Pastor Adam, Cautious Mom

It has been one of those days when I am proud of my son and ashamed of myself. Our son Adam has a friend who we as parents do not totally trust. So, we have told Adam that if he wants to invite this friend out to our house to hang out, so we know what they would be up to, that would be an acceptable solution. Adam took me up on the offer.

This is the same friend who spent some time out of school for detention, the same friend who pierced Adam's ear at his house, the same friend that when he calls ...... I cringe.

The same friend that asked Adam to baptize him during the sixth grade school Christmas program practice at the Catholic church in Adrian because he knew Adam went to Sunday School. Adam came home and proudly told me that he baptized him .... "in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit" with Catholic holy water asking if he did it right. My first question was if the priest was around. I'm sure God was smiling, but the priest may not have been amused at the United Methodist boy performing sacraments.

The same friend who stood in my kitchen a few hours ago and thanked me for letting him come out, that he didn't like to be home alone, that his Mom spent most of her nights in the bar. Cleaning the kitchen table off after having pizza, something Adam doesn't even do.

And my heart bleeds ..... and I want to trust him ..... on a pastoral level ..... and then my parental gene kicks in ......... and I wrestle. So, we talk about expectations, about choices. We don't allow alcohol in our home, that smoking is not acceptable, that chores need to be done.

Adam sees the good in him, while I am being the Mom. I hope Adam is right and I am wrong.
I am proud of Adam for believing in his friend, and I continue to be in prayer for him.

Hopefully,

Lori

There Is Funny, And Then There Is FUNNY!

Sometimes I can just amaze myself at the dumb things I do. Here is the latest. As YIAT Coordinator, every once in awhile I send one of our youth a little encouragement note via snail mail. Snail mail is fun and in the day of technology it can be rare.

So, after TYL Camp I sent one of the youth a note and enclosed a package of Green Apple Kool-Aid. This youth had quit drinking soda over the Summer and was drinking Kool-Aid instead. I mentioned to her that our family favorite is Green Apple.

Come to find out, the letter got shredded ..... why you ask? Apparently the US Postal Service takes no chances with unfamiliar white powder. Yes, I may now be on the list of potential terrorist for sending Kool-Aid through the mail. Guess I better arrive extra early next time I fly anywhere, could be trouble.

The letter arrived shredded in a plastic bag with Kool-Aid everywhere. The youth had to tape my letter together to read it. We all got a good laugh out of this little event.

Now there is funny, and there is FUNNY. All in the days work of the YIAT Coordinator.

Guess I have to be more careful .........

Be Blessed!

Lori

the aroma of knowledge

There is something about being on a college campus that is just nice. You can almost smell learning in the air. Today I had to validate my class at USF so I went early this afternoon. I am taking a "Foods and Culture" class on Tuesday nights. I needed 2 elective credits and this class is a 3 credit class, never hurts to have a spare credit I guess. Too bad I can't apply it to the Math class from hell that I have left in order to graduate.

I ran all over campus this afternoon for this one class. First to the registars office, on to the student services for a new ID and decided to keep my old picture (it makes me look younger), then on to the library to activate my ID and check my "Cougar Paw" as to where my class would be located tonight, turns out .... I need a new computer password as mine expired. Hoofed on over to the Science building to discover the computer boys are on break, so I wait ... they come back and fix me up .... I head back to the library and get online. Find out where my class is. Head to the bookstore (which has moved and no one told me) .... at this point I am feeling like a freshman and really old all at the same time. Turns out I don't have to buy books for this class ..... sweet! One plus!

Get to class at 6:30pm ...... looks like we get to eat every class session! and cook sometimes too! Tonight was taste testing milk (nothing like milk shots) and playing with fire ..... we heated up "Creme Brulas" .... spelling is wrong but it is a very snazzy and yummy pudding custard thing. The propane torch was fun too, good thing we didn't set the sprinklers off. We were a bit concerned.

Anyway ...... ez class, 3 more credits, only 1 night out of my schedule, get to eat ..... all for the grand price of $850 plus gas at $3.09 ..... oh, the aroma of learning.