For Kelsey

Last year, I wrote about these girls having a rare (11 people in the world) genetic immune deficiency disease (Dock 8) and how my church sponsored the Be The Match event to try to find stem cell donors.

I'm sad to say that the eldest, Kelsey (right) passed away this afternoon at 5:17pm.

Heavy, heavy heart, but she is with Jesus. I know this because she was with him every day while she was here on earth these short years, so this relationship just continues now in a different dimension than we can understand. It's not that big of a jump for Kelsey. Her speech was peppered with references to him, she literally danced for him, and she pointed others to him with a mega-watt smile. He was her all in all, and now she is completely healed, forever. Not one more hour of sickness for Kelsey. Not one minute more of suffering.

One of my best memories of Kelsey is that when she was little and enrolled in a Praise Dance program with my daughter Katie, Kelsey's mom, Tammy, asked me to give Kelsey a ride home, and I agreed. About halfway to my house, I realized I had forgotten Kelsey at church. I never drove so fast back to church or prayed so hard while I was driving as I did to retrieve her, which is saying a lot for me. Upon my arrival, she was fine, greeted me with her little cheerful smile and chatted all the way home. Bless her heart.

My heart is heavy, laden with grief, yes, but also heavy with the rich gifts she shared with us all.

She will be missed. And she has the most amazing parents on the face of the earth. Much love to them.

Hot Diggity Dog, The Bracelet.

Pastor Shane has bestowed a wonderful gesture upon us here at 2nd Cup of Crank. If you commented on Jan 4 or 5 about being in the drawing for the bracelet, you automatically get one, no drawing needed.

Hot diggity dog. You just got yourself an accountability resource!

Sorry I have to limit the gift to those two days, but these things don't grow on trees. If you'd like to order some, however, I can get you the address.

So if you still want one, email me this weekend at lindacrowatcomcastdotnet with your address, and I will send you one.

What's that I hear? No complaints!

Thanks, Pastor Shane. You're the best.

Treasure Chest of Goodness and Euell Gibbons

Bet you're wondering what could be in this deceptively plain-looking treasure chest of white cardboard. I know it says, "variety chips" on it, but please, would a treasure chest hold mere potato chips?

No, it would not.

It would, however, hold a boatload of S'mores ingredients! Woo to the hoo!



So for eight weeks a group of teenagers is meeting at my home for a study, and tonight I decided to do hot dogs, fruit kebabs (you'd think it'd be spelled "kabobs," but you'd be embarrassingly misinformed) chips and dip and S'MORES!







Do not ask me why this child has one shoe on and one off and looks like he might fall into the fire. I know his mom sometimes reads this blog, so maybe she will interpret his actions for us.






Obviously, I wasn't kidding when I said fires have become a nightly routine here.

And Jorge is still acting like he's a forest ranger fire expert. For instance, he's still getting pretend-mad at me for throwing a paper plate or two into the flames, like I'm going to sully his handiwork or something: "You're going to create ashes!" (Uh, sorry. Fires should not have ashes, for sure.)

When we sit there every night toasting marshmallows (Wonder why can't I lose weight? It's a mystery!) he keeps saying nature-y things like, "Notice how the wind has died down." "That's a nuthatch you hear." Excuse me. This guy doesn't know a nuthatch from a ... a ... another bird, and yet, he has a running nature commentary.

Tonight I was grilling the hot dogs and became upset because a fly landed on a couple of them as I was about to lift them onto the grill. I was spazzing about the flies when he casually remarked, "It's OK. The germs will burn off on the grill."

I'm beginning to feel like I'm married to Euell Gibbons. You remember Euell, don't you? (If you're over 35, maybe?) In case you don't, here's a 30-second commercial that will tell the whole story and explain why Jorge may be called "Euell" here on the blog until he gets over this Eagle Scout kick.



Question: Have you had S'mores yet this summer, and, did we ever actually see Euell Gibbons eat pine cones or cattails? I think Euell scammed us into eating those edible b.b.'s called Grapenuts.

Wordless Wednesday-What I'm Doing Today

How about "Nearly Wordless Wednesday?"

It's SERVE week here at my church, a week-long blitzing of the city with community service, including things like tearing off shingles, painting, pulling up stumps, planting flowers, visiting nursing homes, having neighborhood block parties, helping to organize public food assistance and women's shelters ... you get the idea. Nearly 130 youth (6th-12th grades) are spending the entire week here as if they are at camp. But the whole SERVE program involves 3 through 19 year-olds.

My main role this year is to be the snack lady at 8:00 pm in our cafe courtyard. After a long day of hard labor, they do love their Oreos and MOUNTAIN DEW. Here is the row of chips, cookies and "drug pop," as I call caffeinated sodas, that I set up before they come in.


Yes, I said "Mountain Dew at 8 pm." Can I also say I'm glad not to be chaperoning them in their rooms at night? Can you imagine all of those teenagers hopped up on drug pop trying to settle down and go to sleep?! But here's how happy they are after grazing on Mt. Sugar which has a river running through it: The Sucrose.


Traditionally on Wednesday of SERVE, we have the hog roast and requisite jump in the lake.

The week culminates on Friday evening with a big free-to-the-community "Party in the Parking Lot" (PIP), where there are tons of free prizes, food, inflatable games, etc., with the goal of blessing the community and opening up an option for people to check out the church.

The first two pics are my Abilenian boss, our youth pastor:

American Idol, Shakespeare, and Can You Match the Slogans with the Products?

American Idol: First of all, can you believe the American Idol finale? When was the last time you saw so much talent in one place, besides the Lawrence Welk show or the Muncie community theater?!

Seriously. I felt my adrenaline surge during "We Are the Champions," and I felt my stomach go in a knot (in a bad way) just as I did as a kid when my older brother loved KISS. And although Rod Stewart looked a little unstable on his feet, he's still got it. Plus, he is still skinny, which is important when you're Rod Stewart. He is one person who can just never get away with anything else, you know? I mean, even Cher could get chubby before Rod.

I don't know why Cyndi Lauper sat like that. I knew you wanted me to address that issue. "Ladies" shouldn't sit that way. Especially middle aged menopausal ladies. Ick.

Steve Martin? How did he get this gig? I mean, he's an all right performer, but with those big names on the stage, how did he manage this?

Oh, I could go on, but this show is why we watch every season, and somehow, it just seems to get better and better.

Am I a better person for watching AI? No, I am not. I am, however, a highly entertained one, which is not as noble but at least I'm honest.

One last thing: Yay Kris.

Shakespeare:


You may not watch The Office, but I must tell you that if you have ever worked in an office, there was a scene that you would relate to: the filthy office microwave.

Such is is my life.

So the receptionist, Pam, made a sign and posted it on the top of the microwave about cleaning up after one's self after using the microwave. Her co-workers hated this sign.

Today, it was not the microwave, but a plastic bucket of fruit with a lid that had sat for several days in our sink until you couldn't tell the kiwi from the ewwwweee.

Now it's not often that my present life, secretary, collides with my past life, English major, but today, before I even had time to think about it, as I approached the dreaded bucket, Shakespeare said to my head, "Something wicked this way comes."






If ever a bucket deserved to have "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble" chanted over it, it was this Rubbermaid bucket.

It sure looked like someone had cooked up a pot of poisoned entrails, eye of newt, and toe of frog.

So I did what any Pam-worthy secretary would do. I snuck it outside and pitched it.

Shhh. Don't tell anyone. Oh wait. My co-workers sometimes read this blog.

Match the Slogan with the Product:

In other work news, yesterday we had a giant meeting to discuss the relevancy and viability of our church's mission statement: "Know, Grow, Go."

Shakespeare would be proud.

So as we discussed the statement, a couple of us came up with alternative ones just in case we decided to 86 the current one, my favorite one being, "I Hope You Dance" which was so random that it completely cracked me up.

That got me to thinking about branding and mission statements, and I was wondering if we should just work with what has proven successful elsewhere, that is, famous advertising slogans. So I adapted some; see what you think. Try plugging your church's name in there and see if it doesn't make you giggle. And can you match the famous slogan with the product?

• Union Chapel: A little dab'll do ya. (Especially when you work there all week.)
  

• Union Chapel is the place for the helpful hardware man. (Things get broked.)
  

• A day without Union Chapel is like a day without sunshine. (Uh, this must not include my desk because sometimes, I don't emit sunshine.)
  

• Union Chapel: All you add is love. (And volunteers, and programs, and sick babies and smelly middle school boys. Now we're closer.)
  

• Union Chapel: the San Francisco treat. (Seriously doubt San Fran would consider our theology a treat.)
  

• Union Chapel, take me away. (Ohh, so you want to go on a missions trip!)
  

• Union Chapel: Celebrate the Moments of Your Life. (Kinda cute.)
  

• How do you spell relief? U-n-i-o-n C-h-a-p-e-l

• In the valley of the Jolly, "Ho, ho, ho," Union Chapel. (At least it's reminiscent of Psalm 23.)
  

• Be all that you can be: Union Chapel (Yes, please volunteer today.)
  

• If I've only one life, let me live it as a Union Chapel member! (Sounds like a religious Patrick Henry.)
  

• Just do it. Union Chapel. (I'm kind of liking this one. It's like "stop making excuses and get plugged in.")
  

• Union Chapel: It's the cheesiest. (That's a great one! Especially for youth ministry!)
  

• It's the real thing: Union Chapel!

• Like a good neighbor, Union Chapel is there. (Not half bad.)
  

• Union Chapel: It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
  

• Look, Ma, no sinners! (Not hardly, but funny!)

So do you know which products these slogans were originally written for?

And They Said Coke Was "The Real Thing" OR Momentum for My Omentum

Sometimes my job just requires me to wear a beard, that's all.

Because of yesterday's post, I know that you don't believe me, but I really don't wear lampshades on my head at parties, etc.

By the way, both of my daughters responded the same way to the Bearded Lady pics: "That's scary." To that I say, "You tell 'em what's what, Stephanie Tanner." Thanks, Steph.

Seriously, when my former boss hired me, he said, "You realize that in youth ministry, sometimes you're called on to do tasks and participate in things that normal people do not do." Ohhh, I thought I was just going to make copies and stuff envelopes.

I was wrong. But I am glad. I have a fun job, most of the time.

The larger group I work with, called The Design Team, has reps from each department, and we discuss programs, go out to lunch, have meetings, go out to lunch, take polls on who knows how to play Euchre, go out to lunch, and sometimes, we have a carry-in, which is a nice change of pace from loading up in vans and going out to lunch.

The place we go to lunch each Tuesday serves REAL Mexican food. You might question whether we Hoosiers can be sure that we're eating REAL Mexican food since we're not only a fur piece from Meh-hee-co but also because we lean a little toward the gullible side of thinking, like Woody Boyd, the bartender on Cheers from Hanover, IN. Well. Is that so. Then just what do you make of this actual advertisement for PV, our home away from home?



Please note that the REAL Mexican in the sombrero is telling the ... Pilgrim? to "try the best Margaritas in town" and to "ENJOY THE REAL THING" in big letters. So there. That's all the convincing I need, a badly-drawn stick figure encouraging me to believe.

My favorite PV order: Vegetable Nachos. Ah, they are like fertilizer for the omentum.

So do you have a favorite dive whose food you cannot do without? What's the uncontested unhealthiest food that you have regularly?

Wordless Wednesday: They Call Me The Bearded Lady

CARNIVAL NIGHT AT ONEIGHTY!!!

Who is this bearded lady??

Our middle school pastor and the Bearded Lady.
Lady got hip!

Bearded Lady and Oneighty Intern, Gwido

Strike the pose. Vogue.

I'm sure this child left traumatized.

Bearded Lady and Hunky Jorge

The Vixen, she calls. (Why do I look like I'm audtioning for the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof??)

Fun Times, Fun Times and Why I Cannot Lose the Weight

*Edit: Did you know that today is Michael Jackson's 50th birthday???

Last weekend, my fam went to Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH. This is a self portrait of me in our luxurious hotel room. The kids and Jorge went to the park. I stayed back and blogged a little, and then I sat beside the pool and read. We ate out, which completely undid my progress on the Alternate Day Diet. But I'm not giving up, because PJ at Bits and Pieces has lost 12 lbs. on this diet, people. (She always was a show-off, right??) Anyway, we had fun. And just to prove it, here are my girls having fun hurting each other. Les petite filles are brutes.







"A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever" is the title of this shot because I love my French manicured toes. Today was Support Staff retreat, which means all of the secretaries, I mean, ministry assistants, have a day of pampering. We met at someone's home where we listened to a counselor talk about avoiding job and life burn-out. Then we each had half-hour massages, and our choice of pedicure, manicure or facial.

Then we had Panera catered in, which was not all that helpful to me in my endeavor to follow the Alternate Day Diet. Some of us swam in the beautiful pool. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the staff were forced to fend for themselves and put their own postage on their letters.

Bet you can't guess what's under this chocolate.

Every Tuesday, I'm in a meeting with the representatives of all of our departments, from nursery to adult ed and all between. There are about 12 of us, 13 if you count the empty chair we leave for Jesus. No joke. It helps us be holy as we discuss why our ideas are better than everyone else's, and to be kind to one another as we explain why their idea will never work as well as the one we just presented before someone else cut us off and started down a whole 'nother path.

But sometimes it doesn't work and we fight over who gets to sit by Jesus. Thus, you can see that we are indeed true disciples aptly named, "The Discipleship Team."

Anyway, two weeks ago, somebody brought up the subject of chocolate-covered bacon, and one thing led to another, until we decided to make this Tuesday "Chocolate Day" because that would definitely help us be more creative and smarter and work together better.

So we each brought in some chocolate of choice. I took my friend's gourmet chocolate bark in espresso and peppermint. Yum. We had the fountain, the fruit, the Puppy Chow, etc., the whole shebang. And one staff member actually fried bacon and coated it in chocolate! So we all tasted that and even took some home for our kids to taste.

And of course, that didn't help my Alternate Day Diet efforts. FYI, the bacon was not that bad. It combined savory with sweet, like chocolate-covered pretzels, sort of, only with grease and fat. And that sure doesn't help anyone on the Alternate Day Diet.

So I'm not doing so well on my diet. But I have been having a lot of fun lately.

What I'm Doing Tonight

I'm speaking to Oneighty's combined middle and high school youth tonight at "The Link." Why my co-worker asked me to do this I'm not sure, unless it's to teach the kids a lesson about appreciating their regular cool speakers. Sort of like when my husband and I threaten to take our own kids back to the churches we each grew up in if they even think about complaining about the one we attend now.

My fear is that I'm going to look and sound like Lady Bird Johnson to them because of my oldness.






But if I try too hard to be cool, I'll end up being viewed as this.







I would just prefer they not react to me like this.







In fact, I'm thinking about banning my own kid from going because I don't want to look out into the crowd and see this:










My topic is going to be about making summer last by taking the things you love about summer and applying them to your life.

Summer =
Freedom (Freedom in Christ)
Sunshine (Light of Christ in you not growing dim)
SERVE (Our community service week is not supposed to be a week-long event but a lifestyle)
Friends (Treasuring old friends but engaging new friends to bring to church)
Vacations (Shaking up your routine, esp. for worship, prayer)
Summer Fruits (Fruits of the Spirit-making sure they don't go to rot)
Music (Is there a song, verse of Psalm that meant a lot to you this summer? Then "mark it" as a the song of summer 2008 and remember how God spoke to you through those words/music, etc., etc.)

Any other thoughts that come to mind as you read this?? Not that I'm desperate or nervous or nervous or anything.

Banquet Pics

Just wanted to share this photo from the Volunteer Banquet. It was a sport theme, so we were supposed to dress in our favorite team clothes or our own old uniforms, etc. I don't have a favorite team, so I wore Jorge's old football jersey. We went to high school together and esteemed each other highly (a-hem) but we did not date until college. But I thought he was so good looking, and so did a lot of other girls--but I got him! PS: Don't forget to visit my real post for the weekend (the one right before this one).

Who are These People, And Why Do They Have Spirit Fingers?

No, they're not in a Godspell production.

They're not in a deodorant commercial.

They're not on a cruise ship.



They are not an improperly dressed and pitifully lack-lustre exercise class.

They are, in fact, the staff I work with at UC, just ending the cheer "Two Bits." I am not in this photo because I snapped it. And, when I practiced the cheer, I was in the back where no man will ever see me.

Because it's not 1980 anymore. (Far left. Awesome shoes, Squad.)

Why is the staff cheering? It's a rehearsal for tonight, our annual big doo-dah volunteer appreciation banquet. Because at Union Chapel, we love our volunteers. A lot. One year we did a western theme, which thrilled my boss from Abilene, one year we did a cruise theme and sent two lucky vols on a cruise at the end of the night, and last year, it was an Oscar-ish theme, with staff wearing formal wear and serving dinner, etc. There is always extensive, extensive decorating and door prizes and great food and a lovely time had by all.

This year, the theme is "sports," thus the cheers and chants at the end of the night to yell at our volunteers that we are so much for them, we will "stand up and holler." That is love.

**********
Edit: In yesterday's post, I was at my boss's desk when he was in Kazakhstan (my take on taking over while he was gone.) He does not usually have a doily table cloth on his desk or stuffed animals in there. But it was a nice touch, don't you think? Especially the feet on the desk?

In other news: Pray for College Daughter who leaves for London tonight. I will be serving up food at the banquet and not seeing her off at the airport, and that makes me sad. Here she is having a mountain-top experience in Mexico last year.

Other other news: The next time you come back to 2nd Cup (please do) it may look very different--yes, I feel the ground rumbling even now as big changes are coming ...

Other "OTHER" news: First of all, how many times can Kate get clonked on the head without sustaining drain bamage?

Secondly, who is the man on Ben's boat?? For a couple of weeks, I thought it was Michael. And what if it's a female that they've been calling Ben's "man?"

Then last night, I was suddenly seized by the possibility: Charlie?! Oh please (writers? producers? Oprah?) let Charlie come back to us. I need to hear "You All Everybody" by Driveshaft one more time. Finally, I think Juliet is beautiful. But I am mesmerized by her curly mouth. I finally realized what it reminds me of, and this may be why I don't trust her: