4 Weeks Down...

Well, I’m 4 weeks into being the youth leader for FBC Booker.  These first few weeks have gone well!  It is pretty stressful, but fun as well.  Once again, I have a renewed respect for youth pastors who do this job year after year, and a renewed understanding for why so many have interns during the summer!  … Anybody want to volunteer to be my unpaid intern?!?!?  I feel like I’m juggling 50 different things at once, which, by the way, is completely impossible!  This is completely out of my comfort zone.  From my perspective thus far, youth ministry can be broken into about 4 different parts.  Spiritual leadership (teaching and guidance), administrative, fellowship, and some discipline.  Handling 100% of all four of these is no easy task!  Some of these I do have a gift for.  I can handle the administrative side of youth ministry with my eyes closed, and I absolutely LOVE to hang out with jr. high and high school students!  The other 2, however, are not included in a list of things I’m good at or comfortable with handling.  I am not a natural leader, and would much prefer to be a follower, and I am not gifted at teaching.  I feel completely inadequate to lead these kids at such an impressionable time of their lives.  I have been having to depend on God completely for guidance in those areas (as it should be! J) 

We just got back from youth camp this last week.  It was a really good week.  We had a few difficulties and I was pretty stressed for the first couple of days, but God was working in our students as well as myself!  Two of our students gave their lives to Christ during the week!!!  God also spoke to several others in very distinctive ways. I genuinely believe that some of our students’ lives were permanently changed!  I also had a complete blast hanging out with these kids and getting to know them better.

I also have some incredible news concerning my Russia trip!  First, my trip is fully paid for!!!  I have enough money to pay for the trip and enough saved to use for spending money while I’m there!!  I am extremely blessed to have such an amazingly generous family and church family!  My second bit of great news is that my visa invitation came in the mail a couple of days ago!  Now I have to send it along with my visa application to a travel agency that handles Hands On teams’ visas.  They will then contact the consulate and actually start the process of getting my visa.  We should be right on schedule as far as that goes.  

I am getting more and more excited as it gets closer and closer! 

Prayer Requests:

Booker Youth-

·         God would continue to work in these students’ hearts

·         God would continue to guide me

·         That I would be leading these students as He would have me lead them, not in a way that I think would be best for them

·         God would provide and help us to prepare for our mission trip (last week of July to help at Mission:Arlington)

Russia

·         The visa process would continue on schedule

·         God would continue to prepare me and those I will meet

·         Russian language would come more quickly for me

Beth Moore Strikes Again...

Leave it to Beth Moore to touch 3 generations of women in the same family with 1 study!  My grandmother and mother have recently been finishing up Beth Moore’s Revelation bible study.  Part of this study involved thinking about and … songs that you have “lived” or that have lyrics that relate perfectly to something you have gone through… Both my mom and grandma along with the many ladies that also participated in this study were uniquely affected by this particular part of the study.  So how did this translate to me?  Well, one day while riding in the car with my family, Nichole Nordeman’s song Brave happened to come on the radio.  My mom, with what she had recently learned in the study still fresh on her mind, was listening to the lyrics closely.  She made a comment about how this song could be a song that I have “lived.”  Later, after looking up the exact lyrics and listening to the song again, I definitely agree!  This song is truly AMAZING and completely fits what God has been teaching me and where I am headed!  Over the last few days, this song has be a huge encouragement to me to keep following Christ with a completely abandoned heart despite how far away this is from the “safe and sound” status quo of modern day Christianity.  This song is helping me to keep following the guidance of my Lord despite how far out of my comfort zone He is taking me! 

Maybe you need to hear these words to.  Maybe God is trying to draw you away from the “road paved in moderation” and deeper into the incredible plan He has for you.  The joy and power and peace that comes from facing trials with complete knowledge that you are obediently following the King of kings! 

Brave by Nichole Nordeman,

The gate is wide

The road is paved in moderation

The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in

Welcome to the middle ground

You're safe and sound and

Until now it's where I've been

'Cause it's been fear that ties me down to everything

But it's been love, Your love, that cuts the strings

So long status quo

I think I just let go

You make me want to be brave

The way it always was

Is no longer good enough

You make me want to be brave

Brave, brave