Game Plan

This weekend my church, Good News, put on a production titled Game Plan. This is the second year that we have put it on, and I must say it was better than last year! It was still good last year, but many people will agree that this year was the best. It started on Saturday night with a tailgating party between friendship groups. Now I am not much for competition, but this year was really smooth and the overall atmosphere was great! Everyone had a good time mingling within groups, and playing some football with the kids. Now if you're wondering why we had a tailgating party, I will explain that in a bit. Sunday was the second day of the show and it went on during church. Some productions we have done two weekends, but this one is just the one weekend.
Game Plan stars a coach named Dave Ile, and his assistant coaches, Powers, and Pain. In case you didn't get it Dave Ile is, Devil. This production uses the football analogy to explain the Devil and his demons as a team against God and their strategic plans to lure God's people away from Him. During the play Coach Ile mentions that he and his team will not stop at anything to win their "game". They will win at all costs! It is very creepy! Coach Ile, Powers and Pain talk throughout the play about how they will use lust, insecurities, doubts, isolation, negativity,and positions of authority to corrupt people's minds and try to get them to fall away from God. In the end, Coach Ile gets his team ready for battle and they all storm off in rage. I wish you could have been there because it was a real eye opener!

I know that it was a great production, but it also makes you think. This is REAL! Yes, maybe the devil doesn't use football analogies, but I know that he has his pack of demons that he sends out to watch and lure each and every one of us in any little way, away from God. How scary is that! I mean he never rests.

1 Peter 5:8 says "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." The devil doesn't need to use new tricks, many times we fall from the same things over and over. He also doesn't make it known that it is him who is working. He is patient, and malicious, he believes that the best way to hell "is a soft slope, easy on the feet".

So who knows your weaknesses even better than you? Your enemy! But who can help you overcome him? GOD! 1 John 4:4 "My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world." Now I don't know about you but I find that very encouraging!! It is so good to know that God is on my side! Even with my weaknesses, He will pick me back up, dust me off, and make me stronger.

This production was great and I am glad that God is out there fighting for me when I can't fight for myself. Do not fear, for God is with you, but be aware that the enemy is out there. He is real.

John 14:1

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." I write verses on note cards and put them on the bathroom mirror for my mom and I to look at and memorize. Tonight my mom said this as we were saying goodnight and I just wanted to cry. She said it at just the right time and I needed to hear it. I am looking forward to a good night's sleep holding onto God. Trying hard to let go and trust in Him for everything. I thought I'd share this. I figured if I needed to hear it I am sure someone else does too. God's peace be with you too!

A new perspective

It is amazing what things God puts on your mind when you don't have much to think about. Thursday's and Friday's are my days to focus on cleaning the house so that when the weekend gets here there is not much to do. Vacuuming is probably my least favorite thing to do, but I usually put in my headphones and listen to music to make it more enjoyable. Today however I was trying to catch up on the Biggest Loser so I put my computer on pause and decided just to run the vacuum without music. Then my mind starts to go. Times like these I do like to talk to God, think about the past week, or what I have to do next. I am sure that many of us have downtime like that where we think about certain things. And of course I am a woman so it happens many times throughout the day.
Today God had me thinking about gifts. Last week my brother came in from out of town and I was pretty edgy. We all chipped in to get my sister a new washer because hers broke down. That was all fine, but it got me to thinking about gifts and what they really mean. This is a surprise even to me because I am a BIG gift person. I listen very carefully to pick up hints on anything that my family, or friends want so that when Christmas, or birthdays come up I have the perfect idea. I believe that this came from my dad. When I was growing up my dad didn't spend much time with me. I can see now that I longed for time with him, and that that is what I NEEDED, but not getting it for so long extinguished that fire. It was replaced with the fact that "Daddy can't be here, but here is a gift instead. This is how daddy's show love." I grew up knowing that my dad would mainly give me anything I wanted, all I had to do was ask. This lead to me not having a good view of my dad because I wanted him just for things. We didn't have the best relationship, but I know now he was doing the best he could do. However, a girl needs her father's attention, not gifts as a replacement. What good is a gift in memories? Sure I remember things that my dad gave me, but was that gift at my track meets in school? Was that gift cheering me on during my tennis matches? That gift didn't comfort me when I cried, it didn't read me bedtime stories, nor did it encourage me at times I excelled. More importantly, the gifts do not replace the fact that my dad chose to not be apart of my life anymore. It was not a fair trade. Its not like everything is ok now because as long as I have the gifts my dad gave me I am set for life. No, I still needed him to be there physically.
To be honest all this ran through my head in about 5 minutes. It is like God turned on a switch in my life that I needed to see and now was the perfect time. I love to give gifts. Or should I say loved? I can see now that gifts do not replace the person, and they do not show someone you love them as much as spending time with them. I don't want to do to people what my dad showed and done to me. Maybe it was the best he could do, but it is not the best I can do. I didn't realize that I was giving gifts to replace my time. But that is what my family and friends need most. My attention and to know that I am there spending time with them. I am sure I will still give gifts, but my outlook of them will be totally different. I want to be the one there making memories with them. This is the love people need.
This has been a real revelation for me and I am so thankful to God! I have wondered ever since I read the 5 love languages book why my love language was gifts. I always wondered why they were so important to me and that book helped me hold onto an excuse. Not that gifts could not be a good love language for some people, but I just felt that "Oh here is a book that says gifts are ok, so I must be ok". I can see now that gifts was not my first love language, but one that was pushed on me when quality time wasn't met. Thank you God for your amazing love and for opening yet another part of me up!

Fall Retreat 2011

This past weekend was one to remember! Our church packed up our youth and youth leaders to go to everyone's favorite youth event....FALL RETREAT! This retreat is different than our other events because it allows us to spend one and one time together, play games, focus on God, and grow as a youth group. It kicked off Saturday morning with bus games as we were on our was to Elmdale, Kansas. This is in the Flint Hills, which is pretty at times. Maybe it's just me but I am not one to brag about Kansas plains and hills, but I am sure it can be pretty at certain times. I am more of a mountains and ocean type girl. I cannot get enough pictures of them! However if you give me plains covered in snow I would be in heaven!:) Anyways he bus games were fun and a great way to kick off our weekend and get in the mood of spending all our time together. Once we got to the YMCA camp we unloaded luggage, found our rooms, ate lunch, and started playing community group games. This was the first time that we were grouped by who our community was. This was great for me because I love the girls I work with. Dont get me wrong, they can be a handful at times, but not only am I there to help them but they really open my eyes to things as well. It is very much a two-way relationship, and I was so happy to get to spend all that time growing with them. I am sorry I do not have picture of the games or camp, but I am without a camera right now and have no idea when I will get another one. The main part of this blog is not just about the great games we played anyways. Yes they were great, but this trip was even better because of the message that was shared. I could tell that we were doing well because the enemy seemed to be attacking us. On Saturday night our youth pastor felt that God was telling him to challenge us to put God first back into our lives. This really hit home for me because I have been struggling with doing that a bit lately. I know that I am able to put God first in my life and not worry about other things because I have done that before. And while that is good, it being just me and God, I know I should have friendships. Also, on the other end I am sure we all know how easy it is to put other things, and people in front of God and forget about him. Those things are both on each end of the spectrum. For a long time I felt like I have been taking the easy way out. I pick one end or the other. I have felt that it is just easier that way. One way is better since I am spending more time with God, but he did not say to not have anything else in my life. I felt like God was telling me that choosing the easy way out, even if it is Him at times, is not what He wants me to do. I heard Him tell me that I need to learn how to balance my life putting Him first, and then everything else second, but still having them. This has been really hard for me. Some days I feel that when I need to have a relationship with God first that this means reading your Bible for chapters at a time, then journaling, listening to music while worshiping Him, and talking about Him every change you get. For me I feel like this is a checklist and unless I do all of it everyday, than I am not putting Him first, so how could I have time for anyone else? This weekend helped me really put into perspective that that is not what He wants me to do. He does want my attention, but that is not the way He wants it. He wants to spend time talking to me throughout the day, reading my Bible here and there, worshiping when I can and journaling when I can as well. It doesn't mean doing everyhing at once, but maybe one a day and a couple of other things throughout the week. And when I am with my friends? Take Him with me. Not every conversation, but some here and there. Not to mention a godly attitude. I know this is long and I am hoping it makes sense, but it took me all weekend focusing on this and really getting at what God wanted me to do. While it will be hard, I need to really learn what is His voice and what isn't. Sometimes the easy way isn't the best way. More importantly I felt like I needed to learn this now because what would happen once I get married? I can't just choose God always and ignore my husband, or choose my husband and forget about God. I will have to know how to balance them both because that is a relationship God puts together. With that I am starting to feel more at ease, but I know it will take some work on my part. I pray that God shows me when to be with Him, and when I can be with my friends and that I can learn a good balance. That was not the only time we all got together to pray for each other but I was so thankful for that night. After our session was over we played night games and ended with a bonfire. This was great, but also where things just kept happening. We found out earlier that day that the breaks went out on the bus we drove to get there and that parts might not be able to come for it until Monday. While our youth pastor and pastor were on top of that figuring out a solution to bring all of us home another youth leader went to the hospital. We are not really sure exactly what happened yet, but she spent the night at the hospital putting her out of the rest of the trip. Including growing with her community group. One of our other leaders woke up with a migrane, and with another getting back late from taking care of the other at the hospital it was just a crazy Sunday. I couldn't believe that all happened. We were able to have generous people from church drive their vehicles to come pick us up, and we were so thankful for that. In the midst of all that went on attitudes and growing closer together still occured. It could have been a stressful time, but it wasn't too bad. God had a plan and He knew what was going to happen. He did not give us more than we could handle and he protected us the whole time. There were some bumps, but God was with us. He kept us safe and sound. For me it is just another God filled adventure that I will remember with Fusion Youth!

Update!

I know that I haven't written a blog post in a while and I feel like I am long overdue! Considering I dont have many followers yet I am pretty sure the people who will read this probably know what is going on in my life because they are my close friends! :) I hope to get more followers though so I know that I need to be writing blogs. I think what goes on in my head is that unless the blog is long, and about something important or something that really hit me hard I dont feel like I have anything good to write about. That sounds bad thought because God has blessed me soooo much since my last blog, so it is not that I have nothing great to write about, I have plenty! God is good! I used to write poems in jr high and high school. I feel that I am a good writer when I want to be and that it is a little bit of a calling I have. Sad thing is I haven't written in so long, not just blogs, that I am afriad I do not know how to do it anymore. Maybe I am not as good as I used to be. I used to be more open about my feelings many years ago. It was easy to put my feelings into poem form, or cry to a song that really touched me. However many events happend in my life to shut down my emotions and my mind. I know that it is only because of God in my life that I am where I am today. He has opened me up even better than I thought before. I am still learning to be myself and who I truly am, but it is a fun journey. I didnt think that this blog would end up where it is now but I guess I did have something to say. I am sorry that it is a bit scattered, and maybe doesn't make much sense but I just needed to write. I am going to try to write about once a week no matter what. Some days I may have something great, other days may just be fun or funny. However I am inviting you into my life and mind because I know this will be really good for me. I look forward to really starting my blog and getting back to being a writer. I am sure I will get better with time, so don't look for too much too soon from me. Thanks for reading!~