The trip was doomed from the start, and it was my fault. Mike and Matt were twins who barely got along. Ryan was an introvert who wanted to play it safe all week. Lena was home-schooled, and this was her first overnighter trip away.…
Recently my teenage daughter Lucy and three of her friends completed a six-minute documentary exploring the worldwide human-trafficking problem, then submitted it for a school assignment. They designed a full-color trifold brochure as a companion piece and created a stress ball with the word “Enough” printed on it as a “sellable item.”…
Ned Nederlander. Franck. Jiminy Glick. These popular fictional characters were given life through the creative mind and talent of Martin Short. And then there’s Ed Grimley… Martin Short’s first breakthrough character. You may not know the backstory of how this greasy-hair-cowlicked-vertically-in-the-air, teeth-baring hyperactive manchild came to be… let alone how it all relates to the nerves and presumptions we all wrestle with in struggling to say something profound. …
Do you identify more with Lorne Michaels… or Rick Warren? The former is the long-tenured producer and mind behind Saturday Night Live. For almost forty years, Lorne Michaels has not just kept his up-and-down-in-the-ratings variety show on the air, but has more recently found much of the creative talent for late night TV.…
God can work in failure. You want an example, just look at yourself. Wow, that was harsh for something right after breakfast. But how true is that? God chooses to use sinners like us…for some reason we are his plan for reaching the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ.…
Yup, you read right. It’s time to admit that sharing the Good News about Jesus should be left to the professionals. Let’s be honest: Students don’t always do everything right. They mess up. They get it wrong. They don’t do things exactly how we would want them to.…
By Marv Penner Kaylee’s urgent text message shouldn’t have surprised me: “We need to talk marv, not doin good. can we plz get together soon.” I set down my phone and that nagging inner voice jabbed at me—“You really should’ve pursued her first.”…
My brother and sister-in-law recently invited my family over for a barbecue and bonfire—a kickoff to the summer season. The specification of bon-fire is important to those of us who live in the wilderness of Maine because it carries the idea and promise of much more than a camp-fire.…
Want to have a great summer? As youth workers that have planned summers that have both crushed and crashed—let us share some tips for planning a great summer calendar. Don’t wait until the pressure is on. Here’s some good news right up front: If you’re thinking about summer now, you’re in good shape.…
It probably happens more often than you realize. A student you are connected to is arrested for some offense—or multiple offenses—and faces a court appearance. The odds are, they and their family are trying to keep it quiet. Maybe you hear through the grapevine, maybe they actually tell you.…
