Stephen (I call him Steve) is away for a part of the day. He taking his old dead VW alternator to his dad so that he can get a credit for it. We attempted to take the alternator off ourselves (I was sure we could manage...I saw my brother-in-law do it once and it didn't look too hard). We got the belt off alright, exercising teamwork like we're supposed to. But the next phase didn't go as smooth. While he looked for a specific wrench size I worked on the top mounting bolt. It was set in pretty good so I had to lean on it... We ended up towing the car to a local shop where they were able to cut out the broken piece of bolt I left behind. Steve demonstrated his typical, unflappable character. Forgave me graciously for busting the bolt and we moved along.
Sometimes life is like the bolt. Things that have been set and left for a long time become difficult to change, arduous to work with. One of the things I am learning from Steve is to think in new ways. He has a way of bringing out better thinking from my old set mind. Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." That's the way I think this internship process is working. I may have more experience, and I hope some of the stuff I've stumbled through in the past helps him out; I also am benefiting from our time together!

He did a really good job teaching yesterday, I was quite proud of him. It's hard to tell when he's nervous...Some people have a funny laugh when they get anxious, Steve's is funny all the time! Some people talk a lot when they get nervous, Steve...Well let's just say if that's a nervous reaction he should get help! I wasn't sure if he was nervous about teaching his first grade 4-5 lesson or not, but he was well prepared and the kids ate his lesson up. Wherever he ends up I think working with that age group should be something he's involved in regularly.

Our next tasks are planning the youth retreat in early December and around the corner is our scavenger hunt we do digitally. We need a great theme to capture the kids' interest...It'll be fun to collaborate on those items, and I'll let you know what we come up with... At least if I can actually figure out how to do this!

- Pastor Kevin