Core Values

Here are some core values from a church that really resonate with me:

RADICAL HOSPITALITY.

PASSIONATE WORSHIP.

INTENTIONAL FAITH FORMATION.

ADVENTUROUS MISSION AND SERVICE.

EXTRAVAGANT GENEROSITY.

I think that great things could be done for the Kingdom of God if individuals, communities and churches would live these values out.

Teens Embedding

This news article is over 14 months old, but I just came across "embedding" in some research and here is an article that Reuters did.

Signs of elaborate acts of self-harm by U.S. teens
Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO
Wed Dec 3, 2008 2:27pm EST

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some troubled teens are embedding nails, paper clips, bits of rock, glass and even crayons in their bodies as a way to cope with disturbing thoughts and feelings, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

U.S.

They described cases in which teens had forced numerous objects into their arms, hands, feet, ankles and necks in a condition they are calling self-embedding disorder, a step beyond more common forms of self-mutilation.

"We identified a group of 10 patients over a three-year period of time that have this pattern of self-inflicted injury," said Dr. William Shiels, chief of radiology at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He presented his findings at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago.

"It's cutting gone to the next level," Shiels said in a telephone interview.

Shiels, who is developing a minimally invasive surgical technique for removing objects accidentally embedded in the skin, saw his first case of what he called self-embedding in 2005, and recently has seen a cluster of cases.

"We had never seen this prior to 2005." he said.

Self injury can involve a number of actions, including cutting of the skin, burning, bruising, hair pulling, breaking bones or swallowing toxic substances.

It is often kept secret, but some studies suggest that 13 to 24 percent of high school students in the U.S. and Canada have practiced deliberate self-injury at least once.

Wendy Lader, a psychologist and co-founder of S.A.F.E. Alternatives, a treatment program for self-injury disorders in Naperville, Illinois, said the practice of self-embedding was not new but it may be on the rise.

"It's not a new manifestation. Whether it's growing, that may be the possibility," Lader said in a telephone interview.

Lader said radiologists will be some of the first people to notice this trend, but she said self-injury was growing in frequency and severity.

Shiels said nine of the patients were female and one was male, all were between 15 and 18 and most had significant psychiatric problems, including depression.

He said the teens described being in an agitated state and said embedding offered a measure of comfort.

"The consistent theme is one of being angry and upset. Some of the patients have had very recent sexual abuse encounters, and they feel no one is taking them seriously," Shiels said.

"Patients will usually have reported behavior that includes cutting and even ingesting things like battery acid and Drano (drain cleaner) before they engage in self-embedding," he said.

"When they reach the point to where they are embedding things in their body, 90 percent have suicidal ideation."

Lader said that was consistent with many cases of self-injury. She said while the act of cutting may not represent a suicide attempt, 90 percent of these patients are suicidal. "They are trying desperately to find ways to cope with life's problems, and suicide is definitely an option," she said.

(Editing by David Storey)

For those in YM that minister to "hurting kids" or "at-risk" kids, I am sure that this will be something that you have/will encounter.

Desperate

Seek and you will find, they say
but I've been looking everyday
for a way past this wall that's in front of my face.
I'm on hands and knees searching for my faith.

I know there's so much at stake
but I don't know if I can take one more pat on the back saying I'll be okay.
Can't you see me whole life is in disarray?

You've got me desperate.

I know You hear me,
Would You give me a sign?
Reel me in before I've fallen in line.
You've put me on a path I don't understand
I'm standing on a ledge waving my hands.

You've got me desperate (do You see me?)
Desperate (do You hear me?)
Desperate (will You help me?)
You've got me desperate.

I know You're my only hope
The only One who truly knows how it feels, what it's like when it all starts to fall
You're the One I can trust who hears when I call.

You've got me desperate.

I know You hear me,
Would You give me a sign?
Reel me in before I've fallen in line.
You've put me on a path I don't understand
I'm standing on a ledge waving my hands.

You've got me desperate (do You see me?)
Desperate (do You hear me?)
Desperate (will You help me?)
You've got me desperate.

Some things I'll never figure out
Until I let hope erase my doubt.

You've got me desperate.

I know You hear me,
Would You give me a sign?
Reel me in before I've fallen in line.
You've put me on a path I don't understand,
I'm standing on a ledge waving my hands.

You've got me desperate (do You see me?)
Desperate (do You hear me?)
Desperate (will You help me?)
You've got me desperate.

You've got me desperate. (Oh do You see me?)
Desperate (do You hear me?)
Desperate (will You help me?)
You've got me desperate!



Song spoke to me this morning and a few of my friends, really need to grasp these lyrics, even though they are "tough".

Relaxation ??

For the first time in 6 or 7 weeks, I finally had a day where I "relaxed". Now, there were still things on the agenda, driving 2-hours to get my niece and a guinea pig and a birthday party for my daughter that included 10 first graders ......

But, I got to sleep (if sleeping on the floor at almost 38 constitutes sleep)in till 8am and in the middle of the afternoon, I climbed up on the bed and put on a basketball game and fell asleep (took a nap) to it ..... WHOA

So, it felt good. This week is going to be another long week but it will not be a VERY LONG week, so that will be very good and looking ahead, next Saturday will be very "light", we do have a wedding/wedding reception to attend but nothing else.

I am also planning on taking a few afternoons/evenings in March to watch MARCH MADNESS. That will be very nice.

Still Kicking

I am still alive. I have not been on my blog for awhile and I have not been cruising to other blogs and I miss the writing and I miss the reading. Someway / Somehow, I need to create sometime to do that.

The last two+ weeks have been very interesting. I made two trips. The first trip was to Charlotte, North Carolina for the annual ELCA youth leaders convention. The second trip was to Cincinnati, Ohio for a junior high retreat.

Ministry is going well. I am trying to figure out how to keep momentum going with Sunday Night Live and working on a few tweeks and changes that are going to probably occur within that ministry. Those changes probably will not occur till August though when the new school year kicks off. However, I need to be thinking about the summer and what SNL will look like during the summer. We can't shut it down completely, yet I don't think that we will be able to do the current format. I need to grab the leaders soon and see what their thoughts are.

One of the other things that may be on the horizon is some partnership with a few of the downtown churches; it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

One final thing, for the time being, I am switching to moderator on the comments; I am going to try to cut out the spammers.