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A Life Inspired

The beginning of Matthew 4 tells the story of the temptation of Jesus. He was out in the wilderness for 40 days and Satan himself tries to tempt Jesus into sin. To fight off this attack, Jesus used scripture! Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is "sharper than any double edged sword." When used properly, the Bible can be used as a weapon used against evil. But just like any other weapon, when not used properly it's useless or maybe even be something that causes us harm. So how do we use scripture properly? We study our Bible. The Word is cleansing, if we take heed according to the Word, our way will be cleansed. The Word has healing power, it is the source of our strength, it is our Counselor when we struggle, and when it is heard and understood, we are able to bear fruit. The Bible can dramatically change and transform our lives. It's not just a collection of old stories and myths, it is "Living and Active!" A teacher or preacher doesn't make the Bible alive, IT IS ALIVE! Once we find out we can start living that life God is inspiring us to live.

Smiling Down

Today marks the two year anniversary of the death of one of our youth, Billy Rippetoe. It hit our kids pretty hard, Billy was a great guy. He had finally turned that corner where youth camp was more than just another fun week in the year and that he allowed God to transform him. Then in a biking accident, he suffered internal injuries and that night passed on to join our Lord.

This incident caused many of our students to grow up faster than they probably should have, but they grew up together and the bond between many of them are now stronger because of it. God uses everything to glorify Him, including great a loss like this.

Sometimes, the pain of a loss like this can be too much to bear and we cry to God asking "Why?" But, I take joy, great joy, in knowing where he is. There is a song called "Smiling Down" by Pillar that I love. Whenever I hear this I think of all the friends and family that I've lost. But, when I hear this song I remember that they aren't lost. Far from it, they are up above, forever worshiping our Lord! So don't worry and don't distress. He's right there by Jesus' side, smiling down on us.

John 16:20 -- "You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy."
Matthew 5:4 -- "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
John 11:35 -- "Jesus wept."

We love you, Billy!! And we can't wait to join you by the side of Jesus!!

Eight Years Ago

Eight years ago, a day started just like any other day
Eight years ago, something terrible happened
Eight years ago, the world changed forever



Eight years ago, I saw the worst in the world
Eight years ago, I saw hate that I never knew existed
Eight years ago, I saw innocence lost




Eight years ago, tears were shed
Eight years ago, peace was stolen
Eight years ago, the fear was overwhelming



Eight years ago, our courage was tested
Eight years ago, our values contested
Eight years ago, our faith was challenged



Eight years ago, heroes died....



Eight years ago, a nation was united
Eight years ago, people cared about others
Eight years ago, hope was restored



Eight years ago, I saw the best in the world
Eight years ago, I was proud to be an American
Eight years ago, I lived a day I will never forget

My 5 Favorite Moments this Summer

What a summer!! It was so awesome! I just can't believe how fast it went. We just had our final youth event for the summer this past Friday and our summer intern just finished his last Sunday with us this year- so I was just thinking back on some of the great times I had this summer.

There were so many! More than ever Evan (summer intern) and I spent so much time with the kids, it was a blast. Last year was when I surrendered to the call to ministry, but this summer was so much more meaningful. I knew my role, I knew my responsibilities, I knew what it meant to be a minister and I was able to build relationships so much better than I did before.

Here are my top 5 favorite moments:

1.)"Let have co-ed room mates"
"but not in a shady, skanky way" A legit suggestion from Rachel Tom-Quinn on the first week of the summer. I'll just leave it at that. We're still laughing at her for that one. ;) love ya Rachel

2.)Jay's sandwich!

So here's the story: We took a group of students to Cornerstone to work with their homeless ministry. Students were suppose to bring either a sack lunch or money. One of our students, Jay, brought a sack lunch but when Evan, the other intern, took a look at what he had Evan noticed that Jay's sandwich was molding. So we made a big deal about ho could Jay not notice that the bread he used was moldy. We forgot about it until the next day when we found out he left it in the van. The mold was spreading, but instead of throwing it away we threw it (in the bag) on the dash and left it there. By the end of the trip it was disgusting, but it became the mascot of the trip. We wanted to save it for Camp and show the glory that was Jay's Sandwich.... but the cleaning crew threw it away the day before camp. Sad :(

3.)Who else seen a Leprechan say yeah!
YEAH!!! Haha... pretty much the motto of youth camp this year. We had a few college students that came with us to camp this year and they kept quoting this video on Youtube all week. By the end of the week, all you had to say was "who else seen a leprechan say yeah!" and half of the camp would reply "YEAH!" Another big quote was "coulda been a crackhead!" Just saying those two lines brought smiles and laughter to everyone around. Even thought the obsession has disappeared, when ever I hear someone say either of those lines brings a smile to people's faces.



4.)41 at Cici's
We've started this thing this summer where we've been having lunch on Mondays at various places. It's pretty cool, we probably averaged about 10 to begin with, but it was fun to just chill for about an hour or two with the students. But the Monday after we got back from camp, we got 41!! Awesome, I was hoping that since I was going to be continuing as intern I would be able to build on the excitement of camp and community that we all felt. Going from about 10 to 41 was exactly the type of thing I was hoping for.

5.)Hanging out with our seniors for the last time

When I first started working in the youth group as a sunday school teacher, these kids were 7th graders. They were the first class I got to see grow up and go all 6 years through the youth group. The past 6 years have been tough, a sexual harrassment between an adult and student, being without a senior pastor for over 2 years, the death of not only our childrens minister but a fellow student and friend. Any one thing that happened in the past six years would cripple a youth group, but they stayed together and stayed strong. The first kid I started discipling is in this class. Of all the classes that have gone through, this is a class we never needed to worry about hurting the youth group, they always did the right thing and always

With all their schedules being different as to when they leave to college, the week after camp Evan and I got as many of the seniors as we could and just spent the day with them. It was a great time of fellowship and there was definitely love of God there with us.

This was a GREAT summer!! For me at least, this was better than last summer. For the first time in a long time, I think things are finally going in the right direction, we're starting to fight back against Satan and him trying to destroy our church. I'm looking forward to the coming year and the things that God has planned for not only our church, but our youth group. We have a great group of kids, all they need are adults to show them how to run for Jesus. Because he is desperately running for us!

The Gospel in 10 words

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Fallen and Flawed, and a recent post is several different bloggers summarizing the Gospel in 10 words or less. You should read the post because the writer adds some wonderful insight. But I wanted to go ahead and take a try at this:

"A broken world is saved by relentless, overwhelming love."

Wow, it's a lot harder than it looks... take a try, I'd love to see what some of you come up with.

Happy Birthday Mom!

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts....I love you mom!! :)

Everything

A powerful skit that our kids performed the last night at camp. No words can describe how this video makes me feel.



(this is not a video of our kids, only the skit)

Camp Recap

We had a wonderful week at camp!! JR Baker, our camp pastor, was at his best in my opinion. Before we left, we had one final time of worship where JR challenged our students one last time before they head home. One line sums up the challenge JR gave, "Anything in life worth having is going to be hard." What a wonderful truth!! JR is right on, no matter what they do in life, no matter what they want- to be a great athlete, to be a good player of their musical instrument, getting good grades, being the Christian God wants you to be- all of these things are hard to accomplish. We have to work at it. And if we don't have to work at it, then it's just an easy way out and not worth having.

We go through so many struggles in our life, and camp is a great way to not only get away from outside world but to maybe learn how to deal with the struggles we're going to deal with everyday of our life. We need to learn what with Jesus on our side we can receive the strength to get through anything and press on towards the goal. We need to be running for Jesus because He is desperately running towards us.

Even though camp is over, this is not the end. Not even close!! It's the beginning, it's time to run for Jesus and live a life of overwhelming love. Jesus said the greatest commandments were to love God and love others, that's how others will know we are His followers. My prayer is that I can build on this wonderful experience at camp and help motivate these kids to run for Jesus everyday of their lives.

Camp, Day 4

This week is flying by. What a wonderful week it's been!! My favorite thing about camp is spending the entire week (pretty much 24/7) with our students. It is so much fun to just hang out and fellowship with everyone. Not only do current relationships strengthen, but new relationships and friendships are built. It's amazing what you can learn about somebody when you can talk to them for more than the couple hours a week that I see most of the kids. I can talk about so many different types of things, but the best part is that it is so much easier to open up your heart with others and have them open up their heart to me.

We have a few hours of free time each day, during this time we can do a number of things. We had people playing soccer, sand volleyball, ultimate frisbee, playing cards, and getting wet at a slip n slide. It always amazing to me to see how much you can relate to someone just by having fun with them. After we're done playing, all of a sudden they want to sit next to you at lunch and dinner, they start wanting to spend time with you.

I love everything we do at camp, but I think that the key to the whole thing is the fellowship that happens. Relationships are what can bring people to church, they can keep people at church, and they are what gets them to invite others to church. Never underestimate the power of the building relationships. That is what God calls us to do, that is what the early church was built on in the book of Acts.

Only one more worship session. Worship has been life changing this year. I just hope that the goosebumps these kids get, the emotions they feel, all come from the Holy Spirit moving in their heart. My prayer for for God's presence transforms these student's hearts.