Seven Year Old Camel Manure

Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday deeeeeeeeear YOUTUBE...

Shiver me timbers folks...youtube is 7 years old today!

We live in a unique era...I hear preachers say over and over that young people have never had so much opportunity. I finally figured out what they're talking about.  You can walk up to a group of skinnies these days and say, "Have you seen the one where the dog couldn't get his leg back down after..." They will laugh knowingly and be reminded of the one where a kid with pasty white skin fails to break a cement block with his head.

...and to think that our preachers are concerned about our young men talking too much sports after church...now my timbers are really shivering. Shoot...I'll even take the Dodge vs Ford conversation back.

Though we've been wounded, we've survived the Romantic Era, Age of Reason, and Bill Gothard:) Yes...we have a resilient track record, but I'm not sure we can survive an era characterized my meaningless camel manure. The ironic thing is...we might be worse off than a dog with a permanently raised hind leg....

With these thoughts in mind, I share with you a youtube video that a co-teacher recently shared with me. If you've already seen this...you just might have been eating camel manure for the last 7 years....

   

"Whodoyouthinkyouare" Types

 In preparation for teaching Sunday School....

"How (gasping for air)in tIhe %^@#@ (gasping for air) can you run marathons (gasping for air) in pants?" 
Thought: Its good you're wearing shorts because I'm going to die trying to beat the pants OFF of you"  

"Common'...these guys can't beat us"
Thought: "Gimme that ball"

"I doubt she really likes you"
Thought: "Well HANG her...I definitely don't NEED girls"  

"Good try...don't worry about it...maybe you're just not a...seamstress"
Thought: "Shut up...I'm not interested in reproducing good try's...I'm interested in actually pulling this off"

1:00 AM
Thought: "Who gives a rip...I'm staying awake at all costs till I'm ready for class tomorrow..."


Several years ago I was having a conversation with a fellow runner. She was asking me if I had entered the 5k race in a nearby city. I told her I hadn't because I hadn't trained enough and was embarrassed to not be one of the front runners. She got a sad look in her eyes and simply said, "awww....you must have soooo much fear in your life...." She went on to ask if I would run a race...purposefully finishing in the middle of the pack. This may be some of the wisest advice I have ever received, and it was the beginning of a grueling journey.

Somehow I believed at a young age that I was going to have to prove a lot of people wrong...I promptly spent a lot of time trying to do just that. I was always small for my age and I had big brothers. I grew up trying to beat all odds with people that were ALWAYS bigger, better, and stronger than myself. Everything I did was done with the underdog mentality. I didn't realize that in teenagers the underdog mentality can come across as over confidence and arrogance. I never realized that this approach could make people ask, "Who do you think you are?" I never knew these things because I was blinded by fear.

I ended up running the 5k, purposefully finishing in the middle of the pack...It was one of the hardest things I ever did. I suddenly realized how much I was afraid of the people I thought I controlled. The thought of the crowd thinking I was that slow...it was almost unbearable. That was the beginning of allowing Jesus to recover my soul. He still has a motherload of work to do, but some things have changed.

These days I like to relax, drink coffee and watch the sun go down, while some other guy is out there training to beat the pants off me in the next marathon. I like to go to bed when I'm tired, knowing that some other teacher is out there preparing a better class than mine. I like to play volleyball even when I'm rusty and can't pass or serve worth a hoot. It is incredibly freeing to know that Jesus loves you and me...and I don't even have to get all up in a wad trying to prove it.

The next time I want to label a person as "Whodoyouthinkyouare," I remember that they are probably very fearful and not as arrogant as I think. In fact they might think they aren't as good as me, and that is why they are fighting so hard. We are known as we know.