The Test

All I can see is as far as my headlights can show me.
And all of the roads look the same in each state that I drove in.
As I grip the wheel, and I drift away wishing,
I could wake up just a second too late so that,
I could see Heaven and I'd get a taste,
Then I'd just keep going

So heres to the promise of glamorous living,
You must drink up now, cause it's all that you're getting
If you haven't been tested, you certainly will,
And I promise it's going to kill.

All I can think of is how much I'd kill to be sleeping.
I'm squinting my eyes, my minds drifting to secrets I'm keeping.
And the long hauling trucks are all parked in their stops,
Just like luminous ghost to something that once was.
The rigs look so empty when framed by their lies,
And thats how I'm feeling..

So heres to the promise of glamorous living,
You must drink up now, cause it's all that you're getting
If you haven't been tested, you certainly will,
And I promise it's going to kill.

It's all at their expense,
If this is real, I'm a fake.
At least I feel important,
I won't lie, I lie to get paid.

So heres to the promise of glamorous living,
You must drink up now, cause it's all that you're getting
If you haven't been tested, you certainly will,
And I promise it's going to kill.

Renovation of the Heart

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:4-9

This is a passage that we were encouraged to meditate on for XLR8 from our 'Renovation of the Heart' book. This passage about peace really stuck out to me during all of this turmoil, and I just felt like documenting that.

The Youth Pastor Chronicles

Part 3

Carlye: I had a dream that you quit and then Clint came and became our youth pastor.

Molly: I had a dream that you quit, and then moved to Vernon and became THEIR youth pastor, so Mark Touzeau came back from China and became ours.

Molly and Carlye: PROPHETIC!

Josh: Do you find it weird that they're dreaming about you, Shawn?
And besides, Mark Touzeau can't balance stuff on his chin.

Molly: Yeah, Carlye and I already jotted that down as one of the requirements.

Shawn: Of all the things that could matter to you, that's the one you choose first?

The Youth Pastor Chronicles

Part 2

(ps. Justin Thompson is the cutest little kid, by the way)


™Justin™ says:
Shawn resigned?
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
Yep
™Justin™ says:
That's sad =(
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
Yeah
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
but hes been doing the youth pastor thing for a long time
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
and he has his little girls that he needs to be with
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
hes still gonna be an active part of the church and stuff
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
it wont be too bad
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
and we get a new pastor to learn and grow with
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
which will be exciting, i promise :)
™Justin™ says:
But I'm sure he wont let us do the things that Shawn did =(
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
you never know
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
yeah, everyone is different
but he may let us do new things that Shawn would never allow :P
™Justin™ says:
Shawn let us do everything =(
//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
hahaha

The Youth Pastor Chronicles

Part 1


//Molly\\ -|-meshiach-|- says:
i wonder if the new youth pastor will be able to balance things on his chin
Carlye הפניה says:
that should be a pre-requisite

"The greatest compliment would be to show him his efforts weren't wasted"

So I'm having this pretty intense conversation with Josh Mills, and out of nowhere I became this superforce, and it's gotten me pretty shaken up, so I figured I'd document it or something.


"ultimately, this is his time to think of what he needs for once, instead of thinking about all of us.
He needs his family, and they NEED him...
and I trust Shawn, i hold his opinion higher than any other human I know, and if he says everything is going to be okay, that we're going to be okay, than I know its true
I talked to him about how getting a new youth pastor will be hard and some kids might be sketched out, but honestly, if he's taught us anything, he's taught us how to love
and hes taught us how to survive, so we'll greet the new youth pastor (Lord help him) with open arms and we'll greet the challenges the same way.
Shawn is an incredible person, and he has God's spirit coursing through him, so i don't think its right; in fact, it kind of makes me sick, that anyone should be doubting him.
Josh says:
you just have to trust gods timing
Josh says:
which is infinitely perfect
Josh says:
and shawn has to be there for his family for sure
Josh says:
i think its great that his kids will have him
Josh says:
its just very hard
Josh says:
everyone just loves him so much
Josh says:
and to have scott go
Josh says:
and then shawn
Josh says:
is just alot to handle for some
Molly -|-You're a part time lover and a full time friend, the monkey on your back is the latest trend-|- says:
I'm not saying its not.
Shawn is the closest thing I have to a dad.
I don't think I've cried as hard as I did today since my own dad left.
But when I was surrounded by a bunch of youth crying, and I looked up and shawn looked RIGHT at me, i figured I had two choices.
I could over think and over analyze and kind of sink into the sorrow, or i could be the leader he's been building me up to be and make him proud.
So thats what I did. I held Kyle's hand, I hugged Tiana and Keeley... and thats what I'm doing now... I'm talking these kids through it, because I KNOW how hard it is for me, so I feel that it's my job to comfort those teens.
I'm not a teen anymore, I'm a leader, I'm supposed to be there for them
He's been telling me that for weeks
I guess it just took this for me to really exercise it.


I'm also having an equally incredible conversation with Josh Reno.


Molly -|-You're a part time lover and a full time friend, the monkey on your back is the latest trend-|- says:
Yeah
I don't think I could really spit that speech out more than once
but I'd like to, to shawn
one day

Josh:
i felt the same way about shawn
he was a huge male influence for me when Denis left.
the best thing we can do for shawn
is to keep the youth group alive and be the best leaders we can be
because he invested his time in us so that we could run it without him
the greatest compliment would be to show him his efforts weren't wasted




And that's just what we're going to do.

If I was a flower growing wild and free All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee

Today before church Oceana, the little girl from sunday school came up with her mom and said ":I saw you driving with your mommy! I saw you! And I waved! You were in a car!"
And her mom said "She was really excited".
I didn't feel it was my place to inform this little blond haired 6 year old angel with the glasses bigger than her face that I don't have a mommy at all, so I just told her that that was really neat, and asked her if she had a fun week at school and if she was excited for Children's story.

Oh yeah, and Shawn resigned from his position as youth pastor.
We all cried.
He cried the most.
I got all the youth up on stage to hug him, tell him 'we got his back', and pray.


...and I saw Juno today.
It's now my favourite movie.

Toodles.

Tree Hugger

The flower said, "I wish I was a tree,"
The tree said, "I wish I could be
A different kind of tree,
The cat wished that it was a bee,
The turtle wished that it could fly
Really high into the sky,
Over rooftops and then dive
Deep into the sea.

And in the sea there is a fish,
A fish that has a secret wish,
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it.
And in the sea there is a fish,
A fish that has a secret wish,
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it.

And the flower
Would be its offering
Of love to the desert.
And the desert,
So dry and lonely,
That the creatures all
Appreciate the effort.

And the rattlesnake said,
"I wish I had hands so
I could hug you like a man."
And then the cactus said,
"Don't you understand,
My skin is covered with sharp spikes
That'll stab you like a thousand knives.
A hug would be nice,
But hug my flower with your eyes."

The flower said, "I wish I was a tree,"
The tree said, "I wish I could be
A different kind of tree,
The cat wished that it was a bee,
The turtle wished that it could fly
Really high into the sky,
Over rooftops and then dive
Deep into the sea.

And in the sea there is a fish,
A fish that has a secret wish,
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it.
And in the sea there is a fish,
A fish that has a secret wish,
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it.

And the flower
Would be its offering
Of love to the desert.
And the desert,
So dry and lonely,
That the creatures all
Appreciate the effort.