Another Shot

Album Currently Filling My Ears: the Everglow by Mae

Cubs Win!

Yeah right. How ‘bout them Cards?! I confess that as a huge fan it was incredibly difficult to not watch game 5. But I also know I’ll always remember what I was doing when Inge made that sweet breeze with the final out.

This weekend we traveled to Dallas to help out with Believe. Seeing as Believe is a Friday and Saturday deal we were busy making it happen Friday as the game was played. However, thanks to technology we were able to keep up. I was running a camera for the night but was kept updated by text messages from my amazing wife who along with Carter were watching and stressing. The following really became intense around the7th inning so I missed out on the “we’re losing” and “how the heck is Casey hitting us so well?” thoughts.

Believe got over in time for the bottom of the ninth and thus entered the second technology—live stat tracking on the web. One of the interns had purchased wireless there at the convention center so a few of us huddled around the laptop to “watch” the last inning. When the final strike was thrown, we celebrated as you’d expect. Cards fans who grew up all over, a group many of us probably wouldn’t have been with other than Believe bringing us together and there we were on the floor of the arena celebrating, hugging, making fun of Cubs fans everywhere.

It was a great yet strange way to celebrate—the legend of the victory feeling oddly disconnected because we had no images to compare it to. I guess in some odd way it was like those farmers and small town fans who’ve followed the Cards for years huddling around their radios to hear of a World Series victory and allowing their minds to fill in the images that a TV can’t provide. Once back at the hotel ESPN was flipped on and though the images helped fill something in there was just something about smiling and imagining what was happening in the New Busch and celebrating with friends. It was a cool way to celebrate a World Series win and a time I’ll not soon forget.

Other things from the weekend that struck me. During set up for the weekend it was pointed out that I at the ripe old age of 30 was the oldest person there. Crazy. An amazing event reaching thousands of middle school students and the oldest person there until the actual event was 30. They are blessed with some incredible college students and staff that make the event something to behold.

All in all, the weekend was great. It was great to be at a Believe again, it was fun to see middle school ministry like that again. I saw some old friends, made some new ones and realized just how powerful the weekend can be/is. I’m looking forward to being at a few in the spring and in some bigger venues to see the energy that those extra little souls can generate. You should check it out. If you work with middle schoolers, you should go. You should take them. They’d be better for the experience.

One final note, I was reading this weekend and there was an old reference made to ICQ. I had totally forgot about ICQ. I remember “back in the day” when kids would sit for hours on that bad boy. It was the thing to do, so important to social survival and growth and maturity for a student. And now, I bet you hadn’t thought about it in months (or even years?). Makes you wonder if blogs and myspace will follow the same path.

Hope your Monday is a good one. I think I need more coffee.