Am I willing simply because I go? Or am I willing because I want to go? I think about Jesus when he asked God to take the burden from him, if it was God's will, yet soon after he came and died for us. He didn't flee, he didn't fight back, instead he scolded Peter for fighting and went peacefully with the guards to what he knew was his death. So I ask again, what does it mean to be willing?

Nitro Kids Conference

Liquid Nitro, my first Nitro experience, and if I have my way not the last. Hundreds of kids packed the sanctuary of Overlake. Among them was me and the two boys from my church. They gave me a good idea on what was grasping their attention and what was not. It was especially easy to find myself lost in the activities there, I almost forgot Nitro was for the kids. Worship was definitely a key part of Nitro, and I realize that Nitro is aimed at a 5th grade boy level, but I could not help but wonder if those younger grew bored after a while. The first night of worship I was in the back with my boys and watched as the many children near us were either sitting, or playing hide and seek among the chairs. It seemed the worship was good, for those who could worship that long, but the younger kids could only handle it for so long, including my 2nd graders who kept asking, "is it done yet?" The skit spoke volumes to all languages. It was jam packed with humor, entertainment, and a healthy amount of Biblical teaching. The kids were glued to the actors every moment they moved and every time they uttered a sound. Never once were the kids around me disruptive, they hardly made a noise the whole performance unless they were prodded to answer. Even afterwards my boys were talking about the skit and how much they remembered from it. They may not have directly seen Frank as the Jesus character, but they understood when the time came that they were meant to put their trust in God. The skit simply put that in another perspective for them. When Kevin Geer came out to speak he was always prepared. Both times I watched him I was nearly moved to my own response. He used two objects when he told his stories to the kids, a pair of handcuffs, and a life vest. While he told his personal story about losing the key to his handcuffs, his voice inflection changed. What once sounded like a calm voice simply having fun changed to terror as he spoke about losing the key. As I looked around I could see the fearful looks children had on their faces. Kevin was drawing them in. Even better was a simple phrase Kevin used twice, "I need everyone to look at me, this is important." and then he paused. Powerful, every child around me hushed. I felt no need to try and get my boys to listen because they were already staring straight at Kevin. Nitro was a tiring experience for us, a lot of adults might just wonder, what is the point of us doing Nitro? The point was that we were able to empower a group of young kids to go out and tell their friends about Jesus, the point was we allowed them to offer up their struggles to God. The point was we allowed them to experience God like never before.