SummerX : Cross Training

So we have been home one week from our youth summer camp, SummerX. Used to seem so far away, but as quickly as it came, quickly it was over. There is honestly not much else I would rather do for a week than be at SummerX. These students, our staff, ministering to them, serving beside my husband, walking beside the leaders, watching everyone grow & be excited for the Lord before my eyes...this is my passion. My true, God-given passion & purpose.

This was summer camp #5 for us with Emmanuel, which seems crazy! But I can honestly tell you it was the best one yet! I know I have said that the past 2 years, but they just keep getting better! And that is all God! We had an amazing group of kids & staff this year...and our speaker was just perfect, God knew who we needed & He brought us Mike Thibedeaux. I have so much to say about camp, but being home for a week now has allowed me to process some of what happened that week. Here are several things that God brought to my heart & mind through Mike or just through God speaking to me at camp:

~The love of God was given first, without need of or in response to a previous love. The cross was not God loving me back, but Him love me 1st & more...not in response to man's sin (although that is part of it), as a demonstration that there was nothing more He could give us than that...He was already perfect, but He still went through the cross.

~Sacrificial love accepts insults & does not return evil with evil. This kind of Christ-like love willingly receives insult. Return evil with good, with blessing. Think about those that are hard to love...think less about them but more about my response to them. I need to stop looking at them as the problem...it's me, I need to respond & surrender. Anyone can love someone that is easy to love.

~Like Jesus & the story of the centurion, volunteer to go the 2nd mile. Don't just do the requirement...go beyond just "doing your duty."

~I need to live that 490 Lifestyle...forgive 70 times 7. My circumstances may not change, but God can change how I deal with my circumstances. I need to do my part with the Lord, with repentence & a right heart...let Him defend me...I cannot live in a manner that contradicts my salvation in the truth of the cross...Jesus gave ALL for me to live a 490 lifestyle.

My Top 10 from Camp: (in no particular order)

1-worship...watching our students truelly worship

2-Mike Thibedeaux...our camp speaker

3-our Small Group Bible study group that I got to teach, with Tyler...

These guys seriously rock my socks off...they had such great things to say & encouraged me greatly! I just love them!

4-Andrea & I got to be the LT's (leutenant) for the Purple Tree Followers...that was our team for the games for the week. It was fun cheering them on!

5-Our Staff...they took a week off of work to minister...for that I know they have & will reep many blessings! They were each an encouragement to me & I count myself blessed to work beside each one of them.

6-My girls...I have Senior Girls...they seriously amazing me. They are my "small group" but there are other girls that I consider "mine" that mean the world to me also. I just love spending time with them...they are so fun, loving, & amazing.

7-One on one time with students...especially the walks at camp! I love hearing their hearts when I get to be with them individually.

8-Laughter...such a gift

9-Getting to be myself...people loving me for me, allowing me to be me

10-Watching God rock these students' world...shaking things up, making them think about things differently & molding them.

So, there you have it! #5 is in the records! And I loved every minute. Even if God told me some hard things...thank God He is willing to even tell me things!

SO Proud!

I had the blessing of celebrating a college graduation with 2 very dear friends this weekend.  To say I am so proud of them would be a gross understatement, but I am so, SO proud of them!  

Kristy JOY is one of a kind...amazing, beautiful, gifted, sweet, funny, JOYFUL...and she encourages me so much.  I have spent 4 years with Kristy...she got here when I did basically!  We have spent that time laughing, crying, ministering, encouraging...walking through life together.  She has served in our student ministry for these 4 years & has been loyal & unwavering.  She has been with her small group girls since Day 1 as 7th graders...in two weeks, they will be Juniors!  She is so faithful.  She loves God SO much & you can see it.  She is a very dear friend & sister to me.  To add to that...she loves on & encourages my guys greatly...Jim & Jesse's lives are richer because of her too.  I had the privelage of acting as a ministry coach for her degree...which also means I got to brag on her througout a bunch of evaluations too...and I got to nominate her for the Christian Leadership Award...to which she won that honor (this is the first year YBC has done this...she is the first recipient of this honor & to have her name on the plaque that will go in their new library).  I just can't say enough about this girl...except that I am beyond excited & thankful that she is staying here in Billings!!!  I get the blessing of continueing to minister with & to her!!!  What a great thing!

Andrea...what a beautiful girl!  I have spent the last 2 years with her, which has flown by.  She is tender-hearted & sweet...very gifted as well...so hard working.  Even when everything is NOT going the way she would want...she always turned in to Christ as an opportunity.  She loves God & is quite humble.  She exudes a maturity beyond her years.  She has also been so faithful with working with our students & has had a great impact on them as well.  It was a joyous, yet sad occasion to watch her graduate...because I also had to say goodbye.  She has moved back to Michigan already...but with promise that she will be back...just needs to take this step to take care of business, so to speak.  It hurt my heart to say goodbye to her...she will be deeply missed.

Even just writing about these girls puts tears in my eyes...my life is better because of them & what a blessing these sisters of mine are to me!

Why do I do what I do?

So at OverFlo lastnight, we split into small groups to pray at the end & I had the privelage to pray with a couple girls I just love. One was very honest & said she was struggling & shared with us how we could pray...but one thing specifically she was talking about really struck a chord with me. She was evaluating her ministry position & really posed the question...'why am I doing what I am doing?" So that got me thinking...SO, for the next while...I am going to journal my thoughts on why I do what I do. Headings of the main things I do...then when the reasons come to me, I will journal them. Should prove to be interesting...always good to take an evaluation. Ultimatelly, I want to find that all the things I do, I do them to glorify God. I am sure to do some pruning.

Simple Staff Meeting

I love the people I get to work with & for...they are all incredible people. I am thankful for this all the time & am continually reminded of this. One reminder was today during a regular, routine staff meeting. We haven't met in a while, so we just had a sweet time of prayer...it was more somber, serious I guess...there are just many needs, but also many praises. Our Pastor Ronnie at the end went around I thanked God for each of us, by name & with a specific reason. That made me mentally go around the circle as well. Pastor Ronnie-an incredible man of God, a delight to be around, is joyful in the midst of the trial of facing prostate cancer...I could go on & on. Judy-so sweet, dry sense of humor that I love, faithful, steadfast...I love working with her. Ginny-our newest addition to the team & such a joy to be aroundI love & is a great fit for us. Darla-does so much for our church & everyone else...she loves people. She is hilarious too & is so compassionate. Lindsay-one of my bests, I love everything about her...she is beautiful & trustworthy...I have the joy of working with her, serving beside her, & living around her. Amy-on her way out of our staff, which I will miss her a lot...she is so talented, so empathetic, such a godly woman, mom, & wife...I will miss her. Bill & Anita-do more around the church than anyone knows about & they're retired...they are servant-hearted & take such care of what they look after. This is only the Support Staff...there is a whole other realm of staff that I will have to brag on in another post...but these are the ones I am in the trenches with, so to speak, day after day. We labor together for the glory of God & there's nothing I'd rather do.
These people are God's blessing to me.

...to Gaze in Abandonment...

To enter the Kingdom is to recognzie the cadence of our true culture & step away from where we have been seated. With the glorious freedom of a child, we abandon ourselves to its rythms & become free from the opinions of others. To enter the Kingdom is to become lost in the gaze of THE ONE who is making the music, knowing that it is being played just for you.

Gaze in Abandonment.