Big Lies

I was reading this article in a local Christian newspaper about lies people believe as truth. There were 12 of these lies, which a few I don't know if I totally agree with but there are a few that I most certainly find to be true especially working with teenagers. The first one that caught my attention is people have this belief that they are inherently good. It shocks me that people think they are "good." Maybe there is a little logic that goes with this thought in that good is relative from one person to the next and if we can make our own definitions of it then how can anyone be classified as such. Which brings me to the next lie believed to be truth.

The belief that there is no such thing as truth. In my opinion this is a really scary thing to believe, and so many teenagers even "Christian" teens are buying this one. I am not sure if its something we are teaching them in schools or if parents are not being direct enough about right and wrong. The ideas though maybe not termed in a teenage mind are easily pointed out to be relativism, subjective, and objective truth. Even Christian adults 20's and 30's have trouble with these. And the more that I think about it the more angry I become. I believe we have all gotten to this place as Christians by believing that what is sin and conviction to one person does not apply to all. I really don't have the time or the brain to really attack any of these, but I do have the heart to say that it concerns me and I honestly don't have answers. I just know that unless absolute truth is sought and bought into younger generations of Christians will learn to accept anything and therefore not stand for anything at all.

There are so many other lies that are out there everyday that we buy into as Christians especially here in America, as we desire God's best for our lives yet somehow mistakenly think that that is to own a home w/ a white picket fence, and having 2.5 children. I am not saying that can't be what God wants for you but I am thinking that in order for God to accomplish what His desires are for the world that it can't be true for all of us. I believe God's will is just as creative and interesting as the many personalities and gifts that He has given us as humans. If you struggle to know if you have clouded The truth with lies don't read another book or blog about it...read the Bible because real absolute truth lies in the person of Jesus Christ and not our own revelation of our own reality!

The Network...

To my understanding the Youth Pastors in this area of South Florida have been having "network" meetings for years. I was made aware of this pretty early on in moving here to Florida, working for a Christian clothing store. And when I came of staff with Youth for Christ almost 3 years ago I was excited to be apart of this "network" of youth Pastors and youth workers. In the last 3 years however this network has changed so many different times in so many different ways. It is after all logical that it would have changes, I mean the average stay for a youth pastor is like 18 months or something crazy like that, and leadership is hard for one person with other obligations to prioritize when "networking" isn't a part of their job description.

Well this week we had some miscommunication that took place between some members of the network, and not only am I unclear as to what happened, but there was another organization that may have gotten the impression that YFC was not for them or with them. This is not really the point of this post but this situation got me thinking what does networking mean and when it comes to the Kingdom and His causes how do we accomplish this.

I would never dare to suggest that I have any answers or that my ideas are correct, I just think when it comes to the kingdom and reaching the lost we all have lost the purpose of networking. We constantly pin larger churches in competition with smaller churches, and one organization against another. And this is sad, I can't help but believe that satan is having a hay day with this kind of philosophy, being able create this idea that we don't ALL have the same mission and calling to reach the lost and to disciple believers. This individualized understanding of different talents and gifts doesn't mean we reach out in different ways, doesn't it in fact mean that we work together to do it more completely???

Well I could go on and end up in a very long dialog that has nothing to do with this topic, but I want to know what do you think about networking, have you seen it done right? Or maybe I'm way off and the purpose of a network should be something else- maybe encouragement or accountability? Either way I'm not positive but I don't think the word network is even used in the Bible....however "unity" is used several times in scripture, perhaps we should strive for more of that?

28 things

I recently celebrated my 28th birthday, which by the way was a lot of fun and very well celebrated. But in honor of this "milestone" in my life I want to share 28 lessons/insights that I have learned about myself and life in the last 28 years!

1. Candy is great, always was always will be! I like dark chocolate best!

2. Meatloaf is seriously over-rated---I do not like, it never have, sorry mom!

3. Climbing trees is really cool until your like 20 then it just looks awkward.

4. Learning how to throw a football is a must for a girl to learn.

5. Skateboarding was easier when I was in the 3rd grade.

6. Having the biggest room in the house is great until cleaning day :(

7. Putting extra sugar on your cereal is really not necessary.

8. Saved By the Bell, was the last great Saturday morning show!

9. 90210 was not a show to learn life's lessons from.

10. When you hide a present don't hide it too well, otherwise it may never be found.

11. I forget birthdays all the time and people still love me? (So its ok to forget, sometimes)

12. Cheesy pick-up lines are fun to try on strangers.

13. I like cake, not frosting though??

14. I'm very glad that flannel was only a temporary fashion trend.

15. I think that when you graduate high school you should move away whether or not you move to go to college.

16. There is a lot more to do in Las Vegas than gamble.

17. I love 4 seasons, (missed them while living in Vegas, still miss them in Florida)

18. Its important to make your bed everyday if you can.

19. Say no to Kava....if you don't know what that is, don't even bother investigating really just say NO.

20. Musicals are the best form of entertainment for a woman...singing/dancing/acting, fabulous combo!

21. The older I get the more I appreciate my time alone.

22. Chick-a-filet is addictive, so stay away if possible. (no not really, but think about it)

23. Cats are disgusting- enough said

24. I am seriously grossed out and afraid of birds.

25. Being single at this age is kind of the bomb!

26. Internet networking like facebook and twitter can't replace actual human interaction but are really cool.

27. Exercise and eating right is important, because after 26 its harder to keep up the look of a 19 year old.

28. Jesus can change a lives.

Summer 2010- Update 1

As usual I have let way too much time pass since my last blog entry...alas I must start somewhere. The summer is nearing an end, and school has been back in session for the past 2 weeks. So that means that my schedule is moving fast and before I know it Christmas will be here. It seems as though I have not been home at all in the last month or so, which makes sense seeing how most of July and August I was gone. The beginning of July I went back home to Kansas, I had a fantastic time seeing friends as it was over the 4th of July weekend so a lot of us were home. The other days in Kansas I spent with my family, my grandmother passed away so I was able to see cousins and aunts and uncles that I haven't gotten to see in 3 years! Despite the circumstances it was great to see my family and to have the opportunity to be there for them as they grieved. For the first time since graduating high school I had a REALLY hard time leaving Wamego. I even found myself looking in the classifieds...but I came to my senses and hopped on the plane back to Florida. Upon my return I had a very short amount of time to prepare for YFCamp and to move into my new apartment. I left July 29th for Maryland- returned Aug. 7th to leave again Aug. 9th. I got home to my new apartment Aug, 14th, I crashed for a day and a half and bounced back in time for Monday. Needless to say its full speed ahead into the school year and I have barely caught my breathe from an amazing summer! I just wanted to update on life as I have been out of sync for a while. I plan to share more about the specifics of YFCamp and where God is leading Campus Life this school year at another time.

Redeeming Love

I don't blog too often, and I don't read all that often either but this summer the Bible study that I had been a part of decided to read the book Redeeming Love and do a book club with it. I just finished the book and can't stop thinking about it, I wish I hadn't finished it and that I was still reading it. Needless to say I will have plenty to share at book club this Wednesday, but I have been pondering why I can't seem to get the story out of my head, and concluded that since I rarely blog that this might be a good place to share my thoughts.

First off if you haven't read the book you should, like I said I don't read a whole lot and I managed to finish the book in three days. I could barely put the book down, and whenever I did I would keep thinking about the story. I know I'm not the first person to read this book and recommend it to others. I figure that most people have already read it and I'm behind, but just in case you haven't read it I will try not to give too much away and only share the places it has caused me to go in my mind.

The story in short is about a young woman and the many wounds that had been inflicted upon her in her life, and the man who loved her and would not relent in his pursuit. Of course this is not just a love story, (it is a retelling of the story of Hosea in the Bible). The magic of this book if I may say so, is that as the man is attempting to give a new hope to her, I felt the hope of love coming back to me as well. The underlying spiritual principle of God and His relentless love to not only pursue us but His pursuit of His sovereign will for others to come to Him through our lives struck me differently than it ever had before through the telling of this story.

The other piece of this story that has kept me thinking is how neatly our lives are intertwined in the lives of those who are closest to us. I obviously know that I do not personally exist so closely to Jesus that I can see what He is doing the lives of those around me all the time. Reading a story you can begin to see how easily created characters are used to tell a greater story and in this story every character was telling God's story. I know that in our own lives we tell God's story but WOW, I wish I could see how me along with my friends are telling God's story, or how my family and I are telling God's story together.

Needless to say the ideas in this book Redeeming Love are not new but it has made me think about the perspective of an author...an all-knowing, loving author who never stops working in the world regardless of how hopeless we become in life, relationships, and love. We live in a world full of people who are dying inside their hearts, crying out to be redeemed from a world that has broken us all.

Loss

Several months ago a friend of mine lost someone close to them, and I watched them go into a tail-spin of sorts. They became someone that I didn't know, and didn't handle it in the way that I would think they might have. It has taught me quite a bit in reflection about loss and all the emotions attached to it. There are a few reasons I would choose to blog about such a "depressing" subject. First off everyone experiences loss, whether it be a loved one or the loss of hope in a situation or relationship, but what I want to talk about is loss in ministry.
In the ministry that I run there are all sorts of different ways to experience loss. I could lose support financially. I lose leaders and volunteers it seems regularly and that loss is certainly felt, but the loss that I want to focus on is the loss of students. My Campus Life club seemed to be growing for several months, and all of a sudden it fell in numbers, for a number of reasons that I understand and I'm sure some that I am unaware of. For the last two years, I have had a couple of students who have totally bought into Campus Life and been excited for everything that we do! They were juniors last year, and are seniors this year and will be graduating in a couple of months. You see last year I didn't have any seniors, so I didn't have to worry about who or what I was losing, but this year is completely different I am losing over half my Campus Life to graduation. I am so excited for these students, I know its their time to move on. I personally miss them already, many of them have stopped coming all together because their schedules have gotten them over -loaded already.
I share this as a loss for me because I have trouble invisioning Campus Life without them. I know that is wrong to say because my vision does span well beyond them as individuals but with my group still being so small I built quite a bit around them. Now I have to move forward and re-work some things with the loss of my consistent students. I am still very, very new at this whole ministry thing and I am not sure how I will cope with the loss to my ministry as well as the loss to myself. It causes me to face all sorts of fears, what if I do crash and burn after this year and what if we don't grow? What if I don't find a new set of key students to help me with Campus Life?
All these fears are accurate, but the truth is not found in my fears. The truth is found in my faith in God to provide a new season for Campus Life, knowing that as I continue to walk in Him I will "walk" into the right students and Campus Life will continue to grow and prayfully flourish! I know youth pastors deal with this all the time, your only in high school for 4 years and then your gone-that's the cycle, simple as that. Perhaps I'm just being a baby and not handling loss in the way that I am supposed to. I need to understand that loss happens and in my personal experience it causes you to grow, and even mature. Though I miss my students already I look forward to the growing opportunity it provides for myself as well as Campus Life.

Struggles

It once again has been almost a month since my last post, and so often I have what I feel like are great ideas but alas never follow through to get them up on this blog. Seeing however that I created this blog as a way to keep people involved in the ministry and struggles therein I will confess a couple of struggles that I have known are weaknesses for a while but have done little to take action on.
One thing that I fail at is technology, I know many of the things that I should be doing yet don't follow through to educate myself on those things. Facebook for instance is one of those things that for personal use has been really cool and fun, but translating it to a tool that I use for my ministry has been more difficult. And most youth ministers these days are on top of those sort of things. I desire to be on the "cutting edge" yet I have not found the balance of how it works with my personality and interest in ministry. Maybe it doesn't and I have failed to recognize that. I mean should it be easy?
Either way everything is moving so fast in our society today maybe I should be slowing it down for students? Seems like everyday there is something new added to the technology spotlight, I'd have to say that Jesus seemed to keep it pretty simple. He focused on building relationships and meeting new people, but then again teens today totally rely on the internet to build relationships with friends. They go home after school and will spend 4 hours chatting online with friends instead of out actually hanging out with them, or they will text all day instead of having an actually conversation. Well now it seems like maybe I am talking about two different topics, my own deficency in being knowledgable about new technology, and students struggles to know how to really communicate. Its obvious how the two effect one another and at any rate it all has been on my mind lately and has become a bit of a struggle to work through.
The other weakness/struggle that I have been having is more personal, and more of a conviction that I have had. My prayer life has revolved more around myself recently and less on the high school and the students that inhabit it. Last night at Campus Life it was very apparent that there was something lacking...prayer. I had the evening all planned and my lesson worked out and ready, but it didn't seem to matter how prepared I was those students were nuts and unattentive. Not too unusal for high school students but it felt different and once I began to reflect on it I realized prayer had been totally absent from my preparations and delivery on the evening. Huge mistake, but I hope to move forward with this experience to remind me that the most important element of my ministry cannot be missing. I have done well to enlist and invite others to pray for Royal Palm Beach High school, and Campus Life, but have obviously lacked in following through with the task myself.

Isn't He Amazing

This one will be short, so I'm going to get right to the point. God is Amazing, I'm not really aware of too many people who read this blog that would disagree with that. And He is amazing in all ways not just the few that I can recall from recent times. At this point there is no need for me to not be honest, but I have been living in a coma-like state. My personal life has been a complete mess. I understand that many people have problems and I would never claim to have more than anyone else, or that mine are more important than the next guys but geez I am a mess. Well I have been for about the last 5 months. I won't go into details or rather let me spare you the details...lol.

We all know the verses in the Bible that describe God being strong in our weaknesses... well I am weak, I'm poor, and I'm broken. But I am His, and He has held me even when I have not acknowledged it. More over He has sustained and even grown my ministry. Of course its His ministry anyway, but I don't deserve His intervention on something that I have in recent times neglected. My emotional coma...has caused me to back away from friendships, and even my family. The ministry though, God has given me more than enough to give out to the students around me. He really is the only thing that is good about me. The only good that ever comes from my life comes from Him inside me. And as I stumble through this life personally and professionally (in ministry) He is all that I need! Though I often struggle to be content with that, it is the truth that sustains my hardest days. I have always been aware that He does the real work in ministry, but in my recent struggles He is doing ALL the work and I've never experienced Him like this before. So I just have to say isn't He Amazing!

Tell me about the most amazing thing He has done for you in the past 6 months!

Gatlinburg 2009

The day after Christmas we loaded up 34 students, along with 8 adults on a bus heading to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The trip is meant to be a retreat of sorts for high school students. One of our favorite things about the trip is that we are not involved in the planning or execution of the trip. Another YFC chaper from Alabama plans and puts on the event every year. We stay at a fairly nice hotel, and Gatlinburg is a confined tourist town where the students are pretty free to hang out and chose there activites. The activites range everywhere from mini-golf and lazer tag, to aquariums and indoor skydiving. On our way home we stopped to have a snowball fight which pleased many of the Floridian students who had never seen snow before!
Needless to say it was a fantastic trip where we got to spend a ton of time just hangin out with the students. On the way up to Tennessee I had one student tell me about what he had done the night before, (out at the strip clubs) which didn't surprise me too much but caught me off guard as he had never opened up that much before. From that moment on I knew the trip would be a positive experience where I would be able to grow the relationships that I had already established with the students. One more exciting thing to watch happen on trips like this is to se the bonds that build amongst the 3 different schools who are represented. I believe that Campus Life gets more credibility and gains momentum from the students realizing that Campus Life happens in more places than just their school, and more places than West Palm Beach, FL. All in all it was a fun, and very successful trip...I can't wait to return next year. If you are interested in seeing pictures you can look on facebook, we created a Gatlinburg 2009 facebook group where all the students have shared pictures and more!