This morning in staff meeting... at Youth for Christ... my friend Leland Herring lead our Bible discussion. In it he said, "Why do we try to go to church and act like we're perfect? I think church should be more like an AA meeting where I come in and say, 'I'm Leland and this is what I've been struggling with this week.'" I thought, Leland really gets it. He understands what Ahren was saying about churches needing to be more like 12 step groups.

I used to be a nanny for this guy named Randy Schindler. He was this really amazing guy... humble, gentle... and he was a recovering alcoholic. There's something about people who have lost everything. I mean in the sense that they know that they're own best efforts got them to destruction and now they're willing to have someone else lead the way. They're very appealing. I think that teenagers really sense that they want a release from the pressure to do the right thing. I think that this feeling is a little more raw for them. A lot of them rebel because they can't be the perfection that is expected. I think I rebel, too. I think I rebel by sleeping and reading too much.

A bunch of us in our community have wacky... no, let me be honest... disturbing financial situations right now. I think for me, more than any other area of my life (well, maybe not) this is an area where I want to be okay... self-reliant, self-sufficient and solid. It's a scary area. Maybe that's true for more people than just me. So, maybe this is the next step for me, "My name is Lori, and I won't release my finances to God." There. I feel better just saying it. They say that's the first step, right?