Heart Touchers - Guys and Grossness

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BOOGERS, BELCHES, AND BUGS--Guys and Grossness

booger (n) mucus from or in the nose, either green and gooey or green and crusty

belch (v) to eject gas noisily from the stomach through the mouth, to eructate.
(n) an eructation

bug (n) any terrestrial or aquatic insect with piercing, sucking mouth parts,
wingless or with two pairs of wings, as the stinkbug, squash bug, or bedbug
(v) to annoy or bother

"Why do guys act so immature?"
- Samantha, 17 - Christine, 14 - Brianna, 14 - Nicole, 16 -
Stacy, 15 - Hanna, 15 - Steph, 15 - Carrie, 14 - Sammie, 16, etc.

"Guys are rude and gross."
--Amanda, 16

"I hate to say it, but guys can be pretty slobbish."
--Pastor Dave, 42

Fact: The female body and the male body both have the same digestive system.

Fact: The female body and the male body both have the same sinus drainage system.

Fact: The female body and the male body both produce digestive gasses, sometimes
known as "burps" and "toots"

Fact: The female body and the male body both produce sinus mucus sometimes known
as "snot" or "boogers."

So why, then, does it seem like guys have the market on gross bodily fluids and gross
bodily noises?

Almost every single girl who filled out the guy and girl survey for this book had these
questions on their minds: "Why are guys so gross? Why are guys so immature? Why
do guys think stupid things are so funny? Why do guys laugh at dumb jokes? Why do
guys think body noises are such a big deal?"

Those questions may not seem related at first glance, but read them again. Do you see
a connection? Did you know that guys mature slower than girls? It's true. Teen guys are
about one to two years less mature than teen girls. Since the word immature sounds so
critical, let's use the words less mature to try to see how all those questions you just
read are related.

--Teen guys are less mature than teen girls.
--Since teen guys are less mature than teen girls, things that seem childish or silly
to the girls might seem funny to the boys.
--Since things like body noises, dumb jokes, and gross things are somewhat childish
and silly, teen guys, who are less mature than teen girls, might think those things
are funnier than teen girls do.

Do you see the connection?

Several years ago some scientists got together with some museum people who then
got together with a writer named Sylvia Branzei, and they created something called
"Grossology." It was a traveling science exhibit that was presented all over the
United States, and here are some of the facts it presented:

Burps and toots are results of gas buildup in the body.

A toot is not a backward burp.

Burping is officially known as "eructation."

Tooting does not have an official name. It is sometimes referred to as "farting,"
"passing gas," "breaking wind," "ripping one," and "cutting a puffy," among others.

Burps originate in the stomach and result from excess air combined with digestive acids.

Toots originate in the large intestine and result from the gas that is produced by
the bacteria that digests food.

People, both male and female, pass gas an average of 14 times a day.

Ants, by the way, do not burp.

Snot is produced when the mucus in your nose combines with bacteria-killing
chemicals. Snot coats the tiny hairs in your noise, which then help trap the dirt
you breathe, keeping it from getting into your lungs. You proceed to swallow the
dirty snot throughout the day, and then it is destroyed in your stomach. The nasal
area of a human being is one of the cleanest areas of the body.

On average, people, both male and female, manufacture and swallow about one
quart (about one liter) of their own snot a day.

The act of nose picking is officially referred to as "rhinotillexomania."

Don't you feel smarter now?

A few summers ago about 25 ninth graders from my town took a trip down to Chicago.
On the second morning of the trip the male and female leaders were both sleepdeprived,
exhausted, and haggard-looking. The male leader said to the female leader, "You
look awful. What happened last night?" The female leader said, "The girls were up
all night talking about boys, picking out their outfits for today, comparing their
shoes, trading clothes, modeling their swimsuits for each other, painting their
nails, plucking each other's eyebrows, telling stories, and doing their hair. I didn't
get any sleep. You look awful, too. What happened to you?"

The male leader said, "I was up until four in the morning while the guys all tried to
outfart one another. I didn't get any sleep, either, but I did have a few good laughs."

No one is able to say for sure why guys and girls have such a different viewpoint
on body noises and function, but here are a few possibilities:

- Girls, as we said earlier, mature sooner than guys. But eventually the guys catch
up. When was the last time your dad burped out loud at a restaurant? You see,
they do grow out of it.

- Girls tend to be more inhibited because they have higher levels of the brain
chemical serotonin, which works like the brakes in a car. It's easier for girls to
say to themselves, "My stomach is really churning right now. This could be a
problem. What am I going to do? One thing's for sure. I'm not going to do anything
in public that might be embarrassing."

- The part of the brain that keeps a person interested and attentive is less sensitive
in guys than girls, so they get bored more easily. When they get bored, they often
start acting up, wiggling, being silly, etc. In a girl's brain the "thinking" part more
easily overrides the "reacting" part than it does in a guy's brain.

One of the problems with understanding guys during the teenage years is that their
bodies often look mature, but their brains aren't quite at the same developmental
level. In other words, their bodies are grown, but their brains aren't. Because of that
the mantra of many teen girls when they're with teen guys is, "Would you just
grow up already?!"

Actually, some girls start saying this as early as kindergarten when boys have
been known to pull on a girl's braids as a way to get her attention, to chew up
his food and then display it to the entire class on the tip of his tongue, or to pick
his nose and then promptly consume whatever it is that's dangling from the
tip of his finger.

Television commercials and sitcoms often make it seem like guys never grow
out of the less mature stage. The media seems determined to portray guys both
young and old as immature, childish, silly, sports-fanatical, car-crazy, toy-loving
creatures who, like Peter Pan, never grow up. And it must be good for sales;
otherwise the media would stop doing it.

The fact is, however, that there are lots of teenage guys who never burp in public,
never tell silly jokes, aren't interested in gross things, and act rather mature for
their age. If there are 15 guys and 15 girls in a high school class, and if only two
or three of the guys act immature and love to make body noises in public, the 15
girls will usually define the entire teenage male population as "immature,
disgusting, and gross" based on those few individuals.

Likewise, if only two or three of the girls in the class talk nonstop about shopping,
gossip about other people, and don't know how to change a tire on their cars, the
15 boys will usually define the entire teenage female population as "backbiting,
shopaholic ditzes" based on those few individuals.

Not only do girls often broadly categorize all guys as gross and immature, but they
also tend to forget that many members of their own gender fit the same description.
I had three roommates in college who could beat any guy in a burping contest. I've
been in cars and buses and classrooms with girls who could clear out a football
stadium with the body sounds and smells they produced. And I've been at
sleepovers with senior high girls who giggle and laugh and whisper and tell
secrets just like third graders.

The biggest difference between the gross level of guys and girls is that girls
tend not to brag about their skills. Guys, you may remember, are very competitive.
So of course, if there are gross body noises being discussed, there will naturally
be a contest to see who's best . . . or worst, as the case may be. A guy may
congratulate his friend on a magnificent burp, but he will then immediately
proceed to try and outburp him. A girl, on the other hand, will probably just
congratulate her friend and leave it at that.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, for as long as anyone can remember,
society has looked to females to be genteel, refined, and polite. That's not to
say that people expected males to be the opposite. Rather they expected that
the gentle and refined politeness of females would encourage males to follow
suit. Does it really work this way?

That's a little hard to say. Certainly, if a guy has a crush on a girl and he finds
out that she thinks burping is disgusting, he might change his behavior, at least
when he's in her presence. Then again he might decide he's not quite ready to give
up this exciting pastime and that girls can wait for a while. Truly, girls, this issue
is a bit of a mystery, even to the guys themselves.

I met with a group of guys (all different ages) and told them that girls didn't
understand why guys thought body noises and silly things and gross stuff
and childish behavior were such a big deal. The guys laughed, pushed each
other around a little bit, joked, and then one of them burped. Loudly.

Then I asked them if they could tell me why so many guys did those things, and
they were at a loss for words. "I don't know." "Just because it's fun, I guess." "We
just do, that's all." Those were as precise as the answers got. One senior guy said,
"It's just something we do, but as we get older, we stop. Or at least we do it less."
And then I noticed that it was mostly the younger guys who were acting silly and
trying to burp the alphabet. The older guys were considerably more polite.

This difference in age behavior showed up in the guy and girl surveys. The younger
guys who filled out the survey often wrote down sarcastic, silly, ridiculous answers.

For example, one young guy gave these answers--

Name some things that guys (in general) are better at than girls: Everything
Name some things that girls (in general) are better at than guys: Nothing.

Another young guy gave these answers--
Name some things that guys (in general) are better at than girls: spitting, burping,
farting, going to the bathroom standing up.
Name some things that girls (in general) are better at than guys: cooking,
cleaning, having babies, being crabby, being annoying.

Many of the older guys, on the other hand, seemed to have more thoughtful
and honest answers.

One older teen guy wrote:

Name some things that guys (in general) are better at than girls: I don't know . . .
some are better at sports. Some aren't. Some are better at mechanical things.
Some aren't. It all depends. I do think we're better at letting go of a problem or
conflict once it's over with.
Name some things that girls (in general) are better at than guys: I think girls
are really good at building close friendships. They understand relationships
better than guys, I think. They're also better at understanding and relating to
other people's feelings.

Can you see the difference between these answers? Clearly, as guys get older,
their maturity starts to become apparent. It just arrives a little bit later than it
does for most girls.

So what can you do about a guy whose immaturity is starting to really get you
down? I think it's very appropriate for girls to let a guy know if he's doing something
that's rather impolite. If a guy walks up to you, makes a crude joke, and then laughs,
you have every right to say, "You know, I don't really appreciate that at all. Please
don't talk to me that way." That's going to accomplish much more than saying,
"You jerk. You're so stupid. Why don't you just grow up and stop being such an
animal." If you say something like that, he might just laugh and think, "Wow,
that was awesome! Maybe if I do the same thing tomorrow, she'll scream and
make a girly scene."

In the end, girls, this is what it comes down to:

- Not all guys are gross, disgusting slobs who think boogers are for bouncing,
bugs are for smashing, and burps are for communicating.
- The guys in your school (or family or church) whom you consider to be
"immature, gross, disgusting slobs" probably still have some maturing to do. Be patient.
- The fact that you are annoyed by some guys' behavior doesn't make you better
or superior. Nor does it give you a right to trash guys.
- Most guys grow up to be decent and kind men . . . even the ones who, right now,
think it's cool to make fake farting sounds by sticking one hand under their armpit
and then pumping their elbow up and down really fast.
- No one asked you to be the politepolice. If you are a well-mannered, mature
young woman, good for you. The world needs more people like that. But let your
behavior be your example to others instead of resorting to lecturing, eye-rolling,
tsk-tsking, and the ever famous, "Just grow up, will you!?"

TO READ--

Proverbs 13:20

TO THINK ABOUT--

1. Do you think the girls or guys in your grade act more mature? Why?
2. In what ways have you noticed guys your age maturing over the past few years?
3. Think of some examples of commercials that portray guys as being dumb, immature slobs.
How do you react when you see these? Why do you think advertisers portray guys like this?
4. Why do people think body noises are ruder coming from a girl than from a guy?

**

Taken from "What's Up With Boys?" by Crystal Kirgiss, copyright 2004, Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission. Order the book here.
https://shop.youthspecialties.com/store/product.php?productid=207

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Creation Q & A

Q: Are Creationists Anti-Science?

A: Anyone familiar with the creation/evolution debate should know that anti-creationists
love to lob the accusation that creationists are "anti-science" or that they "reject science."
Evolutionists frequently label creationists "flat-earthers" and even go as far as
suggesting that consistent creationists should deny the law of gravity!

What's more, these assertions are sometimes made with the implication
(or outright allegation) that creationists are openly anti-science. So, for those
who haven't already made up their minds before hearing us out, are we truly
against science? Not at all! Answers in Genesis (like other creationist groups)
affirms and supports the teaching and use of scientific methodology, and we
believe this supports the biblical account of origins. So why all the disagreement?

Much of the problem stems from the different starting points of creationists and
Darwinists. Everyone, scientist or not, must start their quests for knowledge with
some unprovable axiom--some a priori belief on which they sort through experience
and deduce other truths. This starting point, whatever it is, can only be accepted by
faith; eventually, in each belief system, there must be some unprovable, presupposed
foundation for reasoning (since an infinite regression is impossible).

For Bible-believing Christians, God's Word is our starting point: our presupposed
foundation through which we interpret and balance fallen man's ideas, including
those derived scientifically. Although some may consider this a foolish faith, everyone
has such faith in something. But which is foolish: faith in the unmovable Word of the
omniscient creator God or faith in man's fallible, changing ideas?

Read the rest of this article at:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/02/04/do-creationists-reject-science#more

Source: AnswersinGenesis.org

Creation News

Click on the Bible above or visit the web site listed below!
http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Creation_News

This new addition to our web site will give you an article on the leading news in the
Creation/Evolution controversy each day.

This section also includes a rotating Question and Answer feature and a weekly Creation
Comic strip from the people at AnswersInGenesis.org.

Be sure to come back and visit each day for an informative article that will help you
keep up to date on the latest news in this controversial area!

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Thought For The Day

"The worst moment for an atheist is when he
is really thankful and has nobody to thank."

Verse for the Day

"Only a fool would say to himself, There is no
God." --Psalm 53:1a

Teen's Thought For The Day

Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech
you will ever regret. - Ambrose Bierce

Parent's Thought For The Day

"Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship
fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all."-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Coach's Thought For The Day

"Don't measure yourself by what you have
accomplished, but by what you should have
accomplished with your ability."

Deep Thought For The Day

"Ever notice that your dog gets mad at you when
you blow on his ear, but when you get in the
car he wants to stick his head out of the window?"

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Author MICHAEL T. POWERS
Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Christian Teenage Soul and
26 other inspirational books.

Over 125,000 people have listened to popular Chicken Soup Author Michael T. Powers'
free inspirational message entitled: "Breathing Life into Others". If you aren't one of them
just visit: http://www.Heart4Teens.com and click on the link to listen to the free
streaming audio message!

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live
in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

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ALL-STAR Youth Ministry

--The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI

If you are in 7-12th grade and live in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area and
would like to check us out, we meet every Sunday night from 6:30-8:00 PM at Faith Community
Church which is located at 2931 Lucerne Dr. in Janesville, WI. (About 3 blocks south-east
of Menard's.)

Currently we have students from Edgerton, Fort Atkinson, Milton, Janesville Craig, Janesville
Parker, Marshall, Franklin, Clinton, Beloit Memorial, and Beloit Turner. E-mail me back if you have
any questions about our weekly meetings or would like to come to any of our events that are listed
below... We have way too much fun and then, most importantly, talk about issues that are relevant
to you as a teenager.

This Week:

Continuing in our series entitled: "Demolishing Strongholds"

February 17: Demolishing Strongholds in Pop Culture - Part 1

Next Week:

February 24: Demolishing Strongholds in Pop Culture - Part 2

Visit our youth website to see our topics for 2008!

http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/upcoming_topics

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Teen Community Groups

6:30 - 8:00 PM Wednesday nights -- These groups are limited to no more than ten teens
and are split into Jr. High and High School ages. This night is for those teens who want to dig
deeper than what we do in All-Stars, but may not be ready to be a part of the Xtreme Teens.
These cell groups will also be doing special activities with each other as the year goes on to
build community.

Jr. High age meets at 2109 N. Pontiac and are led by Kent & Rachel Martin
(Call 373-0886 if you have any questions!)

High School age are led by Tedi Knox: 1110 Nantucket Dr. (Call 774-2592 if you have any questions!)

Xtreme Teens: Xtreme Teens meet on Wednesday nights from 6:30 - 8:00 PM all year
round at the Powers' house. This group is very extensive with weekly homework,
memorization, service projects, etc. Students interested in this group will have to fill out an
application, provide references as to why others think they should be involved with this, and sign
an agreement as to what is expected of them. Admission into Xtreme Teens is on a case by case
basis. Contact Pastor Michael for more details!

This Week February 20: A Channel For Blessing (Abraham)

For more info on our small groups, visit: http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/small_groups

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Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you?

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Life_Purpose