Whoa, the whole summer has gone by. I can't believe it. I have so many things to write about.

The Weather.
Our weather this summer has been awesome. We've only had a few very hot days. And the humidity hasn't been that bad. I guess that's a stupid thing to start with, but it has been such a blessing.

Mission Trips.
Our mission trips this summer were great. They were probably the toughest thing I've had to plan so far and I was super stressed, but I must say watching my kids serve God with big smiles on their faces makes this job worth it.

Losing Jane.
My friend Jane passed away at the end of June after a very hard and fast battle with cancer. She was diagnosed around spring break of this year. I still can't believe how quickly she went. In her final weeks, her main concern was still for others. She wanted us to pray that no one would lose their faith because of her death. There are very few people I know who lived for others the way Jane did. Her first words to me were: "I've been praying for you to come to Overland Park." Her last words to me in the hospice house were: "You look so pretty." Her first words, her last words, and all the words in between were constant encouragement. I am a better person for knowing her.


Tim's Arrival.
I finally have help! Thank the Lord! Tim Hall and his family arrived this summer to join our youth ministry team. Life is so much better on a team rather than alone and I am so thankful for all he has brought to the table so far. We get along very well and I am pumped up about the future of this ministry (and the present!).

Camp.
I've been home from camp for a week now, and I'm still not completely recovered. We had such a great week this year. I love watching the teens worship God and love each other. Sometimes I wish we could just live at camp. I do hate that shower house though.

Mullicans Unite.
Our annual Mullican family reunion is next weekend and I'm really excited. I love the Texas hill country. And I am pumped for a weekend on the river. I think the heat may kill me though.

Internet Woes.
For the last year I've just been using a wireless signal from a neighbor. They finally locked the signal this month. This is the main reason for my blog delinquency. I've been looking for a cheap provider out there and can't come up with much. Any suggestions?

There's this lady...

My apartment complex has three small lakes that are home to many ducks. This may be my favorite part of living here. Sometimes when I go down to check the mail I see this lady feeding the ducks. It's really cute, but she does it right in the middle of the parking lot. I don't know about you, but I would prefer to feed the ducks on the grass- where cars don't live. Anyways, today I went down to get the huge stack of bills out of my mailbox and there was the duck lady. She was feeding them in the parking lot and creating a traffic jam in the process. Once she realized what she was doing she looked down at the ducks and actually said the words: "Come on kids, let's get out of the way." I was so taken back I almost tripped on the sidewalk.

Meanwhile, things are pretty crazy right now. This evening I returned from our middle school mission trip. In a week I leave for the high school trip. My interns have arrived, my co-minister is finally here, and we're in the middle of an office remodel. But all of those things are secondary. I have thirteen year old twin boys who are losing their mother to a horrible fight with cancer. Her name is Jane, and she is all I can think about. This is hard.

Sweet Endings

I didn't know I was the daughter of celebrities. Last weekend I flew down to the big Lub for my parent's retirement celebration. Together, they have served the Lubbock Independent School District for 77 years. The festivities began Thursday afternoon with the LISD reception. It was really nice. There were so many people there. They even rented a baby grand player piano just for the occasion. Here's a picture of the fam, minus Dave who had school that day. We were surprisingly color coordinated.

Friday night we celebrated with a BBQ at the house and 30 of mom and dad's closest friends. It was such a sweet moment to honor the lives of two people with incredible work ethic, loyalty, and integrity.

So, last night mom called to tell me that one of the news stations had heard about their double retirement and ran a story on them! How exciting is that? I've been searching online to find the video clip, but I can't find it. Anyways, I'm so proud of them for everything they have done and so excited for what's to come (including more trips to Kansas!)

Awww, 26. Someone told me I'm now in my late 20s. Yeah, you suck.

So here's the deal. In some areas of life I've far exceeded my expectations for 26. I never expected to be a full time youth minister in such a large church by this point. In fact, for a while I thought that would never happen. I consider my career to be a huge accomplishment, like running a marathon or curing cancer- ok not quite.

So, here's the missing piece of 26. Right now I'm sitting on my bed writing this completely alone. Honestly, there was never a moment in my life when I thought I would graduate from college without a husband. Silly I know, but all of my closest friends managed it. So, with birthdays, as the number increases so does the alone-ness- not necessarily loneliness, but just an increased sense of alone. It's just me, and even the best parents in the world, a million messages from my teens, and several free meals from friends just can't quite fill the gap. So as I stare at 26, I'm wishing someone was standing by my side looking at it with me.

Check out this cover of Hey-Ya. It's awesome.

Anyways, the last few weeks I've had the car bug. Well, not so much the car bug- but the gas prices for a SUV are eating my lunch bug. I actually love my car very much, I just hate the money it takes to run it and I'm really getting into the green movement.

So, with all that said, I have fallen in love with the prius. What a cool car! I even went to the Toyota dealership and was wooed by some man named John for about an hour and a half. The prius is the coolest car ever. You start it by simply pushing a button! This is the car of the future. As I drove it I couldn't stop watching the little screen that told me I was getting 99.9 miles to the gallon as I was breaking. If I got one I could easily get into a wreck just by watching that screen. So, I'm totally sold on the hybrid.

But then John brought me my monthly payment options and he totally burst my bubble. My new car payment would be much higher than my gas savings. So, back to reality. My car of the future will simply have to stay there.

Does anyone out there drive a prius?

I'm okay. A few of you have called to check on me. Yes, there were major storms and tornadoes that blew through last here last night. I was sitting on my deck reading a book watching the storm roll in. Then I heard the sirens and started checking the weather. All of the tornadoes were pretty far from my house, but we did get about 2 inches of rain here- so says the meteorologist.

Crazy tornado weather is nothing new for me. In west Texas you live in a tornado warning from mid-March through May. Here's something strange though. The worst storms always happen on Thursday nights. This is not scientific research, only personal observation mind you. Here's what I know, if there are good shows on TV to be watched, they will be interrupted by a severe weather alert. And since Thursdays are the best night for TV, that's when the storms roll in. I think weather people bank on it.

I'm a pistol.

Spring has sprung and it is beautiful! I love seasons. I have put away my boots, sweaters and coat and I went out and bought some spring clothes today. I'm also going to plant some flowers outside on my deck.

Tomorrow I'm leaving town again. I'm headed to Atlanta with our children's minister. In fact, every minister at OP will be out of town next week. I think that's funny. One of my youth moms said, "we should cancel church!" I'm sure this will be the week when there is a major crisis and a bunch of funerals. When I worked in Abilene, the preacher there would do a couple of funerals a week. One week, he had to do four, including the funeral of a former ACU first lady. I always felt sorry for him. I don't know how he ever left town. Anyways... I'm excited about my trip, but my apartment is feeling a little neglected with all of my travels. It's a disaster.

So, back to the spring discussion. When it hits about 70 degrees I always pull out the capri
pants. They are such a nice alternative to shorts. However, Stacy and Clinton have said that capris are atrocious and make you look stumpy. Now, I always agree with their opinions, but I just don't think I can say goodbye to the capris. What do you think out there?

Here you go people.

Youth Minister of the Year.

Well the Awkward Retreat is over and it was sufficiently awkward, but totally great.

How cool is my new design!?!!? A huge shout out to Mel for her awesome work! I think it is so pretty, and it looks just like me. I keep opening up this page just to look at it.

This week is busy. It's a retreat week. This weekend is our huge Spring Retreat. It is actually a purity retreat. Oh yes, lots of sex talk. We're calling it the awkward retreat. Honestly, I'm really excited about it. We're going to tie-dye t-shirts. And we're having an awkward prom. A room full of ugly thrift store outfits and crate paper decorations. It's going to rock.

If you love David Crowder...

Wow, everyone has these cute new designs on their blogs. How did you guys do this? I tried something new, but I like yours better. Help me people.

Well, life is crazy. Everyday I ask myself, is this how ministry is everywhere, or just here? divorce, cancer, crisis, psychosis, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Did I mention that was just today? I just keep thinking, I am so not equipped to handle this. So, every night I lay in my bed and remind myself- this is God's work, not mine. God is equipped and in control, just surrender. I do think I'm due for a little trip though. Next week I'll head to Chicago for the Willow Creek Youth Conference. I'm totally pumped. The day I leave, I just may change my facebook status to: Susan is leaving town, don't call. :)


Well, no comments about the 90210 spin-off. I'm disappointed in you people. Seriously.

Pop Culture Update

First, and most importantly, there are talks going on about a 90210 spin off. Yes people, a continuation of the story. What happened with Kelly and Dylan. Are David and Donna still married. What about Brandon. Truthfully, I always wanted Brandon to end up with Kelly. Do you think Steve had any more kids? Whoa, so much to catch up on.

Now, some of you want to know about High School Confidential. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just skip this paragraph. Yes, I do have several kids who go to Blue Valley North West. Some of my girls used to play on the soccer team and I think I may have seen one of them on Monday's episode. I don't know any of the 12 girls they followed around, but it is so cool that all of this took place down the street from my house. I'll let you know if I see any more of my kids on there.

On to the big screen. The other night I went to see The Other Boleyn Girl. It was really good. The story of Anne Boleyn and King Henry played a major role in the history of the church. As I watched the movie, I missed grad school just a little bit. Anyways, the plot is nuts and the whole time you'll be going, what! no way!

Okay, I'm better now, I know some of you were concerned. Today is a marvelous day. It finally feels like spring. The sun is shining and the sky is blue. I'm sure that means it will snow tomorrow. I want to recommend something to you. Over the holidays I was able to read such a great book. I just happened to see it at Barnes and Noble and mentioned it, so Santa put it in my stocking. It's called Same Kind of Different as Me.


This book really got under my skin. I read it in about a 24 hour period. I don't think I've ever been quite so impacted by a book. I still think about it a lot and hope it will continue to impact my life, the way I think about things, and the way I love people. So there you go. Get a copy and read it people.

Is my blog self dying?

Right now I'm hiding in my office. I have some teens up at the building and I'm scared of them. Sometimes I get like this. After a long day, I'm tired, the teens are too hyper, wheelchairs are being pushed down the stairs, the building is getting messy, and there's a funeral tomorrow. I know if I go out there I'll just yell at them. They know I'm in a bad mood, I might as well just embrace it. They don't realize that when something bad happens in the building, the teens are always blamed, as they probably should be. Well, people can't take that blame out on 150 kids, so they take it out on the minister. How am I supposed to control other people's kids who drink way too much Dr. Pepper and are cooped up inside all day and just need to explode once in a while. So anyways, I'm hiding. What a good time to update the blog.

I'm continually surprised by God's work in my life. I wonder why. I guess grad school jaded me quite a bit. I've lived for a while now really doubting God's work in the everyday seemingly mundane details of life. How can Almighty God really be present in those minor details? Doesn't God have better things to do, better places to work and be present? Isn't it enough that God sent a Savior to this earth for me and the rest of creation? With all of the pain, injustice, sin, tears, fallen-ness ... this world has to offer, does God really care about a little ole youth ministry in eastern Kansas, USA enough to 'work out' the details, to consistently be present, and to continually bless? I don't know exactly where I land on all of this, but here's what I do know: the blessing aren't stopping. The parent's meetings, retreats, conversations, and worship times keep 'working out' and my only explanation is that God must be involved, because I know it sure isn't anything I'm doing.

The best part of my holiday:

I just got to Lubbock and it's already time to leave. I'm not ready to go back.