Meine Klein Welt

Fall Festival

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arm_wrestling.JPGEvery October VCS has an event called Fall Festival which is something like an indoor carnival. It’s a time to enjoy playing silly games with kids, meet parents, and sample some good food.

This year some kids set up a heart exhibit for science class. Upon entering the room, I was offered a platter filled with small brownish chunks poked through with toothpicks like hors dourves.

“Hi, Mr. Klein, would you like some heart?”
“Ummmmm….”
“It’s really good, I promise.”
“Uhhhhhhh….”
“Come on, it’s just chicken heart. You’ll like it.”
“Ummmmm….O-K.”

I picked a piece off the platter and chewed. Is it too cliche to say it tasted like chicken? It really did, though, and it made me wonder what Chicken McNuggets are really made of.

The night was topped off by great performances from the Beginning Band class and the Elementary and Middle School Choirs.

As always, it was a fun night, and a good time was had by all.

Filed Under: VCS

Jesus or Bill Clinton?

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One of our ESL teachers shared a quote today from her class:

She asked them, “What people work everyday all the time?”(i.e. doctors, policemen, etc.)
A cute little Korean kid answered, “Jesus.”

This reminded me of the children’s sermons that used to take place right before the kids were dismissed for sunday school at Woodland Presbyterian.

The kids would all go forward and someone would share a short interactive message and would invariably ask them a question or two that whose answer was Jesus.

So my college friends and I would sit in the pews, chuckle and whisper “Say Jesus” when a kid was called on to answer and groan quietly if they got it wrong.

Then one time the teacher asked, “Who is the president of the United States?” This confused us because the answer to this question was obviously not Jesus, but Bill Clinton.

So from then on, whenever a question was asked during the children’s sermon, we would confer amongst each other in hushed tones about whether the answer to the question was Jesus or Bill Clinton. “I think this one is Bill Clinton…No, no, this one is definitely Jesus…” And then we would wait expectantly for the answer.

Because He First…

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Today at church the Collect for the 12th Sunday after Trinity was read:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray
and to give more than either we desire or deserve:
pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid
and giving us those good things
which we are not worthy to ask
but through the merits and mediation
of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

This reminded me of that famous snapshot of the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel, the Creation of Adam, and an observation a friend of mine made. If you look closer you’ll see that God is fully outstretched, straining every muscle in reaching out to Adam. You can even see His angels pulling him back, like an anchor to keep Him from falling out of Heaven. Meanwhile Adam is reclining, his wrist limp. He could easilty traverse the distance between himself and God, but he is not willing to put forth the effort.

I found myself humbled and convicted as the Collect was read this morning. How unworthy am I to receive anything from God, yet how richly does He bless me?

Freshman Quote of the Day

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I received a phishing email over the weekend and decided to show it to my freshman class so they could see how deceptive some of these emails can be. This particular email allegedly came from a bank and asked me to update all my account information, including my mother’s maiden name.

This led to a discussion about why someone might want to know your mother’s maiden name. Then a student, trying to be clever, raised his hand and asked:

“Mr. Klein, what’s your maiden name?”

to which another student replied:

“Duh. He doesn’t have a maiden name. He’s not married.”

Paint Dry Sports

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Paint Dry Sport (n) – Any sport that is about as exciting to watch as paint drying.

Almost two weeks ago I had just gotten home from the airport and was trying to stay up late enough to dull the effects of jet lag. My roommate had to go out to give a tour to the new staff in the early afternoon, so I flipped on the TV to see if I could find something exciting enough to keep me awake.

One of the channels we get in English here is British Eurosport, which is also commonly referred to as Paint Dry Sports Channel.

When I first flipped it on, they were broadcasting a ski jumping competition. And no, this wasn’t a rerun from December. It was live. And they weren’t jumping on a snow-covered peak, they were landing on something resembling AstroTurf. Now maybe I’m just narrow-minded, but winter sports have a clearly defined season…It’s called winter. I realize that ski jumping is one of the few sports that Austrians are actually good at, but seriously…

I waited out the ski jumping and was rewarded with…wait for it…wait for it…race walking. Now you should know that I number among those who consider it a travesty race walking is considered a competitive sport by anyone. It ranks right up there with synchronized diving and rhythmic gymnastics as sports people should not have won Olympic medals for. I mean the very term “Race Walking” is an oxymoron. It’s not a race if you’re walking! Race walking is what 3rd graders do when you tell them not to run in the hall. You should not get a medal for that. Ever. And even if you are misguided enough to give people medals for walking fast, you should never, ever show these “competitions” on tv. I would seriously rather watch sprinters warm up for the 200 meter dash. Guess what’s on next?

*Sigh* I miss ESPN.