I’ve recently agreed to quickly write a short little book called “99 Thoughts About Guys…For Girls Eyes Only”. It’s meant to be written FOR girls ABOUT guys. The book will be pocket-sized and a quick read.

Each thought will be short, with a sentence or two of explanation. For example:

When a guy says he loves you, he really doesn’t understand what he’s saying!
He may really, really like you, but he probably doesn’t really, truly love you. Mainly because he’s still trying to figure out what real love is all about. Plus, sometimes guys say things they think they are supposed to say.

Got one? I could use a little help.

When I was in junior high, the radio station I listened to (Kmet which played the current Rock and Roll favorites….AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Queen, Van Halen etc.) always referred to Wednesday as hump day and I always giggled when I heard that term. The reference was that once your work week made it over the hump, you were on your way to the weekend and better times!

Today is the first day in a long, long time I can remember hoping that the week would hurry up and end so that better times could ensue. It’s just been one of those wacky, conflict-filled, problem-solving, “I can’t get ahead of the game” kinds of weeks. Weeks I’m sure none of you can relate to!

Anyway, in honor of “hump day” and Kmet, I am listening to the sweet sounds coming from the classic rock playlist on my iPod. Better times are on the way!

I don’t know how to embed a JibJab video, so here’s the link to a fun one about the campaign that wraps up with a quick bit about Saturday’s Civil Forum. Obama riding a unicorn may be the funniest humor bit of the campaign season so far.

Don’t know much about the details, but Youth Specialties is looking for a couple to go on a 5-month road trip project! Read more about it here.

Send In A Game And Get $100.00 In Downloads!
Simply Youth Ministry is set to create a new edition of “Game On!” and is looking for games. If you submit a game that ends up being one of the 24 used in the new resource, SYM will give you $100 worth of free downloads. Here’s the criteria:
- Game must be original
- Include a title for the game, a brief supplies/cost list, an “objective of the game” that summarizes it and a clear, easy to understand explanation.
- Games need to be games that can be played indoors and can be group games, mixers, team challenges, individual physical challenges, etc.
- Submit your game to Nadim at Nadim@simplyyouthministry.com by Friday, September 19th and be sure to include contact information so you can be notified if your game is used.

Our junior high team is away for a 24 fall planning retreat. Fine-tuning and clarifying roles, planning the fall calendar of events and teaching topics, and creative brainstorming are all part of our schedule.

So far we have talked about what real teamwork looks like, added a few really exciting events and activities, made a little tweak to our small group schedule and eliminated a highly successful sacred cow (after at least an hour of seriously passionate conversation and debate). We have three hours together this morning to finish the tasks at hand.

In my opinion, this fall is shaping up to be fairly different than any in the past but quite a bit more exciting, too.

Things that I have spent anywhere from 10 seconds to 10 minutes thinking about today:

- Internships: What makes them a win/win (a win for intern and the ministry)?
- Internships: Do they have to be two years long to be effective?
- Olympics: Crazy how a communist country ripe with human rights violations can look so appealing on television and under a certain spotlight.
- Starbucks: Why am I here instead of Peete’s?
- Communicating to teenagers: Is it as important part of a youth ministry program as we think it is?
- Youth Pastors: What are the top 3 or 4 qualities of a truly effective one…one that can be successful in any size church and setting?
- Student Leadership programs: Ugg! So important, but are they really? Do they ever accomplish what we hope they will?
- Coffee: Why does it result in such bad breath?
- Public restrooms: Even though they all have that little chart that shows who cleaned it and how often…they are usually nasty.
- Leadership: So many books, and ‘irrefutable laws’, but certainly there are a handful of non-negotiables?

Just saw this interesting list of the 10 worst gadgets of all time. Fun, little piece, but I would have LOVED if it included some list of what these products ultimately led to. My hunch is that some of them, though huge flops, were actually the predecessors to some pretty sweet stuff.

Can you think of a time a significant ministry “flop” turned out to be a springboard for something really great?

Middle School Talksheets
If I remember correctly, Youth Specialties has been publishing Talksheets since somewhere around the mid 80′s. If you are looking for a GREAT way to get your middle schoolers talking about and engaged in your lesson, it’s tough to beat Talksheets. The newest edition by Terry Linhart focuses on the life of Jesus.

My Changes and My Future (from the Middle School Survival series)
This six-book series comes to a close with the final two books written by Mark Ostreicher and Scott Rubin. Now that the series is complete, I’m hoping they package them in a cool “box set” parents can give their junior highers.

Group’s Emergency Response Handbook
This book is about a year old, but somehow I just stumbled upon it and….WOW! Full of one-page insights into how to minister and respond to issues of grief, divorce, gender identity, addictions and more. On Group’s site, it looks like maybe this is only available as a download, but I’m sure there is a way to get hard copy if you’d like. This is a book I would put in the hands of every volunteer in your ministry.

Today I was reminded that I’m getting older by…

- Taking my soon-to-be freshmen daughter to her new high school to meet with counselor to discuss class schedule etc.

- Spending about an hour outdoors today cleaning my side yard. It’s going to take about 3 hours in my air-conditioned house to recover.

- Talking to my neighbor who recently suffered a stroke and had heart surgery…he’s only about 10 years older than me.

- Grumbling under my breath as my son decided to trade a bunch of his video games etc. in at Game Stop to get a PSP. His other stuff is perfectly good and they don’t fetch much value in trade-in (I hear my dad’s voice in my head as i type!).

- Talking to a guy who is about to run a half marathon and realizing I couldn’t even run a 1/10th marathon!