Leap Years and Pepper Palaces

Just a quick random thought....why is it that the year we add a day to the calendar we call it Leap Year? Shouldn't the other three years be leap year since we're "leaping" over February 29 to get to March 1st quicker? All of these poor people who were born on 2/29 in 1972 just celebrated their 9th birthday last Friday. Their special day gets "leaped" over every year except once every four. When someone asks them what it will be like when they turn 40, they answer, "I don't know...I only change ages once every four years. My lifespan is 23!" We need to think of a better name and, come to think of it, this random thought wasn't so quick.

Sara and I went to Winterfest in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the first time. Winterfest and Gatlinburg are literally two seperate events. If you've never been to Gatlinburg before going to Winterfest, you are in for brain overload. Due to a scheduling mishap by the previous youth minister before me, our group stayed in a town just outside of G-burg called Pigeon Forge that is, well, a small Gatlinburg but with much more go-carts and a Gatti's pizza.

Winterfest was incredible. Jeff Walling brought it...again. The praise and worship time was incredible. For two full days, you're getting fed love, grace, mercy and reality about where our teenagers are in their walk with God. Youth ministers all over get a reality check on where their group compares with others and if their ministry is sizing up with what it should be. Granted, I've only been "on the job" for a couple months but it gets you excited about where God will take you if you and the kids let Him. The big question of the weekend was, "Do they care?" A survey taken prior to the weekend said that teenagers today don't. I see that in some but I see the complete opposite in others and the passion of being a child of God and carrying that over to college life and adult life starts in two places: the home and the church building. The problem is that sometimes kids never get from home to the building and so that flame quietly fades away. You see kids that want to believe in something so bigger than themselves that they fight for that connection with God and for a relationship with others that also have that similar passion.

It's like the long walk I made on Saturday night to the Pepper Palace....this little store in a small mall that serves spices of all different flavors and alarms. Being that it was my first time to G-burg, W-fest and the first time with this group, I was properly initiated. My job was to survive the hottest sauce in the universe, galaxy, solar system...can't remember. Luckily, a doctor (who is also one of our elders) was standing by and provided a quick tip on how to properly sample this sauce. You take a mini-pretzel stick (fitting for a little store in a small mall), lightly dip the pretzel into the sauce and then try not to get any of it on your tongue...oh! and dip just enough so that people can see that you're sampling it. Did that (maybe a tad more than I should have) , went down OK and then the forehead started glistening but I did it. I also have the sticker (it's on my shirt) in my office to remember the occasion. Sometimes, to be able to get through what seems like an impossible situation, you need a little guidance and a little guts. The moment will pass, you may sweat a little but it's rewarding at the end not just for you but for others as well. There was a Wendy's on the first floor so the 99 cent frostee was a great finishing touch.

Comparing Pepper Palace to living out the mission wasn't my intent when I started writing this....that's the kind of writer I am. Maybe I'll just "leap" into something else random next time and see where that leads me.