Why Are You a Christian?

Our sermon series for the Lenten season is all about who Jesus is. Today we talked a lot about the scripture where Jesus asks His disciples who they say He is. Most of the time something during sermons gets me writing and today I decided I might as well share it on my blog. Pastor G was talking about creating personal faith statements, something that you can use to answer that question that often gets asked, Why are you a Christian? She said that in seminary one of her professors encouraged them to rewrite this faith statement every couple years, because as we grow, study, experience life, and learn our faith statements change. I have written theologies of ministry but I'm not sure I have ever sat down and written out my own faith statement or creed, so today in the middle of the sermon I did.

These are my raw thoughts, I haven't edited it much, I'm sure I will over time:

Why are you a Christian?

I believe in love, a deeper kind of love than romance.

Love that is everlasting, unconditional, and limitless.

This love is found on the cross.

Agape love comes from the Father of the Universe, the creator of everything.

Agape love comes from the Son of the Father, the living word, 

the promised one, who died for the sin of the world,

He rose again filling the gap between humanity and divinity.

Agape comes today through the Holy Spirit that guides and directs our lives.

Agape comes now flowing from the Father to the Son through the Spirit into this broken world.

I believe in Agape Love, therefore, I am a Christian.

Well there it is, for now!

Youth Group Lock In & Middle School Fun Day

Last weekend with my best friend I hosted a High School Lock In over Friday and Saturday and a 7th-8th grade fun day on Monday. It was a lot of fun.

High School Lock In:
 We got to together and ate, there was pizza and a lot of food. The kids wanted to play hide and seek as they normally do, they played three or four different versions throughout the night. There was a dance off with one of the kid's Xbox (I'm wishing now that I had gotten some pictures of their hilarious dancing). We played some games, there were different competitions throughout the night. There were fun Minute to Win Its and this fun game. We also did a painting craft, it was a rendition of this. We also watched Forrest Gump.

7th & 8th Grade Fun Day:
 I suppose I could just say it was an 8th grade fun day. I didn't have any 7th graders there. We started with breakfast and then they wanted to play hide and seek as well. For some reason teenagers really like playing hide and seek in the dark. I really dislike the game, lol. We played the Oreo minute to win it game as well. We played Scattergories and then we had lunch. After lunch we went to a hotel here in town and went swimming. When we came back we cleaned up and watched She's the Man.

Over all it was a fun weekend with some of my kids and they were able to have just a fun filled time when they were out of school.

Here is a video that I made after!

Still Alice

Buy the book here at Amazon!

My second book for 2013 was Still Alice by Lisa Genova. This was yet again a book I probably wouldn't have picked up but turned out to be very good. I read the entire book on my phone, it was a different way to read but I really enjoyed having my book with me at all times and not having to carry anything extra with me. 

This book is about a Harvard Psychology Professor who specializes in Linguistic studies that finds out she has Early Onset Alzheimer's. The rest of the book is very detailed in Alice's struggles with learning how to live as he mind slowly, not all that slowly, stops working. It starts when she forgets words in lectures that she has given multiple times and then she goes for a run and gets lost in Harvard Square. It progresses from there and she struggles trying to keep her coveted position at Harvard and figuring out who she is when she is no longer an author and professor. The title comes from her learning that no matter what she is Still Alice.

Alzheimers is something that everyone knows about but unless you have lived with someone who has it then it is a disease that is hard to understand. I highly recommend reading this book, it gives a whole new light to to what these people have to deal with along with what their families have to deal with. 

A Smack in the Face Kind of Day: Time to Count My Blessings

So today was one of those days where I wished that I had a boyfriend, friends that live in Newton, or still lived close to my family. All of the fun-ness started yesterday.

The last couple days I when I started my car it kind of made a er er sound as it started, but each time it started and ran just fine, but in the back of my head I was like that kind of sound like the battery. Yesterday, was Friday and I realized I was looking at my first free weekend to spend in the area with no real plans. I decided to go to Newton after work and find something to do with my Friday night. I decided to get my nails done, something I never do but sounded like fun. After I got my nails done I got into my car and it wouldn't start. It took three times before it started. I got it running and called my father. When something breaks or doesn't work on my car I always second guess myself and need to make sure I know what I'm talking about before I go somewhere and sound like an idiot. I told my dad what it was doing and he also said it sounded like the battery. I drove to AutoZone and went in to see if the guy that was working could test my battery. He cleaned off the corrosion on the battery terminals and tested my battery. It said that it was still a good battery and had 50% charge. He put the charger on it, and it started up just fine. So with his recommendation I decided to see if I really could get 3-6 more months out of the battery. After talking to my father again, I decided to drive back to Hesston and end my night out. Dad said that the drive home should finish charging the battery back up. We were hoping that the only problem was the corroded battery terminals.

I made it home safely and everything was fine. This morning when I got up and decided to head to Wichita to meet up with some friends. I went out and my car started just fine so I drove back to Newton to get gas at the Kwik Shop. I filled up my car and when I got back in it wouldn't start. I was praying it was like the night before and that it would start the next time. No such luck. So I called my dad again, because this is my go to reaction in times like these. I decided to ask someone at the gas station to help me jump my car, which by the way is something very humbling to have to do. Reminder here, I am 23 but I look like I am 16 and without meaning to easily play the dumb girl card when it comes to cars. I first asked the guy next to me if he would be willing to jump my car, he seemed safe, his wife was in the car. He said no, I didn't know people did that. I was thrown off and didn't know how to ask someone else, I was humiliated. I asked the guy behind him if he would be willing to jump my car, he asked if I had jumper cables and then said that he would as soon as he was done filling up his car. He pulled his truck up and attached the cables. There wasn't even an er er sound anymore, just that horrible click, that rings out DEAD! We tried a few times and nothing. So he said, "I'm a really nice guy, so I will drive you to AutoZone to get the new battery." I believed he was a nice guy but my mind started screaming at the same time, so I called my dad again, this time really trying not to freak out. while on the phone with my father I tried to get my car into neutral but was struggling, then it started. So the guy said he would follow me to AutoZone to make sure I didn't break down on the way there. The whole way there I stayed on the phone with my parents. My mind was very fragile at this point and I was doing all I could to not completely break down. I mean I had to act like an adult when I got to AutoZone I couldn't be my father's fragile little girl when I got there. I pulled into AutoZone and the guy pulled in behind me and said that he had said a prayer that a new battery would fix my car problems, and then my angel drove away and went back to whatever he had planned for his Saturday.

I went inside and bought a new battery, the nice guy in there took out my old battery, he made fun of the guy that was working last night and his cleaning ability on the battery terminals) he also made sure that my alternator was charging like it was supposed to and all checked out well. I got in my car and heard that beautiful sound of my car starting. I was able to go on to Wichita and enjoy my afternoon with my friends. Of course I cried the whole way there as everything sank in and just how blessed and thankful I am. I had fun with my friends but what I really wanted to do was drive back to that safety net that sometimes I miss so much and curl up in my parents arms.

It is odd how quickly that loneliness can sink in after feeling completely stranded and having to utilize what is available. I got home from Wichita and decided to enjoy what was left of the beautiful day with a walk/run around town, trying to get my body to relax and remember that I really am ok. I got home feeling a little better and all I could hear was my neighbors upstairs having dinner with their entire family. There was a lot of laughter and running around going on upstairs. I sat down and it started to sink in just how much I wanted to go home. This happens every now and then but usually I find something to do and those feelings go away. I got on my computer and saw all of the pictures of my young cousins that my parents babysat all week and that was not helping. About the time that I couldn't handle it anymore, I was ready to curl up in my bed and call my mommy for some support. There was a knock on my door. My neighbor from upstairs was at my door with a plate of food. They just wanted me to have some dinner. I said thank you and smiled and he went back to his family. I shut the door and lost it. How did they know how alone I felt in that very moment?

I spend so much time trying to be an adult and to get people to respect me as the 23 year old that I am and today I wanted nothing more to go home and be a kid and let my father fix all of my problems. It will never cease to amaze me how much we depend on our cars and how much our lives are thrown out of whack when they don't work correctly. Today was just a little reminder that we can't take our blessings in this life for granted, because they are not always going to be there. Lord, thank you for providing me with angels in my life that help me every day. Sometimes, they come in the form of random people at the gas station, neighbors, students, songs on the radio, and many more ways that I'm sure I don't even know. I'm sorry for all of the times I take these blessings for granted and for all of those times that I can't look up from my simple world and see all of those people that are in need. Please help me keep my eyes open for when someone is struggling like I was today. I want to be the good Samaritan not the man who tells that young girl no and drives away. Amen!

Life of Pi

So I started going to a book club with one of my friends here in Hesston. I went a couple times at the end of last year and decided that it would be fun to go for real. So we got our new year list of books and the first one was Life of Pi by Yann Martel. You can read the Goodreads description here. I have not watched the movie yet, because I have a problem with actually reading the book if I have already seen the movie. Well even though it took me longer than a month to read it, I finished the book last night. I decided that I wanted to blog about the books I read this year just for the fun of it.

The book starts of really slow, so I had a hard time seeing this book as a movie. I can see this book becoming curriculum for colleges that have literary classes. There was a lot of imagery and descriptive writing. I'm still not sure about this movie, because the book is very gruesome.

Here is the book in a nutshell (Spoiler Alert)
The story is fictional but it is written as if it were a true story. Pi is a young boy who grew up in India. His father owns a zoo so he spends his childhood at the zoo.

There is a large section where Pi discovers Christianity and Islam, my religion nerd brain was incredibly happy about this section. A lot of people see this as confusing and my book club friends were not very impressed by it. I see this part as incredibly beautiful. He is part of the Indian culture so he has grown up with his polytheistic religion and he is very devout. He discovers Christianity through the eyes of his Hindu religion. He gets hooked when he realizes that this God loves his people so much that he is willing to sacrifice his son. Pi is completely baffled and spends a lot of time with the Catholic priest in his town and eventually he becomes a Christian. Then he stumbles upon the Islamic faith. In the same way he is taken by the Christian faith he is baffled by the dedication of the Islamic faith and he eventually becomes faithful here as well. He finds a way in his teenage brain and heart to faithfully dedicate himself to all three religions. I found it completely perplexing and amazing, it was a beautiful way to look at all three religions. It was also interesting to see the way it intertwined throughout the rest of the movie.

The books quickly picks up when Pi's father decides that they are done living in India and they are moving to Canada. So they sell all of the animals to other zoos, and most of them they have to deliver so they pack up on a cargo ship and head out. In the middle of the Pacific ocean the ship goes down. Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with a zebra, hyena, orangu-tan, and a bengal tiger. The rest of the story is his battle to survive on this lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with these wild animals. Eventually it comes down to the tiger and Pi in the boat. He is on the boat for over 200 days and the majority of the story is about him learning how to survive and not let Richard Parker (the tiger) dominate him. There were a lot of weird twists and turns that kept it interesting.

When he finally arrives on the shores of Mexico he is visited by people from the company that owned the ship. He tells them the entire story and they don't believe him. So he tells them a story without animals where there were just people. I would have to say that the people story was even more disturbing than the animal story. It leaves it up for you to believe which one is the real story. I vote animals!

This is not a light read but it is most definitely a good read!

Poems From a Long Carride

This weekend I traveled to and from Garden City in a van full of high school students. On the way to Garden City my mind decided to try and be creative again, so I wrote a couple poems. I haven't written poetry in a long time. I'm not sure I like these but I figured I might as well post them!

Poem 1: (they don't have real names)
When I spend time with you I know who I am.
I feel close to you in a crowded room if I've had quiet time with you.
Simple things in life radiate your beauty
Chaos and confusion are less insane when I have spent time with you.
It is so easy to forget how important it is to spend time with you each day.
The fast pace of this crazy world tries to interfere with my peace of mind, but Satan doesn't have a chance to interfere with my heart if I've had some time with you.


Poem 2:
Sometimes I wish I was a tree.
To be able to stand rooted in the ground
Spend all day rooted in your glory
To sway and bend with your blessings.
At night to stand under your vast sky.
Standing tall above your creation, yet to feel minuscule to your night sky.
To have a front row seat to your daily masterpieces of art.
A tree represents your power and might, your grace and love, life.
Trees are life for so many on this earth, they stand for everything you are and everything I wish to be.
Sometimes I want to be a tree.


Poem 3: (I actually wrote this one on Saturday morning during my quiet time)
That moment I fear, death.
Not my own, but one of mine.
For myself there only victory
But when death strikes before their prime.
How to handle that pain and confusion
My job is one of comfort and grace.
Lord, please ready my heart and steady my mind so when the inevitable happens I can stand with you and hold them.
Please watch over these young lives you have blessed me with and all those they know. Keep them safe and secure in your arms.

Perkins School of Youth Ministry Recap

This post is my way to decipher through everything that happened last week. I had an incredible week at Perkins School of Youth Ministry in Richardson, Texas. I have been back for a few days and my head is still reeling with all of the amazingness that happened. So I have decided to take a break from finding my office to sit down and think through last week. This is going to be a long post.

Thoughts from My brain!

This past week was incredible in so many ways. When I left for this conference I was exhausted on so many levels. It was definitely time to do something for me, and I am really glad I didn't talk myself out of going. I had the chance to catch up with one of my friends that I had allowed myself to lose touch with, I just let myself use her living in Alaska as the excuse for not continuing to keep her in my life. We realized we did it mutually, so we are going to try to be better at that. We were roommates for the trip and we both have a lot of introvert tendencies so we found a lot of comfort in each other and were able to have quite a few amazing conversations. We managed, with the Lord's help of course, to help each other decipher through a lot of feelings and thoughts, we were able to help each other open the door again to what God is really calling us to do with our lives. My calling really is youth ministry and hers really is missions. It is funny how we can know this so securely and then start to doubt because of the chaos of our daily lives. I met some awesome new youth pastors to the Kansas West Conference. Our YES meeting dynamic changed drastically after this last week. It was also really good for me to spend an entire week with people in ministry that are actually my own age. Sometimes I struggle being so much younger than everyone I work with, these people got me on a whole different level. I felt like I could be me, and listen to their stories and advice and give some with out feeling awkward about age. Seriously age is just a number, but it really does affect a lot of interactions with people. I also was able to catch up with my friend that moved to Texas when she got married, that was good too. 

Spiritually I was closer to God this last week than I have been in a long time. It is amazing to me how easy it is to allow myself to become distant from my creator. I get into the cycle of, I do all of this for my job that I forget to do it for me. I took a workshop on Self Care and honestly it was the best thing I could have done. I left before this conference incredibly close to burn out. I look back on the pure chaos of the last year and it really makes sense why I am so exhausted all of the time. My goal for 2013 was to do something fun for me this year (I meant that in a big way, like a cool trip or something) but now I realize that I need to do something for me every single day. I have decided to start and end my day with scripture, I used to be really, really good about spending time with God but I have gotten away from it, so back to that I go. I really want to spend 30 minutes to an hour every day at work, reading. Part of my job is staying educated and that can't be done without reading, and I love to read, so I will start reading education books again (there is a large enough gap between grad school and now so my brain can handle it). I need to go back to the way I know God speaks to me and that is through music. I have allowed myself to walk away from that incredible connection and that is not ok. Lyrics from songs are a huge part of my relationship with God and I have stopped seeking that, I am actually really disappointed in myself for allowing this to happen. I realized something that was always in the back of my mind, I am just managing my ministry, I'm not living it, and I'm not enjoying it, I have allowed it to become a job and that ends here. This is my passion, my livelihood, my desire, and where my heart is. So I cannot allow it to be just a job, this is who I am. Things are about to change.

One other major thing this conference allowed me to do is to appreciate my education. I have master's degree that I just shove under the table and do not allow myself to be proud of. It was really hard work, and I did it in about 8 months (which wasn't the smartest idea) and it came at the most perfect time in my life, and I think that pain that surrounds the day of graduation has allowed me to write it off as just some classes and that thing I did. But I am 23 years old with a Master's degree and I should be proud of that fact. I was able to talk to other youth pastors this week and promote the program and it really allowed me to accept and appreciate my accomplishment. Also, I have decided I want to become Certified in Youth Ministry, and my Master's degree covers all of the classes needed for that, so I just cut that process down, and the application is sitting here on my desk ready to be filled out. So here is to allowing myself to appreciate me, and to be proud of me, and the things that God has brought into my life and allowed me to do. I am going to work on not brushing those things off anymore. God is good, and the ways He shows that to me, and uses me to do His work are not meant to be kept to myself or swept under the rug. It is time for me to start living this amazing calling that I have been given!

Notes from the conference:

Our keynote speaker was Steve Rankin, which was amazing in and of itself. I met Steve when he stepped in as the interim pastor at St. Paul UMC back in 2009. The chance to hear him speak again was something I needed.

Sermon notes: A Bleak Situation, A Blessed Opportunity

• Ministry is Relational - we learn by watching
• How serious do you take yourself in youth ministry? - there is not a lot of status in ministry
• These are tough times to be in ministry. - very few people understand the gravity of what you do in the lives of young people.
• We are at risk of losing a generation!
• ~The Lost History of Christianity~ (book to read)
• There are places on this earth that no longer have a church, and they once had a thriving church.
• Moralistic Therapeutic Deism - Good - Happy - Believe in God
• If you don't take yourself seriously as a youth minister, start!
• How do you help your kids think when they are doing 3 things at the same time on the computer?
• Goal: To shape spiritually mature and growing young people (this was poorly paraphrased, sorry)
• 1 Chronicles 12:32 - Men who understood the times. 
• What goes on in your context that helps you understand your ministry?
• Conflicting information
• Kids are searching for framework and are frustrated with the church's passivity - Accountability
• Accountability vs. Judgement
• Wide gap between parents and kids culturally.
• ~The Triumph of Christianity~ (book to read)
• Simple Transparent Witness
• 1 Peter 1:1-6; 2:9-10; 4:12-13
• Share in the suffering o f Christ
• If God has called you, He has anointed you.
• Ephesians 1:9-10; 2:13-15; 4:7, 11-16
• You don't have to be flawless, be prudent & wise.
• ****** YOU MUST FIND A WAY TO FEED YOURSELF!!!!******
• You must teach!
• You must be a practical scholar!

Pre-Teen Ministry Workshop - Led by Rod Hocott

• We get so far away from them we forget who they are.
• The Basics
• The Senior Pastor is the main youth pastor of any local church.
• Parent Support & Involvement
• Have a working leadership team/youth council
• Committed adult volunteers
• Communicate, communicate, communicate
• Finding a sense of belonging
• Need a place to claim their identity as a Christian
• They don't care what you know until they know you care!
• Godly Play - Interactive Lessons
• So what?... does it have to do with you?
• "If parents are for you who can be against you?" - Katie Edwards
• Parents are our partners
• Parents provide transportation
• Parents have influence
• Parents help shape your ministry
• Parents have stuff you need.
• ~Middle School Ministry Made Simple ~ by Kurt Johnson (book to read)
• Parents of Adolescence Class
• Parent Council
• ~Active Parenting~ (book to read)
• Getting Parents On board
• Keep them informed
• Know them as allies, not enemies
• Let them know they are always welcome to visit your ministry
• Act your age
• Use them, don't abuse them!
• Show appreciation
• We are in the relationship business
• Volunteers, give them time constraints so you can let them go if you need to.
• Pick the battles to fight, so you can win the war
• Avoid burn out - Share the ministry
• ~iPhone Contract~ (article to read)
• Find the right Curriculum
• Theologically Sound
• Fit with UM theology
• Mandalas
• Worship Lyric Videos
• ~Created by God~ (book)

Tim & Tim Notes (these two led Bible Study every morning, they are pretty incredible)

• In the beginning, God!
• The elements that were in Genesis are still here today!
• Creation happens every day.
• We know darkness and we know chaos, it is part of our story.
• All that is, is contained in God. So there is no place where we can go that God is not.
• Jesus saved you, to send you to Hell. 
• Even in the darkness and the unknowing God is there.
• We are living in an age where technology is advancing so rapidly that we cannot keep up.
• We put on our stories before we put on our clothes.
• ~Textweek.com~ (cool resource)
• The Devil is the dark side of us.
• Luke 4:1-30
• Laterally Luke (from Textweek)
• Each morning he "shaves the Devil", he respects the Devil is real instead of using him as an excuse.
• The three areas of temptation are the three main areas of sin
• They read standing, preached/taught sitting.
• "Churches strive for mediocrity and reach it. Are we succumbing to the temptation of giving less than our best to our creator?" - ?
• As we prepare students for 2025, these three things need to be in classrooms:
• The ability to talk to one another
• Technology
• Absence of the teacher
• Go to the margins of society