Roll

Under cover of darkness, they surrounded my home, sliding just past the locked windows and doors that gave a false but reassuring sense of safety to my family and me.

Our canine sentry was on vacation, visiting her maternal grandparents in Knoxville, so no barking alarm alerted us to their menacing presence.

Slowly, silently, they crept with determination in pursuit of their dark craft. The next morning when we awoke, my six year-old son told me to come out front and “see the summer miracle!”

Toilet paper. Lots of it. In the trees. On the shrubs. Up the gutters. Over the rooftops. Encasing the mailbox (hey, I think that’s a federal offense, isn’t it?).

We got “rolled.”

Oh yeah, we got rolled good.

Immediately, I knew the names and addresses of the wayward, back-slidden, children of God who had committed these atrocities.

Sure, their names sound innocent enough, that’s part of their operation. Nobody would think that people with such sweet names as “Timmy,” “Amber,” “Kasey,” or “Valerie” could be capable of such depravity. You’d be thinking wrong.

The hot pink sign left cradled on our doorstep said it all. “IN YOUR FACE!” followed, of course, by “We love you!”

“In your face?” Where could the youth of our church learn such vile verbage?

Oh yeah. That would be me. Their pastor.

See, here’s how it happened: Sunday night’s youth group meeting ended with the ubiquitous playing of youth group games. On this night, one partner had to flick M&M’s from a spoon, across the parking lot to their partner who caught them in his or her mouth.

SOTH Youth Director Cindi Bartlett and I took ‘em to school. That’s right, the old folks beat the young folks. Not that I’m competitive or anything, but I think when old folks beat young folks, something needs to be said.

Something, maybe, like…“IN YOUR FACE!”

Only, I didn’t just say, “in your face.” I sort of yelled it. And, there might have been some pointing, and some high-fiving, and perhaps some old preacher-man sort of really, really wrong kind of booty shaking. Look, it’s not pretty, I’m just trying to bare my soul here.

If you’ve seen the Spongebob Squarepants Movie, you know the kind of “IN YOUR FACE” I’m talking about. That scene was the inspiration for my message to our impressionable youth.

Then, they rolled my house.

Only here’s the thing. They didn’t just roll it, they post-it noted us, too.

Yep. 578 Post-It notes, each bearing the hand-written inscription of “In Your Face” were attached to our ol’ Jeep Cherokee, which was parked in the drive.

Note to self: park in the garage when you plan to taunt the children.

Now, the point of this week’s blog…

What kind of person writes 578 post-it notes and attaches them to a vehicle?

Well, there are probably lots of adjectives that you could think of to describe such an individual, but I want to offer the most charitable possibility.

Committed. Deeply, deeply committed.

I’m pretty sure I would have gotten tired at about 47.

Nope. 578.

5 – 7 – 8. For me, that’s right up there with Hank Aaron’s 755.

I took the opportunity to break pastoral on the kids. “You know,” I said, “with that kind of commitment level, I’m 100% sure that each of you can expect straight A’s this year, right?”

I know how to bring down a good party, huh?

I was impressed with their enthusiasm, their playfulness, their energy, their passion and commitment. I am proud of the great bunch of teenagers that we’ve got at SOTH. I think, if something’s worth doing once, it’s worth doing 578 times.

Or something like that.

The next morning when they all came back to clean up their fun, Holly and I lured them into a pocket of our front yard to carefully “inspect” some of the damage they had done.

Then we turned the water hose on ‘em and soaked ‘em all good.

Know what we said?

IN YOUR FACE!

This lesson in commitment, discipline, maturity and endurance brought to you by the youth of America, and the people of Shepherd of the Hills.

….When does school start back?

Grace & Peace,
Adam

LIFE AT SOTH:

It’s been a great summer at SOTH, and we’re gearing up for an outstanding fall. Projects in the pipeline at the moment include: re-design of all our communication tools, including our church website; development of small group ministry for fall; September sermon series, “Under Pressure” that will address real-life issues and the answers that faith in Jesus can provide.

The last two weeks have seen great efforts by too many volunteers to count in our Vacation Bible School and our Bill Clary “More Than Magic” Show. Both events were outstanding successes, and many thanks to all of you who participated.

Our Lifeover Classic and Custom Car Show was rescheduled from this past weekend due to inclement weather, and will be held in September.

August 20th will see SOTH’s first-ever “Membership Sunday” celebration in worship. All 24 adults and 11 children who have joined SOTH this year will be invited to attend a celebration lunch together after worship, and we will invite all others who are considering membership to make the commitment on that special day.