It's amazing how God works sometimes. Actually all the time but some things stand out more than others.
We had our high school youth group tonight. It's always an awesome time. I love seeing kids learn about God and have meaningful discussions. This summer we're watching a video series that's basically a reality show where teens discuss major life issues. Then we break into small groups and discuss those issues further. There have been some great conversations following these videos and I've absolutely loved every week of it.
But this week disaster struck.
Or at least that's what it felt like for a while there. The DVD was scratched and kept skipping and eventually we had to turn it off. That meant doing small groups without the video. That meant trying to fill and hour with small group time. That meant more than we were prepared for. But God didn't disappoint. Despite our prayers the DVD didn't work, but clearly He had other plans.
I heard so many stories of amazing conversations that might not have happened if we didn't have all that time. People learned what it really means to have a relationship with Christ, not just follow a religion. It's funny because praying before the night started I told God I trusted His sovereignty. Guess He had it even more covered than I realized. Plus the worship team got to put together a few songs last minute and they did an awesome job of closing out the night in a way that allowed us to praise God for being in control and for wanting a relationship with us.
Wow what a great night. I'm just so encouraged by what happened and how I saw the Lord move. Definitely a night to remember.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Pressing Forward
So I've decided that this summer will be all about improving my relationship with God. Step 1: read the Bible every day. So I started that today. I picked a plan on my Bible app on my phone (gotta love technology) and set a daily reminder to read whatever is in the plan for the day. I've told myself a million times that I would read the Bible in a year, but I always get stuck somewhere around Numbers or Deuteronomy. But I'm going to do it this year. Feel free to hold me accountable and ask how I'm doing! It'll keep me reading :)
After my realization/rant a couple weeks ago (see my last post), I've decided that I really need to step it up in my personal relationship with God if I want to have any sort of positive impact on those around me, specifically the high schoolers at church. So please, ask me how I'm doing and don't be shy about it. I need the accountability and I know most of you reading this are people I can trust to talk honestly and openly with.
On another note, although not entirely, I have a lot on my mind tonight (as usual). It's good though. The young adult group at church was great tonight - just what I needed. Thanks Erik Vagen for allowing God to work in an amazing way! I was able to spend a lot of time in prayer - praying for our generation, for my friend next to me who I hadn't seen in forever, for Matt, for myself...
We read in Ephesians 3 today. My favorite reminder in the verses was that God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. (verse 20)
Wow.
More than we can imagine?? That's a promise by the way. There's no question in the way the Bible says it. So I started dreaming big. I imagined a generation full of followers of Christ, rising up to train and mentor the next generation to be even more faithful than themselves. I imagined myself a significant part of ending modern day slavery for good. God can do more than that? I have to be honest it's so hard for me to have faith in that. But while I prayed tonight, while I was listening to and singing along with the worship team as they sang about God being our savior and allowing the weak to say "I am strong", wow did that set in. I need to stop limiting myself.
I need to stop limiting myself.
Oh! So I'm the one holding myself back? It's the fear of failing. It's the pride that causes me to think "I'll do it my way". It's my quickness to default back to comfort and complacency. I'm done with that. I'm going to start praying big. I'm going to start opening myself to the Lord and honestly asking Him to do His will in my life. Scary? Yes. But it's that fear that holds me back so I'm letting go of it and giving that up to Him. Prayers would be appreciated :)
After my realization/rant a couple weeks ago (see my last post), I've decided that I really need to step it up in my personal relationship with God if I want to have any sort of positive impact on those around me, specifically the high schoolers at church. So please, ask me how I'm doing and don't be shy about it. I need the accountability and I know most of you reading this are people I can trust to talk honestly and openly with.
On another note, although not entirely, I have a lot on my mind tonight (as usual). It's good though. The young adult group at church was great tonight - just what I needed. Thanks Erik Vagen for allowing God to work in an amazing way! I was able to spend a lot of time in prayer - praying for our generation, for my friend next to me who I hadn't seen in forever, for Matt, for myself...
We read in Ephesians 3 today. My favorite reminder in the verses was that God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. (verse 20)
Wow.
More than we can imagine?? That's a promise by the way. There's no question in the way the Bible says it. So I started dreaming big. I imagined a generation full of followers of Christ, rising up to train and mentor the next generation to be even more faithful than themselves. I imagined myself a significant part of ending modern day slavery for good. God can do more than that? I have to be honest it's so hard for me to have faith in that. But while I prayed tonight, while I was listening to and singing along with the worship team as they sang about God being our savior and allowing the weak to say "I am strong", wow did that set in. I need to stop limiting myself.
I need to stop limiting myself.
Oh! So I'm the one holding myself back? It's the fear of failing. It's the pride that causes me to think "I'll do it my way". It's my quickness to default back to comfort and complacency. I'm done with that. I'm going to start praying big. I'm going to start opening myself to the Lord and honestly asking Him to do His will in my life. Scary? Yes. But it's that fear that holds me back so I'm letting go of it and giving that up to Him. Prayers would be appreciated :)
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