I went to Dallas, Texas for a youth camp/conference/encounter with the Lord…. expecting that my youth group would be touched by the Lord. I even expected that I would be encouraged. But I just didn’t expect the depth of the words that God spoke to my heart…

He convicted me of hidden sin.
He challenged my faith.
He changed my vision.
He gave me eyes to see like He sees.
He restored my first love.
He gave me right perspective, “Ministry is hard when you pick up things that God never told you to pick up.”
He called me to Himself.
He crucified my flesh.
He humbled my wretched pride.
He broke me… reduced me to tears..
He convinced me of my utter dependence on Him, and my certain failure without Him.
He spoke words in gentle truth in my ear—that I could speak to the youth.
He reminded me that other people love Him, too.
He caused my heart to cry out in worship.
He satisfied my soul’s longing.
He left me in total awe of the Spirit’s power.
He confirmed His Word to me… through the words of youth.
He turned all focus to Himself—where it rightfully belongs!

And if this is all that God did in my heart… what has He done in the hearts of the youth? Time will tell. For almost four hours on the last day, we had a meeting in the van. Worshipped, prayed and mostly talked about what God is speaking to the youth group as a whole and what we need to practically change. And then just spontaneous exhortation and encouragement. There was zeal and passion and fire in their eyes… and a huge smile on my face! This is what I LOVE. Seeing youth passionate for Jesus… wow. It just thrills my soul. Already (after 4 days back), I have witnessed practical changes in their lives. May God give grace to each of us! That we may live for His glory! And accurately reflect the character of God in this world.

“Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of Your name!…”
Psalm 79:9

“Darn it! I forgot my chopsticks” –The Joker

“I’ll beat the fool outta him” – Adam McCain, director of CFNI.

“It was like that Indian trail.” –The Joker refers to playing games outside in 105 degree Texas heat.
“The Trail of Tears?” –Me
“Yeah, that’s it! It was like the Trail of Tears!” –The Joker

“And when he said, ‘Gig,’ I almost body-slammed him.” –Adam McCain about people treating ministry like a job.

“AAH! Your foot touched me again. Don’t touch me!” –Family Friend

*sings* “Mind your own business.. mind your own business and stay out of miiiiine!” *singing to the tune of Feliz Navidad*

“What do YOU think the giraffe’s name should be? Frederick or Jack?” –The Crazy Kid
“Jack!” –Me (Naming the giraffe statue at Dallas Zoo)
“Oh, come ON!” –The Crazy Kid
We eventually named the giraffe, Sebastian Jack Walter Merl Melman... err something like that.

“While you were sleeping, we saw a town called ‘St. Elmo’ for your list!” –The Pastor’s Wife… because I was making a list of weird town names.
Including London, Palestine, Friendship, Jericho, Paris, Pocahontas and Brazil. :)

“Stop trying to get to the inner place of anointing and take time to die in the outer court.” –Banning Liebscher, guest preacher.

“Just sayin’.” –Mike Bond, assistant YFN director… this oft-repeated phrase is only powerful if it follows something painfully blunt and accompanied by shrugging shoulders and a look of innocence. :)

“I will CUT you!” –I don’t even know who first said this little ghetto phrase. You must say it with attitude and a little finger-wagging and head-shaking… :) HA-larious!

“I feel the wind of the Spirit… oh no, that’s the air conditioning!” –Me

10 Youth + 3 Leaders + 25 & 25 hours of driving + 5 days of crazy Youth Camp = My Week

One of the glories of being a youth leader is called, "delegation." I'm not very good at that, but I was smart enough to delegate the task of driving a big white van + UHAUL trailer from central Pennsylvania to Dallas, TX. For some reason, I am usually relegated to driving that van only when it's dark and raining... which is enough to freak me out. So for the safety of all involved, I enlisted the help of two wonderful other leader/drivers and I just "supervised." Supervised the youth---not the drivers! And since the youth slept for the majority of the trip down & back... so did I!

I know you are thinking... well then, why is sleep overrated? Because for days before our trip to Texas commenced, I was only getting about 4 hours of sleep per night and the night before our trip... it was more like 2 hours. As I like to say, "El stupido!" (murdering another language besides English is always fun). I was one MESSED-UP and sleepless individual.

So we depart from State College, PA at 5:00 AM on Sunday morning. At 6:00 AM, I am rudely awakened by some idiot honking and waving at us... The youth painted up the windows with cool stuff like our youth group name, Scripture references and one long window of "TEXAS OR BUST!" I'm thinking that the weird honking guy was expressing joy at the sight of our colorful and original window art. But just to be safe, the driver pulls over to the side of the road and does a walk around the van + trailer. She comes back totally alarmed---the back door of the luggage trailer was open!! I'm having visions of a week of wearing the same clothes every. single. day. Ahh! So we drag all the youth out to confirm that their luggage was still intact.... In the end, the only thing we lost was a cooler with a watermelon. God's mercy is great! We had prayed for our protection---but sadly neglected to pray over the watermelon. Oh well. I'm sure somebody got a kick out of seeing a watermelon rolling down the highway! :)

Anyway, our halfway point was at our family friends' house in Ste. Genevieve, MO. They were COOL enough to welcome a group of teenagers who ate tons of pizza, climbed into a little kids' treehouse, spent hours straightening each others' hair (the girls), playing Skippo, listening to music and generally laughing ALOT. Remember that I wasn't driving? This is an important fact. We arrived in MO about 7 pm. Ate dinner, had a youth group meeting--talked about the Word and had some time in prayer, and then just chilled out. The other leaders went to bed.... 10 PM rolls around, it's the youth+me+two very cool Missouri friends... Midnight rolls around... we decide that sleep is pointless. Because we are leaving at 3 AM. It was a night of laughter, playing music, silly songs, worship songs, jokes, meeting a new friend, serious conversation, more hair straightening and then finally saying goodbye.

Our time in Texas didn't yield much sleeping time, either... Crazy schedule, stupid (bright) city lights, loud ghetto noises, wide-awake because of what God was doing, etc... One night I found myself twirling a stuffed bear in the air at 2 am and rambling endlessly. (The bear is another story). But it was a fruitful time of ministry and besides, we could always catch up on sleep during the drive home, right??

More stories to come.... :)

Nearly 48 hours spent in the company of teenagers and youth leaders. In the mountains. No cell service. No television. No indoor plumbing. Welcome to the youth retreat—Pennsylvania (rustic) style!

Our time together looked something like this… sleep, eat food, read the Bible, play UNO, worship, pray, eat food, hear the Word preached, take a nap, read a book, play something outside, look at the creek, swing, take pictures, hear the Word (again), eat more, sit by the campfire, wash dishes, sleep, worship, talk about God and life and many such interesting things.

My favorite moments:
-Sitting on the floor Friday night and playing random music on the little keyboard. Mostly 20 different kinds of organ… Including, but not limited to: jazz, The Wedding March and circus organ parade music. Yeah, the circus music was my favorite!
-Re-enacting Fireproof jokes & pranks. “Pile on (The Sparkly Girl)!!!” And the warnings that follow, “Don’t put those pictures on facebook!”
-Wading through a freezing-cold river. I have an irrational fear of heights, and just couldn't make myself cross on the "cable bridge." Crazy and funny.
-Laying on the ground late in the evening, viewing brilliant stars and listening to sounds of the rippling stream waters. What ambiance.
-Spontaneous conversations that happen because you have nothing else to do, but be social with your brothers and sisters in Christ. :)
-Weird quotes... "Hygiene stinks," "Comancheros!" "I am a camel," .... funny youth people. :)
-Instructive times in the Word, intense times of prayer and wonderful times of worship.

Retreats rock!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you, “Youth Group Love.”

Just in case you are a new reader to the blog… I have the amazing and awesome opportunity to be responsible for a group of wild & crazy teenagers!! I get to plan events for them, preach to them, pray for them, worship with them and generally watch God transform their hearts & lives. It. Is. AWESOME. Sometimes, it is insanity. But the rewards are innumerable. My heart leaps with joy when a youth testifies about something God revealed to them. I am nearly moved to tears when I listen to the earnest prayers of a young person. And sometimes, throughout the week, I smile just thinking about them. :)

We wanna give the youth group some love!!!

Preaching. I noticed a trend. In (almost) every sermon, there is included some random—usually violent—fact or news story. Me + Google = Weird information. Aaaaaand, I tend to tell at least one story about how I was inadvertently injured. Like on Wednesday, I talked about pacing and praying as a teenager, and walking into a shelf on the wall. Yeah, I happen to injure myself often, so I have a lot of stories…. Case-in-point, last night I drew blood twice and fell down the stairs twice. No blood from the falls, though I did ruin a pair of brand-new socks! Darn it! (congrats if you caught the pun)… Maybe stories for next week? :)

Talking. The Chatty Girl talks the most. The Sparkly Girls gets the most excited while talking. The Curly Girl smiles the most while everyone else talks. The Green-Eyed Girl does the unique “umm/laugh” combination that I do while I preach. Hmmm. Did I get it from her or did she get it from me? That is the question…

Uniqueness. It’s the quiet ones you gotta worry about. Like one guy is gonna major in Computer Security in college. A.k.a., anti-hacking. Makes me wonder what he does in his spare time… Kidding! Or the girl who raises sheep and one particular sheep gave birth to lamb triplets! And she informed me that if you wash a sheep, it does NOT shrink. Cuz I was wondering. :) Or the kid with the fixation with fairness. Hilarious because he walked around the church three times the other day, asking if anyone wanted the rest of a Tootsie Roll. Just eat it already! :)

Affection. One girl doesn’t like hugs. Yeah, I used to be like that, too—so I offer her a hug, just to see the look on her face! Classic! And the guys just beat each other up to express affection. At least, I’m hoping they are expressing affection and not animosity. :)

Besides the ever-present humor and hilarity, there is always a spiritual work going on in the youth. May God give them grace to lift a standard of holiness and radical faith in their generation!

"Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe."
1 Timothy 4:12

My coworkers think I'm crazy for being a youth leader. Like seriously. They are quite amazed at my willingness to take 15 teenagers in 2 vans and drive 3+ hours to spend the day in a big city... They are quite right. I'm crazy. The youth are crazy. The other leaders are crazy. And craziness just kinda ensues. Here's a little glimpse of the interesting things of my Saturday road trip.

• "Ms. Maggie Magellan" - a.k.a. the new GPS system that accompanied us on our journey. She made a pleasant chiming sound whenever we made a correct turn. And so I chimed in, too, "Good job, Mom! Great driving!" :)
• We theorized about illegal U-turns and the response to a policeman. "My GPS made me do it!"
• Sharing food is the youth group's love language. French fries and pizza and chicken and McDonald's apple pies and soda and that interesting mocha passed around the entire big white van.
• Wondering about the location of Nebraska... It's not too far from Texas. Only a couple states over!
• Many, many jokes about Finding Nemo. We did find him. He was cute.
• "Just keep swimming.. just keep swimming--sideways!"
• The Witty Kid's almost falling into an icy harbor. "I just wanted to see how thick the ice was!" Yes, that is wrong in so many ways.
• Hugging bubble pillars at the Aquarium.
• Strange, unique and altogether fascinating sea life... the snake-necked turtle, tiny fish playing peek-a-boo, fish in neon colors and camouflage and sending electric currents.
• Telling stories about my coworker putting a dead seahorse in an envelope and sending it through the company postage meter. Sounded kind of like, "Squishhhhhhhh." LOL
• The Chatty Girl's comedy imitations: "Everybody only wants to save the cute animals! You never see someone out there with a sign... Be kind to carp!" "If dolphins are as smart as people, why don't we teach them to go around the tuna nets?!?"
• 4D movie experience filled with terrified children and only startled adults. And the weirdest seats that punch you in the back. Nice.
• My tongue-in-cheek warnings: "Stop that thumping. It's like, *thump* *thump* *thump* The van's gonna blow up!"
• Freezing cold and razor-sharp wind as we hiked to the 'top of the world.' A park overlooking Inner Harbor. There was complaining, but I still think the view was worth the discomfort!
• Hoping we won't get violently assaulted by thwarted Baltimore Ravens fans. 'Cause someone in our group had the audacity to bring a Steelers terrible towel and wave it around throughout the day.
• The war against texting. Ahhhh. :)
• One small-town guy with a 'gangsta' complex.
• Spiritual conversations about modesty, putting out "fleeces" and finding God's will, where we would be without Jesus, and what it means to be a Godly man or woman.
• Being nudged/compelled by the Holy Spirit to be a witness to some homeless young people. May the seed of God's Word not return void.

Sometimes I just gotta share the youth group craziness...

It all started during our youth cell group meeting yesterday. The Sparkly Girl randomly tells me that she will never take me with her to a funeral. I guess she had just remembered that I deal with pain by making jokes. Somehow, jokes and dead people didn't seem like a good combination to her. Sooooo, I said, "This would be me and (The Sparkly Girl) at a funeral. Sitting next to her. I'll say 'Knock knock'. She'll look at me all angry-like. 'Who's there?' I choke on my own laughter 'Just the dead guy in a casket.'" Yes, I did fall over laughing. And couldn't continue the meeting for a good long time. How morbidly unfunny... For those of you wondering, I wouldn't really tell that joke at a funeral. I hope.

Then, after youth group this evening, I am racking my brain and trying to decipher some notes that I had written down. The notebook said, "Jonah." I repeated, "What about Jonah?" several times. The Witty Kid gets all happy--- "Oh, wasn't he the guy that got thrown overboard because he lost a poker game?!" I was actually shocked speechless. The Witty Kid continues, "Nooo, not poker-it was GO FISH!" Oh. My. Goodness.

The Icing on the Cake:
The youth group is working on a certain project that will remain unnamed for the time being. As I'm directing one segment, I (being the smart one inclined towards physical humor) say, "Oh, this should end in a fistfight!" They fake-fight all the time, so no problem-right? Wrong! In that split second, The Crazy Kid winds up to fake-punch his friend. Except the punch connected. HARD. The entire youth group was falling over on the floor in laughter... with exception of the poor friend, who was laid out on the floor from the punch. More in shock, than in pain-thank the Lord! I'm really hoping there's no black eye tomorrow. There will be no stopping the rumors about my church then!

Things I Learned About being a Youth Leader while on the Youth Camp Trip:

• Pack for two people or three or a crowd, 'cause you're not a *real* youth leader unless at least two people end up wearing your clothes, using your shampoo or eating your food.
• No matter how many times you announce an important fact, someone will not remember it.
• You will get less sleep than anyone else, and the youth will wonder why you're tired.
• Sometimes the best answer to a question is silence.
• Fake it 'til you make it. Meaning, smile and act like you know what you're doing, even when you have no clue!
• Insist on togetherness... Youth meets lots of great people at camp, but they gotta go home with the ones in their own Body (Church). Cuz that's how God planned it.
• Expect the best; Prepare for the worst. And the registration people will love you.
• Embrace the YLIC title (pronounced Why-lick), meaning "Youth Leader In Charge," because nobody understands that you bear the youth pastor's responsibility without the title.
• Impromptu dorm room meetings are often the most vulnerable and powerful times.
• Craziness = Good Times!
• Remember: You are not the parent. If no harm to them or someone else is involved, the default answer is "yes."
• Share the love, aka. cafeteria food. "Anybody got an extra hash brown? Anybody want this dinner roll?"
• Cell phones are the devil. Ban them. (Invoke Jim Elliot's quote "Wherever you are, be all there!")
• Walkie talkies are a gift from heaven. Tired while driving? Sing at the top of your lungs for the benefit and humor of the other van!
• Smile, smile, smile! Happy smiles, euphoric smiles, tired smiles and crazy smiles.
• Be devoted to God. And make time for everyone else to be devoted, too.
• Thank the Lord daily for the privilege of ministering to His youth.

Here's to me typing the fastest blog entry EVER.

A summary of my week during the Greatest Youth Camp Trip EVER?
Too much sugar, too little sleep!

I gained a new nickname. "Fruit Loop" from The Raven-Haired Girl. Because I yell "OCHO!" in a gravelly voice without warning, I don't like Skittles, cake or salty snacks, I break into song at random times and many other crazy reasons that make her think I'm a little loopy! It's all good. There are worse things to be. :)

Twenty-four hour drive to Texas. Midnight spiritual conversations in Missouri. The "headlines" joke that just killed me. One Southern cockroach scaring the heck outta me! Two words: Sock Puppets. "And this is Hillary!...pause..." "Oh my crackers!" The Green-Eyed Girl. Learning how to critique without being critical. Floor party for The Sparkly Girl's 16th birthday. The whole cafeteria singing "Happy Birthday" (starting a trend!). Face painting, arm painting and other skin painting for nation games. "C'mon, guys! UP is VERTICAL!" -Me waking up the girls. Eat, sleep and go to church-The Best Life Ever. Video confessionals and killing the digital camera. Standing in line again, and again, and again. Dust angels in the Texas "grass." Me returning to the place of God's transformation in my 16th year. Crying more in the presence of God in one week, than in the last six months. Finally getting a nap on Thursday-- "Oh, this is what it feels like to be awake!" Getting soaked because The Sparkly Girl got raptured (not really). The Witty Kid's unintentional hilarious jokes. The Little Bro now called, "Rolando!" Reading crazy-awesome China Gospel stories aloud in the van.

Best Moment:
In the darkened corner of a parking lot, The Youth Group and I gathered to give testimonies of what God was doing. The tears came. The sober spirit held us like a vice. We understood the greatness of God, His purposes for our lives, His Spirit's convicting power, the massive mission that has been entrusted to us, and the call on our lives as a young generation.

The lost sleep, the vacation time, the aggravation, the patience learned, the constant "herding," the hard executive decisions, the time in prayer, the worry of "is this the right thing?", the concern over their souls, the money spent, the love growing, and all else involved in the planning and execution of this youth camp road-trip.... It was all worth it.

God is being glorified through our lives.

Picnicing in the grass: $0.00

Caesar salad from a bag: $5.92

Fried chicken to feed a crowd: $29.97

The look on The Pastor's face as the youth group and campus group united in doing "The Wave" while he was batting in a softball game: Priceless


.... Add 3 yummy desserts, 7 blankets on the grass, 1 loving dog, 2 kinds of fruit, countless discarded flip flops, 6 orange marker cones, 1 game of Ultimate Frisbee and 2 games of flag football which I loved passionately though we lost wretchedly = 1 Very. Awesome. Picnic!

"Can we throw them to the ground and then take their flag?" -The Tall Guy

Haha. And now my muscles are screaming in that very nice sort of pain that says I should really play flag football more often! :) Ciao, my faithful readers! Enjoy our lovely summertime weather this weekend.

Retreat Snippets:
"Patience is the attitude attached to waiting." -The Pastor's Brother

"The devil has no righteous children." -The Pastor

"I have given my life to Christ. He is my obsession... so I'm gonna talk about Him." -The Curly Girl is resolute.

"They're taking the bathroom!!" -The Crazy Kid during one of the Nerf wars. LOL

"I'll be preaching from the book of Hezekiah." -The Dad :)

And this is me doing announcements at youth group last night.
“(Youth Camp) is gonna be AWESOME, you guys, and I am so stoked about it!… Did I just say, ‘stoked’?”

The youth group has finally given up on snow-tubing. On Friday, it rained like the world was coming to an end (okay, not quite), and so we did a digital camera scavenger hunt. Which was totally awesome. We split into three groups, in three cars, with three drivers/camera operators. In two hours, the teams has to go around town and take creative pictures of the youth doing activities or at certain places.

Categories were things like: Cutest Pet, Best Present to Give Santa Claus, Best Parody of a TV Show or Movie, Biggest Snowbank, Best Action Using Free Stuff from a Restaurant, Sweeetest Car, Best Face Made by a Complete Stranger, etc.

I know a picture is worth a thousand words, but I won't go for that many. I'll just give a quick description. :) My absolute favorite pictures were as follows:

Most Unique Statue. The Little Bro's team went to Boalsburg (a.k.a. birthplace of Memorial Day). There's an interesting life-size statue of three Civil-War-era dancing ladies. The boys bowed and asked them to dance. Haha. Awesome.

Best Mime of a Bible Story. The Curly Girl's team went to the Walmart toy section. Think two girls pulling at a baby doll, with a guy with a plastic sword raised over it!!

Best Impression of a Penn State Student. The Hazel-Eyed Girl's team had one of their team member lay down on the ground in front of a car!! (it was a parked car, people! No youth were harmed in the making of this picture).

P.S. Actually, the rain made this youth event so much more dramatic. I liked it.