Going Cold Turkey for God ...

My Sr. Highs just wrapped up a food drive project called "Cold Turkey". We've been collecting frozen turkeys that were delivered to the Metrolina Second Harvest Food Bank. Our turkeys will go to local shelters and individual families during the holidays. It's hard to gauge a project like this. It's like when you're there on Sunday and in the moment and talking about feeding people and making a difference there's a lot of buy in and enthusiasm. But then when it's not Sunday and you add in school and practice and stuff and more stuff and more stuff on top of that, well it's just hard to tell if there's any buy-in at all. God's a Sunday thing. "Real life" is Monday through Saturday. I always worry about that kind of thing with my kids and I know deep down it's up to them ... all I can do is sign us up and drive the van and hope I'm showing them the right things and taking them to the right places.

So anyway, this is nowhere close to where I was going with the Cold Turkey story. I digress.

We collected a whole bunch of turkeys and were given cash donations to buy more turkeys. There was a little bit of money that came in after the deadline so I decided I'd donate it to the Second Harvest Food Bank. They have a way you can donate on-line so I was filling out all the required fields. It asked if I wanted to make the donation "in honor" of anyone. I thought and thought and thought. I considered honoring the youth ... but the truth of the matter is, some of 'em still don't know we were even collecting turkeys. I thought about different people who donated turkeys or money. But what makes their turkey any better than someone elses? I just couldn't come up with anything. Then it hit me like a ton of frozen turkeys! Why in the heck did we do this anyway? Obviously, to feed people, but it's more than that. By helping feed people we did something Christ would do. And by doing something that Christ would do we glorified God!!!! YESSSS!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that project Cold Turkey was done in honor of God. Thank you for your donations.

Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. -- 1 Peter 4:10-11 (The Message)

Thumb Wrestling with God

I remember sitting with my mom in church when I was little and playing with her hands. I'd take her rings off and try them on. We'd hold our hands together to see whose was bigger. We'd trace our hands on the back of the bulletin. She'd make two fingers and walk up and down my arm. It's how she got me through church I guess. Or maybe it's how she got herself through.

Last night I went to a community Thanksgiving service at a nearby church. My 5-year-old son, Max, was singing. He made his way back to me when they finished "Count Your Many Blessings." He plopped down beside me with a restless sigh and I began to wonder how long it was going to be before I had to start making hefty promises of Happy Meals and ponies. But as five-year-olds go, Max is pretty well-behaved. He crawled up on my lap during the service and we whispered knock-knock jokes back and forth. We thumb-wrestled a little bit. We looked at the dirt under his finger nails. We thumb-wrestled a little bit more. At one point the minister referenced "Deuteronomy" and Max got really excited because he knew Deuteronomy. It prompted him to whisper the books of the Old Testment to me. He can get all the way to Proverbs now. Then Max became very interested in a cross necklace I was wearing. He studied every detail of it, traced the outline with his grubby, little finger -- read the words "faith, hope, believe, love" painted on it. He finally asked if he could wear it. I gave him the green light nod and hung it around his neck.

It was a simple enough gesture but it was symbolic to me in that moment. I was passing Christ to my son, just as my mom had passed Christ to me; in time spent together in worship. There will come a time when Max has to begin making his own decisions about his relationship with God and I, just like my parents, will need to step back and let him find his own way ... praying all the while that he's got the foundation to get him there.

So while it may look like thumb wrestling on the surface, it's actually pretty important stuff in the eyes of God.

Point your kids in the right direction — when they're old they won't be lost.
Proverbs 22:6 (The Message)

A Breath of Fresh Air

I got my oil changed today (every 3 months or 3000 miles). So while I'm waiting to pay I start looking around at all the automotive impulse items at the register. There were little rubber do-hickeys to put on your keys so you could tell your house key from your car key. There were foam smiley face balls to stick on your antenna. There were cup holders that could support the girth of 64 ounces of your favorite beverage. And then I saw it ... a pile of Jesus air fresheners displayed beneath a 12 inch pre-lit Christmas tree. But these weren't ANY Jesus air fresheners - they had been blessed by an official Catholic priest. It said so right there on the packaging. I have to apologize for the image I used for this blog; it isn't like the air fresheners I encountered. Oh no, the ones I saw looked more like intricate ivory carvings. And there wasn't just one Jesus air freshener; there were three variations -- a somber bust of Christ, a depiction of the nativity, and the crucifixion. I mean as air fresheners go they were pretty impressive. But that's not all. Not by a long shot. There were different scents too. There was strawberry, pine, rose and lavender. I didn't get a chance to sample to aromas because there was no scratch n' sniff sticker on the front. I'm sure they smelled delightful. I think I mentioned they had also been blessed by an official Catholic priest. I don't know what that means to those of us who are Protestant, but I'm sure we're covered or grandfathered in somehow. So I guess that's all I wanted to say. I don't have any great insight to offer ... just that Jesus is a breath of fresh air when and where you were least expecting it.

Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. - Philippians 12:14-16 (The Message)

C'mon Baby Light My Fire ...

I've learned that sometimes as a youth director you just gotta maintain. Not every lesson is gonna be "the one". I can put everything I've got into a message that I think is amazing and it'll be off the rails and falling apart within a minute or two. Then there are those that you sort of throw together from the parking lot to the youth room and for some reason they work. But then there's this other category that I can't quite label but I just know that when they happen they light my fire again and remind me why I love being a youth director. They are moments that are brought to the surface by so many things that you can ONLY attribute it to God. I had one on Sunday.

Our Sr. High Sunday school lesson was built around the story of the good Samaritan. We re-enacted the story with deplorable acting and a few laughs about our "modern" interpretation of Jesus' parable. Jesus told this parable to answer the question "Who is my neighbor?" But then we started talking about grace and grace can be tough to wrap your head around, much less try to explain. We scribbled a few things on the board; grace is a gift from God, it can't be earned, it can't be taken away, God gives it to us through the Holy Spirit. But then we interjected faith into the equation. What is faith as it relates back to grace? And it's not because I'm particularly inspiring or that the lesson was incredibly well-presented, it was because a light bulb went off in one of my kids (Eli) and he understood God's grace. Eli said, and you could tell he was saying it exactly as it was coming together in his brain, "Grace is a gift from God. Faith is us spending our whole life trying to write the thank-you note to God." And we all just sort of sat there, trying to take in what Eli had said.

It was one of those moments. One of those moments that reminds me why I love youth ministry . . . so my kids can teach me about God's grace.


Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace; God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
- Ephesians 2:7 (The Message)

Stick to it!

I'm out running errands the other day and I get behind this guy at a stop light whose car is littered with bumper stickers. Instantly, I'm hooked (it doesn't take much) I'm really getting into reading this guy's bumper (that sounds wrong) and the light turns green. I kept up with him in traffic just to finish reading.

So the stickers get me thinking (it doesn't take much) .... I feel like I know this guy. I know who he voted for. I know what team he pulls for. I know where he's been on vacation. I know his views on abortion, recycling and the war. I know where he went to school. I know what he rather be doing. I know he's either a Christian or likes seafood. I know his kid plays soccer and recently made the honor roll. I know if I get any closer he'll flick a booger on my windshield and I know if he breaks down he can call AAA. (Or maybe I read it wrong and he's an alcoholic). Anyway, it was amazing what I found out about this guy just at a stop light.

What about the bumper stickers we carry around with us when we're not in our cars? Do we act in such a way that people just sort of "know" what we're all about. Are we abrasive, funny, indifferent, bold? Without that fish on the bumper of our car do people see us as being "Christ"like? Are we like that car that's covered with "Follow me to Sunday School", "Darwin was Wrong", "Real Men Love Jesus", and the ever-popular "God is my Co-Pilot" BUT the driver cuts you off while flipping you the bird, laying on the horn with tires screeching and hair on fire. I'm a little confused by the behavior given his bumper sticker theology.

When we wear our youth group t-shirts with our cross hemp necklace and our "WWJD"? bracelet and listen to Third Day on our iPod ... what are we saying about ourselves? When we lie to our parents, take God's name in vain and talk trash about somebody at school .... what are we saying about ourselves? Which one of our stickers is the real deal? Be careful what you let people read about you.

I'm Jen Hedrick and I approved this message ...

Is it just me or does it seem like this political season has lasted longer than high school? We've been bombarded with more trash talking and name calling than two chicks fisting it out in the mall parking lot. And I STILL can't figure out who's responsible for the war, gas prices, the economy and illegal immigration.

I need a break from the 30-second spots that have choked out witty talking amphibians peddling car insurance. I'm tired of the creepy voice overs proclaiming that the other guy is a godless low-life who hates babies and takes medication away from ailing seniors.
It isn't just presidential. It's as pungent between local opponents as it is for the Commander in Chief's job. I suppose that's the nature of politics. (POLI - meaning "many" and TICS - meaning "blood-sucking parasites"). I love etymology. (Look it up).

I have no political aspirations myself, so maybe I don't really understand the games they're playing in order to be elected to an office where they will act in my best interest. And it's really not even that - it's that the other guy doesn't care about polar bears or American jobs much less my best interest. As a Christian I don't really know who has my best interest in mind. So I gotta ask myself ... WWJD? (What would Jesus do?)

Some folks think Jesus was a Conservative. Others believe he was more of a Liberal. There's no clear indication in scripture that Jesus was registered as a Republican or a Democrat so I guess we'll never know HWJV? (How would Jesus vote). But no matter who's in charge, there will always be folks who are hungry, homeless, lonely, sick and poor. And regardless of who wins the highest office in the land, Jesus would feed the hungry, visit the sick, house the homeless and give hope to the hopeless. Maybe that's the better mindset. At the end of this election it's not whether we choose to be elephants or donkeys - it's whether we choose to be sheep or goats.


The Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-45 - The Message)

31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

41-43"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

44"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'

45"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'