To be perfectly honest, I was worried about how this month's High Point would go. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled that our students would get to be engaged in serving our community in various ways. I was just wondering where our new people would go.
You see, we've been growing this semester. Students were bringing friends, and our average was steadily increasing. Not that I'm a fan of keeping tally--what I'm most excited about is that the students feel comfortable enough to bring new people.
Service projects mix that up a bit. The options included making meals/cookies for families in the church, praying for the schools/praying at a hospital, hanging out with a group of special needs adults, hanging out with kids whose parents are working to get back on their feet financially, and making/serving meals to Denver's homeless. New students aren't exactly comfortable with joining things like this. Which I can understand.
However, taking the attendance for last night, we were only about a dozen short of the number we had grown to by the end of October. And I had also given the students sheets to write their thoughts from the three weeks, and there was so much positive response! I know that some are eager to get back to the "normal" swing of things, yet at the same time, I know that this time was not wasted!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Dare2Share
This weekend's conference started and ended with a bang. Leeland began worship for Friday evening, and we were.. just a little late. The seven students and two interns (I'm included in that--no, not as a student, thank you!) were blessed with sweet suite tickets. A family of the church has a box in the Pepsi Center, and graciously gave us the seats for free!All that to say, we didn't have to scurry for seats, but had our own place all to ourselves! The view was all right, but the message was better. While I have had the chance to go a couple of times, things have always fallen through. Boy was I glad to go this time! Greg Stier, Zane Black and Derwin Gray were the main speakers. There was a play, multiple skits, various faith challenges, and the band Fee also performed. The central message concerned what it looks like to put on the full armor of God.
I couldn't possibly share everything with you, so here is what I shall call a buffet of information. Take your pick, and if you care to eat more, just let me know!
--music. Leeland was very good. I appreciated when the lead singer said that worship is not just singing, but it is something we do with all of our lives. I feel like students don't, well, and I don't, hear that enough. Fee's lead singer was also fantastic, and at points, things that he said, I wish I could have recorded for you, because they were so encouraging and true. Oh, and he often shouted, "Bad singers unite!" to encourage those of us who aren't that great of singers to just sing for joy to our Savior.
--speakers. Zane very much reminded me of the youth pastor I worked with at EBF this past year, Aaron Nebrija. Same mannerisms, craziness, and I feel like a similar conversion story. Greg had a gift of speaking clearly, and had a lot of encouraging evangelism stories that reminded me of some experiences I've had in my lifetime so far. And of course, Derwin was my favorite. I loved his enthusiasm and knowledge of the scripture. Something that most caught my attention was when he talked about playing in the NFL. He talked about how they would study their opponents for at least 30 hours a week, in addition to practicing as a team. "How much more, then, should we know the schemes of the evil one?" he had asked.
--silly moments. Let's see. There's when Alyssa and I were making funny faces at each other when she just stopped and said, "whoa! You're eyes are really blue!" haha. Or what about Bowman talking about how he tries to worship God all the time--even when he's pooping?! I'll admit, that one went too far, but we were all rolling! Singing at the top of our lungs (me and Janelle), "I AM FREEEEEEE TO DANCE!!!!" Oh yes, dancing was involved too.
--challenges. There was the challenge to talk about Jesus with our friends within the next 48 hours. Many of the students also had texted their friends to come to church the next day (awesome!).
--random. Another church group stayed overnight (Fri-Sat) at 4Cs with us. They had 80 students!! We ate dinner on Saturday at the Ross' and had AMAZING conversation about what it means to trust God and to share our stories with our friends. We played spoons! We watched Northwestern beat Michigan in the suite! I loved the interspersing of movie clips throughout the talks (from Ironman to Batman to Veggietales to Blood Diamond to the Spiderwick Chronicles to the Hulk to the Fantastic 4)--they were used effectively to illustrate the points.
There it is. And in the end, I was quite sleepy! But so worth it.
I couldn't possibly share everything with you, so here is what I shall call a buffet of information. Take your pick, and if you care to eat more, just let me know!
--music. Leeland was very good. I appreciated when the lead singer said that worship is not just singing, but it is something we do with all of our lives. I feel like students don't, well, and I don't, hear that enough. Fee's lead singer was also fantastic, and at points, things that he said, I wish I could have recorded for you, because they were so encouraging and true. Oh, and he often shouted, "Bad singers unite!" to encourage those of us who aren't that great of singers to just sing for joy to our Savior.
--speakers. Zane very much reminded me of the youth pastor I worked with at EBF this past year, Aaron Nebrija. Same mannerisms, craziness, and I feel like a similar conversion story. Greg had a gift of speaking clearly, and had a lot of encouraging evangelism stories that reminded me of some experiences I've had in my lifetime so far. And of course, Derwin was my favorite. I loved his enthusiasm and knowledge of the scripture. Something that most caught my attention was when he talked about playing in the NFL. He talked about how they would study their opponents for at least 30 hours a week, in addition to practicing as a team. "How much more, then, should we know the schemes of the evil one?" he had asked.
--silly moments. Let's see. There's when Alyssa and I were making funny faces at each other when she just stopped and said, "whoa! You're eyes are really blue!" haha. Or what about Bowman talking about how he tries to worship God all the time--even when he's pooping?! I'll admit, that one went too far, but we were all rolling! Singing at the top of our lungs (me and Janelle), "I AM FREEEEEEE TO DANCE!!!!" Oh yes, dancing was involved too.
--challenges. There was the challenge to talk about Jesus with our friends within the next 48 hours. Many of the students also had texted their friends to come to church the next day (awesome!).
--random. Another church group stayed overnight (Fri-Sat) at 4Cs with us. They had 80 students!! We ate dinner on Saturday at the Ross' and had AMAZING conversation about what it means to trust God and to share our stories with our friends. We played spoons! We watched Northwestern beat Michigan in the suite! I loved the interspersing of movie clips throughout the talks (from Ironman to Batman to Veggietales to Blood Diamond to the Spiderwick Chronicles to the Hulk to the Fantastic 4)--they were used effectively to illustrate the points.
There it is. And in the end, I was quite sleepy! But so worth it.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Falling Slowly
Ahhh... visions of driving down Sheridan road with Ariel and Jerred crying out the lyrics from the "Once" soundtrack just came back to me today. I've already been through the album 1.5 times. Is it possible to love it more each time I listen to it? Yes.
Thank you, Kala, for making sure we watched that movie last spring break. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to watch the movie right now, as I'm leaving in 7 minutes for Dare 2 Share with some students. Hmm. But at least it's one of the few movies I own (yay for blockbuster's cheap movie section).
I'm rambling, I know. I'm just happy/excited/and perhaps just a liiiiiittle bit sleepy. :)
Thank you, Kala, for making sure we watched that movie last spring break. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to watch the movie right now, as I'm leaving in 7 minutes for Dare 2 Share with some students. Hmm. But at least it's one of the few movies I own (yay for blockbuster's cheap movie section).
I'm rambling, I know. I'm just happy/excited/and perhaps just a liiiiiittle bit sleepy. :)
Friday, November 7, 2008
"I read your memo"
"It's a mission statement."
(I preferred a picture of the kid, rather than Mr. Cruise. I'm sure you understand.)
It's taken me awhile to write this. Last Wednesday, the youth group went to a local corn maze. It was awesome for many reasons. First of all, because it was my second time to go to one, and this was better than the first for several reasons--it was bigger, it was cheaper and we went through it in utter darkness.
The Senior High guys ran around with scary masks, although one of them was an Obama mask?, to scare a bunch of people. I just wandered around and joined various groups at different times. Which is the second reason why it was so fun. While we didn't have a lot of our regular student attenders, we had LOTS of visitors. I had even gone through the attendance list beforehand thinking, 'Hmm.. I'm not seeing how we will have enough students to come.' And yet, as God does so often, we had probably 15 people who do not normally come, come. (Ha. I love sentences like those)
Thirdly, the original plan for getting to the maze was via cheesewagon, aka School Bus. Unfortunately, the cost for renting made us quickly realize that this was not wise. So we put an ad in the weekly church email for volunteers to drive. Again, the Lord provided parents, and even a church member who used to have students in the youth group! In fact, we had too many seats! And because of this, we got to pair the regular youth group volunteers with each of the drivers so as to encourage.
On my way back to the church (I had gone both ahead and behind the group to work out details with the corn maze point person--yay for dealing with money for an event for the first time!), I had one of those many epiphanies that we have and end up telling ourselves, 'I should write that down!'
It was then even more appropriate that Jerry Maguire came on tv last weekend, as he has that Mission Statement moment in the beginning of the film that drives the change in his life throughout.
Not that what I will write down means much to many others. I just felt the need to write this down now before I forget. These are my goals for youth ministry, wherever that leads me:
1. Relationships first, programs somewhere later. The time one spends with a student is more valuable than the hours spent creating the "cool" event. These students are in need of God-love, not entertainment.
2. Find as many volunteers who have an equal passion for students--the ones who actually want to be there--to serve in the many places you can't be. A youth minister can not do anything on their own.
3. Find as many ways for parents to be involved, even in "small ways" (making meals, driving students, prayer, etc.). Youth group is not just some chance for us to babysit. The church is a place for community, and the more parents involved in the growing of their child (not just physically and emotionally, but spiritually!), the better. I know this to be true simply from the fact that I myself am not a parent. I don't get youth as well as I sometimes think that I do. Even if I used to be one!
4. Serve and suffer for your students. I was reading 2 Corinthians today, and I came across the passage of all that Paul went through for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the churches. I want to be prepared for sleepless nights of wrestling in prayer for these folks with very real dilemmas, I want to work hard, I want to be weak, boasting in His sufficient grace...
And there it is. Time for me to get ready for another soccer game.
(I preferred a picture of the kid, rather than Mr. Cruise. I'm sure you understand.)It's taken me awhile to write this. Last Wednesday, the youth group went to a local corn maze. It was awesome for many reasons. First of all, because it was my second time to go to one, and this was better than the first for several reasons--it was bigger, it was cheaper and we went through it in utter darkness.
The Senior High guys ran around with scary masks, although one of them was an Obama mask?, to scare a bunch of people. I just wandered around and joined various groups at different times. Which is the second reason why it was so fun. While we didn't have a lot of our regular student attenders, we had LOTS of visitors. I had even gone through the attendance list beforehand thinking, 'Hmm.. I'm not seeing how we will have enough students to come.' And yet, as God does so often, we had probably 15 people who do not normally come, come. (Ha. I love sentences like those)
Thirdly, the original plan for getting to the maze was via cheesewagon, aka School Bus. Unfortunately, the cost for renting made us quickly realize that this was not wise. So we put an ad in the weekly church email for volunteers to drive. Again, the Lord provided parents, and even a church member who used to have students in the youth group! In fact, we had too many seats! And because of this, we got to pair the regular youth group volunteers with each of the drivers so as to encourage.
On my way back to the church (I had gone both ahead and behind the group to work out details with the corn maze point person--yay for dealing with money for an event for the first time!), I had one of those many epiphanies that we have and end up telling ourselves, 'I should write that down!'
It was then even more appropriate that Jerry Maguire came on tv last weekend, as he has that Mission Statement moment in the beginning of the film that drives the change in his life throughout.
Not that what I will write down means much to many others. I just felt the need to write this down now before I forget. These are my goals for youth ministry, wherever that leads me:
1. Relationships first, programs somewhere later. The time one spends with a student is more valuable than the hours spent creating the "cool" event. These students are in need of God-love, not entertainment.
2. Find as many volunteers who have an equal passion for students--the ones who actually want to be there--to serve in the many places you can't be. A youth minister can not do anything on their own.
3. Find as many ways for parents to be involved, even in "small ways" (making meals, driving students, prayer, etc.). Youth group is not just some chance for us to babysit. The church is a place for community, and the more parents involved in the growing of their child (not just physically and emotionally, but spiritually!), the better. I know this to be true simply from the fact that I myself am not a parent. I don't get youth as well as I sometimes think that I do. Even if I used to be one!
4. Serve and suffer for your students. I was reading 2 Corinthians today, and I came across the passage of all that Paul went through for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the churches. I want to be prepared for sleepless nights of wrestling in prayer for these folks with very real dilemmas, I want to work hard, I want to be weak, boasting in His sufficient grace...
And there it is. Time for me to get ready for another soccer game.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A Glimpse of Small Group
Kayanne and Lexie led small group tonight. We looked at the book of Jonah, particularly the ending (which happens to be one of my favorite God and human interactions accounted for in the Bible). The student leaders asked what were somethings in our life that we treat similarly to the vine that grew up overnight, and was destroyed overnight (a vine Jonah neither tended to or made it grow).
One gal mentioned that maybe that worm was really hungry.
Another talked about her interactions with some mentally challenged friends at school.
Still another talked about the movie the Titanic.
But before you discount these students' comments, let me explain. The story of Jonah centers on grace. God shows compassion even to the wicked people of Ninevah, and this causes Jonah's great distress (the language is pretty strong--I kind of picture this wimpy prophet dude turning into the Hulk--that's how angry he was. And then, such an image always makes me chuckle...). The coolest verse to end off the story comes from God:
"Why can't I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don't yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?" (Message translation)
The girl who talked about the worm, was referring to when the vine was destroyed overnight. She explained that God was even showing compassion to the worm by giving him something to eat. Afterall, if God cares about the innocent animals (other translations say cattle), why wouldn't He be caring even about this little worm? Surely the story, and the circumstance about the vine, is not just about Jonah.
Right.
And the gal who talked about hanging out with her mentally challenged friends admitted that she often sees movies and images that display a certain standard of beauty. "I know it's foolish, but I want that," she said. But then, when she's hanging out with such friends, she's reminded of all that she already has. How good she's got it. How selfish she has been.
One girl piped in during this time that she gets so frustrated when she brushes her teeth faithfully every night, but then the dentist finds four cavities. FOUR! But her brother, who hardly brushes (ASIDE: which is gross, by the way), has none.
"And the beauty of grace is that it makes life unfair..." (Check out this story for even more juicy details. Or what about this one?)
The last one, the girl who talked about Titanic.. I actually have no idea what she was talking about. She talked quite fast, and well.. yeah.
Can I just say that I love how teenager's minds work to flesh out Scripture?
One gal mentioned that maybe that worm was really hungry.
Another talked about her interactions with some mentally challenged friends at school.
Still another talked about the movie the Titanic.
But before you discount these students' comments, let me explain. The story of Jonah centers on grace. God shows compassion even to the wicked people of Ninevah, and this causes Jonah's great distress (the language is pretty strong--I kind of picture this wimpy prophet dude turning into the Hulk--that's how angry he was. And then, such an image always makes me chuckle...). The coolest verse to end off the story comes from God:
"Why can't I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don't yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?" (Message translation)
The girl who talked about the worm, was referring to when the vine was destroyed overnight. She explained that God was even showing compassion to the worm by giving him something to eat. Afterall, if God cares about the innocent animals (other translations say cattle), why wouldn't He be caring even about this little worm? Surely the story, and the circumstance about the vine, is not just about Jonah.
Right.
And the gal who talked about hanging out with her mentally challenged friends admitted that she often sees movies and images that display a certain standard of beauty. "I know it's foolish, but I want that," she said. But then, when she's hanging out with such friends, she's reminded of all that she already has. How good she's got it. How selfish she has been.
One girl piped in during this time that she gets so frustrated when she brushes her teeth faithfully every night, but then the dentist finds four cavities. FOUR! But her brother, who hardly brushes (ASIDE: which is gross, by the way), has none.
"And the beauty of grace is that it makes life unfair..." (Check out this story for even more juicy details. Or what about this one?)
The last one, the girl who talked about Titanic.. I actually have no idea what she was talking about. She talked quite fast, and well.. yeah.
Can I just say that I love how teenager's minds work to flesh out Scripture?
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Gen Update
-- It is November and it was 70 degrees outside today. I took a long walk/run and listened to the Remedy album by David Crowder. And that is all I have about that.
--I didn't dress up for the 4Cs festival, but I face-painted! Kendra and I decorated the faces of young and old, from flowers to dragons to M&M's to horseshoes.. We also painted red masks on ourselves to help intimidate the other team for our soccer game after the festival. One of the players called me Batgirl! Yes!
--We enjoyed the Corn Maze this past Wednesday, and everything ran fairly smoothly. I was also delighted to see that we made almost enough money for a scholarship for Powderburn! God is good!
--This week, speaking of High Point, kicks off the service project month. A lot of prayer is needed for the preparation of that!
--I had dinner with two families this weekend. Saturday night with the Moores, where Rachel and I made tacos. I was sad that they didn't have the taco seasoning I'm used to making them with, but nonetheless it turned out delicious. We also played Hearts afterward. Tonight, I had dinner with the Leasure family, and I found out that the parents went to Pepperdine. We had a lot of laughs, as well as played some Cranium. I might've gotten a little competitive. haha. And I must laugh at myself again for humming the Star Wars themesong. Good moment.
--I started a book about Johnny Cash, and I have another about Bob Dylan for afterward. No, I don't know what exactly got me into a music, much less biography kick.
--Sad that Heroes is not on tomorrow. Annoyed by the election..
--Also sad that Holly is no longer going to be on the Office. I will miss her.
--I didn't dress up for the 4Cs festival, but I face-painted! Kendra and I decorated the faces of young and old, from flowers to dragons to M&M's to horseshoes.. We also painted red masks on ourselves to help intimidate the other team for our soccer game after the festival. One of the players called me Batgirl! Yes!
--We enjoyed the Corn Maze this past Wednesday, and everything ran fairly smoothly. I was also delighted to see that we made almost enough money for a scholarship for Powderburn! God is good!
--This week, speaking of High Point, kicks off the service project month. A lot of prayer is needed for the preparation of that!
--I had dinner with two families this weekend. Saturday night with the Moores, where Rachel and I made tacos. I was sad that they didn't have the taco seasoning I'm used to making them with, but nonetheless it turned out delicious. We also played Hearts afterward. Tonight, I had dinner with the Leasure family, and I found out that the parents went to Pepperdine. We had a lot of laughs, as well as played some Cranium. I might've gotten a little competitive. haha. And I must laugh at myself again for humming the Star Wars themesong. Good moment.
--I started a book about Johnny Cash, and I have another about Bob Dylan for afterward. No, I don't know what exactly got me into a music, much less biography kick.
--Sad that Heroes is not on tomorrow. Annoyed by the election..
--Also sad that Holly is no longer going to be on the Office. I will miss her.
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