Be Nice. It ain’t “Rocket Surgery.”

Don’t worry.  I didn’t get mixed up on the “rocket science” and “heart surgery.” I stole that quote from a friend of mine. He got it from a quote that a baseball player made a few years ago.

He made that comment because we were talking about my fifth Sunday duty at Church.  Parking lot duty. I really love working the parking lot every fifth Sunday. First of all, it’s something Matt (our 14 year old) and I serve together on and secondly, you really learn alot about people and their behavior.

It’s funny to watch how cars will follow each other out of the lot.  It’s almost like herding sheep. Our parking lots are presently under construction which means the flow of traffic changes every week. People also resist change.

But this is not what I want to address. There’s this “myth” going around about how badly the parking lot workers are treated by church members. I’ve workng parking 6 or 7 times and haven’t experienced it yet. Granted. It’s a little stessful trying to park and get to church on time when there’s 4000 people coming to church. But here’s what I’ve noticed and practiced that has resulted in a great experience.

1.  Wave to them.  They wave back. WOW

2.  When you ask them to park somewhere specific, if you start out by saying, “could you do me a favor,” they’ll do it.

3.  Smile and say, “Thank You” when they get out of their car. WOW

4.  Act like you’re enjoying what you’re doing. WOW

5.  All these boil done to one thing. BE NICE.  WOW

None of this is “ROCKET SURGERY.”

By the way.  This doesn’t apply to being a parking lot worker.  It applies to everything we do. I see this everyday in one person especially. My wife, Debo. She’s nice to everyone. I do mean everyone. When we go through a line at the store, the cashier is smiling by the time we leave. She’s the nicest person I know. And guess what.  I’m married to her.  COOL!!!

Idleness: Mission Trip, Youth Camp, Now BAND CAMP?!?!?

This past week I served as a chaperone for the Franklin High School Band camp at Cumberland University in Lebanon, TN.  Both boys (David and Matt) are now in band and I wanted to be a part of what they are experiencing outside of a church camp.  I can’t tell you what my expectations were because I really didn’t know what to expect.

I’ve been on some type of youth trip for most of my life. Even in the 4th grade I was going to youth camp since my Dad was usually the camp pastor. This was the first “student” camp I’ve been to that was not church related. I’ll go ahead and say it now so I can get to my point. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

Now keep in mind there are some differences between a church youth camp or mission trip and a band camp besides the music aspect and the bible study, worship, and service aspect.  One difference is the down time.  There’s not any at band camp. They’re on the field at 7 stretching and drilling. Breakfast at 8. On the field from 9-12. Lunch. Either in sectional practice or on the field from 1-5. Dinner. On the field from 6 to usually 9 pm. One hour of free time and then in their rooms by no later than 10:30. For 5 days, they do this. There’s no shade and frequent water breaks better know as “gush and go.” They are constantly moving back and forth across the field. There was no idleness.

Another difference I noticed is the high expectation placed on the students. This is a school function so that means the mind set of the students is different. You’re graded on your level of hard work, commitment, and ability to learn what you’ve been taught.

I came right out of one of the greatest summers I’ve had with ReConstruct to being a chaperone at band camp. The students at band camp were no different from most of the students that come to ReConstruct. They have the same life experieces just like any other high school student. In alot of cases I experienced better behavior from students at band camp than I did at ReConstruct. I really have wondered why. It’s become clear. No idleness and high expectations.

Most times we had some type of negative incident at ReConstruct it was during free when the participants had nothing structured to do. We also did not communicate the level of expectation required by this organization. Why? Because we haven’t defined the expectation.

Now. What do I do with what I now know? Do we evaluate the ReConstruct schedule and create more activities in order to have less idle time?  Not sure. I do know that we need to evalutate our level of expectation of our groups to the group leaders. It’s a challenge for student ministers to create a high level of expectation and disciple at the same time. As Christians, however, we should first realize and then always be reminded that even though we are saved through God’s grace, we are called to a higher expectation. It’s not a requirement like a school activity but it should be a privaledge as a Christ follower.