Sunday, March 2, 2008

performing and transforming

eating ring pops with my sisters and listening to Defiance, Ohio, its a good day.

I just got back from the Jeremiah Center's dinner theatre, which started at 1:30, so it was more like lunch time theatre. It was absolutely wonderful. It is awesome seeing my friends transform on stage and embody characters that are so foriegn to their own. It is remarkable the level of production quality they are able to pull off in the few short weeks they prepair. I mean I guess you will always laugh more when it is people you know on stage, but it was just absolutely hilarious.

Sometimes it can be problematic. Peoples ability to perform. I worry about my friends at the Jeremiah Center a lot. They are awesome people, but they lead bizzare lives. I know this because I was one of the JC kids when I was in high school. It is probably one of the most demanding youth groups ever invented. It is great, there are many avenues that allow people to devote a good amount of time to different ministries. The bad side is that it is super intense. The community created there is super tight and good friendships are created. In this super intensive tight community, there is a serious lack of accountability and honesty. I am not trying to be really critical of them, this is something most communities, especially Christian communities, lack terribly. I am afriad that the JC community is starting to feel the burden of being Christian teenagers and I hope that they can overcome that constant pressure. In that group dynamic there is way to much performing and displaying characters that aren't your own. You can't screw up if your on SLT, you can't experiment with drugs and alcohol if you go to church. When we believe these things, it causes us to hide who we really are from our churches and Christian communities. I wish that the JC community, and everyones Chrisitan community could embrace a group dynamic that embraced honesty and accountability. If we all could just bring our brokeness to the foreground, in a humble way that didn't glorify sin, we all could thrive better in our communities. Youth groups and bible studies are cool ways to make friends and learn a thing or two about Jesus, but they also have the potential to be places where teenagers and young adults can grow in there relationships with God through their relationships with each other. I want this in my own community, the JC community, and ever community.


In other news, I just talked to Josh Jones. I took the Jeremiah Center internship position this summer. These means I can't go to India. Deanna and Caleb will be sad. I am also really sad. I wanted to go, but I feel like this will be a better opportunity for me in this place in my life. It was a hard decision, but the JC is a ministry that means a lot to me and I am honored to b given a position that can allow me to participate in what God has in store for that place, which I know are amazing things.



Nathan is moving to Olympia in a couple weeks! I'm really excited.

I need to figure out something to do for my spring project. Any ideas?






I am in a Monopoly kind of a mood.

Oh, and people who want to judge me and my friends can get over themselves, their opinions are not that important. I just wish my friends had my back.

1 comment:

Amanda said...

If you're not going to India does that mean you're coming to Minnesota?

I love you.