I Should Just Close My Mouth

I suppose I haven't post in a while, which means, I have some catching up to do. For instance, my youth group ended up not being able to go to Watertown, because the weather would have been too bad and it was decided that it was just safer not to risk the roads not being good. So, that does indeed mean that I have a sermon burning a hole in my pocket. Or rather, my purse, but I haven't taken it out of my purse yet, but you get the idea. Jeremy says he will make sure I preach it sometime soon. Quite honestly, I was looking forward to preaching again just to see if I have totally lost my touch. You see, the last sermon I preached in my home church didn't go so well. (Good thing my mother doesn't read this, or else she'd be like, "Andra, don't say that!") It sort of resembled a train wreck with someone laughing through it the entire time. But anyway, I wanted to see if I somehow took a wrong turn in the "road of life" and it somehow isn't my calling.

When I look back, I really only see all the times that I have totally failed after I opened my mouth. For instance, the End of the School Year Bash my freshman year, when for some reason I thought that everyone was expecting me to speak, but I didn't have anything prepared, so I just got up there and rambled on for way too long. All the while people just looked and tried to pay attention, but I was really just going on for far too long. And then, I hadn't turned my cell phone off, so it went off while I was going on for too long.

Then there was one time I preached in church and it went for way too short. I probably set the record for quickest a church service has ever gotten out. You know you haven't spoken for long enough when afterward people tell you, "At least I didn't fall asleep," meaning that I didn't give them enough time to fall asleep.

Then there was the NYC presentation that Krista and I gave after we got back. The lesson I learned from that is even though you say stupid things, don't tell your entire church that you ever said, "I looked at the pamphlet and it said 50 states were represented and I said, 'Which ones are missing?'" That's not something you say when you have a mike in a church.

There are many times where I have not done a good job speaking. That's really my point here.