Fickle..

I learned that word in 9th grade Honors English when we were reading Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". For those who don't know what it means, it kind of means change. In the play, Romeo was the fickle one. He wanted one girl, then he would change his mind and go after another one. He basically couldn't make up his mind. I have found that life is like that sometimes. It seems like you are headed in one direction, possibly one that is not in God's plan for you, and all of a sudden you seem to be going backwards. My moods have been fickle lately, as well. I am happy and laughing one minute and the next minute I have taken something way too personally. It is something I am praying about. If you have been in the pathway of my attitude lately, I sincerely apologize. I know it hasn't been the prettiest thing ever. I am working on it, with God's help.

It has been a busy month, hence the lack of blog posts. Two weekends ago, April 10th, we had the youth's 12 hour blitz. That was a night of fun for the youth from 7pm on Friday to 7am on Saturday. Aaron and I were there at 11 to start setting up. Jen and Alyssa showed up around 3, and then some others started showing up to help. It was a blast. Last weekend, April 16th- April 19th, I was in Washington DC. Awesome trip. If you want to see pics, they are posted on Facebook and Myspace. Well, some of them are. There were way too many pictures to put them all on there. This past Friday night, one of our youth, Bridget, organized a benefit concert to donate money to Blood:Water Missions. It is a mission that the Christian group Jars of Clay started to help give African people clean water. Bridget's concert raised over $3000! It was an awesome night of music and fellowship.

Well, hopefully I will update sooner than a month from now. I hope April was good for everyone, and hope everyone is enjoying this FICKLE spring. I don't think it can make up it's mind whether it wants to be nice or cold outside. Well, summer is on it's way. And that will be HOT. Hope you all have a wonderful week!!!

Positive..

I was completely uplifted tonight by someone in my bible study group. I didn't need the validation that what I am doing is making a difference, yet I did. I needed to know that what I am doing is not in vain from an outsider. I don't feel like I am making a difference in the youth's lives, but I strongly feel that this is where God wants me. I haven't had this much peace at church in about a year. I am confident that this is where God has led me, but at the same time, I feel like I am doing no good. But tonight, someone gave me a hug and said to keep feeding myself (with God's word) and to just stay positive. I believe I have been pretty positive in this whole thing. I know we have a great group of students and leaders who want to see change. I appreciate people who believe in the leaders and the youth. We do not always feel as if we are getting approval from anyone but God and the youth. But I just wanted to let you know, and you know who you are, thank you. I appreciate what you are doing and I thank you for the encouraging words.

Thoughtful..

We had Bible study tonight, and yes I know it is Saturday. We meet every other Saturday night in a home and then the other Sunday we meet at church. We have awesome fellowship and can deeply delve into the study. No one is afraid to speak up, and everyone seems comfortable around each other. We are currently doing a Beth Moore bible study based on the Patriarchs, encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a truly awesome bible study. We were discussing Genesis 16 and we came to verse 13 and there was a question in our study that asked "what name did Hagar give God?" The answer to the question is "the God who sees me." Now, that struck a chord inside of me and I really liked that answer. But what got me even more was the paragraph that followed it. "In Hebrew, (it is) El Roi. He sees when no one else cares to look. He sees through the smile we wear when we're dying inside. He sees our hurt when we're mistreated. He sees us when we cry into our pillow because we feel unloved. He sees beyond our sin into the depth of our need. He sees when we're hiding. Running." This just amazes me. Of course, we all know that God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. But this small paragraph made all of that real to me. We know that he cares for us. But do we understand how deeply he cares for us? This paragraph opened my eyes. He cares for us. He knows what we are feeling and thinking, which is scary sometimes. He will always be there when we need him, no matter what. So why do so many people turn away from Him? Why do so many people not believe in God? I know that no one but God has these answers, but this paragraph really made me think. I hope it did and does the same for you.