Messy Spirituality
by: Michael Yaconelli
After reading this book for the 2nd time this summer I think I'm ready to write something about it. I needed to read it again to remind myself of some things. It seems that too often the church has boiled spirituality growth down to a recipe and if you follow the recipe you will get delicious spiritual growth...one problem with that theory; God us not an oven and is not limited to a recipe. So often it seems people claim that those who believe in God never have doubts or struggle; that their spiritual growth is a steady incline. Messy Spirituality reminds us that Spirituality is so much more complicated than an escalator going up. Spirituality has periods of "resting, listening, waiting, starting, returning, savoring, celebrating, dancing, learning, [and] growing" (pg 130). These times make the "graph" of our spiritual life's filled with highs, low, and a steady line that neither goes up nor down. Michael Yaconelli writes about some of the most spiritual people he knows not fitting the norm of what the church calls spiritual; their lives are messy, just like mine, some people use "colorful language", some deal with alcoholism, and some have had divorces that have made the church reject them. Messy Spirituality reminds us that we do not have to have it all together to be acceptable to God; God uses those of us with messy lives to do his work just the same. I do recommend this book to those looking to be reminded that they do not have to have look like the recipe perfect christian with their lives all together to be loved by God or spiritual.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
My thoughts on the book: A New Kind of Youth Ministry by Chris Folmsbee
A New Kinds of Youth Ministry
by: Chris Folmsbee
I do recommend this book to those searching for a way to direct youth ministry towards something that seems to reach students. Instead of the traditional "make a lot of events that attract youth and hope they apply the theology to their lives" discipleship Chris Folmsbee encourages a ministry that guides youth into a relationship where they live their daily lives (not just Church days) as disciples of Christ. A New Kind of Youth Ministry acknowledges that change is not easy and that many people in the church like the traditional event based youth ministry model because it is easy to see the results (X number of kids showed up etc) even if those results do not reveal the true health of the youth's spiritual life. Chris Folmsbee encourages those in youth ministry to "re-culture" their way of "doing" youth ministry so that the youth do not "graduate from Christ when they graduate from school." Instead let them graduate with a spiritual life they are already practicing and living out. A New Kind of Youth Ministry is a great read that has challenged me to pursue a youth ministry that walks with the youth engaging them and challenging them to live out Christ now and not being afraid of making mistakes along the way. Chris Folmsbee urges and guides those in youth ministry to have a plan for change, engage their volunteers, and have mentors to help and guide them along the way. The book is clear with examples and models to help those in youth ministry apply the concepts introduced into their own youth ministry. The book enables the reader to apply what he/she reads because the "how to" is reachable.
It has certainly encouraged me to pray, talk to mentors, and think about what God may have in store for me after I graduate from College next May. I feel less overwhelmed with possibilities (and sometimes the feeling of there not really being any options) and more directed. Certain areas of youth ministry have always stuck out to me and I have often felt helpless in knowing how to get from point A (college) to point B (a place I can best serve God and others). The book challenges those in youth ministry to make a plan of change (because without a plan it is likely no change will happen), and because the "how to's" are included I could apply these plans of change to my discerning, pulling out, and narrowing down where I can best serve God and others after graduation.
by: Chris Folmsbee
I do recommend this book to those searching for a way to direct youth ministry towards something that seems to reach students. Instead of the traditional "make a lot of events that attract youth and hope they apply the theology to their lives" discipleship Chris Folmsbee encourages a ministry that guides youth into a relationship where they live their daily lives (not just Church days) as disciples of Christ. A New Kind of Youth Ministry acknowledges that change is not easy and that many people in the church like the traditional event based youth ministry model because it is easy to see the results (X number of kids showed up etc) even if those results do not reveal the true health of the youth's spiritual life. Chris Folmsbee encourages those in youth ministry to "re-culture" their way of "doing" youth ministry so that the youth do not "graduate from Christ when they graduate from school." Instead let them graduate with a spiritual life they are already practicing and living out. A New Kind of Youth Ministry is a great read that has challenged me to pursue a youth ministry that walks with the youth engaging them and challenging them to live out Christ now and not being afraid of making mistakes along the way. Chris Folmsbee urges and guides those in youth ministry to have a plan for change, engage their volunteers, and have mentors to help and guide them along the way. The book is clear with examples and models to help those in youth ministry apply the concepts introduced into their own youth ministry. The book enables the reader to apply what he/she reads because the "how to" is reachable.
It has certainly encouraged me to pray, talk to mentors, and think about what God may have in store for me after I graduate from College next May. I feel less overwhelmed with possibilities (and sometimes the feeling of there not really being any options) and more directed. Certain areas of youth ministry have always stuck out to me and I have often felt helpless in knowing how to get from point A (college) to point B (a place I can best serve God and others). The book challenges those in youth ministry to make a plan of change (because without a plan it is likely no change will happen), and because the "how to's" are included I could apply these plans of change to my discerning, pulling out, and narrowing down where I can best serve God and others after graduation.
My thougths on the book: Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry by Doug Fields
Your First two Years in Youth Ministry: A personal and Practical guide to starting Right
by Doug Fields
This book provides helpful input for youth ministers who are looking for advice in specific areas. Each chapter focuses on helping the Youth Minister deal with or develop certain areas of his/her ministry. While I am sure this book would come in handy if I was stressed, discouraged, or seeking to better a certain area of my ministry reading it for a college class made the advice sound good but I had no forum to put the advice to use. I can see myself keeping this book on my shelf as a handbook for dealing with the areas it addresses (Listed in my words below), but I cannot see myself reading through the book as a whole again. Like a manual, generally I look at a manual when I need assistance in a certain area or wish to know how to do certain things differently. I rarely read a manual all the way through; instead I open up to the chapter that best suits my needs. I believe that if this book is used in a similar way one may find encouragement/assistance/ideas that he/she can adapt to his/her ministry.
Chapter 1: discovering my role at the beginning
Chapter 2: Discouragement
Chapter 3: Keeping myself Spiritually Healthy
Chapter 4: Students like relationship most
Chapter 5: Working with parents
Chapter 6: Difficult people
Chapter 7: advice for working with/finding leaders
Chapter 8: Help from team leaders
Chapter 9: student leaders
Chapter 10: evaluating programs
Chapter 11: making changes
Chapter 12:job descriptions
by Doug Fields
This book provides helpful input for youth ministers who are looking for advice in specific areas. Each chapter focuses on helping the Youth Minister deal with or develop certain areas of his/her ministry. While I am sure this book would come in handy if I was stressed, discouraged, or seeking to better a certain area of my ministry reading it for a college class made the advice sound good but I had no forum to put the advice to use. I can see myself keeping this book on my shelf as a handbook for dealing with the areas it addresses (Listed in my words below), but I cannot see myself reading through the book as a whole again. Like a manual, generally I look at a manual when I need assistance in a certain area or wish to know how to do certain things differently. I rarely read a manual all the way through; instead I open up to the chapter that best suits my needs. I believe that if this book is used in a similar way one may find encouragement/assistance/ideas that he/she can adapt to his/her ministry.
Chapter 1: discovering my role at the beginning
Chapter 2: Discouragement
Chapter 3: Keeping myself Spiritually Healthy
Chapter 4: Students like relationship most
Chapter 5: Working with parents
Chapter 6: Difficult people
Chapter 7: advice for working with/finding leaders
Chapter 8: Help from team leaders
Chapter 9: student leaders
Chapter 10: evaluating programs
Chapter 11: making changes
Chapter 12:job descriptions
Friday, June 12, 2009
An Iowan for the summer!
Welcome to Iowa! So for those of you who missed the boat I am living in Iowa this summer with my uncle Duane, aunt Karen, and cousin Aleigha! On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I babysit my cousin Jeremy's 3 children and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I babysit my cousin Natasha's 3 children. Once I week I volunteer at the youth center "Elements" in town. It is great!
I'm here until August 1st. I will head home then and be home for my whole birthday for the first time since I turned 15! I am excited and will enjoy spending 2 weeks at home before I head back out to Hesston for my last year of college.
I've come to realize that I do not know how regularly I will be able to get to Iowa after I graduate next year. Growing up we came out 2 weeks a year or more and I know that after I graduate and continue on I may not be able to come out here near as often. Which is so sad, all my vacations growing up were here with my Gugel family. I am grateful for the chance to spend this summer here with my family.
Wednesday night I went out for a motorcycle ride with my cousin Shannon, her husband, and their friend. After cruising around for several hours we headed back. It was probably around 11pm when a deer ran out in front of Scotty and Shannon's bike. They hit the young buck and crashed. We were following them on our bike and stopped. Thankfully they are okay. Scotty fractured at least 1 rib and broke a finger, both Shannon and Scotty have plenty of road rash. They were wearing helmets, Scotty had a leather jacket on and Shannon was wearing four shirts. The accident could have been so much worse, the ditch was deep, it could have happened when they were alone, we could have collided into them with our motorcycle if we'd been to close, the bike could flipped. Thank you God.
I'm here until August 1st. I will head home then and be home for my whole birthday for the first time since I turned 15! I am excited and will enjoy spending 2 weeks at home before I head back out to Hesston for my last year of college.
I've come to realize that I do not know how regularly I will be able to get to Iowa after I graduate next year. Growing up we came out 2 weeks a year or more and I know that after I graduate and continue on I may not be able to come out here near as often. Which is so sad, all my vacations growing up were here with my Gugel family. I am grateful for the chance to spend this summer here with my family.
Wednesday night I went out for a motorcycle ride with my cousin Shannon, her husband, and their friend. After cruising around for several hours we headed back. It was probably around 11pm when a deer ran out in front of Scotty and Shannon's bike. They hit the young buck and crashed. We were following them on our bike and stopped. Thankfully they are okay. Scotty fractured at least 1 rib and broke a finger, both Shannon and Scotty have plenty of road rash. They were wearing helmets, Scotty had a leather jacket on and Shannon was wearing four shirts. The accident could have been so much worse, the ditch was deep, it could have happened when they were alone, we could have collided into them with our motorcycle if we'd been to close, the bike could flipped. Thank you God.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
There once was a car
So my car is at it again. My car broke down on my way back from Hesston on Sunday. Hershy, Nathaniel, and I had gotten to Kansas City and had to detour onto 435 because of construction on 35. Then my car was smelling a bit funny so I pulled into a parking lot to check it out. I thought perhaps it needed more oil (it had been leaking some). Well, it died. A man stopped, showed us where a parts store was, and jumped the car. We made it a mile from the store and my car died again. By this time Amanda, a girl from college who was heading to Iowa and not far behind us on the road, had stopped and her and her family were trying to help. We couldn't jump the car, and ended up having to have it towed.
So close to having the engine diagnosed for free at the parts place, but NOOOOOOOOOOO it was towed to a Honda dealership where it cost $97 for them to tell me my alternator died and killed my battery on its way out. Which I had already assumed was the problem. They wanted to charge $580 to do that less than an hour job. The alternator was still under warranty because I had to put a new one in last semester when it died on my way home from Bluffton. So my parents picked up the alternator and drove 11 hours on Monday to Kansas City where my car sat in a Honda dealership parking lot and we sat 7 minutes from the dealership at Ashley's cousin's house . (We were all very happy that we had remembered that she was staying there for the week. and had 3 extra beds. We slept well, went for a walk, played basketball, made and grilled hamburgers...had fun).
Long story short, my parents got here at 1:00am, fixed the car and we headed out at 2am. Hershy and I drove all night and we stopped for breakfast in Iowa at 10:00. My grandparents met up with us for breakfast and we continued on to Ohio. We got back about 6:15pm. Long trip, and because this was the 2nd time in less than a month that my car broke down. I De-named it and it is not l allowed to go on long trips. It still has a few things that need fixed up and I think that 2 adventures in less than a month caused by the car is quite enough.
So close to having the engine diagnosed for free at the parts place, but NOOOOOOOOOOO it was towed to a Honda dealership where it cost $97 for them to tell me my alternator died and killed my battery on its way out. Which I had already assumed was the problem. They wanted to charge $580 to do that less than an hour job. The alternator was still under warranty because I had to put a new one in last semester when it died on my way home from Bluffton. So my parents picked up the alternator and drove 11 hours on Monday to Kansas City where my car sat in a Honda dealership parking lot and we sat 7 minutes from the dealership at Ashley's cousin's house . (We were all very happy that we had remembered that she was staying there for the week. and had 3 extra beds. We slept well, went for a walk, played basketball, made and grilled hamburgers...had fun).
Long story short, my parents got here at 1:00am, fixed the car and we headed out at 2am. Hershy and I drove all night and we stopped for breakfast in Iowa at 10:00. My grandparents met up with us for breakfast and we continued on to Ohio. We got back about 6:15pm. Long trip, and because this was the 2nd time in less than a month that my car broke down. I De-named it and it is not l allowed to go on long trips. It still has a few things that need fixed up and I think that 2 adventures in less than a month caused by the car is quite enough.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Broken Clutches and Cheap Motels (The Perry Oklahoma Experience)
Kyle, one of my mega-cool cousins who lives in Houston Texas, told me that I should go and visit him sometime while I was at Hesston because it is much close to him than Ohio. So I took him up on this offer over Easter break. The drive is still a good 10 hour drive so I invited Nathaniel to come along (Kyle was excited to be the first in our Gugel generation to meet Nathaniel). We headed out Thursday afternoon and made it 2-2.5 hours south of here and had to exit off of I-35 because of the wild fires in Oklahoma. We stopped at the gas station to figure out new directions and then continued on down the highway that was now trying to contain all of I-35 traffic. We shifted into 3rd gear to discover that the car would not speed up anymore, it acted as if someone was revving the engine while it was in neutral. We pulled off onto the shoulder, waited a bit and tried again. A pick-up truck slowed to let us in; however, we could not get past 2nd gear so we pulled back off to try to figure this out.
The truck pulled in front of us and a car pulled in behind us. Soon a police officer came to the door and said "were you a part of the accident?" We were uber confused and replied that we were just having car problems. Turns out that the truck that was trying to let us into traffic was rear-ended by the car right behind him. His truck was okay, but the car hit the hitch and was going to need a new radiator.
So the tow truck came and picked up Raoul (my car), the man said he was going to take it to Jesse's auto and called Jesse to see if he was still at the shop. Jesse was not, he was at his parents house making sure that their house did not catch on fire.
This is when we found out the car would not even be looked at until the next day (Good Friday), so the tow truck man said he'd drop us off at the Super8 so we could get a room for the night. Needless to say, Nathaniel and I were a bit unsure as to what to do, we were not to keen on the idea of getting a room together. So we call Stefan and tell him the predicament and he says that he will get a car and bring another person down so that we will have a group of people to stay in the room and it wont be just Nathaniel and I.
So we get a 2 bed room and take our stuff there. As I was talking to the receptionist my mom calls my phone, without thinking I hand it to Nathaniel to answer. She knew we were having car problems and was looking for an update; poor Nathaniel had to tell my mom that a few other people were coming and we were getting a motel room. I felt bad after I realized what conversation he was having with my mom....how would you feel if you had to tell your girlfriend's mom that you and your girlfriend were getting a motel room?
Nathaniel and I put our stuff down and after I studied for Heils for a bit and he watched TV we walked to the Braum's next door for some food. By this time we have updated both of our parents and are waiting to hear from Stefan about the car, he isn't having much luck. We find out about 7:00pm that he cannot get a car. So Nathaniel and I are trapped in Perry, Oklahoma in a motel.
Both of us decided that after this weekend we would be able to withstand any and every awkward situation that arose. I mean, both of us had "getting a motel room with my girlfriend/boyfriend" on our list of things never to do. I studied my Heils at a table while he chilled with the TV.
When our parents found out it was just us; they understood. We were both relieved, we were not sure how our parents would respond, but they knew that there was not much else we could do. Rooms are expensive. It was awesome to see how much our parents trusted us. We both decided we have amazing parents who raised us extremely well.
The next morning Jesse's auto called letting me know that it was my clutch, they gave me an estimate and said that they had ordered the clutch and that the clutch would be in that afternoon. After talking to my dad and Kevin, who is my parents' friend from college who keeps an eye on me out here and makes sure my car works, they decided the price was as good as I'd get and I called Jesse's back and okayed them to work on the car. That is when I was informed of the possibility that my car would not be fixed until Monday.
We had to be out of the Hotel before 11:30am, the manager knew about our situation and allowed us to keep our stuff there for the day. We walked way out of the way to get in town only to discover that Perry does not have much in town. We ate lunch at a small pizza-hut and checked out what we decided was the smallest Walmart in the known universe. By the time we walked back to Braums (a little after 4) we decided that we had walked about 7 miles and were ready to find out what was going on. Round-about 5 we found out that the car was done. Let me simply say that we were quite overjoyed by this news.
We decided to continue on down to Houston, because at this point returning to campus would be quite a boring way to finish out Easter weekend. We made it to Houston around 1:30am and spent Saturday chilling with Kyle at Market Street, Schlotzsky's Deli, and the movie theater. He also made us YUMMY TACOS for dinner.
Sunday we got up for church, which was sweet. We went to Woodsedge Community Church and it had a lot of technology including lights and audios, but unlike the other churches I have been to with this equipment that church used these resources to enhance the worship time instead of be the center of attention during the worship. The sermon was not the typical Easter sermon; the pastor used the story of Paul on the road to Damascus and his conversion from Acts 9 explain how Christ rescued Paul as he rescued us by his death on the cross. It was refreshing and a good start to the Easter Day.
Kyle took us out for lunch to a local Mongolian Grill. Neither Nathaniel nor I had eaten at a Mongolian grill before and it was good fun and rather tasty. We decided that we are going to have to find one a little closer and go sometime.
We headed back at 12:13pm for a mostly uneventful trip filled with me studying for Heils and Nathaniel being like "your wipers suck, I cannot see." We tried fix that problem with the windshield wipers in my trunk....but that was an epic fail. 1st off I put them on the wrong side and second off the one started to fall off as we were going down the interstate. After we fixed them we discovered that they were probably more crappy then the other wipers....oh well we made it back safely. With full tummies thanks to Nathaniel who bought us dinner at The Cracker Barrel. Thanks Nathaniel, you are amazing. But Brooke is more amazing...discussion over.
oh dear, I think I'd better end this before Nathaniel accuses me of continuing the conversation that is apparently over. SO END OF STORY! GOOD BYE!
P.S. I said my Heils (which for those of you who don't know is the Bible story from creation to now told with a timeline you draw in 5 minutes before you begin) and I am happy because I did well.
The truck pulled in front of us and a car pulled in behind us. Soon a police officer came to the door and said "were you a part of the accident?" We were uber confused and replied that we were just having car problems. Turns out that the truck that was trying to let us into traffic was rear-ended by the car right behind him. His truck was okay, but the car hit the hitch and was going to need a new radiator.
So the tow truck came and picked up Raoul (my car), the man said he was going to take it to Jesse's auto and called Jesse to see if he was still at the shop. Jesse was not, he was at his parents house making sure that their house did not catch on fire.
This is when we found out the car would not even be looked at until the next day (Good Friday), so the tow truck man said he'd drop us off at the Super8 so we could get a room for the night. Needless to say, Nathaniel and I were a bit unsure as to what to do, we were not to keen on the idea of getting a room together. So we call Stefan and tell him the predicament and he says that he will get a car and bring another person down so that we will have a group of people to stay in the room and it wont be just Nathaniel and I.
So we get a 2 bed room and take our stuff there. As I was talking to the receptionist my mom calls my phone, without thinking I hand it to Nathaniel to answer. She knew we were having car problems and was looking for an update; poor Nathaniel had to tell my mom that a few other people were coming and we were getting a motel room. I felt bad after I realized what conversation he was having with my mom....how would you feel if you had to tell your girlfriend's mom that you and your girlfriend were getting a motel room?
Nathaniel and I put our stuff down and after I studied for Heils for a bit and he watched TV we walked to the Braum's next door for some food. By this time we have updated both of our parents and are waiting to hear from Stefan about the car, he isn't having much luck. We find out about 7:00pm that he cannot get a car. So Nathaniel and I are trapped in Perry, Oklahoma in a motel.
Both of us decided that after this weekend we would be able to withstand any and every awkward situation that arose. I mean, both of us had "getting a motel room with my girlfriend/boyfriend" on our list of things never to do. I studied my Heils at a table while he chilled with the TV.
When our parents found out it was just us; they understood. We were both relieved, we were not sure how our parents would respond, but they knew that there was not much else we could do. Rooms are expensive. It was awesome to see how much our parents trusted us. We both decided we have amazing parents who raised us extremely well.
The next morning Jesse's auto called letting me know that it was my clutch, they gave me an estimate and said that they had ordered the clutch and that the clutch would be in that afternoon. After talking to my dad and Kevin, who is my parents' friend from college who keeps an eye on me out here and makes sure my car works, they decided the price was as good as I'd get and I called Jesse's back and okayed them to work on the car. That is when I was informed of the possibility that my car would not be fixed until Monday.
We had to be out of the Hotel before 11:30am, the manager knew about our situation and allowed us to keep our stuff there for the day. We walked way out of the way to get in town only to discover that Perry does not have much in town. We ate lunch at a small pizza-hut and checked out what we decided was the smallest Walmart in the known universe. By the time we walked back to Braums (a little after 4) we decided that we had walked about 7 miles and were ready to find out what was going on. Round-about 5 we found out that the car was done. Let me simply say that we were quite overjoyed by this news.
We decided to continue on down to Houston, because at this point returning to campus would be quite a boring way to finish out Easter weekend. We made it to Houston around 1:30am and spent Saturday chilling with Kyle at Market Street, Schlotzsky's Deli, and the movie theater. He also made us YUMMY TACOS for dinner.
Sunday we got up for church, which was sweet. We went to Woodsedge Community Church and it had a lot of technology including lights and audios, but unlike the other churches I have been to with this equipment that church used these resources to enhance the worship time instead of be the center of attention during the worship. The sermon was not the typical Easter sermon; the pastor used the story of Paul on the road to Damascus and his conversion from Acts 9 explain how Christ rescued Paul as he rescued us by his death on the cross. It was refreshing and a good start to the Easter Day.
Kyle took us out for lunch to a local Mongolian Grill. Neither Nathaniel nor I had eaten at a Mongolian grill before and it was good fun and rather tasty. We decided that we are going to have to find one a little closer and go sometime.
We headed back at 12:13pm for a mostly uneventful trip filled with me studying for Heils and Nathaniel being like "your wipers suck, I cannot see." We tried fix that problem with the windshield wipers in my trunk....but that was an epic fail. 1st off I put them on the wrong side and second off the one started to fall off as we were going down the interstate. After we fixed them we discovered that they were probably more crappy then the other wipers....oh well we made it back safely. With full tummies thanks to Nathaniel who bought us dinner at The Cracker Barrel. Thanks Nathaniel, you are amazing. But Brooke is more amazing...discussion over.
oh dear, I think I'd better end this before Nathaniel accuses me of continuing the conversation that is apparently over. SO END OF STORY! GOOD BYE!
P.S. I said my Heils (which for those of you who don't know is the Bible story from creation to now told with a timeline you draw in 5 minutes before you begin) and I am happy because I did well.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Psalm 13: Brooke Gugel Version
Please read Psalm 13 before you read my version. If you don't have a bible in front of you google it! It is an awesome psalm. We used it tonight in Youth Ministry Seminar 1! I re-wrote it in a way I have never done...it has a little attitude, let me know your thoughts please.
Psalm 13
Hey God!? You up there?
Remember me here on earth?
Would you mind droppin' me a line
I haven't heard from you in a while?
Life has been miserable
It doesn't make sense
People here are jerks
My problems keep punching me in the face
Hey God!? Wont you listen to me?
I want to be happy again
I'm tired of being beaten down
Culture's about to declare victory over me
It has begun a beer bash to celebrate my defeat
But God. I know you've got this
you're taken care of me
So I think I'll throw my own party
one to glorify You
Remember me here on earth?
Would you mind droppin' me a line
I haven't heard from you in a while?
Life has been miserable
It doesn't make sense
People here are jerks
My problems keep punching me in the face
Hey God!? Wont you listen to me?
I want to be happy again
I'm tired of being beaten down
Culture's about to declare victory over me
It has begun a beer bash to celebrate my defeat
But God. I know you've got this
you're taken care of me
So I think I'll throw my own party
one to glorify You
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