Game 7...

Must. Make. It.

I'm having trouble watching. Spotting Boston 2 goals to begin the game wasn't helping matters. Now we're only down 1.

Is this what Canucks fans felt like yesterday? (Minus the being down by a goal part.)

And I'll likely miss the last few minutes because I have to be at youth tonight. So, it would be helpful Montreal if you scored 5 in this period. I'd also accept 4 as long as you keep everything else out.

Big night...

As much as I would love to see an all Canadian Stanley Cup final between the Canadiens and the Canucks, I will admit that I am slightly curious as to just how Canucks "fans" would react if they were to lose tonight's game.

And by "fan" I am not directing this at the lifers. An "actual fan" would know who Kirk McLean is. They know why the white towel gets waved. They also know that Trevor Linden spent time in a Habs jersey. And they know there is more than one Bure. I do not wish to see the legitimate pain you would feel. I do wish to see what happens to the bandwagon "fans" though.

I won't cheer too hard though because I know they are likely to reciprocate with negativity towards my team of choice (or towards my office).

Should be an interesting hockey night nonetheless.

Oh Monday...

I'm fighting with all my might to avoid taking a nap in the office.

I. Am. Beat.

Every part of me craves caffeine. I'd love to crack open a Coke. Or head on over to Tim Horton's and grab a large French Vanilla cappuccino. I'm even tempted to grab a Pepsi out of the mini fridge. (Yes, that's how low I would sink right now.)

But, I'm currently at day #34 of caffeine sobriety. I'm trying to hang in there until vacation in May when I will celebrate by have an ice cold Coke (or Cokes) on the beach. (Yes, I fully intend to leap off the wagon.)

In the meantime I am proving that caffeine is not my master, but a friend that I miss greatly.

I am instead settling for a hot Iced Tea. I'm kicking the window open. And I'm going to try and finish up details for middle school youth tonight.

Drop a comment. Say hello.

Dating Advice...

We're in a month long teaching series called "Flirt" (totally stole the title from Brian Berry, so props to him & his crew!) for our students about sex, sexuality, dating & relationships. I had some fun with our high schoolers last night as we talked about dating.

I came up with a fun (yet practical) list of 10 Rules For Saving Your Dating Life that set the stage for our actual healthy dating advice.

I did not expect the major push back on the McDonald's and rollerskating date. I added it because I once had a date at McD's who refused to eat. And then on another night I went rollerskating with our youth group and she wouldn't skate with me during couples skate. I figured it was a bad date idea. Maybe it was just me?

What we actually settled down on for healthy dating advice was this:

• Be INTENTIONAL instead of RECREATIONAL - Who am I dating? What are they about? What do they believe? Why are we dating? What are we doing on the date?
  
• Be RELATIONAL instead of PHYSICAL - Recognizing that it's easier to be physical than relational, what boundaries do I have? Where will I be tempted?
  
• Be CHRIST focused instead of SELF focused - What if I was willing to pray about my date and for my date?
  

I'll admit that this series is pushing my creativity. The easy thing is to just tell them what not to do. But they've mostly heard it all before and I don't think that really helps them. I'm trying to encourage them to use their brains and think about what they are doing. I'm trying to get them to ask themselves lots of questions.

If you had some advice about dating for high schoolers, what would it be?

What's New...

It's been a while. Here's what's new here:

• I have become a lazy reader. Every book I pick up is kicking my butt.
  
• I have become a lazy athlete. Played 3 hours of soccer for the first time in almost a month on Sunday...and my body hates me for it.
• After escaping the responsibility of coaching soccer for so many years, I've finally been volunteered to co-coach the summer league that Aidan & Becca play on.
• Got to lead worship on Sunday with 3 other talented musicians. Safe to say that it was the most fun I have ever had with a band since my Youth Conference days.
  
• Teaching our month long dating, relationship & sex series for our middle school and high school students. Hectic, but fascinating to see the questions being asked. Particularly by middle schoolers.
• Counting down 24 days to some much anticipated vacationing in the sun.
• Started conversations about a missions trip for our students. It's been 5+ years on the list of things to do, but it looks like this time it might just stick. Need to rally the parents & students together for a meeting now.
• Erin's almost done exams but then gears up for her practicum. That'll take life to whole new level of crazy for a few weeks.
• Got to do some prep work now for my May 1 sermon.

So...what's new with you?

Did you know...

April is sex month.

Actually, I have no idea if that's true. I'm also smart enough not to Google it. So let's just say this is unofficial for the time being.

Tonight we begin our month long series on dating, relationships and sex with our students. It's been two years since we last taught on these subjects and gauging on the questions that showed up in our "Question Box" last month, I can only guess that this series is overdue and will likely be full of surprises.

I also expect that our attendance will increase over the month. It almost always has anytime we start talking about sex.

Fooled Again...

On Friday morning I get a message from one of our elders that reads like this:

"Just curious, do you really love Justin Bieber? Cause I according to your office window you are proclaiming your love for him to the world"

I'm well aware that it's April Fools Day, so I figure he must be messing with me. And then I arrive at the church this morning and see this sign from the parking lot.

I will make it known that this sign does not hang in my office, but rather in the window of the youth room that is next to my office. This is an important fact.

I walk into the youth room to meet my students for Tangents (our Sunday morning youth class), and find that all the furniture has been piled up in the corner and the whiteboards have been scribbled on. Oh, and they set up the mini Christmas tree.

Then I unlock my office door and find this. Most of the cups have an inch or two of water in them.









It took a minute for me to notice something was askew with the books on the shelves.









Plastic wrap, defaced wall hangings, misplaced degrees, a missing mini fridge, a shrink-wrapped guitar case, a random stuffed Disney character, beach balls...this will take some time to clean up tomorrow.




And then a note led me to the church kitchen where I found my Michael Scott Office mug. I should express my personal displeasure at this since I just only recently found this mug in the staff room after months of it being MIA.

Now the culprits are currently at large.

And staying with the cowardly act, "they" have refused to accept responsibility while swearing others to secrecy.

Also, I can't help but wonder why I have keys for the lock on my office when apparently anyone who wants access can gain access.

Friday on Saturday...

Best. Version. Ever.

Thank you Stephen Colbert.

I beg your pardon...

When did playing soccer become so ruddy expensive?!?!

Aidan officially enters the U11 program next year which takes youth soccer to another level. Today was his first "try out" where they get the boys together and see where there skill level is at. Ultimately the idea is that they pick 24-36 boys to form the Select teams. The remaining players, or the players that don't choose Select got into house league, which is basically just "rec" soccer.

Aidan's already signed up for fall, which means he'll at least play rec, so this is just to determine whether he wants to, or has the skills, to play Select level. (I may be biased, but I have no doubt that he has the skills. He's got a knack for putting the ball in the net and he's got a great set of wheels on him. He doesn't have the load of tricks in his pocket that some of the hardcore kids seem to have, but he doesn't seem to need them.)

Today we show up in the pouring rain to the first of three tryouts and discover that should he make the team it's going to cost an extra $400 for the program! $400? Yes, that's on top of what we already dished out to register him!

Uh...what the what?!?! We're talking youth soccer right?

On the plus side, after the tryout today they told all the kids that they had "made the team" (it was a small group, so I'm not entirely surprised). I'm proud of him, but I just joked that he might need to start working part time to pay for it!

Apparently if he gets selected by the Whitecaps residency program in the next few years they will start covering those costs.

The things we'll do...or pay...for something we love.

In our house it's soccer. What's it in your house?