….Kids would need a membership card to get in (bummer)
….Grace, encouragement, acceptance etc. would come in mass quantities (brilliant)
…It would be well organized (brilliant)
…Some offerings would never change, but lots of things would be rotated out (brilliant)
…The stuff we sell at our snack shack would be the best deal in town! (brilliant)
…There would be lots of kids on the outside looking in (bummer)

Okay, that’s about all I’ve got. It sounded like an easy analogy but maybe not. Shoot us your contributions!

Even though ’10-Minute Talks’ wasn’t written specifically for junior high workers, I think it could be an incredible tool for people who work with young teens. What JH youth worker couldn’t use a couple dozen short, sweet, simple lessons to keep on hand for when they find themselves in a pinch? I have a feeling I’ll grab this book far too often!

- This week is flying buy! I’ve been gone since Tuesday morning on our annual “Burly” trip for JH guys. We limit the trip to 50 students and try to beef up on leaders so the event feels highly relational.

- Last weekend was week 3 of our “Full Service Summer” series. The object lesson was on the Exhaust Pipe. Application: Our outside actions, attitudes and words are closely related to what’s going on “under our hood”.

- Saw Hancock with a couple buddies on Saturday night. Above average but not great. The best part of Hancock (and, in my opinion often the best part of most movies he’s in) was Jason Bateman. He has slowly become my favorite actor.

- I often say that junior high ministry is more about “long term fruit” than what you see in the moment. A recent example for us is Kathryn. Kathryn was in our ministry about 10 years ago. She went away to college, struggled in her faith for a bit and has returned this summer as a volunteer in our ministry. Her faith is strong and her servant’s heart is amazing. She points to her junior high years in our ministry as key to her life experience. A great reminder of importance of young teen ministry.

- On Monday night our family went to the beach. It was the first time I’ve surfed in several months and I am still sore! It’s amazing how quickly one gets out of ‘surf shape’. The highlight of the night was watching Kayla and Cole paddle into their own waves.

THE GOOD:
The past couple of weeks have been like a breath of fresh air to me. Because it’s summertime and because of our crazy schedule, I have been more “hands on” with our junior high ministry than I have in quite a while. I’ve always been really involved in most of the bigger day to day stuff, but in order to pull everything off in this season I’ve been doing everything from building stage props to shopping for prizes to coming up with the game ideas to working the information booth….you name it, and I’ve had my hands in it. I’m not sure it’s been good for everybody else to have me up close and personal, but it’s been GREAT for my own joy factor.

THE BAD:
As amazing as our new facility is, one thing stands out as HORRIBLE….the acoustics in our junior high room. Because of budget constraints, we eliminated acoustic treatments about a year ago while we were building. But the sound is so bad in our room that without some solution, I really believe we run the risk of attendance dropping. Students simply have to work too hard to clearly hear what’s going on.

THE UGLY:
Last weekend during my lesson there was a brand new crop of cute little 7th grade girls sitting right up front. During most of my lesson they were talking fairly loudly amongst themselves. In a moment of weakness I called them out in front of entire group, which isn’t the ugly part. The ugly part was my attitude and super sarcastic tone. Here’s what I said (please read in your most sarcastic tone of voice):
“Hey you girls wouldn’t happen to be brand new 7th graders would you? Yes? Oh, that explains why you’re so immature and squirrley. Here in Junior High, we actually try to be respectful when somebody else is talking.”
Ouch. Needless to say they didn’t interrupt my lesson after that. The only redeeming piece of that story is that I tracked them down after service to apologize for the way I handled the situation which seemed to earn me some favor and grace.

- Our second weekend in our new building was MUCH smoother than our first. We managed to iron out lots and lots of wrinkles, which felt really good.

- Week 2 of “Full Service Summer” went well. The object lesson for the week was the steering wheel and the lesson was built around the idea of steering your life and choices God’s way. The acoustics in the junior high room are really bad which adds some significant challenges, but we’ll get that dialed in. Our new 7th graders don’t seem quite as tiny and nervous as usual…they are jumping right in!

- Couldn’t resist the temptation to see Wanted with the guys the other night. I should have. Too dark for my taste.

- We drive two big SUVs (one was a gift and the other might as well have been…)and the price of gas is killing me. I’ve never been called an environmentalist, but my conscious is beginning to question the need to burn oil at the rate we do. Of course I’m honest enough to acknowledge that my concerns about the environment seem to have only increased as the price of gas has!

- The car I want to replace my Expedition with is a Scion XB. Anybody have one or have any informed opinions?

- Looking forward to a super lazy day off. Absolutely nothing planned.

A couple of months ago I recorded a podcast with Leo Galarza, who at the time was brand new to Saddleback as one of our regional campus youth pastors. The subject was “What to do when you’re new”. Super basic, sound input that garnered lots of feedback. I thought I’d post it here in case you missed it.

Now that we have moved into our new building and now that promotion weekend is behind us, it is FINALLY time to start the Summer season. This Summer, more than any other, we are adhering to the “Cheap and Easy” philosophy of events. Other than our Summer camp and one other over-nighter, all of our events are super cheap and super easy for students to attend. No sign ups, just show up.

The trend with our families seems to be the more spontaneous they can be with their decesion to attend an event, the better the attendance. I wish they planned for youth activities the way they plan for sports and school events, but they just don’t. We decided to quit fighting the system and try to join it. So things like dodgeball, frisbee golf on campus, open Refinery nights, meet us at the park etc. are quickly becoming Summer-time staples.

Would be curious to hear your thoughts and experiences…

A couple of days ago, I saw some really young kids selling lemonade on a fairly busy street corner and thought to myself, “man, I wonder if lemonade stands ever get robbed”.
Today I saw this story.
Don’t mess with 12-year-olds and their livelihood!

- Saw Get Smart on Friday night. Fun, but average. Updating classics always seems to be a risky business.

- We opened our new student center, The Refinery this weekend and it was unbelievable. The energy level was off the charts. Additionally, we brought back our fourth youth service (Sundays at 11:15) that we eliminated a year ago. The result: almost 150 extra junior highers. Well worth the effort.

- I went home SUPER sick after the 11:15 service and missed the final night of our church-wide grand opening tours. Our team has been working around the clock for several weeks and even though I felt like I was on my death bed, it felt terrible to not be there with them.

- Our Summer series, Full Service, kicked off fairly well. Each week we will look at a different car part and build an object lesson around it. Should be fun.

- I think I want some ice cream.

This picture pretty much summarizes my life for the past week. In a hectic rush to get the Refinery open for last night’s “sneak peak” and this weekend’s student ministry programs, Our entire team has been on site chipping in.

What I haven’t done this week:

- Thought about the budget of our summer events.
- Looked at our summer camp registration list.
- Participated in church staff meetings of any kind.
- Returned a phone call from my executive pastor.
- Worked on my weekend lesson.
- Met with an upset parent.
- Debated elders over the importance of valuing the young teens of the church.

What I have done this week:

- Assembled air hockey tables.
- Broke down and discarded truckloads of cardboard boxes.
- Swept, power washed, swept, power washed.
- Broke down and discarded truckloads of cardboard boxes.
- Moved hundreds chairs and tables
- Broke down and discarded truckloads of cardboard boxes.
- Assembled concrete picnic tables
- And I think that was all just yesterday!

It’s been one of the best weeks of ministry in a long time!