European Youth Ministry 101

I'm often asked what the difference is between youth ministry in America and youth ministry in Europe. The following story will illustrate one of the unique differences . . .

Tonight, I took our teens to an indoor beach center to play indoor beach volleyball. Twelve people from Word of Life Germany joined us, and we brought about 16 of our own people. We've been to this place 3 times now, and it's great! Nice sand, beautiful facility, etc. Usually, we rent a court or two and a conference room in which to have our "youth group" time. We were unable to get the conference room for tonight. Instead, we asked if there was any other space available where we could meet for 15 minutes. The person running the front desk told us that no one was in the sauna and we could use that for 10-15 minutes. Perfect!

After playing volleyball for an hour and a half, we directed everybody upstairs to the sauna, where we concluded by hearing the testimony of one of the Word of Life students. You can kind of see in this picture of the sauna that I found on the beach center's website, that a little hallway leads you from one end of the sauna area to the other. Our group met in that far end. Almost everybody fit in the sitting area (where the trees are pictured), but a few of us overflowed into the hallway. I was one of those people. This meant that I had a view into the sitting area where our group was, but if I turned around, I had a perfect shot of the opposite end as well, which is where the sauna opened into the showers.

During the testimony, I happened to hear a noise and turn my head to look behind me. The noise was someone opening the door to the sauna. This happened several times and each time the door made a loud creaking sound when it opened and closed. This was distracting enough that I turned around more than once . . . unfortunately just enough times to see men AND women walking from the sauna to the showers, some wearing absolutely NOTHING! Shocked, I whipped my head back around (my jaw nearly on the floor) and happened to catch my friend Andrea's eye. She had also looked at just the right time and had witnessed the complete nudity. She began laughing so hard she was shaking and wiping tears from her eyes. Thankfully, only the adults sitting in the overflow section in the hall were privy to the peep show occuring behind me. The teens were blocked by the wall. Once the testimony was over, I directed the teens and students to QUICKLY exit the room, keeping their gaze left (toward the wall and away from the sauna). Thankfully, there were no further "sightings".

Note to self: No matter what the management tells you about the occupancy of the sauna, DON'T MEET THERE!

Sleeping with Wet Socks

Have you ever been so sick you were desperate for remedies? I've had every symptom in the book this week: sinus pain/pressure, drainage, sneezing, sinus headaches, fever, chills, nausea (and after-effects), sore throat, congestion, etc. My good friend, Trisha, heard about a wet sock treatment. I tried it last night. Basically you run a pair of cotton socks under cold water, ring them out, put them on your feet, cover them with a pair of wool socks and sleep this way all night. I tried it last night. Very interesting sensation. At first, it's not a comfortable feeling to fall asleep with wet feet, but as you burrow under the covers, your wet feet get warm and it becomes tolerable. By morning, my feet and both pair of socks were dry.

Did it work? I don't know. I woke up feeling a lot better, but it could be simply that I'm getting better. I'm going to do it again tonight though, in case it is working.

This website explains the wet sock treatment: www.vsnaturopathy.com/Wet-socks.html
(It also points out the importance of warming your feet before putting on the cold, wet socks.)

Sound bizarre? Yeah, I know. But I was that sick! (I also spent all evening tonight drinking mug after mug of hot water, honey, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar.)

Candid Camera Doesn't Hold a Candle to Real Life!

The Candid Camera story has nothing on the story I'm about to share about my day today.

My friend, Peggy (pictured left), and I went shopping today at a Berlin mall. She drove, so we parked her car in the mall parking garage. I'm sure you know the parking garage routine. As we entered the parking garage we had to take a little ticket which opened the gate, and then drive up a ramp into the garage.

We shopped for about an hour (at the new Yankee Candle store . . . I bought a candle today!) and then went and found the car, got in and attempted to drive out of the parking garage. We got to the little gate and suddenly realized we had never paid for/validated the parking ticket. Logical move at this point? Put the car in reverse, back up and go validate the ticket. Problem: a line of cars is rapidly forming behind us. Very awkard situation to be in. Peggy, frantic, told me to take the ticket, jump out and run back up the inclined ramp to the next level, find one of the machines and pay for the ticket. At least 5 cars are behind us at this point. I get out of the car and chug up the ramp and into the first parking level expecting to see a machine, pay for the ticket and run quickly back down the ramp. Wrong. Can't find a machine. Run around the first level for approximately 2 minutes until I find a machine at one of the entrances into the mall. Huffing and puffing, partly from running up a ramp and around a parking garage and partly from extreme nervousness (15-20 cars were now making up the traffic jam caused by us), I panicked all the more standing there trying to figure out how to work the machine. I finally got the ticket paid for . . . now to run back through the garage and down the ramp to the car. Some 30 cars are now backed up and the drivers most definitely annoyed. As I go to run back down the ramp, I make every attempt not to make eye contact with the motorists on my right, in the long line, staring me down. Driving by me to the left is car after car entering the mall thus leaving me only a small space between the two lanes of cars in which to run back down the ramp, all the while praying I don't trip and fall. Finally, after holding up 30 cars for 5 whole minutes, I hop into the car, we insert the ticket into the machine, the gate opens and we take a right out of the parking garage . . . the wrong way on a one-way street. Yep . . .

You're on Candid Camera!

It happened! We heard the words: "You're on candid camera." I never thought it would happen to me. lol

Ken & Jinner Rudolph and I were walking down a beautiful shopping street in Potsdam, Germany. There was an older lady sitting on a bench beside a pink bag. As we were passing her, she stood up and asked us if we'd watch her bag for a couple of minutes while she went somewhere. She explained that her small dog was in the bag. A little taken aback by the request, we agreed to stay with the dog as long as it was only a couple of minutes. Grateful, she scurried away around the corner and down a side street. There we stood, staring at each other and the pink bag containing a supposed dog. Suddenly, the "dog" started barking. The sound was obviously artificial - a recording of some sort. Confused, we just stood there listening to the bag bark. The barking soon turned to howling and then music. It was very weird. We just started laughing at the insanity of it all. After about 3-4 minutes, the lady returned and said "You're on candid camera!" It was crazy because the "gag" wasn't even funny. Our responses certainly weren't funny. We just stood there looking like confused tourists until we started laughing. When the music started playing, Ken started dancing - so maybe that was funny to the camera. Who knows. I still haven't figured out the German sense of humor.

Taco Soup

I want to share a recipe with you. As you know if you've been following my blog and/or Facebook pictures, Ken & Jinner Rudolph have been staying with me since last Wednesday. They brought a younger couple with them. Jordan & Jessa Anderson are young, aspiring Christian artists living in Nashville, Tennessee trying to make it in the music business. All four of these people have been a blast to have around. Jessa shared a recipe with me that I wanted to share publicly, because I know some of you get in ruts about what to feed your families for dinner. "Taco soup" attracted my attention because it's "Mexican", and I LOVE anything falling in that category or genre. Here it is:

3 cans tomatoes (different kinds: stewed, whole, etc.)
3 cans beans (again, different kinds: kidney, white beans, etc.)
1 can corn (drained)
1 package ground beef (cooked)
1 package taco or chili seasoning
1 package Ranch dressing mix

That's it! Throw it all in the crock pot and add anything else to it you want (noodles, other vegetables, spices). Top with sour cream and shredded cheese and serve with tortilla chips. :-) That's what's for dinner tonight in this home!

The Bible really does have ALL the answers!

In my last post, I told you (the reader) about how entertaining overwhelms me. It's mostly cooking that I find overwhelming. I think I'd be fine with 20 people sleeping all over my apartment as long as I don't have to cook big, perfect, "Martha Stewart" meals for all of them. Frozen pizza anyone?

Today in church, Ken Rudolph spoke on a passage that solved my problem. The Bible really does have all the answers! Check out this passage:

"Then he said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs."

Therein lies the solution. ;-)

Entertaining overwhelms me

My mom always got overwhelmed whenever she had to entertain, even though she's a great cook. I am finding I am the same way. I am housing my good friends Ken & Jinner Rudolph this week and the thought of having to plan out all the meals about put me into an early grave. I literally had to talk through it with an older and wiser woman just to avoid a nervous breakdown! ;-) (I'm exaggerating to make my mild anxiety more interesting.)

When people visit me (I average 100+ days of houseguests every year, sometimes a lot more. That is no exaggeration.), I like to be free to just enjoy the visit. I can't be chained to the kitchen AND take guests sight-seeing.

What are the easiest meals you fix for people? I need some ideas. I am not "seasoned" in this area, obviously, because it still stresses me out.

The Rudolphs arrive tomorrow (Wednesday). Monday night, I stayed up until 3:00am cooking and baking and putting stuff away in the refrigerator so I don't have to do it while they're here. Now I have butternut squash soup, homemade apple sauce and desserts to pull out whenever the need arises because I'm not even sure how many meals they'll want to eat "in" as opposed to how many we'll eat "out". I also bought all the stuff to make Reuben sandwiches (Ken Rudolph LOVES sauerkraut), an egg casserole (my mom's suggestion), and a baked potato bar with all the toppings. The Rudolphs love to eat healthy, so I tried to employ as many veggies as possible.

So, what are your easy meal ideas? I need to come up with a self-help cookbook and I don't use a crockpot. (I know, I know, that would solve a lot of my problems.)