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.

Discussing politics and the ridiculous notion of people voting for a Democratic candidate just because they're of the minority variety...

"Barack isn't black; he's Muslim!" -The Raven-Haired Girl

Out in the elements during a digital camera scavenger hunt...

"I love rain! It's tasty!" -The Witty Kid

Most Non-Glamorous Moment: On my hands and knees last night, scrubbing away at a mystery stain in the youth room carpet. Jell-O or red punch? Hmmm.
Most Touching & Hilarious Moment: An unexpected gift of the most MASSIVE water bottle I've ever seen... And the obligatory story behind it: Every Wednesday at youth group, after worship and before preaching, I ask The Little Bro to get me some water. Cuz ya know, all that singing makes my throat dry. Why we've never thought to just keep a water bottle there for me, I have no idea! Anyway, my new water bottle is AWESOME! Drinking out of it is like tipping over an army tank, but it's all good. :)
Most Awe-Inducing Moment: Watching the mysterious beauty of a lunar eclipse. The moon slipped behind the earth's shadow as we watched from 8:46 to 10:10 p.m. I didn't see the whole thing, because nighttime should be for sleeping.. lol.. But what I did see was glorious!
Most Adorable Moment: Seeing The Papoose's face all scrunched up from drinking tangy cranberry punch. It was so cute that we all just kept giving her more. I guess she didn't expect fruit juice to have fizz in it! :)

And one last thought from our Youth Group Belated Valentine's Party:

Last night at youth group, I get up to preach.
Me - "Guys, we're gonna do things a little different tonight...."
The Witty Kid - "we ARE different."

Afterwards, I'm having a conversation with someone and all of the sudden the room seems to get louder. Like alot louder than the normal state of loudness. I turn around and there's the youth guys holding The Crazy Kid and putting him in a huge trash can!!!
"What are you doing?!"
The guys stop and try to look innocent.
"Put him down!" I demand.
Instantly, they drop The Crazy Kid on the floor.

And don't think the girls are devoid of craziness...
Yesterday happened to be the Wednesday that we celebrate birthdays for the month. The girls just had to find out how long it would take to burn the birthday candles down to nothing. I don't know the exact timing, but afterwards, there were three bluish puddles on a brownie. They all were like, "Cooool!" (it's the simple things...)

My confession: I did laugh at all of the above. Youth ministry is fun!! Especially because through it all, we managed to pray for personal revival, our brothers & sisters in the Body, and the salvation of souls. We worshipped Christ with singing. We testified about God's revelation to us and His working in our daily lives, were a little convicted and a little encouraged, and answered the question, "What is it about anyway?"

A housefull of teenagers means hilarious, raucous, incredibly fun times. Let them loose for an hour or so and they'll take over ten or more rooms---always gravitating towards the food. They will sing Christmas music in mid-November, scramble around on the floor play-fighting for a pen, take the noise level up several decibels, turn a card game into violence... and end up cushion-sledding across a hardwood floor. "They'll entertain themselves." A slight understatement. :)

I love youth people. A card game called "Apples to Apples." And parties. Most definitely. :)

Last night the youth group and the campus group united for a Halloween outreach. We went downtown and did the "Freedom" drama about 6-7 times. In between dramas, and the campus group did this all the time, we handed out tracts with candy and talked to people. I estimated that we handed out about 1000 tracts! As usual, there were some interesting responses. One person said, "I just KNEW you were a cult!" The Little Bro calmly answered, "Oh no, we're not a cult. Anyone is free to leave any time they want to. In cults, you are forced to stay." Smart boy, that one. :) Let me ramble for a second though---just because we care enough to talk with people about their eternity does not make us a cult. It makes us unselfish. It makes us real Christians. Anyway, the outreach was a really good time and we all came back tired and happy.

The Appreciation deal came before the outreach. My fingers were covered in red, black and green face paint (which combined into a very ugly color) and everyone's talkin' and laughin'. The Sparkly Girl gets everyone's attention and basically says to me, "Because it's Pastor Appreciation Month, and though you're not our pastor, you're our leader-person and we just wanted to tell you that we appreciate you alot!!" Awwww. So they gave me a card and gift, which someone else had to open for me--because of the paint all over my hands! It was some Sour Patch Kids (cause I love 'em) and Swedish Fish (cause I love making "Swedish sushi") and..... drumroll please.... a gift card to Barnes & Noble! How awesome! Now I just have to figure out what I'm gonna buy. I'll probably end up putting it towards a set of Old Testament commentaries. I need to get The Pastor's recommendation on non-heretical ones first, though. :) If anyone knows good ones, please comment and tell me.

I (heart) my youth... and not just 'cause they gave me presents!

By the grace of God, nobody got hurt today... well, unless you count a couple scrapes and bruises from climbing rocks on steep trails and diving during Ultimate Frisbee onto sand. And because of that, I count it as a successful day! The youth group (and me, of course) went to a state park full of waterfalls, but to see those waterfalls requires hiking treacherously steep and slippery trails. Mmmhmm. It was great fun though! I was privileged to see the "real" hair of all youth, courtesy of creek water and lots of humidity! The PB&J lunch was fanta-bulous, even if I did get really sticky. Introduced the concept of "wading" to some people. Dropped my shoe in the water. Made fun of the "not-so-grand" canyon. Gave a zillion verbal safety warnings to anyone and everyone. Lifted an eyebrow or two at the Boy Scouts. Smiled at an adorable little tyke (twice) and his impossibly small suspenders. Accidentally ate a piece of gravel. Composed some glorious pictures of the sinking sun.

The Crazy Kid's wisdom:
"We should just tick-bomb the whole world."
"I guess I just don't enjoy nature that much--I'm too busy making sure I don't fall to my death." (or something like that)
Then he used my camera tripod as an imaginary machine gun. It wasn't "wisdom", but it sure was funny!

The Enthusiastic Girl starts telling a story, and it's long. The listeners' interest starts to wane. "Excuse me! I'm talking!!" *she waves a hand in other person's face and continues to talk for five more minutes..... And stops suddenly. "What was I talking about again?"

The Little Bro and The Country Boy scrounge up a rusty fishing hook, some sinkers and a tangled bundle of fishing line. After a few minutes, they're fishing. What ingenuity. Not much is biting, but the concept of standing on a boulder beside mirrored waters, with friends lounging beside, talking and laughing. It's just the epitome of relaxation. One itty-bitty fish did get the hook. And we got ridiculously big smiles for that one.

But not nearly as big as the high-pitched screams and riotous laughter that came from that boulder when The Sparkly Girl and The Chatty Girl caught a fish. From the amount of pure joy emanating from that spot, you would've thought they caught a whale!! He was... very small. And he had no lip by the time he was released back into the wild. Poor thing.

And someone's lemonade that spilled a record THREE TIMES during dinner! Once was interesting, second time was funny, but the third---I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. Of course, the evil ketchup bottle that caused the last two spills made everything seem funnier! :)

The day was filled with moments of joy and times of just breathing the air. No youth roadtrip is complete without serious conversations... And this roadtrip was no exception. We talked about life, and music, and marriage, and standards, and relationships and pleasing the Lord. And I was reminded of what I am waiting for: God's design in my life.

Lord, have Your way in me.

* To The Original VA Friend: Yes, I did spell it wrong first. Old habits die hard, I guess.


On Wednesday, I took some pics to youth group. I was gonna put some on the youth bulletin board. Those were thoroughly enjoyed. The youth liked to look at the miscellaneous other pics that I had with me, like some NYC pics! While they were looking, The Brown-Eyed Girl turns to me and says, " 'Amethyst', you're even pretty when you're mad!" LOL That's one of the nicest compliments anyone has ever paid me! Of course, now that I think about it....


I have a habit of getting out of bed the second that the alarm goes off. I haven't always been that way, but since my work schedule changed, I'm paranoid about oversleeping. I know that I only have a certain amount of time to get ready and if I don't get up instantly, something will go undone. Sooooo... On Friday morning, I jump out of bed and stumble towards the kitchen. As usual, it's still dark outside and I'm tired because I spent a little too much time reading the night before. I pour my cereal & milk, and look at a cooking magazine with bleary eyes as I eat my breakfast. Maybe five minutes pass. Then, I look at the clock. "WHAT?!" The clock reads 2:30, like, in the morning! I go back to my room and conclude that the alarm clock didn't even go off! I just randomly woke up and assumed that it did. So I laugh at myself and head back to bed for 2 1/2 more hours of blissful sleep.

Last night, the youth group played Capture the Flag. I officially love that game! We played in the early evening, then took a break and waited 'til the darkness fell. Then we played with flashlights. All my "prison" reading started to catch up with me, as I inevitably found myself imprisoned several times per game. The other team had one very HUGE flashlight, and so The Little Bro had one of his teammates in the middle of the field with that flashlight. Periodically they would shine it slowly along the length of the field. I felt like I was in a scene from The Great Escape. Total craziness (and awesomeness!).

Here's some quotes from the youth:

"Once I ran into a brick wall with my head on purpose." -The New Kid

"My grandma doesn't cook; she defrosts." - The Sparkly Girl*

"Yeah, I'm gonna take over China, and then attack Germany." -The Witty Kid (who obviously doesn't know that World War II is over.)

Life is weird sometimes. That's why I spend alot of time laughing... at myself, at (or with) other people, and at life in general. Without laughter, where would we be?

*The Sparkly Girl is so named because of the way her eyes sparkle when she's excited or happy! She tells me all that time that she's more excited about my apartment than I am. I'm not so sure about that, but it's fun watching her talk about it! :)

Just got back from a four-day road trip with some college girls from church. We went to experience the strange fascinating pleasures of New York City. We stayed in New Jersey, which we called "Little Hispania" because we were the only white people there (It's true!). I brushed up on my Spanish a little though. Now I can say.... well, nothing really. But I got a real kick out of the loud flamenco music they played on the shuttle to the City. After awhile, it started to get in my head. I'd be walking down the street, humming and doing a little shuffle-n-step. :)

I love David Wilkerson. He is a man of God.
We were so incredibly blessed to be able to hear him preach twice! On Friday night we went to a youth rally at Times Square Church and it just happened to be the one time this year that he was preaching to the youth. He preached on "responsibility" and how that related to the company you keep. You must choose what kind of friends you have and what kind of a friend you are. Then, on Sunday morning, he preached too! This time Pastor Wilkerson preached on "The Private War of the Saints." Very encouraging message... And we all liked buying books at TSC. On Sunday afternoon, the rain drove us inside. We ended up at a little table under the Rockefeller Center reading our new books. :)

I love the subway. It's my friend.
Wear sunglasses. So you can stare at people and nobody knows. People are the interesting part.... My favorite person was this old black Jewish gentleman (yes, wearing the little hat and the whole bit). He was sitting beside me on a relatively crowded train. I couldn't help noticing that he was studying a small New Testament and writing furiously on several notebooks. I looked closer. He was writing in a different language, right to left. He was studying Revelations 11, verse-by-verse. Then it looked like he was actually doing mathematical calculations. It was a long ride, so I noticed alot! Anyway, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly he was doing! I should've just asked!

Random tourist lady looks at the crowded subway station:
"How do we get through all those people?" she says to her husband.
Me, standing next to her: "Punch them all in the face."
Hey, at least she laughed. :)