Instead of sharing my thoughts, I thought I’d share with you theirs. My favorite lyrics from my favorite albums.

1. Dawes – Nothing is Wrong

I think that love is so much easier than you realize, If you can give yourself to someone then you should.
….
So in that day in late September, it’s not some stupid little ring, I’m getting a little bit of everything.

2. The Head and The Heart – The Head and The Heart

My roots have grown but I don’t know where they are.

Is it any wonder why we all leave home?
People say, “I knew you when you were six years old”
And you say, “But I’ve changed, I’ve changed, I’ve changed, I’ve changed.”

3. Gungor – Ghosts Upon the Earth

The chaos of creation’s dance
A tapestry, a symphony
Of life himself
Of love herself
It’s written in our very skin

4. Florence and the Machine – Ceremonials

And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me

5. The Civil Wars – Barton Hallow

I’ve got this friend, I don’t think you know her
She sings a simple song that sounds a lot like his
I’ve got this friend holding onto her heart
Like it’s a little secret, like it’s all she’s got to give

6. NEEDTOBREATHE – The Reckoning

Days they force you
Back under those covers
Lazy mornings they multiply
Glory’s waiting outside your window
Wake on up from your slumber
Baby, open up your eyes

Night before – Holy crap. Why am I running 3 miles tomorrow? I don’t want anyone to see me run. Wait . . . I have never been in any athletic competition before. How will I react tomorrow? Gah!

Morning of -  I think I am going to be sick. Let’s get this over with.

Wandering around the park looking for my running partner – Where is she? Maybe she’s not coming? I can’t run this thing alone. I think I will just back out. Oh, wait… there she is.

9:50 – Time to line up for the race. Why are in we in the back, behind all these strollers and older people?

10:00 – And we’re off. Get out of my way strollers. I’ve got a race to run. Look at all these people I am passing.

10:07 – Oops I think I started out too fast. 7 minutes in and I am already out of breath . . . Can I just jump on this EMT vehicle following alongside of me?

10:14 – We did a mile in 14 minutes! Awesome!

10:30 – Hey! Mile 2! Only one mile left to go!

10:32 – Holy crap! What is this hill? This is a mean route! Who puts a hill in the last mile of a race?

10:34 – Why? Why???? (I actually yelled this several times as we tried to get up the hill)

10:37 – The long stretch. Is that the final turn I see in the distance? Oh hey, how did those strollers get in front of us?

10:40 – Can’t let the lady with the big backpack full of stuff and those 3 chatty walkers pass us

10:41 – Yes we can.

10:43 – I don’t want to run anymore.

10:44 - I think I’m gonna cry! But I better not. I’d look weird. I did it! Just a few more steps!

10:45 – Victory!

Every moment of that race, every second is so clear to me! It was a long 45 minutes. Not a good time by the standards of any hardcore runner or even a more occasional runner. But I did it. I “ran” 3.2 miles. And it did it in a faster time than just a week ago, with the addition of pretty much a mountain after mile 2. And that is something I can be proud of. Who knows what another year of training will do? My goal is to be able to run a 5k in 30 minutes in a year from now. Until then, when’s the next race??

Honestly, how easy is it to log into facebook and then look at the clock an hour later and wonder where the time went? Or to turn on the TV at 8pm for your favorite TV shows and then to realize several hours later that you have not moved from the couch and the show you are currently watching you don’t even really like. And don’t get me started on how many times each morning I hit that snooze button. I’m notoriously not a morning person. It seems that there is so much in our lives that really distract us from what we really need our want to be doing. I have a stack of books waist high in my apartment and my office that need to be read. A pile of laundry that needs to be done. Dishes stacked in my sink. A list of things I wish to see happen but have no motivation to do. Guitar lessons. Kayak lessons. Blog writing.Cooking dinner.

To some degree I am a motivated person. I went to college and seminary. I took dance lessons and violin lessons. Got good grades in school. But it is so easy for distraction to rush in and prevent me from growing in new ways.

So how do we overcome the distractions in our lives? How can we consistently focus on what is important? How do we overcome laziness? How do we maintain consistency and make the most of every day and every moment?

No, really. I’m truly asking!

I seem to be in a season where I feel restless, and I can’t figure out what it is at the root of it. Overall, I am quite satisfied with my life. I have a great job that is fulfilling. I love hanging out with middle school and high school students each week, teaching with them, and traveling with them through this stage in the lives. And I would say many days don’t even feel like work. My job often consists of taking kids to coffee, playing hockey in the gym, laughing during a game of Apples to Apples, going to corn mazes, and the like. So it is not my job that is causing this sense of restlessness. I am happy where I am at, and doing exactly what God created me to do.

I also have a great group of friends. There is a good group of us that get together to talk about life, faith, struggles, and joys. Most of my free time is spent with this group of friends watching movies together, serving together, eating meals together. Just this past Monday the girls all got together and silliness ensued. I am starting to feel a sense of community with these new friends. So I don’t think it is my social life that is causing this restlessness. It is quite full and busy!

I’m generally eating right (except for that ridiculous sundae at Friendly’s….) I have been running three days a week. My relationship and awareness of God’s presence has been growing in newer and deeper ways.

Looking at all the elements of my life and for possible causes, on paper everything looks good. And yet I still feel restless.

I think am looking for adventure in my life. I am looking to be swept away in a moment. But I’m not sure where to find this.

Do I need go camping for a weekend? A trip to the city? Try a new hobby? Take a road trip to an unknown destination? Enter another race? Do something completely unexpected?

Something within is crying out for a new experience. An adventure. A foray into the unknown.

And I feel restless.

Have there been times you have felt this and how did you address it??

(photo credit to 365q. Support their new book coming out this year!)

I am turning 30 . . . in a year and a month (today exactly, look how I planned that!!). However, that thought, that I will no longer be able to say I’m in my 20′s, is somewhat upsetting to me.  As a teenager, I had some pretty clear ideas as to what my 20′s would look like.

Things I thought I’d achieve before turning 30:

• graduate college
• get engaged
• get married
• have kids

Out of that list I have accomplished 1 out of 4 of those things. An 2 of those 3 remaining definitely won’t be happening in just over a year. I can get discouraged about what I have done with my 20′s. So it helps to list what I have done in black and white.

Things I actually achieved before turning 30:

• graduated college
• received a Master of Divinity
• lived in Wisconsin, South Dakota,  Tennessee, and New Jersey
• interned at 2 churches
• youth director at a church in NJ
• flew 4 times in one year
• visited NYC (several times!)

That’s a pretty decent list, though it looks nothing like what the teenage me thought my 20s would look like!

So here’s the thing… I want to make the most of the rest of 20s. I want to make my 29th year the most amazing year yet and enter my 30s with a bang. So I need your help! Give your ideas of amazing things I can do in my 30s! I need things that are relatively inexpensive (a trip to Africa is not in my price range) and can fit in my busy schedule!

Help me think of 30 things I can do before I turn 30!

This week many students are heading away to college for the first time. And many parents are letting their students go into a world of more freedom than these students have ever experienced.  And many parents will have sleepless nights during these 4 years of college, worrying about the decisions their kids are making or if they will be getting a phone call every parents dreads to get.

This week many students are transitioning from middle school to high school. Unknowingly a student may be invited to a party that introduces them to the world of alcohol. Or perhaps this may be the first time they feel the real pressure to drink to fit in.

And this is just underage drinking. For those of us who are of age, there issues that come from the abuse of alcohol. DWIs, alcoholism, child and spousal abuse, being hit by a drunk driver. The list goes on.

Some may think that alcohol loosens you up, but from what I see it only leads to impaired judgement and bad decisions.

Some think you need alcohol to have a good time. My idea of a good time is not a hangover in the morning, heartbreak, waking up in the bed of a stranger, or death at the hands of a drunk driver.

I cannot put into words the heartbreak alcohol and the abuse of it has caused in the lives of people.

This passage comes to mind:

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.  No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. -1 Corinthians 10:23-24

I’m not going to say that alcohol in and of itself is bad. But I do question, is there any benefit to partaking in it? Do I really gain anything from it?

Here’s where I share my story with alcohol and become a bit confessional. It is a pretty boring story, personally. All through high school and even college I pretty much never touched the stuff. At a friend’s high school graduation party in her family home, a parent offered us each a cup of beer from a warm tap. My friend and I each took a sip from our cups and then dumped the stuff. On my 21st birthday, I hung out with a group of friends in my dorm room and played games. I didn’t go out to a bar or a restaurant. The only drink I recall having at college was a wine cooler, in my dorm room, when I was of age, during finals week.

You see, during those years in high school and college I was afraid of what alcohol could do in my life. I was afraid of getting into trouble with the law, in trouble with boys at parties. I knew what I heard on the news about underage drinking, binge drinking in college, and the use of alcohol to lower the inhibitions of young women. I saw what alcohol did in the lives of my friends and other people I was acquainted with. During those years I was on guard against these things and from ever finding myself in a similar situation.

After those years had passed, however, I began to let my guard down. I felt like those worries had passed now that I was older and out of high school and college. I had made it through those years, and now I was safe. I don’t want to make it sound in any way that I have become a party girl. Pretty far from it. But is it beneficial for me to drink? Is my decision to drink causing other people to stumble in my presence because of the past they have with this substance? I may be older, but it’s dangers don’t diminish with age. The dangers change, but never diminish. The need to be on guard never lessens.

I have seen what alcohol does to other people. I have seen how the choices of others to drink have hurt others.  (one example is a high school classmate and neighbor being killed recently in an accident with a drunk driver. To hear more about her story and what her sisters are doing in her memory, check out  Sisters for Sara on Facebook.)

I don’t know where I stand with alcohol now. But here is my plea. Be on guard. Don’t let your guard down for a moment. Despite the fact that it is legal to those of us who are 21 or older, it is so easy and so quick to move from an occasional beer, glass of wine, or cocktail to find yourself in a situation you wish would have never happened.

And if you are under 21, please don’t go there. Please don’t go down this road. The studies are numerous about the effects of underage drinking. Don’t make a decision you will regret. Don’t buy into the lie that everyone is doing or that it is part of the high school and college experience. Find other ways to have fun with your friends. Please.

July 24-29 14 middle school students had the opportunity  to serve the people of Schuylkill County, PA along with groups from two churches in Long Island, NY. I, along with two other great adult leaders, led this trip. During our week there we had the opportunity to really get to know the people of Schuylkill County. In the mornings we did a variety of work projects, and in the evenings we had a variety of fun events that acquainted us with the people of Mahanoy City and the surrounding areas.

Some of the ways we served the community was by helping at a local fire station, doing repairs and clean-up at local churches, leading a kid’s club with children from the area, spending time with elderly members of the community in local nursing homes, and spending time with disabled adults at a local center. Through these experiences we were able to serve in tangible ways and were able to create connections with people throughout the community. For our evening events we toured a local fire department museum, visited and toured a local coal mine, visited a local state park, and held a community BBQ. Even through our evening events, we were able to better get to know the community we were serving.

Over the course of our week there, we made many great connections with the community and served others in big and small ways. It was great to see the students grew just over the course of the week. We will able to create bonds with groups from new churches. And as a group, we bonded together and in new and deeper ways.

Our week in Pennsylvania was a great experience!

First up….

Iced Caramel Lattes at SmartWorld Coffee  in Morristown

Best coffee drink on the planet.

Here’s why. They use real caramel. However, everyone knows real caramel does not mix easily into cold milk. (that’s why Starbucks Caramel Macchiatos are sub-par). So they actually mix together the milk, espresso, and caramel in a blender (without the ice). Not only does this mix the ingredients completely, but it also adds a bit a frothiness to the milk from the air introduced in the blending.

They have mastered the caramel iced latte.

I get one every week.

One group painted, spackled, and did a variety of other repairs. This group was able to serve and minister to a woman who had just lost her husband the week before. Another group spent their week making a family safer, warmer, and drier by building a new roof structure on top of their current home structure. During their week serving this family, they connected and bonded with the family they were serving. The third group re-did a porch roof and built a new porch for a family. With a family of 6 kids, two sets of grandparents nearby, and friends and neighbors of all ages stopping by to say hello, there was never a dull moment between working hard on the porch and getting to know this new community.

Here’s a description of the week in students’ own words:

“RISE brought me back to a more simple day and age in the small town of Jasper. Working for people who really needed it but didn’t have the means to afford it really took its effect on me, and I realized how lucky I was to be a part of something bigger for the benefit of others. –Leo, a recent high school graduate”

“Rise was one of the best weeks of my youth group. I love how hard working the kids are and growing closer to one another.”
- Sasha, a recent high school graduate

It is amazing what each of these teams from the church accomplished in just a week’s time and the joy with which they served!  The Presbyterian Church in Morristown is blessed with a fantastic group of hardworking students and adults that patiently teach these students new skills. Each and every student will take these skills and experiences from this past week into the rest of their lives. Their hard work truly made a difference in the lives of these three families they were able to get to know  and serve over the week.

This month’s Theology Crawl is tonight, Wednesday, July 6th at the Famished Frog in Morristown, NJ at 7:30-9:00pm

For those who aren’t quite sure what this event is. And maybe for those who are. I wanted to take a few moments to share what Theology Crawl IS and what it ISN’T.

Theology Crawl ISN’T

• A lecture
• A place to come and argue
• A place to find ALL the answers

Theology Crawl IS

• A conversation
• A place that shows respect for one another
• A place to listen with openness
• An opportunity to look at doubts and questions

I am excited for this conversation tonight. I am looking forward to learning from one another. And it will truly be a conversation. I won’t be lecturing, but rather facilitating a discussion. I won’t be teaching but learning.

Come out tonight and add to the conversation. It truly will not be the same without your input!