for 10 days!
See you guys when I get back!
Please be praying for God to be moving in the lives of my teens this week!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
a kaffeeklatsch* & a message from above...
(google image search led me here...)
So yesterday afternoon I found myself at the local Starbucks with Laura. (I was her intern back in '05, and now she is getting ready to get married! She & God have a really beautiful & powerful story...) We try to get together to catch up when she is in town. It had been a while since we had talked, and a lot has been happening (I mean, she is getting married!), so we were there for almost an hour. She told me about the events leading up to her engagement, how God had been and is at work in her life and relationship, and just life in general. I told her about MYM's summer thus far, how God has been working in my life, and how I wish He would work (ha).
Another girl had been sitting behind us the whole time. I noticed her when I sat down, but I didn't really pay attention to what she was doing... I think she was reading. She was there by herself. She was right behind me, and honestly I had forgotten she was even there until she stood up, approached us, and placed an envelope on the table between us.
"This is for you girls."
That's all she said. Then she turned around and walked away.
Laura & I were kinda caught off guard by the whole thing. It was just so random! Of course I then took the envelope, opened it, and this is what I found:
I pray that God blesses you and your future. May you always hold strong to the Lord and His awesome word. May you never grow cold or turn away the lost. Never forget your worst day with Jesus is better than your best day without Him.
- a strong sister in the Lord
I have never had anything like that happen to me, and her words were just so perfectly placed in our conversation...
It was like God had a message for us, and He chose this particular instrument of His to deliver these encouraging words. I want to live with my eyes, ears, and heart open so that I can be such an instrument of the Lord's in the life of others around me...
*kaffeeklatsch: (n.) casual conversation over coffee
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
courage...
Courage is not the absence of fear,
but rather the judgment
that something else is
more important than fear.
- Ambrose Redmoon
just something I've been thinking about....
Thursday, June 11, 2009
nashville workcamp...
... a favorite amongst MYM teens....
What is Nashville Workcamp?
Well, every summer we send a large group of teens to Nashville to meet up with a couple hundred teenagers from all over the place (Nashville, Montgomery, Birmingham, Atlanta, etc) to paint houses. For free. It is an incredible outreach to low income families in the Nashville area. This was my 3rd year to go, and I love it! We are divided up into about 20 different crews made up of teenagers from various youth groups & 2 (or 3) crew leaders.
This is the house my crew painted. Look at those lovely potted flowers & that sharp looking wrought iron! I was a part of an awesome crew this year. They were such hard workers, that we finished a day early and were able to help another group finish up their house.
Two of my girls from Mayfair, Morgan & Sarah, were on my crew, and they discovered a brick walkway at our house. The sweet lady who owns the home has been having a lot of health problems over the years, so she had not really been able to maintain the yard like she used to. Because of that, the grass (and dirt) had covered the walkway. My girls took care of that!
Here are a couple more pics from NWC.
Me and Caylie with our matching haircuts.
And a picture of some more of my wonderful girls.
Hurray for another great week of the summer!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
so much more than a concert...
On May 30, 2009, I went to the most amazing concert ever. Laurel, Jenny & I went to see Hillsong United in Nashville. (Remember how excited I was about this a couple of months ago?) I had high expectations. I knew it was going to be awesome. It was Hillsong. I love them.
Once it began, I realized that my expectations weren't even high enough. By the 3rd or 4th song I could tell that this was going to be so much more than a concert...
You see, I had expected to hear the songs that I love. I'd expected to hear a lot of new ones too. I expected an incredible concert, of course.
I did not (for some reason) expect God to show up like He did.
I did not expect to feel so alone with God in the midst of all those people and blaring speakers.
I did not expect to find myself in such earnest and absorbing conversation with Him.
I did NOT expect to be moved to tears.
I didn't expect any of that.
I just expected a concert.
I love that HE surpassed all of my expectations.
But that's so like our God, isn't it?
I have so much more I'd like to say about it, but I really don't think my words can do my heart justice here. And maybe that's how it is supposed to be... Maybe some things aren't meant to be shared... And maybe that's part of having an intimate relationship with HIM...
I do want to leave you with the words to one of the songs off Hillsong United's newest album, Across the Earth: Tear Down The Walls. And I'd encourage you to check out this entire album. It's definitely one of my new favorites.
Tear down the walls.
See the world.
Is there something we have missed?
Turn from ourselves.
Look beyond.
There is so much more than this.
And I don’t need to see it to believe it.
I don’t need to see it to believe.
Cause I can’t shake this fire deep inside my heart.
Look to the skies.
Hope arise.
See His majesty revealed.
More than this life.
There is love.
There is hope and this is real.
And I don’t need to see it to believe it.
I don’t need to see it to believe.
Cause I can’t shake this fire burning deep inside my heart.
This life is Yours.
Hope is rising as Your glory floods our hearts.
Let Love tear down these walls.
That all creation would come back to You.
It’s all for you.
Your Name is glorious, glorious.
Your Love is changing us, calling us.
To worship in spirit and in truth.
As all creation returns to You.
Oh or all Your sons and daughters.
Who are walking in the darkness.
You are calling us to lead them back to You.
We will see Your spirit rising.
As the lost come out of hiding.
Every heart will see this hope we have in You.
For Your Name is glorious, glorious.
Your Love is changing us, calling us.
To worship in spirit and in truth.
As all creation returns to You.
