ReFUEL Fall Retreat... I love these students!

 

 

Water Soccer.

 

Sorry for the blurry pictures... still getting the hang of my new phone... need to change the settings!

 One of my favorite things in youth ministry is seeing my kids enjoying hanging out with the teenagers... even more fun is seeing the teenagers take time to hang out with my kids! I was always worried that working in youth ministry and having young children would make it difficult to balance everything going on in my life. I also worried that being around older kids would have a somewhat negative affect on my kids... but honestly, the opposite is true. I guess that is one of the best parts of having incredible teenagers in our youth ministry that love God passionately and love kids too. It has been a blessing!

 

We have been doing a FIFA World Cup theme in Legacy this month and have had fun soccer games after each service. Tonight was water soccer. My kids LOVED it! It was so much fun seeing them enjoying the water field with the other youth leader's kids and some of our amazing youth. Such a fun night! I think Isaac jumped the entire time out of pure excitement.



WIPEOUT

 Tonight we started our Summer RAGE series in Legacy and the theme is "WIPEOUT." Our youth leaders set up a WIPEOUT course and the youth all went thru it. After it was over, some of the youth leader kids were able to come over and do the course as well. I was so proud of our little man... he did a great job!

These are the things I remember about being a Pastor's kid... we may have always had to come early and stay late, but we also got to be involved in some pretty fun stuff. Hope my kids feel the same way!

 Yes, that's his daddy trying to knock him off.

1 Peter 4:11

1 Peter 4:11

 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

 

I talk all the time about how much I love my job.

How fun and exciting it is to minister to teenagers.

It's so true..

...but there's another side.

It's hard.

Most of the time there are more questions than answers.

There is heartbreak, confusion and despair.

Today I can't control my emotions.

I think about all of the teenagers throughout the years that God has given me the opportunity to engage and connect with.

Some have experienced victory, some have succumb to defeat.

Some have overcome, some have surrendered.

Some have experience healing, some have adapted to destruction.

For some reason God has given me a voice, and until I can no longer speak, I will scream truth, life and restoration. God, give me strength.

i might be getting slightly old.

So I just realized this last month that one of the friends I grew up with almost since birth, and his wife, whom I have been friends with since junior high will have a daughter in Legacy this summer. WHAT????? I was working in Legacy when she was born, how did this happen? I put my arm around her last week and she was as tall as me, and now she will be coming to our youth retreats!

Olivia, Chris and I back when Liv didn't roll her eyes at my crazy dancing.

my heart is raw with emotion.

Such a neat night.

She's my girl.

She made so many incredible decisions to grow in Christ.

She wasn't able to make the church baptism this upcoming Sunday.

She was scheduled to give her testimony tonight in our LifeGroup.

We then walked to our backyard and baptized her in our pool.

No words will do this night justice.

ramblings: a broken-hearted youth pastor.

It's 3:40am and I just got back home from saying goodbye to our youth mission team heading to Haiti for 10 days. I kept a smile on my face, but secretly in my heart I was heartbroken that I wasn't able to go with them. A love for missions runs through my veins... it always will.

This is such a weird season of my life.

A very difficult season for someone like myself.

...but a very purposeful season.

I have 4 very specific reasons I am not going this year and they are all sleeping soundly upstairs. The hard part isn't knowing the reasons, that makes it worth is... the hard part is not being able to watch my students experience one of the most incredible things in life: stepping out in faith and seeing God's heart for people around the world. There's nothing like it. 

So until I am again able to fly coach with a group with matching shirts to a place where most people will never venture, I will count my blessings and pray that God finds me faithful in this season of my life.

TOM 2012

 

This past weekend was our annual winter retreat "Tent of Meeting."

It was so much fun to have a group from Tommy's church in New Jersey come here to minister to us. God moved in a mighty way and I am still processing all that happened. Tomorrow some of our youth are going to get up and share with our congregation the changes God  has made in their lives. I am so proud!

as a man speaks with his friend.

Getting ready to head up to our annual youth winter retreat.

I love spending time with God... with youth.

I hate leaving my kids.

I pulled an all-nighter to get everything done.

Everything is still not done.

Please keep us in your prayers!

 

 Now, Moses used to take a tent and set it up far outside the camp. He called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who was seeking the Lord’s will used to go outside the camp to the tent of meeting. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrances to their tents and watch Moses until he went in. As soon as Moses went into the tent, the column of smoke would come down and stay at the entrance to the tent while the Lord spoke with Moses. When all the people saw the column of smoke standing at the entrance to the tent, they would all bow with their faces touching the ground at the entrance to their own tents. The Lord would speak to Moses personally, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would come back to the camp, but his assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, stayed inside the tent.

{Exodus 33:7-11}

Summer REACH

I was challenged tonight.

So challenged that I can't think about anything else.

Let me explain:

We are in the middle of a series in youth called "Summer REACH" and every week we leave our church building and do something in the community. Last week was "SERVE the City" and our group passed out free bottles of water to everyone at a local park. This week was "PRAY for the City" and we headed out to our local high school and middle school to pray. I drove some of our Junior Highers to our local middle school and we spent about 1/2 hour walking around and praying for the students that would be attending there in a couple weeks. Seeing my students lay hands on the bike racks and entrance doors completely rocked my world. I have been praying intensely for our students as they are heading back to school in the fall... but have never prayed specifically for their schools. At that moment I was challenged to do something I've never done before: I committed to all of my students that I would visit their schools in the next 3 weeks to pray. I have a list of 15 schools and a burden for all of them. (Well, 16 actually... I'm adding my son's school to that as well). My prayer is that God would use this generation to change this generation. Will you join with me in prayer?

"Prayer is our most formidable weapon, the thing which makes all else we do efficient."

- E. M. Bounds

"Do you want your coffee BLACK?" Friday (2nd Annual)

Tonight was our 2nd annual BLACK FRIDAY outreach and we had a great turnout. Over 20 people showed up and most of them were youth! Read about how it got started HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNDEFEATED

Today was our annual CREW PREP DAY for CFL Kid's Camp. Our theme for this year is UNDEFEATED and our scripture is taken from Psalm 108:13, which says "God is the One who gives us the victory!" I am so excited about the group of teenagers God has blessed us with for this incredible mission trip. I am surrounded by teenagers that make my life a blast and extremely interesting!

Summer RAGE 2009

Tonight we launched our 2009 Summer RAGE. The theme is Cafe Mudhouse and we are talking about how God brings us out of the mud. Tonight was an incredible night and I am looking forward to the rest of the summer!

T.O.M. 2009

No Snow... Little Sleep... Tons of Fun.

Go to the LEGACY BLOG for more pics and videos

one of life's greatest mysteries...

I can't figure out for the life of me why the youth boys still think they can take on my husband...
they never learn!

Why does it take so long to get out of the foam?

We had such a FUN time tonight taking the youth group to All World Gym. We got to hear the band play, meet students from other youth groups and watch everyone get stuck in the foam pit. Can't wait for the next one!

Yes... this is me doing a flip into the foam.
See, I'm still a youngin'

Zach on electric guitar

Ryan on electric guitar

The vocalsDave taking the plunge

Ryan taking the plungeJulie getting ready for the uneven bars

3 people that will be very sore tomorrow