My Parent's Are Driving Me Nuts!

I am so excited about what God is doing in the life of our youth ministry and super excited to share in that life in 2013 as we look forward. I hope you have had the chance to read our Summer Mission Trip email. There is nothing sweeter than serving others in the name of Jesus. We will take sometime at our Parent/Youth Potluck to shed some more light on upcoming mission trips and other events in 2013!

We are starting a new 3 week series called "My Parent's Are Driving Me Nuts!" We will be looking at how loving Jesus and being a good son, daughter, brother, and sister go hand in hand. But at the same time this might be the toughest task for a youth! I know it was for me as I reflect growing up in my family. 

I didn't grow up in the picture perfect family and I am guessing that most of you didn't as well. And I don't believe such a family exists! 

My role in my family at it's worst was me not doing my chores, back talking, yelling, throwing tantrums... basically all the things involved in not making life fun for my parents. And at its best my parents were there for me... comforting me and being for me when life seemed to be crashing down. They were my biggest fans. 

Learning to love my family (and who God created my parents to be) and learning to listen and be patient I can say by far have been the HARDEST spiritual disciplines to learn. Hopefully we can make some traction with the youth in the next three youth groups. 

Here is the topics for each week: 

1. Family is the greatest metaphor for life

2. Are you apart of the solution or the problem

3. God heals our pain: how we deal with pain in the midst of our families

Looking forward to journeying alongside your youth! 

God is here.

Advent is by far my favorite season because it teaches a deep truth. It teaches us that if we put our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls in the right place... God will do amazing things through and for us. 

God uses a 14 year old girl named Mary who is engaged to be married in which to bring forth the Messiah in to this world. The savior of the world enters in to our skin in the same way that we all enter. 

But it is not without scandal. A pregnant, unmarried girl has suspicion written all over it. With all the room to doubt and fear Mary chooses to put her heart and soul in to obedience to what God was calling her to do. 

Her obedience doesn’t just carry weight for Mary herself but impacts all of humanity. It impacts us. 

This doesn’t mean that God’s grace is circumstantial but when we choose to let God mold us and shape us to BE the kind of people he has called us to be we are all better for it.  We can trust that he will work good out of what often times is our mess when we say here I am God mold and shape me. 

Tomorrow on Christmas Eve we will light the Christ candle. Making a bold statement that “God is here.” And how is the world to know this? By the way we treat each other, carry each others burdens, and the strength of our love for each other. For in these actions we are being Christ for each other. Displaying what Paul says in Ephesians that we are all God’s workmanship. 

And Jesus doesn’t look at all the places we fall short and condemn our actions with hate. But instead it says in Ephesians,”Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ...in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” 

I am so grateful for all the God is doing in and through our community at Pleasant Green and I wait with an expectant hope for what is next! Merry Christmas!

Raising the Perfect Child

I wonder what the perfect child looks like. Is it a child that does everything we say they should do? Says yes ma'am and yes sir? A child that doesn't perpetually question your authority? Or try to convince you, you are a bad parent if you don't cave in to their demands?

I know I was nowhere near this child for my parents. I always went out of my way to not do what my parents said, or wait till the last minute to do my chores because I had other priorities (video games of course!). Yet when it was time to go hang out with friends and I needed money I some how felt I earned it. Now as I look back I ponder, "how selfish could I be?"

My late grandmother and late aunt would always tell me in the most serious of voices to "love and respect my mom and dad for all they have done for me." Back then I seemed to tune them out when ever I felt a lecture coming on... now I take every word seriously (or at least try).

As I reflect on all these issues thinking that sometimes being a parent must be really awesome. A mountain top type of experience! I could only imagine being a parent is exhausting and emotionally draining.

So with all this said and in the spirit of advent where we reflect on what it means to be expectant for a savior in the midst of all the things that are "not yets." I want to tell you how grateful am for all of you parents. How in awe and inspired I am with the depth of character so many of you carry. It shines through your kids even in the midst of their "imperfections" (or telling them ten times to do something). I know all your kids are "not there yet" but man do I have hope they will lead lives of greatness.

I heard recently I think it was on the Steve Harvey show of all places. And he said that some folks say don't put all your eggs in one basket. But on the contrary if you really believe in something and you believe that the foundation is there you have every right to put all your eggs in to one basket! I believe I can put all my eggs in to one basket!

I believe God is doing great things in the lives of families here at Pleasant Green UMC. And I celebrate you and your youth this Christmas. Today I am simply grateful... I couldn't ask for anything more.

UMYF Christmas Party!!!!

This week is the UMYF Christmas Party!! And it is going to be awesome.

If your youth brings a friend both of them will be entered in to a drawing of a $50 gift card of their choice! Also each person should bring a gender neutral gift of $10 or less. 

This past week we re-enacted the Christmas story as told by Luke and Matthew. We will show the full movie this Sunday, but here is trailer for what is to come. Starring your youth... and me as Mary. We had a wealth of boys last Sunday but not many girls... so I ended having to play Mary. It was the roll of a lifetime...

Enjoy!

If Santa Clause is real... why does he never get me what I want?

We are now entering the advent season. One of my favorite times of year but for all of the disconnected reasons that have nothing to do with Jesus. I guess my caramel brulee latte with jingle bells playing in the background while I read the birth narrative of Jesus in the gospel of Luke some how reconcile. Welp we might not be able to reconcile our current narrative of Christmas and the narrative of Jesus but we could probably say that they both leave us satisfied in different ways.

Our culture doesn't like to wait. We want it now. Can't afford the new 42 inch LED 3D television well good news put it on a credit card. We would rather go in debt than have to wait. And you bet we transfer this on God. In high school... I would pray, "Dear God give me a girlfriend please make so and so girl like me." And you know what God never did. Truth be told there were many moments where I was mad about that. I hated waiting while everyone else had a girlfriend and I didn't! I grew up never having a grandfather yet so many of my friends had these awesome, archetypal grandfathers. God why didn't you give me a grandfather? I like you and like your kids have a lot of not yets. Our lives are filled with anxiety and stress about the not yets in our lives. And so many of these things are out of our control.

But I look at my life today. I have an amazing wife... thank you Jesus for not giving me a girlfriend that I didn't need but having me wait for someone that loves me for the depth of my character. And thank you Jesus that I get to see my dad be a grandfather. I might of not had one but it sure is good seeing this new story play out for my nieces and nephews.

The reality of life is that we have to wade through some crappy waters sometimes not fully understanding where life is going. But advent is a reminder that God is leading us somewhere. God is leading us to a place of hope and restoration even when we can't see it.

Pilgrimage 2012!

 Each year I come away from Pilgrimage in awe. In awe and grateful that God lets me serve this amazing group of youth. Out of all the 4,000 youth at Pilgrimage I am so proud that God gave me this bunch of youth. They are so special to me!  

We shared many laughs this weekend. We learned what it means to be flexible! We all grew in patience. All at the same time we asked deep questions of ourselves: where is God leading me? How can I make my next right step toward Jesus?

And one of the most powerful moments of the weekend is when on Saturday night they invited anyone who wanted to come down and get on their knees. Thousands of youth including ours walked down and got on their knees to pray. Humbling themselves before a savior that deeply cares about them.

There is a lot at stake for youth. Challenging questions surround them all the time. Am I loved? Am I accepted? My goal simply stated for our youth ministry is to be an environment where love, encouragement, and inspiration abide. I want them to know that they are important and valued! And I saw this narrative take place this weekend in how these youth took care of each other. It really speaks to the character of our youth!

Can’t wait till next year! But until then don’t forget movie night this week and sign up for Great Wolfe Lodge has begun!

Also here is a LINK to the pictures of the weekend. Enjoy!

Bullied:Hoping To Belong...

At our last youth meeting we go to do something pretty spectacular. We got hear the stories of some really awesome people here at Pleasant Green UMC. I call them All-Stars (Becky Brogden, Gloria Perry, Max Mitchell, and Mary Lou Mitchell). They represent Jesus well. They represent the reality of what it means to always be striving for more of Jesus because we all live in this tension of “not there yet.”

One of the questions of the night that was directed to the sixth graders was, “what is it like being a sixth grader?” To some it was positive experience while to others things weren’t going so well.

I know for myself middle school was an emotional roller coaster for me. I truly felt that I didn’t belong. I felt that I didn’t have any friends. My life felt heavy. One moment that sticks out to me is a day that I will never forget. Sitting at lunch and then all the sudden a guy pulls me out of my chair and starts hitting me on the head. I was so disillusioned. I didn’t know what was going on. I was embarrassed, scared, and mad. Why didn’t I throw a punch back? Instead I just took the punches.

I felt like I was all alone. And all my attempts to be liked always seemed to be shattered. I tried out for sports teams and never seemed to make the cut. And don’t even get me started about girls… just a super, weird time inmy life.

And I don’t think much has changed for middle schoolers today. I think they still go through the same awkwardness and deal with the same deep questions that seem minuscule to adult eyes: do I belong? And who do I belong too?

That is why when I hear these words come out of a middle school or high school youth's mouth that they don’t feel like they belong or that they feel hurt, put down by their peers… I am more and more convinced that my mission is to make sure that

1.       Youth know that they belong. They belong to Jesus and that they are loved deeply no matter what! 

2.       And saying this isn’t enough. I want them to be encouraged and lifted up. I want every youth group to be a super, positive experience. They know that when they step in to this church that they are safe and that they are important valued because too much is at stake with their lives!

I have seen youth go down a destructive path trying to mask all the hurt that they’ve experienced in their lives. Maybe through alcohol, drugs, unhealthy relationships… but I have also seen what can happen when youth know how valuable they are despite their peer’s corrupt words and actions.

And I know this because I am that person that people choose to love when I was in high school. People in church never ceased to let me know how valuable I was to God. And so when I stood on the presopous of trying to belong by way of going to parties I had really good friends and family that stood in my way to tell me that life has so much more to offer. And I am so grateful for each and every one of those people.

We truly are who we are because of good friends, good parents, good churches, good word spoken over us. None of us exist in a vacuum. 

So my hope is that despite the negativity in this world that we can in some way by God’s help pour out the reality that we belong to God and that we can embrace that reality with our lives even when the world seems against us.