This summer I'm going on a work project with my youth group to Montana. We are staying at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base that has about 40 children. Our group was asked to come up with crafts and game to entertain the children for about an hour or two each day while we are there. I would like to do a craft with food....for me a crafty food is a double win! How often can you be creative with your food as a kid? I certainly wasn't allowed to play with my food at the dinner table. So all that being said I'm looking for ideas. Stuff like making ants on a log (celery stalk filled with peanut butter then topped with rasins). I need to keep if very simple because I'm going to have to pack it in my suitcase or purchase it when we get to Montana. Also, I have no idea what ages the children are that we will be working with?
I can't wait to hear your ideas!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Leadership Lesson Learned
This weekend our youth group was supposed to have a mini retreat at a local camp ground. After many phone calls, text messages, facebook post and a lot of frustration, the decision was made to cancel the weekend. So instead of an over night activity we just met after church for lunch and had a time of sharing. It wasn't an easy decision to make and I knew a lot of people had changed their schedules to they could participate. However, as soon as the decision was made...a HUGE weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was confident that the correct decision was made and I was going to stand behind it no matter how unpopular it became. It was a teachable moment in commitment for everyone involved. It's so easy to be a part of Leadership when something goes well. You can sit back and relax and appreciate the work/effort you put into the activity. But the sad part is....it becomes more about you than about God working through you. This weekend was defiantly a challenge for me, but God was faithful (as He always is) and made it a success! So even though we didn’t do what was originally planned, God was still able to use our plans to glorify Him! Thank You Jesus for the gift of the Holy Spirit, our comforter, friend and teacher! May I be reminded everyday that it’s not me, but CHRIST THROUGH ME!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Yon Won't Relent
I have recently fallen in love with the song "You Won't Relent" by Misty Edwards. If you listen to this song and you aren't moved, well......listen to it again! I must confess that I am on the payroll with the Lyric Patrol, so I ALWAYS pay close attention to the lyrics. Most of the lyrics from this song have been take from the word of God. So if you get addicted to this song like me, it's ok because you're filling your mind with TRUTH! Below are two versions of the scriputre the song was taken from. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3spvQYlB-I
Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7 (NIV)
Hang my locket around your neck, wear my ring on your finger. Love is invincible facing danger and death. Passion laughs at the terrors of hell. The fire of love stops at nothing—it sweeps everything before it. Flood waters can't drown love, torrents of rain can't put it out. Love can't be bought, love can't be sold—it's not to be found in the marketplace.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7 (The Message)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3spvQYlB-I
Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7 (NIV)
Hang my locket around your neck, wear my ring on your finger. Love is invincible facing danger and death. Passion laughs at the terrors of hell. The fire of love stops at nothing—it sweeps everything before it. Flood waters can't drown love, torrents of rain can't put it out. Love can't be bought, love can't be sold—it's not to be found in the marketplace.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7 (The Message)
Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentine's Day
I usually look forward to 2/14 because my birthday is on 2/15. But the past few year I've wanted to skip Valentine's Day altogether. Don't get me wrong...I'm a sucker for the cards, hearts, candy, and flowers part of Valentine's Day. However, the stage of life I'm at right now makes 2/14 a struggle. So I entered February with that mindset....let's skip 2/14...until yesterday. I must confess I was having a hard time paying attention in Sunday school yesterday morning, but for some reason this verse caught and held my attention:
"God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." 1 John 3:20 (b).
Ouch. I've been so wrapped up in me that I forgot that God was bigger than my feelings, my wants, my fears and my worries. And why on earth have I been trying to hide anything from him? That thought led me to Psalm 139...
"You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. "
So today February 14, 2011 I am choosing to NOT be discouraged. I am choosing to reflect and declare that I am…
"You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. "
So today February 14, 2011 I am choosing to NOT be discouraged. I am choosing to reflect and declare that I am…
FORGIVEN, BELOVED, HIDDEN IN CHRIST,
MADE IN THE IMAGE OF THE GIVER OF LIFE,
RIGHTEOUS & HOLY, REBORN & REMADE,
ACCEPTED & WORTHY!
MADE IN THE IMAGE OF THE GIVER OF LIFE,
RIGHTEOUS & HOLY, REBORN & REMADE,
ACCEPTED & WORTHY!
Friday, November 19, 2010
"Paper Hearts"
I read this post the other day and found it very thought provoking, so now I'm sharing it with you!!
"Everyone is probably familiar, in one way or another, with the method of cutting a heart out of a piece of paper. It’s really only four simple steps:
1. Fold piece of paper in half
2. With folded side in, trace ½ heart shape
3. Cut on line, making sure not to cut along fold
4. Open and enjoy
Simple. Still, it always amazes me that no two hearts ever come out exactly the same. This is because they are handmade. Handmade items, even replicas, are never exactly alike. Some variation always exists, no matter how minuscule. Like paper hearts, we as individuals are handmade, handmade by God himself. Even God never cuts out two hearts that are exactly the same. We are all a unique expression of Him. This can make understanding one another more complicated, but also far more intriguing and exciting than if they were all the same. We each offer our own variation of who God is. This couldn’t be more evident to me, than in the variations that exist in my own kids. In them I see pieces of their daddy, I see pieces of me, but even more clearly I see a completely one-of-a-kind little person. They each have their own unique thoughts, perspectives, and abilities. This is exactly how our Father views each of us. In fact, it’s how He intended us to be.
I attend LCBC and for the past two weeks the message has been centered on, what I recently heard described as, the Jesus Creed. The creed comes from Mark 12:29-31, which reads...
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.
30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’
31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
2. With folded side in, trace ½ heart shape
3. Cut on line, making sure not to cut along fold
4. Open and enjoy
Simple. Still, it always amazes me that no two hearts ever come out exactly the same. This is because they are handmade. Handmade items, even replicas, are never exactly alike. Some variation always exists, no matter how minuscule. Like paper hearts, we as individuals are handmade, handmade by God himself. Even God never cuts out two hearts that are exactly the same. We are all a unique expression of Him. This can make understanding one another more complicated, but also far more intriguing and exciting than if they were all the same. We each offer our own variation of who God is. This couldn’t be more evident to me, than in the variations that exist in my own kids. In them I see pieces of their daddy, I see pieces of me, but even more clearly I see a completely one-of-a-kind little person. They each have their own unique thoughts, perspectives, and abilities. This is exactly how our Father views each of us. In fact, it’s how He intended us to be.
I attend LCBC and for the past two weeks the message has been centered on, what I recently heard described as, the Jesus Creed. The creed comes from Mark 12:29-31, which reads...
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.
30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’
31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Sure it sounds simple, but application is always a different story. So what does it look like to love God and love others, what does that mean? These past few weeks I’ve really been challenged by the reality that no handmade being can do so in exactly the same way. Which means this creed is not limited to one expression of love, because God is not limited to one expression of love. Rather, this is an opportunity for us as unique individuals; cut out by Him, to display the many unique ways He loves. However, learning to be true to the way you were created and operate freely as yourself can be difficult. We are bound by our fears, for me specifically I’m often bound by my fear of what others will think of me. What if my heart isn’t the right shape, color, size, what if, what if, what if. All too often I find myself holding back God’s love because of my fears. My desire for myself outweighs my desire to be true to the heart God cut out for me. Likewise, learning to value and appreciate the uniqueness of the hearts of others can be just as complicated, especially if their heart operates in a way that is unfamiliar or different from our own. This has also been a struggle of mine, learning to let God and others love me outside of my comfort zone, and in accordance with their heart’s unique message. I’m realizing that in order to see the many shades of His colorful love and appreciate the unique hearts in which it is birthed, I have to allow His grace to be the translator between hearts that speak different languages.
By His grace and our willingness to be true to ourselves we can encounter His love in deeper ways. The same happens when we allow others the grace to be true to the heart He has given them. Maybe your heart is long and narrow, or short and wide; maybe it is tiny, or ripped on one side, even lopsided. Whatever its appearance, it has a unique message to deliver, one that only it can say and in exactly the way it was made to say it."
Susan Ferrari
Susan Ferrari
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
.: DON'T CONNECT THE DOTS :.
How many of you have completed a connect the dot puzzle? You know what I'm talking about...those puzzles that have little numbers or letters with dots all over the page. The activities that helped us learn our alphabet, how to count to 100 or revealed a picture of a bible story?? Well what if I showed you a connect the dot puzzle and asked you to tell me what the final image would be WITHOUT connecting a single dot? Some images would be easy to pick out, but the more numbers or letters that are added, the harder it would become. OK now what if I told you that there was a connect the dot puzzle of your life? Interesting thought isn't it.
OK lets take this one step further. Looking at your puzzle, what do you see? Is it neat and organized with dots that are easy to connect? Or maybe your puzzle is full of clusters of dots here and there? Or maybe your puzzle is ONE. BIG. DOT in the center of the page? Like I said before, this puzzle represents your life. More specifically this puzzle represents the times you've heard God's call/whisper and obeyed.
Take a look at the puzzle again, what do you see? Has God been working in your life? Have you been listening to His voice? Do you know His voice of truth among all the other voices SCREAMING for your immediate attention? Maybe you've started thinking about all the times you've heard and disobeyed...STOP! That's your enemy attacking. He knows your weaknesses better than you do, but he's a liar and can't be trusted. What I need you to do is focus on your puzzle. Your job is NOT connecting the dots. God's already done that! Your job is NOT determining what the puzzle will look like in the end. God's already knows! Your job is NOT critiquing the artist. See Romans 9:22-33 The Message.
Romans 9:20-33 (The Message) Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, "Why did you shape me like this?" Isn't it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn't that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people. Hosea put it well:
I'll call nobodies and make them somebodies;
I'll call the unloved and make them beloved.
In the place where they yelled out, "You're nobody!"
they're calling you "God's living children."
Isaiah maintained this same emphasis:
If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered
and the sum labeled "chosen of God,"
They'd be numbers still, not names;
salvation comes by personal selection.
God doesn't count us; he calls us by name.
Arithmetic is not his focus.
Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth:
If our powerful God
had not provided us a legacy of living children,
We would have ended up like ghost towns,
like Sodom and Gomorrah.
How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together:
Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,
a stone you can't get around.
But the stone is me! If you're looking for me,
you'll find me on the way, not in the way.
Your job is to focus on one. dot. at. a. time. In other words...listen, obey, trust, die to self, let the Spirit take control. Don't take over your life and miss out on what God has planned for you like Israel missed it. God shouldn't be the rock that we stumble upon on this journey of life. He should be the rock we cling to, the rock we build our life on.
Who's connecting your dots?
OK lets take this one step further. Looking at your puzzle, what do you see? Is it neat and organized with dots that are easy to connect? Or maybe your puzzle is full of clusters of dots here and there? Or maybe your puzzle is ONE. BIG. DOT in the center of the page? Like I said before, this puzzle represents your life. More specifically this puzzle represents the times you've heard God's call/whisper and obeyed.
Take a look at the puzzle again, what do you see? Has God been working in your life? Have you been listening to His voice? Do you know His voice of truth among all the other voices SCREAMING for your immediate attention? Maybe you've started thinking about all the times you've heard and disobeyed...STOP! That's your enemy attacking. He knows your weaknesses better than you do, but he's a liar and can't be trusted. What I need you to do is focus on your puzzle. Your job is NOT connecting the dots. God's already done that! Your job is NOT determining what the puzzle will look like in the end. God's already knows! Your job is NOT critiquing the artist. See Romans 9:22-33 The Message.
Romans 9:20-33 (The Message) Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, "Why did you shape me like this?" Isn't it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn't that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people. Hosea put it well:
I'll call nobodies and make them somebodies;
I'll call the unloved and make them beloved.
In the place where they yelled out, "You're nobody!"
they're calling you "God's living children."
Isaiah maintained this same emphasis:
If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered
and the sum labeled "chosen of God,"
They'd be numbers still, not names;
salvation comes by personal selection.
God doesn't count us; he calls us by name.
Arithmetic is not his focus.
Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth:
If our powerful God
had not provided us a legacy of living children,
We would have ended up like ghost towns,
like Sodom and Gomorrah.
How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together:
Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,
a stone you can't get around.
But the stone is me! If you're looking for me,
you'll find me on the way, not in the way.
Your job is to focus on one. dot. at. a. time. In other words...listen, obey, trust, die to self, let the Spirit take control. Don't take over your life and miss out on what God has planned for you like Israel missed it. God shouldn't be the rock that we stumble upon on this journey of life. He should be the rock we cling to, the rock we build our life on.
Who's connecting your dots?
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Time for an UPDATE!
I'm so excited to start The Truth Project with our small group. We watched the promotional video last night and WOW! Here's a little bit about The Truth Project....
In a recent study, the Barna Research Group revealed a stunning statistic that continues to reverberate throughout the evangelical world. Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview.
Because of this, today's believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life's ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation.
To counter this slide within the body of Christ, we are launching one of the most ambitious and powerful projects in the history of our ministry—Focus on the Family's The Truth Project.
The Truth Project is a DVD-based small group curriculum comprised of 12 one-hour lessons taught by Dr. Del Tackett. This home study is the starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective. Each lesson discusses in great detail the relevance and importance of living the Christian worldview in daily life.
We believe this one project represents the possibility for exponential change within the body of Christ, as we expect that thousands will be transformed by this curriculum. As it has been throughout history, God continues to call ordinary people to make an eternal difference in our world.
Check out http://www.thetruthproject.org/ for more info!
In a recent study, the Barna Research Group revealed a stunning statistic that continues to reverberate throughout the evangelical world. Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview.
Because of this, today's believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life's ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation.
To counter this slide within the body of Christ, we are launching one of the most ambitious and powerful projects in the history of our ministry—Focus on the Family's The Truth Project.
The Truth Project is a DVD-based small group curriculum comprised of 12 one-hour lessons taught by Dr. Del Tackett. This home study is the starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective. Each lesson discusses in great detail the relevance and importance of living the Christian worldview in daily life.
We believe this one project represents the possibility for exponential change within the body of Christ, as we expect that thousands will be transformed by this curriculum. As it has been throughout history, God continues to call ordinary people to make an eternal difference in our world.
Check out http://www.thetruthproject.org/ for more info!
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