My Epic Journey

I’m not a big coffee drinker but sometimes I get in these moods where I go long stretches having a cup of joe in the mornings.  I am currently in one of those moods.

Right now, there is only one place I like to get my coffee–Caribou Coffee.

I have been thinking about it lately and here are the reasons why I choose the Bou over the Bucks any morning of the week:

1.  I like Bou look.  It is that outdoorsy-man look with the leaping caribou does more for me than a weird lady with horns sticking out the side of her head.

2.  I like my choices.  I am much more drawn to a Campfire Mocha than an Espresso Con Panna.  There is something smoothing and reminiscent the words Campfire stirs up inside of me.

3.  The Bou knows me.  Kind of.  My birthday is this Wednesday (January 7th) and I just received an e-coupon for any free drink at Caribou since they know my birthday is coming up.  You give me something good that is free and I am hooked.

So maybe if you are at the Bou on Route 23 this Wednesday morning, you will see me smiling big as I drink my FREE Campfire Mocha.

Oh, and I am still waiting for a free Espresso thingy from Starbucks!!!!

A recent post by our Pastor of Discipleship, Tom Houser, and recent conversations with students, got me thinking about SOUND BARRIERS in our culture today.  Instead of the NOISE of VERBAL communication there is the NOISE (or lack of) because students today have traded in their vocal cords for there cell phone keypad.

Walk into the EPIC Room (the student ministry room at Grace Point Community Church, Lewis Center, OH) on a Sunday morning at 11:00 am and instead of seeing 40-50 Middle School students screaming and being loud, you will see students sitting quietly next to each other engrossed in texting their friends.  What amazes me most is when students, who are sitting RIGHT NEXT to each other are texting each other.  I recently asked two girls why they were texting and not talking to each other while sitting on the same couch elbow to elbow.  Their response:  it was easier to text!!!

Our society is developing a non-verbal communication which we have seen for the past few years but it is only getting worse.

Here are ways we can began changing this in the lives of our teenagers:

1.  Schedule regular MEDIA time outs.  It can be for only an hour or an entire evening.  I even knew a family that would go MEDIA-FREE for one whole Saturday a month.

2.  Sit down and have family game nights.  Use some of the classics like Sorry or MY favorite, Candy Land.  Better yet, play games that focus on being verbal (Scattergories, Taboo, etc.).

3.  Take time, either at dinner or in the car running your student to an event, to ask your teen questions.  Alternate from SILLY questions (what is your favorite TV character and why?) to some pretty DEEP questions (If you could change one thing about you what would it be?).  A great resource to help with this is Table Topics Cubes.

What ever you can do to get your student to drop the cell phone and actually speak is worth writing down and redoing over again.

I recently entered a contest at The Plow for a chance to win some free buttons.  I had to share a verse that means a lot to me and why.  I chose Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men so that they can see your good works and in turn glorify you Father who is in Heaven.”

I won the buttons and recently noticed that The Plow had made a desktop graphic in response to some of the verses that were shared.  Here is the Matthew 5.16 background graphic:

You can go to The Plow’s post site to download a copy of your own.  Just think–you could have the same desktop background as me!!!!  Alright that might not be exciting.