Have you seen this pile of awesomeness?????? Sooooo sweet!
And there's this article from NPR that has both this video and the Sesame Street Video I posted earlier in the week. The article talks about how young black girls are being empowered to love the way they were born. I would suggest that it's not just girls. I've watched the Whip Your Hair video 3 times in the last 15 minutes with Tobiah on my lap and he keeps asking for more. He loves it.
I'm hoping this is the start of an awesome movement.
AND if that weren't good enough there's already a Remix that is super duper cool!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Questions and Answers
About a month or so ago I started doing what I thought was self-analyzing. I was really just talking to God about what He had called me to do and where I was headed.
Basically my questions have been like this:
-Have you called me to do youth ministry or have you called me to Warren and it just so-happens that those things have been connected for the past 10 years?
-If you've called me to youth ministry, how much longer will I be here before you move me?
-If you've called me to Warren to do ministry (whatever that looks like) how much longer will I be working for churches?
-If I'm not working for churches, any ideas what the plan is because I'm not qualified or trained to do anything. Literally.
-Etc. etc. etc.
Not that I really expected any real clear answers from all of that. I guess that for years we were in the process of adopting the boys and it was pretty clear to us that "this is what you're suppose to be doing." Then we asked, "what's next?" and God pretty clearly called us to buy this big stinking house...and in so doing called us to hospitality (which I would say is still a work in progress).
So one afternoon I was driving somewhere...not sure where....and basically it felt like God was just telling me to chill out. Aaron you're where I want you to be, stop worrying about the details, those are mine.
Fast forward to this week. I had to meet with our Pastor Relations Committee for our yearly evaluations. I've had a lot of bad meetings in the past with these types of groups (not so much at this church but in the past). Even though that's been over for awhile I still get tense inside knowing I have to go to these meetings. I argue with myself and tell myself to calm down. I know that mentally I'm preparing to defend myself and what I do.....because I've had to do that in the past.
So we sit down at the meeting....and they say things like "what can we do to make your job easier?" "What do you need more of from us?" "If you could have anything to help with your job what would it be?" "What's the most stressful part of this and how can we fix that for you?"
I was flabbergasted. I didn't have answers for those questions. Who were these people? So wait a minute.....you don't want to question how well I'm doing my job even though you know nothing about youth ministry? You don't want to try to measure whether I"m a success or a failure based on preposterous expectations? You want to come along side me and encourage and support me? Seriously?
Not only that but the head of the committee looked at the job description for my youth position and said, "this thing is preposterous....let's re-write it so that it makes sense....Aaron would you be willing to help me re-write this?" Wait, what? You recognize that objectives have to change and you're not going to hold me to this thing that is 4 years old? huh.
As if that wasn't good enough, they also agreed to go to bat for me about a problem I'm having with having taxes not withheld from the worship part of my job...which causes us to take a hit every year come tax time. HA HA
In all the years I've been working with and for churches I've never been in a meeting like that. Now that I type that out.....that's kind of sad. But it was also the coolest experience!
So the entire time I'm at this meeting, I keep hearing God say, "Aaron I got this." "This is the place that I have for you." "Stop trying to steer the ship."
Basically my questions have been like this:
-Have you called me to do youth ministry or have you called me to Warren and it just so-happens that those things have been connected for the past 10 years?
-If you've called me to youth ministry, how much longer will I be here before you move me?
-If you've called me to Warren to do ministry (whatever that looks like) how much longer will I be working for churches?
-If I'm not working for churches, any ideas what the plan is because I'm not qualified or trained to do anything. Literally.
-Etc. etc. etc.
Not that I really expected any real clear answers from all of that. I guess that for years we were in the process of adopting the boys and it was pretty clear to us that "this is what you're suppose to be doing." Then we asked, "what's next?" and God pretty clearly called us to buy this big stinking house...and in so doing called us to hospitality (which I would say is still a work in progress).
So one afternoon I was driving somewhere...not sure where....and basically it felt like God was just telling me to chill out. Aaron you're where I want you to be, stop worrying about the details, those are mine.
Fast forward to this week. I had to meet with our Pastor Relations Committee for our yearly evaluations. I've had a lot of bad meetings in the past with these types of groups (not so much at this church but in the past). Even though that's been over for awhile I still get tense inside knowing I have to go to these meetings. I argue with myself and tell myself to calm down. I know that mentally I'm preparing to defend myself and what I do.....because I've had to do that in the past.
So we sit down at the meeting....and they say things like "what can we do to make your job easier?" "What do you need more of from us?" "If you could have anything to help with your job what would it be?" "What's the most stressful part of this and how can we fix that for you?"
I was flabbergasted. I didn't have answers for those questions. Who were these people? So wait a minute.....you don't want to question how well I'm doing my job even though you know nothing about youth ministry? You don't want to try to measure whether I"m a success or a failure based on preposterous expectations? You want to come along side me and encourage and support me? Seriously?
Not only that but the head of the committee looked at the job description for my youth position and said, "this thing is preposterous....let's re-write it so that it makes sense....Aaron would you be willing to help me re-write this?" Wait, what? You recognize that objectives have to change and you're not going to hold me to this thing that is 4 years old? huh.
As if that wasn't good enough, they also agreed to go to bat for me about a problem I'm having with having taxes not withheld from the worship part of my job...which causes us to take a hit every year come tax time. HA HA
In all the years I've been working with and for churches I've never been in a meeting like that. Now that I type that out.....that's kind of sad. But it was also the coolest experience!
So the entire time I'm at this meeting, I keep hearing God say, "Aaron I got this." "This is the place that I have for you." "Stop trying to steer the ship."
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Crowder
For a long time David Crowder spurned music videos. I was OK with that. Now the creative guru's have pulled out some crazy stops and done this.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Humbled
Preface: You don't have to read my blog to know I love hockey and play weekly. When you think of a locker room you probably imagine crude jokes and behavior. I would say that for the most part that's normally that stereotype isn't too ridiculous. However that the locker room that I dress in, it's not the norm. We've had conversations about Chai tea, our kids, boating, snowmobiling, and of course hockey. I won't say that inappropriate comments aren't heard there, but it is far from the norm.
So Dave sits down next to me this past week and asks, "So Aaron, your boys.....did you adopt them locally or internationally?" (because of my preface, this didn't catch me too much off guard) So I started talking about my boys a little bit, which isn't really too hard for me to do. He also asked if we had traveled and how long we had to stay there.
I already knew from previous conversations that Dave and his wife had 6 kids already. He and I have talked about how they have to schedule a lot of activities with the kids and how late night hockey is his freedom from the house. So I was blown away when he then shared with me that he and his wife are traveling in the near future to the Ukraine because they're adopting two little girls. Two MORE girls. I expressed my amazement at another two kids. He then shared that their youngest two children were adopted domestically through the foster care system. So while we're getting dressed he's telling me all about the struggles of using the foster care system and the waiting game of having the parents finally give up custody and rights to their children.
Dave also shares with me that they just found out that one of the girls has major heart problems and the orphanage has told them that they don't expect her to make it. Apparently in the Ukraine Orphans are treated like broken furniture...not much use. So Dave's wife has been calling and hunting via the Internet for doctors in the region to do surgery on their little girl.
Dave then goes on to tell me that in a couple weeks they're getting two 3 year olds through the foster care system to have at their house for 6 months. So they'll have 4 kids in their house that are 3. WHILE they're working on figuring out the struggles with their adoptions......oh yeah they both work full time too.
The more Dave talked to me the more amazed I was at his life. He and his wife seemed to be like super people. What an amazing testimony to God's love working in people's life.............. right?
I don't claim to know anyone's heart, but I would make an educated guess that Dave's not a Christian. He and his wife do all of this because they think it's the right thing to do. It's not out of a response of God's love in their life. It's not because they heard good teaching on taking care of the widows and the orphans. Not because they really felt like God was calling them to do something big. They just think it's right. They're just good people.
I'm not shocked by that. I know quite a few non-Christians who are just good people. They raise their kids to have good values. They do extraordinary things above and beyond the call of normal daily duty. In fact a bunch of guys in the locker room that I dress in are really really good guys who genuinely care about their families and their community...but aren't lovers of God.
The shock for me is the contrast of Dave and the nice guys in my locker room to us inside the church. What is our response to hurt and struggle in the world? Let's face it, it's a whole lot easier to write a check to support a missionary to go do something for us, than to actually get involved. We don't really want to put a face on injustice.
If the God of the universe lives inside of us, how do we view children that don't have parents. What do we do James 1:27? How do we look at Dave and his wife and not feel incredible humbled?
Dave and his wife could really use your prayers.
So Dave sits down next to me this past week and asks, "So Aaron, your boys.....did you adopt them locally or internationally?" (because of my preface, this didn't catch me too much off guard) So I started talking about my boys a little bit, which isn't really too hard for me to do. He also asked if we had traveled and how long we had to stay there.
I already knew from previous conversations that Dave and his wife had 6 kids already. He and I have talked about how they have to schedule a lot of activities with the kids and how late night hockey is his freedom from the house. So I was blown away when he then shared with me that he and his wife are traveling in the near future to the Ukraine because they're adopting two little girls. Two MORE girls. I expressed my amazement at another two kids. He then shared that their youngest two children were adopted domestically through the foster care system. So while we're getting dressed he's telling me all about the struggles of using the foster care system and the waiting game of having the parents finally give up custody and rights to their children.
Dave also shares with me that they just found out that one of the girls has major heart problems and the orphanage has told them that they don't expect her to make it. Apparently in the Ukraine Orphans are treated like broken furniture...not much use. So Dave's wife has been calling and hunting via the Internet for doctors in the region to do surgery on their little girl.
Dave then goes on to tell me that in a couple weeks they're getting two 3 year olds through the foster care system to have at their house for 6 months. So they'll have 4 kids in their house that are 3. WHILE they're working on figuring out the struggles with their adoptions......oh yeah they both work full time too.
The more Dave talked to me the more amazed I was at his life. He and his wife seemed to be like super people. What an amazing testimony to God's love working in people's life.............. right?
I don't claim to know anyone's heart, but I would make an educated guess that Dave's not a Christian. He and his wife do all of this because they think it's the right thing to do. It's not out of a response of God's love in their life. It's not because they heard good teaching on taking care of the widows and the orphans. Not because they really felt like God was calling them to do something big. They just think it's right. They're just good people.
I'm not shocked by that. I know quite a few non-Christians who are just good people. They raise their kids to have good values. They do extraordinary things above and beyond the call of normal daily duty. In fact a bunch of guys in the locker room that I dress in are really really good guys who genuinely care about their families and their community...but aren't lovers of God.
The shock for me is the contrast of Dave and the nice guys in my locker room to us inside the church. What is our response to hurt and struggle in the world? Let's face it, it's a whole lot easier to write a check to support a missionary to go do something for us, than to actually get involved. We don't really want to put a face on injustice.
If the God of the universe lives inside of us, how do we view children that don't have parents. What do we do James 1:27? How do we look at Dave and his wife and not feel incredible humbled?
Dave and his wife could really use your prayers.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Hair
This isn't TOTALLY applicable for the boys....no ribbons or anything....but particularly Corban has VERY different hair than all his white friends and asks lots of questions. This rocks. Sorry for the multiple Sesame posts......I have kids....
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
More Things I Don't Understand
Here once again are things I don't understand. For those joining the game late, these are just lists of things I just can't get my head around. Some more serious than others. Here and Here are the last episodes if you need to catch up.
-Speed Limits: Now
it's not that I don't understand the function of Speed Limits. But I guess I don't understand what they really ARE. The word limit mean: The point, edge, or line beyond which something cannot or may not proceed. Ok so we're dealing with a definitive cap. But that's not how it works. If the sign says 50 everyone knows you're allowed 5 over. So we drive at least 55. So is 55 really the speed limit? But if they raised the speed limit to 55 we'd all go 60. And we all know that the Speed Limit signs on a high way mean we can go even a little faster than the "5 over" theory. So maybe Speed Limit signs should just say "somewhere around 40ish".
-Smoke Detector Batteries: Why is it that smoke detector batteries only fail at or around 3am. You start hear that annoying "hey my battery is starting to go, you should change me really soon" beep. It wakes you out of a full on sleep and instantly into slight panic mode because you wonder if this is actually the alarm going off. You wonder if you need to crawl on all fours, or just stumble around stubbing your toes on furniture. Then the task of figuring out which smoke detector is actually the perpetrator.
-Battery Packaging: Along the same line of smoke detectors....why is packaging for batteries so hard to open? The pack I bought to change into our smoke detector was a solid cardboard back with a tiny hole in the middle. The hole was right where the battery, and smaller than a dime, so there's no way you're sticking a finger in there and ripping it out. There isn't always perforation, there isn't a smooth way of opening it without dumping batteries on the ground. You would think that in the age we live we could do better than that.
-Truck Commercials: To be fair, we don't have TV. However, on spending time with relatives, or friends I have noticed this. Why is it that every truck commercial has video of large, random objects being dropped from great heights into the back of a pick-up truck? Who does that? Are there guys that just say, "Yeah, let's lift this giant bail of fencing up another 10 feet and drop it into the bed instead of just sliding it in the back." Is the point of the bed of the truck to see if it is actually a trampoline? I just don't get it.
-4 Wheel Drive Around Town: Currently the downtown of Warren is being torn up in a "beautification project" (which I'm bitter and cynical about anyway). But in the process several streets are closed, and on the few that are open you have to drive over some dirty paths where they've cut chunks out of the road. Why is it that people in big pick-ups or 4x4 SUV's drive over these dirt paths at 5 mph? YOU HAVE A TRUCK!!! We live on the edge of a national forest and there are tons of trucks here...I get that.....so drive it!! Why would you buy a 4x4 and be afraid of a bump in the road? I'd use that thing as a jump.
Little Kids Eating: Marjorie and I try really hard to expose our children to a wide variety of food. We prepare a variety of foods with different textures, flavors, vegetables, meats, fruits, you name it. Why is then, that kids gravitate back to their loves of Mac N Cheese, Pizza, Hot Dogs, etc. We definitely don't push those things. We definitely encourage other things. Why are those things the staples of little kids (if they were allowed to). The other night Tobiah and I were on our own and I just casually said, "What shall we have for dinner?" "MAC". He can barely talk and he's bugging me for mac n cheese.
Duck Face Pictures: This is a particularly girl thing to do. For
some reason when girls get their picture taken it's cool to pretend you're a duck (see photo). Maybe they're ptretending they're kissing thing air. Regardless. I don't get it. It looks silly to me.
Along the same lines....Rural white kids flashing gang signs. I've been to New York, but only as a tourist. I've never been to LA. However I know enough to know that wearing certain colors, or flashing certain hand gestures will get you killed. Why is it that very white teenagers in the very rural part of the country are wearing gang colors and flashing signs in pictures? Seriously? What you own the turf out back of your daddy's barn?
Botox: Butt fat huh? In your face huh?
Flag stealing: We bought an Ethiopian flag to hang on our front porch. Someone stole it. Flagpole and all. Who seriously wants an Ethiopian flag? Like what are you going to do with that?
I'd love for you to share things you don't understand as well. It'll be like group therapy.
-Speed Limits: Now
it's not that I don't understand the function of Speed Limits. But I guess I don't understand what they really ARE. The word limit mean: The point, edge, or line beyond which something cannot or may not proceed. Ok so we're dealing with a definitive cap. But that's not how it works. If the sign says 50 everyone knows you're allowed 5 over. So we drive at least 55. So is 55 really the speed limit? But if they raised the speed limit to 55 we'd all go 60. And we all know that the Speed Limit signs on a high way mean we can go even a little faster than the "5 over" theory. So maybe Speed Limit signs should just say "somewhere around 40ish".-Smoke Detector Batteries: Why is it that smoke detector batteries only fail at or around 3am. You start hear that annoying "hey my battery is starting to go, you should change me really soon" beep. It wakes you out of a full on sleep and instantly into slight panic mode because you wonder if this is actually the alarm going off. You wonder if you need to crawl on all fours, or just stumble around stubbing your toes on furniture. Then the task of figuring out which smoke detector is actually the perpetrator.
-Battery Packaging: Along the same line of smoke detectors....why is packaging for batteries so hard to open? The pack I bought to change into our smoke detector was a solid cardboard back with a tiny hole in the middle. The hole was right where the battery, and smaller than a dime, so there's no way you're sticking a finger in there and ripping it out. There isn't always perforation, there isn't a smooth way of opening it without dumping batteries on the ground. You would think that in the age we live we could do better than that.
-Truck Commercials: To be fair, we don't have TV. However, on spending time with relatives, or friends I have noticed this. Why is it that every truck commercial has video of large, random objects being dropped from great heights into the back of a pick-up truck? Who does that? Are there guys that just say, "Yeah, let's lift this giant bail of fencing up another 10 feet and drop it into the bed instead of just sliding it in the back." Is the point of the bed of the truck to see if it is actually a trampoline? I just don't get it.
-4 Wheel Drive Around Town: Currently the downtown of Warren is being torn up in a "beautification project" (which I'm bitter and cynical about anyway). But in the process several streets are closed, and on the few that are open you have to drive over some dirty paths where they've cut chunks out of the road. Why is it that people in big pick-ups or 4x4 SUV's drive over these dirt paths at 5 mph? YOU HAVE A TRUCK!!! We live on the edge of a national forest and there are tons of trucks here...I get that.....so drive it!! Why would you buy a 4x4 and be afraid of a bump in the road? I'd use that thing as a jump.
Little Kids Eating: Marjorie and I try really hard to expose our children to a wide variety of food. We prepare a variety of foods with different textures, flavors, vegetables, meats, fruits, you name it. Why is then, that kids gravitate back to their loves of Mac N Cheese, Pizza, Hot Dogs, etc. We definitely don't push those things. We definitely encourage other things. Why are those things the staples of little kids (if they were allowed to). The other night Tobiah and I were on our own and I just casually said, "What shall we have for dinner?" "MAC". He can barely talk and he's bugging me for mac n cheese.
Duck Face Pictures: This is a particularly girl thing to do. For
some reason when girls get their picture taken it's cool to pretend you're a duck (see photo). Maybe they're ptretending they're kissing thing air. Regardless. I don't get it. It looks silly to me.Along the same lines....Rural white kids flashing gang signs. I've been to New York, but only as a tourist. I've never been to LA. However I know enough to know that wearing certain colors, or flashing certain hand gestures will get you killed. Why is it that very white teenagers in the very rural part of the country are wearing gang colors and flashing signs in pictures? Seriously? What you own the turf out back of your daddy's barn?
Botox: Butt fat huh? In your face huh?
Flag stealing: We bought an Ethiopian flag to hang on our front porch. Someone stole it. Flagpole and all. Who seriously wants an Ethiopian flag? Like what are you going to do with that?
I'd love for you to share things you don't understand as well. It'll be like group therapy.
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