THE GOOD:
The past couple of weeks have been like a breath of fresh air to me. Because it's summertime and because of our crazy schedule, I have been more "hands on" with our junior high ministry than I have in quite a while. I've always been really involved in most of the bigger day to day stuff, but in order to pull everything off in this season I've been doing everything from building stage props to shopping for prizes to coming up with the game ideas to working the information booth....you name it, and I've had my hands in it. I'm not sure it's been good for everybody else to have me up close and personal, but it's been GREAT for my own joy factor.
THE BAD:
As amazing as our new facility is, one thing stands out as HORRIBLE....the acoustics in our junior high room. Because of budget constraints, we eliminated acoustic treatments about a year ago while we were building. But the sound is so bad in our room that without some solution, I really believe we run the risk of attendance dropping. Students simply have to work too hard to clearly hear what's going on.
THE UGLY:
Last weekend during my lesson there was a brand new crop of cute little 7th grade girls sitting right up front. During most of my lesson they were talking fairly loudly amongst themselves. In a moment of weakness I called them out in front of entire group, which isn't the ugly part. The ugly part was my attitude and super sarcastic tone. Here's what I said (please read in your most sarcastic tone of voice):
"Hey you girls wouldn't happen to be brand new 7th graders would you? Yes? Oh, that explains why you're so immature and squirrley. Here in Junior High, we actually try to be respectful when somebody else is talking."
Ouch. Needless to say they didn't interrupt my lesson after that. The only redeeming piece of that story is that I tracked them down after service to apologize for the way I handled the situation which seemed to earn me some favor and grace.
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7 comments:
Kurt, I'm glad that I am not the only one who has done something like "The Ugly." Thanks for sharing that story. I now have confirmation that I am not alone.
Thanks for sharing "the ugly" story. It nice to know that I'm not the only one who's had to ask for student's forgiveness.
if you could turn back time (insert cher joke here), what would you have done differently?
without the ugly there is no not ugly...
yes, i realize the double negative just used...
its cool to know that you aren't mistake-less... (if you were, i might mistake you as a robot)
have a good wednesday
Well, I'm actually relieved to know I'm not the only one who has been called out in front of everyone by you! :)
Jeremy...
I would do a lot of stuff differently.
- We need to do better job of asking our adult leaders to spread out in the crowd.
- I need to remember that in a large crowd, a few talkative kids in the front may bother me, but most in the audience don't even notice it.
- Bottom line: I should have either ignored it and talked to the privately later OR used a much more grace-giving and less sarcastic tone when I addressed them from the stage.
Erin...
HA! :)
That was years ago, and I think I was gentle, kind and loving in my approach.
Hope you and Mark are doing well.
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