Exciting

So this morning I met with one of my favorite people in the world...Mrs. Katie Edwards. She seriously rocks my face off. We talked and she always has something new for me to learn in the area of youth ministry. Her ideas are so amazing and just blow me away. I am so excited that God has placed her into my life as a friend and mentor. It is so awesome for me to see that women can do youth ministry even though it is such a male dominated field. Even more exciting is that she is willing to help give me insight on anything from my own personal life to youth ministry. She is so down to earth and I hope and pray that as I grow and learn more about student ministries that I will be like her. I am so excited about where this is going and I just am so excited. Katie is totally hooking me up with all kinds of curriculm, books and games. I am so excited I can't stand it. It is so exciting!!!

Scared

I found out that my best friend in the whole world, Janelle, has a growth and they had to remove it. It could be cancer and I am really scared. She has two beautiful children and a loving husband. I am so afraid of what could happen. She is the best friends that anyone could have and I honsetly don't know what I would do without her. We have been through everything with eachother. She is having surgery on Oct 11th and I pray that God will guide her through this. The good news is that I get to go to Seattle and see her and I get to see the kids that I still havn't seen yet. I am so excited!!!!! I just pray that we make it to that point.

Let them exceed the expectations

Have you ever felt so strong about something that it hurts when it doesn't happen? That is what I realized, today, is happening in the ministry that I work in. I love youth ministry, I love the kids, I love the everyday work, but I am so frustrated right now with the direction the ministry is going. It seems like we are stale and stagnent and I'm not allowed to do anything about it. I have this vision, this amazing vision where our students are engaged, excited and truly experiencing the amazing love and beauty of God. I know it can happen and the resources that we have are so amazing compared to so many other ministries, but it is all being hindered by difference in visions. What do you do when the people above you don't have the same vision? How do you handle that? Where do you take it? These are all the questions that are going through my head. Something needs to happen before this ministry begins to die. I'm not one to talk about numbers, but I am one that want to have these students fed and right now it isn't happening.

The worst part is that I can see where this ministy can go. People just need to make decisions and allow this ministry to go to the limits...let it meet and exceed peoples expectations.

Awesome Realization

Today I realized something....I love what I do!!!! I know that sometimes I complain, but I am so greatful for where God has put me. I love the amazing students that have been placed into my life and I am so excited to see how God works in this amazing ministry. I love school, too. I know that I complain about the work, but what I am learning is so awesome. I love the reading and the assignments, I mean yeah it is work, but work that i actually like.

Thank You, Lord for your amazing work. It is a wonder to me how you work and how you do things, but I can see that you know and that is amazing!!!!

Frustration

I am so frustrated right now. There is so much work that I need to get done before Monday night and I don't even know how I am going to get it all done. I have to read a book and write a paper on it and read two chapters from another. All for one class!!!! Now, there would be no issue, if I didn't have church in the morning and work tomorrow night and to top it off I cant sleep now. There is just to much stuff on my mind. I think that I might be going crazy.

Amazing Friends

I would like to introduce you to some really amazing friends. These two girls are awesome becasue they love to go on amazing adventures with me. This is Addie, Katelynn and I in Morro Bay. This was one of the best trips of my life. Thank you for your love of the outdoors and of course beach cruisers.

To learn and apologize

Over the last week I have been doing alot of learning as I have been reading for my Biblical teaching principles class. I doing this reading and research I have come to a conclusion that I would like to share. There is background on this that I would like to share also.
There is someone in my past, who was a very important person in my life and will always hold a special place that I would like to appologize to also. I will explain.
I have been learning about learning styles and how our learning styles are a part of who we are and how we do things. There are two styles that I would like to share. One is based on emotion, thinks with their heart and not always the head. This person cares about what others think and will do anything to make people happy. This person has a random personality and doesn't think in any sort of a linear pattern. The other style is analytical, very much non emotional, isn't very sentimental, is a researcher and scholar.
Now, I do have a reason for telling you this information, beyond the fact that I find it very intersting. I am sharing this because the first style represents me, or at least where the test placed me. The other one seems,(at least in my head) to represent this person that was very dear to me. When this person said I was too emotional, thery were right. When I said they were too unemotional, I was right. The problem is that I expected this person to respond the way I wanted instead of allowing them to be who God created them to be. I tried to make them make sense to me instead of listening and learning about who they were and allowing them to be that person. For that I would honestly lilke to apologize. I am sorry.
I have learned that many times if someone doesn't make sense to me I get frustrated instead of trying to learn and grow from that point and work with people for who they are and have been created to be. Please forgive me for expecting more from you that you were able to give. That is my fault and again I am sorry. I have learned to step back and learn how I can be more understanding and not expect everyone to meet me on my emotional level.
I pray that you will read this and accept my apology. Thank you for what you have allowed me to learn.
For everyone esle...I am going to try to not subject you so much to my emoness. I am learning how to meet people where they are at. I love this learning at this point in my life. It is amazing how every day I learn something amazing and new.

Amazing Morning

So today I had a revelation...why not go down to the beach and do my morning Bible study? So that is what I did. At 9am this morning I parked my car by the Starbucks on Main St, in beautiful HB, got a cup of coffee and walked down to the sand. It was amazing. I remember why the beach is my favorite place. It was beautiful and peaceful. I sat there for an hour and read my Bible and prayed and then proceeded to finish my readin for class. Three hours later I figured that I should go to the office and get some work done. It was amazing, though and just the white space that I needed after a weekend of being bombarded by memories. It was a time to clear my head and realize that God's plan is so much bigger. It's funny how every once in a while we just need to be reminded of that.

Officially Official

Tomorrow is the day. I am super excited, but I have to admit that I am completely scared. Tomorrow is my first day as the official Jr. High intern at Shoreline. It is going to be amazing, but I can't believe that it is finally happening. I mean Wow God has really thrown a loop in this one because three months ago this wasn't the plan and now look. Well now all there is to do it see what the Lord has for me to do with this. It is going to be an exciting adventure and I'll keep you updates on it.

Here goes nothin

Friday marked the beginning of a new era in my life. Friday was my last day as a teacher. I drove out of the parking lot at 3:30 and left behind the kids that I have grown to love and have spent day in and day out with. I left the loving, amazing people that I work with to follow the calling that I truly feel God has for me, but it was honestly one of the hardest things that I have ever done in my whole life. I knew that it was going to be hard, but to see those beautiful faces as I left I thought that my heart was going to break.
I am excited becasuse the internship that I have been waiting on is finally happening and that step into ministry is being taken. This is just totally different than what I have done and is a little scary. I am leaving behind the saftey of the past and stepping out on faith. This is going to be a great adventure, but I am sure going to miss those amazing, beautiful faces in the morning. I do have to say though that I am not going to miss the 6:30 in the morning. Katelynn you can have it and I hope that you enjoy it.