the finale!

it's about that time of year. the office came to an end last week with a shocking pam pregnancy! SNL came to a puke-worthy end with will ferrel's return - i was mucho disappointed. i don't really watch any other shows...well...except keeping up with the kardashians, which was not finale'd yet - PTL. LOVE that show.

this all goes to say...that i am closing down my wodiz blogspot. i know...sad. it's been a good run - it has. but if you know me at all, my turn-out rate for just about anything good (favs, friends, fads, etc.) is about a year. hopefully by the time i'm 50 i'll learn how to hold onto something good.

but naturally i try to move on to something else. and as i move on from the hummingbird trail to ALASKA, i thought i should try writing a super alaska blog. from this day forward, i will be updating my new life at rachelgoestoak.wordpress.com. don't worry - i'll be keeping it awesome with some multimedia effects!!

but before i say goodbye to good ol' wodiz...i'd like to reflect on the good times that we had. reading through the 85 posts that have taken place since may 22, 2008 - here are my top 10 favs.

10. supa skillz (2/9/09)
9. do the dew (4/1/09)
8. the great minnesota get-together (7/31/08)
7. christmas KKS (12/13/08)
6. nancy (1/15/09)
5. R.I.P (1/19/09)
4. striking resemblance (9/19/08)
3. yessssss (11/18/08)
2. top 100 moments @ LBBC summer '08 (9/18/08)
1. id badges are long overdue (9/17/08)

well, that's it. thanks for a great run. i might be back in the fall - we shall see. on my way out, here's my maylist.

keane - my shadow
modest mouse - world at large
coldplay - strawberry swing
weezer - island in the sun
the lonely island - i'm on a boat
guster - manifest destiny
guster - i hope tomorrow is like today
blackeyed peas - boom boom pow :)

BYE!!!!!!!!!!!

drugs.

movin' on.

if there's one thing they say about youth ministry, it's that you gotta be prepared to move on. and man is it hard. i've spent the past 9 months...hours upon hours...working with the first baptist youth group, and tonight i spent my last evening there as an intern. it's weird to think that over the past school year this has been the most consistent part of my life - about 6-8 hours a week, and i don't know if i've ever even blogged about it.

it certainly wasn't an easy road. coming out of the chicken nuggets and nightgames of camp ministry into this youth group was like hitting a brick wall. having to earn not only love and affection, but respect from these kids was intimidating and complicated. 9 months later they're finally starting to let me in (good timing eh?).

working with these kids has humbled me beyond belief. knowing that any sermon i'm delivering is being heard by someone who's mom is in a coma, someone who saw their sister get shot and bleed to death, someone who has been evicted from three different houses this year...it's a little hard to do.

i guess all i can say is that you gotta meet kids where they're at. a lot of these kids have terrible parents and unless we want them to have no future, we have to strive to fill that void.

i'm gonna miss these kids a lot. they changed me. for the better. and there's nothing cliche about that. so thanks mike, lakia, antonio, justice, jaemani, matt, james, steve, ben, tinu, yemi, mark, sola, kola, trey, patrick, chuck, charlie, kahjuan, brandon, rachel, joelle, and drew. "keep it real."