My Silly Little Brother

"They will mock and laugh at the great turtle...with dissappointment the turtle will believe the lies passed on from the great owl and his father...behind his back they will constantly have good times and laughter but in front of the great turtle they will pretend to like him...the joketh is on himth...or something...for one day the Great Battle will be upon them. The Great War in adirolf is coming soon, the house will change pace, the great owl and all his wrestling glory will not be able to take on the darkness that will come upon him during this time."
The Wisdom of the Turtle 5:32, The Great Turtle Conspiracy 7:44, Your Mom is not an Owl 8:1

The story of my life...this is how my family REALLY thinks of me...
Samuel decided to put this on his facebook profile. To quote a very memorable line for me,"We need something that is funny at first but gets less funny everytime you say it" -The Simpsons
I see this and sometimes I feel that way. Not really from my family but from the world. I want to be accepted but for some reason I never feel accepted (Natural Pessimist). Although I think that Samuel should keep this picture posted...because it is funny...

Corporal Punishment

I usually hate to jump on any bandwagon but as I have been teaching in the Public School System I can see the benefits of corporal punishment. It is definitely something that SOME kids need. I have had a tough experience with some smart mouth kids and its really hard to handle them. If you send them out of the classroom you gave them what you want, but you did get them out of your classroom. If you write them up they get C.A.B. (Classroom for Alternative behavior) or suspension. Some of these kids you know don't have any reinforcement at home. They are allowed to talk to adults anyway they please and basically do what they want.

I have one student in particular that I believe needs to visit a jail and not just visit but get treated roughly. Give him/her an experience that he/she will never forget. It's hard for me because that person has the kind of attitude that makes you want to beat the living snot out of them. Obviously, I have to restrain myself but its a challenge and at the end I loose out. My patience is running low but I try really hard with this particular student. On Monday, this student had on a t-shirt so I tried to acknowedge it by asking what was on it. He/she covers it up really quickly acting as though he/she had something unappropiate on the t-shirt. Unannounced to the student, I had already seen the t-shirt and was mearly trying to build a relationship...one that failed.

Today, in class, I was trying to give the students a break by playing hangman. As I was busy with another student, this particular student went around to all the groups telling them what letters to put down in order for the letters to make a bad or "naughty" word. Of course I caught on very quickly.

To say the least, teaching has been an experience, one that has taught me alot about students and about myself. I look forward to the end of the year so I can be done with that job. Less than 18 weeks in I am exhausted and tired and its really hard not to bring my work home with me.

Missing Full Time Youth Ministry

I saw this today and it is a promotion for "The Core"seminar for Youth specialties. I read his t-shirt and remember working with hurting teens. I can remember the phone calls from youth and parents, the times I took them to a restraunt for them to talk, the talks at my house, the deep conversations after youth group, the interesting facts in my car from point A to B, so many memories... My experience is that most teens are hurting and unfortunately we want to dismiss their hurt for adolescence. I am currently serving somewhere where I am part time. I miss full time work everyday, to invest in youth and truly work with them individually. I don't get paid enough to live close to the church I serve and every trip to the city is more money I don't have. Youth deserve someone there for them. Someone who can invest in their lives, care for them and their hurts, to be a listening ear, to play xbox with, basketball with, get creamed in Ultimate Frisbee. I miss the relationships that were built. My heart is missing something huge, but I don't know when I will return to full time ministry.

WOW!!!! My Tenth Post

For most ten is not any kind of milstone. I have read other blogs that have way over 1,000 post. But for me ten is good for now and worth celebrating. Up to now my blogs have been a little down because my life has been a little down. I waited for my tenth blog to be a positive one hoping to start a collection of positive notes to share with the world. But unfortuanitly I am not that lucky...

Update on Cars
On Tuesday, we were suppose to have our fully functioning 2001 Isuzu Rodeo back from the shop but instead I got a call saying that the new engine was a dud. As time went on and talking to other people involved with the engine I found out that the company would replace the engine but not replace all labor that was put into the engine, leaving me with more money to invest in a non working car. Fortuately, I recieved the part from a local store (which is Nationwide) and they don't want a dent in their name and have offered to help with the financial obligation in fixing the car.

On Thursday, I went to pick up my Audi 100 from the shop and on the way to pick up my son the alternator belt broke and I got stuck in the Wal-mart parking lot. My Dad was able to replace the belt so that was good. It is hard to be ignorant about cars, if I had a better knowledge base I could do much more less expensively. Anyway, I get into the car this morning and had a frozen drive to the daycare and work. You guessed it...the heat does not work. I knew it didn't but didn't realize how bad it was. I could see my breath all the way to Lawrenceburg. I will submit my Audi again to the mechanic gods to be fixed with a sacrifice of a monitary measure.

It's Friday, Thank God...not the mechanical gods but the God. I have a little scuffle at 3:30 in which I will beat Mike Sanchez with a dead muscrat. He will feel pain undescribable that thoughts of Tony's mom will bring comfort to him. Muhhahahahahaha