Sometimes You're the Star...

...and sometimes you're in the chorus, which is true in theater...and also in life.  I recently auditioned for Meet Me in St. Louis at the community theater here in Terre Haute, and I got cast as "Lucille Ballard" in the show.  She has a very small role in the second act of the story, which is kind of a fun role, but I'll admit that I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get a bigger role than Lucille.  I think that I unfortunately got my hopes up a little because my good friend and I thought that we might be cast as the sisters, but that just didn't end up happening, and she actually ended up getting the part that I thought I might get.  I'm happy for her, and everyone will be great in their roles, and it will be fun. But still...a part of me is disappointed...and it's making me really miss Young Man in a Hurry when I felt like I was on top of the world!  :)

But in the end, it's probably the best situation for me since it's a miracle I can even pull off being in a show at this time of year, especially with Lent starting in February.  I already have to miss a few meetings and things at church to do the show, but I will still be missing rehearsals to teach a Lent study, be at choir practice, and go to some meetings, teach confirmation, etc.  The most important part for me though is being around some of my favorite people who are in the show, directing, etc.

Sometimes I also feel like I'm in the chorus in life...when I remember that there are definitely things I am NOT good at...like teaching confirmation class...or doing ministry with middle schoolers in any context...even though this is where I got started in ministry, it's just not something I feel called to and gifted for at all.  I taught confirmation class yesterday in the absence of the senior pastor, and I feel like it failed miserably.  The kids were bored, they were not responding at all- which really, after talking to my senior pastor about it, is just the nature of the group, so I didn't feel so bad after that, but still....  They are all shy and reserved, and smart...but don't want to engage in conversation whatsoever.  It's so frustrating to me.  I could see the wheels in their heads turning, but nothing was coming out!  The good news is that I know they at least picked up on what we talked about a little because at the end of the class we did a little review and they were able to talk to me about what we "learned."

I teach again in 2 weeks and it will be a session on UM History.  I want to find a way to make it fun for them, and I've gotten some good ideas from some colleagues.  Some of the ideas I could never see this particular group doing, but others seem like a good fit.  So I'll be hopefully have more success next time around!  It's also a challenge that I am not the primary teacher of this class, so I feel like I can't really do too much that will interfere with the other lessons and do not have the obligation to be as invested, but I will try to make it fun for when I do get to teach and interact with the confirmands.  And as you can probably tell, I don't like to feel like I've failed, so I will work on being better the next time around.  I guess it's been a lesson learned!

And this whole thing has me thinking about the concept of confirmation in general.  It seems that no one really wants to be there and no one really cares.  So why do we have it?  Why do we as a church see this as so important?  Is there an alternative to confirmation?  Should it come later in life and not be designed for mostly middle school students who just come because their parents make them?  And how do we conduct confirmation in a world that is so media driven and students seem so far out of what "we adults" aka, "old people" (haha!) are used to?  How can we make the topics covered in confirmation interesting and relatable to them?  Can you tell that this is not my gift?

By the way, how would YOU make United Methodist history FUN for confirmation students??

In other news, it's been a very busy new year!  It's been one thing after another these past few weeks, and our kitchen is being redone right now, which is exciting, but also kind of an inconvenience.  At least our kitchen no longer looks like the 1970s!  :)