broken broom

i love this show on tv called heroes.
one of the characters on the show is named hiro
and he can bend the space/time continuum.
which means that he can stop time
and bounce into the past and future
and he uses his power to go back in time
and do things over.


if i had hiro’s power
i would go back in time and re-do last night
it was a rough one:


during announcements-
i seriously questioned whether my voice was making a sound-
because it seemed like no one was listening.


we played broom hockey for the game-
and boys were breaking brooms
left and right
the game finally ended when a broom
accidentally broke off of a boys ankle.
he wasn’t that hurt- but he played it up.
now that i think about it,
he’s been hurt week after week now!


singing time was a highlight-
although i had to tell boys to stop laying down.


bible study was really rough.
i took a risk and told an extended story-
and i guess it was to extended-
because these boys did their best
to communicate to me that it wasn’t going over-


after a night like that i lay awake with questions:
Q: what went wrong?
Q: was there not enough adults?
Q: why is that?
Q: have i failed to recruit?
Q: have i failed to train?
Q: do i stink as a middle school guy?
Q: am i over my head?
Q: am i not praying enough?
Q: is there a sin in my heart that is keeping the spirit from working?
Q: why is this year so much different from last year?
Q: have i lost my touch?
Q: did i have one to begin with?


nights like that, i miss captain.
i miss allyson.
i miss niki.
not saying that the current crew isn’t awesome
i love them-


still thinking about psalm 23-
“the LORD is my shepherd…”
sheep by definition
don’t always keep always in line with the shepherd
and that can be frustrating- big time.
and there have been times when i,
as his sheep have gone astray-
been distracted- and have chosen not to work with him
and that has to be frustrating for him.


sheep by definition
don’t always keep always in line with the shepherd
and middle school boys by definition are wild.


i have this toy-sheep in my office.
last night i pulled it out of my drawer
and wound it up and let it crawl across my desk.
i said “check it out Lord! i got one to follow!”


just like the warriors and the sharks-
there is always next game-
and its time to go look at the film and see what went wrong
and how we can win next time.