Intern Devotions

One of the special things about working at PF, besides the cool coffee maker, is the fact that every week we have a devotional time. It is sort of like chapel. But we get paid to go. Nothing like earning minimum wage to praise our Lord and Savior.

This week, it was time for the most highly touted event of the summer - Intern Devotions. For one day, at least, we had the run of the place. It was our job to do whatever it is we wanted to do that didn't break the law or the rules of decency and decorum that govern polite society.

I had to cross a few things off my To Do List.

It went down last Wednesday morning and, all in all, it went swimmingly.

For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook (that is probably how you are reading this), you should check out the video that is tagged of me. It is one of my finest performances. Not since the Fall Retreat 2006 video have I thrown myself into a role (that was the video in which I did a little Karate Kid from the roof of The Lodge at sunset without dying).

I had a great time making the video and only lost one pair of pants. So that is nice.

While the video, like 60% of videos that I take part in or executive produce, was a smashing success, the best part for me was the time I had to speak and actually share from Scripture. I have a copy that I am currently trying to bootleg on the internet so if that falls through maybe one day you can listen to it. Seriously though, I had an amazing time.

It was the first time that I have spoken in public since summer of 2007. It has been a long two years. Alot has gone on since then. I was pretty nervous at the start but pretty soon landed some hilarious jokes and was on a roll.

I had a youth pastor tell me once that I needed to be sure to find a way that I can scratch the preaching itch once a quarter or so. I think he had a point. I get a rush of adrenaline when I am speaking in front of a group of people that I cannot describe. The problem with talking so early in the morning was for the next 3 hours I was so wound up I could hardly sit at my desk. It was so worth it.

The comforting part about teaching Scripture is the fact that it isn't up to me to say anything. Everyone laughed at my prayer to get things started when I said, "I don't know what I am going to say so 'Good Luck God' we look forward to hearing what you come up with." While that is somewhat in jest, the truth is that it is up to God to show up and to say something. Lucky for me.

For the message, I attempted to speak some truth to my coworkers at PF about what God is doing in and through them. I think that it worked well. I focused on Num. 14 (my favorite passage in the Bible becuase it mentions the Biblical Caleb) and 1 Thes. 2:8.

I recommend you check them out. I think they say alot about not only how God wants us to see the world but how he wants us to treat the world.

As always, I found it rather ironic that the biggest blessing was not in something I said (that would be as presumptuous as it is untrue) but in what I received. Really, the biggest blessing was the feeling of knowing that God had used me to say something very specific to his people. To be used like that is truly an honor. It is a moment flowing with meaning and power in ways that we rarely see.

I guess people liked it. They told me they liked it rather than avoiding me in the hallway or making small talk about the weather.

It did spawn one awkward moment:

On Thursday afternoon around 4, I heard something oddly familiar. I had my headphones in so I could not hear very clearly what the ruckus was. I turned off my country music and just listened for a second to hear what the "racket" was. After about 20 second of listening to an unidentified voice, I realized that it was someone listening to the online version of my talk. Out loud. On the speaker of her computer. For our whole row to listen to.

I am not sure how often you or someone you love has had the opportunity to work while listening to themselves talk, but it is pretty weird. I was really uncomfortable. At the sound of my own voice - not sure what that means.

That lady still can't pronounce my name so the jury is still out on what she thought.