7QT Catholic Nerd stuff, job change, and a gift from Jesus

I'm linking up with Kelly at This Ain't The Lyceum   to give you this week's quick takes.  Are you ready?

(one)

The.Weather.You.Guys.
One part of me thinks I should be terrified about global warming and shifting weather patterns and the impact on the environment.
The other part of me is like, 'Whoa, Spring is AWESOME'
I truly become a different kind of mom when the weather is like this. We do stuff, the house is clean, the dishes get done, I'm nicer.  It's so great.
And the kids don't mind it one bit.

(two)

\I had to buy a new phone yesterday.  Well, my spouse would say I didn't HAVE to, I could have paid $200 to get the battery and screen fixed... but to me, if I was going to pay that much, I should just go ahead and get a new one.
Aaron's annoying, so he refuses to do payments plans for phones. So we have to pay cash.
It was a LOT of money. Like, I am pretty sure, when I was in high school, I could have got a cheap car for the amount I just spent on a new phone.
BUT dang.
I love iphones.  Apple has me hook, line and sinker.
Which is kind of stupid, because I am pretty sure their phones are made to crap-out after a couple years, so people upgrade.  Which makes sense if you do the payment plans, but we don't.
Anyway, I have a new phone.

(three)

No, the Pope didn't say 'It's better to be an atheist than to be a hypocrite'.  If that was the case we would all be really screwed, so we should be glad he didn't.  

What he ACTUALLY said was important though. And a really good call-on for us all.  The scandal of our personal sin on the community is something we should all keep in mind.  I try to, but I suck at being a Saint.  #workinprogress

In other news, as I said on 'the facebook'  THIS is why I don't trust the news.  This is why I am completely confident using terms like 'fake news', and this is why I think the media is more dangerous than other things people think are really dangerous.

(four)

Speaking of the scandal of sin..
I was pretty scandalized by the Catholic nerd world this week.  For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's really too long to get into, so you should just skip this.  For those of you who do... here are a few of my take-aways for Grown Ups...

1.) We absolutely cannot expect young people to use social media wisely when so many adults clearly don't know how to.

2.) You should not write super controversial stuff on social media (as a grown up, public, Catholic) and then walk away form the conversation saying monitoring threads is impossible.

3.)  It's important to speak up against social media bullying.  Even if it's uncomfortable, and even if it doesn't make a difference.  A grown up called another grown up a b@#$% on a thread I saw.  I was really upset about it all day. I decided to write something, 'hey, you probably didn't need to say that' (or something like that).  The person what like, 'you're right, heat of the moment, I shouldn't have'.

And that made me feel good about humanity.

4.)  Some people are just not going to be nice on social media and it's important to just walk away when it is super gross.  So another grown up wrote, 'I would slap some sense into the wench'... speaking about a professor at our local seminary.  I wrote, 'yea, you probably shouldn't write stuff like that'... the person defended it.  I left the conversation.

Some people just don't know how to use social media.

5.) Saints fought and disagreed. It happens. It's okay.  But we should always be careful about the scandal we are causing others.  About the words we use and allow. We should be careful not to escalate drama in the social media world.  And we should be...

GROWN UPS.

That is all. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

(five)

I decided to leave my Parish Position. Starting March, 1st, I am no longer a Coordinator of Youth Ministry at the Parish level. And that's a really great thing for my family and a really great thing for the teens at the Parish I was working for, especially since the new CYM is amazing.
The thing is...
Working in Parish life is really, really hard. I'm actually not sure I will ever do it again.  It's hard for so many reasons, but principally, I think, because it's a lifestyle, not a job.  And my life style right now is being a mom, it can't be being a youth minister.  I told Aaron, I am honestly not sure I will ever work in Parish Ministry again.  That's not to say I won't work in Ministry...our BOLD MINISTRIES  reality continues to grow in a really healthy way, but I just can't hang in Parish life anymore.
I will still be working with the teens as a volunteer, but no more of this 'being in charge' at a Parish.  It's just too hard.

In other news, right now, send a thank you message to those who work in Parish life, it is no joke.
In still other news, I'm excited to have more time with my growing family.  

(six)

Are you a young adults (18-35)?
Do you live in Michigan, or around it?
If so, you should be coming to the Michigan Catholic Young Adult Conference  (If you click on the link, you should Aaron was like, "Yeah, you REALLY need to change your professional photo")

It's going to be awesome.  It's a lovely time of community, prayer, sharing and joy.   It's nice to be around people of faith, and if you haven't been in awhile, you are gonna wanna get on this.
Oh, and I'll be there, and I'm fun. So you should come.
And look, my picture is on the flier (#callmefancy)

(seven)

Jesus has given me a particular gift in this pregnancy.

I am able to drink coffee without puking.

Dear Jesus. Thank you.

That is all.

The reading doesn't have to stop here, head on over to http://thisaintthelyceum.org/ to read more quick takes!