WEEK 2

Life is good on the ministry front! The pic above was taken a couple weeks ago at youth. There's a lot of people in those pews!!!! :) It's been super exciting to watch new faces come in lately. This week has been hectic as usual, but at least without any major crises. Most teenagers I've seen this week have been smiling, other than a usual junior high best friend spat. That's a good week.

I put in a good 8-9 hours at the church this week, along with at least 7 hours of prep time and paper work. Sunday School went really well! I had lunch last Tuesday with one of my boys, and he gave me some suggestions for Sunday School. I used them, and it worked very well. Basically consisted of me rewriting the curriculum... If only I had that much time to pour into stuff every time. Being "part-time" can be so frustrating. Wednesday night's service was incredible, but exhausting. We've been going through a series on the church, and this week was the first of five weeks on the five purposes of the church. We started with worship, and I was really excited about the text and the message. I also wrote a skit that the volunteers put on in the beginning of the service. It was just a high energy and high conviction type of service. I was exhausted by the time I finished preaching. A couple people went to the altar--the Holy Spirit just moved in general.

After the service, Cassie (the girl pictured on the left) approached me saying that she would like to be baptized. WOOHOO!!!! I was super-excited. I have watched this girl grow and mature in her faith over the past couple years. It will be such a great testimony to her family to see her baptized. Tomorrow (Saturday) I am going to Lakeview to see a girl play basketball who used to be a part of our youth group. Her family moved an hour away, but she still attends Lakeview. We've kept in close contact, and it will be great to spend some time with her and cheer her on.

In my own spiritual life, God has been teaching me so many lessons the past few weeks. Our pastoral vote will be this Sunday. I have been praying with other friends from the church weekly that God's will would be accomplished. There has been a lot of the usual stress and tension that comes with situations like this. Yet through it all, God has been speaking to ME about His church and what He intends for it. The series I've been taking the teens through has been just as much if not more aimed at me. I'm learning so much about the Body. Praise God for the One Year Bible! It has been SUCH a blessing. I find myself looking forward to reading each day, yearning for it even. That is exciting! Also, a friend from Theology II last semester started a prayer meeting this week. The aim is simply to seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit for both sanctification and empowerment for ministry. We met Tuesday night for the first time, and I can't even express how much of a blessing and challenge it was. I felt rejuvenated--a feeling that I need a lot lately. God is still ironing out my understanding of my call, but the fog lifts more each day. I had meetings with Coach D and with Dr. Lennox this week. I am so thankful for their prayers and insight. The seminary choices have been on my mind a lot lately--just trying to pray, study, and not think about it otherwise. Some friends in the department and I are planning out visits to some soon.

Praise Jehovah God--He is GOOD!

WEEK 1

The past couple weeks in ministry have been very draining but also very rewarding. My activities this week have basically been my usual routine--teaching Sunday School (an hour in class, about an hour preparation time), setting up for, preaching in, and cleaning up after Wednesday night youth group (at least a 3.5-4 hour endeavor), a Sunday night visioning meeting with youth (one hour), counseling/praying with youth, working with my volunteers, meetings with other staff/volunteers of the church, time spent at the office, an elder board meeting, and paperwork. Plus, I have my Sunday morning responsibilities in the regular worship service.

The first week back, one of my girls, Sierra, accepted Christ! Of course that was a highlite! I've been working with Sierra, a junior higher, for almost a year. It was so amazing to sit in the back of the church with her and a volunteer as we walked her through the plan of salvation and led her in a sinner's prayer. Praise God! (The picture is of some of the junior highers--the girl on the far right is Sierra.)

Sunday night was great! We've been in a process of trying to pick a youth group name, theme verse, etc. in an attempt to give the ministry an identity that students can proudly claim. Charlie Alcock has been a huge part of this as we'll be doing Monster Church in the very near future and his Programming class played a large role in preparing me for the visioning process. Sunday night we finalized decisions. The ministry will be known as ALIVE Student Ministries. The tage line is "Changing the Definition of Life" with the theme verses being Romans 12:1-2. It was great to watch my student leaders catch a vision and a passion for what God is doing in the group!

Attendance has been rising, which is always an encouragement. Two new kids were there this Wednesday as well, which was super-exciting. However, I faced a new kind of obstacle. One of the new kids had some major hyper-activity issues along with some other problems I believe. He kept vocally interrupting me at the worst moments during my message. God gave me a lot of grace, wisdom, and patience on the spot as to how to deal with it. However, I felt like I totally dropped the ball with the message. God is so good, though! After the service, I was able to pray with one of my boys about a pretty serious issue and another student approached me to tell me how much he had been touched and helped by the message. It was very hectic to try to rush out afterward to make it back for the sermon of the last Summit Service. I usually am locking up the church, taking kids home, etc. It was nice to take a little break and let someone else handle some things so I could be ministered to, though.

On that note, Summit week was utterly exhausting but renewing at the same time. I am SO GLAD it is over, but I am also glad that it happened. God has been faithful to speak to me and mold me the past few days. I'm enjoying the One Year Bible and a unit Beth Moore Bible Study, Breaking Free, in my daily devos. Both are proving to be refreshing and challenging in my spiritual walk.

I'm learning some rough lessons right now about what it means to be in ministry in the church, not just with teenagers. Our church is in the midst of a pastoral transition, pastoral search, pastoral vote kind of situation right now. I'm learning what that means for someone in leadership and on staff. God is teaching me all kinds of lessons, both about the local church and how to trust Him.

To conclude this blog, God is faithful! I am so humbled and thankful for the calling He's placed on my life, and I'm terrified and excited to be discovering more fully each day what that really means. I know He's guiding me, and I simply long to be the kind of labourer for His Kingdom that He desires me to be!