Awkward...

Quick shout out to all my friends in Omaha...you know who you are.

When I was younger, I was considered to be a little bit of a creeper. I would like to think that I was not. There were some times, however, that due to my shy personality some people could have thought that I was a little creepy. (Because I didn't talk a whole lot and would sit in the back of the room so I didn't draw attention to myself) As the years have gone on, those people would say that I have come out of my shell a little bit and "outgrown" my creepiness...I hope. Here is a story of a recent situation that happened in my life that was very awkward and I hope that no one ever has to go through something like this...but Beth probably will.

Working with a youth group, I get the opportunity to hang out with a lot of kids. Naturally there are some kids that open up to you more than others do. There are the high school boys that are your best buds and like to come to you for advise. There are the high school girls that come to you when they are having boy problems, thinking that you will be able to help. (I mean a guy should know other guys right???) There are the junior high boys that just want attention and look up to you somewhat. And then there are the junior high girls...how can I explain them...they are all about drama and want to be best friends with everyone.

This is the story of one particular junior high girl and the misunderstanding that took place. Enjoy. On Friday nights, I hang out with around 60 junior high kids at the youth center here in town. I get to see all the junior high drama first hand. Seriously, it seems like these kids are dating someone new every week. Oh the drama. There are a few girls that always make sure to get a hug from me, and always let me know that I am their "best friend." I am completely OK with that and don't think that is anything out of the ordinary.

If you have known a junior high girl, you know that they are the champions of Facebook. The queens of status updates. It is the fuel for the drama that they love so much. They fear confrontation, so they use their Facebook to fight their battles...calling out other girls through their status updates, etc. This time in particular, one girl decided to let everyone know that she had a new boyfriend. This boyfriend was the popular theme for her status updates for the next few days, as she never failed to mention that she "loved" him, and how sad she was that she didn't get to see him cause he was out of town or sick. Now by this point you might think that the reason this situation was so awkward was because I am a Facebook stalker and someone called me out on it. That is not the case. All the Facebook information was given to me via a very reliable source. Did I mention that this girls new boyfriend was named Cody? The plot thickens...

This is where the awkwardness begins. I went out of town to meet my new nephew, Malachi James Matteson. While I was gone, I was told that this girl updated her status saying..."I'm so mad that I don't get to see my boyfriend, Cody, cause he is out of town for the weekend"...and later..."I miss Cody, wish he was here. I "heart" you Cody!" When I came back to Norton, I had two different people confront me to ask if there was anything going on with me and this girl. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Who seriously thinks that me (22) would even consider any type of relationship with a 13 year old. THIS WAS RIDICULOUS! By far the most awkward experience of my life. I kinda told them that I was in no way in a relationship with her and that there was probably a junior high boy named Cody that she was dating. I have since talked to the girl and kindly asked her to stop the status updates and explained why.

This will hopefully be one of those situation where I can look back and say..."remember that one time when..." I hope that everyone gets a good laugh out of this. And Beth, I hope that this makes your day and that you sleep well tonight knowing that you aren't the only one that encounters awkward situations like this...just the one that it happens to more than others.

Practice what you preach...

For those of you who haven't heard, or who are just starting to read this blog, I am currently interning at Norton Christian Church in Norton, Kansas. This has been a great experience for me so far and I am looking forward to gaining more ministry experience as I continue. Some of my responsibilities here are:

1. Teaching Sunday school for Jr high and high school students.
2. Teaching counsel time for the AWANA program here, both the TNT age group and SPARKS.
3. Heading up a Jr High outreach event on Friday nights and the youth center here.
4. Being heavily involved in TREK (Jr high youth ministry) and IGNITE (high school youth ministry), both in planning and teaching.

These are just SOME of the things that I am involved with here in Norton. I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to get involved in the different ministries that this church and community have to offer. I can honestly say that I have been stretched quite a bit and have grown quite a bit as well throughout this whole process. I am so thankful that I can continue to learn more about the calling and the profession of student ministry that I am hoping to be involved in full time here very soon.

Here recently, we have challenged our students to really strive to grow deeper in their personal relationship with God. We are doing a series in our high school youth ministry called SPAM (study, pray, and memorize) with the hopes that our students will be challenged to use the resources that God has given them to reach out to Him and really grow closer to Him everyday. We are also doing a series in our Sunday school class called TRUTH OR DARE, which deals with finding your identity in The Truth instead of the world.

This last week I have been really convicted that I am not "practicing what I preach." I keep telling our students that they need to spend less time digging into the material things that the world has to offer (such as Facebook, video games, texting, etc.) and spend more time digging deeper into who God is (through daily Bible reading, study, and prayer). I challenged my students to make a sacrifice in their lives to give up something that is hindering them from spending time with God.

Then I thought to myself, (inner monologue) "How can I expect my students to sacrifice something to make more time for God if I haven't been doing it myself?" From their perspective, if the very leader that challenged them to make more room for God isn't doing it himself then why should they? So I have decided to make a conscious effort to spend less time in pointless things that will hinder my growth in Christ and spend more time in His word, prayer, and memorization. There is an old Reliant K song that is called "Actions Speak Louder Than Words" which I think is so true in life. I need to strive to live out the words that I am speaking to my students on a regular basis...stop thinking that I am on a higher pedestal when it comes to my relationship with God...and start doing one thing...practice what I preach.