Monday Morning Quarterback: Preparation

Note: Monday Morning Quarterback is a recurring post that examines personal and pastoral events of Sunday. 

Someone said preparation is not the same thing as planning.

I planned a discussion with confirmation students about the position of Christianity in American culture. I printed copies of the chart from this report, but I wasn’t prepared for a student’s objection to the lumping together of “Jewish,” “Muslim,” “Hindu,” and “Buddhist” under a category called “Other.” I offered a sterile defense of research methodology and missed a moment of righteous indignation.

The Youth Intern proudly announced to the junior high students that he had knocked out a foreboding piece of his wedding planning by securing the venue 21 months in advance. He reported the date. I checked my calender. “Oh, that’s a Sunday.” His face fell. He wasn’t prepared for 7th graders to cackle as him, nor from his enraged fiancee’s condemnation: “You had one job!!”

After a Saturday cooking class and the purchase of a new cookbook, I planned my family’s weekly meals on paper. I took daughter shopping with me after church, then returned home to spend the next two hours chopping produce, making stock to freeze, and cooking rice for use throughout the week. But I wasn’t prepared for Daughter’s indifference as she turned up her nose at what I was making. Cookbook, meet trash can.

We’re planning three high school youth group sessions on romance, dating, and relationships. I enlisted students’ help in planning specific topics. Giggles. Silence. Jokes. I’m no more prepared now than I was before.