I am encouraged after spending yesterday and today with 10 high schoolers at LifeLight - a Christian music festival. I am also extremely tired and much too full of JUNK food.
Over the course of the last 3 years, I have asked myself many times when the day will come that Tony and I can develop super healthy eating habits? I'm still asking...
I tend to blame my over indulgence on junk food on the fact that I spend a great deal of time with high school and junior high students who love being fed donuts, chewy chips ahoy cookies, potato chips, pizza, and pop...and who have yet to become concerned about the nutritional value of their chosen food group - junk. I however, am concerned about the nutritional value of these items, but eat it right alongside of them. My Mom's constant reminder haunts me - That's going to catch up with you. uh-oh. Thank goodness for a Y membership.
Not only do high school/junior high students love eating these foods, Youth Pastors (Tony included) LOVE feeding them these foods. Why? They are cheap and they are easy, a perfect combination. (Thank goodness our events don't have the federal regulations that schools do, we'd be sunk). When packing for a weekend of camping there is nothing easier than individually wrapped chips, boxes of cookies, and crackers w/ peanut butter to snack on. Throw in some Pop-tarts, donuts, and bottles of less than 1% juice something or other for an easy breakfast. I'll admit, even though I'm embarassed, that everything I just listed has been my diet this weekend, plus a couple of hot dogs and a hamburger from the food vendors. EEEEWWW.
Tony and I had a serious discussion on the way home and decided we're dying for a more healthy diet. Our plan is to give up a few things until Thanksgiving, to kick start our healthy eating. 1. Pop - I can go long periods without drinking pop and not really miss it, but lately we've gotten in a bad habit of drinking at least a pop a day. 2. Sweets. This will be challenging for me. 3. Chips - this will be the challenge for Tony. In addition to the removal of junk, we will be attempting to spend more evenings at home so we can prepare healthy meals for ourselves rather than constantly eating on the fly. Don't ask me what we'll do if we host an event for our youth group kids. We'll be lost. Maybe we'll introduce them to healthy eating, maybe we'll learn self control, who knows.
In college, my roommate Taylor would refer to some foods as "socially unacceptable foods." I feel as if this whole blog post falls in that category. (In college it was our love for chili dogs). Now I've just publicly confessed my love for Chewy Chips Ahoy cookies and donuts. That is certainly socially unacceptable. I should be ashamed of myself. At least they never make their way to my cupboards, right? I still feel like I can blame this on our busyness with youth ministry. I better quit trying to justify and go make my grocery list. Adios.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Urge for Spontaneity + Need for Haircut = Lethal Combo x 2
It’s true. We ended our night by significantly changing our appearances. Will we wake up tomorrow and regret it? I’ll let you know in the morning. If the answer is yes, I will not post pics, if it’s no – I may try to get some up here.
The decision came out of our conversation over dinner at the Olive Garden. Dinner, by the way, was delish. You can always count on OG for a great meal! Our $25 gift card made it taste even better. I must interrupt my own train of thought here for a moment and say that we are blessed by the most generous and loving church congregation. The gift card was from a family in the church, who out of the kindness of their hearts, decided to send us $50 to Olive Garden just as a thank you for no specific reason. I have learned so much about being generous and giving of what I have to others from the incredible examples of generosity in our church. THANK YOU Faith Baptist for showering your YP with love.
Back to our dinner conversation…
Tony has always wanted a Mohawk. I have tried to give him a Mohawk and failed miserably. He has paid for a Mohawk at a local salon and they failed him miserably. Since we’re headed to a music festival this weekend with our high school students, he felt the timing was right to give the crazy-do another try. I needed a haircut. I love Jackie @ Zenders Salon and I haven’t trusted anyone else with my hair for the last year. However, my terrible hair day left me desperately wanting to chop my hair off into a short cut immediately. (I’ve been adamant for years that I will NOT have short hair until I’m old). Our dinner discussion was a debate of whether we should act on our impulses and get the Mohawk and chop my hair, or act more reasonably and schedule an appointment with Jackie and skip the hawk. You already know what we decided.
There are three salons across the street from Olive Garden. We drove across, parked the car and marched into Blaze Salon. I sat down in the chair and told the stylist to give me short hair. As soon as I was finished, we walked outside, down the sidewalk and in to Great Clips for the hawk.
The result? I’ll admit it, I love the Mohawk. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. The stylist told Tony he could totally pull it off. Is that a compliment?
The short hair will have to grow on me. I think I like it, but I usually regret it when a pony tail isn’t as easy. I’ll know when I have to style it for myself in the morning.
It was the first haircut I’ve ever had with Tony in tow. It made the whole experience much more entertaining. He took pictures the whole time just to be funny. I know I’ll look at those one day and be so thankful to have the experience documented in film. Ha.
Actually, it was a blessing to share the hour with him. We were able to engage in some really neat conversation with Kendra as she was cutting my hair. Tony was able to share his testimony of coming to know the Lord and going into youth ministry and we let her know about a new church plant in Iowa City. God provides so many opportunities for us to share His love and goodness. I pray I’m faithful to take advantage of those opportunities. People need Jesus, I want to share Him.
Tree Huggers?
I’m not sure how to properly define a tree hugger, but I know that today was the first time I really started to wonder – could it be true? Have Tony and I become nature-loving, tree-huggers?
It’s Thursday (now 12:07 a.m. Friday) and we’ve just ended another immensely enjoyable day off. It was hot and windy outside this morning, and hot and muggy inside our house. We needed to be outside.
First things first, we had to accomplish a few chores around the house. #1- Laundry. For the past couple of months, we’ve been hanging clothes out on a clothes line in our backyard on hot, windy days like today. There’s something very refreshing about hanging clothes out to dry. And something very hysterical about my husband’s underwear in the middle of the backyard for the neighbors’ viewing pleasure. Hanging clothes outside is definitely an eco-friendly move, and it makes us spend a lot more time with the 2 trees suspending the clothesline – does that classify us as tree-huggers? Not quite yet?
During lunch on the porch we had a deep discussion about whether any of the 4 trees in our backyard made for good climbing trees. Since we’ve only been in the house for a few months, everything still feels pretty new. Our deep conversation over the trees led us to realize we didn’t really feel as if we “knew” our trees. We know a few things about them– they terrify us every time it storms, they leave tons of sticks in the yard every time it rains or the wind blows, they provide some pretty sweet shade, and we’re scared silly about how large a mountain of leaves they’ll create in the next month. But we don’t really KNOW them. You may think I’m crazy with this personification of our trees…I probably am. Would you agree that there’s something about climbing a tree that makes you really love the tree?
I wouldn’t be able to get into any of our trees without a ladder, so I thought it would be a perfect job for my super-human, burly husband to experience the tree climbing for the both of us. He gladly obliged. After a few minutes of plotting his climb, he ran from the neighbor’s yard and somehow scaled the tree trunk to begin the climb. Our 60-something retired neighbor looked on in wonder. Just to clarify - it was more of a “how old are my neighbors??” look of wonder on his face than a “wow that guy is incredible at tree climbing” wonder. My look of wonder was more of the latter. :)
That simple tree climb left both of us feeling a little more at home in our backyard. Trees were made for climbing.
Readers - I guess it’s up to you to weigh in. Are the Widdels tree huggers?
It’s Thursday (now 12:07 a.m. Friday) and we’ve just ended another immensely enjoyable day off. It was hot and windy outside this morning, and hot and muggy inside our house. We needed to be outside.
First things first, we had to accomplish a few chores around the house. #1- Laundry. For the past couple of months, we’ve been hanging clothes out on a clothes line in our backyard on hot, windy days like today. There’s something very refreshing about hanging clothes out to dry. And something very hysterical about my husband’s underwear in the middle of the backyard for the neighbors’ viewing pleasure. Hanging clothes outside is definitely an eco-friendly move, and it makes us spend a lot more time with the 2 trees suspending the clothesline – does that classify us as tree-huggers? Not quite yet?
During lunch on the porch we had a deep discussion about whether any of the 4 trees in our backyard made for good climbing trees. Since we’ve only been in the house for a few months, everything still feels pretty new. Our deep conversation over the trees led us to realize we didn’t really feel as if we “knew” our trees. We know a few things about them– they terrify us every time it storms, they leave tons of sticks in the yard every time it rains or the wind blows, they provide some pretty sweet shade, and we’re scared silly about how large a mountain of leaves they’ll create in the next month. But we don’t really KNOW them. You may think I’m crazy with this personification of our trees…I probably am. Would you agree that there’s something about climbing a tree that makes you really love the tree?I wouldn’t be able to get into any of our trees without a ladder, so I thought it would be a perfect job for my super-human, burly husband to experience the tree climbing for the both of us. He gladly obliged. After a few minutes of plotting his climb, he ran from the neighbor’s yard and somehow scaled the tree trunk to begin the climb. Our 60-something retired neighbor looked on in wonder. Just to clarify - it was more of a “how old are my neighbors??” look of wonder on his face than a “wow that guy is incredible at tree climbing” wonder. My look of wonder was more of the latter. :)
That simple tree climb left both of us feeling a little more at home in our backyard. Trees were made for climbing.
Readers - I guess it’s up to you to weigh in. Are the Widdels tree huggers?
Monday, September 20, 2010
Crazy Jobs, Sweet Words
It's September 19th. Youth ministry is back in full swing and I heard the sweetest words come out of my husband's mouth tonight (i'll share them as you read on).
As Tony's wife I often find myself giggling at some of the "jobs" I end up doing throughout the week. The last couple of weeks have been as interesting as ever. Youth group kicked off last week in our town square. It was an incredible night - 75 students gathered in the center of our town to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and worship through song with The Ransom Project. It is a beautiful thing to have the Lord's praises ring out from the bandstand in the square. Wow!
In order to prepare for such a great event, a YP's wife can expect to do a couple things:
- Head to Orscheln's Hardware store by herself and purchase eight 50lb bags of sand to secure screens on the stage. If you can picture this weakling lifting eight 50 lb items into a trunk, you may get a little chuckle. Needless to say, it wasn't a quick trip. Preparing for youth events can leave a YP's wife very sore.
- Set up enormous wall dividers to serve as screens (on a stage six feet off the ground) only for a large gust of wind to come and blow them off the stage. Hence, the need for sand. Be prepared for slight embarassment as passerbys gasp and run to help with the dilemma.
Tonight we had Sunday Night Alive at the church for the first SNA of Fall 2010. It was a blast. Tony spoke on Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." He used an analogy of a Defensive Line for an NFL football team and the tremendous effort they pour in to protecting their end zone and keeping their opponent out. In the same way, we need to go to great lengths to protect our hearts from evil influences. We launched a new format for youth group that divides junior high and high school students completely and allows for small groups each week. It was a success!
To prepare for a weekly SNA, a YP's wife can expect to:
- Make a last minute run to Hy-Vee to grab as many bags of chips as she can hold on to without taking the time to get a cart. The lady at the check-out may give her one of those super rude "you eat way too many chips" looks when she rings up nine bags of chips. Okay...maybe the look was just my imagination. I get a little self conscious while checking out with 5 bags of jet-puffed cheetos. Ah well.
After the crazy chip errand, I served as the sound/powerpoint/techy person at youth group. I'm not all that techno-savvy, but I'm good enough for Tony to trust me with the reigns. Luckily, things went well. I beat him home by a couple of minutes tonight when things were done and as I turned the corner to see him coming in, the first words he managed to say were "I could not do youth ministry without you.". WOW! Those words were so precious to me! I love serving alongside my husband and I work hard to be a great support and encouragement to him, but to hear him say he couldn't do it without me was enough for my eyes to swell. Sweet, sweet words from a sweet, sweet YP.
As Tony's wife I often find myself giggling at some of the "jobs" I end up doing throughout the week. The last couple of weeks have been as interesting as ever. Youth group kicked off last week in our town square. It was an incredible night - 75 students gathered in the center of our town to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and worship through song with The Ransom Project. It is a beautiful thing to have the Lord's praises ring out from the bandstand in the square. Wow!
In order to prepare for such a great event, a YP's wife can expect to do a couple things:
- Head to Orscheln's Hardware store by herself and purchase eight 50lb bags of sand to secure screens on the stage. If you can picture this weakling lifting eight 50 lb items into a trunk, you may get a little chuckle. Needless to say, it wasn't a quick trip. Preparing for youth events can leave a YP's wife very sore.
- Set up enormous wall dividers to serve as screens (on a stage six feet off the ground) only for a large gust of wind to come and blow them off the stage. Hence, the need for sand. Be prepared for slight embarassment as passerbys gasp and run to help with the dilemma.
Tonight we had Sunday Night Alive at the church for the first SNA of Fall 2010. It was a blast. Tony spoke on Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." He used an analogy of a Defensive Line for an NFL football team and the tremendous effort they pour in to protecting their end zone and keeping their opponent out. In the same way, we need to go to great lengths to protect our hearts from evil influences. We launched a new format for youth group that divides junior high and high school students completely and allows for small groups each week. It was a success!
To prepare for a weekly SNA, a YP's wife can expect to:
- Make a last minute run to Hy-Vee to grab as many bags of chips as she can hold on to without taking the time to get a cart. The lady at the check-out may give her one of those super rude "you eat way too many chips" looks when she rings up nine bags of chips. Okay...maybe the look was just my imagination. I get a little self conscious while checking out with 5 bags of jet-puffed cheetos. Ah well.
After the crazy chip errand, I served as the sound/powerpoint/techy person at youth group. I'm not all that techno-savvy, but I'm good enough for Tony to trust me with the reigns. Luckily, things went well. I beat him home by a couple of minutes tonight when things were done and as I turned the corner to see him coming in, the first words he managed to say were "I could not do youth ministry without you.". WOW! Those words were so precious to me! I love serving alongside my husband and I work hard to be a great support and encouragement to him, but to hear him say he couldn't do it without me was enough for my eyes to swell. Sweet, sweet words from a sweet, sweet YP.
Friday, September 17, 2010
A Day of Play
We're starting this blog 2 weeks into taking Thursdays off to date. It's 1:25 a.m. and I will attempt to re-cap a day full of moments that reminded me I'm married to a youth pastor.
10 a.m. Breakfast at downtown coffee shop. Yes, our Thursday breakfast will begin at 10. That is early for this Youth Pastor and wife. I should expect this by now, but it catches me off guard every time we go to the Coffee Corner. The gray-haired men in the back corner love nothing more than to see Tony – as energetic and outgoing as ever – bound through the doors. As soon as they see him, they bombard him with questions and tease him relentlessly. In no time, what could have been a meaningful conversation for the two of us over lattes and a giant cinnamon roll, has become a history lesson from said gray-haired men. I don’t mean to complain, their stories are always entertaining.
11 a.m. Hit the golf course. Side note: I started the day in a darling cardigan, nice jeans and loafers for my 8:30 Main Street meeting. I knew that as soon as I got home to begin our date day, I'd need a wardrobe change. Tony's idea of a date always includes a great deal of athletic activity - or play if you will - so, I quickly switched outfits and tied my tennies. I’m really not very good at golf, so thankfully Tony is not one for closely following the official rules of golf. He never seems to mind when I pull out my foot or hand wedge for a couple swings.
2:00 p.m. Lunch @ Kalona Bakery. Tony’s meal: 1 jelly filled donut, 6 donut holes, pulled pork sandwich, cheetos, and root beer. Yep – that’s my youth pastor.
3:30 p.m. It’s time to get down to business. We need to pick out tile and countertops for our kitchen. The next couple hours were spent at Menards and Lowes. Long periods of shopping don’t typically make for an ideal day for Tony, but he’s really good at keeping himself entertained despite having to shop. Here are a few of his ideas for other youth pastors to try if forced to shop with their wives: Sing at the top of your lungs in the parking lot – everyone entering and exiting store will be highly entertained (except for maybe your wife). If that doesn’t work, act like you run into every obstacle in the parking lot and through the front doors of the store, then grunt loudly to show your imaginary pain.
5:30 Our day needs more play. We drive around in search of a park to play Frisbee. We head into a large field at an Iowa City park and begin some catch. I’m not the talented athlete that my husband is, but when I’m with him I’m always the champion. He’s a great encourager. And, hey – we even made it to 31 catches without dropping the Frisbee. He’s always got a challenge or game up his sleeve.
7:00 Dinner @ Applebees. That 2 for $20 is a pretty good deal…especially when you have a $25 gift card! Tony’s meal: Chicken tender basket, the usual. He looked at the fresh veggies on my plate and said, “Maybe I need a more adult-looking meal.”
8:00 We’ve got some time to kill before picking a former youth group student up at the bus stop, so we take a stroll around downtown Iowa City. While watching all the college kids out and about, we began reminiscing about our college days.
9:30 Moments like these remind me how precious a gift it is to be involved in youth ministry. We found ourselves chasing a greyhound bus to the bus stop to greet one of our youth group students who graduated last year and was coming home from college in Chicago to visit for the weekend. We did the typical “we’re really excited to see you and we’re probably embarrassing you” things and waved our hands frantically and screamed his name as he came off the bus. Tony and Matt embraced and in moments we were hearing story after story after story of the amazing things God is up to in Matt’s life at Moody Bible Institute. Matt is going to school to be a youth pastor too. Hopefully his future bride can find this blog very useful. ;) Matt gave Tony a pretty sweet compliment tonight – “Ya know Tony, you would have been a great youth pastor even if you didn’t go to college for it. Some people just have it, and you have it.” I agree.
Here’s to happy dating. Good night….errr good morning.
10 a.m. Breakfast at downtown coffee shop. Yes, our Thursday breakfast will begin at 10. That is early for this Youth Pastor and wife. I should expect this by now, but it catches me off guard every time we go to the Coffee Corner. The gray-haired men in the back corner love nothing more than to see Tony – as energetic and outgoing as ever – bound through the doors. As soon as they see him, they bombard him with questions and tease him relentlessly. In no time, what could have been a meaningful conversation for the two of us over lattes and a giant cinnamon roll, has become a history lesson from said gray-haired men. I don’t mean to complain, their stories are always entertaining.
11 a.m. Hit the golf course. Side note: I started the day in a darling cardigan, nice jeans and loafers for my 8:30 Main Street meeting. I knew that as soon as I got home to begin our date day, I'd need a wardrobe change. Tony's idea of a date always includes a great deal of athletic activity - or play if you will - so, I quickly switched outfits and tied my tennies. I’m really not very good at golf, so thankfully Tony is not one for closely following the official rules of golf. He never seems to mind when I pull out my foot or hand wedge for a couple swings.
2:00 p.m. Lunch @ Kalona Bakery. Tony’s meal: 1 jelly filled donut, 6 donut holes, pulled pork sandwich, cheetos, and root beer. Yep – that’s my youth pastor.
3:30 p.m. It’s time to get down to business. We need to pick out tile and countertops for our kitchen. The next couple hours were spent at Menards and Lowes. Long periods of shopping don’t typically make for an ideal day for Tony, but he’s really good at keeping himself entertained despite having to shop. Here are a few of his ideas for other youth pastors to try if forced to shop with their wives: Sing at the top of your lungs in the parking lot – everyone entering and exiting store will be highly entertained (except for maybe your wife). If that doesn’t work, act like you run into every obstacle in the parking lot and through the front doors of the store, then grunt loudly to show your imaginary pain.
5:30 Our day needs more play. We drive around in search of a park to play Frisbee. We head into a large field at an Iowa City park and begin some catch. I’m not the talented athlete that my husband is, but when I’m with him I’m always the champion. He’s a great encourager. And, hey – we even made it to 31 catches without dropping the Frisbee. He’s always got a challenge or game up his sleeve.
7:00 Dinner @ Applebees. That 2 for $20 is a pretty good deal…especially when you have a $25 gift card! Tony’s meal: Chicken tender basket, the usual. He looked at the fresh veggies on my plate and said, “Maybe I need a more adult-looking meal.”
8:00 We’ve got some time to kill before picking a former youth group student up at the bus stop, so we take a stroll around downtown Iowa City. While watching all the college kids out and about, we began reminiscing about our college days.
9:30 Moments like these remind me how precious a gift it is to be involved in youth ministry. We found ourselves chasing a greyhound bus to the bus stop to greet one of our youth group students who graduated last year and was coming home from college in Chicago to visit for the weekend. We did the typical “we’re really excited to see you and we’re probably embarrassing you” things and waved our hands frantically and screamed his name as he came off the bus. Tony and Matt embraced and in moments we were hearing story after story after story of the amazing things God is up to in Matt’s life at Moody Bible Institute. Matt is going to school to be a youth pastor too. Hopefully his future bride can find this blog very useful. ;) Matt gave Tony a pretty sweet compliment tonight – “Ya know Tony, you would have been a great youth pastor even if you didn’t go to college for it. Some people just have it, and you have it.” I agree.
Here’s to happy dating. Good night….errr good morning.
A Day Off??
A wise Pastor recently told my husband it'd be a good decision for him to start taking a day off during the week (as Pastors are told to do.) Tony has never really taken to the idea of spending an entire day away from work. He needs to be busy constantly and he completely enjoys his work. I've tried to give him great ideas for filling his time on a day off, but somehow my list of things to do around our new house never sound better to him than working on youth ministry...beats me.
Now that I'm not working full-time, I have the luxury of a flexible schedule that allows me to hang out with Tony on a "day off." Even still...we both feel pretty tied to our work and hate the thought of going one full day without getting SOMETHING DONE! Yes, yes, I realize even as I write...we think we're pretty important to assume things fall apart when we're not around.
Anyways, after starting to drive each other a tad bit crazy this summer when the only thing we could figure out to talk about was ministries at the church (i'm now the Children's Ministry Director at our church), we've decided to give it a try - A DAY OFF! Thursday - it will be our day. We're attempting to avoid work and avoid talking about work - if it's possible. Instead of work, we've decided we shall "date." If you know a youth pastor, you know life is, well...never dull. This blog will highlight our journey, and my Thursday "dates" with a Youth Pastor.
Now that I'm not working full-time, I have the luxury of a flexible schedule that allows me to hang out with Tony on a "day off." Even still...we both feel pretty tied to our work and hate the thought of going one full day without getting SOMETHING DONE! Yes, yes, I realize even as I write...we think we're pretty important to assume things fall apart when we're not around.
Anyways, after starting to drive each other a tad bit crazy this summer when the only thing we could figure out to talk about was ministries at the church (i'm now the Children's Ministry Director at our church), we've decided to give it a try - A DAY OFF! Thursday - it will be our day. We're attempting to avoid work and avoid talking about work - if it's possible. Instead of work, we've decided we shall "date." If you know a youth pastor, you know life is, well...never dull. This blog will highlight our journey, and my Thursday "dates" with a Youth Pastor.
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