Where Have You Been?

So, the other week I did write a blog post, but it wasn't really about what I've been up to lately in the life of a youth minister. And I just know that so many of you out there are just eager to hear bout my job and how everything is going (Sarcasm intended)! So I must share with everyone where I've been since I last wrote in November.

During the months of December through February, Church Basketball was in full swing. I had the pleasure of head coaching the Girls Team. We had a fantastic season! And by that, I mean, we only won one game! But we really did have a lot of fun. We made it into the playoffs (because everybody does) and we gave St. Paul a run for their money. Unfortunately, we came up just short. But it seriously was so much fun coaching this team!

During the Christmas season, we had some fun with the BUMS. The students convinced me to have a lock-in combined with our Christmas Party. It was so hard to stay up all night, but we did it. And honestly, it actually was pretty fun. But I was so exhausted the next day!

We also have been able to do some other fun activities since then. We went to a Charlotte Hornets game as a youth group! It was a blast! And the Hornets won!

We also went to Winter Jam in Greenville! Thanks to one of the parents of one of my youth, we were able to get a suite! It was sweet! We had a blast, and there were so many wonderful Christian artists there! It was a fantastic concert!

Finally, just last weekend, we went to to the Greenville Road Warriors Hockey game! We had a blast there! We had fantastic seats, only 3 rows from the ice! It was so much fun!

So as you can see! We have been super busy with the BUMS! We have been doing a combination of a lot of fun and service opportunities as well. Coming up, we are headed on a Parent / Youth Retreat in late April. And then, we will be in Summer Time, where we will be doing stuff all the time!

So I hope that you have enjoyed this little catch-up as where I've been. I still absolutely love my job! People ask me still, all the time, if I miss teaching and how I like my job. And I just tell them with so much excitement how much I love it! It is the best job and I love every single minute of it. Sure, there are some tough parts, but it's worth it. As the old saying goes "Time flies when you're having fun." I still can't believe that I am coming up on completing my 8th month here at Bethel! It has absolutely flown by! But it really is because I just enjoy it so much!

It is amazing that my full time job is to get to hang out with kids, but more importantly, teach them the word of God on a daily basis. Just today, as I was preparing for my lesson tomorrow night, I seriously just felt my heart swell up with joy! I just love it! I love being able to teach God's word every week! It is so much fun!

So that's all for now! Wow, two blog posts in a week! What is wrong with me! I don't think I've ever done this before. I promise, I will try to make the next one happen before 6 months passes again! Until next time!

In Christ,

Todd Handell

When Tragedy Comes

Hey Everyone,

I hope that all of you are doing well, and I apologize for it being forever since I have written anything in this blog. Things are still going well in our youth group. We are chugging right along, and summer is going to be here before we know it. But today, I write to you on a different occasion.  But this has been laid on my heart recently, and I felt I needed to share.

Over the weekend, there was a tragedy in our church.  There was an unexpected death, and someone left injured, and it has a lot of people (myself included) asking a lot of questions lately. These questions have included:

• Why would God let this happen?
• What was God thinking?
• Why does God let bad things happen to good people?
• Isn't God supposed to be loving and take care of us?

And many, many others.

People want answers. They want to understand what is going on. So people turn to Scripture. But sometimes, we don't always understand scripture. So I write to you today to hopefully help you understand at least these few passages of scripture.  But know that I, by no means, claim to have all the answers or have it all together. 

First and foremost. Before I go any further. We must remember, that...

2 Timothy 3:16- All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

That is the most important thing to remember in all of this.

Moving on, we get to probably my least favorite verse in the entire bible.

Jeremiah 29:11-  "For I know the plans I have for you," declared the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

Everybody looks at this verse for comfort and guidance, especially a lot of youth age people. This verse is very comforting and encouraging. People use it for all kinds of occasions. For people going off to college, and saying that God won't let anything bad happen because he says "he will not harm you" and all kinds of things. But the problem is, when you just look at this verse, it's taken completely out of context, if you only look at this one verse.  If you just look 7 verses before, you will find this:

Jeremiah 29:4- "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon"

There it is. Sorry everyone, but Jeremiah 29:11 is not your saving grace. It's not really applicable to us, because it was written to the Israelite people in exile. This may come as a shock to you. Because so many people use this verse and apply it to themselves. But the "you" in this passage isn't singular. It's plural. And it's related to the Israelites. 

But unfortunately, this doesn't make people happy. They want an answer. So we look at these next two things. 

First of all, and probably most importantly. There are just some things in this world that we don't understand. Just as there are so many scientific equations and math problems that would probably sail over the average Joe's head, so do things about God. If we knew everything that God had planned, well then, the world would be a lot different place. Could you imagine, if you knew everything that was going to happen in your life, how weird that would be? If you have ever seen the Movie "Stranger Than Fiction", we get a glimpse into that. Now this doesn't make us happy. Because in our human nature, we want to control things. And when something bad goes wrong, we want to fix things. But sometimes, we can't. Sometimes we just need to let God take care of things. This is a true struggle for all humans, myself included. 

Secondly, and this is my best chance at answering a question someone may have, we turn to the book of Romans.

Romans 8:18-19: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed."

Romans 8:24-28: "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

That's my best answer to how God handles tragedy. The thing is, no matter how rough things get here on earth, our reward in heaven and the glory that will be revealed is going to be so much greater. And once again, we don't understand that. We can't fathom something being that much greater for good then the sufferings we go through now. It doesn't make sense to us, which goes back to point number 1 (we don't always understand everything.)

And finally, at the end of that passage, it says "and we know that in all things". Notice, it says ALL THINGS. Not just the good, not just the bad, but ALL THINGS. 

I am not writing this blog post to say that I have all the answers and I have everything figured out, because I most certainly do not. God is always teaching me new things every day and I still mess up and make mistakes all the time. 

Tragedy is one of the hardest times to keep the faith in God. We automatically want to turn against him and blame him for the bad things in our life. But we can't, because God provides so much good for us that we just take for granted. And we have to take it all, the good from God and the bad that exists in this world. 

I have been through many trials and tribulations. I have suffered through the passing of many family members, and there were many times where I turned away from God too. No one does it perfectly. We all have our mistakes. But today, if you have made it this far and are still reading, I just ask that you pray for the family and our church family. Because that's the best thing that we can do.  It's never easy to go through anything like this. But God never promised it would be easy, he just said it would be possible. And the best way to get through anything is to rely on God, and pray and talk to him.

I hope that maybe this will help answer a question for at least one person. If you are going through tragedy, just know you are not alone. Until next time.

In Christ,

Todd Handell