The Brain of Shawn

I’m tired. It’s been a long week.

One funny story (well, funny for me):

I was talking with my friend Josh this evening, and he commented that Easter week is always really busy and tiring. He’s a pastor, so I’m sure that’s the case. My response was, “Yeah, it was pretty tough on Jesus too…”

To which we both laughed. It was probably blasphemous, but still, funny.

Boy am I tired. This update won’t be as elaborate as I planned, because I need to get some rest — but here’s the skinny:

* We had 27 kids attend the 30 Hour Famine
* Our original goal was to collect $360 (This feeds a child for a year)
* We raised over $3000. w00t!
* Did I mention I’m tired?

…also, leaving on a plane at 6:10AM tomorrow morning. Details later, iffen I can get some rest!

On March 14th & 15th, our church youth group (Donna and I are the leaders) is doing a fund raiser to help feed starving kids. It’s a 30 hour hunger strike type deal, and the kids are gaining sponsorship to send money to feed some of the 29,000 kids that die every day. This is a pretty nifty idea, and significant for a couple reasons:

• The teens are actually quite excited about this. Teens excited about something worthwhile is generally considered a good thing.
• Our church, which is still shaking off the shackles of legalism, separatism, extreme fundamentalism, and several other funky isms, is stepping a bit out of their comfort zone. I think this is a very good thing, not only because of the actual good the funds will do — but because I think it’s a healthy thing for our church. Yay for teenagers making a difference on several levels.
• World Vision seems to be on the up and up. Here is the Better Business Bureau’s review of the establishment. (Also, here is another link, from Janiece, that shows info on World Vision. Her link has prettier graphs. ) I don’t claim to be an expert, but I haven’t found anything that stinks.
• Feeding hungry kids. Yeah, I’m good with that.

Just to be clear, World Vision is a Christian organization. Their humanitarian efforts seem to be quite legitimate, however. While I’m certain their Christianity isn’t made a secret — it does appear that actual humanitarianism is their goal. By that I mean, I don’t think the group forces (or attempts to coerce) people to adopt their views before feeding them. If anyone knows different, please tell me, because that would be messed up.

I’m not soliciting funds from my readers, mainly because that’s just not how I roll. I also realize this is a cause that might not fit into the “where I want my money to go” category for many of my readers, because it’s a Christian group. I get that, and I really don’t want anyone to give money to something they’re not comfortable with so as not to offend me. Really, I’m not offended.

Here’s what I would ask though: If you think teenagers raising money to help feed starving kids is a noble and worthwhile “thing” — please drop an encouraging comment. Not eating for 30 hours is going to be tough on them, and I want to have some encouragement ammunition. I’ll be sure to read any encouraging comments to them.

Lastly, if you really do want to send our group money, I won’t say no. I mean, I don’t want to roll that way either. Our goal as a group is to get $360 in sponsorship, because that will feed one child for a year. Yes, it seems like a low goal — but we’ve never done ANYTHING like this before, so we would rather far exceed our goal than to fall short. You know, morale and all… If you want to send something other than comments, just drop me an email and I’ll get you my address. My email address is shawn shift-2 brainofshawn dot com. (uh, shift-2 being the @ symbol)

Thanks for reading!

UPDATE: Janiece brings up an interesting point in the comments. We are consulting the local doctor’s office in order to make sure we are properly addressing health concerns. I’m not sure if we will have a medical professional there the entire time, but we will make sure to follow the guidelines the doctors give us. Plus, it’s a small town, and we can call the doctor at home in pretty short order. We do have juice and water available at all times, and at least one of our participants is diabetic, so will be eating as appropriate, but still participating. (We also don’t penalize the kids if they can’t make the whole 30 hours, although they will have to offer a refund to those folks that sponsored them individually for the whole 30 hours.)

Here’s a 1:45 snippet of the culmination of 2 months worth of preparation. My wife was the director of the children’s Christmas musical at our church this year, and tonight was the performance. We’re not sure what we’re going to do with ourselves now that there won’t be 3 practices a week, with 3 times that this past week.

Our youngest daughter, Lizzie, has her very first solo ever at about the 34 second mark. She’s 6 years old, and we are so proud. In fact, all 3 of our kids had solos (not just because my wife was the director!), and they all did wonderful. Lizzie gets the spotlight on Daddy’s blog, however, because it’s her first.

I’m so happy the musical is over! That’s not to say it wasn’t wonderful, but to get back to the regular amount of holiday stress will be quite a relief.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Christian through and through. I get annoyed by holiday catch-phrases though. Like the, “Jesus is the reason for the season” pins? Or emails? 100 a day?

The truth of the matter is that the axial tilt of the Earth is the reason for the season. Or any season for that matter.

I’m just sayin’…

UPDATE: If you have a T-Shirt that says, “The Axial Tilt of the Earth is the Reason for the Season” — I might buy one.

It turns out I did have helpers, and some were even adults. (Thanks Josh!) As soon as we emptied that last tarp, the snow started coming down pretty hard, and before we even had the rakes all put into the van, the freshly raked lawn was covered with a blanket of white stuff. We cut it close.

Another week of youth group, and another episode of Exciting Excitement. This one isn’t quite as long as the last episode, but equally as entertaining (so either equally good, or equally bad!) Enjoy!

Here’s a link to the original file, just in case you don’t like YouTube.

Today was our first large Youth Group gathering. (My wife and I are the youth leaders for our church) The object lesson was a cup of tea, or more specifically, steeping a cup of tea. Here’s the video I made for the event. Don’t judge me.

Just in case YouTube is blocked for you, here’s a direct link to the file. Download away!

I’m still alive, and having a great week. I’m coming home Saturday, and will post in the evening. We’re at Bair Lake Bible Camp this week, and it’s an amazing place. Even the food is incredible.

What a great 3 days! We’re all pretty tired, but everyone is home safe and sound. Here’s a little video snippet. I have the yellow balloon.

(If you watch close, I almost pass out!)